thank you all for the great advice! I am currently in the testing phase, seeing what all the units do, and how they work, but it is nice to have to not learn some lessons the hard way. Had my first real game against wes's necrons at 1500 points, and after a VERY long and see sawing game, i was able to pull off a win, but to wes's credit, he went down swinging!
PS reminder to self STOP ASSAULTING with your tau.