"I haven't spent enough time with them in the battle field but I can say with all certainty that their hate for humans is unmatchable, you have only to look at them to the eyes when we fight against forces from the imperium, I just wonder what made them like this"
*The Tau are pretty much the same as they are in canon, except they act far more sinister and manipulative. The Imperium has engaged them many times, yet they do not know much about their origins. And what little they have learned about the Tau is more about their Fire Caste than other Castes.
-Thankfully, with Commander Farsight and his willingness to ally with the Imperium if it means to destroy the Corrupt Aun’va, humanity is beginning to discover the true nature of their Tau.
-The castes of the Tau are allowed to intermingle and even marry each other; however, these couplings do not result in some form of extreme hybridization between their offspring. Rather, certain aspects of these hybrids’ personality and subtle physiological changes are influenced by the father of this pairing, while what caste they are a part of is determined by the mother. For example, say a male Earth Caste and a female Fire Caste member have a child; that Child is shorter and stockier than most other Fire Caste members, and the hot-headed personality common in these warriors is slightly dulled with a curiosity and ingenuity commonly seen in the Earth Caster.
*The species at their command are vast, numerous, and extremely diverse, able to fill a number of important roles. This is a list of all of their Auxiliaries that the Imperium has discovered so far...
*Gue'vesa (literally “Human Helpers”) are traitors to the Imperium, who see the Greater Good as a chance to fight for an empire still growing rather than one that stagnates. They are commonly found in the Damocles Gulf, where the failure of the Imperium to retake that sector of space can still be felt
-The Gue’vesa are made up of the descendants of the Regiments who rebelled against the Imperium, and as such have an intense martial pride about resisting the Imperium. Their armoury is made up of weapons and vehicles which have been modified from imperial vehicle wrecks. Their main battle tank called the Stonefish, for example, is based on the hull of the Leman Russ class of tanks, and which
*the Kroot are the most commonly seen auxiliary unit, serving as a close to medium range combat unit. They see service to the Tau as an opportunity to prove themselves
-the lore and units they have is relatively unchanged, you can view them here: https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Chapter_Approved/Kroot_Mercenaries
*the Vespid are an insectoid race who communicate through the vibrations their wings make. They serve as a skirmishing unit, harassing enemy lines and ambushing weaker forces. However, the Stingwings are but a taste of what the Vespids can truly unleash
-The Vespid are led by Queens and (often male) Warlords; the Warlords are more commonly seen than the Queens due to the Queens’ being a vital part of the Vespids’ culture. If a Queen does take to the field of battle, she is protected by the Hive Guardians, who were grown and birthed for one purpose: protecting the royalty. They achieve this through a mixture of intense training and forced mutation. However, said mutation is achieved through consuming a mixture of chemical compounds, which has a high rejection rate. Still, there are many billions of Vespid drones, all of which would die protecting the queen.
-There is another unforeseen consequence of the forced mutation; the creation of the Yellowjackets, a subspecies of Vespid which are far larger, stronger and more aggressive than any other Vespid warrior. Often they are sedated when not in combat, their own strength being too much for them to control, but when they are unleashed, they strike are like a tempest, shattering enemy squads, flipping armored vehicles and even striking aircraft out of the sky.
*the Demiurg (and by extension, the Stone-Kin of the League of Demiurg) are the stone-skinned race who gifted the Tau with a more refined form of Ion Weaponry, and whose large mining ships serve as an excellent source of income for the Empire.
-The Brotherhoods, as their armies are called, are led by the Elders, the most experienced leaders of their race, and Their main infantry are often equipped with Ion Caster, which is a more portable form of the Ion Rifle. It can fire in a normal, burst fire form, a Dispersed form, resembling the blast from a Squat Shot Rifle, or an overcharged shot, a single burst which melts through armor, but can overheat the weapon or even cause it to explode!
*The Nicassar are a frail race of Psykers, their psychic potential mainly used to help speed their ships along and to help them move. As one of the first races to join the Greater Good they hold an honored place in the Tau Empire.
Normally only found in their roaming flotila's towed by members of the Air caste, it is almost unheard of for the Nicassar's to fight in a land war, however sometimes that is unavoidable so some of the crew of the Dhow's have trained for land fighting. Bringing to the battlefield their psychic might an area that the Tau empire is sorely lacking in normally. (It is thought that more and more the Etheral's are bringing the Nicassar flotilla's into danger zones so they can support the Fire caste in their defense).
The Tau try to go out of their way to keep the Nicassar race from the Imperium, rightfully afraid that the race will further fuel the xenophobia that the Imperium is known for in the Tau Empire.
*The Anthrazods are a species of the Tau Empire. They are considered by the Tau to be a sturdy (if dim-witted) race and have proved well-suited for asteroid mining. When called upon to serve the greater good, the strongest of the group battle in a trial to see who will get the honor of serving the Empire.
-The Anthrazods have naturally thick skin and as they age their skin continues to thicken eventually growing into thick plates of hide that can even stop a bolter shell. This thick skin combined with the natural retractable claws in their hands made them extremely deadly on their home world. However to the bafflement of the Ordo Xenos and the Tau this race is naturally herbivorous.
-Their Flechette burst guns behave like a grenade launcher, which fires out large flechettes. The largest members of their are strong enough to use a large shield comboed with a burst cannon for maximum fire power and protection.
