Shrike

The Shrike soars against the weight of its great tempered-steel wings by virtue of the roaring fires of its necrotite engine and the dark spells woven into its frame. Following the predatory instincts instilled in its cortex, the Shrike surveys the field of battle from aloft before plunging into the formations of the living to scythe through the ranks with its bladed wings. The appearance of Shrikes is often a precursor to a larger Cryxian force.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Construct
• Template:Flight
• Template:Blade Rush
• Template:Smasher
• Template:Threshing Blades
• Template:Trample Power Attack

Weapons

Vicious Beak
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		0.5				4				11				Head
Wing Blades
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S				LOCATION
		0.5				4				11				-

Theme Forces

• Cryx
  • Template:Black Industries
  • Template:Dark Host
  • Template:The Ghost Fleet
  • Template:Scourge of the Broken Coast. Shrike gains Gang Fighter in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this model in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Mortenebra is leading the army. It gains Accumulator [Soulless] in this theme.
  • Mercenary and Convergence players can use it by either:
    • putting it under the control of Asphyxious4 in various themes,
    • putting it under the control of Mortenebra in Strange Bedfellows.

Thoughts on Shrike

Shrike in a nutshell

The Shrike is a focus-independent trample machine, and does best as an anti-infantry model. Free tramples over anything within 10", attacking at MAT 7 + 3d6 and hitting at POW 11 is quite respectable on a 5 point package. And of course, you can always buff those numbers upwards. As with most trample-based models, though, you need the opponent to leave their stuff neatly laid out for you if you want a good turn with this model.

The free tramples means you can operate outside your caster's control range (or be on a jack marshal) and still operate near peak efficiency. Its P+S is high enough to threaten light/medium single-wound infantries, including elusive solos. Lastly, with a respectable SPD7 and a medium base finding somewhere you can trample to is usually not as difficult as it is with a large or huge based model.

Combos & Synergies

• Mortenebra2 - Fail Safe ensures that the Shrike remains operational even on a single HP. Locomotion can add crucial extra inches, while Spell piercer can help you with annoying upkeeps. You might have better target for all these spells, but under her feat there's hardly any engaged target the Shrike cannot hit.
• Lich Lord Venethrax - Terminal Velocity is yet another source for extra accurate tramples against living models.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• You need a landing spot at the end of your trample, which means you can only trample stuff within 8.4" of your start position.
  • Enemy don't normally end their turn that close to a light warjack, lined up in a conga line.
  • Enemy that get that close to a light warjack normally kill the light warjack.
• Typical bonejack - infuriatingly high DEF, but tinfoil ARM; stay away from auto-hits.
• It takes only 10 damage to knock out your Movement system completely, greatly reducing the capability of the Shrike.
• Even with P+S 11 it will not really hurt heavies.

Tricks & Tips

• The shrike has two initial attacks, including one that cannot be crippled, so the Shrike is still a decent anti-infantry warjack even if it cannot trample.
• Your trample damage roll is STR + 4 + 2d6. (It's not P+S + 4 + 2d6)
• If the enemy managed to turn around your Shrike (with Telekinesis for example), remember that you can change facing before trampling, and you do not have to have LOS to your trample target (something to remember against the Witch Coven).

Other

Trivia

• Released in Reckoning book (2015)
• The real world Shrike is a bird known for impaling its prey on thorns, barbed wire, and etc.