Fifth and Fourth Sphere of Expansion.

>>53227765
Hey, now we can play Tau in campaigns that aren't set near them without it feeling weird.

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>>53227765
*Blocks your expansion*

>>53227765
actually this makes sense, now you have mor fluff reasons to include tau in other scenarios than just damocles and the occasional waaagh or splinter fleet.

>>53228489
It will still feel weird, but now you can tell yourself it doesn't feel weird.

>>53227765
Bet we're getting chaos Tau.
But not Nurgle Tau. They're blue, if they were green they would die.

>>53229573
No, it won't feel weird.

>>53229785
>>53228533
It's on par with 'loyalist traitor legion post in the warp'
Random Tau show up without any supply train or hope of reinforcement. They better find virgin worlds immediately and establish a base of operations or any Tau activity is just an ass pull.

These are StarTrek Voyager levels of screwed, but without replicators

>>53229843

Well, at least they have armies of robots. Also, a Tau coalition operates with all the castes serving different roles. See the Farsight Enclaves. Wap-fuckery can accelerate the level of development of these planets.

>>53229615
>They're blue, if they were green they would die.
kek

>>53229615
But now we get Tzeentchian Tau.

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Who did lead the Fourth one?
Who is leading the Fifth one?

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>>53230653
I hope it's a super-genki blueberry, and not an old shrivelled-up prune like Shadowsun

I hope the 4th expansion fleet is scattered, rather than all of them showing up on the other side of the galaxy to make a 2nd Tau Empire. I want to see a shotgun blast of new, isolated Tau worlds across the galaxy, which would maximize customizability for armies, and get rid of any need for the extreme amounts of plot armor in every Tau story.

>>53230653
It would be a great opportunity to introduce a new Commander, or maybe reintroduce Kais.

>>53230794
>Tau are scattered acrise the galaxy
>three new tau splinter empires pop up all with a different caste majority
>after awhile all the splinter empires go to war with each other and the central tau empire

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>4th shere completely disappeared
Wait fuck, how big of a force is a sphere comprised of??

What're your bets on whats happening to them boyyyyz?

>>53230821
Water waifus plz

>>53228511
I was gonna say, all along that zone arent the necronlords waking up anyways?

>>53230821

Water Caste Cyborg-Ninjas?

>>53230821
>>53230794
They'll come back as a new faction of Chaos Tau. Remember, Chaos has been severely neglected in the fluff, and GW seeks to rectify the lack of attention Chaos has been getting.

>>53230794
With new alien auxiliaries perhaps?

>>53230937
OH yes I want that. My favorite part about the tau are the alien auxiliaries.

>>53230824
I don't think there is a set size for expansion fleet. My theory: 4th was rather small fleet that got instantly lost, instead of admitting 4th being a total failure and send reinforcements for it, they just declared 5th sphere expansion to drown out any news of 4th.

>>53230824

It's probably just the forces of the 3th one under a new name. It's not like this force was destroyed.

>>53230794
Im trying to think, is there anyone out west they've not met? How familiar are the Tau with eldar?

>>53230824
i bet the 4th sphere took ALL the kroot with them and through time fuckery warp shit they all bioengineer their way into being the Tyranids.

I wonder if they will get psykers. Preferably auxiliary. While it would make some sense that the Ethereals have psyker powers, I'd prefer some fancy alien like Nicassar in antigrav mecha suits.

>>53231281
I'd personally like to see Nicassar but psyker kroot are more likely simply because Forgeworld already made them.

>>53230959
Yeah, they're my favourite part too.

>>53231240
Tau haven't actually seen much of Chaos Space Marines as the Eye of Terror is on the complete opposite side of the Galaxy. I remember when GW had the 13th Black Crusade Event, Tau had their Third Sphere Expansion so they could be doing something at the same time. In fact, I don't think they've seen much of Daemons apart from Farsight with Arthas Moloch.

As for Eldar, I think the Tau are familiar with them, though I can't remember any specific stories apart from that particular Dark Eldar one.

