F*** Riptide, gimme my Strike Freedom!

Seriously, how the hell can the Riptide even compare?

Okay, so I got my scruffy paws on a copy of the Tau codex, and I have to say, I'm interested. As with any army that captures my interest, it's a style of warfare radically different compared to my current armies, and on top of that, like my lovely Crimson Guard, they ally with damn near everyone in the grimdark future, barring the forever alone Nids, of course.

So, after poring through the codex for the past few days, here's my idea for 1750pts of Tau:

• Commander with plasma rifle, 2 missile pods, drone controller and 2 marker drones
• 2 Body Guards, each with plasma rifle, 2 missile pods, a marker drones and a shield drone
• 3 Crisis suits, 2 with twin-linked plasma rifles and a fusion blaster, 1 with plasma rifle, a fusion blaster and a drone controller, accompanied by 2 marker drones and 4 gun drones
• 3 Crisis suits, 2 with twin-linked plasma rifles and a fusion blaster, 1 with plasma rifle, a fusion blaster and a drone controller, accompanied by 2 marker drones and 4 gun drones
• 8 Firewarriors, including Shas'ui with markerlight and target lock
• 8 Firewarriors, including Shas'ui with markerlight and target lock
• 8 Firewarriors, including Shas'ui with markerlight and target lock
• 2 Broadsides with twin-linked high yield missile pods, twin-linked smart missile system; one with a drone controller, the other with a target lock, accompanied by 4 missile drones
• 2 Broadsides with twin-linked high yield missile pods, twin-linked smart missile system; one with a drone controller, the other with a target lock, accompanied by 4 missile drones
• 2 Broadsides with twin-linked high yield missile pods, twin-linked smart missile system, both with velocity tracker accompanied by 4 missile drones

1,747 pts in total.

So, here's are some salient points about this list:

1. No Pathfinders. The idea is to maintain a steady stream of markerlights using the Firewarrior Shas'uis and marker drones with the Crisis suits. The Commander is loaded to keep his distance and dump a bunch of super-accurate markerlights on targets deserving of serious pain. 
2. Hunting down serious armour is a task for the Crisis suits, who are there to drop in and crack open stuff. 9" melta range makes dropping straight in a lot safer, and more so since they can back off thanks to the handy jet packs.
3. Anti-air is handled by one team of Broadsides, unleashing the equivalent of 8 twin-linked autocannon shots on whatever poor sucker comes within range. Against AV12, that's good odds of bringing down a Vendetta or Stormraven. Against AV11, the 8 shots of twin-linked SMS can come into play, pretty much guaranteeing a kill. 
4. NO railguns. Kinda funny, now that I look at it, but seriously, 65 pts for a S8 shot. Granted, its AP 1, but compared to 4 S7 shots? No, thanks. In teams of 2, the Broadsides are dumping 8 S7 shots, 8 S5 shots, all twin-linked, for 130 pts. Max out on drones, that's 4 ablative wounds that chuck out another 8 S7 shots.  Against AV13, one salvo with a little markerlight help will quite likely crush a vehicle through weight of glancing hits. 
5. LOADS of drones. 24 Firewarriors, 9 Crisis Suits, 6 Broadsides and 30 (!) drones. Those drones form a shield of ablative wounds for the precious battlesuits and provide a nice boost in firepower. 

I'm thinking I could perhaps ditch one team of Crisis Suits for some Fast Attack choices, say a team of Pathfinders and some Piranhas. I like the idea of using Piranhas to move up, drop a squadron of drones, then move flat out to harass a flank. Or maybe just replace said Crisis Suit team with a mighty Riptide...

Anyway, this is all just pie in the sky for now. I've yet to test out my Deathwing & Grey Knight army. Maybe I'll try proxying this list at some point. For the moment, I'm going to have to resist temptation...