Thanks! I take it the Dread Saurian must be doing wonders for you too if you include him in both the 1.5k and 2k list? What's your usual strategy with it? Teleport it ASAP for a charge or do you wait for an opportunity?
About Javelins vs. Boltspitters Yeah the theoretical difference isn't that high. From the top of my head Boltspitters do something like 1.1 wounds per round and Javelins do 1.5 (for ten models in a unit)
I've always used boltspitters, but I think the argument of taking javelins in 10-man units and leaving the boltspitters for the 40-man unit makes sense, it should'nt make that much a difference indeed but sometimes it's the little details that give big edges, so I'll try it out!
Mostly Ive been using the Dread Saurian a lot lately cause I bought the model and its too cool not to use. It is a HUGE target that the enemy usually focuses a lot of efforts on killing, leaving lots of space for my Engines and Skinks to take objectives and kill key pieces. I think his has been a big part of my recent success. Its too powerful for them to ignore it, and if they do, he wreaks havoc. My usual tactic with the dread are the following: 1. Use Skink Starpriest serpent staff to double his damage with Jaws - he can do up to 36 damage a turn at -2 rend with this attack alone 2. Buff with Skink Starpriest Summon Starlight. 3. Slann Command ability to make him "fly" and re-roll failed save rolls in the shooting phase. 4. Buff with Mystic Shield from Slann 5. Cast Cogs with Slann. Manipulate cogs to give +2 to charge rolls 6. Ideally my Slann has the constellation for giving +1 to charge rolls 7. Lord of Space and time - depending on how big my balls are, I will teleport on 3+ and try to use my buffs to make a 9" charge. If I dont feel confident, ill just keep him in place and use him to teleport on a 5+ and move/charge another turn. 8. If/when he does teleport, I charge him into the biggest, meanest thing that the enemy has. 9. If he survives that turn, he usually has taken a fair amount of wounds, so ill either teleport an EOTG to try to heal him, or just teleport him back to my EOTGs and use their ability to heal him. I dont think my Dread Saurian has ever lived to the end of a game. I haven't lost a game since putting him into my army. however.
I have played against a few Dreadsaurian. Personally I never found them scary. Dread's are just susceptible to being speedbumped and tied up. I wish they were a bit better because the model is down right gorgeous. Their points are even pretty reflective of the damage they can deal. Their shortfall is that Dreads are overkill for everything in the game right now. You pretty much have to kill a priority target a turn to earn back their points.
I run mine with Javelins for the same reason... it's not at all because i modeled all of them with Javs in 8th
At the tine my dread is finally finished he will see a lot of play!!!! The model is sooooo gigantic!!!! And of course, for 420 points he needs a lot of focus from the enemy to bring him down. At that time, the of the army can do a Lot of stuff, summoning for example. If the enemy needs 2 turns to kill The dread, you might have summoned another bastilodon at that time. So the enemy lost a lot of firepower to bring just a few points of The table
I love dreads. It is certainly my favorite model that Forge World has released. Honestly I just want to paint the beaut. It feels like a unit that is ideal for narrative, campaign, or casual games though. As the current meta stands, Dreadsaurians have a had time making a meaningful game impact. Currently most winning armies just swarm the table with tarpits and attempt to lock down the board on their first turn and then weather 2 or 3 rounds to obtain an unbeatable lead on points.
meh the difference is like 0.5 attacks per shooting phasein a unit of 10 skinks. The extra range will probably give you a better chance of some extra damage as stuff might be in range a turn earlier. Javalins being better only really starts getting noticeable in the larger groups.