Fellow Friends, I was comparing some unit with other armies in Warhammer, and I reach that he ir not, I could give few examples, but here´s go two examples: 1. High Elves "Teclis" can kick a%# 2. The magic Pit of Shadows, from Lore of Shadows, can kill a Slann entirely!!! What is your opinion, what are the great defences of the Slann, what is the best of him.... etc... cheers, Marcos
Well, beyond your basic two points, I must ask if you have anything particular to ask about the slann or whether the topic should just be a all of fantasy vs. slann debate . (1) Yes, in fact Teclis is quite good. He also, however, costs a quite a lot of points, has a more limited amount of power dice to play with than a tooled 2nd generation (limiting his usefullness incredibly), and no longer has access to the 2+ Ward Save that protected him in the previous edition. IMO, a Slann is still more flexible and durable than Teclis anyday. (2) Yes, a pit of shades can pwn everything. It is not simply a threat to a Slann, but a threat to anything and everything (except for a steam tank). Thankfully, a Slann is probably your best protection from an opponent intent on weilding mass pit of shades as he can dispel even better than dwarfs.
That is not a particuraly about the Slann... As a new player in wh fantasy, with a brand new lizardmen army i´m analising everything, rulebook and armys book.... I just want to know if I´m seen things rights or if i´m delusioning... hehe... But I have a question about the Slann: which is the best strategy(es) to keep a Slann alive in a 2000pts battle??
Well theres two distinct ways to do this, the subtle way, and the unsubtle way. The unsubtle way is pretty straight-forward. In it, you stick your slann in a beefed up SW unit or a TG unit to protect him from enemy units. In order to make sure that your Slann wont die from a cannon-ball or other random fire, you get a plaque of protection. WIth a 2+ Ward Save, your Slann will be nigh-invulnerable to general fire. You can add a totem of prophecy to ensure that your unit wont flee from the fear-causing troops out there, and your good to go. In essence, you can pour as many points as you want into protecting your slann, the sky is really the limit. Often, at 2k points you will see people taking a beef-cake unit and either a totem for fear or a plaque for better missle defense (or alternatively the Sun-Standard to give further anti-missile defense). In this case, except for exceptional cases such as a brass orb or a pit of shades, your Slann will only be killed through the attrition. The only problem with this is that it is an all eggs in one basket approach. A more subtle way to defend your Slann, is, well, simply to stick him behind a piece of terrain. I realize that it sounds actually quite unsubtle, but as your slann can benefit from the LOS of your skink priests, there is really no logical reason that you should be putting your Slann near your enemy. Alternatively, you can use the seperate units of your army to protect your slann by positioning swarms and skinks in ways that divert charges away from a Slann. As a monster, your Slann is suprisingly mobile, being able to turn 360 degrees before making its full 8" move. If your good enough at judging distances and have a mind for movement, you should be able to use your slann as a magnet to draw your opponent into some nasty traps. As a final note, dont forget that your Slann can cast spells such as Bears anger and FSOR on himself. Both are basic spells that can let your slann fend off enemies (and lead to some unexpected flank charges). Spells such as shades of death can protect the Slann and any unit he is in from fear causers if you left the totem at home. In essense, what I am trying to convey is that, as the general and the focal point of your army, there are almost limitless legitimate ways to keep the slann alive. The more difficult thing is to keep him alive while not going overboard so that the rest of your armies potential is compromised.
For the sneaky and very tactically minded player I think that keeping the Slann on his own is the best option for both protection and tactical/movement advantage. As you know he can use the LOS of the skink priests so just keep him away from the enemy army behind a nice forest or big impassable rock and blast away from there. Putting him in a beefy unit can be better for defense, but it means that he is a lot less mobile and the enemy can focus on that unit and hit it with missile fire, magic, and combat after a few turns.
If you make your slann guard immune to psychology does that negate the need for the totem of prophecy?
