Introduction
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SPERG ABOUT WHATEVER WARHAMMER STUFF YOU WANT TO
It's the distant future and the entire universe is embroiled in war and constant chaos. Endless races are wiped from the face of existence as a myriad of different totaliterian cultures rampage violently in an endless struggle for supremecy, hunger, or getting shiny new bitz. Out of all that grim, dark chaos in a far off area of some eastern galaxy lives a somewhat understanding and peaceful race of beings known as the Tau. And the Tau is going to be the main focus on this little Let's Play as we venture through the first rough and tumble mission for Kais.
Developed by KUJU and distributed by THQ (known as the primary holder of the rights to all Warhammer 40K games, including the popular Dawn of War series) this was an unusual entry into the Warhammer game library as it was an FPS based on something other than Space Marines. The game itself was met with mostly mediocre to negative reviews, and most people forget the game even existed (granted this was back in 2003 and some little indie title named Halo had just came out), but it still exists and it fills a rather odd niche. Especially considering that the Tau race was still an incredibly new race in the 40K echelons.
Enough of the chin wagging though, onto the missions and the game itself.
Videos
:With Plank and Phataku
:With Deceitful Penguin and Kaboom Dragoon
:With Corvus_Moore
:With Corvus_Moore
:With Lord Baxter
:With Turos Kensei
:With Turos Kensei
:With Plank
:With Plank
:With Ninja Orca
:With Deceitful Penguin
:With Kaboom Dragoon
:With Arashi
:With Turos Kensei
:With Turos Kensei
:With Plank
:With Wombat Cyborg
Races:
Tau:The Tau are a young race of technologically-oriented beings from the Eastern Fringe. T'au, the Tau home planet, was discovered in 789.M35 by the Adeptus Mechanicus ship Land's Vision. Adeptus Mechanicus records indicate that at that time the Tau species had mastered the use of simple tools and weapons, as well as fire. Before the planet could be cleansed and colonized by the Imperium however, a violent Warp storm erupted around the planet. This continued for 6,000 years, making the Tau's homeworld utterly inaccessible.
Tau legends tell of the first appearance of Ethereals at Fio'taun. The fortress city of Fio'taun was under assault by the warriors from the plains. Though negotiation had been attempted, the fierce plains warriors would settle for nothing less than the annihilation of the city of Fio'taun. For five long years the inhabitants held off the savage assaults with their thick walls and plentiful cannon. However, disease and starvation began to take their toll. As the tide of the siege turned, two mysterious Tau appeared. One made his way into the camp of the plains Tau, exuding a quiet authority that no Tau was able to resist. Soon, the leader of the plains warriors was persuaded to parley with the Tau of Fio'taun. Similarly, the other mysterious Tau made his way deep into the fortress. Within a few short hours, the gates stood wide open, and the Tau stood ready to talk.
The introduction of the Ethereals to Tau society led to the creation of a rigid caste system, with each caste taking on the name of an element that is close to them. Thus, the warriors of the Tau Empire became known as the Fire (Shas) Caste, due to their fiery temper. The artisans and scientists became known as the Earth (Fio) Caste, being the most pragmatic of the Tau. The diplomats and administrators became known as the Water (Por) Caste, as water flows through all life, uniting it. Lastly, the Tau messengers and spies became known as the Air (Kor) Caste, traversing the land on top of gusts of wind. With the invention of aircraft, and later spacecraft, the Air Caste would become the pilots of the Tau Navy.
Imperial Guard:The Imperial Guard is the primary fighting force of the Imperium, so numerous in size that even the Departmento Munitorum cannot place a figure on the number of Guardsmen under arms at any one time; the daily lists of new recruits and toll of casualties can run into the millions in a single day. It would be infeasible trying to put any exact number on the strength of the Guard; however, it is believed that there must be many billions of Imperial Guardsmen, divided into millions of regiments. This absolute numeracy provides the Guard with its main power; their ability to deploy in numbers that, eventually, result in victory. Attacking in seemingly endless influxes across battle-zones, charging forth under the cover of massive barrages and delivering massed lasgun volleys, in the Guard the individual Human soldier may appear a lost thing, almost forgotten. Yet the actions of these anonymous soldiers daily decide the fate of worlds.
