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@123ply: You're welcome, glad you enjoy them. Personally I didn't enjoy much of the Damocles Anthology, as I said its focus simply seemed on being to make sure the reader was aware that the Tau 'victory' wasn't a victory. The Damocles Warzone Book itself actually calls the final battle an Imperium Victory and names it 'Victory in Defeat'. As I said I'd like other factions to have unambiguous wins. Other than Kauyon, which I dread will simply be reversed come the next book, I've yet to see anyone ever win an unambiguous victory over the Imperium in a narrative supplement.
Regardless, to my knowledge during the battle on Dalyth larger variants of Titans, such as the Reaver, were seen but my memory is far from flawless.
Formosa wrote: So Tau win a few victories, so what, the "grimdark" thing about tau is, they will never win in the long run, no matter what they do the universe will drag them down to the level of the other great powers, I personally see the tau as in the middle of their own great crusade, and if they ever become a real threat to the status quo, one of the major factions will come down on them hard, imagine if the chaos gods decide to take an interest in them!
With the speed the Tau is advancing, it's not impossible for them to become the next super powers of the galaxy. I cam totally see them winning the great war of 40k but it'll be hard for them because of their numbers. Thing is though, the Tau are populating more and more world's as we know it and getting more and more powerful for each passing battle.
If one of the bigger factions put they're weight on them, they could be crushed, but it's hard for more other contenders to do that, unlike the Tau themselves who can actually go almost full force because of their small borders and minimal amount of territory and world's to contend for. And as for the chaos gods- maybe, but chaos had been trying for a pretty long time to take down humanity and, although are slowly crippling them, are getting beaten back regularly. Check out the famous cadian quote where a cadian or Inquisition (?) Claims he/she stops 10p active chaos cults a day. Most of the chaos incursions are small, insignificant cults that huddle around in a hood who commit blaspheme for whatever their personal reasons. I always imagined most chaos cults to be like an aggressive street gang, while the bigger ones are like the bloods or crops facing off against the police, or the Gators I'm Toronto, who were known to be pretty damn violent, when they were still terrorizing the city
So It's unlikely they can win, but it's certainly not impossible.
Chaos tried to take down humanity and scored a total victory, they don't want humanity dead, they never have, they need humanity to thrive on, chaos space Marines want the imperium dead, but not humanity, the chaos gods just want humanity to fight endlessly.
So if say the tau reach imperial levels of dominance, you can bet your top dollar that the chaos gods will do the same to them.
123ply wrote: Humans are still the dominant species of the universe.
They aren't. They're a dying species, living out its last days in such unimaginable misery that it would probably be better to just get it over with and let the Tyranids eat them. They continue to exist for one reason, and one reason only: their sheer size allows them to lose war after war and still continue to exist. The only question which remains in 40k is not whether humanity will survive, but who will inflict the final blow.
If you don't understand this fact then you have really missed the entire point of the setting.
The imperium is, in a simple term. Rome in space. The emperor is ceaser except this time he didn't entirely die, its the fall of the Roman empire in space. However, you are missing the point of the setting, its not about the Imperium never being able to come back, on the contrary, its only.because of endless assaults on all sides that keep it from doing so, the setting is grim dark, eternal war it can't be grim dark unless there IS hope, GW has also lead us to believe when, if ever, the metaphorical clock strikes 12, that the imperium may well end, but humanity won't.
Formosa wrote: So Tau win a few victories, so what, the "grimdark" thing about tau is, they will never win in the long run, no matter what they do the universe will drag them down to the level of the other great powers, I personally see the tau as in the middle of their own great crusade, and if they ever become a real threat to the status quo, one of the major factions will come down on them hard, imagine if the chaos gods decide to take an interest in them!
With the speed the Tau is advancing, it's not impossible for them to become the next super powers of the galaxy. I cam totally see them winning the great war of 40k but it'll be hard for them because of their numbers. Thing is though, the Tau are populating more and more world's as we know it and getting more and more powerful for each passing battle.
