as noted above it really depends on how you play
things to remember with tau-
.tau on foot are dead tau 99.9% of the time, about the only thing they work good for is markerlighting stuff for you other units
.tau vehicles and crisis suits shoot better with better weapons than FWs and also survive much better
i run a tank company, every single one of my fish has decoy launchers, fletchette launchers(makes them the best CC force the tau have), smart missles, targeting array, multi-traker and a seeker missle.
that gives me 7 shots that hit on 3's i can split that fire and 4 of those shots hit without needing LOS, i can also move 12' and shoot as well as being a skimmer.
now if you go the other route with fireknifes or broadsides you get base things like shield drones a hardwired controller on the upgraded sgt who also has target lock, multi traker, targeting array. allowing him to hit on 3's with all his weapons and choose to shoot at a different target than the squad. and then you get to jump around to boot.
think of having 9 TLd railgun broadside shots on the table that can split fire and hit 6 different units for example.
thats why a large bunch of FWs with S5 AP5 guns that hit on 4's are nowhere near as useful even with thier long range. most armies have something that will get them into CC by turn 2 or 3 (and sometimes 1) and that pretty much ends thier usefulness.
