Chaos Tau?

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**SDasher**

I had a little thought while I was trying to get to sleep before; the Tau vehicles look so good. Good enough to convert the Tau into a 'Counts As' Chaos Space Marine army.

Forgetting fluff for a moment, I drew up a quick sketch of what a 'Counts As' Chaos Predator might look like if converted from the original Hammerhead design.

This would, of course, take a crap-load of converting, but I would really like to know anyone else's thoughts/opinions on this?

**Shaman**

I think thats awesome.. definately do it.. Fluff nazis will circle, but remember nazis are always lame.. Same with grammar and soup nazis.

**starbomber109**

That's an awesome drawing of a chaos hammerhead!

Technically impossible (Tau have no psychers, therefore no knowledge of the warp at all) but it does sound fun. I'd say go for it!

**lord of the ghosts**

tau...
chaos...
Greater Good?
Blood?
go for it!

**SDasher**

starbomber109 wrote:That's an awesome drawing of a chaos hammerhead!

Technically impossible (Tau have no psychers, therefore no knowledge of the warp at all) but it does sound fun. I'd say go for it!

Who knows what those shady Ethereals know how to do, eh?

This sounds good when I draw it, but I'll have to do lots of comparisons to see what counts as what best.

**usernamesareannoying**

starbomber109 wrote:That's an awesome drawing of a chaos hammerhead!

Technically impossible (Tau have no psychers, therefore no knowledge of the warp at all) but it does sound fun. I'd say go for it!

that doesnt protect you from mutation

ive fought with this idea myself but could never decide on a codex to use.

**ph34r**

Tau are nowhere near any warp-real overlay, and since they have no warp signature themselves, how are they supposed to get mutated? They only have a tiny corner of the galaxy, far from chaos.

**SDasher**

ph34r wrote:Tau are nowhere near any warp-real overlay, and since they have no warp signature themselves, how are they supposed to get mutated? They only have a tiny corner of the galaxy, far from chaos.

Why must you poke holes in my fun?

**usernamesareannoying**

ph34r wrote:Tau are nowhere near any warp-real overlay, and since they have no warp signature themselves, how are they supposed to get mutated? They only have a tiny corner of the galaxy, far from chaos.

because they expand like everyone else and i dont think the forces of chaos sit at home and wait for people to come to them.
warp signature doesnt really matter either... deamons may not be interested in them but just being around chaos will take its toll.

if an ork can mutate cant a tau?

**SDasher**

usernamesareannoying wrote:
ph34r wrote:Tau are nowhere near any warp-real overlay, and since they have no warp signature themselves, how are they supposed to get mutated? They only have a tiny corner of the galaxy, far from chaos.
because they expand like everyone else and i dont think the forces of chaos sit at home and wait for people to come to them.
warp signature doesnt really matter either... deamons may not be interested in them but just being around chaos will take its toll.

if an ork can mutate cant a tau?

You Sir, I like.

You patch plot-holes for me.

**oggers**

While the fluff nazi in me screams no, the part of me that wants to see some original ideas says yes.

**usernamesareannoying**

SDasher wrote:
usernamesareannoying wrote:
ph34r wrote:Tau are nowhere near any warp-real overlay, and since they have no warp signature themselves, how are they supposed to get mutated? They only have a tiny corner of the galaxy, far from chaos.
because they expand like everyone else and i dont think the forces of chaos sit at home and wait for people to come to them.
warp signature doesnt really matter either... deamons may not be interested in them but just being around chaos will take its toll.

if an ork can mutate cant a tau?

You Sir, I like.

You patch plot-holes for me.

rofl... like i said, ive thought about it too.
dont even get me started on what can happen once you eliminate the ethereals...
personally i think farsight is a tame example of what can happen.

**SDasher**

w/e, I'll save up for some Tau and buy them, convert them, and play them as a Tau army and a counts as CSM army when I can.

**DarkHound**

Well, hell, simply killing the Ethereal makes them bug out. There is an entry in the IG Codex about the first confirmed kill of an Ethereal by a ratling. He was leading a tank company, and almost immediately after he was shot the tanks turned on each other.

So, can Tau be corrupted by Chaos? What do we know? Well, I pulled up the handy-dandy Lexicanum and they told me this:
"The Tau achieve faster than light travel by "diving" into the warp and being subsequently flung out a great distance from where they entered. There are positives and negatives to this method of travel. Because their ships have such minimal contact with the warp and are in a sense just skimming the surface, their travel is relatively safe, but a flaw in this design is that their speed is greatly reduced in comparison to races which immerse themselves fully in the warp.

