Recently I became a happy owner of 6 ripperdactyls. However, a couple of games I played with them, gave me some questions: 1) How do you deal with screening? It is OK when opponent have to sacrifice 30-40 model units to save against rippers, but what about monster-heavy lists? Last time I played 1500 pts game against Arkhan, Mortis Engine and VLoZD and 20 zombies were enough to protect most of them. Even if they doesn't cover all the target, they may be enough to force some rippers out of range. Is it better to give your opponent first turn and see, if he makes a gap, or he can use this opportunity only to place his chaff even better? Or strike what you can and hope for good rolls? How do you usually handle this situations? 2) When I assembled rippers' bases, I didn't think about utility in game much and gave all of them short pins because I liked looks and didn't want them to fall off high pins (which rippers really like to do). But it was an unpleasant discovery, that it makes them harder to place in 1" between bases because of wings. And I'm afraid, they won't be able to stike at, say, sylvaneth wyldwoods at all. Was it a critical mistake or comfortable game still possible? Is there more advanced tips and tricks about ripper-based shadowstrike?
Great questions. Your first question is at the core of how to pilot Shadowstrike. In terms of dealing with screens there are number of factors to consider. 6 Rippers inside of Shadowstrike are certainly capable of thinning down hordes and screens. The main question to consider is if doing so will help you win the match. In most cases this will come down to the battleplan you are playing. If it is an objective where you have to break your enemy's castle, such as duality of death, then it is probably worth attacking the zombies. However, if it is something like battle for the pass then I would allow my opponent to turtle, claim the first turn, hold back my Rippers, and start racking up VP. Additionally you want to always be looking for a target that your Rippers can take off the table without drawing other near by units into the fight. This will allow you a free kill. In a perfect world you would accomplish this while going second and then double turn your opponent. Short of this you are looking to kill whatever the enemy has that presents the greatest threat to your ability to out score them. While VLoZD, Arkhan, and Mortis Engine are powerful models they are all very weak at holding objective. In this case killing the Zombies can be worth while simply because they are better at holding objectives. In most cases in Age of Sigmar it is always better to take second turn. This is true even for Shadowstrike Starhost. However, this does change based on the deployment phase. Shadowstrike has the necessary tools to take advantage of opponents misplays. If your oppents makes a grave mistake then capitalize on it and take first turn. Even at events with experienced AoS players I find that players will often make something I consider to be a poor choice in their deployment that I am able to exploit with Shadowstrike. As a result I tend to elect to go first more often than not. When in doubt, attack. If for no other reason than you will learn quicker from being over aggressive than you will from being timid.
Thank you for your answer, LizardWizard! In that game with LoN zombies left a small gap between the units. I managed to put a single ripper in that gap just near a Necromancer and kill it. Since the BP was Places of Arcane power, only VLoZD left to score objectives, and I had carno with artefact, slann and starpriest. This decided the game from turn 1, I think, So I'm getting what you are talking about. I'm still concerned about Sylvaneth, There is so much whining in nearby city gaming group about wyldwoods that blocks everything but infantry, and terrorgeist cannot charge stuff like Durthu while it stands there. I wonder if rippers suffer from the same problems.
Fly helps rippers quite a bit as you don't have to roll for deaths on charging/running through the wildwoods. Also, try to deny the Sylvaneth player their own woods. Always take the side of the table they put their woods on if you get to choose deployments. If they place it center of the table take first turn and LoSaT into their woods. Don't let Dryads claim the woods. They are almost impossible to remove.
LoSaT is your friend. as a general rule, teleport some razordon in shooting range, possibly backed up by some long range shooting (bastiladon, MW by EotG and so on). descend with your rippers ready to charge the juicy targets. shoot the screening unit charge - profit.