The Tau are a race from the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, who were first discovered by the Imperium of Man in the late 35th millennium. They were at a hunter-gatherer stage of development at this time, and were earmarked for cleansing. The combination of warp storms and the outbreak of the Age of Apostasy within the Imperium prevented this from occurring, and during the next six millennia of isolation the Tau were able to evolve, unite, and develop an extremely advanced level of technology. Also during this time, the Tau have incorporated numerous alien species into their fledgling Empire, the most significant of these being the Kroot and the Vespid. In the universe of Games Workshops table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000, the Tau are an alien race, inhabiting a small but dense region of space on the eastern edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, roughly 300 light years in diameter. ... Cover of the Warhammer 40,000 4th edition rulebook This article is about the tabletop miniature wargame and the fictional universe in which it is set. ... The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire that contains the majority of humanity, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ... The Immaterium (also referred to as the Empyrean or Warp) is an alternate dimension in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. ... The Age of Apostasy is an era in the fictional universe of warhammer 40000. ... In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Kroot are a species of humanoids that evolved from avian creatures. ... A Vespid Squad In the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000, Vespid is a world home to an insectoid race known as Stingwings allied with the Tau Empire, who were included in the new revised Codex: Tau Empire. ...

This list will describe the various weapon types, common equipment, and vehicles used by the Tau military, along with their allies.

Weapons

Pulse weapons

The standard infantry weapon of Tau Fire Warriors, pulse weapons use electromagnetic induction fields to convert particles to a plasma state and propel them out the barrel of the weapon. There are several different types of pulse weapon: Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electrical potential difference (or voltage) across a conductor situated in a changing magnetic flux. ...

• The pulse rifle carried by Fire Warrior teams is comparable to the boltguns used by the Space Marines. The effective range and strength of a pulse rifle is the greatest of any standard-issue weapon used by any force in the galaxy, and out-ranges some heavy weapons used by other races.
• Pulse carbines are used by Pathfinder teams and are fitted to gun drones. Although as powerful as pulse rifles, carbines are smaller, trading decreased range for portability. Pulse carbines are almost always fielded with an underslung photon grenade launcher; in the Fire Warrior game, this can also be used to gain increased range on a high-explosive grenade.
• Pulse pistols are small hold-out weapons issued to battlesuit pilots and the controllers of sniper drones. They have an extremely short range, but are slightly more powerful than an Imperial bolt pistol.

The Imperium is a vast, galaxy-spanning empire in the Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe. ... A squad of Space Marines from the Dark Angels chapter The Space Marines are one of the major forces available in the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000. ... A carbine is a firearm similar to, but generally shorter and less powerful than, a rifle or musket of a given period. ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ... Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior is the name of a Warhammer 40,000 computer game available for the PlayStation 2 and PC. The game is a first person shooter, where the player takes the role of a Tau Fire Warrior, Kais, defending his race against the aggressive Human Empire. ...

Burst cannons

A multi-barrel weapon capable of sustaining high rates of fire, burst cannons are an offshoot of Tau pulse weapon technology. They are usually mounted on battlesuits and vehicles. They are similar to modern day miniguns and are able to maintain a high rate of fire without overheating.

Kroot weaponry

Originally designed to use chemical propellant and solid ammunition, when the Kroot were absorbed into the Tau Empire, their weapons were upgraded to utilise the charged pulse rounds favoured by the Tau. Standard 'Kroot Rifles' are also fitted with blades near the barrel and stock, a throwback to fighting staves used by primitive Kroot. In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Kroot are a species of humanoids that evolved from avian creatures. ... Quarterstaffs in use, from Old English Sports, Pastimes and Customs, published 1891 A quarterstaff is a Medieval English variant of the staff weapon, consisting simply of a long shaft of hardwood, usually oak, hawthorn, hazel or ash. ...

The Kroot have adapted Tau pulse technology to produce a large calibre weapon. This heavy weapon is equivalent in range and firepower to the autocannon used by the Imperial Guard, and is primarily used to engage light vehicles. The 'Kroot Gun' is significantly heavier than the rifle, and must be mounted on the back of the apish and oxen-like Krootox. The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) comes from the Italian calibro, itself from the Arabic quâlib, meaning mould. ... The Imperium is a vast, galaxy-spanning empire in the Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe. ...

Plasma rifles

In addition to their skill with pulse weapons, the Tau have developed plasma rifles that do not suffer from the fatal overheating problems of plasma-based weaponry used by other races.The only drawback is reduced weapon power level. Gameplay is not significantly affected though, as the ability of the plasma weapon to penetrate armor is not diminished (when firing on troops or units governed under "Armor Save" rules).

