Tau Empire Army

Now for the last of my impromptu '40k Army Series', the Tau Empire. This is by far the largest, single army I've painted entirely by myself. It weighs in at 123 models, which is about 2400 points, give or take a few. This is a good example of an army that grew on its own without any real semblance of army list planning!

A few years back I broke my foot, bad, in a jet-ski accident. Honestly I almost ripped it off at the ankle, and ended up breaking seven bones, had to have two reconstructive surgeries, and spent almost a year in physical therapy. I was immobilized, could put zero weight on, and held captive by my living room chair for about three and a half months.

That's when I painted this army. To cheer me up, my buddies got me an army box and I would sit and assemble them all day from my chair. Soon a second box was added and before I knew it I was painting an army from my recliner, which is kind of tricky! I painted it in almost one go, with the exception being the Vespids, which came out later. It's not the best looking army ever, but given the circumstances, I couldn't be happier.

HQ:


Shas'o Commander

This is the Farsight model, but I always like to get character models instead of vanilla ones because they A) obviously look more characterful, and B) can pull double duty as needed. Of course when I put these guys together they didn't have the cool Tau Commander box out, so I probably would've just gone with that instead.


XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Bodyguards


Ethereal

Elites:


XV8 Crisis Team


XV8 Crisis Team 'Fireknife' Configuration


XV15 Stealth Team

Troops:


Kroot Carnivore Squad with two Kroot Hounds and a Kroot Shaper


Kroot Carnivore Squad with two Krootox


Fire Warrior Squad A


Fire Warrior Squad B


Fire Warrior Squad C

Fast Attack:


Pathfinder Team with rail rifles


Pathfinder Team Devilfish


Gun Drone Squad A


Gun Drone Squad B


Vespid Stingwings

Heavy Support:


XV88 Broadside Team


Hammerhead Gunship

There you have it, a whole bunch o' Tau. Of course when the newest codex came out, there were a lot of new options that just 'looked' cool, I don't know about their effectiveness, but they'd be fun to paint up. That's why I added the Vespids at a later date. The Sniper Drone team looks appealing as well. I've always wanted to paint up some human auxiliaries as well, so who knows, maybe this army isn't exactly "finished".

EDIT: After a large swap-and-trade, this fine army now rests in the capable hands of Andy over at Little Lead Heroes. Next time they're on the tabletop, they'll be my enemy!