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Until now I've always played with my take-all-comers list, and have been very successful in my local club and at national tournaments. However my club consists to 70% out of SM players, and the rest are CSM and Necrons . So I thought, why not make a list designed purely for taking on SMs ? So this came out:

===HQ===
Shas'O @112pts: C&C Node, Positional Relay, Missile Pod.
Shas'el @100pts: Cyclic Ion Blaster, Plasma Rifle, Targetting Array, Multi-Tracker.

===ELITE===
3 Crisis @214pts: Plasma Rifle, Burst Cannon, Multi-Tracker. TmLd w/ 2 Shield Drones.
3 Crisis @214pts: Plasma Rifle, Burst Cannon, Multi-Tracker. TmLd w/ 2 Shield Drones.
1 Crisis @53pts: t-l Missile Pod, Targetting Array.

===TROOPS===
6 FWs @80pts: Shas'ui w/ Markerlight.
6 FWs @80pts: Shas'ui w/ Markerlight.

===FA===
4 Pathfinders @46pts: -. Devilfish @80pts: -.
10 Vespid @166pts: -.

===HS===
3 Sniper Teams @240pts: -.
Ionhead @130pts: Burst Cannon, Multi-Tracker, Decoy Launcher.
2 Broadsides @220pts: ASS, Plasma Rifles.TmLd w/ 2 Shield Drones, Multi-Tracker.

The idea is that depending on how shooty the opposing army is I can keep various elements in reserve in order to Deep Strike them in when I've neutralised the biggest threats to them and so that they arrive within range. This is why I have the barebones Pathfinders and the Shas'O to make sure the 2 Crisis units and Shas'el come where and when I want them to. The single Deathrain can be kept in reserve and brough in on turn 2 on a 2+ so that my main force comes in later and more likely together.

Any comments / critiscism ?

I think most marine players will eat your for breakfast.

The key to playing against marines with Tau is to outnumber them or to force them to be pinned. With only 7 marker lights in the army the sniper teams will do almost nothing to most marine players apart from kill 2 models maybe 3 from each squad. Battle suits that have no cover to hid behind are usualy the first to be destroyed by missile launchers and lascannons while what would be the meat and potatoes of your army is limited to 12 men.

The best way to kill marines is by makeing them roll lots and lots of dice. Just hope that the marine player you are playing is not an assault based player and that you have more guns than he does.

Did you just precede the phrase "7 markerlights" with the word "only"? Take many more of them, and they'll cut into the number of guns you've got to actually kill things. Keep in mind, also, that three of those markers are at BS4. Personally, I only ever have 2 or 3 BS4 markers in my lists (Tetras) and they do just fine.

As for the list, you'll definitely have to play agressively and close on your opponent to get the most out of it, and I like that. I've always enjoyed playing a bit more in-your-face than many Tau players. Those Vespid and the rapid-firing plasma will shred an opponent, but can you keep them alive long enough? The thing is, you're sacrificing consistency and reliability for taking risks in the name of potentially increased returns. Again, I like to play that way a good bit of the time, but I'm certain you'll get opposition for it. They'll tell you to switch to all Fireknife and to just sit back, doing the Battlesuit Hokey Pokey, and they won't be wrong. The style of list you've got there will be more fun, though.

Really, my only major concern is whether or not you'll have enough anti-tank firepower to take on a vehicle heavy list. Few missile pods means it'll be more difficult bringing down large numbers of Speeders, Vypers, Trukks, or Raiders. The Ion Cannon and Rail Rifles can help, but I'd be interested to hear if they turn out to be enough. Plus, if the Broadsides get taken out, you won't have a whole lot to help you kill AV13 and nothing to kill AV14. Sure, you can avoid them after that, but is that a wise decision?

Best of luck.

I Use Markerlights and seeker missiles to no end in my army. My three best matchups are Non-Templar Space marines, Imperial guard and other Tau armies. I use a Firewarrior heavy base with Pathfinders and sniper drones as support. The only army that has managed to beat me thus far has been Zilla nids. I like having the ablity to have several units fire at BS5 so hitting on 2's and wounding on either 2's or 3's makes for a quick win in my favor.

The Ion-head is a complete waste IMO you should have a Railgun there as it does far more than just kill marines. Like I said alot of armies look nice on paper but when you put them on a table one of three things can go worng. Frist is Terrain if the terain is not in your favor then you will have a hell of a time trying to win. Second is Mission, Gamma and Alpha missions will cause you some problems Omega might sway it in your favor but that is all about how you plan to play your reserves. Finaly your opponent, if he knows what he is doing and knows where to hurt you, you will have alot of trouble recovering due to the lack of redundency in certain parts of your list.

