Part 2: Day 02, Or'es Tash'n, Boot Camp
Welcome to boot camp. As part of your re-education, you're going to get a crash course on our resources here on Kronus. We shall be destroying our enemies with the latest in ground-based Tau weaponry. Our railguns shall-- 
Uh, Shas'el? Yes. You, the short fella down in front who should know better than to interrupt a superior officer. Why don't we just bombard all the invaders from orbit? The Air Caste certainly has the fire power. Shaper Trosk, please remove this Shas'saal from my sight and feed him to the Kroot Hounds.
With pleasure. B-but! In case you hadn't noticed, there are seven armies currently occupying Kronus: the glorious Tau Empire, and everyone else. Now, that presents a problem since all seven of those armies have also brought with them their air support. The skies above Kronus are currently an Ethereal damned mess. Now, the Air Caste are gonna do their part for the Greater Good by keeping the invading air forces off of our backs. However, that means we will not be receiving any air support. This mission is going to be taken entirely on foot, with infantry and vehicles. It's up to us, the Fire Caste, to see it done. It's my understanding that you filthy re-educated Gue'la have little to no-idea how the Tau forces operate, isn't that so?
Shas'el, yes, Shas'el! There, I like your attitude. You keep up with your reconditioning and you might even graduate to a Gue'vesa, a noble position and something all you dirty Gue'la ought to aspire to if you want to be of any use to my Fire Warriors.Cadre Headquarters
Our HQ. We lose this, we lose the battle. We need the HQ to coordinate our attacks on the field and defeat the enemy. That said, we destroy the enemy HQ and we win the fight. The HQ lets us train Stealthsuit squads and summon our Vespid auxiliaries. Oh, and here we can access the builder drones that the Earth Caste have supplied us for the war effort.Tau Barracks
Our go to structure for training the best of the best of the Fire Caste. Our Fire Warrior infantry and Pathfinder scouts can be trained here, as well as our Kroot auxiliaries. We can also train Battlesuits here. Broadsides normally, and Crisis Suits if we follow the path of Mont'ka. Commander Shas O'Kais can use barracks as a teleport structure to summon him from different parts of Kronus. A key structure, and the backbone of our forwards bases.Listening Post
This is the Listening Post. Place it on key capture points to gain requisition. We need requisition to power our war machine, so make sure you disgusting Gue'la secure those points. They can be upgrade a number of times to provide the Post with energy defenses.Upgraded Listening Post
Fully Upgrade Listening Post
Plasma Generator
Our forces cannot function on requisition alone. Plasma Generators provide us with the energy we need to power our weapons, vehicles, and research upgrades. If you can locate a Slag Deposit on the battlefield, send an Earth Caste Builder Drone to put down a Thermo Plasma Generator--they generate power even faster.Thermo Plasma Generator
Path To Enlightenment
If you idiots don't successfully pass your re-education, you're gonna be spending a lot of time being experimented on in one of these buildings. Don't worry, it's for the Greater Good. The test results will help create better research to power our war machine. These structures also supply our Earth Caste Drones with schematics to build our more advanced buildings, so make sure our forward bases have one early on.Kroot Shaping Centre
Advanced Kroot auxiliaries are created here. Our Master Shapers can develop for us Kroot Hounds, Krootox, and even a goddamned Greater Knarloc, if we can secure the proper battlefield resources for them. However, Hounds and Krootox can only be built while following the Path of Kauyon, so bear that in mind if your construction resources are limited.Vehicle Beacon
I hate to brag, but the Tau field the best damn vehicles in the game. Our hover technology and rail cannons give us the best damn artillery there is. If anyone disagrees with me, I'll have Shaper Trosk feed you to the Kroot Hounds! Use this building to summon Drones and Drone Harbingers, Devilfish Carriers, Skyray Missileships, and if you've followed the Path of Mont'ka, the Ethereal damned Hammerhead Gunship. These vehicles are brought in by Air Caste ships flying in low atmosphere to avoid fire from orbit, so spend wisely as it's expensive to bring them to the front lines.Kauyon Command Post
Build this Command Post if you wish to follow the path of the patient hunter. This allows our troops to take a more defensive attack, granting us access to advanced research and additional Kroot soldiers. A great choice when facing a heavily entrenched enemy.Mont'ka Command Post
If you prefer the path of the killing blow, this is the Command Post for you. Less research, but it grants you access to Crisis Battlesuits and Hammerhead Gunships. If you need to punch a whole into an enemy base quickly and you have the resources to fund the unit construction, this is a great way to end a battle.Coalition Centre
Allows us to summon down an Ethereal Caste member to oversee the battle, granting morale boosts thanks to their glorious presence. Praise the Ethereal, praise them! Praise the Ethereal!
Praise the Ethereal!
