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I think combining Iridium Armor with a Stimulant Injector is the best option.

Of course, I can take all three, but I'm trying to keep the cost down.

Majority toughness means his T5 wont be useful most of the time (unless he detaches from a unit of crisis suits he has joined or his unit gets recduced to 2 models) but the main reason for it is so that 1) he can tank wounds - even krak missiles and heck, even lascannon shots by putting him closest to the enemy's shooty squad, and 2) he will survive if a battle cannon or overcharged riptide ion accelrator is dropped over their heads and does not scatter, instead of the whole squad getting wiped out.


Combining the Stimulant Injector with the Iridium Armor means I can not only make him virtually invulnerable to small arms fire (chances of failing a 2+ armor save and then failing a 5+ save is really really low) but also get a 33% chance to prevent a Lascannon wound.

I think combining a shield generator with a stimulant injector or the iridium armor with a shield generator is not as effective an option, what do you think? E.g. the SG+ SI means I am very vulnerable to krak missiles, and the IA + SG would give me a 4+ save if hit by a lascannon (instead of a 5+), but if I fail my 2+ save against small arms fire thats that and I lose a wound.

I think the stim injector is the better bargain because you forgot to factor in that he is also an IC. So not only could he tank a lot of wounds that would normally ID without the IA, he can choose to throw wounds onto a drone that would normally negate his armor.

Remember that the 5+ FNP works to earn back wounds you might have lost tanking with the commander. Meaning it keeps him up as a tank longer. Best bang for the buck, is the SI to me.

Iridium armor+stims is far better than a shield generator and stims.

Both loadouts cost the exact same, but iridium gives you T5 and 2+ armor. This helps tank small arms and wards off instant death from all but S10 guns(so demolisher cannons will instant kill the commander). With T5, you get better mileage out of the stim injectors, as they now work against S8 and S9 guns, which are usually low AP. Krak missiles are a joke with 2+/5+fnp on T5, and as you said you still have a save against lascannons.

The beauty of FNP is that it is a chance to negate a wound after a failed save, giving you a second chance, or a chance if it was AP2.

The shield generator was overpriced in the last tau codex and is even more overpriced now. A 4++ is not that reliable. If you really want that, take 2 shield drones and just look out sir!(they cost less and add ablative wounds)

you cant Lookout Sir during duels though, right?

If he's dualing, he is are probably dead as it is if they got a weapon that bypasses a 2+ save.
Sure, he can punch ok with some luck, but he is NOT built for it.

Just did some quick math. For a T5 Commander tanking wounds from bolters fired by marines for example. On average it will take about 108 bolter shots to put 4 unsaved wounds on the commander. The Stim injector ups that to 162 bolter shots to put 4 unsaved wounds on the commander. In this scenario the shield would provide no bonus.

And you can't LOS wounds in a challenge, but you can get rerolls for having a group with the commander. But really CC isn't the place for him to be.