If one of the bigger factions put they're weight on them, they could be crushed, but it's hard for more other contenders to do that, unlike the Tau themselves who can actually go almost full force because of their small borders and minimal amount of territory and world's to contend for. And as for the chaos gods- maybe, but chaos had been trying for a pretty long time to take down humanity and, although are slowly crippling them, are getting beaten back regularly. Check out the famous cadian quote where a cadian or Inquisition (?) Claims he/she stops 10p active chaos cults a day. Most of the chaos incursions are small, insignificant cults that huddle around in a hood who commit blaspheme for whatever their personal reasons. I always imagined most chaos cults to be like an aggressive street gang, while the bigger ones are like the bloods or crops facing off against the police, or the Gators I'm Toronto, who were known to be pretty damn violent, when they were still terrorizing the city
So It's unlikely they can win, but it's certainly not impossible.
Chaos tried to take down humanity and scored a total victory, they don't want humanity dead, they never have, they need humanity to thrive on, chaos space Marines want the imperium dead, but not humanity, the chaos gods just want humanity to fight endlessly.
So if say the tau reach imperial levels of dominance, you can bet your top dollar that the chaos gods will do the same to them.
Except tau, like necrons, have no warp register. And so will be extremely difficult to corrupt. Another note is, if tau DO reach imperium level dominance then they will likely be more capable in combating demons, as they will create new tactics/weapons to combat them.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/10/30 06:34:21
Nope, that's wrong, the Tau are "blunt" NOT "blank" - they have little presence but still have some....also its not just biological entities that can be corrupted - their reliance on AI's is a potential threat to them - either by rebellion or possession - or both.
I AM A MARINE PLAYER
"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos
"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001
On the matter of the thread's question 'who will win the Damocles War Zone' having now had a chance to read the Kauyon Book in detail well...the book actually answers the question. It says the Imperium is going to win. In particular it seems they will be retaking Agrellan. As I feared.
Also to those worried about the book being too hard on the Imperials, don't worry to much, the book makes clear not to think of losing as Prefectia as actually being much of a loss (as I've been saying) the planet is described as 'insignificant' within the book itself.
Like I and others have said, it'll probably all be reversed by the next book. But yeah, since the original question was on the matter of 'who wins' the book makes pretty clear who's going to win. I still await any non-Imperium faction to have a single unambiguous victory in a narrative supplement.
Depending on your definition of "Narrative Supplement", the Ahriman series has had several for Chaos - some of them even over the Imperials themselves.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
I mean the crunch related-narrative supplements which come with rules and extended descriptions of the stories. As far as I know those are Damnos, Damocles: Agrellan, Damocles: Kauyon, Pandorax, Sanctus Reach, Shield of Baal and Valedor. That is, to my understanding, the limit of them.
That being said it is nice to hear Ahriman has won major unambiguous victories, I assume since he does little in the way of holding territory these are usually him retrieving some or other artefact, as it is a pleasant change from Orks and Tau in the novels. I can't think of many Novels where Orks or Tau win a war or conquer a planet. I've heard Siege of Castellax, though I've never read it, sees the Orks eventually win and claim the planet, and Chains of Golgotha is still the only major Ork unambiguous victory I know, but two is still not that impressive. Eldar have Valedor, that's it to my knowledge, and the Tau...well I actually don't know, is there a Tau novel in which they successfully win a war? I can't think of any which aren't either focused on very small events or end ambiguously.
Regardless it is nice to hear someone in Chaos winning major engagements, not just against more Chaos, in the Fluff.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/10/31 02:54:27
Except tau, like necrons, have no warp register. And so will be extremely difficult to corrupt. Another note is, if tau DO reach imperium level dominance then they will likely be more capable in combating demons, as they will create new tactics/weapons to combat them.
It's not the Tau are difficult to corrupt (the Warp can corrupt anything, even things like machines, or turn twist inanimate objects into insane versions of themselves with gibbering mouths and the like), but rather the Tau just really aren't worth a Daemons time when there are other things out there, why bother with the tiny number of Tau that are basically like a Snickers bar when they've got billions of times more humans out there, each of which are like a gourmet feast, and probably even more Eldar than Tau which are like a high end $100/plate steak dinner.
IRON WITHIN, IRON WITHOUT.
New Heavy Gear Log! Also...Grey Knights! The correct pronunciation is Imperial Guard and Stormtroopers, "Astra Militarum" and "Tempestus Scions" are something you'll find at Hogwarts.
