40K Op-ed: The T’au Book We Really Need
Let’s talk about the real T’au Codex we need – for 40K’s Greater Good!
The New T’au Codex is right around the corner. This book will detail the T’au Fifth Sphere Expansion. From the rumors we’ve heard it’s going to mostly focus on classic T’au units. While this book will clearly be a huge boost for T’au armies – and filled with art and fluff to delight players – it’s not going to offer a lot of new stuff. It’s a necessary book, needed to get the T’au up to speed in 8th, but it’s not the book we really need. So let’s talk about the T’au book we really need.
Codex T’au Auxiliaries
That’s right, the book we really need to invigorate the T’au is a real auxiliaries book. This standalone book would cover and develop some of the many races that fight alongside the T’au in combat. It would be a great chance to really add a lot to T’au armies, and create some cool and unique units and models. It would give the T’au strength to compete with the other multi-book armies, and fully place them in a unique multi species role. Lastly, just as Tyranids got Genestealer Cults, this codex would give the T’au faction a pair of codexes to make cool allied lists out of. Let’s go over a few of the races the book should cover.
Kroot
By far the most developed of the T’au auxiliary races – the Kroot have even had their own army list in the past. Even today the Kroot get a full four units in the Index. It wouldn’t take much to tweak them a little, and add back in a few units for the old army list to make them an major part of an Auxiliaries list. Personally, I’ve always like the looks of the models. They are pretty different from anything else in 40K, so it would be cool to see them reworked and updated. It would also be nice to see them finally be a viable close combat unit.
Vespids
Vespids has long been known as one of, if not the, worst units in the game. They’ve always seemed almost good, but then fallen apart when you look at them more closely. Still the Vespids have always been a cool idea – a race of flying warriors with advanced tech, that have no problem with being mind controlled by the T’au? Sweet. Let’s develop them a little more, give them a character and an assault unit, and they could really add to an army. In particular I’d love to see a Vespid vehicle; I think you could make a really unique unit there.
Nicassar
Psychic space pandas? I am all in. Though little is known of the Nicassar they were one of the first races to join the T’au. These curious panda like creatures are driven to explore and discover, and are highly psychic. They mostly stick to their ships and travel around in floating spheres. While the Nicassar would most likely only add one unit to the Codex, it would be an important one, finally allowing the T’au to take part in the psychic phase.
Demiurg
An entirely space-bound race the Demuirg appear allied, rather than subject, to the T’au. This race posses highly advanced technology and is thought to resemble Dwarfs or Squats. While they are probably not secretly Squats, bringing a dwarfish race back into 40K would be really cool. In particular I’ve been really impressed with the Kharadron Overlords which have some of the best models in Age of Sigmar. Doing something similar for the Demiurg would be really amazing. I’d keep them more vehicle and support focused, make them the iron backbone of the list.
Gue’vesa
Gue’vesa are humans who, for one reason or another, have joined the T’au. A large number of them end up fighting on behalf of the T’au and make up a part of their armies that’s long captured peoples’ imagination. Like Ork looted vehicles, the Gue’vesa allow for a cool blend of two distinct faction looks. You wouldn’t need to do much to make new units: give Guard Infantry squads Pulse Rifles instead of lasguns, and “T’au up” a few tanks and you’d be there. It would be a great way to show a mash up of different cultures, and bring a part of the lore to life.
Bring the Army Together
So there you have an idea of the races in the army. Ideally the Kroot would fill combat roles, while the Vespids filled fast attack roles. The Nicassar will take psychic duty, and the Demuirg would be heavy hitters and vehicles. Lastly the Gue’vesa would fill in as needed. It would be a fun and unique army, like nothing we’ve ever seen before. It would also up the power and viability of the T’au as a faction and help them to succeed in 8th.
Let us know if you would like to see a T’au Auxiliaries Codex down in the comments!
