With the new 12 PD ccap, spamming skink priests and EoTG is pointless, I don't really see the point of much more wizards, a slann and just 1 priest will be fine or am i mistaking, the EotG sucks now, just the slann adn 1 priests seems best, right??
I think you've hit it on the head. The engine is taking a hit on many fronts. The game will be shifting towards more big infantry units and fewer small elite units. There won't be as many juicy targets for burning alignment. Skink characters will be even more vulnerable on top of the steg as well, so sadly it looks like the EotG might be given up to increase troop numbers. We will see what the FAQs bring, but it looks rough at this point.
Yeah I'm just gonna field a lone slann(Slann in TG is soooooooooo 7th edition) and a flying priest with Plague of Tepok(50% chance of the wind spell i heard of wich will be gamewinning)
I'll probably have the same setup. Also Heavens is a really good lore, the base spell is pretty useful for lizardmen to cast in the early turns, since most of our shooting is close range anyway. -1 to hit and 4+ to shoot for warmachines will help weather the shooting to get us across the field. According to something I just heard, if you are rolling for spells and roll a double, you get to pick a spell from the list. Say you roll 1,4,4. You would get the first spell, fourth spell, and then another of your choice. So the odds of getting wind are a bit above 50%.
Hm, wind+chain lightning+a smaller spell. Sounds like a deal to me! Add some flying to the mix, 180 degrees TLoS... hey presto! A winner! I really the upgrade all the lores have recieved, but the moment you lose control ('loss of control')... Ouch. As for other magic armies...I think HE, DE, VC and Skaven will be our biggest competitors. Although (AFAIK) they don't have a power which is the same as our 'focused rumination'. Which puts us in an advantage. The Hunted
DE have a get PD spell, their magic phase will pwn. THey throw a lot of magic around when they sucked up all your DD they cast the get PD spell and start throwing magic around again, and thsi time you can't dispell, cuz u have used all your DD already
In 7th that dark elf spell was cast with 1 dice and always worth dispelling (generally with 2 dice). And in 8th they'll need to cast it with two dice or risk having their caster get shut down for the phase so it will be even more worth dispelling. And considering that it only gives D3 power dice it's pretty risky for them to cast at all. The only way to use that one effectively that I can think of would be for them to have a few lv 1 sorcs around to one dice that spell 2-3 times in order to give those power dice to a lv4 (since they share the dice pool). However, that is a pretty expensive trade off in terms of points that could be spent elsewhere.
On the subject of "magic armies"... I don't think there will be such thing as an army without magic, except for dwarves. Whether you bring a Slann or a single flying skink priest, you will get 2D6 power dice to throw around, so why let those go to waste? Also having a lvl 2 caster will help dispel enemy spells at +2 to dispel. I really think even combat focused armies will want to grab at least one mage. Not really different from before, but I think now you will want to have at least two spells to cast to burn up an average of 7 power dice per phase.
I'm still thinking that with exploitative Death magic and Focused Rumination we can get rediculous numbers of powerdice across the phase. Slann - Lore of Death, Focused Rumination, Focus of Mystery, Cupped Hands, Bane Head (385) Skink Priest - lv 2 (100) Skink Priest - lv 2 (100) Skink Priest - lv 2 (100) With your 2D6 power dice you go for the most damaging death spells you can. If you get a great casting of Purple Sun of Xerxes (say, across a battleline of 40 zombies) you WILL spawn 10+ dice back. Then cast Comet or something
Ouch! The power you get from the Lore of Death is really good, but the lore itself lacks in direct damage. But that power is pretty darn usefull.... Just remember the 12 Power Dice Cap (PDC?). You will reach it with that setup! The Hunted The Hunted
3 guarantees you know all the lore of heavens spells(minus the base one, but you can swap for it). That way you are sure to have the comet etc... since Death lacks a mass damage spell. So for this strategy 1 priest would not work as well.
That's a lot of points for 1 spell...you're essentially paying 200 points for the comet. Which, if you lose control, are pretty likely to lose. For me, that's not worth it. I'd rather take 1 priest with plaque of tepok and a cloak of feathers. That gives you 50% comet time, and in the worst case; you have bufs and wind. Which isn't that bad at all! The Hunted
It is not just for comet. Heavens is overall a very good lore. Chain lightning, and the wind push one(can't recall name). And if you fill up your pool of PD after using up your Slanns Death spells well then you will cast more than just Comet. One priest is not going to use 12 PD. And of course this strategy has your priests throwing lots of dice, so its nice to have another if one blows up.
Ok, I understand your point. But my question then is: Why 3? If, as you state, you like the lore of heavens and the magic heavy part etc.. etc... Isn't 2 enough? You can save 100 points, and might buy some nifty items for your heroes (insert plaque of tepok here ). For me, Slann+lvl 2 priest will do it. If I wanted to go magic heavy; I'd bring in the additional priest. To be honest, that 3rd fellow is just too much. In My Humble Opinion, that is . The Hunted
Well it is not my strategy just trying to justify it For me personally I will have a Slann+1 priest. Another priest if I find it would be beneficial after some test games when I get the book. But the reasoning behind 3 would be to guarantee you get all the spells in heavens. Sure with 2 you could get 5 without issue, but you could miss comet(or any other spell in heavens) against an army that comet would be extremely useful.
What else are we going to do with the priests we are all in the process of tearing off the back of our stegadons?
Stash them? On a more serious note: Scenario: slann takes death lore, and you have 2 skink priests (1 plaque of tepok) for heavens: you roll 1,2 for one priest, and 2,4,5 for the other one. Now, you can re-roll the 2 OR can you choose a spell? I didn't get a look at the real book yet, and I read some rumours which stated you can choose. Could somebody help me out on this? Because: If you can choose, well then 3 priests really is overkill. If not, it's still overkill but to a slightly less extent. And Kurlin, I really thought you were going for the slann+3 priests army . You had me! The Hunted
you can only choose the spell when the same wizard rolls a double. If your second priest rolls the same spell as your first then you just re roll(from what I recall). Nah, as much as I like death the lack of a unit killer dissuades me. And I just like the lore of life too much(regaining wounds/models and making an entire horde block take a ST test ), on paper at least. EDIT: While death does have the vortex, it RIP and scatters up to 30" and that is just too scary for my own saurus. Not positive the scatter still multiplies artillery dice by 3.