Tau Rumours

[The Dude]

Some new rumours regarding Tau have dropped recently.

First from Stickmonkey:

There has been some speculation on this, and I'm getting chatter now that seems to reinforce a few things, so I thought I'd post what is floating my way.

Tau Codex early next year.
Kroot and other existing allies are there, however they are limited. There appears to be an "Allies" supplement which will be out about the same time and include many more options. (aside: Dare I start a Spring of Allies moniker...ah well then it will end up being 2 years from now... )
Crisis suits completely redone.
Stealth suits completely redone.
Pirahna has new option and I am not sure if it will be reboxed together or be sold as an upgrade kit.
New Pathfinders were seen being worked on a while back.
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.
New fast skimmer sized between hammerhead and pirahna.
Flyer has dual gattling cannons
Flyer has option for rail guns
Flyer has bombs (not missiles!?)

Rule rumors (these are rumors people! I hate posting rule rumors cause I am not involved in that. Please take fwiw)
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 is some rumor of an Anti Psyker weapon. like night fighting, but no psychic powers for a game turn.
There is no flyer dedicated transport, and the existing flyer is going to be competing against some very good other options
The jetpack troops have some option to "pop up and shoot" from behind cover.


All I have for now
Cheers.

Which prompted this from 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.

Discussion can be found here

[The Dude]

Stickmonkey has gone and updated his rumours for Tau:

Good evening Warseer!

So I got a moment to go back and spend sometime with some old rumors. And I was able to get some updated information on where these rumors are...at least in so far as my sources will comment... So let's have a look shall we?

This is what I had earlier this year:

There has been some speculation on this, and I'm getting chatter now that seems to reinforce a few things, so I thought I'd post what is floating my way.

Tau Codex early next year.

Source still have first part of next year as timeline, I'm going to speculate and put this Q2/Q3, a little later as it does seem to have a lot ahead of it.

Kroot and other existing allies are there, however they are limited. There appears to be an "Allies" supplement which will be out about the same time and include many more options. (aside: Dare I start a Spring of Allies moniker...ah well then it will end up being 2 years from now... )

My sources are telling me kroot are in fact still part of Tau, and have a new unit or two including a beastly transport. They may have more options in a later supplement.
I also checked into the demiurge rumors, and was told "There are no demiurge in the Tau codex."

Crisis suits completely redone.

My sources all said to expect new crisis suits. These are not the forgeworld style, but are much more elegant compared to the current models. I also have rumors that confirm there are multiple new suits in the codex, crisis being what we know, there is also a smaller suit similar to the stealth suit, but not as bulky designed for close combat, and the broadsides while the same relative size as a crisis suit have much more bulk to them and are a separate build/model. Finally, I do have sources telling me there is a bigger suit, which has been reported from others. Reports have it being a ranged beast(metaphorically, not literally) with 2 twin linked rail cannons and a missile option. So I'm sure it will become a target of choice in games

Stealth suits completely redone.

Sounds like the reason for the redesign was this new cc suit which will share a box with the new stealth suit.

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

From out of left field is word the new piranha option is to transport a cc suit unit, this option replaces the drone pods on the sides... I am personally very skeptical of this rumor. I really don't see it happening, based on other conversations I've had I expect the Pirahna will remain unchanged at this point.

New Pathfinders were seen being worked on a while back.

There is a plastic kit in the works for pathfinders, however my sources don't think it will be part of the initial tau release.

Ethereals expanded, new unit options around them.

This is again from the left field world...supposedly the ethereals have a new race that they are using as a psychic conduit. This new unit option is similar to a psychic choir, and their effectiveness diminishes the smaller the unit gets. Sounds like a way to retcon psychic powers into tau...I would steer clear of this rumor for now, their might in fact be a new unit here, but the established tau no psykers fluff seems too strong to do this IMO. And barring some stronger confirmation, I think this one can be dismissed for now.

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.)

Supposedly the remora drones will be in the codex. And will be flyers.

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

Sources say this was a designer test model and the existing model is still in the line.

New fast skimmer sized between hammerhead and pirahna.

