Warhammer 40K: This Week’s Meta Hotness – Drukhari Talos
Here is a unit that is causing pain for many players, lets take a look at the Drukhari Talos.
Armies rise and fall in the ever-shifting meta of 40K. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about armies that are hot or not, but a lot less time looking at units that are running the show. Today let’s take a look at one of the hottest units currently running around the tabletop.
The Unit
The Talos is a heavy support unit of mid-weight monsters. These flying beasts are stitched together by the Haemonculus Covens and are among their most giant creations. They are similar to the newer Cronos but focused more on heavy firepower.
Why They Are Good
Right off the bat, the Talos has a lot of the same strengths that light vehicles do. While they aren’t vehicles, they share many of the same buffs, having solid toughness and a decent amount of wounds. They are pretty hard for light weapons to hurt and need some dedicated firepower to bring them down. The Talos also has the added buff of flying, making it a little more agile. If supported by a character, it can get healing and go up to T7. Starting at a 3+/6++/5+++ save, these guys can be super annoying to kill. They also don’t degrade.
The Talos also comes with several weapons and some options. Typically people take them with a pair of heat lances for range firepower. This gives them some powerful anti-tank or heavy infantry firepower, which is a great option and an excellent replacement for dark lance raiders in an army that can sometimes struggle with heavy tanks.
In combat, the popular Ichor Injector allows for easy mortal wounds, bypassing many defenses, while the Talos Gauntlet at D3 is great for dealing with vehicles or heavy three-wound infantry. Thanks to some recent point drops, these bad boys are hard to kill and highly efficient.
A Sample List
Saying a unit is hot is all well and good, but let’s look at how players are using it. One list that highlights Talos is the list that Richard Siegler ran to take 1st place at both the recent GW Austin GT.
Patrol
Obsession – “Custom Coven” – Artists of the Flesh (All Consuming)
-HQ-
Haemonculus – Warlord – Master Regenerist, The Animus Vitae – 70pts
-Troops-
Wracks X 17 – Electrocorrosive Whip, Ossefactor, Wrack Blade X 16 – 154pts
Wracks X 5 – 40pts
Wracks X 5 – 40pts
-Elites-
Grotesque w/Master Cleaver X 4 – 140pts
Grotesque w/Master Cleaver X 4 – 140pts
-Heavy-
Talos X 2 – Heat Lances X 2, Talos Gauntlet, Talos Icho Injector – 210pts
Talos X 2 – Heat Lances X 2, Talos Gauntlet, Talos Icho Injector – 210pts
Patrol
Obsession – “Custom Coven” – Dark Technomancer
-HQ-
Succubus – Hypex, Quicksilver Fighter, Relic – Triptych Whip, Tolerated Ambition, Show Stealer – 95pts
-Troops-
Wracks X 4 – 40pts
-Heavy-
Cronos X 3 – Sprit Probe X 1 – 260pts
Cronos X 3 – Sprit Probe X 1 – 260pts
Patrol
Obsession – Kabal of the Black Heart: Thirst for Power
-HQ-
Archon – Ancient Evil, Djin Blade, Splinter Pistol, Huskblade, Tolerated Ambition, Splinter Genius
-No Force Org-
Court of the Arcon – Sslyth X 4, Ur-Ghul X 4 – 136pts
-Troops-
Wracks X 5 – 40pts
-Elites-
Mandrakes X 5 – 75pts
Pts: 2000 CP: +8CP
Using the Unit
This army uses two 2-model units of Talos, backed up by two 3-model units of Cronos. This is effectively the Drukhari version of the Ork buggy list. Tons of annoying midrange units running around, causing issues. Thanks to Artists of the Flesh, the Talos all take – 1D, making them just as good as other armies based around large models with -1d. Woo, no trends here or nothing. (The Cornos get more mileage out of extra damage with Dark Technomancers).
This list is just a bunch of big boys mashing and shooting you up with some tough infantry to hold objectives, and it works.
Let us know what units you think are hot right now, down in the comments!
