Revised Tau Tournament List

Hey everybody,

I revised my Tau list that I am going to take to a tournament in november. I took the advices I got here into consideration and came up with this list now.

Tau 1650 points v2:

 1 Commander Shas'el (XV 84 Variant)
     Target Lock; Markerlight; Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array
     Bonding Knife; Hardwired multi-tracker; Stimulant Injector;
     Hard-wired drone controller
     1 Shield Drone
     1 Shield Drone
     1 Bodyguard Shas'vre
        Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array
        Hard-wired multi-tracker

1 Crisis Battlesuit Team Shas'vre
     Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array
     Hard-wired multi-tracker
     Bonding Knife    
     Hard-wired drone controller
     1 Shield Drone
     1 Shield Drone
     1 Crisis Battlesuit
          Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker
     1 Crisis Battlesuit
          Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker

1 Crisis Battlesuit Team Leader
     Flamer; TL Missile Pod
     Hard-wired drone controller
     1 Shield Drone
     1 Crisis Battlesuit
          Flamer; TL Missile Pod

6 FireWarrior Team
     Pulse Rifle (x6)
     1 Devilfish         
          Smart Missile System
          Disruption Pod
          Targetting Array
          Multi-tracker
          Sensor Spines

6 FireWarrior Team
     Pulse Rifle (x6)
     1 Devilfish         
          Smart Missile System
          Disruption Pod
          Targetting Array
          Multi-tracker
          Sensor Spines

20 Kroot Carnivore Squad
     Kroot Rifle

1 Hammerhead Gunship
     Railgun; Smart Missile System
     #Targetting Array
     Disruption Pod
     Target Lock
     Multi-tracker

1 Hammerhead Gunship 
     Railgun; Smart Missile System
     #Targetting Array
     Disruption Pod
     Target Lock
     Multi-tracker


1 Hammerhead Gunship 
     Railgun; Smart Missile System
     #Targetting Array
     Disruption Pod
     Target Lock
     Multi-tracker

Models in army: 49
Points: 1649


So I kicked out the stealth team, stripped all tanks off the flechette dischargers and degraded the Shas'O to Shas'El and most important I added more fireknives to the list for better anti-MEQ capability. At the moment I run 3 railheads for I think I definitaly need them for anti-tank.
I had 2 games with this list last weekend. First game was against Trotzki's daemon list where we played annihilation. That ended as a draw. The railheads seemed to miss anything with their guns and Trotzki's soulgrinder moved around unharmed for a while and ate one flank for breakfast.  Everything else performed averagely. I think I would have won if the game lasted longer than 5 turns. It was a solid game and we both were rather content with our lists.

Next game was against my marines which proxied a Vulcan list with 2 land raiders (1 redeemer, 1 normal), 2 squads of TH/SS terminators, 2 tac-squads with multi-melta and melta in drop pod and a land speeder with HF/MM. Again annihilation and dawn of war deployment where we both kept everything in reserve. That game was disastrous. I rolled abysmally for about anything. The dearly needed fireknives showed up on turn 5 and missed pretty well. The hammerheads again weren't able to harm anything (even drop pods!!! *argh*) and I don't need to talk about the little crappy guys called firewarriors. Admittedly Clausewitz who played my marines rolled more than above average (for example 17 shots with bolters against 3 crisis suits, 17 hits, 14 wounds....you can imagine the rest). The game ended 6 to 3 killpoints in the marine's favour.

Ok, I won't complain about failing dice rolls. That happens, it's unnerving but it happens.

Conclusion: This list should work I think. Bad luck away, I should have won the second game or got at least a draw. 3 railheads should suffice to cope with the land raiders and the missile pods should crack the drop pods. And as long as I can stay out of 12" range of the meltas I should be fine. The fireknives are really needed for anti-MEQ firepower.
One thing I lack are markerlights. But at the moment I see no way in getting them into this list. The 3 railheads are definitely needed, so there sadly is no place for the skyray. And I do not own pathfinders and the time is too short to paint a few of them. So I think I have to live with that.
The kroot are great as always. The firewarriors suck but are kept at a minimum at the moment. Taking only one mounted squad would let me down in objective based missions, so I think I have to live with them for the time being.
One thing I am thinking about is to change the heavy support choices. The alternative would be dropping one hammerhead and taking 2 broadsides with ASS and 2 shield drones. That would grant me with one more railgun. But the downside with this would be the impaired mobility and I think I would need at least 10 kroot to screen them from turn 2 attacks. Tau aren't that mobile though and having this static element would further decrease the mobility so I am not so fond of that.
Speaking of mobility, the sensor spines saved me more than one time. Staying away from the enemy as far as possible is key and this wargear lets you fly around more freely. I will take these, but I am not sure where to put them. Either on the hammerheads to grant them more flexibility or on the fishes for grabbing objectives. That needs to be tested.

As always, your comments are very welcome and helpful!