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My small rant.

You know what is "so utterly ridiculous as to not merely strain credibility, but throw it to the ground, stomp on it, and then put it through the shredder for good measure"? That a civilization can go from cavemen to matching the elder species of 40k in a mere six thousand years. Here's a hint, it took humans tens of millenia to reach this point.

The Tau could have pulled it off if they displayed levels of competence that would make the Moties look like a bunch of slowed children, but their technology has stagnated for centuries, too.

THAT is why I despise the Tau. Their very existence is an affront to logic and common sense.

I also hate Tau fanboys that state that Tau are more advanced than Imperium which they are not.

I don't think the tau have technology that equals the eldar, and I believe that their technology is close to the imperium's. The reason tau advanced so quickly is because, by their , they adapt quickly, becoming vastly different when isolated long enough from other tau. This carried over to society as well, but this was also because the ethereals brought almost total peace, allowing them to advance without setbacks like humanity did.

The tau do have some plot holes, which I believe can be easily filled with some effort, and tau are an effort to bring something that isn't old, beaten, evil or has a crappy life.

(I'm not a tau fanboy).

Mr Nobody wrote:I don't think the tau have technology that equals the tau, and I believe that their technology is close to the imperium's. The reason tau advanced so quickly is because, by their , they adapt quickly, becoming vastly different when isolated long enough from other tau. This carried over to society as well, but this was also because the ethereals brought almost total peace, allowing them to advance without setbacks like humanity did.

The tau do have some plot holes, which I believe can be easily filled with some effort, and tau are an effort to bring something that isn't old, beaten, evil or has a crappy life.

(I'm not a tau fanboy).

No,their tech advancment is Mary Sure!
And in particular how it stacks up to the Imperium, can be summed up in one word. Consistency. That is their big edge ove the Imperium really. It's not so much that they are all-around better, per se (because they aren't), its that they manage to standardize their tech and gear better, and to apply it more consistently. They are more unified, and more focused, and tend not to be as distracted as the Imperium is (partly a result of how they are organized, partly because of their small size, and partly because they're on the ass end of nowhere and tend to only catch the backlash from other major powers conflicts.) Their sensitivity to causalties (much like what the US has with its citizen soldiers) will lead to more upteching (pursuant to tactics and presumably logistics.) Also, your average Fire Warrior is probably more in line with a Storm Trooper, while auxiliaries are either specialists or the more expendable grunts (and aren't neccesarily as well teched, but could be more numerous.) Of course, Guard "quality" varies dramatically as well (logistics, planet of origin, standing/importance of the tithe, etc.)

I don't like Tau because they have a 40K army, and they are so tiny, they are pointless from the bigger picture - So why are they even an army? Especially when there are much cooler, much more relevant, things that GW could make (CODEX: Mechanicus?).

Oh yeah, and all my friends play them.

+Ultramr is WAAAAAYYYYY bigger than the Tau empire on the map in the rulebook.
+They can't last forever - no psykers means communications issues
+No warp drives - that'll give any significant expansion a real roadblock
+If they recruit psykers from other races, they just got themselves a free daemon portal.

40k in general is an affront to logic; in a universe with Space Jesus and Space Elves you're completely thrown off by the time-span in which a species advanced technologically

IvanTih wrote:
THAT is why I despise the Tau. Their very existence is an affront to logic and common sense.

Of course. I mean, all other of the codex races and the general 40k fluff is completely logical and make sense. There's absolutely nothing else in any other codex or even in the 40k universe that doesn't make sense, except the tau. Right?

the biggest problem with the T'au is

1) GW has written their Tech in a way as to block them into a corner. their method of FTL/half-warp jump has meant they can't leave their current area of space.

2) they could easily fix it, but the GW codex machine has had the Cheese and Marine buttons jammed in the "On" position for the last 2 years. Fortunantly, they must have fixed the problem because DE came out. the other problem is that there are at least 3 codexs in line before the T'au(DH, WH, and Necrons)

Grey Templar wrote:the biggest problem with the T'au is

1) GW has written their Tech in a way as to block them into a corner. their method of FTL/half-warp jump has meant they can't leave their current area of space.

That can be fixed by having the Tau piggyback with an allied warp-capable race, but i don't see them expanding drastically anytime soon

Retribution wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:the biggest problem with the T'au is

1) GW has written their Tech in a way as to block them into a corner. their method of FTL/half-warp jump has meant they can't leave their current area of space.