Well the use of the Totem of prophecy is for Temple Guard. The trade-off between Tlazcotl SW and Temple Guard is that the Temple Guard will reliably hold in any situation except when outnumbered by fear. Without the stubborn rule, Tlazcotl SW risk breaking from a powerful charge (i.e. lord level character w/knight unit). As far as I know, a unit that is ITP allows the character to hold in cases of fear outnumbering. However, I could be easily mistaken.
Bear's Anger can't be cast on a Slann, as he's US 5, not US 1. Flaming Sword of Rhuin is usable on him. Tlazcotl Saurii are good in the they won't panic and won't suffer from fear/terror. The weakness is that they aren't stubborn and a vicious charge will break them and result in your Slann getting run down. Temple Guard can be auto-broken with fear (I learned that the hard way on Sunday...) but Totem of Prophecy will make them immune to this (but not immune to Terror - in that respect, Tlazcotl have the edge). Temple Guard can be made to Panic - I know from experience that you will eventually fail a cold-blooded Ld9 test vs. a Flaming Skull catapult. You also could (sadly) suffer a chain route from nearby units. Not likely, but it could happen. Hard to say which is best - stubborn or immune to psychology... there is no perfect Slann guard (which is good, no-brainer choices aren't fun).
Ya I've had Slann guards break from cc, I tell you it blows seeing your Slann get run down, but thats the way the game goes sometimes I guess. But I found most of the time things didn't get close enough to my slann to be in cc, I usually guard him pretty effectivly with my other units. I guess my strategy with the slann is defensive as opposed to offensive.
What about a Slann be in a Salamander Unit ??? Or simple just leave him behind a salamander unit ?! Only a few units, with balls of steel, will assalt a salamander unit (espeacially with 3 salamanders causing fear), and the salamander unit can defend a Slann assalting or shotting hard on enemy !!! This is okay?!!?!
That...probably would not be the best of ideas. Salamanders are not particularly good in combat, and have little chance of holding. Their limited range means that heavy/light cavalry can get the jump on them (keep in mind that they cannot use stand & shoot as a charge reaction). While salamanders are certainly effective as rear guards, it is their mobility and flexibility that are their assets, making them ill-suited for baby-sitting activities.
Yeah, i agree with you.... but this idea is a kind diferent that a "defend the slann".... obviously a temple guard or a SW could protect and defend the slann more effectively, but I thought that leaving the sallies arround the slann could leave the unit/points used to "protect" the slann in a different "combat-attacking" unit... giving the enemy somenthing more to worry about..... The Slann will be a walking alone slann... just to do not leave him alone i believe that a bunch of sallies could guard him for a few turns
I was wondering if someone would comment on how successful taking a 2nd gen slaan in a 2000k army list has proven for them?
A 2nd gen slann in a 2k list can be devestating, especially if your opponent doesn't have proper magic defense ready. just give him all the shooty magic he can get. But be aware that some players consider this as power gaming or cheesy. Fluff wise they might be right. it might not be adequate to have one of the last 5 2nd gen slanns in such a small battle. But If your opponents don't mind go ahead and use ththat bad boy. Of course you have a huge point-eating hole there and it can really backfire. You will have to play rather defensively with the 2nd gen slann because you don't want it to day, no matter what. and you have fewer units than usually. You should not make any risky attaks but try to sit in the back, shooting fireballs, slowing your opponents down with terradons or some scouting skinks. when the enemy gets near you you can counter charge with kroxis or COR. You should not do it against fast armies like bretonnians or elves though. if they outmaneuver you (yes, they can) you are a dead toad.
Hey! First hello to everyone as im new round here! Well i have a question: I have a lizard army, tho I often wonder whether slann can cast missiles and other spells while in close combat. Well he can at other units around cant he? But what about casting missiles at enemy unit thats in close combat with the unit he is in? Anyway i never understood completely whether wizard can cast in close combat, and if he can, can he cast magic missiles on enemy hes in close combat and other enemy units around? (well i asked the same thing, but with slann its different as hes in 2nd rank). thx in advance!
He cannot cast magic into the enemy unit his bodyguard are in combat with, because they are in combat. Magic missiles can not be cast into combat (unless specificially allowed). AoE spells work slightly differently, although generally a damage spell will explicitly say that it can be cast into combat.