This is my first crack at a 3000pt army. I've got two Slaan priests, and it's almost guaranteed to drive opponents' wizards a little crazy. That is always fun. Other than that, I'm not quite sure what to think of it. So feel free to comment, and please feel free to recommend a Magic Lore combination. Here we go: Lords: Slaan - Focus of Mystery, Becalming Cogitation, Focused Rumination Slaan - Cupped Hands, Becalming Cogitation, Focused Rumination Heroes: Skink Priest - Dispel Scroll Skink Priest - Cube of Darkness Core: Saurus (40) - FC, HW and Shield Skinks (22) - 2 Kroxigor, Musician, Standard Bearer Skinks (22) - 2 Kroxigor, Musician, Standard Bearer Special: Salamanders (2) - 8 handlers Temple Guard (26) - FC, Banner of Eternal Flame (flaming attacks) Temple Guard (26) - FC, War Banner (+1 combat res) Rare: Terradons (4) I'm thinking Lore of Life for the Loremaster Slaan, and I'll stick him in the TG unit with the flaming attacks. For the other Slaan I'm looking at Light (likely) or Shadow, but Lore or Metal could be fun too. Comments? Suggestions?
from the little i know, lore of light works well for slann, good magic missiles and buffs, u may also want to consider lore of shadows, as the hexes are good against well armored and high toughness opponents, although your army is good because you will have a lot of casting!
To begin with, I am not sure but I think your list is !~100 points over. Also, sallies are rare while terradons are specials - not that it makes any difference in this list but it might on a future one As for lores, the two best are likely life and light as you have already indicated. Life is a no brainer and you can go with just about anything for the 2nd slaan. Given the random dice rolling for winds of magic, 4 casters is overkill and a bit of a waste IMHO. A similar situation exists for the 2nd cogitation as the points might be better spent elsewhere. If magic defense is a major concern, dropping the 2nd cogitation to take the diadem of power or a feedback/hex scroll might be a better option. Lastly, the AP banner for the temple guard would serve them much better than the warbanner. Adding +1 to combat res isn't quite what it used to be but having 30+ attacks all with -3 to the armour save can really help the unit grind through elite troops and even well armoured characters. Other than that, I think you need to play the list a bit and get a feel for what works for your style of play.
Ack! you're absolutely right about Sallies and Terradons. I've got them flipped around. Army Builder says the list is 2996 points, and, while it does have a few Lizardmen bugs, it's point totals do tend to be right. I usually run Lore of Light in 2500 point games and only bring one (very well kitted) Slaan to the party. I used to run Lore of Life with them all the time, but it's always a toss up for me. I've been waiting to try 2 reasonably configured Slaans with complimentary lores, but there were too many compromises at 2500 (tried it once, I think, and...no). At 3000 points it becomes much easier, but I think you're right that I just need to play the list and try out some of the lore combinations; though dual Light or Life Slaans would just be sick (maybe a bit of overkill, but a possible +8 toughness to a single unit? two units with 4+ Regeneration? droooool). I see your point about magic defense, but I don't think I can give up my Cogitation on either of them. It's just too useful for preventing Irresistible Force, and, with 2 on the board, the 24" range means that I can pretty much lock down the entire board. That said, I guess I could probably lose the Cube of Darkness or the Dispel Scroll and maybe even a Skink Priest* (though I do love multiple Iceshard Blizzards and a better chance at comet). If I'm tossing away all of their sixes with two casters at +4 to dispel, then the need to end a magic phase early becomes much more unlikely. It does make channeling much easier though. I like your reasoning on the War Banner versus the Razor Standard. I've been trying to take it recently to negate an enemy charge, but I'm pretty good at maneuvering my units to avoid that anyway (or at least mitigate it), and with Lore of Light I think you're right that it makes much more sense to take get Armor Piercing. There was also a points consideration, but AP is probably worth the extra cost. As for my style of play...it tends to be magic buff heavy (as you noticed ), but I try to build an army that can tolerate horrible magic phases reasonably well. I also find it very entertaining to have my Sarus either outrun Chaos Knights or kill them/make them flee after one round of close combat. * Of course, I'm the nutball who I once ran 6 Skink Priests (as well as my Slaan) just to see what would happen. My opponent just laughed, but magic phases were interesting; especially with a Wizard's Tower on the board near my deployment zone. Here is the updated list (total = 3000 points): Lords: Slaan - Focus of Mystery, Becalming Cogitation, Focused Rumination Slaan - Cupped Hands, Becalming Cogitation, Focused Rumination Heroes: Skink Priest - Dispel Scroll, Cloak of Feathers Saurus Scar-Vet - BSB, Cold One, Halberd (+1 attack strength, Light Armor, Dragon Helm (2+ Ward against flaming attacks, Crown of Command (Stubborn) Core: Saurus (40) - FC, HW and Shield Skinks (22) - 2 Kroxigor, Musician, Standard Bearer Skinks (22) - 2 Kroxigor, Musician, Standard Bearer Special: Temple Guard (26) - FC, Banner of Eternal Flame (flaming attacks) Temple Guard (26) - FC, Razor Standard (Armor Piercing) Rare: Salamanders (2) - 8 handlers I debated taking more Salamanders, but having a stubborn BSB with a 1+ armor save that is all but immune to fire seemed a better way to go. Stick him in the Saurus block or run him around behind the lines to wherever he needs to be. Or put him on foot int he Saurus block and he gets a Look Out Sir! from the unit (would keep the CoC but change some of the other stuff. The Skink Priest could fly behind enemy lines or into their flanks and channel magic missiles all day long.