I've got one of each starter box currently. Once they're assembled, following the conversion guide for the regular Seraphon Starter, I should have the following: 1 Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur 1 Scar-Veteran on Cold One 1 Skink Priest 1 Skink Starpriest 1 Saurus Sunblood 1 Astrolith Bearer 1 Bastilladon 3 Terradons 5 Saurus Knights (2 extra, see below) 10 Saurus Warriors 10 Skinks (2 Extra) I'm currently trying to figure out what to try to get next and, with circumstances as they are, what are immediate must-haves and what are things I can wait on. My understanding is that I'll need a Skink Starseer, a Slann (or Lord Kroak), more Saurus Warriors, and a Stegadon (possibly with Engine of the Gods). I do want to get another of the regular starters so I can get more Warriors (they are difficult to find now), Oldblood on Carnosaur, Oldblood on foot, and more Knights, difficult as they are to assemble (side question: 1 unit of 15 or 3 units of 5?). I can then take the spare priest and see if I can convert a chair out of spare Seraphon, 40k, and Dropfleet Commander bits (Shaltari and Scourge) I have. Not sure if I want to go Starborne or Coalesced, but a lack of Warriors, everywhere, may mean the Great Plan is revealed and I need to get Skinks and thus go Starborne. What would you recommend as the next purchases? I want to support my local FLGS, but getting the rulebook and both starters wiped out what they had in stock for Seraphon. They'll probably only be able to order what's available from GW, so is there anything not available that I'd need to grab as soon as I find it on eBay or something?
If they are a GW affiliate they should be able to get GW webstore items through a retailer account with the webstore. If not, then the Sarurus Warriors are webexclusives. So you will just have to spam the SCBox or go to the webstore. If you want to go Saurus heavy then I prefer the Sunblood over the Oldblood. You will want 1-2 Starpriest as well. The starseer is great as well.
Kroak is pretty much a must-have, unfortunately he is sold out and likely will be for a while. Also impossible to find on eBay/Facebook etc. due to extremely high demand. In general I would suggest figuring out what route you want to go. It is generally either largely Skinks, largely Saurus Warriors/Knights or a mix with big dinos.
Don't forget, that you can go monster-heavy in Coalesced Thunderlizard. I enjoy it alot. For starborne you will need all our small skink heroes, Kroak and maybe slann, as well as terradon chief. Most popular units are basic skinks, chameleons, terradons and salamanders. Kroak should be your top priority. It is the unit, from which any seraphon list should start. Both slann and engine of gods are good (especially the former) but not mandatory. I wouldn't prioritize them, if you go starborne, but there are a couple of strong builds with slann+kroak. If you want to go skink-heavy, you will need at least 60 skinks, but it can easily go to 90-120. For chameleons, tournament lists usually utilize packs of 15-20 of them. For salamanders - 3-6, but some lists go up to 12. They are probably our best non-character unit. Keep in mind, that if you want alternative/converted salamanders, you will need to get handlers for them too. You can easily convert them from left-overs from flyer/monster kits. I would rate skink heroes for starborne lists as starpriest > priest > starseer. I'd go in that order.
Thanks for the suggestions! I've got saved searches on eBay for Lord Kroak and the Salamanders so that I can nab them as soon as I see them. Also keeping an eye out for Stegadons. My FLGS uses a local vendor that likely has a GW account, so I'll have to check this week to see if they're able to order Warriors. I think what I want is to, eventually, be able to do both Starborne and Coalesced. Warriors under Koatl's Claw can be decently powerful, and I do want to try that at some point. While Thunder Lizard seems fun, some of the bigger models I'd want are also not available and difficult to find. Right now though, I think the availability of Skinks, the Mortal Wounds potential, and the fluff for Fangs of Sotek (hilarious btw) are going to push me towards starting with Starborne. I'll be taking a look at some of the lists here to see what people are bringing.
It's possible to make Kroak from scratch using wire carcass with strips of pva-soaked paper and some bits to make a burial mask. At least that's how I'm going to make mine, but I have an almost superstitious aversion to resin.