# Tau Skin Tones?



## Big Mek LugNutz (Jul 10, 2011)

First of all, this is not a PCA Question, so don't kill me mods!

I have been doing lots of work on my Tau army since Christmas (thanks Santa), and when I got to painting my Cadre Fireblade I decided that the typically blue skin of the Tau just didn't go well with my soft grey/blue winter scheme my army is painted in.

My question is: Is there any fluff that could explain why a Tau could have differently coloured skin? I wanted them to be from a different planet originally, but as I recall, all Tau originated from the planet T'au. Could I pull the Salamander's card and say that the atmosphere of their sept world discoloured their skin? Any other ideas would be great  I'm a huge sucker for well written/thoughtful fluff so I've been really trying to come up with a good, fluff supported, reason of having a different skin tone.


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## locustgate (Dec 6, 2009)

Big Mek LugNutz said:


> My question is: Is there any fluff that could explain why a Tau could have differently coloured skin? I wanted them to be from a different planet originally, but as I recall, all Tau originated from the planet T'au. Could I pull the Salamander's card and say that the atmosphere of their sept world discoloured their skin? Any other ideas would be great  I'm a huge sucker for well written/thoughtful fluff so I've been really trying to come up with a good, fluff supported, reason of having a different skin tone.


At least in humans skin tone developed usually in response to the amount of UV, closer to the equator the darker, and more UV, farther from the equator the paler, less UV. I don't know of any fluff that states it's the same as with Tau, but if you assume it is the same, the more UV a planet is subjected to the Tau there would be a darker shade of blue. An Ice planet a light shade of blue. T'au itself is a pretty hot planet mostly savannahs and a dash of mountains here and there, so I assume the standard Tau skin would be on their 'dark' end of the spectrum.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

I think it states in the codex that depending on the planet, their skin can vary from a light blue grey to a deep blue. But by the sounds of it you want to go off the reservation altogether to provide a contrast against the armour? I can't think of a fluff reason for any other colour, but what about using war paint as a spot colour on the fire blade, like a band of red running from temple to temple for example? They could be a more tribal and aggressive sept, holding onto their old martial traditions.


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## Big Mek LugNutz (Jul 10, 2011)

Would it be reasonable to say that the composition of the atmosphere could also have something to do with it? Like, the Salamanders had their skin go black and their eyes red when the atmosphere reacted with their gene seed, could I say that the skin of my sept was sensitive to some sort of element/compound in the air? All I want to know is in terms of believability does it sound like I'm just making up a weak excuse to change my Tau's skin colour? First and foremost I'd rather have my army make sense fluff wise, giving them blue skin would not be a huge deal to me.


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## locustgate (Dec 6, 2009)

Big Mek LugNutz said:


> Would it be reasonable to say that the composition of the atmosphere could also have something to do with it? Like, the Salamanders had their skin go black and their eyes red when the atmosphere reacted with their gene seed, could I say that the skin of my sept was sensitive to some sort of element/compound in the air? All I want to know is in terms of believability does it sound like I'm just making up a weak excuse to change my Tau's skin colour? First and foremost I'd rather have my army make sense fluff wise, giving them blue skin would not be a huge deal to me.


SM creation is just screwing with genetics on a massive scale, so it is very acceptable if something screws up and causes a minor genetic change. 

What color are you thinking of changing it to?

I know some mineral deficiencies and stuff can affect cattle's hair color, for Angus it can cause them to be born with red patches.........but I can't think of anything that may affect skin color. In humans one of the main affects on the color for the palest is the blood and tissue underneath and tau blood is blue do to the cobalt in place of iron in hemoglobin. Of course this is scifi and you can toss out the sci and stick with the fi.

Back to the first post



> I wanted them to be from a different planet originally, but as I recall, all Tau originated from the planet T'au. Could I pull the Salamander's card and say that the atmosphere of their sept world discoloured their skin?


And all humans originated from Africa soooooo. Tau are born on different worlds they've been jumping around their little sector for a few centuries.


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## R_Squared (Mar 24, 2013)

I'd be tempted to just say whatever you like fluff wise to support your colouration.
I painted a bunch of grots blue, and my fluff, if asked, is that they survived a blast through the warp from my shokk attack gun. :wink:


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