AoS Shadowstrike snipe

For starters yes you can have one editional artefact for every battalion you take and his save thing is a artefact that he can take in the Stormcast eternals battletome it is a command trait

 

if you use a formation, you can take multiple artifacts. I regularly use two quicksilver potions. One for my general, and one because I used a formation (eternal starhost in this case).

 

Back to the Shadowstrike Snipe - Has anyone written up a tactica on how to pull this off? I think it would be useful for all players to see the entire process on how to do a successful Shadowstrike Snipe; from army selection, roll of each unit, positioning of units, what to aim for, what not to aim for, how to maximise chances of success, etc, etc...

 

I think the ideal strategy, as far as I'm aware essentially amounts to: Take a Shadowstrike Starhost with a unit of Ripperdactyls and two units of chameleon skinks, pop the chameleon skinks up next to the target, make sure the target is the unit you select for "The trap is sprung", and now he's being hit with 10 3+ to hit, 4+ to wound, rerolling on 1s attacks. The next step is to make sure the bloat toad is on top of the target, bring the ripperdactyls in next to the chosen unit, declare they're swooping, charge, and go nuts. Plus the 3 moonstone spear 4+, 4+ rerollables, and the 9 Slashing Claws 3+, 3+ rerollables, your getting the 9 Vicious Beak 4+, 3+ rerollables, and EVERY HIT with the Vicious Beaks spawns another attack. So if by some stroke of luck you hit all 9, then you get to roll another 9 4+ rerollable attacks, then say you fail 2, then you get to roll another 7 4+ rerollables, until all your attacks fail, then you roll as many 3+ rerollable to wounds as all the attacks that succeeded. You'll literally be drowning in attacks. Nothing short of Archaon or some other similar absurdity can survive it. I mean, the ripperdactyls are guaranteed to die next turn, but most of the time you've either killed or crippled the lynchpin of their force, or at least something extremely important.

 

Third rule of 1 prevents the 3rd set of attacks. So a maximum of 18 beak attacks. Still pretty killy though.

 

Awwww, they do? That's a buzzkill. Still, that + the chameleons + it's other attacks can do a lot of damage.

 

As far as what to aim for, I'd say important mages, Like a Lord of Change are good targets, since they are fairly easy to kill as opposed to big melee heroes, and if it's a relatively low wound caster you can divert the chameleon skinks elsewhere, so you'd only need to commit the ripperdactyls to the suicide attack. Another good target is artillery, or annoying, hard to get at ranged units, like Judicators, the stuff that's hard to reach with cavalry or infantry. Or you can use it to cripple a very powerful melee hero or monster early on. This can be a pretty good option if the enemy's lacking in healing. Taking off 10+ wounds from models whos attacks or movement rely on having relatively high wounds can be quite useful. Our Dread Saurians for example are a sight weaker if they're low on wounds.

 

Make sure you teleport your chameleons off the board the following turn. Your rippers will die, it's what they do. But you should always save your chameons when you can, they are amazing late game for killing remaining heros and grabbing objectives.

 

Indeed. Also, one might want to avoid sending the chameleons and ripperdactyls in immediately if the target of the attack is close to cavalry or a flying unit that can get to the chameleon skinks before they can get away, and possibly wait for a more opportune time. Always keep in mind that the quick strike doesn't have to be immediate. It's a shame that the Skink Chiefs command ability can't be used on the ripper dactyls before the attack though. Having the beak hitting on 3+s would be great. Also of note, if you have the oxyotl model, he can be included in the sudden attack as well, though he regrettably wouldn't benefit from the Trap Has Sprung buff.