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I was thinking of possibly starting Tau in a little while, I like the ascetic of the army, but I don't know much of their fluff and thats 75% of what I pick an army based on so what are they like past being Space Commies

They are far from being Space Commies that is the first thing you should know. The Tau are a young species only around 6000 years old. They develop and evolve very quickly compared to other species this however causes them to have a limited life-span of around 40 years.

They had a civil war between the early tribes (now the casts) until the Ehtreals united them the air cast were messangers with wings but are now space ship crews and what not. Ethreals are spiritual leaders of the Tau. The water castw are the poletitions and the Earth Caste are they labourers and bulders. The Fire Cast are the fighting force of the Tau Empire and are the best fighters and the defenders of T'au and the other colinized planets.

The castes never reproduce with someone outside their own caste. This is to make sure that they are the very best at what they do. This is sort of like selective breeding so the best fighter genes are passed to the fire warriors. E.g. a member of the Fire Warrior will never reproduce with a water caste member. Only another Fire Caste member. Reproducing with a different caste member is forbidden by the Ethreals.

Thats what I can tell you in short. Just download the PDF of the codex and read through the fluff.

They are a cast style with the 4+1 cliche elements Earth Air Fire Water and Aun.

The fire caste are aggressive hunters who are the military. They have little mini mech and very powerful weapons. Starting with pulse rifles that fire mini plasma and just getting more deadly from there.

The air caste like the fire cast only they fly around in space ships and live in space houses. The tau use there space fighters in ground support roles. That is why the manta and tigershark are so OP, they are meant to be shooting spaceships.

The earth caste builds. Not a whole lot is know about them. (It's called warhammer not buildhammer) They work in teams and manage everything from farming to high level string theory. Tau are a very tech oriented race.

The water caste is all about diplomacy and trading. Not a lot is know about them. (I did a thread asking, and that's literally all people could tell me.) They have convinced quite a few client races to join the tau. Kroot, Vespin and some humans.

The last caste is the Aun. They are the leader caste acting as philosopher kings. It's there job to make sure everyone is united and working hard for the GG.

They are a small empire that could be blinked out with out anyone noticing, but they also have a chance of being the next golden age. You know if they don't die first.

So could they be compared to Avatar, the TV show? The castes being different nations and the Aun being Avatars?

I never thought of it like that, but it dosen't seem too far off.

Good then, it's one of my favorite shows

Just know you won't find tau performing magic based martial arts. They can't do ether. Well farsight can do a little swordplay, but he is a brake away and not Representative of the average tau.

Tau are called "Space Commies" because their ideology ( the Grater Good ) is almost identical to Earth communist ideology ( remember: what we saw in USSR and other countries ISN"T communism ), that doesen't mean they are USSR is space.

For their fluff:

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Tau#.Tr77t_SXu7s

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Tau

enjoy.

So they have no psykers and are immune to Chaos? Can they be hurt by daemons if this is the case?

Brother Coa wrote:Tau are called "Space Commies" because their ideology ( the Grater Good ) is almost identical to Earth communist ideology ( remember: what we saw in USSR and other countries ISN"T communism ), that doesen't mean they are USSR is space.

For their fluff:

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Tau#.Tr77t_SXu7s

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Tau

enjoy.

"From each according to abilities, to each according to need." Everyone works for the good of all and only takes what they need. (Fairy dust sold separate.) The tau do fit well with true communism. Though the tau cast system would not fit.

They aren't immune so much as warp-neutral. Think about it like a stone being dropped in a pond. A powerful psyker is like a big stone, their minds cause large ripples in the warp. a norma human is like a pebble. small ripples. Tau minds have almost no impact on the warp, it's like dropping a tiny fleck in the pool, there is virtually no effect. So while not immune to deamons they are very difficult to detect.

Ok then, little communism mixed with Indian caste system and Japanese mangas and anime.

TheAngrySquig wrote:So they have no psykers and are immune to Chaos? Can they be hurt by daemons if this is the case?

