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With everything being ratched up to 11 for the possible approaching End Times, where do the Tau stand in all this?

The Orks are brewing a Galactic-scale Waaagh
The Tyranids have possibly colossal numbers of reinforcements coming from every direction
Chaos are breaking out of the Cadian blockade, and demon Primarchs are returning to the field
Necron Tomb worlds are waking up, and deploying War in Heaven-level apocalyptic weaponry
The Imperium could possibly see the return of Loyalist Primarchs, as well as the deployment of forbidden Dark Age of Technology doomsday-level relics
The Eldar are on the verge of birthing a new God, and have access to pre-Fall doomsday tech
The Dark Eldar also have access to pre-Fall doomsday tech

Which leave the Tau where exactly?

What's their all-or-nothing reply to all this escalation? Do they have a secret, apocalypse back-up plan like all the other factions, or are they just going to curl up and die?

They just better keep a low profile, lest an actual empire take an interest in exterminating them and all 4 of their worlds . . .



























































































Seriously though, I'm a Tau collector/player. Love my commy fishes. I just don't see how they could write in anything other than a purely diplomatic approach if the victor were a 'reasonable' Empire. It seems like they'll have to invent some kind of super-tech to survive anything significant (a galactic-level threat that most of the races are on the verge of mustering) from Orks, Nids, or the 'crazy' races imo.

The Tau don't even know the apocalypse is coming.

Tau realize they are screwed and build massive colony ships and board everyone they can with their allies and head out past the Ghoul Stars while everyone's attention is elsewhere.

I think the Tau would pull a 'Fire Of Moscow' on most of there planets and pull every troop the there main core planets and begin fortifying them to try and surive

Given that Tau psychology eschews the value of land, they're far more likely to pack up and leave than they are to try and consolidate their defences.

Tau don't even build permanent walls.

They will spam these until they win


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Col. Dash wrote:
Tau realize they are screwed and build massive colony ships and board everyone they can with their allies and head out past the Ghoul Stars while everyone's attention is elsewhere.

You know that things like Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth live in the Ghoul Stars, right?

Meh, the Ethereals will turn out to be a part of a ploy to turn the Tau into Necrons. A bunch of Necron Tomb Worlds will start fighting over the Tau, and then one will win, and the Ethereals will be like "in order to become the ultimate battleforce of the Greater Good, we will now become the ultimate killing machines, and trade souls with a bunch of monsters. MMkay?". At which point, Farsight will bring his great army out and kick some serious Ethereal ass before getting curbstomped by the Silent King. Then, it'll all turn out to be a part of Alpharius's desperate ploy to kill the Silent King, who is unknowingly soul-bound to the Emperor, and this will kill the Emperor; bringing about the ultimate showdown between Tyranid and Chaos.

 dusara217 wrote:
Meh, the Ethereals will turn out to be a part of a ploy to turn the Tau into Necrons. A bunch of Necron Tomb Worlds will start fighting over the Tau, and then one will win, and the Ethereals will be like "in order to become the ultimate battleforce of the Greater Good, we will now become the ultimate killing machines, and trade souls with a bunch of monsters. MMkay?". At which point, Farsight will bring his great army out and kick some serious Ethereal ass before getting curbstomped by the Silent King. Then, it'll all turn out to be a part of Alpharius's desperate ploy to kill the Silent King, who is unknowingly soul-bound to the Emperor, and this will kill the Emperor; bringing about the ultimate showdown between Tyranid and Chaos.

After the Tyranids finish defeating chaos and conquer the galaxy, the stormlord will remove his Scooby-Doo mask revealing that he was Alpharius all along. 40K canon ends with Alpharius sitting in the empty golden throne and saying "Just as planned."

As much as I love the Tau as they are one of the few 'good guys' in a universe of *****, even if their Ethereal class are also *****, they are out-numbered to such insane proportions.
They are so out-numbered it goes from being funny, through depressing-seriousness, right back to being hysterical once more... they simply can not survive those odds without something galactic shattering.

Part of me fears, if Game Workshop does progress the plot, the Tau Codex may find itself without an update in hopes it becomes 'unplayable' in new Rulesets.

JinxDragon wrote:
As much as I love the Tau as they are one of the few 'good guys' in a universe of *****, even if their Ethereal class are also *****, they are out-numbered to such insane proportions.
They are so out-numbered it goes from being funny, through depressing-seriousness, right back to being hysterical once more... they simply can not survive those odds without something galactic shattering.

Part of me fears, if Game Workshop does progress the plot, the Tau Codex may find itself without an update in hopes it becomes 'unplayable' in new Rulesets.