It is also true that the Tau are a race bereft of psykers. Whether it's due to their limited warp interaction or something distinct about the Tau mind it means that they are unique amongst the dominant races of the galaxy. For while it does mean that the Tau do not possess the significant advantages that having psykers brings, it is also worthy to note that not one Tau has ever fallen to Chaos. In fact, as a species, the Tau register as barely more than a blip in the warp and it may well be that this has been their saving grace, protecting the altruism and idealism their race shares from the destructive tendencies of chaos."

So, Chaos Tau are just about out of the question, but what about renegades? I could find ways to make Chaos Tau work regardless (their planet was covered in a Warp storm for hundreds of years, you think that doesn't cause some problems?), but it is up to you.

**usernamesareannoying**

thanks dark but i still say meh...

how many times have we seen X has never done Y and Y cant be Z only to be changed to A and B tomorrow... lol.

as long as it looks good who cares

**DarkHound**

My point exactly. There are always ways you can bend the fluff without breaking it.

The Warpstorm afflicted a particular clan of Tau with increased Warp signature. While this was still comparably weak when they were on T'au, the clan moved to colonise a plan in the Third Sphere expansion. As the planet became populated with these mutated Tau, it attracted the attentions of Chaos. Suddenly Daemons! Many of them!

There you are, story for your Chaos Tau.

**SDasher**

Wow, that's incredibly nice fluff. I enjoy all this kind of stuff regardless of whether it goes against my ideas or not. Anyway, thanks for the story - I may have to elaborate on that soon enough in order to satisfy myself, but this means that as soon as I can, I'm getting my hands on a Tau Hammerhead sprue.

Also, I wondering on your thoughts for what a Daemon Prince could translate to in the Tau race? There are no 60mm-based creatures in the army, so I was perhaps thinking of painting the Tau paint scheme/transfers onto a Daemon Prince's armour to represent a Tau so evil, it ascended into Chaos immortality?

**WarmasterScott**

Blood for the Greater Good!

**Shadowbrand**

Do it! be cool!

Death to fluff nazis!

Space Russians all the way!

**Obsidian**

Go for it. The 40K univers is not set in stone, it is a sand pit/box and you can cange what you like. Only GW and fluff Nazis will object!

**Valhallan42nd**

A Tau Etherael lands on a barren world scraped clean of life. Ancient satelites hang lifeless in the sky over the dust planet, the only suitable landing spot being a crater as smooth as glass.

The advanced sensors tell the tale of high yeild melta missiles landing in this area in the thousands, and virus bombs that scoured the planet of all life. They also register a strange power source, one not yet recorded. The earth caste member with his team urges caution, but curiosity has taken hold of the Etherael. In the center of the crater, a strange glow begins to be visible, seeming to pulse in the darkness of the dust storm, calling to him...

There is the begining of your chaos tau backstory.

**SDasher**

Sounds really awesome to start, but I will have to wait for some disposable income to wander my way. I'll just start some normal CSM for now and work my way up to converting Tau. Thanks for all the support~

**Sanctjud**

the Tau register as barely more than a blip in the warp

Funny, I don't here a 'never' in that part of the statement. All I see is 'unlikely, but not impossible,' so IMO it's 100% a 'Go' on the idea of Chaos Tau.

At the end of the day you can treat it as a modeling project, I have 3 'Chaos' Crisis Suits with some Greenstuff lovin' dedicated to Grandfather Nurgle.

**vodo40k**

I think THIS says it all:
http://www.freewebs.com/montaucodex/

**Cannerus_The_Unbearable**

For one, it's a well known fact that Dark tau serve the Greater Bad. A least to me anyway

Your fluff is as follows:

Tzeentch, in his infinite malice/trickery/crap, heard of ones who controlled an entire society. After going to the local black library, he decided to send some Changling-types to pose as these "Ethereals" and deal with the real ones. The othe gods, growing jealous of his new toys, decided to make a deal to get in on the action, and thus the Power puff... I mean Dark Tau were born! Berzerker Kroot? Nurgling Spore Mines? Hell yeah!

**usernamesareannoying**

wow, this thread turned out great... thanks guys.

@vodo - nice find! thanks.

@warmaster - blood for the greater good...rofl!

@SDasher - i dont really think there is a good tau translation of a deamon prince. what i ended up doing was taking a crisis suit and gave it ogre arms that looked like they had burst from within the suit. i never quite finished it but maybe it will give you an idea.

**CajunMan550**

I see no reason why you can't have chaos Tau it says with no psycic powers it hasn;t happened. It never says it can't be done for Chaos...it marks us all eh? Tear the gak up I expect to see this army by next month. (O and you might look into doing something like the Soul Drinkers sept it being a daemon Etherel or however you spell it) That'd be neato.

**Owain**

I say it would look beautiful on the tabletop and you'd have a great time coming up with fluff to explain it.

COMMUNISM FOR THE COMMUNISM GOD!