T'au 8th Ed. Wishlisting

[Skaorn]

Because I enjoy seeing what new things others would want and because it can generate some cool ideas: what would you like for Tau in 8th? I also want to keep this open for Tau allies too, so feel free to go nuts. I personally would like Kroot, Vespid, Demiurge, and other Xenos as codexes because 40k needs more aliens and the Tau are the one army setup to have multiple allied forces.

[Panzer]

Well a point reduce for everything Battlesuit except for Commander and Stealth Suits. Gun Drone cost should go up a bit.

Hammerheads need to get cheaper as well as some weapons across the whole Codex.

 

Now that the boring stuff is out, onto the more interesting stuff.

 - I'd love to see more Auxilliary units. A Kroot HQ, Demiurg, maybe another Vespid and Kroot unit, some of the less often heard auxiliary races. You name it.

 - Pulse Carbines having finally a purpose compared to Pulse Rifles. They need to give it a proper rule for its grenade launcher. That's really all they'd have to do.

 - Slightly adjusted Markerlight table obviously (3rd bonus being a straight +1 to-hit modifier instead of the pseudo variant it's right now and the 2nd and 3rd bonus getting fused because not every army has units for Seeker missiles in it).

 - Burst Cannons having AP-1 or two more shots so they can actually compete with Flamer and CIB for anti-infantry duty.

 - Big Suits (Ghostkeel and upwards, not Broadsides) not having to suffer from to-hit penalties from heavy weapons.

 - Drone units of less than 4 (initial size) not giving away victory points.

 - Ethereals getting worthwhile Auras (why the hell do we get the re-roll 1s aura only if the unit doesn't move? I friggin hate playing gunlines!).

 - Ion weapons overcharge mode being comparable to the non-overcharged mode shot-count wise. Trading 6 shots for 1d6 shots with +1S and 1d3 damage is rarely really worth it to name one example.

 

 

I'm sure I can think of more but that has to be enough for now

[Triszin]

in addition to what SfPanzer said.

 

I had some wishlisting ideas.

 

1. Mixed species units:

 

-what does this mean?

 

You can take a breacher Squad and you now have options to FIll it with fully with one species, or mix and match.

 

EX.

Breacher team A is full of fire warriors they act currently how they are in the books.

 

Breacher team B is a squad of 5 tau, 3 kroot, and 2 guevessa, all are equiped with breacher armor (same save) however this allows you to kit the squad with human CQC weapons on the humans as an option, Pulse pistol, chainsword., Kroot have an option for a assault close combat kroot gun+kroot blade in addition to breacher equipment.

 

Breacher team C is a squad of 10 kroot, this allows them to re-roll charges against monsters/IC's rolls or something similar (lower LD then tau) no assault drone

 

Breacher team D is a squad of 10 guevessa, this allows some imperial equipment, but is very similar to the tau. no assault drone.

 

and so on, making squads full of one race gives benefits, while mixed unit species give mixed unit tactics, more bendable.

 

 

 

2. Auxillary suits

 

- kroot suits that specialize in monster hunting/IC killing/abduction

 

- guevessa suits that give options for a cqc suit with melee, potentially no flight

 

- vespid brood mother suits, gives Vespid savior protocols, boosts vespid and drones.

 

 

3. new auxillary species

 

4. HQ from Kroot, Humans, vespid, other species.

 

 

A Tau upgrade kit for each species, similar to the marine upgrade kits, that gives them armored options.

 

 

I want the Tau's focus to shift from TAU to the TAU Alliance. focus on why the species work with the tau and why it makes the tau that much more efficient.

 

I know it goes against kroot lore, but they are adapatable and willing to change, it would be right in there lore for some kroot to take up armor and suits, as most kroot continue their tradition

[Panzer]

I too want the focus shift to a mixed race faction tho I disagree with your 1. and 2.

T'au do fight alongside other races, but they do so in their seperate squads. Need some sneaky guys that aren't afraid to get close&dirty? Send the Kroot. Need some really mobile guys and don't want to send Suits? Send the Vespid. And so on.

 

Anyway, I just remembered something else I'd like to see. Seeker Missiles doing 1d3 mortal wounds each. Yes they are cheap, but they are still just one-use only weapons on units with BS4+ which also need two markerlights if you don't want to shoot them with BS6+.

The amount of things you need to do to make them hit is in no relation to the actual damage they do.

The exception to that would be Hammerheads taking Seeker missiles and staying in range of Longstrikes aura, but that could easily be adjusted by making Seeker missiles slightly more expensive and the Skyray itself cheaper.

The Skyray costs 44p more than a Devilfish. 30p of that is for the Seeker Missiles. 6p for the Markerlights. So that means you pay 8p to lose 4 S5 shots and the ability to transport units.

