Visually, is there any difference between a Stegadon and an ancient stegadon? (im new and would love some clarity from the pro's!)
Well, an ancient obviously has giant blowpipes on the back while a normal steg has the giant bow. Other than that, no. There are two head options in the kit, as well as two neck crests and two sets of horns, so you can make one look different to the other but neither are a 'right' way to make one option or the other.
ah cool, i just wasnt sure if an ancient steg would have thicker scales or some way of differenciating from the dino model. Maybe ill give my ancient one different warpaint than the normal ones Thanks for the help , thinking of making a steg heavy army to mirror my monsterous creature nid army. Are they worth the points if used in mass?
They technically are the same model. From the rulebook: So no different model, but you are very welcome to add some flare to your Ancient. The Ancients also have +1 Strength and -1 Initiative -1 Attack. This implies to me that they get stronger and a little slower with age. Personally, I'd think about adding some bronze plates, glyphs, etc. and maybe adding some bronze charms to their horns or even cutting the tip off of a few spikes to give them a more battle worn look. I think someone did a slight conversion here where they added bronzed plating to their horns along with some charms and chains. Looked pretty interesting and would fit the Ancient really well. Just some ideas! Let us know if you do anything special with your Ancient, and definitely post pics!
Yeah they are. In fact they are seen as overpowered if you take too many of them, so you might cop a bit of flack from your opponent. Generally 2-3 terror causing monsters is about as many as you should have in a 'balanced' list, the idea of 6-7 stegs in one list is pretty cool and would look great on the battlefield but it would be very one-dimensional. Most armies will have a way to deal with stegadons (excepting maybe elves unless they take a dragon, very little high strength stuff there) but that is one stegadon over the course a of battle. Then there will be other armies with multiple warmachines like cannons and they will chew you up with ease.
okay, well maybe ill field a mix, 1 'ancient' converted to hell stegadon as my center peice, with a 2nd and 3rd basic steg on either flank. I think i want a slann with some hella tough temple guard in there too, they're nice lookin models. I'm not a fan of flying units though, mainly due to the crappy bases, what do you think about an army with 3 stegs and the rest made up of lots of varied infantry? will that work, or would not having cavalry and flying units hurt me.
First off bear in mind that in fantasy you need a minimum number of core units (3 units in a 2000-2250 pt battle). As regards to you not taking flyers, I definitely do not agree. With a steg army, your main pain in the backside will be warmachines. A couple of terradon units will take them out with ease in turn 2 or 3 so like this you maintain the efficacy of your stegs for longer. Also, flyers can be used to slow your opponents down (you negate marches if within 8") and therefore you can position yourself better for those all important charges. A steg army is nice to play with but very tricky. I would personally not take saurus units since they are slow and your main aim is to get in combat as soon as possible. As core units, I would opt for 3 small skirmishing units (fast and manouverable) and then I would ensure an adequate number of terradons (2 units of 4 or 5 should be ok). The rest of the points will be on the stegs which, on the top of my head, would give you approximately 4 stegs in cluding one with the EotG, or if you can spare the points go for 2. I have tried one game with this type of army and I did win, though it definitely was not easy and for use in a tournament it could be difficult to play with.
Okay, so i need terradons... ill just have to get creative with the bases then. Is "Tiktaq'to, Master of Skies" worth getting?, maybe "Kroq-Gar on Carnosaur" Am i right in thinking the 'standard' or average game point size is 2000?
Personally, I never base my armies on named characters since in local tournaments they are more often than not prohibited. However, to answer your question, the first thing you need to connsider when taking characters is their role in your battle plan. Tiktaq'to confers the benefit of entering play from a table edge on the roll of a die from the second turn. This random element is something that you definitely do not need in the steg army you are planning on using. You would be risking having the terradons enter play at a late stage, as well as not being able to charge on the turn they enter play. Best case scenario you would charge on turn 3, where in normal conditions you could deliver a charge in turn 2. As regards Kroq-Gar, again it depends on how you are going to play the game. As a model, you can always use it as an oldblood on carnosaur, which is a very valid choice especially when you consider that a carnosaur is no longer a large target. In a steg army, it could be used to good effect since it is fast and delivers a punch in combat. You would probably have to lose a steg in order to use the guy. As to whether you should use kroq-gar or an oldblood it all boils down to whethe you believe that you can make maximum use from the benefits that kroq-gar gives you. An oldblood can be tailored to your preference, but kroq-gar must be used as is. Finally, the standard game is usually 2000 pts, though it is becoming increasingly more common to play games at 2250.
Kroq-Gar is pretty useful, only problem is, he is over 600 points, in a 2000 list, that's too much, sure, he allows you to use 1 unit of Saurus cavalry as Core, but still, he's so expensive. Im definatly getting him (and later, the master of 4 year olds bord games (hehe... get it Tiktaq'to tic tac to????sorry about the pun, but its a stupid name.) to escort my terradons, and then another skink cheif with the shield thing o make them even more of a pain to hit with shooting.) But Kroq-Gar is powerful definatly, woth his points? Arguable in a small game, definatly in a big one. I also want to use him because os his fluff (Lizardmen are a dwindling race.... and you don't get more on the brink of extinction them what he went though... besides Oxyotl.) Oh and i think the average game is about 2000-2500 or something. Sorry for going off in a different direction....
yeh, ive just noticed this thread is slowly going off topic lol, errm... STEGS!. Thanks for the tips, ill post pics once i decide what im gonna do.
Aranigej is right. I'm having a problem wrapping my mind around an effective list with so many expensive terror causing monsters. If the enemy has any kind of shooting, you'll get toasted before you can get into combat at full strength. I'm sure you'll do very well against low leadership armies who are prone to fear/terror effects, but most of those armies have at least one tool to use against large terror causing monsters. Don't get me wrong, it will probably be a fun list to try and learn to play, however, you see some crushing defeats that come with that. I'm sure that if you play the right opponents you'll see some stunning victories. Overall, I can't help but think that an army that featured Kroq'Gar and four stegadons is a tad bit cheesy.
Atleast i answered the question about Tiktaq'to.... But yes, as its been said, this army will get beaten (rather easily) vs other chese players... especially one with warmachine spam so you'd want something very nifty to stop shooting....