Discussion The Way GW Prioritized Lizardmen Lore is Backwards...

The Way GW Prioritized Lizardmen Lore is Backwards...

So we all know what Lustria is: inhospitable, crawling with men-eating bugs and plants, and dominated by titanic dinosauroids, and most important of all, home to the enigmatic Lizardmen.
Due to Lustria's status, it's far removed from the Old World, which was the focal point of the conflicts. Chaos Invasions always end up coming from the northern Chaos Wastes and southwards into the Empire. The Dwarfs are clustered along the Worlds Edge Mountains, which sat between the Old World and the eastern plains. And the Tomb Kings have conflicts with the Greenskins in the Darklands, occasionally expeditions north to Bretonnia and beyond for human slaves, etc.
In essence, a part from the Lizardmen and the Dark Elves, all the main factions in the WHFB were situated reasonably close to one another (even the Chaos Dwarfs and Ogres can be made to attack any factions on the big continent). The Druchii, having the convience of having a large corsair raiding force, are allowed cameos in the Old World as seem with not just the High Elves' timeline, but also Empire, Bretonnia & Wood Elves.
In contrast, the Lizardmen are given the position of the reclusive genius, far isolated from the rest of the world and insulated from the other armies, its army book timeline is almost limited to conflicts with either Daemons, Skavens, the Dark Elves, and very rarely Old Worlders due to the presence of several colonies (Skeggi, Port Reaver etc.).
The Lustria/Conquest of the Old World supplements tried to give cause to make the Lizardmen more engaging, it was nevertheless a limited prospect, seeming how the main setting was back in the late 800s after Loriksson's voyage. Another solution was given in the Dark Shadows campaign and Storm of Magic supplement, whereby the Slanns can utilize ancient portals scattered across the world or other Old One tech to teleport armies at specific times -- but by its nature it must be "rare" and not even the writers use it foten. There is simply not a consistent thread in the WHFB lore that directly connects the Old World to the Lizardmen

Or is there? You see, the Southlands is a far more reasonable focal point for the Lizardmen in WHFB, in my opinion -- it is connected by land, the Chaos Dwarfs and High Elves (one of its outposts) both situated close to it, the Empire can reach it via see and so can Bretonninas, not to mention the Tomb Kings. Even the Dwarfs have a "lost hold" in the Southlands (Karak Zorn).

Had the narrative focus on the southland Zlatlan Lizardmen and its possible ambition to the Dragon Isles, the writers could have created much more interesting and interconnected stories there, and the Lustrian Lizardmen back stories can be shrouded in a slightly more mythical veil.

 

I think I see what you are saying- the Lustrian continent is too cut-off from the rest of the world to make regular border conficts with other WHF races more common.

The draw of gold, magic and other treasures surely attracts enough attention from the rest of the world to send out expeditions. I suppose they are a bit cut off from sending their own armies into the heart to Bretonia or the Empire, but there are issues with other factions directly attacking eachother due to having to cross significant things like mountain ranges or other factions entirely.

I guess the AoS lore helps by making them live in space and able to teleport wherever they want.

There was the Albion campeign that brought everyone together in one spot. Also there are vampires and undead on the edge of lustria too, and the High Elves are not too far away. At one point in the timeline there was a magical bridge between Lustria and the High Elves.

At the end of the day though. I don't think lore really stops people from pitting whatever army they want agaist eachother.