Tutorial Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party link)

[Scalenex]

Here’s an excellent spell review from Espace’s Slann Party 2012 blog.
http://paint-hammer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/lore-of-beasts-party-slann-2012-slann.html

I would like to add some things.
First, Espace only covered Slann in Temple Guard blocks. Beasts opens up the possibility of running a lone Slann that can actually fight. I’ll admit that would be a risky endeavor. I haven’t tried it myself, but I intend to at some point. If anyone who actually tried it has any insight on a lone Beasts Slann, let me know.

Second, a Skink priest can be used to aim the Amber Spear for a nice rank penetrating sideways shot.

Third, with Skink priests now able to take Lore of Beasts, you can use a Beast Slann and a level two Skink priest to give you a 100% chance to give the Skink Transformation of Kadon if you roll the Slann's spells first.


High Magic Slann and WD Slann

Beasts has one of the best signature spells so a WD will probably get a lot of mileage out of the signature spell

Beasts isn't the best lore to dabble in for a High Magic Slann that likes to swap but it isn't bad. Wyssans is a great spell and you can be guaranteed to not do worse than that spell. Flock of Doom is good if you are facing low Toughness chaff units, Amber Spear is good If you are facing well armored foes (especially cavalry in a line), and the Curse of Anraheir is a good counterpart to Wyssan's. I like Wyssan's but if I have a Skink Priest with it, I don't see a reason to double up on it with a Slann having it too. Most Battle Reports I've read that try this have the Skink Priest doing nothing at all and that's a waste of points.

 

[MOMUS]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

I would say a lone slann is very possible without beats, put him as a BSB with ethereal and he can hold up loads of stupid things while all the time casting nasty death spells.

 

[Scalenex]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

I would say a lone slann is very possible without beats, put him as a BSB with ethereal and he can hold up loads of stupid things while all the time casting nasty death spells.

I know a lone Slann is effective without Beasts. What I wondered is if a lone Slann with Beasts that doesn't shirk from combat is effective.

 

[MOMUS]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

I would say a lone slann is very possible without beats, put him as a BSB with ethereal and he can hold up loads of stupid things while all the time casting nasty death spells.

I know a lone Slann is effective without Beasts. What I wondered is if a lone Slann with Beasts that doesn't shirk from combat is effective.

Answer: No

 

[Espace]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Hello there!

Thanks for the kind words regarding my blog, the Lore of Life review will be up tomorrow with heavens out later in the week!

Just to let you know yes a solo slann with beast can actually be a really fightly monster capable of going toe toe with most lords/montsers and with a bsb with warbanner can actually beat some on his own:

Here's a build I would recomend

Slann, Loremaster, bsb, warbanner, ethereal, rumination, fencers blades, aura of quetzl (-1 to hit item from lizardmen book), potion of speed.

The combination of aura and fencers blades means that hes hit on 6s by most things if not then 5's and the paired weapons means he gets an extra attack. The chuck on wildform, impenetrable pelt and savage beast and you can get a +3 attacks, +4 str and +4toughness all at WS10 beating blood thirster beating material. With a static res of +2 he's hard to break and can reliably chew through hordes for a whole game if they dont have magical attacks(even if they do your pretty safe being hit on 6s, wounded on 6s and a 4+ ward). Also being that style of aggressive slann means youll be better placed to cast amber spear down some ranks.

The drawback and danger is if you dont get off the spells then your not going to be hitting very hard but in general its a solid build that I think could be made to work!

 

[MOMUS]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Thats funny, ive used nearly that exact same combination of abilities/items, in the end you are using alot of points an magic dice making something thats not meant to be in combat good at it.

And as you said you are leaving your slann out there locked in a stalemate style combat, which means the enemy will be aiming magic or characters his way easily.

You could do it but i just dont think its the best use of the lore and i dont think its the best lore for LM.
Wouldnt you rather use those spells on saurus/scar vets?

 

[Espace]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Yeah exactly the only thing the slann has going for him is Ethereal and 100pts of items and a banner To be honest should probably put the stubborn crown on him just incase, dont want your slann auto dying on a break if he flees due to bsb!

But yeah as I said in the blog post, these spells are awesome on scar vets and even skink chiefs!

 

[Scalenex]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Storm of Magic Addendum

Beasts is a solid choice for Storm of Magic, especially if you prefer to march up to an arcane fulcrum and fight the enemy wizard off instead of blasting them off with spells. The various buffs can be used to make your characters mighty enough to overcome the wizard’s miscellaneous defenses and it can make your own fulcrum holding wizards harder to kill. Truthsayers are a very popular Storm of Magic Monster meaning you don’t even need a Slann per se to bring Beasts to the table, though there is nothing wrong with doing so.

Murder of Crows: This is probably the least exciting Vortex spell in the Storm of Magic book, and thus the Beast Presence spell is probably the least appealing of the three. The big template only inflicting S3 hits? I don’t see how that would have much damage output against anything north of a night goblin block. If you are fighting hordes of low Toughness enemies, Murder of Crows becomes more useful. Also, S3 hits are not very scary if you misfire and have a bunch of unwanted crows pecking at your Temple Guard given their high toughness and 3+ save verus magic. On the plus side it’s only 15+ to cast.

