Unit of the Week: Triarch Stalker

[NTaW]

 

Welcome to the Necron Unit of the Week Series!

 

Each week a different unit will be highlighted for discussion until we have amalgamated a full list of our available options and their relevant tactics as 8th edition evolves. We already have a few previous entries but things change as FAQs and Chapter Approved books get released and we playtest new ideas so please feel free to reopen a topic when new options become relevant for discussion.

 

Please keep in mind this isn't to lament the status of featured units or compare them to others but to try and find their potential for all types of gameplay. Comments that do not adhere to this goal will be removed as they are not constructive to the topic.

 

This week’s unit is:

 

 

As a loose guide, here are some questions we could answer to help out any who happen upon our metallic corner of the B&C:

 

• Which weapon do you prefer?

• What synergies have you found with other units?

• How many do you include in your army?

• Do you build you list around this unit or use it to fill points?

• What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of this unit?

 

Now over to you!

 

[BaconCouch]

• Which weapon do you prefer?

There are only two weapons worth taking, the TLHGC, and the Heat Ray. Generally I go with the TLHGC, since that 36 inch range comes in handy. Against super aggressive opponents favoring assault, the heat ray is better due to being a twin heavy flamer as well.

• What synergies have you found with other units?

Pairs great with Doomsday Arks, Tesla Immortals, the Seraptek Heavy Construct to give them reroll 1s to hit, and allowing tesla immortals to practically aimbot with MWBD

• How many do you include in your army?

One, generally, people tend to ignore the thing for the quantum shielding making it annoying to kill, and the low damage output

• Do you build you list around this unit or use it to fill points?

I use it more to support a gunline-style army. If that list is heading towards being particularly shooty, a stalker is important.

• What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of this unit?

Low number of shots.

Good strength shots.

Does not ignore movement penalties

Gives Reroll 1s to hit against a priority target for your whole army

Does not get dynasty codes...for some reason.

 

[Dread]

I can't really add much to what was said but I still use both of mine together with Pretorians and have great success with them.

[Tyriks]

I actually like all the guns it has. I brought the particle shredders once against Orks because I just couldn't fit anything else and I wanted the rerolls. It is amazing against Orks, Daemons, some Tyranids. They just aren't good against some other armies.

 

The rerolls means Triarch Stalkers have synergy with any unit with a gun, despite not having a Dynasty. That bad news is that while it benefits most or all of your army, nothing benefits it because of that missing keyword. It can't get buffs, it can't be repaired. That can be rough.

 

I think I pretty much always have 1 at least. Rerolls are so hard for us to come by that I'm not gonna pass them up! They're pretty durable thanks to QS. A friend charged one with a rhino to keep it from shooting and was very disappointed when it smashed right through the rhino and kept on shooting. As with most Necron stuff it could probably come down in points but overall this is one of our most useful tools.

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

It has a surprising melee punch for its appearance and size. "Oh, so, you see these giant claws? They hurt."

 

I quite like them, and own three of them (granted, one is in need of repainting, and my other conversion is unfinished, but still). They're a great unit, and can do good on their own but taking two grants more rerolls and also provides some redundancy.

Damage Control override can help mitigate the lack of repairing, as can Quantum deflection to reduce damage taken, but its still frustrating to have no innate healing. 

[Kaldoth]

I run two in my list. I don't actually take the heat ray ever, just because 3 squads of 10 Tesla immortals tends to be enough shooting for me when it comes to mobs. I usually take the particle shredder or the THGC depending on how many points I have to work with. They're both good weapons systems in their own right against TEQ/armor respectively. They're durable with QS and give any Necron reroll 1s. Whats not to like? :D A good combo with these guys is using sautekh tomb sentinels. Shoot at whatever big nasty needs killing to give your sentinels the reroll 1s to hit after they deep strike. If you can inflict an unsaved wound with something else, you can use the sautekh stratagem to give them a 2+ to hit with reroll ones as well! Very nasty if you are rocking more than one sentinel! Those s10ap4 d3 hits add up!

[NTaW]

I like my Stalker quite a lot and use it primarily to help my Warriors get their job done. Most often I use the particle shredder since it provides me the most consistent shooting and works well given the units it accompanies. I'll echo Lenoch in that it can definitely surprise the unwary in combat, particularly characters, but needs to be cautious around horde units that bring the dice. As someone who uses multiple Codes in an army I'm quite happy targeting relay is connected to the NECRONS keyword without <DYNASTY> added in.