First off, apologies for the very shadowy artificial light picture. I was hoping the sun would be out when I got home from work but sadly it's dark and miserable so I had to make do with spotlights. Still, you get the idea. As I say, it's only to a gaming standard but I like the overall effect. Looks like plenty of models too which always feels nice when you deploy! Since I've seen all your lists here's mine:
1,850pts of Tau Empire
Ethereal
Commander (fusion blaster, plasma rifle, target lock, vectored retro-thrusters, iridium battlesuit)
12 Fire Warriors
12 Fire Warriors
12 Fire Warriors w/ Devilfish (disruption pod)
11 Kroot + 1 Kroot Hound
11 Kroot + 1 Kroot Hound
3 Crisis Shas'la (twin-linked fusion blaster, plasma rifle)
2 Crisis Shas'la (missile pod, twin-linked missile pod), Crisis Shas'vre (2x missile pod, PENchip)
Riptide (fusion, ion, early warning override, velocity tracker)
7 Pathinders
7 Pathfinders
Sun Shark Bomber (twin-linked missile pod, decoy launchers)
Hammerhead Gunship (Longstrike, submunitions, SMS, sensor spines, disruption pod)
The core of the army is the three large squads of fire warriors. These will take advantage of the Ethereal's Storm of Fire power to put out a serious amount of S5 shots at 15". I wasn't sure about whether to include the devilfish or spend the points of upgrading some of the other units but it provides some much needed mobility in the closing stages and can protect a unit on my home objective if necessary. The kroot make for some cheap scoring which can outflank/infiltrate as required. This gives me 5 troop choices which is fairly good for 1,850pts. Granted none of them are particularly hardy.
The missile crisis team is geared up to fight either MCs or vehicles thanks to the PENchip which can make S7 a lot more potent against high armour values. Their range and mobility should keep them alive for a decent amount of time against most armies. The other crisis team joins the commander and is the anti-deathstar unit. There aren't many things that can stand up to their alpha strike, especially with some marker hits.
The marker hits come from the two squads of pathfinders which hopefully help me cause some pain in the first couple of turns. The reason for the squads of 7 is partly due to points restrictions but also because I think it offers just the right amount of hits. Ideally you want 3-4 to allow you to strip cover and fire at BS5. It also means that there aren't too many points sunk into a flimsy squad. The only other markerlight comes from the sun shark but that has the benefit of having Skyfire even if it is only BS3. I toyed with the idea of using a Sky Ray but I really like the bomber. In my practice games the drones have been great. The bomber doesn't last long but even if it blows up the drones can still provide some firepower.
Finally, we come to the Riptide. I've spoken recently about what he offers. Basically, between him, the missile suits and the Sun Shark I should be able to deal with most flyers. Some might think the velocity tracker is too much for something that's only BS3 but it's worth it if you ask me. Of course he's going to be fairly hit and miss. Most armies that really fear him will try and take him down quickly which isn't all that difficult. Everyone else will ignore him I expect, despite his size!
