The Tau Stealth Battlesuits! XV15 To The XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit!

[@ArchYouTube]

Get 20% OFF + Free International Shipping with promo code "ARCH20" at mnscpd.com/arch

[@kylemackinnon6230]

Face is just as regal as the voice, simply majestic

[@balonkita185]

Maybe stealth pilots need to be exposed to the ethereals for inly day and the effects lasts for years on their minds, unlike regular Tau, who need to be exposed constantly.

[@kovi567]

Snow monkey has overgrown underbush confirmed!

[@siemino7444]

shave with a straight razor, makes things interesting, high stakes

[@akumaking1]

Can you do a video on the Farsight Enclaves?

[@lordfrostwind3151]

Tau: "Humans die easily to the killing blow." Death Corp of Krieg: *shovel to head tactic engaged*

[@codymcginley6823]

Krieg: Allow me to show you why we were stabbing those other guys we 'killed'

[@nunyadambidness8568]

Allow me to sing you the song of my people: BONK!

[@bradymenting5120]

"Aim for the Tau shaped hole in the poison gas!"

[@dreamcatcherben8214]

Words spoken before disaster

[@kishinasura1989]

Krieger: *gets up from being dead* What did you just say vile xenos?

[@SgtPotShot]

Tau:"Those humans will never see us in our stealth suits!" Space Wolf: "I smell blueberries."

[@charlottewalnut3118]

You might be able to smell them but that does not mean you know where they are you just know that they are in the vicinity that won’t stop them from popping your head clear

[@omegawilliam95s36]

@@charlottewalnut3118 Ork: Oi, I think ‘ders a blueberry about! Nob:....Just fire all over till ya hit the git!

[@TKUltra971]

@@charlottewalnut3118 the wolves already gave the tau a complete slaughter fest when they tried just that. "You can smell but you cant see!" Wolves: "Lol.. wolf goes GRRRRRRRRRAWWWWWWWW"

[@cnlbenmc]

*Communist Blueberries Detected!*

[@effincook4176]

We think there is a tau there. - I don't see anything. Let's level the grid square just to be sure.

[@thebushwacker]

I started listening to your KZbin Channel 4 years ago with no knowledge of Warhammer at all. Thank you for introducing this to me. If I have learned one thing from listening to you and Reading 40K books I have come to the conclusion that you should take over for gw. It sure seems like you are more passionate about 40k then the company that makes it LOL. Always looking forward to more content keep it up Arch

[@rustyschackleford4762]

This comment says everything ^ I found my love for both WarHammer fantasy and 40k from listening to Arch’s videos!

[@laydengellatly3356]

Same. It has been 4 years for e as well.

[@ogreofgormley]

@@rustyschackleford4762 for me it helped rediscover my love of 40k. Sadly GW keeps doing everything in its power to end it though

[@cnlbenmc]

I somehow got recommended Arch's "Feminism in 40K" video about 7 ish years ago despite never watching anything close to the political end of the 40K spectrum. Different times I guess...

[@nateshelmadine2791]

SECONDED!!!!!!!🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻 HERE HERE!!!!!!!🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻

[@DoctorM42]

Well, Tallarn desrt raiders did track and find stealth suits. The problem is, Tallarnians found out that using light cavalry to chase heavily armoured suits loaded with plasma miniguns, is not exactly the brightest idea, as most stealth teams are more than capable of wiping out mukaali rough rider patrol group chasing them...

[@luckiller019]

>it is Tau vs Empire boring, call me when Tau have to outtech Necrons, outmanoeuvre Eldar or figuring out that accepting large population of chaos vulnerable humans without any kind of antichaos corruption control is a very bad idea. When people are asking if non 40k faction could defeat 40k Empire they are missing the point of 40k. The question isnt if star trek could defeat Empire, the question if if star trek could face tyranids, chaos, xenos etc. This is why Tau are narrative fucked up. They can only face Imperium because their own Tau´s Armagedon, Vrak, Battle of Macragge, Tallarn scale tank batlle, Horus heresy etc would fucked them up to the point that if they had survived they would reimmerse as nothing as what original Tau empire was. Tl;dr Tau aren´t 40k commies (despite being fantasy of fully automated luxury communism) they are 40k libshit because like libshit the cant face the inner logic of 40k reallity and its repercussion (and it is the same argument why primaris suck)

[@DoctorM42]

@@luckiller019 against Eldar and Necrons Tau have numbers the same way Imperium have against Tau.

[@StarSage66]

That's a bit of a stretch. Even if we account for the tau expanding their empire they are still smaller than Ultramar and the tau invest far more time and resources into getting a fire warrior ready to go than the imperium by a country mile. While the necrons and eldar aren't swimming in guys, the tau can't afford serious losses, something that's probably refreshing for the eldar to deal with.

[@Sorain1]

@@StarSage66 And unlike fighting Necrons, the kills they make on Tau actually stick.

[@DoctorM42]

@@StarSage66 >the tau can't afford serious losses Fire warrior is combat ready at the age of 12 due to shorter Tau life cycles and them starting to teach kids their craft from early age. And with state-controlled reproduction they can plan to have as many of them as hey want. Tau don't like wasting lives and materiel, but they actually can afford it if push comes to shove. Hell, time and time again they bounce back from catastrophic loses in a decade or two where it would have taken Imperium centuries to recover.

