40k factions

So you want to get into Warhammer 40k. Well, good news. Eighth edition has tried to go out of its way to make every army playable and almost every unit valid. Which army should you pick though? Well, with 40k, the first thing you ever want to ask yourself is 'what looks cool to you?'

If you want more than simply the cool looking guys, and you want something interesting, here's a bit of a breakdown of every single faction and how they play in the game.

Table of contents:
1: Space Marines
2: Chaos Space Marines
3: Chaos Daemons
4: Imperium
5: Aeldari
6: Tyranids
7: Orks
8: Necrons
9: T'au

_____________________________
1: Space Marines
The poster boys of Warhammer 40000. Space marines are the definition of middle of the road as far as the game goes, with strong armor on even their basic troops, good shooting, good vehicles, and good mobility. There's plenty of established chapters, and plenty of different play-styles.
Space Marines(and their traitorous chaos brethren) all descend from one of 18 legions. Each legion has(or had) a Primarch, who embody their legions and their strategies.
The one exception to this is the Grey Knights.

LOYAL SPACE MARINE CHAPTERS:

 I: The Dark Angels: (Typical Colours: Dark green, bone white, black). Dark Angels Are descendants of Lion El'Johnson. and famously secretive. Their strategies tend to embody either lots of deep striking Deathwing terminators, fast and deadly ravenwing bikes and landspeeders, or versatile greenwing soldiers, all of whom especially enjoy plasma weaponry. Many call the loyalty of the Dark angels into question due to the extents they go to in order to protect their chapter's shameful secrets.

V: White Scars: (Typical Colours: White, with red, blue, black highlights): White Scars are descendants of Jaghatai Khan, and can best be described as Space Mongolians. Their strategies tend to embody going fast, going faster, and going faster than that. To that end, they use LOTS of bikes and landspeeders.

VI: Space Wolves: (Typical colours: Grey and white): Space wolves are descendants of Leman Russ, and are best described as space Vikings. The wolf-motif is common through the entire chapter, ranging from their wolf mounts, their wolf pelts, their wolf units, and their gene mutations, causing them to grow more bestial and wolf like, or turning feral and becoming 'wulfen'. They have a long-running rivalry with the traitor forces of the Thousand Sons. Their strategies involve lots of wolf cavalry, powerful fliers and dreadnoughts, and melee monster wulfen and blood claw infantrymen.

VII: Imperial Fists: (Typical Colours: Yellow with red or black highlights): Descendants of Rogal Dorn, Imperial fists mostly are seen as protectors of Terra. They specialize in bolter fire, and are also masters of erecting forts rather than the fast and terrifying charges of their brothers. They also have one of the most famous successor chapters - the Black Templars

VII-a: Black Templars: (Typical Colours: Black with white highlights) Psyker-hating melee monsters. The black templars are constantly crusading and working to wipe out the enemies of the Imperium and the filthy witches.

IX: Blood Angels: (Typical Colours: Red and gold): Descendants of the fallen primarch Sanguinius, the blood angels love their melee and jump infantry. Their gene defect causes them to crave the blood of their foes, and since the ancient war of the Horus heresy, many blood angels fall into the 'black rage' in which they relive - painfully- the memories of their fallen primarch as he fought and fell to his traitorous brother, Horus. Their forces consist largely of their powerful dreadnoughts, powerful assault marines, and powerful, fast tanks.

X: Iron Hands: (Typical Colours: Black and silver): Descendants of the fallen primarch Ferrus Manus(yes, his name is literally iron hand), the Iron hands hate the perceived weakness of flesh. As a result, the vast majority of this chapter constantly augment and replace their own body parts whenever and wherever possible. This has the added upside to letting them shrug off normally-deadly wounds and simply replace the damaged bionics.

XIII: Ultramarines: (Typical Colours: Blue, white, gold). Space Romans, and descendants of Roboute Guilliman, the current leader of the Imperium, the ultramarines are the poster children of Space marines, and thus, Warhammer 40000 as a whole. They are the epitome of 'Jack of All Trades', and are thus easy to build and play.

XVIII: Salamanders: (Typical Colours: Green, fire accents). Descendants of Vulkan, the salamanders love fire. They employ LOTS of flamers and melta(tank-burning guns), and their geneseed defect makes them look like their skin is charcoal and they have glowing, fiery red eyes. Despite this, salamanders famously care for the common citizens of the Imperium, and often serve as the rear guard during conflicts.