On an unrelated note, I'm interested to see if Aun'va has finally received a replacement. I don't think they can keep the hologram ruse up for a Sphere Expansion, let alone two.

>>53231388
Tau has irregular encounters with daemons in perdus rift. They also have encountered roaming CSM warbands and corsairs but nothing as organized as what Abby is bringing.

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>>53230854
Pretty much the whole Sautekh Dynasty is cockblocking them from 1 side.

Will be interesting when the Tau get a taste of the Necron Fleet cheese.
Blueberries thought the Imperium of Man did some bullshit in space.

>>53228511
The Tau are allied with Necrons though.

It will take GW atleast 5 years to make the Tau finnally meet Guilliman probrably when they are about to invade Ultramar or something like that.

The grrayskins will probrably call him the Gue'la Emperor by mistake.

>>53232243
>The grrayskins will probrably call him the Gue'la Emperor by mistake.

But he is the Emperor in anything but title.

>>53232284
I think of him more akin to perpetual prime minister, the Emperor may still be bound to the golden throne but he still is the head of state.

>>53232163
Elaborate

>>53227765
So, 1st and 2nd took over 3000 years combines and captured dozens of systems for the Tau. 3rd took 3 years and captured one hive world. And 4th was launched immediately after it, even though the Tau already had problems with manpower launching 3rd and hadn't done fuck all. Why not just expand on the 3rd and have it advance further in, rather than just quitting after one major victory?

Was anon said in another thread, it's like "expansion" = Imperial Crusade now. They're not long periods of expansion and colonization, they're just "fuck this place in particular" and then they go and fuck it.

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>>53232163

>>53232413

It's a reference to the Asian superstition of 4 = Death/Unlucky. It's convenient.

>>53232384
The Necrons discovered the Real Greater Good that the Tau are searching for.

>>53232437
>implying GW are that clever
>implying anything bad is gonna happen to the Tau

>>53232445
Elaborate

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>>53232456
It's the kind of thing a clever writer can slip in without the over bloated corporate side of g-dubs screwing it up.

>>53232499
>"So, Mike, I see you decided to ditch our background about the 3rd Sphere Expansions and wrote a whole new Expansion, the 4th. Can you explain why?"

>>53230959
I feel like Tau Alien Auxillaries should be a different army instead of being in competition with the "Tau Cool Mechs" and having completely different aesthetics.

>>53232437
>Asian superstition of 4 = Death/Unlucky.
4 pronounces "shi", which is the same as word for death (though the writing is different). I know this because hentai.

>>53232533
Agreed, GW needs a way to create new aliens without having to develop entirely new factions.

>>53232556
So does this mean all the people screaming "For the Emperor!" are actual Alpha Legion infiltrators secretly screaming "Death (to) the Emperor"?

>>53232556
>I know this because hentai
Yeah right, wierdo. I bet you finished your masters degree too just to become a NEET again.

TAU SCATTERED ACROSD TIME AND SPACE

the warp knows no limits, so the tau appear anywhere, anywhen.

TAU IN THE HORUS HERESY BOIS

>>53232445
That just raises further questions!

>>53232914
GOTTA GET BACK, BACK TO THE PAST, FIRE WARRIOR JACK!

>>53232914
>But a foolish battlesuit, wielding a high tech gun step forth to oppose me! Before the final blast was shot I flunged him to the future where my evil is law!

>>53232108
Poor poor blueballs.

>>53230919

Whenever Chaos isn't on screen, the audience should be asking "Where's Chaos?"

>>53233178

> FOOOOLISH FIRE WARRIOR, WITH A MAGIC PLASMA GUN, ROSE UP TO-
> "Its not magic. It just doesn't explode when you use it."
> "AS I WAS SAYING, WITH A MAGIC PLASMA GUN."

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>>53233178
>>53233180

>>53231275
No

>>53233320
O'shovah to the past
Commander O'shovah.

WACHOW!

