+ inload: Tau on the workbench +

+ Back from the brink +

+ Open fire! All weapons! +

+ Some armies – like an old Tau force that I was never pleased with – get sold on; though I often keep hold of a few favourites. After having fun putting some paint on Shas'la Cano'Be [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] the other day, I dug around and pulled out the remnants of a previous sale and have given them a rebasing job to freshen 'em up. +

+ Stealth suits seem to fit 32mm bases much more comfortably than the 40mm ones these were supplied with. It's entirely possible that the current box comes supplied with this size, of course! +

+ The white goo on the bases is acrylic texture paste. It'll give some light grittiness, and match the basing of my Death Guard [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], who regular readers will remember are set in the same campaign.  +

+ Something old, something new +

+ The old guard are joined by some of the lovely new Pathfinders. I've always liked the Tau infantry more than the suits, and the character and posing of the new/updated kits meant I couldn't resist. I'm very tempted to pick up a Breacher team, as the curved/angular details would echo the Crisis commander pictured below. + 

+ Pictured here pre-priming, this Forgeworld suit (a mem-bank cascadefail means I can't remember the XV coding, I'm afraid) looks considerably more comfortable on a new oval base than the giant round one he was supplied with. +

+ Something borrowed? Something blue? +

+ The question now, of course, is how to paint them? I'd painted up a couple of test schemes over a decade ago – one is pictured below – but I'm still a bit hesitant about rolling it out. I'd very much appreciate any thoughts you have on the matter. +

+ Is there an unusual scheme you're dying to see on some Tau? +

+ inload: Xenos Agitprop of Antona Australis +

+ Now is the time for all Shas'la to come to the aid of the Greater Good +

In ideological battles, technological competition and in vistas of space, let us be invincible in every fight!

- Brightsword High Command Agritpop extract; from a view-pamphlet extensively distributed to worlds in the Tzi'Na M41.

+++

+ Creating a sense of scale in your campaign +

+ Campaigns like the Tzi'Na Crisis [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] are a great excuse to build and paint something outside your gaming army. For our Scallops Stars campaign, I built and painted some one-off Imperial Guardsmen, such as the Metis Light Foot [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. These act as a bit of colour for the campaign, reminding players that their force is just one amongst many in these wars that rage across whole sub-sectors. +

+ This helps to add a sense of scale to the conflict, which has two effects: Firstly, it prevents the same few characters being pivotal across time and space (this is one of the things I like least about Games Workshop's latest direction). Secondly, and more positively, it makes your games more personal. Your own army and characters can have their own plots and important stories within the broader war, allowing for more personal creativity and development. +

+++

+ Why make models for this? +

+ Of course, stories and colour text can do this too – there's no need to make models. However, this is a physical hobby, and it's nice to illustrate things with a picture or two. For me, it also serves to explore those ideas for colour schemes or modelling without committing to a whole army. +

+ In addition to letting you explore these ideas, creating a model will also likely inspire ideas, and help prompt some questions about the nature of the broader army, war or planet he or she represents. +

+++

+ Dao'Doean Sept +

+ Even before the forces of the Curdling Armada began their invasion of the Tzi'Na Enclave worlds, the Tau Military Command (TMC) was moving in response. Strongheel, Commander of the TMC, foresaw a long campaign, and ordered additional new Cadres to be raised in defence of the worlds of the Enclave. Estimating the Septworld of Dao'Doean to be in imminent danger of attack, the TMC instituted a massive enrollment campaign, pulling Fire Caste trainees, cadets and – it is rumoured – those still in academy into active training barracks. +

Translating as 'the happy steppe'; or 'Yes, plainsland', Dao'Doean is a typical frontier world of the Tau Empire. Settled in living memory by pioneers from deeper within the Brightsword Protectorate, the Tau here are now in their third generation. 

The broad, sun-kissed plains of the world are covered with fields of mod-wheat imported from the Earth Caste scientists of Chac'Tun; while huge improver-harvesters travel between the principal settlements.

Tau of this world have a reputation for resilience and innovation, only slightly marred by whispers of indolence. The planet has a standing garrison of five thousand Fire Warriors, but has little history or experience of warfare. 