[@seymourfields3613]

My first conflict against the Tau was back in third edition. Against my friend's advice, I allowed my opponent to choose a "trench war" table. Against my friends advice, I played at range. My Chaplin on a bike and my six man terminator squad were all of my melee force, and focused directly into his best ranged forces. Having nothing with 36" range or better, he was left to die in a trench against two devastor squads before attempting to climb out and march directly into bolter fire; heavy bolter, plasma cannon, and frag/krak grenades raining down on them. Over 75% of my army survived.

[@Corey_Mckilling]

Those were the days... i dont think theres a image more iconic for Tau than the cover of their 3rd edition codex 😂

[@Retard634]

>the wall of martyrs terrain boxes will never be made again why live?

[@-JustHuman-]

And yet Tau was called THE shooting army by most, the joke really is it's all they can do.

[@owlsayssouth]

@@-JustHuman- i mean, that is the point. they don't waste points on melee capability. a tau player has to understand this limitation, and make it an advantage. which requires tactics, strategy, and proper list building. both in being able to fight the enemy, and in playing the objectives. this is true with any army, but with "min-maxed" lists it becomes even more important.

[@-JustHuman-]

@@owlsayssouth True, but if a Tau player plays to his strength and actually win, then nobody will play with you and call your army OP, because you took them out in the shooting phase. Just look at how people are crying over the Stormsurge and Hammerhead right now, units that won't even really hit the table as they are not as OP as folk say, and when you tell them that it's then all the rest that is OP or GW is doing it wrong and making it not fun to play. Only time people really loved playing against Tau was 5th edition, because Tau din't get any codex and had to use the outdated 4th.

[@DoctorM42]

One interesting thing about Tau biology is that they don't evaporate nearly as much water out of their bodies as humans do, meaning water supply problem is much easier. Standard infantry kit includes "water condenser tube" capable of condensing enough water out of air for one Tau even in the middle of desert. That being said, other species in the empire drink as much as humans and in Kroot case actually quite more.

[@jacob5395]

That means they get tried faster than a human would. Not to mention need to cool down by other means.

[@-JustHuman-]

@@jacob5395 That really depends on the biology and location, we don't know if they handle heat much better than humans, as in if their temperature can run in a wider range than us then they wouldn't star feel any effect before those temperature ranges are surpassed, and even humans can go vastly over or under with skill and equipment. Giraffe as a example here as it too do not sweat, but the color of their skin is enough to change the temperature of their blood to keep them from overheating in a hot arid/desert environment, so they should handle cold to hot very well as that would change a lot during a day.

[@sciarpecyril]

However, human sweating is one of nature's most effective ways of cooling the body, allowing humans in hot regions to chase prey until it collapses from exhaustion and overheating.

[@DoctorM42]

@@sciarpecyril from the way Tau physiology works they probably developed thrown spears much earlier, so they didn't need to have that level of endurance. On the other hand they somehow only need 3 hour of healthy sleep per day compared to human 8 hours, which in Earth biology normally suggest emphasis on endurance over explosive action.

[@-JustHuman-]

​@@sciarpecyril Yes, one of natures way to cool the body, but that is again here on Earth, so it wouldn't be applikable to a Alien races which is also not even sharing the same chemical build up as us. As we could also say that the skin being blood/grey is because of the cooper based blood they have, as it is clear until exposed to the air, so the whole body might be used like a heat exchange from inner organs to the skin where it's exposed to the air to cool the actual blood, and just by circulating it faster they might cool of without needing to sweat better than we do as they can do it inside out, where we only really cool the outer layer and blood-vessels. It is also a double edge sword to have sweat glans in some cases like a desert or arid area where it would kill you faster and make you move slower faster to, there is a plus and minus to all. But I don't think we can say they would get tired faster, as cooper based blood might mean they are better at circulating oxygen too and doing it for longer without stressing the body.

[@cnlbenmc]

12:48 well the Tau actually weren't entirely wrong; the Deathwatch managed to field Masking Screen devices that largely mimic Stealth Suit functionality within a few Decades of the Crusade. They are pauldron mounted devices that attach to Astartes Power Armor instead of needing an entire dedicated suit but they only last a few minutes before needing recharging and their optical camo system is imperfect in that it interferes slightly with the user's ability to see targets and engage at significant distances (beyond 10-20 meters). Also the Imperium basically straight up copied the Tau EMP grenades. Edit; I recently confirmed from the rulebook that they in fact do NOT have a limited operational runtime, I confused that particular part with the noise canceling Stummer generator.

[@lordfrostwind3151]

Mechanicus would take a century, the Ordo Xenos and Deathwatch are a bit more "flexible" depending on their viewpoints

[@TheFolros]

Heresy! Clearly the loathsome Tau copied Imperial EMP grenades... and don't let the Commissars hear you say otherwise.

[@mechrob1]

Meanwhile in the BattleTech universe in the year 3062, the Purifier Adaptive Battle Armor is introduced featuring Mimetic Armor.

[@cnlbenmc]

+@@TheFolros+ The Adeptus Astartes and the Inquisition do not answer to the Commisariat.

[@sciarpecyril]

The power armor has a fusion reactor, how could they not connect a cloaking device to it for a constant power supply?

