Warhammer 40K Tabletop X: "Everybody Expects The Inquisition!"

[Timberwolf]

Last game I played was against Tau. I kinda felt my opponent had a few too many Crisis suits and not enough fire warriors. With a bit more massed anti infantry fire, my assault marines would probably have not made it (5 rapid firing tau is 10 dice, but 10 throw 20 dice. I know which I'd rather face and I had to weather a round of rapid firing before I could assault.) The Crisis suits just didn't kill enough, because they only have so many guns, and 20 Feel No Paining Assault marines take a bit of killing.

[Lowkey Lyesmith]

Against 20 feel no pain assult marines it's no guarantee that fire warriors would have been better.

But as I said, I like fire warriors. str 5 is awsome. But, usually suits is what will win the day.

[Irbis]

Levels of incompetence even I had no idea I could reach: I don't have 20 bikers.
Also, it appears that biker squads can't take storm shields, which is a pity.

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Marine Captain: Bike, Relic Blade
[165]

5 Scouts: Sniper Rifles, Missile Launcher, Camocloaks
[100]

5 Bikers: Power Fist, Flamer, Flamer
[185]

5 Bikers: Power Sword, Meltagun, Meltagun
[175]

5 Bikers: Power Fist, Meltagun, Plasma Gun
[190]

Better, but I'd consider adding Tellion, as he gives camo effect for free, thus he would cost you little. Or do this:

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Marine Captain: Bike, Relic Blade, Storm Shield
[180]

Master of the Forge: Bike, Beamer [155]

5 Scouts: Sniper Rifles, Missile Launcher, Tellion
[135]

5 Bikers: Power Sword, Flamer, Flamer
[165]

5 Bikers: Power Sword, Meltagun, Meltagun
[175]

5 Bikers: Power Fist, Meltagun, Plasma Gun
[190]

So im wanting to get into 40k, and i was wondering what a good all around useful tau army build might be. Something in the 1000-1500 point range.

We had big discussion recently, find it (search for 'Fireknife') and read until you decide to drop them

Last game I played was against Tau. I kinda felt my opponent had a few too many Crisis suits and not enough fire warriors. With a bit more massed anti infantry fire, my assault marines would probably have not made it (5 rapid firing tau is 10 dice, but 10 throw 20 dice. I know which I'd rather face and I had to weather a round of rapid firing before I could assault.) The Crisis suits just didn't kill enough, because they only have so many guns, and 20 Feel No Paining Assault marines take a bit of killing.

How exactly these weather plasma weaponry of the suits while fearing pulse rifles that hit much less often and are stopped by FNP?

[Fcannon]

Last game I played was against Tau. I kinda felt my opponent had a few too many Crisis suits and not enough fire warriors. With a bit more massed anti infantry fire, my assault marines would probably have not made it (5 rapid firing tau is 10 dice, but 10 throw 20 dice. I know which I'd rather face and I had to weather a round of rapid firing before I could assault.) The Crisis suits just didn't kill enough, because they only have so many guns, and 20 Feel No Paining Assault marines take a bit of killing.

Except that Crisis suits (should) have plasma rifles, which ignore power armor and FNP. And Crisis suits have more options to ensure they don't miss (markelights, buying their guns twin-linked or buying targeting arrays vs. fire warriors just having markerlights). And they fail to-wound less often. Fire warriors rapid-firing their pulse guns will almost never out-wound crisis teams rapid-firing their plamsa rifles.

[Timberwolf]

Because there wasn't enough plasma weaponry to stop them my dear Irbis, that's why.

Lemme see, each crisis suit can pack what ? One plasma rifle ? There were 5 Crisis suits so allowing for rapid fire, that's 10 plasma shots. Assuming they all hit and wound, (which even the most die hard arguer to the last round and man will accept will happen so very rarely) then yes, that's enough to stop one of my squads before I rock up with what BA do best. Only problem was the Dreadnaught rampaging that was claiming the Crisis suits' attention as the Stormraven I was trying out that day was occupying the Broadsides. What was there for stopping infantry was firewarriors and there weren't enough of them.

