Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So my local store is running a small tournament. All of the games you play will be objective based and not just kill everything. 1500pt restriction is in place but you can enter under that however you are not granted any reward for doing so as such getting as close to 1500 is essential to make the most of the limit.

They are running the tournament twice effectively at the same time. Once for newer players and games for experienced players. The big catch is you cannot change your army at all once you submit the army list. No games are played until all lists are in so nobody knows what other players are going to be bringing. Only once games are started will you know what players are using.

This seems to be a good way to do it as all players get to play 1 game and surprise there opponent. However if you are in store at the time others are playing you can see what is being used and atleast adjust your strategy when you face them. My plan is to have a very similar strategy regardless of who I face.

As such I have opted for infantry focused army with transports. Fitting with the Counterstrike Cadre I gain a couple of bonuses

1. All vehicles count as Fast on the first turn or when they arrive from reserves if part of this formation.
2. All units part of this formation reroll failed hits if the target is within 3' of an objective..

The list can be found here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IZyqTY69IbhLMciZJVfu3xIcus2sKb-QT-BWKG4IVLE/edit?usp=sharing

With a brief outline of potential strategy. Being new I don't know what each army has as threats and what I should focus on. The list is restricted unfortunately to units listed as these are all I have that will be ready for the tournament.

Any adjustments to the list - Breaking down squads or different equipment etc. Any advice on what to do against other armies bearing in mind that I have no idea what people are bringing but you cannot tailor your list to counter each game.

I quite like the Counterstrike Cadre and I think you've done it right sticking to Breachers with EMP grenades backed up with a Crisis drop. That said, your unit load-outs are lacking some focus and you're wasting points in a few places.

1. Your Crisis team load-out is very confusing and I'm not sure what the unit is trying to do. In practice, Crisis teams need to be given a specific role and equipped accordingly. Do you need anti-tank? Double-up on the Fusion Blasters. Do you need anti-TEQ? Double-up on the Plasma Rifles. You don't desperately need AP because you have so many Breachers, so I would make your Crisis team either double Missile Pods for light-vehicle/high toughness punch, or double-fusion for heavy armour melting.
2. Don't bother with the Honour Blade on the Ethereal. If you're in assault with that unit, it's already too late. I would also swap out those Shield Drones for Marker Drones. You don't need the invulnerable save because of Stealth and Shrouded and the Drone Controller on the Stealth Marksman will make Marker Drones BS5.
3. Drop the Marker Drones in the Breacher teams and lose the Markerlight/Target Lock Shas'ui upgrades. Markerlights resolve their shooting at the same time as the rest of their unit. This means that the Breacher teams will never benefit from the Markerlights embedded in their ranks. Consider a Commander Suit with Drone Controller and Marker Drones or a Stealth Team with Marker Drones.
4. If you're using the Pathfinders as a shock assault unit then equipping three Rail Rifles or Ion Rifles is a no-brainer to me. These weapons will bring strong punch to the unit.

I'm not sure how competitive your meta is, but a few things to look out for:
1. Space Marine Centurions in Drop Pods with Grav... lots and lots of Grav. The best way to put them down is assault, but you're Tau, so Plasma Rifles or Ion Accelerators.
2. Anything that flies. Currently, you have absolutely zero anti-air. Flying Hive Tyrants, Necron Night Scythes, Storm Talons, Storm Ravens, etc. are all going to fly circles around your units picking them off one by one. I would argue that the best anti-air weapons Tau have are Sky Rays or Broadsides, but you're working with what you have, so Missile Pods on your Crisis suits with Velocity Trackers.
3. Terminators or anything with a 2+ save are going to be a challenge for you. Again, another argument for Plasma Rifles or Ion Accelerators.
4. Eldar Jetbikes. They have the mobility to stay well away from your Breachers forcing you to shoot them with the S4 Blaster setting. Missile Pods are, again, a good counter.

All in all, you'll certainly surprise your opponent with the turn one rush, but your list lacks the longevity to go past turn 3 or 4 and lacks the flexibility to engage different threats. More Crisis Suits are in order. Maxing out the Sniper Drones is a good idea too in order to take full advantage of the Ethereal's Storm of Fire. I would look at getting a Riptide, a Ghostkeel or a squad of Broadsides to diversify your threat range. I hope this helps.

Thanks for the huge input!

After reading your thoughts and looking around I am.splitting the pathfinders into 2 sqauds. Undecided on rail rifles or ion rifles as of yet. One will have the devil fish the other with not.

The breachers are not being split as they end up really expensive. They are going to keep marker light and target lock as as the shas'ui can then try and chain a markerlight for the next sqaud. The marker light drones are being removed to save points.

I had considered breaking each squad of 10 into two sqauds of 5 to maximise supporting fire.

Crisis suits, two of them are going fusion blasters, one with target lock the other iridium armor and the third is twin linked missile pods and velocity trackers.

Depending on points remaining I am either going to fluff put the sniper drone team with more drones or throw in a missile based broadside.

Ethereal is being stripped of wargear to spare a few points.

The markerlighta are rare in my list and getting them in with all possible units allows them to benefit from a seeker missile call in if required.

Still unsure on darkstrider though, might have him as a basic pathfinder and replace with a crisis suit commander.

Though his -1 toughness to units target makes breachers really nasty up close.

Still not played with the list yet that's happening this week coming, gotta learn some rules and tactics along with what I can and cant do. I have only played the one game so far with just pathfinders and a devil fish!

Sorry for any errors or formatting, on mobile phone.

I highly second rails on the pathfinders. With darkstrider in there he reduces units toughness by 1. This means your instakiling toughness 4 models such as captains. That and with the reroll when firing at an enemy within 3 inch of a objective makes that a very powerful loadout. I also second cutting the breachers down in size. Theres no way 10 are going to get that 5 inch range on a target. I have run an army list with a counterstrike cadre, ranged support cadre, and retaliation cadre and tabled a battle company. It my not be the most op list but it is very fun to play. Maybe with the saved points bring some strikers for some backfield holding

I'm glad I could be of help and happy to see you're going ahead with some of my suggestions. With what you've posted I think you have more fluidity and threat diversity. Let us know how it goes.