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Yes, according to Savage Scars at the very least.

No, it's because they can't deal with the Tau now because they have to deal with all those god damn 'nids!

Not according to Savage Scars, which was out within the past 4-6 months, and therefore a source of recent fluff.

chaos0xomega wrote:There werent any Cadians in the Damocles Gulf according to savage scars. It was mostly Brimlock Dragoons and Rakarshan Rifles or something like that. Not a single mention of cadians anywhere in the book.

This is where the fluff gets stupid, but yes, there were Cadians.

In the Tyranid Codex, it details that a Cadian element was sent to assist with the DGC but arrived 150 years late due to warp anomalies.

Apart from being bad fluff at best, it also doesn't make sense that the Cadians would send forces that far out into the middle of nowhere, during constant fighting on their homeworld. When people talk about the humans teaming up with the Tau vs Nids, it was that Cadian element that teamed up against Gorgon.

After the Nids were defeated, the Cadians assumed that this tiny remnant had almost defeated the Tau, without knowing the Hive's adaptive nature, they then sent a report that would lead to the greatest conflict to ever occur between the IoM and the Tau called the Iron Hammer Campaign.


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Spartan 117 wrote:So does the Imperium pretty much allow for the Tau Empire to exist because they can be a buffer against the nids? Because from my understandig thus far thats what it seems to be.

The IoM doesn't allow them to exist, they just don't have the resources to really do anything to them. According to the Nid dex we can expect a second attempt at wiping the Tau out in the Iron Hammer Campaign, which if it fails is the second such attempt at NOT letting them exist.

Cadians are everywhere. There's hardly a planet in the Imperium that hasn't had a Cadian die on it.

BeefCakeSoup wrote:


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Spartan 117 wrote:So does the Imperium pretty much allow for the Tau Empire to exist because they can be a buffer against the nids? Because from my understandig thus far thats what it seems to be.

The IoM doesn't allow them to exist, they just don't have the resources to really do anything to them. According to the Nid dex we can expect a second attempt at wiping the Tau out in the Iron Hammer Campaign, which if it fails is the second such attempt at NOT letting them exist.

You're looking at it wrong, that would be the END of the period of the Imperium LETTING the Tau exist. As stated, several times already, the Imperium allowed the Tau to continue to exist to act as a rearguard/roadblock on the eastern fringe (as stated quite clearly in Savage Scars). With the defeat of Gorgon, we can assume that the Imperium assumed that the Tyranid threat in the east was neutralized, making the Tau the bigger cause for concern in the area, and thus public enemy number 1.

chaos0xomega wrote:

BeefCakeSoup wrote:


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Spartan 117 wrote:So does the Imperium pretty much allow for the Tau Empire to exist because they can be a buffer against the nids? Because from my understandig thus far thats what it seems to be.

The IoM doesn't allow them to exist, they just don't have the resources to really do anything to them. According to the Nid dex we can expect a second attempt at wiping the Tau out in the Iron Hammer Campaign, which if it fails is the second such attempt at NOT letting them exist.

You're looking at it wrong, that would be the END of the period of the Imperium LETTING the Tau exist. As stated, several times already, the Imperium allowed the Tau to continue to exist to act as a rearguard/roadblock on the eastern fringe (as stated quite clearly in Savage Scars). With the defeat of Gorgon, we can assume that the Imperium assumed that the Tyranid threat in the east was neutralized, making the Tau the bigger cause for concern in the area, and thus public enemy number 1.

Gorgon was a total variable. To the IoMs knowledge there was no Gorgon until Cadians reported about Gorgon after the battle. Cadians that were written off as lost to the warp long ago.

Which brings up a sad realization... Do Guard Regiments carry just soldiers on campaigns? Or do they bring wives/children along for campaigns? Because if not, those Cadians pretty much would of lost all their wives, kids, girlfriends, and pretty much family in a single warp accident.

Have a gander at The Forever War by Joe Haldemann (sp?), its hardly a new concept in sci-fi. In short, yes they probably did lose all their family in the process, that is most likely a risk that you knowingly take when you volunteer for the Guard... unless you're one of the guys that get drafted... sucks to be you then.

Spartan 117 wrote:
Thats what I thought. I just wasn't sure because in all the fluf I've read it seems like the Tau Empire is growing FAST. So quickly and fast that some of the Eldar ae impressed with them.

In Regards to amount of time in comparison to how much they conquered, esspecially since the Tau were cut off visually from the other races for soooooo long. They have counquered alot in a short time. Someone Correct me if I am wrong, but i believe the Tau are the youngest race.

they are the youngest race. they have only had a space capable empire for around a thousand years. to have gone from club thumping savages to an empire of 100 worlds in less only a few thousand years is pretty remarkable.

As far as I know from a friend who plays T'au, the T'au empire covers about the same area as the system of space controlled by the smurfs, although the T'au have about 100 planets in densely packed space.

It is nothing compared to the Imperium of Man, and if they really cared, the IoM could just swat the T'au away.