Edit. I'm not going to claim I'm particularly right here, as it's all based on what I saw and people can crunch the numbers and claim many things which might well fall down when the dice are thrown. I'll just say, shooty orks work well enough, so there's something to be said for large amounts of guns instead of less, better ones.

[Irbis]

By the way, fresh from the new spoilers:

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Inquisitor Valeria
...
Ordo Xenos Inquisitor

Finally, I'll be able to put Amberley Vail on the table

As for Cain...

Grand Master "Mordrack"
...
GK Grand Master

This guy should be good counts-as

[Fcannon]

I'm not going to claim I'm particularly right here, as it's all based on what I saw and people can crunch the numbers and claim many things which might well fall down when the dice are thrown. I'll just say, shooty orks work well enough, so there's something to be said for large amounts of guns instead of less, better ones.

Well, sure, it's still a game of dice. More dice=more chances to get lucky etc. I'd just say that BA are probably the army that tactic is least effective against. 3+/FNP units screen out like 80% of the AP-poor wounds that get rolled on them, and high-density armies tend to have poorer BS (and Str on their guns), so they produce fewer wounds per man in the first place.

[Nameless Ghost]

Last game I played was against Tau. I kinda felt my opponent had a few too many Crisis suits and not enough fire warriors. With a bit more massed anti infantry fire, my assault marines would probably have not made it (5 rapid firing tau is 10 dice, but 10 throw 20 dice. I know which I'd rather face and I had to weather a round of rapid firing before I could assault.) The Crisis suits just didn't kill enough, because they only have so many guns, and 20 Feel No Paining Assault marines take a bit of killing.

What weapons loadout did the suits have? When looking at the Fireknife config (Plasma/Missile/Multi-tracker), the suits should hurt Assault Marines - even with FNP - much much more effectively than Fire Warriors.

Ninja Edit: Why did the Crisis Suits only get a single turn of firing? 3 or 4 turns of Plasma+Secondary weapon should devastate Marines of any kind, specially when backed up by Markerlights.

Maybe your opponent rolled poorly, but Broadsides should bring down a Stormraven or Dreadnought with relative ease. And having Crisis Suits shoot at a Dread is usually a waste because Plasma/Missiles isn't very effective even on an AV12 Dread. A Furioso just laughs at them.

Dragonus45
This is my go-to Tau list, 1750 points.

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HQ
Crisis Commander
Shas'el w/ Missile pod, Plasma rifle, Multi-tracker

Troops
Fire Warrior Team
6 Shas'la w/ Pulse rifle

Kroot Team
10 Kroot
7 Kroot Hounds

Kroot Team
10 Kroot
7 Kroot Hounds

Elites
Crisis Battlesuit Team
3 Shas'ui w/ Plasma rifle, Missile pod, Multi-tracker

Crisis Battlesuit Team
3 Shas'ui w/ Plasma rifle, Missile pod, Multi-tracker

Crisis Battlesuit Team
3 Shas'ui w/ Plasma rifle, Missile pod, Multi-tracker

Fast Attack
Pathfinder Team
6 Shas'la w/ Pulse carbine with markerlight target designator
Devilfish APC w/ Burst cannon, Disruption pod, Marker beacon

Piranha w/ Fusion blaster, 2 Gun drones, Targetting array, Disruption pod

Piranha Squadron
2 Piranha w/ Fusion blaster, 2 Gun drones, Targetting array, Disruption pod

Heavy Support
Broadside Battlesuit Team
1 Shas'ui team leader w/ Twin-linked railgun, Smart missile system, Advanced stabilisation system, Hard-wired drone controller, 2 Shield drones, Hard-wired target lock, Hard-wired blacksun filter
2x Shas'ui w/ Twin-linked railgun, Smart missile system, Advanced stabilisation system

Hammerhead Gunship
w/ Railgun, 2 Burst cannons, Targetting array, Disruption pod

Taking it down to 1500, I would likely cut a Broadside, the Pathfinders (and give their Fish to the Fire Warriors), a Piranha and the numbers on the Kroot.

For 1000, I would lose a unit of Kroot, some Piranhas, the Hammerhead and some of the Crisis suits. I'd probably go with 2 squads of 3. But the Crisis suits and Broadsides make up the core of the army and give you the majority of your firepower. Everything else in the army is a distraction.