[@otaviolobo7989]

Oh wow, a unexpected but very well welcomed T'au lore! Thanks Arch. I hope you one day do a lore on Commander Farsight, or even better, the Damocles Gulf Crusade (both of them) and a breakdown on novels.

[@Greyghost760]

Yea more tau.

[@DEATHsong100]

Damocles Gulf would be awesome by Arch, but I not sure when he would do another big series with GW on the rag

[@otaviolobo7989]

@@DEATHsong100 Yeah... and I'll forever curse GW and the false fans for this.

[@truffelnootje]

Will kitten be mentioned?

[@otaviolobo7989]

@@truffelnootje Oh i would love the mention but Arch has mentioned many times before that while he respects the love fans have for TTS, he himself doesn't enjoy the animation or the comedy in it so... I don't think so.

[@twilightgryphon]

"It would be like taking away a modern day infantryman's assault rifle and giving him a minigun. A minigun that fires plasma bullets." Ratling gun, Arch. They're called ratling guns. You should know this. 😉

[@stangerr0267]

I will offer this slight point to the Taros campaign, T'au the Sept World is an arid world. Tau grew up in a naturally arid planet. Which is why earlier tau camo was that orange and yelloe

[@povilzem]

The Tau can make their silly invisible knight-suits all they like. Eldar have battle-titans with holofields.

[@spiritvdc5109]

"I see your advanced ingenuity and raise you *the race who won the War in Heaven*"

[@calebbarnhouse496]

Robot suit the size of a building going sneaky < robot suit the size of a building leveling cities with it's main guns

[@NewGuy2534]

“Just good enough” for the Tau is the equivalent of some random Tech squirrel making a whole new power armor for the Astartes. Cawl: Sneezes in binary.

[@Yokoto12343]

01100001 01100011 01101000 01101111 01101111

[@Flight_of_Icarus]

I wish they would continue with the Cyraxus campaign. That had the possibility of pitting the Tau vs the Adeptus Mechanicus, which would be a very interesting matchup, and there were hints that the Admech would get access to their 30k equipment through that supplement.

[@lordfrostwind3151]

Mechanicus would be a hard army for the Tau to fight I'd bet since the bog standard Skitarii come decked out with enough sensor equipment to find anything short of Raven Guard or Night Lord infiltrators.

[@calebbarnhouse496]

@Lord Frostwind the problem with that however is that the Mechanicus is reliant on heavy armor, and heavy armor has historically been a terrible choice to bring to bear against the tau, because railguns can destroy 10 tanks before they enter firing range, and the tau will just make them enter the next killing field, not to mention how your giving the race that is really good at science access to your 30k stuff when it gets taken out and captured, not exactly a good postion for the mechanicus also the tau have common EMP tech, against the mechnicus that will turn off half the vital organs of the enemy army

[@Fulgrim2]

I actually embraced my inner weeb and paint them in Sailor Jupiters colors: white for the core body, green for certain plates and rose pink for heads and sensor vanes. *Laughs in Slaanesh at the promotional bit*

[@PelinalDidNothingWrong]

That's cool! I'd love to do a Saiyan themed Tau force one day

[@Graikatiph]

Funny enough I think the Mass Effect series brought up the concept you spoke about with regard to AI. That being the idea of a Synthetic Intelligence, which differs from and Artificial Intelligence in that and AI is designed to learn, grow and develop. An S.I. cannot as it is essentially just a very fancy interface that can run any number of pre-set programmes based on set triggers and circumstances as well as inputs from the user!

[@logandeathrage6945]

Correct, though in Mass Effect they are called a Virtual Intelligence.

[@stangerr0267]

Synthetic Intelligence was fallout

[@wintersking4290]

Imperial desert forces according to GW "Oh look the trail in the sand dead ends into this giant, very convenient, rock formation. I wonder if there's trickery here, hmmmm... No it's probably nothing."

[@sanddoom2089]

Unexpected but nice to learn about the blueberry’s hide and seek suit.

[@tomasburian6550]

And also that the big tiddy tau femalios made it to the official lore!

[@Reddotzebra]

You can just imagine the first tech priests that had a go at tinkering with that helmet, with one being close to short circuiting due to sheer orgasm at the thought of getting to take apart xenos tech but not being able to show it in any way and the rest standing on the opposite side of the room, cradling their toasters protectively and hissing at the "corrupt and unfriendly" machine spirit like horrified cats.

[@lostbutfreesoul]

How many weeks of rites do you think it takes, to ensure you are protected enough to even touch this thing?

[@calebbarnhouse496]

Imagine how quick there tone would change if they found a tau toaster

[@Reddotzebra]

Tau drones may have those radio antennae, but they are referred to in lore as being able to act as directed laser comm relays. The blueberries literally string them out between their various mobile elements in long pearl necklaces of laser relays to send messages and transfer data when jamming or interception is a concern, so having the drones attached to a stealth suit shut down their radio equipment and rely on laser comms should be a standard feature. In fact most if not all drones should have the option to do this by default.

[@sciarpecyril]

Though laser comms are short-ranged.

[@Reddotzebra]

@@sciarpecyril Which is why the Tau gets around that problem by having a lot of drones just flying in lines between their units so they can use those short ranged laser comms between each other, and move in more of them to replace the ones that inevitably get shot down.

