Tau fighting Tau?

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**darthnatus**

Is there any way to justify Tau fighting their own? I've heard that the Farsight Enclave is too spread out to really do anything and I don't have a Tau codex to check it out for myself so what can the good people of DakkaDakka say about this?

**Happyjew**

Well you see, those Tau over there - they don't follow the Greater Good the right way, so's only propa we krump 'em real good. (I's tinks my disguiz iz slippin..)

**jifel**

Despite the increasing occurrence of Tau vs Tau on the top tables of Tournaments, there are basically no ways Fluff wise that this has happened. It could of course, but really hasn't. Farsight is the most obvious answer. Or, you could say the Changeling impersonated an Ethereal, or other Chaotic influence, or an unhappy, greedy Commander... there are options!

**Jadenim**

Training exercise is the usual excuse...

**Mr Nobody**

Tau generally don't get along if there's no ethereal around for a long time.

**Krellnus**

Live fire exercise in a battle dome on a sept world or conflict between the Empire and Farsight's Enclave are all I can think of.

**PrehistoricUFO**

Pretty much all of the best reasons have been given. Live fire exercise hurts my feelings though, to think that Ethereals and Commanders are just wasting perfectly good units when they could be using electro-vests like STARSHIP TROOPERS WHICH I'M SURE THEY'VE WATCHED IN 10,500p.

**Admiral Valerian**

Easy; Tzeentch, the Eldar (both varieties), and the Necrons (especially Trazyn) are chessmasters of the highest caliber. If they wanted/needed to, they could easily instigate a civil war among the Tau. Some members of the Imperial Inquisition could pull it off too.

**TiamatRoar**

Pretend they're virtual reality simulations? Not that I know if Tau have that technology or not...

**DrSchwartz**

just say it was a situation engineered by the Dark Eldar or Chaos or something.

**Mezmerro**

TiamatRoar wrote:
Not that I know if Tau have that technology or not...

They have. Trials by Fire are usually virtual simulations.

**Jimsolo**

From my old "Why are we fighting?" thread.

1. The command of one army has been infiltrated by a Genestealer cult.
2. One side has developed a peculiar genetic defect that makes them immune to the pheremonal control of the Ethereal Caste. The other side is attempting to destroy
them. For the greater good, of course.
3. Have you noticed that 'training exercise' is a recurring motif in these lists? Training exercise.
4. The Ethereal caste has sent one force to annihilate another. They will then blame the massacre on another force, in order to gain popular support for military action.
5. Imperial propaganda artists have managed to convince the population of a Tau controlled world to rebel. One force is some race other than Tau, and they are using the Tau's
tech against them.
6. A virus has infected one army, making them violent, irrational, and prone to attack anyone they see.

Some new ones:
7. Abducted by Chaos sorcerers centuries in the past, one army represents a militia of Tau from the time of the Mon'Tau, untouched by the sweet reason of the Ethereals. Armed with modern equipment and set loose just for the disaster they bring about, the loyalist army must stop them before too much damage is done.
8. One side represents a group of Tau who are attempting to secede to the Farsight enclaves. The loyalist army must bring them back to heel before it is too late.

Hope these help!

**Mezmerro**

Jimsolo wrote:
6. A virus has infected one army, making them violent, irrational, and prone to attack anyone they see.

Unless it's some MAGICAL virus it would lead the infected into killing each other. There is no way one could engineer rage virus that does force infected to attack everything but other infected.

**Admiral Valerian**

Tau IFF transponders, as well as command codes and encryption protocols have been compromised, resulting in a series of skirmishes among the Fire Caste as a result of conflicting orders/misinformation. Once the whole mess has been sorted out, the local Ethereal Council has been discovered to have been abducted, the perpetrators leaving behind an unusual black metal cube. Which upon inspection, sucks in all of the investigators and broadcasts a message from a certain Necron Overlord 'thanking' the Tau for their 'cooperation' in his acquisition of new specimens for his (the Overlord's) 'collection'

**Psienesis**

Mezmerro wrote:
Jimsolo wrote:
6. A virus has infected one army, making them violent, irrational, and prone to attack anyone they see.

