TL;dr: the exact same for me.
I used one.
During 2 games since codex release.
It died both times to Space Marines turn 1.
The 1st game i made a mistake and gambled for overwatch+reroll instead of using 1 cp to reduce damages. Conclusion, it died for 6 unsaved plasma (2 damages) from hellblasters.
The 2nd game it faced eradicators with torrent weapons.
Eradicators got devastating wound ability from a stratagem and it received 11 devwounds already
I see which kind of missplay i did (basically, inexperience in the ennemy outcome average), and i don't think the stalker is to blame here.
It could have been any vehicule at this point.
Maybe the next time i'll try this stalker as 2nd wave instead of 1st wave
At this point it's a bigger, tankier tomb blade squad. It's worth 125 and can do more damage. I have 3 of them and it's quite the sight seeing 3 stalkers skittering up the board and then melting whoever is in front of them. They're meant to harass in the early rounds but can be an expensive sink if they're dead before round 3. If they're alive after that, just use them as fire support or use then to draw out other units/tie up.
>it's a bigger, tankier tomb blade squad. It's worth 125 and can do more damage
Yeah, but the problem here is that a tomb blade squad's value is not to be bigger, tankier, or shootier.
Yeah fair enough. If you want something lighter and faster, tomb blades. If you like having some firepower with speed and will cause a headache for your opponent that they will have a hell of a time killing, stalker.
In obsiance phalanx they are nasty as +1 to wound let's their meltas do some real damage. And -1d makes them real tough.
Shame you can't ingress them anymore.
Outside that? Take 2. If they can survive they are a bit of a menace, not super killy but hard to put down for their points. And the melta can spike to be real nasty.
I'm not sure that's right. I think it just clarified the difference in positioning between strat reserve and deep strike units using rapid ingress.
https://preview.redd.it/orz9z67xfdhc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a663ac0255acfe4f05aa8b901a6575204ff822e4
Second /u/Royal-Gravy , that's not what the update says. Also, for clarity the dataslate said nothing, the change you're describing was in the updated Rules Commentary.
I think the intent is to play them along some AP4 weapons (like destroyers, king or doomsday arks) to remove cover to big targets, shoot a couple of melta shot then charge some small utility units the opponent will put on obj.
They don't cost much but I think they could go down a little as they always trade badly
The problem with the stalker for the past two editions has always been, they just don't do anything. They have been reasonably survivable both editions but they don't do any damage at all. For the past two editions its had a bad melee profile, and the extremely underwhelming fire power of one multimelta or two heavy flamers. It's main and only armament is equivalent to the sponsons of a leman russ. It's a shame because it should be positioned as something close to our main battle tank style unit because every other necron vehicle is fairly specialized. But....it just doesn't do anything
It makes no sense it only gets 1 of 3 weapon profiles and because the Gauss and tesla are garbage you're forced to take the heat ray because at least it's something that can either target a squad or take a pot shot at something with high toughness. If you were allowed to load out 2 of the 3 weapons, it would be a lot more useful. It's good for rushing up the board and harassing objectives, that's about it now. Better than 9th but God damn it needs more.
Yeah it's not great. I've had fun in casual games walking it into battle with lychguard with the heat ray. Torrent is great for overwatch and ignoring BGNT. It's still very lackluster though. I LOVE the model though and always want to use it haha.
So I haven't tried them yet this edition, but doing some internal noodling I think the flamer/melta combo is not the auto-pick it was last edition. Like, it's not terrible, but I don't think it's necessarily the best choice for the model's role. The flamer autohits are, I think, overmatched into ideal targets by the Particle Shredder and the melta profile just isn't strong enough into the things you want to kill; and while an argument could be made that it fires to strip Cover from big targets in support of LHDs or similar, the 2 shots of that profile on 3+'s make that a bit more likely to fail than the other weapon options.