They have no pyskers and can't really feel chaos. They can be hurt by demons though. When a demon manifest and slaps you upside the head, it's just like getting slapped upside the head by a giant claw. I don't think they are immune to chaos (Many do) , but they don't really have a concept for it and classify demons and chaos as more real world terms. Demons are thought of as nasty space jumping aliens. Chaos corruption is thought of as a mental disorder.

Lol, just don't ask about tau fluff at the flgs I go to, we do not like the space commies here.

Brother Coa wrote:Ok then, little communism mixed with Indian caste system and Japanese mangas and anime.

You can't actually have a caste system in communism. The whole point is that your not forced into any job. You can do whatever you want and it all works out because of the faerie dust. (Marks never really explains how communism was going to happen. It was like Revolution, socialism, ??? , communism) A caste system forces you into a job.

nomotog wrote:I don't think they are immune to chaos

Doesnt it say specifically that no Tau has ever fallen to Chaos?

Nvm, was wrong.

Wait, whats this about mind-control?

TheAngrySquig wrote:

nomotog wrote:I don't think they are immune to chaos

Doesnt it say specifically that no Tau has ever fallen to Chaos?

As far as we know, no tau have ever fallen to chaos, but they wouldn't know it if it happened. Battlesuit pilots can suffer from a slickness that resembles blood lust, but they consider it a brain disorder.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

TheAngrySquig wrote:Wait, whats this about mind-control?

That Aun exhume almost a magical effect on the tau. The IoM believes it to be a form of mind control.

TheAngrySquig wrote:

nomotog wrote:I don't think they are immune to chaos

Doesnt it say specifically that no Tau has ever fallen to Chaos?

Where?

Chaos corrupts almost everything it can. Tau are of little interest yet, but this can change.
Minions of chaos have shown interest in Tau, as subjects for experiments for example and the Tau are not immune.
Just not tasty enough....

Kroot have fallen to chaos, other allies of the Tau could be of greater interest to chaos than the Tau themselves.

TheAngrySquig wrote:Wait, whats this about mind-control?

As already mentioned, the Aun have a serious control on Tau. To the point that if an Ethereal willed it, a Tau would kill himself on command. This is all in their Codex, I strongly suggest you give it a read, not very good compared to what's out now in terms of content, but it's a fun read.

Brother Coa wrote:Tau are called "Space Commies" because their ideology ( the Grater Good ) is almost identical to Earth communist ideology ( remember: what we saw in USSR and other countries ISN"T communism ), that doesen't mean they are USSR is space.

For their fluff:

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Tau#.Tr77t_SXu7s

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Tau

enjoy.

Very simplistic view of Communism to call it almost identical. Key parts of communism that aren't included is the history of struggle, societal change, and the dialectic.

Anyway I think the coolest way to work with the Tau is the "these guys actually fight semi-smart/realistically" angle. They use high-tech weaponry more down-to-earth and realistic (railguns and drones over psychics or void shields), don't use close the kind of ridiculous combat/melee tactics, have no interest in honor or glory, are highly mobile and professionalized, and use things like electronic warfare. Really, while the Tau do have some unrealistic aspects but they're an actual vision of what armies can fight like some day. You can tell that the Tau scratch their heads at Space Marines riding bikes while waving power swords just as players do.

Another thing people may find attractive about them is they represent hope and progress in a Galaxy wrought with terrors, carnage, and anti-progression. Yes, they're not perfect, but I would much rather be an "average" citizen in the Tau Empire then anywhere else in 40k and I would much rather have my world attacked by the Tau then anyone else in 40k.

So as per playstyle, they don't do close combat well, but they have godlike firepower to make sure that never happens?

TheAngrySquig wrote:So as per playstyle, they don't do close combat well, but they have godlike firepower to make sure that never happens?

In the fluff, yes.

And does this translate to the game?

TheAngrySquig wrote:And does this translate to the game?

It's a 6 year old codex. You score a few good hits before they make it into melee and destroy you. On the upside, S10 AP1 railguns. (Three tanks in three rounds with just one hammerhead.)

So does that mean it's in the pipe for an update?

In brief: The Tau are the emerging power of the 40k Universe, just like the BRICs are in our own. Powerful, willing, just not there yet. And with lots of obstacles to overcome along the way.