XIX: Raven Guard: (Typical colours: Black and pale blue). Descendants of Corvus Corax(yes, his name is the Raven), the Raven guard specialize in fast, devastating surprise attacks with their Corvus pattern armor(often dubbed 'beakie' armor by the community.). The raven guard specialize in striking from the shadows, then vanishing back into them, but are also known to assist the common guardsmen of regiments such as catachan.

EXTRA: GREY KNIGHTS: (Typical colours: Silver). Shrouded in secrecy, some claim the grey knights are descended directly from the emperor, while others claim they used the geneseed of traitorous legions such as the Thousand Sons. What is known, however, is that the grey knights are seen as 'the best of the best'. They have the best weapons, the best armor, and the most loyal marines. No grey knight has ever canonically fallen to chaos, no matter how long they spend in the warp. In addition, every grey knight is a psyker, which makes grey knight armies fling around psychic mind bullets like they're giving out candy. The grey knights often assist the Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus, travelling planet to planet, killing those they see as traitors with impunity, and killing daemons.

EXTRA 2: DEATHWATCH: (Typical colours: Black, silver, founding chapter heraldry). Elites pulled from every chapter of space marines, Deathwatch is an elite group of space marines whose sole purpose is to hunt down and annihilate Xenos. Their forces are small, but they specialize in deep striking, as well as lots of specialized weaponry and powerful flamers, and powerful melee.






















2. Chaos Space Marines
So you like the idea of 8 feet tall supermen, but prefer the spiky and evil look of the traitor legions? Well, Chaos space marines remain middle of the road, similar in many respects to their loyalist brothers, but their aesthetics tend to veer towards 'ugly' 'evil' and/or 'sickly' looking.
Much like their loyalist brethren, each warband is descended from one of the 18 legions, and has(or had) a primarch. Those primarchs that survived have all been empowered into daemonhood.

TRAITOR SPACE MARINE CHAPTERS

III: Emperor's Children: (Typical colours: pink/violet and black). Vain sons of the beautiful primarch Fulgrim, the Emperor's children have fallen to the whispers of the god of excess, Slaanesh. Whether it is beautiful speed in melee, or using their Noise Marines to annihilate their foes with the power of music, the Emperor's children embody sickly perfection.

IV: Iron Warriors: (Typical colours: dark grey and hazard stripes). Sons of the traitor Perturabo, the iron warriors are masters of siege, and thus disregard their opponent's use of cover in combat. They also deploy a LOT of daemonic daemon engines, such as the helbrute or heldrake.

VIII: Night Lords: (Typical colours: Dark blue and red). Sons of the fallen traitor Konrad Kurze, the Night Lords are a dark mirror of the loyalist Raven Guard. Striking from the shadows, the Night Lords strike fear into their opponents, maximizing that fear in order to scatter their foes and annihilate them in the confusion.

XII: World Eaters: (Typical Colours: Red and bronze). Sons of the traitor primarch Angron, the World Eaters perfectly encapsulate their patron chaos god, Khorne. Terrifying melee monsters, the world eaters care not from where the blood flows, and will murder allies and enemies alike until all around them are bloody pulp. They value martial skill far above shooting or, even worse, sorcery, and will forego their guns for a chainaxe almost all the time.

XIV: Death Guard: (Typical colours: puke green, pus yellow, bruise purple). Sons of the traitor Primarch Mortarion, the Death Guard have given themselves completely to the god of stagnancy, decay, and disease, Nurgle. Their daemon engines fling blight and disease, and to be in proximity of a death guard space marine is to invite the most deadly and potent diseases in existence. Their marines are slow, but hardy, able to ignore shots through their rotting bodies as they make their way to their enemies, and there is no avoiding the damage of many of their weapons, as no armor can protect you from the diseases of Nurgle.

XV: Thousand Sons: (Typical colours: Blue and gold). The sons of Magnus the Red perfectly embody the idea of 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'. Once, they were a legion that sought knowledge and psychic mastery, but it was that psychic power that was their undoing. After being forced to turn traitor due to machinations by their patron god, Tzeentch, a mistaken spell to protect them instead annihilated the entire faction, turning all but the most powerful of their psykers to dust. As a result, much like the Grey Knights, the Thousand Sons forces are few, but hardy, flinging psyker powers and mind bolts about like candy. Their current aesthetic is very Egypt-inspired, with khopesh blades and high-crested helmets.