[@sciarpecyril]

@@Reddotzebra, then there will be a lot of drones. Whole hundreds. Easy to spot and easy to destroy in large numbers. And you can also spray smoke-metal screens and disrupt laser communication. In a practical sense, this communication system will only be effective on a small scale, in the form of about one to two dozen drones, in good weather and there are no active enemy forces nearby. Only these drones should be static and transmit data in a chain in order to provide maximum data transfer speed. And if there is a margin of time and the need for secrecy and reliability, the best solution for communication will be the laying of a cable.

[@sanddoom2089]

Hopefully we get a video on the Mechanicus, maybe a planet defense or invasion video as the mechanicus usually have all of the fun toys.

[@Colonel_Overkill]

In 5th or 6th I ran a tau army without a single infantry in it. Mainly did it to paint and plaued it only a couple times. Was wheen the ghostkeel just came out, so I had I think 10 each XV15 and XV25 with 3 XV95. I just played for fun and everyone knew that so I got games but with a few changes to equipment the army would have gone from unpleasant to a nightmare. One fellow said bring your worst one game, expecting the triple riptides common at the time. That was the only time I ever deployed the titan, and holy hell was that a quick game.

[@drayuel7340]

Man really liking the classic arch lore an all the bells and whistles that come along.

[@selwrynn6702]

I think it would be an interesting Lore direction for the Tau is if they go more and more heavily into drones for their warfare tactics and eventually start making better and better A.I. in an attempt to fend of chaos or the imperium or both which leads into a second cybernetic revolt but on a much smaller scale. Currently the Tau is kinda reminiscent of pre revolt humanity so it would be interesting to see them accidentally go a similar direction and end up falling just as humanity is finally building itself back up. Maybe because of the ethereals the Tau A.I. doesn't directly turn on them or something too.

[@lostbutfreesoul]

I, too, was hoping for a more A.I. leaning army. Specializing in smaller unit tactics over 'bigger and more expensive models.'

[@draconisaganata]

ON my thought of how the men of iron incident happened has two points: one on mars the void dragon is buried there by big E, it fucks with TECH, and the second thing is that SOMEONE had asked the stupid question on how to fix the warp to the AI, and when it said it had a solution, the intelligent lacking individual told it to start with the solution.

[@ironmask4568]

I honestly at this point think the tau in any capacity would survive an ai revolution lore wise and from my experience with the community no one tea likes the drones at all

[@aazz9676]

@Jinx Dragon It's GAMES WORKSHOP ffs. There is no way they're not going the more expensie model route.

[@Azrael178]

In defense of stealth suits on taros, taros was said to be a very windy planet, with sandstorms being a regular accurence, and knowing tau they just jetpacked out of there as fast as possible after striking and any pursuit by talarn cavalry units was likely to encounter pathfinder ambush, so the apparent ease of finding them might have bitten imperials in the ass a lot

[@monado550]

Arch pumping out so much content lately im so happy

[@robinderoos1166]

That was my favorite tactic in dawn of war, sneak in stealth troops to slowly assasinate the enemy warlord. Worked great vs orks!

[@PsychoticWiki]

Honestly I’ve always loved the XV15 for its looks I’d love to see the tau like maybe the enclaves refit them with a shield generator instead of stealth like a smaller mobile fire support instead of stealth system to save resources

[@calebbarnhouse496]

Tbh I wish they did what dawn of war did, give mixed units of stealth suite, allowing you to mix and match as you like, maybe even having a special rule called flexible training where during movement if you have a freindly stealth suit squad within movement range you can send some of them there, noting what units between them you sent out

[@thil2894]

44:30 I don't think that they would need that much, the Tau are born and raise in this society there is probably a physical (fart gas) component but there is also a cultural and military (discipline, knowing your place, education etc.) component to this surely.

[@bfastje]

Electro magnets can be used to communicate to near by system without fear of being detected by anything further away. As unlike radio waves which go on forever magnet field only fill a limited space. So between tight beam laser and magnetics commanding drones shouldn't be a problem.

[@sciarpecyril]

Radio waves are electromagnetic radiation. The magnetic fields themselves can be detected by magnetometers.

[@bfastje]

@@sciarpecyril magnetic fields lines only go so far, and then bend back. They are undetectable out of a given range.

[@sciarpecyril]

@@bfastje, if the source of the magnetic field is weak and is used for short-range communication, then it is really difficult to detect this from a distance. However, the same applies to low power radios operating in high frequency bands. Especially when using directional antennas.

[@archades115]

I suspect that the stealth suit pilots are able to remain loyal while going long periods of time away from an Ethereal by virtue of being alone. He or she isn't able to observe how their fellow Tau act, or how the Ethereals act, with a clear mind. Or able to discuss those observations or ideas with others who are free of the Ethereal influence. Just my two cents.

[@balonkita185]

Or maybe they just need to be exposed to the ethereals for a day and the effects lasts for years on their minds, unlike regular Tau, who need to be exposed constantly.

[@hylageo]

May also be something to do with how they bond with their suits ai

[@lostbutfreesoul]

Consider how high a rank they are as well, that isn't an accident. These are officers who have been indoctrinated so heavily it is unlikely being alone is enough to shake their loyalty.

[@pyeac]

Most tau aren't exposed physically to ethereals at all. They have jobs to go to.

[@-JustHuman-]

I have always said it makes more sense that it's radio waves they influence the minds with, it's only in a Imperial book that they have said it could be pheromones, but it has never been said or stated anywhere else. Mostly it can't be pheromones as all Tau fight in close suits, and far away from Ethereal's too. It wouldn't work on spaceships or over distances either, as even wind would remove the effect. It's also not fast enough from what we know, as Tau can "feel" when a Ethereal dies even in space or with walls between them, something radio waves have no problems with. It is also makes more sense as they use technologi to "fake" a Ethereal at some point, it wouldn't be really possible to milk the fluid in enough amount to do that for long, as it's a very small organ they have so sheer amount produced with be small no matter how potent. But making a radio relay for other Ethereals to just broadcast though is much easier to do, as you don't even have to make the signal just camture it and amplify it, and it can be done even over light years. It would be even more simple if it was just a constant signal, then you could just loop it.

[@RevantheBlack]

A video on the blueberries? That’s rare!

[@losthero0]

27:30 my thoughts are to pulse fire flight systems along with a trained light step to minimize sand disturbance, or as in the DoW games, they fly to one spot and land, stay stationary while firing, then reposition. Yeah, the Talarn should know the desert, but when your entire column gets ambushed from out of nowhere and everyone gets torn to shreds with pulse fire, then they dissappear, we'll your expertise can only get you so far. Even during Damocles and catacgan we're using the jungles on Dalyth and Agrellan, tau would often just light up the entire tree line and that usually solved the problem by at least 60%.

[@johnyendrey5590]

Regarding the XV-95's vulnerability to having its cloaking emitters/nodes knocked offline when taking fire: The system is probably built with redundancies in mind, with many overlapping fields of effect: perhaps only 75% of the nodes are necessary for optimal cloaking, meaning that if one area of the suit takes damage sufficient to knock the nodes there offline, then additional surrounding nodes can be activated to compensate. I don't have any evidence that this is the case, but its what immediately came to mind.

[@earnestbrown6524]

When Tau first came out the first Tau army I saw was done up as the Macross SDF. Had the battlesuits painted in the colors of the main characters Veritechs and the SDF symbol on the everything.

[@rushanthchandrakumar2284]

Your battesuit video form years ago was how I first found your channel. Im so happy your updating them now. Id love to see a whole tau line video series.

[@cnlbenmc]

I never expected to make this connection but for some reason the T'au term "Spheres of Expansion" reminded me now of 07th Expansion which is the group responsible for the "When they Cry" franchise like Higurashi and Umineko. I seriously doubt there's a connection there beyond possibly, maybe someone who was involved in writing the T'au having been a fan of their works and inserting it as an Easter egg but even that would be a stretch. Though if some of the nastier denizens of that universe like Featherine Agustus Aurora or her top two minions Frederica Bernkastel and LambaDelta made their way into 40K somehow; they could cause untold havoc (unless they were dumb enough to draw the ire of a Chaos God). Then again there's so much going on all the time, all across the Milky Way that even Featherine might just be able to satiate her crippling boredom by sitting back and watching everything unfold.

[@toeletsplay1533]

By the way congratulations to 250 k subs mate:) Remember joining the channel at the 40k sub special and haven't missed a Lore vid ever since

[@PhilosophicallyAmerican]

Loved Tau in Dark Crusade. Still my favorite faction.

[@Gokkee]

Agree :)

[@lordfrostwind3151]

Mass stealth suits was so broken in Dark Crusade, I loved it.

[@PhilosophicallyAmerican]

@@lordfrostwind3151 Oh yeah, I said I like them, but I will never say they were well-balance.

[@jaredpowell3445]

To this day they are the only faction I beating the game with I really need to play more

[@Gokkee]

Always just spammed out max army fire warriors, ult tank and bodyguards^^ used 50min to win each map out of just pure joy xD

[@MyrdinAnnoth]

Quite fun video. Nice to hear about the Tau tech for a change. It would be great if you could cover all the Tau Battlesuits eventually. Including the XV9 Hazzard Battlesuit (Forge World) which were really cool looking, but never got the proper rule update they deserved.

[@stangerr0267]

He has a 7 yr old video that does just this, but admittedly it's more of a surface level of all of them.

[@HubiKoshi]

Hmm regarding food and water. I wonder if they are maybe using a filtration system like the Fremen used on Arrakis.

[@KT-pv3kl]

You are absolutely on point. The lore states that every firewarrior has a moisture condenser in their kit and since they come from a desert world they need much less water than most species.

[@tobiasbissinger5596]

New arch video on a friday? Good things still seem to happen, rejoice dear community!

[@PhilosophicallyAmerican]

One misunderstanding: The Tau caste system is horizontal not vertical. If I was a Water Caste diplomat, I can become a more high ranking diplomat. I can progress in my career. However, I can never change from a diplomat into a warrior. Also, the pheromone fan theory was never confirmed (unless post 7th ed, but that stuff sucks).

[@nonamed9613]

Yeah, but at this point some Authors also started using that explanation. Granted, most Black Library authors write bullshit to a very consistent degree and the times I read it was never like spelled out confirmed, but the way it was describet was pretty telling

[@myriad9597]

Its vertical friend, horizontal means you can change castes(In your example anyway.).

[@PhilosophicallyAmerican]

@@myriad9597 But the dividers are vertical so you can't switch around horizontally. It made sense in my head is all I'm saying.

