I've been trying to figure out which models I want to purchase to assemble my army. I collect and paint very slowly, so I like to have a good idea of which units I'll like and what shape my final army will look like before I make a purchase. Currently, I'm enamored with Kroq-Gar. He is the only way to get a ward save on a Carnosaur, and he has some neat tricks vs the undead that are creeping up all over the place (bound Lore of Light magic missile and double combat res from his spear seems tailor made for the End Times). I also dislike the limitations that Slann impose on list building. A big lord expenditure for the Slann + a big special expenditure for Temple Guard + minimum Core leaves very little room for fun stuff, in my opinion. I decided to stick to 25% Lords and Heroes, as I'd rather not have to change up my army significantly if my opponent prefers not to use the 50%. If I encounter someone who doesn't like named characters, I can always play the Kroq-Gar as a tooled up Old Blood on a Carnosaur for 15 less points and stick an Opal Amulet on the BSB for extra protection. I also designed the army with the Swedish Comp System in mind. It clocks in at 16.0, which is on the casual extreme of the tournament spectrum. Total Points: 2,399 LORDS Kroq-Gar HEROES Skink Chief (BSB, Lustrian Javelin, Light Armour, Ancient Stegadon with Sharpened Horns, Charmed Shield, Ironcurse Icon) Skink Priest (Lore of Heavens, Level 2, Cube of Darkness) Skink Priest (Lore of Heavens, Level 2, Dispel Scroll) CORE Skink Cohort (28 Skinks, 3 Kroxigors, Musician, Standard Bearer) Skink Cohort (23 Skinks, Skink Brave, Musician, Standard Bearer) Skink Cohort (23 Skinks, Skink Brave, Musician, Standard Bearer) SPECIAL Terradon Riders (3 Terradons) Terradon Riders (3 Terradons) Terradon Riders (3 Terradons) RARE Ancient Stegadon (Engine of the Gods, Sharpened Horns) Salamander Hunting Pack (1 Salamander) The list is pretty tight on points, but has some neat stuff. There are 3 big cannonball targets along with lots of cannonball protection (5+, 6+, 6+ ward saves, 2 x Iceshard Blizzard, 3 units of Terradons). I opted for Skink Cohorts for my Skink Priest bunkers instead of Skink Skirmishers with the Blood and Glory battle scenario in mind. The main Skrox block will run 8x5 for maximum ranks, while the Priest bunkers will be 4x6 or 3x8. Ideally, the Salamander and Engine of the Gods will be flanking the main infantry block right down the middle, with the Priests, General/BSB, and Terradons further out to the edges. I'm not too far into the project and would appreciate any thoughts, even if its "This list sucks, don't do it!"
Came up with an alternative version of the list which I think I like better. Dropped the Chief's mount to a Stegadon and dropped a Terradon unit for an additional Salamander unit, which allowed me to add some more gear to the Skink Chief BSB and add Additional Skink Handlers to the Salamanders. I figure the Dawnstone will give the Chief some more resiliency against regular ranged attacks and while losing the extra armor on the Steg is regrettable, perhaps the longer range of the Giant Bow and the slightly less threatening demeanor will actually keep the unit as a whole a little safer. Also re-worked the core a bit, resulting in smaller bunkers for the Priests and a bigger Skrox unit. Total Points: 2,397 LORDS Kroq-Gar HEROES Skink Chief (BSB, Lustrian Javelin, Light Armour, Stegadon with Sharpened Horns, Warrior Bane, Charmed Shield, Dawnstone, Ironcurse Icon) Skink Priest (Lore of Heavens, Level 2, Cube of Darkness) Skink Priest (Lore of Heavens, Level 2, Dispel Scroll) CORE Skink Cohort (34 Skinks, 4 Kroxigors, Musician, Standard Bearer) Skink Cohort (15 Skinks, Skink Brave, Musician, Standard Bearer) Skink Cohort (15 Skinks, Skink Brave, Musician, Standard Bearer) SPECIAL Terradon Riders (3 Terradons) Terradon Riders (3 Terradons) RARE Ancient Stegadon (Engine of the Gods, Sharpened Horns) Salamander Hunting Pack (1 Salamander, Additional Skink Handler) Salamander Hunting Pack (1 Salamander, Additional Skink Handler)
After receiving a little advice in another thread on my Stegadon vs Ancient Stegadon dilemma for the BSB, the Ancient is back in. The latest (and hopefully last, for awhile) iteration of the list: TOTAL 2,400 LORDS Kroq-Gar HEROES 599 Skink Chief (BSB, Lustrian Javelin, Light Armour, Warrior Bane, Charmed Shield, Opal Amulet, Ironcurse Icon) on an Ancient Stegadon (Unstoppable Stampede, Sharpened Horns) Skink Priest (Lore of Heavens, Level 2, Dispel Scroll) Skink Priest (Lore of Heavens, Level 2, Scroll of Shielding) CORE 605 Skink Cohort (35 Skinks, 3 Kroxigors, Skink Brave, Musician, Standard Bearer) Skink Cohort (19 Skinks, Skink Brave, Musician, Standard Bearer) Skink Cohort (19 Skinks, Skink Brave, Musician, Standard Bearer) SPECIAL 366 Terradon Riders (3 Terradons) Terradon Riders (3 Terradons) Chameleon Skinks (6 Chameleons) Chameleon Skinks (6 Chameleons) RARE Ancient Stegadon (Engine of the Gods, Unstoppable Stampede, Sharpened Horns) Time to pick up and paint some Ancient Stegadons...
Cool list I like the addition of the chameleon skinks. I like to play 2 lvl2 priest with beasts if I play without a slann. Considering you are playing with special characters Tetto'eko would fit nicely in this list (the vanguard on Kroq-Gar and stagedons would be really cool in combination with the vanguard on your terradons! Pretty much vanguard half your army or more) If you can fit in an egg of quango on your skink chief on ancient steg you can have a lot of fun on the charge, or if you accidentally get charged still pull out a surprise! You could change your cohorts to smaller units with one or 2 krox and use them as skrox darts and try to get combined or flank charges with them (more MSU style of play) Hope gives gives some food for thought. Cheers!
Thanks for the thoughts, Celt! I've been toying with incorporating Tetto'eko into the list, but at the moment I'm enjoying the magical defense of two scrolls (or scroll + cube). Your suggestion would probably result in a more powerful list, though, with vanguarding Stegs and Carno. I will definitely try out Beast lore instead of Heavens. Not sure which best complements the list at the moment. I appreciate the ideas! I will have plenty of time to mull things over as I slowly paint, but I wanted a good idea of which models I would need before getting too far in.
Did you ever get a change to run one of these lists? If so, how did it go? What did you find worked/didn't work?
Unfortunately, no. I was working up these lists and hoping for comments to nail down which models I still need to buy, assemble and paint. By the time I have the army in working order, there will probably be combined profiles for everything, level 6 wizards, and undead will rain from the sky like mana from heaven. Fortunately, I've gotten some good insights from a few other threads. Ixt offered a compelling case for the Regadon in the Skink Chief thread. I'm pretty sure I've waffled back to that instead of the Ancient Steg for the BSB. The Dual Carno proponents give me hope that a Carno+Steg+Ancient Steg list can work, as well. I'll be sure to post when my army is in fighting shape!