Blog Going Back to Where It All Began (5th ed Lizardmen onward!)

Greetings all. And now for the introduction. I've been in this Hobby a long...long time. Indeed, I remember my very first White Dwarf being 206 and the thing that caught my very, very young self's attention being the Lizardmen. Dinosaurs and Aztec/Incan influences? Consider me sold!

But of course, like all young 'uns I didn't have much a budget beyond birthdays and Christmas, so sadly made do with large amounts of plastic skinks and saurus while staring forlornly at the metal Saurus and Skinks in the catalogues.


Of course, the first army wasn't...the most organised. It was a riot of colour, with paired units being matching colours... red and green, blue and red, green and red.... eventually they went into storage, to come out once or twice in early 6th ed after heading to University....and then the new Lizardmen book came out. And being a Uni student with a bit more funds...I splashed out more and the old Lizards went the way of bits and being sold off.

The new Lizards...were a bit more organised. Less a riot of colour, more consistency, with green skin and blue scales. Some lessons learned in painting gold and a lot of fun with inks....perhaps too much it would seem.



Eventually, the 6th edition army went into storage as well. After a good few years of getting roundly pasted and beat about by certain Elf armies my dreams of Saurus became rather depressive and the era of cannons lol at monsters did not make me happy at all. The 6th ed book...seemed lacklustre.

It was with 7th edition that I was pulled back in. The retired 6th ed army went into their dips and got stripped, some new metals were brought in and I happily went all in with 7th and 8th edition.



Once again the colours changed, this time to a more natural, subterranean inspired lizard scheme. Browns, black scales, the odd flash of red. Softer, warmer golds and shields that weren't as roughly done. An overall improvement. Even better, the playstyle became perfect for me.

You see, I loathed skink spam. I hated it. I wanted ranks of Saurus. A wall of angry beatstick lizards with skinks being resigned to specialist situations. And over 7th and 8th I refined this playstyle. The books even encouraged me to do so.



What you see was my final Lizardmen army until the death of 8th. It went to a number of local events. It went to the Student Nationals as part of the Vague Veteran group. And it just barely missed placing top 3 there fighting the overall winner of the weekend to his only draw (the rest were massacres in his favour!).

2 big blocks of Saurus that could reform into hordes if need be with 2 supporting blocks of Saurus. A very big block of Temple Guard with a Lore of Life Slann that meant they literally would NEVER die. A brick wall that literally ground everything that came at it to a standstill including dreaded things like bloodthirsters and chosen chaos knights. Saurus heroes scattered in the units, Salamanders and a small unit of Skirmishers for screening and harassment purposes, Terradons to pick off lone characters and that was that.

All fun...til the death of 8th edition and AoS. I sold the army off and my others in disgust. And I didn't touch AoS or Fantasy for nearly a decade.

Now to get where we are today....

In March 2020 I came down with a nasty, non-Covid related chest infection that took me off my feet for months. It was not good. I was burning up, hyperventilating and exhausted. I couldn't sleep due to breathing issues. It physically broke me....and the fatigue, exhaustion and mobility issues persisted. So much that in November that year I applied for PIP....then fought for that for about 8 months, failed (too vague) and reapplied with lessons learned, just scraping through.

Then, this month just been I get awarded PIP for the new application, my mobility issues acknowledged and the backpay...whew. So I did something...stupid. I decided I needed to relive my Hobby roots and get the army I wanted. All metal. All 5th ed era.



No plastics. So off to ebay, FB and general trade groups I went. And boy did I spend money. HOO BOY. But I was getting what I wanted. A few lucky lots on Ebay, a few good negotiated trades...





And I just keep getting bits in. I've had to order new bases. I've planned what I can out. And it's all turning out quite organic...





Much stripping, much sorting and there's still more being stripped or in the post at the moment. But the army has ended up as follows...

2 Slann Mage Priests

Oxayotl

Skink Shaman

Tenehuini (Skink Shaman)

Inxi Huinzi (Skink Hero on Cold One)

4 Saurus Heroes (Halberd, Sword and Shield, Two Axes, Great Weapon & Shield)

Saurus Warriors - 20 Spears inc. Command, 20 Hand weapons inc. Command.

Skinks - 10 Skink Archers inc. Command, 15 Skinks w/ Javelins inc. Command w/ 1 Kroxigor, 22 Skinks w/ Javelins inc. Command w/ 2 Kroxigor

Temple Guard - 19 Temple Guard inc. Command, 10 Temple Guard inc. Command

6 Skink Cold Ones inc. Command

5 Terradons

4 Kroxigor

2 Salamanders

2 Stegadons

Swarms - 3 Lizard Swarms (14), 3 Snake Swarms (15)

Gigantic Spider

I of course have spares. And even better, local scene has decided to dabble in 6th and 8th again...

So the army will grow...organically. I am not going to completely replace it, just maybe add an additional unit or two, trying to keep them matching the era they're from....everything else works just fine.

So for 6th I would need to add an Oldblood on Carnosaur, see about sourcing a Slann for a spare metal Throne I have and maybe eventually look at the first incarnation of Saurus Cold One Riders... and some Chameleon Skinks...



Well, it seems the ebay bits gods are nice after all....

So Chameleon Skinks in time then...

And eventually when I expand I will add new units according to their era.

But the scheme I am thinking is David Gallagher's classic artwork from the 5th ed Lizardmen cover... vivid blue, darker scales, yellow underbellies. Yellow mottle crests for the skinks, green stegadons, reddish brown terradons and a nice green/yellow slann....

Just gotta let the test Saurus dry....

And then dive back into my childhood to do wee small me justice with the army he wanted.

