Tau without Kroot

[thins]

As much as I've seen how valuable Kroot can be I really like my Tau just as Tau. I like the sleek vehicles and armor on firewarriors/battlesuits. Also, Kroot don't fit in with the lore I base my army around.

What should I look into instead of Kroot as I plan out a new army?
How big of a deal is it to not take any Kroot competitive-wise?

thanks!

[VoxDei]

Use drones for bubble wrapping. Either ones you drop of DF and piranhas or drone squads. More expensive but you got the advantage of not blocking fire from what ever your bubble wrapping.

[thins]

Okay, piranhas are close to worthless unless you have more than one, correct? I've read that a few times recently.

I'd also like a little help on building my army so far I have:

48 Firewarriors
2 Battlesuits
4 Devilfish (can turn one into a hammerhead)
1 Broadside
3 Stealthsuits
1 Hammerhead
2-4 Shield Drones
(I would say I have a bunch of gun drones but when I found my old devilfish they were all missing so I'm going to have to replace them out of the Firewarrior kits)

I have a few of these from when I first played 40k when I was younger, so some of it is salvageable painting-wise... but battlesuit and troops I'm starting from scratch. The rest I bought in a recent splurge from a need for a closet/winter hobby.

I have a commander battlesuit on the way, and plan on making 12 of the FWs with pulse carbines? good idea? or just stick with pulse rifles?

what should I look into next besides piranhas? (More battlesuits is something I'm obviously getting...)

I want a purely Tau army, keep in mind.