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I am hoping to go to a game store tomorrow and play 40K for the first time ever. I think I am ready. Here is my 500 point Tau unit I put together. Advice is welcome.

HQ
Commander, XV8 Crisis Suit, Burst Cannon, Fusion Blaster, Drone Controller, 2 Gun Drones (142 points)

Troops
11 Fire Warriors with 1 Shas,ui. Bonding Knife Ritual (130 points)
11 Fire Warriors with 1 Shas,ui. Bonding Knife Ritual (130 points)

Fast Attack
6 Pathfinders, 2 with Rail Rifles. (96 points)

Total army is 498.

My biggest concern is I only have 3 high penetration weapons (Fusion Blaster and 2 Rail Rifles.) However, I think I should have a lot of shooty. The Drones plus drone controller are awesome. Mixed with the burst cannon my HQ can spit out 9 BS 5 shots per turn I think. I wish I had more pathfinders for Markerlight support, but I think the 4 will do.

Anyhow, advice welcome for the newb.

Thanks,
Duncan
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Running a solo commander is risky, but viable at the points level. I would drop the burst cannon and take a second fusion for more AT, leaving the fire warriors for S5 dakka.

Drones are great bullet sponges, and the fusion/carbine range meshes well. Still get decent dakka, but you also get a lot of High S low AP shooting.

Since your commander is your warlord, I strongly suggest taking some defensive upgrades. The best(but most expensive) would be iridium armor. T5 and 2+ armor goes a long way, protecting against S8 instant kill and tanking more saves. Stim injectors are also very good, particularly on the iridium suit. If you ever have spare points, always take a neuroweb jammer; the thing is criminally cheap and very effective. If it kills anything, it pays off and then some.

Fire warriors are generally not as good as kroot unless your going to have an ethereal and/or fireblade, so consider swapping out. If your keeping the warriors, drop the bonding for either another warrior or points to your commander. It will only save 2 warriors, and it might not even save them then. So long as the 'ui survives, your still regrouping on heroic anyways...You could also drop the 'ui for another warrior, but Ld7 does suck. Overall, I would just take kroot.

Rail rifles are OK, but with BS3 they won't do much, consider dropping one or both.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/592363/6772748.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/592363/6772748.page GMT
I am a bit limited on my Commander choice by models. I don't have any double fusion blaster models. I could look at something with a Missile Pod or maybe a plasma gun. As for Iridium Armor, I am not totally sure about that being allowed in the 500 point Patrol format. I saw something online about no 2+ save units. Since I have never played with this group before, I guess I will find out. I will check out some of your other suggestions too.

As for my Fire Warriors, I don't have any Kroot and I really prefer the look of the armored Fire Warriors. That said, I will have to see about getting a Fireblade, but I think Etherals tend the add some vulnerability I am not comfortable with. (BTW, in general, do you need the actual Fireblade model to use a Fireblade, or can I paint up some Fire Warrior special and call him a Fireblade?) I also was not totally familiar with the Bonding Knife ritual, but I am starting to agree with you. I need to consider that too.

For the Pathfinders, I was considering making 2 teams, 1 with all PC and Markerlights and 1 with 3 Rail Rifles to get that good AP. Then the markerlight squad could target for the Rail Rifles. I am a bit limited in minis right now, but more Pathfinders is high on my list.

Thanks a lot for the comments. I will post an updated army later and a battle report if I actually get to the game tomorrow.
Thanks!
Duncan
]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/592363/6773086.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/592363/6773086.page GMT AT, as Av12 is usually around. Missile pods, maybe a fusion, even plasma can do it.

You can make your own fireblade out of a 'ui. Just make em look cool and sufficiently different that an opponent can clearly tell.

The 2 pathfinder squads could do well, so long as they have enough to buff. They are fragile, so be careful. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/592363/6773253.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/592363/6773253.page GMT
OK, I am clear to go tonight. Probably only get one or two games in I expect.

I ended up making two army lists, one using my actual figures, and a second proxing a Fireblade in case they use the no 4 wound model Patrol rule (since I don't know the specifics at this venue.)

Here is my main list:
496 points
Commander XV8 Crisis Suit, Burst Cannon, Fusion Blaster, Drone Controller
2 Gun Drones
24 Fire Warriors in 2 units. Each has a Shas'ui
8 Pathfinders in one unit. 2 armed with Rail Rifles.

My Secondary army is:
498 Points
Cadre Fireblade
XV8 Crisis Suit (elite) Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle
24 Fire Warriors in 2 units. Each has a Shas'ui
10 Pathfinders in one unit with a Shas'ui. 2 armed with Rail Rifles.

Don't have much to change at this point, but any suggestions are still welcome. I will try and post a battle report afterwards. (in the correct forum...)

Thanks,
Duncan

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Thanks for the comments. I tried to list all my models in a page attached to my profile. Maybe that is not visible. I will check on that.

I did get to play last night. here is the battle report:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/592683.page

Thanks,
Duncan
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I looked at your list of models and done some thinking. For small games like this, perhaps less is more. What I mean by that is less upgrades like sergeants and what not, so you have more points to put more guys in. This is what I come up with.

3 stealth suits with 2 burst cannons, 1 fusion blaster and 1 target lock
Crisis suit with 1 burst cannon and 1 fusion blaster
Crisis suit with 1 fusion blaster and 1 missile pod
10 fire warriors with pulse rifles
8 fire warriors with pulse rifles
4 pathfinders with markerlights and carbines
4 pathfinders with markerlights and carbines
Piranha with a fusion blaster]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/592363/6783251.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/592363/6783251.page GMT