It is an interesting discussion, this Tau-Warp interaction, since I've virtually never read any fluff detailing it. I can only think of 3 canonical interactions in the Fluff between Tau and Chaos; Farsight and his men destroying Daemons on Arthas Moloch and, at least as of Fire and Ice, Farsight being very committed to destroying Daemons. Then Shadowsun dealing with the whispers in her suit on Agrellan which keep extolling her to kill people much to her irritation. Finally then, and the only one written at any length, is I remember in the Fire Warrior Novel the Daemon Lord tries to corrupt the Ethereal and the human Admiral but, though successful on the Admiral, gives up on the Ethereal. In the novel, the part is written from the perspective of the Daemon Lord, this is explained as being because the Ethereal is so totally in control of his emotions and desires that there are no chinks in his armour to corrupt or exploit. Later on Kais does actually get corrupted (to an extent at least) and the Daemon Lord describes itself as having a presence in Kais. However when Kais's commanding officer, Lusha, then talks to Kais about how the concept of the Greater Good might be impossible to achieve (because of how vicious so many beings the galaxy are) but that it is a worthwhile regulatory idea to aspire to Kais throws off the corruption complete with the Daemon Lord thinking to itself that the presence it had felt in Kais, the connection and influence it had over him, was now gone.
I'd definitely say there's an argument to make in Fluff that Tau have, so far, displayed resistance to Chaos. But this is mostly because of their lifestyle and their attitude towards choices and decisions rather than a biological defence mechanism. That being said it could also be a biological defence mechanism, its simply that in all cases I've seen of Tau and Chaos interacting the Tau's resistance has usually more come down to their mental reactions towards the concept as opposed to some 'blankness' or 'void' presence around Daemons.
Hardly a fleshed out topic and so not much of merit can be said on it, but interesting none the less to speculate. As I said I believe the above are the only so far detailed moments of Chaos attempting to subvert Tau. Anyone know of any else where they try to corrupt them? Not just fight them.
Anemone wrote: On the matter of the thread's question 'who will win the Damocles War Zone' having now had a chance to read the Kauyon Book in detail well...the book actually answers the question. It says the Imperium is going to win. In particular it seems they will be retaking Agrellan. As I feared.
Also to those worried about the book being too hard on the Imperials, don't worry to much, the book makes clear not to think of losing as Prefectia as actually being much of a loss (as I've been saying) the planet is described as 'insignificant' within the book itself.
Like I and others have said, it'll probably all be reversed by the next book. But yeah, since the original question was on the matter of 'who wins' the book makes pretty clear who's going to win. I still await any non-Imperium faction to have a single unambiguous victory in a narrative supplement.
Wow, I actually kind of feel bad that the Tau loses now :/ but hey, we still don't know that. The book may claim that the "Imperials are retaliating with the biggest force seen since the Hours Heresy" or something similar but we don't really know that the IoM yet. Although I never read the book and I don't know how concrete the evidence is that suggests that the IoM will win, it's still possible that GW will take a new turn and let the Imperium lose this.
But then again, I haven't read it, so I don't really know how clear the message that the Imperials winning are.
EDIT:
Take in mind that there are the Imperial Armour books, like Taros where the Tau wipe the Imperium off their planet. I'm pretty sure there's also narratives behind some of the core supplements like Cities of Death and City fight. I'm not too sure though.
As for chaos' influence over Tau, I don't know much about that either and I'm also quite interested to know more In depth to how they would react to Tzeench speaking to them or Khorne instilling his bloodlust >
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/10/31 05:49:12
123ply: Dataslate- 4/4/3/3/1/3/1/8/6+
Autopistol, Steel Extendo, Puma Hoodie
USRs: "Preferred Enemy: Xenos"
"Hatred: Xenos"
"Racist and Proud of it" - Gains fleshbane, rending, rage, counter-attack, and X2 strength and toughness when locked in combat with units not in the "Imperium of Man" faction.
We will have to see, you are correct about that for sure, but the ending is pretty pessimistic about their chances. Beyond that it also seems to setup that Agrellan/Mu'gulath Bay will be the next big battle (again) since the Imperium is dedicated to retaking it. Doesn't mind so much that Prefectia was lost, feels Agrellan is more important to retake.
Beyond that some minor spoilers for those with an interest (nothing major here, simply small notes)
Spoiler:
Shrike recovers the Raven Guard's Chapter Master's Geneseed (a feat which makes the others decide to nominate him Chapter Master).
