our honour

The Tau, though a decade old, are a relatively new race to the Warhammer 40,000 game, having been first released in October 2001. Unlike most of the races in Warhammer 40,000, which were developed from a comparable race in Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Tau, along with the Tyranids, are the only playable races that do not possess an analogue in the Fantasy fictional universe, although most of the combat doctrines are based on the Wood Elves or Dwarfs. The Tau ideology focuses on ranged combat, generally perceiving close-range, physical combat as crude and unnecessary. However this does not mean that they have no chance in close combat, Kroot mercenaries are available to give some melee strength to any Tau battle company. In addition, one the Tau's unique commanders (O'Shova, or, "Commander Farsight") is more than equipped for close combat. However, the Tau's absolute dominant strength lies in their ranged firepower. Most Tau weaponry has an exceptionally long range, and as a result they are able to fire at and cripple an enemy army even before the opposition has a chance to return fire. One of the Tau's signature weapons remains the railgun, an incredibly powerful and long range heavy weapon that is more than capable of punching through even heavy armor at extreme ranges. The primary weapon for Fire warrior teams are the Pulse Rifle, which has high fire power and a range greater than most troops weapons, and the Pulse Carbine, which is short ranged but is equipped with an underslung photon grenade launcher that can pin enemy infantry. The Rail gun is the most iconographic, and feared, of Tau weapons, which can be found on the hammerhead tank and broadside heavy support unit the rail gun has extreme range and is immensely powerful, being one of the best weapons in the standard warhammer 40,000 game.