8th Ed. Which units to avoid taking / Is the battalion worth it?

[Kinslayer]

I'm about to start collecting warhammer again after a nearly 3 year break. With 8th edition now upon us I have some catching up to do, but before I can start all that I need to decide which army to play. Over the course of a decade I played as several different armies and I could never really pick one out to be my favourite, but I definately favoured dark elves, chaos and lizardmen the most. With chaos now split up and Slaanesh nerfed on the warriors front I have lost interest in it, and despite moderating over at the druchii website I don't think I will play as them either. Lizardmen really appeal to me now that they have some better miniatures.

My question to you guys is, which ones are worth buying? For example, Razordon are a cool model but are £15 a piece and I've skim read a few threads on here and they seem to be a bit naff in game? Likewise Salamanders seem good but I'm not overly fond of the miniature. If any older models are likely to be remade in the nearish future, even if it's just a resin recast, I will avoid them for the time being. I don't want to buy a metal Slann only to have a resin Slaan come out a few months later. For that reason I think I will start with a Carnosaur lord, and Chakax (probably my favourite miniature) as an unmounted oldblood / perhaps BSB.

I really like the temple guard, and the saurus and skinks are a given, so the battalion seems like a good dfeal (you pay for those units and get some saurus cavalry thrown in for a few quid extra rather than full box set price). But then I don't really like the cold ones, and with druchii having newer looking cold ones is it likely the cold one models will be upgraded in the near future? I'm unsure because the naggarothi and lustrian cold ones never looked exactly the same anyway. But further to that, I have read a few posts that say cold one cavalry are also a bit naff in the game. Are they still a playable unit or am I better off not buying any of them.

The skink priest with the helmet on pointing his weapon is an old favourite of mine too. But is there any use for skink chiefs in game, or do they tend to get overlooked in favour of saurus heroes and skink priests?

Thanks,
Kinslayer.

 

[MasterSlann]

i think the battalion box is definitely a great buy with the increase in temple guard and cold one prices, its just a nice deal all around. I still run cold ones but only as flanking units, they just can't ram into the front of units anymore and expect to win. plus if you don't want the cavalry then just sell it on ebay or something. Salamanders are amazing and definitely worth it but again its made of metal and will be made into finecast im sure in the next wave of minis. So in short the battalion box is a great buy and a great start but id stay away from metals for now.

 

[Kinslayer]

i think the battalion box is definitely a great buy with the increase in temple guard and cold one prices, its just a nice deal all around. I still run cold ones but only as flanking units, they just can't ram into the front of units anymore and expect to win. plus if you don't want the cavalry then just sell it on ebay or something. Salamanders are amazing and definitely worth it but again its made of metal and will be made into finecast im sure in the next wave of minis. So in short the battalion box is a great buy and a great start but id stay away from metals for now.

Would tournaments have any issues with me using Razordon models to represent Salamanders? (I will wait for the resin casts either way, and may just use Salamanders after all, but I really want to include the Razordon models). I think for now then, I should grab a battalion to get started, bulk out the temple guard unit and get some extra skinks, throw in a stegadon perhaps, shy away from the metals. I will draft up a few lists anyway based around those models. Are there any units in gameplay I should really avoid, it will only be friendly at first but I will hit the tournament scene one day...

I do have a Ceratophrys frog I could substitute in as a Slann (if I can get it to sit still)

 

[strewart]

Keep an eye on the boards, I am currently in the process of converting razordons to salamanders and will post pics sometime soonish. I agree, razordon models look cool, sallies look terrible, in game terms it is the complete opposite.

Cold ones are not really worth it, only some people find a use for them. They are really too slow to be all that dangerous, both in movements and initiative when they reach combat. Still, I think if you buy the batallion it works out that they are pretty much free, everything else in the box is good so they are useful for spare parts and such.

Really there are only a couple of units in the army that are not very good. Swarms are rubbish, cold ones not great, razordons rubbish (compared to salamanders), everything else you should find a use for if you want to.

I have heard that the Slann is coming in resin soon. Doubt the sallies/razors will be soon though. Be careful with resin, remember it costs more than metal and at the moment it is very prone to miscasts and bubbles. GW will happily swap bad stuff, but its a pain to keep going back. However, if you could get a good cast, I'd probably prefer resin because it would be easier to assemble.

 

[cammy]

i prefere the older salamanders anyway with the ridges

 

[n810]

That's funny, for me the Cold one Cav is consistently one of my best units.

 

[strewart]

WILL EVERYBODY PLEASE STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT THE WAY THE DAMN COLD ONES LOOK! T-REXS ARE COOLER THAN RAPTORS!

But unfortunately, cows with scales are not as cool as.... Well, most things really!

I will agree that salamanders do require a bit more luck with the random range of the template, but careful positioning isn't really THAT important. You can point the template anywhere in his front firing arc. And I definitely think it is far better against hordes than razordons. At MINIMUM if part of the templat touches a unit, you are likely to be wounding (not hitting like the razors have to do first, wounding) 3-4 models, almost all the time it will touch a lot more than that. Remember partials count as full these days, so even if the template is touching the very outer edge of a model, it counts as covered and takes a wound. You will likely cover 10+ in a large unit. Again, these are wounds not hits.

With a razordon, there is a 50% chance that you will cause 4 or less hits. 3 of the artillery dice results are misfire, 2 and 4. Half the time the razordon will do basically nothing to a large unit. Salamanders are very much superior in every way.

 

[Kar Gor]

Swarms arnt as tacticaly inefficiant in my eyes as everyone makes them out to be.
Although you should never base a units efficiency on spells, the razor spell from shadow's makes them killing machines. In large units they can make up for our lack of cavelry... you can use them as effective blocks for saurus and they eat up individual characters or light armoured units.

 

[Batu]

i think the battalion box is definitely a great buy with the increase in temple guard and cold one prices, its just a nice deal all around. I still run cold ones but only as flanking units, they just can't ram into the front of units anymore and expect to win. plus if you don't want the cavalry then just sell it on ebay or something. Salamanders are amazing and definitely worth it but again its made of metal and will be made into finecast im sure in the next wave of minis. So in short the battalion box is a great buy and a great start but id stay away from metals for now.

The Bttn box is a great deal!


I disagree on the cavalry only being flankers. I have run CoR into the front of infantry blocks with a SV and won. the 3 attacks with AS 2 makes it a viable, if risky option. Example: Last game, I was playing my son, (I was playing to lose) and so I charged 12 CoR with SV into one of his infantry blocks (thinking the same thing you were)

However, a bit to my surprise the CoR easily won vs 1 attack infantry. He was steadfast sure but LD 7. He broke.


While you do not want to do that against WoC lol...but str 3 T3 AS 5 or 6 1 attack infantry they deal out the pain! He was hitting on 4+ wounding on 5+ and I was saving on 2+. He did no casualties to my unit. I was hitting on 3/4+ wounding on 2+/3+ and he had no AS or 6+.



Pretty much kicked his ass, over ran and wiped him out.