Hi, I've just started playing warhammer again (played with Lizardmen back in 6th). Little backround. I am at the moment playing with a couple of friends and our plan is to play on a pretty hardcore, tournamentstyle level. Mainly facing Scaven, Orcs and Goblins, and High Elves at the moment. My idea for a list at the moment (1000p) Heroes Scar vet (in cold one regiment) light armour, GW, Cold one, Stegadon helm Skink priest lvl2 Core 20 Saurus (spears or HW not decided-thinking about spears) FC 10 Skinks, Jav/shield Special 5 Cold one riders FC, Spears? 2 Jungle Swarms Rare 2 Salamanders 1 extra handler My thoughts, are Cold one riders worth it, they sure cost a lot of points? Spears cost a lot of points, but +1 str on that charge is really nice. Maybe a bastiladon is better to boost initiative or spawn extra jungle swarms though? Skip jungle swarms for extra push in the cold one regiment or more skinks / skink regiment for the priest for extra protection? I think jav+shield is the way to go with the skinks to try and keep them alive for a while. Thoughts? I would love some feedback. Skaven sure is the most problematic opponent! Thanks in advance / Taleth
I would defintiely drop the jungle swarms for more skinks; the are awesome at these lower point levels. Throw away chaff with poison ranged attacks is awesome. Cold ones are decent flankers and will do reasonably well against skaven and gobbos, but against the wrong elf unit you could get destroyed before you even get to attack. So just remember always in the flank. They are really expensive for this level so they'll get a lot of attention and disruption is a useful tool as well. I recommend spears for the saurus, they are defensive yeas, but with M4 your not really going to dictate charges without excellent redirection and at I1 you'll attack last anyhow. better to guarantee extra attacks from the 3rd rank because they are at least survivable. Good luck to you.
Personally, I'd probably drop the salamanders and jungle swarms, with those points I'd pick up a Bastiladon and bump up your saurus warriors. Also, I'd drop your scar vet's cold one and stick him in your block of saurus warriors. That way you can keep your bastiladon within your general's leadership bubble. As teufelhund mentioned, go with more skinks. Javs/shields are pretty good, and between them and the bastiladon and their poisoned javs, you can really whittle down a unit or two before hitting them with your saurus warriors/flank with COR. You've got a good base set-up, IMO. I'd just tweak a few aspects of it to make your army a bit more flexible. Let us know what you got with, and keep us updated with battle reports!
Thanks for the responce! I am going to skip the jungle swarms, they felt a little not connected with the rest of the list, but the "they're everywhere" rule just looked so cool! I'll go for more skinks! My saurus models have spears so I am going to go with that. I really like getting those 3 ranks! I really like the sallies so I am going to go with them for now, but the bastiladon seems like a really good piece so I'll try that on later on! What's your opinion on Spears vs HW on the Saurus Cavalry. +1 str is really nice when you get those flankcharges, but still, +4p/model IS a lot of points. Having the Scar-vet in the Cold one regiment really makes that regiment one that the opponent will want to kill (lots and lots of points..) on the other hand, the Stegadon helmet feels really good and to get to use the impact hits a cold one seems like the right choice. My plan for the skink priest is to go with lore of beasts and buff the saurus and cold ones with Wyssan. Do you think that I should run the priest with a skink regiment for extra protection from range or just have him walking behind the main bulk of the army? I'll play vs Skaven on Sunday probobly! I will update with a battle report!
I'm a fan of the hw/shield combo for saurus warriors. That 6+ parry has saved me too many times, but I do understand the desire to get that third rank of supporting attacks. If supporting attacks were allowed Predatory Fighter re-rolls, I'd be with you. As for the Cold One Riders, I'd drop the spears. You're just adding points to your already pricey unit. Sure, the S5 is nice, but it's just not worth the price hike, IMO. I think you'll find that your riders and cold ones will do just fine in the flanks of average toughness enemies. If you run the priest close to the infantry, he'll still get a Look Out, Sir! Obviously, if he's in his own unit, that save is better. Plus you can use his unit to threaten flanks as well, even though it might be small. Honestly, you can run a unit of 20-30 skink cohort with poison for pretty cheap. I almost always bring a unit, sometimes with kroxigor, to serve as a fast flanker.
Keep in mind that saurus are I1. 3 ranks in a 5x4 just isn't enough redundancy. Also, you want to be six wide where possible with 25 models. Why? 6 is the maximum you can get b2b with 5-wide 20mm models. I like saurus spears, but I only ever take them in 6x5 blocks of 30. I use HW for anything smaller or larger. At this point level a block of 24 5x5 with an infantry vet could work. I would consider a small unit of chameleons too - you can march block people easily at this point level and it is much harder to screen artillery. Cold One spears are worth buying if you can increase the units initiative somehow, but that requires a slann. Personally, I think cold ones are too expensive for what they are without spears. Its almost like vetock priced the combo (Speed of Light or Birona's Timewarp with Skavenpelt) into the upgrade.