Can't get over the Tau Fluff... >.<

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**micahaphone**

Here's how it works, in my mind. Make up your own fluff if the current stuff doesn't fit you. Say there was a conspiracy exposed about the etherals, which is why you have none. Heck, you can even say that this is the reason you can fight other Tau forces!

**SwanCo**

micahaphone wrote:Here's how it works, in my mind. Make up your own fluff if the current stuff doesn't fit you. Say there was a conspiracy exposed about the etherals, which is why you have none. Heck, you can even say that this is the reason you can fight other Tau forces!

^ i like that.

But your not going to want an etherial HQ. they suck. your going to want a crisis suit commander or whatever. they fething own and have tons of upgrades. plus the FW one looks pretty shnazzy

**Riffzor**

FW one?

btw, may the HQ deepstrike? (If there's just one of 'em) or do I have to field 1 hq and 2 troops, and all apart from that may deepstrike/summon/be reserves otherwise?

**SwanCo**

ah now your talking ninja tau

i think you can have everyone in reserve and deepstrike... only take battle suits and drones (drones are better then people put them out to be) deepstrike evertything, and scare the hell out of your opponent when you start with an empty battlefield

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Riffzor wrote:FW one?

this guy

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Tau/TAU-BATTLESUITS-AND-DRONES/TAU-BATTLESUIT-COMMANDER-SHAS-O-RALAI-WITH-DRONES.html

**zeshin**

Yeah, as was said don't worry about the fluff. Persoanlly I play a Tau supremecicst army who won't use Kroot or Vespids. I personally don't like the look of either, and kroot are so anti everything I like about Tau, so I made up fluff about a farsight-like enclave that won't deal with any alien races, even ones who serve the greater good.

**Riffzor**

Yeah I'm going Tau. Now to make an army list...

**starhawks1**

or you know you could just realize that it's a game with made up stories and plastic soldiers...that always works for me, I'm not a devil worshipper I'm Catholic but I like chaos marines, they go against everything my religion stands for but who cares? it's science fiction

**Gorgarak**

I used to have the same issue with many armies when deciding to play 40K. Gotta find an army fluff wise that speaks to you, if thats your sort of thing. For me I prefer Eldar, Dark eldar, Orks, Tau and Necrons. Eldar races are great because they can pretty much be whatever you want them to be....even 'good' eldar forces still are crazy agressive space elves who want to blow you to peices. On the other hand, they'll sit down and chat to you about things if it suits their purpose. Dark Eldar not so much....but still good backrounds.

Personally I find Tau hilarious. Their society makes complete sense to me. It's like an ant colony really. They have warriors, workers, air ships, etc. They all have defined tasks which they excel at and exist to do those things to contribute towards others well beings. Everyone works together to make up for everyone elses short comings, thus creating harmony. All sounds great right? I think it gets funny when they try to apply their beleifs to everyone else, simply because they can't see how anyone else would even consider not agreeing with them. They're no worse than the imperium really, although at least they ask questions first and shoot later, rather than the reverse. In all honesty, it's a practical approach in the 40K universe. Every race wants to kill each other for simply for existing....May as well pretend you have some morals while doing it!

**Snowman90**

Riffzor wrote:Yeah I'm going Tau. Now to make an army list...

Plus, the fluff for the Tau, doesn't have to be the fluff for your army. You can change it(to a believeable degree(well believeable to 40k)). I don't know much about tau, I haven't started that army yet, but if i wanted to i could make my nids as a army from a hive fleet i made up. Or whatever. You can add your own ideas into the Tau fluff.

**Riffzor**

Gorgarak wrote:It's like an ant colony really. They have warriors, workers, air ships, etc. They all have defined tasks which they excel at and exist to do those things to contribute towards others well beings. Everyone works together to make up for everyone elses short comings, thus creating harmony.

.. Yeah I actually just watched a picture of some T'au Firewarriors and thought 'Hey, they remind me of my LotR Easterling army, they look like ants!'

And whilst I understand that behaviour from ants, whose lives are relatively short and easy, I wouldn't find it acceptable for a humanoid species with intelligence and technology to match (or in this case be even better than) us.

**focusedfire**

I'd like to suggest the N'Dras Sept for your Army.

Current fluff has it that the Tau abandoned this world for some unknown reason and that other Tau Septs view the Tau from this world with suspicion.

Sounds like just the right fluff basis for your army that doesn't cripple you with Farsights gimped army list.

