Every fan of the Warhammer universe knows tau. However, they are mentioned much less frequently than most other races, such as tyranids, orcs, or necrons. But this race is very distinctive and unusual, so to talk about it in more detail will not be superfluous.
Story
Tau is the main race in the Tau Empire, inhabited including other species of intelligent creatures. Her possessions are located east of Terra, in the Ultima segmentum. At the head is the caste of the Etheric, who lead their people to the Highest Good. Also, the Tau Empire in Warhammer 40,000 is populated by races such as demiurges, Vespids, Kruty, Nicassars, and some others.
Planet Tau cannot boast of large sizes. Yes, and the mainland is only one, however, quite large. The climate is not the best - deserts and rocks prevail, but not too deep oceans are found, as well as areas covered by dense forests.
This is where the tau race originated. Breeding fairly quickly, they were forced to settle, which is why kindred tribes found themselves in different conditions, showing amazing abilities to adapt to the environment. That is why members of different castes are completely different from each other - we will talk about them in more detail later.
Adeptus Mechanicus discovered a new race in 789. M35 research fleet . In accordance with the code, it was decided to clean the planet for subsequent colonization. No problems could arise here - the natives only recently learned to handle fire, created only primitive tools.
However, things did not go as planned. A powerful warp storm erupted around the planet, preventing the soldiers of the Imperium from entering there. And it lasted six thousand years. When he stopped and troops went off to clean the planet, it turned out that the race had developed incredibly in a relatively short period of time. At the disposal of the tau were not only spaceships, but also a powerful pulse weapon, which allowed them to engage in battle with the Imperium. Yes, this did not bring victory, but the locals were no longer easy prey.
This turned out to be very useful - in the world of Warhammer, the Tau empire was repeatedly forced to defend itself against orcs, as well as tyranids from the Kraken hive.
Appearance of tau
The books of the Warhammer series describe tau in some detail. They are generally humanlike, although they are slightly inferior to people in height. The skin is gray-blue, and the faces are almost flat. The eyes are large, wide-set, which provides excellent vision, making good snipers out of tau.
An interesting feature - they have holes in the forehead. And in men it’s just a vertical strip. Moreover, in the books of the Warhammer universe, tau girls have a slit in the forehead in the form of a triangular figure resembling the letter U.
Accustomed to survive in the conditions of heat and cold (adapted to differences much better than people), they have rough skin, which almost does not evaporate moisture.
The organs of smell are in the mouth, which makes the tau related to terrestrial reptiles.
On each leg there are only two fingers, but each with a powerful horny growth. On the hands - four fingers, which, however, does not prevent them from working with fine electronics or weapons.
But the strength and a number of other features depend primarily on what caste a particular representative of the race belongs to.
The psychic abilities of tau are completely unknown - among them psykers are not born. Because of this, they practically can not use the warp. Their spaceships are not completely immersed in the warp, making only small "jumps". On the one hand, this complicates navigation as a whole, not allowing you to move immediately over long distances. And diving there takes much longer than, for example, the ships of the Imperium. On the other hand, this makes travel safer - no Geller shields are needed to protect the crew of the ship from the inhabitants of the warp.
Caste system
The whole tau society is divided into castes: fire, earth, water, air and ether. This happened due to the fact that different tribes developed in different conditions, adapting specifically to them. As a result, outwardly they can vary quite a lot. In addition, each caste has a specific focus.
For example, the Caste of Fire gives soldiers defending friendly tribes from any threat. The caste of the Earth is the largest and famous for its excellent builders, workers, artisans. The best managers, traders, diplomats come out of the Water Caste. Representatives of the Air Caste give excellent pilots and service specialists for aircraft and spacecraft. Finally, all of this is governed by Casta Ether, born leaders, they lead their subjects to the Supreme Good, devoting themselves entirely to serving the people. He, however, responds with perfect confidence - there have been no cases of disobedience to the etheric orders in the entire history of the Tau empire.
Supreme good
This is what the ideology that unites all castes of the tau race is called. Created by the representatives of the Ethereal Caste, it consists in the fact that every creature should make a feasible contribution to the Tau empire. However, to those who do not share this ideology, they are not hostile, but rather with bewilderment as if they were astray. Moreover, tau seldom start a battle with opponents right away - often they try to solve the problem by the world, tell more about the Highest Good, hoping that the enemy will take their side. The exceptions are tyranids, orcs, and Chaos forces.
Armament
In books and games of the Warhammer 40k series, the tau have the most modern weapons. Among hand weapons, there are impulse rifles, carbines and pistols - one of the most dangerous weapons among rational races. Rail rifles pierce even the most powerful armor, representing a huge danger to the enemy. The Kruuts, as faithful allies of the tau, also take part in battles, using more primitive weapons - the Kruut rifles, improved by advanced tau.
Additional weapons are electromagnetic and photonic grenades.
Standing apart, bringing the power of each individual soldier to a new level.
Relations with the Imperium
Alas, the relationship between the Imperium and the Tau empire did not work out. In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, tau fights against the Imperium quite often. The reason for this is the doctrine of people, prescribing the complete destruction of any xenos, including friendly ones.
But the tau themselves are much more humane to people. Some of the representatives of the Imperium even believed in the Supreme Good and sided with yesterday's enemies.
One can only hope that one day the dogma of a powerful empire will soften, and the two races will conclude a mutually beneficial agreement aimed at achieving common goals.
Conclusion
On this article comes to an end. Now you know more about one of the most powerful and unusual, but undeservedly forgotten race of the Warhammer universe - the tau.