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Need some help and constructive criticism. I'm still quite new to the game.

HQ:
Cadre Fireblade
- Shield Drone
- Marker Drone
84 points

Troops:
2x Fire Warriors (12 man)
- Pulse Rifles
108 points per squad

Fast Attack:
2x Pathfinders (10 man)
- Recon Drone
- Pulse Accelerator Drone
143 points per squad

Elites:
Crisis Team ( 3 suits)
- Shas'vre with Neuroweb System Jammer
- 2 Shas'ui with Early Warning Override
- Shield Drone each
- Plasma Rifle
- Fusion Blaster
214 points

Heavy Support:
Braodsides ( 2 suits)
- High Yield Missile Pods (twin linked)
- Smart Missile System (twin linked)
- Early Warning Override each
- Shield Drone each
- Missile Drone each
- Bonding Knife each
190 points

990 points total

Where could I invest the last 10 points?

The plan is to get as many markerlight hits as possible and deep-strike the Crisis suits on one of the recon drones.

I would think of moving the pathfinders around so you have three squads. Also the pulse accelerator drone makes it seem like you are thinking about using the pathfinders offensively (not the best idea without darkstrider). If you aren't then drop them for points to round out the third pathfinder team.

Also, your missilesides are probably more than enough for anti air (unless your meta is air heavy). Drop the EWO on the xv8s and TL their plasma rifles instead.

If your trying to do a drop tactic, those pathfinders are going to get mulched so quick if they are anywhere near where they need to be. it might be better using stealth suits with Pos relay and bacon. And as above stated is good advice.

might be better to drop some pathfinders and take more suits.

and if your going to deep strike anyway perhaps a ADL with com relay, you could also use this in conjunction with kroot for some backfield objective grabbing but i need a do some play testing with that before i can say its good or not.

Thanks for the feedback. Makes a lot of sense

Definitely dropping the Pulse Accelerator Drones and splitting the Pathfinder teams up into 3 squads ( 2 groups of 7 and a group of 6 maybe).

Would investing in Devilfishes be any good? 80 points seems a little steep for what they are.

Not too sure about taking stealth suits. Don't really want to invest too heavily in something that I can cheaply tack on to the Pathfinders.

Noob rule question: Does deep-striking count as coming in from reserve? I'm not too worried about flyers but deep-striking Terminators could pose a problem; hence the EWO's.

Will have an updated list up soon!

Would investing in Devilfishes be any good? 80 points seems a little steep for what they are.

Haven't used fishes with the new dex yet, but I absolutely hated them before and they haven't changed at all. You will get a tiny bit more mobility, but for 80 points I think it just isn't justified.

Not too sure about taking stealth suits. Don't really want to invest too heavily in something that I can cheaply tack on to the Pathfinders.

Stealths are good if you want to kill one thing and then have a speed bump. They are more viable now with BS2 overwarch and 4 shots per model, but reall only take them if you know you will want to pop a piece of armor when you get to deep strike them.

Noob rule question: Does deep-striking count as coming in from reserve? I'm not too worried about flyers but deep-striking Terminators could pose a problem; hence the EWO's.

Deep strike has a full page devoted to it in the BRB: pg 36. Quick answer is yes it counts as that so if your meta game includes deep striking terminators ruining your day then stick with the EWOs and good luck. The one problem though is that your opponent must simply have a death wish if they are DS'ing terminators within range of your helios unit. This will mean that you most likely will never use the EWO directly (but the preventative help is definitely nice).

One more thing: I may be wrong, but I don't think Interceptor helps against terminators teleporting around the board with a librarian - which I have always preferred to starting my terminators in reserve and waiting for a deep strike.

XLIMil wrote:

One more thing: I may be wrong, but I don't think Interceptor helps against terminators teleporting around the board with a librarian - which I have always preferred to starting my terminators in reserve and waiting for a deep strike.

If its the Libby teleporting the termies around with psychic powers interceptor does nothing.

Only works when a unit come out of reserve.

(if thats what you meant)

Update (sorry for the delay):

HQ:
Cadre Fireblade
- Shield Drone
- Marker Drone
84 points

Troops:
2x Fire Warriors (12 man)
- Pulse Rifles
108 points per squad

Fast Attack:
2x Pathfinders (7 man)
- Recon Drone
105 points per squad

Pathfinders (6 man)
66 points

Heavy Support:
Braodsides ( 2 suits)
- High Yield Missile Pods (twin linked)
- Smart Missile System (twin linked)
- Early Warning Override each
- Shield Drone each
- Missile Drone each
- Bonding Knife each
190 points

Elites:
Crisis Team ( 3 Helios suits)
- Shas'vre with Neuroweb System Jammer + Plasma Rifle
- 2 Shas'ui with Twin-Linked Plasma Rifles
- Fusion Blaster each
- Shield Drone each
214 points

980 points

How does this look now? Where can the extra 20 points go? (And as a side note, how is the formatting? Easy enough to read?)

