Really great stuff, folks, thanks! Lots to respond to. Let's see, in no particular order, and with a minimum of quoting, here are some thoughts----
My opinion on the Slann does indeed differ from that of many other people, and my expectations are perhaps greater than they should be given how magic works in Warhammer. Maybe there is something uniting those two in my brain. Yes, I do expect that when I invest points in
any element of my army, it should perform well and within a certain range of randomness.
** Point of order here worth establishing - When I talk about expectations and the like, I am assuming games played in normal Warhammer, by the rules, against opponents of equal skill, and so on. **
The entire idea of a points system is to allow you to play a game where the two sides are well-matched and the skills of the generals plus a dash of the whims of fate will govern the outcome. It's not all points, of course, since we do have limits even within the points on things like percentages, duplicates, and so on. It all comes together, with points at the core, to create a game where I can spend 300 points pretty much anywhere within my list, legally, and know that it's worth 300 points I would have spent elsewhere within my list (book), legally.
If that's not what it means, then there really is no need for points and balance is not a goal at all.
So, with that said, yes, I expect my 300-500 point investment in a spellcaster (or a cadre of spell casters) to give me the tools for success that any other 300-500 point investment within my book would have. Note that I am not saying that I get the
same stuff, or that it will work the
same way, just that it will give me equal
value.
A slann does not give me equal value to the same points in Priests or in Cowboys, and GIGANTIC part of the reason why is the flawed, stupid, ridiculous nature of the magic system in Warhammer. I've touched on that before so I won't make this post into an in-depth analysis of the magic system, but I clearly do have issues with the system, and that puts a Slann on the back foot to begin with, in my eyes.
He is not a Ancient Stegadon that provides non-dispellable ward saves to nearby models, can hold up blocks of troops in combat, does ok damage in that combat, and so on in addition to having some magic capability. He is a spellcaster, and that's it, with the lone exception of his boosted Ld. He can also become the BSB, but that costs more and gives him the liabilities of all BSBs, namely that he dies when he breaks. He is there to cast spells as his first, second, and third jobs. That is his purpose. That's the reason why you buy him, and nothing else.
I think some people remember how good he
used to be. How he could use Cupped Hands and other tricks to avoid the randomness and perils of the magic system. In this version, he cannot do that but people still see him in the old light. His translation into 8th has done him in as a high point value wizard, in my opinion. This is why I prefer the little guys. They still take the risk he takes with not nearly as much lost when they die.
EDIT1: More stuff-
The disconnect between my view and that of others is well illustrated in this quote:
hdctambien said:
without a Slann you have to pay a Slanns amount of points for enough magic-power to participate competitively in the magic phase.
=> That'a a reasonable point if your goal is to participate competitively in the magic phase. That's not, however, my goal. I accepted long ago that the magic phase is not one in which one competes. It's a phase in which one closes one's eyes and prays for divine provenance to see one through. It's a random crap shoot, from generating the tools of the phase (the spells themselves) all the way up to how it's the one part of the game where your opponent can so actively prevent your investment from working. (As I often say, "Where is my Dispel Cannon Shot Scroll or my Dispel Successful Charge Roll Scroll?") I believe that trying to participate in the magic phase competitively is not really possible, at least not in the same way as it is for all other phases. Too much randomness, too many variables, too much 'stuff' going on to actually make a plan. I choose to avoid making that phase part of my overall plan at all. It's more of a nice little perk when something magical happens in my favor.
So, when I see a Slann+stuff vs. a few monsters+priests, I am not seeing a comparison. They are not in the army for the same reasons. The Slann is there to attempt the impossible - to take control of an uncontrollable storm of chaos. It's pissing into the wind and hoping to come out dry and odor free. The monsters are there to dabble and catch a ride on the winds of chance when possible and, mainly, to fight a few battles and hold up enemy movement/lines and the priests are a throw away cost - sort of like buying a lottery ticket. Actually, that just came to me and is a great way to say what I mean.
I play the lottery, but have zero expectations that I will win it. It's a simpler equation, with a lower number of factors, but it's still wild chance, just like spell casting. That said, if I don't have a priest with Wildform, I cannot possibly cast the spell. Just like how I have to buy a ticket for the lottery to have even that one in a billion chance to win it. I don't plan to win the lottery. My purchases and investments are not based around winning it. If it happens, great. If not, no big deal. Just like priests. I assume I will not get a single spell off with them, and I build my plan based on that (the complete lack of help from magic). If they get a Wildform off here and there, yay!