That can be fixed by having the Tau piggyback with an allied warp-capable race, but i don't see them expanding drastically anytime soon

yes, but GW is known for ignoring codexs for loooong periods of time.









prehaps the T'au are the new DE


all T'au players

learn to use your codex well

you shall have it for the next 12 years

Ivan, you forget that the Tau world was enclosed in a Warp storm, and that the Warp doesn't treat time normally. A Space Marine Battle Barge could enter the warp, 10 minutes could pass inside it, and they could exit hundreds of years into the future.

We don't know how much time passed inside the warp storm, we only know that the amount of time that passes outside of it is irrelevant.

Grey Templar wrote:

Retribution wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:the biggest problem with the T'au is

1) GW has written their Tech in a way as to block them into a corner. their method of FTL/half-warp jump has meant they can't leave their current area of space.

That can be fixed by having the Tau piggyback with an allied warp-capable race, but i don't see them expanding drastically anytime soon

yes, but GW is known for ignoring codexs for loooong periods of time.









prehaps the T'au are the new DE


all T'au players

learn to use your codex well

you shall have it for the next 12 years

And this is why i put off making a Tau army...well...that and the fact that im broke

Humans may be an "elder race" but they've been largely stagnant/losing ground technologically for about 10,000 years, AFTER losing 90% of their tech support database in the Age of Strife. perhaps aside from the limited FTL, Tau are about where humans hypothetically would have been in the year 5100. They are nowhere near the Eldar.

Besides, there are hints that they've been manipulated from the start by a more advanced species.

See, when someone starts saying that the established fluff of a race which exists in a fictional universe strains credibility I can't help but laugh. Especially because there is so much in the 40k universe that makes sense and can be credible.

And if examples could be given as to how the Imperium is as advanced as the Tau technologically please do give them. At one point the Imperium may have been but I don't see how they are now?

And the Tau aren't on the same level as the Eldar simply because the Eldar as a whole are a psychic race and their technology centers around that. Just because they both have anti-grav vehicles does not make them the same (which can also be said for the Imperium and Tau).

Oh and you don't have to be a fan boy to think that the Tau are more advanced then the Imperium. I think they are and my main army and favorite are the Space Wolves and always have been.

Tau have successfully contained plasma in the same way that Eldar have, the Imperium no longer has the knowledge to do this (if they ever did) and is stuck with a more volatile (albeit stronger because of it) version.

The Imperium have lost all knowledge of anti-grav bar Land Speeders.

Just two examples of how Tau are more advanced than the Imperium. However, if STCs were suddenly found in abundance, i'd say the Imperium would gain a lot more technological credibility.

But since that doesn't look to be happening, i don't see how the Imperium could, at this stage, be considered as advanced as Tau.

I think tau were meant to be the "up and coming star", where they advance quickly and would one day be stronger than the imperium.

I personally like the feel of tau, being a 40k light when it comes to grimdarkness.

If the tau deevolve and one side follows Farsight I call Rights to brag and say I won the fight.
Also I had an agruement over this for several hours and this is what I learned. Tau Suck.
Their codex fluff is bland and very boring. IT makes them out to be the most uber. And Read many books containing them and Only one guy came out as awesome....
Farsight. He has the right Idea. Still tech and use it against the enemy.

Exopheric wrote:Humans may be an "elder race" but they've been largely stagnant/losing ground technologically for about 10,000 years, AFTER losing 90% of their tech support database in the Age of Strife. perhaps aside from the limited FTL, Tau are about where humans hypothetically would have been in the year 5100. They are nowhere near the Eldar.

Besides, there are hints that they've been manipulated from the start by a more advanced species.

the impierium may have lost a significant amount of their technology, but they are recovering much of what was lost and that which was lost permanantly can be relearned.

the Admech does reaserch. it's. just. at. a. snails. pace. and. will. take. a very. long. time to. finish.

In an Imperium spanning an entire galaxy, consisting of about 1 million worlds at any given time, and with around 10,000 years of history, one can imagine that technology advances and regresses all the time in the Imperium.

Speaking of, I don't suppose the original poster can give us all the low-down on how technological advancement is supposed to go? Because it's pretty easy to find rates of technological advancement to be incredible if you don't understand what technology is, and how it advances.

You make a good point. In six thousand years (humans took 10k to reach our current level of tech) how do a bunch of backwards savages rise to the top of the tech tree?

Nurglitch wrote:In an Imperium spanning an entire galaxy, consisting of about 1 million worlds at any given time, and with around 10,000 years of history, one can imagine that technology advances and regresses all the time in the Imperium.

