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I know this is a lot like one of Stelek's "Best of" lists, but I think it works. I've played this army and didn't simply pull it off the interwebz.

Shas'el- AFP, Missile, hwmt, hwtl, 2 gundrone 112
Shas'el- Plasma, Missile, hwmt, hwtl, 1 gundrone 102
2 Shas'vre- 162
1 Shas'vre- plasma, missile, flamer, hwmt, 1 gun drone
1 Shas'vre- plasma, missile, flamer, hwmt,

3 Crisis Suits - 192
1 Deathrain- tlmp, target lock
1 Fireknife- plasma, missile, multi-tracker
1 Fireknife Team Leader - bonded, 1 gun drone

3 Crisis Suits - 192
1 Deathrain- tlmp, target lock
1 Fireknife- plasma, missile, multi-tracker
1 Fireknife Team Leader - bonded, 1 gun drone

3 Crisis Suits - 192
1 Deathrain- tlmp, target lock
1 Fireknife- plasma, missile, multi-tracker
1 Fireknife Team Leader - bonded, 1 gun drone

TROOPS
6 Firewarriors- 60
6 Firewarrios- 60
6 Firewarrios- 60
10 Kroot- 100
5 hounds
10 Kroot- 100
5 hounds

FAST ATTACK
6 Pathfinders- 72
Devilfish- 115
dp, mt, sms

6 Pathfinders- 72
Devilfish- 115
dp, mt, sms

6 Pathfinders- 72
Devilfish- 115
dp, mt, sms

HEAVY SUPPORT
2 Broadsides- 195
2 Shas'ui - a.s.s. sms
1 Shas'ui Team Leader - bonded, target lock, 2 gun drones

2 Broadsides- 195
2 Shas'ui - a.s.s. sms
1 Shas'ui Team Leader - bonded, target lock, 2 gun drones

2 Broadsides- 195
1 Shas'ui - a.s.s. sms
1 Shas'ui Team Leader - bonded, target lock, 2 gun drones

What do you think?

Hmmm, this list is going to have its hands full trying to pull a win out of the bag.

The biggest thing you need to address is...let’s get started. lol

Only equip your crisis with two weapons unless you have a Sun'O.

Each to his/ her own when selecting war gear for their crisis, but I find Plasma is far to expensive and just plain useless for Tau. My suggestion is to spam MP's, but again, each to his/ her own.

Drop the hounds, fill out your remaining slots with kroot, and max all squads.

I see that you are trying to take advantage of the PF + DF = free transport, which is fine, but add a TA and FD to your transports.

Again, max your PF and upgrade to a Ui'. Oh, and do the same for your FW's.

Are those Gun Drones on your Suits and BASS? O_O! Yeah, drop the GD's off the Crisis, and add SD's to the BASS.

Make those changes and you should see marked improvement.

Take care
-Spec

I'll address your concerns in bullet form.

the Shas'vre flamers are there because I had 8 points left. Roast a squad of IG.

Plasma is there primarily to deny FNP. The pathfinders will be able to up their BS to 5 and reduce cover saves. Plasma is expensive - yes, and I've played with TLMP spam before, but I found I missed the plasma. With so many things in your face quickly (I'm looking at you blood angels), I need those 4 shots per suit at 12" to really count.

Drop Hounds - lol. Sorry, but why would I pay more points for something that is meant to take fire and die. Besides, INT 5 is golden against ork hordes and the like. The biggest threat at our FLGS is a Horde/Kan Wall Ork player. The Kroot/hound squads are his nemesis as they will on average tear up an Ork squad on the charge faster than just about anything in this list.

FD is tempting but I have a hard time finding 30 points in this list for something that doesn't shoot and requires enemy action to activate.

Gun drones are fine in the BASS. Why you ask? Because these guys should be in cover or have cover provided for them by other units. A 3+/4++ is only very marginally worse than 2+/4++ and you never know when that one pinning hit will work out.

That said, I do appreciate your suggestions. The Shas'vre bodyguard squad is probably my least favorite part of the army. I'm considering dropping it for more kroot and hounds. The Shas'els can then be used to beef up either crisis squads or BASS.

I think I'm in love. I really like the deathrains plugged into the squads with target locks, instead of the usual deathrain squad with flamers or with TAs. Gives you full squad would allocation fun and lets you shoot at more transports per turn if you are so inclined.

