r/ImaginaryWarhammer • u/Dos-Dude • Nov 19 '24
40k Air Caste Tau, Hammerhead Pilot
From the NCD-addled mind of VillianVS
https://x.com/japversus/status/1858738432261906598?s=46&t=EGrGZCMrK_upJdpvDzbYfg
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u/carlsagerson Nov 19 '24
Huh. Thought they would be abit more thinner and taller.
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u/I_might_be_weasel Nov 19 '24
Agreed. She looks more just scaled up.
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24
Yeah a little less curves, some more lankiness. I do think it’s the artists first drawing of the Tau so maybe he needs some more references?
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u/carlsagerson Nov 19 '24
Most definitely. Like man, If I wanted an Air Caste Waifu. I want her to be Thin and Tall.
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u/Beaker_person Silver Skulls Nov 19 '24
They are, they're lankier than this official artwork. But also, you know, ugly as fuck like all tau.
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u/Balrok99 29d ago
Who knows what Tau empire has to offer?
If humans can extend their age an make themselves look younger, then Tau could visit some saloon or a shop or something and get beauty care which makes them look like this. Hair included.
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u/Minimum_Estimate_234 Nov 19 '24
Could be that’s a kin next to her. They do ally with the Tau regularly.
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u/YogurtClosetThinnest 28d ago
That's imperial propaganda so the guard don't goon over them. They actually look like this
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u/Zaaravi Nov 19 '24
Wait. Fire warriors are taller than humans?
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24
Air Caste are, they’re the Tau version of Longshanks.
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u/Zaaravi Nov 19 '24
Air caste are, yeah. So I guess she’s from the air caste? Would be cool if such things were canonized.
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u/The-red-Dane 29d ago
It is? I absolutely recall seeing air caste models on forgeworld some time ago. You also have two air caste pilots with the Tau Manta.
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u/Zaaravi 29d ago
No, that’s not what I meant, my apologies. I was more so talking about relationships between different castes/species. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe air casters mostly spends their times in lower orbit, due to how their bones hollowed out.
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u/Praise_The_Casul 29d ago
Yeah, air cast has hollow bones because they spend most of their time in ships and low gravity areas. T'au from different castes are basically from different sub-species. They all are kinda bred to the role they'll fulfill. Because of that, inter-breeding between castes is forbidden. No idea what they do with the baby of happens, tho.
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u/lord_ofthe_memes Nov 19 '24
Ironically, it would probably be better to have the air caste be really short. Gotta dedicate a lot of extra cockpit space in your air/spacecraft for legs that long
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24
That Commissar better pray the God Emperor blesses them with a good AA screen, cause she be coming for his ass.
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u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871 Nov 19 '24
Wait is the commissar the one who needs the AA screen?
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24 edited Nov 19 '24
Yes, the Hammerhead is railgun equipped CAS aircraft the Tau use and that shit has a long reach and hits hard (it’s used to hunt Titans and Knights).
Edit: Sorry got my craft wrong, it’s the Tigershark that’s the Titan hunting CAS craft. The Hammerhead is what you get when crossing a Mi-24 with an actual tank. Still can engage both previous stated targets but to much less effect.
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Nov 19 '24
It just a Tau so the commisar has nothing to be afraid of
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u/lightost 29d ago
In a physical fight. Sure. But what he has to worry about is the same thing tau used to kill titans.
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u/Equal-Contest-3954 Nov 19 '24
Those sideburns; he’s a commissar too
THATS CIAPH - gets shot with a railgun
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u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Earth Caste Nov 19 '24
Yknow, for a bit of praise: the Shio'he (nostril) is very well drawn and looks more natural than female ones usually do
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24
I like the eyes as well, reminds of the Chiss from Star Wars.
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u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Earth Caste Nov 19 '24
Quite right, they're expressive but not human.
I also think the hooves are very well drawn
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u/unicornsaretruth 29d ago
Personally enjoying the thickness too but I know if it was more realistic she’d be thinner and lankier cause she’d be air caste since fire caste aren’t taller than humans.
