Title says it all. Since we Lizards are lacking in the artillery department, I'm curious as to what our best method is for dealing with monsters.
I doubt that it'll earn me any friends, but I like a young Stegadon w/ Sharpened Horns & a Bastiladon rather than an Ancient for this. All the better if you can get a Wyssan's on the Steg, and/or a killy Skink Chief on top. That initiative 3 has repeatedly been a difference-maker for me. Most big monsters seem to be initiative 2, so quite often you'll hit first in combat (or simultaneous at worst). I've engaged with Ancient Stegs and young: it is a common occurence for the young guy to leave battle either unscathed for having killed its target on the charge, or to finish with fewer wounds for having gone first in the second round (use the Bastiladon as T5 2+ flank protection if this happens). Otherwise, Skrox darts w/poisoned attacks all the way. Immune to terror, poison, high initiative, Ld7 steadfast, parry - all good things in a unit that can deliver huge dividends. My 16-man Skrox regularly stalls monsters for half of the game while laying wounds on them (or simply killing them). It allows for very many ideal counter-charges (including our young stegadon and bastiladon pal) at the cost of a very, very inexpensive unit.
put monsters or skinks in to it! Skinks are the top tier choice. Then comes a mix between stegadons with sharpened horns and the carnosaur. Carno should eat most monsters for breakfeast, to not get started on it's rider. Also scar vets -> they can hold it off indefinetely, monsters don't have tons of attacks, and most have to settle for str 6, a 4+/4++ or a 4+ rerollable will hold it off for quite some time with toughness 5 and ws 5 and a GW will eat it up!
I guess I'd like to know which Monster you are concerned with? Cowboys and Skinks are my answer. If I've rolled up Amber Spear with one of my 2 Beast Priests, then I can use that. For those who go Heavens on their priest(s), the lightning bolts are good too. The hardest monster for me to kill is the one that doesn't fight, or is so fast that it picks its own fights. Careful movement of Cowboys and Skinks should help here. Sharpened Horn Stegs fit well for this roll too, though they are currently absent from my list.
A local Dark Elf player is really into monsters. At 2500 he'd run at least one or two manticore and three hydras. I haven't played much against the new War Hydra, but it seems to be pretty hard to kill. If you don't take it out in one round of CC, there's a good chance it'll come back at you next round without a scratch.
Thanks for the reply! I was thinking something along the same lines. GW is a good suggestion, should wound on 2's, or at least 3's, and get rid of any armor save. The only concern here is that in this case, the War Hydra, which is what I'm most concerned about, does have a ton of attacks, assuming you don't shave it down a bit beforehand, which would require losing the GW.
In response to the Hydras - If I remember correctly they're something like: WS4 Str5 T5 ~7attacks? with a 4+ AS. If that's right - then Scar Vet (and even more so OB) Cowboys are perfectly built to take those guys on. Just solo the Cowboy into him so that he can't pickup res by killing Warriors or CoC. The wound healing thing could be annoying - but you should generally be able to take them out in 2-3 rounds tops (bar amazing healing rolls). As for the Manticore's - they're annoying, but not so much of a worry for Saurus once they engage. The Skink Poison hurts them a lot - and you have the ability to force them to fight so they don't get poisoned to death. Your biggest concern should be how your opponent focuses his attacks. If he can get 2-3 monsters into you at once, it will start to hurt. If you can divide and conquer, the odds are that you'll be in good shape.
I've had incredibly results with Rippers against Hydras specifically. Had 5 of them smack into it, and with the toad, they ripped it apart. Though my prefered method is just ramming a solo saurus character into it. you will win combat in 9/10 scenarios, which can cause it to break, or you can just outright kill it. With no saves against a GW saurus, you pretty much only has to hit on 3s to get a wound in. Skinks are always good though... still remember 2 10-man skink skirmishers kill off a terrorgheist with 1 turn of shooting + stand and shoot against his charge. Lucky, sure, but poisonshots are just that good against monsters. Don't be surprised if wood elf players bring in loads of poison arrows against your lizardmen, either. this is why monsters having low armour is pretty silly. Edit at Ghostwarrior: you are almost spot on, except that they have 5 wounds and 3 attacks + 1 attack per remaining "head"(Wound) It's leadership is also very low, so a lost combat is BRUTAL to the poor thing.