News:

Cammerz brings us some fantastically painted and customised Alpha Legion. Check out their work with detail shots and design insight.

Main Menu

On Tau capacities in non-war technology

Started by Unusual Suspect, June 25, 2012, 05:07:01 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Unusual Suspect

Howdy, everyone.

Having yet to read any of the Black Library books concerning the Tau, and with only the 3rd and 4th edition codices to work with, I'm at a loss to determine the capabilities of the Tau to utilize science and technology in the pursuit of other practices.  Specifically, I'm concerned with the capabilities of the Tau empire when it comes to aspects of understanding genetics, and their capability to clone flesh.

I ask due to a pet project of mine, loooooong in the making and even longer in actual production (5, yes 5 models half done so far.  I'm slow), on building a new army to play when I get tired of sucking dyi at close combat.  In essence, it is set a good century past the current timeline, in which my current Cadre, with the consent of the highest ranks amongst the other castes and an unusually close relationship with the Kroot Shaper under the Cadre's command, begin what can only be described as Kroot Eugenics.

Perhaps the cadre and support were isolated, forced by dint of universal misfortune to form their own colony and erect their own defenses the Tau Empire can no longer provide (My preferred explanation).   Perhaps this is an experimental program sanctioned by the highest council of the Ethereal caste, a desperate effort to empower (and, oh, incidentally provide greater control over) their Kroot allies.

Regardless, my cadre has, under the watchful eye of respective heads of the earth caste and the kroot shaper, begun the cloning and directed feeding of alien flesh to a large stock of kroot, carefully monitored and controlled so as to produce the most efficacious and speedy results with an acceptable minimum of sentience degeneration, to best avoid the pitfalls shown so in the Krootox and Kroot hound "dead ends".  Eldar flesh for speed, Ork flesh for durability, and (this one has me wondering on feasibility) Space Marine glands and geneseed for overall capability.  Oh, did I mention the secret-even-for-the-project cloned Tau flesh?  Are the ethereals hoping for a similarly-inherited susceptibility to the Tau'va?  Huh.  Perhaps they aren't telling the Kroot everything...

In any case, I'm looking for input, good and bad, regarding the potential fluff for my army of Power Armored Kroot that will be reflected on the tabletop as Space Wolves.  They seemed the best fit.

Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Rage?
I you private dancer.

Khanaris

First impression is that this is something the Kroot are already very good at.  So I am not sure the Tau would be able to improve very much on what they already do in terms of genetics.  The Kroot are primitive, but they are also quite intelligent and independent in their own way.  You would really need to change the relationship significantly to make is plausible.

Unusual Suspect

Certainly, Khanaris, my Shaper and Kroot contingent are somehow unusually indebted to the Cadre.  I'm not sure how, but perhaps they were rescued from the Dark Eldar?  Perhaps that's how my Cadre gets isolated from the Tau worlds that starts this whole mess... Hmm.  I can see some elements of a more overt species superiority complex on the Tau side, while at the same time the willingness to utilize these adaptive "tools" is increased to "by whatever means necessary to survive."

While the Kroot are very good at detecting the best of the food available to eat... how often are they actually able to eat top-of-the-line or evolutionarily unique sentient beings with traits they can benefit from across the board?  Might the sentience of their meals help preserve that higher functionality while allowing for rapid nom-evolution?  Could a Kroot be tricked into integrating the Tau's subservience towards the Ethereal caste?

Another question comes up.  Are the Kroot eating particular organs/flesh for integration, or are they simply breaking down and integrating traits from the genetic material of the meal?  Would a Kroot have to eat an Eldar's brain to enhance its mental acuity and/or psychic potential?

Edit:  This is also why I'm placing my EugeniKroot fairly far in the future, time-wise, to give the Kroot multiple generations to enact these changes... Changes they themselves would be adding slowly in any case.
I you private dancer.