Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey, I'm relatively new to the whole tabletop thing, although I'm fairly well-versed with the lore, but reading up on the Tau, I'm not really sure what to think of them. It seems they constantly shift between various things.

Sometimes, they're a Federation-type organization, with no need for money, diplomacy and an alliance with other species, the only truly good faction here.

Other times, the Tau are this Ultra-Left Communist faction, where the ruling Ethereal happily brainwash the rest of the Empire, the rights of the individual mean nothing and everyone's value is their efficiency, but at least here they're not xenophobic, just as the USSR wasn't racist.

Sometimes, it's the British Empire reborn, where the highly advanced Tau spread to preach their superior ideals, letting other races joining them but treating them as second-hand citizens inherently inferior to Tau, with talk of forced sterilization and not letting auxiliary species gain power.

While not everything about these three views is contrary, a lot of it is. Are other species in the empire valued for their efficiency just as a Tau would be, or are they seen as inferior? Is the Tau just another faction of Grimdark, or are they a potential candle of hope in the darkness of 40k?

Really, I'd like to ask what is the Tau Empire in the most recent lore and which of the three it's leaning towards, and secondly in your opinion, what should the Tau Empire be? Do you think they're better as a vaguely Asian Communist regime, an expanding, racist Empire, a bright Federation of good or something else?

It depends entirely on who does the writing. If you have read anything about the background lore of the setting, Tau are effectively humans from before the fall of technology. 'S every problem can be solved with Technology!' sort of feel to it.

As for the different views of the Tau Empire? If you had no knowledge of the United States, would you think that the Guards of Guantanamo, the bayou boys, the Bostonian Brahmin, and the Amish all self identify as American?

Personally I see the Tau as a Fascist Empire with strong Utilitarianism ideology. The Tau empire puts its race first with the manifest destiny goal to spread their race and ideology across the galaxy. They are diplomatic and will work with other races but the #1 goal isn't equal representation of all member of the Empire (like a federation) but to primarily spread the Tau race while sharing limited tech and resources with their xenos allies. Its common to see the Tau described as Communist but really its from that considering the Tau have a very distinct caste system which basically divide the Tau into sub races and breeding across the castes is strictly forbidden. The Ethereals are considered the supreme ruling caste and the other members of the Tau race will fanatically fight and die to protect Ethereal life. Communism is a society without class and the Tau caste system is ideologically the polar opposite of a communism society. Their focus on the society as a whole over individual goals or desires isn't inherently Communist but fits with Utilitarianism. Also the Tau have a whole thought/mind control thing going on where the Ethereal's have this subjugating effect on the other Tau. This sort of thought control and a ruling class gives a sort of Nineteen Eighty-Four vibe to their society.

Fascism often plays upon the notion of nationalism, ideology, and racial superiority which are cornerstones of the Tau's Greater Good. The Tau are not above using military might to subjugate worlds or to eliminate those which do not conform to their ideology. The Tau's focus on minimizing waste and loses is why diplomacy is first attempted because a few years of negotiations or political manipulation is far less draining on the Empire's resources than launching a full force military invasion. A federation of equals would see a mix of races fighting together instead of non racially Tau allies being used in auxiliary reserves and using their own racial equipment, weapons, and armor instead of the tech that the Tau uses. Little is known of what the day to day life of a Tau is like but there is little evidence of dissent or political turmoil in the Tau population and even less (reliable) information is know of life for non Tau living in the Empire. What can be determined is that as the Tau Empire grows it is the Tau race that colonize new worlds and little is seen of the races that are conquered by the Tau.

It's important to keep in mind that almost all 40k lore (especially if it's from a codex) is presented through propaganda, half-truths, and biases. From the Tau's perspective, and the perspective of their loyal human followers, the Tau are the great saviors, uniting as many species as possible towards a brighter future. From the Imperium's broader perspective, the Tau are a terrible, brainwashing movement who turn unsuspecting humans away from the light of the God-Emperor. From the Kroot's perspective, they respect and appreciate having the Tau around, but understand that they, and human followers may be kept isolated from the rest of the Tau.

In addition, you're going to get variations and imbalances between all of those themes depending of the particular Sept in question. Each Sept is led by different Ethereals who may have different interpretations of the Greater Good, as well as having a different mix of Tau castes, and facing different problems, making some modus operandi more appropriate than others.

Like a great deal of things in 40k, the correct answer is, "It depends on the world."

Yeah, on the face of it the Tau are the ultimate Communist ideal; everyone obligingly accepts their predetermined role in society and the resulting progress is both hard-won and morally perfect.

However, nowhere are crime and dissent statistics explored, so we have no real way of knowing how successful the Tau model of civilisation really is.

And I suspect this is the point of their inclusion. I've heard people call them 'not Grimdark enough' and 'too utopian' for the 40k universe, but for me it's the very lack of an apparent dark side that highlights the inherent dubiousness of less extreme real-world examples and generates genuine self-criticism in all who view it with reflexive, unfounded suspicion.

Is the success of the Tau really too good to be true, or are we simply so jaded and bitter that we can't accept a genuinely good thing? And, more to the point, does this incredulous response betray our own incurable unsuitability for inclusion in such a society?

It's this sort of moral intrigue that makes the 40k universe such a great thing.