Praise the Ethereal! I almost forgot to mention: our buildings supply us with the resources needed to increase our squad and vehicles caps. You want to field more soldiers, then set up a proper forward base. Alright, onto Tau soldiers and vehicles.Fire Warriors
Heavy infantry, armed with powerful, accurate, long-distance rifles. Squads can support six soldiers with two leaders, either a Fire Warrior Shas'uis or a Shield Drone. Their melee isn't great, but that's what our Kroot Carnivores allies are for. The sight range for Fire Warriors isn't great, so a forward squad sent out to spot for them maximizes their usefulness. Kroot Carnivores
Light infantry, quick and nimble. Armed with basic slug throwers, it's their melee attacks that shine. They're able to disrupt basic and heavy infantry with their leap attacks. They're also able to cannibalize the bodies of the fallen, friend or foe, to increase their maximum health on the fly during battle. Gross, but effective!Kroot Shapers
Master warriors of the Kroot, trained in the art of shaping Kroot genetics. Can lead Kroot Carnivores and Kroot Hounds, increasing their speed and health. They're also brilliant warriors on their own, able to stand up against most other infantry.Pathfinders
Scout infantry. Can spot far off, so they're great paired with Fire Warriors. Their suppression fire can slow down advancing troops, and their markerlight technology marks enemies, making them more vulnerable to damage. They can also spot infiltrated units, which is great, because we hate that crap--unless we're using it ourselves, in which case it's great.XV15 Stealth Team
That's what I'm talking about! Basic armaments are weak, but their "always on" infiltration makes them an invaluable addition to scouting the battlefield and capturing points. They can be upgraded with jetpacks, weapon stabilizers, and bigger guns to make them more deadly. When fully upgraded, they also make great anti-vehicle squads, able to disable enemies with EMP grenades.Vespid Stingwings
Heavy infantry, able to fly across the battlefield, detect infiltrated enemies, and disrupt enemy buildings, allowing us to knock'em down faster. By the Greater Good, I swear those helmets aren't mind control devices, they're just there to translate the Vespid language into something we can understand!Kroot Hounds
Heavy infantry, also capable of using the Kroot leap attack to disrupt foes. They excel at taking down enemy heavy infantry, so they're great to have around, especially with a Shaper handler.Krootox
A massive hulk of a beast that can be ridden by the Kroot. It takes massive amounts of punishment and can devastate with its melee attacks. The Kroot rider is able to fire a gun simultaneously, causing constant damage over time. XV88 Broadside Battlesuit
A slow, anti-vehicle battlesuit equipped with missile launchers. Can entrench itself, become a sort of semi-mobile turret. While entrenched, it can use the massive shoulder-mounted rail cannons. Super power, super slow.
XV8 Crisis Suits
My kind of battlesuit! The Crisis Suits are equipped with a Fusion Blaster and Burst Cannon, and are platforms reserved for only the finest Fire Warriors. They can also jetpack around the battlefield and be customized with Flamethrowers and Missile Launchers.Greater Knarloc
Compared to other Relic-based units, the Greater Knarloc is a lot smaller and has quite a bit less health. Don't let this deceive you! The Knarloc is a dangerous Kroot beast. Its small size lets it slip into more crowded arenas of combat, and its massive strength lets it take down foes with even twice its health. It's slow speed means its not great against infantry swarms, so keep it covered.Earth Caste Builder Drone
Those cowards in the Earth Caste aren't willing to brave the battlefields themselves, so they sent robots. They said it's for the Greater Good, but if you ask me, they're just trying to shirk their duties. They're kind of lame, especially compared to the builder units of other armies. They're not particularly fast, nor do they have a lot of armour. They can't turn invisible, or create additional decoys of themselves, or even fight back. They can build stuff, so that's important. But that's about it. Lousy Earth Caste.Tau Commander, Shas'o Kais
Our brave leader, Shas'o Kais. You're going to be spending a lot of time with him, so I won't get into his skills here--I'll let him fill you in himself. He's all ranged, though, opting to never sully his hands by physically engaging the invaders in hand-to-hand combat. You have to admire his dedication.Ethereal
A blesséd Ethereal can join us if we have need. Their presence alone inspires Tau to fight with greater fervour! Praise them! Of course, if you filthy Gue'la let the Ethereal on the battlefield be killed, you're gonna destroy morale for ALL Tau forces. And I swear, if any of you Gue'la make any jokes about the Ethereal using their psychic powers to mind control all the Tau Empire, I will personally grind you into a paste to be used in the Kroot Mess Hall for dinner. They have decent melee, but don't need to fight since an elite Fire Warrior squad can serve as their body guards. They can also summon down orbital fire from their personal Air Caste ships and create holographic body doubles to fool the enemy.Devilfish Transport Carrier
Lightly armed and armoured, the Devilfish Carrier is our only troop transport. It is, however, quick and permanently infiltrated, so it gets around the battlefield easily. To be honest, though, our infantry are usually quick enough that we don't need to field many, if any, of these.Drone Harbinger
Can create temporary Gun Drones to harass the enemy. It's great. Seriously, you should see how they annoy enemies. Takes up a lot of energy, though, so watch your resources. They have decent guns, so can act as a solid fire support, but are lightly armoured and not particularly quick.Drone Squad
I prefer these Drones, myself. They have a better battery life, so you don't need to worry about them running out of juice on the battlefield. Fairly fragile, but they are great for swarming enemies. They can burrow to surprise attack foes and are fantastic at slowing down enemy advances.Skyray Missile Gunship
Our standard hover tank. Missiles are decent, but the Skyray really excels when its weapons are upgraded. The Missile Barrage upgrade can devastate large areas during combat, but it requires a cooldown before it can be used again.Hammerhead Gunship
The reason everyone wants to be a Tau. Two burst cannons and a railgun. It's fast and destructive. Seriously, it's effective against anything on the battlefield. Field a couple of these, and you're gonna have a fun time. Their speed means they're lightly armoured though, so don't let infantry swarm them--not that you would, considering the railguns incredible range. Well, that's it. This now concludes your boot camp re-education. Go forth as Gue'vesa, and serve the Tau Empire for the Greater Good! Crush those who oppose, and free Kronus from its enemies!