[Signal]

Hello! I'm newish to 40k and have never had the chance to collect my own army before. But now it looks like I might soon get my chance and I'm thinking about starting with Tau. I've put together a list to cut my teeth on that looks like it might be fun to play and win me a few games while getting used to the basic rules of the game, but I'd like to hear veteran critiques of it. I've tried to combine a traditional static "gun-line" strategy with more mobile units to fly, jump, or deep strike around the board as needed - will this list work? Also, I've eschewed a lot of fancy war gear in favor of putting more lower-cost models on the board... and also because I'm so new that I have enough trouble remembering all the basic rules let alone the additional rules of more wargear piled on. Thanks for any and all help given!

Headquarters:
Shas'El, missile pod, fusion blaster, multi-tracker - 79 points
Shas'El, missile pod, fusion blaster, multi-tracker - 79 points

Elites:
Crises Battlesuit, missile pod, fusion blaster, multi-tracker - 54 points
Crises Battlesuit, missile pod, fusion blaster, multi-tracker - 54 points
Crises Battlesuit, missile pod, fusion blaster, multi-tracker - 54 points

Troops:
12-man Fire Warrior Team, shas'ui, bonding knife - 135 points
12-man Fire Warrior Team, shas'ui, bonding knife - 135 points
12-man Fire Warrior Team, shas'ui, bonding knife - 135 points
12-man Fire Warrior Team, shas'ui, bonding knife - 135 points
12-man Fire Warrior Team, shas'ui, bonding knife - 135 points
12-man Fire Warrior Team, shas'ui, bonding knife - 135 points

Fast Attack:
Pirahna Light Skimmer, fusion blaster, targetting array - 70 points
Pirahna Light Skimmer, fusion blaster, targetting array - 70 points

Heavy Support:
Broadside Battlesuit, advanced stabilization system - 80 points
Broadside Battlesuit, advanced stabilization system - 80 points
Broadside Battlesuit, drone controller (no drones) - 70 points

GRAND TOTAL: 1500 points exactly

Note: All battlesuits count as their own singular "choice" and are not grouped into teams.

[Dezart Fox]

weapons seem ok, you've got quite a lot of units but its very slow, but with a lot of firepower, everything seems ok apart from with a drone controler you HAVE to have a drone :P

[Signal]

Originally Posted by Timjim

weapons seem ok, you've got quite a lot of units but its very slow, but with a lot of firepower, everything seems ok apart from with a drone controler you HAVE to have a drone :P

Thanks for the reply!

And, darn, about the drone controller. Sorry, goes to show you how newbie I am to the rules. I guess I would drop a stabilization system and replace it with a multi-tracker, and then replace the droneless controller with another multi-tracker.

[Dezart Fox]

or maybe drop a squad of fire warriors or two (i dislike them lol), mount a couple in devil fish or get some more suits, twin missile pods and targetting arrays work good

[Yaifrog]

Hmm... I'll give you my opinions in point form, as usual.

1) Static Fire Warriors are extremely boring to use. I'd say drop a couple of units to pay for some Devilfish, and maybe convert the footsloggers to carbiners.

2) Broadsides need shield drones! Otherwise they die too easily.

3) You might want to consider dropping that illegal Broadside in favour of another Piranha.

4) 5 battlesuits all equipped the same way? That's rather boring...

Hope I helped

[Rudog]

I do like Fire Warrior Teams... but that's really is a lot. On the plus side you'll be pouring out a lot of fire power with them. I would suggest maybe dropping one of those teams to give one of them a Devilfish w/multi-tracker and decoy launchers... keeps your big solid fire base, but gives you some extra mobility for grabbing objectives or quick pounces.

I also agree that your Broadsides could use the extra protection of a shield drones.

One thing I'm not a big fan of is your weapons on your suits. Fusion Blaster and Missle Pods have such a range difference that there is a good chance you would rather shoot them at different targets. I would go with a standard Plasma Rifle paired with the Missle Pod for those you want for distance fire and maybe either Plasma Rifle or Burst Cannons paired with your Fusion Blasters. It will pair up like weapons better and give you some more flavor with your suit choices.

[waters]

I had fusion and missile pod on my commander when I started out too, but that changed to the CIB and Plasma. I'd say mix those crisis teams up a bit. Deathrains (twin missile pods and targeting array) are a great choice for long range fire support, I've never used them cause I don't like how they look but they're tactically sound. Also the Plasma /Missile pod combo works well. My favorite combo which seems to be frowned upon is the Burst cannon/ Plasma. It has a high rate of fire at close range and the plasma gives you a great AP punch to back up all those shots.

You do have a heck of a lot of fire warriors too. I'd do as a lot of people have said and take some out for a devil fish and I'd also suggest throwing in some kroot. The kroot may not look like much at first but if you take advantage of cover they're extremely useful and your enemy will grow to hate them.

Well thats about it for me. I'm not much into a static army, I play hybrid myself and so I find that I'm missing a lot of the mobility that your list can have. Maybe think about a hammerhead.