...you know the rest. Hello all, I've been idling with the idea of a Lizardmen army since the book came out, but between the Endless Tau Project, far too many Wood Elves for comfort and the bazillion other modeling projects I have underway, I've never taken the time to sit down and find a list I really like. It's not that I don't like enough of the army; it's that I like too much of it. Until today, that is. Some of you who frequent other hobby forums may be familiar with King Leonidas and his Theiban Phalanx "Wood Elves." While the prospect of that many Eternal Guard amuses me, I like my Dryads and Machine Gun Alter too much... And it occurred to me that I'd never seen an infantry Lizardmen list done in that style. In the Saurus we have some of the best core infantry in the game, and the insane number of attacks units generate means that they can go head-first into some other armies Specials and come out the other side with at least some fighting strength left. I hear a lot that bigger units of Saurus than about 20 is pointless, but then I hear a lot that Eternal Guard at all is pointless, so I'm ruling nothing out. My Theoryhammer-fu is admittedly weak, and I wanted to see what the revered Old Ones (that's you guys) thought of the concept. And with that being quite enough ado, the list. My thought process follows it: LORDS & HEROES (661) Saurus Oldbood (250) -Light armor -Blade of Revered Tzunki -Maiming Shield Saurus Scar-Veteran (174) -Great Weapon, Light Armor, Shield -BSB w/Totem of Prophecy Saurus Scar-Veteran (143) -Hide of the Cold Ones -Great Weapon, Shield Skink Chief (94) -Light Armor, Shield -Staff of the Lost Sun CORE (1139) Saurus Warrior Cohort (Oldblood and BSB go here) (606) -48 Saurus Warriors -Spears -Full Command Saurus Warrior Cohort (Scar-Vet goes here) (351) -29 Saurus Warriors -Spears -Full Command Skink Skirmisher Cohort (Skink Chief goes here) (91) -13 Skink Skirmishers Skink Skirmisher Cohort (91) -13 Skink Skirmishers SPECIAL (210) Terradon Rider Cohort (120) -4 Terradon Riders Terradon Rider Cohort (90) -3 Terradon Riders RARE (240) Razordon Hunting Pack (240) -3 Razordons -3 extra skink handlers You can skip this part if you like: Lord: The General, of course, kitted out for maximum impact at the front of the Phalanx. There are a pile of other things I'dve liked to give him, but the combo above seemed like the best balance of killing power and durability. The Great Weapon would have bumped up his strength another point, but I wanted to take advantage of his Initiative on the chance that the phalanx has to spend a turn or two chewing on something that won't quite break. Heroes: The BSB is there to make the big block cause fear. I wish the Lizardmen had an equivalent of the Royal Standard of Ariel, but this'll do. The other Scar-Vet is meant to lead the support phalanx, and adds a fear-causing unit to it. He'll also hopefully be able to soak any challenges that come his way. The Skink is there to fill points, honestly. I figured a bit more oomph to one of the Skrimisher units couldn't hurt. Core: The crux of the issue, as it were. The big unit is deployed in a 10x5 formation with the General and BSB on the right front corner. The frontage of the unit is huge, but fully engaged it generates nearly 50 attacks on whatever is unfortunate enough to be in front of it, and I figure that will give even similarly large units (Swordmasters, anyone?) pause. I couldn't find a way to make it Stubborn, so I suppose the Cold-blooded Ld 8 will have to do. With a static CR of 6, and that many dice, it shouldn't be losing combat often anyway. The second unit of Saurus is my funnel. They operate to the right of the main Phalanx and at a slight angle, and are there to gently encourage things into the Phalanx... or to tie them up long enough for the big block to get into position on a flank. They are deployed in a 15x2 formation with the Scar-Vet on the front right corner, hopefully insulated from too many attacks directed at him. Thanks to the Scar-Vet here, this unit is going to suffer from Stupidity, but I do not think that will negatively impact the unit's performance too much. All considered, the center of the army isn't going to really move all that fast anyway. Yes, the frontage of these two units combined is nearly a third of the table -that's the point. They're supposed to be unavoidable. Operating to the left of the main Phalanx and covering that flank are the two Skink Skirmisher cohorts. 13-strong for the extra kill before they break, and no other upgrades. These are fast and cheap, even with the Chief, and ultimately expendable. They exist to kill fast cav and similar things attempting to outflank the Phalanx, or to redirect incoming charges. Special: The Terradons fill roughly the same role as the Skinks, but are also tasked with hunting down lone wizards and warmachines and march-blocking enemy units moving toward a flanking position. These are the part of the list I'm least sure about. I'd LIKE to be using Cold One Cav here, but they're simply to expensive and not fast enough. Rare: The other flank, opposite the Skinks, is these guys. Fast enough to be a threat, but they're really here to deter charges in that sector, hopefully with the Terradons as backup if they end up needing it. I'm a little unsure about this unit as well, but their excellent S&S reaction proved too good to pass up. Closing Thoughts: In keeping with the infantry-heavy theme, I've intentionally avoided anything heavier than Saurus in the list. That said, moving up to 2500 or beyond would probably see me drop the Chief in favor of an Engine-Priest caddy. Portent would be a godsend to those huge units of Saurus, and it would also give me a bit of the magic defense that I know I'm sorely lacking. We'll see. Version 2.0 may include an Engine anyway.
I would suggest switching blade of tzunki on your oldblood for scimitar of the sun resplendant, I really like when the oldblood has 8 attacks... (unless of course you're planning on facing malekith, in witch case stay with what you have). Otherwise, My only problemo is that you have no magic whatsoever. Pit of shades could decimate your army and you wouldn't have much of a chance of dispelling it. You can remedy this by bringing a simple lvl 1 skunk priest with diadem of powah. edit:spelling
I do death stars occasionally, either 30 - 35 saurus, with a scar vet (good enough) or go with retardedly huge numbers of temple guard with a piled up slann unit, then have two stegadons on engines join the unit.
i find that the best way to field razordons is i either in 1 or 2, the reason being for the high chance of misfire and other reasons explained in great detail throughout the sight. also, if you drop terradon rider with it you can get a priest with a magic item or make it level 2. i would suggest for your army though, have a level 1 skink priest with diadem of power so you have a respectable dispelling power for your army. camo-skink
I have the same with this list as eternity_warden, you have no magic, if you went up against a very magic heavy army, it could sink ur big blocks of saurus rather quickly, so i would recommend dropping a razordon, and maybe a terradon, and get a skink priest lvl 2.