I'm still unsure how to use/alter the start of the fluff as obviously, no-one knows what's happening fluff wise for 9th ed. The bits I have done though tie in to the fluff I remember reading for the original Dragon isles. However I had/have sorted it from that point on, it revolves around the survivors being brought to wherever it is the Slann sent them (back to the old world on Albion/a new world/a new land/bastion set up by the old ones during the first war as a protective measure against chaos flooding the world), complete with temple cities, jungles and spawning pools never before seen by any of the Lizardmen there. All un-mentioned characters in the end times are also present, alive and well (for example Nakai and Gor-rok) This is where the good news stops for the Lizardmen, as there are no Slann present and no indication that there ever will be and no sign of the flying temple cities. The entire species is left unsure of what happened and what to do, the skinks are left with a two fold feeling of loss and failure overshadowed by a crushing despair of being utterly alone. Tehenhauin as prophet of sotek takes up the leadership of the race, being even he has no way of knowing where or what to do and he feels severed from the old ones as well as the Slann themselves. Hardest hit in this new series of Casualties are the Saurus and Kroxigor. Although never designed or capable of intellect beyond their roles, it appears that the Slann had a previously unknown affect on them, calming their more feral nature and controlling their natural instincts, acting as conduits for the old ones to ensure Skinks, Saurus and Kroxigor all fulfilled the roles designed for them by the Old Ones. With that aura now completely gone the Saurus are changed, savage as never before, new spawnings happened very soon after arrival, but with each rapid new spawning (sometimes as soon as a matter of days) the saurus resemble more and more of this new aspect. New saurus, appearing larger in stature that previously seen, scales forming crude spikes with wicked edges, making it as much an offensive weapon as a defensive armour. The older saurus too are not immune to the change, growing rapidly in size and fury, Gor-rok now matches the original Kroxigor in his stature, his shoulders broad, his body comprised of whip cord sinew and muscle, caked in diamond like spikes and spines. Kroq-gar has also changed in a similar fashion, though the nimbus of new energy from his hand and spear (seen in the end times) have not dimmed, for the moment at least his presence of mind and personality have not changed to reflect this cold new dawn, though he currently remains in a state of inactivity. Last and possibly most concerning of all, are the kroxigor, though the skinks have changed little (if at all), the kroxigor are close to unrecognisable, their plate scales are tough, though without hindering movement, their previously softer under-skin now hard enough to turn a charging spear. Their savage nature unlocked and their charge against the enemy, devastating. Nakai has vanished as he always does, into the jungle, but he is frequently seen in battle. He more so than any other has changed, his white hide now dark, save for the occasional patches of white around the face, giving his mighty head a skull like appearance. Some skinks have suggested that perhaps Hunachi is in ascendance and he blesses Nakai with his favour. The few skinks who have seen the wanderer in combat however are far more skeptical. Though clearly free of the taint of chaos, there is something dark no brewing in the Wanderer, a rage and destructive fury against any interlopers that has not been witnessed in the ancient being ever before. Though uncertain of the future, Tehenhauin is sure of one thing alone, that they have failed the old world twice now, that they were satisfied to do nothing when they should have been taking action from the day the great vortex was achieved by the high elves, there must not be a third time. Chaos, it's allies and any foolish enough to stand in the way must be crushed, no mercy, no deliberating, the time for contemplation only brought ruin. The time for action is now, the lizardman are going on the offensive and any caught in the path will be crushed.
This sounds very intriguing; I'm in on this new feral idea! Making Tehenhauin the new "Emperor" of the lizards makes a lot of sense; and pure game wise, the lizard men would need a new boost, when their magical toads are all gone.
Does GamesWorkshop pay a royalty fee (if that is what it is called) to TSR > WotC > Hasbro in order to use "Lizardmen"? Who, if anyone, owns the IP to "Lizardman" or "Lizardmen": Does Dave Trampier's Lizardman (above) pre-date the existence of Games Workshop??
Rikard I love your take on the Lizards of the future! I always found the old Dragon Isle background fascinating, and saw some really cool feral lizardmen armies quite a few years back but I never had the confidence to pull it off myself. Saurus converted from Savage Orcs always remind me of the Dragon Isles
^^ I want to hit "like" more than once for that idea ^^ Love your adaptation Rikard. New fluff and models would be warmly welcomed
It'll be the next must take unit; every none lizard players would refer to them when saying how OP the new lizardmen are and we will love it. The thing is that we'll secretly still have Slanns; there are now working for GW, insuring a balanced game without round bases
Now I actually really want them! Can some one please manipulate the head staff of GW, to insert these guys in the next lizardmen army book
They might own the right to use that name in roleplaying, fantasy-ish conditions. Only based on the fact that DnD uses the term Lizard folk, however this might just be due to the fact, that they want to differentiate themselves from WHF's lizards. They might just be the only war game table top that can use that name, only table top game... I dunno, but I think it's properly not far off.
