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I'm having my first game of 40k this coming Wednesday and I plan to jump throw myself into the deep end and start as I mean to go on, with ideas that are nuts. So looking for some help with my list (which is very rough at the moment) to give myself at least a fighting chance.
My opponent is using Chaos and I'm very much expecting a fully kitted out demon prince amongst the goodies he's bringing to the table. So fun time are to be had... :/

HQ

Commander; missile pod, plasma rifle, iridium suit, shield generator, stim injector, command and control node, puretide chip - 210

Troops

x8 Fire warriors; pulse rifle - 72
x8 Fire warriors; pulse rifle - 72
x8 Fire warriors; pulse rifle - 72

Elites

x3 XV8 Crisis suit; Missile pods, plasma rifle - 156
x3 XV8 Crisis suit; Missile pods, plasma rifle - 156
Riptide; Ion acc, twin linked fusion, EWO, Velocity tracker - 210

Fast attack

x5 Pathfinders; pulse carbines, markerlight - 55
x5 Pathfinders; pulse carbines, markerlight - 55

Heavy

Hammerhead; Railgun, gun drones, disruption pods - 140
Hammerhead; Railgun, gun drones, disruption pods - 140

-1338


And that is where I have got too. Any ideas? I'm not to sure about the crisis suit loadouts and may switch them to two missile pods or two plasma rifles and if I can pick up some more pathfinders and fire warriors, there squad sizes will increase.
I'm open to all suggestions, so post away

I would go dual plasmas on the commander.
Why are you not taking any drones for your commander or XV8s? I would but that is just me.

I would also take a group of 3 with dual missile pods and a group of 3 with dual plasmas.
I probably would just keep the 2 pathfinder units they are are good like that if you really needed more marker lights just take marker drones.
You might wan to consider bringing a broadside as well.

I second running one unit of crisis as dual plasma, one dual missiles. Keep the missile suits back, and run the commander with either, so long as you give the commander matching dual weapons.

Drop the C&C node from the commander or drop his guns. I think fighting commanders are fine, so I would keep the guns and drop the node so the commander can shoot each turn. I would drop the shield generator from the commander for shield drones. They cost less and don't take up a hard point. Your commander should only really fear S10, which is rare in a chaos list. To round out points, a neuroweb jammer is dirt cheap and dead effective, so take one. I also rarely leave home without the onager gauntlet, just in case you need to punch through armor or any tough target.

Troops are ok for 1500. Fire warriors do marginally better at 9 each for Ld check purposes but 8 can work.

Iontides are not the best source of AA, better to take a heavy burst cannon if you want that. Or Missilesides, as their sheer dakka will drop fliers. I would drop the velocity tracker and just snap fire if you must. The large blast will serve you well against CSM, or use the solid shot against deamons(not sure which chaos your looking at).

Hammerheads are OK, but you need the submunitions if your going with a railgun. The S6 large blast is decent against marines and great against deamons. It gives your tank another job besides heavy armor hunting. Always take smart missiles over the gun drones for the better range and dakka. If you can afford, sensor spines are great for tau tanks. Blacksun filters are basically required so your tanks are not nerfed by a T1 nightfight. I strongly suggest longstrike for a hammerhead due to the BS5, overwatch, tank hunters and blacksun filter. His railgun makes short work of any armor, while keeping your submunitions on target.

I would take a skyray as your 3rd heavy support, but consider 2 skyrays and 1 hammerhead. Skyrays bring markerlights on a mobile platform with skyfire. They also bring a ton of missiles that are very effective against fliers or any armor. In most games, if you get first turn you can gambit your skyrays for first blood by dumping all their missiles. Once the missiles are shot, they are great mobile markerlights that are fairly hard to take down.