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Hello all.

I currently have a Tau army that is a count-as Farsight Enclaves. Basically, the idea is the same as Farsight, where a Tau Commander set up a Frontier Outpost and isn't returning to the main Empire as he sees threats the Empire doesn't and knows his true calling is to stay put.

I want to add in some Eldar Allies to my army, but I'd like to have a solid fluff reason.

I'm currently thinking to go with some Eldar faction that is helping the Tau because they might one day become an effective weapon against Chaos. I'm just not sure which faction would be most likely to go this route. Also, if you've read the Horus Heresy books, would I be better off using Eldar models and just saying they are a sub-faction of the Cabal? The Cabal seems to be all about tailoring races to fight Chaos. I'm not sure if they're still around though. I'm assuming they are.

Any advice? I don't really know much about the Eldar other than "the yellow ones have lots of wraith constructs" and "the black ones have lots of psykers".

Probably Ulthwe if youre going with the helping to stop Chaos idea.

Personally Id make up a Craftworld.

Alaitoc is the best bet. First its one of the closer major craftworlds, isnt xenophobic to the same extent as Biel-Tan or as savage as Saim-Hann.

Alaitoc might want Tau as catspaws against Chaos, but would also like to use them against other foes sooner. Alaitoc doesn't like the Imperium much, are the craftworld most likely to be attacked by the Imperium as many inquisitors are gunning for it. Meanwhile the Tau are known to be effective against mon-keigh, Farsight has a very impressive record.

Most urgently the Eldar are getting concerned over nids, which Tau are also apparently known for doing well against them too.
Chaos dont get to eat many craftworlds and not for lack of trying, but the nids have munched at least two over the last century, one of them being amongst the strongest. Meanwhile large splinter fleets encroach on the Tau empire and get shot to bits. This cannot have escaped the notice of the Eldar, and would be of interest to any craftworld.

Another point is that it would not be that stupid an idea to actually move a craftworld into the first Sphere volume, Tau don't have psychic detectors and thus in all likelihood wont find it and cant access the webway for the same reason. It would be a (relatively) safe place to park a craftworld and if the Tau do find it that would likely not attack but instead choose to open negotiations which the Eldar can elect to keep stalling.

The Seers of Ulthwe scrying the future notice a major threat to the Eldar, however, with timely interference from a small group of Tau who are already aware of the threat, they stand a chance of changing their fate. Knowing that the Tau will not survive on their own, the second biggest dick in the galaxy sends some Guardians and Farseers to "aid" the Tau Outpost.

Ulthwe and Alaitoc are both excellent ideas. Really the only craftworld that doesn't have a lot of justification to use...I mean "ally" with the Tau for one purpose or another would be Biel'Tan which is would use the Tau but would expect them to give back any maiden worlds and would treat them very badly. I could definitely see any of the eldar craftworlds using a Tau commander who wants to engage threats to the Tau as long as it saves eldar lives in the long run or protects something important to the eldar.

The Cabal could also be a good group though I would try to avoid mary sue, the Tau are the final hope of the galaxy let us raise them above all others! sort of stuff. Rather it is more likely that the Cabal would setup the Tau in a gambit to kill the emperor and try to halt the stagnation that is the doom of the galaxy.

 Happyjew wrote:
The Seers of Ulthwe scrying the future notice a major threat to the Eldar, however, with timely interference from a small group of Tau who are already aware of the threat, they stand a chance of changing their fate. Knowing that the Tau will not survive on their own, the second biggest dick in the galaxy sends some Guardians and Farseers to "aid" the Tau Outpost.

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 Kriswall wrote:
Hello all.

I currently have a Tau army that is a count-as Farsight Enclaves. Basically, the idea is the same as Farsight, where a Tau Commander set up a Frontier Outpost and isn't returning to the main Empire as he sees threats the Empire doesn't and knows his true calling is to stay put.

I want to add in some Eldar Allies to my army, but I'd like to have a solid fluff reason.

I'm currently thinking to go with some Eldar faction that is helping the Tau because they might one day become an effective weapon against Chaos. I'm just not sure which faction would be most likely to go this route. Also, if you've read the Horus Heresy books, would I be better off using Eldar models and just saying they are a sub-faction of the Cabal? The Cabal seems to be all about tailoring races to fight Chaos. I'm not sure if they're still around though. I'm assuming they are.