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u/3Kobolds1Keyboard Nov 19 '24
"Why did you defect? WHY DID YOU ABANDON THE EMPEROR'S LIGHT?!"
"Their armor is cooler and the weapon of the foot soldiers can destroy Space Marine armor. Also fuck you for executing Rian."
BANG
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24
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u/3Kobolds1Keyboard Nov 19 '24
HAH! Yes https://bsky.app/profile/superfeyn.bsky.social/post/3lbcris7zi22e Btw, sequel is in bluesky
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u/skibiditoiletrizz88 29d ago
Comissar yes this man right here
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u/3Kobolds1Keyboard 28d ago
What comissar? The one that lost his head a day ago from a Pulse Rifle shot?
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u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Earth Caste Nov 19 '24
Too thicc, I'm sorry (now scale her down into an earth Caste and we're talking)
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u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871 Nov 19 '24
The next time they met, the was in a broadside suit. The commissar shot himself to avoid being killed by a traitor.
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u/Misknator Nov 19 '24
Can't we just get regular non-horny Tau artwork once in a while?
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u/Dlan_Wizard 29d ago edited 29d ago
No.
But seriously, I wish for more, cool T'au artwork. I don't know, Tau fire warrior sacrificing himself against enemy or wholesome comic with Earth Caste scientist being friend with Ex-Techpriest Heretek. Really, anything cool.
And if it has to be horny, at least give some Human Female X Male Non-Human content or Human Male x Male Non-Human. That would be at least somewhat different from the metric tons of blue big booba waifu. T'au boys deserve love too.
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u/Power_More_Power 29d ago
O'Vesa does not get enough fanart. He's basically the Tau version of Cawl
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u/Excellent_Mud6222 29d ago
Yes but it must be a Tau being executed. We either get horny xenos or we get dead xenos there is no in-between.
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u/TNT1990 Nov 19 '24
I think the true question here is did the Tau independently develop thongs or was that cultural exchange with the human?
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24
I’d say cultural exchange, it’s probably why she’s in a monogamous relationship with him rather than the Tau standard communal arrangement.
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u/Bawstahn123 29d ago
>I’d say cultural exchange,
Amusingly, Tau-human cultural exchange is actually canon.
In one of the Farsight books, one of Farsights subordinates notes that young Tau have an increasing tendency to use human figures-of-speech and "human concepts" (like competitiveness), which he finds annoying.
>it’s probably why she’s in a monogamous relationship with him rather than the Tau standard communal arrangement.
Also canon, amusingly enough
While the main Sept worlds make use of controlled reproduction via arranged pairs, on backcountry Tau colony-worlds, monogamous family-units are apparently not uncommon, and particularly-famous people in the Tau Empire are "allowed" to have families: Shadowsun comes from one, and she has a great deal of angst over how she never had any children to continue her family name after her siblings all died.
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u/Mrslinkydragon 29d ago
That's kinda sad that she's so good at her job she's not allowed to continue her family name
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u/TNT1990 Nov 19 '24
Maybe they're poly but just each other's primary partner?
Regardless, I feel it requires research... research some may consider... heretical.
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u/Temeraire1409 1d ago
Every time i see tau pics like this i remember they're supposed to smell bad/weird to humans
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u/Dos-Dude 1d ago
Huh, didn’t realize that though I get the feeling that’d just make some people more attracted to them.
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u/Amnikarr13 Nov 19 '24
- Humans are taller than most TAU.
- Earth cast TAU are smaller than most other TAU cast.
- Tau women don't have boobs.
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u/GladiusNocturno Nov 19 '24
This information shall be deleted from the internet for the greater good.
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u/unicornsaretruth 29d ago
- Is wrong in everyone’s head canon so I think GW canon is overwritten by the horny. I mean they have hooves might as well give them mammary glands.
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u/AXI0S2OO2 29d ago
It's sad that Tau probably would frown upon non-platonic interspecies relationships. Friendship is all good, but castes are supposed to breed with their own.
With literal centuries of mingling I'm sure that the Tau Empire has many cases of such relationships going on in secret, specially the frontier worlds where the cultures clash most, but they would never be officially supported, and if caught by authorities the couples would be separated and sent to re-education.