Grey Templar wrote:they are the youngest race. they have only had a space capable empire for around a thousand years. to have gone from club thumping savages to an empire of 100 worlds in less only a few thousand years is pretty remarkable.

The passage of time from when the Tau where non gun powerder using primitives to space faring empire is not much different than the span of our own human recorded history. We're on the verge of a number of the things the Tau use (we have various remote drones that are moving towards limited artificial intelligence, mechanized battle armor, railguns, targeting lasers, space collonization, etc), and have had a number of large scale problems the Tau did not have (repeated battles with the Black Plague, the Spanish Influenze outbreak in the early 1900s, mini ice ages, and so forth).

So, not really mega advanced all that quick. It just looks that way as all of the other races have pretty much stagnated or are sliding backwards.

Maniac_nmt wrote:The passage of time from when the Tau where non gun powerder using primitives to space faring empire is not much different than the span of our own human recorded history. We're on the verge of a number of the things the Tau use (we have various remote drones that are moving towards limited artificial intelligence, mechanized battle armor, railguns, targeting lasers, space collonization, etc), and have had a number of large scale problems the Tau did not have (repeated battles with the Black Plague, the Spanish Influenze outbreak in the early 1900s, mini ice ages, and so forth).

So, not really mega advanced all that quick. It just looks that way as all of the other races have pretty much stagnated or are sliding backwards.

Your point is semi valid, we have not perfected Railgun technology it is still prototyped, same goes for mechanized battle suits. and there is not enough in depth lore for you to say they didnt have large scale problems such as the black plague.

I have had a similar discussion with an owner of my LGS and he said that he thought that a C'tan was behing the growth of the tau. Citing that they were not all accounted for and that since there was a (I believe) warp storm that hid the tau for a while they advanced far past what they should have technologically and socially. And that that hinted at an outside influence. After all the C'tan want power and if the necrons don't give it to them this one tried to gain power through a new young race that it could manipulate.
He also believes that another C'tan is doing the same thing to humanity...since one is captured and being used for marine tanks he said that he thought that that would explain PoMS and since he wants power what better way than to let humans think that they are controlling him only to surprise them later when he can control their vehicles.

Just some fuel for the fire.

If a C'tan were behind the growth of the Tau then there never would have been any Warp Storm.

iproxtaco wrote:If a C'tan were behind the growth of the Tau then there never would have been any Warp Storm.

Clearly, the Warp Storm was a cardboard stage prop for the sake of Deceiving the rest of the Galaxy. The Deceiver is totally behind them.

I don't remember it all maybe they were shrouded. I am trying to remember a conversation that took place 5 months ago here. He is big on the backstories of races and loves the horus heresy books, he seemed pretty conving, and I have no reason not to believe him. I mean they grew fast, very very very fast. Much faster than should have been posible, So something had to have changed.

Akroma06 wrote:I don't remember it all maybe they were shrouded. I am trying to remember a conversation that took place 5 months ago here. He is big on the backstories of races and loves the horus heresy books, he seemed pretty conving, and I have no reason not to believe him. I mean they grew fast, very very very fast. Much faster than should have been posible, So something had to have changed.

The ethereals came. That's what changed the Tau. They were busy throwing rocks at each other than two ethereals mysteriously came and convinced everyone to stop fighting and work towards one goal. While we have problems with infighting and things the Tau were unified under the Ethereals thus advanced faster.

This brings to my mind the Ethereal pheromone theory which i think they should go with in the next codex, to add just a spice of grimdarkness.

I don't think that's necessarily true.

Tau have a shorter lifespan than humans but they sleep less than half as much as humans. They probably mature more quickly as well.

3,000 years previously the Tau were cavemen. 3,000 years ago on Earth, humans IRL were building large cities, writing, farming and metal working.

Humans IRL are now (21st century) are not as advanced as the Tau after 3,000 years of development.

However, for the Tau, 3,000 years is more like 3,750 Earth/human years, because Tau get more done each day. Let's see where we are in another 750 years.

It follows that it is not necessary to invoke supernatural powers to explain the rapid development of the Tau.

(It's not impossible either that Tau are more intelligent, or perhaps their society is more productive thanks to universal peace and harmony.)

Kilkrazy wrote:I don't think that's necessarily true.

Tau have a shorter lifespan than humans but they sleep less than half as much as humans. They probably mature more quickly as well.

3,000 years previously the Tau were cavemen. 3,000 years ago on Earth, humans IRL were building large cities, writing, farming and metal working.

Humans IRL are now (21st century) are not as advanced as the Tau after 3,000 years of development.

However, for the Tau, 3,000 years is more like 3,750 Earth/human years, because Tau get more done each day. Let's see where we are in another 750 years.

It follows that it is not necessary to invoke supernatural powers to explain the rapid development of the Tau.

(It's not impossible either that Tau are more intelligent, or perhaps their society is more productive thanks to universal peace and harmony.)

Can you do that again but with 6,000 years ago them being cavemen? That is what is actually the background.

