Are Tau easy?

[Cinderwild]

I'm completely new to Warhammer 40K ( I promise I tried searching first, although not too in-depth) and so far the only armies that really caught my attention were Tau Empire, Eldar, and Orks.

I've read around, and it seems like a lot of people hate Tau, as well as a few other things came up:

Tau are easy (read: boring) to play?
Tau lose a lot?
Tau have poor fluff?


As to the fluff thing, I read about them on Wikipedia and while kind of interesting they're also not very interesting from what I read. Is there more to them in the Codex that would make it a little more exciting?

I can't really seem to be pick an army other than this one because just about everyone is evil, and I don't like evil (ironic since I like Orks). I've also read that Tau are also evil (surprise! Everything's evil apparently), so... I'm just not sure on what to do.





Besides all that, after seeing their appearance I was planning on possibly theming my army on the Irken armada from Invader Zim.

)reference link: http://www.invaderzim.tv/images/mil_massive.jpg )



Sorry for saying so much, but I figured this would be the best place to ask. Thanks!

[MorbidlyObeseMonkey]

Tau are easy (read: boring) to play?
Easy: not in the least. Boring: depends on what you like. heroic assaults led by heroic warriors smashing through enemy lines, Tau are not for you. Tau are a mobile long range shooting army that defeats its enemy through the smart application of firepower. If that's not what you're looking for, don't play Tau.


Tau lose a lot?
This is true because many Tau players don't play them properly.


Tau have poor fluff?
Once again, it depends on what you like.


...while kind of interesting they're also not very interesting...
lol


I can't really seem to be pick an army other than this one because just about everyone is evil, and I don't like evil (ironic since I like Orks). I've also read that Tau are also evil (surprise! Everything's evil apparently), so... I'm just not sure on what to do.
Everyone is evil, depending on perspective. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest you choose the army that you feel looks coolest. That is unless you want to be uber-competetive, in which case play Space Wolves (I've seen the leaked codex and believe me, if you think Imperial Guard is cheesy, you're in for a rough ride).

Tau are a difficult army to be successful with. They are unforgiving and not beginner-friendly. If you're willing to lose games and practice, you can make the army work for you. It certainly won't be easy.:freaked-out:

M.O.M.

[number6]

Ha! I find it ironic that you might theme a Tau army on Invader Zim! When I first picked up Tau, my friend lobbied VERY HARD to have me convert everything into an Irken Invader force. (E.g., Broadsides == MegaDoomer). I love Zim. :)

It's hard to say whether you would like Tau or not. Most people are attracted to a 40K army based on some combination of fluff, models, and rules/playstyle.

Fluff: Either you like it ... or you don't. Most of what you find online about the Tau has been taken from the two codexes that have been released for the army, so I doubt you'll get a whole lot new out of the codex itself.

Keep in mind the 40K mantra, "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war." The 40K universe is gothic and brutal on purpose. It's not a nice place for hardly anybody, and really, pretty much nobody is Good, Tau included. However, I think the Tau are the most unique of all the 40K races in their overall fluff outlook. Check out this superb blog post (http://warhammer-tau-army.blogspot.com/2009/08/choosing-tau-army.html), especially the comments, for why Tau grab so many of our heartstrings with their fluff. Even if they aren't Platonically Good, they are truly Unique. At the very least, they do have genuine Hope going for them.

Models: Again, either you like them ... or you don't. If you are up to conversion to make them even more to your liking, you'd be treading down a familiar and cherished path. More power to ya, have fun with it!

Rules/Playstyle: Personal preference here, too. But since you seem unsure as to what it is....

The Tau are not an "easy" army to play. They are quick and nimble, but are outclassed by the Eldar in that category. They have superior firepower, but in a straight gunfight the Imperial Guard would kick the Tau's butts almost every time. And there is no army that is less capable in close combat than the Tau.

But despite all that, I truly believe the Tau are one of the strongest 40K armies. They just take practice. You have to learn to keep your enemies at a distance while you pound them with your hi-tech weaponry. You have to learn to zip in and inflict local superiority on a small piece of your opponent, obliterate it, and then fade away before a counterattack can be raised against you. It's not an easy playstyle to master, but it really is fun once you get the hang of it, and it's also fun to see the frustration on your opponent's faces as these weak little less-than-guardsmen slowly tear them apart.

IMHO, the best BRIEF tactica on Tau is right here on LO: 5th edition Tau Tactica (http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/tau-empire/173742-5th-edition-tau-tactica-w-i-p.html). There's lots more where that came from, but I think this is the best place for a budding Tau general to start.

Hopefully this is encouraging to you, and we can welcome you to The Greater Good!

[Cinderwild]

Could you name some more specifics about Tau lore that make it kind of 'pop' out?

