Tau Visuals (hate) Thread

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Even this looks clean, especially compared to Blanche's art of other 40k species.

>>49637176
Apparently Tau have 2+ invulnerable save against Blanche

>>49637221
Do people not like his stuff? I think his art was the first thing that ever drew me into a GW.

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>>49637176
>>49637221
Blanche's Elders are pretty sweet

>>49637140
>Where the rest of the galaxy is falling apart these motherfuckers are clean as a whistle.

That's kind of their point, isn't it? The wide eyed clean young race that hasn't quite realized just what a shitfest they're stepping into?

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>>49637140
I mean look at all this grimdark aesthetic

>>49637140
The aestethic of all factions in 40k is based on the "theme" of the faction. Imperium is an ancient empire slowly crumbling from outside threats and internal corruption, so their stuff tend to be very old-fashioned looking and covered in overwrought baroque decorations. Chaos is primarily represented by corrupted Imperial space marines, so they have the same stuff but with more random mutation and "demonic" traits like horns and spikes. Ork tech is crude and ramshackled to match their role as the "savage barbarians" race, while Eldar are an ancient and highly advanced race that are also literal space elves so their stuff is clean and stream-lined but also very "fantastical" looking (glowing gemstones everywhere, things like the aspect warriors' ritual armour that represents various Eldar myths).

Tau's thing is that they're a relatively young race and as such are actually advancing their technology rather than stagnating, so their gear looks new and clean, but also functional looking (compared to Imperium, who do have a lot of utilitarian-looking stuff, but very outdated looking, or the Eldar, who also have clean and streamlined stuff, but usually more artistic looking).

>>49637515
No, no, anon you missed OP's point. Shit on the Tau. Come on, do it, shit on the Tau. Hey guys wanna shit on the Tau? Let's shit on the Tau!

I vote we rework they're faction so they all have about the same disposition and mental stability as chaos cultists - but not as good, because Chaosftw. Also the Ethereals should all be turned into like High Lords of Terra-types, but again, not as good. Also the faction should be squatter, but only after those retcons.

>>49637140

Blanche is overrated trash. The faggot can't even draw a single straight, clean line to save his life.

They are in an interesting position fluff wise. The Tau are the only Xenos species younger than man that is even a player in the galactic struggle. Yet, with their current standing they are barely a player. Very little space on the edge of human space, and saved from complete ass whooping (disregarding piss poor special snowflake writing) by distraction hive-fleet.

I chose Tau partly because they represent the few Xenos species not genocided by man. They kick ass because of their love of technology, but could easily be smashed if they provoke the imperium. I'd love to see future editions with them making a new expansion. Create some serious fleet prowess to where they have the resources to not instantly be wiped by the imperium, who would crusade the shit out of the Tau if they become much more powerful then they are currently.

But, I also want to see their ideals corrode as they come to terms with what it means to manage an empire of thousands of worlds. Having to rely more heavily on auxiliaries, and suit development and deployment become a logistics nightmare (aka squat the stormsurge, the riptide is the largest suits we need. More tanks for the love of god). Have their grimderp come to the forefront. Have a parallel for the inquisition that policies Tau sept worlds for the resistances and cults that have thrown off the ideals of the greater good.

>>49643170
If this was the great crusade or if the Imperium could focus just on them, the Tau wouldn't stand a chance. The Imperium probably killed hundreds of Tau like civilizations such as the interex during the great crusade.

>>49637140
Can everyone just stop sucking blanche's art-dick for one minute and look at how much of a mess it always is? It's fucking watercolors over sketches. I get the guy helped define the style of part of 40k, but everyone seems to give this guy a pass when it comes to ridiculous over the top overdesigned detail and weird-ass body proportions.

>waaaa they deviated from blanche's art!
Good! I can only stand so much scribbles with coffee stains and calling it 'art'

>>49643263
It would be like a giant swatting a fly.
They are literally saved because they haven't posed as big of a threat as other problems going on. If they provoke the imperium any more than they are now they WILL get their shit pushed in.

Which is something I adore about them. Because, at least to me, a big reason any Xenos would ever join their empire (besides greater good at pulse rifle point) is that their corpse worshiping neighbors could, can and do extinguish any alien race they come across without a second thought. Even if the empire as a whole could be swatted, one on one encounters the Tau can hold their own.
>inb4 muh tactical geuinus winning every battle because I hate that too

>>49643421
was meant for >>49643326

>>49637140
You're the one painting, anon.

