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.

Yes, tau is the 40k newb tube.

I do not believe that starting a Tau army makes you a bad person if you believe in "the greater good." However, it does make you a Xeno loving, scum-sucking, traitor of the Emperor's Benevolence.

Now with the fluff aside, feel free to start a Tau army at your leisure. It is your money, spend it as you will.

come....join the darkside... we have cookies. and riptides. did i mention cookies?

it does not make you a bad person at all. of course, other armies are able to win but if thats the on you want to win with, by all means do it.

I covered this in a different thread about competative gaming where someone said the players who went out and bought the current "powerhouse" were WAAC players. i pointed out that that did not make it so. It meant that they were competative players with deep pockets. You did not become a WAAC or "bad person" until you exhibited the attitudes and behaviors of one.

I play Tau. My friends love to hate my Riptides, but they still come back to play games, even though nowadays I play 3 of them in a 1500-point game.

What I avoid are deathstars and shenanigans. It's probably something like the "ethics firewall" you mentioned. I don't think the O'vesastar was an intended phenomenon.

I don't think the full-on optimized Farsun bomb was an intended phenomenon either, although clearly they meant for Farsight to drop in with a ton of Crisis suits for a huge Mont'ka strike.

I read the experimental rules for the new Forgeworld Riptide and immediately dismissed it, even though (or possibly because) it seemed specifically designed to destroy Space Marine Bikers from the new Marine codex, which I was having a hell of a time against.

Just don't do cheesy things. And if you don't like the models, to the point where you'll be dipping them in mom's nail polish, maybe don't play Tau. There are other competitive armies (Eldar seem to be the new hotness).

I played Tau when they "sucked" and won plenty. Played em when they were middle of the road at best and won. I play em now. As soon as someone gets up and says "Its the codex", I am glad to trade armies and prove otherwise.

Play the army you LIKE playing. If it happens to be Tau, then so be it. I think what people hate is those who play an army just because its the new hotness. But to be honest, what diff does it make? I own nine armies and can prove conclusively to any opponent that it isn't the codex winning the games.

Codexes don't win games but they often lose them.

Some can't help themselves and take full credit for the responsibility for their loss. Those people seem to feel they can make no mistakes. Whether its in their force selection or deployment, or their luck. These people like to make all sorts of excuses as to why they lose.

 Wyzilla wrote:

 robam45 wrote:
I'm a new player and I have to admit that I heavily considered Tau for my first army. I still consider picking some up, but I think I'd be safe from most of the hate because I'm not a mech fan, I buy models I like the look of and I love the look of Tau infantry, it'd be pretty hard for me to cheese it even by accident.

Also I don't get the whole "anime" thing. I haven't watched much anime, but if the Tau get heat for looking like japanimation I don't see why Eldar get a pass.

Eldar are inspired by ancient egypt, not anime. I also don't really recall anime being that big in the eighties, which was when the Eldar came out.

I see a lot of influences in Eldar, in fact most of the army reminds me of Japan in some way. I think of either samurai or ninjas when it comes to how a lot of Eldar look, fight or both, especially with the sashimono back banners, the fact that they rely on speed, grace and even concealment when waging war, a bushido-style "way of the warrior" that emphasizes not just martial prowess but inner peace and wisdom (because without balance, well, Slaanesh happens), with "shrines" dedicated to different aspects, and their guns even fire tiny monofiliment "shurikens". The Eldar "runes" look to me like a combination of Egyptian hieroglyphics and Japanese kanji. It's also a common theme in anime for men to be really effeminate and, being elves, the Eldar would naturally have that going for them as well (lol)...slim builds, fair features, long hair, etc. Eldar have mecha, too, in the form of their wraith constructs. Obviously not in the same style as the Tau battlesuits, but it is mecha. And then there's magic and sorcery, which I guess could really have been inspired by just about anything, but if I'm not mistaken that's not uncommon in both Chinese and Japanese mythology as well. Speaking of which, the yin-yang is a Chinese concept and I've seen the yin-yang symbol used with Eldar before...not sure if it still is anymore but I remember seeing art of one of the phoenix lords and his armor featured the symbol.

I'm willing to admit I might be wrong about some/all of that, but personally I see more Japanese influences than Egyptian.

Anyway, my advice is that if you're just starting Tau because you want to win more then save your money. Tau have been crap for far, far longer than they've been a top tier army, and I have a good feeling it's not going to last very long. With xenos it usually never does. Don't ever buy into an army based purely on how it seems to perform on the table, buy what you personally like the look of. That said, no, it doesn't make you a "bad person"...posting stuff like this does.

 Lobukia wrote:
Yes, tau is the 40k newb tube.

HERP DERP TAU'S 4 NUBS