Posted By Negativemoney 08/15/2006 11:03 AM

The best way to kill marines is by makeing them roll lots and lots of dice. Just hope that the marine player you are playing is not an assault based player and that you have more guns than he does.

That comment wins the day in my opinion.  AI've had armies completely eaten by Tau players who used a hole lot of Fire Warriors.

I do not play Tau, but one of my best friends and constant opponants plays Tau and his army gives me all kinds of trouble. I play marines and i alternate bewtween podding and infiltrating, but i am more assault oriented with a fair amount of anti armor.

so my opinion is from the other side of the table and ill tell you what i hate to see.

He ALWAYS takes three hammerheads when he plays me, two with ion cannons and one railhead. those things are a nightmare to kill and they always got their points back.

two minimum sized fire warrior squads in devilfish, the fish run around blocking charges to his suits and in general being annoying, pumping shots into my troops and letting their drones loose to get in the way of my troops. the fire warrios usually just hide or hold onto his objective. any soft targets like that always end up dead if they showed themselves. He used to take more of them, but they NEVER survived a game, i always wiped them out.

same with snipers, they look cool, i like the concept, but they always ended up dead. Drop podding dread with heavy flamer loves those frisbees.

vespids are just cannon fodder, IMHO. I licked my chops when i saw them on the table, since they have to get close, they gave me a hop scotch unit for my jump pack assault marines.

boradsides were the same, one pod with marines eliminated them and takes a quarter.

the crisis suits were always a problem, they were my top target priority because they cost more than the hammerheads, were easier to kill and always hosed my pod units the turn they came in. he used drones and devilfish to screen them from assaults, and they shot the hell out of me.

and he usually brought at least one pirannah for objectives and poping vehicles. they tended to be one shot wonders, although their drones were great utility units.

when i podded in, he would castle his good units so that it was more difficult for me to attack them, and then he would focus all of his firepower (which was very mobile) onto one squad at a time and take my boys out piecmeil. if i had bad reserve rolls, i was in deep trouble.

His list developed through playing marines frequently. everything had multishot ap 3 or better weapons that could move and shoot and was screened by lots of cheap throw away stuff. it worked well and always gives me a challenge.

against a hard core shooty marines list? i dont know, but that is just my advice from a regular marine player, hope it helped.

Before I start, Ijust want to set one thing straight: its nine Markerlights, not seven. 2 on the Firewarriors, 3 Sniper teams and 4 Pathfinders.
Also, my standard list looks like this:
Shas'el @97pts: PR, MP, TA, MT.
Shas'el @97pts: PR, MP, TA, MT.

6 XV15 @190pts: T-L w/ BK.
2 XV8 @174pts: PR, MP, MT. T-L w/ 2 SDs, TA, BK.
2 XV8 @174pts: PR, MP, MT. T-L w/ 2 SDs, TA, BK.

MechFW @240pts: 12 'la. DF w/ SMS, MT, TA, DL.
10 Kroot @70pts:-.
10 Kroot @70pts:-.

Piranha @70pts: FB, TA.

Hammerhead @190pts: RG, SMS, MT, TL, DL, DP, BSF.
Hammerhead @190pts: RG, SMS, MT, TL, DL, DP.
2 XV88 @198pts: ASS. T-L w/ 2 SDs.

Total: 1749pts.

So I have plenty of experience with the "lots of Kroot, Fireknife, Railhead" lists.
I wanted something more agressive and daring rather than the usual.
Also, none of my regular opponents use Drop Pods, they're generally seen as seriously over-powered (which they are) and so aren't used.

I'm not sure about the Vespid, I have no idea how well they're going to work. If they don't work out well, then I'll drop them and the single Deathrain for another 3 man Crisis unit, maybe take a FB on the TmLd of a couple of units to give me some extra anti-armour power. Or Add a few seekers or up the Ionhead to a Railhead.

I also have no idea how well the Sniper Teams are going to work, if they don't work out well, then I can easily replace them with another Broadside team or another skimmer.

If you want to try out Vespids, there's a maxim that I'd suggest you keep in mind: "Markerlights and Crisis Suits lead the way". Vespids in my experience really benefit from having their BS hopped up to 4 or 5, and will happily zap min-maxed Marine units with someone spotting for them. But because they're so fragile, I find that they're only good for supporting an attack made by heavier elements - in my case Crisis Suits.

Nothing about this list wouldn't be better as a farsight list. You get more resilient suits, potent assault if necessary, and more suits.

True. The only thing he'd have to drop would be the Vespids. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it does sorta kill the experiment. I'd play with the current list a few times for the heck of it, before trying it out as a Farsight list.