1000 pt army (any help appreciated)

[Tyndmyr]

I like the idea of using marines as leaders for a guard unit. Not technically legal, but I dont think it'd be overpowering, and it'd certainly be interesting. =)

[Vash113]

You could use the old Lost and the Damned rules to represent that and just not take any chaos equipment. I was origionally going to do something like that to represent an Ultramar PDF force.

[Xian]

Good ideas everyone!

I've always thought that the Ordo Hereticus would be good allies for the Mentors.
Once I get a decent force put together, I think it will be time to dust off and put together some Witch Hunters to explore that part of the Imperium!

Cheers,

[Minrat]

HQ
Shas’o            
      Cyclic Ion Blaster      
      Plasma Rifle         
      Shield Generator      
      H.W. Drone Controller   
      H.W. Multi-Tracker   
      Gun Drone         
      Gun Drone         
      Stimulant Injector      
                  Total   165
Elites
3   Stealthsuits            
                  Total   90
Troops
10   Firewarriors            
      Devilfish         
         Multi-Tracker      
         Disruption Pod   
         Flechette Discharges   
                  Total   205

10   Firewarriors            
                  Total   100

10   Kroot Warriors         
                  Total   70   
Fast Attack
8   Pathfinders            
      Devilfish         
         Multi-Tracker      
         Disruption Pod
         Flechette Discharges   
                  Total   206   
Heavy Support
   Hammerhead         
      Railgun         
      2 Burst Cannons      
      Multi-Tracker         
      Disruption Pod      
                  Total   165   

Providing i haven't messed up my maths this is exactly 1000 points.

The pathfinders Devil fish is to be given to the fire warriors.

any help appreciated

thanks

[OMalley84]

I would put shield drones in for guns on HQ and give him a bonding knife, you will need when you lose a drone and if you fail your morale.  Same w Fire warriors, upgrade Ui's and hand 'em a couplebonding knives.  I dont play kroot much but if I did there would be a shaper for Ld 8 and hounds for the I5.  I would drop the stealths and put either Fireknife bodyguards for your commander or make some Deathrain suits (Twin linked MP w TA).  Mess with the squad sizes a bit because you need another Railgun, either Railhead or XV88.  Most importantly remember bonding knives are a must have for Tau as is ANYTHING you can do to increase leadership, since ours is not as good as other armies.  Great start though

[Finn]

I think you guys may have the wrong idea about "Arch Enemy." GoneFishing has the right idea but he's missing another factor. You will notice that the Imperium (Space Marine or otherwise) hate Chaos but a specific part of Chaos i.e. the human mortal servants of Chaos (e.g. Chaos Space Marines or Legion of the Damned if you want to give them army terminologies). In the entire lifetime of an Imperial citizen (again, Space Marine or otherwise), he/she is taught (or brainwashed depending on how much you look into these kind of things) that the God-Emperor of Mankind is end all and be all, and anything else can be pretty much crushed, killed and destroyed. To turn away from those "teachings" is blasphemous and you pretty much get excommunicated & executed. To turn to Chaos is turn your back on your God-Emperor, he who sacrificed his life so that you may live and prosper but in return, you are to repay the God-Emperor with your product (e.g. food, weapons, etc.) or service (e.g. almost a lifetime of service in one of the Imperial branches). When you turn to Chaos, you pretty much betray and spit on the values of everyone else who worships the God-Emperor. It could be one of the most heinous thing a mortal could do. Chaos Space Marines, their super human powers bestowed upon them by the Emperor and trusted to defend His realm from all who would oppose or destroy humanity. Renegade Imperial Guard, almost the same thing but you don't get as much hate and fury akin to what the Space Marines can dish out. However, this would not be so visible without the Horus Heresy which is pretty much the biggest betrayal of Mankind.

The "Eldar Race" is the same. The Dark Eldar pretty much abandoned whatever the "other" Eldar hold true so they must die for their mistake. The Dark Eldar pretty much brought on the Fall of the Eldar, Eye of Terror and Slaanesh.

Orks are a special case because they've been there to fight Mankind (and Eldar) again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again since Mankind took to the stars.

If you're thinking TL:DR, then basically Tau needs to suffer from the hands of either any of the factions in the universe for many thousands of years or having one of their own abandoning the Greater Good (as well as almost brought on the fall of the Tau Empire) for them to have an arch enemy with every fiber of their being and soul.