Which is, I think, the key to taking apart this kind of Tau list. Most people I play against shoot at the Broadsides, or at the Hammerhead, or at the Piranhas. Or they fire anti-infantry guns into the Kroot. This is their mistake. You beat Tau by looking to see where their firepower lies (i.e.: Crisis Suits) and you destroy those units in their entirety.

[crazedloon]

well a unit of suits vs warriors at rapid fire range (suits with plasma, fusion ( mainly so the math is easier on these guys ) and targeting system)

3x suits = 201pt
9 shots
6 hits
5 wounds (dead dead provided no cover)

20x warriors = 200pt
40 shots
20 hits
13.3 wounds
4.4 dead

so yes the suits can deal more wounds point for point (and it gets more in the favor for the suits vs BA) however
-they also are more impacted by failed saves (each death = 1/3 power loss)
-they are not scoring
-they hit 1 target in this case (vs the warriors 2 targets if need be)

this is ignoring strategy and range issues (the warriors will get more shots at the target if stationary but the suits superior movement can allow them to draw out more shots even with the shorter range) but I think the issue suit vs warrior is not as cut and dry as most feel it is.

[Incomp]

Note warriors get markerlights as well. (I...think) Which are awesome. There are always too few markerlights in Tau armies.

[Timberwolf]

What weapons loadout did the suits have? When looking at the Fireknife config (Plasma/Missile/Multi-tracker), the suits should hurt Assault Marines - even with FNP - much much more effectively than Fire Warriors.

Ninja Edit: Why did the Crisis Suits only get a single turn of firing? 3 or 4 turns of Plasma+Secondary weapon should devastate Marines of any kind, specially when backed up by Markerlights.

Maybe your opponent rolled poorly, but Broadsides should bring down a Stormraven or Dreadnought with relative ease. And having Crisis Suits shoot at a Dread is usually a waste because Plasma/Missiles isn't very effective even on an AV12 Dread. A Furioso just laughs at them.

I couldn't tell you the loadout as this was my first encounter with Tau and I don't know the codex. However, he was shooting his HQ unit and a Crisis team at my Dreadnought, while his Broadsides engaged the Stormraven (I lost a weapon in his 1st round of firing and therefore had no reason not to move flat out continually, giving me that lovely +4 save). I would imagine it was because the Firewarriors really didn't stand a chance of killing it and the suits might have. He also had a Fusion blaster somewhere I think (although I'm not sure where and it's been a few days, so can't remember.)

[Craftworld]

Was the Tau player a new guy?

[Timberwolf]

No idea. I didn't ask.

[Dragonus45]

Somewhat unfortunately, as some people might say, i am rather dedicated to playing the Tau, as the only other option personally in the IG, and to be honest as much of a IG fanboy as i am im just not interested in playing them in tabletop as well as in the DOW games. And I'm not totally new to 40k, as i dabbled in space marines for a while after the battle for black reach came out. However i tricked a friend into joining the 40k way of life by giving him all the orks in that set that i never used. And dragged a third friend in with said space marine half of the set. After talking to the guy who owns the local gaming shop my understanding is that they do a regular escalation thing, where they start at something like 750 points and move on up to 1500 slowly every game.

[Tome]

Last game I played was against Tau. I kinda felt my opponent had a few too many Crisis suits and not enough fire warriors. With a bit more massed anti infantry fire, my assault marines would probably have not made it (5 rapid firing tau is 10 dice, but 10 throw 20 dice. I know which I'd rather face and I had to weather a round of rapid firing before I could assault.) The Crisis suits just didn't kill enough, because they only have so many guns, and 20 Feel No Paining Assault marines take a bit of killing.

This... should not happen, unless he was fielding too few Crisis Suits. Plasma Rifles on Crisis Suits are so good that there's very little reason not to take them, beyond the rather hefty cost. Against things with 3+ Saves or FNP they will tear straight through them. I field a full 9 Crisis Suits nowadays - plus my commander - and I've yet to be disappointed by the number of marines they kill.

