The Tau have very interesting minis. And though the official Tau miniature for inq54 is a diplomat (the water caste envoy), Papah miniatures designed and released what is arguably the most slick unofficial inq54 miniature ever produced for sale, the alien commander.

Aun’Vre Pech Orna’mor, Air Caste Pilot (left). Por’la Vior’la Kais’uam, The Water Caste Diplomat (middle). Por’La Pech Paxoh, Water Caste Ambassador (right)

A few Air Caste figures have been made by fans (not sure who made them though?). I got one via a member of the conclave. The other I got from ebay [Ed: the resin cast is very poor.i need to stop faffing about and fill in all the pockmarks].

Back to the alien commander. This is a beautiful sculpt and it seems to have captured the imagination of many a great painter [Ed: just check google for some amazing paint jobs].

Shas’la Fire Warriors (the alien commander by Papah miniatures). The one on the right was by a commission painter pretty cheap as he was doing commissions to improve his painting.
Shas’iu Fire Warrior Sniper (left) and Shas’iu Fire Warrior with pulse carbine. These two are both commission paint jobs as well.
Another Firewarrior

The alien commander kit had many optional heads and arms and weaponry. Version 1.0 was in white metal and came with a scenic base (a disemboweled imperial guardsman). Version 2.0 was cast in white metal and resin. There were 7 heads to choose from (i think you paid a set price per head? And there were 4 different arm sets, and again you chose which arm set you wanted.

the sensational multi-part alien commander kit. It’s a shame that you didn’t get all the options for the one price! I think it is OOP now?

Other than the Tau themselves, a Kroot was also official released. This mini is also great, and it is huge! I’m not sure whether the impressive height of the Kroot is faithfully reproduced in 28mm 40k, but in inquisitor, this mini is so big and towers over others. The Kroot Mercenary is an okay sculpt, but the Kroot expansion set to convert the mercenary into a Kroot warrior is pure genius.

Kroot Mercenary. This is a commission piece.
Kroot warriors with hunting rifles
More Kroot warriors with hunting rifles

Still on the wish list is a great knarloc by forgeworld. I owned one over 10 years ago and it was a very nice mini. But i sold it and the mini is now long out of print now. But it would be perfect in size as a lesser knarloc.