Hi! Long time lurker, first time poster and also new member here Would it be possible to run a vanilla Slann in a 1.2k army, or would it be so expensive that you can't afford proper support for it? I'm relatively new to the "gaming" part of this game, so things like this isn't that obvious to me ^^
I... I'd hate to play against that. I'd talk to my opponent first before pulling such a trick. Level 4s are very powerful casters, and it is, at least in my local area, considered a dick move to bring any lord to a game of 1999 points or less. They are generally far too powerful for that point level, the slann especially. If you do end up doing it, place him outside of a unit, and snipe things with his spells. That ensures miscasts wont burt your very limited roster too much, but still provide a super-cannon in terms of the sheer power he can bring to the table. Death would be able to instantly screw up most characters at this point level, even without standard of discipline, mostly because of doom and darkness, which, due to an FAQ, actually DOES seem to apply (GW clearly doesn't know what "unmodified" means.)
Personally, I would not run a Slann at that point level. It is 1/4 of your points in a single unit. And it is truly a vanilla Slann. No Disciplines, no magic items, and a magnet for any kind of shooting your opponent may bring. If you want magic at that point level, I think that a Level 2 Skink Priest would do a good job and not use up nearly as many points, leaving you free to be more flexible in your choices of other units. You could even get a nice Scar Vet hero as your General to add some punch to your troops, and still end up using fewer points for these two units than on the Slann.
That's what I thought. A Slann is indeed very powerful, but as stated it is 1/4 of the total points in a single model. I really like the Slann model, that's why I ask. But I like the Slann WITH the block of TGs, but there is no room for TGs at that low point games. I will run two skink priests in groups of skink skirmishers instead, and put my points into a scar vet and/or ancient stegadon for a little bit of ambigious power! I can't make up my mind though, piecing together an army that works is more difficult than I ever thought!
I'm a fan of a slann at 1.2k points. Nude slanns are viable at every point level, with 5 wounds and a 4+ ward save the 100ish extra points you pay for him (compared to other level 4's) is worth it imo. And the fact that he is LD 9 makes him a very powerful general in your force. Fielding him in a unit of skink skirmishers seems the best option imo.
Its perfectly viable to run a naked slann at 1.2k, they are decent out of the box because of the shield of the old ones. Definitely needs to have a list tailored around it though and certainly needs some cannon snipe protection otherwise it'll be game over when he takes a cannonball to the face. I also don't think it's that unfair to do either, it is a lot of points and the winds of magic (which is essentially all the slann will be doing) can be really fickle, so may limit the usage of a quarter of your list.
Doesn't seem terribly unfair to me.. You'll only have 600 points left to spend freely, after all. A level 2 skink priest (or Tetto) would do well to free up a lot of room, however. With only 900 points to do the heavy lifting, I'd build a list around Life or Death... that's just me though.