In fact, I actually had a game today against Chaos Marines player that was won entirely due to my Crisis Suits. Some terrible luck with the dice allowed him to get multiple units of Berzerkers into my lines unimpeded on turn 2 and it was only the mobility of my Crisis Suits and the killing power of their Plasma Rifles that let me whittle his berzerkers down. And by "whittle down" I mean "table him". The game ended with him having two weapon-less Rhinos and me having five Crisis Suits, my Commander and two Broadsides. The last Berzerker actually got squashed when he charged a unit of Crisis Suits solo with a Power Fist.

[Craftworld]

Oh, my local shop had a Paint and Play where that happened...it has been going on for over a year now...crazy...I should have joined in all those months ago. But IG is a fun army to play with on the table top and Tau are just as fun...but in my opinion I love to play my Eldar more than those two armies.
This post was directed at Dragonus45...stinking refresh...

[Craftworld]

Hey, thinking of expanding the amount of armies taht I play. Looking to go Chaos Marines with a Thousands Sons Rubric Mariney center. How should I do this and other than the Thousand Sons box(s), what should I buy? Should I get Ahriman or just like a lot of other characters, can I go with a basic Sorceror and boost that guy?

[Irbis]

From another spoiler: GK has a guy making

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Thunderwolf-equivalent troops. Troops

Besides such little detail as having higher stats than Vect and Lelith put together. Mmmm.

Cheapest army in WH40K, here I come :P

[Tome]

Somewhat unfortunately, as some people might say, i am rather dedicated to playing the Tau, as the only other option personally in the IG, and to be honest as much of a IG fanboy as i am im just not interested in playing them in tabletop as well as in the DOW games. And I'm not totally new to 40k, as i dabbled in space marines for a while after the battle for black reach came out. However i tricked a friend into joining the 40k way of life by giving him all the orks in that set that i never used. And dragged a third friend in with said space marine half of the set. After talking to the guy who owns the local gaming shop my understanding is that they do a regular escalation thing, where they start at something like 750 points and move on up to 1500 slowly every game.

Tau can win, but you have to be a bit more tactical about it. The biggest thing you have to learn is how to prioritise targets. A good general rule is: Railgun the transports first, shoot everything else at anything that can move faster than 6 inches a turn.

A bit of advice on buying stuff:

• Pathfinders are good, though best converted out of Fire Warriors. Leave off the shoulder pads and backpacks, give them Pulse Carbines - use the spares from your actual Fire Warriors.
• Never buy actual Hammerhead boxes, though the tanks themselves are amazing in game. Instead get the Skyray box which contains the Hammerhead stuff plus the Skyray stuff.
• Piranhas are a bit all-or-nothing. Either get 4-5 of them, or don't get any.
• The metal bits for the Broadsides are generally of terrible quality. Consider spending the extra £9.50 for the Forgeworld ones if you care about that sort of thing.
• Kroot Hounds are expensive, try to convert them instead. I used Kroot Heads on Crypt Ghoul bodies myself.
• Magnetising the weapons on your Crisis Suits is a very good idea.

As for units:

• The Good: Crisis Suits, Pathfinders, Broadsides, Hammerheads
• The Mediocre: Stealth Suits, Fire Warriors, Devilfish, Kroot Carnivores, Kroot Hounds, Piranhas, Skyrays
• The Bad: Krootox, Kroot Shapers, Gun Drone Squadrons, Vespid, Sniper Drone Teams
• The Ugly: Ethereals, Farsight, Shadowsun, Aun'Va

Oh, and always have plenty of Railguns. Everyone loves Railguns. Except, you know, the guy you're shooting with them.

[Partof1]

I feels accomplished! I went to my lgs today with the intent of working on my Rhinos, but there an odd number of people playing the tourney, so I was drafted/joined in. I made my list in 5 minutes, and had to borrow a rhino from another guy, as mine are still in pieces. I put up a fight against blood angels first round. The guy used some dreads, and assault squads, primarily. I would've tied, but I didn't focus as much on objectives as I should've, and his biker HQ thing survived many rounds more than he should've in CC with a Daemon prince and a squad of Thousand Sons. "Oh well, I now know I can do something useful after many months," I thought.