I do think you want piranhas but I'm not sure where to squeeze them in since you'd have to drop a pathfinder squad. Maybe drop one squad, max out the others and even give them a gun drone for extra wounds since they'll take so much fire...and maybe drop a bodyguard suit? should be able to afford two piranhas with all the fixins then.

I think you need the shield drones on the broadsides, unless you're doing the no ASS/4-6 gun drones route. It isn't 3+/4++ it is 4+/4++. Gun drones are armor 4. The 2+ can be a big deal.

I would suggest dropping one squad of firewarriors for 10 kroot. They can ride in a devilfish just as well and are more flexible.

DOH! You are right. I had it stuck in my head that they were 3+. I'm sorry Spec. Ops, you were right.

My previous list had 2 piranhas in it, but I was having luck el' horrible with them. I know what they are *capable* of, but they seem to hate me. I'm talking 12 bs4 fusion shots missing - in a row - over a few games.

So with this in mind, I've updated the list below. Thanks Lambodomy and Spec. Ops

HQ
Shas'el- AFP, twin-missile, hwmt, hwtl 1 shied drone 113
Shas'el- plasma, missile, mt, hwtl, 1 shield drone 113

ELITE
3 Crisis Suits- 182
Deathrain- tlmp, tl
Fireknife- plasma, missile, multi
Fireknife team leader- bonding

3 Crisis Suits- 182
Deathrain- tlmp, tl
Fireknife- plasma, missile, multi
Fireknife team leader- bonding

3 Crisis Suits- 182
Deathrain- tlmp, tl
Fireknife- plasma, missile, multi
Fireknife team leader- bonding

TROOPS
1x6 Firewarriors -60
2x10 Kroot- 140
1x20 Kroot- 9 hounds 194

FAST ATTACK
7 Pathfinders- 84
Devilfish- dp, mt, sms 115

7 Pathfinders- 84
Devilfish- dp, mt, sms 115

2 Piranhas- fusion, ta, 1x dp 145

HEAYV SUPPORT
3 Broadsides- 300
Shas'ui- mt, plasma rifles
Shas'ui team leader- mt, plasma rifles, bonding, tl 2 shield drones

3 Broadsides- 285
Shas'ui- a.s.s. sms
Shas'ui team leader- a.s.s. sms, bonding, tl 2 shield drones

2 Broadsides- 205
Shas'ui- a.s.s. sms
Shas'ui team leader- a.s.s. sms, bonding, tl 2 shield drones

Okay, so dropped the shas'vres, a pathfinder squad/devilfish, some random gun drones, and two units of firewarriors for plasma rifle b-sides, 2 more b-sides, shield drones across the board, 2 piranhas, and 20 more kroot. better?

You have so many marker lights so why not take some seeker missiles?

You are certainly right when it comes to piranha. I no longer use them to actulay kill something, as opposed to force protection. Probably their best asset is that they can block/ fix/ divert advancing enemies or contest objectives.

As for your list I think it’s looking better; however, I am a little concerned with your troops.

I really think you need to fill out those slots, which might cut into other areas.

Check it out, how about you add a second FW squad and upgrade them with Ui's for that added Ldr. And since you have PF's those FW's really become a very potent threat to DS'ing, outflanking, assault troops, and bikers.

The remaining slots can be filled with more kroot and hounds.

Lastly, take it out for a spin and let us know how it went!
-Spec

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:Plasma is there primarily to deny FNP. The pathfinders will be able to up their BS to 5 and reduce cover saves. Plasma is expensive - yes, and I've played with TLMP spam before, but I found I missed the plasma. With so many things in your face quickly (I'm looking at you blood angels), I need those 4 shots per suit at 12" to really count.

This might end up being a silly question, but how does a STR 6 AP 2 weapon deny FNP?

Can't take FNP saves against AP1 and AP2 weapons.

FNP can only work against wounds that allow armor saves. Since the best armor save in the game is 2+, anything that is AP 2 or AP 1 denies armor saves, and therfore denies FNP.

That's why I mentioned it might be a silly question. I was only aware that weapons with STR double the toughness of the target bypassed FNP, and that attacks that ignore armour cannot be FNP'd.