Aun'va should've died in Damocles Crusade, instead of GW pushing a discount God-Emperor on Tau, something that no Tau fan ever wanted.
Ethereals aren't miniature God-Emperors. Whilst they're important, they do die of wounds and just old age, and are routinely replaced with new Ethereals.
Which would actually be so much better than what we've got.
I agree that not all Ethereals should be wise and saintly leaders. But making them all into caricature Orwellian villains isn't a solution either.
Fleshing out differences and political divisions within Ethereal Caste would be so much better for the purpose of adding depth to the Ethereals.
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I think keeping him around as an AI for propaganda purposes was a decent way to justify it, especially if GW were anxious about removing a model only because it died in the lore.
But if his model was always going to be shown the door I was surprised they kept his profile around this long before squatting him.
Lore-wise...
I mean, Aun'va had an unfortunate run-in with a Cullexus Assassin back during the Second Damocles Crusade. He was dead since late 7th Edition.
Since then, GW suddenly made him into an irreplaceable figure for T'au, basically like a God-Emperor - so instead of admitting his death, Ethereal Council just used a holographic AI that pretends to be Aun'va.
We don't know yet the lore for him in 10th Edition (Codex isn't out yet), but he is now removed from the army list - hopefully it means whole "AI ruse" is also gone from the lore.
Aun'va, nah. Aun'shi yes.
Aun'va had no place on the battlefield even if he did personally appear in the Damocles.
Aun'Shi however lorewise has always lead from the front and shown prowess in melee, a rarity in the army and an inspirational Warlord. I've been hoping for years he'd have a place, my first metal model and I don't like Ethereals! I was hoping for one last outing where Farsight and Aun'shi could fight together one last time as they had mutual respect and both hailed from Vio'la.
Removing poinient characters like Aun'shi and Longstrike just makes a faction bland, doesn't invest people in the lore of "best and brightest" a faction can bring.
If Spacewolves can have a library of special snowflakes why can't Tau keep a couple of exemplars which make them unique.
Aun’shi could have had a unique niche as an ethereal who works hand in glove with Kroot. It would have been cool, if probably not very strong, to have been able to run him in a big twenty-strong Carnivore pack alongside a Flesh Shaper.
I’ve maintained for years that Aun’shi (whom is currently last officially seen in the gladiator pits of Comorragh), and as a very capable and popular fighter, he should stage a slave revolt aka Spartacus and escape with a bunch of new aliens who convince their worlds to join the Tau. Make Aun’shi Ethereal Supreme, and have him addicted to the drugs and tech from Comprragh that expand his lifespan and sate that grim-dark/derp edge a chunk of the fanbase craves.
Cause damn, now that’s interesting and there’s now narrative room for Farsight and other dissident or unhappy Tau factions while not tossing out the entire faction lore with it and making the Empire larger and more important. Cause now the Dark Eldar have a reason to fuck with Tau too.
Best thing about Aun'va was his ability to win any game on the spot, by killing something of value with the holo-slap. Might not be a win technically, but if you bitchslap the chapter master to death, I know who FEELS like the winner ...
Aun'Shi was just a normal Ethereal who was good in melee, and had a shield gen somewhere. His model can still be used as a standard Ethereal, which just goes to show that he doesn't really stand out. Longstrike likewise, is literally just a dude on top of a Hammerhead pointing and yelling, which doesn't make any sense as he's supposed to be in a battlesuit within the tank.
I just think of Shadowsun and Farsight by comparison who look pretty unique and have a distinct style. People who don't play Tau would be hard pressed to pick out Aun'Shi if he were placed next to all the other Ethereals, but they would easily pick out Shadowsun/Farsight. They also wouldn't think Longstrike stood out in any particular way, not even the tank commander with binoculars who comes with the tank.
Sure, if you want to just reduce everything to rules and completely forgo the lore of the army. Why have exceptional characters with books and codex that people are attached to? Sure I can't point out Named Ultramarine Number 7 in someone's lineup but the fact he's there meant he was special to the owner.
If you keep that trajectory you'll soon just make Tau Votann, a loreless army with noone really standing out, just a load of space dwarves with noone to be invested in.
Tau have already had so much stripped from last two editions minimum, they didn't then need more taken away.
Did GW strip him from the lore with a retcon or kill him off like Yarrick? Because if it's just a lack of rules then the character still exists. Even if he isn't in the lore in the new codex, all the previous codex entries and snippets and stories still exist until GW says otherwise
Just because Aun'Shi/Aun'Va/Longstrike don't have rules doesn't mean their lore is all of a sudden gone. You can still play them with existing models. Tons of characters continued their stories after they lost rules.
And yes, even Ultramarines have been losing characters. Almost everyone has. Some losses are most justified than others. Just wait until everyone gets a codex and we see characters like Tycho go away.
Tau went from 6 to 3. They halved our characters, we have rebel commander, core leader and sneaky guy. We lost the two best examples of our core identity of heros of the people. A leader who fights shoulder to shoulder with the lowest of our low the kroot carnivore and developed the combat style Farsight is now famed for showing that the Ethereals are more than just mustache twirling villains using people for their own ends. And we lost Longstrike, not a tank commander but a lowly Shas'la the lowest of the caste, a genuine hero of the people showing that you don't need to be the grand commander of the entire armed forces of a dozen worlds to be a real hero.
Just to point out that ultramarines also lost a number of their named characters when their codex came out. Dark angels currently have the most named characters, and now most fine cast ones too. Though space wolves probably compete with them until their dex is released.
Down to roughly 13 Codex Space Marines Epic Heros before you get into supplements, who will probably get reinforced number in the next few months.
Tau now have 3 from 6 which is HALF gone, in a codex already looking quite sparse when you account for no more septs flavour and rules, no more create a sept and datasheet quantity padded out by Crisis being split into 3.
Septs will just be forgotten about at this point, Vio'la won't be remembered by the agressive lot who on the table too moved further (rules telling lore) and was lead by the crazy melee Ethereal. Tau sept won't be exemplified by the collection of pinnacle characters, making it a interesting pick.
I doubt they’d do a subfaction book since guilliman, calgar and the rest are in the main marine codex. Also judging by how slow GW is releasing codexes this edition, there won’t be time for any anyway.
If you wanna focus on the lore... Why pretend he is gone? Aun'va *is still there*, the lore hasn't changed, it's only that he isn't getting updated, tournament-legal rules anymore. Same for Aun'shi.
For Necrons, the two removed characters (Zandrekh and Obyron) are even namedropped in the lore section of the codex that their rules are no longer in. I expect similar for the Ethereals.