Railguns

Linear accelerator weapons, known more colloquially as railguns, are high-power weapons mounted on Tau battlesuits and tanks. These weapons fire a single, solid projectile at hypervelocity through the application of the right-hand rule, although the vehicle-mounted version can also fire a sophisticated bundle of submunitions. A railgun is a form of gun that converts electrical energy—rather than the more conventional chemical energy from an explosive propellant—into projectile kinetic energy. ... Hypervelocity is usually refered to a very high velocity, such as over 10,000 feet per second. ... In mathematics and physics, the right-hand rule is a convention for determining relative directions of certain vectors. ... A submunition is the name given to a bomblet contained in a cluster bomb, generally 1% to 40% of this kind of bomblets explode, leting a large mine field. ...

Railguns have been used for some time by battlesuits and vehicles, and the technology has been scaled up to the point where massive railcannon batteries are mounted on Air Caste starships. However, it was only recently that the Tau began to experiment with man-portable weapons based on railgun technology. Although weaker than its larger relatives, the rail rifle is still powerful enough to be an effective anti-tank weapon. To use a rail rifle, the bearer must also be equipped with a hard-wired targeting device. During trials, one of the main flaws of the rail rifle was that the massive energy requirements needed to power the electromagnetic linear accelerator would overload the targeting device, causing feedback in the hard-wire interface, which in turn would kill the rifle's bearer (the current required to accelerate the projectile to a practical speed takes up an enormous amount of power). This flaw has been fixed through constant field-testing, and was authorised for use by frontline Pathfinder teams just prior to the declaration of the 'Third Sphere Expansion'.

Ion Cannons

An alternate turret-mounted weapon for the Hammerhead Gunship, and also appearing on Tau fightercraft and starships, the Ion Cannon generates a stream of high-energy particles, which are fired by the manipulation of an electromagnetic field. The particles react explosively with the target, as a result of direct energy transmission at the atomic level. In science fiction, an ion cannon is a fictional beam weapon that fires beams of ions (particles, i. ...

Although the firepower of the Ion Cannon is slightly less than the tank-mounted railgun, it has a high rate of fire and is very effective against armored infantry(Space Marines). For example, a Hammerhead Gunship equiped with an Ion Cannon and twin Bust Cannons caries the potential to destroy 90% of a space marine squad in one attack.

Missiles

There are three types of Missiles.

Missile Pods are small silos of Missiles which are mainly armed on Crisis suits and act as long range Mobile support. The Missiles housed in these pods are fired like a bazooka and go in a straight line from firer to target. These missiles can carry enough punch to destroy lightly armoured vehicles and well placed shots can bring down quite heavy tanks such as the Predator.

Tau SMART Missiles are armed on Broadsides and some Tau vehicles. These fire a cluster of small missiles up into the air. The target is designated by the Firer and once the missiles have cleared any intervening terrain they will search for the target before shooting back down on to the heads of the opposition. These have a much more limited range than its counterpart the Missile Pod, but it is compensated by the amount of shots. The SMART Missiles also lack the power to destroy vehicles and are better suited to destroy infantry.

Seeker Missiles are a means of any Tau infantry squad gaining heavy support. A Fire warrior veteran (shas'ui) or a Pathfinder squad are armed with Markerlights which are fired at the enemy. The Seeker Missiles use this little beam of light and some coordinates to obliterate targets (refer to modern laser-guided missiles). This Missile is the strongest of the three and has practically unlimited range. They also have the power to bring down the heaviest tanks in the games such as the Land Raider and the Monolith.

Fusion blaster

An analog of the Imperium's meltagun, the fusion blaster is mounted on battlesuits and vehicles as an anti-tank weapon. It is slightly more powerful than the melta, but this minor increase only serves to make the weapon a bit more deadly when firing on vehicles. It is effectively identical to the meltagun against troops. The Imperium is a vast, galaxy-spanning empire in the Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe. ...

Larger fusion cannons have been released by Forge World, but these are not official Games Workshop equipment. It can be estimated that they would provide power equivalent to a multi-melta, including increased range.

Neutron blaster

A weapon unique to the Vespid Stingwings, the neutron blaster is a hybrid of Vespid and Tau technology. Mounted at the barrel of each weapon is a highly energetic and unstable crystal, which has been harvested from the deepest layers of the lighter-than-air stalactite islands the Stingwings call home. This is combined with an efficient neutron projection system to produce a weapon capable of bypassing all but the most effective armour. A Vespid Squad In the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000, Vespid is a world home to an insectoid race known as Stingwings allied with the Tau Empire, who were included in the new revised Codex: Tau Empire. ...

