Let me know what you think, the only concern I have is maybe squeezing points for another saurus block. I do like the unit count on this one though. Lord Slann/BSB with Shadows Rumination, Mystery, Cogitation Cupped hands, Ironcurse icon (I had 5 extra points) 450 Heroes Saurus Scar-Vet on cold one LA, SH, Gold Sigil Sword, Crown of Command 163 Saurus Scar-Vet on cold one Halberd, Armor of Fortune, Venom of the Firefly Frog, Dragonbane gem 159 Core Saurus x 22 Full Command 272 Skinks24/Krox3 Full command 307 Skink Skirmishers x 10 70 Skink Skirmishers x 10 70 Specials Terradon Riders x 4 120 Temple Guard x 20 Full Command Banner of Eternal Flame Champ has potion of Speed 370 Chameleon Skinks x 7 84 Rares Salamander hunting pack x 2 with 2 extra snacks 160 Ancient Stegadon 275 So basically it is looking like a pretty well rounded list, with the two scar-vets on cold ones being the possible exceptions. Their role is to basically be fodder for the Steed of Shadows spell, though they may have to wait a turn or two for the terradons, chameleons, and Slann to make shooting less of an issue. So what do you think, do I need more or bigger blocks at 2500? Should the stegadon be replaced by more Saurus?
While I love my stegadons, I feel like unless you have 2 or lore of life, they usually go down really fast. I'd most definitely drop him for either more TG or more saurus. If you end up miscasting (after cupped hands), you are most likely going to fry a lot of TG. In fact, if you could I'd drop the TG for a more mobile shadow slann.
Yeah, the Slann miscast thing is worrisome, BUT using shadows I will primarily be casting the first 4 spells. This means 2-3 dice per cast on most magic phases. Sometimes it will be tempting to throw dice at pit of shades and mindrazor in the event that it is just too darn good to pass up, but the cupped hands is there for the "just in case" factor. The steg might wind up being a problem but I also have the scar vets running around, as well as terradons and chameleon skinks to neutralize warmachines. I figure that if the enemy is working with several warmachines, I will probably lose the steg but a combination of the solo flying scar-vets, chams, and terradons will get rid of the warmachines, which should hopefully make up for the points/army strength lost by the steg. The strategy is basically, "spoil them for choice" instead of duplicate the thing I might lose. Also there is the "kill or be killed" factor.
I was looking to do a Shadow Slann list at 2k points after browsing some of your posts on this forum. Quick question: When you send a vet/hero flying into your opponent with the Shadow Steed, is it a suicide charge to just cripple the unit? Are you sending them in for challenges? Or are they literally such cannonballs that they will smash the unit to pieces and then run back to your unit? I'm making this list for a 3 man free-for-all, so I'm trying to focus on surprise long distance charges, and I just like some of the other Shadow spells!
Oh, well steed of shadows is more of a positioning spell. You can't actually charge using the spell, but you can get the scar-vets into some pretty surprising places with the 20 inch fly move. The guy with the crown is there to tie up units for a turn or two, which could be vital positioning turns. The other one is there just to further frustrate the enemy, flying to where he is needed most. Steed of Shadows can be used to fair up fights that may go poorly, rushing them to where they are needed most. Shadows real killer spells are the hexes, you just have to carefully choose which spells you need to cast on which units. The signature spell is really 4 spells in one!
Ah! Yeah, I really don't know the rules. Thanks for clearing that up! My friend is lending me his 7th edition lizzie/rules book next week, so I will most likely have a bunch more questions about shadow magic then.