Tau

I've had a long love/hate relationship with Tau (or now T'au). I really like their shiny on the outside, corrupt on the inside poisoned apple type of background they have going, especially with the Ethereal rumours. To have an alternative to the Imperium within the galaxy is nice. A race that is for everyone, provided you agree to live by their rules. It really reminds me of the Seanchan from the Wheel of Time series.

I first picked them up around the same time as my Blood Angels around 2013. I really liked the hit-and-run, avoid combat kind of feel to them. They weren't the WW1/2 themed imperial guard or super soldiers, but they had a modern warfare vibe to them that wasn't really a feature of 40k. But the more I used them, the more they felt like they wanted to stand still, especially with the introduction of the Cadre Fireblade. I left Tau alone for a long time and haven't really been back since, though I've kept an eye on them.

To begin with, I didn't really have any particular theme going on. They were generic Tau, with a dusty tan armour and purple cloth scheme. However, I changed that to more of a winter theme, going with snowy blues and orange.

The latest incarnation of them came during psychic awakening where they had some great short stories about the T'au outside of battle. I jumped back into them, though didn't take the models out of storage. I really wanted to push them into the auxiliary direction, have a solid military force of T'au with a strong showing of Gue'vesa (human auxiliaries), Kroot, and Vespid. I liked the short story that came out alongside Genestealer Cults in Psychic Awakening of the humans sent into Imperial worlds with cool T'au tech telling the stories of the Greater Good. It felt like the Genestealer Cults, but with less mind control (come to think of it, probably the same amount of mind control, fewer arms though). So I bought some Orlock gangers with the idea of having some Gue'vesa with T'au weaponry. I also wanted to lean into the 'mercenary' line that is prevalent in the world today. Well organised groups of highly trained soldiers that undertake missions that Nations can't for diplomatic reasons. The Gue'vesa are led by a human Commander that can do more than the T'au can on Imperial worlds, only when they need support will T'au aid them.

The Orlocks were eventually built as Orlocks and the T'au are still in storage, but the plan is still the current one.

I then put a bit of time into the background of my force. They are part of the 5th Sphere expansion, and originally hail from the Fe'Saan System. Large amounts of Gue’vesa have fed through the outer planets and have been processed in Fe’saan and retrained.  These Gue’vesa usually infiltrate systems first, garbed in local attire, but with fancy equipment to show off, they spread the t’au’va and recruit, supported by Fe’Saan troops to aid in attacking larger targets if required.

Fe'saan is a starkly beautiful T'au Empire Sept World located within the Nem'yar Atoll.[1]

It was the first world established by the Fifth Sphere of Expansion and is home to a colonial Water Caste headquarters which governs the processing and integration of conquered foes and newly encountered races into the T'au'va. Fe'saan's three moons are home to vast Kor'vattra shipyards. All this, plus the Sept World's location within the heart of the Nem'yar Atoll, makes Fe'saan a key strategic location, from which colonisation and patrol fleets are continuously dispatched across the nascent Fifth Sphere colonies.[1] 

Kroot