Hey gang, I have a tournament in October that I need to throw a list together for. Here's what I've got at the moment: Allegiance: Seraphon - Constellation: Thunder Lizard - Grand Strategy: Beast Master - Triumphs: Leaders Stegadon with Skink Chief (305)* - General - Command Trait: Prime Warbeast - Artefact: Cloak of Feathers - Weapon: Skystreak Bow Engine of the Gods (265)** - Artefact: Fusil of Conflaguration - Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse Slann Starmaster (265)** - Spell: Celestial Apotheosis Skink Starseer (145)* - Spell: Celestial Harmony Skink Starpriest (130)* - Spell: Hand of Glory Skink Priest (80)** - Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal Battleline 30 x Skinks (225)* - Boltspitters & Moonstone Clubs - Reinforced x 2 5 x Saurus Knights (110)** - Lances 5 x Saurus Knights (110)** - Lances 5 x Saurus Knights (110)** - Lances Behemoths Bastiladon with Solar Engine (235)** Endless Spells & Invocations The Burning Head (20) Core Battalions *Warlord **Battle Regiment Additional Enhancements Artefact Total: 2000 / 2000 Reinforced Units: 2 / 4 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 112 Drops: 5 _____ I quite like the look of this list - a good balance of fun / competitive (at least to my eyes) so I'm keen to hear some feedback. My main hangups are: - Is the Starseer worth keeping here? His main use for me here is to reduce enemy saves as I don't have access to any -2 rend. This way I can debuff a tanky unit and then throw the Skink Chad at it. - 30 Skinks is questionable in a TL list, but I think in situations where I don't trade the Chief in turn 1/2 then his CA will turn the Skinks into a really decent melee unit (combined with buffs from Priest, Starpriest). Not to mention they're a good target for Rally - though I will be burning CPs a lot for Inspiring Presence. Still, that's 225 points I could put towards another Basti or 2 Salamanders. Part of me wants to say the Skinks + Chief are my non-negotiable fun-pick (I'm painting them up like elite red-crests), but if they're a glaring weakness I'm open to dropping them - I like the Basti here as I can choose between double-tapping him or the Engine depending on which is more favorable. Lots of Daemons floating around in my meta so having that 3 damage firing twice is nice. At the same time, would I be better off dropping him + Burning Head and switching in two Sallies? - The Slann is there for background unbinds / dispels, Comet chip damage, and most of all to buff the Engine. The question is, if he's mainly there to boost the Engine, am I better off dropping the Basti and fishing for Warrior summons wherever possible? Or alternatively, do I drop the Engine AND the Slann and reconfigure my list significantly? I'm not opposed to the latter - From what I hear, 5 drops isn't as low as it seems and is unlikely to win me choice of initiative that often. Am I better off sacrificing the CoF for two Battle Regiments and just playing my Chief a bit more conservatively? Or, should I just not care about initiative and double down on Artifacts? (Ixti Grubs?) Apologies for the essay. Cheers
One option you have is to drop the engine for a battle line stegadon. I personally prefer the reliable of the bow over the randomness of the engine. The starseer seems good in your list as you have the skink Chad and a lot of knights. You need a slann or kroak in your list. The chip damage, ability to shut down spells and over all utility is really important. You can drop a unit of knights and the burning head if you want a salamander pack.
I like the look of the list. I think the starseer is nearly an auto-include for us at this point, there's just too much utility to pass up between the warscroll spell, cp generation, and 3d6 charge ability. I do like lambs and lions suggestion of potentially cutting 1 5x knights and the burning head for a salamander. I think you have enough threats and plenty of bodies to cut the knights, and I don't see getting much use out of the Burning Head. Both skink wizards will be casting their own spells each turn, and I could see the slann casting mystic shield, comet, and either apotheosis, stellar tempest, or equilibrium every turn. Either a slann or kroak is auto-include for us as well, imo. I'd also consider starting the slann with equilibrium to boost the skinks spells turn 1, since it's less likely you'll need the heal that early in the game, but helping to get off hand of glory and control fate can be really strong. Bastilidons are great so I certainly wouldn't cut it. I do think that 5 drops isn't really competing for initiative so I agree that you should either go 2 drops or get an extra artifact, but I'm not sure which is better. The Chief really likes the artifact so that makes it more complicated. I think just run the lost as is or with some of the minor tweaks here and see how you like it
Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll have a practice game soon and play around with the addition of a Salamander. I like the three units of Knights as I think I'll struggle to screen off the rest of my army from alpha strikes with just two, but I might be able to pull it off if I stretch them out.
I would personally drop the chief and take salamanders, without that rend 2 and starseer you can come stuck against some tankier builds. Engine and basti will be all the monsters you need. For my thunder lizards lists i take slann as the general with reroll cast/unbind trait as personally i dont value +1 attacks as much as more reliable casting and unbinding