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hello all...thank you all for taking your time here.

I am about to buy my HQ for my Tau army and cannot decide what to do.

I am leaning towards getting the regular HQ commander because he can take the bodyguards and customize himself in wargear.

The only other one I heard to take is Shadowsun.

I appreciate your time...thank you all.

Tau SCs = Waste of time.

The only SC HQ i'd even consider is Farsight because of his huge retinue and basic combat ability, but by taking him you're losing a lot of flexibility.

A basic Tau Commander is usually your best bet, run to compliment your army.

Bodyguards on these guys are somewhat a personal preference. I dislike them; they remove your commander's IC status until killed and make him a larger target. With a lone commander it's easier to hide.

Gear is decided usually after you've decided the core of your army, base him around your army, not the other way around. Also take into account point-ranges. At anything below 1.5k, we've got a pretty good selection of things, and it's best to save 25pts by keeping him as a shas'el. At ~2k and above, we start to run out effective things, and 25pts to give your commander a minor effectiveness increase can be justified.

Avatar 720 wrote:Tau SCs = Waste of time.

The only SC HQ i'd even consider is Farsight because of his huge retinue and basic combat ability, but by taking him you're losing a lot of flexibility.

A basic Tau Commander is usually your best bet, run to compliment your army.

Bodyguards on these guys are somewhat a personal preference. I dislike them; they remove your commander's IC status until killed and make him a larger target. With a lone commander it's easier to hide.

Gear is decided usually after you've decided the core of your army, base him around your army, not the other way around. Also take into account point-ranges. At anything below 1.5k, we've got a pretty good selection of things, and it's best to save 25pts by keeping him as a shas'el. At ~2k and above, we start to run out effective things, and 25pts to give your commander a minor effectiveness increase can be justified.

Thank you a bunch man...your insight has given me the info i need to choose. i really appreciate your time. thanks again

Get a normal commander
Ethereals are terrible, and although shadow sun and farsight are decent, shadow sun is overpriced, and farsight limits you too much
As avatar said, shas el is better to run than shas o

Normal commander for this reason:

Shadowsun has 2 fusion blasters

For her points, you could get 2 commanders with Plasma Rifles, Fusion Blasters, and Multi-Trackers. Thus, you are getting way more fire-power and wounds for the same price.