You shoot your Seeker Missiles with some outside help to get two Markerlights on the target and you get ~4 hits. That's 4 wounds. The rest of the game it's an expensive Markerlight platform. Change the Seeker Missiles to 1d3 mortal wounds and it would at least be an average of 8 mortal wounds per game instead.

Alternatively (or additionally?) give the Skyray the ability to roll 1d6 for each used Seeker missile and on a 4+ (or 3+ or whatever) it gets reloaded.

[Triszin]

I understand what you saying, maybe give a HQ option that allows Mixed units, for me personally.

 

or give the option for more troop choices that fill different rolls made up of specific xenos. so 1-3 troop options you can have Tau, Kroot (different from there current troop option) and guevessa.

 

but I'd worry that if they did 1d3 mortal wounds, that most lists for tau would just become seeker spam, worse than smite spam.

could treat it like rail weapons, where if you do 3 damage with a seeker it does 1 mortal wound in addition

 

The only reason why I say auxillary suits is because SUits have almost become synonymous with tau, so Aux suits would fit in

[Panzer]

Keep in mind that Seeker Missiles are still one-use only. Seeker spam lists would do good/okay-ish damage one turn and then be useless. Especially against less elite armies.

[Panzer]

And no Aux suits wouldn't fit at all. T'au may upgrade auxiliary weapons to some degree (and even that's a novelty) but giving them a battlesuit? That's something so incredibly rare it almost never happens. There's only one known occasion where it happened and that's when a traitor Inquisitor had proven his loyalty and worth to the T'au (and it was with the Farsight Enclave even iirc so not even the T'au Empire).

[Triszin]

ya I see what your saying with the seeker missles. Perhaps they could even create a Seeker missle drone squad, once fired, they have no special abilities or weapons besides savior protocols. allow you to buy more at an elevated price.

 

 

Atleast we agree that the Tau focus should shift to the conglomerate species working together to survive.

 

whatever happened to that rumored Kroot open top vehicle from years ago?

[Panzer]

That would actually be a pretty cool Drone unit but it really would need a nearby Drone controller since their base BS would most likely still be 5+. :D

 

Dunno, haven't heard anything about a Kroot vehicle. So it's probably been just a fake rumour like so many others.

[Triszin]

That would actually be a pretty cool Drone unit but it really would need a nearby Drone controller since their base BS would most likely still be 5+.

 

Dunno, haven't heard anything about a Kroot vehicle. So it's probably been just a fake rumour like so many others.

you're right that would be a cool upgrade option for sniper drones.

 

would love to see rail/ion sniper drones as an option aswell

 

 

 

-------------

 

jsut thought of this, Drone Network should be a thing.  add +1 BS on squads of drones 10+/ when 10+ drones are within 2 " of each other

 

that way,

 

Drone network +1bs

Drone controller +1 bs

Drone Uplink +1 bs

 

allows for sniper drones to be effective, and others aswell. and easy to deal with so not OP.

[Skaorn]

I suppose what types of roles could be filled with auxiliaries that is different from the Tau's normal method of fighting is one of the key parts for looking at auxiliaries. A defensive melee unit would be good for instance and would be a departure from Tau warfare. Maybe something with a rule that allows any allied unit in CC with an enemy unit that they engaged too to freely fall back and be able to shoot on their next turn.

 

I would also still like to see etherials get armor like was on that one codex cover. Another idea I had was for Earth Caste techs that join the etherials to operate advanced devices that do effects like screw with psykers or provide a drone network like above.

 

Also renegade SM with Tau weapons to make imperial players cry (jk)

[Panzer]

Well Kroot are disposable units that are supposed to be sneaky speedbumps. They can do that but they aren't cheap enough to warrant them over Pathfinder who can do the same plus shooting Markerlights for only 2p more.

Maybe with ObSec on Kroot soon but then I'd probably just take Strike teams instead.

 

Vespid are mobile low profile shock troops. They kinda compete with Crisis suits and Breacher and would need some unique Vespid/Auxiliary Stratagem or whatever to make them different enough but I don't feel they are bad.

 

Demiurg...well they are space dwarfs (spiritual successor to Squats) so they are obviously durable. We don't really know much about how they would fight on the table but I'd say vehicles (maybe one that can outflank even), melee weapons, durable infantry. Basically the amboss to whatever hammer we might bring (T'au warfare isn't hammer&amboss, it's more like a retreating hammer and a striking hammer).

 

Humans are basically just Astra Militarum stuff but slightly upgraded with T'au tech. Of course they couldn't just give us AM in better but a few units here and there would work. The problem is....what could they contribute without taking away from other T'au units and auxiliaries? Maybe a bunch of cheap-ish artillery and heavy weapon squads?

