I have played a few games with 1 slaan, but im not sure if im using him right or to his full potential. I give him lore of life so he can take out huge chunk of goblins with the dwellers below spell. I usually have in a temple gaurd unit but the temple gaurd never get in combat and it seems a waste of 500p on the TG alone. Should I send the slaan alone or just put him into a saurus unit and forget the temple gaurd? Are the temple gaurd worth 500p for 30? Please help.
Definitely don't take 30 TG. 20 is one of the most common configurations. 6 wide, it allows him to be encompassed by the unit. Some people go with 16. Fewer than that, and the unit isn't likely to hold up long in combat. Now, I never ever ever ever want to see my slann get close to melee combat. That's just how I play, though. So putting any extra points to a unit that I hope to never see combat is a huge waste for me. I've take to putting the Slann in a saurus warrior block and then if I need to, moving him out of the unit, but withing 3" to keep the 4+ LoS. Then again, there is higher state of consciousness and the talisman of ensurance if you want to get a 2+ ward save on spells and can only be hit by magical attacks. for an 80 point investment, he is nearly untouchable.
I used to have that problem, as well...I wanted the protection of a Temple Guard unit, but the points always seemed like a waste when they never saw combat. So I started building them into my list and strategy as a main combat unit, counting on them taking charges and such, and basically replacing a Saurus unit. I'm not too terrified of getting my Slann 'near' combat, so I generally throw the TG into a situation where I need a practically unbreakable unit, and trust them to protect their Slann. This allows the points spent on the TG to directly affect the game, and means that I don't feel bad about throwing a few more models into the unit - they'll see action eventually! Of course, the other option is the lone Slann. I played him for the first time recently, and he did quite well. In fact, he liked being alone so much, that as soon as I moved him into a unit of Saurus, he nuked them with a miscast.
I run mine solo. Every time I use tg I miscast and blow them up. Unit of 26 and 2 turns and I have 6 left.
forget the temple guard and stick him in a skink bunker as its cheap, mobile, gives him the same look out sir roll and most importantly allows him to leave if the unit gets smashed by magic or shooting.