[@PelinalDidNothingWrong]

The Pheromone fan theory is interesting but I prefer the more Orwellian interpretation of the Tau

[@calebbarnhouse496]

He didn't become a fire warrior, but in the enclaves there are non fire cast individuals in battlesuits, so that is worth noting

[@omegawilliam95s36]

I never once thought I’d hear Arch say “Ball Deodorant”.

[@KittSpiken]

"They're not intelligent, they're just good at pretending their intelligent." Tau AI sounds ready to make KZbin video essays.

[@WarrenKarver]

The XV 25 always struck me as the Taos version of astardi's power armor

[@tomaszwota1465]

*blinks repeatedly*

[@MrNetWraith]

I can never hear about the tau's plasma minigun without having fond flashbacks to Turok 2 back in the glory days of my childhood. Ah, the Firestorm Cannon... only gun that competed with the Shredder for sheer coolness in concept, and definitely outperformed it.

[@PixelSlayer247]

I love how active you are lately, Arch! Thanks for all the hard work!

[@stannisbaratheon3650]

I love this kind of videos. Especially when you add a little bit of banter, comedy, and sarcasm in your videos.

[@YiotisTheGnome]

@40:00 the funny thing is that Arch already has a video specifically on the little kawai Tau drones.

[@LilNewo]

Just looking for something to drift off to. Been hanging for another Tau vid from ya barch, cheers for the sweet goodnight

[@level12fighter]

Hearing Arch describe Tau battle suits reminds me of Battletech tech

[@OzymandiasRex]

Ah yes. Good old Lore! Can we get a Genestealer video soon? Imagine a nice long video like the chaos subversion one!

[@1973Washu]

With drones I suspect the antenna is only used by stealth units when they are being spent and feeding target locks to a attack bomber or a long range missile system , once they go active they are basically written off unless they survive by some miracle where they might be recovered. But for the majority of the stealth mission visual communications would be used sparingly and the AI would be trusted to follow the mission plan.

[@davidodonovan1699]

Funny story that happened to me, as a teenager, that this advert in the video reminds me of: I remember on the evening of a modelling of new clothing thing that our class was doing in school in my mid teens (4th year AKA transition year, for anyone aware of what that means here in Ireland), I cut a little nick of a cut near my Adams apple shaving for one of the first times in my life. Then when the girls in my class backstage at the local hotel complet where we where doing it asked what that was, looking at the bloody tissue paper over the wound: "I sit throat shaving". They visibly took an immediate step back in shock, and I then realised that wording it like that was misleading, as I had only cut the skin, and not the windpipe, as that statement implies. I was too nervous in that split moment to correct myself though.

[@hunterofajax1963]

Ya know hearing how he feels about the look of the primaris, im curious of his opinion on something like the Custodes.

[@Marinealver]

XV-15 just looks like Fire Warrior Armor painted scarlet.

[@NornQueenKya]

Going invisible means nothing when you can smell their fear from a mile away

[@lordmaur180]

Or when you can blow up half of the surface od the planet, while the other half of it burns

[@caileanfindlytearle6936]

This message, brought to you by: The Space Wolves.

[@1973Washu]

@@lordmaur180 An easily exploitable strategy , invade a valuable forge world that makes one of a kind tech , the imperium rolls in and exterminates the planet destroying their capacity to produce some vital part , thus weakening the imperium. All for the cost of a couple of regiments of stealth suits that can be replaced. Now repeat this often enough and the imperium will be reduced to a 'stone knives and bear skins" level of tech that can easily be incorpirated into the Tau Empire , and at that point it would practically be an act of charity...

[@lordmaur180]

@@1973Washu in Theory yes, but to do any of that you need to know how the imperium manufactories works and where they are and guess what the mechanicus arent talking , at least not on non binary code Ps: also imperial navy might give you troble🤣

[@myriad9597]

@@1973Washu If the tech a planet has is non replaceable, the imperium tends to avoid extermanatus. And even if they did, the imperium(Despite its mnay issues.) could learn to counter the stealth spam tactic after a few planets were fought over. Or the death watch get sent in.

[@Corey_Mckilling]

Though i have to admit, nothing satisfies me more than seeing my friends blueberries get mauled by my Necron wraiths or Nids, I think im not the only one who has a secret soft spot for them just based on their whole "shtick" and aesthetic.. plus despite everything, i have to admit their "not too bad" in a firefight.

[@Theoreticallyyou1234]

I truly feel blessed for receiving bother video so soon. Not bieng sarcastic I check your channel for uploads everyday without fail

[@martonlerant5672]

Thermal invisibility (as far as "how do you vent heat"), is plausible, even IRL. As long as you can vent heat in directed narrow beam of radiation, by employing mirrors aroundy our radiators, like the ones used in car headlight (obviously tuned for a different wavelength) As long as the beam of heat is pointed away from the thing you are stalking you are golden.

[@SilcronKaytor]

Ah, nothing like coming back from work and relaxing with some Arch lore

[@deejeh9494]

Devilfish might not have lore stealth except for in Dawn of War. They use to have disruption pods which gave cover when +12". They should also be given flechettes similar to Shadowsun.

[@jumpstrart7]

I think you mentioned the Tau and a spacehulk before. Would that make a good video?

