Stalk Tank

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Guardsman: I think I peed a little.

Chaos is nothing if not inventive.

When the Defiler proved effective in combat situations, the Traitors of the Lost and the Damned took note - here, they argued, was a useful and powerful weapon, one that the Traitors could make use of - and fully-intended to do so. However, they realized quickly that the design could be modified into a useful fast-attack and reconnaissance vehicle. The end result was the Stalk Tank. Unlike a Defiler, the Daemon-Engine of the Stalk Tank is intended to work alongside a living driver; the result is that driver and Tank alike work together in causing carnage and mayhem, though this means that the Stalk Tank is a bit more vulnerable to having its driver knocked about than the Defiler as a result. The design worked, and after first being popularized by the Khornate forces of the Blood Pact, it was quickly co-opted by allied forces before being gradually spread to every group of heretical scum in the Segmentum.

Why the vehicle is called a Tank when it's a walker without a turret and doesn't fulfill any of the battlefield roles of any kind of tank due to its primary target being infantry is anyone's guess. Probably just an informal designation made by people who don't know military vehicle designations like your average uneducated dumb motherfucker who joins up with the Lost and the Damned that just ended up sticking because to be fair, it's a really badass name.

It can be thought of as essentially a Chaos version of the Imperial Sentinel walker, with roughly comparable armament and armour. It can be armed a bit more heavily than its Imperial counterpart, but is also a bit more fragile and isn't as capable of unconventional forms of deployment as the Sentinel and isn't quite as modular as only a single Stalk Tank variant is known. It still fulfills a broadly similar role as a very light, highly mobile walker that can provide decent firepower that would otherwise need to be lugged by heavy weapons teams at an affordable cost while still being too much for infantry without some anti-vehicle firepower to deal with. As the old maxim goes "when all you have is an assault rifle, the difference between an M4 Sherman and M1A2 Abrams tank is mostly academic."

The Unit Itself in TT[edit]

Simply put, an awesome bit of somewhat-fragile Dakka for a nice, low points-cost and the ability to be fielded in squads. It's got the same armor as a Spess Mehreen METAL BOX, and lacks the Scout ability of a Sentinel - but it makes up for this by being substantially better-armed; by default, it has twin-linked Multilasers, and it can upgrade to use a Lascannon, twin-linked Autocannon, Twin-Linked Missile Launcher, or twin-linked Heavy Flamer. Unlike the Sentinel, the Stalk Tank can also mount pintle-mount weapons; a Havoc Launcher, Heavy Stubber, or a Twin-Linked Bolter AKA A Combi-Bolter. It also boasts the Fleet rule. Sadly, for all their firepower and speed, they're lightly armored, and will evaporate outright if subjected to sustained anti-tank weapon fire.

Being a Lost and the Damned Vehicle, there's no official model for it; this is because you're expected to build one. Some players mod Defilers into them; others scratch-build them from bits and pieces of Rhinos and Chimeras. Others go full-on Ork and build them from decidedly-not-40K stuff, with just enough bitz scrabbled together to ensure it can pass inspection. Some players build them to resemble mantises or spiders; others just make them look like tanks or APCs with feet or quadrapedal Sentinels.

In the new CSM codex, GW is trying to tell us that the Maulerfiend is a Stalk Tank. Riiiight.