My second round against BA, with Psyker Dreads and Mephiston was a bloodbath. He jumped into me, and pretty much froze everything in Close Combat, making me all but helpless as Meph blitzed through my Berzerkers, and Dreads and assault squads whittled down my Prince. Was not pleasant.

Against IG, controlled by the most experienced player there, I did well. His Valkries (or vendettas, something) Destroyed my rhino, but then my Berzerkers charged it, and took it down, with the contents destroyed next turn. The Prince killed a Leman Russ, before succumbing to massed small arms fire from 4 tanks (Chimeras, I believe). My Vanilla Marines immobilized one tank, and he immobilized another by driving through rough terrain unsuccessfully. My Sorcerer Bolt of Changed a second flying thing, and the guard inside were charged by the 'zerkers shortly after. My Thousand Sons took fire for many turns, losing few men, but my Vanilla marines all but perished from a Heavy flamer burst from the immobilized Chimera, and spent the last couple turns retreating after a failed moral test. The Sorcerer charged the Chimera and failed to Krak grenade it, losing his last wound to a flamer burst from inside. I won with one more killpoint, greatly frustrating my opponent. It was a good game, and I had some remarkable luck, but i'd say today was as good a return to the game as any.

[Craftworld]

Sounds like fun...wish that the Rogue Trader would hurry up and get here so that I can do tourneys!

[Nameless Ghost]

Tau can win, but you have to be a bit more tactical about it. The biggest thing you have to learn is how to prioritise targets. A good general rule is: Railgun the transports first, shoot everything else at anything that can move faster than 6 inches a turn.

This is definitely the key thing anyone starting to play Tau needs to learn. In general, you want to be de-meching as many units as possible. Once the majority of your opponent is on foot, then turn your attention to silencing their biggest guns. All the while, the Crisis teams stun/shake anything attempting to shoot back at you and lend their firepower to stopping transports once you run out of Railguns.

[Hootman]

I have returned from my weekend triumphant! I had a 1500 point Annialation game against some Sisters of Battle, and it was pretty awesome. I managed to score about 6 kill points (about 50% vehicles) over 4 turns, while my unlucky opponent failed to score a single one.

((When I say unlucky, I mean it. He started exiling the dice that rolled ones, and he was completely out in a half-turn.))

Obviously, I had a good run of luck in this game, but I still felt really good about it. My Scouts finally did something useful, bringing down his Canoness, and my Terminators soaked up a lot of fire and managed to stay standing, if only just. Unfortunately, Pedro and the Honor Guard never made it into close combat; I know I need to work on getting my heavy melee units into the thick of things more quickly.

Codex: Space Marines

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HQ
1 Chapter Master Pedro Kantor, 175pts
Attached to Honor Guard

5 Honor Guard, 225pts
(Doesn't take up an HQ slot)
Razorback

Elites
5 Terminators, 200pts
Stormbolters and Powerfists (Powersword Sergeant)

9 Sterguard Veterans, 270pts
Heavy Flamer, May capture objectives due to Kantor
Rhino

Troops
10 Tactical Marines, 215pts
Plasma Gun, Multimelta
Rhino

10 Scouts, 180pts
Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks, Missile Launcher

Heavy Support
5 Devastators, 150pts
4 Missile Launchers

1 Variable Tank Unit, 85pts
EITHER Predator with Heavy Bolter Sponsons
OR Whirlwind

Point Total: 1500

If anyone has any suggestions as to how I might streamline my list a bit, I'm all ears. I was hoping to stick a Cyclone Missile Launcher on one of my Terminators, but I don't know where I might be able to easily shave the points to get it.

[Irbis]

If anyone has any suggestions as to how I might streamline my list a bit, I'm all ears. I was hoping to stick a Cyclone Missile Launcher on one of my Terminators, but I don't know where I might be able to easily shave the points to get it.

Well, you have a few non-competitive units, but how about...

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HQ
1 Chapter Master Pedro Kantor, 175pts
- Attached to Honor Guard

4 Honor Guard, 225pts
- Las/Plas Razorback

Elites
5 Tactical Terminators, 230pts
- Cyclone

10 Sterguard Veterans, 305pts
- 2x Heavy Flamer, Rhino

Troops
10 Tactical Marines, 215pts
- Plasma Gun, Multimelta, Rhino

10 Scouts, 200pts
- Sniper Rifles, Tellion, Missile Launcher

Heavy Support
5 Devastators, 150pts
- 4 Missile Launchers

Point Total: 1500

At least I'd do it that way with your models. Also, you don't have to write default armaments.

