Tau Armory: The Next Crisis Suit Build?

With a  couple packs of Crisis Suits kicking around my apartment, I am consider what my next weapon loadout should be for this unit. I plan on doing some heavy conversion work on them to set them apart from the rest but I still have not decided on their armament.

Cruising the web, I found a couple articles that I found very interesting and intrigueing. First off, we’ll start with a regular reader’s blog, Sufic Contingent, http://sufic-contingent.blogspot.com/. Shas”o D’Narb has an interesting army build that I really like. It packs in loads of firepower and relies on Kroot to claim and hold objectives.  He fields a total of 10 Crisis Suits with an original loadout,

1 Shas’Ui Team Leader with Twin-linked Flamer, Missile Pod, Blacksun Filter, Target Lock, 2 Shield Drones

2 Shas’Ui XV8s with Missile Pods, Plasma Rifles and Multitracker.

His army fields 3 of these units and a Shas’el with an Airbursting Fragmentation Launcher. This army thus has 6 AP2 weapons and 10 Missile Pods in units that can fire on two targets each per turn. The twin-linked flamer gives this unit some versatility. It can fire effectively at range and only gets better at shooting the closer the enemy gets. Note that this Build is effective mostly because Shas’O D’Narb fields a unit of pathfinders for markerlight support.

However, this isn’t the unit I’m looking for. Part of what makes this work in his army is what is in the rest of it.

What I am looking for is some volume of fire. So what first comes to mind is the Firestorm XV8. This buildout has a missile pod, burst cannon and multitracker. It sacrifices accuracy for more shots and is well-costed at 50 points. A full unit of three of them will be pumping out 6 S7 shots from range and 15 S5-S7 shots as the enemy closes. Obviously this is a build that will benefit greatly from markerlights. I’ve been thinking about this unit and tweaking it a bit from some inspiration from Sufic Contingent. My buildout would be deployed as follows:

1 Shas’Ui Team Leader with Twin-linked Flamer, Missile Pod, Hard-Wired ‘Tracker, Hard-Wired Drone Controller and 2 Gun Drones

2 Shas’Ui XV8s with Burst Cannons, Missile Pods and ‘Trackers.

This unit can pump out 6 S7 shots, 8 S5 shots and one S4 Template, re-rollable wounds. It also has a higher model count and the small (very small almost not worth mentioning) chance of pinning. Model count at 5 means losing one model will not cause a Morale Check and I’ve got three different types of models for wound allocation. I think it would fit well in a list that incorporates markerlights (which is something I am working back into my list). This unit should be able to start the game popping transports and only gets better as the game goes on and the firefights get more intense. I feel it is a pretty versatile build while keeping the points cost down. The unit also means that my FireKnives will be able to focus more on hunting down heavy infantry like terminators and monstrous creatures.

That said, I’ve never fielded this unit. Only the tests of battle can tell. More on that later in the week.

What kind of crisis suits are you all fielding? Have you discovered an usual loadout you’ve found particularly effective?