XVI: Black Legion: (Typical Colours: Black and gold). Once known as the Sons of Horus, and led by the Greatest of Traitors - Horus Lupercal - the Black Legion is now led by the Warmaster of Chaos, Abbadon. Much as the Ultramarines perfectly embody the loyal Space Marines, the Black Legion is the face of chaos. It is their forces leading the black crusades across the galaxy, and their forces which assaulted, and finally destroyed, Cadia. Theirs are the forces that are easiest to find and build when making a chaos army.

XVII: Word Bearers: (Typical Colours: red and silver) The first of the legions to turn traitor, and led by Lorgar, the Word bearers are religious zealots who have fully dedicated themselves to serving the ruinous powers. In ages past, their primarchs words led the Imperium to worship the Emperor as a god, now, they spread the word of chaos wherever they can, inviting daemons to flay their enemies. Their forces are almost always accompanied by daemon engines or chaos daemons, and when they are not, they deploy high amounts of psykers, flamers, and daemon-possessed cultists, and their faith in their gods leads them to be nigh-unshakable.

XX: Alpha Legion: (Typical colours: dark blue and green) Sons of the dual-natured Alpharius Omegon, the Alpha Legion is shrouded in secrecy. Plans layered upon plans, none know where the loyalties of this legion lie - not even, some speculate, the alpha legionnaires themselves. Infiltrating, then sewing dissent among the loyalists, or among the traitors, the Alpha Legion prides themselves on being impossible to kill.


EXTRA: RENEGADES: (Typical colours: N/A) Once-loyal forces of the Imperium, the renegades either turned against the Imperium for whatever reason, or fell to the ruinous powers of Chaos. As a result, their forces are a mixture of imperial and chaotic units, all tainted by chaos. Renegade players value the customization options of their army, but the downside is the faction is almost entirely locked behind Forge World pay-walls.




















3. Chaos Daemons
So you took a look at the daemons of Chaos and thought, "Man, these things are wicked-looking, and I'd rather play a full army of these."
Well, there's two major upsides to playing daemons! Firstly, the entire line of daemons is playable in both Warhammer 40000, and the fantasy game, Age of Sigmar. If you're ever interested in playing Sigmar(or you're coming from Sigmar to the 41st millennium), you already have a full army! Secondly, as they function more in a support role in Warhammer 40000, you can ally them with virtually any Chaos Space Marine units. Want to throw some Noise Marines into your Slaanesh army? You can! Want to run Thousand Sons, but with some Tzeentch Horrors? Go for it!
Being made of warp energy, Daemons do not rely on armor, instead phasing in and out of reality to avoid 'killing' blows. In addition, any Character that has the CHAOS keyword can forego moving in order to summon more daemons. There's nothing like deep striking a character deep in enemy territory, then dropping hordes of daemons right in the middle of your opponent's army.
There are 4 main flavours of chaos, and while in game play they mostly cooperate, their lore has the 4 gods hate each other, and their essences completely in opposition.

KHORNE: God of war, murder, and skulls, Khorne cares not from where the blood flows, so long as it flows. His forces are purely melee, with little - if any- shooting to speak of. His hatred of sorcery is so strong that characters hoping to ally with him cannot be Psykers, and his daemons shred through the psychically inclined like butter.

TZEENTCH: God of change, intrigue, and patron god to psykers. Tzeentch embodies the adage 'just as planned', laying the groundwork for events to happen centuries, if not millennia, ahead of time. His whispers to Magnus the red led to the failure of the human webway and the downfall of the Thousand Sons, and his forces embody this as well. The daemons of Tzeentch are psychically potent, flinging more spells than their kin, and being harder to effectively hit and take down - and keep down.

SLAANESH: While s/he is missing and captured in the realm of Sigmar, in the 41st millennium, S/he is free and wreaking havoc. The youngest of the chaos gods, Slaanesh is the god of excess in all forms, and artistry. His/er forces are beautiful and deadly, striking with a whip while clad in leather, or eviscerating their opponents with unnatural grace. It was Slaanesh that was created during the Fall of the Eldar, and when the Aeldari die, it is Slaanesh who devours their souls.

NURGLE: The putrid god of decay and stagnancy. Nurgle daemons spread blight and death wherever they go, breathing disease like it was air. Their daemons are cheerful as they make their foes suffer, just as their god supports and represents peace to the poor and downtrodden - after all, if your life is horrid, why not find enjoyment and release in what little you have left?




















