Tau rumors

[StraightSilver]

I have been staying out of the rumours threads for a while now, mainly because a lot of the information I was getting was plain wrong, and also because I was conscious of dropping anybody in it, but I thought I would chip in on this.

The Tau models have apparently been sitting around for quite some time now, some of them were redone over 2 years ago so I am not sure why they have taken so long to be released, but I suspect it's because the models range fits into 6th better than 5th.

They were one of the first armies to get a flyer (outside of IG's Valk / Vendetta), even though it hasn't been released yet.

As for an allies supplement, I was told that next year 40K will have a release very similar in format to the Warhammer Fantasy Storm of Magic supplement. In other words a book, cards and kits that could be used in multiple armies, in the same vein as the monsters from WHFB.

I assumed it would be a big supplement for Psykers, but it could just as well be for allies, as that seems to be the best way for GW to produce new kits without having to invest in a full 'Dex for them.

Now I hate to put Summer into any rumours, but I believe Storm of Magic was released about that time, which would put Tau and allies around June or July ish? However rumours strongly point to Eldar being early in the year, so I'm not sure if we would get 2 Xenos Codexes back to back? Unless GW really are going to do a release every month.

[Daigar]

the dire need Dark Angels have to be updated

But GW doen't care about that one bit. Adding six months to a rumored release time frame is a good rule of thumb no matter the circumastances, though.

[snake-eyez]

Odd... They're one of the most recent Tau kits. Fire Warriors, on the other hand, could use a recut...

Do you mean just to fix the mould lines? I find the models are fine, but the mould lines made assembling 36 of them a real frustrating task. I don't personally know how they could be done better, but I hear that a lot of their new models are done so that theres a lot less issues with mould lines all over the model.

You're not alone. I've got 5000 points of Tau... and no Crisis suits. The FW Broadsides and Hazards are beautiful, the GW Crisis and Broadsides hurt my eyes.

Not taking Crisis suits is a handicap to an already handicapped list, but I'd rather lose slightly more often than have to look at those ugly, ugly, ugly models while I'm playing.

I think they probably deserve the ugly duckling title, but I dont think they're that bad.

Why redo the pathfinder again, didn't thier get a finecast kit recently?

You only need to look at how short lived the finecast hive tyrant was. 8 or 9 months of finecast pathfinders is a lot longer than how long the finecast hive tyrant was around for. Apparently it doesn't cost much for the resin moulds, so it probably wasn't a huge investment for GW to go to the temporary option and hold off their new plastic pathfinders for the re-release of tau.


I really hope their flier comes out before the new release. My tau army would seem odd with an aegis defence line, and I want to field it without allies (and I need something with skyfire).

It will be interesting to see what their new skimmer is. Maybe something that can be their equivalent of a land speeder typhoon. Fast with decent guns and light armour. The current piranha's weapons seem quite underwhelming.

[II Orar II]

Hope the allies codex rumour is false, Tau players shouldn't suffer at the expense of other armies. Either way, even if these rumours aren't true a plastic Barracuda seems inevitable.

[MajorWesJanson]

I really hope their flier comes out before the new release. My tau army would seem odd with an aegis defence line, and I want to field it without allies (and I need something with skyfire).

It will be interesting to see what their new skimmer is. Maybe something that can be their equivalent of a land speeder typhoon. Fast with decent guns and light armour. The current piranha's weapons seem quite underwhelming.

I would love to see a Tau defensive line emplacement that fits the hammerhead and sky ray turrets. Have the Ion Cannon or Rail gun as anti ground, or sky ray missile rack as AA.

New skimmer between Piranha and Hammerhead? I'm going to make a prediction on it. Probably AV 12/11/10 or so, option to replace drones with burst cannons or SMS, heavy gun like scaled up crisis suit weapons (maybe just longer range versions)

Firewarriors recut would be welcomed. That sprue is barren. Plenty of room to add all the parts to make pathfinders as well as fire warriors. Just hope it stays squad size of 6-12 though. Makes them more interesting than everyone else based on 5s.

