Tau Fluff Questions

[lastspartacus]

A few questions for future Tau fleet projects, and some random ones.  I have been researching, but there appears to be a lack of info on these topics.

1.  Do Tau have bionics, vat grown body parts, etc? Life extension?  I'm wondering how advanced they are in these fields in comparison to Imperials.

2.  Do Tau employ or are they even capable of employing exterminatus grade weapons.

[Dan_Lee]

As far as I know, the Tau have particularly short life spans (~40 years). This is one of the reasons why they put their race above their personal well being so much. Ethereals may live longer but I'm not sure. This is all coming from the fluff in the Deathwatch role playing game. As for bionics (etc.) I've never seen any in the art or heard of anything in the fluff. I haven't read a Tau codex though. If they don't have access to them in 40k then I'd suggest they don't have them. Given their technology level they can certainly make them, but perhaps they don't see much use as the Tau don't live long enough to warrant the investment (for example).

As for exterminatus weapons, again I've never heard of any in the fluff. Actually I've only ever heard of the Imperium having such technology (plus the planet killer and black stone fortresses, but they're unique). I think it's not their style. The Tau want to convert populations to the greater good, not erradicate them. Being a young (possibly naive) space faring race, they don't see the need to totally wipe out some races (such as dangerous xenos filth or planets irrevocably tainted by chaos).

[AndrewChristlieb]

I would agree on all points about the tau. I have never seen them use any of those items. Even against the orks they never eradicated a planet. As for the bionics they can clearly build similar equipment (battle suits) but either cannot miniaturize the equipment enough (unlikely) or are unwilling to alter themselves in this fashion (pretty likely). They can probably grow organs, however I believe they would only use them to heal the wounded or sick tho.

[horizon]

Like Andrew says I think. Tau would think of altering themselves as a bad thing. And they live pretty short. And I do not know what the Ethereals view is and how high the breeding rate but I could see them searching for a way to extend life in a normal way.

As for exterminatus: I think they are capable to do so but it would not be their idea to do so. Thay want to expand and conquer, not destroy.

[mangozac]

The Tau do have a form of bionics. Things like drone controllers and targeting devices can be in "hard wired" form as a kind of implant. I have seen official artwork of Earth caste Tau with a large, mechanical looking forearm, however it's likely that it was just a kind of glove rather than a "bionic".

[AndrewChristlieb]

Once again that sounds like the battle suit tech, something like an exo suit for heavy repair or construction.

[Kelsik]

Tau military tech does include bionics.  As mentioned,  they term them "Hard Wired" in all codex releases.  The tech is not just for battle  suits.  Fire warrior shas'la ( the unit sargent or corpral) and Path finders may use Hard wired gear.  Gear includes,  Drone controler, Target Lock, Multi tracker.
In Imperial Amour second edition there is  a section that introduces the Pathfinder testfiring the new infantry scaled Rail Rifle. 
The test was overseen by a Aun im presuming to be from the Fire Cast.  The test firing showed the hitting power of the Rail Rifle,  The test gunner had a hardwired multi tracker and target lock to allow him to interface with his weapon.   During the test a feedback surge from the gun caused severe brain damage to the gunner.
(rule represented by  Gets Hot)  The Aun was distressed by the results and loss of life but was resigned that it was a price to pay  to arm the Greater Good.
The Weapon was sanctioned for field use.

In the current Codex release the Tau Rail Rifle no longer sufferes from feedback ( Gets Hot) and may use it and the hard wired gear in a unit of pathfinders ( up to 3 models)   So this would indicate that the Tau are investing in their tech as well as their biological interfaces. 

Would the Tau use  Prosthetic limbs?   Why not,  its the Tau/Humane thing to do for all the wounded war vets of the warrior casts.  It would be a engineering and a quality of life issue to develope  functional limbs at first.  Later stronger limbs would  be made  possible with military applications to allow wounded firewarrors to rejoin the fight  with the experience and now reforged limbs to combat the many enemies of the empire.  Tau are very familure with robotics and programming of articulated limbs and the have mastered the surgical skills to implant war gear that is largly sensory in nature wired directly to the nural path ways of their brains. 