4. Imperium
You took a look at the lines of giant tanks, beautiful power-armor-clad women, or cyborg men, and thought, 'Yeah, these are awesome'. Well, the Imperium has a huge variety of armies, more so than any other faction. Their playstyles vary greatly, ranging from the shooting focused Astra Militarum, to the melee-focused ogryns, to the fire-loving sororitas, but you need not focus on a single aspect of the Imperium. From space marines to adeptus custodes, every single unit with the IMPERIUM keyword can ally together. Want to run the inquisition with some grey knights and assassins? Go for it! Want to ally Roboute Guilliman with Saint Celestine, surrounded by guardsmen? Why not? The Imperium is the bastion of humanity, and the playstyle is up to you.

ASTRA MILITARUM: From the forces of the fallen Cadia, to the bare-chested Catachan Jungle fighters, to the elites of the Militarum Tempestus, and many, many more,  the Imperial Guard are the 'best that humanity has to offer'. In reality, their forces substitute individual aptitude with numbers, sacrificing thousands, if not millions, to do the job that a few dozen space marines would achieve, using pathetic lasguns and flimsy flak armor. The guard is more than simply sheer numbers, however. Their commissars keep them in line(even if that includes putting a bullet in the head of a cowardly soldier to teach a lesson) and their tanks are some of the best in the game. Whether it be the heavy ordnance of the hydras, basilisks, and wyverns, the terrifying cannons of the Leman Russ tanks, or the unmatched might of the powerful Baneblades, a guard gun line is not something to scoff at.

MILITARUM AUXILIA: While the Imperium proudly displays the might of the Imperial Guard, and the mighty Space Marines are legendary paragons, the abhuman mutants who fight alongside of them are a dirty secret. Despite that, the ratling snipers and lumbering ogryns are invaluable tools of any guard commander.

ADEPTUS MECHANICUS: Since their truce with the Emperor in days past, the techpriests of Mars and the galaxy as a whole have been an invaluable part of the Imperium for millennia. Researching, uncovering, and guarding technology of the golden Age of Humanity, it is the mechanicus that deploys the mightiest of the Imperium's technology. Whether it is the cyborg forces of the Skitarii, the semi-sentient servitors, or the irradiated weaponry of the mechanicum tanks, the clockwork techpriests will lay low any who attempt to interrupt their research or keep them from new technology.

QUESTOR MECHANICUS: Whole noble houses form around those in control of the mighty titans and imperial knights controlled by the Imperium. While the Astra Militarum pride themselves on their tanks and ordnance, many would point at the true champions of martial power as the Imperial Knights. Those lucky enough to deploy a knight - or the massive, powerful titans - know that they will obliterate almost anything they turn their guns at, or cleave anything they swing their melee weapons at.

ADEPTUS MINISTORUM: In millennia past, the Ecclesiarchy attempted a coup, trying to take over the Imperium at large. As punishment for their failed uprising, they were no longer to deploy any "Men at Arms". As a way around that, they formed the "Adepta Sororitas", or the Sisters of Battle, an all-female faction of fanatical women in power armor. Those looking to build sisters are in for an uphill battle, as, with 3 exceptions, their entire army consists of 20 year old pewter sculpts, but those who assemble the army can demonstrate fast, devastating attacks, powerful acts of pure faith in the emperor, and a LOT of flamers as the sororitas believe the best way to find forgiveness is penitence...in fire. On top of the mighty Sisters, the Ecclesiarchy maintains a small sect of well-known priests, and soldiers looking to pay for sins and acts of heresy.

INQUISITION: Answering to nobody, save themselves, and having absolute authority, including the space marines, the Inquisition are a secretive sect of the best of the best of normal humans. Ranging from powerful psykers to talented field commanders, the authority of the inquisition is without peer. Inquisitors fall into one of 3 orders: The Ordo Malleus, who hunt down daemons and chaos space marines, the Ordo Hereticus, who track down rogue psykers and heretics, and Ordo Xenos, who hunt down the alien with terrifying efficiency.

OFFICIO ASSASSINORUM: When things go wrong, or a target needs to be neutralized, the Assassin houses of the Officio Assassinorum are deployed. Sending single soldiers, these elites are meant to do one thing: Annihilate with utmost efficiency. Whether it's the melee-focused, shape shifting character killing callidus, the long-range snipers of the vindicares, the 'kill everything and leave no witnesses' eversors, or the psyker-hunting culexus assassins, these elites will cut a swath through the enemy and ask questions never.

