[Siege]

I'm working on some background fluff for my new Tau army, my only source of background info is the Tau Empire Codex and I have a few questions that the good people on here will hopefully be able to answer.

I know how skimmers work in game, but as far as fluff goes, how far can a Tau skimmer hover above the ground? Could it skim over the canopy of a dense jungle or a city skyline?

How do the Tau dispose of Ork remains after a battle? I imagined Crisis suits equipped with flamers being deployed to burn the carcasses and prevent further infestation, but I'm wondering if this has been brought up in any of the official fiction and if so, what methods are used?

 

[Jacobite]

I imagine that the Orks are burnt much like any other race does. As for the skimmer question. I was just reading Imperial Armour 3: The Taros Campaign and I remember the sentence talking about this. They can't go over cityscapes, that I know but as for forests, I don't know. Taros was a desert world, no forests there. I would recommend Tau players like yourself get this book as it has a lot of infomation on Tau tatics not to mention heaps of nice vechiles for you to play with

 

[Siege]

Wouldn't mind having a look at that book, however I'm usually the kind of person that would rather spend $50 on minis.

I know that the Orks are burnt, what I meant was since flamers aren't exactly stock standard in a Tau army, would it make sense to use Crisis suits that are specifically configured for the task and not used it actual warfare? Or would that seem like a silly waste of valuable resources?

 

[Jacobite]

Fair enough. The books are expensive, but if your a fluff nut then they are well worth it.

As for your second/first question. I'd say that they would use Crisis teams. For the greater good remember. Its after battle clean up. The IG use LR's with Dozer Blades to build up earthworks. I imagine that the Tau do the same.

 

[Spartan Command061]

Well Tau Skimmer's drop from altitude, at least from manta's, i don't believe that they land to disgorge the army (correct me if i'm wrong), so i reckon they are capable of at least tree canopy height. Although i believe that the eldar (including dark eldar) and landspeeders are the only grav fighting vehicles capable of full flight, apart from full flyers and reconissance vehicles.

 

[Dirge Eterna]

Well, I would say that the size of the engines on the fish' and Hammerhead would lead you to believe they can fly, as in several books (I know they contradict themselves) Devilfish fly over enemy lines, buildings, trees, etc. So I would vote yes to the skimmers over trees. And since the SM Land Speeder can Deep Strike, I would say that a skimmer tank (That is most often deployed from a borderline battleship) would have the same qualities.

Orks burn quite well, I would think. Pod-people. FWOOSH!

-Dirge

 

[Ubiquitous]

Well, if I remember right, the weapons on tau battlesuits are modular, so they would just reconfigure the suits to have flamers instead of whatever they had before, and then just go out in the field and burn some orks.

As far as full flight, I don't think so. Hovering above a stand of trees, sure, why not. they do drop from mantas some 100s of feet in the air.

 

[Dirge Eterna]

Battlesuits are indeed modular. They just snap on a new gun, and off the go! (Note this is why the battlesuit's guns aren't actually part of the suit, they kind of hang off the arms.)

-Dirge

 

[The Son of Horus]

I'd think they're able to fly in the sense we're talking about. Tau skimmers are meant to be sort of the equivalent of a modern VTOL. While they won't be able to get the same kind of flight ceiling that a barracuda would, they should still be able to get up there quite a ways. If nothing else, a manta is capable of atmospheric flight, and they deploy the smaller stuff from rather high up. As long as the terrain is fairly level, I'd think they'd be okay.

Just because it's not represented in wargear that's usable in the game doesn't mean that troops aren't carrying things. If the Tau know they're going to fight Orks, they might issue something along the lines of matches to deal with the dead bodies. Gather up some tinder, start a fire. You don't need prometheum-fuelled flamers for that.

 

[Dirge Eterna]

It is quicker to use a heavy flamer though. Don't have to lug around the Orks. And given the realtive weedy-ness of your average Fire Caste, I think they'd just bring up a Battlesuit with twin flamers and be done with it.

-Dirge

 

[Marneus Calgar]

I'm working on some background fluff for my new Tau army, my only source of background info is the Tau Empire Codex and I have a few questions that the good people on here will hopefully be able to answer.

I know how skimmers work in game, but as far as fluff goes, how far can a Tau skimmer hover above the ground? Could it skim over the canopy of a dense jungle or a city skyline?

How do the Tau dispose of Ork remains after a battle? I imagined Crisis suits equipped with flamers being deployed to burn the carcasses and prevent further infestation, but I'm wondering if this has been brought up in any of the official fiction and if so, what methods are used?

I would imagine a skimmer going above trees, but not above a skyline.

I reckon tau eat them :laugh:

 

[Silb]

I reckon tau eat them :laugh:

I think they actually get the kroot to eat them.

 

[Dirge Eterna]

Rawrt, you are strong. It will be good to have that strength.

-Dirge