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But they do, as do Ethereals. Just looks at the art/models in the codex... They all have the same type of hooves as well...

FR33Kandy wrote:But they do, as do Ethereals. Just looks at the art/models in the codex... They all have the same type of hooves as well...

You mean the one model shown that "could" be barefoot?

There is nothing to say that the Tau dont wear protective footwear.

Horse shoes?

Making up things left and right doesn't help you:

Official Ethereal model Aun'Shi with hooves and no shoes:

I thought he was "retconned" out of the codex.

To the contrary. He is mentioned several times only his profile was pulled, though it is rumored the 6th ed codex will include him again. However his model is still in full production amd counts as an ethereal with honor blade, and therefore cannon. But even without him.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Tau/TAU-ACCESSORIES/TAU-AIR-CASTE-GROUND-CREW.html

There is not one model in production or drawing outside of xenology that supports a theory of divergently hooved or other wise footed Tau.

FR33Kandy wrote:To the contrary. He is mentioned several times only his profile was pulled, though it is rumored the 6th ed codex will include him again. However his model is still in full production amd counts as an ethereal with honor blade, and therefore cannon. But even without him.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Tau/TAU-ACCESSORIES/TAU-AIR-CASTE-GROUND-CREW.html

There is not one model in production or drawing outside of xenology that supports a theory of divergently hooved or other wise footed Tau.

Ah yes... those beautiful air caste models with those awesome winged membranes to help them... wait a minute....

Anywho I've already made all these arguments like 3 months ago.

It comes down to personal preferance. I don't really care about Tau feet... or Tau in general for that matter.

I think they were a huge mistake and have no place in the 40k universe. But that's just my opinion. Feel free to have your own.

Something I never quite understood about 40k fans... They can claim not to care and yet vehemently defend a position on them in an argument spanning several days...

Every army has its target player. I will never understand the appeal of playing Nids, but they weren't ment for me. I like the idea of a general leading an army believing he is helping people in his conquest, however misguided that may be. Yet Nids are an army with no free will, the very thought of playing them bores me just out of the lack of factory options.

We all have our target armies, that one army that calls us to it. If you are not a Tau player, then I ask you why do you give a damn about our army. It is after all our army, and we should be the ones that decide how our fluff should be interpreted as it matters most to us. Hell I have no opinion on anyone else's fluff, I just want to fight for the greater good.

Besides if Gw has any business sense they will not endorse the pheromone concept as it is obvious that most Tau players do not like it (this poll as evidence) and they will lose money if they do not pander to those that buy the models.

Melissia wrote:Pheremones combined with ingrained sociological/psychological control.

I don't know if it is explicitly pheromones, but there is some kind of external influence at work. The initial story of the Ethereals has them showing up, and somehow magically ending all of the strife between the warring factions and that the Tau were unable to resist them. Something is at work. The social conditioning and propaganda came later and is what helps them control the greater Empire on a day to day basis.

Besides if Gw has any business sense they will not endorse the pheromone concept as it is obvious that most Tau players do not like it (this poll as evidence) and they will lose money if they do not pander to those that buy the models.

Dakkadakka.com is not the end-all-be-all of internet opinion.

In truth we Dakkaites are viewed as the "whiney cry-babies" of online tabletop gaming forums.

No offence to... us.

It would seem to be the prevailing sentiment on advancedtautactical.com, tauonline, and 40forums.com as well... Though I see no active polls there, it would seem that there is a majority position on Tau society held by the Tau gaming community.

But hey I thought you didn't care.

DeffDred wrote:

In truth we Dakkaites are viewed as the "whiney cry-babies" of online tabletop gaming forums.

Things suddenly make sooooo much more sense.

DeffDred wrote:In truth we Dakkaites are viewed as the "whiney cry-babies" of online tabletop gaming forums.

That's why they call our forum Whineseer ... wait

Veteran Sergeant wrote:The initial story of the Ethereals has them showing up, and somehow magically ending all of the strife between the warring factions and that the Tau were unable to resist them.

I don't think that is a literal account so much as a "this is how the revolution started" type of patriotic nostalgia.

Kinda hard to cherry pick what is and isn't literal. The book says they were magically unable to resist for whatever reason.

If it was described in a fluff story from a first person or focused third person perspective, then sure, it's open to interpretation. We're talking about how it was written in the non-narrated description of the book. It doesn't say "Stories are told" or "It is said" or something else that leaves ambiguity.

Third person narratives are less reliable than mythic summaries? May I ask what you think of the Horus Heresy series? I do agree that we can't say "this is propaganda but that is history" regarding the Codex. But this is a thread about preference rather than "canon" anyway. I just wanted to point out that the story did not have to be taken literally in order to make sense.

Limited perspective narratives are fine if they are describing first hand accounts. We can take Loken's battle with Abaddon as fact because it's being described as it's happening, from Loken's perspective. Now, at the same time if the story is being described by some third party, hundreds of years later, saying "It is said that Loken and Abaddon squared off in a duel to the death", then the story is open to interpretation.

What we're seeing in the Tau book is an account being described as it happened. It isn't a Tau historian saying that "there's a myth that this is how it went down."

I mean, sure, every story is up to interpretation, but it's somewhat difficult to suggest that things presented as fact are suddenly unreliable, because that then makes everything in the book unreliable.

So how about the following:

The legislators who wrote the Fourteenth Amendment would insure that racism could never again be institutionalized in the United States.

Would you say that is "an account being described as it happened" or "open to interpretation."