+ Antona Australis Inquisitorial abstract of the world +

+++

+ Dao'Doean military forces +

+ The Tau's defeats in the nearby Cha'anxi system during the early stages of the Tzi'Na Crisis forced the Tau Military Command to graduate these Shas'la earlier than normal. The result was an impressively large number of new Cadres and reinforcements for existing forces pushed through training in a short amount of time. +

+ Shas'la Cano'Be (above) is a typical example of the newly-inducted Shas'la. Upright, proud and disciplined, the speed at which she has been trained – and the strain this placed on materiel supply – is nonetheless apparent. Most strikingly, she lacks the large shoulder shield and shin plates of a typical Strike Team member, likely due to lack of materials or delayed shipments to this frontier world. +

+ The variation on the aerial also marks the helm as an older pattern. Still functional, the helm would be regarded as virtually obsolete by the veterans of Cadres such as Hunter Cadre Shas'Ka Nan, currently operating nearby. +

+ Despite the compromises forced on the Sept, Cano'Be still benefits from arms and armour equal or superior to that enjoyed by Imperial Guardsmen of the sector. While the TMC have little illusion that the newly-raised Cadres would be able to defeat the Astartes elites of the Curdling Armada, the Fire Caste on Dao'Doean are highly motivated, and more than capable of engaging invading traitor guardsmen on an equal footing. +

+ The purple and green scheme provides little camouflage against the swaying golden-yellow fields in which the Fire Warriors operate; but is rather a combination of the original settler's Sept colours; intended to honour the Sept's founders. +

+ inload: Tau in Tzi'Na +

+ The Tzi'Na Crisis – Tau forces of M41 +

The Tzi'Na Crisis is a campaign between the Tau forces of the Brightsword Protectorate and the invading Curdling Armada, an immense fleet of unsavoury and predatory Chaos raiders.

This article is here to help PCRC Tau players to tell stories within the new region during the campaign. (A similar one is on the way for the Chaos players.) More importantly, perhaps, it's here to make the setting a little clearer! Antona Australis is more than six years old, and has got quite complicated.

The Brightsword Protectorate and surrounding space, M41.

+++

+ What is the Tzi'Na Enclave? +

The Brightsword Protectorate is a tau-led coalition of worlds, armed forces and space fleets. Under the command of The High Council and its figurehead Aun'El Si'Ot Lon, the Protectorate represents the power and influence of T'au in the Antona Australis sector; intended as a bold and gleaming statement of the young species' intent of galactic dominance. 

In broader terms, the Brightsword Protectorate is the Tau's area of influence in Antona Australis; roughly equivalent in size to an Imperial Subsector. A general space for the PCRC to play with, it is made up of a large circular region and a number of smaller Enclaves. A short bit of 'history' explains this here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] in more detail, but the broad points are summarised below.

In-universe: The Tau were so successful that the Protectorate eventually got too big to govern centrally, owing to the Tau's lack of faster-than-light travel and communication. The High Council (see above) therefore set up subsidiary regions called Enclaves. These remain part of the Brightsword Protectorate, but are semi-autonomous. They are responsible for their own protection, taxation etc., but send representatives to The High Council, and can expect support from the broader Protectorate (and in turn from the Tau Empire as a whole).

• Tau Empire > Brightsword Protectorate > Enclave > Individual starsystems > Septs (planets)

Out-of-universe: The Enclaves are a bit of a fudge that allow different PCRC members to create their own personal space for their Tau, and help account for the different stories you guys have written – while still keeping the Tau in the region vaguely united. Stuntwedge created his Starblade Enclave when the region was first set up back in 2013, so I took the name from there. The Tzi'Na Enclave was created to physically connect the main Brightsword Protectorate region to Warmtamale's Deep Reef setting on the sector map.

+++

+ Okay, I want to join the Tau + 

Cool. You don't need to do anything beyond playing games with your Tau against people's Chaos armies.

+ Join the Tau Empire! Super-dynamic opportunities for advancement! +

+ Aw, but I want to add to the story +

Sweet – now we're talking! As always, the first rule is 'do whatever you like, I'm not your boss'. 

However, if you'd like to build on the basic blocks already laid down, then read on:

+ Tzi'Na Enclave history and notes: +

• The Enclave covers a region that was largely wilderness space. There are lots of minor xenos and abhuman populations, as well as lots of worlds populated only by Tau settlers. Your systems can be ex-Imperial if you like, but most regions are 'fresh'. 
• The Enclave was created following the High Council's Second Sphere Expansion. A fleet was created to liberate the region and establish the Tzi'Na Enclave. 
• The Enclave is relatively new (one or two generations of Tau settlers). Some planets remain independent, but most of the planets have – willingly or unwillingly – submitted to Tau rule. 
• The region as a whole can be treated as an occupied territory. The Tau decided to grant religious freedom, so lots of Chaos Cults sprang up on the ex-Imperial worlds.
• The increased presence of cults drew the interest of Kainan; who became the figurehead for a Black Crusade. He heads the Curdling Armada, which has invaded to conquer the region in the name of the Dark Gods of Chaos.

+ Shas'O Po'Psox +

+ Who's in charge? +

• The High Council is at the top. 
• Below The High Council, and directly responsible for the Enclave's military is the Tau Military Command (TMC).
• Commander Strongheel – also known as Shas'O Po'Psox – is the TMC's representative in the region; and in overall command of all Tau forces. He led the Second Sphere expansion for the Tzi'Na Enclave.
• The TMC is a council of equals; so while Strongheel is the current President, he has no direct authority over your characters, merely political weight. In short, he can't order your guys; though for the sake of fitting in with the broader Tau background, I'd suggest we avoid everyone being a rebel!

+++

+ How does my existing army fit in? +

All the above has been written in order to make sure that you get to tell your stories. I've been careful not to contradict anything recorded on the PCRC site, so there's no need to change your army's background. However, if you want to update, advance or adapt your army's story, now's as good a time as any. Here are a couple of starting points.

• The PCRC's military commanders – that is, your characters, like Starblade, H'unk, Suna Sene etc. – represent senior officers within the TMC. You decide what relationship they have. Your commander might be a maverick, treating the TMC's orders as advice; or they may be a staunch believer in the Greater Good, and closely influence the TMC's plans.
• The PCRC's Ethereals (Lord T'o'T'o, Aun’El K’myar’sa etc.) are Ethereals, so they can pretty much do what they want. However, unless there's a very good reason, I'd suggest they will all recognise Aun'El Si'Ot Lon (The High Council's figurehead) as their boss.
• You should choose whether your forces are:
• Veterans of the Second Sphere Expansion wars – i.e. the Tau warriors who conquered the region, and who remain as a garrison.
• Newly-raised within the Enclave.
• Reinforcements from the broader Protectorate brought in to fight the invading Curdling Armada.

+ New worlds, new opportunities +

Needless to say, the Tzi'Na Enclave (and the Second Sphere Expansion in general) offers a great opportunity to create a new army, or develop second-line characters a bit further. 

+Stuntwedge's Kais-Eoro oversaw the victory in Heyn'Am. What will he do next? +

+++

+ To create a star system for your Tau +

Use this link [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. Stuntwedge's template makes everything nice and clear, so just fill in the boxes.

• If you want to be a good, loyal Tau citizen, and part of the main Protectorate, then your system should sit near the following co-ordinates: X:85 Y:35 (you fill these in near the bottom of the form, under 'Star Map Settings'). That site is the centre of the Protectorate region – keep the values within five or so to make sure you're within it (or test and adjust with the edit function).
• If you want to be a dynamic frontier colonist, and part of the Tzi'Na Enclave, your system should sit near the following co-ordinates: X:75 Y:38. Again, that marks the centre. Keep the values with three or so to stay within the Enclave.

This system is for you and you alone. It can be your army's homeworld, or – if you don't want your troops permanently settled in Antona Australis for whatever reason (e.g. an existing story you've written) – it can simply be a place they use as a staging post. If anyone wants to invade or do something to this region, they ought to check with you first. 

As an Imperial example, Lambda is the system where my Lamb's World guard come from. If someone wants to invade it/blow it up/have their character declare Exterminatus on it, it would be nice to be consulted beforehand. In contrast, Cha'Anxi is another system I've made – and its entire raison d'etre is to provide a setting for us to have battles, write stories etc. Feel free to do whatever there – and events in-games should definitely have an effect.

The same approach can be used to create a new system to fight over. As explained above, these are fair game for anyone to use. Here are the broad strokes of Tzi'Na to help guide you in creating systems and provide some inspiration for writing background that fits the existing background:

+ Warmtamale's Sune Sene has a whole history to write+

+ Naming +

• As per above, the PCRC first rule applies – 'do what you want'.
• I've been using slightly re-worded Chinese and Korean towns/regions as the basis for the systems' names, to give a semi-coherent feel to the region.
• Not all the systems you create need to be Tau septs, so feel free to bring in other influences. I would, however, suggest that most systems should have a Tau feel to them.
• The enclave's a pun on the New Wave band China Crisis, so feel free to add some classic dreadful 80s references.

+++

+ But I'm not in the PCRC +

While it's written for our gaming group, there's nothing to stop you using this inload to provide some guidelines or ideas for your own gaming. 

