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So if interbreeding across castes is forbidden, then Ethereals would breed with each other (assuming that fact); or would they breed across all the caste as embodiment the Tau race and its traits?

Ethereals interbreed with themselves like most royal families.

Maybe Etherial females don't have boobs but Fire Caste one does?

BluntmanDC wrote:

Commander Ice Shade wrote:

BluntmanDC wrote:[It wouldn't imply a 6th caste it would imply that the castes are divided into workers and breeders, the idea of a 6th caste as breeders falls done on the fact that castes are completely seperate races with their own breeding.

That could be true, but say we have an accomplished fire warrior commander such as Farsight (before he went rogue). Would the Ethereals temporarily call these commanders back to Tau or some other sept world for breeding so that the offspring may have a chance to get whatever genetical traits they inherited?

Well it doesn't have to be Tau, it could be any Tau planet or ship, and depending on how it works a Taus actual involvement could be very minor. Also the idea of soldiers returning from warzones for rest periods isn't that odd seeing as troop rotation is the most effiecient way to maintain combat strenght and moral.

And the Air Caste might dispatch Messenger class ships to shuttle females back and forth for this purpose. It is heavily implied that troop rotation is the norm, as the tau will retreat even from their successes once their advance proceeds beyond what they have rehearsed for. They attack like the ocean: striking, then retreating, gathering strength and striking once more.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

DeffDred wrote:

fact that humans are only part of a small number of species that have sex for pleasure as well as procreation

Humans, Chimps, Dolphins, Pigs and Cainines?

The list is not even that long. Humans, dolphins, and I think another primate apart from chimps. Pigs and canines stick to seasons (at least in females. Males breed whenever there is a willing female). Many mammals do derive physical pleasure from the act, but still only engage in it when procreation is likely.

Warrior Squirrel wrote:My dear fellow boob lovers. Tau do not have breasts. In the Xenology book there is a picture of a bare breasted female Tau ethereal. No boobs at all. Here is a link to the book. You will have to scroll down.

Edit. And I forgot the link...

Here it is
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30152137/Xenology

At the same time though, the castes are all different breeds...

How does it always go from "are there female fw" to"BOOB TAU... BOOB TAU NAO"

I can't look at that picture, but I assume he is telling the truth.

They are different breeds, but if the aun don't have them, I don't think it's likely that others will.

TheAngrySquig wrote:How does it always go from "are there female fw" to"BOOB TAU... BOOB TAU NAO"

Female anything turns into that on the internet


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nomotog wrote:I can't look at that picture, but I assume he is telling the truth.

They are different breeds, but if the aun don't have them, I don't think it's likely that others will.

Probably, I was just presenting an alternative that was a possibility.

The Tau body does not allow boobs. They do not even have breast muscles. Their ribs from rising layers of bone that do not allow boobs.

Ehm, in the picture provided, its chest-cavity is open to the bone. Going by the pictures, we'd have to assume that not only do Tau females not have breasts (a possibility, of course) but also that male Eldar have no genitalia (which we know to be untrue from the notes in this very same book). I note that, also, in the drawing, the Tau has toes, not hooves.

The Magos continues to note that the general Tau appearance and physiology is generally analogous to that of Mankind. I think the drawing is as it is simply to avoid possible censorship/publication issues with real-world organizations that deal with such things.

Psienesis wrote:Ehm, in the picture provided, its chest-cavity is open to the bone. Going by the pictures, we'd have to assume that not only do Tau females not have breasts (a possibility, of course) but also that male Eldar have no genitalia (which we know to be untrue from the notes in this very same book). I note that, also, in the drawing, the Tau has toes, not hooves.

The Magos continues to note that the general Tau appearance and physiology is generally analogous to that of Mankind. I think the drawing is as it is simply to avoid possible censorship/publication issues with real-world organizations that deal with such things.

Well I am fairly sure that tau have feet, not hooves, especially since in Savage Scars it was said that they had large, awkward shoes, and that they had feet.

Yeah, but if you look at a lot of the minis, like these here (best image I could find of Tau feet that's not Fan Art), it heavily implies that they have cloven hooves.

http://www.agisn.de/assets/images/Tau_Col_Var2sm.jpg

Also note their battlesuits all have hoof-like feet. Like the human-made Titans, it could be expected that their design philosophy follows their own biological pattern. Titans are, after all, roughly human-shaped, being giant bipeds with a pair of arms and a head atop their shoulders.

Psienesis wrote:Yeah, but if you look at a lot of the minis, like these here (best image I could find of Tau feet that's not Fan Art), it heavily implies that they have cloven hooves.

http://www.agisn.de/assets/images/Tau_Col_Var2sm.jpg

Also note their battlesuits all have hoof-like feet. Like the human-made Titans, it could be expected that their design philosophy follows their own biological pattern. Titans are, after all, roughly human-shaped, being giant bipeds with a pair of arms and a head atop their shoulders.

Um...the battlesuits all have toes...they're even referred to as toes on the website.

And no that image doesn't. Those can be, and probably are, boots. The same way we wear mittens that only have two spaces (one for four fingers, one for thumb) they probably do the same thing with shoes.

Yeah, but their boots split. Like, "Y", where the \ and / parts are your pointy hoof-bits.