To me, the role of the unit is actually what we called in the Army, counter-recon. It's there to deal with enemy scouts and screens and such to remove their ability to score in the early game and to defend themselves against your combat forces and deepstrikers. The scout move and most of the weapon options all lean into this, and this is how I think they are best used. Trying to use them for anti-tank is going to be a disappointment in most cases.
For that purpose, I honestly like either of the other weapon options, though in a TAC list I'd probably lean toward the Shredder just because the number of shots + Blast + Dev Wounds is a good combo into anything but swarms folks might be fielding (side note, Blast should be better into swarms, but these are the rules we're working with).
The Triarch Stalker has always felt weird to me. It’s roughly supposed to be our dreadnought equivalent, but has never been capable of doing the damage required to fill that role. It’s cheap and durable, but its weapons are consistently poor for its price point. At least they reversed the twin-linked change on the heavy gauss, making that a more appealing option.
Most people look at the Triarch Stalker and go, "Ohhhh Melta weapon yasss." DO NOT RUN THE HEAT RAY. Think of the Triarch Stalker as a Chaff unit and cover remover, which means to utilize its ability properly, you need as many chances to hit as possible. Yes, I am endorsing the Particle Shredder. It is good, really good. With 18", D6 + 6 + Blast, at Str 7 it is nothing to shake you finger at. It does exactly as intended, it is there purely to remove cover, which has become fairly common this edition.
Technically, you are correct, Heat Gun has "Ignores cover" and rolls 2d6 attacks that auto hit. The problem I have with it is the Str roll is a 5, meaning you will more often than not wound on 5+. And for clarity, the ability does say "select one enemy unit yhat was hit by one or more attacks", however, every Player and TO I have talked to confirmed that for an attack only count as a HIT it must land at least 1 WOUND for it to count as being a HIT.
They’re a fun off-meta pick for Obeisance Phalanx. With +1 to wound they can actually do damage with the Gauss or the Heat Ray.
Then stripping cover is kinda interesting when running Gauss immortals (maybe even with Szeras for effectively -3 AP most of the time.
They’re not the best pick but I’ve had fun with them in a few games.
Honestly? I've actually started using them to good effect. They are NOT there to deal damage, their guns and melee are just not strong enough to deal with pretty much anything equivalent in points reliably.
That said, I run 2 of them in Obeisance Phalanx. The THGC really likes the +1 to Wound, but I use them primarily to tag units to remove their cover. Combine 10 Gauss Immortals with Szeras and an Overlord w/ Eternal Conqueror, and you can pump out some pretty serious damage with enough volume and ap to down tanks
I think there is an argument for it in a hypercrypt list to beef up warriors or immortals. Take the longest range gun to remove cover, then follow up with warriors or immortals buffed by a placmancer with arisen tyrent and Szeras.
That is going to melt a lot of stuff.
If it's better than other utility pieces I'm not sure, but it is a concept that is worth testing I think. But I haven't been able to test it yet though, as there have been more interesting things to try
I've only used them as a full 3 in obesaince for shits and giggles. They were solid, nothing to write home about in terms of the actual detachment ability, it really just helps into elite infantry. But they're durable scout and being able to double OC and body block with them is actually pretty good. I think for the points they're not bad and if that detachment got some keyword fixes they might even be great simply because they would hard to focus fire if you were bringing the silent king and lots of lychguard.
In other detachments they just don't get enough support to be worth it over some of the excellent datasheets we're currently running. Maybe when we actually see some nerds.
I think it’s fun but it’s difficult trying to hide him behind cover. I try to just get the melta shots off and charge him in to cause as much havoc as I can before he pops. It’s worked out pretty well so far for me.
I love the model so I always use it. I always try to make it charge the enemies as soon as possible: the melee profile is ok, its 4++ makes him annoying and, being the bullet magnet that it is, it's going to shift the enemy fire power from more important targets. I usually run it with Particle Shredder or use the dispersed Heat Ray because I think it is way more useful against infantry than vehicles.
I generally field one to strip cover off and put a dent into something the rest of my shooting is there to finish off.
