Mini of the Month

Blood ravens by Ciaphas Cain. Check our forums for more information.

Member's Quotes of the Month

"If this is true then it's a terribly severe matter... thankfully I just checked the date so I don't believe a word of it." -Tim

-Looking for some (more?) mods - a.k.a April Fools!, Announcements board

Quote of the Month

"Real men fight in battle tanks. Dead men fight against them."
- Colonel L. Ferrus, Death Legion Tank Company.

Forum Statistics

For the month of March:

New Topics: 1,392
New Posts: 28,549
New Members: 154
Page Views: 1,364,182
Most Visitors Online at Same Time: 532

In Total:

Topics: 54,665
Posts: 880,495
Members: 7,925
Most Visitors Online at Same Time: 641

The 40th Monthly Tau Online Newsletter is here!
Can't see this newsletter properly? Try viewing it here.

Recent News

Forum News

Yesterday was April the 1st - a.k.a "April Fool's Day".

Our more minor 'pranks' included setting 1 in 10 member's post count's to "n00b", giving everyone with custom titles admin stars, having a mod pose as a serial spammer called "i love turtles' and linking to a fake password page.

However our main 'prank' was here. In the end most members did realise it was a joke, although it honestly was great to see that members are enthusiastic about helping out Tau Online as a whole. In addition, we are seriously looking to recruit some new moderators, hence your suggestions were helpful.

Thanks to all who helped make this an enjoyable day for all ;-)

Competition News

We had an incredible turnout for one of our competitions this month; Terragen Digital Landscaping.  A bit of a craze took off after Farseer Tyross posted a tutorial on using this free landscaping program, and as you can see below some of our entries were really spectacular:


The second contest we ran was a vintage miniature competition, open to all kinds of out-of-production Warhammer figures, bound to bring back memories for veteran hobbyists.


Our last competition was for Kill Teams; such units are a substantial undertaking, so the deadline was extended for an extra month - be sure to check out what sneaky covert units people dream up, or even enter yourself!

Next month's contests will include short stories, an army standard competition, and one for all acts of looting and looters.

Check them out!

- Dra'Tuisich-Novae

Top Threads

Top Five Tau Threads

• Hybrid, Static or Mech by copperdusk
• My first 40k game... or "help me not get my butt kicked this hard again" by Ground Zero
• What does what best by sephiroth00055
• Anti-Necron Tau by ct_drummer_boi
• Kills of the Crisis Part Three: Monsterous Creatures-Completed by Korill

Top Five non-Tau Topics this Month

• Force Weapons by AdamBlaze
• Necron Lord - destroyer body, Targeting him? by Kazadvorn
• TO Craftworld by 4C
• Biovores Firing as Barrage Weapons by 77
• Dath Path: Khorne Forces Overview by Crisis_Vyper

Interview: With The Strange Child

The Strange Child has been a member of Tau Online since October 2006, and plays quite a few 40K armies. He's also a contributor to The Strange Gazzet, a comedy magazine produced by some of the forum members (including FT, the other admin of Tau Online).

(Q What attracted you to this site and how have you found it so far?
A: The Pink theme, and the way everyone at least, most people, are quite mature.

(Q) Which armies do you collect, how big are they and how long has it taken to accumulate them?
A: Orks, Eldar, Space Marines, Chaos, Harlequins, Kroot, Tau. Ech one is about 2000Pts, except the Kroot and Harlequins, who are about 1000Pts.

(Q) Any advice for the rest of the community?
A: Be sensible, dont annoy people with guns, and if you are going to smoke, at least do it out of sight!

(Q) If you could go anywhere on holiday, where would you go and why?
A: A small island of the cost of Australia, because I had not been there.

(Q) What do you like doing in your spare time - other than Warhammer 40k?
A: Listening to music, playing Xbox and computer games…

(Q)  What's your favourite piece of music and why?
A: Just Another Star – Bullet For My Valentine, I like it because I do.

(Q) How often do you emerge from The Enclave?
A: Every time the Apocalypse begins.

(Q) Does your name say it all, or are you really a normal adult?
A: Adult? Pah! I am not mad! I am merely insane! I am 12! FEAR ME!

Thanks!

- Tau Online

Fluff: Border Skirmish by Wargamer

This was grade A stomm, no doubt about it.

Trooper Malif hit the ground, scrambling into what meagre cover was offered by the small rock ledges that criss-crossed the fields of Karnus Secondus. Two of his squad were too slow to react, and were torn apart by Pulse fire.
The remains of the squad were already there. Sergeant Zimm looked his usual happy self, complete with predator grin and scars like a tic-tac-toe grid. Costwald was manning the chattering Autocannon, pumping trackers into the closing Tau force.
"Plans, Malif?" asked the sergeant
"Not much, sir," he replied, "the next chunk's in their favour, so no cover for us 'til about 90-100 yards."
Zimm nodded, and shifted to get better protection from enemy fire.

The world exploded. A hypersonic blast caused the men to duck and cover their ears. Behind them, a large, circular hole appeared in the front of an advancing Russ. Through the haze of the baking air, Malif could see the engine was ablaze, and hear the screams of dying crewmen.
"Emperor help them..."
The turret barked. A Hi-Ex shell walloped the ground blasting up a cloud of dirt, dust and bits of Firewarrior. Zimm was up and moving, screaming for his men to follow.

It was over in seconds, but the run felt like an eternity. Malif made it, barely, but three others didn't.
"Nearly there boys..." Zimm drew his bayonet, and fixed it to the lasgun. His men followed suit.

More explosions sounded, as long range shells pummelled the dirt. Smoke bombs fired by Mortar teams began to fall, giving some cover for advancing troops. The Basilisk position stopped firing soon after, but no-one knew why, or liked the answers they could think of.

Pulse Fire roared. Zimm looked up, shocked at the proximity, then grinned like a tiger. Malif knew it too; the Tau were on the other side of the rock-rize, seemingly oblivious to the five Guardsmen lurking there.

They rose, fired, and charged. The Firewarriors, caught off guard, turned quickly to face this sudden attack. Malif leapt over a fallen Tau, and fired, blasting one through the front of his helmet. A second shot scored a chest-hit, and knocked the alien to the ground. The third was a neck-shot, and the Firewarrior collapsed, pawing at his neck and fighting for the breath that wouldn't come. Zimm was already pushing on, firing and slashing. He was laughing manically, right up until a slug-round popped his head open.

The Kroot were everywhere, too many to fight. Malif raised his lasgun, and took aim.
"Grade A stomm..."
He fired until the clip ran dry, and was dead before he could reload.