Antona Australis is our little corner of the 40k galaxy – but even so, it's a big place. Doubtless there are Tau forces we'll never identify fighting against some offshoot of the Curdling Armada – why not tell their story with your own games?

+ inload: Slow and purposeful: First Battle of Heyn'Am +

+ Following the events on the Tau septworld of Or'Na, in Cha'Anxi – a datablurt-summary of the battle can be found here: [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – the forces of the Curdling Armada are on driving forward on a number of fronts. +

+ As warfare on the Cha'Anxi front escalates, Kainan has dispatched a battlegroup to the Heyn'Am Rim. A motley collection of abhumans, traitor guardsmen and cultists, the force is accompanied by cell-warbands of Renegade Astartes, including the Mottled Halo, Bleak Vespers, Sons of Spectra and Scions of Magnus – a Thousand Sons warband commanded by the sorcerers Nikolai and Kamal. 

+ Tasked with disrupting critical food and supply lines from the bountiful world of Heyn'Am itself, the battlegroup made landfall only after a long and costly void battle. The sacrifices of the Air Caste gave the resourceful Commander Kais-Eoro – the ranking Tau officer in the system, and a trusted lieutenant of the sectorial commander, Strongheel – time to stiffen his hurriedly-prepared and inexperienced force of auxiliary defenders. +

+++

+ As the bulk of the two armies forces clashed across half a dozen strategic points, the elites met in the First Battle of Heyn'Am. An uneasy alliance of Death Guard and Thousand Sons met with Kais-Eoro's own battle-hardened corps of Fire Warriors – and some unexpected mercenaries: the Duke of Gork 'n Da Ten Faaazand. +

+ Lacking sufficient experienced Fire Caste warriors, and dubious of the indiginous levy's morale, Kais-Eoro made the fateful decision to employ a warband of greenskins to stymie the Chaos forces' advance. The aggressive greenskins executed a massive charge in the centre within moments of the battle's beginning. +

+ The fresh, verdant coastal landscape quickly became a quagmire as the brutal greenskins met the equally savage heretic Astartes. The heart of the battle was in a swirling ongoing melee in the centre, with more and more forces drawn into a meatgrinder. +

+ When the last orks fell in the centre, a mere handful of Plague Marines remained standing, swaying but defiant – but Kais-Eoro's own household was virtually untouched; and the remnants of the orks were sweeping up the embattled Thousand Sons on the shoreline. +

+ As light began to fall, the Tau-led coalition had the upper hand, but it had been a brutal and draining fight for both sides. + 

+ Result: a hard-fought victory for the Tau +

+++

+ Aftermath +

+ The mysterious tzeentchian warband claimed a personal victory, as they had rescued – or abducted – the hermit-magos Inshabel. This notorious heretek had haunted the worlds of the Heyn'Am Rim for some time, evading Imperial justice. His forbidden research into thanatology presumably promises Kamal and Nikolai some way of replenishing their ranks of Rubric marines. +

+ The Death Guard Sorcerer Czeslisc mournfully ordered the retreat before his forces were wiped out completely. His next act will be to report to his superiors; and perhaps return with reinforcements to subdue the tenacious world. +

+ Kais-Eoro's hunter cadre returned home virtually intact – a vital advantage for the ongoing war. Now Brightsword Command is aware that the Curdling Armada can strike deep into the Enclaves, perhaps Kais-Eoro's status will be increased. +

+ As for the Duke of Gork 'n da Ten Faaasand... The Duke himself crawled from the wreckage of his favourite buggy, who can say how he will react? Recriminations against the Tau, or pursuit of a valued new enemy? +

+++

+ inload: Gaming with a GM +

+ Future Echoes +

+ A PCRC Warhammer 40,000 scenario set during the Tzi'Na Crisis in the Antona Australis Sector +

+ Preamble +

+ While building terrain for our Golgotham project [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+], Stuntwedge, Warmtamale and I had been discussing a shared interest in 'proper' narrative gaming and scenarios a few weeks earlier, so I thought I'd prepare a game for a couple of PCRC members to have a go at. +

+ While this scenario has been written with the 8th edition of Warhammer 40,000 in mind, the intention is to evoke the story-led and GM-shepherded scenarios of 1st edition Rogue Trader; most famously the Battle at the Farm (which I'm determined to play at some point), but also the lesser-known Skirmish at Rynn's World [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+]. The latter has some lovely blind events that require a third party – the Gamesmaster – to monitor and resolve, and then reveal to one or both players at the appropriate time. +