As shown on this battlesuit:

http://www.dignews.com/legacy/screenshots/warhammer_40k_dawn_32.jpg

Or this Fire Warrior:
http://www.anderewelten.de/images/Tau%20Fire%20Warrior.jpg

And this guy obviously has pointy-bits for feet. Even if those are boots, you're not going to have him standing around all day in footwear that kills the user:
http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/5/51/Tau_FireWarrior2.jpg

Your mittens at least keep your fingers all in one place, rather than splitting them into groups of two, with a third bit for your thumb. Split-toe boots, for Tau with toes, would be doing that, which would be both uncomfortable, but also off-balancing... not to mention weird, since the picture doesn't depict them with an opposable toe, so a foot-mitten is out of the question.

Also, given the notes we have on Tau evolution, they're not primates, there's no reason for them to have digits on their feet if they evolved from hoofed herbivores.

Psienesis wrote:Yeah, but their boots split. Like, "Y", where the \ and / parts are your pointy hoof-bits.

As shown on this battlesuit:

http://www.dignews.com/legacy/screenshots/warhammer_40k_dawn_32.jpg

Or this Fire Warrior:
http://www.anderewelten.de/images/Tau%20Fire%20Warrior.jpg

And this guy obviously has pointy-bits for feet. Even if those are boots, you're not going to have him standing around all day in footwear that kills the user:
http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/5/51/Tau_FireWarrior2.jpg

Your mittens at least keep your fingers all in one place, rather than splitting them into groups of two, with a third bit for your thumb. Split-toe boots, for Tau with toes, would be doing that, which would be both uncomfortable, but also off-balancing... not to mention weird, since the picture doesn't depict them with an opposable toe, so a foot-mitten is out of the question.

Also, given the notes we have on Tau evolution, they're not primates, there's no reason for them to have digits on their feet if they evolved from hoofed herbivores.

They were never herbivores.

There is a good reason for all the hunter analogies/symbolism in tau warfare.

And in your third picture it is glaringly obvious that those aren't hooves, not sure why you'd even post that one.

Warrior Squirrel wrote:My dear fellow boob lovers. Tau do not have breasts. In the Xenology book there is a picture of a bare breasted female Tau ethereal. No boobs at all. Here is a link to the book. You will have to scroll down.

Edit. And I forgot the link...

Here it is
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30152137/Xenology

But as you notice in the picture, her chest cavity is dissected/cut open so the breasts would no longer be there. Ergo Tau females have boobs

This topic has taken a turn to the icky... about 3 pages ago.

Boss Baeldakka wrote:

Warrior Squirrel wrote:My dear fellow boob lovers. Tau do not have breasts. In the Xenology book there is a picture of a bare breasted female Tau ethereal. No boobs at all. Here is a link to the book. You will have to scroll down.

Edit. And I forgot the link...

Here it is
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30152137/Xenology

But as you notice in the picture, her chest cavity is dissected/cut open so the breasts would no longer be there. Ergo Tau females have boobs

There is a picture of the Etherial before the dissecation, fully clothed, but wearing an open chested 'shirt' that left the central chest exposed. No bewbs.

Brother Coa wrote:Maybe it is because we are sentient and we like to explore and enjoy while animals cannot?

Have you never seen a cat or a dog to make statements like that?

I know my Cat loves to eat chocolate but I can't imagine her doing Kama-Sutra.,

If you actually check the entire book, you can see the ethereal before the disection bare breasted. SO Tau do not have boobs. Not the question is if they have toes or hooves

On the subject of females in a Tau army, do Kroot have females?

Great White wrote:On the subject of females in a Tau army, do Kroot have females?

Yes, Xenobiology states that captured Kroot is Male.
Maybe we still didn't see any female.

On a side note: is inner-specie breed allowed in Tau Empire? Can a Tau Water Caste be in relationship with Kroot or Vespid?

As long as we are talking about Tau females, even if its "omg bewbz!", I consider us on topic

In terms of do Kroot have females.......good question. My guess is there are, but all kroot look the same so you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. And no, they wouldn't have boobs because they are all muscle and tendons.

Brother Coa wrote:

Great White wrote:On the subject of females in a Tau army, do Kroot have females?

Yes, Xenobiology states that captured Kroot is Male.
Maybe we still didn't see any female.

On a side note: is inner-specie breed allowed in Tau Empire? Can a Tau Water Caste be in relationship with Kroot or Vespid?

If they don't let a Fire Caste breed with a Water Caste I doubt they would allow interspecies breeding.

1.) Kroot females look the same as males. But they smell differently
2.) Inter-species breeding doesn't exist by definition of the word species. You can hump a tree, but there will be no offspring.

Mules would like to disagree with you

anyway, I meant inter-species sex. I suppose I should have clarified.

Tree is not a being made of flesh, and it has no intelligence of any sort.

And if Tau female and Kroot male are in love they can never be together? No matter the sex or kids.

Eatattau is not canon

Well, if Tau view sex purely as a reproductive requirement then I highly doubt they would be interested in a Kroot. Although I could see a humorous angle with an eccentric Earth caste scientist trying to see if cross breeding is possable and his recruitment of 'volenteers'

Brother Coa wrote:Tree is not a being made of flesh, and it has no intelligence of any sort.

And if Tau female and Kroot male are in love they can never be together? No matter the sex or kids.

If a tau was far enough away from a Ethereal for enough time not be be affected by its presence, then I guess then they can be together. Their kid though....well......