Bad advice?

Unfortunately due to work commitments, I haven't have much time for anything hobby related recently. I did manage to get a re-match against my mate for the last game of escalation and managed to have a relatively decisive victory, although the scenario was in my favour from the start so kudos to Ginge for agreeing to a rematch (we will have a slightly more balanced game next time :-P).

Which brings me onto the topic for this post. While I was down that way I popped into the local gamesworkshop to pick a few bits up,  naturally the guy working there started talking to me, asking what armies I collected etc. When I mentioned I play Tau, he started asking me what I thought of them. I responded saying that they can be quite good with a few tricks but could do with a new codex.

Saying I mainly played a battlesuit army with as many suits as I have, small squads of firewarriors, pathfinders and hammerheads. I was told that this was my problem, at this point I wasn't even aware I had a problem, I was advised that I should really take less crisis suits and broadsides, and more firewarriors and drone squadrons. Stating that one of the regulars at their shop filled up on stealth suits with firewarrior support.

At this point I wondered if the local Tau players had ever won any games, or were just considered the baby seals of the store. Is this the advice that employees are giving out to people who they think are struggling to win games?

I don't considered myself a WAAC player in the slightest, slightly competitive in so much as I play to win, or stop the other guy from winning if my dice fail me :-P. But I have enjoyed some measure of success using my standard army list against most of the newer codexes. I've beaten, and lost to, Guard, tabled Blood Angels a couple of times. Given I rarely get the opportunity to play I think my win/draw/lose ratio has been pretty favourable. However were I struggling and getting frustrated at the 'poor' performance of my Tau would his advice of helped at all?

No, firewarriors are one of the weakest units in the Tau codex, drones are on the same footing. Better advice could be found at places like 3++ is the new black or many other sources of solid tactical advice on playing the game. Stacking up on the weaker units of an army is a sure way to lose, sure you can get more feet on the ground, but they are more likely to be running away at the first sign of trouble instead of inflicting damage on the opponent.

In a Tau army, crisis suits and broadsides are the heavy hitters, missile pods, plasma guns and railguns the tools of their trade. Cram as many of these in as you can and always remember the dead can't claim objectives. That would be my advice at any rate :-P