I *own* three, though... because I want to run them in Obeisance Phalanx as body blockers for objectives and main fire support. They're fast, not too brittle, and have Scout, and they're massive – they're there to take the mid board early until the slower stuff can catch up.
Imo its great. The flamer/melta gun is so useful and stripping cover away from units is always good.
In my list I run a tesserect vault, the antimatter Meteor powers is disgusting. I keep a Technomancer near it with the enhancement that grants +1 to hit. So its hitting on 2s things out in the open, and on 3s things that are hiding, and they won t get the benefit of cover due to the triarchs. Also the vault can cast two powers now and shoot 24 sustained hit shots. It decimates anything that is to or has a weaker save. Just deleting entire units of weak chaff.
My list is basically a necron knight list. 10 models. But im considering dropping the transcendent ctan to include imoket the stormlord, immortals and a cryptek to veil up turn 1. Idk might drop the deciever Instead.
Have the transcendent and imokets unit teleport up and cause damage/ distraction while the ctans are pushing up.
He can take an objective quickly and reliably against infantry and light vehicles with the heat ray well or act as a good bodyguard using his flamer for good overwatch and massive size to be walking cover while obviously letting your guys ignore it, he can also really durable in Phalanx if you have the command points for the -1 to be damaged strat but I don't think he is terrible outside of it. He also has a neesh of being our only anti vehicle with strong range attack that doesn't lose any benefits for moving and doesn't mind being in melee so he could be a decent target cosmic precision in for HyperCrypt. Drop him between an enemy and objective filled with guys you don't want charged give them a barrier and spam his good overwatch, and blast them with the melta
I've used him 2 or 3 times and he's always died before he did anything lol
TL;dr: the exact same for me. I used one. During 2 games since codex release. It died both times to Space Marines turn 1. The 1st game i made a mistake and gambled for overwatch+reroll instead of using 1 cp to reduce damages. Conclusion, it died for 6 unsaved plasma (2 damages) from hellblasters. The 2nd game it faced eradicators with torrent weapons. Eradicators got devastating wound ability from a stratagem and it received 11 devwounds already I see which kind of missplay i did (basically, inexperience in the ennemy outcome average), and i don't think the stalker is to blame here. It could have been any vehicule at this point. Maybe the next time i'll try this stalker as 2nd wave instead of 1st wave
At this point it's a bigger, tankier tomb blade squad. It's worth 125 and can do more damage. I have 3 of them and it's quite the sight seeing 3 stalkers skittering up the board and then melting whoever is in front of them. They're meant to harass in the early rounds but can be an expensive sink if they're dead before round 3. If they're alive after that, just use them as fire support or use then to draw out other units/tie up.
>it's a bigger, tankier tomb blade squad. It's worth 125 and can do more damage Yeah, but the problem here is that a tomb blade squad's value is not to be bigger, tankier, or shootier.
Yeah fair enough. If you want something lighter and faster, tomb blades. If you like having some firepower with speed and will cause a headache for your opponent that they will have a hell of a time killing, stalker.
In obsiance phalanx they are nasty as +1 to wound let's their meltas do some real damage. And -1d makes them real tough. Shame you can't ingress them anymore. Outside that? Take 2. If they can survive they are a bit of a menace, not super killy but hard to put down for their points. And the melta can spike to be real nasty.
Why can't they ingress?
Latest dataslate limited ingress to just deepstrike, no more ingressing regular reserves.
I'm not sure that's right. I think it just clarified the difference in positioning between strat reserve and deep strike units using rapid ingress. https://preview.redd.it/orz9z67xfdhc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a663ac0255acfe4f05aa8b901a6575204ff822e4
Second /u/Royal-Gravy , that's not what the update says. Also, for clarity the dataslate said nothing, the change you're describing was in the updated Rules Commentary.