[Xeones]

Crisis suits completely redone.

Definitely good news--and something the had been confirmed by multiple sources for literally years at this point. This is good for a number of reasons. First, the current model is unpopular (I agree that it needs a good update). Second because a re-work will allow them to fix the flimsy ankles which are notorious for breaking. Third because a re-worked kit will allow them to add more options to the sprues and perhaps even consolidate the commander, crisis, and broadside suits into a single kit.

Stealth suits completely redone.

Slightly more surprising than the crisis rumor, but again, a new kit will allow them to increase the weapons and equipment options available to the Stealthsuits, which is great news because they had very limited options for weapons and equipment upgrades.

Pirahna has new option and I am not sure if it will be reboxed together or be sold as an upgrade kit.

I don't think this is as likely to be a Tetra-like upgrade as it is to be an expanded selection of weapons and wargear upgrades available to the Piranha. Because, again, this is another unit with very limited options at the moment compared to other modern codex entries.

New Pathfinders were seen being worked on a while back.

I hope they do a combo kit with Fire Warriors for this. It would allow them to consolidate their stock, and fix the sprue issues with the current FW kit.

Ethereals expanded, new unit options around them.
There is a FW Tau model which has a unit entry in the codex. (My take is this might actually be a new plastic kit taking over a FW model, and before anyone yells GW doesnt cannibalize FW...yes, they do, they have, and they will.)
The floating chair ethereal was seen being worked on for a new model.

All good stuff! I'd almost bet money that the Forge World Tau model to be brought into the product line will be the Drone Sentry Turrets. With 6th edtion's emphasis on terrain, this makes TOTAL sense.

New fast skimmer sized between hammerhead and pirahna.

We got rumors a while ago that there was going to be a fast open-topped transport option available to the Tau. I wonder if this is the same craft? Another transport (or vehicle of any type) would be very welcome.

Flyer has dual gattling cannons
Flyer has option for rail guns
Flyer has bombs (not missiles!?)

Bring it on!

Thanks for the rumors SM!

[Jonahmaul]

I feel like the only one who likes the current battlesuits! I think they're ace and have got a dozen of them although the previously mentioned weak ankle joints is definitely something that could do with fixing. I'd be surprised if they did an update to the stealth suits seeing as they've already had one complete re-do and seems like they would concentrate on other bits (again, I feel I'm on my own in saying that I don't like the current stealth suits, I much prefer the old metal ones which I use in my army). Intrigued about the new vehicle options though and some sort of flyer seems a must, I can see every army getting flyers like how everything in WFB seems to be getting a 'big' unit. Looking forward to them doing something more with Etherals as well which rarely seem to make their way into armies.

[Charistoph]

Always good to here from the Stickmonkey!

Stealth suits completely redone.

Surprising here, unless they mean the XV-15 suits which will have a separate role from the XV-25s?

Ethereals expanded, new unit options around them.

Hmm. No real surprise here. They haven't sold very well due to unfortunate rules. Probably see them like IG Command Squads with the big cheese and retinue.

There is a FW Tau model which has a unit entry in the codex. (My take is this might actually be a new plastic kit taking over a FW model, and before anyone yells GW doesnt cannibalize FW...yes, they do, they have, and they will.)

Not the first time here, either. The Sky Ray is such a kit.

The floating chair ethereal was seen being worked on for a new model.

Surprising considering how "new" he is..

New fast skimmer sized between hammerhead and pirahna.

OOOh, a medium gunship? I am intrigued.

Flyer has dual gattling cannons
Flyer has option for rail guns
Flyer has bombs (not missiles!?)

Interesting mix. Could we see Long-Barrelled Burst Cannons brought into the codex? That would be verah nahce!

Considering the Eldar packaging allegedly spotted and the dire need Dark Angels have to be updated, I'd add about six months to the estimated release timeframe.

Stickmonkey mentioned that Eldar were planned for Fall 2013 in an earlier post (like around the time they started making it), and as bad as Dark Angels need it, Tau's last codex was 2 books before Dark Angels, and wasn't a huge difference from their previous codex. Tau and Black Templar are still the last codecies with an Armoury pick list instead of a drop down list.