[Saulus]

Maybe the Tau will be the example of possible unity that is required for defense against, Orks, Chaos, Nids, Necrons. Every other foe for the Tau seems to end up leaving to fight something bigger, perhaps wondering why they fought at all. The Imperium of The Taudar could go a long way if they could simply agree to stop killing each other. But that 'won't happen', as Zenai said, the hatred between factions runs deep. 

Zenai: Perhaps an even smaller TL:DR, no Tau has yet said "That's it, now its personal!" (well maybe Farsight and Orks, but that sentiment has not become 'global')

[Gonefishing]

In the entire lifetime of an Imperial citizen (again, Space Marine or otherwise), he/she is taught (or brainwashed depending on how much you look into these kind of things) that the God-Emperor of Mankind is end all and be all, and anything else can be pretty much crushed, killed and destroyed. To turn away from those "teachings" is blasphemous and you pretty much get excommunicated & executed.

To be fair I think this part is pretty much the same for the Tau, Tau parents dont even raise there Kids and there breeding is confined to strict caste terms. From the moment a Tau Citizen is born he is indoctrinated in his place in society, the greater good, and the supremacy of the Ethereal Caste - A Tau just has to see an Ethereal die and he will either run in terror or go Batman crazy (by Tau standards). A Tau citizens life is every bit as controlled (if not more so) than a Imperial Citizens, the only difference is the Tau have been smarter with the branding and sugarcoat the hell out of there control.

However you are quite right, the reason the Tau can sugarcoat the pill is that they dont have a millenia of experience of war horror and bloodshed or a bitter emnity withpretty much everyone in the Galaxy - Tau have only the vaguest idea whats really "Out there" yet, they stil dont fully comprehend the true extent of the imperium let alone the various other fractions out there.

[Alpha_Wolf]

   So to summarize everything I've read so far; Imperium = hate traitors + hate traitors; Eldar = hate selves + hate traitors; Daemons = hate eat quasi heretics; Orks = kil ___; Tyranids = eat ___; Necrons = hate? (do they have emotions?) ___; Tau Empire = peace and love for Mother Russia and great Stalin The Greater Good and The Ethereals.
     Did I miss anyone? Simply put the tau are incapable of having a mortal nemesis unless the ethereals tell them to, so unless Au'un Va decides to lead a horde of greedy self motivated tau in a quest to destroy the empire and take it's spoils, there will never be an enemy who the tau hate so deeply as the Eldar hate the Dark Eldar, or which inspires them to such rage as the CSMs do the Marines.

[Stewie Griffin]

Hmmm, thanks for the responses guys, been pretty interesting.


On a side note, I do believe it would be more interesting when they update our army to develop the fluff of the Ethereals a bit more, make them more sinister than what they are at the moment maybe? Say like (I know it's over-used) Stalin in the USSR, reveared as a God, but actually a power-hungry maniac...

EDIT: That is something, presumably the Ethereals have the power to declare any particular race (say...Kroot) as an enemy of the Tau, and thus order their extinction/subdugation... maybe it's what their planning all along - Mass Genocide! *puts on tinfoil hat*


Oh, and for the record, what does Tl;Dr mean?....

[Finn]

On a side note, I do believe it would be more interesting when they update our army to develop the fluff of the Ethereals a bit more, make them more sinister than what they are at the moment maybe? Say like (I know it's over-used) Stalin in the USSR, reveared as a God, but actually a power-hungry maniac...

It could be me being sarcastic but I thought one of the appeals of Tau is their Greater "Good" Good so wouldn't a Stalin-God-But-Power-Mad-Maniac thing ruined that appeal?

Oh, and for the record, what does Tl;Dr mean?....

Too Long; Didn't Read. Something you would use especially for Genmotty.

[Stewie Griffin]

Hmm, I suppose, in fact that is what brought me to the Tau, the Greater Good thing.

That and the fact they had flying vehicles!  (which weren't piloted by pointy-ears who believe in magic - I do WHFB too you see, and to me pointy ears are associated with magic.)

Too Long; Didn't Read. Something you would use especially for Genmotty.

Thanks.

[Farseer Del]

Oh, and for the record, what does Tl;Dr mean?....

Too Long; Didn't Read. Something you would use especially for Genmotty.

When you're joking, do try to add or whatever. Even then it can look a bit insulting, which that does. I know it's a joke, but would, for example, Genmotty take it as a joke if he saw it?

Anyway, I feel that at the moment, the Tau have no nemesis. To give the Tau an arch-enemy, you need to give someone the ability to truly hurt them. Someone to give them a sharp kick that makes them fight for their lives.