Like, for example, why did the Eldar create the Tau Ethereals?


Also, can anyone tell me what the most recent edition of the Tau Codex is?


Thanks everyone.

[MaleOpener]

Could you name some more specifics about Tau lore that make it kind of 'pop' out?

Like, for example, why did the Eldar create the Tau Ethereals?


Also, can anyone tell me what the most recent edition of the Tau Codex is?


Thanks everyone.


The current codex is from 4th edition, and currently waiting on news for the 5th.

If you want fluff, try this link :

Tau - Lexicanum (http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Tau)


*Eldar creating Tau, now that's funny*

:beer::dance:

[Cinderwild]

I read that Eldar created the Tau Ethereals. Not ALL Tau, just the Ethereals.

[eiglepulper]

If you want a challenging army that will frustrate you until you get the hang of how to use it - select Tau. If you want a fearsome army with psychic abilities, darn near impervious-to-damage vehicles and niche units - choose Eldar. If you like the idea of poor (usually anyway!) shooting ability but love the idea of a darn good punch-up, choose Orks.

I play Tau and Eldar, with about 13k of Tau and around 2.5k of Eldar. I'm still learning new tricks with the Tau after about four years. I win some, I lose some. I don't really care which (although everyone likes to win), as long as the game itself has been enjoyable for both players.

Tau have plenty of fluff in the shape of GW-canon: White Dwarf articles, the codices, the rulebook, some passages in other codices (IG and Orks for example) and Forge World sources like the Imperial Armour 3 'Taros Campaign', and so-called "non-canon" fluff details in books like "Fire Warrior", "Kill Team", "Courage and Honour" and "Star of Damocles".

Half the fun of doing your own army is designing the background fluff for them. Using the basic details contained in whichever sources you read, it is very feasible to give your own cadre its history.

The same can be said of course for Eldar, Orks or indeed any of the armies out there in the 40k universe.

E.

[Blasterdude3]

if ur new, this is a challenge. here is my story:
if u can beleive it before Tau i played blood angels (yes, total opposite spectrum) and saw the tau in a game, and absolutely fell in love with them. it took some very long getting used to but, i got it eventually. i enjoy the tau fluff, and that sealed it for me.
basically tau run a gunline, a "school of fish" as i call it which is loading ur fire warriors in devilfish and speeding forward for the objective, or a popular aproach, the solid suit list. all have faults and all take much getting used to, because as sadi above tau are pathetic in overall close combat.
adressing ur comment of eldar creating ethereals i want to know where u heard that, cus im pretty sure its an absolute lie.

[realitycheque]

Damn right, Tau are easy - a couple of drinks and they'll sleep with ANYTHING! :D

In my opinion Tau are a good solid army, with some excellent models and the only downside to them is they've not really been around long enough to get some fluff. If it wasn't for one of our new guys starting Tau they'd probably have been my second army because I just love those battlesuits!

[Blasterdude3]

Damn right, Tau are easy - a couple of drinks and they'll sleep with ANYTHING! :D
.....ooooookay.
anyways watever u like the tau cant really be called easy for all they're worth.

[Lost Nemesis]

I read that Eldar created the Tau Ethereals. Not ALL Tau, just the Ethereals.

What you read is often less important than where you read it from. There is a TON of fluff out there that is purely fan created, and most of that tends to be utter rubbish. You'll get a few gems here and there, but make sure you know you can trust the writer before believing the fluff. There are theories on all sorts of things in Warhammer 40k, and most of them are not official in any way.

[Kusou]

From what I've read, the eldar first placed their hopes on humanity, trying to guide them into becoming the saviours of the universe instead of the destroyers. They sort of ended with a stalemate, Horus and Emperor duking it out. Then come the Tau who seem to possess great potential, so the Eldar turn their attention to them.

Haven't read anything about Eldar creating etherials, but it would make some sense... Thought it was odd that etherials drop in from nowhere and rally the tau population to follow a unified cause with mind bending tricks.

[chefsdad]

not sure if they created them, not sure the eldar are that kind of race to create another race to help another race, but they may well have had a few well-placed whispers in the ethereals ears (not so sure tau actually have them lol)

[CainsGreatestFear]

Here is my take on it. My son and I play most 40K armies, including Tau, Eldar and Orks. Of these three, they have very different playing styles.

As far as "evil" goes, some humans in the 40K universe look on anything alien as "evil", but I would say Eldar are ambivalent to human morals, Orks are just fight-crazed, basically fun-loving fruitcakes, and Tau are generally considered "good" as far as always thinking about the Greater Good all the time. Some of our friends play Tau just because they are "the good guys". I think Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Daemons, Necrons and Tyranids are more basically evil, from our perspective.

