8th Ed. New to fantasy, makin 2k list

[Texan_tyrant]

Hey all. As the subject says, I'm new to fantasy, and picked lizardmen because dinosaurs. My FLGG is starting to get into it as well, with one guy playing VC and my other likely main opponent playing WoC. That being said, I'm trying to build a decent all-comers list. Here's my current 2k point list. I've played 1 1200-point game vs the VC guy, and learned three things: cold cav are meh at best, I needed more combat troops, oldbloods can be made absolutely vicious in challenges, and salamanders do indeed destroy huge swaths of hordes -if only he wasn't able to rez them almost as quickly

Lords:
Light Slann: Focus of Mystery, Focused Rumination, Becalming Cogitation, BSB, Cupped Hands
Does Slann things; buffs my guys, kills the other guys. Fairly straightforward.

Heroes:
Lvl 2 Skink Priest dispel scroll caddy on EOTG. This may be a small points limit to take this guy at, but the model is just too cool not to take; it's a stargate mounted on a giant dinosaur, ridden by smaller dinosaurs.

Core:
Block of 6x3 Saurus with SH/HW and full command.

Block of 6x3 Saurus with SH/HW and full command. These guys flank the Slann/TG bunker and either keep it from getting flanked or attempt to flank the opponents deathstar.

10 skinks with musician

10 Skinks with musician. These two units can attempt to redirect, act as simple screeners, lead frenzied units by the nose, just screen, or if push comes to shove act as flankers outside the saurus blocks

Special:
16 TG with full command, and sword of the hornet on the champ to help him answer challenges that will surely come the Slann's way.

8 Chameleon Skinks with stalker

Rare:
2 Salamanders, run separately

Basically, Saurus TG Saurus form the core battle line; skinks on either side or just in front, sallies opposite the most pressing target, and the engine starting out behind to provide casting support/ranged defense, then moving to whichever flank needs help most.

Well, my fellow lizard generals, what say you?

 

[Arli]

I would combine the two saurus units into one unit. I would also drop the saurus to 25-30 and raise the TG to 20. 20 TG will get you full protection for the slann. I think I would make the two skink units into skirmishers. This will allow them to march and shoot. If you still want to use them as speed bumps, then take the javelin and shield combo.

I would also try to make the chameleons either 2 units of 5 or 2 units of 7(which would be better).

 

[erians]

it's a stargate mounted on a giant dinosaur, ridden by smaller dinosaurs.

After reading this description I desperately want to include a EoTG in my list, even though its trash.

Cammo champ is a waste, unless you had a few spare points that you literately couldn't spend anywhere else. Magic weapon on TG champ is a complete waste (unless you take shrieking sword to give the unit fear), he is only there to sacrifice himself to challenges, not to win them. No need for level 2 on the skink priest as the Slann should do 99-100% of your casting. Take a Cube of Darkness instead of the scroll or spend those points somewhere else.

I would also just echo what Arli said: combine saurus to a single unit of 30, make skinks into skirmishers with blow pipes, take a few extra bodies in your TG unit. Getting a single 30 unit of Saurus, removing champ, magic weapon and downgrading the priest gives you 156 points to play around with, squeeze out ~10 pts from somewhere and you can up your skinks to skirmishers, add whole new unit of skirmishers and up your TGs to 20.

 

[Texan_tyrant]

Thanks for the input, guys. How closely am I allowed to deploy the Chamo skinks to each other? I guess I'd just sort of assumed for no real reason that if I took multiple units they'd have to be far enough apart to where a single unit of 10 would be much better offensively than two units of 5. Anyway, list changes are below:

Slann is still the same.

Skink Priest dropped lvl 2 and the d-scroll for the Cube.

Saurus consolidated into one unit of 30 (6x5 or 10x3?)

Both Skinks units turned into jav/shield skirmishers

TG upped to 20, champ weapon removed.

Added two chamo skinks then split into the 2 units of 5.

Had 3 points left over, so I gave one of the Salamanders a snack (two over is fine where I play).


So, I understand the trouble the EoTG faces from war machines, but in a field absent those, it should be home free, no? Moreover, I plan to start it out behind my main line, which should make hitting it with cannons difficult at best if I understand how they work correctly.

 

[erians]

So, I understand the trouble the EoTG faces from war machines, but in a field absent those, it should be home free, no? Moreover, I plan to start it out behind my main line, which should make hitting it with cannons difficult at best if I understand how they work correctly.

Still plenty of stuff that will wreck a stegadon. Magic, mass shooting, anything with a great weapon, charging heavy cav etc. Cannons might be the only things that can consistently kill stegadons in a single phase but there are plenty of stuff that can chip away a couple of wounds here and there. This is less of an issue if you take Life though. In close combat the priest is an easy target. He only has 2 T3 wounds so even with a 2+ save he dies easily, and then you can't use your engine any more.

Aside from being fairly fragile due to the skink priests lack of protection its just too expensive for what it does. When the book came out you gain +1 caster level with meant a lvl 2 priest acted as a lvl 3 caster providing both +1 PD and +1 DD, which was awesome, but this is no longer the case as the skink barely gives any boost at all to your magic phase now. Burning Alignment used to be great since magic missles were king in 7th, but this is no longer the case. Configuration was never any good and while the 5++ bubble is pretty neat it's hardly worth the huge cost of the engine.