XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit
The XV-8 Crisis Suit is the main battlesuit of the the Tau Empire.
Seen in every campaign the Tau have been involved in, the XV-8 Crisis suit is piloted only by those who have reached the rank of Shas'ui, but is ubiquitous enough that it is commonly used by many commanders in the Tau Empire as well.
The suit itself is highly customisable, capable of carrying a wide variety of weapon load-outs, and specialist equipment, including rare signature systems
Tactical Properties
Just Dropping In
Tau Battlesuits all have the ability to Deep-Strike into the battlefield (Except for Broadside & R'Varna Suits as they lack Jet-Packs) however Crisis Suits make the best use of this ability as they have the greatest level of tactical variety given their wide choice in Weaponry & Support Systems, meaning as long as you have a properly prepped Crisis Suit held back in reserves you can adapt to anything your opponent throws at you.
Jump-Shoot-Jump
Jet packs man, just, Fucking Jet-Packs. Roll 2D6, move anywhere you want within that distance. Only check for terrain if you land in a bad place. In addition, jet pack infantry confer Relentless. Enjoy shooting heavy weapons on the move. Optionally, double-tap plasma into a squad of Tacticals, and leap behind a obscuring wall to escape return fire (or charge whats left if you're feeling ballsy).
Crisis Suit Variants
XV-8 "Crisis" Suit
The basic suit. Nothing in the galaxy quite like it. Think of the Leman Russ, and how it works (or better yet check out its page). 22 points base, but tooled up with the most expensive options it will break eighty, so try not to go overboard. Its strength is its versatility, letting you build it for literally any foe.
XV-81 "Crisis" Suit
A bulkier variant of the Crisis Suit, it has an integrated Smart Missile System, but this system also cost it a bit of customization. That said, however, these missiles are handy in granting the Tau ranged bombardment (as if that was ever something needed for the Tau).
XV-84 "Crisis" Suit
This variant gets integrated Target Locks and Networked Markerlights. These suits are basically meant to be targeters for their teams using these systems to aid with the assaults.
XV-89 "Crisis" Suit
Fluffwise, this is meant to be really bulky and hard to move around in, eventually being scrapped for the Iridium armor. The issue with this is that crunchwise, it's essentially identical to the basic Crisis Suit save for a slightly curvier head and Pauldrons.
XV-8-05 "Enforcer" Suit
It's not very different than the basic Crisis Suit with the only real difference between them being some flashier bitz and articulated fingers on one hand. Normally piloted by Battlefield commanders, it has more space to carry Weaponry & Support systems. If you dont like fincast (or are really cheap) you could always use a regular suit in its place, just be sure to tell you opponet which is which.
XV-8-02 "Iridium" Suit
A rare prototype of an advanced defensive system, the "Iridium" suit is made using an experimental iridium alloy granting it greater defensive properties than the normal Crisis suits. This variant of the XV-8 is rarely seen on the battlefield, and more commonly given to a commander's bodyguards to aide them in their task.
XV-8-06 "Coldstar" Suit
No rules or images for this suit exists, it is only mentioned in the fluff. It should be designed for fight in a void environment and should carry a whole lot of unique support and weapon systems.
Weapon and System Combinations
Fire Crisis
A Combination of 2 Flamers and a Vectored Retro Thrusters system. This allows you to throw down 2 templates before darting away in the Assault phase and will keep you up close and personal with the enemies infantry, while the Vectored Retro Thrusters allow you a chance to escape from melee, even if at Initiative 2. A whole squad of three XV8 with this configuration is able to dish out a genuine HELL on the battlefleet, eating hordes like there's no tomorrow, and even terminators wouldn't charge them lightheartedly.
Field of Fire
A Combination of 3 suits, with all of them having 2 Burst Cannons and a Target Locks. It allows you to have a group of 3 Crisis suits threaten 3 separate enemy units at the same time with 8 S:5, AP5 R18 shots each.
Tank Wrecker
A Crisis Suit Shas'vre with 2 Fusion Blasters and an Onager Gauntlet. This unit spells DOOM! for any light Vehicle with 2 Hull Points, and stands a decent chance at dealing with Vehicles with 3 Hull points in one turn. You can exchange the Onager Gauntlet for a Velocity Tracker to make a short-range Anti-Air unit that can force your opponents Air Transports to take the long way around or risk dealing with this.
Commander Dakka
Take a Crisis Suit Commander (using up one of your few HQ slots) and outfit him with 2 Burst Cannons (add in a "Neuro-Web System Jammer" if you're feeling fancy): each turn you'll be putting out as many shots as an Heavy Burst Cannon, even if they are weaker, without the risk of 'gets hot', at BS 5 and you'll usually be close enough to an opponents unit to make the best use of the NWSJ as they move in closer to try and put the hurt on "Commander Dakka". Add the Drone-controller and two drones at your own discretion (higly recommende if you really want the Dakka!!). To make your enemy cry you can even put the commander in a squad of gun drones for a grand total of 36 strenght 5 pen 5 shots at BS 5 per turn on a higly mobile and sufficently tough unit.
Utility is the Best
A commander with drone controller, target lock and two missile pod goes into a squad with the exact same configuration, minus the drone controller (for obvious reasons). Then give to all of them 2 marker drone each, and suddenly you have a squad with a lot of range and mobility, that can threaten light vehicles or infantry from a safe distance while shooting markerlight everywhere! The ice on the cake is that every crisis suit in the unit can fire against a differente target, making this squad incredibly versatile. Put the commander in a squad of bodyguard if you are really afraid to lose him.