Warhammer 40,000
Tau Empire
FORCES OF THE TAU This section of the book details the forces used by the Tau – their weapons, the units, and the famous special characters you can use, such as High Commander Shadowsun or Master Shaper Laqi of Pech. Each entry describes the unit and gives rules to use them in your games of Warhammer 40,000. As such, the army list later refers to the page numbers of these entries, so you can easily check back as you pick a force. The Forces of the Tau section is sub-divided into to two parts. The first part describes all of the troops and vehicles fielded by the Tau, including details the special characters that lead them, while the second part details the highly advanced Tau weaponry and equipment.
EQUIPMENT The army list at the back of the book shows all the standard and optional wargear available to a particular model. You will find that some items of equipment are unique to particular entries while others are used by more than one unit. When an item is unique, it is detailed in the following entry for its owner, and where an item is not unique, it is detailed in the wargear section. A good example is the Dawn Blade, a powerful artifact wielded by O’Shovah, High Commander of the Farsight Enclaves. As such, its rules are detailed in O’Shovah’s entry. O’Shovah also has a plasma rifle, a common weapon found on Tau battlesuits, and so its rules are to be found in the wargear section
TAU SPECIAL RULES The models in the Tau army use a number of special rules that are common to more than one unit, as specified in the individual entries that follow. Given here are either the details of those rules or a reference to where you can find them.
TAU COMMANDER Every Tau army must be led by a model with this special rule.
INDEPENDENT CHARACTER See Characters, in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
INFILTRATE, FEEL NO PAIN, MOVE THROUGH COVER, SCOUT, ETERNAL WARRIOR, SLOW AND PURPOSEFUL, RAGE, COUNTER-ATTACK, FLEET, RENDING, FURIOUS CHARGE, NIGHT VISION/ACUTE SENSES, PREFERRED ENEMY, STEALTH, TANK HUNTERS All these rules are detailed in the Universal Special Rules, in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Contingent Commander (Tau: Shas’o) All members of the Fire Caste start at the rank of shas'saal, and slowly work there way up to the rank of Shas'el if they are skilled enough to survive. However, mere survival skills are not enough to be promoted to the rank of Shas'o. It requires a conscious knowledge of the Tau way of war, and the ability to wield it too its full potential. It also requires absolute mastery of battlesuit operation and, most importantly, utter devotion to the Greater Good. On the battlefield, a Contingent Commander sows destruction to the enemies of the Tau'va wherever his attention turns. Equipped with the latest technology that the Earth Caste has designed, and with a mastery of battlesuit mechanics, the Contingent Commander is ranged combat leviathan, making all enemies wary of approaching him. In addition, they have the most advanced combat control systems of the Tau. These include the Command and Control Node, and possibly the Positional Relay, both which give the Tau Shas'os unparalleled tactical control over the flow of the Tau forces. It is this that has made facing a High Commander truly devastating to the enemy. Shas'os are not really born. They are made. Once promoted to the rank of Shas'el, they may either choose to stay at this rank and guide the cadre they have always known to victory, or to face the hardships of learning to use multiple cadres during grand campaigns. Only through successful victory does a
Shas'el even get consideration for the promotion to Shas'o, and even then, final decision rests with the Ethereals. When a Shas'el has succeeded every trial his mentor has set before him, and recommendation is sent to the Ethereal accompanying the cadre. If the recommendation is accepted, the Ethereal will assign the aspiring Shas'o one more task to accomplish. The Aun himself will take to the field of battle to watch the Shas'el, watching every move with an intensity that only the Ethereals can do. Once the battle is over, and the objective was complete in no uncertain terms, the Ethereals will grant the esteemed rank of Contingent Commander. Once given this rank, a Shas'o will be put in charge of their original cadre, and at least two others, forming a contingent. From here on, the three cadres (possibly more) will operate together to perform the missions designated by the Ethereals for the Greater Good. It is a fearful sight indeed to know that a Tau Contingent Commander is on the battlefield, because it means that the Tau will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. Shas’o
WS BS S 4 6 5
T 4
W I A Ld Sv 4 3 3 10 3+
SPECIAL RULES Tau Commander, Independent Character. Under the Cover of Darkness: A Shas’o is capable of leading his forces to attack just at the break of dawn, to better disorientate the enemy forces. If a Tau army includes a Shas’o and goes first, the first turn (the first two turns in a Dawn of War mission) are fought using the Night Fighting Mission Special Rules. Battlesuit Master: The skill with which Contingent Commanders wield a battlesuit is legend. A Contingent Commander may choose two of the same weapon (paying full price for both). This can only be used on weapons which have the option to be twin-linked.
