Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Tau (section)

====Ranged Weapons====
These are chosen for Crisis suits, including the Commander and his Bodyguards.

'''Note:''' You can make a weapon twin-linked for some extra points and it will take up a second hard point (same as last codex), or you can take multiples of the same weapon at the base cost for each. Example: You could take a Plasma Rifle for 15 points, Twin-Linked Plasma Rifle for 20 points, or two individual Plasma Rifles for 30 points (15 points each). 

* '''Airbursting Fragmentation Projector*:''' This was iffy in the last codex when it was damn near the only thing with a blast template, and it's still iffy now. An average S and AP mean that Pulse Carbines and Rifles out class it in most aspects. It's only really useful against [[Imperial Guard|cover-camping cowards]]. Cover camping blob armies will be kinda pissed, but anyone with a reasonable Sv or T will laugh it off. The update from blast to large blast helps it though. It is worth noting that this is the only Barrage weapon in the entire codex. Flamers do the same STR and AP, ignores cover , costs 10 points less, and gets guaranteed hits in overwatch (they both ignore cover, and this gets more hits regularly and has better range). Pass. 
* '''Burst Cannon:''' Same as last time except with 1 extra shot. Good for dealing with light infantry and when combined with a flamer it's awesome at tackling hordes. However you get lots of S5 AP5 shots elsewhere. All in all, not a bad choice but not a great one either, this weapon will be more likely to come into its own with other wargear made to take maximum advantage of it.  If you are going to take them, consider taking two of them on one unit as the separately linked weapons, and chug out ''eight'' shots from a single Crisis suit per turn, and indulge your Gatling fetish, [[Heterosexual Sex in the Missionary Position|you sick bastard]]. An even better option is taking three suits doubled up on burst cannons for the ultimate ninja-pulse team. 24 5/5 shots out of nowhere, even better if they're marker-lit up (do it, you don't want those shots to miss), and it gets absolutely retarded when the suits have six gun drones. Say good-bye to that guardian cluster, guardsman squad, ork boy mob, guant team... or at least enough that the rest is laughably pitiful. More troll-worthy than anything to see the look on your opponent's face when your three suits drop THAT many dice.  Watch enemy [[Ork]]s go green(er) with envy at the absolutely XBOX HUEG amount of dakka you put out. 
** If you're gonna go Farsight Crisiswing outfitting a team with double Burst Cannons (and gun drones for a taste) can be perfect at clearing hordes or cheap and fast tarpit units like DE beasts or Chaos Spaw...WAIT, NO I DIDN'T MEAN-ARSPLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBL
* '''Cyclic Ion Blaster*:''' This has been changed to be an extra shot missile pod in normal mode (with half the range). In overcharge mode it becomes a +1S blast. The only downside is the chance to burn your little weeaboo fingers. Not a bad choice as it costs the same as a missile pod, and with the +1S blast may actual give you some anti-light vehicle capabilities,  but it doesn't have the option to TL.
* '''Flamer:''' Good old reliable, If you have points and hard-points to spare stick them on. They are a good deterrent for weaker units trying to tie up battlesuits. Another idea is to stick them on a crisis suit who has a TL-Burst cannon, since Multi-trackers come as standard now it's a good way of cheap fire at 42pts <s>32pts (22+5+5)</s> (22+15[TL-BC]+5) a model. Just remember that you only get to fire a single weapon in overwatch (multi-tracker specifies shooting phase)(actually, if someone gets semantic about that, the page where it says a unit can only fire one weapon also specifies shooting phase), so loading double flamers on to suits for extra OW hits is a no-go.  That said, you can take two as a single twin-linked weapon and that twin-linked flamer ''can'' be fired on Overwatch, giving it all that to-wound re-rolling flaming goodness as your enemy charges in.  *addendum* overwatch is defined as a shooting phase in your enemys assault, blow away!
* '''Fusion Blaster:''' 6" extra to the range might not seem like a lot, but it is. This makes deep striking and cracking open the soft caramel center of vehicles all that much easier. Properly measured, it puts you on average 16" away from the vehicle that you just exploded at the end of your assault phase, making charges from units left to defend them far less likely.
* '''Missile Pod:''' Excellent for sniping walkers, other light vehicles and the odd monstrous critter or two (Ones with invuls or low armour svs to be exact). The low output of shots however means that battlesuits equipped with these should avoid firing at larger sized units unless they have no better option. A tactic of old was to stick one of these with a plasma rifle. This tactic still works thanks to good range. Now that Multi-tracker comes as standard it leaves a hard-point open to be filled. Velocity Tracker or Early-warning override are good choices in this ever flyer centric age.
* '''Plasma Rifle:''' Before the inclusion of the Riptide and the new Ion weapons, this was the Tau's only source of reliable AP2 weaponry. Not that the new codex has not stopped their usefulness. They have good range, stopping power and are rapid-fire. Stick them on and go troll me some big fat slow Terminators. In truth though even a full unit all equipped with TL-Plasma rifles are still going to need more than 6 shots, so consider a <s>Missile-pod or burst cannon</s> second plasma rifle (thanks, FAQ!) to back you up. 

''*Only one of these experimental weapons each may be taken '''per detachment.''' This allows for more than one each in 2000+ games, but they will need to be in different units.