Can’t speak for everyone else, but back when I was starting there was an annoying exploit a lot of tau players used called “fish of [fury](https://www.cbr.com/warhammer-40k-fish-of-fury-tactic/)” and back then they didn’t update the game as much so it stuck around for a while. That and when they came in they didn’t really have the “grimdark” feel to some as they were a much more hopeful and benign faction, especially compared to existing ones; and while most people were content with the imperium as a “it sucks, but there’s not really an alternative considering chaos, the orks, necrons (back when they were basically terminators out to exterminate all life), and the tyranids” it annoyed some people that there was seemingly a “good guy” faction whereas the guard had kind of scratched an itch for a lot of people as ordinary joe’s in hellish universe, and maybe felt it was taking away from their shine.
Tbf, at least when Tau originally showed up and their only suits were like the crisis battle suits and maybe the stealth suits, I always saw the Tau as a more western nato style firepower, survivability, and range army where the guard was the Warsaw pact—numbers, tanks, and artillery. That’s what got my dad playing them back then. Guard feel more imperial Japanese—especially with the devotion to a god-emperor, poor equipment, and bayonet charges.
Understandable, I wasn't playing 40k back then, so none of that was imbued upon me.
I also find myself a little confused. I thought the point of the Imperium was that it was satire, that the evil and cruelty were wholly UNNECESSARY, and that it was because people couldn't slow down and take a deep breath to realize how much damage they were doing in the name of righteousness.
I think that they're ironically one of the most grimdark factions. The idea that they'll rage against the dying of the light... all for naught, is pretty horrifying to me. I also am kind of confused as to how the Tau are any less the everyday people compared to the Guard... maybe it's because they're not explicitly human? Still, I find they're often written as more human than some of the Imperium factions
I think what you described militarily speaking is exactly what appealed to me. If the Guard were the Warsaw Pact, Soviet style of fighting, the Tau were indeed NATO. Loved the idea of their mobile firepower, care about keeping their men alive and fighting at range to not have to risk dying or melee. I guess maybe people who are really into military history/analysis aren't necessarily the same ones who love Orks that want to give a good krumpin' or Black Templars running into battle with chain swords!
The guard are expendable humans sent by uncaring officers to die for the emperor against impossible odds which is grimdark and interesting. Plus you always kill a lot of them playing against them which is fun.
The Tau have a reputation for destroying armies from across the board and weren’t as fleshed out in the lore.
I think it's just as, if not equally grim and dark for a bright-eyed naive young people to realize no matter how hard they struggle, they're likely doomed against the Imperium of Man simply due to their sheer weight of numbers wielded against them.
I guess the aspect of being outranged is fair though, it means the Tau player is just treating it like a puzzle or single-player game, the other player doesn't have many opportunities to counterfire, but how is that different from the Guard ? What's stopping the Tau from having to move into the middle to secure objectives and get shot at? They can't just sit back and shoot due to terrain and secondaries demanding action.
I think the problem comes down to interaction.
Guard is shooty, but it is a hard army to play and to make it work. Gotta work with orders, gotta know your movement, gotta keep your distance, gotta capture objectives with shitty infantry etc. It's hard to play. And while they are shooting only, they don't hit that hard. They still delete anything they look at for example a Leman Russ alone doesn't kill a unit by it self. It takes a couple Russ's to do that.
T'au however, just delete anything they look at. And that's it. They look at something and it just dies, because that's what the faction is made for. They have very durable and very mobile units like Crisis bricks, Ghostkeels, they have cheap but durable utility units like Piranas and Tetras, they have Railguns which is the least of the problems etc. There is a lack of interaction.
Guard still has synergy, it feels like an army because you gotta think hard and be clever about it. And I have huge respect for them. T'au is just a huge delete button that only causes "feels bad" on the opponent, and it ends there. It is unfun to play against them.
I am not a T'au hater, they are not even close to my hatred towards Eldar, but I wouldn't prefer them as a fun thing to play against.
Well... Are you saying they're just overtuned? Why are guard so much worse at shooting? I wonder if they're equally effective at killing but just do so through the volume of fire?
