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I have been hearing that after a few games people are really liking the talos and saying that it is a hidden gem and sometimes even MVP in the army lists. Looking at the stats, I just don't see it. With 4 attacks he is only going to be killing 2 maybe 3 models each round of combat. Against most tanks he is only going to do 1 or 2 hull points, which isn't enough to kill them. So what do you use them for?

The only think I could think of is that the talos is hard to kill so it could be a fire magnet. They could make good objective guards, assuming the other unit doesn't have objective secure.

Is there something I am missing? Do these guys earn their points back? Is the haywire worth it too take a few hull points off of vehicles as you slowly move up the board to smash the inhabitants?

It's less that they are amazing and more that they are a cut above the average monstrous creature. T 7, Ws 5, S 7, FnP, these things put the Talos above things like the Carnifex and Wraithlords. Not to mention they have some pretty brutal gear, such as a Fleshbane Lethal Dose gauntlet as AP 2, you keep those Wraithknights away.

The fact is, a unit of two Talosi is s great way to keep assault units away from you, they can scare tanks around them and generally have to be dealt with. And dealing with 6 T7 3+ FNP wounds is not an easy thing when you also have god knows how many Grotesque chocked Raiders about to hit your lines.

Also they are the ONLY unit in the codex that can withstand Wave Serpent fire.. Do the math, the Wave Serpents can't touch it.

They hit you turn 3.
If you focus on them, everything else hits you turn 3, with some nice power from pain bonuses.

 ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
It's less that they are amazing and more that they are a cut above the average monstrous creature. T 7, Ws 5, S 7, FnP, these things put the Talos above things like the Carnifex and Wraithlords. Not to mention they have some pretty brutal gear, such as a Fleshbane Lethal Dose gauntlet as AP 2, you keep those Wraithknights away.

The fact is, a unit of two Talosi is s great way to keep assault units away from you, they can scare tanks around them and generally have to be dealt with. And dealing with 6 T7 3+ FNP wounds is not an easy thing when you also have god knows how many Grotesque chocked Raiders about to hit your lines.

Also they are the ONLY unit in the codex that can withstand Wave Serpent fire.. Do the math, the Wave Serpents can't touch it.

Are they better as units of 2 or singles? The heavy support slot is kinda bare with ravagers taking a hit and the voidraven being so meh. would it be better to spread them out? I know as a unit of two you can allocate wounds better, so that makes them more survivable.

How do these guys match up to demon princes and dreadknights?

Talos are nice. The WS5 and two close combat weapons is nasty, and the haywire blaster gives the coven forces some long-ranged antitank.

A dreadknights will probably win - mostly because I rarely ever see one without a force weapon and teleporter - so you'll get charged and instant-killed. Feel no pain doesn't stop a force weapon, whilst the 5+ save can stop your close combat weapons.

Daemon princes.... you've got a better chance, but again, he strikes first has a highter weaponskill and more attacks.

Talos aren't really for killing other monstrous creatures. Dark Eldar armies don't have a problem with that because everything in the entire bleedin' army is poisoned.
Poisoned pistols.
Poisoned close combat weapons.
Poisoned power weapons.
Poisoned heavy weapons
Poisoned freakin' gunship missiles.

Dealing with anything with a toughness score is not an issue.

what a Talos specialises at is (a) antitank - yes, all right, lances, but a twin-linked haywire blaster is better at plinking hull points off a vehicle and (b) being really, really hard to kill.

T7, 3+ save, Feel No Pain takes a hell of a lot of killing. Especially with a unit of 2-3 to play wound allocation games and a Cronos nearby to increase feel no pain to 4+.

Stopping a Corpsethief claw (a squad of 5 with scout) before they hit your lines is night impossible and they have a good enough combat potential to rip regular infantry apart.

I think 2 is optimal. If you are thinking 3, you should go with the formation that gives you 5, scout and free VPs.

If you could mix Talos and Cronos......god that would be nice.


Always remember to put a toe in cover.