**Riffzor**

*flips open the codex* ... Hey, perfect! Short tempered and viewed with suspicion! .. Now let's hope N'Dras was a snow world 'cause I want white uniforms and tanks!

**Kroothawk**

It is always hilarious to read threads about Tau background, always end with something like "Tau are communist space nazi catholic Hindu fishmen ants of Japan", followed by the "and they genocide everyone".

BTW do you know where this last statement comes from? There is a non-GW PC game "Dawn of War-Dark Crusade" with a typical campaign world where as on Medusa V ALL races are present. In the campaign you have scenarios for each race with a winning and losing ending. In an ending that doesn't happen in the official 40k background, Tau win, put the male and female human prisoners in separate camps. An Imperial narrator now speculates, why the human population decreases. Can it be because men and women are in separate camps? Possible

The narrator goes on speculating and gets to a third theory, that Tau might have sterilized the human population. So this idiotic third likeliest speculation by a biased narrator, taking place in a parallel world to 40k in a non-GW PC game became the "and Tau sterilize all their enemies". Sad but true.

There are many other similar things happening in Tau background threads. Too many people post in Tau threads out of hate, not bothering to read official background.

**agnosto**

Kroothawk wrote:It is always hilarious to read threads about Tau background, always end with something like "Tau are communist space nazi catholic Hindu fishmen ants of Japan", followed by the "and they genocide everyone".

BTW do you know where this last statement comes from? There is a non-GW PC game "Dawn of War-Dark Crusade" with a typical campaign world where as on Medusa V ALL races are present. In the campaign you have scenarios for each race with a winning and losing ending. In an ending that doesn't happen in the official 40k background, Tau win, put the male and female human prisoners in separate camps. An Imperial narrator now speculates, why the human population decreases. Can it be because men and women are in separate camps? Possible The narrator goes on speculating and gets to a third theory, that Tau might have sterilized the human population. So this idiotic third likeliest speculation by a biased narrator, taking place in a parallel world to 40k in a non-GW PC game became the "and Tau sterilize all their enemies". Sad but true.

There are many other similar things happening in Tau background threads. Too many people post in Tau threads out of hate, not bothering to read official background.

QFT!!

**Necroman**

Kroothawk wrote:It is always hilarious to read threads about Tau background, always end with something like "Tau are communist space nazi catholic Hindu fishmen ants of Japan",

Personally, I think they remind me of Fuedal Europe (That might just be the Space Pope thing, I guess). We all have our own views; even the Imperium, with some obviously Roman influences, reminds me of Pre-Imperialist Japan with its fanaticism, technological stagnation, distrust of outsiders, and idealistic view of combat with armored men wielding swords.

karimabuseer wrote:Tau are generally not that great. They get praised in the 40k threads, with people saying they'd like to be them...but they sterilise humans, and segregate each other! Neo-nazis if you ask me

Problem is, the Imperium will do the exact same thing to you. Remember the First War of Armageddon?

The only ones who do not actively try to assimilate or destroy humans in their primary agenda would be the Eldar, and they still have no problem leading a bunch of Orks to Armageddon if it saves one of their own.

**pops101**

tau rule socialism FTW

**Kanluwen**

The Nazis did everything "for the Greater Good".

So did the Bolsheviks, Castro's regime, the Baath party, Vlad the Impaler, and any number of completely bloody rulers and their followers...

Just sayin'. The Tau sure as hell aren't Communists or Socialists, not with a caste system with no upward mobility(Air Caste can't become Fire Caste, etc) in place.

**NuclearMessiah**

Riffzor wrote:*flips open the codex* ... Hey, perfect! Short tempered and viewed with suspicion! .. Now let's hope N'Dras was a snow world 'cause I want white uniforms and tanks!

Well great thing about Tau is that they color their uniforms and armor based on the environment they are fighting on not their sept world.

**NoShoes**

Kanluwen wrote:The Nazis did everything "for the Greater Good".

So did the Bolsheviks, Castro's regime, the Baath party, Vlad the Impaler, and any number of completely bloody rulers and their followers...

Just sayin'. The Tau sure as hell aren't Communists or Socialists, not with a caste system with no upward mobility(Air Caste can't become Fire Caste, etc) in place.

Au contraire, the Tau have high society just like everyone else, you have the bottom feeders (suffix 'la) such as Gue'la (lowest being), Shas'la (lowest fire warrior) etc. then you go up the ranks as you progress (so next highest is 'ui, then 'vre, then 'el and finally 'o).

