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.

GSC Tau have existed for decades - the Tau Water Caste Inquisitor character has one as part of his background. The point wasn't that Xenos GSC/Chaos don't exist at all, it's that they're not common because insert halfassed excuse.

It’s not half assed. Smelly Hoomans are the dream infectee.

1. Heaving populations, so when it’s Dinner Time it’s a big old biomass smorgasbord.
2. No rigid Caste system. If a specific Tau is infected? Well they’re not allowed to have babies except with another member of the same Caste. That limits your potential as a Cult.
3. Orks don’t reproduce in the right way. And they instinctively recognised infected Orks as Not Orky, again making it hard to spread the taint.
4. Eldar barely breed at all. Sure, you could infect a whole Craftworld. But without the Hybrids? Your cult is stymied. There may also be some argument that being a psychic species, Craftworld and Exodites may be able to sense it similar to Orks. I don’t know if that’s the case, so mentioning rather than arguing.
5. Necrons? Just no.
6. Votann. Well….possibly. We know for a fact that despite the Cloneskein process, the Squats of Necromunda, who’ve lost their Votann, do have babies the old fashioned way. And they’ve only been in relative isolation for 10,000 or so years. But within the Leagues, it seems that’s just not the way it’s done. To the point a pregnant Kin might just get big bushy/craggy eyebrows raised.

Though on that last one? It’s not at all clear what might happen if the corpse of an infected Kin is introduced into a Votann. Two obvious answers are A) Automatic genetic impurity filters end it there B) The Votann itself sees some potential, and so the taint is stored away with the other stocks, and may be introduced into new generations.

But far and away? Us Regular Smelly Hoomans are Genestealer Goldilocks Zone. Densely populated. Widely dispersed. Thick as two short planks. Breed like rabbits. Genetic Psychic Potential to be exploited by the taint. We’re also oddly fond of just leaving weapons lying around ready to be Liberated.

Charax wrote:

 Lathe Biosas wrote:


I agree 100%.

For years, I've been trying to get one of my friends to make Khorne Berserker Tau.

Obligatory early 2000's Farsight Enclave joke

This almost became 'not a joke' in Arks of Omen. Farsight damn near fell.

"Oh no you don't see Chaos Orks because they're shunned"

There are rare instances of orks worshipping Khorne, especially with the Storm Boyz who have a tendency to be different or contrarian. But then the regular orks are quick to krump them for not being orky enough.

As usual the problem is one of demand.

There are a lot of marine players willing to spend money for Space Marines, and probably not a lot of people interested in Chaos Eldar (or Chaos Xenos really).

It also artificially pushes the chaos vs imperium civil war narrative, when chaos is an existential threat to all sentient life, not some humans mad at their gene dad.

All the daemonic possession, psyker gateway issues are true for any species with psykers. Cults are a universal issue.

The genestealer and chaos cults are scary lovecraftian secret underbellies that threaten all species.

Weirdboy Warp’eadz explain this for the Orks.

Essentially, once in a while a Daemon will get into the head of a Warp’ead. But due to the innate Orky sense of self, it becomes a prisoner, and can’t become the puppeteer.

Craftworlders we know have various failsafe technologies, such as the helmets worn by Farseers and Warlocks, not to mention all sorts of wards. Not foolproof, no. They can still suffer a daemonic attack. But the precautions in place help to minimise the risk insofar as is possible. And like well trained Imperial Psykers, they’re cautious and disciplined when using their powers for whatever purpose.

Portals and Possession in humans is mostly an issue for untrained Psykers. Those who haven’t learned how to shield themselves and avoid the worst of the risks.

Tyranids may benefit from the Shadow In The Warp, depending on what you think the Shadow is. For me? I see it as a sort of psychic white noise. The results of its untold billions of psychically connected gribblies, creating an overwhelming amount of communication and general chatter, easily drowning out a single mind, or even Astropathic Choir. If that’s right and you accept my larger head canon there? It could also mean there’s just so much going on, any Daemons in the vicinity are likewise overwhelmed, and find it hard to identify the brightest point in a psychic floodlight. So yes, I do think it’s possible for any Tyranid to become possessed, but due to ratios it’s far more likely to be something small and relatively insignificant. And so, perhaps most such possessed bugs burn out super quickly, as they’ve no will of their own in the traditional sense. It may also be possible that when the Hive Mind detects such an intrusion, it’s able to forcibly burn out the possessees brain by just ramming a load of psychic stuff into it,

Another possibility with Nids is its akin to Warp’eadz. That sure, you’ve possessed a single body - but you’re trying to wrest it from the Hive Mind, a gestalt far, far stronger than any single Daemon.

