Warhammer 40K: 5 Things We Want To See In The New T’au Codex

40K is getting a new T’au Empire codex next year, let’s take a look at what we want to see.

This week GW confirmed that T’au are on track to get a new Codex in the near future. This is really good as T’au are not in a good place right now, and we’ve been wondering if they’ll get much needed help.  Back in 8th T’au were already a broken army, that had had most of what made them cool stolen by other factions. Recently things have only gotten worse in 9th, with the T’au not really fitting into the way the game works. But with a whole new book coming, now is the chance to save them, so here is what we want to see.

5. Close Combat Battlesuits

One of the main issues T’au face is not having any way to push forward and take objectives early game. They don’t really have any close combat options and lack any “bully” units. This makes them not only lose out on two phases of the game, charge and combat but makes it really hard for them to take objectives and win games. One thing we’d like to see in the new T’au Codex is to give them a type of Crisis or similar suit, kitted out for close combat, like Farsight is. T’au are after all heavily based on Mecha shows and most Mechs have some close combat options, such as the classic Gundam and its beam saber and shield. This would be a unit that could fit the T’au aesthetic well, and also let them build new types of armies. It would also help T’au with their key issues of not being able to take objectives and not playing in all phases of the game.

4. Make the Devilfish an Assault Vehicle

One of the classic T’au tactics of yore was known as “Fish of Fury” in which a large number of Fire Warriors or Breachers would rush forward in Devilfishes, then jump out at point blank range and unleash a storm of firepower. Currently that tactic doesn’t really work, since you can’t disembark after moving. This is a bigger issue than it seems. The destruction of this tactic really undermines the core T’au style as an army based around fire and maneuver and mechanized (and Mecha) infantry.  We’d really like to see the Devilfish given the Assault Vehicle rule, like the Impulsor, allowing units to disembark, but not charge, after it moves. This would let you once again rush objectives with T’au infantry and deploy at close range. If you didn’t want to give T’au assault units this might be another way to let them push enemies off objectives, while fitting in with their theme of mobile firepower.

3. Make Crisis Suits Troops

T’au suits are a big draw for T’au players as everyone loves a good mech. The most classic, and basic of suits is the XV8 Crisis suit, which while still cool is aging and kind of sucks. Not only are they bad but you can’t really take many of them since they are elites. We’d like to see these suits moved to a TROOPS slot. Let people take all the suits they want, let them take whole armies of just suits, that sounds RAD and would make T’au unique, in effect able to build a shooting version of a Custodian army. I think doing this would open up a lot of list building options and make the army just a lot better and more fun. Though you’d probably want to change the minimum unit size so people don’t just have 40 individual suits running around.

2. An Updated Armory

The T’au have an aging armory of weapons. They really haven’t gotten many new units in a few editions, and a lot of their guns are dated. What was good in 4th Edition doesn’t quite cut it these days. An army that was once known for having the best troop carried weapons, out classes Marines and Eldar, has now fallen to just “ok” weapons that are worse them several other armies troop options. At the same time, while T’au have a large armory, only a handful of weapons are particularly viable anymore. The T’au Codex needs a major overhaul and buff of their weapons, and if other 9th Ed books are an indication, they will at least get this.

1. New Auxiliary

The T’au Empire stands out as a multi-racial polity, that uses a number of species to fight its wars. Along with the core T’au units, their armed forces are also made up of a number of Auxiliary forces, that are often used to fill roles T’au aren’t well suited for. Adding new Auxiliary would be the biggest thing  they could do to T’au as it would not only give them new models and make them more unique but also could be used to fill in gaps in the army. You could add a new psychic Auxiliary,  such as the canon Nicassar, or a race that fields heavy assault units, such as perhaps mind-slaved Ambulls? You could even give them a version of the GSC Brood Brothers rules to allow them to take allied Astra Militarium units since many humans have joined the T’au. There is a lot you could do here I think.

Let us know what you want to see out of the new T’au book, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.