So my concept for this list was to be fairly moblie, and to normally go for the Shadows lore, taking the Slann and his TG on the offensive. Bear this in mind when you see the hefty price tag on the Slann, and his strange item selection... Characters: Slann Mage-Priest - Focused Rumination, Focus of Mystery, Becalming Cogitation BSB - Jaguar Standard Magic Items: War Drum of Xahutec, Cupped Hands of the Old Ones, Bane Head 515 points So here he is, in all his "mobile" glory. After playing dwarves for years, I find the ability to always march synergizes perfectly with having an extra magical movement, as will be the case with the Slann taking Shadows lore. The jaguar standard is just one more way of making the TG behave like a "fast" unit, allowing 3d6 pursuit rolls to keep the unit rolling along. The hands are almost a necessity, as the Slann will be casting high value spells like Pit of Shades and Unseen Lurker on a regular basis. The Bane head will come into effect more at times when the Shadow Lore is less favorable (vs. bloodthirster for example, I'd go with Lore of Fire most likely, doubling wounds against him). Becalming Cogitation will keep those infernal gateway slingers from vaporizing my expensive unit. Skink Priest - Lvl 2 Magic Items: Cloak of Feathers, Dispel Scroll 150 points Slann's little helper, flying around channeling magic missiles and assisting friendly units with Portent of Far, throwing in the odd flying charge as well! A useful little guy. Scar Vet Cold One, BBoC, LA, Shield 133 points Just a solid fighter that will aid in hydra cleanup and general shock and awe. Most commonly will go with the CoC. Scar Vet Charm of the Jaguar Warrior, GW, LA, SH 124 points Why have one flying character, when you can have two for twice the cost? This is just to give the opponent one more reason to allow the Slann's big spell to go off. They'll be saving dice to prevent him from wreaking havoc! Core: 10 skink skirmishers 70 points 10 skink skirmishers 70 points 13 skinks + 1 kroxigor with muso 126 points I know, disgustingly minimized core. But really, the theme of my list prevents me from taking those awesome spear saurus, since the Slann's unit is meant to be the slowest unit in the army that constantly gets magicked around the field. Skirmishers are the ever useful screeners and big monster poisoners, while the cohort will be more or less a separate flanking team. They'll be going after support units, table quarters, war machines, and possibly flanks of main units. But in general they are just something the enemy can needlessly obsess over! Special: 5 x Cold One Cav Std Bearer - Huanchi's Blessed Totem 220 points 4 x Terradon Riders 120 points 16 x Temple Guard Full Command - War Banner, Venom of the Firefly Frog on RG 326 points Stegadon 235 Terradons are an automatic choice for me, and I tend to favor a unit of 4 that can wipe out the usual 5 strong support unit and cause panic checks in adjacent units. What needs to be said about the stegadon? A good solid choice no matter the army. The TG are of course the "speedy anvil" of this list concept. With their war banner and the Slann's Battle Standard, they will be pretty solid on the static resolution front. The poison on the RG just adds a bit more punch to his 3 attacks, without jacking the cost up too high. Putting that one extra wound on a big beast or ethereals or tree spirits could help, and poison is always a factor. The Cold Ones with Scar Vet I'm a little less confident about. It's easy to spot the solution of removing the CoC and Scar Vet and replacing them with another stegadon, then beefing up the core. But somehow I think I'd rather have that variety. Any advice on this issue is appreciated. Rare: Salamander + extra handler 80 points Salamander + extra handler 80 points Enough has been said about these guys, very useful all around. In my list concept, they will hang out at the flanks of the advancing army, keeping mobile and inflicting casualties and panic tests wherever possible. So that's my current build of the Slann of Shadows, let me know what you think.
I've been running a similar concept for my last four games, and it's a blast to play. I went with a lone slann for more mobility, but your temple guard will give you an anvil unit that will come in handy. My biggest mistake so far has been counting on unseen lurker too much to get critical charges off, only to have the spell fail or get scrolled. Check out my list and battle report if you're interested in my variant on the idea. It takes some finesse to make it work without hardy saurus blocks and major direct damage spells, and I've had a number of significant frustrations. But, as they say, it's not so much what you hit them with but where you hit them that counts, and Lore of Shadows + high mobility units are just the ticket for that. I'm just glad to see someone else thinks it's an idea with potential- can't wait for some battle reports, too.
I've used the Deathstarish type of TG build and concept. Getting my TG stuck into combat fast and hitting as hard as I can. It's a good concept and the TG are super tough to move with great combat abilities with the Slann in there. However I'm concerned (always) about the fact that half the army points are tied into the one unit. Especially when you consider your General and BSB are there. Your looking at point cost plus four hundred points of extra victory points! (BSB [200], General [100], TG Banner [100]). So pretty much 1400 points down the drain if your opponent sets up a killy surprise for your unit! Ouch!!!
I do see your point, but the unit weighs in at 841 instead of the 1250 that would be half the army! I've added maybe 100 points of magic items that wouldn't be there normally for Slann/TG. Yes, losing the unit would cost me an extra 300 points (BSB is 100, not 200 btw). Losing a Slann/TG unit is pretty darn final no matter your setup the way I see it. I guess I'll have to learn when to choose a different lore and play a little more defensively.
I agree with JohnMavrick. I can see the loss of the that block completely finishing the game off for you. I do like the idea of the list though. Building a list around a specific lore is actually quite a good idea. If the TG+Slann fits your playstyle, than go with it. But you would need to learn to use different lores if necessary.