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Decided to add a fast unit to my army for once, rather than another MC.
I mainly play matrines, so was wondering which unit would perform better?

Will buy 6 of either, but wanted dakka's take on both units beforehand.
The shrikes have the options of whips and swords, but then points add up.
Ravs have a nice amount of attacks and movement, but lack the ability to kill power armour as well. (rending only works so well)

So, anyone run either of the 2? also, what loadouts would people take for anti-marine please.



Thanks.

I've been fielding Ravs lately, and I like them. The lack of glands and sacs holds them back a bit, but the price is right. Six with rending claws runs 210 points, which isn't bad at all for 18 wounds of beasts with WS5, I5, A4 and rending.

I still need another set of FW wings before I start really playtesting Shrikes heavily. Obviously their offensive ceiling is much higher. But (I think this is an important point) you have to build around them more than with Ravs.

Ravs move and hide in a swarm just fine, since their movement "boost" is in the assault phase. But in order to use the full movement of Shrikes, a Gargoyle screen is almost mandatory. Now that's not a big points outlay for the Gargs, but the Shrikes are already pricey to begin with.

So I guess my summary is

Ravs: solid, more plug-and-play
Shrikes: scary good offense, but more expensive and need to be built around

Edit: I don't really bother with Rav guns. Been trying to figure out a use for them but usually they get stuck in before the right opportunities emerge. If the guns were cheaper, I might pass them out just for opportunity shooting. But the deathspitter is the one I'd want, and they're too pricey IMO.

I'd probably just go boneswords and toxin sacs on Shrikes. Whips are obviously a strong consideration, but the price tag really starts getting scary, and Tyranid armies don't usually have a lot of points to burn under this codex.