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I have only played tyranids once and got my ass whooped so I'm trying to find a way to tackle all those T6 monstrous creatures. Thoughts?

Tau Empire 6th edition army list: 2000 points


HQ:
Ethereal (Warlord): Homing beacon, 2 Shield drones= 84 points
Fireblade: 2 Shield drones= 84 points

Elites:
Riptide: Ion accelerator, Twin-linked SMS, Early warning override, Stimulant injector= 225 points
3 Fire Knives (Plasma rifle, Missile pod): Shas’vre: 3 Counterfire defense systems, 6 Gun drones= 253 points
3 Fire Storms (Burst cannon, Missile pod): Shas’vre: 3 Counterfire defense systems, 6 Gun drones= 232 points

Troops:
12 Fire Warriors: Shas’ui= 118 points
12 Fire Warriors: Shas’ui= 118 points
12 Fire Warriors: Shas’ui= 118 points
15 Kroot: Sniper rounds= 105 points

Fast Attack:

Heavy Support:
3 Broadsides: Shas’vre, 3 Twin-linked heavy rail-rifles, 3 Twin-linked SMS, 3 Target locks= 230 points
Sky Ray: Twin-linked SMS, Disruption pod, Automated repair system, Blacksun filter= 136 points
Hammerhead: Longstrike, Submunition rounds, Disruption pod, Automated repair system= 195 points

Fortification:
Aegis Defense Line: Quad-gun: 100 points

Total: 1998 points

For the HQs I would remove the drones from both and the homing beacon on the Ethereal. stick the Ethereal in a team of Fire Warriors to protect him and there's no need to deepstrike into your own deployment zone... if that was your plan then just start them on the board. I would also trade the Cadre for a Commander (Cadre is my favourite Tau model/character but just doesn't have the versatility you want for this) Make the commander a buffmander and stick him with the Broadsides or with a HBC Riptide to negate the Gets Hot! part of the weapon plus ignore cover and monster hunter is beautiful vs. nids (eliminates the Venomthrope advantage and bonus vs. the monstrous creatures) this also applies to the broadsides (which I'll cover farther down).

I've found that for dealing with MCs the heavy burst cannon on the riptide works very well. with 2 MLs on it to boost BS you should average 5 wounds and 2.778 (round to 3) wounds taken. Even if you don't nova charge and pump 8 shots into it you'll get 3.3 wounds inflicted and 1.111 (rounded to 1). So even without nova charge your not losing anything. If you get the nova charge and get a lucky roll and get a few rending hits your even better off. If you go with the IA you'll get less; 1 assuming you don't scatter very far. yes the "gets hot!" is a bit of a hassle but if you drop your Cadre for a Commander you can almost completely negate that. I would also remove the Stimulant Injector off the Riptide as even without it he's a beast and it is a very expensive upgrade to give him a 5+ save. If you give him a Positional Relay instead you can try to make your opponents back table edge and bring your Kroot in right behind him with no rolls.

Your crisis suits should NEVER be mixed weapons with 1 exception I'll mention in a minute. You're much better off gearing them to do 1 thing very well than to make them a jack of all trades, Since your MC problems will be solved with other units I would go with a plasma team to deal with Warriors and such plus it gives you a deepstrike option for taking out the Tervigon camping at the back. A Burst Cannon team (with drones) would be the other team to deal with the swarms of gribblies that are bound to be there (36 S5 AP5 shots and 12 are twin linked are nothing to sneeze at). Rather than taking Counterfire Defence System the only time I mix weapons is giving flamers instead for that overwatch. you can fire your 2 flamers and 1 other weapon since suits can fire 2. It's at least 1 guaranteed each plus any 6s you roll (I always roll terrible for overwatch so this is just a preference)

The other thing I would change would be to drop the 1 of the Fire Warrior teams for more Kroot with sniper rounds. Remember they can choose which ammo type they use on a per round basis so if they get in range of the Ethereal (which they shouldn't given that they should be coming in on his objectives) they can gain the benefit from him. The Shas'ui on the 2 remaining Fire Warrior teams isn't needed as you have the Ethereal there giving everything Ld10.