Forces of the Lost and the Damned
Command: Apostate Cardinal - Chaos Champion - Cult Demagogue - Dark Commune
Iconrach - Mindwitch - Renegade Command Squad - Renegade Demagogue
Renegade Enforcer - Rogue Psyker
Human Troops: Accursed Cultist Mutant - Accursed Cultist Torment - Blooded Squad
Cultist - Blessed Blade - Disciple Squad - Heretek - Pontifex Guard
Renegade Infantry Platoon - Renegade Marauder Squad
Renegade Support Squad - Negavolt Cultist
Abhumans
& Beasts:
Beastmen Attack Squad (Khorngors - Pestigors - Slaangors - Tzaangors
Fellgor Ravagers
) - Chaos Beast - Chaos Hound - Chaos Spawn - Mutant Rabble
Ogryn Brute (Ogryn Berserker - Plague Ogryn) - Plague Zombie
Vehicles: AT70 Reaver Battle Tank - AT83 Brigand Super Tank - Chimera - Hellhound
Leman Russ Battle Tank - Salamander Command Vehicle - Stalk Tank - Sentinel
STeG 4
Artillery: Basilisk Artillery Gun - Colossus Bombard - Griffon Heavy Mortar Carrier
Hydra Flak Tank - Minotaur Artillery Tank - Medusa Siege Gun
Rapier Armoured Carrier - Wyvern Suppression Tank
Daemon Engines: Blight Drone - Blood Slaughterer - Brass Scorpion - Lord of Skulls - Plague Hulk
Super Heavies: Baneblade - Macharius Heavy Tank - Malcador Heavy Tank - Valdor Tank Hunter
Flyers: Hell Blade - Hell Talon - Valkyrie
Spacecraft: Arvus Lighter
Forces of the Traitor Legions of Chaos
Leaders: Chaos Champion - Chaos Lord - Daemon Prince - Dark Apostle
Master of Execution - Sorcerer - Master of Possession - Lord Discordant
Unaligned: Chaos Chosen - Chaos Raptors - Chaos Space Marine Squad - Chaos Spawn - Chaos Terminators
Cultist - Havocs - Mutilators - Obliterators - Possessed - Tech-Assassin - Warp Talons - Warpsmith
Negavolt Cultist - Greater Possessed - Dark Disciple - Heretek
Faction Aligned: Khorne Berzerkers - Plague Marines - Noise Marines - Rubric Marines
Great Crusade-era: Breacher Siege Squad - Consul - Despoiler Squad - Destroyer Squad - Esoterist Consul - Legiones Decurion
Legion Herald - Legion Outrider Squad - Legion Vigilator - Moritat - Master of the Signal - Praetor
Reconnaissance Squad - Seeker Squad - Sky Hunter Squad - Tactical Support Squad - Inductii
Structures: Noctilith Crown - Skull Altar
Walkers: Chaos Dreadnought (Ferrum Infernus - Chaos Contemptor
Hellforged Leviathan - Hellforged Deredeo
) - Helbrute
Vehicles: Bike Squad - Chaos Land Raider (Land Raider Hades Diabolus) - Infernal Relic Predator
Kratos Heavy Assault Tank - Mastodon - Predator Tank - Rhino Transport - Sicaran Battle Tank
Stalk Tank - Vindicator - Typhon Heavy Siege Tank - Spartan Assault Tank - Rapier Armoured Carrier
Whirlwind Scorpius - Termite - Cerberus Destroyer - Fellblade
Flyers: Harbinger - Hell Blade - Hell Talon - Fire Raptor
Storm Eagle - Xiphon Interceptor - Thunderhawk - Stormbird
Spacecraft: Dreadclaw Assault Pod - Kharybdis - Doomfire Bomber - Swiftdeath Fighter
Titans: Daemon Knights - Chaos Emperor Titan - Feral Scout Titan
Ravager Battle Titan - Chaos Warlord Titan - Woe Machine
Unaligned
Daemon Engines:
Decimator - Defiler - Death Wheel - Forgefiend - Heldrake
Maulerfiend - Soul Grinder - Wirewolf - Venomcrawler - Helstalker
Daemon Engines
of Khorne:
Blood Reaper - Blood Slaughterer - Brass Scorpion - Cauldron of Blood - Death Dealer
Doom Blaster - Kytan - Lord of Skulls - Skull Reaper - Tower of Skulls
Daemon Engines
of Nurgle:
Blight Drone - Contagion - Foetid Bloat-Drone - Myphitic Blight-Hauler
Nurgle Plague Tower - Plague Hulk - Plagueburst Crawler
Daemon Engines
of Slaanesh:
Hell-Scourge - Hell-Knight - Hell-Strider
Questor Scout Titan - Slaanesh Subjugator
Daemon Engines
of Tzeentch:
Aether Ray - Doom Wing - Fire Lord of Tzeentch
Mirrorfiend - Silver Tower of Tzeentch - The Auruntaur
Auxiliaries: Chaos Daemons - Death Guard - Thousand Sons - Emperor's Children - World Eaters - Fallen Angels