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All constructive comments welcome now updated

++++ [HQ] ++++

Unit cost: 119
XV8 Shas'el
--- [Missile pod, Fusion blaster, Targeting array, HW Multi-tracker, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone]

++++ [Elites] ++++

Unit cost: 174
XV8 Shas'vre
--- [Missile pod, Plasma rifle, Targeting array, HW Multi-tracker, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [Missile pod, Plasma rifle, Multi-tracker]

Unit cost: 139
XV8 Shas'vre
--- [TL Missile pod, Flamer, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Missile pod, Flamer]

++++ [Troops] ++++

Unit cost: 80
8x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]

Unit cost: 80
8x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]

Unit cost: 80
8x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]

++++ [Fast Attack] ++++

Unit cost: 153
4x Pathfinder 'la
--- [Pulse C./ Marker]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, SMS, Disruption pod]

Unit cost: 153
4x Pathfinder 'la
--- [Pulse C./ Marker]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, SMS, Disruption pod]

++++ [Heavy Support] ++++

Unit cost: 165
Hammerhead
--- [Railgun, 2x burst cannon, Disruption pod, Multi-tracker]

Unit cost: 165
Hammerhead
--- [Railgun, 2x Burst cannon, Disruption pod, Multi-tracker]

Unit cost: 195
XV88 'ui TL
--- [TL Railgun, SMS, A.S.S., HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone]
XV88 'ui
--- [TL Railgun, SMS, A.S.S.]

I find the extra 25 pts to make the commander shas'o more then worth it, with the significant stat increase its almost a have to for me

drop the stealth suits and put drones on you crisis suits.

I use burst cannons on hammer heads and put sms on the devil fish

Thanks for the comments.

Is the general consensus that points spent on stealth suits are better spent elsewhere?

What about the HQ, would I be better off giving him a bodyguard or two?

In my personal experience, stealthsuits are a LOT better than just some drones. Also with your stealthsuits, upgrade markerlight on the 'ui because a deep striking markerlight is an altogether amazing thing xD

New list I like the idea of a stealth marker team

++++ [HQ] ++++

Unit cost: 89
XV8 Shas'el
--- [Missile pod, Fusion blaster, Targeting array, HW Multi-tracker]

++++ [Elites] ++++

Points: 552
% of Army: 36.77

Unit cost: 186
3x XV8 Shas'ui
--- [Missile pod, Plasma rifle, Multi-tracker]

Unit cost: 106
2x XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Missile pod, Targeting array]

Unit cost: 260
Stealthsuit 'ui TL
--- [Burst cannon, Markerlight, Drone controller, Marker Drone, HW Multi-tracker]
3x Stealthsuit 'ui
--- [Burst cannon, Marker Drone]

++++ [Troops] ++++

Points: 570
% of Army: 37.97

Unit cost: 190
Fire Warrior 'ui
--- [Pulse rifle, Bonding knife]
8x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod]

Unit cost: 190
Fire Warrior 'ui
--- [Pulse rifle, Bonding knife]
8x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod]

Unit cost: 190
Fire Warrior 'ui
--- [Pulse rifle, Bonding knife]
8x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod]


++++ [Heavy Support] ++++

Points: 290
% of Army: 19.32

Unit cost: 145
Hammerhead
--- [Railgun, Landing gear, Targeting array, Disruption pod]

Unit cost: 145
Hammerhead
--- [Railgun, Landing gear, Targeting array, Disruption pod]

TL and Targetting Array unnecessary on same model, it's a little bit overequipped for missile pods. (Though I recommend it heartily for Broadsides, which NEED to hit every time)

I'd put gun drones or target lock on, or else some flamers, instead of targetting array.

This is just a suggestion, but i would rather go for 2 Broadside battlesuits rather than the two Hammerhead cuz if I am correct, Hammerheads are 150(With the weapons i give em)
wereas Broadsides are 70(I dont have the codex with me at the moment so I'm not too sure). The rest of the army is good and much better than mine

Against landraiders the broad are better do to the twin S10 railgun!

join then with a Hq and you have one of the best shoting plataform´s of the game!

2 twin S10 guns
Hq Sha´s with plasma and flamer!
Shield drones in all, equal to let them come we will shot then donw

Well then, considering doomsday's advice, maybe switching a hammerhead out for a 2 man team of broadsides maybe?? then you would have 3 s10 shots with 2 tl or 2 tl s10 shots and a s6 ap4 large blast template for anti horde. but never, ever use broadsides without advanced stabalisation, the abiltiy to move d6 inch and still fire is a godsend when you need to reposition your unit, but thats and extra 10 pts each. ok xD

the hammerheads need multitrackers so they can move 12 and still fire their railgun...fits with the mobility of your list...and they can contest objectives late game while still firing..' also this allows you to keep them out of harms way...i.e. more that 12" from enemies so your disruption pods are always keeping you obscured...hence they should never get melta'd or assaulted...and even if they do get assaulted you moved 12" so it is 6's to hit...your list is a common av12 moving wall to keep your crisis suits in cover as they advance...but they have no close range weaponry to finish the deal...i.e. they need some flamers...ideally on the twin-linked crisis suits...you changed your stealth suits to have markerlights but do not have a lot of troops to maximize their effectiveness besides your missle pods...they have targeting arrays, are twin linked, or are on a commander so should not really need buffed...In my opinion the markerlights are a waste without some seeker missles...personally I would ditch the stealth suits unless you can run them 6 strong for shield drones on you crisis suits...FOR THE GREATER GOOD!!

