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Well I've read a lot about Tau and how they can or can't be competitive, I lean on the they can be competitive side so here goes.

HQ

Shas'el Air Bursting Fragmentation Projector, Missile Pod, Target Lock, Hardwired Drone Controlled with 2 Shield Drones & Hardwired Blacksun filter

Troops

Firewarriors x12
Firewarriors x12
Kroot x10
Kroot x10

Elites

XV8 Battlesuits x3 Plasmarifle x3, Missile Pod x3, Multi-tracker x3, Squad Leader, Bonding Knife & Hardwired Drone controller with 2 Shield Drones
XV8 Battlesuits x2 Plasmarifle x2, Missile Pod x2, Multi-tracker x2

Fast Attack

Pathfinder x6 Devilfish Troop Transport with Smart Missile & Disruption Pod
Pathfinder x6 Devilfish Troop Transport with Smart Missile & Disruption Pod

Heavy Support

Hammerhead Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pod & Target Lock
Hammerhead Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pod & Target Lock
XV88 Broadside Battlesuits x3 Advanced Stabilization system x3, Squad Leader, Bonding Knife, Hardwired Drone controller with 2 Shield Drones & Hardwired Target Lock.

Total - 1849

Any compliments or critiques appreciated.

Will you be swapping out one/both of ur pathfinders for fire warriors in those transports?

I'm beginning to think that in V5, you want to give your commander as large a retinue of crisis suits as possible. Also, you probably want to try and equip each crisis suit differently.

Having said that, AFP is simply sick in V5.

Razerous: The thought was to use both pathfinder transports for the Firewarrior squads

Centurian99: I was going to attach the commander to the 2 man XV8 squad. I figure with 2 shield drones and 2 crisis suits it should give him enough ablative wounds if he is fired on.

You should try dropping one of the broadsides and get 5 dogs for your kroot squads. You have enough AT with the 2 railheads already and having an extra 10 int. 5 attacks for only 30 points a squad is pretty good. Plus you have some extra points to play with. Maybe an extra pathfinder for each squad?

Since the kroot are a screening troop if I were going to drop a broadside I'd just add a whole separate unit. Basically how I'd use the kroot is to get charged by a unit hopefully they lose and take a few of the guys with them, then they're guys are out in the open for my turn to open fire on them.

I haven't picked up the army yet but another squad of kroot is pretty easy to pick up and swap out for play testing.

Nob bikers are my biggest worry with the list though which is why I leaned pretty hard on the rail guns to try and gut the biker lists.

Why dont you plan to infiltrate em and charge them in offensively. I understand screening ur expensive stuff from being charged but cant a weaker decent ranged unit do it, i.e a squad of fire warriors.

Kroot are still shoot decently well and if you fire with their weapons you can't charge.

Here is how I'd work the Kroot. Most likely infiltrate them and set them up in a blocking pattern for any incoming CC units. Use the rest of the ranged weaponry and shoot up the CC squad. Now the CC squad still has to go through the Kroot so they charge the Kroot. They'll most likely lose and either fall back or get wiped however they'll take a few of them down hopefully. They charged me so then that CC squad is in the open again, rinse repeat if possible until dead.

Now that think about it 3 squads of kroot sound a lot better then the extra twin linked railgun.

I don't think you have enough dakka here for an 1850 list my suggestions are as follows

1. Drop one broadside 2 is enough especially when you have 2 hammerheads on the table, points saved: 80

2. I see what you are doing with the kroot but in a tournament environment 10 man squads of kroot are just free kill points, either combine into one squad of 20 for camping a home objective in trees or get rid of them entirely and buy another squad of firewarriors for the same price, The idea of adding hounds isn't bad either.

3. IMO too many pathfinders, upgrade to a full squad of 8 and drop the second squad, points saved: 153

4. Always always always put bonding knives on your firewarriors 15 points for the shas'ui and the knife is a small price to pay to keep a squad on the table, and if you already have the shas'ui it's only 15 more points to give a markerlight and a multitracker to him to make up some of what you lost in removing the second pathfinder squad. I also play tested giving my FW's 2 marker drones and was very pleased with the results, expensive I realize but highly worthwhile.

5. Consider making room for sniper drones, they make nidzilla cry, they make MEQ squirm, and they add markerlights

If 10 Kroot are a free killpoint, then so are 12 Firewarriors. This makes Kroot better because they cost less points. I really find Fire Warriors to basically jsut be terrible unless they have a devilfish and even then the FW inside still are bad, but the tank isn't.

I disagree, firewarriors have an armor save and a far better gun, and when fired in conjunction with your other squads (especially with marker support) FW's are downright killy, kroot simply are not. Fire Warriors are the backbone of a Tau army, if you can't make firewarriors perform admirably for you then you need to revise your tactics or play another army.

Really its only 72 points spend on the pathfinders since their transport is just being used for the firewarrior squads. I'd love marker lights but then you'd have to decide between 10 firewarriors with 2 marker light drones or 12 firewarriors. For the 60 points alone that basically pays for the whole 2nd pathfinder squad who with 4 extra lights.

The whole point of the kroot is to take firepower, yeah they're going to give up kill points but the more people fire or charge them the less they ignore everything else. Actually with the other suggestion I was thinking of adding another squad of kroot.

I'll have to test it but I like 12 marker lights it gives me a lot more options on what to remove from play each turn instead of the standard 1 squad a lot of people run.