Hi all Been wondering if this battalion is worth the price of entry. Firelance is kinda mediocre, but with Saurus Knights being cheaper it's at least economical. I am concerned I don't have enough screening however. Battalions: Firelance Starhost, Dracothian's Tail Leaders: - Slann, Great Rememberer, Incandescent Rectrices - Engine of the Gods - Scar-Vet on Cold One - Astrolith Bearer - (2) Starpriest Units: - (3) 5x Saurus Knights - 10x Skinks - 4x Salamanders - 4x Razordons - 3x Handlers Endless Spells: - Balewind Vortex - Chronomantic Cogs - Prismatic Palisade - Gemnids of Uhl-Gysh Total: 1,990 points Basically the plan is Slann and Starpriests get out Balewind+Cogs+Palisade (activate Astrolith first to get the +1 casting benefit). I then bring down Salamanders and Razordons 18" from Slann, along with the Handlers, and nuke the enemy with shooting (teleporting Astrolith into position prior so they benefit from his re-roll aura). Firelance runs interference or screens Turn 1 charges. With the 14-16 summoning points, either bring on more Sallies/Razordons or more Skinks for screening. Alteratively, if all is going well, bank the points for next turn and start summoning free Carnosaurs/Engines/Stegs/Bastilodons. I am wondering if the gunbeast packs are worth it. I am considering dropping one and just taking more Skink screening. Thoughts?
IMO the knights and firelance are not worth the points in this type of a list. To me, if you want to run Firelance, you should really have an entire list built around it or have other melee Sarus units to complement it. They are pretty weak on their own and need all the buffs they can get. Also Firelance is more expensive than it previously was, so it seems inefficient to spend all the points for the battalion but only use 3x5 knights. In the list above, I think you would be better off saving the points and just using more skinks. Just my opinion! I do think Sallies and Razordons are both very good at 40 a piece, so I'm sure if you use them correctly they will do well!
Ah the reason I went with is so the whole army is contained in one battalion. So it would be one drop for deployment. Yeah I'm not investing heavily in Firelance, it's just there as my tax (I think Saurus Knights are still kinda bad, even with the price decrease they got). I assume that's still how things work in 2.0, it's +1 to going first if you finish deploying first? I may end up doing that, because I think Skinks are broken in how they can chaff melee opponents so easily (means I'd have to drop Draco's Tail entirely, but I might do a Shadowstrike instead then). Yeah I'm keen to bomb people with the double gunbeast pack, especially in range of an Astrolith Bearer.
Yeah I wouldn't put yourself in a disadvantage by taxing yourself that hard for the Knights. Don't forget about Heavenswatch Starhost, although more expensive than Thunderquake (often times compared to each other) it is still very good. IMO the starseer is really strong and this battalion allows you to have almost an entire army as one drop!