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1000 Points tau army that i'm going to construct to play at a local rogue trader frequently. Apparently theres a lot of nids, ig, sm. I don't think i'd fare too well against the horde armies to be honest, but i've never really played tau so what do I know. I was thinking of running the Shas'el HQ in a AFP & CIB config, but decided against it at the last minute. Besides that, i'm a old warhammer/40k player thats getting back into it after a few years. I'm going to go out on thursday and buy the whole army, so input before than would be great . So far I bought a fish, a FW squad and 3 suits. Moneys not really an issue, so anything that you reccomend i'm down.

I think that I will be FoF'ing with the supporting Shas'el behind, ready to charge in if things get too close, but otherwise blasting CC threats. The suits will go hunting for MEQ and LAVs.

I'm open to all critism, as i'm new . Don't be shy, tell me what i'm not doing right. Also - this is my "standard" army for playing anything.  Also, I was gunning for a mechanized theme, but wouldn't be opposed to hearing some thoughts on a non-mech list.

Thanks a lot for your help!

------------------HQ--------------------------------------

Shas'el
-Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, Vectored retro-thrusters, Hard wired multi-tracker

97 Points

(was thinking i'd like to work in a inv. save for him...)

-----------------Elites-----------------------------------

XV8 "Crisis" Battle Suit Team
-3 Shas'ui
-Plasma Rifles, Missile Pods, Multi-trackers

186 Points

XV15 "Stealth" Team
-3 Shas'ui
-3 Burst Cannons

90 Points

-----------------Troops-----------------------------------

Fire Warrior Squad
-9 Fire Warriors
-Devilship APC

170 Points

Fire Warrior Squad
-9 Fire warriors
-Devilfish APC

170 Points

----------------Heavy Support-----------------------------

Hammerhead Gunship
-Railgun, Burst cannons, Multi-tracker

155

Hammerhead Gunship
-Ion cannon, Burst cannons
-Multi-tracker, Decoy Launchers

125

TOTAL: 998 Points
Total Models: 29 (+4 drones on devilfish)

9 Burst cannons
1 Railguns
1 Ion Cannons
18 Pulse rifles
4 Plasma rifles
3 Missile pods
1 Fusion blaster
2 TL pulse carbines
0 Markerlights

no comments? do you think i need more FW?

The list looks good. More FW? Not really, as the army is (to a large extent) mechanized.
I'd give it a try.

In my experience Ion cannon is a waste ... You can tank hunt and insta kill multi wound targets that may leave themselves exposed AND kill horde tpyes with the burst from the railgun. Ion cannon = on average 2 dead marines, but against anything else it begins to struggle ... against high armor, things with 2+ save, etc. Try it for a few games and see what I mean (don't trade away the rail gun until you test both and see what you like better).

The Fire knife config you have on the battlesuits is the way to go .. it can handle almost anything.

I'm not a fan of stealth troops at only three models ... they lack the # of shots to really do what they need to. I can't offer up any alternatives at 100 though so my suggestion is to earmark these guys for objective gathering and only use them offensively when opportunity presents itself while they are going after an objective or table quarter.

Most RT's that I know of are usually at the 1500+ point level so once you get comfy at 100o I think you should be looking to the 1500 mark. I suggest bumping the stealth to 5 or 6, a Pathfinder squad in devilfish, and a pair of broadsides in a team. (that should be aprox 500 pts).

Pathfinders are awesome with the new marker light rules ... negate cover, increase BS, apply modifiers to their LD test ... you can add negative modifiers to a units pinning check with no limit ... score 5 hits with markerlights and do one wound with a drone and bingo, take a pinning test at -5 mr space marine. Great for stopping armies that want to get close like khorne berzerkers, the nids you mentioned ... you can keep one or two units pinned the whole game by using markerlights effectively. I suggest one on eacch of your squad leaders as well if you didn't already. Broadsides don't match the kill potential of hammerheads IMO, but they are great for "Rail"roading your opponent to keep his armor and characters well hidden from the twin linked strength 10. Once you start dictating where your opponent places their models and how they move them you are well on the way to victory.

Good luck!

Meph