First off I would like to say I would really like to build a more original an unique unit list with Tau. I think the direction is still competitive, but I think my future list will differ from other Tau list out there. Anyway it is still in the works, but looking through other army list and with some past ideals I figured I will do a heavy suit/ drone list. The list is still in the works, but I decided to go back to my older Tau list a bit. Also I am still debating rather to do allies or not. I have to read the O'Shova book to see if all I want to do can be done.

Well here is some of the list ideals that I been working on. Some may seem strange or stupid to do, but I am looking at my own personal enjoyment.

1. Adding a Fireblade. I always said I will never get him, but after seeing my reports and reading what he does I decided to finally get one. That being said I am using him a bit different than normal.

A. This guy have splitfire for starters. That means I can add him to any unit an split fire. Natural it seems like he should be with fire warriors or pathfinders. The problem I have with the extra shooting is that I move a lot and this guy really doesn't work with my style. However he can have pathfinders with rail rifles shoot separately from marker lights and do the same to sniper drones. He can join broadsides with drones and have the drones shoot separately from the sides, which you can have sky fire or interceptor on the sides instead of target locks. He has more utility than I gave him credit for.

B. This guy can take two drones with him. Which is nice with pathfinders which can take gear to make burst drones fire at 24". However since you can only take 4 drones which his powers work on and you really want your pathfinders to use marker lights instead of shooting 3 times at 24" I can't see any real reason to add him besides to split fire with the rail rifles.

C. After some debate and reading an army list, to lazy to look for it. This guy had an ideal to use the fire blade with the sniper drones. I admit that I have thought about it, but was cought up on the fact that it hampers jsj and you lose the benefits of extra shooting. However when I realized he helps keep that unit there and give a huge boost to leadership. His drones will be bs 5 due to the controller that is in the squad. Which mean the fire blade, 2 marker drones, and the controller can fire 4 marker lights at a separate target from the sniper team. Keeping in mind how cheap the fire blade is the tactic is nice. Not to mention the squad is tougher than normal tau and it have a stealth save, means a three plus in ruins. The only problem I see is that without an Ethereal I think the squad is good and with one it is great. However I figure with 9 sniper drones you can still get 18 rapid fire shots, although 27 would be gravy. The problem I am having is I don't know if I can run an Ethereal with O'Shova and if I want to even really take allies.

2. Rail sides with missile drone with a support commander, so far this has worked for me rather well. Also they have been durable enough to last all game long and been a thorn in most peoples games. I am debating on adding plasma, but the smart missiles have been useful. All I can say is typically I can put some hurt or wipe out units with theses guys. They have slain giants and the such.

3. I may go down to one riptides. I been using two which take a lot of incoming fire. With my revamp I am adding more melta guns and trying to use more cheap and versatile units over expensive units that may be taken out with one shot. The ideal here is I will add the shielded missile drones due to the addition of gravity weapons, I rather take wounds on 4s than 2s. Killing one drone does cause a leadership test which means I have to put the drones in the back. However I think I might use the independent character riptide, this will give me more options, like hiding with k root in face of gravity weapons and get a great cover save in trees.

4. The addition of Crisis Suits back in my army. Currently I been doing the suicide melta jumping which have been working rather well. That being said with O'Shova I can run 8 units of Crisis Suits if I desired. I stayed away from suits mostly due to instant death and the abundance of applications 3 weapons out there. However I am thinking of going to 1-2 man suit units which run 50-100 points. If I add in drones that is 75- 150 points a pop.

A. The possible combos seems awesome. For example I can take 2 suits with 4 drones and arm them with burst cannons. Than I can give one suit a drone controller and the other hit and run for example. With regular shooting the unit can dish out 24 strength 5 shots at bs 3 with 8 of the shots being twin linked for 14 hits killing about 3 marines or 12 horde type models for only 132 points which is better shooting with regular fire warriors at the same cost. With the option of deep striking and be scoring with hit and run options.

Going even further I can run units like with missiles and marker drones with target lock and controller. That way 2 suits can shoot separately from one suit with the drones. That means I can have suits sit back and fire several strength 7 shots and mark targets at the same time, meaning why bother with pathfinders.

5. I would also like to use my stealth suits again. For 30 points they are not bad. However due to only being able to take 2 drones instead of 2 per suit. I am thinking of running 2 mini squads of them. Not sure of what type of layout I want with them.

A. One layout is to have 2 marker drones and a team lead with a marker light for 3 marker lights. The team lead and the other suits can get target locks with the lead getting a controller. That way I can shoot 3 marker shots and the suits can fire separately from the squad.

B. Another thought is simply all pulse weapons with a fusion shooter with target lock. I probably won't bother with a controller with two drones and equip one guy with possibly hit and run.

Those are my main throughs. I will probably still run with a s kyray. I tried seekers on sides which is very situational. On the plus side your side can fire 6 strength 8 shots. It's good vs MCS, BUT seems over kill vs anything else.

Due to me dropping fire warriors, and my Ethereal. If I do run allies it will be with k root. However I think I may not really need to run allies as O'Shova.

I do want Fire Blade and Swiss Knife commander. Another commander with drone controller can be taken with one of the IC commanders. I might also take the IC Riptide. Depending on the game I can have several neat options.