Honestly i'm kinda at loss with the new Seraphon battletome. I used to play a sort of "stegageddon" list in Thunder Lizard, but now stegadons and bastiladons look so weak. Besides the new meme/broken lists that spawned (Starborne Kroak mortal wound spam and Coalesced teleporting saurus across the whole battlefield) i'm having an hard time figuring out what's good, especially for Coalesced. Probably aggradons and kroxigors? Well, i don't have them. So i'm trying to make a somewhat decent list with what i have. I want to go with Thunder Lizard and i'm trying some kind of monster menagerie list, since Thunder Lizard give every monster 2 monstrous actions. The first draft of list i made: Slann Starmaster Skink Starpriest Oldblood on Carnosaur Oracle on Troglodon Stegadon 10 Saurus Warriors 10 Saurus Warriors Bastiladon with Solar Engine 3 Terrawings However, i'm not so happy with this list. I tried to make two variant, one with more magic and one with more monsters: Lord Kroak Skink Starpriest Oldblood on Carnosaur Oracle on Troglodon Stegadon 10 Saurus Warriors 10 Saurus Warriors Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek Skink Starpriest Oldblood on Carnosaur Stegadon Stegadon 20 Saurus Warriors Engine of the Gods Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek 3 Terrawings What do you think? Any advice to help me with the new battletome?
I'm not convinced Coalesced can't be good. Since Aggradons just got released, nobody has really tried them very seriously yet. As for your lists, here are my thoughts: I think Kroak serves you better than the Starmaster because he has access to all the spells, and Celestial Deliverance is the only good direct damage spell for a Coalesced Slann. But he's more expensive. If you go with the starmaster and make him your general, I recommend the command trait Master of the Material Plane so you can take three spells; probably Empowered Celestite, Itzl's Invigoration and Telepathic Summons. But the command trait Dominating Mind is also very good in your monster-heavy list. The Starmaster's artefact should be Itxi Grubs. The Oldblood on Carnosaur may be the better choice for general, especially if you take Kroak (who can't take command traits or artefacts). For the Oldblood, the command trait Prime Warbeast if you want to make the Carnosaur even more deadly, or Vengeful Defender if you want to give you army more speed. For the Artefact, Blade of Realities to make the Carnosaur even stronger, or Sotek's Gaze to win more objective points. I really like the Troglodon in a Thunder Lizard list, and I think he's getting overlooked a lot in Coalesced. His 9 inch (sometimes 12 inch) aura of -1 to hit is great to have in the middle of your units, such as the Saurus Warriors, to help them last longer, and his warscroll spell can mess up an opponent's charge to help your Stegadons get their charge abilities off. If you bring Kroak, the Oracle is your best conduit for Celestial Deliverance. Consider upgrading your Starpriest to a Starseer. Serpent's staff doesn't synergize well with the units you're bringing (it does okay with the Saurus Warriors, especially the reinforced unit, but that's it. Contrary to some advice I keep seeing, it really doesn't do much for the Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek), and his warscroll spell can be redundant with the Troglodon's stench (both give -1 to hit). I think the extra spell, the one-time ward bonus and the ability to remove ward from enemies may serve you better. For your skink spells, Heavenly Frenzy is a must, and Light of Chotec is pretty good when you have a lot of heroes and monsters. Tide of Serpents is a good option too. Stegadons are good, but they're probably overpriced right now. Still, they are battleline in Thunder Lizard and you can bring a lot of them. The Engine of the Gods isn't what it used to be, but it's not completely useless. It can usually heal itself and all friendly units that are very close to it with Healing Light with no risk, and it's still a Stegadon and can fight. If you bring it, I would keep it close to the Slann or other monsters and use it as a healer. If you don't need to heal with it one turn, you can store up cosmic energy and use Bolts of Azure Energy, which is a much better version of Stellar Tempest, but if you fail the "cast" roll, you take 1 mortal wound. I wouldn't bother to use it to save up for the other Cosmic Engine powers; stick with only the first two. Also remember that it's a totem, so can issue commands from 18". Bastiladons are good. The Ark of Sotek version is very cheap, and probably too good for its cost. The Solar Engine version isn't as good as it once was, but is better at cracking armored targets, and is still our army's best long-range shooting attack, though it may be a bit overpriced right now. I suspect the Bastiladon point costs will come back together somewhere in the middle. The Saurus Warriors are a good addition, even in Thunder Lizards. They are tough and make good anvils. Their bite is good in Coalesced and great near the Realmshaper Engine (which also boosts your monsters). If you do two units of 10, use clubs. If you put the unit of 20 in a Galatian Veterans battalion, use clubs. Otherwise, a unit of 20 may be better with spears. You have several good potential combos with these guys: If you bring the Starpriest, they are your best target for Serpents Staff. This is the only target in this army for the Slann spell Telepathic Summons. These guys are your best target for the Slann spell Empowered Celestite, though your Carnosaur can be targeted by that spell as well. Heavenly Frenzy is a great spell to use on Saurus Warriors, because they will be able to run and charge, and their musician gives them +1 to run and +1 to charge, so they will get an extra 3 to 8 inches of movement from the spell. Putting your Troglodon in the midst of these guys and sitting on an objective means they are -1 to hit and +1 to save and take -1 damage. Plus, the Slann can cast through the Troglodon from anywhere, making it easy to give the Warriors empowered Celestite for an additional rend. I would consider these additional units, but of course, you'll have to get the points for them. If you go with more magic, especially if you bring Kroak, consider an Astrolith Bearer. The +1 to cast and +6" spell range are great, and Kroak still has Celestial Deliverence to deal MWs through himself or your skink wizards. I would even consider trading the Starpriest or Starseer for the Astrolith Bearer if you bring Kroak. And don't forget the 6+ ward he gives to further protect the Slann or buff the Saurus Warrirors even more. If you do bring a Slann, a unit of Saurus Guard can help keep him alive and are a decent units. Consider the Hunters of Huanchi with Starstone Bolas. These are a cheap screen, but can also "teleport" to grab a corner objective to earn you points. I would take these over the Terrawings if you can afford it.