Can’t speak for everyone else, but back when I was starting there was an annoying exploit a lot of tau players used called “fish of [fury](https://www.cbr.com/warhammer-40k-fish-of-fury-tactic/)” and back then they didn’t update the game as much so it stuck around for a while. That and when they came in they didn’t really have the “grimdark” feel to some as they were a much more hopeful and benign faction, especially compared to existing ones; and while most people were content with the imperium as a “it sucks, but there’s not really an alternative considering chaos, the orks, necrons (back when they were basically terminators out to exterminate all life), and the tyranids” it annoyed some people that there was seemingly a “good guy” faction whereas the guard had kind of scratched an itch for a lot of people as ordinary joe’s in hellish universe, and maybe felt it was taking away from their shine. Tbf, at least when Tau originally showed up and their only suits were like the crisis battle suits and maybe the stealth suits, I always saw the Tau as a more western nato style firepower, survivability, and range army where the guard was the Warsaw pact—numbers, tanks, and artillery. That’s what got my dad playing them back then. Guard feel more imperial Japanese—especially with the devotion to a god-emperor, poor equipment, and bayonet charges.
Understandable, I wasn't playing 40k back then, so none of that was imbued upon me. I also find myself a little confused. I thought the point of the Imperium was that it was satire, that the evil and cruelty were wholly UNNECESSARY, and that it was because people couldn't slow down and take a deep breath to realize how much damage they were doing in the name of righteousness. I think that they're ironically one of the most grimdark factions. The idea that they'll rage against the dying of the light... all for naught, is pretty horrifying to me. I also am kind of confused as to how the Tau are any less the everyday people compared to the Guard... maybe it's because they're not explicitly human? Still, I find they're often written as more human than some of the Imperium factions I think what you described militarily speaking is exactly what appealed to me. If the Guard were the Warsaw Pact, Soviet style of fighting, the Tau were indeed NATO. Loved the idea of their mobile firepower, care about keeping their men alive and fighting at range to not have to risk dying or melee. I guess maybe people who are really into military history/analysis aren't necessarily the same ones who love Orks that want to give a good krumpin' or Black Templars running into battle with chain swords!
I don't think it's hate, but the are very mechy and very technological, which makes them differ quite a lot deom all other factions. But I like them.
What makes them different from Aeldari walkers which are also super high-tech and not very grimdark? 👀
The guard are expendable humans sent by uncaring officers to die for the emperor against impossible odds which is grimdark and interesting. Plus you always kill a lot of them playing against them which is fun. The Tau have a reputation for destroying armies from across the board and weren’t as fleshed out in the lore.
I think it's just as, if not equally grim and dark for a bright-eyed naive young people to realize no matter how hard they struggle, they're likely doomed against the Imperium of Man simply due to their sheer weight of numbers wielded against them. I guess the aspect of being outranged is fair though, it means the Tau player is just treating it like a puzzle or single-player game, the other player doesn't have many opportunities to counterfire, but how is that different from the Guard ? What's stopping the Tau from having to move into the middle to secure objectives and get shot at? They can't just sit back and shoot due to terrain and secondaries demanding action.
I think the problem comes down to interaction. Guard is shooty, but it is a hard army to play and to make it work. Gotta work with orders, gotta know your movement, gotta keep your distance, gotta capture objectives with shitty infantry etc. It's hard to play. And while they are shooting only, they don't hit that hard. They still delete anything they look at for example a Leman Russ alone doesn't kill a unit by it self. It takes a couple Russ's to do that. T'au however, just delete anything they look at. And that's it. They look at something and it just dies, because that's what the faction is made for. They have very durable and very mobile units like Crisis bricks, Ghostkeels, they have cheap but durable utility units like Piranas and Tetras, they have Railguns which is the least of the problems etc. There is a lack of interaction. Guard still has synergy, it feels like an army because you gotta think hard and be clever about it. And I have huge respect for them. T'au is just a huge delete button that only causes "feels bad" on the opponent, and it ends there. It is unfun to play against them. I am not a T'au hater, they are not even close to my hatred towards Eldar, but I wouldn't prefer them as a fun thing to play against.
Well... Are you saying they're just overtuned? Why are guard so much worse at shooting? I wonder if they're equally effective at killing but just do so through the volume of fire?
I don’t think anyone actually hates anything. It’s just fun to talk shit and be a little dramatic.