Any advice? I don't really know much about the Eldar other than "the yellow ones have lots of wraith constructs" and "the black ones have lots of psykers".

Ultwe is generally the most agreeable of the major craftworlds and the one most likely to ally with other factions due to the Eldar of Ulthwe being pragmatic first and foremost. With the Webway, the fact that they are on the other side of the galaxy means very little. However, Ulthwe always does what it does out of realpolitik, if they're working with the Tau, it's because they believe it would make their current task easier or offer them an advantage.

Biel-tan is full of racist jerks so that's a no go.

Iyanden likely will accept any help it can get, but they did once hold views similar to Biel-Tan so there's a question mark to be put next to them.

Alaitoc is a bit stuffy and has major issues with the Imperium, but is in the right section of the galaxy, is recovering from an Imperial Crusade, and is in the corner of the galaxy most directly threatened by the advance of Hive Fleets Leviathan and Hydra, so they may band with the Tau as needed.

Saim-Hann has rather little fluff behind it. They're wild and free-spirited, but have avoided the excesses that consumed the Dark Eldar so I guess you can say they'll do whatever they want to.

Right now the biggest threats to the Eldar's existence are Chaos, the Tyranids, and the Necrons. The Eldar and Necrons have been mortal enemies since the Dinosaurs were stomping around on Earth, and the return of their oldest foe is a matter of grave concern for all Eldar. Chaos, and Slaanesh in particular are tied to the Eldar, and like the Necrons has a personal reason to desire the extinction of the Eldar. The Tyranids are a new, dangerous factor who seem to greatly desire the genetic secrets of the Eldar and have deliberately targeted craftworlds in the past, in addition to the whole "cleanse the entire galaxy of all life like the last twelve before it" thing.

The Eldar seem to mostly consider the Orks as a nuisance, and the Imperium and Eldar generally only fight each other when they see a great need to, there's quite a lot of examples of peaceful contact between the Eldar and Imperials, with some trade occuring from time to time and some inquisitors receiving education from the Eldar. The Tau and Eldar have little reason to come into conflict unless the Tau start menacing some Maiden worlds or minor Craftworlds or if the Tau are getting in the way of whatever task a Warhost needs to accomplish.

Unless the Eldar come from Biel'Tan and it's allies because they're a-holes.

Honestly I could see Iyanden being one of the friendlier Craftworlds. In their supplement they even pity the aliens, they don't hate them like Biel Tan or some other craft worlds might. Though if you want a lesser known flavor eldar you can ally with Il-Kaithe, Fanatical crusaders against Chaos who will fight alongside other races without complaint as long as Chaos is defeated.

Of course you could always add the following

Mantlearch or Mantleseer
Guardian Defenders
Harlequin Troupe.

Harlequins are known for appearing to other races and performing stories. And if the threat of Chaos looms they are the most likely to appear.

I don't think that the weapon against chaos thing would work,as since tau have next to no warp presence, they can't really combat it effectively (as far as I know).

You could say that they have found a maiden world of relatively peaceful eldar and have managed to form a fragile alliance with them?

Kain made a very nice list, with some compelling arguments, though I'd add that all eldar are highly manipulative and cunning. Even a Biel'tan autarch might use the tau as a tool if it suited her plans (possibly if only to betray and annihilate them later on). They are still the least likely though, but a craftworld is a big place, with a lot of different people, so you could always fit a story if you so desired (and like the white/green color scheme ).
My vote goes to Ulthwé the Damned as the most likely, going by Eldrad's quote:
"I have followed the myriad potential futures of the Tau with great interest. Though barely even striplings compared to us, I feel a strange protectiveness towards them. In time I believe they will exceed even our greatest feats and master the darkness within their souls."

 Kain wrote:
Biel-tan is full of racist jerks so that's a no go.
Unless the Eldar come from Biel'Tan and it's allies because they're a-holes.

The entire Eldar race is made up of supremacist jerks that would make the Nazis blush in shame.
The difference between between Biel-Tan and other craftworlds is that Biel-Tan goes axe-crazy the moment they see 'inferior species', whereas other craftworlds often try to manipulate them to their advantage.

 thetallestgiraffe wrote:
I don't think that the weapon against chaos thing would work,as since tau have next to no warp presence, they can't really combat it effectively (as far as I know).

You could say that they have found a maiden world of relatively peaceful eldar and have managed to form a fragile alliance with them?