+ At root, my intention has been to avoid complicating this scenario with lots of additional special rules, so the players can concentrate on their troops and tactics to play out the story, rather than getting lost in largely irrelevant bells and whistles. In fact, as a result of this, the scenario will require very little adjustment to be played with different factions, a different edition of the rules; or even other game systems entirely. +

+ The scenario and the GM's role +

+ For this scenario, you will need a GM to ensure some pre-determined events happen at the right times, blind to both players. In essence, the GM is there to 'run the theatre', so to speak. He or she has two roles: the first is to act as the caretaker of the battlefield; resolving mechanics that distract the players or get forgotten in the heat of battle (terrain effects, for example). Random reserves, for example, can be determined by the GM during the other player's turn, for example, so they're ready to roll out immediately. The result is mechanically identical to a normal game, but it strips a chore from the players, and allows them to concentrate on their troops in the game, rather than struggling with the 'interface'. +

+ Secondly, the GM can enrich the experience for all involved by breathing life into the world through the pre-set events built into the scenario – the player achieving a certain objective, for example, can be issued a related, follow-up objective (rescue the pioneer to get the location of the mine entrance, for example); or new, additional objectives become clear. Such event are very difficult to build into a two-player system, but having a neutral party maintaining them gives a richer fabric to the game. +

+ Of course, the role of a GM to a 40k scenario is not to act an additional storyteller, and as the GM, you should resist the temptation to give yourself an active role in the battle – instead, set the stage, prepare the timed pyrotechnics, then stand back and enjoy the spectacle. +

+ We'll be playing this game next weekend, so I'll keep the players' packs and GM notes for another inload. In the meantime, here's the shared information for you to digest:

+++

+ Welcome to Delph +

Commander Strongheel,
hero of Del'f

Six standard months ago, the planet Delph joined – or, depending upon your point of view, was annexed by – the Brightsword Protectorate. Since that time, the townships and industrial zones have been cleared, with the human population ported to supposedly temporary accommodation in the 'Protective Reservation Camps', as engineers work to bring the mines and factories up to standards more acceptable to the Tau.

Traditions long-suppressed by the Imperium have been sanctioned by the Water Caste, in the belief that temporarily allowing the humans freedom of worship is a harmless sop that will render them more pliable and open to the teachings of the Greater Good in the long-term – and give them something to focus on other than the sinister, antiseptic atmosphere of the camps. 

No world is conquered cleanly. Inevitably, Imperial loyalists and anti-xenos sympathisers have banded together, launching raids on the Tau fire teams as they systematically sweep each factory complex clear of rebels. The Tau's stated aim is to make it safe for their Earth Caste engineers to enter and alter the embalming and body-processing factories into 'Safeguard' arms construction.

In a little under a week, it will be Saint Capilene's Day, a sector-wide day of Imperial celebration, and the atmosphere is understandably tense. The Tau military – a mix of tough veterans of the war for Delph and green recruits – is on high alert in anticipation of trouble – teams have been deployed in force across the processing plants of the dockland industrial sectors.

+ inload: The Dolor Liberation Crusade +

+ A return to Dolor +

+ The Dolor campaign was fought back in the misty days of 2003(ish); it was the first organised campaign we played as a group; prior to the formation of the PCRC [+noospheric link embedded+]. It coincided with Codex: Cityfight being released, and we ended up playing out the fate of a dismal little planet called Dolor [+noospheric link embedded+]; scrapping over the wintry streets of the capital city, Dismay. +

+ Whatever the end result of the campaign, the world fell under the influence of the Tau's Brightsword Protectorate, the blueskin's domain in our group's shared sector. We've since played a number of campaigns, and the Tau seem to have got a bit big for their boots. Ten years has passed in the real world, and in the dark future, it appears the Imperium has decided to reclaim the world...+ 

+ Strike from Starfire +

+ The Imperial force pushed in from the Starfire Sector; bypassing a great deal of the Tau's defensive lines with a sudden strike. After a decade of uneasy rule by the Protectorate, the peoples of Tau'lor now peered nervously from windows as the Imperial warmachine began to march through their cities; loudhailers announcing liberation. +

+ Armoured vehicles, whose like had not been seen in years, drove up thoroughfares still broken from the original conflict. +

+ The Lamb's Worlders has returned – the 117th determined to make up for the failures of the regiments involved in the earlier war. +

+ Jealous alien eyes marked their arrival; and moved to retaliate; keen to defend the lands and peoples who had joined their federation. +

+ High-tech xenos artifice met human mettle and courage. +

+...with (sadly for the Imperium) less than romantic results. +

+ Imperial foot troops made their way through broken rubble, keen to meet the Tau in combat. +

+ Sharp-eyed snipers traded fire with pathfinders. +

+ Alien armoured might +

+ Dutiful Fire Warriors took up position... +

+ ... and then took aim. +

+ Trading withering firepower, both sides were whittled down in storms of red las and blue pulse shots. +

+ Armoured vehicles worked in close support. +

+ Both sides' special forces made their presence felt. +

+ Auxiliaries played their role; though humans loyal to the Protectorate were kept from the front line. +

...