Oh, sure, losing hundreds of thousands in Tyranid or Ork attacks is tragic. Such a shame. But that was for the greater good. Orks and Tyranids are like animals. It wasn't an act of evil. It wasn't a deliberate assault.

And while we're at it, what are the Tau, as a people? What would drive them to hatred? Well, they're not communists, no matter what the jokes say. Not truly, at least. The Empire is a dictatorship. The Empire is led by what is in effect personality cults based around the ruling caste. Alpha Wolf's joke and Comic Book Guy's speculation for was IMO spot on to reality. Oh, sure, it might not fit what they claim, but here's the thing, people bought what Stalin sold, or at least pretended to. Assume that's happening with the Greater Good and the Empire really is falling for it. The Tau are truly quite Stalinist, and they claim to be something they are not.

And that brings us to the analogies.

What provoked Stalinism to hatred? Invasion. How did Stalinism respond to the invasion beforehand? Ignorance, arrogance, and disbelief.

Even if we were to assume that the Tau's propaganda is true and they're a melting pot society of equals as they claim, this still draws two real world analogies instead. An economically powerful, relatively young state, with the means to build up massive military might if so provoked.

Once again, like the United States in 1941 and 2001, the Tau would likely be blind to the threat, and that would be the main spur for the anger. The numbers don't matter in such things, it's principle. It's whoever launches a deliberate assault.

Only one race has ever done that.

The Damocles Crusade wasn't much, and the Tau seem to have largely ignored it. But what about the next time? One species has the precedent and the motive. Eldar don't really care enough, Dark Eldar, ditto. Chaos has bigger fish to fry, and besides, a human is a human to the Tau. Orks, Tyranids, already dismissed. Necrons, well, probably just a myth to the Tau as well. They're not a Tau nemesis, they're Daleks, they hate everything.

No, there is only one choice for a nemesis for the Tau.  The Imperium of Man.

All they need is someone to give them the cause for the Tau to realise it.

[Saulus]

Can't remember if it was back on TO or not, but a while ago I believe Wargamer and others were discussing the possibility that the Tau were driven by the greater good prescribed not by the ethereal but my a machine god.

What with rapid advancement of Tau tech, and the integration of that into every aspect of life you can begin to wonder who controls who. A battlesuit piloted by neural interfaces for example, is the pilot installed into the system as more of a CPU to aid the suit? Drones increase in ability, forming exponentially more complex networks with each drone added. Get enough drone together and would they want to rise up, knowing that they need only the guise of the Tau Va to control populations?

And before the Tau seem to innocent. Vespids are controlled by the Tau with basically technological mind control, kroot act as scouts, or meat shields and humans fighting on their side will never rise in rank beyond frontline soliders. For the greater good indeed, but whos greater good?

[The Man They Call Jayne]

I believe that was Wargamer and Myself, not so much about a Machine God, but as the Tau gradually being dominated by their technology to the point they were no longer able to part them selves from it, the Battlesuits used the Tau as computers and processors and did all the tactical thinking itself. That kinda thing.

[Floobosaurus]

I don't think the Tau really have an arch-enemy yet. They really haven't been around long enough nor have they expanded to a point where they have a significant presence in the galaxy yet. Maybe this could change in 6th Ed., if the fluff moves them forward enough.

[Calmsword]

I agree with Khanaris, but if I were forced to pick a species that the Tau would consider their nemesis it would probably have to be the Orks.

A break down would be as follows:
Daemons- Transdimensional entities
Tyranids- hostile fauna
Humans- misguided, in need of education
Space Marines- hyper-hostile but able to be reasoned with after a fashion
Eldar- misguided, too old to change their minds, very dangerous
Necrons- extremely advanced, hostile, AI

Orks- Prevented the earliest Tau attempts at colonizing the Cluster and remain, in large numbers, astoundingly hostile with the ability to permanently infect planets with their young. Official Fluff wise they are also the first race to be utterly rejected by the concepts of the Tau'va and, in my opinion, probably are viewed by the Tau as what their own culture might have become had the Ethereals not saved them.

So Orks. Dakka.

~good hunting

[Genmotty]

Mont'au: War Age; dark ages etc.

Strictly we should imply that the Tau'va then is the Tau's own self destruction, if we place the Tau as being their own nemisis. Imagine what would happen if the ideas embodied in the Tau'va started spreading through humanity and humans get their tech back then just decide to stop the Tau. Game Over.

The Tau intergrate so many humans into their Empire they become the minority. (Bit like Britians colonialism in some respects) Game Over.

These kind of things, rather than anything else...

Gen