>>53232914
Long ago in a distant land
I Malal the shapeshifting master of discord
Unleashed an unspeakable evil
But a foolish fire warrior piloting a special crisis suit stepped forth to oppose me
*Plasma weapons noises
Before the final blow was struck I tore open a portal and tossed him into the future where my evil is law!
Now the fool seeks to return to the past and indo the future that is Malal!

>>53233178
>>53233180
>>53233296
>>53233320
>>53234638
>>53234677
Is for situations like this that I wish wild drawfags still existed

>>53227765
Seems like a good excuse to play Chaos Tau.

>>53232432
This. This is why the tau shouldn't be grimdark. They don't work as punching bags if they are.

>>53235303
The Taus are utterly grimdark because they are that species that is just too good to exist. Real Taus are so naive, they think they can get the power of friendship to work on DE. They could disappear in an instant if the warp farted in their general direction and they're not even aware of it, and I find that beautiful. I headcanon that if they have no presence in the warp, it is because their souls are too pure for chaos gods to consume.
If their leaders mind-control them, that means they actually have their shit together. And it's bad. I want my Taus as naive wide-eyed idealists please.

>>53235419
>They could disappear in an instant if the warp farted in their general direction
>Galaxy literally split in half by biggest warpstorm ever
>this actually benefitted tau
Warp is a meme

>>53227765
Tau master race will spread out to conquer the galaxy, repel the nids, crush Chaos, seal the Great Rift, and convince the Emperor to join the Greater Good.

Imperialfags BTFO

>>53234717
They're dead, Jim

>>53235449
Taus are so kind, the Warp actually wrap itself around them for cuddles.

>>53232108

>mfw the Tau punch far above their weight just like they always do and the impressed necrons continue to let them expand out of respect

>>53235419
>they think they can get the power of friendship to work on DE.

The Tau knew the fucking Dark Eldar were trouble but they saw that the Tyranids were the bigger threat so they didn't down the Eldar's aid. Even then the Tau kept an eye on the Dark Eldar that's how they knew the Dark Eldar double crossed them. When the Tau moved to punish the Dark Eldar, the Dark Eldar sidestepped them and attacked a defenceless world before leaving. This is a similar story to the stories of Craftworld Eldar being forced to ally with the Dark Eldar then being back stabbed by them. One story ended with an exodite world dead and Saim-Han having daemoms all over it thanks to their Dark Eldar allies.

I find you raping the lore to fit your headcanon a beautiful display of falsehood. The Tau are no more pure than the humans. They are just rational and are not raised to be cunts from the get go.

As for the Warp? The Ethereal have known about Chaos and safeguarded its true knowledge from the Tau because ignorance is the best weapon against Chaos (t.Emperor). The Tau have been fighting the forces of Chaos for sometime. Whatever comes out of the Hadex Anomaly and the Perdus Rift, and now the Great Rift. Did the Tau disappear? No, the Tau are kicking Chaos in the balls like anything else they fought. They are sending their forces out there by the boatloads to expand their empire in a galaxy beneath the shadow of Chaos because they aren't afraid, and you know why? Because the Greater Good is a cosmic truth that cannot be defeated.

>>53235725
This post made my dick hard.

Thx anon.

Wait, the 4th sphere was lost? They lost a whole sphere of expansion? And they sayid losing 100 baneblades was shameful.

>>53232914
>2019
>Little Timmy in Delaware is watching youtube
>sudden thundercrack
>big blue alien with no nose falls out of his closet
>cue mutual screaming

>>53235765
>They lost a whole sphere of expansion?

No, they lost the fourth sphere expansion fleet into the Warp. The fleet will appear somewhere else in the galaxy and start liberating and consoling worlds. Starting an offshoot of the T'au Empire.

>>53234717
Sigh. I'll see what I can do. It's mother's day though. So give me a few days

You're lucky I play FSE

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>>53235725
>>53235764

>being this angry about blue aliens
Jesus fucking christ we found the guy who fields 3 baneblades

>>53235811
>the warp will never deliver a blueberry waifu to your bedroom
Fuck chaos, this is why I'm not a heretic.