The Tau are a relatively young race from the Galactic Eastern Fringes. Massive warpstorms kept their world hidden from hostile eyes as they developed from nomadic hunter-gatherers to an industrial civilization in a mere 6.000 years, a sudden change that can be explained by the unifying influence of the mysterious Ethereals, who ended the bitter internecine wars amongst the Tau castes, binding the race together after the ideal of the Greater Good.

The Greater Good, part manifest destiny, part political philosophy, part religion, dictates a strict social order presided by utilitarian ideas of duty, selflessness and solidarity. Besides the pervasive notion of the Greater Good, Tau society is structured around the four ancient castes, Earth, Wind, Water and Fire. Earth Caste provides the scientists, engineers, workers and builders. The Water Caste is made of diplomats, administrators and traders. The Wind Caste, once that of the messengers and couriers, is now that of pilots and spacefarers. Finally, the Fire Caste is the Tau Empire's military arm. A fifth caste, the Ethereals, rules over the Empire. Ethereals are inspirational figures, lawmakers, leaders and priests, the Greater Good incarnate. An individual tau's caste is determined by birth.

After the warpstorms enveloping their homeworld waned, the Tau set to colonize the nearby worlds, soon carving a small empire of their own. Inevitably, with expansion came conflict. The Tau Empire has survived the onslaught of the Orkish hordes, of a Tyrannid Hive Fleet, of numerous pirates and raiders such as the Noisome Reek or the Dark Eldar of Urien Rakarth, and even fought an ill-prepared Imperial Crusade set to reclaim the worlds of the Damocles Gulf threatened or lost to Tau influence. Despite facing a vastly superior foe, the Tau held ground long enough for the Crusade to reach a standstill, and finally both sides retreated with few to no territorial gain.

Despite their moderate success againt the forces of the Imperium, The Damocles Gulf Crusade proved the Tau are not yet in a position to confront a powerful enemy head-on. Accordingly, they avoid direct confrontation choosing to subtly influence other worlds or races to join the Greater Good instead. Tau forces are known to field alien auxiliaries that help the Fire Caste armies to cope with some known weaknesses or provide specialized support. So far we've been introduced to the carnivore Kroot, who lend the Tau armies much-needed close combat and infiltration capabilities, the Vespid Stingwings, insectoid beings who often act as shock troops, the psychic Nicassar and the enigmatic Demiurg.

A decisive factor in some of these conflicts has been the Tau's technology, surprisingly advanced for such a young race. While it still lags behind the older races, the Tau are a dynamic society and, whether by research or trade, their technological know-how keeps improving. The Tau, however, are not a psychically gifted race, and thus lack any presence in the Warp. Their starships can skim the quieter surface of the Inmaterium, but can't use it to its full extent in the way Imperial vessels can. This severely limits the speed and range in which Tau ships can travel, hampering their expansionist urges and keeping the Empire small - for now.

It is said that the Tau are, either by social design or due to their limited echo in the Warp, impervious to the malignant lures of Chaos. Their society is notably free of rebellion and internal strife. However, there's a recorded case in which a Tau commander, after losing all of his accompanying ethereals during a protracted campaing against the orks, went rogue, severing all ties that bound him and his forces to the Empire and choosing to pursue a way of life declared anathema by the ruling Ethereal Caste. For all his ferocity and brutality in battle, it's still unknown if this Commander Farsight is under some perfidious influence, or if he has just regained freedom after shaking the shackles imposed on his race by the Ethereals.

Long story short: The Tau blend utopian, emergent power, sci-fi, and oriental themes. Their disposition to negotiate, their purely political, material goals, the use of alien allies, their progressive mindset and the fact that, unlike most armies in the 40k 'verse they are able to keep the bloodlust in check, make them an interesting addition to 40k fluff.

BTW, I wrote the above piece without looking at the codex. Please excuse (or politely point out) any inconsistences.

If their on the Galactic East does that mean they do extensive fighting against the BT? Getting blammed by badass space knights isn't really my style

It's actually the Ultramarines who do most of the fighting against the Tau. Dunno if BT are even mentioned.

Still, Space Marines - 10.000 men. Tau - A whole race.