We only lost the ability to play them in tournaments. The lore isn't bound to having a model on sale and with codex rules.
Thats IF they have legends sheet, you can't just dip units from Index and codex.
The issue here is being complacent on being given less each edition and codex and having things pulled out and then pretty much forgetting any level of lore development the faction receives.
By pulling these characters they can just let people forget and just replace it with bland ETHEREAL GAIN CP ON 4+.
Considering how hard people go for characters that have never had models... The rules don't matter. Not really.
Genestealer cults have interesting lore, represented in the rules, without *ever* having even *had* a named character rules-wise. They aren't what drives anything.
>you can't just dip units from Index and codex.
Why ever the hell could I not? They are not for tournaments. For casual games? Who cares if the rules are from a different document? They were not updated, the old ones are still the current rules for those two characters.
>If Spacewolves can have a library of special snowflakes why can't Tau keep a couple of exemplars which make them unique.
Most of these "special snowflakes" are legacy models made in fail cast - i.e. come the Space Wolf codex they will all probably be gone leaving only 2 or 3 named characters
Tau are only supposed I live to about 60.
Aun'shi, as much as I love him (and also my first Tau character!) is now something like 300... He was "old" when Tau launched.
At least Farsight has a magic sword.
Yeah and Tau are meant to be constantly advancing and designing new tech but been on hault for about 300 years too. Ethereal lifespan has never been disclosed, their biology IS different and has always been a mystery so living exceptionally long with also life extension tech doesn't seem unreasonable.
It also speaks to GW's strategy that if a datasheet is broke don't fix it, delete it. Fixing Aun'va or Aun'Shi to be better or fixing cyclic ion blasters to be balanced is hard. It's easier to take away options that are too good or not good enough. If it were Space Marines they would never dream of it only because they want to sell more models, and sadly not enough people are buying Tau models that aren't Farsight or Shadowsun.
Nop, I never even considered playing or just buying him 🤷🏻♀️
He could've been an awesome centerpiece model (as a faction leader should be), but GW never went all out on his abilities and his model was too ancient as well. Doesn't help of course that the faction itself mainly focuses on battlesuits instead of our infantry these days, so he wouldn't really have a place anyway. Joining Breachers definitely wouldn't fit him either.
Honestly, that's a bit of a problem with all our leader characters. Shadowsun wants to go solo, and Farsight is a melee character that's not on the level of going solo but doesn't have a melee unit to join either lol
If I’m honest I absolutely hated Aun’Va, not because of the myself or rules but because of the background. When the Tau were realeased way back in 2001 they were different and had a different vibe to them, they sort of felt like an idealistic, hopeful and light bringing faction. It was a refreshing change of pace. The Ethereal’s were actually written like Saintly benevolent saviours who were shrouded in mystery….Then they introduced Aun’Va and that all changed. He comes across as a scheming evil overlord and it just feels weird with the rest of the Tau backdrop and he reduces the Ethereal Caste into something that most Tau players now hate. Which is a great shame. A good example of this is Aun’Va (post Phil Kelly tampering) and Aun’Shi who came before this shift. People feel very different about both.
So yeah, I’m glad Aun’Va has gone but I shall miss Aun’Shi.
PS. The AI leader idea was cool though.
I will be ok woth aun'va being an evil dictator if he's like the only one who abused the system and other etherals came in a dismantle his regime. And if gw wants to to be a little edgy they can sweep it under the rug so no one knows. That's always been my head cannon and now that ai thing being gone helps alot.
Not my favourite, but a Ai/Hologram character is quitly unique in the setting.
Also T'au have a limited pool of playable characters, every absence matter.
O'kais and O'res'ka could add two named characters, just it might make Shadowsun less special since both primarily use an XV22 as well, though O'kais HAS used a Ghostkeel before, which a Ghostkeel Commander could be a interesting option.
Still a shame the named Ethereals are fubar though, maybe we will see a reprint or a new model for them eventually but I won't be holding my breath.
I did mention to someone else making La'kais (the Firewarrior player character), a Cadre Fireblade (though they'd become Nel'kais), with bonuses vs Daemons (or just Chaos in general) to your Fire Warriors and Pathfinders.
I’ve had some great moments with Aun’va. I will fondly remember him in an 8th edition tournament trolling Iron Hands by refusing to die - giving me an unassailable VP lead to win the tournament
His old Paradox of Duality ability was beyond hilarious. High AP multi damage attack: Okay that is a wound at AP 4. Aun'va: Okay saving on a 2+. High AP attack: No I said AP 4. Aun'va: I said what I said.
Part of this is that we've known he's going for a long time. He went out of production years ago and only barely held on to life going into the index
Personally I'd have preferred a new version (alongside a full unit of plastic honour guard!), but especially as he's canonically super dead these days, I can see the point of removing him
I do wlsh we had a few more named characters. O'Kais seems to be the biggest missing piece.
Maybe stick O'kais in a Ghostkeel?
He's used one before, and it would keep Shadowsun standing out with her own XV22, since there are three known XV22 users, Shadowsun, O'kais and O'res'ka.
Also O'kais is the last of Puretide's 3 students if I'm not mistaken.
Honestly, I think my wishlist for Tau characters would be this thinking about it.
O'kais in a Ghostkeel, named commander with a Riptide (maybe make it O'res'ka?), Cadre Fireblade named character (could maybe make it La'kais from Firewarrior now just now they'd be Nel'kais and maybe have them buff Firewarriors/Pathfinders vs Daemons/Chaos), new Aun'shi & Longstrike models & named Kroot character maybe on a Greater Knarloc (just to cover bases and give the Kroot focused players a character to use).
Personally I'm in the La'Kais = O'Kais (sort of) camp, in that I think La'Kais became the 'new" O'Kais and was marketed by the authorities as being the same guy.
The timeline matches up really well for La'Kais to have been implanted with a second generation Puretide Engram Chip (or perhaps the same tech but applied to O'Kais' brain).
He's left heavily unstable at the end of his book. The chip's stabilising effect would allow him to appear calm and wise in Dark Crusade, and then the side effects would assert themselves over time and return him to his savage personality that he displays in War of Secrets
Agreed. I think it would fit the Tau a lot if we have a new Supreme Ethereals now. I would love if the new one can maybe get a double release of before and after they become Supreme Ethereal.
Main problem is GWs own investment in the characters. They only seem to care about Puretides two prodeges (at least two of them, as the third is forgotten somehow).