A large component of this list is a gun line so common consensus on dakka currently is that ethereals really go a long way to help gun lines. You could get one by dropping a recon drone (or otherwise dropping 30 points). I really wouldn't though as the possibility of losing a VP upon the ethereals death can easily make you lose a game.

Anyone on dakka want to make the case for taking the ethereal here?

Split the XV8s up into a single unit each:

a. Splits enemy's fire; good for you
b. Splits *your* fire ;good for you
c. harder to catch 3 single dudes in h2h, rather than 3 guys in one big unit.
d. each is easier to jsj to safety in smaller units.

Always play Crisis Suits in as small units as possible, unless you use a combo like the C&CN + Multi-Spectrum , then have a big crew of XV8s.

On the other hand, splitting the crisis suits means you have to spend markerlights for each individual suit. Also if you pull the killpoints mission, each suit is then worth a point. Not as big a concern as it was last edition with 1/6 chance now of killpoints vs 1/3, to be fair. Lastly, if you're still planning on deepstriking them, they probably won't all show up at once and may not do enough on their own to one-round whatever they are shooting. Something to consider, as splitting the team is not all upsides.

However this kind of leads into my next thought on your list. I think as it stands you might have too many markerlights. Give it a couple of test runs, but if you find you are generating more than enough as I suspect, dropping a squad of pathfinders might be good.

20 points on your current list is tough to spend without removing units! Maybe just throw a seeker missile on each broadside to help spend what I believe to be your excess markelights. You could also rejig the crisis shas'vre instead, I don't like the neuroweb tbh. Puretide chip maybe? It depends how you're planning on using the unit. Assuming you're still wanting to deepstrike them, given their loadouts it would seem they'd be best at popping expensive vehicles or MC's (which the puretide chip would help), or small heavy elite units like terminators which they should handle fine anyway.

(And your formatting is fine, easy to read)

Hmm, plenty to consider.

I like what the Ethereals can do but giving an extra VP could cripple me, as a new player. I have a feeling that when the game goes my way, the Ethereal will contribute greatly but when it doesn't, it'll be a hindrance (either by him dying or me sending other units to protect it).

I think I may forego the Deep-Striking idea and get rid of the Recon Drones and the 6 man Pathfinder team, leaving me with 142 points to splash.

Splitting the XV8s up sounds good and I guess I can tailor each to a more specific role. More access to signature systems too. Would Puretide and Nueroweb be too much? (10 points for 'vre on top of system cost).

Is there such thing as too many markerlights? I can't imagine I'd get many hits with BS 3, Heavy 1. That being said I could reduce the amount of Pathfinders to free up some more points, which leads me onto...

A Riptide. With the 142 points from before and by removing 4 more Pathfinders (now 2, 5 man squads), I could afford a naked Riptide with an Ion Accelerator.

Pretty torn on that though as it's a heavy investment that I'd be leaving it vulnerable without any upgrades and it competes with XV8s.

Don't upgrade an ui to a vre only to give it neuroweb, though certainly give it to someone you've upgraded to have puretide as the 2 points make it essentially a free upgrade.

Every time I look at the riptide stat line I think my entire army should consist of them. That said I despise the model and know I couldn't paint it well. Honestly I think you can't go wrong with fielding one of them though.

Another option to consider is a devastator-like pathfinder team. This is a very very squishy option, but pretty powerful for the base 74 point investment (Ion team dropping 3 blast markers at strength 8 Ap 4) can obliterate some units if used cautiously and correctly. If the tactics that this would require go against your play style then just go riptide.

Finally, keep in mind that a riptide will attract all of your opponents attention thus making an ethereal a bit safer.

Not sure about using Pathfinders offensively. Some advice I received was to not use them offensively and stat wise, that makes a lot of sense. Every turn I use an upgrade weapon is a turn I'm not using a markerlight.

I agree about not upgrading an XV8 to a 'vre just for 1 upgrade. Just doesn't seem cost effective.

I'm quite fond of the Riptide model but it's whether or not I can justify a barebones one at the cost of more Pathfinders. Still think an Ethereal is a dubious choice for me