Tau just need to build a few Death Stars, and they'll be set. Unless they encounter the Replicators. Then they'll be boned.

 dusara217 wrote:

JinxDragon wrote:
As much as I love the Tau as they are one of the few 'good guys' in a universe of *****, even if their Ethereal class are also *****, they are out-numbered to such insane proportions.
They are so out-numbered it goes from being funny, through depressing-seriousness, right back to being hysterical once more... they simply can not survive those odds without something galactic shattering.

Part of me fears, if Game Workshop does progress the plot, the Tau Codex may find itself without an update in hopes it becomes 'unplayable' in new Rulesets.

Tau just need to build a few Death Stars, and they'll be set. Unless they encounter the Replicators. Then they'll be boned.

Completely OT, but I would totally play necrons if they changed their fluff to be the replicators from SG-1 and Atlantis.

You could even retcon them to be the metal men from the Dark age of Tech.


Anyways back on topic. The Tau could survive on virtue of being such a small force in the galaxy. They just need to hide from the big guys long enough until they leave or kill each other off.

Hierophant wrote:


Which leave the Tau where exactly?

What's their all-or-nothing reply to all this escalation? Do they have a secret, apocalypse back-up plan like all the other factions, or are they just going to curl up and die?

"Since failing at fuel collection, the Earth Caste are experimenting with a sun-killer weapon to devastate enemy systems..." Tau Codex pg 20

The Tau are building their own super-weapons, with black-jack and hookers!

No, seriously, it takes three Blackstone Fortresses to do this. If the Tau start mass-producing weapons capable of that (and the Tau are so very capable of quickly mass-producing new technology once its developed) the Tau will be second-place to the Necrons running the Celestial Orrery in terms of super-weapon capability.

Also, considering that the most widely accepted theory on the origin of the Tau is that they were made by the Harlequins, it's possible that in an End Times situation, the Tau might be navigating the Webway better than the Craftworld Eldar or Dark Eldar, thanks to Harlequin allies.

Maybe everyone will forget them and they'll be the only race to survive.

"where did everybody go?"

Something like this

 Psienesis wrote:

Col. Dash wrote:
Tau realize they are screwed and build massive colony ships and board everyone they can with their allies and head out past the Ghoul Stars while everyone's attention is elsewhere.

You know that things like Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth live in the Ghoul Stars, right?

There is a severe difference between Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth.

Tau are the race to finally invent a time machine and go back and reset the whole thing.

Tau have always reminded me of the people of cricket from hitch hikers guide to the galaxy. Maybe they can develop a slow time field for their empire and 'disappear' until it's all over.

Hierophant wrote:
The Eldar are on the verge of birthing a new God

Wait, what?


To be honest, the Tau's main problem is their speed of travel. If they invented a very fast mode of transport it may give them the tactical advantage they need to make big gains in Galactic terms.

Righteousrob wrote:
Tau are the race to finally invent a time machine and go back and reset the whole thing.

At least one Necron has already mastered time travel.

Mellow wrote:Wait, what?


To be honest, the Tau's main problem is their speed of travel. If they invented a very fast mode of transport it may give them the tactical advantage they need to make big gains in Galactic terms.

Ynnead, Eldar god of the dead, who would (hopefully) be able to neutralise Slaanesh.

Even if the Tau did develop faster interstellar travel they're probably too late and too small to be able to become a galactic player.

Hierophant wrote:
With everything being ratched up to 11 for the possible approaching End Times, where do the Tau stand in all this?

I would say their tech and energy source research may be ratcheted up quite a bit in the coming codex. If they're about to field a "Titan" and the riptide has been out long enough I'm guessing the reactor technology is going to updated to be really impressive and like nothing anyone in the Imperium/Chaos are capable of.

Their numbers could be augmented by auxiliaries; I would go for several hundred disillusioned Imperial worlds joining them and giving them a major boost in Gue'vesa infantry but there hasn't been much of rumors about Gue'vesa models in a very long time so I'm thinking now GW may want to move away from it (I love the idea personally).

Their transportation abilities are an issue also but if need be it could be explained away by tech (Eldar type webway tech for example).

Then again I wonder if they don't just get left out of the fray for a while and the fluff of this codex and coming campaigns focuses on the inevitable conflict between the Empire and Enclaves.

Yeah I know its the thing of nightmares out there but its the area of space I want explored, so lets send the Tau out in massive colony ships and get fluff written about it.

Keep in mind that the tau have advanced more than any of the races in their given timeline. They are capable of much more than the other races let on. Who knows, GW might bring them up a notch with cloning, and having cloning machines on the battlefield to grow in population. OR they may be looked upon by some 'good' god, and provided powers, daemons, etc of their own. There are so many possibilities, they could even begin controlling the tyranids through some sort of technology. They have progressed this far, who says it can't happen