Unless it's some MAGICAL virus it would lead the infected into killing each other. There is no way one could engineer rage virus that does force infected to attack everything but other infected.

Pretty sure Fabius Bile has done exactly that. The cordyceps infection from The Last of Us is another way to get this same effect (brain-controlling fungal infection).

**Jimsolo**

Mezmerro wrote:
Jimsolo wrote:
6. A virus has infected one army, making them violent, irrational, and prone to attack anyone they see.

Unless it's some MAGICAL virus it would lead the infected into killing each other. There is no way one could engineer rage virus that does force infected to attack everything but other infected.

Eh. It's science fiction. There's no reason Tau can't have an entirely different physical makeup from us.

Plus, it's fairly obvious that the natural state of the tau is violent and confrontational, and that the influence (whether chemical, pheremonal, or the result of genetic manipulation) of the Ethereals is what keeps that in check. Seems perfectly reasonable for some form of malady to break down that control and return a small group of infected to their baser instincts. At least until the Ethereals managed to regain control, which probably wouldn't take too long.

I'd also point out that psychic powers, magic, and warp travel are also impossible, but we are totally willing to suspend our disbelief for that.

**the shrouded lord**

Mezmerro wrote:
Jimsolo wrote:
6. A virus has infected one army, making them violent, irrational, and prone to attack anyone they see.

Unless it's some MAGICAL virus it would lead the infected into killing each other. There is no way one could engineer rage virus that does force infected to attack everything but other infected.

well actuely, the virus could force the organism/host to produce a hormone that tells others that it is (friendly?)

**darthnatus**

Would it be too farfetched to have another Farsight-like army waging a civil war with the Empire? I know they probably wouldn't last long because Tau don't feth around with stupid stuff like land battles when they can just burn the whole planet.

**PrehistoricUFO**

darthnatus wrote:
Would it be too farfetched to have another Farsight-like army waging a civil war with the Empire? I know they probably wouldn't last long because Tau don't feth around with stupid stuff like land battles when they can just burn the whole planet.

Actually the Tau go to lengths to ensure every planet is acquired intact, as their Empire is still fledgling.

It's the Imperium who owns 2 trillion worlds who doesn't mind nuking one because someone said the word Chaos or demon.

**darthnatus**

PrehistoricUFO wrote:
darthnatus wrote:
Would it be too farfetched to have another Farsight-like army waging a civil war with the Empire? I know they probably wouldn't last long because Tau don't feth around with stupid stuff like land battles when they can just burn the whole planet.

Actually the Tau go to lengths to ensure every planet is acquired intact, as their Empire is still fledgling.

It's the Imperium who owns 2 trillion worlds who doesn't mind nuking one because someone said the word Chaos or demon.

DAEMON? WHERE? FETH THIS I'M CALLING AN EXTERMINATUS FLEET
Unless of course there are Grey Knights around because they're the only ones crazy enough to run headfirst into a daemon-infested world. Not even BA do that, and they clearly don't know when they've been defeated.

**Spetulhu**

The Tau aren't without their own internal conflicts, but they do try to keep it small and civil. They're not above letting some suitably weak third party (or accident) take out a leader who is getting out of line, showing everyone the need for sticking with the "right" interpretation of the Greater Good. And if that leader happens to die in a friendly fire incident when the "right" Tau save the day they'll blame it on the outside enemy.

**Mezmerro**

the shrouded lord wrote:
well actuely, the virus could force the organism/host to produce a hormone that tells others that it is (friendly?)

Virus is just a single RNA with a dozen or two proteines encoded into it. "Reprogramming" the organism to produce special volatile pheromones, than reprogramming scent sensors to recognize those pheromones and (the most difficult) reprogramming the brain to maimkillburn everything without such (especially considering Tau shouldn't have the "telescopic" flair to detect it's source) - well all this would require insane amounts of different proteins, like hundreds or so. The only fraction of 40k capable of creating such thing are Dark Eldars, and mostly because their "viruses" are not true viruses but highly advanced nanomachines.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Jimsolo wrote:
Plus, it's fairly obvious that the natural state of the tau is violent and confrontational

Not like that differ them from Humans of 41-st millenium, who kill, oppress and torture each other even while being surrounded by hostile aliens.