40K: T’au Codex Deep Dive – Relics, Stratagems, and Traits
Come join the BoLS crew as we take a look at the rules of the T’au Codex…
That’s right friends, we’re here to delve into the Tau Codex and take a look at warlord traits, stratagems, relics, sept rules, and psychic powers. Well. Maybe not quite as much that last one. But let’s dive in nonetheless.
As we put it in the video, all in all this Codex feels more like the Eldar Codex than the Tyranids one–there’s not a reworking of the army basics or anything, just a clarification of the rules and an adjusting of points. The T’au have all the stuff a full fledged army has in 8th Edition. There are a few relics in particular that seem kind of cool–there are even some melee weapons, which is especially interesting to me–because for the most part the book seems to relegate T’au to only really acting in the shooting phase.
Which, I mean, they are known as the shooty army. And with the Codex, that basically remains the case. The Greater Good lets everyone Overwatch, the army in general is cheaper–but the way you build a list isn’t really different. The things that are good are still good, the things that aren’t–well, let’s just say you won’t be seeing a lot of piranhas or hammerheads or other assorted vehicles.
Battlesuits get a number of stratagems to support them, and a big chunk of the relics are intended specifically for crisis suit commanders–enhanced weapons and so on. There are two real interesting relics, the Puretide Chip, which lets you get command points on a 6, and the Seismic Destabilizer which lets you hit infantry and buildings and is one of the few ways besides shooting that the T’au have of doing damage to models.
Okay, sure, you might be able to hurt someone in adsault with these guys.
The Warlord Traits have some of the best names. You’ll find things like Through Unity Devastation or A Ghost Walks Among Us. I think Through Unity, Devastation is a sleeper hit, giving you one of the few buffs to any weapon available to the T’au–you pick a unit your Warlord can see, and units within 6″ get to pretend their weapons are like baby shuriken weapons. AP -1 can be a big deal, especially if you put this on someone at the center of your firebase–like a Fireblade or Crisis Commander.
With Stratagems like Neuroweb Jammer or Repulsor Impact field you can keep your Suits in the game–though as before it’s still the Commanders that do all the work. Even if now you have to take a detachment along with them.
Codex: T’au Empire
The T’au Empire is spreading, its boundless ambitions yet to be checked. Although world after world has been subsumed under their control, the T’au believe it is only the start of their new unified order, the first steps of a long journey that will end in a better existence for all. In their hearts they know it is their destiny to bring the light of truth to a galaxy drowning in darkness, and none have the right to deny their progress across the stars. If resistance is encountered, negotiations are swiftly and aggressively replaced with a purely military solution.
The Greater Good…the greater good.