Some interesting tidbits, the term "Gue'la" mentioned in the codex sounds awfully similar to the cantonese "Guilo" as slang for a person from western europe. IIRC, the Fire Warriors are also based on ancient chinese foot infantry, while the battlesuits are obviously based on japanese mecha.

**focusedfire**

NoShoes wrote:Some interesting tidbits, the term "Gue'la" mentioned in the codex sounds awfully similar to the cantonese "Guilo" as slang for a person from western europe. IIRC, the Fire Warriors are also based on ancient chinese foot infantry, while the battlesuits are obviously based on japanese mecha.

You are over thinking it. The term gue'la is the continuation of the in-house joke starteted with the Eldars name for the humans, the Mon-kiegh'

Do you get it? Gue'la and Mon-kiegh=gorilla and monkey

This little linguistic connection has been used with another story of a crashed Eldar ship to speculate that the Eldar are the creators of the Tau. This theory can be filed with the others of Tau origin as a bit of 40K ominous to which the answer will never be revealed. As to the other theories, I'll list all of the credible possibilities:

1)That the Eldar Created the Tau and sheltered them with the Warp Storms

2)That the Old ones created and sheltered this race of psychic nulls to help restore balance to the Galaxy and by extention the Warp.

3)That Chaos dreamed the Tau up in a nightmare the same way Slanesh and the Chaos Gods were created and twisted in the Warp.

4)That the Ad Mech invented the Tau and shielded them with false signals of a Warp Storm.(The Tau accelerated their evolution after the Ad Mech Suevey Team)

5)None of the above, The synthetic protiens found in the Taus DNA were either made up or were put there by the Tau themselves as an effort to develope more quickly.

Have fun with these theories, they make for interest in debates as to the long term effects of the Tau Empire

**MasterSlowPoke**

I don't think there's any fluff on the economic system of the Tau. They're just plain old "for the good of the nation" Fascists.

**Riffzor**

Kanluwen wrote:The Nazis did everything "for the Greater Good".

So did the Bolsheviks, Castro's regime, the Baath party, Vlad the Impaler, and any number of completely bloody rulers and their followers...

Just sayin'. The Tau sure as hell aren't Communists or Socialists, not with a caste system with no upward mobility(Air Caste can't become Fire Caste, etc) in place.

*is a Vlad fan, so doesn't really notice what the post is about*

Anyhow, let's just go with that the Tau are over-sized, blue ants with high technology. They have workers, warriors, queens and... stuffs, and have not invented a way to switch between the five 'genders'. One ant hill ain't enough, so they go out to build more, and don't like it when the others come ruffling their stuffs about, so they bite back. *nod*

Also, my specific ants will be snow-ants! *cackles madly*

**Ashtaroth**

How am I to field an army which I know are fighting for something so... oposite of what I believe in, it doesn't feel right! =s

i know exactly what you mean. i only play tyranid because, in my everday life, i wander from town to town devouring every living thing i come into contact with, control other tyranid players via synaptic link, and spawn new tyranid players using the resultant biomass.

**agnosto**

MasterSlowPoke wrote:I don't think there's any fluff on the economic system of the Tau. They're just plain old "for the good of the nation" Fascists.

Not when they have an entire caste that's involved in trade. The imperium cracked down on some fringe worlds because they noticed heretical tech being employed in the form of advanced farming machinery. It's in the most recent codex.

I wouldn't say their fascist, more like spacefaring jehova's witnesses. "Excuse me sir, have your heard of the Greater Good? Here, why don't you sample this technology while I tell you about what the collective can do for you."

**Snowman90**

agnosto wrote:
MasterSlowPoke wrote:I don't think there's any fluff on the economic system of the Tau. They're just plain old "for the good of the nation" Fascists.

Not when they have an entire caste that's involved in trade. The imperium cracked down on some fringe worlds because they noticed heretical tech being employed in the form of advanced farming machinery. It's in the most recent codex.

I wouldn't say their fascist, more like spacefaring jehova's witnesses. "Excuse me sir, have your heard of the Greater Good? Here, why don't you sample this technology while I tell you about what the collective can do for you."

That's pretty much right. I didn't think of it that way, but now that it's out there, can I use it? When i make my tau army they are going to be called something like "SJHW" or "The Space Jehovah's Witnesses"

**SwanCo**

agnosto wrote:
MasterSlowPoke wrote:I don't think there's any fluff on the economic system of the Tau. They're just plain old "for the good of the nation" Fascists.

Not when they have an entire caste that's involved in trade. The imperium cracked down on some fringe worlds because they noticed heretical tech being employed in the form of advanced farming machinery. It's in the most recent codex.