Shadowsun rides a Ghostkeel at points, which makes sense...seriously wish they updated her miniature to be able to take a Ghostkeel.
Apparently Chogoris is currently endangered by 'overwhelming' Chaos Renegades. Bad enough, it seems, that Ko'sarro and the other White Scars present with him actually fear that it might fall, they're described as eager to get out of Damocles in order to return and help fight or, in the book's own words, if there is nothing left to defend then take revenge. Makes Ko'sarro's oath to kill Shadowsun even if 'Chogoris burns' more poignant since it seems he's now decided to put his personal vendetta with her above his own Homeworld.
Tau technology allows them to establish enormous, mobile forward operating bases in surprisingly little time. These are large castle like fortifications, as described by Ko'sarro, except that they can move.
Shadowsun is able to deduce and guess where Imperial Navy Ships make translation out of the Warp by deducing the movements of the ships and regions of space which seem anomalous. She has a bunch of science vessels study Imperial Ships which translate out of the Warp, we are told they get really weird readings, but they pretty much vanish after that (presumably we're meant to think its the Ethereals covering more up.
Both of Shadowsun's made-for-campaign Commanders; Swiftflame and Sternshield, survive. I am quite fond of Sternshield. Very reliable guy who puts himself in danger to protect his men and fights out of love for his people and a genuine desire to keep his own soldiers safe. He engages in a dangerous, unsanctioned solo action where he uses his Coldstar suit to get into orbit and latch onto an Imperial Vessel and then listen in on the Imperium's communications.
I'm very confident, with the way it is described, that the Obsidian Knight is not dead. They just say he falls down a chasm. This being 40k I think there's hardly even a question he survived.
Pretty much everyone but the Space Marines and Imperial Knights do nothing. The Guard and Navy get very little mention. There is one brief paragraph where the numbers of the Guard push the Tau back a bit but it goes against the Guard very quickly again and pretty much the entire purpose of this brief achievement is because it gave the Space Marines time to regroup after they suffered defeats. Really it seems at times that only the Space Marines and House Tybalt are actually fighting the Tau.
Sternshield at one point catches an anti-air missile shot at him and later he and Shadowsun watch the Earth Caste open it. Both are, unsurprisingly, disturbed to find a mummified cadaver inside.
@123ply: Yes the Tau win Taros. It is, I believe, the only time they win. Don't get me wrong, its nice, since Taros is the only unambiguous victory the Tau have at all. But its not much. Still something is better than nothing. As for these other supplements...well...if someone other than the Imperium wins in them I will be very surprised. But obviously if you know of any cases that'd be nice to hear. As far as I know at current there is really only Taros, Agrellan and Prefectia and is seems that at least Agrellan, if not Prefectia as well, will soon be reversed.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/10/31 06:49:50
Necrons actually won on Sanctuary 101 - both originally in White Dwarf and in the reprise novel, Hammer and Anvil - in that they retain ownership of the planet. That said, in H&A the humans achieved their objectives (sort of), even if they ran away and pretended to have failed.
Regarding Tau/Warp interactions, the novel Fire Warrior is, unlike the game it's taken from, actually very good. In Fire Warrior, an Ethereal is shown to actively have a warp-calming influence - when Kais, a Fire Warrior with a Lord of Change whispering in his ear, enters the Ethereal's presence, he's calmed and becomes docile - previously he'd been slaughtering his way through Guardsmen and Space Marines single-handed using a mix of pulse fire and soft-form martial arts with nigh-khornate glee.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
I'm surprised you still read then :p Hammer and Anvil was an awesome preview to the then-unreleased 5e Necron codex when I bought it at games day that year, but as books go - and as representations of the Sisters go - it was not good.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
Except tau, like necrons, have no warp register. And so will be extremely difficult to corrupt. Another note is, if tau DO reach imperium level dominance then they will likely be more capable in combating demons, as they will create new tactics/weapons to combat them.
It's not the Tau are difficult to corrupt (the Warp can corrupt anything, even things like machines, or turn twist inanimate objects into insane versions of themselves with gibbering mouths and the like), but rather the Tau just really aren't worth a Daemons time when there are other things out there, why bother with the tiny number of Tau that are basically like a Snickers bar when they've got billions of times more humans out there, each of which are like a gourmet feast, and probably even more Eldar than Tau which are like a high end $100/plate steak dinner.
