Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Tau (section)

===Signature Systems===
Basically, these are the equivalent to the artifacts/relics of other books. They can be taken by the Commander, his Bodyguards, or Crisis Shas'vres, but it's a bad idea for the latter because these take up hardpoint space with him, unlike with the previous two (meaning you could be a complete retard and stuff all of them on one single Shas'O if you wanted). Only '''one''' of each can be taken per army.

*'''Command and Control Node:''' A 4th ed piece of tech that was killed off in the switch to 5th ed when Target Priority tests went the way of the dodo. Back from the dead and clocking in at 15pts, it makes all of a unit's weapons Twin-linked at the cost of giving up the bearer's own shooting. If you put this on your Commander you'll miss out on his sweet BS5, but at least it will be on your longer lasting model. Using this and Multi-spectrum Sensor Suite on a gigantic Farsight bodyguard squad kicks total ass. 
*'''Failsafe Detonator''' S5 Large Blast on death. Useful as a last 1 fingered salute to anyone assaulting you and not much more. Still, it's just 10 pts, you might as well put it on units you don't expect to survive the battle, like those Rambo Crisis suits, but by no means an auto-include.
*'''XV-8-02 Iridium Battlesuit:''' Adds 1 Toughness and gives a 2+ save. Don't waste this on a Crisis Shas'vre, save it for the Commander (your warlord if there isn't an Ethereal present). If you're absolutely desperate to have a bodyguard protect your 'o rather than having him tough it out himself, you should still use the Iridium and other defensive boosts on your Tankmander, while attaching a bodyguard and drones so the drones and 'vre(s) can take the fatal wounds with auto-pass LO, S.
*'''Multi-spectrum Sensor Suite:''' Like Command and control, you forgo shooting with this model in place of giving the model's unit's ranged weapons the Ignores Cover special rule. Take it on your Commander with the Command and Control Node, because if you're doing something else with it, you're probably wrong (see above regarding Crisis Shas'vre).
*'''Neuroweb System Jammer:''' At 2pts this little gadget is an auto-include. At the start of [[Troll|your enemy's]] shooting phase the bearer selects 1 enemy unit within 12" to have its weapons get hot until the end of the next turn. Even if you never use it it can still be funny to watch your foe create a wide area of space around the bearer.
**'''Note:''' This thing is hilarious against [[Imperial_Guard|wimpy Gue'La]], who become 3 times more [[Fail|likely to kill themselves]] than kill you, conscripts faring even worse. Eg: A Guardsman squad gets in rapid fire range for 'First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire' (40 shots). You'll lose 1 Crisis...while they'll lose 4.44 guardsmen and need to take a Morale check ''in their own'' shooting phase.
*'''Onager Gauntlet:''' Aka the Donkey Punch. The first close combat weapon for a battle suit. Shame there is only 1 and it only gives 1 S10 AP1 attack, but it's dirt cheap. It can be useful for opening tin cans or crumpling lower key characters in challenges. Just watch out however as you're still Tau and 1 attack that you may miss with isn't all that when you're T4 with a 3+ save, much less against power swords. On the other hand, [[Power weapon#Power_Fist|HIDDEN POWER FIST]]! Note that unlike similar weapons it does ''not'' strike at I1 should come as a surprise to anyone expecting a Tau commander to go down immediately in close combat to a monstrous creature without a good chance of taking the thing with them. ''Half the time you're still hitting last because of I3, though''. But it can save him from those nasty marine powerfists, which would ID him, and keeps you from having to "our weapons are useless" against walkers. Still, the main reason you're buying this is because '''a)''' You ran out of space for Fusion blasters, '''b)''' You really want to model a [[Fist of the North Star|mighty fist]] on your Tau snowflake, don't you?
*'''Puretide Engram Neurochip:''' Select one of five special rules (Counter-Attack, Furious Charge, Monster Hunter, Stubborn, or Tank Hunter) at the start of Movement. The bearer has it until the next turn. The only ones of note are Monster Hunter and Tank Hunter, which will benefit the entire unit (make him join Railgun Broadsides for pure win), maybe Stubborn too if CC is unavoidable, but the 2 others are close combat related and only affect the bearer and therefore nigh useless.  Also consigns your pilot to life as a robotic tool of the Empire, but hey, Greater Good.
*'''Repulsor Impact Field:''' Another (anti-)assault gadget. It's like a flechette discharger for Battlesuits. It won't make an enemy unit think twice about hitting you though, but D6 ''I10'' hits might score you a wound before your opponent strikes. Bear in mind it hits ''each'' unit that successfully charged at them, not models touching the suit, so keep the wielder out of reach deep inside the unit. A unit that has at least one VRT, drones and the Repulsor field is a unit your enemy may charge at, possibly hurting itself, and then he needs to get into combat all over again. Those casualties will slowly add up, just like your unit's price tag. Better yet when the enemy tries to tie up with Farsight's I5. And taking flamers/Counterfire for overwatch just adds [[Troll|insult to injury]].
*'''XV-81 Prototype (Forge World):''' Once limited to Commanders, it is now available to all able to take Signature Wargear...so, mostly still commanders. The Model becomes Extremely Bulky, but in return, gains a Smart Missile System. Limits you to taking a maximum of two other weapon options, but who the fuck takes TL weapons on a Commander anyway? Does <i>not</i> stop you from spending your full four choices on support systems (though you still shouldn't put all the systems on one suit, for you'd lose everything should the model die). Plus, 25 points isn't too much to ask for this nice piece of equipment. Great with Early Warning Override: you could fire Interceptor shots and still use two other weapons the next turn. Or grab a just-in-case flamer along the weapon you really want to use - a veritable swiss army suit. Still, 2 more pts and you'd have yet another Crisis with flamer, so unless you planned for a Farsight bomb and run out of ''yet moar Crisis'' to deepstrike with, it's a little too much.
*'''XV-84 Prototype (Forge World):''' Also once limited to Commanders, the XV-84 contains a Networked Markerlight and a Target Lock. While it lets you support a low BS unit, the XV-84 would probably see its best use in a Farsight Bomb, giving them their own dedicated markerlight support - pretty much the only thing they needed. At 20 points, the suit is a relatively cheap addition to any force.