Wargear Special Issue Wargear: Contingent Commanders are constantly field testing new equipment, and have access to items the rest of the army doesn’t. View the next page for details.
Special Issue Wargear Rail Repeater: A battlesuit version of the railrifle, this
Ejection System: This system provides a
makes a mockery of almost any armoured foe. Range Strength AP Type 36” 6 3 Heavy 2
chance for the pilot to escape catastrophic damage to his battlesuit, although the Ethereals are still dubious about its use.
Saturation Grenade Launcher: A much more
If the user is killed from a shooting attack that does not cause Instant Death, the pilot is deployed from the battlesuit as if Deep Striking, centered on where the battlesuit was. A 1 is always rolled on the Deep Strike Mishap Table.
powerful version of the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector, this has proven to be most remarkable at flushing out enemy infantry. Range Strength AP Type 24” 5 4 Assault1, Large Blast, Ignores Cover* *Cover saves cannot be taken against Saturation Grenade Launcher.
The profile of the pilot has 2 less Strength, 1 less Toughness, and it has 1 Wound and no Armour Save and is armed with a Pulse Pistol.
XV81 Battlesuit: A powerful variant of the Iridium Armour: Like its counter part, Iridium Plating,
Crisis suit capable of laying down a hail of fire.
Iridium Armour is designed to increase the resilience of the XV8 Crisis Battlesuits. While it is not as effective at stopping the enemy's most powerful anti-tank weapons, it has proven effective at doubling the life of the wearer against less powerful weapons.
It comes equipped with a Smart Missile System, and can select two further Crisis Suit Combat Systems.
XV84 Battlesuit: A second variant of the It grants the user a 2+ Armour Save.
Crisis suit. This one focuses more on guiding the Tau forces to victory.
Iridium Plating: The Tau battlesuits offer an incredible amount of protection to the pilot, sometimes it is not enough. Enemy weapons normally designed to attack tanks are sometimes used against battlesuits, with disastrous results. As such, the Earth Caste designed a plating system that would be able to resist these attacks. The design was the Iridium Plating, a system that closes the intrinsic weaknesses of a Crisis suit.
It comes with a Fire Support Relay System and Target Lock. It may select three Crisis Suit Combat Systems.
It grants the wearer the Eternal Warrior USR against shooting attacks.
It raises the Toughness of the wearer to 5.
Stimulant Injectors: Still controversial among the Fire Caste, this piece of wargear pumps the user full of drugs to make them far more resistant to pain than normal. It grants the Feel No Pain USR to the user.
XV89 Battlesuit: The most recently developed XV8 variant, it focuses on increasing the defense of the wearer.
Crisis Suit Combat Systems Airbursting Fragmentation Projector: This
Missile Pod: An arm or shoulder mounted
weapon scatters a large amount of smaller bomblets over a wide area at a specific height calculated by an internal AI. Range Strength AP Type 18” 4 5 Assault 1, Large Blast, Ignores Cover* *Cover saves cannot be taken against Saturation Grenade Launcher.
multiple missile delivery system, missile pods are used to engage light vehicles. Range Strength AP Type 36” 7 2 Assault 2
Plasma Rifle: Though plasma technology is used by many races, the Tau have ensured that it doesn’t hurt their users. Range Strength AP Type 24” 6 2 Assault 2
Burst Cannon: The burst cannon is the utility weapon of the Tau, mounted on Crisis suits, Broadsides, and vehicles. Utilizing the plasma technology found in the pulse rifle, this multi-barreled weapon has a high rate of fire. Range Strength AP Type 18” 5 5 Assault 3
Multi-tracker: This piece of wargear has been
Cyclic Ion Blaster: Designed to cut through lightly
It lets the bearer shoot two weapons in the shooting phase.