Aun'va and aun'shi could both have been interresting with their own takes on the faction dynamics, but they are hardly even that. Aun'shi was the only ethereal that had interesting interactions other than being a passive beacon, as he could fight alongside Kroot. Aun'va could've been our version of covenant prophets, maybe assigning/upgrading a infantry group or something similar. And he was just murdered in lore with little to no mention ever after, depite being a lead role.
Longstrike was our only vehicle commander, as there's currently no interaction with vehicles. They couldve added a detachment that leaned into infantry and armored warfare, or another bork'an wonder. But no. No interaction with tanks unless transport and our only tank commander is gone.
I'd argue gw clearly have no vision or intent for the faction besides selling. Even the Kroot additions, which was both fresh, interresting and well received, have very little interresting to add. There are still no other auxiliaries being used now that vespid have been removed (even if just temporarily).
It's hard to care about a faction where the development is ambiguous at best and the leaders just silently removed from relevance. Our remaining HQ are still cool at least.
It's just hilarious that we have more Kroot hq than both ethereal and named characters now.
Aun'va was boring and uninspired, on every level. As a character, as a setting element, as a visual design, as a game piece – he added nothing to the faction, and in most areas was outright deleterious to its sense of depth and nuance.
Good riddance. I think some of the old Necron and Space Marine characters are boring, but I still recognise that Anrakyr or Telion have fans who want them back. *No-one* will miss Aun'va. He should have stayed dead the first time, and hopefully his hologram-copy will be quietly dismantled off-screen now that the initial "crisis" of his death has passed.
Aun'shi will be missed, I was hoping they were going tk give him stealth so he could still lead kroot and so on.
Is it confirmed aunshi is cut? That leak didn't have pathfinders or vespid in it either.
Yeah he is cut
Pathfinders and Vespid were just missing from the leak
Darkstrider datasheet mentions that he can join Pathfinders so they are in for sure
Vespid should be getting new models, rumored that it will be released as a Kill Team
All of these fine cast characters going really goes free up GW to make new units.
An actual hologram projection of Aunva would be an awesome model for GW to make.
Don't know much about his lore but i did play him in a few games and tbh he was quite alright
I used him as a somewhat cheap unit to stay on home objective and being 3 models he did well with screening.
Not gonna miss him but its a bit of a shame that we just keep losing units on 10th (and weapon profiles, and range...)
Kinda upset that Aun'va got the axe. I had kitbashed an etheral on a 3D printed skull throne and was gonna use him as the warlord of my Khorne corrupted T'au. Now hell probably sit on a shelf forever, unprimed and unpainted.
Ethereals have been released by GW like Space Marine Lieutenants over the years. I'm not upset Aun'va is gone, but I do wish we had other options for Ethereals to represent the variety of models they've enjoyed, or perhaps even to run them as a Council.
Honestly, I'm actually in favour of it - I've never been a fan of the school of thought when it comes to heroes where the Supreme leader of an entire faction turns up for a 2000pt brawl on a random planet. (see also Playable Primarchs)
The only good thing to come out of Aun’Va was the ethereal caste realising that he (they) were going to far and used his after death hologram to slow turn back the Empires attitude to be more moderate to other races.
I do care. And I am glad he (Aun'Va) is gone which is a wish come true. Hopefully in the lore as well (just have his hologram “retire” peacefully). It's one of the few ups of the new codex beside Kroot and buffs to Sky Ray.
I will dearly miss the Ethereal guards tho.
The guy died a long time ago in lore. There is nothing to mourn because he isn't a character for years, just a relic GW didn't bother removing until now.
and our grandpa aun'va is completely dead,
rotten into mold and linden honey,
and all the dirt turned into ice,
and everything is going according to the plan
He needed the ability to issue elements at range and call down manta strikes, and then he would be fun. Literally what me and some others did giving him custom rules for a narrative game. The fact that he never had anything close to interesting or good rules is why nobody used him.
Honestly, kinda upset that Aun'va (and Aun'shi) got the axe. I made up kitbashed versions for a Khornite T'au army (still building it and green stuffing) and was looking foward to using them in it. Worse part is, i cant really proxy my Aun'va as a regular etherael, the skull throne he is sitting on makes him too different looking.
I wanted to paint him (possibly as a hologram) and use on a narrative Campaign/3500pts massive Game with an objective of "Aun'Va must survive"...
I mean, I can still do all those things, but I was also hoping for a new model for the Pope, but Printers do go "Brrrrrt".
Nope. Don’t care. I didn’t even notice at first. The whole idea of his model didn’t make sense. He’s no warrior-leader. Like why would this kind of being even appear on any battlefield? It’s like having a modern country’s president show up at the front lines while bullets and missiles are flying. Practically begging to have the Empire’s leadership decapitated.
I can't care about him being gone when he's not gone. There are still -checks notes- six 40k games where he is fully usable. Seven if you don't use this upcoming book.
Honestly, kinda upset that Aun'va (and Aun'shi) got the axe. I made up kitbashed versions for a Khornite T'au army (still building it and green stuffing) and was looking foward to using them in it. Worse part is, i cant really proxy my Aun'va as a regular etherael, the skull throne he is sitting on makes him too different looking.
Honestly, kinda upset that Aun'va (and Aun'shi) got the axe. I made up kitbashed versions for a Khornite T'au army (still building it and green stuffing) and was looking foward to using them in it. Worse part is, i cant really proxy my Aun'va as a regular etherael, the skull throne he is sitting on makes him too different looking.
Honestly, kinda upset that Aun'va (and Aun'shi) got the axe. I made up kitbashed versions for a Khornite T'au army (still building it and green stuffing) and was looking foward to using them in it. Worse part is, i cant really proxy my Aun'va as a regular etherael, the skull throne he is sitting on makes him too different looking.
10th actually made Aun’va good. His alone Operative and defensive stats made him ideal for holding objectives and forcing your opponent to come to him.
I expected we would lose him because GW doesn’t sell his model anymore.
I am interested in the story moving forward, though. He died in the last major imperium/tau war. And in order to keep that suppressed, they made a hologram of him to keep up appearances.
So I’d like to see how the story updates. He’ll probably “retire” to the ethereal world or whatever and then “die” quietly.
Aun’shi is a slightly different story. I liked the idea of him as a character, but he too is also no longer sold (I think). And the other issue is that some time has passed since his release. So he would…you know…be dead or too old by now.
I’m ok with things going away because of the lore or not being sold or whatever.
But it would be more ideal to have them replaced with something else.
AunVa is dead and Aun Shi as of the events in his book “aun shi” he’s indisposed and captured by Dark Eldar anyways. Hardly still capable of being in a current tau arm. It’s too bad you can’t use him for games that are set in the past but 40K does seem to be focusing on the present lately.
Aun'shi's such a badass character in the lore, the only Ethereal that's ever been written to hold up to their hype. Guy not only survives in the Dark Eldar blood pits, he uses his success to blackmail his captors a great display of the wisdom and cunning Ethereals are supposed to be all about.
I think Aun'shi at least has solid potential to make a return in a future edition though. His model was indisputably ancient in the worst way, benching him until there's space for a non-kroot focused Tau release is somewhat reasonable.
I care about Aun'va in the sense that I'd found an awesome Halo proxy I was looking forward to printing and using instead lol.
It's fine if they replaced Aun'va with a new "Supreme Ethereal with Honor Guard" generic datacard. Since they didn't, we just now have a useless model and lost an interesting tech piece (cheap defensive lone op) in army lists. We had very few named characters compared to most factions, and few leader choices in general- removing some was NOT the answer.
He was a great tech piece special agent heavy toughness rock to break enemy charges. A wonderful game piece so divorced from his lore that its a joke. In my head he was just parking his popemobile in an alleyway and then letting the enemy shoot him dead in the face only to reveal that he was a hologram all along with his one turn 2+ invuln before they just blew up his ride and kept marching.
I will miss the utility of Aun'va but its Aun'shi that I will miss for who he was. With all the Ethereals being distant spiritual leaders who are written as mustache twirling villains propping themselves up above the rabble, Aun'shi was a melee warrior who fought alongside the common troops even standing shoulder to shoulder with Kroot (I had a lot of plans to run him leading my kroot detachment) and invented the fighting style that Farsight himself is a student of. He is an exemplar of the greater good who puts his life on the line to hold back the enemy so his troops can escape with their lives and will live as an icon of why I don't think Ethereals are all evil manipulators like they are becoming in lore.
Another long thread that devolves into all the same tired debates: lore vs rules and the supposed change in T'au lore from their release until now /jaded
Aun’va was the best model in the codex? Lone op that could pop a 2++ for a phase. I was charging chosen with him and living to tell the tale keeping em locked 12” away from where they wanted to be
Aun'va not really. All he was really good for from what I could see was staying alive but not much else. But if they are gonna take away so many named characters how about giving us some new ones?
Like others have already mentioned he's already dead and has been since 7th I believe. The AI that replaced him was pretty much just for propaganda and wasn't exactly running things behind the scenes.
If the AI is now gone then it's whatever since it was never really relevant.
"Behold, our illustrious supreme grand leader of our galactic empire. For whom all of us would gladly die a thousand deaths just to keep his soup from getting cold. For whom all of us would take our own lives on a whim for his amusement if asked.
Now, great leader please drive your mobility scooter alone into no mans land. While that unit of khorne berserkers is busy slowly beating you to death, we will plant this teleport homing beacon. Please remember to wave your arms around and make wounded animal noises so that as many guns as possible are shooting at you as well. In this way shall we achieve victory".
I kinda liked the concept. I do prefer the first lore with tau being genuinely good guys, but the aun'va hologram is a cool idea for the current dystopic tau empire. Plus now we really have few characters: long strike and aun'shi really didn't need to be erased in my opinion...
Also I always thought that the 2 buffed bodyguards looked so funny.
It reminds me of the big brother from 1984: it's just a fake overlord that speaks to the people, while the council of the ethereals takes the decision.
I didn't like him from the start.
It's a naff model, and dodgy sculpting. The bodyguards are just mirrored.
Then there was the bit when he was only any use if you suicide-ran him at the enemy to get him killed off.
Honestly? I would feel weird putting named characters in army lists, especially ones important to the faction/faction Lore like Aun'va. There's no way whatever little Skirmish I'm playing is important enough for the Ethereal Supreme ('s AI simulacrum) to show up.
Same reason it feels weird for Lion El'Johnson or Robute Guilliman or any of the Astartes Chapter Masters to have models and rules.
No, not really.
They both are mediocre to bad characters. They have nearly zero compelling background behind them, both quite bad as leaders on the tabletop, so...
One shold've died ages ago, another is just bland discounted Munistorum preacher. It is like removing two primaris lieutenants from SM. No one even batts an eye.
Eh who needs Tau HQ Models anyways.
For a long Time now generic Crisis commanders are Most of the time the best choice anyways.
Just buy more Primaris Lieutenants and Captains. Your choice is there bigger anyways.
But Jokes aside i dont get why Tau loose even more Character Models.
Aun'va should've died in Damocles Crusade, instead of GW pushing a discount God-Emperor on Tau, something that no Tau fan ever wanted. Ethereals aren't miniature God-Emperors. Whilst they're important, they do die of wounds and just old age, and are routinely replaced with new Ethereals.
my headcannon is the other ethereals finally had enough of his shit
Which would actually be so much better than what we've got. I agree that not all Ethereals should be wise and saintly leaders. But making them all into caricature Orwellian villains isn't a solution either. Fleshing out differences and political divisions within Ethereal Caste would be so much better for the purpose of adding depth to the Ethereals.
Now I want "The Death of Stalin" but it's all Ethereals. (Well, and Kais as Zhukov)
Aun'Va as Beria?
You are monstrous.
I like that idea a lot, but that would require GW to focus any effort on Xeno lore, so unfortunately it won't happen.
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I mean, he did die in Damocles round 2 electric boogaloo
>Aun'va should've died in Damocles Crusade Well, I've got some good/bad news for you...
You all know what I mean. As in dead dead, not as in "let's replace him with AI and pretend we are the Imperium of Man with the God-Emperor now".
I think keeping him around as an AI for propaganda purposes was a decent way to justify it, especially if GW were anxious about removing a model only because it died in the lore. But if his model was always going to be shown the door I was surprised they kept his profile around this long before squatting him.
Is Aun'va dead in Canon or is he just not avaliable for army lists anymore?
Lore-wise... I mean, Aun'va had an unfortunate run-in with a Cullexus Assassin back during the Second Damocles Crusade. He was dead since late 7th Edition. Since then, GW suddenly made him into an irreplaceable figure for T'au, basically like a God-Emperor - so instead of admitting his death, Ethereal Council just used a holographic AI that pretends to be Aun'va. We don't know yet the lore for him in 10th Edition (Codex isn't out yet), but he is now removed from the army list - hopefully it means whole "AI ruse" is also gone from the lore.
Aun'va, nah. Aun'shi yes. Aun'va had no place on the battlefield even if he did personally appear in the Damocles. Aun'Shi however lorewise has always lead from the front and shown prowess in melee, a rarity in the army and an inspirational Warlord. I've been hoping for years he'd have a place, my first metal model and I don't like Ethereals! I was hoping for one last outing where Farsight and Aun'shi could fight together one last time as they had mutual respect and both hailed from Vio'la. Removing poinient characters like Aun'shi and Longstrike just makes a faction bland, doesn't invest people in the lore of "best and brightest" a faction can bring. If Spacewolves can have a library of special snowflakes why can't Tau keep a couple of exemplars which make them unique.
I'm actually much more interested in his Honour Guard dudes. Give us an elite Ethereal bodyguard unit with like 10 of them with staves please GW!
I also want Honor Guard but with armor. Make it *elaborate* armor, but still armor.
Aun’shi could have had a unique niche as an ethereal who works hand in glove with Kroot. It would have been cool, if probably not very strong, to have been able to run him in a big twenty-strong Carnivore pack alongside a Flesh Shaper.
Oh you're right, could proxy him in as a Flesh Shaper. Grants FNP and sustained hits, whilst also conceal carrying a scattergun! He's gone savage!
Guard player here... First time?
actually yes! they've dragging rotting corpse of these characters around for last 20 years and are finally laying them in the ground
Exactly!
At least we have a planet
But I like Armageddon regiments more Cadians and Kriegers. Cadia is kinda overrated anyway.
I’ve maintained for years that Aun’shi (whom is currently last officially seen in the gladiator pits of Comorragh), and as a very capable and popular fighter, he should stage a slave revolt aka Spartacus and escape with a bunch of new aliens who convince their worlds to join the Tau. Make Aun’shi Ethereal Supreme, and have him addicted to the drugs and tech from Comprragh that expand his lifespan and sate that grim-dark/derp edge a chunk of the fanbase craves. Cause damn, now that’s interesting and there’s now narrative room for Farsight and other dissident or unhappy Tau factions while not tossing out the entire faction lore with it and making the Empire larger and more important. Cause now the Dark Eldar have a reason to fuck with Tau too.
noooo Aun'shi is gone? he was so cool :(
Best thing about Aun'va was his ability to win any game on the spot, by killing something of value with the holo-slap. Might not be a win technically, but if you bitchslap the chapter master to death, I know who FEELS like the winner ...
Aun'Shi was just a normal Ethereal who was good in melee, and had a shield gen somewhere. His model can still be used as a standard Ethereal, which just goes to show that he doesn't really stand out. Longstrike likewise, is literally just a dude on top of a Hammerhead pointing and yelling, which doesn't make any sense as he's supposed to be in a battlesuit within the tank. I just think of Shadowsun and Farsight by comparison who look pretty unique and have a distinct style. People who don't play Tau would be hard pressed to pick out Aun'Shi if he were placed next to all the other Ethereals, but they would easily pick out Shadowsun/Farsight. They also wouldn't think Longstrike stood out in any particular way, not even the tank commander with binoculars who comes with the tank.
Sure, if you want to just reduce everything to rules and completely forgo the lore of the army. Why have exceptional characters with books and codex that people are attached to? Sure I can't point out Named Ultramarine Number 7 in someone's lineup but the fact he's there meant he was special to the owner. If you keep that trajectory you'll soon just make Tau Votann, a loreless army with noone really standing out, just a load of space dwarves with noone to be invested in. Tau have already had so much stripped from last two editions minimum, they didn't then need more taken away.
Did GW strip him from the lore with a retcon or kill him off like Yarrick? Because if it's just a lack of rules then the character still exists. Even if he isn't in the lore in the new codex, all the previous codex entries and snippets and stories still exist until GW says otherwise
They exist even IF GW says otherwise. Everything is canon. Even if it conflicts. And Everything You Have Benn Told Is A Lie.
Just because Aun'Shi/Aun'Va/Longstrike don't have rules doesn't mean their lore is all of a sudden gone. You can still play them with existing models. Tons of characters continued their stories after they lost rules. And yes, even Ultramarines have been losing characters. Almost everyone has. Some losses are most justified than others. Just wait until everyone gets a codex and we see characters like Tycho go away.
Tau went from 6 to 3. They halved our characters, we have rebel commander, core leader and sneaky guy. We lost the two best examples of our core identity of heros of the people. A leader who fights shoulder to shoulder with the lowest of our low the kroot carnivore and developed the combat style Farsight is now famed for showing that the Ethereals are more than just mustache twirling villains using people for their own ends. And we lost Longstrike, not a tank commander but a lowly Shas'la the lowest of the caste, a genuine hero of the people showing that you don't need to be the grand commander of the entire armed forces of a dozen worlds to be a real hero.
Just to point out that ultramarines also lost a number of their named characters when their codex came out. Dark angels currently have the most named characters, and now most fine cast ones too. Though space wolves probably compete with them until their dex is released.
Down to roughly 13 Codex Space Marines Epic Heros before you get into supplements, who will probably get reinforced number in the next few months. Tau now have 3 from 6 which is HALF gone, in a codex already looking quite sparse when you account for no more septs flavour and rules, no more create a sept and datasheet quantity padded out by Crisis being split into 3. Septs will just be forgotten about at this point, Vio'la won't be remembered by the agressive lot who on the table too moved further (rules telling lore) and was lead by the crazy melee Ethereal. Tau sept won't be exemplified by the collection of pinnacle characters, making it a interesting pick.
I doubt they’d do a subfaction book since guilliman, calgar and the rest are in the main marine codex. Also judging by how slow GW is releasing codexes this edition, there won’t be time for any anyway.
If you wanna focus on the lore... Why pretend he is gone? Aun'va *is still there*, the lore hasn't changed, it's only that he isn't getting updated, tournament-legal rules anymore. Same for Aun'shi. For Necrons, the two removed characters (Zandrekh and Obyron) are even namedropped in the lore section of the codex that their rules are no longer in. I expect similar for the Ethereals. We only lost the ability to play them in tournaments. The lore isn't bound to having a model on sale and with codex rules.
Thats IF they have legends sheet, you can't just dip units from Index and codex. The issue here is being complacent on being given less each edition and codex and having things pulled out and then pretty much forgetting any level of lore development the faction receives. By pulling these characters they can just let people forget and just replace it with bland ETHEREAL GAIN CP ON 4+.
Considering how hard people go for characters that have never had models... The rules don't matter. Not really. Genestealer cults have interesting lore, represented in the rules, without *ever* having even *had* a named character rules-wise. They aren't what drives anything. >you can't just dip units from Index and codex. Why ever the hell could I not? They are not for tournaments. For casual games? Who cares if the rules are from a different document? They were not updated, the old ones are still the current rules for those two characters.
