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http://www.natfka.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/space-marines-vs-tau-gaming-set.html

So theres been talk that Tau are coming this year and are possibly connected to a campaign ala Shield of Baal.

IMO I think they really should get new models for Shadowsun and Aun Va. atm they're finecast and only available via the webstore despite both characters being very prominent in recent tau lore (esp Shadowsun)

They could bring out stuff for this fabled Kroot Mercenaries Codex. Personally I am not a fan of that idea; just never been interested in the kroot and feels like it should be its own thing like Harlequins rather than tied to a specific faction campaign.


Aside from that, maybe a bigger version of the Riptide....

Just joking.


Redoing the XV8s seems like such a given. If any kit was to be redone it would be them. The kit does show its age and is ridiculously simplistic compared to the Broadside for example.

Anyone have any other ideas?


As for the fluff of the rumoured campaign. I don't think they would make a campaign about an event that's already happened. Both Shield of Baal and Stormclaw were new camapigns and they were deliberately vague where they were mentioned in the codexes. So that rules out them doing the Damocles Gulf Crusade or the battle of Agrellan or the Ziost Campaign involving the Ultramarines. Since both of those stories were set up as "end times" scenarios I can only assume that this one will follow the same pattern. So, its probably going to be set after the Battle for Agrellan and during the Third Sphere Expansion. For those of you that don't know, the Warzone Damocles book ends with the Imperium bloodying the Third Sphere Expansion and wounding Shadowsun. In the Astra Militarum codex it mentions specifically that a vast Imperial counter attack is being organized to crush the Tau Empire.

Now, its not impossible that they would just have another tau assault occur, which would suck as it would be a repeat of Warzone Damocles with the tau aggressors being beaten by the plucky human heroes. Which is what has happened in every prior campaign so far. IMO the best thing they could do and the thing I hope GW does is follow on from the Agrellan story by saying how this, essentially Second Damocles Gulf Crusade unfolds. Have the Imperium invade the heart of the Tau Empire in overwhelming strength. Basically, have the Tau be the good guys and the ones facing impossible odds instead of the Imperium for a change. Otherwise, as I said above it will be a repeat of Warzone Damocles. They can then maybe add whatever twist they want ie Chaos shows up, kroot show up etc

Also, some people speculated that the special character in such a boxed set would be a generic stelth commander. I don't think they would do that. All the other special characters have been limited edition varients of generic HQ choices. So IMO an ethereal (my money on this) or Fireblade is most likely although a tau commander would be good. I doubt that they would release shadowsuns new model as part of the campaign box because of the limited edition status of the campaign box..

I'd love to see a new Firewarriors kit with options for (gasp) Ion Rifles and Rail Rifles.

After that, Vespid could use something new and so could Aun'Va.

For new and out if the blue, I'd love there to be a transport flyer or perhaps an IFV version of the Devilfish (ie a Tau Razorback). I'd also like to see a light battlesuit with stats similar to a non-sneaky stealth suit in fast attack or maybe troops.

To be honest though, I can't see a lot of room for new Tau units. Since the Tau don't play the Psychic or Assault game. There is lots of shooting already.

New XV8, plastic Vespid, Enforcer (or other HQ suit), Krootox and Hounds. Maybe also new Kroot kit with options for winged Kroot. Tau range is relatively complete but there is lots of stuff they could/should replace with plastic.

Oh and new flyer which doesn't look terrible.

Riptide in a Riptide.

A bunch of Riptides that combine together to form a very large Riptide. They can then summon a blazing energy sword.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Actually I would love for them to get rid of Riptides altogether, as I feel they contradict the whole Tau aesthetic, but this wouldn't be very fair to all the people who bought models and like them.

A Crisis Suit strapped to the front of an even bigger Crisis Suit. Almost like a dad with a baby strapped to his chest.

...Wait who am I kidding. That would look ridiculous.

Anything still metal, probably. I believe a new cool Ethereal model will show up.

As for units... dunno. I don't think this will be a new codex, but just a campaign with a battle box - I really expect a LOT of formations, though.

Jefffar wrote:
I'd love to see a new Firewarriors kit with options for (gasp) Ion Rifles and Rail Rifles.

FWs with Ion or Rail Rifles? Oh my!

Theirs actually precedent for Fire Warrior squads completely equipped with Rail Rifles according to the rail rifles munitorum page saying that special squads of fire warriors alongside pathfinders are field testing it to replace the pulse rifle.