[Arcanoi]

I have returned from my weekend triumphant! I had a 1500 point Annialation game against some Sisters of Battle, and it was pretty awesome. I managed to score about 6 kill points (about 50% vehicles) over 4 turns, while my unlucky opponent failed to score a single one.

((When I say unlucky, I mean it. He started exiling the dice that rolled ones, and he was completely out in a half-turn.))

Obviously, I had a good run of luck in this game, but I still felt really good about it. My Scouts finally did something useful, bringing down his Canoness, and my Terminators soaked up a lot of fire and managed to stay standing, if only just. Unfortunately, Pedro and the Honor Guard never made it into close combat; I know I need to work on getting my heavy melee units into the thick of things more quickly.

Codex: Space Marines

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HQ
1 Chapter Master Pedro Kantor, 175pts
Attached to Honor Guard

5 Honor Guard, 225pts
(Doesn't take up an HQ slot)
Razorback

Elites
5 Terminators, 200pts
Stormbolters and Powerfists (Powersword Sergeant)

9 Sterguard Veterans, 270pts
Heavy Flamer, May capture objectives due to Kantor
Rhino

Troops
10 Tactical Marines, 215pts
Plasma Gun, Multimelta
Rhino

10 Scouts, 180pts
Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks, Missile Launcher

Heavy Support
5 Devastators, 150pts
4 Missile Launchers

1 Variable Tank Unit, 85pts
EITHER Predator with Heavy Bolter Sponsons
OR Whirlwind

Point Total: 1500

If anyone has any suggestions as to how I might streamline my list a bit, I'm all ears. I was hoping to stick a Cyclone Missile Launcher on one of my Terminators, but I don't know where I might be able to easily shave the points to get it.

Pedro should never get within 8" of Close Combat. He's a Powerfist T4 IC. If he gets into close combat, he'll probably die. Never take Pedro unless you're also taking at least 15 Sternguard. Don't take Shooty Terminators in C:SM; they're just bad. Honor Guard will never pull their weight, even with 5 attacks in CC, it's still CCW attacks and it's still 35 points a model.

[Dragonus45]

This is definitely the key thing anyone starting to play Tau needs to learn. In general, you want to be de-meching as many units as possible. Once the majority of your opponent is on foot, then turn your attention to silencing their biggest guns. All the while, the Crisis teams stun/shake anything attempting to shoot back at you and lend their firepower to stopping transports once you run out of Railguns.

I bought the codex today so i could plan what i want before i buy stuff i'll never need, and i have a few questions. So i should skip out on getting more fire warriors like i was thinking and get more heavy weapon suits, and give no piranhas to the ones do get? Also is it worth war gearing the hell out of my command suit and his body guards? Is there a reason i shouldn't have as many marker drones, and or marker lights as i can find points for. And how do i make pathfinders out of mt fire warriors? It might be more obvious once i have them in hand, but im a bit leery about conversions. My experience with a lot of 40k players has been, well scaring for lack of a better word, when it comes to respecting the craftingly challenged.

[Irbis]

I bought the codex today so i could plan what i want before i buy stuff i'll never need, and i have a few questions. So i should skip out on getting more fire warriors like i was thinking and get more heavy weapon suits, and give no piranhas to the ones do get?

Skip. Fireknives for the win.

Also is it worth war gearing the hell out of my command suit and his body guards?

Bodies > wargear.

Is there a reason i shouldn't have as many marker drones, and or marker lights as i can find points for.

Lack of firepower.

My experience with a lot of 40k players has been, well scaring for lack of a better word, when it comes to respecting the craftingly challenged.

Hm?