Could be the cc transport Pirahna, none of my sources had anything on this now. It could also be the flyer.

Flyer has dual gattling cannons

Sources are all sticking by this on the flyer.

Flyer has option for rail guns

Sources say there is a rail gun option for the flyer.

Flyer has bombs (not missiles!?)

Sources say it has options for AA missiles or bombs, But can't take both.

Rule rumors (these are rumors people! I hate posting rule rumors cause I am not involved in that. Please take fwiw)
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!

Little more on this. Mostly confirmed this is the way of it, but that it does have a max distance. Some conflicting rumors that you roll for number of hull points it penetrates when fired, or it's fixed. And also conflicting sources saying if it penetrates it causes 2 hull points of damage vs 1.

There is some rumor of an Anti Psyker weapon. like night fighting, but no psychic powers for a game turn.

. My sources had little on this other than the one which attributed this to the new ethereal unit.

There is no flyer dedicated transport, and the existing flyer is going to be competing against some very good other options

. All sources confirmed. There isn't a dt flyer.

The jetpack troops have some option to "pop up and shoot" from cover.

no information on this from anyone. So I'm going to say this is probably not valid any longer.


I hope to have some additional bits to add a little later after some sleep.

Cheers.

Discussion here: http://www.warseer.com/forums/showth...-Rumor-Refresh

[The Dude]

Hastings has dropped the following hint:

Anybody who might be interested in what tau models (or at least one of them) you can really expect next year might want to type "Fil Dunn tau" into a google image search

Which indicates there could be something along these lines coming up:





shaso_iceborn offered a bit of support:

Hastings has incredible credibility. However he was talking about the aesthetic look (and the fact a big suit is planned errrr completed according to my source) not the conversion. Also he wasn't necessarily referring to the Titan.

[The Dude]

shaso_iceborn has provided the following rumoured profile for the new "big suit"

WS2, BS4, S5, T6, W4, I2, A2, Ld8, Sv2+4++

[The Dude]

Stickmonkey has posted a very different statline for the big suit on Bell of Lost Souls:

Tau UBER-suit

AV:11/11/11
Hullpoints:2
Dual (not linked) Rail Cannons
Missile Launcher
Interceptor/Skyfire
Many upgrade options including Stealth

BONUS Tasty Morsel:
Markerlights gain the ability to grant Skyfire.

[The Dude]

More info is coming to light regarding the Tau release. What I've personally heard is:

Aun'shi is rumoured to be returning.

Two new characters are said to be included.

One character is a tank commander (presumably a vehicle upgrade) like Pask from the IG Codex. He is supposedly in a Hammerhead and allows it to overwatch.

The other Character allows Fire Warriors to consolidate after Overwatch.

So it seems Overwatch is going to be the Tau's special trick, at least from a Fire Warrior perspective.

The large suit thats been rumoured for a while is supposedly called the Riptide. It is a Jump Monstrous Creature armed with Ion Cannon and standard Battlesuit support weapons.

The Ion Cannon can reportedly use two fire modes, Heavy 3 (possibly 4) and single shot Large Blast.

I have heard of the following releases:
Riptide large suit
Flyer dual kit (fighter and bomber)
New Battlesuit and Broadside models (not sure if these dual kit or not)
Plastic Pathfinders

A new Fire Warrior HQ (not sure if the special character mentioned above or a generic one)

I'll try to pull the rest a bit later

[The Dude]

Additionally, I have heard there will be no new Kroot units and no Kroot HQ.

This means no Great Knarloc or other large creature and no Master Shaper.

[The Dude]

superawesomeraptorman dropped a bunch of info:

Heard a couple of things through the grapevine. They COULD be complete tosh, they could be awesome insights. I'd say the usual dosage of salt.

HQ

- New firewarrior leader - can give certain squads special abilities
- Ethereal have auras - apparently they are ok, nothing to write home about
- no honor guard
- New tank commander special character - has preferred enemy imperial guard (?), use on a hammerhead apparently (best tank to use)
- no HQ alters FOC apparently

Elites

- Crisis suits no new sprue, getting repackaged into 3. This seems to contradict people hearing about a new recut - apparently commanders sprue (special issue weapons) will sneak in here?
- no stealth on stealth suits, will have something to make them harder to shoot still (maybe?)

Troops
- fire warriors 9 points - no idea about new upgrades etc
- kroot lose one point of strength (really that sounds lame)

Fast
- Pathfinders don't take devilfish anymore
- piranhas are cheaper, but not much different
- flyers go here - apparently one is anti air. Not really much news, but apparently dual kit but neither version amazing (more like a dark angels rather than necron flyer kit)

Heavy Support
- Submuntions purchased for hammerheads
- Broadside have strength 8 rail guns -_- BUT can buy skyfire (expensive) but cannot buy A.S.S
- Giant new walker here - pretty tough to kill, apparently his weapons are interesting. I wanted more details, couldn't get them

New abilities
- Single squad gets charged - every unit within 6" can overwatch into the charging squad
- Squad ability from commander (can't remember which one). If unit does not move AT ALL (no relentless, S&P tricks) every model gets extra shot. I got the impression that you can't use jet pack move with this either
- Two marker light hits = NO cover at all (not a marker light hit per -1 cover). Usual BS upgrade
- Seeker missiles can skyfire
- Multi-trackers come standard on crisis suits (or free? dunno which)

General Stuff
- Haven't heard anything about new kroot or vespid stuff
- Haven't heard anything about ANY new race, but wasn't exactly told no new race as opposed to nothing was mentioned

Honestly all I can remember, it might fly in the face of everything we know, and a plastic kit seems to be missing (fire warrior HQ, Flyer, Big Suit plus something?)

Again might be true might not, ce le vi.

neko has also has some to say:

Right, just gotten off of the comlink to my contact in the icy north. Let's see now...
The codex is by Vetock.
The Ubersuit will not be competing for your Heavy slots.
Ion weapons will be overloadable.
Units will be able to overwatch to defend nearby comrades.
A new item of support gear will grant skyfire.
The new models are absolutely fabulous, much to the dismay of my future bank balance.

There is a new XV8 varient, but mostly they're the same.

I've not been told anything about our alien allies.
I have just been told that the new interesting tidbits with regards to the Broadsides however:
- The railguns are now different from the vehicle mounted version. Think of these as light railguns.
- The Broadsides now have sniper style pose.
- Broadsides are to cost the same amount as their Forgeworld counterparts

Some reports have come in of "Skysniper Drones" appearing in the latest Black Library Tau novel. neko had the following to say about them:

I believe the anti-air drones are carried by one of the aircraft.

An airbourne equivilent to the Devilfish is my understanding.

[The Dude]

I've heard the following:

Ethereals buff units that they join with a selection of effects. One such effect gives an extra shot. This combined with a piece of wargear that adds 6" max range to the squad means that it's possible to rapid fire 3 shots at 18".
Apparently this can potentially be 4 if the Fire Warrior special character is also attached.

Riptide is rumoured to be around 165 base but only start with twin-linked Plasma.

The Ion Accelerator is apparently an upgrade: three S7 AP3 shots or one S8 AP2 Large Blast.

There's supposedly a special rule on the Riptide called Nova Accelerator which can do 4 things:
Buff weaponry (unsure how or which weapons)
Double the shots of support weapons (missile pods ect)
Increase invulnerable save to 3++
Boost a stat (unknown which or by how much)

[The Dude]

Lots of pics from White Dwarf have leaked. These will not be hosted on Warseer.

They show the releases as being:

XV104 Riptide (plastic) 1 Riptide and 2 drones - £50 €65 US$85 CAN$100

XV88 Broadside (plastic) 1 Broadside and 2 drones - £30 €40 US$50 CAN$60

XV8 Crisis Battlesuits (plastic) 3 Crisis suits and 6 drones - £45 €60 US$75 CAN$90

Pathfinder team (plastic) 10 Pathfinders and 3 drones - £20 €25 US$35 CAN$40

Sun Shark Bomber/Razorshark Fighter (plastic) 1 Flyer - £40 €50 US$65 CAN$80

Commander Farsight (Finecast box) 1 Farsight - price unknown as yet.

XV8 Commander (Finecast box) 1 XV8 Commander - price unknown as yet

Dark Strider (Finecast blister) 1 Special Character - price unknown as yet

Long Strike (Finecast blister) 1 Special Character - price unknown as yet

Cadre Fireblade (Plastic blister) 1 Character - price unknown as yet




Just to be clear, the existing Kroot Carnivore squad will stay unchanged.

[The Dude]

Just heard the following:

Activating the Riptide's Nova Engine is risky. It only works on a 3+. If it fails to activate (roll of 1-2) the Riptide suffers a wound.

The weapon buff result for the Nova Engine supposedly buffs the large blast of the Ion Accelerator to S9 AP1, so there's your anti tank gun

Also, apparently Broadsides with missiles get 4 shots each at S7 AP4.

[The Dude]

Just heard a bit more:

The Skyray has the option to use Skyfire or not use it, just like Broadsides.

After the Sun Shark Bomber has used its bomb it rolls a D6. On a roll of 2+ it makes another bomb, on a 1 it cannot make any more.

Longstrike is supposedly the only crew member in his Hammerhead with his special suit linking him to all the tanks systems. He can apparently Overwatch with Supporting Fire against multiple enemy units.

Markerlights can reportedly buff BS for snapshots and overwatch.

Marker Drones have the supporting fire rule.

[The Dude]

Couple more bits:

Apparently Aun'Va's signature wargear item is an invulnerable save based on the weapons AP value. i.e against a Lascannon he has a 2++ But against a Bolter He gets a 5++. Also, wounds from AP1 weapons are ignored altogether.

The Multi Tracker allows one more weapon than normal to be fired as rumoured. so normal suits fire 2 weapons, riptide being monstrous fires 3.

I've had s clarification on the Nova Reactor on the Riptide. It is an automatic wound on a 1-2, but on a 3+ you choose the effect:
1. 3++ invulnerable
2. shoot one smaller support weapon twice (fusion, plasma, missile pods ect)
3. shoot your main weapon with the nova profile (ion accelerator becomes large blast S9 AP2, heavy burst cannon becomes Heavy 12 S6 AP4 rending)
4. the Riptide can Jetpack move 4d6 in the assault phase.

[The Dude]

Im told Enforcer Armour is nothing special rules-wise, but that's not 100%.

Also, Ethereals buff units within 12" with one of 4 effects, one for each caste/element:

Fire= extra shot with pulse weapons (This looks to stack with Fireblade's Volley Fire for 4 shots per Fire Warrior)

Earth= 6+ Feel No Pain

Air= unit may run then snapshot with their weapons.

Water= source couldn't remember.

Aun 'Va may apparently issue two of these buffs per turn.

[The Dude]

The following has been posted on Advanced Tau Tactica:

The new warlord rules seem interesting, with a couple of them being 'one used' only. And some can really be nasty.

About the warlord traits. There is one which allows the commander and his retinue to move 3d6 during assault phase. Another to deep strike without scatter. And the one I think is the most awesome is one that allows those units that gone to ground to move, shoot, and assault as though it did not go to ground. I can't remember the other three, but so far this is all I can vaguely remember.

Tau HQ can ignore Look Out Sir! for percision fire.(this would be one of the Warlord Traits)

I have been told these Warlord Trait rumours are accurate, altough it could be worded as though only Commanders and Ethereals get to roll on the Tau-specific table (Fireblades or whatever presumably use only the Rulebook ones).

Farsight apparently gets the no-scatter on Deepstrike, and Shadowsun gets the 3d6 Jetpack move.

Apparently some results are only able to be taken by Infantry, and others only by Jetpacks. If you get the wrong result, you re-roll.

Kroot supposedly DON'T get Furious Charge, just Stealth (woods) and Move Through Cover.

Kroot Hounds are apparently Beasts (the unit type). How this affects their ability to enter Transports or Buildings remains to be seen.