HOLD UP.

How will the Tau survive the journey into the Warp WITH NO GELLAR FIELDS? They are as good as dead.

>>53230919
>Chaos Tau make more progress in three weeks then Abaddon has in ten thousand years.

>>53235887
That's tau for you. Humanity just can't compete.

>>53235303
If a faction is written so that they *only* take losses from stupid bullshit scenarios, and every fight they're in results in a victory because they're just that good, it's still shit writing, whether or not the losses make them look like 'punching bags'.

>implying daemons will notice them

>>53235866
Wasn't the Tau's warp presence so small that daemons and other warpy beings are unable to even see them?

>>53235972
Tau are in the middle of their great crusade to unite the galaxy but instead of riding on the coattails of previous even greater civilization that did all the groudwork for them they have to plow that field by themselves.

Now there's going to be off-shoot Tau nations?

Sometimes I think the current writers liked Age of Dusk.

>>53231240

They've been fucked by the Dark Eldar at least twice, with the second time resulting in the Tau accidentally glassing a Eldar maiden world, which leads to them getting fucked by Biel-Tan. So not much interaction.

In the old fluff though the Eldar had a boner for the Tau, with Eldrad basically declaring them to be the worthy successors to the Eldar in ruling the galaxy.

>>53235866
Who needs a Gellar Field when you have
PLOOOOOOOOOOT!!!
ARMOOOOOOOOOR!!!

>>53236017
That only goes for Pariah.

>>53229843
you're right, but it's a whole expansion fleet lost and they probably have with them the means to colonize and fortify quite a few (daemon-) worlds.

>>53235972

That's dumb though because the Tau lose all the fucking time. Even after shitting on Gorgon they still lost entire systems to Tyranids.

The issue is that what you consider to be a valid "loss" is an existential one and thus nothing short of the Tau going extinct will satisfy you. That makes you a faggot.

>>53236017
The Tau souls appear as a wisps/fireflies in the Warp. As singular beings, a daemon might miss them. But as a group of hundreds of thousands? Tell me would you miss seeing thousands of fireflies buzzing infront of your face.

There is also the entropic effects of the Warp on their ships. You have seen the corruption and ruination of the ships that form the Space Hulks.

>>53235833
Ur post gave me cancer.

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>>53236092
It goes for the Tau too. Daemons have hard time seeing them even if they are in plain view.

Pariahs on the other hand are easy to see for a daemon. They appear as a disturbing shadow/blackhole in their vision that's painful to look at.

>>53236092

Tau brains have a chemical mixture in their brain that prevents them from ever developing pysker potential. Is very easy for a daemon to be in front of a Tau "soul" and see nothing or a spark at most.

>>53232647
kek

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>>53235725
Absolutely beautiful post there, anon. You do the Ethereals proud.

>>53227765
>launching "the Fifth Sphere of Expansion" when a Fourth Sphere was never actually established
I'm a little triggered right now

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>>53230824
They're all captured by Ahriman who experiments on them until they become his thralls, their natural resistance to the Warp and adherence to the Greater Good making their inevitable fall so much more satisfying.


When they emerge, the Chaos Tau shall ravage their former comrades, proving once and for all the falsehoods of the Greatest Lie

Then Ahriman will have a cup of tea and laugh it up with Tzeentch

>>53232432
They did save another Sept from Tyranids and then NOT kill them all.

>>53227765
I'm stoked. Tau are taking the stage as a real player with this instead of hiding in the armpit of the Galaxy.

And with time warp screwery the de-xenosification of the Galaxy is possible leading to more auxilliary options

So, here's what we really need.

As the imperium mobilizes under Guilliman to fight chaos, troops are pulled from everywhere in the galaxy. This leaves worlds far from the frontlines understaffed. Suddenly, rebellions break out all across these worlds. In some cases, it's humans rising up and declaring themselves free from the emperor. In other cases, it's conquered and enslaved xenos. A new campaign has to be mounted to take back these worlds. The inquisition starts looking for answers. These rebellions are too well timed, and too coordinated, to be a coincidence. Who's behind it all?