+ Addendum +

+ Dolor became part of the Antona Australis Sector [+noospheric link embedded+], which grahamgilchrist later built up into a rather fetching map – go and have a little explore through the link when you have a few minutes: there's loads of cool little story hooks for you to use. +

+ inload: Tau conversions +

+ inload: Shas'la Pro'sta +

The Shas'ui frowns. The Shas'la are too long in taking their positions: the gue'la are already redeploying their support weapon, their barking orders reverberating around the draughty reinforced rockcrete. She speaks over the voicebind, her voice impatient, gruff.
~Delays, delays, Shas'la. Positional relay request. Kor'Ves?
+Pattern sequence unbound: mustering.
+Shas'la; attest position.
~Seru'men accedes.
~Pro'sta accedes.
~Ratification for Har'us.
+Confirm, Har'us
~Har'us accedes: position assumed.
+Pattern sequence mustering.
~Len'ra... accedes... [heavy breathing]
+Mon'wern'a pattern minimal muster, Shas'ui. Pattern bound.
~Sufficiency achieved: Seru'men, Pro'sta – deploy the Watchdog.
The Shas'ui rolls her tongue over her hard palette thoughtfully, as though tasting the gue'la word.
+Shas'ui? Unfamiliar.
She shakes his head at the drone's querulous tone. Sloppy, she thinks to herself. She hears Har'us chuckle softly over the voicebind as he starts to unbind the detonator from the Kles'tak.
~Disregard, Kor'Ves: Seru'men, Pro'sta – deploy the ingress ui't. I think this building needs a new entrance!

+ Building the Shas'la: Practical +

+ This is a fairly simple (WIP) model that uses bits from various kits – proving the benefits of a good bits box – and some minor conversion work to the helmet to give him a bit of personality. 

+ I thought it'd be fun to have an uncased aerial on his helmet, so this bit is from a Forge World servo skull. The other modifications are plastic bits trimmed from various lenses. I think this specific bit is from the Space Marine Scout biker kit. +

+ Painting the Shas'la: Practical +

+ The paint scheme is intended to be desaturated and high-contrast – I really loved the moonlight palette theme used by the ever-inspirational Migsula [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] on his excellent Alpha Legion force, and thought a night-themed force would be fun. For that reason, everything except the light source on his helmet is very desaturated, but I've deliberately steered clear of pure white or black; instead substituting GW Rotting Flesh and Charadon Granite. +

+++

+ Female Fire Warrior Conversion: Theoretical +

+ Tangentially related, here's a conversion of a female tau Fire Warrior that I made. The intention was to create a model that was clearly differentiated from the regular models while preserving the militaristic look. I wanted to balance the idea of femininity with the idea that she is in all ways equal with the male teammates. Sexism and racism don't have much place in the grim darkness of the far future – the different species have quite enough to worry about staying alive! +

+ As an alien species, a Tau female might have little to no physical differentiation from a male (besides, there might be multiple genders), but for the sake of the challenge, I wanted her to look sufficiently different to her colleagues to stand out a little as female, using visual cues like a slighter, more gracile form. +

+ Female Fire Warrior Conversion: Practical +

+ This was achieved by combining a plastic daemonette head (with the nose trimmed down) with a Tau fire warrior head to ensure that the head would join with the torso correctly. The limbs are made by combining Fire Warrior forearms and lower legs with parts from Forge World's Elysian Drop Troops range. I had some left over from the Lamb's World project, and thought they'd be ideal to give a slighter figure to the miniature. I cut the legs under the straps and turned them slightly, then used modelling putty to bulk out the hips and thighs a little to alter the human form a little. +

+ I'm pretty pleased with how she's come out, and – assuming the viewer is familiar with a male Fire Warrior, I think she's come out as distinctly female, but importantly not 'fragile–looking', as this is the domain of the Water and Air castes. She's from the Fire Caste, and needs to be tough and resourceful. +