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Alright, I've been out of the game since the end of 5th when I ran with the wolves. However, a friends project reignited my interest in 40K and having none of my models on hand it seemed like a fine time to kick off a new army.

So far I've picked up 2x Tau Empire boxes and 2x XV88 Broadside's. Hoping to build the following:

Commander
Drone Controller, Missile Pods, Target Lock

4x Drones
MV7 Marker Drones

10x Strike Team
-support turret

10x Strike Team
-support turret

2x XV88 Broadside
HYMP, SMS, EWO

3x XV8 Crisis
2x Plasma Rifle

2x XV8 Crisis
2x Fusion blaster

Should be roughly 800pts and I'd like to use it as the base of my army providing plenty of generic str5 anti infantry, str7 transport killing power and some markers too boot in a stationary fire-base. This leaves the Crisis units to be mobile responses to higher priority units which threaten to break my line.

Looking to expand to 1k and eventually 1.5k pts in a more relaxed environment add some flavor, maybe a few more mobile elements. Any advice as far as possible units or loadouts? I like the idea of drones since they seem to reinforce that advanced tech image, are they generally worth it or only pull their weight with a dedicated controller?

 Sleep Spell wrote:
Any advice as far as possible units or loadouts I like the idea of drones since they seem to reinforce that advanced tech image, are they generally worth it or only pull their weight with a dedicated controller?

Drones are worth it, but the Marker variety need the controller or a Drone-Net formation. Markerlights are an essential piece of the Tau army and you need them to be reliable. Gun Drones can hold their own by themselves. As for load-outs, if you're looking to your Fire Warriors for ob-sec, they really benefit from a Devilfish. Otherwise, they're very squishy. I'm noticing a lot of lists moving away from Plasma Crisis suits. Only at 12" do they outperform Fusions and even then only against infantry targets. Fusions give you a safer engagement range with added threat diversity. Something to think about...