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I wanna know the general thoughts on the following Tau List:

HQ:

Ethereal

Commander ( 2x Gun Drone, Nueroweb Jammer, Puretide Chip, Iridium Armor, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Airbursting Frag, Target Lock, Drone Controller)

Elite

Riptide (Ion Accelerator, TL FB, Early Warning Override, Counterfire Defense)
Riptide (Ion Accelerator, TL FB, Early Warning Override, Counterfire Defense)

Crisis Suits
--3x Suits with TL BC, BC (Bonding Knife upgrade)
--6x Gun Drones

Troops

Firewarriors x9
Firewarriors x10
Firewarriors x10
Firewarriors x10
Firewarriors x10

Fast

Pathfinders x8
Pathfinders x8

Heavy
1x Broadside (2x Missile Drone, TL HYMP, TL SMS, Velocity Tracker)
1x Broadside (2x Missile Drone, TL HYMP, TL SMS, Velocity Tracker)
3x Broadsides (3x Missile Drone, TL Railguns, TL SMS, 1x Drone Controller)

Fortification

Skyshield Landing Pad

Strategy:

Deploy Broadsides on Skyshield to maximize 4++ while maintaining serious weight of fire with missiles/rail guns. Use Fire Warriors in supporting positions with Pathfinders and placement of Ethereal for buffs.

Warlord will be my Commander in squad of Crisis Suits that will (most likely) deepstrike. This squad is kitted for pure shredding of dug in infantry... routing dudes off their back board edge. Gun Drones absorb fire first while I torrent S5 weapons that I can make Monster Hunters, Tank Hunters, etc. The Monster Hunter will be useful against some frequent opponents that use Tervigons.

My Riptides are my feint and fire support. I can use them for multiple roles, but primarily as a "suckers bet," in hopes people will chase them down or deploy against them leaving a squishy front for my shredding squad to hit.

My downside, I'm seeing, is AV13 and AV14. AV14 would require smashing from from Riptides or lucky Railgun glances. Or ignore it and hope my distractions roll on. I thought about adding a fusion blaster to the crisis suits, but I want the squad to have a focused role. I find I can be more points efficient with it if I focus on one things, shredding LOADS of troops. Also, Heldrakes still suck, but I can hide some firewarrior squads on the Skyshield to help stop from losing all my squads (hide some underneat, too! You can't flame what you can't see!).

Thoughts, duders? Appreciate it!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Made a few changes, Split the firewarriors into smaller squads, added TL FB to the riptides, and modified a few loadouts.

You have VERY little AA in the list. I don't really rate having more than 2 railrifle Broadsides in a unit and think velocity Trackers are better on them. It is pretty much the only S8 and AP1 skyfire out there so we should take advantage of it. Whilst in bigger units the HYM Broadsides become super Lottas and don't need skyfire.

I don't like Riptides without stim injectors FnP is brilliant on T6. There's a reason all the Nid players want to roll Endurance on the Biomancy table.

The crisis team seems like its trying to do a stealth teams job. You're getting more shots per point but losing the 2+ cover save that makes the Stealth team attractive. If you just want S5 spam then Piranhas get more shots per point and are immune to S4 or just take more Firewarriors. S5 span is not really the job of a crisis team.

I tried out a Riptide with counter fire defense before. It usually doesn't kick in. If you play your Riptide properly, its really hard to catch it in close combat. So, those are kinda wasted points.

And I agree with FlingitNow, you got so many fire warriors in your army, Str 5 shots is not exactly something you lack, so why the burst cannons on the crisis suits? Equip them with higher str weapons. You don't need more Str 5 shots from your crisis suits. Not when you have 50 Fire warriors! lol

I play Wolves and Sisters, so being light on AA is nothing new. I will try out different configurations on the broadsides in playtesting. I essentially have two quad guns, though.

I'll see if I can fit in FNP on the Riptides and drop the counter defense systems.

I could try a more "melta" approach to Crisis suits, but I feel this just gets "danger close". I can DS back 15" on average, get all my shots, and boost out of charge range with this configuration without needing to get in 9" to maximize plasma volleys or fusion blasters; essentially I'm offsetting having higher strength weapons by more massed S5.

I'll pluck around the points and see about TLBC + Plasma Rifle load outs like I had before.

Two pathfinder squads enough?

Yeah 2 quad guns without interceptor and at Bs3 isn't much AA particularly for Tau the best AA army in the game...

As stated if you want S5 spam there are better options in the codex than the Crisis Teams. Drop them all together or take higher strength weapons.

For 209 points you could get 5 Stealth suits with CDS Shasvre with 2 Drones and retro trustees. Add in a Commander with triple burst cannons drone controller and 2 gun drones for 142 and you have majority T4 Bs10 Drones and 2+ cover, hit and run and a nasty overwatch. That's cheaper than your unit and more effective. Yes marginally fewer shots but much more survivability and causes your opponent much more of a problem and doesn't get insta boned by battle canons.

I'd be inclined to have a commander in XV8 with drone controller and drop him with a full squad of drones for some 28 shot, twin linked BS 5 action.

Not a fan of the Riptides at all, I think they're in the wrong slot? I think the temptation of the 3 units of battlesuits would be too much for me

I'd be inclined to have a commander in XV8 with drone controller and drop him with a full squad of drones for some 28 shot, twin linked BS 5 action.

oooo I didn't even think of that, that sounds brutal.

Yeah you probably add triple burstcannons to the commander and you are looking at 36 S5 which is 34.4 S5 HITS on average.

I'll fiddle with the Stealth suit idea. I think the reason I say this list is semi-competitive is that I have SW and Necrons right now if I want to beat face and Sisters if I wanna chum around.

Tau, I want to build just for a 2K army and move on. I don't really care for the vehicle, primarily just suits, hence this list. I'll fiddle around and proxy a bit. Appreciate the thoughts.

Also, my squad I'm running now is majority T4. I could throw in a few shield drones to eat it first, I imagine.