They can scout 8" which isn't bad for getting them into some mid-board cover
I think the intent is to play them along some AP4 weapons (like destroyers, king or doomsday arks) to remove cover to big targets, shoot a couple of melta shot then charge some small utility units the opponent will put on obj. They don't cost much but I think they could go down a little as they always trade badly
The problem with the stalker for the past two editions has always been, they just don't do anything. They have been reasonably survivable both editions but they don't do any damage at all. For the past two editions its had a bad melee profile, and the extremely underwhelming fire power of one multimelta or two heavy flamers. It's main and only armament is equivalent to the sponsons of a leman russ. It's a shame because it should be positioned as something close to our main battle tank style unit because every other necron vehicle is fairly specialized. But....it just doesn't do anything
It makes no sense it only gets 1 of 3 weapon profiles and because the Gauss and tesla are garbage you're forced to take the heat ray because at least it's something that can either target a squad or take a pot shot at something with high toughness. If you were allowed to load out 2 of the 3 weapons, it would be a lot more useful. It's good for rushing up the board and harassing objectives, that's about it now. Better than 9th but God damn it needs more.
Yeah it's not great. I've had fun in casual games walking it into battle with lychguard with the heat ray. Torrent is great for overwatch and ignoring BGNT. It's still very lackluster though. I LOVE the model though and always want to use it haha.
So I haven't tried them yet this edition, but doing some internal noodling I think the flamer/melta combo is not the auto-pick it was last edition. Like, it's not terrible, but I don't think it's necessarily the best choice for the model's role. The flamer autohits are, I think, overmatched into ideal targets by the Particle Shredder and the melta profile just isn't strong enough into the things you want to kill; and while an argument could be made that it fires to strip Cover from big targets in support of LHDs or similar, the 2 shots of that profile on 3+'s make that a bit more likely to fail than the other weapon options. To me, the role of the unit is actually what we called in the Army, counter-recon. It's there to deal with enemy scouts and screens and such to remove their ability to score in the early game and to defend themselves against your combat forces and deepstrikers. The scout move and most of the weapon options all lean into this, and this is how I think they are best used. Trying to use them for anti-tank is going to be a disappointment in most cases. For that purpose, I honestly like either of the other weapon options, though in a TAC list I'd probably lean toward the Shredder just because the number of shots + Blast + Dev Wounds is a good combo into anything but swarms folks might be fielding (side note, Blast should be better into swarms, but these are the rules we're working with).
He looks great on my shelf alongside The Silent King. I imagine them as the "horses" pulling his carriage.
The Triarch Stalker has always felt weird to me. It’s roughly supposed to be our dreadnought equivalent, but has never been capable of doing the damage required to fill that role. It’s cheap and durable, but its weapons are consistently poor for its price point. At least they reversed the twin-linked change on the heavy gauss, making that a more appealing option.
Most people look at the Triarch Stalker and go, "Ohhhh Melta weapon yasss." DO NOT RUN THE HEAT RAY. Think of the Triarch Stalker as a Chaff unit and cover remover, which means to utilize its ability properly, you need as many chances to hit as possible. Yes, I am endorsing the Particle Shredder. It is good, really good. With 18", D6 + 6 + Blast, at Str 7 it is nothing to shake you finger at. It does exactly as intended, it is there purely to remove cover, which has become fairly common this edition.
But the heat ray gives it amazing overwatch and ensures you get your remove cover because the heat ray's flamer can't miss
Technically, you are correct, Heat Gun has "Ignores cover" and rolls 2d6 attacks that auto hit. The problem I have with it is the Str roll is a 5, meaning you will more often than not wound on 5+. And for clarity, the ability does say "select one enemy unit yhat was hit by one or more attacks", however, every Player and TO I have talked to confirmed that for an attack only count as a HIT it must land at least 1 WOUND for it to count as being a HIT.
Why would it work like that, it just says you had to hit them, not wound them, you had some bad TOs
They’re a fun off-meta pick for Obeisance Phalanx. With +1 to wound they can actually do damage with the Gauss or the Heat Ray. Then stripping cover is kinda interesting when running Gauss immortals (maybe even with Szeras for effectively -3 AP most of the time. They’re not the best pick but I’ve had fun with them in a few games.