SISTERS OF SILENCE: An ancient order of 'blanks', these warriors leave a shadow in the warp and annihilate those of their enemies who attempt to manifest the powers of the Warp. Strong, fast, and fearless, the Sisters of Silence work with their battle brothers, the custodes, to protect the Emperor and the Imperium at large.

ADEPTUS CUSTODES: The emperor's personal, elite soldiers, these golden giants once remained only in the imperial palace, protecting their Emperor and fighting the daemons that emerged under the golden throne. Since the return of Roboute Guilliman, the legendary custodes, who are to space marines what the astartes are to a guardsman, have been increasingly seen in the Imperium, fighting to protect their charges and bring peace to humanity.





















5: Aeldari
You saw the sleek tanks and colourful garb of the craftworlds, the clown aesthetics of the Harlequins, the gore and spikes of the Drukhari, or the mixes shown in the Ynnari. Well, the Aeldari(or Eldar) are a varied mix of units, sacrificing the high armor of the space marines with higher mobility and generally better weaponry. Eldar tend to require a bit more careful playing than marines or chaos factions, but a well-guided Eldar army will shred through the enemy before they realize what happened. There are four different Eldar factions, all of whom can be freely mixed, similarly to the Imperium or chaos factions.

ASURYANI(CRAFTWORLD ELDAR): The most commonly played faction of Aeldari, the craftworlders are the monk remnants of the ancient Fall, which saw much of the Eldar population devoured to give birth to the chaos god of Excess, Slaanesh. Craftworld units, more than any other faction in the game, are highly specialized, and this is especially clear in their aspect shrines. Whether it is the melee might of the howling banshees, the tank-slaying fire dragons, or the long-range, anti-infantry support of the Dark Reapers, each Eldar unit serves a purpose, and mastering them will have you dominate the forces of the mon'keigh or chaos before they realize what's happening.

DRUKHARI(DARK ELDAR): When the fall of the Eldar happened, the criminals in the Eldar webway city of Commorragh were spared...or so it seemed. Rather than being devoured instantly, the Dark Kin find their souls constantly being slowly devoured by Slaanesh, and only causing others to suffer in their stead can stay their horrible fate. In a universe of shades of grey, the Drukhari are truly evil, ranging from the poisoned splinter shots of the kabals, the deadly grace and high mobility of the Wych cults, and the horrific mutations of the Haemonculus covens, the Drukhari mostly sacrifice armor for pure speed, using poisoned weapons and darklight to cut a swath through their foes and take them as slaves.

HARLEQUINS: By sacrificing their souls to Cegorach, the Eldar laughing god, the forces of the Harlequins were spared the fate of their fallen kin. Now, they move freely through both webway and Imperium, acting as ambassadors and telling the story of their fallen brothers in somber, emotional dances. On the tabletop, Harlequin forces are few, but each are graceful and deadly, able to dodge even the most powerful of attacks with ease while dancing their way through the enemy forces. Due to the colourful nature of their forces, Harlequins are incredibly difficult to paint, but a careful player will have a beautiful army ready to cut apart their opponent.

YNNARI: Due to the efforts of Eldrad Ulthwé, Ynnead, the Eldar god of death, was resurrected, and brought back to life Yvraine. Accompanied by her partner, the enigmatic Visarch, Ynnead leads the Ynnari to recruit splinters of forces from the Asuryani, Harlequins, and Drukhari, seeking to gather the souls of the fallen to empower their god. In time, Ynnead will slay Slaanesh and free the souls of their fallen comrades. On the tabletop, the Ynnari can freely take any forces from any Eldar faction, save the Drukhari Haemonculus covens (or a few notable other characters), and benefit from fallen units. Whether it's an enemy or an ally force, death empowers Ynnead, and allows nearby Ynnari to make another action. This gives them mobility and strength from death, where other factions would simply suffer from fallen comrades.