Getting a slann and tooling him up is the equivalent of spending $50 on lottery tickets instead of $2. Do your odds get better? Yeah, in a statistically insignificant way, they do. It's just not enough against the reality of the lottery odds or the magic phase variables.
EDIT2: Even more-
Ok, like I implied, this is sort of going to be random thoughts, not a perfectly structures argument for my opinion, so here are some more things.
- It was mentioned that my personality may be a factor in my evaluation of the Slann. Yep. I am highly risk averse in life and gaming (though after a few beers I will often declare the Fu^& It Phase and charge like crazy
). I double up on things I don't need two of. I use more dice than I should for fear of Not Enough Power. I always take Khatep instead of a normal Liche for TK because of his staff. I don't like Tetto because his re-rolls of 1's mean a greater chance for miscasts. I don't declare charges unless I am almost certain to make them. I don't cheat on my wife because she might find out and kill me (besides the fact that I love her and cheating is dumb). Risk sucks. The magic phase is all about risk. Man, even my Skaven don't have stuff like the Abomination because of its random charge distance. Bad Risk, bad.
- If you take a Slann it means you are deciding that magic is a very real part of your plan. You are banking on getting lucky. I don't believe in luck. I can't understand how some people are willing to say "I could invest in things I know work a certain way, but instead I will put a pile of points into Hope." Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment. Screw hope.
- If you take that Slann and invest all sort of points into trying to make him more stable, you open yourself up to even more wild swings of fortune. You have to give up so much to make an inherently chaotic force only marginally less so. It's madness.
- Why do I take the Bastilladon and Ancient Stegadon? Well, they do tend to present my enemy with choices he or she would rather not confront. Do they shoot the highly-armored Bastilladon with a cannon, knowing that small arms fire is less likely to do it in, or do they send that shot at the Trog or Carnosaur? If the Ancient Stegadon gets too close, is it worth taking his impact hits and then fighting a stubborn beast for a few rounds? These models make the for uncomfortable even before we get to spells. Then we get to spells. The laser is a good early use of power dice. The Engine is a good mid-game use. The priests are good late. By taking those monsters and a priest or two, I exert pressure throughout the game using models that are not vital and who, should they die, do not cripple my overall plan.
- The plan. I gotta say it again, as was pointed out by others - it's one thing when a cannon misfires in turn 1 or your Trog misses in turn 2. No other war machines or monsters are prevented from shooting or doing other stuff. When your Slann miscasts, it can easily mean that each and every point you have spent on your magic phase is completely wasted. The interconnection of spell casters is dumb on a massive level.
- I read a phrase (below this post) that really stuck with me: "direct payoff."
Yeah, wow, that made me stop and think a bit.
More than anything else, I hate how the investment in points in magic is far less likely to have a "direct payoff" than the points spent anywhere else in the game. I don't just mean blowing stuff up, though that's nice too. I mean the process: Spend points->place models->use models intelligently->achieve desired result with great regularity.
I can't stand it when, for example, you play the game well, out think your opponent, out maneuver him, get a good combat going, and he rolls insane courage. W....T.....F!??!?!?! I hate random charge distances where you only fail the game-winning charge on snake eyes and get...snake eyes. I hate it when a good plan is effed up by a craptastic die roll.
The thing is, these events are rare and they also only have one or two ways to go bad. More often than not, by far, you plan, invest, move, and get a direct payoff.
With magic, you don't. You cannot say "I spent 500 points on magic, I played well, and in most cases, it paid off." All you can say is "Whoo hooo! It worked that time!" You can also spend 100 points on an Empire wizard, get Dwellers as his spell, toss 6 dice, and wipe out half your opponent's army. There is no correlation between what you spend and the pay off. Like the lottery example, you can spend a little more and bump up your odds imperceptibly higher, or you could spend $1 and win $1,000,000. There is a disconnect between effort (and planning, and experience, and knowledge, and...) and result in the magic phase. There is no "direct payoff" for what you do.
So, um, yeah. Does that help? Any other questions?
it seems like you are doing things different than I do, and I suspect that is where we find the cause of preference. 