I never thought of having him a new lord, more like an unlikely steward, amongst all skinks he's most revered/looked up to, but he feels just as lost as not even he can talk to sotek, or the Slann. I had worked in other bits and pieces like the Coatls making an appearance and possibly the return/rebirth of Quango from the egg. Funny story, Hasbro, own a sizeable chunk of GW shares, this makes flashing out the "cease and desist" documents very difficult when it comes to Lizardmen. That's what I have had running in my head since my first Krox sculpt, always thinking of the Dragon Isles, always thinking of trying to show that savage rage that make saurus close combat monsters (fluff wise), this also included special character Kroxigors that I wrote fluff and rules for, including Tanq (the big guy who went to Avatars of war, Nakai and third one...who's head may or may not be sitting on my desk right now...in front of me...no photos of him online anywhere...well, not yet anyway). I love fluff, I'm still re-writing and editing the twice damned series, nowhere near finished it, but it's longer, dialogue is better, plot has massively changed in places as has the motivation of characters and their personalities. Ever since the end times I changed a large portion of it and made my own fantasy world and mythos to fit it. As for a new model(s), well, as I said Nakai is the one in my fluff who has most changed, I remember the first set of rules for him when he had the mark of Sotek with Regen, then it became the Mark of Quetzl, then the mark of the old ones. Rather than get flustered at the indecisive fluff, I thought perhaps a better way of looking at it was this: Nakai is the first Kroxigor, he's older than most slann (just look at the fluff, he was verging on un-killable from the first demonic war and vanishing of the old ones), since then (if he's anything like other kroxigor and saurus), he only gets more dangerous, growing more savage and harder to kill with age. From there I thought his mark rather than being one specific old one, would be unknown, almost like a joint blessing, one that changes to fit the needs/desires of the old one. I can post the detailed fluff if anyone wants to see it? As for how he'd look, well not sure...perhaps his head might look something like this.
Interesting stuff! I kinda like the idea of with the slaan gone, the army becomes more sotek centric, possibly get coatyls as a new form of caster? maybe like a monstrous flying beast version of the bro-locks? I love the idea of Nakai being a bigger deal, would love to see him as basically a lizardmen Throgg. On a side note, if legally its possible I would love to help you out with this , if you like of course, should we get the cold shoulder in 9th I dig the more brutal style of your designs.
Wow... each of you are already individually extremely talented. Combined, you guys would be unstoppable. Might as well close up GW now!!!
It's going to be a while before I can start him, which is something or a downer, but we'll see, got a few different ideas, not so much making him bulky big, but more lean, so the scales are sharp like diamond edges, but seem to make up his entire skin in a more subtle way than my previous attempts (rather than just looking like a form of organic armour). In addition to that, I've added another head that's short in length, but broad across the width of the skull (something with a very powerful bite). This is/was an idea for a different variant, or even a new previously un-named Kroxigor. Someone who is would be the opposite of the one I mentioned before, armoured with thick scales and being as broad as he is tall (the kind of kroxigor who'd be slow, but brutal in combat and exceptionally hard to get close to without damaging yourself, or getting squashed/trampled). Bro-locks? Have you got any photos or images? As for the fluff, I'd been thinking of the Coatl replacing the Slann as the high end magic casters too and after a recent topic in the fluff section, I even thought about the Quango egg producing a special character with immense magical powers. I do loads of heads (especially if I'm having a good sculpting streak) and then they sit in a cork so I can go through them all one by one for different projects. Also, as promised (although still very early stages), I've including some photos of the Salamander I'm doing, I completely changed the style of head from the old one and decided to attempt something new and looked at the Japanese giant Salamander: The head shape Making the teeth more spiky for grabbing/gripping prey. More than just one row of teeth (top and bottom) for different and slightly sinister look. Got plenty of other ideas to combine into this piece, like the tail and the legs too, was thinking of slight webbing here and there to really show it as being an aquatic animal. SIDE NOTE: Hell yes! I'm all in for that, I think it would be tons of fun and we'd come up with some really unique pieces.
Bro-locks is the nickname given to the Dark Elves' Doomfire Warlocks http://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/Dark-Elves-Doomfire-Warlocks
Yea the Doomfire Warlocks. I like them for that role because the warlocks are super fast count as a lvl 2 wizard, are poison with pretty damn good melee stats for an elf, have some devastating spells, and get a 4+wardsave. all of which i think would apply to the coatl except of course they would be able to fly and maybe have high magic spells like soul quench and hand of glory, or maybe soul quench and iceshard blizzard.
That sounds really good, I've got something of a guilty streak when it comes to using fluff to create pieces, even if it's building on fluff for things like Slann, saurus or Kroxigor. I've still got loads of it I wrote a while back. I'll have a look, I like going through old fluff too, as I'm sure in an old german white dwarf, you had the thunder lizard army lists (coatls were Lv 4 casters in that).