Tau codex starts whith : Greetings commader.
guees what prospective has....
and they HAD to acept the Etherials as he said that HE HAD AUTORITY. they believed him bs he was vere well-spoken.

Pada wrote:Tau codex starts whith : Greetings commader.

Isn't that under the heading "why collect a Tau army" or something similar? I don't think that sentence implies what you think it implies.

its showns that is from tau prospective. it says that ofc bs it has do to it in same way as games got tauriotals and so on. they must be there. but the general idea is that is going to refer to a Tau commader

Um, if the message is "Commander -- buy more toys at GW.com!" then I don't think we can say that's a meaningful Tau perspective.

Kroothawk wrote:

DeffDred wrote:Entire BL publication backing that claim? Check.

Fictional completely mad character speculating this reading cryptic evidence? Check. (Xenology)

Are you refering to Simon Spurrier or the narrator?

Also the book isn't entirely from the Narrators perspective.

Much of the book is "pict-images" and "notes" written by other characters.

And other characters "sign off" on the work of the Magos Biologis.

Manchu wrote:

Veteran Sergeant wrote:The initial story of the Ethereals has them showing up, and somehow magically ending all of the strife between the warring factions and that the Tau were unable to resist them.

I don't think that is a literal account so much as a "this is how the revolution started" type of patriotic nostalgia.

I stongly disagree with that. That's not the way it's portrayed in the codices. In the 'dex the Etherals suddenly appear and save the Tau from themselves. It's even inferred that the Etherals have an alien origin (alien to the Tau that is). It's like a switch was flipped from that point on in Tau history.

You really have to go out of your way to explain that it wasn't the fact the Etherals have some sort of psyiological effect on the other Tau. You have to ignore what's on the page.

Furthermore, why go down this road? They're the first race to evolve post-heresy and get it's own codex. Most are wiped out. That's because the Tau are special, they didn't just get lucky and what makes them special is The Etherals. That's been their ace in the hole.

Manchu wrote:Um, if the message is "Commander -- buy more toys at GW.com!" then I don't think we can say that's a meaningful Tau perspective.

ok you got right to this.

but i found one better proof from the Co dex : for the loyalty of the Fire caste was not sure as it had once been, whith many of its warriors openly proclaiming their support for the renegate Commader Farshith.Whith O'Shovah breakway from the Tau Empire,his deeds have, despite the best attepts of the Etherials , caused a schism among the Fire Warriors of the Tau

so... they CHOOSE to follow the Etherials

KamikazeCanuck wrote:That's not the way it's portrayed in the codices.

I think I have already demonstrated otherwise. Please see my example of a text about the Fourteenth Amendment above. "History" as an account is a just another perspective, not the necessarily the literal truth.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:You have to ignore what's on the page.

By all means, find me that page and post the page number. I have read Codex: Tau Empire pretty carefully and I am positive that what you're saying is merely an inference.


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Pada wrote:so... they CHOOSE to follow the Etherials

Awesome point then!

If some Tau living in the Empire under the Ethereals express sympathy with Farsight then we have some evidence that Tau are not biochemically brain-washed into obedience.

also is posible that Etherial's word are the "cure" for Chaos!

see that thought : Farshitg is corupted whith chaos for the reasons :
1) Daemonic blade he wields in combat
2) his long life
3) his capital planet once housed a large population of heretics and mutants, ruled over by the Alpha Legion. The planet was cleansed by the Scythes of the Emperor.
so maybe whithout indivitualism there isnt Chaos Gods?!?

Alpha legion are less chaos more space marines using chaos though... Always thought alpha legion would be natural allies of the Tau. Their plan is after all to defeat chaos by killing all humans, the combined psychic presence of whom keeps the eye of terror open.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also alpha legion are working for the Eldar.

Pada wrote:Farshitg is corupted whith chaos for the reasons

Farshit eh?
Chaos is beginning to grow, it starts warping the spelling already

Manchu wrote:

KamikazeCanuck wrote:That's not the way it's portrayed in the codices.

I think I have already demonstrated otherwise. Please see my example of a text about the Fourteenth Amendment above. "History" as an account is a just another perspective, not the necessarily the literal truth.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:You have to ignore what's on the page.

By all means, find me that page and post the page number. I have read Codex: Tau Empire pretty carefully and I am positive that what you're saying is merely an inference.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Pada wrote:so... they CHOOSE to follow the Etherials

Awesome point then!

If some Tau living in the Empire under the Ethereals express sympathy with Farsight then we have some evidence that Tau are not biochemically brain-washed into obedience.

At least there is something to infer. To go the opposite way you'd need something that points in that direction too.

Expressing sympathy is not the same as defecting. The only Tau not following the orders of the Etherals are the ones with no Etherals around. In fact, iirc what caused Farsight to go rogue was the death of the Etheral assigned to him.

Let me try to put this in order:

Manchu wrote:I have read Codex: Tau Empire pretty carefully and I am positive that what you're saying is merely an inference.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:At least there is something to infer. To go the opposite way you'd need something that points in that direction too.

Manchu wrote:If some Tau living in the Empire under the Ethereals express sympathy with Farsight then we have some evidence that Tau are not biochemically brain-washed into obedience.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Expressing sympathy is not the same as defecting. The only Tau not following the orders of the Etherals are the ones with no Etherals around. In fact, iirc what caused Farsight to go rogue was the death of the Etheral assigned to him.

We don't need an outright defection. Mind control would render sympathy with Farsight's views impossible because it's, you know, mind control.