 

Nice hauls you got there! I agree with you, when I played 8th, I preferred saurus, and had the occasional skink units. Can't wait to see your new painted stuff.

 

Welcome along!

sad to hear you sold your old army, They look very nice and sturdy

but WOW!!!
What a treasure trove of new old models you have gotten now

have fun sorting through it all. I will be following your progress

Grrr, Imrahil

 

Just a quick and sneaky update here!

Decided to spend today doing a bit of a test piece of a Saurus and here he is. Shield not done yet as not sure if I need to do a lighter highlight of the yellows (probably will) - will need to wait for a paint delivery to come in for that.

I went for the colour scheme of Dave Gallagher's 5th ed Cover Art - which is matched through the colour pieces he did during the era. I noticed on the cover that the gold on the weapon and bangles/bracelets was a bit weathered and tarnished... so went with a green wash and then Army Painter colour metallics Tainted Gold over the gold base to give that effect, highlighted silver for the sheen. The shield is going to be a softer, warmer gold with a sepia wash and softer highlights.

And yes, I am sticking as close to the art as I can. So bone, jade, carnelian with vibrant reds and whites being used as well as warmer browns.

I like him. The blues are just right and the rest just works. Now if that paint order can hurry up and go out for me....

 

Awesome! Always loved the metal miniatures better than the plastic.

 

Very nice test model.
I love the colorscheme and he is painted very cleanly

Grrr, Imrahil

 

Nice force of retro lizards!

 

So, while undercoating the other 9 Saurus to build up the first retro units - going to be Saurus, Skinks, Slann to start - decided to calculate the points for 5th ed and 6th ed including all the 'additional' units.

And for 6th ed... units with a * after their name are 'new' units introduced for 6th ed - basically any 6th ed era metals I purchased. So one 'new' Slann, one 'new' Priest and then just working out details - so the Staff Shamans are the Level 2 priests, the Temple Guard champion based Hero is upgraded to an Oldblood....

 

That is certainly a trove of miniatures! I like the test saurus warrior, and I will follow your progress with great interest.

 

I'm just frustratedly waiting for a supply drop of paints - mainly for some Dorn Yellow for a final highlight of the scales. Hopefully shall start on the basecoats of some more Saurus...soon...

 

Yup I'll follow this. I have a horde of 5th Ed lizards and some I even still need to paint

 

Because I am slow I have, of course, spent most of my time building, waiting for odd supplies, paint stripping and other such follies. You might enjoy.


First, a lovely photo of the sheer scale of this army. There's a few things missing from this photo...I'll list them below.

Missing: 2 Slann Mage Priests (due to having to paint in sub assemblies but you can see the gap in a unit for one), 3 Skink Shamans, 2 Skink Heroes, 2 Saurus Heroes, 3 Kroxigor, 1 Giant Spider and 6 Skink Cold Ones. Plus respective riders and crews (again, sub assemblies).

Also Missing - the 6th Edition 'additions' - 1 6th ed Slann Mage Priest, Oldblood on Carnosaur, 5 Saurus Cold Ones, 1 Skink Priest and 6 Chameleon Skinks.

The more eagle-eyed of you will have spotted something odd in one of the units. Some Saurus seem to be...more painted then others. Ok, ok, let's look at them.





As you can see our partially done Saurus has gotten his shield and even better...a friend!





It's all working out. The scheme works in multiples and now I have to just progress that unit, then start a Slann Mage Priest as they're kind of mandatory in 5th edition. I'm very much liking the contrast between the colder, more tarnished golds of the weapons and jewelry and the softer, warmer gold of the shields. Which matches the cover art of the 5th edition army book. A subtle difference but it is there and helps avoid bland repetition I suppose!

I wish I was kidding... but Oldhammer has kicked in hard. I now have a Dark Elf General on Cold One... and the bits of a planned conversion that have turned into...something else. I ended up buying Lucrezzia Belladonna on her own along with a plastic Talisman Dragon, with the idea of mounting her on the Dragon. Then I realised that she conveniently sits on the old metal mounted Vampire Lord's barded skeletal steed....

Which had led to starting a gradual Lahmian Vampire Counts army ... as I now have a Banshee and 10 mounted Wights (a steal at £35!). Metals of course! And a chap in Europe who is holding on til my funds stabilise at the end of the month with a whole bunch of Dark Elf stuff ... including Rakarth and a Sorceress on Dark Pegasus...

 

Goooooood.

Let the hatred run through you. Empower you. Embrace the 8th Edition.....

 

8th edition was trash.

There. I said it. I stand by it. Hordes were a terrible mechanic and the bloat was unreal by this point in WFB.

5th ed was supreme. 6th ed is acceptable.

 

And a bit of a lazy update...



First, an updated Family Photo showing the 6th ed additions - Saurus Cavalry, Slann, Carnosaur, 6 Chameleon Skinks, Skink Priest and an Amazon Serpent Priestess.

And some slow WIP on the Slann Mage Priest. Cause, of course, it's the only -mandatory- bit of 5th edition armies, so I should probably actually paint one up first to be honest!



One more, based on Dave Gallagher's internal art pieces. So the 'base' of the Palanquin is being done in that deep red with the gold detailing being the softer, green-tarnished gold (from the differences in the actual art piece it would seem that the plaques on the banners and worn by the Temple Guard bearers are the 'warm' gold like the Saurus shields with the rest being the soft, green tarnished gold...)



OF course, off to Scotland this weekend for some gaming and so with friends where my embarassing Path to Glory Seraphon list will hopefully not completely table my next opponent like it did the first.

 

Well, you'll need a Kroxigor to lug that everywhere.

 

I can't wait to see your finished slann. That artwork is great, and that is a fierce looking army!

 

Great collection!