Neutron blasters can only be used by the Stingwings, as the constant ultrasonic tone emitted by the Stingwings are required to modulate the crystal used in the weapon.

The neutron blaster has an AP3 making a lethal space marine hunter.

Airbursting fragmentation projector

This weapon is given to elite fire caste members on the battlefield. It is a minature version of the ion cannon which fires many little fragmentation bomblets over a wide area which then explode on contact with the ground or an enemy. In game terms, the sheer number of bomblets means that cover has no protective effect.

Cyclic Ion Blaster

The Cyclic Ion Blaster is a four barelled battlesuit mounted weapon employing fragile ion technology that can cut through any armour if it scores a critically well-placed hit. This only works on occasion (there is an approximatly 1/6 chance of this critical hit) due to the weapons fragile nature.

Equipment

Markerlight

A handheld device used to target enemy soldiers and vehicles, the markerlight is not a weapon, but a unit (similar to a target designator) capable of several functions, including rangefinding, targeting for accuracy, and designating targets for 'blind' weapons systems (such as seeker missiles) to home in on. Lasers were used in the 2005 Classical Spectacular concert Soon after the invention of the laser in 1960, it was described as a solution in search of a problem. However, since that time, the laser has found a place as a useful tool in many scientific, military, medical and industrial...

Drones

Independent artificial intelligences, Tau drones are used for a variety of civil and military functions. They normally require regular instructions from a Tau to function, although if four or more drones are networked to operate in unison, they become capable of operating independently of their Tau controllers. Drones that are linked to a control device cease to function if the controlling Tau is killed, or if the drones move more than a set distance from the controller. Hondas intelligent humanoid robot AI redirects here. ...

Drones are designed to fulfill a set role. The most common drone designs are:

• Gun drones are armed with a pair of pulse carbines and are the most common drone type used by the Tau Fire Caste. They can accompany any Tau possessing a control device, whether he be in a battlesuit or leading an infantry team. In addition, gun drones are often used as weapons systems for the Devilfish APC and Piranha skimmer.
• Shield drones are assigned to protect elite commanders, along with members of the Ethereal caste. They are equipped with powerful energy shields and are programmed to block weapons fire intended for their controller with their shields. If necessary, the drone will physically intercept the incoming fire.
• Marker drones are equipped with an advanced markerlight system, and through the use of the control device can improve the accuracy of the operator and anyone else in the operator's team.
• Sniper drones are a recent development for the Third Sphere Expansion. A single Tau equipped with an advanced control and targeting system can utilise up to three sniper drones to provide accurate anti-personnel fire. The drones themselves are armed with a rail rifle, and project a distortion field that makes the drones and their operator difficult to hit.
• Heavy Gun Drones are larger, more powerful drones armed with a pair of Burst Cannons. Some drones will replace one of the Burst Cannons with a Markerlight
• Drone Sentry Turrets are airdroppable turrets often used to hold areas ahead of the main Tau advance. They are armed with a variety of Battlesuit weapons, such as Missile Pods and Plasma Rifles.
• DX-4 technical drones are used as a standard utility drone but are often employed on battlefields as mechanics or medics.Used in cityfights as the combat engineers strategem.

Vehicles

Battlesuits

Battlesuits are the main equipment of higher class warriors found in the Fire Caste. They are exoskeletal suits that give the wearer extra strength, better sensors, and more protection, as well as the ability to carry heavier weapons into battle.

All battlesuits of the same type are given a designation: XV, followed by two digits. The first digit indicates the mass class of the suit: '1' being a complete exoskeletal version of standard Tau body armour, while '8' represents the heaviest available battlesuits. The second digit indicates the role or status of the particular suit design: '2' marking an experimental design, '5' representing stealth capability, and '8' being heavy fire support. Variations of a suit may be given other numbers as well. F-117 Stealth Fighter Stealth technology covers a range of techniques used with aircraft, ships and missiles, in order to make them less visible (ideally invisible) to radar and other detection methods. ...

Stealthsuits

The XV15 (up until the start of the Third Sphere Expansion) and the XV25 Stealthsuits are equipped with burst cannons and holographic camouflage, and are capable of equipping a fusion blaster in place of the burst cannon.

Teams of up to six suits operate independently of the main Tau force, and are given broad parameters by which to operate. Most Stealth Teams are not factored into Tau battleplans, and the appearance of a Stealthsuit-equipped team can be a surprise to both forces. Stealth Team members are perceived to be eccentric, and are said to delight in employing new and unpredictable tactics.