Well, it's a bit more than that. Individual tau warp signatures are tiny. It's very hard to locate them, much less posses, for demons. Not impossible, just very hard. I mean, a greater demon of khorne sort of manged it, but it just turned the tau in question into a rage-fueled killing machine, not a true possestion
Homosexuality is the #1 cause of gay marriage.
kronk wrote: Every pizza is a personal sized pizza if you try hard enough and believe in yourself.
sebster wrote: Yes, indeed. What a terrible piece of cultural imperialism it is for me to say that a country shouldn't murder its own citizens
BaronIveagh wrote: Basically they went from a carrot and stick to a smaller carrot and flanged mace.
@Furyou: Hah! Well it got me interested in the concept, if only because I liked the aesthetic of the Sisters, and so I started looking for other things. I'll admit though there is certainly not a whole lot of fiction about Sisters.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/11/01 08:40:16
Sadly not. There's an enjoyable story featuring them in the current Grey Knight codex, but it's summative rather than narrative so we don't really get any characterisation or in-depth anything.
Unfortunately, the typical Sister is loyal, industrious and fanatical - which doesn't really make for a stand-out protagonist. So all the Sororitas protagonists are outliers like Miriya who should have gone into the Repentia long before she made the rank of Celestian Superior. She certainly shouldn't have been rewarded for the gak she pulled in Faith and Fire.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
The fluff in the recent Shield of Baal was excellent bit general and narrative.
Otherwise the fan stuff is often better.
I AM A MARINE PLAYER
"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos
"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001
Oh yeah, totally forgot but Shield of Baal has some Sister action, and so does the novella Tempestus. Infact, for the first part of that book, I forgot it was even about the Tempestus Scions.
123ply: Dataslate- 4/4/3/3/1/3/1/8/6+
Autopistol, Steel Extendo, Puma Hoodie
USRs: "Preferred Enemy: Xenos"
"Hatred: Xenos"
"Racist and Proud of it" - Gains fleshbane, rending, rage, counter-attack, and X2 strength and toughness when locked in combat with units not in the "Imperium of Man" faction.
... Too bad about the power armour that can't stand up to autoguns, really.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
I just thought about a follow up story that I can see happening in the next book
I imagine the general of the crusade, when he takes back Agrellan, deploys a weaker force of guardsmen spearheaded by space marines. The Tau, knowing of the danger of Astartes, concentrate their forces of repelling the space marines, but the general knows this and uses it to his advantage by ordering taurox prime - riding scions to speed up and take important locations like secure landing zones and destroying Tau Orbital relays, the scions on their Taurox fight for a giant landing
Zone ( or multiple landing zones) type of place behind ish enemy lines while the fighting against the space marines is at its heaviest. Fit with sugar arrays, the scions call in deep strike reinforcements backed up by Valkarie and vendetta who soon claim a large open field in which the general uses to deploy a massive amount of guardsmen regiments. The Tau, while still concentrated on the fight with the marines are slow to respond to the threat that has suddenly appeared, and the guardsmen feth gak up and take the glory from the space marines.
I'm aware how poorly written and flawed this story is, but it's kind of the reverse of the usual circumstance, in which the Imperial Guard steal the glory, instead of the other way around for once. Seeing how the IG is probably the next IoM faction to be updated, and seeing how the recapture of Agrellan is foreshadowed, it would only make sense that the IG win it this time around instead of just surviving long enough to let their power armoured half-brother in win it for them.
So, opinions?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/11/01 21:11:50
123ply: Dataslate- 4/4/3/3/1/3/1/8/6+
Autopistol, Steel Extendo, Puma Hoodie
USRs: "Preferred Enemy: Xenos"
"Hatred: Xenos"
"Racist and Proud of it" - Gains fleshbane, rending, rage, counter-attack, and X2 strength and toughness when locked in combat with units not in the "Imperium of Man" faction.
The main problem with that is the fact that Tau don't maintain static lines, don't build defensive installations and the idea of them being bogged down in a fight is anathema to their whole philosophy of war.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
Furyou Miko wrote: The main problem with that is the fact that Tau don't maintain static lines, don't build defensive installations and the idea of them being bogged down in a fight is anathema to their whole philosophy of war.
