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You can swap FB on the Piranha's if you want to, but I've found the 8 missile pod, mass burst/drone fire, and 3 hammerheads does the trick in tackling armor against everyone but fully mechanized Eldar....however Pirahnas with FB's do a good job against TMC. They usually get stunned, but then have to get shot again which is annoying for TMC lists.

Included is also a Eldar version of this list.

Not sure which is better. Both are about equal in my book, they tend to slaughter each other.

Thoughts/comments welcome.

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1850 Pts - Tau Empire Roster - Tau Skimmer Death

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1 Shas'el @ 81 Pts
Hard-wired Blacksun Filter; Twin Linked Missile Pod; Command and Control Node

2 Crisis Battlesuit @ 92 Pts
Twin Linked Missile Pod; Blacksun Filter

2 Crisis Battlesuit @ 92 Pts
Twin Linked Missile Pod; Blacksun Filter

2 Crisis Battlesuit @ 92 Pts
Twin Linked Missile Pod; Blacksun Filter

6 Fire Warrior @ 155 Pts
Pulse Carbine (x6)
1 Devilfish @ [95] Pts
Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

6 Fire Warrior @ 155 Pts
Pulse Carbine (x6)
1 Devilfish @ [95] Pts
Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

6 Fire Warrior @ 155 Pts
Pulse Carbine (x6)
1 Devilfish @ [95] Pts
Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

6 Fire Warrior @ 155 Pts
Pulse Carbine (x6)
1 Devilfish @ [95] Pts
Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

2 Piranha Light Skimmer @ 120 Pts
Burst Cannon (x2); Gun Drones (x2)
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

2 Piranha Light Skimmer @ 120 Pts
Burst Cannon (x2); Gun Drones (x2)
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

2 Piranha Light Skimmer @ 120 Pts
Burst Cannon (x2); Gun Drones (x2)
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

1 Hammerhead Gunship @ 170 Pts
Railgun; Two Burst Cannons; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Blacksun Filter; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

1 Hammerhead Gunship @ 170 Pts
Railgun; Two Burst Cannons; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Blacksun Filter; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

1 Hammerhead Gunship @ 170 Pts
Railgun; Two Burst Cannons; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Blacksun Filter; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

Total Roster Cost: 1847

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1850 Pts - Eldar Roster - Eldar Skimmer Death

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1 Autarch @ 90 Pts
Fleet; Independent Character; Master Strategist; Forceshield (FShld); Power Weapon; Shuriken Pistol (Sp); Fusion Gun (Fg); Haywire Grenades (HayG); Plasma Grenades (PG)

5 Fire Dragons @ 200 Pts
Fleet; Fusion Gun (Fg); Melta Bombs
1 Wave Serpent @ [120] Pts
Energy Field (Wave Serpent); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); TL Shuriken Cannons (TL-SCan)

5 Dire Avengers @ 180 Pts
Fleet; Avenger S-Catapult (ASC)
1 Wave Serpent @ [120] Pts
Energy Field (Wave Serpent); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); TL Shuriken Cannons (TL-SCan)

5 Dire Avengers @ 180 Pts
Fleet; Avenger S-Catapult (ASC)
1 Wave Serpent @ [120] Pts
Energy Field (Wave Serpent); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); TL Shuriken Cannons (TL-SCan)

1 Vyper Squadron @ 230 Pts
1 Vyper @ [115] Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Scatter Laser (SctL); Shuriken Cannon (SCan)
1 Vyper @ [115] Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Scatter Laser (SctL); Shuriken Cannon (SCan)

1 Vyper Squadron @ 230 Pts
1 Vyper @ [115] Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Scatter Laser (SctL); Shuriken Cannon (SCan)
1 Vyper @ [115] Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Scatter Laser (SctL); Shuriken Cannon (SCan)

1 Vyper Squadron @ 230 Pts
1 Vyper @ [115] Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Scatter Laser (SctL); Shuriken Cannon (SCan)
1 Vyper @ [115] Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Scatter Laser (SctL); Shuriken Cannon (SCan)

1 Fire Prism @ 170 Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); Prism Cannon (PC)

1 Fire Prism @ 170 Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); Prism Cannon (PC)

1 Fire Prism @ 170 Pts
Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V: SpStn); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); Prism Cannon (PC)

Total Roster Cost: 1850

ZOMG! -DO-NOT-EVAR--EVAARR--put holo/stones on VIPERS! YOU CRAZY MAN!