Also - we don't bite, you don't have to belittle yourself by 'i' :P

[crazedloon]

Skip. Fireknives for the win.

not really......

math-hammer

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vs MEQ (i.e. over half the armies in the game)

3x fire knives [186pts]
plasma, missile, multi tracker

13+inches
hits: plasma 1.5 , missiles 3
wounds: plasma 1.25, missiles 2.5
dead: plasma 1.25, missiles .83

12-inches
hits: plasma 3, missiles 3
wounds: plasma 2.5, missiles 2.5
dead: plasma 2.5, missiles .83

18 fire warriors [180]
13+ inches
hits: 9
wounds: 6
dead: 2

12- inches
hits:18
wounds: 12
dead: 4

That shows a slight advantage at range to the knife but up close it falls behind, the knives also
-die outright to str 8
-lose 1/3 their power with each death (or 2 wounds)
-do not score
-less wounds outright
-only deal their reliable wounds in the open (add cover and the warriors pull ahead)

Again IMHO the warrior is the better investment because they do what the suit does for cheaper. The suits should be used for fusion blasters nearly explicitly (tank hunting) with the missiles as the long range option.

Bodies > wargear.

nearly true always (95% of the time) and thus the above

--------
marker drones cost too much

otherwise get as many marker lights as you can

[Nameless Ghost]

Also is it worth war gearing the hell out of my command suit and his body guards?

I think you're better off buying a normal unit of Crisis suits and attaching the Commander to them. The only advantage the Command team has over the Elites team is the ability to take more wargear. Getting +1 BS for 20 points per model is so not worth it.

Is there a reason i shouldn't have as many marker drones, and or marker lights as i can find points for.

Marker drones are expensive, and give little benefit over normal markerlights, so I would suggest you don't use them. As Irbis said, there's no point having a ton of markerlights but hardly any guns to benefit from them. You generally want to have more guns, but a single unit of Pathfinders can usually work at most point levels.

And how do i make pathfinders out of mt fire warriors? It might be more obvious once i have them in hand, but im a bit leery about conversions.

The easiest thing to do, certainly for beginner, is to simply not attach the shoulder pad and to give them Pulse Carbines.

If you feel like you want to try it, you could try to replicate the Markerlight that sits on top of the Pulse Carbine (see the metal models for an example). This is most easily done by cutting the grenade launcher off a spare Pulse Carbine and gluing it to the top of the Carbine on the Fire Warrior Pathfinder, but there are of course other ways to do it.

My experience with a lot of 40k players has been, well scaring for lack of a better word, when it comes to respecting the craftingly challenged.

There are idiots in all things and Warhammer is no exception. By on the whole, you'll find other gamers/modellers/painters to be friendly and full of advice.

Skip. Fireknives for the win.

This! This times, well. 10. Seeing as that's how many I run.

Ninja edit: r.e.: Fire Warriors:
Mathhammer isn't the be all and end all in determining if a unit is worth using.

You bring Fireknives because there's simply no other place in the army to bring S6/7 firepower effectively, and that is required for reliably shutting down light vehicles, stunning/shaking battle tanks, etc, etc. It can also hurt mosntrous creatures fairly reliably and can hurt infantry effectively too.

Fire Warriors are stuck in one role and any time they are unable to contribute to the battle, you've got wasted points. In an army that pays a premium for its units, that's a Bad Thing.

Crisis suits also have the advantage of mobility and the ability to use their range in conjunction with that mobility - Fire Warriors can shoot out to 30", but as soon as you need to move that range is reduced significantly. You're also incapable of rapidfiring without risking an assault.

Taking that into account, I'd say that Fire Warriors killing one more guy than Fireknives at 12" is not worth losing that unit of Fire Warriors to close combat.

Edit again: Oh, and Fusion blasters on suits? Piranhas bring Fusion blasters and can deliver them far, far more effectively.

[Irbis]

-die outright to str 8
-lose 1/3 their power with each death (or 2 wounds)
-less wounds outright

Which is why they suffer zero losses by using JSJ :P

-do not score

Also known as 'score one, contest others' or 'who needs scoring after tabling?'

Again IMHO the warrior is the better investment because they do what the suit does for cheaper.

Which would have been true had they not were complete fail against walkers/MCs/vehicles

The suits should be used for fusion blasters nearly explicitly (tank hunting) with the missiles as the long range option.

That is... very original setup with very little shooting.