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Hi!
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad I can draw some interest from you!
What I should do at this point is to emphasise the 'first-generation' aspect of this list, in the sense that those troops that this list is representing are from the first 10-20 years or so of the Kleist system's military contribution to the tau'va, and thus are not yet at the stage where their world's tech has been comprehensively upgraded to Tau levels (which would likely take another 50-100 years to establish).
Regarding the presence of various Imperial vehicles in the Kleist system, I'll refer to the following piece of fluff from the list:
These regiments were designed to take advantage of the local production facilities, which allowed for a higher proportion of carapace-armoured troops, Leman Russ battle tanks and the local variant of skimmers such as the Valkyrie and Vulture, while lacking heavy artillery or super-heavy vehicle production facilities (the new Timbra Shas?ar?tol reasoned that seeker missiles and Tau support craft would serve as a replacement)
As far as I envisage it, Kleist itself has sufficient production facilities to churn out Chimerae and Leman Russ battle tanks, Valkyries and Vultures (not all civilized worlds in the Imperium depend so heavily on the forge worlds for their tech - which would be impractical for a relatively isolated system in the Eastern Fringe to have to rely on infrequent shipments from a distant manufacturing hub), enough carapace armour to support grenadier-doctrine regiments (there would only be at most a few dozen regiments at the stage of development, most from Kleist itself, with a few from Phaeb and Garrus) as well as the ability to maintain some of the heavier vehicles left behind in the hasty evacuation.
Actually building new Baneblades, etc would take a heavy dose of reverse-engineering by the locals, but using the kind of standardised parts that an STC construct such as it would have should not be too much effort for an industrial world to manage on a small scale - remember that there are not that many SHTs on Kleist even considering the list's options in taking them!
Primitive or not, the Tau would not dispute their deadly effectiveness, any more than they can doubt the lethality of the Kroot long rifle in close quarters when wielded by their more feral allies!
Now, regarding (my current opinion) certain troop/vehicle choices:
*Hammerheads/Vanquishers: My reasoning is that since there are about 2 worlds in the Imperium - both pretty far from the Eastern Fringe - that can actually build them (and even then in small numbers), there wouldn't be any around for a tank commander on Kleist to helm. Besides, I wanted the Hammerhead there as a kind of 'status symbol' for the commander - in the manner that the Vanquisher is for Steel Legion - as a symbol of the shiny, high-tech future that awaits the Gue'Senshi (plus the Tau have a record of giving allied commanders fancier toys than their subordinates).
*Markerlights/Drones: The relative lack of Markerlights and Drones in the list is an intentional one! I want to keep the amount of either available to the human units to a minimum (the presence of Markerlight-equipped Snipers is meant as a slow introduction of the concept to an army still drawing much from the Tactica Imperium), the Pathfinders, Tetras and Piranhas are intended as those units operating with whatever drones that Narwhals, Stingrays etc are bringing to the field.
*Hammerheads: My reasoning behing the Tau's choice in supplying the Gue'Senshi with more unorthodox support options is that I believe that in a list like this a main line tank such as the Hammerhead - which may one day supplant the Leman Russ in human-allied armies - is filling the kind of role in the army that I want the Leman Russ to keep (I'm restricting the access to Devilfish for the same reason).
*Air caste choices: Formations like Barracudas, Whitesharks etc would be on call from the orbiting Kor'vattra for human regiments on the surface in a similar manner as they are available for Hunter Cadres in operation.
*Narwhals and Stingrays: For the Timbra Shas'ar'tol, the deployment of Tau formations in support of a Kleistian regiment are designed to make up for deficiencies in the human formations in the list, rather than draw main line units away from Hunter Cadres to play an unnecessary role. Gue'Senshi have no artillery (and won't be getting any) and are happy enough for now with Russes and Chimerae, so the deployment of Stingrays and Narwhals are to make use of what markerlights are present, and thus supply some anti-personnel fire (handy against Orks, Tyranids... and Guard infantry, for that manner!).
So, if you field two core formations of Kleist troops, take, for example, a Tetra Contingent and a Stingray contingent, and use them in tandem, as anti-personnel support for the human troops.
As I see it, the deployment on a particular world of, say, 2-3 regiments of Grenadiers (or Phaebian Guard, or whatever...) will accompany similar landings of several Hunter Cadres, drawing from the same support from the orbiting starships and supplied heavy units, deployed and re-deployed by the Shas'o in command of the theatre to where it is needed. A Gue'Senshi force wading through a Feral Ork mob needs a few more Hammerheads much less than it needs a few more Stingrays!
The Gue'Senshi don't have their own equivalents of Warspheres, they are reliant on the Kor'vattra and as such are more closely integrated into any strategic operation planetside. Plus, relevant Tau units will be deployed in the Kleist system as a garrison, should the Imperials have a go at reconquest somewhere doen the line!
I've just modified it so that Tetra formations as well as FW formations allow you to take Stingrays but Narwhals still require a FW formation only (and I've fixed the cost of the pathfinders!)
Does this help, or am I just crazy?
Gary
_________________  Gue'senshi: The 1st Kleistian Grenadiers v7.3 pdfHuman armed forces for the greater good.
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