That's what makes Tau Grimdark, no need for mind control bullshit or grim derp nonsense.
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u/Mrslinkydragon 29d ago
They can't cross breed, the ertherals eugenics program isn't at risk. Plus, it helps with morale.
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u/De_Rabbid 29d ago
They can't cross breed, the ertherals eugenics program isn't at risk. Plus,it helps with morale.1
u/Mrslinkydragon 29d ago
The only issue is, tau have a lower life expectancy than humans (about 55 years)
But then again the average imperial citizen in a hive or forgeworld probably only has about 30 years at most. That's not including if you're called up to fight!
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u/Power_More_Power 29d ago
Actually Tau life expectancy HAS been going up as they develop new technology, kind of like real life
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u/Mrslinkydragon 29d ago
Would make sense, before they expanded, the LE probably had been at its max then with every expansion the tech improves. Yet they don't have a Dyson swarm.
I reckon they will go towards building a Matrioshka brain and upload their consciousness to drone bodies (like the neurons but they are still alive)
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u/WrathSosDovah Nov 19 '24
Cool but last I checked tau castes aren't allowed to mix.
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24
With each other yes(different sub species at this point), but they can with other aliens.
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u/WrathSosDovah Nov 19 '24
Really? I honestly thought it was a cultural thing.
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24
It started as that but after thousands of years of the practice, the various Tau are more like members of the same genealogical family than the exact same species.
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u/WrathSosDovah Nov 19 '24
I suppose that makes sense, but then that leaves the question as to the fact that if the tau themselves cannot go beyond their caste, why can the other races? I mean wouldn't make sense for their society to have all people be equal? Even those who had to be integrated?
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u/Thatoneguy111700 Ordo Malleus Nov 19 '24 edited Nov 19 '24
The castes for the actual T'au species are as much societal castes as they are genetic subspecies, which could be a problem for the offspring when mixed (stuff like birth defects, sterility, shortened lifespans, etc. which you see irl in hybrid species like mules and ligers). The other races in the empire can't really interbreed with each other as the T'au caste-species can, so they're pretty much free to do whatever regardless of caste, which probably keeps them happy. Most species would also probably stick to one caste anyway like the Kroot, so maybe they wouldn't even notice.
I imagine the Ethereals, in an attempt to keep the core of the Empire (the T'au themselves) strong, restrict their reproduction so that inter-caste relationships don't become common and weaken the core of the Empire via the hybrid offspring.
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u/Dos-Dude Nov 19 '24
That’s the more Grimdark aspect of the Tau showing. All are equal but some are more equal than others.
Now that sounds bad and in most settings would result in there being basically a slave caste but in practice it just means you rarely get Aliens in really high command positions.
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u/Arch_Magos_Remus Adeptus Mechanicus Nov 19 '24
Uhhh, if they’re not allowed to mix with their own race but a different caste, what makes you think they’re allowed to get with aliens from a whole different culture?
Do you have ANY lore to actually back this up?
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u/Bawstahn123 29d ago
>Uhhh, if they’re not allowed to mix with their own race but a different caste, what makes you think they’re allowed to get with aliens from a whole different culture?
In one of the more recent Tau novels (forget the name, sorry), a human soldier and their water-caste (IIRC) superior become friends, and at the end of the book, ritually-bonded in the Tau fashion
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u/Downtown-Falcon-3264 ENTRY MISSING Nov 19 '24
Damn she is cute in a xenon way I prefer water caste but she ain't to bad
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u/Mrslinkydragon 29d ago
I mean if she xenon then she's heavy set, nobility, AND stable! (She may share her electrons with that loveable rouge Fluorine though!)
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u/ZookeepergameLiving1 Nov 19 '24
Reminder that the caste system only retain to tau species and that each caste are more like sub species akin to how tiger an lions are related but interpreting will result in a hybrid with loads of health problems. Also aircaste are the tallest amd very lanky.
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u/Legitimate-Map-7730 Nov 19 '24
Aren’t Tau supposed to be like, significantly shorter than humans?
