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HQ:
Commander Farsight
[Bodyguard]
XV8 "Fireknife" w/ TL Missile, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, 2x Shield Drones, Bonding Knife
XV8 "Fireknife" w/ TL Missile, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, 2x Gun Drones, Bonding Knife

Commander Shas'el "Fireknife" w/ TL Missile, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, 2x Shield Drones, Stimulant Injector, Bonding Knife
[Bodyguard]
Xv8 "Fireknife" w/ TL Missile, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, 2x Gun Drones, Bonding Knife
Xv8 "Firesurge" w/ TL Missile, Fusion Blaster, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, HW Drone Controller, 2x Gun Drones, Bonding Knife

Elites:
Monat Team Leader "Helios" w/ TL Fusion Blaster, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Drone Controller, 2x Shield Drones

Monat Team Leader w/ TL Missile, Flamer, HW Multi-Tracker, HW Drone Controller, 2x Shield Drone

Troops:
11x Fire Warriors
Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod

11x Fire Warriors
Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod

11x Fire Warriors
Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod

[1485]

Two units of 3 as firing platforms, the Monats go in for specialty work, the FWs take and hold objectives or rapid deploy into firing lines.

C&C?

First, I must say your list is quite unorthodox.

Target lock on a monat suit? For the purpose of...?

No hammerheads or broadsides? Only 2 fusion blasters to do all the mech-killing?

Good that most of your crisis are fireknives. Those rock!

I think it is a very expensive army for what it does. If you're only going up against footsloggers then you might do well, but I think you will have a hard time beating armies with more than 1-2 vehicles.

Use this critique or ignore it as you please.

Good luck!

I don't see a reason not to toss the HW Target Lock/Multi-Tracker on each suit capable. Firing two weapons at two targets seems composed of win. Also, it won't be hard to just change out a Plasma or two for Fusion, since they are cheaper anyhow.

Unorthodox is good, since this is meant to be a renegade list (Farsight is really my own breakaway Commander).

If I keep in mind the Fusion swaps, how does this look performance wise?

OK, target lock on a suit lets it shoot its guns at a different target to the rest of the unit, not independently target different weapons (thats the vehicle version) and is therefore useless on a unit of 1 model.

Bonding knives let you regroup if under 1/2 strength - and is therefore useless on a unit of 1 model.

Do you want to try your monat's again??

Farsight gives them Knives for free, so that is a nonissue. Misread the target lock (PDFs are a pain to read). I will tinker with that later, since I am not in front of the Codex at the moment. Just gives me 15 points to use up somehow.

I think that in a list this size you're going to want two railguns. Railguns are an important advantage that Tau need to make use of.

You're also using too many fireknives IMO. I admit fully that I am predudiced against them because against MEQ, you're not really doing a whole lot with the MP, and against vehicles you're not doing a whole lot with the plasma. They're ok, don't get me wrong, and they've got ok range, but they aren't good at anything.

I also think you're spending a LOT of points on shield drones. You're deathrain monat should be using cover, not shield drones. Especailly not two shield drones. The helios monat would have more need. I like helios suits, but you have to be careful with them. When you jump in for the 3 close range shots of suffering, make sure you're finishing off whatever it is that you're shooting, not just softening it up. Particularly if what you're shooting at is a fast mover like flyrant or jump packing squad. You can abuse footsloggers with this kind of setup, but again, you have to be very careful.

I also think you're buying too many bells & whistles with your suits. Why does your deathrain suit have a multitracker? That's an flamer and missle pod is an either/or kind of weapon setup. I mean of course you want to shoot more, but what are you getting out of that points-wise? On a rare occasion when you want to bust out the flamer you also get to shoot two more gaunts?

It also seems to me that you're doing little to ensure that you're hitting with your important weapons. Two HQ models aside, nothing in this list has a BS above 3, and can't get above 3. No markerlights, no targeting arrays, and nothing twin linked besides your missile pods (except for one fusion gun). Missile pods are nice, but they're not your moneymakers. I think you're going to find that you'll pay for that lack more dearly than you were counting on. You're also seriously lacking on your anti-tank, as another poster pointed out.

Fire Warrior squads are good.

Well, I am a lot less jazzed about the XV8s than I was a week ago, so I am tinkering with Hammerhead lists at the moment. This weekend will give me some time to proxy and test out some ideas and see where it takes me. This advice has proved quite handy, though, so thanks to everyone.