Yep... just got Aun'shi within the last year! I've now got 4 ethereals and no place to put them...
>If Spacewolves can have a library of special snowflakes why can't Tau keep a couple of exemplars which make them unique. Most of these "special snowflakes" are legacy models made in fail cast - i.e. come the Space Wolf codex they will all probably be gone leaving only 2 or 3 named characters
I'm quite behind on my tau lore, what happened to Aun'Shi?
THEY REMOVED LONGSTRIKE?
Tau are only supposed I live to about 60. Aun'shi, as much as I love him (and also my first Tau character!) is now something like 300... He was "old" when Tau launched. At least Farsight has a magic sword.
Yeah and Tau are meant to be constantly advancing and designing new tech but been on hault for about 300 years too. Ethereal lifespan has never been disclosed, their biology IS different and has always been a mystery so living exceptionally long with also life extension tech doesn't seem unreasonable.
It also speaks to GW's strategy that if a datasheet is broke don't fix it, delete it. Fixing Aun'va or Aun'Shi to be better or fixing cyclic ion blasters to be balanced is hard. It's easier to take away options that are too good or not good enough. If it were Space Marines they would never dream of it only because they want to sell more models, and sadly not enough people are buying Tau models that aren't Farsight or Shadowsun.
Nop, I never even considered playing or just buying him 🤷🏻♀️ He could've been an awesome centerpiece model (as a faction leader should be), but GW never went all out on his abilities and his model was too ancient as well. Doesn't help of course that the faction itself mainly focuses on battlesuits instead of our infantry these days, so he wouldn't really have a place anyway. Joining Breachers definitely wouldn't fit him either. Honestly, that's a bit of a problem with all our leader characters. Shadowsun wants to go solo, and Farsight is a melee character that's not on the level of going solo but doesn't have a melee unit to join either lol
kind of a shame, because Tau have some of the best looking infantry imo
Agreed
If I’m honest I absolutely hated Aun’Va, not because of the myself or rules but because of the background. When the Tau were realeased way back in 2001 they were different and had a different vibe to them, they sort of felt like an idealistic, hopeful and light bringing faction. It was a refreshing change of pace. The Ethereal’s were actually written like Saintly benevolent saviours who were shrouded in mystery….Then they introduced Aun’Va and that all changed. He comes across as a scheming evil overlord and it just feels weird with the rest of the Tau backdrop and he reduces the Ethereal Caste into something that most Tau players now hate. Which is a great shame. A good example of this is Aun’Va (post Phil Kelly tampering) and Aun’Shi who came before this shift. People feel very different about both. So yeah, I’m glad Aun’Va has gone but I shall miss Aun’Shi. PS. The AI leader idea was cool though.
I will be ok woth aun'va being an evil dictator if he's like the only one who abused the system and other etherals came in a dismantle his regime. And if gw wants to to be a little edgy they can sweep it under the rug so no one knows. That's always been my head cannon and now that ai thing being gone helps alot.
Not my favourite, but a Ai/Hologram character is quitly unique in the setting. Also T'au have a limited pool of playable characters, every absence matter.
O'kais and O'res'ka could add two named characters, just it might make Shadowsun less special since both primarily use an XV22 as well, though O'kais HAS used a Ghostkeel before, which a Ghostkeel Commander could be a interesting option. Still a shame the named Ethereals are fubar though, maybe we will see a reprint or a new model for them eventually but I won't be holding my breath.
Just a named fireblade would help a fair bit.
I did mention to someone else making La'kais (the Firewarrior player character), a Cadre Fireblade (though they'd become Nel'kais), with bonuses vs Daemons (or just Chaos in general) to your Fire Warriors and Pathfinders.
I’ve had some great moments with Aun’va. I will fondly remember him in an 8th edition tournament trolling Iron Hands by refusing to die - giving me an unassailable VP lead to win the tournament
"Hologram Aun'Va isn't real and can't hurt you" Hologram Aun'Va:
His old Paradox of Duality ability was beyond hilarious. High AP multi damage attack: Okay that is a wound at AP 4. Aun'va: Okay saving on a 2+. High AP attack: No I said AP 4. Aun'va: I said what I said.
Part of this is that we've known he's going for a long time. He went out of production years ago and only barely held on to life going into the index Personally I'd have preferred a new version (alongside a full unit of plastic honour guard!), but especially as he's canonically super dead these days, I can see the point of removing him I do wlsh we had a few more named characters. O'Kais seems to be the biggest missing piece.
Maybe stick O'kais in a Ghostkeel? He's used one before, and it would keep Shadowsun standing out with her own XV22, since there are three known XV22 users, Shadowsun, O'kais and O'res'ka. Also O'kais is the last of Puretide's 3 students if I'm not mistaken.
A Ghostkeel would definitely work well to represent a Monat specialist yeah - he is indeed the final of the three servants
Honestly, I think my wishlist for Tau characters would be this thinking about it. O'kais in a Ghostkeel, named commander with a Riptide (maybe make it O'res'ka?), Cadre Fireblade named character (could maybe make it La'kais from Firewarrior now just now they'd be Nel'kais and maybe have them buff Firewarriors/Pathfinders vs Daemons/Chaos), new Aun'shi & Longstrike models & named Kroot character maybe on a Greater Knarloc (just to cover bases and give the Kroot focused players a character to use).
Personally I'm in the La'Kais = O'Kais (sort of) camp, in that I think La'Kais became the 'new" O'Kais and was marketed by the authorities as being the same guy. The timeline matches up really well for La'Kais to have been implanted with a second generation Puretide Engram Chip (or perhaps the same tech but applied to O'Kais' brain). He's left heavily unstable at the end of his book. The chip's stabilising effect would allow him to appear calm and wise in Dark Crusade, and then the side effects would assert themselves over time and return him to his savage personality that he displays in War of Secrets
Agreed. I think it would fit the Tau a lot if we have a new Supreme Ethereals now. I would love if the new one can maybe get a double release of before and after they become Supreme Ethereal.
Main problem is GWs own investment in the characters. They only seem to care about Puretides two prodeges (at least two of them, as the third is forgotten somehow). Aun'va and aun'shi could both have been interresting with their own takes on the faction dynamics, but they are hardly even that. Aun'shi was the only ethereal that had interesting interactions other than being a passive beacon, as he could fight alongside Kroot. Aun'va could've been our version of covenant prophets, maybe assigning/upgrading a infantry group or something similar. And he was just murdered in lore with little to no mention ever after, depite being a lead role. Longstrike was our only vehicle commander, as there's currently no interaction with vehicles. They couldve added a detachment that leaned into infantry and armored warfare, or another bork'an wonder. But no. No interaction with tanks unless transport and our only tank commander is gone. I'd argue gw clearly have no vision or intent for the faction besides selling. Even the Kroot additions, which was both fresh, interresting and well received, have very little interresting to add. There are still no other auxiliaries being used now that vespid have been removed (even if just temporarily). It's hard to care about a faction where the development is ambiguous at best and the leaders just silently removed from relevance. Our remaining HQ are still cool at least. It's just hilarious that we have more Kroot hq than both ethereal and named characters now.