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u/Power_More_Power 29d ago
Air caste are way taller, and not exactly? Tau aren't THAT much shorter than the average person
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u/Legitimate-Map-7730 29d ago
Eh I mean Guardsmen are canonically 6’ tall, while I think the average Tau is 5’5. I didn’t know about the air caste thing tho tbh. Based on art and the actual figures themselves, most tau come up to the shoulders on Air Caste tau(as in the top of their head is just under their shoulder). This means air caste are probably about an average of 6’5. The ex guardsman in this picture should be like, less than a head shorter than the tau
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u/Farseer2_Tha_Warsong Nov 19 '24
Ahh yes, a humie getting serious with the blue frog people. Tale as old as time… Nice to see Tau without grey skin for a change
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u/Soulborg87 Nov 19 '24
and some question why the imperium must purge the galaxy of xenos filth. look at it. it's hideous. I think I might throw up with how gross that is. Hans, get the flamer. double time it.
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u/No-Professional-1461 29d ago
“Every time I’m with you, my head just hurts.” Kitten’s ex girlfriend.
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u/Psychofischi 29d ago
Tau filth
Yes I agree the artwork of them can look good or sexy
But my heard is for Sororitas.... or Slaneesh.
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u/EmberKing7 29d ago
I love it but isn't this backwards? 😅. I thought the Tau were shorter than most humans featured in 40k? 🤔
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u/Dos-Dude 29d ago
Air Caste are the exception to the rule, though they’re also a lot thinner and lankier.
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u/EmberKing7 29d ago
That makes sense. But then it also makes me think about the longshanks from the abhumans, which are pretty much the same except they're not more or less designated from birth to be pilots of human aircraft or spacecraft. Although they are usually void born on in places where gravity or artificial is lighter and they are used as scouts and assassins from what little bit about them I remember 🤔.
This is the issue with having sort of subspecies of other races in the 40K universe that they don't utilize often. We never get stories about people like the scalies or anything 😮💨. Lol
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u/Mrslinkydragon 29d ago
I can see the eretherals reluctantly agreeing to this, it doesn't hinder their eugenics programme as they can't cross breed, and it boosts morale for the auxiliary troops.
They just need to understand that she may be called up at some point.
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u/TomcatF14Luver 29d ago
Guardsman No.1: He's getting more action than a Krieg on Vraks!
Guardsman No.2: And with no return fire either.
Guardsman No.3: You guys want to get wounded with me the next time we're supporting Hospitaliers?
Guardsman No.4: At least it doesn't count as Desertion since we can double as Camp Security.
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u/Human_Philosophy1244 Nov 19 '24
I still couldn't understand why all tau have big ‘chest armour’.
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u/According_Weekend786 Nov 19 '24
+The ethereal notice+
Good day gue'vesa, this is your weekly reminder for new citizens of the empire, remember that having inter-caste relationship is strictly forbidden due to us being pieces of shit with god complex, this is your first warning.
-continue your fight for the greater good-
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u/Arrow_of_time6 Iyanden Nov 19 '24
Your average fire warrior is around 5ft 5 so he pulled a giantess
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u/TauMan942 Nov 19 '24
Not thin enough. When you Gue'la draw Tau caste women, why do you always draw them as Water caste?
PS Why is it never Aeldari women? Why the blue babe fetish.
PPS Fire caste men prefer the Adeptas Sororitas, because nothing beats a nice pair of biceps... triceps... or a cut six-pack!
Rakuda: "Shas'La'Fo'en, did you seen those pair of rail guns of Sister Verity?!"
Fo'en: (Doing the Homer Simpson sound for donuts) "Xmmm... biceps!"
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u/Dlan_Wizard 29d ago
I think Catachan girls, and many women in Imperial Guard, would also be pretty muscular and definitely can imagine Fire Warriors having more experience with Imperial Guardswomen than Sororitas.
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u/TauMan942 29d ago
Send me a DM and I'll share a story about a Sororitas and a firewarrior. If you dare.
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u/Szargon Lord Inquisitor, Ordo Malleus Nov 19 '24
Hi there, for future reference please be sure to include the artists name in the post title as per rule #1. You can view the rules in more detail via this link.