I'm not saying it was the pheremones that led to advancement, that's just my favorite theory for Tau. You have to admit that without the unification of the Ethereals, however they do it whether it's simply good leadership or whatever other theory, the Tau would have advanced much slower. Faster or slower than us I have no idea, but definitely slower as they would have had more problems to deal with and not been left to simply prosper.

Akroma06 wrote:I don't remember it all maybe they were shrouded. I am trying to remember a conversation that took place 5 months ago here. He is big on the backstories of races and loves the horus heresy books, he seemed pretty conving, and I have no reason not to believe him. I mean they grew fast, very very very fast. Much faster than should have been posible, So something had to have changed.

Approx 6000 years is the actual number given (in the last codex at least). Thats not a very short time period by any means. To put it into perspective 6000 years ago in our timeframe the global human population was approx 7 million people, and we were just developing writing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_millennium_BC

Tau were cavemen in 789.M35 according to the codex. At the end of the 37th millenium they had rifles and cannons then the Ethereals came and the next 1000 years saw them develop into what you see today (pages 4,5 and 6 of the codex).

I have no idea when 789.M35 was.....

agnosto wrote:Tau were cavemen in 789.M35 according to the codex. At the end of the 37th millenium they had rifles and cannons then the Ethereals came and the next 1000 years saw them develop into what you see today (pages 4,5 and 6 of the codex).

I have no idea when 789.M35 was.....

34,000AD. It's been over 6,000 years. http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Tau

agnosto wrote:Tau were cavemen in 789.M35 according to the codex. At the end of the 37th millenium they had rifles and cannons then the Ethereals came and the next 1000 years saw them develop into what you see today (pages 4,5 and 6 of the codex).

I have no idea when 789.M35 was.....

Considering we've only had rifles for less than two centuries, gunpowder weapons in general for under a millenium, I'd say thats pretty good, not necessarily a very fast rate of advancement, and entirely believable.

BeefCakeSoup wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:

BeefCakeSoup wrote:


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Spartan 117 wrote:So does the Imperium pretty much allow for the Tau Empire to exist because they can be a buffer against the nids? Because from my understandig thus far thats what it seems to be.

The IoM doesn't allow them to exist, they just don't have the resources to really do anything to them. According to the Nid dex we can expect a second attempt at wiping the Tau out in the Iron Hammer Campaign, which if it fails is the second such attempt at NOT letting them exist.

You're looking at it wrong, that would be the END of the period of the Imperium LETTING the Tau exist. As stated, several times already, the Imperium allowed the Tau to continue to exist to act as a rearguard/roadblock on the eastern fringe (as stated quite clearly in Savage Scars). With the defeat of Gorgon, we can assume that the Imperium assumed that the Tyranid threat in the east was neutralized, making the Tau the bigger cause for concern in the area, and thus public enemy number 1.

Gorgon was a total variable. To the IoMs knowledge there was no Gorgon until Cadians reported about Gorgon after the battle. Cadians that were written off as lost to the warp long ago.

Which brings up a sad realization... Do Guard Regiments carry just soldiers on campaigns? Or do they bring wives/children along for campaigns? Because if not, those Cadians pretty much would of lost all their wives, kids, girlfriends, and pretty much family in a single warp accident.

I like to think that those in charge would have kept the troops in the dark about it, leaving them knowing nothing about the time lapse

Kilkrazy wrote:
Humans IRL are now (21st century) are not as advanced as the Tau after 3,000 years of development.

Gee... I wonder why....?


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Kilkrazy wrote:
However, for the Tau, 3,000 years is more like 3,750 Earth/human years, because Tau get more done each day. Let's see where we are in another 750 years.

Two possible outcomes:

Fallout 3 or Star Trek.

I have no idea when 789.M35 was...

The 789th year of the 36th millennium... the year 35,789.

No it's the 35th millineum.

Spartan 117 wrote:So does the Imperium pretty much allow for the Tau Empire to exist because they can be a buffer against the nids? Because from my understandig thus far thats what it seems to be.

In short yes. The Damocles crusade to quote this man from spacebattles was.

Captain Orsai wrote:It's a bit simpler than that. The forces that made up the Damocles Gulf Crusade were put together with no small degree of haste, and without much idea of what they were up against. The assumption was that they'd fight their way across the Gulf and establish a foothold while reinforcements were moving up. Of course, those reinforcements were then redirected to counter Hive Fleet Behemoth.

The haste with which it was organised is why the DGC is strong in some areas (fleet strength for a gunnery action, high quality ground forces), but weak in others (carrier strength, the lower end ground troops supporting the elites).


Also; within the context of the Imperial Guard, "regiment" is an extremely broad category, and can range from units less than a thousand strong (the Phantine Skyborne, w/600 all ranks), to those more than three-quarters of a million strong (50th Gudrun Rifles), and everything in between (although the average seems to be the 2-10,000 all ranks bracket).

Post is from thread here. http://forums.spacebattles.com/showthread.php?t=185315&page=7


And IIRC it was clearly stated in some WD that if the crusade continiued the Tau wouldn't have existed as a 40k faction anymore.