Eldar are frankly the most flexible. You can do close combat with them, they're fast, and they have excellent shooting. They have psychic powers. They are a bit weak (low strength and toughness) but other than that, they can do most anything well. Hard to get sick of the Eldar, you can play them so many different ways. One thing about the Eldar playing style is that it is more about balance than perhaps some other armies. You don't like to lose squads because they are unique in their abilities, and if one of your precious groups gets whacked in a battle, your entire force is often hamstrung. Also in their fluff, every Eldar life is precious, which fits with this. In the Eldar codex there is still a counter to almost every special thing that other races can do, so if you bring the right stuff to the table you can stay on the board with anybody. You tend not to get the "Oops I'm out of it before the battle begins because I have no counter for that" syndrome after setting up your forces.

Orks can't shoot for beans, but because they are so cheap points-wise, you can load up on enough shooters to create havoc. While there are shooty Ork army lists out there, they are very good mainly only at close combat, so most folks just put them on bikes or in Trukks, run up the board as fast as they can, bail out and wail on the opponent, and Orks are very good at this. They have a very funny codex, and people love to do conversions on Ork models due to the "we don't care what it looks like, its all good if it hurts the enemy" Ork philosophy. If you don't get the admitedly fairly brutal Ork sense of humor, you might not like Orks. They have a few psychic powers, and are in general quite random -- there is often a table you roll on to see what crazy thing happens to your patched-together Ork gear. Some folks like this randomness, others want to know exactly what to expect from their forces. Orks lose a lot of models in a game, as that is the Ork thing -- they just keep coming in wave after wave, and wear you down. Orks have trouble with Land Raiders, some monstrous creature heavy forces, and don't have much in the way of AP1 or AP2. An Ork force tends to have multiples of everything, so if one wave vanishes in a puff of bolter fire, the next one will pile in. Some folks find this style of play fun, and others find it monotonous.

The Tau are mostly a mid-ranged shooting army. Some feel that they have been hampered by 5th Edition rules, and we personally find them more challenging to play with the new edition rule book and scenarios than perhaps Orks or Eldar, but they are certainly still a potent force on the tabletop. The basic Fire Warrior is an excellent troop choice, the Hammerhead is one of the best tanks in the game, the Devilfish is a great transport, the XV88s are devastating, and with a little ingenuity the XV8 models can have their weapons magnetized to fill almost any role. Pathfinders are unique, and markerlights offer a very different feel to a Tau force. The Tau are short on template weapons, and templates are very effective in 5th edition. The Tau have no psychic powers. The Tau are in general bad at close combat, although with Kroot and grenades on Fire Warriors, we are often surprised at their resilience -- they won't take down Khorne Berserkers, but they don't always instantly melt away either. The Tau tend to win by having excellent initial set up, a pre-determined plan of movement in concert, and they pick apart foes with overwhelming localized firepower. Due to the general lack of close combat ability, sometimes taking objectives from the enemy in 5th edition is very hard to accomplish -- you can't always blow people off the board with all the cover saves out there these days. If you run into a Land Raider sitting on an objective with Plague Marines in it, good luck! The Tau are challenging to play because they don't have obvious counters to certain things other races will throw at them. Sometimes it gets down to choosing your best fights, and going for the draw, because winning is just not possible without close combat or a whole lot of luck. The Tau don't like to lose models according to fluff, so this choosing of battles, not sacrificing their force for territorial objectives, and putting a lot of thought into things before the battle even begins slant works for them. My son and I personally had a hard time getting thoroughly immersed in the Tau fluff until we took our force in the direction of becoming a Commander Farsight breakaway force. Once we did that, we got a teensy bit of close combat with Farsight, alot of flexibility with the XV8-heavy approach that Farsight implies, and we liked the "good guys but rebels" approach, as the basic Tau were just too goody-two-shoes for us (we like evil though, frankly, and play Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Daemons with relish).

So, in short, the Tau are certainly viable. The best advice has already been given -- choose what models you like best, and play that race. Fluff is all over the place -- novels, codexes, the internet -- and you can always make up your own, and I think the Tau have fine fluff, as do the other races in 40K. There is a lot to be said for in-battle play style, though, and if you like to get stuck in with close combat, the Tau are not for you. If you want to be challenged as a commander, and want to have a stylish army, and learn everything there is to know about fields of fire, the Tau can be a whole lot of fun! They are beautiful on the tabletop, and they can be very frustrating for an opponent to play, especially if you get lucky in the beginning of the game with all of that fire power at your disposal. The finely tuned ballet of XV8s jump-shoot-jumping your opponent to insanity is not possible with any other race.

The helpful folks in these forums can help you be successful with any army.