 

Nicassar...well those would be extremely interesting. They are described as unfit for ground combat and they get hidden from the Imperium by the T'au so it's rather unlikely to see rules for them I'd say. Maybe in some kind of heavy support vehicle (Piranha level, not Hammerhead level) to drive around and support T'au with their psychic power.

 

Galg. Basically space frogs. No clue what they can do but afaik they are mercenaries like the Kroot. They are a very minor race which don't offer anything new. They are just there for variety. If you want them, use Kroot rules.

 

Tarellian. Space reptilian dogs? Definitely weird ones. Just another mercenary race without any unique trait same as the Galg.

 

Greet. Basically just a race that produces stuff for the T'au. Nothing likely to get rules.

 

Ji'atrix. Well barely anything is known about them. A race with affinity for the void and space-faring. Nothing for the tabletop except maybe for Battlefleet.

 

Morralian. More mercenaries.

 

Ranghon. I honestly don't know anything about them.

 

Henrians. Guess what....more mercenaries!

 

Anthrazods. A sturdy and but dim-witted race suited for asteroid mining....so basically dumb Demiurg lol. Maybe we'll see them together with Demiurg.

 

Brachyura. Tiny crab people. They basically assemble the plasma generatords for the Earth Caste.

 

Nagi. Super intelligent brain worms! Former enemies of the T'au but now allies. They work more as advisors for Ethereals so unlikely to get their own unit.

 

 

 

 

That's all the T'au auxilliary races I know of. So as we can see, half of them aren't military focussed or can easily be represented by Kroot rules due them being generic mercenaries. That leaves us with Demiurg, Vespid, Humans.

Tho I'd love to see Exodites as T'au auxilliary race if I would be allowed to wish for something. Dinosaurs ftw! :D

[Zamtro]

Im gonna slip in quietly... I want Tau to have BS3+ and drones at least 4+ I was browsing forgeworld and GW for my next few purchases and I really love some of the Tau models, then figured hey, maybe ill build a little Tau list with some sweet looking robot dudes... except wait.... for super advanced gunline tech their ability to hit targets is... sad. Maybe I'll still grab 1 or 2 just to build and paint =\

 

Edit - I've never played Tau, just figured that such a badass looking shooty army would have better BS - has it always been like this?

[Panzer]

T'au with BS4+ is fine if the Markerlight table were better. T'au aren't particularly good at shooting on their own but they can improve on it dramatically due their Markerlight technology.

[Zamtro]

T'au with BS4+ is fine if the Markerlight table were better. T'au aren't particularly good at shooting on their own but they can improve on it dramatically due their Markerlight technology.

That makes sense... from what I saw looks like you need to stack 5 markerlights, and thats just on one unit, and they hit on like 5+? Just to get 3+ to hit. After first read it felt underwhelming for an army that looks so technically advanced!

[Panzer]

 

T'au with BS4+ is fine if the Markerlight table were better. T'au aren't particularly good at shooting on their own but they can improve on it dramatically due their Markerlight technology.

That makes sense... from what I saw looks like you need to stack 5 markerlights, and thats just on one unit, and they hit on like 5+? Just to get 3+ to hit. After first read it felt underwhelming for an army that looks so technically advanced!

 

Pathfinder hit on 4+ unless they moved or the target unit has their own to-hit modifier. But yeah having to hit 5 sucks. My re-worked Markerlight table (which would buff T'au a LOT on its own already) would look something like this:

1. Re-roll 1s to-hit

2. Shoot Seeker Missiles at users BS (if GW wants to keep that silly mechanic...otherwise make the buff about buffing Seeker Missiles damage to 1d3) PLUS +1 to-hit in the shooting phase

3. Ignore Cover

4. Another +1 to-hit

 

So basically the 3rd bonus which is a highly situational +1 to-hit replaced with a proper +1 to-hit and fused it with the 2nd bonus because that one is pretty meh on its own and rarely matters in most T'au lists because you can only take Seeker Missiles on vehicles and Broadsides anyway.

[Triszin]

this popped up

 

[Panzer]

this popped up

 

Now that's interesting. Where did that come from?

[Triszin]

supposedly some russian site that also leaked some previous artwork

[Skaorn]

Kroot: a potential upgrade to Kroot might be to have any wounds they caused in their last fight/turn act as a positive modifier to any morale check they make. You down 3 but loose 3, you make a leadership test at base. Of course causing a morale penalty for wanting to eat you or just a point drop would also work to. Some stratagems like allowing you to remove a unit and return it to full strength on a board edge or letting a unit near a shaper target characters might help. I hope we'll se the return of traits you can buy for them and units from the Kroot Merc list too.