I wouldn't say their fascist, more like spacefaring jehova's witnesses. "Excuse me sir, have your heard of the Greater Good? Here, why don't you sample this technology while I tell you about what the collective can do for you."

hahahah i lol'd hard!

Great comparison

**MasterSlowPoke**

agnosto wrote:
MasterSlowPoke wrote:I don't think there's any fluff on the economic system of the Tau. They're just plain old "for the good of the nation" Fascists.

Not when they have an entire caste that's involved in trade. The imperium cracked down on some fringe worlds because they noticed heretical tech being employed in the form of advanced farming machinery. It's in the most recent codex.

I wouldn't say their fascist, more like spacefaring jehova's witnesses. "Excuse me sir, have your heard of the Greater Good? Here, why don't you sample this technology while I tell you about what the collective can do for you."

Yeah, the Water caste slipped my mind, but there really isn't all that much fluff on them. I don't have the 3rd Edition Tau book but I'm going to assume it doesn't go any more in depth than the 4th Edition one. There is a merchant class, but they act in the interests of the state, not their own welfare.

The Tau are pretty clearly fascist - if you're not familar with what fascism actually is beyond it's portrayal in popular culture, the Wikipedia (ugh, I know) actually has a pretty good explanation in those introductory paragraphs. Basically everything is done to improve the state - personal goals are not encouraged. If an action does not result in a benefit for the state, it's not worth doing. This conflicts with socialism or communism, which seek the benefit of the nation's citizens foremost, each in their own ways.

I'll end this with a quote. I hate to pull out the Hitler quotes but I guess it's appropriate in this discussion as he's basically Mr. Facsist. This quote wouldn't look out of place in the Tau codex:

It is thus necessary that the individual should finally come to realize
that his own ego is of no importance in comparison with the existence
of the nation, that the position of the individual is conditioned solely
by the interests of the nation as a whole.

**Riffzor**

M'yeah, if you'd change the 'nation as a whole' at the end into the 'greater good' it fits perfectly.

**Henners91**

Riffzor wrote:Right, I'm not a fan of Communism, Nazism, or any religious beliefs of one person being worth more than another, I believe in individual freedom under the supervizing of an elected goverment.

So, to the point of this topic. I love how Tau looks on the field, I love their gear, I love their characteristics and all, but I just can't get over their fluff! As someone said loud what I was thinking when reading the fluff on another thread, 'Tau are commies'. How am I to field an army which I know are fighting for something so... oposite of what I believe in, it doesn't feel right! =s

NOTE: This thread is not made for political debate, it's a bit of ... Nerdrage I guess, and hope for that someone can help me get over the fluff somehow.

I was thinking about remaking the fluff and build an army anyhow, but since the Tau haven't been around for long there's little room for me to change much. The ideas I've had so far would be the Etherals being something priest-equivelant (equilevant?), or more monk-like (priests don't fight, monks do!). I've never made any Fluff that sticks that far off of something such important to the species before though, have anyone got an own Tau Fluff that allows inter-caste-ic(?) breeding (Not 'cause it's part of the gameplay or anything but, I still believe in blind love xD), that doesn't say that the Etherals' word is law, and so on which I could get some inspiration from?

Thankies.

- Riffzor

Only a fool would think the Tau are commies... I've written this argument about a billion times before but they're based on Confucian philosophy of a harmonious society.

COMMUNISM DOES NOT ADVOCATE A CASTE SYSTEM.

Tau wish to subjugate everyone to the "greater good", their harmonious way of living... they can't abide by disorder within their own society and it's stated that they've covered up evidence of how fragile it is in order to keep an atmosphere of calm.

"Commie" is just a word used by Yankees to describe "Asian" it seems

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It may also be prudent to remind you that this is GRIMDARK and there's no ideal bourgeoisie democracy for you to play as

**Witzkatz**

While the Tau are probably fascists and the Imperium of Man is probably a fascist organization, there's a reason why the latter appeals more to me...the Tau Etherals are using some kind of pheromone shenanigan to control the T'au castes. The Imperium of Man uses good, old propaganda and brute force. The point is, a self-aware, intelligent individual might have the possibility to look through the propaganda and see it as what it is and react accordingly, either opposing it or accepting the altruistic way of fighting for mankind. With the Ethereal pheromone stuff, that possiblity isn't there, those guys influence the T'au on a so basic level that the normal caste people are basically enslaved to be semi-mindless drones. That's just unfair in my subjective point of view.