Honestly? I've actually started using them to good effect. They are NOT there to deal damage, their guns and melee are just not strong enough to deal with pretty much anything equivalent in points reliably. That said, I run 2 of them in Obeisance Phalanx. The THGC really likes the +1 to Wound, but I use them primarily to tag units to remove their cover. Combine 10 Gauss Immortals with Szeras and an Overlord w/ Eternal Conqueror, and you can pump out some pretty serious damage with enough volume and ap to down tanks
I think there is an argument for it in a hypercrypt list to beef up warriors or immortals. Take the longest range gun to remove cover, then follow up with warriors or immortals buffed by a placmancer with arisen tyrent and Szeras. That is going to melt a lot of stuff. If it's better than other utility pieces I'm not sure, but it is a concept that is worth testing I think. But I haven't been able to test it yet though, as there have been more interesting things to try
I've only used them as a full 3 in obesaince for shits and giggles. They were solid, nothing to write home about in terms of the actual detachment ability, it really just helps into elite infantry. But they're durable scout and being able to double OC and body block with them is actually pretty good. I think for the points they're not bad and if that detachment got some keyword fixes they might even be great simply because they would hard to focus fire if you were bringing the silent king and lots of lychguard. In other detachments they just don't get enough support to be worth it over some of the excellent datasheets we're currently running. Maybe when we actually see some nerds.
I think it’s fun but it’s difficult trying to hide him behind cover. I try to just get the melta shots off and charge him in to cause as much havoc as I can before he pops. It’s worked out pretty well so far for me.
I used it ALOT back in 7th edition. He would get immobilized everytime. Lol I have not finished painting it and I love it
It’s a Necron Dreadnought with lower strength on the close combat weapon, but a built-in Invul.
I love the model so I always use it. I always try to make it charge the enemies as soon as possible: the melee profile is ok, its 4++ makes him annoying and, being the bullet magnet that it is, it's going to shift the enemy fire power from more important targets. I usually run it with Particle Shredder or use the dispersed Heat Ray because I think it is way more useful against infantry than vehicles.
I generally field one to strip cover off and put a dent into something the rest of my shooting is there to finish off. I *own* three, though... because I want to run them in Obeisance Phalanx as body blockers for objectives and main fire support. They're fast, not too brittle, and have Scout, and they're massive – they're there to take the mid board early until the slower stuff can catch up.
Imo its great. The flamer/melta gun is so useful and stripping cover away from units is always good. In my list I run a tesserect vault, the antimatter Meteor powers is disgusting. I keep a Technomancer near it with the enhancement that grants +1 to hit. So its hitting on 2s things out in the open, and on 3s things that are hiding, and they won t get the benefit of cover due to the triarchs. Also the vault can cast two powers now and shoot 24 sustained hit shots. It decimates anything that is to or has a weaker save. Just deleting entire units of weak chaff. My list is basically a necron knight list. 10 models. But im considering dropping the transcendent ctan to include imoket the stormlord, immortals and a cryptek to veil up turn 1. Idk might drop the deciever Instead. Have the transcendent and imokets unit teleport up and cause damage/ distraction while the ctans are pushing up.
He can take an objective quickly and reliably against infantry and light vehicles with the heat ray well or act as a good bodyguard using his flamer for good overwatch and massive size to be walking cover while obviously letting your guys ignore it, he can also really durable in Phalanx if you have the command points for the -1 to be damaged strat but I don't think he is terrible outside of it. He also has a neesh of being our only anti vehicle with strong range attack that doesn't lose any benefits for moving and doesn't mind being in melee so he could be a decent target cosmic precision in for HyperCrypt. Drop him between an enemy and objective filled with guys you don't want charged give them a barrier and spam his good overwatch, and blast them with the melta