I'm new to the Lizardmen (currently playing Tau - 40k and ex-High Elf player) and I've been reading through the new book. I can't decide whether I want to take a Slann Mage-Priest or go with an Oldblood. If I go the Oldblood I was thinking of taking a couple of Skink Priests so I have some small form of magic. What do you think? All comments and critisisms welcome!
its like apple and oranges can't compare the two... depends on play style and how you feel... if you like a combat leader and go head long into combat eating everything or if you like heavy magic and blow up your enemy as you eventually make it into combat or you can attempt to make a balanced list of combat and magic lizardmen just has sooo much versatility that it can suit any mood
Thanks didleoman. I'm looking to have large blocks of Saurus stampede over the battlefield while Stegadons support them with ranged fire. I was thinking of taking the Skink Priests to bulk up with defensive magic...
As Didleo stated if depends on your play style. Slann are a little more Tauesque in the fact that they have devestating ranged potential but not much up close. But thats what temple guard and Chakax are for I prefer an Oldblood but like you stated i always take 2 lvl1 priests. One with 2 dispel scrolls and one with the Cube of Darkness. Keep those saurus units screened and hit hard. They should stand up to all except for any crazy tooled up chaos warriors and demon bloodletters.
When you make a character, you need to think about what it can bring to the battlefield that other units can't. Is it really worth having a fighting character in a really hard unit that would probably win most combats without him? Maybe not. Is it worth taking a weak Slann if you have no other magic users? Probably not. Is it worth taking a Slann if you have a priest or two to support him? Hell yes. Is it worth taking a BSB if you provides strong combat res, or an extra charge distance, to a unit that you want to see combat ASAP? Probably. Think About how the character will work with the army, and what role you want them to play. It really is a matter of playing style. If you take a Slann, you are pretty much commiting yourself to taking a magic heavy army since he is a great magic user and horrible in combat. If you want a magic army then go for it. Skinks on their own aren't really great magic users since they only have 1 lore to choose from, but they are a decent price and taking one or two as scroll cadies is worth it if oyu want a combat army. If you take an Old Blood on a Carnosaur then he is providing a single monster killing machine that very little can match. Depends on how you want your army to look. Also consider the possibility of not taking a lord. They are generally very expensive and take a big chunk out of your points, makybe you could just have a Scar vet as the general supporting the unit and a couple of scroll cadies then focus on units. I know my High Elf armies NEVER included a lord choice, but that was mostly because Princes are aweful for their cost, I am going to find it quite a thrill having a crazy combat character on carnosaur in my lists.
Thanks Strewart. I'll definately keep that in mind. I'm currently looking at the combos I can bring up to suit my play style. Thanks everyone so far for your comments!
i've tried an oldblood on a carnosaur running the flanks with two stegdons. worked pretty well, especially with the old blood to help with the odd panic test to the stegadons from magic.
Panic Test? But Stegadon's are Immune to Psychology, there shouldn't be anything in there about causing any kind of Psych test to Steggies.
hmm, while I thought on it, i remembered my WE book, but i "sadly" only was stupidity no matter what arrow of skaven/undead doom. sorry to disturb.
I typically ran about the cheapest slann I could in the old rules, and just cast 5 first level pew spells with plus to cast, it was surprisingly hard to dispel them all so it was about as strong on firepower as two blocks of crossbowmen. The main reason I personally take the slann nearly every time is twofold... the scar vet can take most lords, and because the slann is pretty much the best general ever. The temple guard being stubborn and ITPsych re-rolling on three dice is plain stupid. It's practically worse then flagelants. The statistical chance of failing on LD 9 is significantly lower then 8, and the boost from 7 to 10 is even better... Whenever a group of skinks rallies or doesn't flee because of the Slann some of my opponents have begun going "wom wom wom wom...all glory to the hypno toad" Having a bsb without losing all your magic items and being stuck with just a hand weapon is amazing... I hate having a saurus bsb because then he becomes worse in combat. The other thing is, the toad is a near irresistible magnet for the worse crap my enemy has. I can't explain it, but for some reason just seeing the toad march up the center of the field just infuriates nearly every opponent I have to throw their absolutely most horrifying unit at it, blood knights, chaos knights, a bloodthirster, the common concensus is that toad must die. On a similar note, in a 3000 points game I made the mistake of taking two slann in the same TG unit, and will not likely repeat that mistake, for your second lord, take the carnosaur, or take an ungodly tanky Old blood, just from a metagame perspective few people have enough models to play horde tactics in 3000+ and so tend to fill the points by point sinking into some hero, don't know how many times I've heard, hey, gotta fill points, mind if I borrow that dragon and play it as a.... "insert stupidly powerful lord". Me: "err... sure". On a personal note, most lords are terribly overpriced and won't return their points. The oldblood is especially un needed since the scar vet already has max powa. If you really feel cheap, take a slann bsb with the diadem of power, the battle standard,and the Becalming cogitation. 350 points of great leader that can cast one or two critical spells, and will still hose most crazy magic lists just by becalming their lord.
I think my favorite thing about the new list is the balance it provides. I think a Slaan is a great investment, even if you aren't going supremely magic heavy. 2 lvl 1 skinks w/ items aren't exactly cheap and don't provide the magic protection a slaan can and have practically no casting power. However if you take the Slaan you get a BSB, a caster that is much harder to kill, and can be tailored each game to the opponent you are fighting by taking different lores. Of course, the carnosaur looks like a lot of fun, but that's about the only reason I see running an oldblood. I think this all depends on how your group plays as well. I just find it more fun to play somewhat balanced armies.
Ok. With everyone's great advice this is what I'm thinking of doing (Please note that the army list is going to end up being a 2250 points Tourney worthy army): Lord Slann Mage Priest: BSB , Totem of Prophecy , Plaque of Tepok , The Focused Rumination. Total points: 365 I figure with this I get 5 out of 6 spells from the lore I chose, I cause Fear, which may help when joined with a unit of Temple Guard (correct me if I'm wrong), and I get a free power dice every time I cast a spell. Heroes Saurus Scar-Vetran: Light armour , Shield , Scimitar of Sun Resplendent Total points: 143 Skink Priest: 2x Dispell Scrolls Total points: 115 Total for all Lords and Heroes: 623 points Is that too much for a 2250 point game?
Its definetly not TO much, but it realy depends on what army you plan to field and how you will play it.. I've spent something like 850 pts on characters in a sucess full 2000 pts army in 6th edit...
I heavily vote AGAINST the Totem of Prophecy. Temple Guard are already immune to Psych with the Slann anyway, so I wouldn't worry about making them Fear-causing. I'd give him the War Banner for that extra +1 combat Rez, or maybe the Banner that makes you harder to shoot.
found out that if you have a magic standard bearer in your TG/slann unit, you could have both, hence giving you 3 combat rez, and re-roll failed break tests.