[Rogerio]

I hope that my old Suits do not become obsolete and un-useable. I spent a year painting up 2500 points of Tau and the blood sweat and tears that have gone into those suits had better not be wasted...

[Aryllon]

I glanced in the rules this morning for just that effect, but only saw the 'beam' entry in the psychic powers section - not the shooting rules. Perhaps I just missed it, but make of it what you will.

Not 100% sure if this is what you mean, but vibrocannon and necron thingy (death ray?) both draw a line and hit whatever's under it... if you wanted shooting rather than psychic examples?

[Starchild]

@Rogerio: I'm sure the differences will be merely cosmetic. I can't see the weapon systems changing dramatically so you should still be able to use your old suits. Certainly some Tau players will prefer the current style over the new models!

[MajorWesJanson]

I hope that my old Suits do not become obsolete and un-useable. I spent a year painting up 2500 points of Tau and the blood sweat and tears that have gone into those suits had better not be wasted...

They should be fine. Weapon and wargear changes may make sme of them sub-optimal, so you may want to swap out parts later, but the models are still quite fine.
I like the existing Crisis suits and Broadsides from GW, far more than the FW broadsides or abominations of XV-9 hazards. Just make the ankles more durable, make the elbows and knees flexible, and add more parts for options. That is all I want.

[The Dude]

All very interesting stuff. Especially interesting to hear that some stuff has been done for up to 2 years without release.

[JohnDaBarr]

Any better info on the release date of the new dex except of the old ''first half of the 2013'' quote???

Must say I was hoping to hear some rumors regarding the markerlight system and will it be changed or upgraded!

Also I am personally convinced that they already finished the Tau codex some time ago and GW is waiting for a open slot to release it because..... well I don't know, they behave illogical most of the time!

[Inquisitor Engel]

Railguns have a JOWW effect, they can hit multiple models in a line, but if hitting vehicles has a max number of hull points it can cause. the way this is described is it draws a line from the barrel to table edge, every model under starts taking hits starting with the closest. if it hits a vehicle or structure with HP, its strength drops, once it hits 3 or a table edge or fails to make a penetrating hit its done. rhino line's watch out!

There was an experimental weapon during testing of the current Tau Empire Codex that we dropped prior to going to print, because it was considered overpowered. Yay Codex creep. It does mean there's some precedence for this.

[Scorpion]

Do you mean just to fix the mould lines? I find the models are fine, but the mould lines made assembling 36 of them a real frustrating task. I don't personally know how they could be done better, but I hear that a lot of their new models are done so that theres a lot less issues with mould lines all over the model.

Well, I was thinking mostly of adding more pulse carbines since you can have a whole squad with them but you only have 3 in a box, but I subscribe to Wes' idea: make 'em a Pathfinder/FW combi kit.

[MajorWesJanson]

All very interesting stuff. Especially interesting to hear that some stuff has been done for up to 2 years without release.

I wonder if done means design, sprue cut, or cast and in a box. Most likely the middle option.

Copperhead is a nice fish/snake name, and is rather catchy. Still hoping Mako gets used for something though.

[jspyd3rx]

Ohh, that's right! Harry mentioned once that the Tau flyer had a name that is used for fish and snake. Better than Bluegill I guess. Glad it also has a name now

[KarlPedder]

I think that if Stealth Suit are indeed being "redone" the asthetic will remain largely the same as the existing XV-25s and that while them being redone will also add the potential for new options for Stealth Teams it would primarily be done to make it a combi kit that also builds a new 2nd XV-2? class unit. I also think a Pathfinders/Honor Guard kit is more likely than Pathfinders/New FWs kit.

[The Dude]

I wonder if done means design, sprue cut, or cast and in a box. Most likely the middle option.

I'd say done in this case means designed and approved with sprue layout and masters done, but no production sprues cast.

Ohh, that's right! Harry mentioned once that the Tau flyer had a name that is used for fish and snake.

IIRC, stickmonkey said it. Harry supported it.