I built a tau pathfinder team, and didn't realize only three of the models could use rail, and ion rifles, I have 3 rail riflemen, and 3 ion men....

>>49644349
You can do a unit of 4 pathfinders, 3 with ion. Then another unit of 4 again, 3 with rails. I like running them.

They have scout so they can outflank. Something I commonly do is outflank one of those units behind enemy lines and take out key infantry units, because ions and rails are nothing to sneeze at.

>>49643170
>They are in an interesting position fluff wise. The Tau are the only Xenos species younger than man that is even a player in the galactic struggle. Yet, with their current standing they are barely a player. Very little space on the edge of human space, and saved from complete ass whooping (disregarding piss poor special snowflake writing) by distraction hive-fleet.
Aren't they outmatched by the Q'orl in terms of numbers? I think I remember reading that them Spacebugs are actually a bigger threat to the Imperium than the Tau could hope to be.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Q%27orl

>>49637140
Their whole shtick is that there the new humanity. Something clean that holds promise, but will eventually go to shit.

I hate the Tau, because their empire is TOO small. There are xeno empires in the fluff that are far larger than theirs, yet the Tau are some sort of threat? No. Just, no.

The Tau also just don't fit in the setting. 40k is supposed to be grimdark, the Tau just aren't dark nor grim enough. Yes, they are supposed to be the new kids on the block, but the new kids in this case are smaller than literally every other playable faction. I hate this.

I also hate that they are focused on Monstrous Creatures. They should be focused on their xeno allies that never show up in their codices. They should have stuck to the Coalition of Xeno races/empires theme they originally had, but the codex/army explicitly designed to attract players/people during the mecha craze of the late 90's and early 2000's would of course see suits and stuff sell incredibly well. The Tau shifting from xeno-focused to Monstrous Creature Mecha focused is purely a marketing decision and I hate that.

>>49646788
>I hate the Tau, because their empire is TOO small.
This is actually one of the things I like most about them. Everyone's empire is so vast, and incalculable. Even dark eldar who are on just one city/world/whatever is so incalculably vast that it is hard to define. It gives everything a sense of vague formlessness. But for the Tau to be in their own indisputed corner of the galaxy adds to their charm. They are a threat because the imperium sees something they should be able to easily quell, but are thus far unable to do so easily.
All the signs are there for an easy conquer:
>no warp travel or FTL
>stuck in a limited space
>completely surrounded by imperial space
However time and time again the imperium can't get past the 3rd sphere of expansion.

This is their strength, in that they are a dense united bulwark that you can only seem to crash against.

However I feel if the earth caste were to develop some sort of FTL, that would be the downfall of the empire. They would spread too far too fast and that density, which was their biggest strength, would be thinned out, and make outer, then inner colonies easier to pick off by imperial and xenos alike. Their glorious empire would be reduced to a fraction of what it once was and would likely fall as everyone loses faith in the ethereals, and would signal the colapse of the empire.

It's pretty cool stuff, imo. I like them.

>>49637366
>>49637176

Anyone mind telling me wtf happened to this guy? Is he still around? or what?

>>49637140
It's symbolic. Of all the factions they are the cleanest morally since they haven't had enough time to get as dirty as the rest of them.

>>49643408
>Because, at least to me, a big reason any Xenos would ever join their empire (besides greater good at pulse rifle point) is that their corpse worshiping neighbors could, can and do extinguish any alien race they come across without a second thought. Even if the empire as a whole could be swatted, one on one encounters the Tau can hold their own.

Not only that, but the amount of resources the Imperium has to dedicate to swatting the Tau is much greater than any member species on its own. If you're a one-planet species and the Imperium could wipe you out by sending a single Guard regiment your way, well, it makes a big difference to your survivability if you sign up with the Tau and you now have pretty good odds of surviving a minor crusade. The Imperium has one spare regiment to assign to new battlefields much more often than they have enough spare troops for an entire crusade.

>>49646937
Pretty sure the Tau actually do have FTL. It's just slower than everyone else's.

Also anon, what I mean about them being too small is that there are tons of xeno empires that are larger than the Tau in the fluff that aren't expanded upon, yet pose a far larger threat than the Tau themselves.

