before I used shield and sword but with the predatory fighters rule gone is using spears the way to go? just wondering if I should be popping off and re gluing limbs?
Depends on what you want. a 3+ AS and cheap(ish) or 25 attacks (6x3 w/command) and the ol' tried and some-what-true 4+ AS. Personally I'd go for the spears since against basic troops, you're only going to lose one or two saurus if your unlucky leaving you with still 21-23 attacks back. And even if they kill more you will still have well over 10 attacks.
i personally have 2 20strong blocks 1 being hand weapon shield, 1 being spears the 3+ save saurus are useful for dealing with heavy troops were spears are brillaint for protecting flanks as nothing wants to charge a mass of st4 spears
In an all round army, for only a point a model, take the spears! Remember, when you reach combat, you have the choice of what weapon to use. If you are facing something that has a high strength or will cut through you easily, go for hand weapons for the save. If you are facing something that will die a bit easier, go for spears, double your attacks and utcher them! I definitely think spears are the superior option though, a 4+ save is still pretty good and the amount of attacks you can dish out (at an impressive for core strength 4) is insane.
this may just me being a idiot as i havent played in a year. but i doesnt the second rank only attack when you get charged not when charging, meaning spears are only good when being charged and the 2nd round of combat, and in a game were its rare for units not to break after the first round of combat sureley equiping all your saurus units with them isnt a good idea, you could get a extra unit of skinks in for the price of equiping 40 saurus with spears
you don't run 40 man groups of saurus, the magic number is 25. at least for me. well I found spears VERY useful when I tested my new shiny book. (which I've had from release day without testing it ) Sure the few combats in a 4 round battle they managed to get was against two horrors and 2 bloodcrushers, but they did pack a punch!
Actually, Saurus tend to last for quite a few rounds of combat if they are losing, and many of the armies in this game just don't break, undead, demons. The Saurus leadership is high enough that with a Toad around they are a great tarpit, and can receive cavalry charges fairly well. Plus, if you for some reason DO get the charge, and expect the enemy to break, just don't use the spears. If you have more then one weapon you can choose what to use.
I wish I had both of my squads with spears on Tues night, I took a charge from a black orc squad and every turn they were consistantly killing 4-5 of my guys before I could hit them.
Remember that saurus 6+ scaly skin is now 5+, and they are a little cheaper than before (massively cheaper with spears!) so you can take spears and they will last as along as they did before with the same cost with fewer attacks. Only if you REALLY want to make a tarpit-unit: handweapon + shield is the way to go. In my opinion 2x attacks is better than +1 armour save, but as always, it depends what you are using the unit for.