armoured foes, the unstable rate of ionization has proven that it is also effective against highly armoured opponents. Range Strength AP Type 18” 3 4 Assault 5, Rending
Flamer: Though frowned upon for its short range, it is invaluable in dense terrain. Range Strength AP Template 4 5
Type Assault 1
Fusion Blaster: These are used by battlesuits to eliminate enemy tanks at close range. Range Strength AP Type 12” 8 1 Assault 1, Melta
a staple of the Tau army since the beginning of the Fire Caste. It allows the user greater control over the weapons fired in the course of a battle, allowing the bearer to unleash a maelstrom of firepower down on the enemy.
Target Lock: The Tau use a sophisticated intelligence network that is routed to all members of the cadre to maximize killing efficiency. A target lock taps into that, and identifies priority targets to engage while the rest of the team focuses on the rest of the enemy forces. It lets the user shoot at a different target than the rest of the unit.
TAU ARMY LIST The following pages contain an army list that enables you to field a Tau army and fight battles using the scenarios included in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. It also provides, you with the basic information you’ll need in order to field a Tau army in scenarios you’ve devised yourself, or that form a part of a campaign. The army list allows you to pick an army based on the troops that could be fielded by a Tau Huntre Cadre, with attached support drawn from support cadres. The army is list is split into five sections. All the squads, vehicles and characters in the army are placed into one of these depending upon their role of the battlefield. Each model is also given a points value, which varies depending on how effective that model is in battle. Before you choose an army, you will need to agree with your opponent upon a scenario and the total number of points you will spend. Then you can proceed to pick your army.
Using a Force Organization Chart The army lists are used in conjunction with the force organization chart from a scenario. Each chart is split into five categories that correspond to the sections in the army list, and each category has one or more boxes. Each greytoned box indicates that you may make one choice from that section of the army list, while a dark-toned box indicates a compulsory selection. We’ve including the chart used for Standard Missions opposite.
MISSIONS & POINTS These army lists are primarily designed for use with the Standard Missions from the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. They may also be
used with any other missions that use the Force Organization charts, but please note that play balance may be affected if they are used for anything other than a Standard Mission.
Using the Army List Before putting your army together for a game, agree with your opponent on the size of each force. Many players like to play games of 1,500 points per side, which provides around two hours of play, or the best part of an afternoon or evening. Look in the relevant section of the army list and decide what unit you want to have in your army, how many models there will be in it, and which upgrades you want (if any). Any upgrades that are taken must be shown on the model. Once this is done, subtract the points value of the unit from your total points, and then go back and make another choice. Continue doing this until you have spent all your points. Then you’re ready to do battle.
Contingent Commander…………….……………………115 points Shas’o
WS 4
BS 6
S 5
T 4
W 4
I 3
A 3
Ld 10
Sv 3+
Unit Composition:  1 Shas’o Unit Type:  Jump Infantry (jetpack) Wargear:  XV8 Crisis Battlesuit  Hard-wired Shield Generator  Bonding Knife Special Rules:  Independent Character  Battlesuit Master  Under the Cover of Darkness
Options:  Must choose three Crisis Suit Combat System: - Drone Controller..............................................free - Multi-tracker, or Target Lock.........................+5 pts - Burst Cannon, or Flamer................+5 pts / +10 pts - Fusion Blaster.............................+10 pts / +15 pts - Cyclic Ion Blaster or Rail Repeater..............+15 pts - Missile Pod.................................+15 pts / +20 pts - Airbursting Fragmentation Projector............+20 pts - Fire Support Relay System.........................+20 pts - Saturation Grenade Launcher......................+20 pts - Plasma Rifle................................+20 pts / +30 pts  May choose any of the following Hard-wired systems: - Drone Controller..............................................free - Multi Tracker................................................+5 pts - Target Lock.................................................+5 pts  Take an Ejection System...............................+10 pts  Take a Stimulant Injectors..............................+15 pts  Iridium Plating...............................................+20 pts  Iridium Armour..............................................+20 pts Drone Controller:  Gun Drone....................................................+10 pts  Shield Drone.................................................+10 pts  Marker Drone................................................+20 pts  Failsafe Drone..............................................+20 pts
The Fire Caste’s Best are Here to Serve: If your army includes a Contingent Commander, any Crisis Teams of three models with a Shas’vre may be taken as Troops choices.
