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I have been doing some research and have recently acquired the Start Collecting! T'au box, and still have no real idea what the difference between the XV8 battlesuit vs the bodyguard is, other than the headpiece you use when building. I see that they have some "look out sir" rule, which I do not understand, and have +1 to I think leadership and maybe attack. Other than this what is the difference? I don't have a rulebook at my disposal at the moment, but hope to pick one up ASAP. I have not assembled the suits yet because of this.
Pardon my noobhood, the 6 seconds in my signature happened about 16 seconds ago.

I am not a Tau player so I cannot tell you much about which is worth its points etc, but the bodyguard rule allows you in the game to transfer wounds from a character to the unit with the bodyguard rule. So say your Tau leader gets shot by a huge tank. You can have the bodyguard take the hit instead of your character.

So since I have the parts to make the bodyguards, I might as well go with them, and if it doesn't work, I can just count them as the normal battlesuits.

Yep, it's better to kit them out as bodyguard and only downgrade to regular suits if for some reason you can't afford the extra points.

Also consider building/getting shield drones. They too can take hits for your commander, giving him a little longer to survive.

Bodyguards are 10p more expensive (for each suit) and they have extra attacks and Ld, as the 2+ MW rule.

It seems they are good to save Longstrike's skin, but normal suits are most cost-effective in normal situations

Not sure about the newest plastic kit, but for the longest time there was ZERO physical difference between regular and bodyguard Crisis suit models (aside for maybe weapon options). Since the older models are still 100% legal, I say model them as you see fit.

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You have a third option, using them as Commanders in Iridium armor (2+ save). They would be limited to 1 per detachment if you play tournament rules though

Fisheyes wrote:
You have a third option, using them as Commanders in Iridium armor (2+ save). They would be limited to 1 per detachment if you play tournament rules though

The one per detachment rule is not a "Tournament" rule, it's a Matched Play rule found in the codex.