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This is my first time writing a Tau list (or even playing Tau, for that matter! I normally play Orks), and I thought it would be best to bring it to Dakka and get some proper scrutiny. Any suggestions you guys have for the list is ready and welcome; I apologise in advance for any gross errors in judgement (like I said, NOT a Tau player )

1000 Points

Shas'o, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Missile Pod, C&C node, Stim injector

3x Crisis suits, all with missile pods/burst cannons/multi-trackers

2 squads of 10x Fire warriors, 2 carbines, shas'ui with markerlight, bonding knife, mounted in Devilfish

5x Pathfinders, 3 rail rifles, shas'ui, devilfish

Hammerhead, railgun, burst cannons

And thats all; any suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance.

Well, off the top of my head, I'd say you probably should change up your HQ and Elite Crisis configuration. My personal favorite thing to do is this:

Shas'el w/ Targeting Array, CIB, Missile Pod, Multi Tracker - 92pts
Shas'vre w/ Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi Tracker, HW Targeting Array - 82ptspts

Shas'el w/ Targeting Array, Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi Tracker - 97pts
Shas'vre w/ Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi Tracker, HW Targeting Array - 82pts

I know it eats up a decent amount of points, but Missile Pods are the bread and butter of a Crisis Team. I got my brother a Rapid Insertion Force over Christmas and he made sure every suit had one (with the exception of his two HQs) before specializing each squad. When you think about it, for 12 points, you get an Assault 2 Autocannon that can kill medium to light armor, drop infantry with ease, and even put down MEQs.

Combine it with a Plasma Rifle and you have an MEQ hunter. Tack on a CIB instead and you have a horde killer that can also kill Marines. A Fusion Blaster in its place will make it a tank hunter. And, if you're really hating on 2+ Armor Saves, and fight lots of TMCs or Terminators, Plasma/Fusion works well as a departure from what I would say is the standard armament.

As for your troops, I'd say that you should give them all Pulse Rifles. Carbines are worthless, unfortunately, as Leadership is currently a joke in 40K. Wait until 5th Edition - it may change. Giving them Devilfish seems okay, but if you want the APCs to stick around, I'd recommend Disruption Pod. Also, ditch the Markerlight. That's what your pathfinders are there for. Just make a Shas'la a team leader with Bonding Knife, and save yourself 5 additional points from the Shas'ui upgrade and 30 from the Markerlight.

Pathfinders look good. They're my favorite FA slot for the Tau - very nasty if you have a pair of squads. The Rail Rifles come with Target Lock, which makes them even meaner when fighting my Templars.

Railheads are great. I'm more a fan of SMS over BCs, but YMMV. Give it Disruption Pod if you want it to kill something. Otherwise, as your lone anti-tank vehicle, it will get dropped in Turn 1. In fact, I'd say you're much better off dropping the Devilfish off your Troops choices and using the points for another Railhead. Like this:

HQ
Shas'el w/ Targeting Array, CIB, Missile Pod, Multi Tracker - 92pts
Shas'vre Bodyguards (2) w/ Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi Tracker, HW Targeting Array - 164pts

TR
8 Fire Warriors w/ Team Leader (w/ Bonding Knife) - 90pts
8 Fire Warriors w/ Team Leader (w/ Bonding Knife) - 90pts

FA
8 Pathfinders w/ 3 Rail Rifles - 132pts
Devilfish Transport w/ Disruption Pod - 90pts

HS
Hammerhead w/ Railgun, SMS, Disruption Pod - 170pts
Hammerhead w/ Railgun, SMS, Disruption Pod - 170pts

998 Points. I tried to squeeze in the second Shas'el, but at 1K points, I didn't manage it.

This list will have a fairly static base of soft infantry, but will be protected in that the Devilfish can tank shock enemy squads away from the troops which the two Hammerheads throw down. They'll absolutely rip apart enemy armor, while the Shas'el and his two Bodyguards w/ harass the flanks, provided all the while with superior Ballistic Skill thanks to your Pathfinders.

Looks pretty nasty that way. Hope it helps.

CK

Why take pathfinders with 3 railguns when you could take sniper units instead? Drop the 5 pathfinders and the transport since your only getting 2 markerlights with them, and their vunerable to fire. That buys you 2? sniper drone teams. So you end up with the str 6 ap 3 nice guns, and a stealth field to alow them to take advantage of their range.

Thanks for the fantastic response; I do like your suggestions, it all makes sense, really. I did feel the smart missiles were the better option on the hammerhead, but I ran out of points to buy them with! This seems mighty effective, and I'll definitely be using this list as a nice foundation to build on. When it gets up to 1500 pts, I'd like to put those fire warriors back in their devilfish (and take that second Shas'el you suggested), but other than that what would I want to supplement the list?