Slann – Becalming Cogitation, Focus of Mystery, Focused Ruminations, Feedback Scroll, Bane Head, BSB, Huanchi’s Blessed Totem (490) Skink Priest – Level 2, Plaque of Tepok, Cloak of Feathers (140) Saurus Warriors – 20, standard, musician (238) Saurus Warriors – 20, standard, musician Skink Skirmishers – 11 Skink Skirmishers - 11 Temple Guard – 16, FC, Flaming attack banner, Sword of the Hornet (326) Terradons – 4 (120) Terradons – 4 Stegadon Salamander – extra handler Salamander – extra handler Ancient Stegadon Set up in a roughly semetrical line: Stegadon - Saurus - Temple Guard - Saurus - Stegadon Skinks, Salamanders and Terradons on flanks (Skinks might go in front of the line). All the important stuff is within 12" of the Slann so will get healed, buffed, BSBed etc. The wildcard is the priest, who most of the time will just buff stuff, but can fly out and wind an enemy unit at a weird angle. Thoughts?
2 things here at first glance: - 16 TG is smallish, I'd get 20 or 24. - I'd find a way to fit in a Scar-Vet in either a Saurus block or the TG. In the TG unit, it'll protect your Slann from challenges. In a Saurus block, it will give it the punch you need to break your opponents.
Hmm. The Temple Guard rely on Regrowth, Regeneration and T8 for attrition (not starting numbers) but I could see the argument for this being a 'better' special choice: Temple Guard – 20, FC, Flaming attack banner, Sword of the Hornet (390) Terradons – 3 (90) Terradons – 3 Stegadon I'm undecided. On you Scar Vet comments: IMO the list isn't really about punch, but absorbing things and slowly wearing them down. Combat characters would create a target that I can't Regrowth effectively (6 dudes with great weapons have a good chance of wiping a Scar Vet in 1 or 2 phases, his points worth in Saurus would last longer). My list relies on staying alive to deliver multiple small punches rather than one knock out punch. So spending points on a vunlerable but hard hitting character is against the philosophy. I do not think the Slann needs challenge protection. There is already a champion (who can be Regrowthed) in the unit anyway.
This has changed in 8th edition, see page 102 of the BRB. Really, a challenge now is the way to take out a Slann.
Hmmm,,,, well there's a raw and a rai here, Well blatantly the TG are supposed to protect the slaan However, there are raw ways around this stupidly phrased rule, Number one, Decline challage , opponent has to choose the slaan, (I'm assuming if you hAve a vet in their he is going to accept, and he can't choose the champion The rules then state the slaan has to be placed on a rank where he is not in base contact, I.e. The second rank, The slaan special rule kicks in, the unit is still stubborn leadership 8, but you can still use a battlestick if the slaan has one, It's a terrible rule, since the slaan can't be in base contact with any enemy, The guardian rule forbids it.
I'm pretty sure that it's how the rule was intended to be in 8th. It would have been easy to copy/paste the 7th edition rule . Maybe there will be something in the Slann rules about not being able to accept a challenge because of the guardian rules, but we'll have to wait for that!
Just give the Slann the discipline of becalming cogitation and you can solve most challenges by his ability to avoid normal hits.
After experiencing the win that is Chameleon Skinks am considering (changes in bold): Slann – Becalming Cogitation, Focus of Mystery, Focused Ruminations, Feedback Scroll, Bane Head, BSB, Huanchi’s Blessed Totem (490) Skink Priest – Level 2, Plaque of Tepok, Cloak of Feathers (140) Saurus Warriors – 20, standard, musician (238) Saurus Warriors – 20, standard, musician Skink Skirmishers – 11 Skink Skirmishers - 11 Temple Guard – 20, FC, Flaming attack banner, Gold Sigil Sword, Dragonfly of Quicksilver (390) Chameleon Skinks – 5 Chameleon Skinks - 5 Chameleon Skinks - 5 Stegadon Salamander – extra handler Salamander – extra handler Ancient Stegadon
I think you should take at least one unit of 3 terradons. 3 units of chameleons will be hard to place on an already crowded board (if they are all placed on the opponents side, 12 inches away). The Terradons will get the vanguard move and will be a distracting factor. Most players remember them from 7th and try to shoot them. I usually use the vanguard move to hide them in terrain (for the soft cover) or remove them from LOS completely behind a building. As to challenging a slann. My slann would never accept a challenge. I usually only run 10 temple guard with him. If anyone challenges him, I refuse. He's a giant, fat, lazy, intellegent, magic using, frog! A challenge is beneath him. So what, move him to the last rank then, chances are, his attack would not have hit anyway(WS 2 with a Str of 3--that is the same as a skink). Another note, I will not make my slann the BSB either. I want no chance of him dieing if the unit breaks for some unknown reason.