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"True Crisis" defined here on the level of something like a Black Crusade or an Armageddon-style Waaaaagh!

In other words, have we ever really seen the Tau as a society forced into a situation where they are pushed to the very limit? Or does its..."geopolitical" placement prevent it from experiencing such things at this time?

They have had WAAAGHs and DE world-fongings happen, but nothing on that scale that i know of.


Probably because if they did, the Empire would roll up like a carpet. It's not that big, and quite close-spaced.

The gulf crusade was quite a crisis at the time.

The Mont'au times of course. This crisis actually formed the society, Tau have today.

In codex orks they now have a full scale waaagh coming at them, that may be a large threat

I disagree that the Damocles Crusade was a serious threat. The Imperials were completely bogged down in the outer rim of the Tau Empire. If they had put a lot more forces into it, yeah, it would have been a crisis but not the way it actually manifested.

The Tyranids are really the only true "crisis" imo. They've dealt with Orks for a while now and it doesn't seem like Grog Ironteef is that particularly a big deal.

Matter of scale, the tau are a small empire, and what is a minor crisis for the crazy large IoM, would be a major for them, its all down to perspective.

The Tau are still looking forward to a true crisis...

Isn't the real question:
- what is a true crisis and who is going to have them if we exclude humans?

Can't remember Eldar or Orks or Necrons or Tyranids having a " true crisis" in the last millenia of 40k. Chaos is a crisis itself..

Maybe its just the "threat level" that GW puts the ioM at what makes a "true crisis" of the OP's definition a viable choice in the background.
The majority of major players is not too organized as a species. Most of them splintered and thus a crisis would be smaller if it should not end as the type of fluff many of us don't want to see. Sure a crisis of a single world could happen. But whole sectors burning?

From the direction of the fluff in the codex, I feel like the biggest threat to the Tau might be themselves, in an empire wide civil war. The greater good needs a focus and force to apply it. the push of the third expansion under Shadowsun implies some internal rumbling about essentially excommunicating Farsight. What did he find? Will he come back? will he try to sway more Tau? What direction will they go with the Ethereals? mind control? puppet race?

There are a lot of open ends to this, so who knows how it will progress.

 Harriticus wrote:
I disagree that the Damocles Crusade was a serious threat. The Imperials were completely bogged down in the outer rim of the Tau Empire. If they had put a lot more forces into it, yeah, it would have been a crisis but not the way it actually manifested.

The Tyranids are really the only true "crisis" imo. They've dealt with Orks for a while now and it doesn't seem like Grog Ironteef is that particularly a big deal.

The Crusade would never have succeeded, but it still did surprising damage for its size. It was barely a chapter of marines, a couple IG regiments, a handful of ships, and a couple Titans.

The fact that it managed to almost take a Sept world(and took numerous other planets) is telling that if the Imperium ever devoted a serious Crusade to the Tau they would be wiped out very quickly.


the Tau are under the impression that the Crusade was indicative of Imperial power, its not even close to what the Imperium could do.

 Grey Templar wrote:
The fact that it managed to almost take a Sept world(and took numerous other planets) is telling that if the Imperium ever devoted a serious Crusade to the Tau they would be wiped out very quickly.


the Tau are under the impression that the Crusade was indicative of Imperial power, its not even close to what the Imperium could do.

It does make one wonder if GW will ever...shall we say, re-orient the Tau's viewpoints toward a much more comprehensive understanding of just what awaits them beyond Ultima Segmentum.

Or because the official timeline is stuck at 999.41, perhaps they are forever destined to play the Naive Interloper who doesn't know the true workings of things.

There is a part of me that wonders though, that if the Tau ever really did face an enemy of overwhelming might, lets says an incursion of Chaos much smaller than a Black Crusade but enough to tear a few worlds from their grasp - would it be enough to shake their understanding/faith in the Greater Good?

i think they suffer from walking in to a room and forgeting what they were doing - the nids and the de were the worst thing thats happened to them, i'm sure

I'm not sure why everybody assumes the Tau are so naive.
Orks and Tyranids have been universally declared to be beyond help, have no place in the society that the Tau are trying to create, and are to be engaged with prejudice.
Necrons, Imperium and DE have earned themselves a default attitude of complete distrust from the Tau. No communication happens with them without the Fire Caste being immediately accessible.
The Perdus Rift Anomaly is the Tau's very own Eye Of Terror, which, after some instances of Chaos rampaging out from it, has been quarantined and picketed by Air Caste patrols.
Eldar are generally reasonable but unpredictable.