The Tau do not pose a threat to the Imperium. At best they are an annoyance. If the Imperium actually decided to focus on wiping out the Tau it would be done easily.

Two or even three large Hive Worlds can match the Tau population easily.

What I am are saying is that the Tau NEED to be larger fluff-wise in order to actually pose any sort of threat to any faction without retarded fluff getting in the way.

>Better trained than Necron pilots
This just makes no sense to me. Tau fluff is absolutely all over the place and I want it fixed. Don't get me wrong, I know that the Tau are, unfortunately, too popular to just be squatted, so at least fix their fluff. I miss when their schtick was being an unsteady alliance of xenos empires and mercenaries, like the Kroot and the Vespid. But neither are really expanded upon anymore and that saddens me. It's all suits and "underdog" fluff. The Tau are not underdogs anymore. Their fluff just doesn't really lend itself to it if they keep doing ridiculous things like cracking the Codex Astartes by simply fighting a chapter of marines, or outflying a Necron pilot. Stuff like that is just wack.

>>49647150
>Pretty sure the Tau actually do have FTL.
I thought the Tau only used warp drives and used them like skipping stones across the Immaterium.

>>49647825
That's what it was, thanks anon.

>>49647825
That's right. Think of the early age of sale where people just never went past the coastline.

I wonder if it something the imperium forgot how to do, or just never bothered with.

I vaguely remember early ships described as limited to making small jumps in the warp before the existence of navigators.

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>>49638179
>literally what the mcfuck

Eh, I'll bite. As a taufag (reformed second-hand smurfer), I honestly dislike the cleanliness of the look as well, even taking into account the "omg poor naive smol babby race" thing - but none of this is chaosfagging or shitting on tau for the hell of it. Or shitposting, either.

>>49644412
That's legal, I could split the unit into a smaller one?

I'm waiting for more miniatures for the other auxiliary races.

>>49637140
My main problem is that they look like the failed try of some 80's brits nerds to create a mecha-manga style race in the early 2000's.

>>49646175
>http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Q%27orl
I just looked through that and did really see much that says their a bigger threat

>>49646937
>>49647150
Their empire doesn't need to be vast but it does need some more bulk and adding in Xeno races looking for a way to hold off the imperium or want the benefits of the empire would be a good way to do it.

>>49650033
They actually look like a knockoff race that some third party company made for Warhammer.

>>49648152
Couldn't like, one or two Etherals fall victim to chaos, or maybe even just being a bad guy, and then lead a sect of his Tau underlings to darker shit? Like you just need the Ethereals to be total dicks and the Tau are on the level of everyone else but still unique. Like the common soldier isn't evil, just victim to societal oppression.
But nope greater good.

>>49643170
>Have their grimderp come to the forefront.
I wouldn't go that far. Part of the taus thing is that they're approaching the tipping point where they have too choose between survival or being "good". But that should still be in their future, the naive newcomer is part of what makes them distinct. Having just another mini imperium would be boring,

>>49648041
>I wonder if it something the imperium forgot how to do, or just never bothered with.
>I vaguely remember early ships described as limited to making small jumps in the warp before the existence of navigators
Even in m41 imperial ships make short jumps without a navigator, chartis vessles don't even have a navigator onboard and just ply well known and stable trade routes with repeated small warp jumps.

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>>49637140
Daily reminder that most armies in 40k look pristine and colorful on the tabletop unless you fucked up at painting them.

You can always just paint 'em the way you want to man, people have done it before.

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>>49650817
Okay, looked it up again and the article on 1d4chan says so. Which means basically nothing at all. I was probably wrong about that, though the article has a nice map, that might be from a codex or something.

>>49651587
the threat seems to be proximity to terra while the tau are on the other side of the galaxy
but the swarm also has the eye of terror to its back

>>49643170

Will you ever shut up about the Stormsurge?

>>49650893

Not until we know who created the Ethereals. The Ethereals shall remain an unanswared question until the real puppemasters show up a bit more.

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>>49651587
It's from Xenology, the book that the Q'Orl were created for.