• A variation of the Stealth suit is the XV-22, which is slightly larger and tougher than the XV25, and can carry a weapon system on each arm, as well as hardpoints for additional weapons or suppourt systems on the shoulders. XV-22's were originally slated to replace the XV-15, but the loss of components of Stealth Suit technology rushed the development of the upgrade, and the lesser-armed XV-25 was deployed instead. XV-22's are sometimes specially assigned to a skilled Shas'O, such as Commander Shadowsun. The XV22 is also used for the Tau Commander in the Dawn of War expansion, Dark Crusade.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a Real Time Strategy game for the PC developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshops popular tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War was released in September 2004. ...

Crisis suit

The mainstay of the Tau's battlesuit forces, the XV8 Crisis battlesuits are worn by Fire Caste commanders and Fire Warriors that have proven themselves in battle. Each Crisis suit is capable of mounting up to three powerful weapons, and can be equipped with a variety of support systems, including drone controllers, fire control and targeting systems, or a shield generator. Some of these support systems are built into the suits some are attached on the outside.

Variants of the Crisis suit include:

• XV-81, which has a Smart Missile System mounted on its back.
• XV-84, which carries a markerlight
• XV-89, which comes equipped with heavier armor.

Crisis Suits are typically deployed in either a team of three, called a Ta'ro'cha by the Tau, or a single suit, called a Monat.

Crisis Suit Configurations

As Crisis Suits can be outfitted with a number of different weapons, code names for certain sucessful configurations have come into use by the Tau(and adopted by Tau players) to quickly describe the configuration of their Crisis teams.

• Vior'lan Crisis Suit Configurations

Death Rain - Three Shas'ui all with twin-linked missile pod, drone controller and 2 gun drones.

Sun Forge - Three Shas'ui all with twin-linked fusion blaster and shield generator.

Burning Eye - Shas'vre and two Shas'ui all with twin-linked plasma rifle and target lock.

Vior'la Monat - Shas'vre, bonded, drone controller and two gun drones, burst cannon, fusion blaster, hard-wired multi-tracker.

• Tau'n Crisis Suit Configurations

Brightwind - Shas'vre with burst cannon, plasma rifle, multi-tracker and hard-wired drone controller with two gun drones. One Shas'ui with target lock, fusion blaster and missile pod, One Shas'ui with missile pod, plasma rifle and multi-tracker.

Darkfall - Shas'vre with twin-linked missile pods, drone controller with two gun drones and hard-wired blacksun filter. One Shas'ui with shield generator, flamer and drone controller with two gun drones, One Shas'ui with flamer, fusion blaster and drone controller with two shield drones.

• T'au Crisis Suit Congfigurations

Fireknife - Shas'ui(Team Leader) with plasma rifle, multi-tracker, missile pod, hard-wired drone controller with two gun drones, bonded. Two Shas'ui with plasma rifle, multi-tracker, missile pod, bonded.

Blinding Spear - Shas'vre with plasma rifle, burst cannon, multi-tracker, hard-wired drone controller (two gun drones). Two Shas'ui with plasma rifle, burst cannon, multi-tracker.

Soul Cleanse(Monat) - One Shas'ui with flamer, fusion blaster, shield generator, hard-wired drone controller with two gun drones.

XV-88 Broadside

The most heavily armed Tau warriors on the battlefield, pilots of the XV88 Broadside battlesuit have access to a twin-linked railgun system mounted on the suit's back, and a smart missile system or twin-linked plasma rifles on the arms.

• A variant of the Broadside, the XV-88-2, has a different weapons mounting, moving the railguns further downward to lower the suit's center of gravity, and mounting the secondary weapons on the suit's upper back, over the shoulders. It also has a different styling of its armor.

Devilfish

The Devilfish is the standard APC of the Tau Fire Caste. Capable of carrying 12 Warriors or Pathfinders, the anti-grav Devilfish is equipped with a burst cannon and two gun drones. The drones may be replaced by a single Smart Missile System to provide heavier fire support. The M113, one of the most common tracked APCs, on duty during the Vietnam War. ...

Hammerhead

Based on the hull design of the Devilfish, the Hammerhead Gunship is the main battle tank of the Tau Empire. The troop carrying ability of the Devilfish is removed, as the space is needed for the complex generators and capacitors required to power the Hammerhead's turret weapon. Early models of the Hammerhead were armed with twin-linked weapons similar to those used by Crisis Suits, but scaled up in size, range, and power. Advances in weapons technology replaced these weapons with a single railgun or ion cannon. In addition, Hammerheads are equipped with either a pair of burst cannons, gun drones, or a smart missile system.