Ork weirdboyz have traditionally had minders, and I imagine if some kind of possession does occur and starts getting out of hand, they will deal with the problem in the finest tradition of orky "solutions".

Lore only covers Warp’eadz.

But, we do know regular Weirdboyz are reluctant to use their powers, because it ‘urts.

The Minderz are there to stop them sneaking off away from the building Waaaagh Energy, and to make them do their stuff. The rest of the time they’re kept in towers, which provide at least partial grounding should they get a bit overexcited.

I’d imagine that like a Warp’ead, a regular Weirdboy is just too Orky for a daemon to properly take control. But instead of kind of enjoying the extra power? They’d just be extra miserable. Or would lose control of their powers more or less immediately, and then suffer a nasty case of explodin’ ‘ead?

 Tyran wrote:
As usual the problem is one of demand.

There are a lot of marine players willing to spend money for Space Marines, and probably not a lot of people interested in Chaos Eldar (or Chaos Xenos really).

I'm also not sure you'd necessarily see dramatically different units/playstyles with the chaos versions of most xenos.

Khornate orks are still just going to run up and hit you with choppas. Being chaos-corrupted would probably mostly just be a matter of adding some decorative spikes. Which makes chaos orks more of a hobby project than something that necessarily needs a bunch of bespoke kits.

Chaos 'crons could theoretically do some cool stuff with warped bodies representing the god a given unit has fallen to, but 'crons are already exploring the idea of alternative body plans as a result of corruption with the flayer virus and destroyer cult. A chaos version of that would feel redundant to me.

Chaos tau don't seem like they'd be all that different from normal tau? Or else they'd be so different that you'd be looking at an entirely new line of toys that might not appeal to those who like tau in the first place? Like, what does Khorne tau look like? If we're talking actual tau and not kroot, then you presumably make them less shooty and more stabby, which doesn't bear much resemblance to baselien tau and/or ends up feeling a lot like guardsmen. Tzeentchy tau probably aren't psychic because "small souls." So they're what? Tau with even more weird/experimental weapons? There's a detachment that kind of covers that already making it more of a hobby project than something that needs rules. I guess you could do generic bloated zombie tau for Nurgle, but I'm not sure that would have much appeal. I'm not sure there's much synergy between tau stuff and slaaneshi stuff. Extra fast tau? Sure. I guess.

Tyranids are already super adaptable, and the chaos-infected ones we've seen in a few stories (SW omnibus comes to mind) basically just has them behaving and fighting like normal 'nids with a gross Nurgle reskin. So more of a hobby project than something needing its own kits and rules.

Eldar *could* work by giving you an excuse to do an elite non-marine chaos army. Although like I said earlier, I feel like "chaos eldar" are more interesting if they're kept rare and powerful instead of dying in droves every battle.

I think there is something there for Slaaneshi Tau. They already venerate those that are the embodiment of a particular art of war, so the old perfectionist angle is totally valid. I'm sure there is also an angle on breaking the caste system for socialising and reproduction, but this is a family board after all. Conceptualising what might titillate an alien being as a BDSM equivalent is probably a dark road to somewhere...

 Flinty wrote:
I think there is something there for Slaaneshi Tau. They already venerate those that are the embodiment of a particular art of war, so the old perfectionist angle is totally valid. I'm sure there is also an angle on breaking the caste system for socialising and reproduction, but this is a family board after all. Conceptualising what might titillate an alien being as a BDSM equivalent is probably a dark road to somewhere...

But would you need a bunch of bespoke datasheets and kits to represent kinky perfectionist tau, or would you just need fire warriors with some spikes glued on and whichever detachment lets them shoot farther or better?

Probably not. It would come down to detachment specific special rules probably. I practice Is there much of a difference between loyalist marines and Emperors Children?

 Flinty wrote:
Probably not. It would come down to detachment specific special rules probably. I practice Is there much of a difference between loyalist marines and Emperors Children?

In better days there were. Combat drug rules, sonic weapons being a bigger deal and having more synergy with various psychic powers, sonic dread options, the ability to take princes and ally in daemons, take cultists, etc. But I take your point and tend to think that most loyalist splats could be rolled back into one book.