So together with your advices i tried to create an army list. There are in total 1.500 Points.
Saurus Oldblood:
->GW, Glittering Scales, Talisman of Preservation, Cold One.
-> 1+ Armour Save, 4+ Ward Save
= 246 Points
Saurus Scar-Veteran (BSB - never leave without one)
->Light Armour, Shield, Banner of Swiftness
= 130 Points
Skink Priest: (Lvl 2 - Lore of Heavens)
-> Scroll of Shielding, Ironcurse Icon
= 120 Points
Chameleon Skins x 10 = 130 Points
Cold One Riders x 5 = 180 Points
Ancient Stegadon with Blowpipes (+sharpened Horns, Unstoppable stampede) = 260 Points
Core Units:
24x Saurus Warriors (FC) = 294 Points
2x10x Skink Skirmishers (javelins and shield) = 140 Points
The BSB will get inside of the Saurus Warriors.
The Old Blood inside the Cold one Riders.
Don't know where to put the Skink-Priest.
I would love to have him on top of the stegadon because of the ironcurse icon. But this is only possible with EOTG.
I also thought taking Tetto'eko instead of the skink-priest. But then i remembered that i really need a battel standard bearer^^.
I am really interested of what you think of this list
Hi there! Glad you gave some complete loadouts, there are simply more efficient builds if you ask me if you want to build a character, so it is good that you shared it.
My favorite two setups for Saurus Scar Veterans are as follows, we call these boys the Cowboys and they are generally accepted as the best and most cheese thing we can put on the table.
Saurus Scar Veteran on a Cold One with a Great Weapon, with the Armor of Destiny. (possible as BSB or general).
Saurus Scar Veteran on a Cold One with a Great Weapon, with the Gamblers Armor, the Dawnstone (possible as BSB as well).
When looking at Cowboys, do not take Magic Weapons. Great Weapons are so great on them. Their initiative is shit anyway, so Always Strike Last is not a real issue, and a Strength of 7 for the bargain price of 4 points is just so much more efficient than whatever the Magic Weapon slot can give you. S7 means you ignore basically every armor save and that you wound on 2's, this is great. A Cold one combined with the 5+ scaly skin save plus Heavy Armor (which is why you want magical armor always, we cannot natively get heavy armor) nets you a 1+ save. These builds give you either a 1+ armor save with a 4+ ward save, or a 1+ armor save that you get to reroll plus a 6+ ward save. They are tough as nails, and especially with Predatory Fighter and a Great Weapon, they hit like a truck. Old Bloods are ok, but they are not worth the investment. You are paying around 70 points more for an extra wound and an extra attack.. just stick with Scar Vets instead. These guys are so tough that you can run them solo across the board! As long as you can hide them from Bolt Throwers and Cannons (which should be doable, they have small bases), they can just run solo and crash the party of enemy chaff or sometimes even weaker monsters alike! Having a BSB on foot is fine as well, do be sure to give him Magical Heavy Armor as well instead of a shitty Magic Weapon. Also on foot, always give him a Great Weapon.
Your priest is fine. I would drop the Scroll of Shielding, you won't often need it, points are better invested elsewhere. I personally prefer Lore of Beasts because of the extremely strong Signature Spell (Wyssans Wildform), but Heavens can be fine as well. I would only take a Slann from 2000 points and bigger, and i would then also run a unit of Temple Guard as well of course. Put your Skink Priest in a unit of Skink Skirmishers that you keep at the back, basically as his bodyguard. Putting them on Stegadons is generally sadly a bad idea, as that makes them an ever more delicious target for enemy Cannons.
That brings me to the next unit, drop the Cold One Knights if you can. Cold One Knights are not efficient, Heavy Cav is not that good in 8th as Steadfast makes it so that they probably won't be able to crash through enemy units at all if they have too many ranks, and they lack the staying power for prolonged fights.
Chameleon Skinks are ok, run them in units off 5 indeed as
@Lizards of Renown said, and use them to hunt enemy war machines or monsters. If you do not have 2-3 monsters though, i would not say they are worth it.
When taking Saurus Warriors, i do not like taking a Champion. It costs 10 points, and you get only 1 extra attack. For 11 points you have a full additional Saurus Warrior, with 2 extra attacks, a wound, counting for ranks, etc. It is not even that good to protect your guys from challenges, as a good opponent will just make it so his and yours character are in base contact when he charges you. He does then not even have to challenge you to attack your character, so even then, your champion will be useless and less good than just one additional guy for 1 additional point. Maybe make this unit even bigger, i like running them in squads of 30, with hand weapon shield.
Skink Skirmishers are great! Get more! I run 80 of the buggers in 2400 points, and they never failed me. When using them, exploit to the fullest that an enemy cannot charge them if the skinks are not in their forward arch. Run around them, shoot at units that dislike being poisoned, and keep moving out of their line of sight!
For what your army lacks, i would either go big on monsters or go big on infantry. both supported by a lot of Skinks. Running only 1 monster is sort off where you exactly do not want to be. One monster gives your opponent the perfect target for their cannons. If you have 3 monsters, at least 1 or maybe 2 of your monsters will reach the enemy lines before they are shot with Cannons, so that is at least ok. If you have 0 monsters, you deny your opponent a good target with their Cannons, so that is also a good idea. With just the 1 monster, it is always awkward. So, either take at least 2 or preferably 3, or 0 is my advice.
Finally, especially if you do not take monsters, taking a few Salamanders is very good to thin out enemy infantry. They are a bargain for 84 points (always take an extra handler, to make it so when you misfire you always have at least 1 handler left), one shot often makes it so they make their points back. Running a few of them in units of 1-2 is very strong. Also do not forget they can move and fire, and with their movement of 6, they are quite flexible. Ripperdactyls are also strong if you want something strong against enemy light infantry units (chaff).