Speaking of, I don't suppose the original poster can give us all the low-down on how technological advancement is supposed to go? Because it's pretty easy to find rates of technological advancement to be incredible if you don't understand what technology is, and how it advances.

when you think about it, Advanced Tech is just putting old, simpler, tech together in new and interesting ways

the Admech has all the tech right in front of them, they just have to fit everything back together. it's the most nightmarishly complex jigsaw puzzle ever and the pieces are scattered all over the table, floor, front yard, and down the kitchin sink.

Consider that the Imperium has actually branded Progress as a FALSE GOD.

Mordoskul wrote:Consider that the Imperium has actually branded Progress as a FALSE GOD.

Citation needed.

Nurglitch wrote:

Mordoskul wrote:Consider that the Imperium has actually branded Progress as a FALSE GOD.

Citation needed.

Win.

Here's why I dislike the Tau: they have exactly ONE aesthetic.

Retribution wrote:40k in general is an affront to logic; in a universe with Space Jesus and Space Elves you're completely thrown off by the time-span in which a species advanced technologically

I read space elves as Space Elvis. And I was thinking who is meant to be space elvis? Answer me that dakka.


Also it seems like OP is just jealous of the codex saying they are so advanced.

The reason I don't like tau is I got sick of how they play.. (used to have them in 4th)

Tau are not dumb. Has anyone considered that they have over 100 IQ? some one with 132 IQ is 1/1000. thats rare. If the Tau were only a tad smarter that humans, they could advance far faster. I hope there smart. That would boost my ego.

Really though. its not hard to believe that they have the same lv of tech as the imperium. They have been spinning their wheels since the horrus herisy thing.

Avatar 720 wrote:Ivan, you forget that the Tau world was enclosed in a Warp storm, and that the Warp doesn't treat time normally. A Space Marine Battle Barge could enter the warp, 10 minutes could pass inside it, and they could exit hundreds of years into the future.

This is true. how many more years did they gain unknowingly??? a thousand? ten thousand? a hundread thousand?

Their technological advancment is very Sue because how do they manage to advance so much in 6k years while it took Humans and Eldar much more.Tau only survive by living on the edge of Astronomican and if they continiue to be arrogant and naive that'll doom them.
That Warp strom argument won't work because the planet has to be inside the warp for the effect.
Only DH actually hates progress I can throw many other sources to support slow advancment it the Imperium.

IvanTih wrote:I also hate Tau fanboys that state that Tau are more advanced than Imperium which they are not.

And i hate Imperium fanboys who think that a rapidly evolving race isnt possible and implies that all of the rest of 40k is logical. OMG ORKS ARE GIANT LIVING MUSHROOMS OH NO FUNGUS CANT BE HUMANOID. NOT LOGICAL.

Im not even a tau fanboy, but i think the only possible objective of topics like this is to annoy.

Also, you claim that tau are illogical because they managed to accomplish more in 6k years then humans and eldar. Maybe they are more focused, maybe they are smarter there doesnt seem to be much evidence to point to the fact that humans are more or even as intellegent. And Eldar are not solely on "advancing the greater good" like tau are, Eldar have art and music as well as perfecting their skills.

Sigh why do people get so worked up over fluff? I mean who cares the whole 40k universe only exist to be a place we kick each others ass in....Do we really need to argue about fiction

Sooo where does it say that the planet wasen't enveloped by the storm? If no navigators or captains could reach it in anyway that means that that the planet had no safe zones around it not covered by the Warp Storm, ergo the planet was covered with the storm.

And also there is the fact that the Tau codex has an entire page of the concerning their advancments in technology and culture 2/3rds of which discusses the rapid evolution of the Tau race which better allowed them to survive their chosen environments, that includes technological adaptations.

So those of you who say "oh well the it's Mary Sueish for Tau to have this level of tech because it took everyone else forever to get it" I say to you did everyone else have the adaptive divergence of the Tau? um nope never read one scrap of fluff that says they did.

Fluff supports what you don't like or say can't happen, quit being sore losers

The whole reason (ok maybs just a bit of it) for GW's ridiculous fluff for the tau's rapid advancement was because they were trying to tap into the eastern market.

Tau were supposed to basically be chasing after eastern ideals of unity and strength through that unity yadda yadda yadda.

Point is the weren't really thinking about fluff sensibilities when they made the tau fluff just more dollar dollar dollar.