u/4rc_f145h

I've been playing T'au since they were released in 3rd edition. I'm very upset with the direction GW has taken us in both 10th ed and continuing in 11th. I'm getting on my soapbox to yell into the void in the hopes that someone at GW will listen.

Our current army rule penalizes us for taking auxiliaries. T'au are the poster army for inclusion and diversity in 40k. To have an army rule that deliberately excludes those units goes against the theme of the army. Additionally, it punishes players for using the brand new re-sculpted models. The one detachment that somewhat made up for this (Auxiliary Cadre) just got nerfed into the ground.

10th edition trying to simplify and 11th edition trying to "speed up" the game: T'au was already a difficult army to play but the army rule and detachments have made it even more so. You can't "BIG GUN SHOOT, BIG HAMMER SMASH," with T'au. Essentially, our army rule creates an additional phase between movement and shooting where we designate observers, spotted targets, and guided units. This makes building a T'au army very complicated. It also makes it even more annoying to play against as the T'au player will be spending a lot of time strategizing their movement and setting up observers for their all important shooting phase. With the 11th edition terrain and hidden rules, this is going to be even more tedious.

Similarly, the return of war gear points should bring back unit flexibility and customization, in particular our crisis suits. Crisis suits were always the backbone of the T'au army both thematically and usually on the tabletop. Losing that customization in 10th edition for the sake of streamlining points cost hurt. If players want to make a crisis unit with flamers and a shield generators, players should be able to do so and the theme and lore of the army support it. Additionally, bring back unique weapon profiles and abilities. So much gear now is simplified. This is your army's version of a boltor, same profile with different flavor text. This is your army's version of a multimelta, same profile, different model. It makes every army play almost the same. Bring back the railgun rule that allowed no save whatsoever from 9th edition rather than just 'devastating wounds.' Bring back the longer ranges for plasma rifles. Most of the ranged weapon ranges are absurdly short anyway. (40k scale is 1:60. An Ak-47 has a range of 400 meters, which translates to over 260 inches in game.)

Where the heck are our drones? With drones being more relevant than ever on the real battlefield, GW's decision to essentially eliminate them is idiotic. More than any other army in 40k, T'au play and should play like a current modern army. T'au incorporate advanced technology and specialized coordinated units, especially drones. Given that you can't turn on the news today and not hear about military drones and how they're revolutionizing combat we should have a T'au version of every major drone currently on the battlefield. Heck, there should be a drone detachment.

11th edition's refocus on melee: T'au don't use melee because if a real soldier showed up on the front lines in an Iron Man suit with a sword a suicide drone would turn them into a can of strawberry jam in minutes or enemy guns would turn them into swiss cheese before they ever got close. It doesn't matter how strong the armor was. Continued nerfs to overwatch and shooting in general do not fit with common sense and make the game feel less and less like an actual war game. If an attacking player charges a unit, that unit should automatically get a free overwatch against the charging unit.

Finally, T'au aren't grimdark. That's the point. People play T'au because it's NOT grimdark. Stop trying to force the gothic aesthetic onto T'au and embrace the sci-fi mecha styling.

https://preview.redd.it/8gcl97grnd8h1.png?width=316&format=png&auto=webp&s=03fc1ab2c7d87b77ae623f0207e63ff4e1caf429