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Where'd this idea come from?
The idea of this list came about as an extension of thinking about the Jump, Shoot, Jump mechanic and the problems it could encounter. Jump, Shoot, Jump typically requires terrain to hide behind, and the more models you have using JSJ, the harder it is to find enough terrain. The limited range of most Crisis Battlesuit weaponry compounds the issue. Most boards only feature a couple of pieces of terrain that are suitable for use _and_ are within 18-24" of the enemy.
Since the problem is having enough terrain, one way to get around it would be to expand the terrain that you can use. Having longer ranged weapons allows you to use more of the terrain on the board, since you can use pieces of terrain that would have been too far away for a shorter-ranged weapon.
Another possibility would be to attempt to not use the terrain. One way to do this might be to have very long-range weaponry, such that you can fire (or move, then fire) from outside the range of most or all of the enemy's weapons. I used a version of this in a recent game where my Broadsides were firing from beyond the range of all of the heavy weapons in the enemy army. They could stay safe and secure while picking their shots.
One more way to do this is to use something to keep the enemy from shooting you. A great example of this is the Sniper Drone Team. With a 36" range weapon and a Stealth field, such a unit is only vulnerable to fire if the enemy manages to close in. (With a Stealth Field, 30" range means they can only see you 1/6 of the time. This makes the unit less vulnerable than a squad of Terminators!)
One final problem inherent in a list based around being able to shoot without getting shot in return is that if only some units in your army can do this, the rest will take a lot of damage. I learned this quite early on in my experiments with a jumpy army. My mobile portions would do great, bursting out of cover, slamming the enemy, then hiding again. My static portions, however, would receive the firepower of the entire enemy army and I watched as my poor Shas 'La fell in droves. This means that if we want to employ this tactic on a large scale, we have to really go big or go home. If 3/4 of the army can do it, that other 1/4 will be shattered by the enemy in retaliation. Let's see what we can do to get everybody out of the line of fire.
Those that aren't hidden won't have any protection when it all drops in the pot.
What's the Big Idea?
Okay, so we have several answers to the problem. Let's take a look at each one to see how we can work it. First is the longer-ranged weaponry. The longest range weapon available to the Tau is, of course the railgun. With 72" range, it can reach out and touch anything and everything almost everywhere on the board. The next longest range in the Tau army is 36". This covers Missile Pods and Rail Rifles. Rail Rifles are only available on Pathfinders and Sniper Drone Teams, both of which are stationary, and that 36" range doesn't keep them out of range of most enemy heavy weapons (often 48" range.) On the other hand, Missile Pods are available on Crisis Battlesuits, meaning that they can Jump, Shoot out to 36" and then Jump away again. That jump might be behind terrain, or simply further away. Being able to shoot 36" and then jump 6" further away leaves you out of range of 36" range enemy weapons. This long range allows us to expand the options of terrain we can use. It also allows us to simply out-range most enemies.
That covers both the long-range options, now let's look at the Stealth Field. While Stealth Suits have this feature, the 18" range of their weaponry really doesn't allow it to operate to it's fullest extent. (18" range visibility against a Stealth field is about 58%. Even jumping back 6" away from their maximum range is only 24, which is visible about 42% of the time.) The 36" range of a Rail Rifle on a Sniper Drone allows much better usage. As I mentioned above, 30" is only visible 16% of the time, with 33" and 36" being 8% and 3% respectively. The less you can be seen, the less you will get hit, and the less you get hit, the longer you can stay alive and take down the enemy.
Each of these options by itself is limited. You can only have so many Crisis Battlesuits, so simply giving all of them Missile Pods isn't going to go far enough. There is a cap on the number of Sniper Drone Teams you can have, so they obviously aren't going to be able to do it all by themselves. Finally, there are only so many Railguns you can field, so they can't be the only option in the army. This in turn, is answered by the final problem, that of making sure everybody can take advantage of these tactics so that no unit is left behind.
