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I was hoping to get some advice on crisis suit load outs for my list.
I am a relatively new 40K player and I was recently able to acquire a
decent size Tau army on the cheap, which is good at my 40k budget is
rather limited. It was not a perfect 1500 but I think I can make it
work. I was able to buy two crisis suits and some shield drones to
round out my force (which wiped out the remainder of my 40K budget)
but I am not sure how to outfit them.

Here is what my army is at the moment:

HQ

Commander
- To be determined

Elite

6 Stealth suits
-Team leader with marker light and target lock
-Bonded

1 Crisis Suit
- To be determined

Troop

12 Fire Warriors
-Shas’ui with marker light and target lock
-Bonded

Devilfish
-Burst Cannon
-Disruption pod

12 Fire Warriors
-Shas’ui with marker light and target lock
-Bonded

Devilfish
-Burst Cannon
-Disruption pod

12 Fire Warriors
-Shas’ui with marker light and target lock
-Bonded

12 Fire Warriors
-Shas’ui with marker light and target lock
-Bonded

Heavy

Hammer Head
-Rail Gun
-Burst Guns
-Disruption Pod
-Target Lock
-Multi-tracker

2 Broadsides
-Smart Missile System
-Team leader with multi-tracker
-Other member has Target lock
-Bonded

Total 1315

This leaves me with 185 points to mess around with and I have a 2
unassembled crisis suit models and two completed shield drones.

My basic strategy is to set up a defensive position/firebase
(preferably in cover) with broadsides covered by two Fire warrior
teams. Then use my suits, mounted Fire Warriors and Hammer Head as a
highly mobile attack force, that will uses hit and run attack that
keeps my opponent too busy chasing my mobile forces to launch sizable
attack on my fire base.

So here is my question, given this list how would you set up the
crisis suits? and who would you give the shield drones to?

Here are my two ideas

Plan A

Commander
-Shas’el
-Target array
-Multi-tracker
-Plasma rifle
-Fusion gun

1 Crisis suit
-Multi-tracker
-Plasma rifle
-Fusion gun

Then I will give a shield drone to the broadside team and a Seeker
missile to the Hammer Head with gives me a 1499 point army.

The plan here is to have my suits hide behind cover and ambush
monstrous creatures, bikes, heavy infantry, and transports that make a
run at my firebase (i.e. take the bait). That way my broadsides can
focus at taking advantage of their long range and not be focused on
self-defense.

Plan B

Commander
-Shas’el
-Target array
-Multi-tracker
-Plasma rifle
-Fusion gun

1 Crisis suit
-Target array
-Twin linked Missile pod

Then I will give 2 shield drones to the broadside team giving me a
1495 point army.

This plain is similar but having the missile pods with add some
flexability due to longer range. But its lack of AP worries me. My
idea to compensate for this is that the missile pods will take out
transports and light vehicles (for which rail guns are a bit over
kill) and the broadsides will pick up the slack and take shots at
monsters creatures, bikes and heavy infantry (and having an extra
shield drone will add some survivability to the broadsides too)

Whew! Sorry for the long post, advice, comments, and recommendation are welcome.

Stealthsuits for me are kinda iffy. If they work for you, thats fine, but I almost never take them.

As for crisis suits, the most popular loadout is the Fireknife, which has a plasma rifle, multi tracker, and missile pod, which are good at taking out marines or light vehicles. Helios, which have a fusion blaster, plasma rifle, and multi tracker are good at killing Monstrous Creatures, vehicles, and heavy infantry. There are also Deathrains, which have Twin-linked missile pods and one other system (Targetting array, etc.) Whicha re mostly good for taking out transports. Try out different builds and see what works. Generally, take complimentary weapons. That means take weapons that work well together, eg. CIB/burst cannon. Try to take weapons with similar range, strength, etc.

As for Fire Warriors I would suggest 2 6-man squads with no upgrades in devilfish, and at most one 12-man foot squad. Firewarriors simply should not be your main combat force. They are good for making devilfish scoring, and not much else.

Hope that mess of words helps.

