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So Im going to be starting Tau as a second army. I figured they are well and truly the farthest away from what Orks are as I can get (which I like)
So in saying that Ive been reading the Tau codex to try and get some ideas going. And Ive been reading up on marker lights and marker drones (which I dunno if its me, but that was a bit annoying flipping here flipping there to figure out how the hell to use them, and how much they cost) ANYWHO, So I was trying to think of a way to get the battlesuits BS up higher then 3 and figured that a drone controller w/marker drones might be a decent idea. Then I realized that markerlights are a heavy1 weapon.
So now Im getting annoyed with myself in not being able to think better on this. So are they smart to use them in the suits unit? Waste of points? Should I ignore them entirely and go in another direction?!?!?!?! Whats the ways you guys use the suits and games? Remeber Im not a hardcore tourny player so my games are mainly for fun with my group, but I dont want to be a push over either.
I need help

When attached to crisis teams marker drones become jet infantry, which means they're relentless so they can move and use the markerlights. Don't be fooled though, they still suck. Pathfinders are the only real efficient place to buy markerlights.

ok stealth marker team enthusiasts, your go. I'll leave now.

Yeah, marker drones are really expensive too, so a jump marker team is kinda too costly to be worth it, bessides the targets you want to mark are not typically the targets you want your other units to shoot at. I'm thinking of starting a Tau army too (but then again, there are 3 tau players at my FLGS...no, I didn't make that up) but currently cost, and the incomplete nature of my ork army, are keeping me from building a full army.

If you really want to boost just the suit's baslistic skill, give it a targeting array. These cost 10 points as opposed to the drones' cost of 30 points. If you are looking for markerlights for your whole army, well that's quite a different story.

The advantage of marker drones is, yes they become jet pack infantry and recieve relentless when attached to suits. They are great mobile markerlight platforms if you are only looking to boost ballistic skill. If you want to do things like reduce cover or pin, things that require a few more hits, you'll probably want more pathfinders. These guys are 100% static, despite their mandatory devilfish and fast attack designation. However, they cost 12 points each, and are therefore far cheaper per markerlight.

The one other markerlight source worth mentioning is the Skyray. It is fully mobile, and can fire it's Burst Cannons or SMS in addition to the markerlights, and can also light up two different targets. However, it is a tank, and will be a higher priority target. Therefore you are going to have to spend some points giving it a multi-tracker, disruption pod, targeting array, ect. while also diverting some units to protect it.

starbomber109 wrote:but then again, there are 3 tau players at my FLGS...no, I didn't make that up

Be glad... without those three, my LR spam list would come out of storage and reign supreme!! (insert manical laughter here)

Pathfinders are a great source of markerlights, being only 2 points more than a firewarrior, and the "mandatory" devilfish not only is useful anyway, but it lets you REROLL your scatter dice for deep striking units (if they have LoS to the pathfinder devilfish. This in itself is brilliant, and you can just give the devilfish to some firewarrior squad).

Also, I think you can give a firewarrior shas'ui a markerlight, but it is a heavy weapon, so if you're moving in an attempt to rapidfire, you cant use it, and you also cant use it for the same squad that it fires from (unless its networked, which it isnt. only skyray markerlights or marker drones are networked).

Some tau players like to use deathrain suits (Twinlinked Missle Pod with Targetting array) so they have a unit that doesnt need markerlights so they can be used for another squad instead. I can't vouch for their usefulness, because I haven't tried them, but "independence" or markerlight priority might be something to think about.

Pathfinders are great, and if they die, you're not losing too many points. I keep mine in cover, bonded with a bonding knife, because when they start dying, you dont want them to run off the board (shas'ui has higher LD, the bonding knife lets them regroup. without, they might run off the board after losing two.)

You can, and I would, use a Stealth Team with three Marker Drones and a Markerlight as others have suggested. It is the same price as a 6 man Pathfinder team, and while it puts out two less Markerlights it is very mobile and effectively untargettable. Larger Pathfinder teams are better for your whole army. They put out more Markerlights to help you kill the largest threats early in the game, but are generally flee from casualties later. In my eyes, the choice comes down to a good couple turns of Markerlights early on, or a sprinkling of Markerlights for the whole game.

Then again, I take Firewarriors in squads of 12 and use Markerlights for them, so I'm either ahead of the curve or (more likely) completely insane.

Darkhound - insane maybe, but thats pretty much what I was thinking of doing with Firewarriors.

Thanks everyone for the answers. I was mostly looking at how to raise the BS of my suits, and for some reason I kept over looking the targeting array.

ssREV wrote:
Some tau players like to use deathrain suits (Twinlinked Missle Pod with Targetting array) so they have a unit that doesnt need markerlights so they can be used for another squad instead. I can't vouch for their usefulness, because I haven't tried them, but "independence" or markerlight priority might be something to think about.

Deathrains are beast. And they don't require markerlights.
It's also worth mentioning that FW markerlights are perfect for static teams, but useless for mobile teams.

Yorick_of_Tau wrote:It's also worth mentioning that FW markerlights are perfect for static teams, but useless for mobile teams.

How so? Fire Warriors moved to 12" with a Devilfish, and at BS5, are a great clean-up crew.

DarkHound wrote:

Yorick_of_Tau wrote:It's also worth mentioning that FW markerlights are perfect for static teams, but useless for mobile teams.

