T'au Empire

Warhammer 40,000 T'au Empire News, Reviews, Editorials & Unboxings.

The T'au Empire are a faction from UK-Based Games Workshop's Tabletop Wargame Warhammer 40,000. The T’au Empire (or Tau Empire) is a rapidly expanding empire, sometimes referred to as a Commonwealth by its own citizens, situated inside of the Ultima Segmentum, near the Eastern Fringe. Founded by the Ethereals, who lead the Tau empire in the name of the Greater Good. Several alien races (Kroot, Vespid, among others) have allied themselves with the Tau.

The Tau empire borders the Imperium. It has suffered many raids from the Orks, and lies in the path of several splinter fleets of Hive Fleet Kraken.

Tau society is centred around the concept of the Greater Good, where individual Tau sacrifice personal gain in favour of benefiting the Tau race as a whole. It is from this philosophy that the Tau's all-purpose motto, "For the Greater Good!", is derived. The castes, although different in role and organisation, work together for the benefit of all Tau: the Earth caste provide and produce, the Water caste communicate and distribute, the Air caste connect the worlds of the Tau Empire, and the Fire caste protect. The external image of the Tau is that they are altruistic and idealistic.

Tau ground warfare is carried out almost exclusively by the Fire caste. The Air caste is responsible for aerial and space combat, and providing transport between systems. The basic Fire Caste military unit is known as a Cadre, or Kau'ui, similar in size and role to an Imperial Guard Company, and is primarily made up of Tau from the same sept. Auxiliaries are drawn from the alien races within the Tau Empire, and can include Kroot warriors, Vespid Stingwings, and Gue'vesa, among other forces.

The Tau prefer long-ranged combat over close-quarters fighting, and use the speed and agility of their anti-gravity vehicles to fight a war of maneuverability. Pinpoint destruction is favoured over massive barrages, hence the preponderance of laser-guided missiles as artillery. The destruction of the enemy's forces is considered more important than the capture of territory, and the Tau will willingly give ground in order to achieve a more advantageous position.

The T'au military heavily uses Battlesuits (termed Her'ex'vre in the T'au Lexicon, meaning "Mantle of the Hero"), bipedal mobile armored platforms. These incorporate many weapons, advanced armour, and a variety of systems, allowing them to fulfill many specific roles within the Tau military.