[Gimli]

"1. FIGHTER-TANK, fighter, human, high str, may multi to Barb after 4 lvls"

Sounds good - if you do go to Barb, to get the advantage of their fast movement, you have to be in medium or lighter armor - so a high Dex is a good thing. High Wis is also good for Will saves. Int and Cha can be skimped on.

"2. TRUE-TANK, Fighter, shield dwarf, High Constitution"

I have one of these now, they're very tough - 20 Con at the start is plenty, build up Str from there.

"3. SHARPSHOOTER-MELEE, fighter, elf, Longbow, High Dexterity, Weapon Finesse etc.."

Might want to give him even levels of Ranger/Fighter as you'll get the free 2-weapon fighting feats, those with two short blades and weapon finesse are pretty effective. Or just make him a pure Ranger. The high dex works well with light armor too.

"4. HEALER, Cleric"

Always handy to have around [img]smile.gif[/img]

"5. SPELLCASTER, wizard or sorcerer, plenty of conjuring"

If it's your first game you might want to go Wizard to see what all the spells are like; I would go for a Tiefling generalist, max out Int.

"6. LEADER, Rogue, for scouting/disarming/lockpicking/backstabbing"

They're fine - a human with a good Int would be nice as you'll have tons of skill points to play with.

"Anyone have any alterations to advise or improvements (please bear in mind that i dont really multiclass)."

Well I would probably multi the Elf as I said, build up his stealth with the Ranger levels and let him sneak sometimes with the Rogue.

"Im a bit worried about the lack of spellcasting and also not sure if the rogue can cover all those tasks well enough?"

Hmm, if you're really worried about spell power, you could make the Elf a pure Ranger with a decent Wis, and maybe the 1st tank a Paladin, also with a decent Wis, that will add in a little more spell-wise. But with a pure Cleric and Wizard you wouldn't be too bad.

If you make the Thief a Human and give him a good Int score, you won't have to worry about skills too much either.

"Also, in terms of what weapons come up is it best for the party to be evil or good ? Id quite like to be evil for a change... any drawbacks?"

Only a couple of weapons would not work for you if you're evil; also there's one very nice long sword only Paladins can use. But some enemy casters cast pretty nasty spells that won't effect evil party members.

"Final question, will the longbow elf be not that effective as a melee fighter after getting all the skills to be a good archer ? How much use will he be in IWD2 ? Maybe i could have a druid instead there or something with majic. ?? I do like the idea of ranged fighters though."

He'll be pretty darned effective IMHO for most parts in the game, and very nice to have against enemy casters. If he goes the ranger/fighter route, or pure fighter route, he'll have enough feats to be good in melee and with a bow. Druids are nice too but pretty different. I would say pick whichever you'd rather roleplay.