Slann
Scalenex
Keeper of the Indexes
- Messages
- 11,452
- Likes Received
- 20,359
- Trophy Points
- 113
Every iteration of the Lizardmen from 5th through 8th edition (and Age of Sigmar too I guess) has gone with the idea that Saurus, Skinks, and Kroxigor all fight alongside their spawning brothers fighting together in units made up of their siblings.
Now if you are anything like me, you’ve ended many a game with a tiny remainder out of your mighty Saurus blocks left. Even if 90% of the casualties eventually recover after each battle (highly optimistic but not impossible) then Saurus regiments will deplete over time. At some point Slann (or more likely their Skink and Saurus lieutenants) will have to figure out what to do with the seven Sauri left over from the 3rd spawning from the Pool of Tlaztcotl. Lizardmen love everything being categorized and in its place, but I can’t picture any Lizardmen leader saying, “Okay you guys are too few to form up a fighting uni now. Everyone line up for your ritual suicide, then we’ll eat you!“
Besides ritually killing these remnants, they could be given suicide missions where they take point on all future battles until they are truly dead. Conversely, one could honor their survivorship they could be given safe but mostly useless guard work. Either way that is a waste of resources. I can’t see Lizardmen wasting resources.
This is where adopted spawning brothers come in. To me, the most logical solution to what to do with the battered remnants of largely decimated units is to pool them together. I figure most kahoun would have one such regiment at all times. Very peaceful kahoun might have zero. Kahoun with Scalenex leading their table top battles or writing their fluff universe probably have enough casualties to warrant two or three such regiments. I figure most of the Big Four would have several such regiments though their regiments would be barely noticeable. If each spawning is distinctive, they are probably populous enough that they can sub-group their mixed regiments with similar spawnings.
There are probably a lot of variations of High Saurian we can use, but I prefer fluffy English terms for ease of relating to the reader. I can’t make up my mind what name I like so I think I’ll have Lizardmen not agree.
“Scar Regiments” emphasizing the war torn nature of these groups. Scar Veterans would often graduate out of Scar Regiments. It subtly evokes tragedy too. I imagine Scar Regiment is the most respectful way to refer to this group.
“Orphan Regiments” emphasizes the spawning brother angle. The term would probably also be slightly derogatory. A purist might dislike all such regiments out prejudice, but you could also use it to specific. A Scar Regiment would imply you have a group of experienced Sauri who survived many battles. An Orphan Regiment is probably cobbled together by relatively young Saurus spawnings that had a disastrous battle early in their career.
“Vengeance Regiments” are another tempting name. Embittered survivors would be very enthusiastic fighters. I imagine Skinks would form vengeance spawnings. They don’t live forever. Skinks who survive most of their brother’s deaths could decide to become skirmishers or retire to a civilian job. Vengeance regiments would be more common against hated enemies like Skaven or Daemons. A vengeance regiment could also be a small regiment of Saurus survivors, who keep fighting as a unit anyway. They might pick up Cold One training or in Kroq-gar’s legendary case, pick up Carnosaurs.
Another option is they don’t have a term. If a city only has one or two such regiments, you don’t call it “our orphan regiment.” You call by that regiment by their unique name. Possibly they are dedicated to an Old One that rarely gets spawnings like Uxmac, or they can be named after their leader, or the regiment’s most famous battle or martyr. One thing that might help their status, is barring a crushing defeat, the same Scar Regiment can exist as a continuous unit for thousands of years of heavy battles. A conventional regiment cannot realistically do that.
The term Orphan or Scar Regiment probably wouldn’t apply to Temple Guard. I think Temple Guard regiments made up of multiple spawnings would be so common that they wouldn’t warrant their own terminology. Disparate Temple Guard spawnings are so similar you can probably only tell the difference by their age. If you are close enough to scrutinize the difference between a two hundred year old Temple Guard and a four hundred year old Temple Guard, they will probably gut you with their halberds. If anything it would probably be unusual for Temple Guard to guarding a Slann to be made up of one spawning. Not that there would be a need for a special term for these regiments. If the Slann safe who cares about the details.
Kroxigor are probably an exception too. I figure most Skroxigor regiments are all of one spawning, but I figure most Kroxigor units are cobbled together from multiple spawnings. At the very least, an all Kroxigor regiment is fielding them without their Skink brothers. They are probably temporary anyway. If a Saurus is assigned to an Orphan Regiment, they are probably expecting to serve there till they die (or evolve into a Scar Veteran). I figure Kroxigor groups stay together for one work project or military campaign and then return to their original spawnings. Of course I also picture Kroxigor having greater kinship with Kroxigor of other spawnings than Skinks and Sauri tend to feel with their distant cousins. They are pretty simple minded so they wouldn’t care about spawning.Then again simple-minded people can be very xenophobic and tribal. Nevermind contemporary politics. Lizardmen shouldn’t have a perfect seemless society but I figure they are far more united in view and purpose than humans will ever be.
Another option would be adopted spawning brothers NOT assigned by leaders. In this case it would be an elevated friendship. Brothers of another mother, errrr another pool. Fluff writers can make adopted spawning brothers common or rare, the point is it friendship is so close it becomes family. I don’t think you’ll see that much on the battlefield. Adopted spawning brothers would fight in their normal units and take orders from their normal leaders. Peacetime adopted spawning brothers are mainly toset up the tragic death of at least one of the brothers build character in stories.