[@alphaecho3094]

Arch doing a tau video, never thought I'd see the day. That aside, Tau stealth tech has to be limited, if any one faction gets too compatent and develops doctrines that are actually effective then it's hard to justify them not just killing off the rest with mass producable hunter seeker drones, orbital strikes and stand off weapons.

[@michaelkimberling7307]

There’s an old Terran saying regarding technology. Good enough is perfect.

[@zoptar]

Finally some Tau lore. That race is treated as a meme. but i love all of WH40K. so its nice to hear some stuff about them.THX ARCH

[@ChaosLierLen]

Honestly, the best thing about Tau lore is exploring all the myriad ways they can get fucked.

[@NGorso1]

I miss XV15, I remember them being the first unit to build in Dawn of war

[@williamfawkes8379]

I love your stuff, it warms my icy cold Minnesotan heart. As you were talking about the XV-25 vs. Tallarn in the desert, I was wondering what sort of things the drones are capable of doing whilst not being shot at. Could they be scanning the terrain and then grooming it after the suit passes through? I need to make a diorama now of Tau drones with little rakes and blow dryers sculpting a meditation sand garden. Also, I don't know what sort of power supply the Tau are capable of, but if they do have something that is able to regenerate energy during periods of relative calm, then perhaps the suits could employ a sort of wind trap, that pulls moisture from the air, to replenish water supplies, in addition to capturing and filtering the waste of the operator. If the onboard food is a hard condensed mass, with a small but continually regenerated reservoir of water, then we are getting a little closer to an extended patrol capacity. Alright, brain off, ears back on, press play.

[@williamfawkes8379]

The Ethereals control the Tau with drugs, and the suit has a black box that is capable of dispensing these to the operator. The box is also the data storage device, and of course, the explosive anti-tampering charge.

[@ham9236]

The XV-15 feels like the mk6 corvus pattern astartes armour to me; simpler, older, better. You could even throw the mk7 aquila pattern into that category now since primaris came along. Super interesting vid as always, love putting these on while I work

[@sadwingsraging3044]

Captured Tau XV pilot: How _dare_ you Inquisitor! I was merely,,, assisting my drone *over* that fence when you captured me.

[@PosranaRegistrace]

Inquisitor: "That is cute. I believe you" **picks huge anal probe** "However, there are some details missing in your story, so let me ask you again..."

[@Orlando87mil]

One of my favorites battlesuits, both in lore and in tabletop thanks for the video.

[@itsahalmar1853]

I have found much of your content rather delightful thanks for getting people interested in the interesting universe of Warhammer.

[@DISTurbedwaffle918]

The Ghost Keel could have the stealth drones clean up it's footprints, I suppose. Not sure how they'd do it, but it's a solution.

[@malaficus]

That or create fake tracks.

[@countchokula2680]

Arch knocking lore out again is the best thing ever

[@ricks5756]

22:23 From what I understand, the human body can function on less than 800 calories per day for a long time before health problems develop. From the recorded documents I pulled up, soldiers have been in combat situations with "quarter rations" ( ~750 calories ) for months on end.

[@bigdiccmarty9335]

Where and when? Because a war of movement will require far more rations than static trench warfare or a fort/garrison unit

[@calebbarnhouse496]

Quarter rations for guys working is going to having guys go unconscious and dying in droves during combat, it's not going to kill you short term, but you can't be an effective fighting man on double that unless your in a fortified postion and your last minute seige prep is done

[@valerian5511]

Idea, a survival game where you play as a stealth suit with a stealth squad behind enemy lines or as a ghostkeel

[@stangerr0267]

The XV-95 actually uses stealth drones rather than any inherent stealth field

[@steelgreyed]

48:00 bad mental image of a drone following the suit with a broom making angry Wallee maintenance droid noises.

[@BofaDee33]

Tau's my favorite Dawn of War 1, Dark Crusade, Soulstorm race. A massed bunch of all fire warriors can shoot and destroy almost everything before they get into melee and even if they do the other fire warriors can shoot them down pretty quickly. Ah the good days of DoW before it became a tactical rpg and then who the hell knows what the 3rd one is supposed to be.

[@beanward_xd527]

I think one important think to consider about battlefield repairs is the fact that the operator of the ghostkeel is not a member of the earth caste. This could mean attempting battlefield repairs would put the operator "between spheres" I think they call it and iirc they can be punished quite harshly for it. In crisis of faith (I think could be empire of lies) farsight falls into some water and has an issue with his battlesuit which he fixes resulting in him having to stand trial for it. It has been a while since I read those books so I could be wrong though.

[@RaDeus87]

IIRC heavy things don't really sink in most kinds of sand, the weight locks the grains together more firmly.