6: Tyranids
Looking through the gallery and models available to Warhammer 40,000, your eyes settled upon the horrendous monsters and space bugs of the Tyranids. A relatively new player in the galaxy, Tyranids serve a single hive mind, seeking to devour all biomass in the galaxy, before moving on to the next. Many believe that Tyranids are the greatest threat to the galaxy, rivalling, or even surpassing the threat presented by chaos. On the tabletop, Tyranids are fast monsters, functioning as the melee equivalent to the high-shooting power of the imperial guard. The Tyranids are more than just fangs and teeth, however. Their monsters can deal horrific amounts of deadly firepower, and their psychic creatures - empowered by their own hive mind rather than the Warp - cast a shadow on the warp itself, impeding enemy psykers while they are free to annihilate their enemies. To face down the Tyranids is to face down a numberless, devouring Swarm, and to play them is to delight in the hunger of the Hive Mind.

GENESTEALER CULTS: When planning a takeover of a sector, the Tyranid hive mind sends out  Genestealers . When landing on a planet, these monsters take a few residents of the planet and forcefully breed them, growing their numbers and starting a cult that worships their monstrous masters as gods. In time, the bred Genestealer cultists grow more and more human, blending in more, before finally uprising and calling their 'gods' to them. The Tyranids will eat everything on the planet, including the Genestealer cult, then move on. On the tabletop, Genestealer cultists rely on ambushing from the shadows, making them difficult to plan around. In addition, they can freely ally with their Tyranid masters. As well, traitor regiments of guard can be led to work for the Genestealer cults, making their line some of the most diverse available in the game.
















7: Orks
You saw the ramshackle vehicles and the big green monsters and thought 'YEAH, DEY'Z LOOKIN' DEAD 'ARD'. Orks are a fascinating, amusing faction, using a subconscious gestalt field to alter reality to their own mindset. In simpler terms: Their equipment, their abilities, and the might of their enemies only works because they believe it does. They scavenge, loot, and pillage enemy vehicles and weapons, cobbling them together into their own wartrukks that look like they're about to fall apart. On the tabletop, Orks provide some of the most diverse options for conversion opportunities, allowing you to take and orkify any vehicles in the game. When playing as Orks, you sacrifice accuracy and armor for pure firepower, flinging dozens, if not hundreds of shots in hopes that you'll hit 4 or 5 of your targets. This changes, however, when these monsters get into melee combat, as Orks are some of the most deadly melee fighters in the game, throwing out scores of attacks with their masses of Boyz and nobz. Their vehicles are ramshackle, their weapons piddly-looking, but to underestimate the Orks is to call down the full might of their WAAAAAAAAGH! upon you.

















8: Necrons
The most ancient of the enemies of the Aeldari, the Necrons were once the Necrontyr. However, they sacrificed bodies of flesh and souls for immortality, shambling across battlegrounds as immortal metal skeletons. Their immortal, former masters, the C'tan, are responsible for the creation of the Necrons, and remain terrifying aspects to face, even fractured into shards as they are now. Shambling across the table, murdering anything not made of metal, you would not be remiss to compare Necron warriors to the Terminator. The Necron's technology is ludicrously advanced, employing time manipulation, reality warping, and galactic-level destruction, making them a terrifying threat, even without their forces at full power. On the tabletop, Necrons are nearly immortal, allowing them to get up and keep moving as long as even some of their army remains active. Their weapons are powerful, and their vehicles support their warriors, making Necrons a slow burn, but one that will be nearly impossible to put down for good.






















9: T'au
So your eyes glanced over futuristic 9 foot tall supermen, immortal terminators, screaming greenskin monsters, and literal daemons from hell, and settled upon the ornate, sleek walking mechsuits of the grey-skinned T'au. These alien beings, in a stark contrast from the fascist zealotry of the Imperium, the terrifying nature of chaos, the mindless devouring of the Tyranids, and the personal agendas of the Eldar, look to fight for 'The Greater Good'. T'au are the youngest faction in the 41st millennium, and their lore reflects this. Their forces are relatively small, but they make up for their small numbers with terrifying firepower. Led into battle by their manipulative masters, the ethereals, the T'au use massive crisis suits and marker-lights to zero in on their enemy and take them down in a barrage of firepower. Unlike other factions, their melee capabilities are pitiful, with none(save a certain character) even having ANY melee weapons. In order to offset this, enemies that hope to close in on a T'au unit are forced to endure waves of firepower from not only the unit they charge, but also the forces of all the T'au's closest allies. On top of the grey skinned caste warriors, the T'au have also made allies in the insectoid vespids and avian Kroot, who go into combat alongside their T'au masters. While the T'au lack any psychic power of their own, they do not need it, instead using their own zealot will, and the manipulations of the ethereals, to push forth and conquer the galaxy, subjugating the Imperium 'For the Greater Good'.