 

Vespid: the changes to Tau movement really impacted their role, as you said. Maybe allowing them to fire their neutron blasters at no penalty when they advance, will help reclaim their speed advantage over suits (assuming the NBs are still assault weapons). I wouldn't mind seeing things like hatchling swarms and a MC matriarch. Beyond this I think they'd need a lot more development to make them a full blown army like the Kroot can be.

 

Demiurge: I'm kind of hoping against them being space dwarves and that they bring Squats back, personally. I'm hoping for energy beings in encounter suits myself as I think it would be a way to tie them to their name. Also Vorlons. I suppose having a hard defensive style would be good contrast to the Tau and they do seem like they can be developed for a codex more easily than Vespid.

 

Humans: I'm really hoping against Tau just being allowed to take IG detachments, I would really want some sci-fi looking humans. I'm not saying give them access to the good stuff but why give them lasguns when you already make rounds for Kroot Rifles. I was trying to play XCom 2 today and was thinking that it might be possible to do a type of "abhuman" that seems fiercely loyal to the Tau and often put in positions of human leadership and equipment for "embracing" the greater good. Play them up as being humans engineered to be easily indoctrinated by the Tau to aid in indoctrinating other humans and act as a fifth column but the engineering caused a minor but noticeable difference. They would be the ones who might get Firewarrior armor and weapons; possibly even a type of battle suit.

 

Nicassar: I'm honestly fine with them staying in BFG. I'm fine with remaining without psychics, as long as we get something to screw with them. I will admit your idea does sound fun though. I'm imagining a bear floating around on a palliquine, eating grapes.

 

Hrud: it wouldn't be a stretch to add them considering how they interact with humans and they could probably be expanded into a minor faction codex like the Kroot. The problem would be if they would be stepping on the Kroot's stealthy toes.

 

Tallerians: lizard people who hate Imperials and roughly the equivalent in technology, iirc. Nothing really exciting or mysterious about them, kind of like the Vespid but with less background material. As is they don't seem much more than Saurus Warriors modeled with lasrifles and counting as IG.

 

The rest are a bunch name drops to make the Tau seem like they are more of a Xenos "federation". Still a lot of room to futz around with and add new things, only so much space to practically add to the table top.

[Panzer]

Demiurge: I'm kind of hoping against them being space dwarves and that they bring Squats back, personally. I'm hoping for energy beings in encounter suits myself as I think it would be a way to tie them to their name. Also Vorlons. I suppose having a hard defensive style would be good contrast to the Tau and they do seem like they can be developed for a codex more easily than Vespid.

You'll be disappointed then. GW already said quite some time ago that Squats are gone for good and that Demiurg are their spiritual successors.

 

They kinda had to go with a new race because back then the rights belonged to the artists who designed the models and when GW decided to buy the rights of all the stuff that was warhammer at that time so they could do with them what they want the guy who made the Squats said 'nope' and left instead. So then GW brought them back under a different name, with slightly different aesthetics (more sci-fi than just literally space biker dwarfs) and made them part of the T'au Empire instead of being a subhuman race.

[Skaorn]

 

Demiurge: I'm kind of hoping against them being space dwarves and that they bring Squats back, personally. I'm hoping for energy beings in encounter suits myself as I think it would be a way to tie them to their name. Also Vorlons. I suppose having a hard defensive style would be good contrast to the Tau and they do seem like they can be developed for a codex more easily than Vespid.

You'll be disappointed then. GW already said quite some time ago that Squats are gone for good and that Demiurg are their spiritual successors.

 

They kinda had to go with a new race because back then the rights belonged to the artists who designed the models and when GW decided to buy the rights of all the stuff that was warhammer at that time so they could do with them what they want the guy who made the Squats said 'nope' and left instead. So then GW brought them back under a different name, with slightly different aesthetics (more sci-fi than just literally space biker dwarfs) and made them part of the T'au Empire instead of being a subhuman race.

 

 

Thank you, I had read about the Squats before but never encountered that bit of info on them.  You'd think that any time someone brought them up, GW would lead with that.  We probably wouldn't have "Squated" if they did.

[Panzer]

GW honestly probably doesn't care anymore. They said what happened and provided a substitute (tho only in fluff so far) and people still keep wishing and guessing. Them saying the same thing again wouldn't change much at this point. ^^

[The Yncarne]

I'm not big on the current auxiliaries. From an aesthetic perspective the Kroot clash with Tau. I prefer to keep the high tech look of the main units transferred over to the auxiliary models. Kroot go in the opposite direction.

 

I love the idea and sketches of the Vespid, but haven't seen a good model or anything to really distinguish them from battle suits from a play perspective.

 

Auxiliary units shouldn't surpass the Tau units so I have a difficult time thinking GW will plug a gap like CQC with good auxiliary options.

[Panzer]

I don't think they clash. They stand out and that's what they are supposed to do. Small but important difference.