Rumors abound of an upgraded version of the Hammerhead, called the Swordfish, which mounts a twin-linked railgun, two missile pods, and a single burst cannon.

Piranha

The Piranha Light Skimmer is a small, fast, lightly armored, two-person anti-grav vehicle used in a number of roles including scouting, support, rapid response, and VIP transport. They are deployed in squads of up to five craft and are armed with a pair of gun drones and a burst cannon or a fusion blaster. Upgrades to the Pirhana give it better protection for the cockpit, and replace the central weapon and drones with a variety of weapons, incuding rail rifles.

Sky Ray

A variant of the Hammerhead Gunship, the Sky Ray Missile Defence Gunship is armed with a turret mounted array of six seeker missiles that can be launched by the vehicle's crew or by Fire Warrior teams equipped with markerlights. It is also armed with either a pair of gun drones, burst cannons, or a smart missile system.

A rumored variant of the Skyray, known as the Stingray, carries more and heavier missiles, and seems to be primarily deployed only in larger-scale battles.

Tetra

The Tetra is a light skimmer rarely used by Pathfinders as an alternative to the Devilfish. Like the Piranha, it's a two-tau antigrav vehicle, but with lighter armor, and armed with a pair of mounted pulse rifles and a Markerlight.

Aircraft

Barracuda Superiority Fighter

The most numerous fighter in the Tau Navy, often used to support the Fire Caste in battle. The Barracuda is typically armed with an Ion cannon mounted off-center on the nose, and a pair of missile pods. Mounted on each wing is a burst cannon independently controlled by an AI similar to those used in Gun Drones. It may also carry seeker missiles for use by ground troops.

Manta Missile Destroyer

The Manta Missile Destroyer is a versatile ship capable of operating in space or in the air. It is often used in space to support the Tau Fleet as a bomber, or as a landing craft to transport an entire huntre Cadre, complete with vehicles, onto the ground, and if need be, support them in battle. Armed with massive Railcannons, a battery of Ion Cannons, missiles, and burst cannons for defense, a Manta is a formidable opponent to any force on the ground.

Tau Mantas were deployed towards the end of the Damocles Gulf Crusade to counter Imperial Titans on Dayl'th, and managed to stalemate the giant war machines, halting their advance. In the Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe, a Titan is a huge humanoid fighting machine (mech). ...

A smaller version of the Manta, called the Moray, is used solely in a support function, and cannot carry troops.

Normally, a vehicle the size of a Manta would only be usable in large-scale games like Epic Armageddon, but Forge World has designed a model of the Manta scaled for use in Warhammer 40,000, the largest single model ever designed by the company. Epic Armageddon (the latest in Epic series of games) is a tabletop war game made by Games Workshop. ...

Orca Dropship

The Orca dropship is a large craft used to transport a small hunter cadre(or part of a larger one) into a combat zone. It's lightly armed for its size, carrying a twin-linked burst cannon and a missile pod coupled together on an underside-mounted retractable turret, for clearing enemy infantry and light vehicles from the drop zone. A dropship is a science fiction landing craft used to deploy troops and vehicles from orbiting mothership to battle on a planets surface. ...

A vehicle known as the Scorpionfish has also been seen in mass troop engagements. Based on the Orca's chassis, the Scorpionfish sacrifices its troop carrying capacity, as well as most of its flight capabilities, to carry a massive amount of missiles.

The Orca was introduced in Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior, with a resin model being produced later for the Warhammer 40,000 and Epic tabletop games by Forge World. Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior is the name of a Warhammer 40,000 computer game available for the PlayStation 2 and PC. The game is a first person shooter, where the player takes the role of a Tau Fire Warrior, Kais, defending his race against the aggressive Human Empire. ...

Tiger Shark Strike Craft

Essentially a heavier version of the Barracuda, the Tiger Shark is literally armed with nearly twice the armament of the smaller fighter. In addition, it carries an underside rack containing a large amount of gun drones, which it can drop on enemy positions in its wake.

A variant of the Tigershark, the AX-10, replaces the Ion Cannons and drone storage racks with a pair of light Railcannons. This variant is primarily used by the Tau to assist in attacking large enemy war machines.

References

• Hoare, Andy (2006). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Tau Empire. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-712-3.
• Haines, Pete (September 2003). "Chapter Approved - Tau Rail Rifles". White Dwarf: Australian Edition (285). ISSN 0265-8712. Retrieved on 2006-04-22.