Here is a recent attempt at using these tactics without all the right units. I used regular Jump, Shoot, Jump tactics with my Crisis Suits (using Plasma and Burst Cannon, so they all had to share one big terrain piece and you can see how crowded it is.) I also used the Long-range sniping from the Broadsides to good effect.
What units would be good for this
This list didn't require much in the way of Math-Hammering to determine the best units for this list. Missile Pods are far and away the longest-ranged weapons for Crisis Battlesuits, so Twinlinked Missile Pods it is. Sniper Drone Teams are the only Steath Field-equipped units with range over 18", so they were the best option. Finally, nothing comes close to the range of a Railgun, and they are roughly half as expensive on Broadsides, so there you go. I decided that of all the methods of staying out of harm's way in this list, the most reliable was the Jump, Shoot, Jump at long range. Thus, I chose the Crisis Battlesuits to be the bulk of the army and left the other units to simply round it out.
Two Crisis Battlesuits, one being painted while the other provides the example.
The List itself
103 Shas 'El: Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Target Array, HWTarget Lock
126 2xShas 'Ui Bodyguards: each with TL Missile Pod and Target Array
103 Shas 'El: Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Target Array, HWTarget Lock
126 2xShas 'Ui Bodyguards: each with TL Missile Pod and Target Array
159 3xShas 'Ui Crisis Suit: each with TL Missile Pod and Target Array
159 3xShas 'Ui Crisis Suit: each with TL Missile Pod and Target Array
159 3xShas 'Ui Crisis Suit: each with TL Missile Pod and Target Array
78 6xShas 'La FireWarriors: each with Pulse Rifle and EMP Grenades
78 6xShas 'La FireWarriors: each with Pulse Rifle and EMP Grenades
240 3xSniper Drone Team
80 Broadside: Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization
185 2xBroadside: each with Railgun, SMS, Advanced Stabilization. Tm Ldr w/HWTarget Lock, HWDrone Controller and 1 Shield Drone.
1496pts
One of my Broadsides, compensating for something.
Why did you pick that?
Well, the various Deathrains (TLMissile Pod) should be pretty obvious. The Missile Pod is by far the longest ranged weapon in the Crisis Battlesuit arsenal, so making it 50% more accurate by twin-linking it makes it _much_ more effective (50% to be precise!) than any other option beyond 24". Adding a Target Array kills two birds with one stone. First, it makes the shots significantly (13%) more likely to hit which means that you do more damage with the same number of battlesuits. It also takes care of the problem that you have to have a third hardpoint on a suit. One typical response is to throw on another weapon, but that makes the Battlesuit much more expensive without improving it's primary mission. Another typical response is to throw on the cheapest hardpoint option, the Black Sun Filter. While this can be useful in night games, when was the last time you played in one of those? Most of the time, the Black Sun Filter is simply a waste of points, even if it's only a small number of points. Added up over a large number of Battlesuits, that would be 45pts wasted in this list. Too many points for me, thanks. With what are effectively move and shoot, Twin-linked Autocannons as the core of the army, all but the heaviest infantry (such as Terminators) and the heaviest vehicles (AV14) are covered.
Making the Commanders into FireKnife-5s (Plasma, Missile Pod, Target Array, Shas 'El) gives me 2 Missile Pods that are essentially as accurate as the Deathrain 4s in the list (83% compared to 88%) and also adds 2 BS5 Plasmas to help against the heaviest infantry. While 2 Plasmas aren't huge, it does help cover a weakness of the list. The Sniper Drone Teams also help to up the ante against other heavy infantry (Specifically Armor Save 3+.) The Broadsides and the EMP FireWarriors add their punch against AV14 vehicles to round out the army.
What models do I already have for the list?
Well, I've already got 2 Broadsides, so I just need 1 more. I've also got 7 Crisis Battlesuits, though they would all need a weapon swap. After the weapon swaps, I'd need 8 more Crisis Battlesuits. I already have 12 FireWarriors and grenades don't need to be modeled, so those are done. Finally, I don't have any Sniper Drone Teams, so I would need to pick those up.
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