Email in: 1000 point tau tournament list

"Hey Kirby,

I've been following your blog for a while, and I have to say that I'm a huge fan. From the perspective of a newbie, I really enjoy the way you don't over complicate explanations and I've recommended your blog to some of my mates (don't be surprised if they email in too!). I'm a pretty new tau player myself, having only sunk my teeth into the hobby recently, and I am currently preparing for my first tournament *insert super excited emote here*. It's a newbie tournament for people like me, but I'd still like to make a list that has a competitive edge and chance to win a few games. Anyway, I was hoping to get some feedback for my 1k tournament list which is based heavily on Stelek's 2k variant. Thanks :)

XV8 Commander: 87 - shas'el w/ plasma rifle, missle pod, multi-tracker
XV8 Squad: 124 - 2 shas'ui w/ plasma rifle, missile pod, multi-tracker
XV8 Squad: 124 - 2 shas'ui w/ plasma rifle, missile pod, multi-tracker
Firewarrior Squad: 60 - 6 shas'la w/ pulse rifle
Kroot Carnivore Squad: 70 - 10 kroot w/ kroot rifle
Pathfinder Squad: 157 - 6 shas'la w/ markerlights, devilfish, disruption pod
XV88 Squad: 170 - 2 shas'ui w/ ASS, team leader, hard-wired target lock
Hammerhead: 180 - railgun, SMS, multi-tracker, target lock, disruption pod

It think it totals to 972, but my mental math isn't very good. Was a bit worried about the lack of drone protection on the broadsides, especially as there is only the hammer to draw lascannon, bright lance, etc. fire. Also wondering about the viability of pathfinders in such a list. Are there "enough guns" to benefit from the markers, or would i be better off spending that 157 points elsewhere?

Thanks again Kirby. :)

Regards,

A Confused Noob"

Glad another fan has revealed themselves and that you enjoy the content :).

I'm not a fan of 1000 points as you can make such unbalanced armies. For example, drop the PF and grab some more XV8s. You've got 1750 levels of firepower at 1000pts, nice isn't it? If you want to stick with a balanced list though, what you've got is pretty solid. I'd drop the extra points into Broadside Drones or Hounds. The PF aren't necessary at this points level either but are fine if you  keep them. If you drop them and want to stick with balanced (rather than more Crisis), get a cheap Fish for the FW and either another Kroot squad or Piranha to improve your defences. Oh and try and fit a hard-wired target lock on the commander so he can babysit someone. And before you go to your tourney, PRACTICE. Tau, more than any other army, need you to understand how to deploy their army and target priority. Without it, even with a good grasp of 40k tactics, you'll be fighting off assaults from the get-go.