Fifth and Fourth Sphere of Expansion

But now we get Tzeentchian Tau.

Who did lead the Fourth one?
Who is leading the Fifth one?

I hope it's a super-genki blueberry, and not an old shrivelled-up prune like Shadowsun

I hope the 4th expansion fleet is scattered, rather than all of them showing up on the other side of the galaxy to make a 2nd Tau Empire. I want to see a shotgun blast of new, isolated Tau worlds across the galaxy, which would maximize customizability for armies, and get rid of any need for the extreme amounts of plot armor in every Tau story.

It would be a great opportunity to introduce a new Commander, or maybe reintroduce Kais.

>Tau are scattered acrise the galaxy
>three new tau splinter empires pop up all with a different caste majority
>after awhile all the splinter empires go to war with each other and the central tau empire

>4th shere completely disappeared
Wait fuck, how big of a force is a sphere comprised of??

What're your bets on whats happening to them boyyyyz?

Water waifus plz

I was gonna say, all along that zone arent the necronlords waking up anyways?

Water Caste Cyborg-Ninjas?

They'll come back as a new faction of Chaos Tau. Remember, Chaos has been severely neglected in the fluff, and GW seeks to rectify the lack of attention Chaos has been getting.

With new alien auxiliaries perhaps?

OH yes I want that. My favorite part about the tau are the alien auxiliaries.

I don't think there is a set size for expansion fleet. My theory: 4th was rather small fleet that got instantly lost, instead of admitting 4th being a total failure and send reinforcements for it, they just declared 5th sphere expansion to drown out any news of 4th.

It's probably just the forces of the 3th one under a new name. It's not like this force was destroyed.

Im trying to think, is there anyone out west they've not met? How familiar are the Tau with eldar?

i bet the 4th sphere took ALL the kroot with them and through time fuckery warp shit they all bioengineer their way into being the Tyranids.

I wonder if they will get psykers. Preferably auxiliary. While it would make some sense that the Ethereals have psyker powers, I'd prefer some fancy alien like Nicassar in antigrav mecha suits.

I'd personally like to see Nicassar but psyker kroot are more likely simply because Forgeworld already made them.

Yeah, they're my favourite part too.

Tau haven't actually seen much of Chaos Space Marines as the Eye of Terror is on the complete opposite side of the Galaxy. I remember when GW had the 13th Black Crusade Event, Tau had their Third Sphere Expansion so they could be doing something at the same time. In fact, I don't think they've seen much of Daemons apart from Farsight with Arthas Moloch.

As for Eldar, I think the Tau are familiar with them, though I can't remember any specific stories apart from that particular Dark Eldar one.

On an unrelated note, I'm interested to see if Aun'va has finally received a replacement. I don't think they can keep the hologram ruse up for a Sphere Expansion, let alone two.

Tau has irregular encounters with daemons in perdus rift. They also have encountered roaming CSM warbands and corsairs but nothing as organized as what Abby is bringing.

Pretty much the whole Sautekh Dynasty is cockblocking them from 1 side.

Will be interesting when the Tau get a taste of the Necron Fleet cheese.
Blueberries thought the Imperium of Man did some bullshit in space.

The Tau are allied with Necrons though.

It will take GW atleast 5 years to make the Tau finnally meet Guilliman probrably when they are about to invade Ultramar or something like that.

The grrayskins will probrably call him the Gue'la Emperor by mistake.

>The grrayskins will probrably call him the Gue'la Emperor by mistake.

But he is the Emperor in anything but title.

I think of him more akin to perpetual prime minister, the Emperor may still be bound to the golden throne but he still is the head of state.

Elaborate

So, 1st and 2nd took over 3000 years combines and captured dozens of systems for the Tau. 3rd took 3 years and captured one hive world. And 4th was launched immediately after it, even though the Tau already had problems with manpower launching 3rd and hadn't done fuck all. Why not just expand on the 3rd and have it advance further in, rather than just quitting after one major victory?

Was user said in another thread, it's like "expansion" = Imperial Crusade now. They're not long periods of expansion and colonization, they're just "fuck this place in particular" and then they go and fuck it.

...

It's a reference to the Asian superstition of 4 = Death/Unlucky. It's convenient.

The Necrons discovered the Real Greater Good that the Tau are searching for.