They can still see (and shoot daemons) and kill Chaos marines and such things so they're probably the best for stopping Chaos in a way.

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 Kain wrote:
Biel-tan is full of racist jerks so that's a no go.
Unless the Eldar come from Biel'Tan and it's allies because they're a-holes.

The entire Eldar race is made up of supremacist jerks that would make the Nazis blush in shame.
The difference between between Biel-Tan and other craftworlds is that Biel-Tan goes axe-crazy the moment they see 'inferior species', whereas other craftworlds often try to manipulate them to their advantage.

The picture we're given of the craftworld Eldar in the fiction that lets us see into their daily lives does not paint them as a monolithic entity culturally speaking. And honestly, I'd much rather they be a group with lots of differing opinions and subcultures rather than a species of hats because Science Fiction and Fantasy already have a rampant problem with mono-culture races or countries where everyone's basically a carbon copy of each other with a few serial numbers knocked around (Mass Effect, Halo, and Star Trek for example, are horrible with this).

The Eldar are individuals with as much variance between each person as humans The Craftworlds themselves do not agree on everything or even most things other than that "We need to do what we can to survive, also Chaos, the Tyranids, and the Necrons are bad mkay". They're not a monolithic polity but a loose alliance of largely independent nations.

There are craftworlds that don't give a damn about what species you are just as long as you aren't threatening the Eldar. Il-Kaithe for example as mentioned before doesn't give a rats ass if you're human, kroot, or tau just as long as you can fight Chaos. Iyanden mostly views aliens with pity rather than contempt. The Harlequins are excised of prejudices against other species to the point that they have no problem preforming for the Imperium (the Imperium also lets the Harlequins be) because they have more important goals than chasing after petty hatred against things that aren't directly threatening the existence of the Eldar. Exodites and Rangers can often get along reasonably well with humans as long as they aren't being actively displaced and chased away.

Saying all Eldar think "X" is doing one of the most fleshed out non-Imperial societies in 40k (and to my knowledge, the only non-humans to have novels written from their viewpoint) a grave disservice.

Dark Eldar also have a series.

pm713 wrote:
Dark Eldar also have a series.

When I say Eldar, I do not mean the Craftworld Eldar as a faction, but the Eldar as a species.

 Kain wrote:

pm713 wrote:
Dark Eldar also have a series.

When I say Eldar, I do not mean the Craftworld Eldar as a faction, but the Eldar as a species.

Ah. My bad.

I was thinking the Tau would be a good weapon against Chaos insomuch as they can fight it without succumbing to it. The Eldar birthed a new Chaos God. Humanity sort of allowed Chaos to fester. Tau would seem to be the ideal weapon. They're sort of the Grey Knights of the Xenos world in that they're VERY unlikely to fall to Chaos.

I'm currently leaning towards Ulthwe, based on the comments here. I suppose I could also do Eldar Corsairs and just say they're mercenaries or something.

Tau have absolutely no resistance to chaos. They are as far from GK as you can get as the GK all have psychic abilities which help them combat chaos. Remember that to help combat chaos the decree of nikea was repealed so that librarians could use their psychic powers to combat chaos. Psykers in 40K may be more vulnerable in some ways to chaos influence but this is not because of an inherent weakness this is because they are more receptive and able to engage chaos in it's home domain, the warp.

The only reason that the Tau are not rife with Chaos corruption is that they are cookie crubs to a cake. Chaos just isn't interested yet. What happens when the Tau start stopping Chaos from accomplishing goals? Chaos becomes interested and it doesn't matter if they are cookie crumbs if they are stuck in Chaos' drawers and causing an itch.

In some ways though this could be exactly what the eldar want and need. An relatively unengaged faction with most of it's forces free to actually use rather than besieged on all sides. The Tau are so small that they are ignored by practically everyone. This leaves them as the only faction that can move forces around freely, is reasonably unified, and would actually work for the greater good. So they may not be an ideal tool (both CWE and IoM have better forces to use against daemons) but they are the tool available.

Tau aren't blanks, this is true, but it is commented on by Daemons that the Tau are "nearly invisible" in the Warp, and difficult to possess.

Further, their orderly caste system prevents a lot of the things that Daemons can normally use to tempt and corrupt mortals. The ideas of social mobility are rather limited in the Tau society. A Fire Warrior will never become an Ethereal, for example.