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HQ
XV8 Shas'el : Plasma rifle, missle pod, TA, HW MultiTrack, HW TargetLock, HW Drone controller (two sheild drones), Stimulant injector, bonding knife
Two XV8 Shas'vre: twin-linked missle pods, targeting array
273 pts

Elite
XV8 Shas'vre : Fusion blaster, burst cannon, multi-tracker, failsafe detonator
Two XV8 Shas'ui: twin-linked fusion blaster, targeting array
181 pts

Troops
11 Firewarrirors 1 Shas'ui with bonding knife, two gun drones. 155 pts
11 Firewarrirors 1 Shas'ui with bonding knife, two gun drones. 155 pts
11 Firewarrirors 1 Shas'ui with bonding knife, two gun drones. 155 pts
11 Firewarrirors 1 Shas'ui with bonding knife, two gun drones. 155 pts

Fast Attack
7 pathfinders, with two rail guns, Shas'ui with a bonding knife. and the mandatory Devilfish trans
Devilfish has distruption pods
216 pts

heavy support
RailHead, with burst cannon and D. Pods 155 pts
RailHead, with burst cannon and D. Pods 155 pts
Sky Ray with burst cannons and D. Pods 140 pts

Army Total 1740

I plan on using the Pathfinder's scout rule to get them into a foward cover position to pin advancing enemy troops, and mark enemy armor. I'll also be keeping the Xv8 elites in reserve to deepstrike behind and as close to enemy armour to make full use of their meltas, the leader has a fail-safe detonator in the event his squad pops a transport, and is unable to avoid being assaulted. This way the two remaining XV8s have more time to focus on Anti-armor. Sky ray hides in a corner, hammer heads and the HQ squad support the fire warrior's firing line as best as possible.

well thats my army and base stratagy in a nutshell, this is the first time i'll be playing with a Tau army. and the only thing on this list so far that has been purchased and is staying are the 4 firewarrior squads. Any help would be most appreciated

updated with input

Wow, I've only read through the codex and read through some stuff.

This looks like a really good Tau Army. Specially for your first one. I don't know if I have any information to help really...

Since it's kind of a gunline army. Maybe drop two squads of fire warriors and their upgrades, and replace them with regular Fire Warriors, no upgrades, just more bodies w/ 4+ armor. I think for the 330 price of two units w/ upgrades, you could field x3 units of 11.

I always support the Tau'Va by sacrificing more bodies!!!

Here's some pointers:

Shas'o is the never worth it an 'El with a TA is a better option. You've spent 280 points on 1 plasma shot and 4 missile pod shots is that value for money? I'd say no get mkore weapons in there fire knife (PL + Missile pod and multi-traker) is a very good starting point for suits.

Shas'vre as teamleaders are again not worth it unless you're going for special issue wargear (which is general is better suited to Commanders anyway) so you've basically thrown 5 points away there.

Fire warriors out of devilfish are dead, full stop. In a game when your opponent can assault you in turn 1 you need those transports to keep you safe and the ease in which heavy flamers can get in range also again means FWs out of transports are dead.

Railrifles on Pathfinders are fail. Pathfinders are needed for markerlights never equipe them with anything else. If you want rail rifles go with a sniper drone team (which for 80 points will kill on average about 1 marine a turn)...

Skyrays are frankly awful. 2 Railguns and little fusion in your army at 1750 points is not near enough anti-tank. In my experience is takes about 5-6 railgun shots to take out a single Rhino in smoke... You need that slot for broadsides.

Your Hammerheads are missing VITAL equipement. They should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have disruption pods as should all your vehicles. 5 points for a 4+ cover save how can you say no to that! They should also always have a multitraker so you can move 12" and still fire that railgun. Flechettes and Target locks are also advisable but not a necessity. Your Hammerheads are also illegal as it stands as you've not given them a secondary weapon system.

You need more fire power, more crisis suits, better selections in your heavy support and transports for your FW team which really don't need to be that size.

Adding to FlingitNow's advice, as we usually seem to be on the same page:

1. Pathfinders: all 7 or 8 have MLs. Equip their transport with SMS, TA, MT & Dispod, which then goes and transports/protects one of the FW units.

2. Drop one unit of FWs for a similar Warfish. 3 units of troops ought to be enough at 1750 points. Then take out the GDs to supply more points for crisis suits.

3. Railheads: BCs (or SMS), DisPod, MT, Target Lock.

4. Suits: FireKnives (PR/MP/MT) or FireStorms (BC/MP/MT) in pairs are a good start for new tau players. MarkerLights from the Pathfinders will help them hit better. Anything with a Fusion Blaster puts the suits too close to the enemy and thus getting caught in h2h. An' den dey dead.

Ohh yeah I forgot about Disruption Pods (god this Codex is hard to read through) Those are a must on absolutely everything that can take it.

They are correct in saying the cheaper Shas'el is always better unless your trying to give special issue equipment to someone.

Maybe giving your HQ a squad of reg battlesuits instead of the 'Vres

Some points...

SkyRay is fun, but iffy, choice. Always remember to take Targeting Array for it, since it doesn't come free, like in Hammerhead.

Regular Crisis Teams hardly ever need Special Issue wargear, so Shas'vre upgrade is rather useless.

If your Commander has BS5, don't take Twin-linked weapons for him.

There is usually little point taking a Bodyguard for Commander as long as you still have Elite slots to fill.

Downgraded the 'o to an 'el and amended the HQ squad's wargear

Im still not sure about sacrificing the shear amount of shots offered by 4 full squads of fire warriors (this army was designed with the "horde" armies that frequent my area) in favor of mounting all of my troops in devilfish. Though while on the subject; can the fish's drones join the unit of firewarriors if it gets popped?

I now plan on swapping a 'head for a squad of XV88 broadsides, but im unsure how to outfit them, or whether or not making one a Shas'vre is worth the points.

While i do like the Idea of Dare-devil Melta exploding crisissuits , it does seem a bit costly to have them in danger of CC, is there a reliable set-up for more Anti-Armor?

Koski wrote:They are correct in saying the cheaper Shas'el is always better unless your trying to give special issue equipment to someone.

Maybe giving your HQ a squad of reg battlesuits instead of the 'Vres

Yeah re-read the HQ section, turns out you dont even need to make him a Shas'o for the special issue gear, you're just paying 25 points for stats, while just a targetting array is 10 pts

And i plan on taking away the HQ's body gaurds in favor of two squads of XV8s

Anidem wrote:Downgraded the 'o to an 'el and amended the HQ squad's wargear

Im still not sure about sacrificing the shear amount of shots offered by 4 full squads of fire warriors (this army was designed with the "horde" armies that frequent my area) in favor of mounting all of my troops in devilfish. Though while on the subject; can the fish's drones join the unit of firewarriors if it gets popped?

"Join" them? No. But sit in front of them, next to them. Sure.

Anidem wrote:I now plan on swapping a 'head for a squad of XV88 broadsides, but im unsure how to outfit them, or whether or not making one a Shas'vre is worth the points.

The 'vre upgrade ought only to be taken for gaining access to those Unique Wargear items (and those are rarely worth it, IMHO). When I field XV88s, I upgrade one to Team Leader (instead of 'vre), Bond, hwTarget Lock, and add hwDC with 2 Shield Drones. Depending on how much terrain is on your table, either Target Array or Multi-Tracker or A.s.s., the latter being for a table is a lot of LoS blockage.

Sometimes, all Drone Controlers, with 6 SDs. That's a hard assed unit, 9 models with the best armor save, and 6 of them with Invulns!

Anidem wrote:While i do like the Idea of Dare-devil Melta exploding crisissuits , it does seem a bit costly to have them in danger of CC, is there a reliable set-up for more Anti-Armor?

Good. You've discerned the folly in fielding them this way.

The best anti-A is the broadside team. With SDs, they're really tough to dislodge with shooting, and sporting 2 or 3 of the best anti-A gun in the game? Little else competes.

Anidem wrote:And i plan on taking away the HQ's body gaurds in favor of two squads of XV8s

Good plan. I cannot recall the last game that I had bodyguards for my Shas.