Shas'O Kais
Shas'o Kais is the hero unit of the Tau campaign in Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. Also, according to developer commentary, he is really the Kais, the lowly Shas'la protagonist of Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior, all grown up to Shas'o status. He is the textbook noblebright in a galaxy gone grimdark. One of the only commanders in the entire campaign willing to negotiate and talk common sense, Kais is nonetheless exceptionally manly for a Tau, and proves he can get shit done.
The fact that he's the most merciful commander in the setting does not stop him from getting a body count in the thousands. Though he's unique in that he's willing to use diplomacy first, he's just as hard-edged if that fails, and is more than willing to rely on Ambassador Plasma Rifle to come to a resolution afterwards. He's a hell of a lot less of a dick than Commander Or'es'Ka, though.
Service in the Dark Crusade
A Fire Caste commander who is an inspiration to his men, Shas'o Kais rose from the rank of Shas'la to his current position, probably due partly to his individual heroism during the events of Fire Warrior. Along with Commanders Farsight and Shadowsun, he was one of the three top students of Commander Puretide, who led the Tau forces that took Kronus from the Imperium in the first place. Kais was sent to the war-torn world in the hopes that he could mimic his teacher's great feats, now that Kronus was being ravaged by six other goddamned fucking power groups. With a secondary duty of keeping the Ethereal Aun'el Shi'Ores safe, Kais's forces occupied the planetary capital of Or'es Tash'n and made ready to slowly take the planet back for the Tau Empire.
Kais did some major damage during the Dark Crusade, and was rather infamous for the damage his forces did to the Orks and Eldar during the war, and they engaged in some truly bitter fighting with Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander's men. Unfortunately, Kais's forces did not count on the aggressiveness of the Blood Ravens Space Marines under Davian Thule, and Aun'el Shi'Ores was assassinated. With the Tau spiritual leader dead, their war machine broke ranks when morale plummeted; Kais gathered together the survivors and got them out of the system, making him one of the four commanders to survive the Dark Crusade.
Combat Ability
Kais is akin to a Magikarp: when he starts out, he'll only have his piddling little burst cannon to fight with and can't even jump because you need a wargear for that, but give him a few upgrades and he'll be kicking ass and taking names in no time. His anti-infantry burst cannon can be replaced with an anti-vehicle fusion blaster and later an anti-everything plasma rifle. Between his upgradeable main-hand weapon, his secondary flamer and his shoulder-mounted missile pods, he can have up to three ranged weapons at once, making him unrivalled among the Dark Crusade commanders for sheer dakka power. Among his other upgrades are a helm that lets him detect infiltrated units, iridium armour that increases his health and reduces the damage he takes and a cloaking field that infiltrates him, making him one of only two commanders able to become invisible.
Tabletop
HQ: Shas’O Kais - 160 points
"Better destruction than bondage" "So says a Gue'la slave to a free Tau" A partial recording of a conversation between Captain Davian Thule & Shas'O Kais during the failed Kronus Reclamation as Kais attempted to negotiate Thule's surrender
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| Name | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Sv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shas'O Kais | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 2+/5++ |
| MV4 Battle Drone | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 4+ |
- Unit Composition: Shas'O Kais
- Unit Type: Jet-Pack Infantry (Kais is an Independent Character)
- Wargear (Shas'O Kais): XV-2-04 Knight Stealth Suit, Multi-Tracker, Blacksun Filter, Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, Twin-Linked Missile Pod
- Gravitic Shield Generator (5++ Inv Save, May re-roll 1 Save per turn)
- Wargear (MV4 Battle Drone): Advanced Targeting Engram (+1 BS), Twin-Linked Pulse Carbine, Wide-Area Communications Link (allows all Tau Models in 12" to use Kais's Leadership)
- Signature System - XV-2-04 "Knight" Stealth Suit: Shas’O Kais’s personal Battlesuit has been with him ever since he first started out in the Crisis suit teams as a Shas’Ui, and he has used it to protect both his commanders and his subordinates, due to his habit of putting himself between his commanders and the enemies of the Greater Good it was chosen to mount an experimental reinforcement of the Iridium suit known as the “Knight” suit to help him protect Aun’El Shi’Ores during the reclamation of planet Kronus. This suit Grants +1 Toughness, +1 Wound, a Gravitic Shield Generator, and a 2+ Armour Save.
- Special Rules: Supporting Fire, Independent Character (Kais), Very Bulky (Kais), Stealth (Kais), Shrouded (Kais)
- Warlord Trait: For Many, One Sacrifice Shas'O Kais may use the Look Out Sir Special Rule, and Automatically succeeds on all Look Out Sir attempts to protect Non-Battlesuit Infantry, in addition Shas'O Kais may re-roll any Armour, Cover, or Invulnerable saves made due to the "Look Out Sir" rule.
- Options:
- Shas’O Kais may purchase up to 2 Drones for the following costs
- - Shield Drones 12 Points/Drone
- - MV4 Battle Drones for 20 Points/Drone