I know there is a lot of temptation to take a stealth marker team but I would much rather have 2 full squads of pathfinders than that single stealth marker team.

If you take away devilfish from 2 squads of fire warriors you can give them to the pathfinders and then just have those fire warriors jump in the pathfinder mandatory devilfish to get the same result for 3 times the marker lights.

You can use those freed up points to put multi-trackers on your railheads or switch 1 of the railheads out for a pair of broadsides and still give the remaining railhead a multi-tracker.

Also if you're not going to give your suits a team leader with drones I would make sure you don't make a squad any bigger than 2 suits that way one can die and you can still regroup (as you'll never drop below 50% squad strength).

You can also save some points by giving your deathrain suits (the t/l missile pod targeting array ones) flamers instead of targeting arrays. It would help when you have to clear off IG from an objective or if you have orks starting to corner you.

I also agree that you should take 2 burst cannons instead of SMS for the railheads, with a multi-tracker you can move 6 inches and lay out a lot of hurt on an infantry unit with a large blast template and 6 str 5 bs4 shots.

Just some thoughts.

I think that list is very solid as is. I think all your battlesuit configurations are awesome, and the balance of your army is great.

My only critique is that you should probably get a couple Fusion Blasters in there, as Hammerheads can deal with armor, but will have difficulty taking out large amounts of vehicles.

DRumMachine is right Pathfinders are miles better than stealth marker teams.

On your 2nd list here's my advice:

HQ - Decent, but needs a shield drone and is a good place to put an AFP.

Fireknifes - good again could do with a shield drone or 2 and bonding.

Deathrains - perfect don't dump the targeting arrays for soemthing else those TAs will be used every turn. This is your transport popping unit.

Stealth team - see above.

Troops - fine but move the devilfish to pathfinders. Pathfinders are as important to Tau as farseers are to Eldar they are the crux of who the army works.

Hammerheads - need a multitraker ALWAYS and as is are illegal as you have not taken a secondary weapon system burstcannons are my advice.

I'd also say that you lack anti-tank firepower. At this point level you really need at least 3 Railguns preferably 4. In general a good rule is take 1 railgun plus 1 per 500 points (so 2 at 500, 3 at 1,000 etc Tau don't work in a single FoC at over 2,000). However if you take just 1 Hammerhead you will significantly reduce your anti-horde firepower (an area you are already thread bare on) and it will get blown very quickly as it will be the only target for your opponents heavy weapons. With tanks take 2 or none.

So I'd try to find a way to find the points for 2 Broadsides from somewhere else. Possibly droping a path finder team or just taking two 5 man teams. If needs be drop the FWs teams down to minimum number and dump the Shas'ui you don't really want them out of the fish anyway...

1750 Pts - Tau Empire Roster - Tau 1750pts

HQ: Commander Shas'o (1#, 126 Pts)
1 Commander Shas'o @ 126 Pts
Flamer; Bonding Knife; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Hard-wired Target Lock; Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle

Heavy Support: Broadside Shas'vre (4#, 200 Pts)
1 Broadside Shas'vre @ 200 Pts
Team Leader; Twin linked Railgun; Broadside Battlesuit; Shas'vre; Smart Missile System; Hard-wired Drone Controller; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Shield Drone; Shield Drone; Target Lock
1 Broadside Battlesuit @ [80] Pts
Twin linked Railgun; Smart Missile System; Targeting Array
1 Shield Drone @ [15] Pts
Shield Generator
1 Shield Drone @ [15] Pts
Shield Generator

Heavy Support: Hammerhead Gunship (1#, 180 Pts)
1 Hammerhead Gunship @ 180 Pts
Railgun; Two Burst Cannons; Targeting Array; Disruption Pod; Landing Gear; Multi-Tracker; Sensor Spines; Target Lock

Heavy Support: Hammerhead Gunship (1#, 180 Pts)
1 Hammerhead Gunship @ 180 Pts
Railgun; Two Burst Cannons; Targeting Array; Disruption Pod; Landing Gear; Multi-Tracker; Sensor Spines; Target Lock

Fast Attack: Pathfinder (7#, 232 Pts)
5 Pathfinder @ 232 Pts
Add Shas'ui; Markerlight (x3); Pulse Carbine (x3); Rail Rifle and Target Lock (x2)
1 Shas'ui @ [32] Pts
Bonding Knife; Hard-wired Target Lock; Markerlight; Pulse Carbine
1 Devilfish @ [120] Pts
Burst Cannon; Smart Missile System; Marker Beacon; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear; Multi-Tracker; Targeting Array

