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Hi I want to paint my tau (when I get them next week) Black and white with a brown wash but I dont want to affect the gameplay of it, reason for this is the other tau schemes look too trick with the yellows but black seems easier, Does my scheme affect the game?
Thanks in advance

Not sure what you mean. I don't think there are any colors "reserved" that indicate special units or abilities. Paint away!

The effect it has is if your models blend too well with the terrain and you forget to use them on any given phase.

The only other difference is how good it looks to your opponent. Bright reds or greens for lenses will look great without a huge amount of work.

Side note: I tend to color different types of weapons different from each other but in a consistant way (plasma=green, LC or PW = Blue) so it is easy for me and my opponent to figure out what all the various weapons are.

Color scheme has nothing to do with rules, no matter what some people may tell you.

You could paint them hot pink and it wouldn't make a difference, what matters is only the model.

First of all, welcome to 40k OP! Tau were my first army too. Check out advancedtautactica and google other Tau tactic sites for some tips on army builds that work well

To answer your question, colour scheme does not affect your units rules or affect you being allowed to use them. How you paint your minis is down to you (well except Orks and Red Wunz Go Fasta)

Color scheme has nothing to do with rules, no matter what some people may tell you.

You could paint them hot pink and it wouldn't make a difference, what matters is only the model.

This. if you're into the story and fluff of an army, then you might stick to a traditional color scheme. Then again, you might create something different in line with said fluff and storyline. It doesn't matter at the end of the day, as long as you're happy with it.

Painting does make the models easier to see on the board though, and more fun to play with!

I would paint your tau clear so that they become invisible. That means they get the Stealth special rule in game. If you can find paint that makes your models invisibile let me know because I have been looking for it for a long time but have not found it. Probably because the paint jar holding the invisible paint is also invisible.

Feel free to paint them however you like. The studio paints models in studio colours, but there is no limit on what you can create with your own colour palette.

Even playing a 'standard' army, Ultramarines for example, doesn't prevent you from painting them red, purple, yellow, etc, etc. The rules are the same, the painting is always a guideline to follow, not a rule.

Thanks guys for the answers! Its helpful I was only concerned about this as I found out about the red wunz rule I wondered wether it tau were similar.