The Motherfucking tau water caste, that's who. It's the 4th sphere expansion. They're forming 5th columns within the imperium in order to free the gue'la and their conquered xeno slaves. These uprisings are supplied and supported by the tau, and when the imperium comes to put the rebellions down, the fire caste rides to the rescue like big damn heroes. And when the fighting is done the water casts says "it looks like you could use some help staying free, how'd you like to join the greater good?

And THAT's how you make the tau fucking relevant to the current metaplot fuckery, and how you get them anywhere in the galaxy you want, and how you get to introduce a bunch of new xeno races at the same time.

>>53242285
>Implying Guilliman would be so careless as to leave his flanks unsecured

>>53236072
>successors to the Eldar in ruling the galaxy
Holing up in your rapey corner of the galaxy for millenia until you party it straight into hell doesn't really count as ever ruling the galaxy in the first place.

>>53242321
Implying that Guilliman has to allocate limited resources and has to weaken some areas to strengthen others.

After all, once they finish of the threat of chaos, they can easily turn around and mop up the rebellious stragglers. It's not like those were important worlds anyway.

Plus, just because it looks weak doesn't mean it is weak. Perhaps it's all a trap to lure out the xeno infiltrators.

>>53242490
>Implying that Guilliman has to allocate limited resources and has to weaken some areas to strengthen others.
You clearly underestimate the plot Armor of Papa Smurf

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>>53243039
>inb4 Cato Sicarius somehow beats back entire 5th Sphere of expansion with a bolter with only one shot in it and a chewed up pen

>>53238230

Is that the fucking baddie from Halo 4?

>>53242386

The Eldar empire encompassed most of the galaxy though. Orks for example literally only existed on the fringe edges of the galaxy.

>>53227765
>tau can finally appear in any part of the galaxy
or rather
>conflicts including tau aren't automatically delgated to one tiny region of space, unimportant to the greater setting
They finally did it! The absolute madmen!

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>>53242285
>Implying that Old Guiller would be so narrowsighted as to leave the rest of the empire unguarded and policed.
>Instead he puts the Martian's allowance up and puts them in-charge of the whole damn sectors while the boys are away.
https://youtu.be/CnWtJbg9P7o

>>53243626
Until either the Khan or the Lion come back and remove Tau. I'd include but he's to damn nice and dies all the time.

>>53243693
Even forgetting to type his name i know who you mean. Poor Grandfather Vulkan, he's seen sone shit, bit Roboutte and him always were on good terms. Maybe he can hold the fort.

>>53243727
I assume Vulkan would usher in a new age of friendship and flamers.

>>53243767
And a Night Lords jihad.

>>53243837
Nothing wrong with killing nightlords.

>>53243993
Edgelords always need genociding.

>>53230633
They kinda already are with all that hopeful progressive vibrant civilization and sinister msnipulative shit behind their shining propaganda facade. The only think they lack to fit perfectly into tzeenchien creed is personal ambition.

>>53229615
Hows out Slaanesh Tau?
>Delicious hedonistic depravity to drunken the greater good from their minds and grant them true induvidualism and self indulgement

C'mon Tau, just one puff of THE DEVIL'S LETTUCE and you're CHAOS.

>>53244485
>Chaos: The Higher Good

>>53244505
Maryjarna can destroy a space faring civilization empire 3000 years in the making in just ONE smoke.

>>53230691
Shadowsun a cute. Cute!

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>>53242285

>>53242285

More reasons to deploy Gue'vesas en mass now.

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>>53242285
>>53246136

For the Greater Good!

>>53229615
Kek

>>53246145
>>53246024
>>53246136
See
>>53243693

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>>53227765
The ethereals guide us!
We sha not fail them!

>>53243080
>IMPLYING HE WONT