The Broadsides with rails are to much of a 1 trick pony, they will do fairly well against MCs assuming they don't miss their 1 shot but will be next to useless against swarms. You'll have more versatility with the HYMP on them and be able to threaten anything he has on the board and get more wounds by forcing more saves. I think you'll get more use out of having Early Warning Override on them as well giving you a round of shooting at anything that comes in from reserve (Hive Commander + devilgaunts or Tervigon outflanking for instance) or any Mawlocs/Trygons he deepstrikes into your infantry.

I love longstrike. If I'm taking a Hammerhead he's a must take for me. he can function without Markerlights freeing them up for other units to use. In this case though he would probably be better suited with an Ion cannon as the biggest reason for a Railgun is to take on AV14. the S10 AP1 isn't really needed for Tyranids and a large blast template with minimal scatter will do horrible things to swarms of anything. The Sky Ray is an absolute gem of a unit and should always be taken. I don't think you need the repair systems on them though.

With any extra points you have you should get a few more Markerlights. In your list you have a lot of shooting but at BS3 you might as well have half as much since only half will hit. For Tau unlike almost any other army you can have both Quality AND Quantity.

Sorry about the wall of text and if I came off as rude or anything just trying to streamline your list.

FOR THE GREATER GOOD!!!

I agree about dropping the drones on the HQ's. If you want to keep them, might as well take gun drones. Most nid shooting won't punch through cover AND armor, so they probably get a save. Even if they don't, they are just there to eat fire and die. However, the gun drones can at least shoot.

An HBC tide is pretty good against MC's as said, but the IA has merit too. I think the HBC is better for the cost despite the lack of AP3. Combined with the missiles, you also have some anti horde dakka. If your up against a flyrant, put a velocity tracker on the tide. I agree to drop the stims-if you really want FNP, you can score a 6+ from your ethereal by keeping your tide nearby.

Fireknives and firestorm builds evolved when you had to take a twin link system if you took 2 of the same guns. Now that you can take 2 guns without twin linking, you would be better with dual plasma for one squad, then whatever else for another. Dual fusion is good if you see lots of T4 things like warriors or zoey's. Missiles can play keep away and wound MC's, while burst cannons and drones will blast through hordes and threaten MC's by sheer volume. Counterfire defense is OK for the burst cannons due to the sheer volume, but otherwise flamers are a better 3rd hardpoint as Brutal said.

Give the kroot a hound. Acute senses helps your outflank should you need it, and I5 helps in combat. If nothing else, the hound is a very expendable body.

Splitting your broadsides will not do enough damage to MC's. Better to focus the rail rifles(or missiles) into one MC at a time. Early warning override is decent if you expect reserves. Counterfire is great with the missile pods, 8 TL shots at BS2 can usually deter charges to your sides. Broadsides are a good place to anchor your ethereal.

Longstrike is really good, but a lot of his utility is wasted against nids. He is designed to crack Av, and the railgun is designed for that as well. The ion cannon offers more shots to wound MC's, while coming with a better default blast option than the railgun. Automated repair is OK for longstrike due to the investment, as it can bring him back into the game in a big way.

Skyrays are fantastic, but don't need the automated repair system. You will either lose smart missiles or the networked light, and your chances of getting either back are small. Dump your missiles early on to nuke a tervigon, flyrant, whatever, then just fly around and missile/markerlight.

Sensor spines are really good for either tank, as you may need to run from the bugs. Hiding in terrain can slow or stop a charge that would otherwise destroy your tank.

Serling nailed it on a bunch of stuff I forgot or missed. He is absolutely right on the velocity tracker on the Riptide. if I do VT on my tides I like taking the fusion blaster. with their mobility its usually not hard to get in melta range of a flyer and cook it.

With Skyblight in the ring now from the dataslate you could also drop the hammerhead altogether for another skyray and not be disappointed. Remember to ALWAYS take SMS on your vehicles especially the Skyrays. That upgrade alone gives them some viability after their missiles are gone. Also with them I have a habit of saving my missiles "in case I need them later" if you got em use them. if you burn 12 seekers on turn 1 and burn 2 MCs then a flyer comes in you can still use the markerlights to give everything else a fair chance to bring it down.

I'll admit I've never even considered Counterfire Defence Systems on Broadsides but it does sound fun