[Wargear] The Visual Tau Armory
A Graphical Armory Listing

Authored by General


During some technological 'Spring Cleaning' I found the editable files used in this project. I lost steam on this project earlier, but I've got another burst of zeal . I'm going to put a little thought into how I can alter this project so it offers some sort of service to ATT. Thank you.


Introduction

It may just be me, but I personally feel that Games Workshop doesn't do quite as thorough a job at depicting and describing what piece of wargear is portrayed by what model as some of us may need. I've found myself looking for reference as to what a certain vehicle upgrade is represented by in the sprues on numerous occasions, and I hope to compile a Visual Dictionary of sorts as a definitive guide to solve that very problem. I expect that this will be worth more to new Tau players until they become familiar with Tau wargear.

Battlesuit Armory


Battlesuit Weapons Systems

Airbursting Fragmentation Projector (Special Issue)

Burst Cannon

Cyclic Ion Blaster (Special Issue)

Flamer

Fusion Blaster

Missile Pod

Plasma Rifle

Battlesuit Support Systems

Advanced Stabilisation System ... [No Official Representation]

Blacksun Filter ... [No Official Representation]

Command & Control Node (Special Issue)

Drone Controller [XV25 Variant]

Multi-Tracker

Positional Relay (Special Issue)

Shield Generator

Target Lock

Targeting Array ... [No Official Representation]

Vectored Retro-Thrusters (Special Issue) ... [No Official Representation]

Battlesuit Wargear

In Progress...

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III. Infantry Armory

Infantry Weapons

Kroot Gun

Kroot Rifle



Pulse Carbine

Pulse Rifle



Rail Rifle

Vespid Neutron Blaster

Looks pretty cool to me.

My only suggestions would be:

1) Scale - try having all your pics on the same scale rather than having them all the same size. As a visual resource it kind of makes sense that you could make size comparisons between the different weapon systems.

2) Facing - Just from a purely aesthetic point I think it would look better if all the weapons were pointed in the same direction.

As a Tau veteran this kind of resource isn't so much helpful as simply cool to look at but I can see newer players finding it helpful until they are comfortable with the Tau miniatures.

For some it could make a useful resource for testing paint schemes on weapons though. It would be very cool it that function if you were also thinking of adding a 'chassis' section with views of battle suits and vehicles (something like what Isotope did with the Devilfish a while ago)

I've just addressed these issues, thank you. I was struggling with keeping all the weapons in scale with one another, but have found a suitable way. It was simply how I was uploading the pictures through Photobucket.

I agree that a collection like this could be said to only offer "completeness" to the bevy of other resources available on ATT but I'm hoping that as you said, it might aid new players.

Thank you for the feedback!


- General

Gorgeous line art General, there were a couple of changes I would suggest but you attended to them since last I reviewed the work.

Pushed into Tactica for safe keeping, but once complete I think inclusion into the Academy Articles would be appropriate in the least for such a reference.

~ Tael.

Your support systems are facing left while the weapons are facing right, but besides that a very good guide.

One small comment on the Drone Controller...

There is a drone controller included with the new plastic XV25s Stealth Suits. That seems to fit sizewise with the XV8s as well. Something you may want to consider.

All in all, a very worthwhile well done project!

At first I didn't think it looked that bad, but now that I've been able to sleep on it I see that it's slightly jarring. Thank you for the input, I've changed their direction.


Thank you for mentioning that! I had completely forgot about the new XV25 Stealth Suits. I have updated accordingly.


Thank you for the compliment Shas'El Tael. I envy your artistic ability and look forward to seeing the models you create. Inclusion into the Academy Articles would be such an honor. I can only hope!

Thank you everyone for your feedback and general interest in this project. It's a good feeling to interact and exchange ideas over something you put effort into.


- General

Speaking of the XV25, have you considered including their version of the burst cannon? It is very similar to the one you did, but since the post is aimed at newcomers, it might be worth considering. But great post! Definitely looking forward to seeing the upcoming items.

Finally, what program are you using to make these?

I'm using Adobe Illustrator CS4, and exporting them as GIF. Also, I will most likely make an entry for the newer Burst Cannon, I just need to decide what the best way (aesthetically) would be to include it in the list.

Thanks!


- General

A minor comment: the Drone Controller you have listed is the variant from the XV25 sprue. As yet, GW have not provided the XV8 suit with its own variant and many people use the Multitracker piece to represent the Drone Controller. Perhaps some small addition to the Multitracker picture title outlining this double use would be appropriate?

The list is excellent though; I wholly concur with Shas'el Tael about the final resting place of this piece of work.

E.

Edit: I have replaced the red colour of your opening paragraph with a strong black, purely to help it stand out a little as you intended but without the use of a whole paragraph of bright red!

Adobe Illustrator CS4....drool...... You lucky shas'la, I'm turning a shade of envious purple..

I still operate with Freehand 10, I know that program inside out, so converting over when my new MAC arrives is going to be 'fun'.

I'm really interested in seeing how you do a Pulse Rifle, I've had line art of that for years. My first Tau art in fact. Based it off a side on shot of the model itself. I'm just so curious to see another graphics enthusiast interpret the model part.

~ Tael.

Well after reading this I decided I better start working on the infantry weapons... I actually used your image from Eastern-Empire as reference, but I think it's a little bit too short. I'll probably elongate it when I finish the other weapons.


- General

Actually you're right, it is short. I almost forgot, I had shortened it to make the Pulse Rifle Theory graphic couple of years back to fit comfortably on screen. At 'actual scale' it would have been indeed too long.. hahaha. 'Function dictating design' right there folks.

~ Tael.

In the codex it is suggested that the model for the multi-tracker also represents the drone-controller.

And the Target lock also represents the targetting array.

So they can be used for both

To add even more confusion to the mix, an old Tau & Necron Collector Guide is very clear that the Multitracker is represented by the left antenna on the XV8's head (the bigger one). When I first started collecting Tau I took a good look at the Guide, then at the Codex. I was quite surprised the Codex is at odds with the Collector Guide and as the result Targetting Array has no part to show it (as the current part for Multitracker would make an excellent Targetting array).

I've always thought that the target lock made a great targeting array. Does anyone take the non-hard-wired version target lock? Most target locks are taken by more senior battlesuit pilots and even then usually in their hard-wired form anyway. Shas'vre/shas'el would generally not carry target locks - we need the volume of fire to compensate for the sub-par BS. Therefore using them as targeting arrays would be ideal, I think.

Edit: BTW, love the artwork, General - do keep it up!

I just wanted to chime in that this is an excellent resource.

I always found that the AFP doesn't really look like a bombardment weapon to me, but the results sure look like it.


@ Longbow : I might start doing that! I used some TA conversion ideas i found on other parts of the site, but it might get confusing seeing as some of my Deathrains actually have TL's on them.

really cool!

Since the Target Array and the BSF are never pictured, you could instead use the face of a Crisis and/or stealth head and label the lens. This would go well with the for mentioned antennae labels too. or the lens on the right breast plate of the XV-8.

Just to echo the others' comments, great work General! This will most certainly find a place among the Academy Articles once you've taken it a few steps further; thanks for your excellent contribution. It always tickles me to see new folks jumping in with both feet

There is something very aesthetically pleasing about beautifully rendered vector images of Tau wargear. Good job!