The T'au Empire are a race of goody goody xenos who corrupt honest Imperial citizens with their philosophies of working together in Unity and Harmony for the Greater Good, corrupting the otherwise faithful servants of the Immortal God Emperor of Mankind!

But really... there is something sinister with their ability to convince people, there is an element of mind control and Jedi mind tricks going on there.

Anyway, the Tau are a race of aliens in the Warhammer 40,000 universe that is really young in comparison to other races, even humankind. They have an amazing grasp on technology however and have some really powerful guns and armor suits.

Basically, if you want a fairly mobile army with superior firepower, then this army is for you. Please note, generally, they are terrible at close combat.

Eye Candy

Do you like Gundams? These guys have Gundams...

They also have lines of infantry with big guns...

Army Rule - For the Greater Good

All T'au have the For the Greater Good rule. There is a lot of jargon in that rule, but basically it works like this:

You will pair units up in 2's. Some units will be used as spotters and others will gain the advantage of the spotting. Both units need to see the target and the shooters can't be Battle-Shocked.

Now the Guided unit gets +1 to Hit with their shooting attacks.
If the Observers have the Markerlight keyword, then the Guided unit gains Ignores Cover as well!

The Observer units still get to shoot as well, but cannot be guided.

Detachment Rule - Kauyon Spice

The T'au can be flavoured and marinaded in an assortment of ways, the Kauyon Style is rather spicy. From the 3rd battle round they get Sustained hits 1 and if the unit is Guided, they get Sustained hits 2! Meaning a Hit roll on a 6 scores 3 hits!

Unit Spotlight - Pathfinders

Pathfinders are the go-to spotters of the Tau. Shoot the snot out of them when you can. Run them down and destroy them for if you do not, they will give tons of bonuses to their army!

They have the Markerlight keyword AND they can Observe and guide twice a turn! Their own shooting is not bad either.

They have the Scout ability, which gives them a free 7" move at the start of the battle and can be given Infiltrate as well.

Once great way to use them is to infiltrate into a position that blocks the enemy's infiltrators (since they have to be placed outside of 9" your modesl) and then get a free 7" move away from those units they blocked. Alternatively, the Scount move could be used to gain objectives or position in the game.

Drones

This is how Drones work now. They used to have their own statlines but now they are simply wargear.

One gives your unit -1 to Wound on incoming ranged attacks, another gives you an additional wound - Guardian and Shield Drones.

A Gun Drone and a Missile Drone shoot.
A Marketlight Drone gives you the ability of a Markerlight should this unit Guide another.

Weapon Highlight - Railgun

The Railgun is a crazy weapon. Only 1 shot but when standing still, the Hammerhead will hit on 3+ and 2+ if they are guided. Ona 6+ to wound it causes Devastating wounds (mortals) A whopping D6+6 of them. With S20 and AP-5, the enemy is going to be easy to wound and inflict that damage.

To me, the Kauyon plays a critical role here. The Hammerhead is often Guided and thus hits on a 2+, but on a 6, this guy will hit 3 times, now there is a significant change of doing 3x the damage!

Weapon Highlight - Pulse Blast Cannon

With two firing modes this is another crazy strong weapon.

2 shots that are S24 and do a FLAT 12 Damage?

Or 6 shots, S10 and D4?

Depends on the target!

Either way it is going to hurt!

Stratagem Spotlight

And finally a Run Away Stratagem!

When a T'au Empire Infantry unit becomes the target of a Charge, you can play this and hop into a transport nearby. They have to be near enough to get it and there must be enough space to get in otherwise they cannot use this Strat.

But this is a real pain. Now they are here, you are about to get IN there and slaughter them.... and they are gone.

So that's the T'au, the tip of the gun barrel anyway, with more to come.

Thank you for reading!

Cheers!
@zakludick

Hive South Africa