>implying GW are that clever
>implying anything bad is gonna happen to the Tau

Elaborate

It's the kind of thing a clever writer can slip in without the over bloated corporate side of g-dubs screwing it up.

>"So, Mike, I see you decided to ditch our background about the 3rd Sphere Expansions and wrote a whole new Expansion, the 4th. Can you explain why?"

I feel like Tau Alien Auxillaries should be a different army instead of being in competition with the "Tau Cool Mechs" and having completely different aesthetics.

>Asian superstition of 4 = Death/Unlucky.
4 pronounces "shi", which is the same as word for death (though the writing is different). I know this because hentai.

Agreed, GW needs a way to create new aliens without having to develop entirely new factions.

So does this mean all the people screaming "For the Emperor!" are actual Alpha Legion infiltrators secretly screaming "Death (to) the Emperor"?

>I know this because hentai
Yeah right, wierdo. I bet you finished your masters degree too just to become a NEET again.

TAU SCATTERED ACROSD TIME AND SPACE

the warp knows no limits, so the tau appear anywhere, anywhen.

TAU IN THE HORUS HERESY BOIS

That just raises further questions!

GOTTA GET BACK, BACK TO THE PAST, FIRE WARRIOR JACK!

>But a foolish battlesuit, wielding a high tech gun step forth to oppose me! Before the final blast was shot I flunged him to the future where my evil is law!

Poor poor blueballs.

Whenever Chaos isn't on screen, the audience should be asking "Where's Chaos?"

> FOOOOLISH FIRE WARRIOR, WITH A MAGIC PLASMA GUN, ROSE UP TO-
> "Its not magic. It just doesn't explode when you use it."
> "AS I WAS SAYING, WITH A MAGIC PLASMA GUN."

...

No

O'shovah to the past
Commander O'shovah.

WACHOW!

Long ago in a distant land
I Malal the shapeshifting master of discord
Unleashed an unspeakable evil
But a foolish fire warrior piloting a special crisis suit stepped forth to oppose me
*Plasma weapons noises
Before the final blow was struck I tore open a portal and tossed him into the future where my evil is law!
Now the fool seeks to return to the past and indo the future that is Malal!

Is for situations like this that I wish wild drawfags still existed

Seems like a good excuse to play Chaos Tau.

This. This is why the tau shouldn't be grimdark. They don't work as punching bags if they are.

The Taus are utterly grimdark because they are that species that is just too good to exist. Real Taus are so naive, they think they can get the power of friendship to work on DE. They could disappear in an instant if the warp farted in their general direction and they're not even aware of it, and I find that beautiful. I headcanon that if they have no presence in the warp, it is because their souls are too pure for chaos gods to consume.
If their leaders mind-control them, that means they actually have their shit together. And it's bad. I want my Taus as naive wide-eyed idealists please.

>They could disappear in an instant if the warp farted in their general direction
>Galaxy literally split in half by biggest warpstorm ever
>this actually benefitted tau
Warp is a meme

Tau master race will spread out to conquer the galaxy, repel the nids, crush Chaos, seal the Great Rift, and convince the Emperor to join the Greater Good.

Imperialfags BTFO

They're dead, Jim

Taus are so kind, the Warp actually wrap itself around them for cuddles.

>mfw the Tau punch far above their weight just like they always do and the impressed necrons continue to let them expand out of respect

>they think they can get the power of friendship to work on DE.

The Tau knew the fucking Dark Eldar were trouble but they saw that the Tyranids were the bigger threat so they didn't down the Eldar's aid. Even then the Tau kept an eye on the Dark Eldar that's how they knew the Dark Eldar double crossed them. When the Tau moved to punish the Dark Eldar, the Dark Eldar sidestepped them and attacked a defenceless world before leaving. This is a similar story to the stories of Craftworld Eldar being forced to ally with the Dark Eldar then being back stabbed by them. One story ended with an exodite world dead and Saim-Han having daemoms all over it thanks to their Dark Eldar allies.

I find you raping the lore to fit your headcanon a beautiful display of falsehood. The Tau are no more pure than the humans. They are just rational and are not raised to be cunts from the get go.