*The Ji'atrix are a race of ethereal, that have an affinity for the void and skill at space-faring. Most commonly they are found working on Air Caste ships or with Nicassor Dhows. The Tau member races tend to be a bit nervous around the Ji'atrix. Although they are relatively peaceful, they are hard to look at as they are not completely a part of this world by the looks of it. However once someone has gotten to know a Ji'atrix they tend to enjoy their company.
*Unknown to the Tau, Eldar, and the Ji'atrix themselves, they are one of the races engineered by the Old Ones. Their forms are present in this world and the webway at the same time. Originally the race was engineered to help repair the webway but the race as a whole disregarded this purpose and they were soon abandoned by the old ones. So the Ji'atrix have drifted from planet to planet in their ships. Finding that they are most comfortable on gas giants the race floats gently on the breezes, gaining sustenance from the gases of the planet and the Webway.
*While not a Warrior race, the Ji'atrix help provide the Tau with their skill with the void and help mine portions of the Gas Giants they are present on. If called into a Hunter Cadre the Ji'atrix typically do not take a frontline role.
*the Ranghon are a race that resembles walking trees, as they evolved from the plants rather the animals of their homeworld. Their unique physiology means that they are capable of regenerating lost limbs, but are also extremely vulnerable to fire and heat-based attacks. They also possess a unique organ in their throats with allows them to create extremely beautiful melodies and songs, which act as their language
-Their society is a feudal one, with realms being ruled over by Lords and Courts. One lord of each planet is elected to a council that determines the fate of their species, and amongst their ranks is chosen a representative to the main tau empire.
*One of the many Alien Auxiliaries employed by the Tau Empire in its efforts to bring the philosophy of the Greater Good to the Galaxy, the Tarellians joined the growing empire out of a deep-seated rage at the Imperium of Man for virus bombing their home world to extinction, before a Tyranid Hive Fleet consumed their remaining major colonies. Accepting the offer of the Greater Good out of desperation at the chance to exact revenge upon the Imperium of Man they were quickly brought into the Tau Empire and given the chance to repopulate on several Sept worlds.
-Called Dog Soldiers by the Imperium due to the shape of their snouts and ears, the Tarellians more resemble large bipedal reptilians, covered mostly in rust coloured scales, with slitted pupils, they find themselves at home on desert planets where they construct their unique sonic weapon technology out of the unique minerals found in the sand of the sept world of T’ros.
-Whilst not fiercely loyal to the Greater Good, whenever a conflict with the Imperium or a Tyranid Hive fleet happens, large hatches of Tarellian soldiers gather at the nearest port hoping to join the conflict so that they can take some measure of vengeance on their hated foes.
-Tarellian combat doctrines differs radically from the normal Tau combat doctrines; rather than fight their foes at range, or employ stealth and ambush tactics, Tarellian forces will rush towards their foe shooting at the weaker looking enemies until they crash into their opponents battle-lines, where they fight with the short, but lethal hunting daggers that each Tarellian soldier carries with him until they are either dead or their foe is fallen, before moving on to the next enemy force.
*the Galg are an amphibian race of mercenaries. Their main selling point (and the main reason the Tau keep them around) is their expertise with explosives, making frequent use of grenade launchers and missile launchers, as well as shaped explosive charges. This expertise has lead them to become the foremost demolitions experts of the Tau Empire.
*Pakasar, unlike many races who joined the Greater Good, were conquered through military might rather than diplomatic means. A race of shark-like predators hailing from underwater planets, they utilize dart guns, electrified melee weapons, missile launchers and power armor and jump packs of their own design, as well as their own amphibious nature, combined with their almost supernatural, three dimensional understanding of their surroundings and fits of battle madness has lead to them becoming extremely effective assault troops which are able to dissolve enemy lines in seconds.
There are also a number of other races, such as the Nagi, a worm-like psychic species, and one of the first to join the new Tau Empire, where they serve as advisors to the Ethereals; the Brachyura, who are a race of small crustaceans who frequently assist the Tau’s Earth Caste with their research and testing, acting as Lab Assistants; the Formosians, a race of insectoid geneticists who can rapidly grow soldiers in the field; the Morallian Deathsworn, a race that fights in protected and layered suits because of their tainted homeworld; the N’Deemi, a race of extremely unsettling Nulls; and the Hrenian Light Infantry, a race of almost human-like xenos who utilize a combination of Light Infantry tactics and armor support to crush enemy resistance.
*1d4chan’s Codex - Tau Auxiliaries was used a source, which can be found here: https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Codex_-_Tau_Auxiliary
Do you think they're more space Lizardmen basically being a hodge-podge species of many differently shaped and sized scalie people.
Or do you think they're more uniform, perhaps the Turian or Sangheili equivalent to 40k, but undeniably lizard.
Or perhaps it goes back Warhammer Lizardman and they're a species made up of everything the Old Ones didn't want on themselves physically. So perhaps kinda naturally dumb, incredibly spikey and frightning even though not that agile Lizard people.
My picks the first one, but I'm sure everyone has their take. What's yours?
And why did they end up allying with the Tau? Was it like "well you're the only ones that have politely asked something from us in this galaxy instead of making demands or war, we can be buddies"?