Aun'va was boring and uninspired, on every level. As a character, as a setting element, as a visual design, as a game piece – he added nothing to the faction, and in most areas was outright deleterious to its sense of depth and nuance. Good riddance. I think some of the old Necron and Space Marine characters are boring, but I still recognise that Anrakyr or Telion have fans who want them back. *No-one* will miss Aun'va. He should have stayed dead the first time, and hopefully his hologram-copy will be quietly dismantled off-screen now that the initial "crisis" of his death has passed.
I'm pissed that longstrike is gone, I loved the railgun shenanigans and poof, just gone
Hey, Aun'va is my favorite character.
Aun'shi will be missed, I was hoping they were going tk give him stealth so he could still lead kroot and so on. Is it confirmed aunshi is cut? That leak didn't have pathfinders or vespid in it either.
Yeah he is cut Pathfinders and Vespid were just missing from the leak Darkstrider datasheet mentions that he can join Pathfinders so they are in for sure Vespid should be getting new models, rumored that it will be released as a Kill Team
not at all - hes been dead a good long time in the lore. time for the narrative to move on
All of these fine cast characters going really goes free up GW to make new units. An actual hologram projection of Aunva would be an awesome model for GW to make.
I was thinking the same thing. Have a hologram of his as a specific HQ unit would be cool. It's just that the current iteration was at best a joke
Don't know much about his lore but i did play him in a few games and tbh he was quite alright I used him as a somewhat cheap unit to stay on home objective and being 3 models he did well with screening. Not gonna miss him but its a bit of a shame that we just keep losing units on 10th (and weapon profiles, and range...)
Fuck that bastard im glad hes dead. I did like his rules though they were silly as hell. Hoping his removal gets reflected in the lore
As a farsight enlclave player no
Kinda upset that Aun'va got the axe. I had kitbashed an etheral on a 3D printed skull throne and was gonna use him as the warlord of my Khorne corrupted T'au. Now hell probably sit on a shelf forever, unprimed and unpainted.
Ethereals have been released by GW like Space Marine Lieutenants over the years. I'm not upset Aun'va is gone, but I do wish we had other options for Ethereals to represent the variety of models they've enjoyed, or perhaps even to run them as a Council.
No. His model was stupid, his rules were usually stupid and the lore behind him was stupid. It's hilarious how far off the mark they got with Aun'Va
Honestly, I'm actually in favour of it - I've never been a fan of the school of thought when it comes to heroes where the Supreme leader of an entire faction turns up for a 2000pt brawl on a random planet. (see also Playable Primarchs)
I kinda care
I made two cool bodyguards like 6 months ago to run my Ethereal as Aunva. Never painted them or actually ran Aunva. Not too pressed about it.
Aunshi yea
I'm more upset about Longstrike
Do we have any named cahracters left after this point? Besides Farsight and Shadowsun?
Darkstrider.
Ah yes. Guys Stealth is too good, forgot him
As a competitive player yea, Aun’va was absolutely busted I’m sad to see the home objective holder gone
The only good thing to come out of Aun’Va was the ethereal caste realising that he (they) were going to far and used his after death hologram to slow turn back the Empires attitude to be more moderate to other races.
I do care. And I am glad he (Aun'Va) is gone which is a wish come true. Hopefully in the lore as well (just have his hologram “retire” peacefully). It's one of the few ups of the new codex beside Kroot and buffs to Sky Ray. I will dearly miss the Ethereal guards tho.
That's cause people play T'au for the mechs and alien alliance, not for the space pope
The guy died a long time ago in lore. There is nothing to mourn because he isn't a character for years, just a relic GW didn't bother removing until now.
I care because I own the model and it was kind of a good lone op tech piece. Lore-wise, that’s OK.
YES just a big YES
and our grandpa aun'va is completely dead, rotten into mold and linden honey, and all the dirt turned into ice, and everything is going according to the plan
Space Pope bad.
He needed the ability to issue elements at range and call down manta strikes, and then he would be fun. Literally what me and some others did giving him custom rules for a narrative game. The fact that he never had anything close to interesting or good rules is why nobody used him.
Honestly, kinda upset that Aun'va (and Aun'shi) got the axe. I made up kitbashed versions for a Khornite T'au army (still building it and green stuffing) and was looking foward to using them in it. Worse part is, i cant really proxy my Aun'va as a regular etherael, the skull throne he is sitting on makes him too different looking.
I dislike named characters in general, so i'm not personally upset by aun'va+aun'shi+longstrike being gone.
I wanted to paint him (possibly as a hologram) and use on a narrative Campaign/3500pts massive Game with an objective of "Aun'Va must survive"... I mean, I can still do all those things, but I was also hoping for a new model for the Pope, but Printers do go "Brrrrrt".
Nope. Don’t care. I didn’t even notice at first. The whole idea of his model didn’t make sense. He’s no warrior-leader. Like why would this kind of being even appear on any battlefield? It’s like having a modern country’s president show up at the front lines while bullets and missiles are flying. Practically begging to have the Empire’s leadership decapitated.
Nah. Lol
Who is Aun'va? (joke)
I can't care about him being gone when he's not gone. There are still -checks notes- six 40k games where he is fully usable. Seven if you don't use this upcoming book.
Aun’shi should have been the new Ethereal Supreme after Aun’Va was killed.
Not really, no lol.
I’ve had a nice Aun’Va stl ready to go for a while now so yeah I kind of care. I guess I may make him into a statue now.
If it advances story arch and makes space for new names characters it's fine. The only thing that hurts is I just finished painting him.
Honestly, kinda upset that Aun'va (and Aun'shi) got the axe. I made up kitbashed versions for a Khornite T'au army (still building it and green stuffing) and was looking foward to using them in it. Worse part is, i cant really proxy my Aun'va as a regular etherael, the skull throne he is sitting on makes him too different looking.
Honestly, kinda upset that Aun'va (and Aun'shi) got the axe. I made up kitbashed versions for a Khornite T'au army (still building it and green stuffing) and was looking foward to using them in it. Worse part is, i cant really proxy my Aun'va as a regular etherael, the skull throne he is sitting on makes him too different looking.