I'm eager to see what others will contribute to the discussion. Especially names. It bugs me that I have this fleshed out concept but I'm not sure what to call it.
Now if you are anything like me, you’ve ended many a game with a tiny remainder out of your mighty Saurus blocks left. Even if 90% of the casualties eventually recover after each battle (highly optimistic but not impossible) then Saurus regiments will deplete over time. At some point Slann (or more likely their Skink and Saurus lieutenants) will have to figure out what to do with the seven Sauri left over from the 3rd spawning from the Pool of Tlaztcotl. Lizardmen love everything being categorized and in its place, but I can’t picture any Lizardmen leader saying, “Okay you guys are too few to form up a fighting uni now. Everyone line up for your ritual suicide, then we’ll eat you!“
“Saurilient Green is made out of lizard people! It’s made out of lizard people!”
Besides ritually killing these remnants, they could be given suicide missions where they take point on all future battles until they are truly dead. Conversely, one could honor their survivorship they could be given safe but mostly useless guard work. Either way that is a waste of resources. I can’t see Lizardmen wasting resources.
This is where adopted spawning brothers come in. To me, the most logical solution to what to do with the battered remnants of largely decimated units is to pool them together. I figure most kahoun would have one such regiment at all times. Very peaceful kahoun might have zero. Kahoun with Scalenex leading their table top battles or writing their fluff universe probably have enough casualties to warrant two or three such regiments. I figure most of the Big Four would have several such regiments though their regiments would be barely noticeable. If each spawning is distinctive, they are probably populous enough that they can sub-group their mixed regiments with similar spawnings.
There are probably a lot of variations of High Saurian we can use, but I prefer fluffy English terms for ease of relating to the reader. I can’t make up my mind what name I like so I think I’ll have Lizardmen not agree.
“Scar Regiments” emphasizing the war torn nature of these groups. Scar Veterans would often graduate out of Scar Regiments. It subtly evokes tragedy too. I imagine Scar Regiment is the most respectful way to refer to this group.
“Orphan Regiments” emphasizes the spawning brother angle. The term would probably also be slightly derogatory. A purist might dislike all such regiments out prejudice, but you could also use it to specific. A Scar Regiment would imply you have a group of experienced Sauri who survived many battles. An Orphan Regiment is probably cobbled together by relatively young Saurus spawnings that had a disastrous battle early in their career.
“Vengeance Regiments” are another tempting name. Embittered survivors would be very enthusiastic fighters. I imagine Skinks would form vengeance spawnings. They don’t live forever. Skinks who survive most of their brother’s deaths could decide to become skirmishers or retire to a civilian job. Vengeance regiments would be more common against hated enemies like Skaven or Daemons. A vengeance regiment could also be a small regiment of Saurus survivors, who keep fighting as a unit anyway. They might pick up Cold One training or in Kroq-gar’s legendary case, pick up Carnosaurs.
Another option is they don’t have a term. If a city only has one or two such regiments, you don’t call it “our orphan regiment.” You call by that regiment by their unique name. Possibly they are dedicated to an Old One that rarely gets spawnings like Uxmac, or they can be named after their leader, or the regiment’s most famous battle or martyr. One thing that might help their status, is barring a crushing defeat, the same Scar Regiment can exist as a continuous unit for thousands of years of heavy battles. A conventional regiment cannot realistically do that.
The term Orphan or Scar Regiment probably wouldn’t apply to Temple Guard. I think Temple Guard regiments made up of multiple spawnings would be so common that they wouldn’t warrant their own terminology. Disparate Temple Guard spawnings are so similar you can probably only tell the difference by their age. If you are close enough to scrutinize the difference between a two hundred year old Temple Guard and a four hundred year old Temple Guard, they will probably gut you with their halberds. If anything it would probably be unusual for Temple Guard to guarding a Slann to be made up of one spawning. Not that there would be a need for a special term for these regiments. If the Slann safe who cares about the details.
Kroxigor are probably an exception too. I figure most Skroxigor regiments are all of one spawning, but I figure most Kroxigor units are cobbled together from multiple spawnings. At the very least, an all Kroxigor regiment is fielding them without their Skink brothers. They are probably temporary anyway. If a Saurus is assigned to an Orphan Regiment, they are probably expecting to serve there till they die (or evolve into a Scar Veteran). I figure Kroxigor groups stay together for one work project or military campaign and then return to their original spawnings. Of course I also picture Kroxigor having greater kinship with Kroxigor of other spawnings than Skinks and Sauri tend to feel with their distant cousins. They are pretty simple minded so they wouldn’t care about spawning.
Another option would be adopted spawning brothers NOT assigned by leaders. In this case it would be an elevated friendship. Brothers of another mother, errrr another pool. Fluff writers can make adopted spawning brothers common or rare, the point is it friendship is so close it becomes family. I don’t think you’ll see that much on the battlefield. Adopted spawning brothers would fight in their normal units and take orders from their normal leaders. Peacetime adopted spawning brothers are mainly to
I'm eager to see what others will contribute to the discussion. Especially names. It bugs me that I have this fleshed out concept but I'm not sure what to call it.
Last edited:
