Rarely seen and rarely used, but oh so killy. The Talos represents the pure essence of Dark Eldar. It is twisted, cruel, and without mercy. A created monstrosity with a shackled soul. As a Kabal leader you must use them wisely. A blunt instrument, the Talos must be pointed in the right direction to bring ruin to the enemy.
With 5th ed and FAQs major changes have been made to the Talos. While the Ravager will always be the weapon of choice in the Dark Eldar heavy support arsenal, the Talos must not be over looked. Lets first take a look at it is stat line.
[TABLE=2]
The first thing that jumps out at you is the points cost. It is cheap! It is the same price as a Wraith Lord, also ten points cheaper then a basic Deamon Prince. Secondly, its Toughness is 7 which makes any str 3 armies mostly useless against it in Assault. Thirdly, D6 attacks, while variable is devastating over time.
The Talos’s Weapons and Special Abilities are a throw back to a fluffier era.
Talos Sting: Is a 24″ Str 4 AP5 Assault 6
The Talos Sting wildfire ability is archaic with its ability to pick out individual targets as it goes. You must allocate closest to closest models within line of sight of the Talos. Things that the wildfire cannot hurt like most vehicles are simply wasted shots. Usually players have a tendency to put special models to the forefront of their squads allowing the sting to pick them out, maybe wounding them.
Talos Claw:
The Talos Claw acts like any normal close combat weapon with one really funky difference. When it comes to vehicles you roll all your attacks, but you only get one Armor Penetration roll. For any excess hits above 1 you add +1 to your check vs. armor value roll. This is great versus Land Raiders and Monoliths, not so much against transports where you would rather have multiple attempts to penetrate.
Tactica in 5th ed:
Thanks to the newest Dark Eldar FAQ the Talos is no longer a skimmer, but a monstrous creature. This has simplified and made the Talos a better selection overall.
A Talos should always have a buddy. If you are playing anything less then 2000 points take at least two. In a low point game the Talos will be under too much heavy fire to survive, with two at least one should make it into assault. Before in 4th ed, the Talos was used primarily in WWP lists, because of its slow nature for a fast army. This has changed since its reclassification and the addition of run, making the Talos effective for any list. This comes to a very important point, always run, do not sit and fire unless you are in charge range, the Talos Sting does not make the Talos a weapon flatform.
Pick the right targets for assault, avoid fists and claws unless the math is in your favor.
The basic rule I use with a Talos is head straight for troop choices, generally they are going to be easy pickens, and at worse they will have only one power fist or claw. Do not try to hide your Talos. The new line of sight rules make it much harder to get a cover save, do not go for cover if it means you stop moving forward.
The real secret to the Talos is that it does not matter if it lives or dies. The Dark Eldar are fragile, but not the Talos, if your enemy is shooting at it, they are not shooting at your skimmers or warrior squads. A Ravager can blow up in one shot the Talos cannot, remember that! If a Talos dies so a Wych Sqaud can reach its objective, the Talos did its job.
Try putting two Talos in the center of the board and move straight forward; you might be surprised that you won the game, even with the Talos not killing a thing. These are very simple ways to get the most out of the Talos, you will find them a fun and definite departure from normal Dark Eldar strategy.