Cadre Commander........................................................55 points Shas’el
WS 3
BS 5
S 5
Unit Composition:  1 Shas’el Unit Type:  Jump Infantry (jetpack) Wargear:  XV8 Crisis Battlesuit  Bonding Knife Special Rules:  Independent Character
T 4
W 3
I 3
A 2
Ld 9
Sv 3+
Options:  Must choose three Crisis Suit Combat System: - Drone Controller..............................................free - Multi-tracker, or Target Lock.........................+5 pts - Burst Cannon, or Flamer................+5 pts / +10 pts - Fusion Blaster.............................+10 pts / +15 pts - Cyclic Ion Blaster.......................................+15 pts - Missile Pod.................................+15 pts / +20 pts - Airbursting Fragmentation Projector............+20 pts - Fire Support Relay System.........................+20 pts - Plasma Rifle................................+20 pts / +30 pts  May choose any of the following Hard-wired systems: - Drone Controller..............................................free - Multi Tracker................................................+5 pts - Target Lock.................................................+5 pts Drone Controller:  Gun Drone....................................................+10 pts  Shield Drone.................................................+10 pts  Marker Drone................................................+20 pts  Failsafe Drone..............................................+20 pts
Shadow Commander...................................................70 Shas’el
WS 3
BS 5
S 5
T 4
W 3
I 3
A 2
Ld 9
Sv 3+
Unit Composition:  1 Shas’el Unit Type:  Jump Infantry (jetpack) Wargear:  XV15/25 Stealth Battlesuit  Silenced Burst Cannon  Targeting Array  Bonding Knife
Options:  The Shas’el may replace the Silence Burst Cannon with one of the following: - Fusion Blaster and Target Lock........................free - Cyclic Ion Blaster.........................................+5 pts - Plasma Rifle.................................+5 pts / +10 pts - Airbursting Fragmentation Projector............+20 pts  May choose any of the following Hard-wired systems: - Drone Controller..............................................free - Multi Tracker................................................+5 pts - Target Lock.................................................+5 pts - Hard-wired Shield Generator.......................+15 pts  May take a Markerlight...................................+10 pts Drone Controller:  Gun Drone....................................................+10 pts  Shield Drone.................................................+10 pts  Marker Drone................................................+20 pts  Failsafe Drone..............................................+20 pts
Special Rules:  Independent Character  Infiltrate  Scout Strike from the Shadows: If your army includes a Shadow Commander, any Stealth Teams of six models with a Shas’vre may be taken as Troops choices.
Crisis Bodyguard Team..............................................80 points You make take one Crisis Bodyguard Team for every Cadre Commander in the army. The team acts as a retinue for the Cadre Commander and they act as one unit
Shas’vre
WS 3
BS 4
S 5
Unit Composition:  2 Shas’vre Unit Type:  Jump Infantry (jetpack) Wargear:  XV8 Crisis Battlesuit  Bonding Knife
T 4
W 3
I 3
A 2
Ld 9
Sv 3+
Options:  Each Shas’vre must choose three Crisis Suit Combat Systems: - Drone Controller..............................................free - Multi-tracker, or Target Lock.........................+5 pts - Burst Cannon, or Flamer.................+5 pts / +10 pts - Fusion Blaster.............................+10 pts / +15 pts - Cyclic Ion Blaster.......................................+15 pts - Missile Pod.................................+15 pts / +20 pts - Airbursting Fragmentation Projector............+20 pts - Fire Support Relay System.........................+20 pts - Plasma Rifle................................+20 pts / +30 pts  May choose any of the following Hard-wired systems: - Drone Controller..............................................free - Multi Tracker................................................+5 pts - Target Lock.................................................+5 pts - Shield Generator........................................+15 pts Drone Controller:  Gun Drone....................................................+10 pts  Shield Drone.................................................+10 pts  Marker Drone................................................+20 pts  Failsafe Drone..............................................+20 pts