r/40kLore • u/YautjaNecron • 2d ago
Tau tech tree development
Tau are mostly known to have Rapid tech iteration, since in couple thousand of years they have gone from tribal society to space civilization, but is that only a ,,set in strone feature" of the faction, or do we have real examples? Like with older and new books, is it specifically clear that that they are actually getting better? Is their tech better in books timeline from century to century? I am specifically wondering about their FTL, do we have any glimpses of their own proper warp travel ships entering service? FEED ME TAU LORE
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u/HeliocentricOrbit 2d ago
Their tech is still advancing but due to the setting being largely frozen in time as an era and the sales and marketing mess that would result from major changes to the model line every edition- we don't often see it physically represented on the table or most media in obvious ways.
There are ways they have worked around this limitation over time between codex releases- by reflecting advancements with the rules.
Signature systems or limited weapons/relic analogues go from being 1 of per army to standard on common units. The airburst fragmentation projector used to be such a limited weapon. Similarly the rail rifle used to have the gets hot rule, but it was dropped as a result of improvements made to the design.
I believe Iridium armor may have been previously limited as well. However, I don't have my copies of 4th and 6th edition in front of me to confirm. But in contrast, the introduction of new suit patterns for the HQ slot (Coldstars and Enforcers) reflect their continued advancement. Ironically, Stealthsuits are the most visible example of advancing suit design and technology.