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So i've been playing this Tau list a bit, it's pretty effective but I am worried about it's effectiveness against orks, which I will be playing quite a bit. I think the list has over-evolved to fight Zilla 'Nids and maybe Mech Eldar so I probably simply need to jam in more anti-horde, but that's easier said than done unless I go with firewarriors which I'd...prefer not to. I guess some other options are a third Railhead (for the blast template) or an AFP, but then what to lose? Any suggestions are welcome though. The List:
HQ:

Shas'El with MP, Plasma, MT DroneController, 2x shield drone
Bodyguard with MP, Plasma, MT, TA
-199

Shas'El with MP, Plasma, MT DroneController, 2x shield drone
Bodyguard with MP, Plasma, MT, TA
-199

Troops:

18x Kroot - 126
18x Kroot - 126

6x Firewarriors - 60
6x Firewarriors - 60

Elites:

Crisis team leader with Plasma, Missle, MT, drone controller with 2x shield drones
Crisis suit with Plasma, Missle, MT
-159

Crisis team leader with Plasma, Missle, MT, drone controller with 2x shield drones
Crisis suit with Plasma, Missle, MT
-159

Crisis team leader with Plasma, Missle, MT, drone controller with 2x shield drones
Crisis suit with Plasma, Missle, MT
-159

Fast Attack:

7 Pathfinders
1 Shas'ui with drone controller
2x gun drones
Devilfish with Decoy launcher, MT, TA, SMS

-241 (?)

Heavy Support

Hammerhead with Railgun, SMS, Target Lock, Multitracker, Decoy- 180
Hammerhead with Railgun, SMS, Target Lock, Multitracker, Decoy - 180
Hammerhead with Ion Cannon, SMS, Target Lock, Multitracker, Decoy -145

My first suggestion would be to change some of those plasma+missile pod combos. while great for hitting hard you don't get the number of shots you need for hordes. replaceing some plasma with burst cannons should give you more shots to take out those hordes. dropping the shield drones for either gun drones. or to get some more suits would probably help too. your suits shouldn't need as much protection from horde armies as they do from heavy hitters.

Crisis team leader with Plasma, Missle, MT, drone controller with 2x shield drones
Crisis suit with Plasma, Missle, MT
-159

can become
3x Crisis Shas'ui Burst Cannon, Missile Pod, MT
150
benefits, you don't have to move to 12" for rapid fire, can operate from 24" JSJing. you gain a 3rd suit and increase to 15 shots up from 6/8 and you save 10pt. te 3rd suit has more wounds then the 2 shield drones
loses: burst cannon shots are weaker then plasma.

or
3x Crisis Shas'ui TW Missile pod, TA
169
benefits: BS-4 TW shots should have %90+ hit chance (I forget the math) 6 str 7 shots from 42" JSJ range
loses: costs 10 more points, loses the plasma rifle shots.

however you should be able to swap 2 of your elites for one of each of the above configs without any point changes.


i haven't had much luck with pathfinders. I would personally convert the two FW squads into 1 and give them the devilfish for some FoF fun.

the CiB can be a great anti horde weapon with it's pure number of shots. A CiB commander with a burst cannon bodyguard might be worth trying out.

unit # cost
shas'el 1 100 PR, CIB, TA, MT
VRE 2 156 PR, BC, MT, TA
shas'el 1 87 FK
VRE 1 82 FK

FW 6 60
FW 6 60
kroot 10 70
kroot 10 70
kroot 10 70
kroot 10 70

crisis 2 100 BC, MP, MT
crisis 2 124 FK
stealth 5 170 TLdr, HWDC 2x MD, ML, BK

piranha 1 70 TA, FB
path 6 87 Ui, BK
devil 1 90 FL
piranha 1 65 TA, BC

skyray 1 155 DL, TA, MT, BC
hammer 1 180 DL, TL, MT, SMS
ionhead 1 135 DL, TA, MT, BC
78 2001 1


here is what i would recommend to you.
I suggest against the shield drones in those units because for the amount of points you are investing in saving your units you can put out another unit that will kill faster and better, and reduce the risk of them needing to use those drones.
If you want another Railhead drop the Ui,BK upgrade and the flechette launchers from the pathfinders and drop the skyray for the railhead. I love the skyray but few use it as a support tank, it serves a totally different role.
This list has the FK that you love so much, i do too, but also adds in flexible units.
The Stealth Marker Team is a way to have a unit sit back and marker without recourse of retaliation. if you don't like the unit after a few games then swap it for a regular unit as the BC will just massacre orks with markerlight boosts.

The Skyray + SMT + pathfinders boost your units shooting into the hordes.
the FK units take out transports with the ionhead
the piranha are tank hunter/anti-infantry and intended to be used as a last minute skimmer shield in conjunction with the devilfish

you have enough skimmers to castle up and shoot away, and enough shots to waste anything that moves.
Pretty nasty list.
B)

you also have 17 scoring units
11 marker lights
and a heck of a lot of shots
when infiltrating your kroot, keep them back by your line or near his lootas to jump out and waste em.

If you know you're going to be playing Orks, then the AFP would be a must. Throw a TA on the 'El you give it to and HW the MT. With the bodyguard of the 'El with the AFP, swap out their Plasma Rifles for Burst Cannons. It'll save you some points and make them task oriented with the 'El(They both have AI at 18" and MPs).

Take another Railhead. It'll be more than worth it.

Stealths are a must. Get rid of a squad of Crisis(I know you love them, but sacrifices have to be made) to make room. I know the Shield Drones are meant for stray rokkets, but they're not going to save you much. The extra fire power will prove more than useful enough and the SDs shouldn't be needed.

Now, if you're really looking for some horde toasting power, grab 3 TL flamer Crisis. Throw on a Blacksun Filter to fill up the last hardpoint and the squad comes to 102 points. You just have to know when to throw them down. Flamer templates are pretty big, but you want to maximize with it.

That's about all I can suggest for now. Your Missle Pods should take care of Trukks with ease and your Railheads can clean up the mess.

Thanks, these are all good suggestions.

I don't think I was clear in my original request though - the list still needs to be a viable all-comers list. I play a lot of games against other armies, especially Zilla Nids and Chaos...but I think the list over-evolved towards Zilla because I never had to face hordes, especially assaulting hordes. I still need to be able to beat the 'nids, so I can't just go crazy with flamers and burst cannons

I think for sure I'm going to:

move every crisis team to 3 guys with no shield drones. One team of fireknives, one team of burst/missile, and one team...maybe FK, maybe TL MP. If I go with TL MP they would hit 75% at BS3, and 89% with BS4. Not sure 10 points is worth 13-14%, especially if I'm still able to cram enough markerlights in to make it moot. So I may go with flamers on these guys, hey why not, it's silly but cheap and I've done it before.

drop the bodyguards and run the 'els as solo BS5 fireknives so there is less competition for terrain to hide behind

drop all the goodies on the devilfish and just make it a regular 80-90 pointer

Add a couple Piranhas, for a little bit of screening, objective grabbing, etc. I've had mixed results with Piranhas but I can't deny their usefulness for taking out tanks that move forward or grabbing objectives.

I'd also have enough points left over to add 6 more fire warriors and make the ionhead a railhead.

So I end up with 11 suits, 18 firewarriors, 36 kroot (I'm stuck on that number because I really, really don't want to assemble and paint anymore kroot for as long as I live) and all the other trappings. And 14 or 15 scoring units. I guess the fire warriors could also be put in a devilfish, or I could eliminate the pathfinders for more FWs and another devilfish.