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I'm going for a TAC list here, I have come up with 2 lists I think are viable any thoughts will help.

List One

HQ

Commander - penchip, ccn, Stim, dc, Iridium - 163

Elites

XV104 - HBC, TL-SMS, VT, EWO - 205

XV104 - Ion, TL-PR, VT, EWO - 210

Troops

FW x 12 - DF with DP - 203

FW x 12 - DF with DP - 203

Fast

PF x 8 - 88

Heavy

XV88 x 3 - HYMP, SMS, marker drone x6,TL x 3 - 282

Railhead - sub, DP, BsF - 146

1500 points


List Two

HQ

Commander - penchip, ccn, Stim, dc, Iridium, Shield Gen. - 188

Ethereal - 50

Elites

XV104 - HBC, TL-SMS, VT, EWO - 205

XV104 - Ion, TL-PR, VT, EWO - 210

Troops

FW x 8 - DF with DP, BsF, SMS - 178

FW x 8 - DF with DP, BsF, SMS - 178

Fast

PF x 6 - 66

Heavy

XV88 x 3 - HYMP, SMS, marker drone x6,TL x 3 - 282

Railhead - sub, DP, BsF, SMS - 146

1503 points

I will put the drone commander with the Msides and markerlight my brains out, taking the PF team so the Msides can get some ML action, use the melta and solid shots for heavy, FW in fish hopefully for fast objective grabbing with a bit of protection, riptides will cause some chaos. I was thinking of dropping the fish with the pathfinders and bringing them and the FW teams to 10 man units or maybe an aegis line for the Msides and commander to sit behind. I am also thinking of swapping the riptide with heavy burst out for a xv8 team with some FB/PR and other goodies. I'm just starting with Tau so any help will be great.

For the second list I will be doing the same thing pretty much, the ethereal will be with a unit of FW in a Dfish and will stay with them.

I would suggest you don't take the HBC on the Riptide as they are considered inferior to the alternative. I have two riptides equipped with the ion weapon and do fine. A Devilfish just for 5 Pathfinders is just a waste, remember they can't shoot when having moved (or disembarked) as Markerlights are Heavy. I would also say its a waste having 2 Devilfishes with only 8 FW's in each, if i'm going to pay for it (and equip Disruption Pods as you have done) i would take a full squad of 12. I beleive that if the Commander is shot while with the Broadsides majority toughness will be 4, so maybe not worth spending points on the Iridium armour, it would be cheaper and more effective to give it Stimulant Injectors. Thinking about it, It depends, majority toughness only counts for rolling wounds and not Instant Death. Iridium armour means that if your unit is hit by a strength 8 blast, your broadsides will be insta killed but your commander will be ok. A Strength 10 blast, Commander is insta-killed as well. It depends what you expect to face. I assume "m3s" you mean multi spectrum sensor suite ? If you do, its a waste of points if you intend to use it on the Broadsides as they already have twin-linked weapons and you cant reroll anything more than once. However, its fair play Twin-linking the ML drones.

Thanks for the input, I have made some changes to the commander as suggested, I was thinking the multi-spectrum was a little redundant. Dropped the Dfish on the pathfinders, also brought the unit to 9, FW are now 12 man units, and both riptides have ion now.

Any thoughts on me dropping another Dfish and adding an aegis line with a quad gun, also would throw a target lock on the commander and sit him on the gun with the Msides behind cover. I would have to drop a single pathfinder or FW to keep me closer to the 1500 point mark.

I run a similar combo with my broadsides. I recommend dropping the two drones your commander has and pick up iridium armor, trust me when i say 8 bs 5 markerlights will result in wasted markerlights. Then put your commander up front to tank all wounds except s10. Also, find a way to give each broadside target lock. You don't want to accidentally kill something that just got 6 markerlights. Makes them a waste, you know?

Drop the fusion blasters on your riptides, having them that close to the target will make then easy to tie up in combat. Sms and plasma are much better despite the reduction in str/ap. Also, the nature of the ia's blast make the Riptide more effective vs heavy infantry rather than tank hunting. Believe it or not, a nova charged hbc has a better chance at dropping vehicles, and light infantry. Which brings me to my next point, variety with a little redundancy in roles is not a bad idea, I always run one a Riptide with ia/plasma, and another one with hbc/sms. The ia riptide hunts parkinglots/ heavy infantry/ mcs while the hbc eats light infantry, tanks, and fliers.

Thanks for your input, I originally had iridium on my commander and a rip with a hbc, I think I am going to try my current list and a modified list with some of your suggestions applied.

I have added a second list to choose between. I just cant pick one I want to field first to try, so any suggestions on which one would be better will me much appreciated. The games I play are more for fun but I can't help being a bit competitive....

I think which lost you use depends on how much terrain your lgs uses. If you can get ruins that would fit your missile side+drones+commander, then you can live without the shield generator. There's not a whole lot out there that is ap2/1 that ALSO ignores cover barring Tau. So you will still get a 4+ cover save against most ap2/1. With that in mind, list 1 may be better.

Thanks, I tried list one and I tabled in 4 against a CSM nurgle force with a bit of dice luck.

Both look ok TBH. my views:

1) HBC is good, but the ion is better in more situations more of the time.
2) i would go for TL fusion on both riptides as you have VERY little anti armour and nothing against raiders
3) i assume TL is target locks on the broadsides? take early warning override instead. is amazing for the same points.
4) skyfire on the riptides just isn't needed. the broadsides with EWO should be plenty, use those points for stims on them instead

My original list had 2 ion riptides with TL-FB, I tried what was suggested to me, but I was feeling a bit under geared for tank killing. I will shuffle points around to try other options revolving this kind of build.

Thanks for all of the great input everyone.