So i have been trying to write a new army list and the hardest part for me seems to be how to protect my Slann. The ways of protecting a Slann seems to be 1) Higher state of consciousness 2) Bunker in a unit of Skink skirmishers 3) Temple Guard What other options are there?
Those are really the most usual ways of protecting your slann. 1. HSoC + dragonbane gem and maybe a bit more magic resist makes him a really tough nut to crack, as most artillery can't wound him, or grants him a 2+ ward save. Magic is also pretty difficult to kill him with, unless they go for no-save spells, and really, if they 6-dice something to kill your slann, nothing is going to stop them anyway. It also allows for effective tarpitting against some units, particularly with a War Banner, and maybe transcendant healing. 2. Is a more mobile platform, that still grants a lot of protection without being ridiculously expensive if your miscast kills half of the unit. 3. Is a fortress that ensures nothing will get to your slann - auto-look out sir is super effective against artillery and shooting, and they work extremely well as a stubborn, high Ld, high S, great AS block of death. they are a very strong hammer, or if you take something like a life slann, an anvil the enemy will bash it's head against in vain - Potentially 4+ regen save on top of a decent armour save, and T8, they are ridiculously hard to kill, even for stuff like White lions or swordmasters. Tap on a razor banner, and with s5, even chaos warriors will be afraid of them. They make miscasts very painful though, as these guys are very expensive.
Here's two out of the box options. 4) By himself but without Higher State of Consciousness. The Ward Save and wound count aren't bad. Especially if you have Life Magic or High Magic, you can heal up whatever wounds you get fairly easily. For added insurance you can take a Dragonbane Gem. 5) In a building with a large unit of anything. If you don't have a building you can fall back on #4 but I think it would be hard to beat 60 Cohort Skinks in a building (if you don't have a convenient building they can tar pit).