Greetings lizards! As my first post I wanted to get a quick idea of where to take some lizards I've recently come upon. I'll do a full intro in that forum in a bit, but just wanted some quick feedback please. My FLGS just closed, and left me with no 40k scene as everyone seemed to scatter. There is however some fantasy battles near by. I picked up some close-out priced nice looking models (what I usually base my initial interest in when choosing an army) and now have some skinks with blowpipes, 21 saraus warriors (full command, mixed spears and hand weapon/shields), two skink priests, Tetto'Eko, and a Saraus oldblood on foot. Glancing through a friends rulebook, I found the following as interesting models that I would like to get and make a 1000-1500 point army with. The group seems pretty laid back, and as I played tyranids as my sole 40k army for over 14 years, am use to not having a potent army, just the best looking one, not sure how Lizardmen fare in the current edition. So the units I like are: Core +Skinks with Kroxigor, my first memory of lizardmen has this image stamped in my mind and I love it +skink skimishers, javelin. +saruas warrior block of about 20, got that covered. Special +bastiladon with solar engine, nice model with cool solar engine +temple guard look nice and shiny, so a block of them for Tetto the mini-frog +terradon, fast flyers are always nice, and I don't care for the other flyers models Rare +ancient stegadon looks okay, but with the engine of the gods (which appeals more to me than the standard load-out) the points just eat up any list I try to make +salamanders Any and all feedback is appreciated, all hail the Old Ones!
If you put Tetto in the Temple Guard, he will sit in the front rank like any other character (he doesn't have the Mage Priest Palanquin special rule). Only Slann get the special treatment from Temple Guard. However, Tetto can get second rank treatment when in a skink cohort. That doesn't mean you shouldn't get Temple Guard though. Definitley get some Salamanders. They are too good not to get. Remember they can be fielded in units of multiple models, so having at least two gives you flexibility on how you field them. You'll probably need more skinks with Javelins. It seems you can never have too many skink skirmishers. I'm fond of the Bastilodon with Solar Engine, so I would recommend one of them as well. Some don't like the Stegadon with Engine of the Gods. However, Stegadons are beastly when charging with sharpened horns, so get one anyway. The Terradon/Ripperdactyl kit should serve you well also. Speaking of which, I need to pick one up for my own Lizardmen army.
Thanks for the reply @rychek. Why can Tetto'eko get in the 2nd rank with skinks? Is that their special rule? And how would that effect any krogixor I have in there (playing around with 6 skink front for 1 kroxigor, or maybe 8:2). I'm pretty excited about the skinks with javelin skimishers, so my next purchase will most likely be another set of them, perhaps some dactyle love too. The stegadons seem nice, but even w/o the engine of the gods, he just seems so expensive for his S and T values. Perhaps the impact hit UG w/o the EotG would fair well, but I really like that like the EotG as it seems to synergize well when all your units are gathered near and plowing through things. As a side note, can the EotG nova (forgot name of it) work if locked in CC? One of the other reasons I like the EotG was the spell buff for my (current) slann light list. I assume the -1 lore difficulty helps a lot for smaller casters like priests and Tetto'eko. As a side note, looking through the forums I saw another tyranid converter to lizards who's name I recognized from our old boards, heheh.
Tetto has a special rule that lets him get special treatment from skink cohorts, yes. It is his palanquin special rule. If the unit has Krox in it, he would displace one of them (also in his palanquin special rule). The baby steg isn't that great, but the Ancient Stegadon is better. Same kit, so nothing to lose by buying one. In regard to Burning Alignment (I think that is the name of the spell) being able to hit models in CC, only Games Workshops know, but they aren't telling.
Tetto 'eko is to skinks what a slann is to temple guard; so he can ride in the second rank. My skink cohort bunker is only five wide to boost ranks with a kroxigor guarding one of the flanks the other is usually covered by a stegadon or saurus block. run them with javs and shield to get a parry save to increase their survivability and boost their armor to 5+ Temple guard are still a really good unit to have regardless. You can run smaller flanking units when your cohort gets charged etc. I really like the bastilladon in smaller games, but if you end up playing in a bigger game their usefulness dwindles as they just pull dice from your casters. I have had some success running them with a death slann; which is also a great combo with tetto. I would play the oldblood as a scar-vet better points value and put him in the saurus for more combat res. Since you are limited on models use mixed units. If you want them with spears put those guys in front and HW+S guy in the back to be removed as casualties and vice versa. As long as the unit is close to 50/50 most people don't gripe about that sort of thing. I tend to not play many games against people who feel that way even though over the various models that have come out I have a bunch of either. If you bring a skink priest or two, I would run them beasts because tetto is loremaster of heavens; also they are your only chances to get a cube or scroll since tetto is a special character. Welcome to the forums and best of luck.
Thanks to both of you, oh wise lizards. I'm really looking forward to building this army, and I hope my start is in the right direction. Teufelhund, the bastiladon advice is great I think, as I'll be playing smaller games and that gives me a cool looking model to build upon, along with the skinks rolling magic. I'll look into the ancient steg when I get comfortably back in the WFB saddle and up to par with de leezards. I think my next purchase will be more skinks so I can roll Tetto'eko in one group and get a kroxigor for the other. When I think lizards, that is what I remember most. Browsing these forums seems everyone is super-slann with a touch of the carnosaur to lead. I'm leaning towards the carnasaur for the ascetics, and it looks like my Hero choices are filled out pretty well until I get above 1500 or so. At that point I might add the chameleon special character, coolest background story ever! If/when I get temple guard, would they be the hammer that I use most? From what I'm gathering about lizards, we are a semi assault based, up-close shooty bunch with some wicked dinosaurs to bust through stuff when needed. On that note, are bastiladons more the melee route or support? Seems more support, but hey, it is a monster so perhaps some melee to keep 'em well fed? That GW would have the nova spell out and not have clarification is about on par with what I've seen in 40k. Bleh. TY Rychek.