Tau Stormsurge Photo Secrets

We’ve been poring over the recent Tau photos and have a bunch of VERY interesting finds!

images via Craig A (twitter) 9-15-2015

XV128 Stormsurge

What we’ve noticed:

1. The kit is large and looks to be roughly designed around the Riptide.  It is more massive in volume due to the bulkier torso.
2. While there were early rumors of a combo kit, I would be very impressed if GW managed to make the Stormsurge and Riptide a combo kit.  A separate kit is more likely. The legs look to be the most similar parts, and there are major components that are entirely different between both kits, such as the torsos, missile pods, and the Riptides jetpack and arms.
3. Looking at these images, you can see two different weapon options on the giant shoulder-mounted upper gun.
4. The Stormsurge may be the first multi-crew Tau suit.  You can see what looks like TWO red “heads” on the center and left of the torso (lower image).  Perhaps the Stormsurge has a pilot and a gunner like a modern attack helicopter.
5. The Stormsurge has uparmored thigh plates compared to the Riptide and looks to have built in kickstands to help it stabilize itself with all those weapons.
6. The Stormsurge looks to be massively armed.  Based on the images I see:

a) upper giant gun

b) “arm 30x missile pods” (x2)

c) quad “lower missile pods” (the ones in pairs with the silver tips directly below the large arm missile batteries)

d) that quad barreled 45-degree offset thing hanging below the right side of the torso (upper pic)

e) Smart Missile System (x2) above and behind the main missile batteries atop the cylindrical side torso components.

Here’s a Riptide for comparison:

~I would expect the Tau Empire to remain kings of shooting with things like this on the battlefield.

Author: Larry Vela

Dad, Gamer, Publisher, Pilot, Texan. All games all the time since junior-high. I started BoLS Interactive in 2006. I’m a lifelong tabletop & RPG gaming enthusiast, and internet publisher working to entertain and inform my readers every day. I've been playing RPGs and Tabletop Games since the 1970s. I'm been playing and covering Warhammer and Warhammer 40K for over 35 years.