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 Irbis wrote:

 greatbigtree wrote:
I think fewer Tyranids, in the fluff, as Nids overwhelm and consume so you never get Vets.

Um, both regiments Cain was attached to, 12th Valhallan Artillery and 597th Valhallan were in fact tyranid war veterans, so it can't be uncommon.

usmcmidn wrote:
And Tau are rarer than Eldar?

Tau are tiny speck in one segmentum with no means to travel far.

It's like asking if a armed gang found in only one city in Mexico would be significant enemy to military and police across North American continent...

I have no idea why people keep putting Eldar below Tau, one Craftworld has bigger population than a dozen Septs, and Commorragh has bigger population than all the Tau worlds combined and unlike them easy access to fastest and most reliable means of travel across the Galaxy.

But Eldar DON'T like fighting the Imperium unless we are talking the Dark Eldar. They tries to avoid conflicts whenever possible. The Tau actively tries to take the Imperium's territory, so it's a valid reason for both sides to fight each other. Also, the Tau are very numerous. Their lifespan is only half of humans but they breed like rabid. I reckon there should be more Tau than Craftworld Eldar around.

Human separatists.

After that, probably Orks.

bibotot wrote:
But Eldar DON'T like fighting the Imperium unless we are talking the Dark Eldar. They tries to avoid conflicts whenever possible. The Tau actively tries to take the Imperium's territory, so it's a valid reason for both sides to fight each other. Also, the Tau are very numerous. Their lifespan is only half of humans but they breed like rabid. I reckon there should be more Tau than Craftworld Eldar around.

They don't like fighting Imperium, but they have that (IMHO lazy) shtick they try to predict future and if they need to kill a million humans to save one eldar, they would do it. In fact, that's how the eldar operate virtually everywhere - Dawn of War series, farseers lead massive attacks on human worlds 'because reasons', in Forge World books, the Mymeara one, they lead massive invasion to recover some eldar dead, etc, etc. Then you have them cleansing maiden worlds, and eldar supremacists like quite a few craftworlds that attack others for no reason needed besides the fact they would be competition for eldar later. I don't know from where the myth eldar are peaceful came from, they are one of the most warlike races of the setting, and a lot of their culture revolves around worshiping god of war and being a career soldiers for decades, if not centuries at a time.

And Tau are explicitly not numerous. The titbit 'one Imperial Hive world has larger population than the whole Tau empire' had been repeated dozens of times in the books. Tau officers remark the waaghs they fought outweigh population of whole septs. Their 'massive' campaigns involve only a million or so soldiers at a time. The description of Tau worlds show lots of green, unused land and lots of building space per inhabitant - there is literally nothing that would imply a high population.

“Realistically” I can’t see the Tau being that small. There have been multiple crusaders against them and they survived time and time again. Yet alone that little Tyranid splinter fleet...They would have taken millions of casualties if not billions. They are still kicking.

I believe it’s Imperial propaganda that there are so few Tau. It’s not realistic. Now I’m not saying that they are as numerous as the Orks but I think they would have greater numbers than everyone believes.

usmcmidn wrote:
“Realistically” I can’t see the Tau being that small. There have been multiple crusaders against them and they survived time and time again. Yet alone that little Tyranid splinter fleet...They would have taken millions of casualties if not billions. They are still kicking.

I believe it’s Imperial propaganda that there are so few Tau. It’s not realistic. Now I’m not saying that they are as numerous as the Orks but I think they would have greater numbers than everyone believes.

Unless I am forgetting something in the fluff, don't the Tau have a large amount of automation on their core worlds, and act more as the leader of a collective of client races that are more or less loyal to them (Kroot, Vespids, Demiurg, etc). That and they seem to be gung ho about using AI, unlike most other factions in 40k.

And Tau are tiny, but they are tiny in terms of 40k and the galaxy as a whole. I'm pretty sure most of the crusades against them failed more due to other pressing matters being thrown in the Imperium's way than anything else. At least until 8th, they were an annoyance, but the Hive Fleets ravaging the region were far more pressing, as are Black Crusades, the War of Armageddon, etc. A world lost to the Tau can be taken back, purged, and repopulated - one taken by the Tyranids is just gone, as is one corrupted by Chaos.