Well, by "behind enemy lines" I really ment more of something like an important city or headquarters or whatnot, rather than behind a Tau floating trench system
123ply: Dataslate- 4/4/3/3/1/3/1/8/6+
Autopistol, Steel Extendo, Puma Hoodie
USRs: "Preferred Enemy: Xenos"
"Hatred: Xenos"
"Racist and Proud of it" - Gains fleshbane, rending, rage, counter-attack, and X2 strength and toughness when locked in combat with units not in the "Imperium of Man" faction.
123ply wrote: Well, by "behind enemy lines" I really ment more of something like an important city or headquarters or whatnot, rather than behind a Tau floating trench system
And the storm troopers (who killed the scions and their idiotic transports for heresy, instantly redeeming the entire story) arrive to find a departing Manta loaded with the Tau HQ and a wave of Tigershark bombers incoming. The core of the Tau strategy (and the reason why the Riptide and other giant anime robots are so stupid) is that an entire Tau cadre can be loaded into a Manta or Orca and re-deployed at will. There is no such thing as a front line with the Tau because as soon as you think you've pinned them down they've just flown halfway around the planet to slaughter your supply lines. It's like trying to out-maneuver a space marine drop pod assault, except that the drop pods can take off again.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/11/02 07:34:32
There is no such thing as a hobby without politics. "Leave politics at the door" is itself a political statement, an endorsement of the status quo and an attempt to silence dissenting voices.
Furyou Miko wrote: The main problem with that is the fact that Tau don't maintain static lines, don't build defensive installations and the idea of them being bogged down in a fight is anathema to their whole philosophy of war.
Well, by "behind enemy lines" I really ment more of something like an important city or headquarters or whatnot, rather than behind a Tau floating trench system
Pretty much what Peregrine said without the hyperbole and neophobia - Tau headquarters buildings look like this;
(THQ really dropped the ball on that one - an HQ shaped like a manta would have been an awesome way to keep the ball rolling and a much better option for the HQ to Epic Unit than the Monolith).
As for cities, you end up blowing up a load of Tau civilians. Good job, you evil monster. But you've not really done anything about their military capability.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
123ply: Dataslate- 4/4/3/3/1/3/1/8/6+
Autopistol, Steel Extendo, Puma Hoodie
USRs: "Preferred Enemy: Xenos"
"Hatred: Xenos"
"Racist and Proud of it" - Gains fleshbane, rending, rage, counter-attack, and X2 strength and toughness when locked in combat with units not in the "Imperium of Man" faction.
Part of learning to be a writer is learning to kill your babies off when they don't work. Keep going, you'll find a story eventually.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
Actually the Tau do use fixed installations especially once a conquest has been completed and the world is beginning to be normalised. See the Taros Campaign and various BL novels. The Tau are not going to use their limited military resources (Orcas and Mantas) once the conflict has concluded (or appears to have been).
In fact the Taros campaign has a strike along the lines being suggested with Stormtroopers and a Eversor Assassin attacking an air base and command HQ - killing the Ethereal target. They build fixed ground bases in the recent Damocles Campaign books
They also can't be sure that they have air superiority - they normally do - but its not always going to be the case - the scenario in the Aeronautica campaign book shows the problems that this can cause if their opponents can match their Aerospace cover. Orcas are vulnerable to interception and even Manta's can be driven off or destroyed by enough Anti Air or by super heavies.
I AM A MARINE PLAYER
"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos
"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001
It would be interesting to see what an emperor class titan would do to tau, not that there are more than a handful left, I doubt the imperium would ever consider sending one towards the tau.
Formosa wrote: It would be interesting to see what an emperor class titan would do to tau, not that there are more than a handful left, I doubt the imperium would ever consider sending one towards the tau.
The last image in the brand new campaign books has a fleet of about 300-400 warships so maybe they will - although I think the idea is just to show the sort of force the Imperium can muster as that is a force that fight Black Crusades not a upstart minor Xenos empire taking a backwater planet.
I AM A MARINE PLAYER
"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos
"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001
AM/IG - 122nd Terrax Guard: 2094/3000pts
Skitarii/Cult Mech: 1380/2000pts
Khorne Daemonkin - Host of the Nervous Knife: 1701/2000pts
Orks - Rampage Axez: 1753/2000pts 
bit general and narrative.