As someone who recently picked up some Firewarriors, they definitely need a new kit. The old one, while fairly well detailed, is so utterly lacking in options it's sad. And a lot of the parts don't even fit well together like the weapons and support hands.

A lot of the conversions I did to them were just to get the weapons and hands to line up properly.

No I think they will redo the codex. Its 6th edition, theres been a lot of noise about the dex being imbalanced compared to other non-elder armies.

Not that the nid treatment is impossible its just unlikely.

Oh the Etherial is still finecast? Yeah then defo good chance of that. Although if they did a generic clampack then they wouldn't make a special version in the starter deck. As a rule of thumb they keep new stuff out of the bundle campaign boxes. Hence why nids and angels got none of their new units included in Deathstorm.

 Totalwar1402 wrote:
No I think they will redo the codex. Its 6th edition, theres been a lot of noise about the dex being imbalanced compared to other non-elder armies.

Not that the nid treatment is impossible its just unlikely.

Oh the Etherial is still finecast? Yeah then defo good chance of that. Although if they did a generic clampack then they wouldn't make a special version in the starter deck. As a rule of thumb they keep new stuff out of the bundle campaign boxes. Hence why nids and angels got none of their new units included in Deathstorm.

This would imply GW actually listens/cares about what the players have to say. Since they allocate no funds to any kind of market research AFAIK (based on their financial statements), unless GW executives read 40k forums in their free time, they don't.

There are a couple older codexes than Tau, so I have a hard time seeing why they wouldn't update those first.

LordBlades wrote:

 Totalwar1402 wrote:
No I think they will redo the codex. Its 6th edition, theres been a lot of noise about the dex being imbalanced compared to other non-elder armies.

Not that the nid treatment is impossible its just unlikely.

Oh the Etherial is still finecast? Yeah then defo good chance of that. Although if they did a generic clampack then they wouldn't make a special version in the starter deck. As a rule of thumb they keep new stuff out of the bundle campaign boxes. Hence why nids and angels got none of their new units included in Deathstorm.

This would imply GW actually listens/cares about what the players have to say. Since they allocate no funds to any kind of market research AFAIK (based on their financial statements), unless GW executives read 40k forums in their free time, they don't.

There are a couple older codexes than Tau, so I have a hard time seeing why they wouldn't update those first.

I don't think the execs exert any sway over what's in the codexs. That's the design team, and I'm sure at least some of them are on forums and such, as you have to be a massive 40k nerd to want to design it for your job.

 Co'tor Shas wrote:

LordBlades wrote:

 Totalwar1402 wrote:
No I think they will redo the codex. Its 6th edition, theres been a lot of noise about the dex being imbalanced compared to other non-elder armies.

Not that the nid treatment is impossible its just unlikely.

Oh the Etherial is still finecast? Yeah then defo good chance of that. Although if they did a generic clampack then they wouldn't make a special version in the starter deck. As a rule of thumb they keep new stuff out of the bundle campaign boxes. Hence why nids and angels got none of their new units included in Deathstorm.

This would imply GW actually listens/cares about what the players have to say. Since they allocate no funds to any kind of market research AFAIK (based on their financial statements), unless GW executives read 40k forums in their free time, they don't.

There are a couple older codexes than Tau, so I have a hard time seeing why they wouldn't update those first.

I don't think the execs exert any sway over what's in the codexs. That's the design team, and I'm sure at least some of them are on forums and such, as you have to be a massive 40k nerd to want to design it for your job.

I am however pretty sure the decision on whivh codex gets released next is taken at a higher level than game designers.

Probably. Although I'm sure people who know more about the game are asked their opinion.

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:
As someone who recently picked up some Firewarriors, they definitely need a new kit. The old one, while fairly well detailed, is so utterly lacking in options it's sad. And a lot of the parts don't even fit well together like the weapons and support hands.

The details are also pretty damn soft now, I found, comparing them to some bits I had left over from some kits that dated back to 3rd/4th edition.

 Co'tor Shas wrote:
Probably. Although I'm sure people who know more about the game are asked their opinion.

To which they might get an answer like ' I'm sure the new Necron codex will be TOTALLY fine in the context of other 7th edition books'.

IMO GW has consistently proven they either are clueless about the balance state of the game, they don't care about it, or both.