Hello Lustria! I am a new Lizardmen player (and new to WHFB in general) who is looking for a bit of direction as to how I should plan/expand my army. My local meta is much more 40k oriented, so that's where most of my time goes, but I wanted to broaden my horizons, and I've always loved the look of the Lizardmen army. I currently own (but nothing built yet) the Codex, a Battalion, a skink priest, an saurus oldblood, and a Gor-Rok I picked up off ebay (though I'm fairly sure he's a knock-off/recast, as it's definitely in a harder resin than finecast). In addition to general tips as to what I should get to expand, I'm also looking at getting some movement trays, and trying to decide what sizes/how many I should get to start with (would rather go on and get most of what I'll need now, for combined shipping, rather than getting a few here and there as time goes on). From the bit of perusing I've done, it sounds like Lizardmen players like running 6 models wide? I'm not in a hurry to expand (as I think I've likely got enough that I could run some small games to get a better grasp of the rules with what I have) with the new Tyranid codex/models on the horizon, but I want to plan this army a bit better than I did up front with my Tau and Tyranids. Thanks in advance and looking forward to advice.
Hey there. Something I really like, even though they are canon magnets, are stegadons. Grab at least one as even if all it does is eat canon shots, it is something that is eating canon shots (normally plural). Skinks on birds are great. I'm torn between terradon and ripperdactyle though. The slann are wonderful lord choices. I guess really the key thing is to pick something in your army you like, and build around that. For example, I love the Saurus warrior. So I have tons of them and some Temple Guard; and am getting an Old Blood on Carnosaur.
The battalion kit is awesome - getting another wouldn't hurt. You'd have most of the saurus you'll ever need, and 2 skink sirmishers units. 30 saurus and 2x10 skirmishers is what i'd call "core" for any starting lizzie army, and it is a very common sight in lists.
Re: dons and dactyls I have heard it said that terradons are a better jack-of-all-trades unit, flying around getting shit done in mid air. Ripperdactyls are more of a dedicated combat unit. It depends on what you're looking for, I guess. In my mind, dons are a better choice for a player with a smaller collection because they can do a wider variety of things. Dactyls are better as an addition to an established collection - it's not that they're bad or anything, but when it comes to dedicated combat units, we aren't exactly hurting.
Very true also twenty Temple guard are decent can opening troops. And bits from the TG can be combined with Cold one cavalry to make serviceable scar-vets on cold ones. I think Stegadons are the bees knees. But honestly anything can work in a Relaxed setting. The Troglodon will take some work but it can.
Am I right in thinking Hand Weapon/Shield is the way to go in smaller games (when you can't get a ward save from some other unit like the Engine of the old ones?) and spears for when you can get the ward save from something else? Or is one option always hands down better (from a math hammer perspective) than the other?
...or 3, or 8. At the moment it is reasonable to read the rules as letting all the salamanders shoot simultaneously. What this means is that you basically place all your templates down, add up the total number of models hit and then roll to wound. With 4 or more you could wipe out a horde in 1 go.
No bigger difference. Spears when you want to kill it. Swords when you want to contain it. the more strength, the better swords become, the less strength the better spears become. With an engine of the gods at your side - spears > swords - but that is THE option if you really need that ward save (it isn't a bad save) and want spears. On the other hand EotG is expensive, moreso than an ancient, and an ancient can also serve you well.