I don't know know what Tau are up to in 8th, as I don't have the codex and haven't looked into it, but based on the relatively short time skip and the ballooning size of their empire, on the new map compared to the old, I would assume they are in a state of shock trying to consolidate their gains while suddenly being a minority in their own empire and trying to keep things balanced so they are still on top. Which incidentally might push them even more into automation so fewer Tau can rule over larger masses of client species / worlds taken off of the Imperium.

Note, that last bit is just guesswork, as as I said, I haven't read their current bit.

 Irbis wrote:

bibotot wrote:
But Eldar DON'T like fighting the Imperium unless we are talking the Dark Eldar. They tries to avoid conflicts whenever possible. The Tau actively tries to take the Imperium's territory, so it's a valid reason for both sides to fight each other. Also, the Tau are very numerous. Their lifespan is only half of humans but they breed like rabid. I reckon there should be more Tau than Craftworld Eldar around.

They don't like fighting Imperium, but they have that (IMHO lazy) shtick they try to predict future and if they need to kill a million humans to save one eldar, they would do it. In fact, that's how the eldar operate virtually everywhere - Dawn of War series, farseers lead massive attacks on human worlds 'because reasons', in Forge World books, the Mymeara one, they lead massive invasion to recover some eldar dead, etc, etc. Then you have them cleansing maiden worlds, and eldar supremacists like quite a few craftworlds that attack others for no reason needed besides the fact they would be competition for eldar later. I don't know from where the myth eldar are peaceful came from, they are one of the most warlike races of the setting, and a lot of their culture revolves around worshiping god of war and being a career soldiers for decades, if not centuries at a time.

And Tau are explicitly not numerous. The titbit 'one Imperial Hive world has larger population than the whole Tau empire' had been repeated dozens of times in the books. Tau officers remark the waaghs they fought outweigh population of whole septs. Their 'massive' campaigns involve only a million or so soldiers at a time. The description of Tau worlds show lots of green, unused land and lots of building space per inhabitant - there is literally nothing that would imply a high population.

Not from what I read. There is no green on Tau septs. Tau worlds are barren deserts because the Tau seems to consider it their natural environment. They don't drink as much water and or consume as much oxygen as humans. The Tau homeworld is also essentially a desert world.

Tau have short lifespan (unless we are talking about cloning, cryostasis or Farsight), so it should be reasonable that they breed very quickly. Despite invasions by Orks, Tyranids, Space Marines and Dark Eldar and the separatism of Farsight, there is no implication that the Tau have ever suffered a decline in population given the fact they continue to expand. The Tau don't expand for fun unlike some Rogue Traders, they MUST have a large enough population that is rapidly growing to justify an expansion.

Each engagement with the Eldar usually consists of less than a hundred Eldar participating the fight and usually ends very quickly. The Dawn of War series are a very poor depiction of the Eldar lore, since the main objective of the game is to have large armies fighting each other and you can lose 1000 Space Marines over the course of a long battle despite that is the whole chapter. The Eldar are objective-driven. They don't conquer the planet for its resources or enslave the population: they complete the mission and then leave. Many wars with the Tau have been very bloody and lasts for months or even years. On Tau controlled worlds, the Imperial loyalists continue their insurgency against the occupiers that seek to sterile those who would not accept the Greater Good.

Finally, the Imperium have invaded 2 Craftworlds in the 41st millenium (the invasion of Alaitoc is so poorly written that I don't want to even consider it cannon) and destroyed one, but they wiped out dozens of Tau worlds. They also killed Aun'Va, the Tau equivalent of the Emperor. The only reason why the Eldar appear "more" in the lore is because of their fanbase.

usmcmidn wrote:
What does the average regular joe guardsman fight the most?

Traitors, seccessionist trash, and heretics on the homefront. As for outside enemies, it seems that everytime you turn around, in every freakin' hotspot in the galaxy, the Orkz show up to "have a go" with "da humies".

90% of regiments spend 90% of their time fighting rebels of various colours and orks. You've got to be a named regiment to fight anyone else.