Hey guys, First post here. Glad to have finally found somewhere dedicated to just lizardmen. Onto my question, today I'm buying a box of these guys but I'm unsure on which to build. I mainly play against high elves and chaos. Ive read the rules a few times but can't decide which would be better. Please any help would be appreciated. Cheers
Rippers will do better in most cases for the following reasons: 1) Lots more attacks, especially with the toad rage unit 2) better armour save 3) immune to psych until they lose frenzy 4) Killing blow tends to have a big psychological effect out of proportion to its actual game impact. About the only drawback to rippers is frenzy may result in them getting baited but if kept near the general & BSB, this usually isn't a problem. About the only advantage of terradons is drop rocks so they are useful, once per game, at targeting a lone character/fast cav unit. All in all, rippers are the way to go IMHO.
And Killing blow ignores those armor saves of the chaos. The rippers also can eat a mage bunker up pretty well too for the high elves. The better armor means they will survive the arrows better. Everything else Stonecutter said as well.
Welcome to the forum! Depends: do you want some of the best chaff in the game or a fighty unit? you shouldnt measure them for the same purpose. They do NOT fullfill the same roles.
he can be assembled on either. as regards to the OP i'll go in the Terradon batch of things,, rippers are prone to dying before they deal any damage, and even though terradons are weaker on paper, they're also cheaper, and less of a target magnet for your opponent. They don't do close combat, but distraction work, as well as maybe holding up a warmachine for a crucial turn or 2.
^^ As Vamp said above..Especially seeing that your regular opponents play with high initiative troops that can fight. Others may disagree with me, but at Ini 3 (unless buffed with hand of glory or enemy debuffed). You may find the rippers die before they offload their nasty bunch of attacks. Sure if you get into the flank of the unit of knights or archer bunker they can wreak havoc. But then most things look good if you get them into a flank Depends on your playstyle....My playstyle I try to field units that are versatile. Terradons are fast, manouverable and make great redirectors. They flee, rally and can march and shoot again. And ofc drop rocks once a game. They can charge that warmachine to hold it up even if they do not fight as well as rippers. Whereas Rippers have frenzy, thus ITP and cannot flee until the enemy beats that frenzy out of them. Ld5 frenzy also requires a bit more attention (like facing them away from enemies when you do not want to charge that goblin wolf riders 22" away). Each has their place and with rippers you have to choose you battles carefully (T3, 2W, 4+ armor save - not very tough at all) All in my opinion of course, beauty (and usefulness) is in the eye of the beholder after all.