Hunter’s Moons: Wyssan’s Wildform is my favorite Lore of Beasts spell hands down. This spell lets you in essence, cast Wyssan’s Wildform on every friendly regardless of line of sight and distance and provides Swiftstride to boot. You can turn a Standard or Saurus based army into a Fast Attack Army with one spell. This spell alone is why I think Beasts is one of the best Storm of Magic options out there.

Merciw’s Monstrous Regiment: A single unit doubles the Strength, Toughness and Attacks of every model. It’s a Remains in Play spell, so if you manage to avoid getting this one dispelled during casting, your opponent will probably dispel it during his round if he knows what’s good for him. One round with the buff ought to be enough and forcing your opponent to use their own Power Dice to shut down your RIP spell will make it that much harder for him to throw a nasty cataclysm spell at you. Any Saurus unit, be they Warriors, Temple Guard or Cavalry will benefit immensely from this. It’s only 25+ to cast rather than the 30+ one would expect on something this potent meaning you don’t need Lore of Beasts to be Ascendant to have good chance of casting this with a Slann (though it certainly helps). Thus if you can get the Dominance position with a Beasts Slann, you can use this spell to ensure you keep it. Just remember this spell doesn’t work on characters (the opposite of the normal Beasts spells that only work on characters so this won’t help you fight Herohammer if any of your wizards are engaged at a fulcrum. As tempting as it is to cast this spell, if your battle is currently being decided by character versus character fights and not unit versus unit fights, forgo this in favor of the lesser spells.

 

[Kharn The Betrayer]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Could this work well in an all skink list as a good lords hammer?

 

[Lord Tsunami]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Thanks for a good guide, but i would remove the parts where you have done "math"

Now -1 doesnt seem like much but that's 8.5% reduction on what you need to roll on 2D6.

That's a 32% swing in your favour before you consider the fact that you are reducing your targets armour save further.

Both statements are absolutely bogus. you can just claim that it is indeed a significant difference in both cases.

Other than that, it all looks good

 

[Bish]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Great review/s, look forward to more. Just like to add one thing, Amber Spear is really good when vassaled though a skink priest, it can easily get the fank shot and the larger one cuts down knights.

And if you give a priest Cloak of Feathers...

Samuel

 

[Roka]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

slann with beasts

give him entheral + regen and cast transfermation of kadon. doesnt his special rules carry over?

i just want a regenerating ghost dragon. is that too much to ask?

 

[n810]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

FAQ says Slann can't cast "transfermation of kadon".

 

[Orion.Pax]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Hey there, new player, was exploring the forums and spells and such and found this one.

Any idea why Slann are barred from casting Transformation of Kadon? I see the entry in the FAQ - I'm just wondering why they would be prevented from doing so. They're considered infantry, despite their magic floating palanquin thingy.

Thanks

OP

 

[Mahtis]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

You could argue that the spell can be cast only by models that are "on foot". The slann isn't on his foot, he floats on his palanquin, cus of that he can't cast it. The same problem is with the arabian carpet, so no flying slann for us either.

 

[Kharn The Betrayer]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Tenehuan can use it tho I think

 

[n810]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

yep so long as he rolls it, and you didn't mount him on the steg.

 

[Scalenex]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Now that we can take Skink priests with Lore of Beasts and that Slann have limited access to lore mastery, Beast Slann are going to gain some new playability.

If you have a Beast Slann and a level 2 Skink Priest with Beasts, you can roll the Slann's spell's first, sub out Transformation of Kadon for the signature spell if you happen to roll it and have a nearly 100% chance of giving the Skink Priest Transformation of Kadon. If you take 3 levels of Beast priests (A L1 and L2 or Tehenhauin) you can have 100% chance.

Having the ace in the hole of a hydra popping out of your units of Skinks can draw out your opponents dispel items quickly. The trick is to set up your shapechanging Skink in a position where he can do the most good. I'm sure as we get more practiced with Beast Skinks, new strategies will emerge.

 

[Caneghem]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

Now that we can take Skink priests with Lore of Beasts and that Slann have limited access to lore mastery, Beast Slann are going to gain some new playability.

If you have a Beast Slann and a level 2 Skink Priest with Beasts, you can roll the Slann's spell's first, sub out Transformation of Kadon for the signature spell if you happen to roll it and have a 100% chance of giving the Skink Priest Transformation of Kadon.

Having the ace in the hole of a hydra popping out of your units of Skinks can draw out your opponents dispel items quickly. The trick is to set up your shapechanging Skink in a position where he can do the most good. I'm sure as we get more practiced with Beast Skinks, new strategies will emerge.

The same trick would work with a Level 4 Slann and two level 1 skinks on Beast magic, right? That way the sacrificial skink could just 6-dice the transformation spell as he charged, hoping for IF. Then again, the Lvl 2 could drop one spell he didn't want for the signature and still be useful throughout the game. Hmm. One thing is for sure, that mountain chimera is NASTY. 4D6 attacks?!

 

[pendrell]

Re: Lore of Beasts Slann Tactica (extension of Slann Party l

If you have a Beast Slann and a level 2 Skink Priest with Beasts, you can roll the Slann's spell's first, sub out Transformation of Kadon for the signature spell if you happen to roll it and have a 100% chance of giving the Skink Priest Transformation of Kadon.

I am not sure I follow this. Let's say that you roll with the slann 1, 2, 3, 6. You swap the 6 for the signature spell. Then you roll with the level 2 priest: 4, 5. How can you get transformation?