>>49650893
>you just need the Ethereals to be total dicks

This is already being done lowkey in-canon, and it's been pulled off in fanworks far better than "what if suddenly ethereal was chaos" (which wouldn't work too well straight off the bat in any case since they've got a ridiculously presence in the warp i.e. soul) - for example the tail ends of the w50k and w60k fictions, or the ROTP project. Not that they're brand shiny new, but still.

>>49649789
You're not splitting anything, you're just taking 2 small units. 2x 4man units of pathfinders, and each one has up to 3 markerlight and pulse carbines replaced with a special weapon..

You are essentially changing their battlefield role from markerlighting to an outflanking special weapons squad.

4 pathfinders - 44pts
3 ion rifles - 30pts
74 points total for three outflanking rapid firing autocannons, (they could do the blast, but they become heavy so you cant do that on the turn they outflank)

4 pathfinders - 44pts
3 rail rifles - 45pts
89 points total for three outflanking rapid firing TEQ killers

They're relatively cheap, but tend to be sorta suicide units as the enemy will easily turn on them, but if you are playing things right, your opponent should have other things to worry about

>>49646175
In general that's another saving thing for the tau, while sure they're xenos, they're still probably one of the least threatening "threats" to the imperium.

Even if they're numbers improved, they kind of lack the insidiousness that pretty much all other opfor's to the imperium have.

>>49652220
I like the interpretation where, good or bad, the Ethereals are as brainwashed by their own ideology as any of their followers are.

>>49637140
Counterpoint: 40k is a shit setting for wankers, #shitsettingforwankers, and Tau are the single good thing to come out of it.

>>49643326
Wrong opinion

>>49637515

AKA world building for a 10 year old audience. I hate what 40k has become.

>>49653106
What was it before? What was it before it "became" this? Fine poetry? The saga of creation given form? Or was it a science-fantasy wargame based on 80s action tropes?

>>49653190
Are you implying that Obiwan Sherlock Clousseau isn't the single greatest character to come out of fiction?

>>49652825
The one thing they should never do with the Ethereals is to make them hypocrites. We have the Imperium for regular assholes leaders.
What they should be is totally sincere about the greater good, and then you can make it somehow horrifying.
Like they would act as talented politicians, always shifting their words, attitudes and appearance and you would ask yourself "wait, what's behind those masks?" and the answer is absolutely nothing. Literally selfless people, as in people without self. They are not the "more equal than others" class, they are nothing more than what the greater good need them to be.

You don't need to bring tau down with generic grimdarkness if you can have them find their own way to it.

>>49646970
Dude he does Blanquitsu in the war-hammer visions and now in the thick white dwarfs

>>49650033
i agree entirely.

>>49653190

A setting where factions had more than one or two visual styles because it wasn't trying to market to 8 year old boys.

>>49653971
I'm sure 8 year olds LOVE games where you roll dice and slowly move around tiny models while screaming about blood and heresy, as opposed to something like, oh I don't know - Rogue Trader, where you had space cops and more humor.

>>49654031
I don't know, 8 year old me loved that shit

>>49637140
>or because they have Gundams
They look nothing like GUndam and you know it.

>>49637140
I always liked the way the Tau are a naive and technologically advanced race that stumble into the setting and start to blast grimdark supermonsters with high powered plasma and mass accelerators.

>>49652999
How does his dick taste? Good? You appreciate his 'creative' juice as it slides down your gullet?

>>49650893
>WAAAAHHH TAU SUCK
>WHY WOULD I READ TAU SUPPLEMENT: COMMANDER EDGELORD
because in there you'll find out there's necron tau cross links and etherals are well aware of what chaos are, and they're suppressing the information to stop dissent.
Think of the sleek tau aesthetic to just be 1984 nazi propaganda, each man is immaculate and in time with the beat of humanity, join us and we will save you from the oprressors. Then we'll sterilize you with fluoride in the water until your race is of sustainable levels like in that episode of SG-1.
seriously read the 1d pages on them and you'll actually like them and their design

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>>49651815
No

>>49652825
this

>>49653526
THIS

>>49654844
which, again, is all done far better than just slapping generic grumdorkness "because chaos, guys" on the front

>>49654031
Yes. They do. Citation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxdMwi7uQsM (inb4 alfa legion normies/memes/cancer REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE)

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Eat shit Gue'la,

We 40k now.

>>49654210
mobile suits, whatever

>>49643326
>It's fucking watercolors over sketches.
And?