The Tau have learned some hard lessons to be sure. But they're not the type to make the same mistake twice.

The Tau are viewed as naive mainly because of their first contact issues.

From an external viewpoint throwing a party for the Necrons or trusting Urien Rakath is very naive.

From a viewpoint of someone who has never had any experience with either race, they are being diplomatic/friendly.

Unfortunately, no-one else in 40k is diplomatic, or friendly

not any of the big players, anyway, but the smaller species are another thing, including Nicassar, Demiurg, Kroot, Vespid. Fluff hints at a lot of species of this level to be found in the galaxy, mostly only to be discovered and then exterminated by IoM.

 Archonate wrote:
I'm not sure why everybody assumes the Tau are so naive.
Orks and Tyranids have been universally declared to be beyond help, have no place in the society that the Tau are trying to create, and are to be engaged with prejudice.
Necrons, Imperium and DE have earned themselves a default attitude of complete distrust from the Tau. No communication happens with them without the Fire Caste being immediately accessible.
The Perdus Rift Anomaly is the Tau's very own Eye Of Terror, which, after some instances of Chaos rampaging out from it, has been quarantined and picketed by Air Caste patrols.
Eldar are generally reasonable but unpredictable.

The Tau have learned some hard lessons to be sure. But they're not the type to make the same mistake twice.

Except in the 40k universe you almost never get the chance to make the same mistake twice.

They only thing that has saved them is plot armor, the Nid Fleet barreling down on them mysteriously leaves to go around them after only a couple minor battles.

Well, we used to blame that on the C'tan, but these days...

Put it down to those shiny bug-control hats the Ethereals made for the Vespids

 Grey Templar wrote:
Except in the 40k universe you almost never get the chance to make the same mistake twice.

They only thing that has saved them is plot armor, the Nid Fleet barreling down on them mysteriously leaves to go around them after only a couple minor battles.

Don't be naive. Every army has thick layers of plot armor. None so thick as that of the IoM of course, but they all have it. Read any Codex if you don't believe me.

 Archonate wrote:

Don't be naive. Every army has thick layers of plot armor. None so thick as that of the IoM of course, but they all have it. Read any Codex if you don't believe me.

Tyranids are worse. The thing about the Tau is that compared to the major powers they're incredibly weak but they make such mistakes without consequence. Which is a bit of a problem with all of the factions, but with the Tau it's more apparent as them losing the entire population of worlds is much a bigger deal than for the Imperium by virtue of size if nothing else. But then a bit more information on all these sorts of things would be interesting. How the Tau deal with a Necron purge and planet-wide Dark Eldar abduction. How the Imperium is coping with Kryptmans cordon.

IMO the immediate crisis they are facing is the Farsight issue - if it all goes wrong it could result in civil war........and a throw back to the bad old days of the Tau - especailly if someone else is pulling the strings of Farsight - Eldar, Chaos or Necrons perhaps.

But also on the horizon

Chaos has not yet been a major threat - but the more races (especially humans) they incorporate in their Empire the more likely a serious incursion is going to happen. The Tau don't really understand the whole Chaos problem and whilst they are themselves "Blunt" they are by no means immune and their technology and allies certainly are not.

The Dark Eldar have now noticed them as amusing prey - thats a very bad thing.

The Orks know that they can give them a good fight - again a bad thing.

The Tryanids keep coming, plus (According to at elast one BL novel) the Tau may soon have a genestealer problem to deal with.

Necrons - as the ones they met were the harvesting variety - thats not good.

Also they keep picking at the Imperium's borders, which has resulted in a recent esculation of the conflict with them - including premier Astartes Chapters such as the Ultramarines and the White Scars getting stuck into them