If your asking for this kind of stuff,  you must have something in mind ( no pun intended) 

Ill leave with this.   Weapons of mass destruction.  Only known  use of a modern WMD is the PC game release Dawn of war 2 soul storm.   The Tau have whats called Arco Cannon that destroys higher lifeforms at the cell level.  All lower lifeforms such as plants, animals and insects are unaffected.
In game the cannon is used to reduce the garrison forces in a territory that is to be attacked.
If you want to see it check out on You Tube. 
Other weapons,   probably Fission and Fusion bombs.  The do have Electo magnetic pulse weapons.  Infact they have emp grenades.  This would indicate that they have mastered the tech for a city or regional level of capability as it is much harder to control and build a device with a emp effect that fits in the palm of your hand.

Mass drivers.   Large rail guns are possible with the principles and materials available to the empire.  Local asteriods could be brought to a targeted world  and then loaded into a large open barrel of a mass driver.  Tau seem to have access to 2 types of force to employ  mass acceleration.  1.  Magnetic 2. Gravitity.
A asteriod size of a bus traveling at hypervelocity would wipe out any major city on earth.  If the Tau want to play basket ball over a planet, they could dribble rocks down on the heads of their enemies.  It would be ugly ( and dirt cheap).  Have no doubt,  if the Tau want to kill a world,  they have the tools to do it.

[mangozac]

I couldn't (and obviously didn't) put it any better myself Kelsik

[Kelsik]

Life extention tech.  Gw in the first 40k codex release stated that the typical life span of the species was around 40 terran years.  How ever some of thier special characters were stated as to have a life span of several centuries.  Farsight  bieng one of the specificly named characters to have had a long life.
However,  GW has rewritten some of its lore and time line of the Tau in the second codex.  They refere to events that had taken place centuries before ( like the Damoclese Gulf Crusade) as having now taken place with in the life span of the current or  the reciently passed generation of Tau.  aka,  all events within the last 100 years.  That still leaves a few special characters with longer life spans than the average Tau.

So in both codex there is enough evidence to suggest that the Tau do have life extention tech.  What form it takes and what costs are required are unknown to me.  I could speculate that since its so rare it must be extreamly costly in resources or that the resource thats key is the very flesh of their fellow Tau. 

[lastspartacus]

Zombie Tau!  Talk about the Greater Good!

Arco Cannon?  I wonder if that cannon is canon (lol) or just a silly video game thing.  Sounds like super advanced tech by any racial standards.

As to the rest of it, I find your logic plausible.

[Zelnik]

Using DoW fluff is risky.

The tau do not use exterminatus weapons because it is entirely contrary to the needs of the greater good (though, thanks to DoW, and a fantastic example of how stupid relic can be).

If the tau would encounter a world too difficult to destroy through force of arms, they may find other ways of conquest, namely diplomatic means or cutting off supply lines until the defenders are too weak to protect the world.

They are, however, not beyond orbital bombardment of hardened targets. (this could justify an 'exterminatus' mission, as the tau fleet gets into orbit and begins raining down rail cannon and ion cannon rounds onto the planet)

[Kelsik]

Indeed,  DoW is not canon,  I just used it as it was a nifty looking  weapon. 
Im not fully in aggreement with the sentiment that Tau Aun would not authorize a planetary exterminatus.  Examples would be a nid infested world, a nurgle cult thats let disease and corruption take root and get hoplessly out of control,  A necron tomb world thats already dead  but needs to have its entire surface made molten by repeated mass driver strikes.  Dig deeper and youll find more cases that merit total destruction.

If you can find a reason to justify bringing a world to absolute ruin in the context of the greater good then it shall be done.  I believe their  guiding philosophy would allow it if the cost of not enacting exterminatus would mean greater destruction to Tau lives and worlds.  The needs of the many out way the needs of the few.  ( dam I love pulling out old Spock lines.)

[Zelnik]

Well, allow me to use specifics.

The tau have only been reported in fighting nids when they were not expecting it.

The tau far more frequently engage the nids where they are weakest (in space). Shadowsun herself obliterated an entire splinterfleet with zero casualties.

The problem is, the Tau do not have the same problems as the Imperium does. They know to fight the nids in space, not on the ground.  Their society does not lend itself to chaos infiltration either.  Most of the "exterminatus" orders come when an inquisitor does not want to cope with a protracted land-war. 

[AndrewChristlieb]

That is true the Imperals would rather sign the death warrent on 10b lives than deal with what they know getting out. Plus they can afford to, humans are cheap and plentiful.

[Kelsik]

Id still like to believe the imperium isn't so calus as to condem a world of human or xeno to total destruction for less than reason than would be neccessary, but I've read many accounts of massive use excessive force used.

The Aun would be able to make the difficult  choice and do what must be done before its to late