Fast Attack: Pathfinder (7#, 232 Pts)
5 Pathfinder @ 232 Pts
Add Shas'ui; Markerlight (x3); Pulse Carbine (x3); Rail Rifle and Target Lock (x2)
1 Shas'ui @ [32] Pts
Bonding Knife; Hard-wired Target Lock; Markerlight; Pulse Carbine
1 Devilfish @ [120] Pts
Burst Cannon; Smart Missile System; Marker Beacon; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear; Multi-Tracker; Targeting Array

Troops: Fire Warrior (6#, 60 Pts)
6 Fire Warrior @ 60 Pts
Pulse Rifle (x6)

Troops: Fire Warrior (6#, 60 Pts)
6 Fire Warrior @ 60 Pts
Pulse Rifle (x6)

Troops: Kroot Carnivore Squad (18#, 120 Pts)
12 Kroot Carnivore Squad @ 120 Pts
Add Kroot Hounds; Kroot Rifle (x12)
6 Kroot Hounds @ [36] Pts

Fast Attack: Piranha Light Skimmer (3#, 75 Pts)
1 Piranha Light Skimmer @ 75 Pts
Fusion Blaster (x1); Gun Drones (x2); Disruption Pod (x1); Targeting Array (x1)
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

HQ: Commander Shas'el (5#, 284 Pts)
1 Commander Shas'el @ 284 Pts
Airbursting Fragmentation Projector; Bonding Knife; Hard-wired Drone Controller; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Hard-wired Target Lock; Crisis Bodyguard; Crisis Bodyguard; Shield Drone; Shield Drone; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array
1 Crisis Bodyguard @ [66] Pts
Flamer; Hard-wired Target Lock; Missile Pod; Targeting Array
1 Crisis Bodyguard @ [73] Pts
Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Missile Pod
1 Shield Drone @ [15] Pts
Shield Generator
1 Shield Drone @ [15] Pts
Shield Generator

Total Roster Cost: 1749

well this is my local tournment list, in here we play 1750pts.
To play 1500 you need to drop 1 pathfinder team and the piranha.
With the 2 devilfish´s of the pathfinders, i used then with the fire warriors because in 5ª ediction you now can! that way my FW in the devilfish´s would go hunting the spot´s or objectives of the game was for the path would do the suport with markerlights, for the tanks and other units!
the stealth are good but expensive for what they do.
houpe this list helpd achive yours! Best of games to you dude!

What about this, i have been trying to get ML support in. The DF will pick up the FW

++++ [HQ] ++++

Unit cost: 119
XV8 Shas'el
--- [Missile pod, Fusion blaster, Targeting array, HW Multi-tracker, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone]

++++ [Elites] ++++

Unit cost: 174
XV8 Shas'vre
--- [Missile pod, Plasma rifle, Targeting array, HW Multi-tracker, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [Missile pod, Plasma rifle, Multi-tracker]

Unit cost: 139
XV8 Shas'vre
--- [TL Missile pod, Flamer, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Missile pod, Flamer]

++++ [Troops] ++++

Unit cost: 80
8x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]

Unit cost: 80
8x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]

Unit cost: 80
8x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]

++++ [Fast Attack] ++++

Unit cost: 153
4x Pathfinder 'la
--- [Pulse C./ Marker]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, SMS, Disruption pod]

Unit cost: 153
4x Pathfinder 'la
--- [Pulse C./ Marker]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, SMS, Disruption pod]

++++ [Heavy Support] ++++

Unit cost: 165
Hammerhead
--- [Railgun, 2x burst cannon, Disruption pod, Multi-tracker]

Unit cost: 165
Hammerhead
--- [Railgun, 2x Burst cannon, Disruption pod, Multi-tracker]

Unit cost: 195
XV88 'ui TL
--- [TL Railgun, SMS, A.S.S., HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone]
XV88 'ui
--- [TL Railgun, SMS, A.S.S.]

re-post

glitchy repost

re-post

oops my mistake. I shall take the sms off the other hammerhead to fix that

That was the only I saw.

However, I would never suggest SMS on an Hammerhead. The burst cannons are far supirior in almost all respects. They are cheaper, have two more shots. They only don't have the snazzy rules of the SMS... but they aren't incredible anyways.

sorry about the re-posts btw. It was being funky.

The OP hasn't put any hw wargear on any shas'ui's atm and so they aren't illegal, the one you might be thinking of is the missile pod, plasma rifle and multi tracker, but that isnt hardwired so its ok, and the only things with hardwired items are the shas'el and the shas'vrs

he was talking about the updated list. I have since edited it, hopefully this is a list i can now start on and play test.

Nice list mate.

I am furiously creating a right of a list for you to test against!