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Just wandering how Tau negoiations work out, did they try to negoiat with tyrinids, chaos or orks because none of those would go well but then the imperium would probly exacute the ambassidors for alien heresy and could they
even find the eldar to communicate with.
Just want to know storys, facts etc.

I know they communicate with the iom there is a pic out there of a sm and some old guy talking with a tau fire warrior.

So the iom wouldn't just kill them I guess but maybe that depends who they are... A xenos inquisitor maybe will?

Well I'm pretty sure they don't negotiate with chaos or nids as even they aren't that naive.
They do negotiate with the Imperium a lot even during war, basically to bide time and get reinforcements not because of the actual subjects they debate during negotiations. As they know that the Imperium is quite larger then their empire although they don't realize the full extend of it and believe them selves a real threat to it.
The eldar I just can't see bothering to even consider "The Greater Good" as something more than naive idea coming from a child.


Edit: LOL 100th post and I'm also a Xeno Interrogator now sweet, come at me tau I just want to negotiate... WITH MY TORTURE DEVICES MUAHAHAHA!

They did have some talks with dark eldar, but they ended up going poorly.

Fact: orks take what they want, so why negotiate? Orks were available as mercs once, to 'umies that is. Tau are too weak....especially in HtH, the one decisive way to settle things ork would respect.

Fact: Tau met Necrons when those awakened and the Necrons got rid of the Tyranids there first. Fits with the new Crons vs nids fluff.
The second step was to get rid of the Tau, who welcomed the Necrons with a party.... Generally Necrons deem themselves above most of the species in this Galaxy and rarely negotiate at all. When they do, its on their terms and IIRC Necrons talk to humans but annihilate a lot the other races out there, be it orks and Eldar as former minions of the old ones or young races like the Tau.

Fact: Tyranids do not negotiate. Why should they talk with their food? They have just one purpose and thats to assimilate the whole biomass they can find.

Fact: Chaos surely negotiates..... but fore now, chaos rarely met Tau ( as far as the background tells us ) . Chaos most likely has something to offer. Would the Tau go for this offer? Without a new direction of their fluff, Tau are naive enough to get tricked but most likely have no interest in the real offer the ruinous "powers" could make. So Tau may find themselves on the "wrong" side if there is such thing as a pick of sides..
Fabius bile for example "borrowed" a Tau colony and "improved" it. Tau survivors = zero.


Fact: Eldar aren't against negotiations but are too focused on their own gain to be a good partner... Eldar are renown for temporary alliances.
Also for changing sides mid-battle...
The darker kind of Eldar, negotiated with the Tau. They offered help against the Tyranids ( nwhich most likely had their course on no way altered by DE to get there...) for a price. A price in blood to pay.. the Tau realizing to late what they had agreed on as the DE cannot be trusted.
Lots of fun for DE.. slaves....


Fact: The IoM and the Tau have met. Negotiations aplenty... and lots of flying bullets... so its an uneasy peace usually. Tau aren't understanding what the IoM is, and the Imperials consider purge the xenos a solution to every problem. Both can go along...for a while.
The Tau just don't know their place and piss regulary on Big E's lawn. Until his greenkeepers show up and scare the "kids" off, again.
Basically the Tau and the IoM will never deem themselves wrong in any instance and thus negotiations are futile.
( except of those of the rogue traders maybe, who got a bit more flexibility and may have a chance for a few successful negotiations ).



In summary:
Tau have a bad "friend/foe" recognition.
They seem to do well with small and young species. The major powers however, aren't so interested in their offerings.

The Tau are mentioned to have given up trying to negotiate with Orks. They're fed up with them and finally convinced the Orks will never accept the Greater Good.

At first glance, the Tau would have figured that negotiating with the Tyranids would be impossible. It's like trying to negotiate with a lion that's about to eat you.

The Tau did try to negotiate with the Necrons in their first encounter back in 4th Edition. Basically the Necrons killed a bunch of Tyranids and the Tau sent Ethereals out to greet the landing Necrons as their saviors. The Necrons emerged from their vessels and gunned down the entire cheering crowd. Keep in mind however that these were the Oldcrons, cold and remorseless machines seeking only to end organic life. The Newcrons can very much be negotiated with and are defined by a deep sense of honor, so they wouldn't do something so "dishonorable" as that kind of surprise massacre. The latest White Dwarf even mentions that a key Necron ideal in battle is to never strike an unprepared or surprised enemy, as victory without honor is meaningless.

There's really not much in the way of Chaos-Tau interaction, but it's safe to say the Water Caste officials wouldn't meet a pleasant fate there either.

So tau negoiation is rather arrogannt but never the less well meaning.
I should also add its generally futile.

Agamenmon wrote:So tau negoiation is rather arrogannt but never the less well meaning.
I should also add its generally futile.

If the race has a codex, it's fairly futile. It works best on minor races.

Not even the Tau are so naive as to try and negotiate with Chaos, Tyranids, Dark Eldar, or Orks.

Tau-Imperial relations are a mix of gunboat diplomacy and economic warfare for the Tau, and subterfuge, assassination, and covert-ops for the Imperium. There was that Tau Commander who was assassinated by the Imperium with assistance from the Water Caste, can't really remember who, but apparently neither side wants to aggravate a conflict. The Imperium has more important matters to deal with, while the Tau are digging in after a few confrontations with the Tyranids. Negotiations with the Eldar might be possible only if the Eldar send emissaries. Craftworlds are inviolate to non-Eldar after all, and if even the Imperium prefers to avoid them whenever possible, I doubt the Tau wouldn't do the same. As for Necrons, I don't think they have a reason to negotiate. What could the Tau offer them? Necron technology is millions of years ahead of everyone else, with the Eldar a pale shadow of what they once were, there's no faction who can rival the Necron's technological superiority.

I know somewhere in Tau fluff it states that several of the races are not welcome in their Empire at all.

E.G. Orks, Nids, Chaos.

IMO the Tau will normally try negotiations but have learnt the hard way that some can not be reasoned with: Orks and Tryanids are the main ones - the codex does say they ckept trying with Orks but have now given up - I would think same with Tryanids.

They don't really understand Chaos and so depending on the approach may try to negotiate - Some Chaos Worshipers may on occassion indulge them to allow Cults to try and take root......

They will likely to continue to try with the Imperium, Necrons, Eldar - its unlikely they fully realise that the Eldar and Dark Eldar are not the same - Imperial Commanders often confuse them.