Changes

The Il'Fannor class cruiser (designated as Merchant class by the [[Imperium]]) was the next major ship designed by the Tau after the Gal'Leath class battleship. It was originally designed to become the new workhouse of the fledgling Tau Empire, its warp drives being able to reach a third of normal warp speed. As the Gal'Leath proved ineffective as a military vessel against the Orks, the Merchant was heavily redesigned into cheap and effective (if rather slow) warship that remained the Tau's mainline military ship until the advent of the Lar'Shi class. As a cruiser, it lacks the hard-hitting firepower, speed and durability of those of the other major races, but makes up for it by being very cheap and easy to produce.