Since GW decided not to throw us a bone with individualized vehicle unit/vehicle upgrade costs, Holo/Stones on an AV10 ***open-topped*** vehicle is entirely and completely the biggest single waste of points I think you can achieve in this game.

ummm, how can you even justify spending 700 points of an 1850 list on av10 open topped 36" vehicles? the other stuff is so-so, i can deal with only 3 FIVE man squads of troops that are scoring, but in a GT, or any game for that matter, when you are on a board with little terrain (like i have seen so many GT's have) how will you expect them to survive when a drop pod lands and kills 2 at a time with a plas\plas squads, or a devilfish drops off 12 fire warriors and they shred them to pieces?

i know you HATE harlequins and falcons, but even if you withheld those i think you can make a stonger army then this. holofields and spirit stones on a av10 open topped vehicle is absurd.

on the other hand the tau list is pretty cool i think. more staying power than the eldar with so many scoring units.

You'd think so, but with so many tanks on the board if you are firing Lascannons at Vypers--does that mean the Prisms and the Wave Serpents can move about willy nilly?

Please, stop playing in a vacuum. Saying X beats Y without considering the entire army is foolish.

Do you really intend to drop marines into the middle of a list like this and come out victorious? What happens when the Prisms light you up? And you've just stunned the Vypers? You know 1-3 get upgraded but on the 3 you just take a weapon? Averages apply here. The Vypers get shot, any that survive run away and hide. The Tau cannot do that, on the other hand.

I know from experience it's a real pita to kill anything in the Eldar list. The Tau I think are a little weaker since the mass of shooting is S5 not S6.

My marines and my godzilla lists are dead on shooty, but they still have trouble handling these armies. Too many targets. Too mobile. It's irritating.

Well, the Eldar army will be tougher as Tau is based on S5 weapons.
Other than that, both armies have a rather similar setup.
For HQ, a Farseer with eldritch storm can be devastating too.

By the way, I played in a tourney (1500 pts) with my mech Eldar (2 FPs, 1 Falcon with Harlies, 1 FD in WS, 2 PFs, 1 SS, 1 Autarch on jetbike) vs mech Tau (report somewhere at 40KO).
I had first turn and he really suffered. The Harlies did a great job to take down the FWs from the shot-down Devilfishes.

I have played a similar Tau list (fewer/but larger squads of FW) and it played rather well. I have a hard time leaving my stealth suits behind, I may have to play this exact set up and see how it does agains Alpha Legion and Ork Waaaghhhh however. For once I can agree on an army build.

I'm kinda keen on your tau list there. only thing I'd change is squeezing in some fusion blasters on the piranhas. Have you had a chance to playtest any of these?

Yes, I've tried both at a different game shop than my usual.

I ran the FB and the burst cannon Piranhas. Both have their use. I'd probably run 1 unit as FB, and the others as BC so they're mini-devilfish.

The FW in the Tau are, honestly, pretend-Dire Avengers trying to stay 18" away and do a little damage without dying. Difficult at best.

My buddy has the variant Eldar, he uses bikes in hq/troops instead of more vehicles; but just 4 Vypers stymied my move and fire Chaos army. The warlock+farseer unit he ran soaked fire like nobody's business. Hard to say which is better--being technically invulnerable to bolters on a AV12 vehicle, or being statistically invulnerable to bolters on a jetbike w/fortune?

lol

By the way, I think if Tau FW aren't markerlighting they're absolute rubbish. So that's reflected in my army lists. I could change it so the FW markerlight, but I removed the need for ML hits by making the Crisis suits able to hit things on their own.

i'm not sold on vipers surviving because the prisms need to be shot first. most armies would use different weapons for AV 12 and AV 10 in my experience. after all, you're not giving bolters and the like anything else to shoot at.

and it's true that the tau are mainly str 5 based, but they have missile pods as well. and fusion on the piranhas if you want (personally i would since fexes scare me). i'm by no means saying the eldar list is weak, i just think the tau list is more resilient in a take all comers scenario.

The Vyper upgrades are justified by the fact that the Prisms can operate at a longer range
which makes Vypers a closer main target.

The situation is different when the Prims are replaced by fully kitted out Falcons operating at the same distance as the Vypers.
Then I wouldn't upgrade the Vypers as the combo Falcons - Vypers exert high pressure on the enemy.

Great way to put it, weustenfux. Thanks.

Well, I'm torn between 3 Falcons, and 2 Prisms and 1 Falcon.
I only take Vypers in the 3 Falcons list as said above.

i take it that the eldar list is a competative list not to be used just in fun play. i say this because there are a lot of people who would say ( and i hate to be one of them) cheese. head on over to warseer and look up the argument on the tactics forum about falcons being overpowered. it goes on forever. but in competative play where your not worried about making or having any freinds i think these look like good lists.

well, not all that much point in discussing 'friendly' lists. after all if your objective is to make something intentionally suboptimal there are any number of ways to go about it.