[@brokedude9999]

Tau sponsored by Manscaped? That's how the Etherals removed the other casts balls

[@lilyeves892]

Given that the tau home world is a desert planet its not to hard to imagine they'd be pretty experienced with operating in that environment. That plus there technical advantage it doesn't seem a stretch that they'd beat the tallarn rough riders

[@calebbarnhouse496]

Tbh it would be nearly impossible for rough riders to be an effective military considering there signature unit is a unit that is just kinda inferior to devil fish, sure a devil fish will cost more, but your gonna need like 1,000 of those guys minimum to hurt a significant tau flank, and burst cannons will rip right through them, the only armies they should ne effective against are ones that have low discipline like orks, that will just ignore the enemy doing there one tactic in repeat in a battle

[@lyravain6304]

You know Arch, I think the whole "AI turns omnicidal" could very well be a plan from Tzeentch and THAT might be why it doesn't affect the Tau as much -if at all. We know that Tzeentch has had a great deal of influence on Eldar and Human minds. Call it 'presence in the Warp' or meddling due to others (could be part of Emp's trade-off with the Warp Gods or whatever). Considering Tzeentch's rather absurd ability to plan ahead, all it would take would be a simple 'bug', so simple everyone "happens" to overlook. In fact, a bug so simple that entire CULTURES are taught that it's NOT a bug, but a FEATURE! And the Lord of Change can DEFINITELY pull stunts like this off. But the Tau are new, they expanded absurdly fast. They have an all but nonexistent presence in the Warp. That might be why Tzeentch hasn't meddled with them (YET). They likely evolved their AIs before he had time to infiltrate and introduce such bugs. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin', the whole Abominable Intelligence could be yet another hyper-complex plan by the Architect of Fate that hasn't spread out yet. It's entirely likely when (more likely IF) the Imperium reverse engineers Tau tech, the AI flaw could be fixed. Well, if it doesn't get condemned as xenotech and BLAMM'ed away.

[@markblakey3456]

Damn last time I saw this many smurfs i was on Ultramar. At least Rowboat's brood weren't all running around calling each other comrade though.

[@RedwolfDogrocket]

Arch: Speaks bad about Shadowsun's face cavity. Kitten: Looks over at his pissed off G.F and gets up and walks onto the stage with golden slap-hand raised!

[@Archangel_Kali]

Tau AI are [effectively] an incredibly advanced User Interface [for a hyper-advanced data-processing system that uses various complex algorithms to serve a roll similar to, but distinct from, true AI].

[@krinkrin5982]

Perhaps the Tau AI is the actual key of the long range Ethereal control. After all, if they treat them like beloved companions, who better to ind... convince them they should listen to the guys back home.

[@Tetmonator89]

Hadde ikke egentlig tenkt til å kjøpe noen produkter fra Manscaped, spesiet fordi Majorkill driver å maser om det i videoene sine. Men siden du anbefaler skal jeg gi dem et forsøk 😊 Takk for fredagens underholdning, god helg Arch

[@eichler721]

The Tau have good tactics and strategies for the most part. The Battlesuits are the only real response to Astartes and their Devestators and Terminators. Otherwise they lose to them almost every time.

[@efirizaki6457]

I mean think about it Today in Ukraine you need a javelin rocket or an rpg7 launcher to kill a T 72 How do you kill an Astarte in a direct battle or worst if he use the same tactics as you!? Plus he is smarter faster and more routhless than you

[@pjmetzen3483]

@@efirizaki6457 Use your own version of a Javelin or send a Battlesuit against em.

[@calebbarnhouse496]

Not really, in lore space marines suffered heavy casualties from tau pathfinder railguns, there vehicles slaughtered by the heavier railguns on the tigetshark and tanks, the stealth suits are just what it takes to make the astrates have to respect the tau for anything except the longest range they fight in

[@eichler721]

@calebbarnhouse496 false as the White Scars and Ravenguard had a few hundred warriors and held off and killed thousands of Tau including tanks and Battlesuits.

[@calebbarnhouse496]

@eichler721 and in the next story the space marines lot a dozen marines to a single crisis suit, and a hammerhead is able to peirce a rhino with one shot in lore plot armor is the only thing that keeps the marines from having 3 guys per chapter

[@malcolmthorne9779]

Just have to say, that is a godly dapper goatee sitting on Arch's face.

[@NetMoverSitan]

Space communists with the power of anime on their side, let's see what this more in-depth take on this battlesuit is. (you've already done a more general battlesuit lore video) | 6:17 - They're Red Shirts, what do you expect? | 8:20 - For good reasons, largely due to the Horus Heresy. | 12:08 (monotome) All hail the Ultrasmurfs. | 14:40 - Ah, one of Commander Farsight's inner circle. | 36:44 - As in, "going Skynet" on everything? You've already covered that in a lore video.

[@wintersking4290]

Theory, the Aetherials are actually Androids. Which is why the drones don't rebel. The machines already rule the Tau. That way the Tau will conquer the Galaxy for the AI and then when the time comes the Tau will all die willingly "for the greater good".

[@ravenknight4876]

That be horribly inefficient. If an AI had at any point ruled the Tau, they would longe since have converted everything into machines and conquered the galaxy by M47.

[@Gokkee]

Yay finally more tau greatness ;D Everything is for the greater good and so are your vids ;)

[@krellio9006]

Tau stealth suit in dark crusade was really OP its anti vehicle and is also invisible.

[@michaelkasubaski9426]

Until you talked about imabominable intelligence I never had the thought of how terrifying cawl inferior's constantly asking for the leadership of Mars is

[@Skillet1O1]

I would love to read a book or get a video about the Damocles Gulf Crusade from The Taus perspective. Like...it would be apocalyptic.

[@1973Washu]

The poorly protected baggage train and rear area HQ of an enemy army is indeed a valid target and that is what stealth units are for. They are the masters of the unfair fight and the sucker punch.