As for the Warp? The Ethereal have known about Chaos and safeguarded its true knowledge from the Tau because ignorance is the best weapon against Chaos (t.Emperor). The Tau have been fighting the forces of Chaos for sometime. Whatever comes out of the Hadex Anomaly and the Perdus Rift, and now the Great Rift. Did the Tau disappear? No, the Tau are kicking Chaos in the balls like anything else they fought. They are sending their forces out there by the boatloads to expand their empire in a galaxy beneath the shadow of Chaos because they aren't afraid, and you know why? Because the Greater Good is a cosmic truth that cannot be defeated.

This post made my dick hard.

Thx user.

Wait, the 4th sphere was lost? They lost a whole sphere of expansion? And they sayid losing 100 baneblades was shameful.

>2019
>Little Timmy in Delaware is watching youtube
>sudden thundercrack
>big blue alien with no nose falls out of his closet
>cue mutual screaming

>They lost a whole sphere of expansion?

No, they lost the fourth sphere expansion fleet into the Warp. The fleet will appear somewhere else in the galaxy and start liberating and consoling worlds. Starting an offshoot of the T'au Empire.

Sigh. I'll see what I can do. It's mother's day though. So give me a few days

You're lucky I play FSE

>being this angry about blue aliens
Jesus fucking christ we found the guy who fields 3 baneblades

>the warp will never deliver a blueberry waifu to your bedroom
Fuck chaos, this is why I'm not a heretic.

HOLD UP.

How will the Tau survive the journey into the Warp WITH NO GELLAR FIELDS? They are as good as dead.

>Chaos Tau make more progress in three weeks then Abaddon has in ten thousand years.

That's tau for you. Humanity just can't compete.

If a faction is written so that they *only* take losses from stupid bullshit scenarios, and every fight they're in results in a victory because they're just that good, it's still shit writing, whether or not the losses make them look like 'punching bags'.

>implying daemons will notice them

Wasn't the Tau's warp presence so small that daemons and other warpy beings are unable to even see them?

Tau are in the middle of their great crusade to unite the galaxy but instead of riding on the coattails of previous even greater civilization that did all the groudwork for them they have to plow that field by themselves.

Now there's going to be off-shoot Tau nations?

Sometimes I think the current writers liked Age of Dusk.

They've been fucked by the Dark Eldar at least twice, with the second time resulting in the Tau accidentally glassing a Eldar maiden world, which leads to them getting fucked by Biel-Tan. So not much interaction.

In the old fluff though the Eldar had a boner for the Tau, with Eldrad basically declaring them to be the worthy successors to the Eldar in ruling the galaxy.

Who needs a Gellar Field when you have
PLOOOOOOOOOOT!!!
ARMOOOOOOOOOR!!!

That only goes for Pariah.

you're right, but it's a whole expansion fleet lost and they probably have with them the means to colonize and fortify quite a few (daemon-) worlds.

That's dumb though because the Tau lose all the fucking time. Even after shitting on Gorgon they still lost entire systems to Tyranids.

The issue is that what you consider to be a valid "loss" is an existential one and thus nothing short of the Tau going extinct will satisfy you. That makes you a faggot.

The Tau souls appear as a wisps/fireflies in the Warp. As singular beings, a daemon might miss them. But as a group of hundreds of thousands? Tell me would you miss seeing thousands of fireflies buzzing infront of your face.

There is also the entropic effects of the Warp on their ships. You have seen the corruption and ruination of the ships that form the Space Hulks.

Ur post gave me cancer.

It goes for the Tau too. Daemons have hard time seeing them even if they are in plain view.

Pariahs on the other hand are easy to see for a daemon. They appear as a disturbing shadow/blackhole in their vision that's painful to look at.

Tau brains have a chemical mixture in their brain that prevents them from ever developing pysker potential. Is very easy for a daemon to be in front of a Tau "soul" and see nothing or a spark at most.

kek

Absolutely beautiful post there, user. You do the Ethereals proud.

>launching "the Fifth Sphere of Expansion" when a Fourth Sphere was never actually established
I'm a little triggered right now

They're all captured by Ahriman who experiments on them until they become his thralls, their natural resistance to the Warp and adherence to the Greater Good making their inevitable fall so much more satisfying.

When they emerge, the Chaos Tau shall ravage their former comrades, proving once and for all the falsehoods of the Greatest Lie

Then Ahriman will have a cup of tea and laugh it up with Tzeentch

They did save another Sept from Tyranids and then NOT kill them all.