Stealthsuits for me are kinda iffy. If they work for you, thats fine, but I almost never take them.

As for crisis suits, the most popular loadout is the Fireknife, which has a plasma rifle, multi tracker, and missile pod, which are good at taking out marines or light vehicles. Helios, which have a fusion blaster, plasma rifle, and multi tracker are good at killing Monstrous Creatures, vehicles, and heavy infantry. There are also Deathrains, which have Twin-linked missile pods and one other system (Targetting array, etc.) Whicha re mostly good for taking out transports. Try out different builds and see what works. Generally, take complimentary weapons. That means take weapons that work well together, eg. CIB/burst cannon. Try to take weapons with similar range, strength, etc.

As for Fire Warriors I would suggest 2 6-man squads with no upgrades in devilfish, and at most one 12-man foot squad. Firewarriors simply should not be your main combat force. They are good for making devilfish scoring, and not much else.

Hope that mess of words helps.

I agree with almost all that has been said here

I would suggest, with all of your stealths, to downsize them into a SMT (stealth marker team)

This is 3 stealths with a team leader with a drone controller and 2 markerdrones (I think, don't use them, can somebody clarify?)
This is because stealths aren't that effiecent in the field, even if they look good on paper. I would only take them if I am facing a horde army, and only horde armies.

As for the suits, I have had tremendous success with the fireknife build as the helios build doesn't have enough range for my taste, to be in effective range, you are in charge range for most quick units, which is very, very, very bad. I also think that the commander should always be a shas'el with a AFP, as it benefits from his improved BS

The deathrain is also a preferable setup, yet I tend not to need them as I use markerlights alot.

Another option is the firestorm, yet I don't think you will need this because you have a ton of anti-infantry in the FWs

Speaking of FWs, if you are going to put them in a fish, downsize them to 6-8 without a shas'ui, as if the FW's fish goes down, they are as good as dead and they will not need them numbers. With these points, give all of your devilfish SMS, as they elimate the drones as KPs, if you do that, then add a TA and multi-tracker.

I would also suggest dropping on of the foot FWs as you need only one squad to hold objectives and those FWs are very expensive

I say that you need to give the broadsides 2 shield drones as if your hammerhead goes down, they are the next target of the big guns I would also equip them with ASS as it is nice to have the mobility. You will not need the multi-tracker as when are you going to fire the SMS and the railgun at the same target? the answer is never

With these changes you have about 400 points of stuff (a very rough guess)

With this, you can make a 3 man squad of fireknifes (196 with team leader with bonding knife), if at all possible I would suggest remodeling the FWs that you wont use as pathfinders, you can give them a FWs fish (as pathfinders need a fish) then give it back to the FWs during the first turn of the game. This is because them plus the broadsides make a very tempting target(if you dont do this you have 300 or so points to spend)

Just my 2 bits

-Jones

Hi there,

Given the limits of what models you own, I would take both suits as Commanders and join them either together as one, very powerful unit, or give them particularly different roles.

If you were to join them together, I would definately take a Plasma Rifle on both as you won't be able to get them anywhere else. Next, ensure they are Bs5 as you will want to guarantee hits as best you can. I would also take a Positional Relay for the tactical flexibility it adds to the army as a whole. Being your only Crisis suits I would avoid taking a Helios configuration (best taken in 3s in elites, with markerlights) as the range leaves you too close to fast assaulters for your only team. For an all-round, offensive team that is very resilient, and useful, I would perhaps take the following (my s key is broken and I cant find a capital s to copy and paste in):

Crisis shas'O, Positional Relay, Plasma Rifle, A.F.P., HW Multi-Tracker, HW Target Lock, stimulant Injectors, Bonding Knife, 2 x shield Drone
Crisis shas'El, Targeting Array, Plasma Rifle, C.I.B., HW Multi-Tracker, 1 x shield Drone

This will be a tough-as-nails unit to get rid of, capable of doing massive damage to a single unit or finishing off 2 seperate units of stragglers. Could add one more drone, upgrade the 'El to an 'O and take a shield generator/flamer, although with good jsj-ing you should usually be in cover.

