[FioVre Mark]

Ok, so I've recently read the 'Courage And Honour' for the 4th time (I'm a big tau fanboy so it's a good read for me), and a certain statement from it finally caught my eye and had me thinking. It's at the bottom of page 183, and it reads: 'A battlesuit with a tubular cannon on one arm and a crackling khopesh blade mounted on the other towered over him, a rippling heat haze shimmering above it's rear-mounted jets'.

Am I the only one who thinks that just sounds a wee bit like the plasma rifle and dawn blade that Commander Farsight has?

[salamut2202]

does it say it's red and the reason he's on the ground is because he was laughing at his bunny ears? than it's probably farsight

[Doombringer]

It wasn't Farsight.

The Tau on the expedition were loyalists from Sa'cea and Dal'yth, under the command of an Ethereal and a Sa'cean Shas'el, therefore it couldn't have been him.

---

The Tau Battlesuit with the Power Khopesh was just Graham McNeill being dumb with Tau fluff.

[FioVre Mark]

Yeah thats wot more or less all official fluff suggests, I just thought since the author's meant to be a seasoned writer for Black Library, some tau doctrines might be being experimented with, either that or the Farsight theory.

[FioVre Mark]

Meh, can't expect Black Library to keep track with all fluff from all armies I guess

[Doombringer]

Of course you can't expect people to remember every little detail about an army, but the fact that the Tau avoid close combat?

It's downright unacceptable. This is a signature facet of the Tau Empire, in both background and gameplay. Avoid close combat like the plague.

And yet we have McNeill writing in a battlesuit wielding a power weapon as a primary armament, and attacking Space Marines in close combat instead of with his plasma rifle...

*sigh*

[OMalley84]

Yeah I agree, I was confused when I read that too. It was a good book but that part about the sword on the suit kinda threw me for a loop.

[Jedibean]

maybe we'll get a couple of power weapons in our next codex? ;D

[Khathecleric]

Tau Bonding Knives are close combat weapons, and Crisis Suit Bonding Knives turn into beam sabers (instead of just a painting), counting as a power weapon in close combat? :P

[FioVre Mark]

Sounds good to me Fluff-wise they could justify it that the fire caste command finally acknowledge that, regardless of how sophicated war can become, it will always come down to hand-to-hand combat eventually. Therefore, just like back when the ethereals allowed the integration of kroot and vespid auxillaries, tau doctrine has had to change to appease this new 'law of combat' with equipping the fire caste with some good close-combat weapons such as battlesuit power blades and small metal talons equipped to the gaulets of fire warriors.