How so? Fire Warriors moved to 12" with a Devilfish, and at BS5, are a great clean-up crew.

No they're not

That squad will run you about 310 points (FW, pathfinders, devilfish), to kill 90 points of marines, plus an additional investment from the rest of the army to prevent your fire warriors from being assaulted in the next turn.

Crisis teams get markerlights. Broadsides get markerlights. Hammerheads get markerlights. It's almost never worth it to invest them in anything else.

DarkHound wrote:You can, and I would, use a Stealth Team with three Marker Drones and a Markerlight as others have suggested. It is the same price as a 6 man Pathfinder team, and while it puts out two less Markerlights it is very mobile and effectively untargettable. Larger Pathfinder teams are better for your whole army. They put out more Markerlights to help you kill the largest threats early in the game, but are generally flee from casualties later. In my eyes, the choice comes down to a good couple turns of Markerlights early on, or a sprinkling of Markerlights for the whole game.

Then again, I take Firewarriors in squads of 12 and use Markerlights for them, so I'm either ahead of the curve or (more likely) completely insane.

6 pathfinders (6 markerlights) are 72 points (or 87 with bonding knife) (not counting devilfish, which is worth its points, plus free reroll deepstike capabilities, and you would take one anyway, I think)

a 3 man stealth marker team (4 markerlights) is 200 points minimum. roughly 4x more expensive per markerlight, and takes up an elite slot (that in bigger games might be needed for crisis)

a pathfinder team is better, because its many cheap markerlights, and they are far more expendable (if they die, they may be worth the fire they drew from the rest of your army)

ssREV wrote:
Some tau players like to use deathrain suits (Twinlinked Missle Pod with Targetting array) so they have a unit that doesnt need markerlights so they can be used for another squad instead. I can't vouch for their usefulness, because I haven't tried them, but "independence" or markerlight priority might be something to think about.

Targetting array is a waste on anything twinlinked since you get to reroll misses anyway; most deathrains I've seen are tl mp/flamer setups; I've run them with tl mp/gun drones before for volume of fire.

@ OP
I agree with everyone else, pathfinders are your best bet for markers, and taking a couple with rail rifles doesn't hurt. I know where you're coming from with the exact opposite army comment, I used to play an old school khorn army (run run run hack hack hack run run run hack hack hack).

Edit: I hope you're better at switching mindsets than I've been......ugh, I look at my shooty fish and think "what the heck did I get myself into?"

grankobot wrote:

DarkHound wrote:

Yorick_of_Tau wrote:It's also worth mentioning that FW markerlights are perfect for static teams, but useless for mobile teams.

How so? Fire Warriors moved to 12" with a Devilfish, and at BS5, are a great clean-up crew.

No they're not

That squad will run you about 310 points (FW, pathfinders, devilfish), to kill 90 points of marines, plus an additional investment from the rest of the army to prevent your fire warriors from being assaulted in the next turn.

Crisis teams get markerlights. Broadsides get markerlights. Hammerheads get markerlights. It's almost never worth it to invest them in anything else.

A clean up crew. They are not the first strike, they are the last one. Two well planned Broadside Teams will kill three or four tanks a turn with Markerlights. You'll run out of large targets and be left with pockets of infantry wandering around the field. An investment of Fire Warriors will mean you don't have to invest in anti-infantry else where, so you have more to spend on the big guns. This means you'll cut through targets for those big guns faster, leaving Markerlights to spare for your Fire Warriors, which will clean up GEQs in a cruel fashion, and provide ample MEQ fire. If you are going to finish off an assault unit, but aren't sure if they'll survive and cut your Fire Warriors down (Space Wolves come to mind), the solution is easy: deploy 30" away. No additional investment required.

ssREV wrote:6 pathfinders (6 markerlights) are 72 points (or 87 with bonding knife) (not counting devilfish, which is worth its points, plus free reroll deepstike capabilities, and you would take one anyway, I think)

While you'll never use it like this, the Pathfinders need the Devilfish to have comperable mobility and durability. They still won't be able to fire on the move, though. A more even example would be 16 Pathfinders with Bonding Knives. So many Markerlights on a single target will leave you a whole lot of unused Marker tokens. On top of that, I don't see either squad surviving turn 3 without having Gone to Ground.

a pathfinder team is better, because its many cheap markerlights, and they are far more expendable (if they die, they may be worth the fire they drew from the rest of your army)

Pathfinders have more Markerlights because they are going to lose members. A Stealth Team will always have 4 Markerlights ready, and will easily be able to reposition them. A Pathfinder team may start with 8 or 10, but a squad that size will quickly dwindle or simply fall back off the board.

grankobot wrote:
No they're not

That squad will run you about 310 points (FW, pathfinders, devilfish), to kill 90 points of marines, plus an additional investment from the rest of the army to prevent your fire warriors from being assaulted in the next turn.

Crisis teams get markerlights. Broadsides get markerlights. Hammerheads get markerlights. It's almost never worth it to invest them in anything else.

Actually I was talking about putting them on the actual FW teams. Since the markerlight is a heavy weapon, if the team is moving there is no reason to put the markerlight on them since they'll never be able to fire it. And I agree that FW are best used as a clean up crew so the crisis teams don't have to waste extra turns on units the FW can kill.