Another option would be to take a 'shield'O' (or 'El) which is designed to join a unit to bolster its survivability. Attatched to your Broadside unit until a twelve man Fire Warrior team arrive on an objective, at which point he joins them to bolster Leadership, and keep them on the objective. One example:

shas'O, Positional Relay, A.F.P. and/or Missile Pod and/or Plasma Rifle, Iridium Armour, stimulant Injectors, Bonding Knife, 2 x shield Drone, HW Target Lock

Remember this guy is mostly static, so Missile Pods are a good choice, and the A.F.P. can help with fast closing units. However, as a barrage weapon the A.F.P. may be better used for your other, independant Commander so he can stay in more survivable positions. If taking a shield'O I would advise the other commander to be Bs5, and have Plasma/A.F.P.

stealth Team: I would take 2 teams of 3, each with 4 Gun Drones. This is useful for two reasons: It gives you 2 outflanking units meaning your important and fragile troops are off the board until at least turn 4, Relay-reliant, and it is a nice-sized unit with reasonable durability. It will be best used with markerlight support and although the stealth field might not prevent the closest unit from firing at you, it will stop nasty, long range guns such as battlecannons, with good placement. If taking a Fusion Blaster, which tends to give mixed results (though if taking stealths I do usually take one, as that single shot has often been enough to finish a terminator/character in the last couple turns), remember to give that team member a Target Lock. Example unit might be:

Team Leader, Bonding Knife, Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array, Target Lock,
shas'Ui, 2 Gun Drones
shasui, 2 Gun Drones

Next, Fire Warriors: 48 is probably more than you need in total. I would convert (by which I mean 'Don't stick the shoulder pad on/take it off') 8 Carbine Warrriors into Pathfinders. Their Devilfish can then be used as a first turn taxi for a twelve man Warrior team. Another Team of 8, with a Bonding Knife, should be kept in reserve with a basic D-Pod Devilfish, for objective grabbing, leaving 2 units of ten I would personally keep in reserve so on turn 5 you get a Team of ten and 8 in a 'Fish to take an hold objectives.

The Broadsides again I would kit out slightly differently to what I'd normally advise due to Crisis/Tank model restrictions. I would take them both with Targeting Arrays, as with only 2 Broadsides you will need every possible hit, and both with Plasma. Multi-Tracker, Bonding Knife and 2 x shield Drone on the Leader. This gives you a greater degree of flexibility to deal with outflankers and deep-strikers as you can sit still and fire 5 Bs4, Twin Linked nasty shots at them, or move 6" and still fire the Plasma. A.s.s. is only really worth it if you take 3+ Broadsides. If kill points are not something you worry about, then try taking 2, one-man Broadside Teams with 2 shield Drones, Plasma, Multi-Trackers and Targeting Arrays each. Remember with 3 models you can be under 50% strength and so you will need a Bonding Knife.

That would give you, in total, 2 Commanders, 2 stealth teams, One full Pathfinder team, One taxi-mounted full Fire Warrior team, 2 footslogging ten man Teams and an 8-man mounted team (perhaps consider the Warfish configuration on the Pathfinder 'Fish?), then 2 Broadsides and a Hammerhead. Maybe consider an Ion Cannon (I take one in every game) to run up a flank and hit side armour? The solid shot railgun just misses so often).

Hope that gives you a few options to think about.

Oberon

Please excuse the double post but I've just added my own 1750pt list which takes 3 crisis teams and what I would call an 'Agressive shield'O' - has a Relay but is tough enough to be able to be used aggressively. It uses Plasma/Flamer/Multi, Plasma/Burst/Multi and Missile/Flamer(/AFP).

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/298634.page

I hope that might be some help? Otherwise go to http://www.advancedtautactica.com and go on the 'Acadamy Articles' section. There is a brief overview of the most popular configurations in the 'Elites: XV8 Crisis Team' entry, and if you want to try a specific build then there is usually an article. The 'Acadamy' section also has fantastic articles on most Tau units, common setups of weapons/members/wargear, and how to get the most out of them.