The Guard forms the very backbone of the Imperium; without it, Mankind would surely perish. Whilst Guardsmen are hardly the equals of Space Marines, fighting neither with the advantages of genetic enhancement or the most powerful personal weaponry, the Guard possesses the courage and the manpower to face and annihilate the enemies of the Emperor across the galaxy.
Space Marines:The Adeptus Astartes (commonly known as Space Marines, and colloquially as Angels of Death) are the most elite and feared fighting forces of the Imperium. The primary unit of organization is the Chapter, a self-contained army fully equipped with its own transport, non-combatant support staff, etc. There are around a thousand Chapters, each comprising a thousand Space Marines. There are far too few Space Marines to form the Imperium's main military forces; instead they operate as highly mobile strike forces. They are entrusted with the most dangerous missions, such as lightning raids behind enemy lines, infiltration and tunnel fighting. Through selection, training and conditioning, Marines are physically, mentally and spiritually superior to any other Imperial soldier.
Successive foundings over the millennia have created new chapters. There are now around a thousand chapters in existence, each Chapter ultimately descending from one of the loyalist Legions.
To some extent, the Chapters maintain the traditions and character of the Legion they descend from. Chapters adhere to the Codex Astartes in differing degrees, some regarding any deviation from it as virtual heresy; others, notably the Black Templars, Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and Dark Angels, only following the Codex in the broadest matters.
Important Characters:
Kais:This is the center focus of the game and the player's character. He is a Tau warrior in the Fire caste who is taking his rites into manhood via his trial by fire (which is a requirement in the Fire caste where someone must be put into an active battle before they can gain full manhood). We never hear Kais speak but apparently he's the strongest Tau ever as the thing he faces in his first day are more than most Space Marine chapters face in a lifetime.
Ko'vash:A leader among the Tau people the plot is propelled along due to Ko'vash being kidnapped by Space Marine forces. What special purpose do they have for the Tau leader and can Kais save him? His voice is done by a rather unknown Asian actor whom some may remember from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom......no, not Short Round.
Lusha:Kais squad leader and voice of information and direction during the early portions of the game. Not really a drill sergeant or a really noticeable entity, but you have to hear him constantly during the first half of the game. His voice is done by a racist Asian stereotype whom most remember as Inspector Clouseau's surprise karate butler Kato. Yea, Tau's racist stereotypes.
Governor Severus:The Governor of the planet Dolumar IV in the game and the impetus behind the kidnapping of Ko'vash. What his exact motivations are will be revealed later but I doubt it'll come as a real surprise to anyone. His voice is done by Sean Pertwee, son of the third Doctor and I mostly remember him from Dog Soldiers....he might have been in other movies, he looks familiar.
Admiral Constantine: The admiral for the Navis Nobilite ships that are currently locked in combat and an unsteady truce with the Tau he comes off as being somewhat reasonable but still very much in the mindset of a normal Imperium officer (KILL THE XENOS!). Not too much else is revealed about him other than that he is apparently superhumanly strong and resilient as he takes quite a few bolter rounds to the face and still manages to live. His voice is done by the booming voice of Brian Blessed who is known mostly for deafening anyone nearby and being amazing.
Sergeant Ardias: The main sergeant of the Ultramarine chapter that appears in the game, Adrias actually comes off as pretty reasonable to some degree (outside of keeping Kais alive as Kais did kinda murder a metric shit ton of people). But yet again we don't get too much in-game information about his character outside that he is a rather well known and strong sergeant in the chapter....though he is never actually seen fighting in the game. His voice is done by Peter Serafinowicz who most American's might recognize as Shaun's annoying roomie in 'Shaun of the Dead' or a few random nerds might recognize as the voice of Darth Maul. He's also incredibly funny.
Bonus Art: