Everyone with FTL can have their ships carry messages around, the Imperium has Astropaths. Are there any other ways for someone send FTL messages ?

The Tau probably use something like a" Modulated Tachyon Pulse Generator", the Necron cheat, and there's likely a ton of FTL communication archeotech out there, just waiting to be discovered.

professor_kylan said:

Actually, we know for a fact that the Tau are reliant on messenger ships to communicate over interstellar distances - it's been part of their background since details of their fleet were first developed. The Skether'qan , or Messenger-class, starship is a tiny vessel - the smallest interstellar-capable ship in the Kor'vattra , or Tau fleet - fitted with extremely powerful engines, a cargo hold, minimal weaponry and a tiny crew supported by drone intellects, used to hop between relay stations and planets, carrying information to the furthest corners of the Tau Empire.

Considering the Imperium seems to have been reliant on Astropaths in its brightest days, not having the tau able to just find something else is a nice touch. Though it's kinda funny that their great emphasis on mobility and rapid response is almost nullified when it comes to FTL ranges...

Actually, if you dig up the Imperium timeline, FTL existed before psykers were 'proven' to exist. However, ABSOLUTLY no details are given. It's that whole 'dark age of technology cloaked in mystery' thing that's gone on for years.

It was probably based on Quantum Entanglement.

Space Marine Librarians can send signals, but this might not help. I would imagine there are unsanctioned pyskers in the Expanse who you can hire to send signals, your GM will just have to create them, but you know they have to exist.

BaronIveagh said:

Probably not, keep in mind you don't need a psyker to enter the warp, it's just insanely dangerous without a navigator or well developed pre-plotted route. They also probably didn't have Gellar fields in the first few forays into the warp, so I imaging it was very "Event Horizon" for a while.

My impression from the fluff is that there was no LFT communication during the Dark/Golden age of Technology. Humanity expanded slow using ships only able to jump 4-5 light years at a time. There were only small pocket empires. This was one of the major reasons the STC existed as a new colony needed to be able to produce a full range of technology as they were on their own.

With the ship evolution within the Tau Empire wouldn't they start using drones to carry messages? Homing beacons would be the various waypoints Tau have created.

horizon said:

Tau drone intellects still require a degree of supervision, as far as I'm aware. They're useful, but they're not sufficiently intelligent (even when networked) to be completely autonomous from living Tau.

Of course, that doesn't mean that the finest scientific minds at Bork'an'retha aren't working on smarter drone intellects to further the goals of the Greater Good... just that they haven't achieved it yet.

I'm so glad I advanced Project Distant Darkness (BFG fan-supplement if anyone wondered...) into m42... Yes, heresy and all but given the time set from GW I needed to that.

So, ahem,yes the Tau will have such drones in the future

Of course when using vessels (messenger) I guess they do use waypoints to collect 'information/news' and relay it to all septs. Thus saving longish travel times.

Of course this leads to the point that these waypoints and messenger ships are vital to the Tau Intelligence. Disrupting them would be a blast to them.

The Great Drone Uprising will be amusing as **** to see.

And you just know it's inevitable.

I was skimming through Deathwatch the other day and came across Tau Gun Drones. They get +2 BS, Int and Perception per drone slaved to the network. I can only shudder to think of what would happen if you cobbled together enough for a daemon to get into the system or spontaneously generate a silica animus. What's the Tau word for Skynet?

Dalnor Surloc said:

Neither of those things would be limited by lack of FTL communication. Even in M41, the Imperium is essentially multiple pocket empires, a macrocosm of a feudal society.

Short warp jumps were due to the Navigator gene not being stable and identified initially and lack of a stable Astronomicon due to the Emperor not being enthroned. STC existed to allow quick and easy setup of new colonies using local materials without requiring lots of specialists in structural engineering, manufacturing, architecture, etc. to be included with every colony ship.

Errant said:

A Tau Skynet type entity, oh boy I like.

... I was given to understand that the Astronomicon worked before the enthronement as it does now. (As tleast, that's what I got from the Horus Heresy books...)

BaronIveagh said:

Aye, it did. The Emperor's only really on the Golden Throne to keep the Imperial Webway closed and ensure the daemons within remain trapped.

Which means, obviously, there is another reason for the Astronomicon failing...

BaronIveagh said:

It did, but before the Emperor created the Astronomicon the Navigators didn't have a fixed point to navigate by, so they were limited to shorter jumps.

professor_kylan said:

I believe the orks use two tin cans with string......

BBiggar said:

Nah, they just shout REALLY loud.

ChaosChild said:

I imagine, if you got enough weirdboyz in a room together and got them all to shout as loud as they could, then other weirdboyz would be able to hear them from a considerable distance away. Not necessarily understand them, but hear them.