[calmsword]

sorry about the abrevations- however i just finished the campaign mode for Tau in the new game, and there are some interesting facts.

First of all- we are unable to assume the planet Kronos is now a Tau colony because every race has their own ending- however it should be said that it is near the Damocles gulf- as will the next two installments of the game (2007!). Next, Farsight fought on Kronos, and was unable to dislodge the Orks there entirely (in the campaign they live in the jungles). The planet has both a Tau city in the deserts that mimics the once friendly imperial city (they coexisted).

Besides that- Tau use Fusion bombs as 'nukes,' they used it against the Necrons.
Kronos is the first major engagement point between the Tau and Eldar, Necrons, Chaos. Everything befor this point had been minor skirmishes. They do not refer to the Eldar as 'Eldar' but with varios versions of seers, raiders, and technologically unusual. The Eldar hate the Tau- they are from Ulthwe- while the Tau attempted to lock the Eldar on the planet by destroying the webway gates and force them to accept the 'greater good' (theres your dark side right there- no Chaos taint no rediculous possesion, just creepy reality) The Tau refer to the Necrons as being an 'anomoly' while the Orks refer to Tau as 'gray-skins'-not fish heads. The relationship between the Tau and Orks is most interesting, the commander referrs to them as barbarians, the Ork always 'calling them out'- i really like the relationship, and it makes sense as they've fought eachother the longest (comparatively).
The Tau were not able to 'controlled' by the Chaos sorcerers- however their blood can apparently be used (this is nothing new, everything that bleeds can serve Khorn).
The Tau are suspected of using steriliztion on the human population as more Tau colonists came- interesting...
On this planet the Tau spliced their tech with imperial to advance it.
Tau Commander was Shas'O T'au Kais, Ethereal was Aun 'El T'au Shi'Ores, and the Master Shaper was Harbyx.

Facts during the game (which of course are obviosly backed by Gw)
Tau Ethereals: They can holo-mark something to make a duplicat, they also call down air strikes.
Elite Stealth Teams: All the new models with fusion guns and are adept at stealth (even more so then other stealth teams).
Harbinger: A new type of tank, built off the devilfish, they deploy gun drones.
Gun Drones: can burrow into the ground and 'infiltrate.'
Devilfish: Can cloak!!!
Kroot: have furios charge.
Vespid: Tear the crap out of buildings, but also can make a sonic attack that scatters opponents.
Sky Ray- causes a blast with their seekers.
ect.

[Gramlin]

Fascinating stuff.

What is a "holo-mark?" Make a duplicate of what? Is this just some magical power, or a gadget they carry?

There's some very snazzy powers and equipment in there, it would be nice to think that this will translate into the game some day. But with the new codex just out, it might be a while.

I particularly like the Vespid's ability to tunnel, that is very in keeping with their fluff for how they live on their homeworld.

Those infiltrating drones... that wasn't just deep striking with a twist, was it?

Stealth for vehicles would be excellent. Are you sure this wasn't just the disruption pod being switched on?

It is good to see that the idea, at least, of seeker-variants has permeated through to GW, so maybe in future that will appear in 40k. But it also might not. Filling out background in a computer game is a different league compared to making a balanced board game.

Still, I really enjoyed reading what you have discovered.

Best,
Gram

[calmsword]

Appreciate the support, answers to your questions:
The Ethereal can make holo copies of a unit, they appear real to the enemy- it's a gadget.

The Vespid thing does make sense, pity theres no 'real' world application.

The Drones bury into the ground and wait like mines for the enemy, they also self destruct once they get low on health- little, not big- in the real game it would be something like on a 4+ the target that killed it takes a St. 3 wound.

~good hunting

[RealMenUseCarbines]

Noooo spoilers everywhere

But it's alright, I'm not going to be able to play the game for a while anyway.

I read the Ethereal description that they had some crazy abilities--didn't expect an air strike.

[Renolds]

should edit in a spoilers warning in the title there boyo

[Olannon]

Isn't the current headline a warning in itself? What did you expect...

Anyway, this was a very good compilation Calmsword; an interesting read indeed

Thanks!

[p12om3th3us]

hey calmsword love your devotion to give us accurate fluff, by the way i finished my tau dark crusade as well.

you have to realise though this is a seperate game, made by a seperate company. fire warrior was a 40k game, but.... we all know how that turned out. point being, i wouldnt take the whole game literally, or much or it for that matter. Rather i think THQ took the 40k universe and based their game off of that, and fit certain aspects in for game balancing.

example, kroot are good at close combat, so why not give them a jump strike ability. sky rays have all those missiles in the back, give them the "missile strike" capability. we dont see such things on the table top, but its really cool to see that they did such things in the game.

keep up the good work man! cheers!

[calmsword]

thanks man- no i know what you mean, i just like the abilities listed. On another note I think that this planet should remain one of the 'contested' until a book is written. THQ's team is actually made up of 6 GW fanatics- and all the work done is given to GW= total control. Besides that the game was fantastic, and for those who care i've asked around and apparently Kronos is where the third phase has been heading, so East of Medusa North of Fi'rios.

[ForbiddenKnowledge]

Lucky git, here in England I havn't got a copy yet. *sigh*


Spoilers or not, I enjoyed reading this, although the eldar hating Tau is completely at odds with nearly everything written by GW, but oh well

[calmsword]

Thanks to whoever edited the post and added (Spoilers) by the way, as to counters fluff- where does it do that? The only positive relationship the Eldar ever had with the Tau was what Eldrad said (and you know what- he's DEAD!- lol). I hope you get your copy soon and that you don't have a job, school because you'll get fired or drop out (it's too much fun).