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Tau Empire Roster

1 Shas'el:   Cyclic Ion Blaster; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Twin Linked Missile Pod

6 Stealth Suits: Burst Cannon (x6)

6 Stealth Suits: Burst Cannon (x6)

11 Fire Warriors
1 Shas'ui:  Bonding Knife; Pulse Rifle; Markerlight
1 Devilfish:  Burst Cannon; Smart Missile System; Targeting Array; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

11 Fire Warriors
1 Shas'ui:  Bonding Knife; Pulse Rifle; Markerlight
1 Devilfish:  Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Targeting Array; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

11 Fire Warriors
1 Shas'ui:  Bonding Knife; Pulse Rifle; Markerlight
1 Devilfish:  Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Targeting Array; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

2 Piranhas: Fusion Blaster; Gun Drones; Targeting Array; Disruption Pod

1 Hammerhead Gunship: Railgun; Two Burst Cannons; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Target Lock; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

1 Hammerhead Gunship: Railgun; Two Burst Cannons; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Target Lock; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

8 Pathfinders: Markerlights; Pulse Carbines
1 Devilfish: Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Targeting Array; Decoy Launchers; Marker Beacon; Landing Gear

 

This is my first Tau list - does it look about right?  I have no experience with wargear.   Id like tobuy the army all at once but id like to get the list right.

It seems to me that you have managed to build a pretty solid list. There are a couple of things that could use some improvement and Ill try to look at them step by step.

The most obvious error you have made lies within your weaponry selection. There are 4 imporant aspects that you need to cover in an army list. These are anti-infantry weapons, AP2 weapons, medium strength weapons and the anti-tank weapons. When looking at your list I see an enormous amount of anti-infantry weaponry (Two stealth teams and three mounted fire warrior squads) and a huge lack of AP2 weaponry and medium strength weaponry. Therefore I would suggest the following:
- Drop one of the mounted fire warrior squads, there really is no reason to take this amount of anti-infantry weaponry. You will almost never need this much.
- Drop one of the stealth teams, same reason as above.
- Add a Crisis Suit Team with AP2 weaponry. (Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster + Multi-tracker configuration).
- Add a Crisis Suit Team with medium strength weaponry. (Twin-linked Missile Pod + Targetting Array configuration).
You could also take 2 Crisis Teams with a mix of medium strength weaponry and AP2 weaponry (the Fireknife configuration). This is a matter of personal preference though and I suggest you playtest with both setups.

There, now that we have taken care of that we can look a bit deeper into wargear selection. Let's start with the HQ.

The HQ seems to lack focus. I would suggest to configure him to back up your AP2 crisis squad. This would mean configuring him like this:
Shas'el with Plasma Rifle, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Targetting Array, Hard-wired Multi Tracker.

The Troops selections seem to have some unneeded wargear. Drop the Shas'ui, including all his wargear. You can't fire the markerlight when you disembark from the Devilfish so it will be completely useless, assuming you do intend to use the fire warrior squads with the Fish of Fury tactic. Also the leadership boost is completely unwanted, because your fire warriors will be spending most of the game inside their Devilfish.
The Devilfish themselves need multitrackers to be able to fire when moving over 6", which you will every single turn. Also if you have the points, upgrade the second fire warrior team their devilfish to having Smart Missile Systems too.

The Piranha's are a nice addition to your mechanizes force, being able to claim objectives with their high speeds. They are also really good ordnance hunters. The Disruption Pods are unwanted though. Drop them.

The Hammerheads are great as they are, I would suggest upgrading the Burst Cannons to Smart Missile Systems though. Not needing LoS is really a great asset to the army.

The Pathfinders are a good addition to the army at these point levels. They assist your fairly large Crisis Teams (probably will become three man teams), stealth teams and are a great improvement of the Fish of Fury tactic. I myself haven't used pathfinders alot, because they seem to lack mobility and survivability. Any good opponent will murder them quickly. They are however the cheapest way to get a lot of markerlights in the armylist. If you feel like you want your markerlights to be mobile you could playtest a Skyray instead of the Pathfinder team. About their wargear, I would suggest taking a shas'ui with a bonding knife and hard wired target lock in this team. Lighting up multiple units can be really usefull, and the bonding knife can keep the last of your pathfinders on the board.

I hope I have been of some help in creating your army list. Do ask questions if you don't understand some of the stuff I have written.
Oh and sorry for the crappy English, Im not a native speaker.

That just the kind of feedback I was looking for!

1 Shas'el: Missile Pod; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array
2 Shas'vre: Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array

3 Crisis Battlesuits: Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array

6 Stealth Suits

12 Fire Warriors
1 Devilfish: Burst Cannon; Smart Missile System; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

12 Fire Warriors
1 Devilfish: Burst Cannon; Smart Missile System; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

2 Piranhas: Fusion Blaster; Gun Drones; Targeting Array

7 Pathfinders
Shas'ui; Bonding Knife; Pulse Carbine; Markerlight; Hard-wired Target Lock
1 Devilfish: Burst Cannon; Smart Missile System; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Marker Beacon; Landing Gear

2 Hammerhead Gunships: Railgun; Smart Missile System; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Target Lock; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

Airmaniac, your English is good enough that you could give lessons to some of the other posters on this board! 

Kaiservonhugal (I love saying that name in my head every time I read it, but I mentally swap in a ü for the u),  you'll probably want to make the two Shas'vre into a seperate Crisis team.  You've got the elite slot for it, and it'll save you 20 points.

I'm not sold on the effectiveness of target locks on BS3 troops (in this case, the Pathfinder Shas'ui).  Have you considered tacking on a few shield drones to your Pathfinders to help keep them alive?  They're about the only readily visible infantry target on the board, and they will be sucking down heavy bolter (and equivalent) shots like there's no tomorrow.

I agree about the drones for the Pathfinders. Ill add those to the list. Looks like Im close to finishing this list - Ill be ready to purchase soon.

Any advice on tactics or finishing touches to the list would be appreciated

That second list seems a lot stronger than the first list, although people playing an ork horde might disagree with that statement.

There is just one more thing that I feel is actually wrong with the list rather than just personal preference and that is the fact that you gave your fireknife's targetting array's but forgot about the multi-trackers. Ooops! I'm guessing those crisis suit configurations should read Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, Multi-tracker.

I also agree with Iorek, you should take the bodyguard and just put them in an elite's slot. This way your Commander will be an independant character and so will be able to hide behind your devilfish, hammerheads, crisis teams or piranha's, enabling him to assist where it is needed without having to worry about being shot to pieces! Of course the bodyguard does make your HQ team a scoring unit, which can be a nice bonus. It's up to you to decide which of these advantages suit your playstyle best.

Another point, which basically comes down to personal preference, is shield drones. Most importantly shield drones for your crisis teams but also for the pathfinder's. The shield drones on the crisis teams depends on the amount of terrain you usually play with and your playing style. Players who play more aggressively will probably take the shield drones where players who are a bit more defensive can get away with JSJ-ing behind a piece of terrain in your deployment zone the entire game, ensuring the safety of the crisis team.

So as a conclusion I'd say drop the targetting arrays from your fireknife's and add multi-trackers. The other changes are entirely up to personal preference, the multi-trackers are essential though.

Airmaniac

How's it a bonus? They'd score just as well as an Elites choice.

The HQ being a scoring unit means that in missions where you get the points value of the squad for being scoring as well as holding an objective, you get double the points for that squad.  Which is considerably more than the Elite choice.

That's why it's a bonus.

Gah, you're right. Don't know why I didn't think of that. Thanks.