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Hi all, this is my first try at a Tau Empire list. I started at 1750 points, because it's the average amount of point played at my LGS. As it's my first Tau list, I'm fully prepared that it's going to be horrible. As a result, any comments and criticism isn't only welcomed, it sought after. Without further ado:

HQ

Cadre Fireblade (84 points)
• 2 Shield Drones

Troops

Fire Warrior Team (108 points)
• +6 Fire Warriors

Fire Warrior Team (108 points)
• +6 Fire Warriors

Fire Warrior Team (108 points)
• +6 Fire Warriors

Fire Warrior Team (188 points)
• +6 Fire Warriors
• Pulse Carbines
• Devilfish

Fire Warrior Team (188 points)
• +6 Fire Warriors
• Pulse Carbines
• Devilfish

Elites

XV104 Riptide (290 points)
• 2 Shielded Missile Drones
• TL Fusion Blaster
• Ion Accelerator
• Stimulant Injector
• Velocity Tracker

XV8 Crisis Team (171 points)
• +2 Crisis Shas’ui
• TL Plasma Rifles
• Fusion Blasters

XV8 Crisis Team (126 points)
• +2 Crisis Shas’ui
• TL Burst Cannons
• Flamers

Fast Attack

Piranha Squadron (230 points)
• 5 Piranhas
• 3x Fusion Blasters

Heavy Support

Sky Ray Missile Defence Gunship (115 points)

Total
1716 points

I've left 34 points to play around with, mostly because I'm guessing that I've done the Crisis teams completely wrong...
My only other worry is that I should be running the Piranhas as smaller squadrons, rather than one big one. Should I change this?

Thanks all.

I would combine one Firewarrior Squad, drop a couple firewarriors to add in an Allied Farsight Enclave Etherial which makes your Crisis Troops. If you are going to run the Velocity Tracker on the Riptide, shift him to Farsight Enclave and add swap to an HBC and Earth Caste Pilot Array. I'd drop the Shielded Missile Drones, they are usually just a failed Ld check waiting to happen.

Otherwise, I'd go with a dual Plasma Rifle Squad and a Dual Burst Cannon Squad. You should save some points to add in some Gun drones.

Split your Piranhas up into separate unis, the MSU will keep them alive and give you greater flexibility.

This is a good first attempt. There are some things though that you'll want to consider.

Fireblade: he's okay, especially if you're brining this many fire warriors. However, you might want to consider taking an ethereal and/or commander instead. The ethereal is cheaper and has some extra perks (ld bubble) whereas the commander can really increase the effectiveness of some of your critical units through taking particular types of wargear.

Fire Warriors: I would cut them down to 10 man units and use the spare points elsewhere. You might also want to switch one or two into kroot units for sniping and outflanking for distant objective grabs. Taking carbines in a dfish is a tempting tactic, but you're losing at least a turn inside the vehicle and when you finally get within range you're going to be within the standard 18" assault threat bubble and away from supporting fire. Its a bit precarious.

Riptide: drop the drones.

Crisis: If you're going to take BCs, I'd take two instead of taking one TL BC. However, you already have a ton of S5 fire, so I would urge you to take 2x PR on each of these suits instead.

Piranhas: Take FBs on all of them. You have a lot of S5 shots already. You could split them into multiple units and/or drop a couple.

Pathfinders: you don't have any. Markerlights are really useful, and you'll want to bring at least 8 (in two smaller units) in this list. I'd recommend finding points for them somwhere, probably dropping a dfish would be a good start.

I have a whole series of videos going over these types of things that you might find helpful.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcp01L5OCwjS3JlChSIg-QTa9fNv8Jl6n

Wow, thanks guys. I think I'll stay away from the Farsight Enclave just for now, though. Until I'm used to normal Tau...
Okay, I'll drop the Drones on the Riptide, I was just really making up the points. I had no idea of what to do on the Crisis Suits, so I vaguely guessed, thanks for putting me in the right direction. Okay and finally, I'll split them up into smaller groups. With all these changes, I think I should have ample points for Pathfinders.

Thanks all.

I would put some Shield Drones in with your Crisis Teams. I think it applies to the entire unit and invulnerable saves never hurt.

 SignMaster99 wrote:
I would put some Shield Drones in with your Crisis Teams. I think it applies to the entire unit and invulnerable saves never hurt.

Not sure what you mean by "applies," but the drones act as regular members of the squad and have a 4++. They don't confer the invul to the suits, but can LOS for chars.