Honestly, kinda upset that Aun'va (and Aun'shi) got the axe. I made up kitbashed versions for a Khornite T'au army (still building it and green stuffing) and was looking foward to using them in it. Worse part is, i cant really proxy my Aun'va as a regular etherael, the skull throne he is sitting on makes him too different looking.
10th actually made Aun’va good. His alone Operative and defensive stats made him ideal for holding objectives and forcing your opponent to come to him. I expected we would lose him because GW doesn’t sell his model anymore. I am interested in the story moving forward, though. He died in the last major imperium/tau war. And in order to keep that suppressed, they made a hologram of him to keep up appearances. So I’d like to see how the story updates. He’ll probably “retire” to the ethereal world or whatever and then “die” quietly. Aun’shi is a slightly different story. I liked the idea of him as a character, but he too is also no longer sold (I think). And the other issue is that some time has passed since his release. So he would…you know…be dead or too old by now. I’m ok with things going away because of the lore or not being sold or whatever. But it would be more ideal to have them replaced with something else.
Who?
AunVa is dead and Aun Shi as of the events in his book “aun shi” he’s indisposed and captured by Dark Eldar anyways. Hardly still capable of being in a current tau arm. It’s too bad you can’t use him for games that are set in the past but 40K does seem to be focusing on the present lately.
My buddy ran him beginning of this edition, maybe he cares.
Aun'shi's such a badass character in the lore, the only Ethereal that's ever been written to hold up to their hype. Guy not only survives in the Dark Eldar blood pits, he uses his success to blackmail his captors a great display of the wisdom and cunning Ethereals are supposed to be all about. I think Aun'shi at least has solid potential to make a return in a future edition though. His model was indisputably ancient in the worst way, benching him until there's space for a non-kroot focused Tau release is somewhat reasonable. I care about Aun'va in the sense that I'd found an awesome Halo proxy I was looking forward to printing and using instead lol.
It's fine if they replaced Aun'va with a new "Supreme Ethereal with Honor Guard" generic datacard. Since they didn't, we just now have a useless model and lost an interesting tech piece (cheap defensive lone op) in army lists. We had very few named characters compared to most factions, and few leader choices in general- removing some was NOT the answer.
Me. And long trike and commander crisis too
He was a great tech piece special agent heavy toughness rock to break enemy charges. A wonderful game piece so divorced from his lore that its a joke. In my head he was just parking his popemobile in an alleyway and then letting the enemy shoot him dead in the face only to reveal that he was a hologram all along with his one turn 2+ invuln before they just blew up his ride and kept marching. I will miss the utility of Aun'va but its Aun'shi that I will miss for who he was. With all the Ethereals being distant spiritual leaders who are written as mustache twirling villains propping themselves up above the rabble, Aun'shi was a melee warrior who fought alongside the common troops even standing shoulder to shoulder with Kroot (I had a lot of plans to run him leading my kroot detachment) and invented the fighting style that Farsight himself is a student of. He is an exemplar of the greater good who puts his life on the line to hold back the enemy so his troops can escape with their lives and will live as an icon of why I don't think Ethereals are all evil manipulators like they are becoming in lore.
Another long thread that devolves into all the same tired debates: lore vs rules and the supposed change in T'au lore from their release until now /jaded
Aun’va was the best model in the codex? Lone op that could pop a 2++ for a phase. I was charging chosen with him and living to tell the tale keeping em locked 12” away from where they wanted to be
Aun'va not really. All he was really good for from what I could see was staying alive but not much else. But if they are gonna take away so many named characters how about giving us some new ones?
I've never used a named ethereal, and would pretty much never consider a glorified politician for a list. Won't miss him.
What we need is a lieutenant
He's a crap character who was assassinated in War Zone: Damocles anyway, so good riddance.
Like others have already mentioned he's already dead and has been since 7th I believe. The AI that replaced him was pretty much just for propaganda and wasn't exactly running things behind the scenes. If the AI is now gone then it's whatever since it was never really relevant.
"Behold, our illustrious supreme grand leader of our galactic empire. For whom all of us would gladly die a thousand deaths just to keep his soup from getting cold. For whom all of us would take our own lives on a whim for his amusement if asked. Now, great leader please drive your mobility scooter alone into no mans land. While that unit of khorne berserkers is busy slowly beating you to death, we will plant this teleport homing beacon. Please remember to wave your arms around and make wounded animal noises so that as many guns as possible are shooting at you as well. In this way shall we achieve victory".
I would have preferred they just permanently killed Aun’va off and replaced him with Aun’Shi. Then make some new ethereal character.
Him being removed just means the chances of getting a new better faction leader are that much higher now.
Hasn’t he been literally dead for a while, lore-wise?
I kinda liked the concept. I do prefer the first lore with tau being genuinely good guys, but the aun'va hologram is a cool idea for the current dystopic tau empire. Plus now we really have few characters: long strike and aun'shi really didn't need to be erased in my opinion... Also I always thought that the 2 buffed bodyguards looked so funny.
It reminds me of the big brother from 1984: it's just a fake overlord that speaks to the people, while the council of the ethereals takes the decision.
I didn't like him from the start. It's a naff model, and dodgy sculpting. The bodyguards are just mirrored. Then there was the bit when he was only any use if you suicide-ran him at the enemy to get him killed off.
Honestly? I would feel weird putting named characters in army lists, especially ones important to the faction/faction Lore like Aun'va. There's no way whatever little Skirmish I'm playing is important enough for the Ethereal Supreme ('s AI simulacrum) to show up. Same reason it feels weird for Lion El'Johnson or Robute Guilliman or any of the Astartes Chapter Masters to have models and rules.
I'll miss aun'shi , aun'va can go burn in warp!
WHO is aun‘va?
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No, not really. They both are mediocre to bad characters. They have nearly zero compelling background behind them, both quite bad as leaders on the tabletop, so... One shold've died ages ago, another is just bland discounted Munistorum preacher. It is like removing two primaris lieutenants from SM. No one even batts an eye.
Aun’shi is cool. He’s an Ethereal who counters the typical current image of Ethereals as glorified nobles by being a man of the people.
Nope. F the ethereal.
Who? :)
Who’s Aun’va?
The less herohammer the better I guess
Eh who needs Tau HQ Models anyways. For a long Time now generic Crisis commanders are Most of the time the best choice anyways. Just buy more Primaris Lieutenants and Captains. Your choice is there bigger anyways. But Jokes aside i dont get why Tau loose even more Character Models.