8th Ed. 2400pts All-comers force, advice wanted

[FRYtheEGGofQUANGO]

Hi Lustria, I was hoping to get some advice on this list I have developed over the last few weeks. I've tried to make it balanced and fun, but am curious to see what you guys make of it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

1 Slann (lore of life), bsb, forbidden rod, reservoir of eldrich energy,

1 Skink priest (lore of beasts), dispell scroll,

1 Scar vet, great weapon, cold one, armour of destiny,

1 Scar vet, pirhana blade, light armour, shield

25 Saurus warriors, hw+shield, full command

25 Skinks, 3 kroxigor, full command

10 Skink skirmishers, jav+shield

5 Chameleon Skinks

1 Stegadon (giant bow), sharpened horns

1 Bastiladon, sun gun

28 Temple guard, full command

1 Salamander, snack

I've been thinking of swapping out the bastiladon for another Salamander and skink skirmisher unit, since my big lizard seems to rarely pull his own weight in games, the initiative boost doesnt seem to make much difference (even if it makes my block strike first) and I kinda need more chaff. My slann also cries every time he has to share power dice.
Also, I was wondering if the army would be better served by the lore of light, and if the skink priest would be more useful if he used heavens?

 

[Elholm]

Hi Fry
seems like a fine list, but it could possibly need a tweek here and there
first off lets start with the Hero/lords:
on the slann i prefer to kit him with Channeling staff/harmonic "combo" it statistically gives one ekstra dice per magic phase. i also like soul of stone it has saved him and you would wish you had it if you roll 4 on the miscast table...
the piranha scar-vet could use a coldone it is just too good to pass, i mean he will have a 3+ save in the unit and will probably be killed in close combat, whereas a 1+ is slightly tougher to take down.
other heroes seems fine.
the thing that stands out the most is the steg... upgrade it to an ancient steg... for those ekstra points its is just too good to pass. depending on your meta then to be able to do what i suggested then either drop some saurus or the basti to afford mt upgrades, the leftover points from that basti could possibly give you more TG or another skirmish/salamander
thats my 50 cents

 

[FRYtheEGGofQUANGO]

Thanks very much for the advice, Elholm. I've made a few tweaks, and figured i'd post the modified list here incase anyone wants to use it themselves/ as a baseline for their armies, or even if you can give further input. Not sure if its a harsh list, but I think it covers most bases. I believe it comps at 12.8 swedish.

I do think str6 impact hits are fantastic, but I kept the reg steg(s) because of my personal experience of giant blowpipes being aweful, whereas giant bows can sometimes make a real difference. I also couldn't find the points to upgrade to ancient stegs or get soul of stone, but we will see in the future!

1 Slann (lore of life), bsb, channeling staff, hamonic convergence

1 Skink priest (lore of beasts), dispell scroll

1 Scar vet, great weapon, cold one, armour of destiny

1 Scar vet, light armour, shield, cold one, pirhana blade

33 Skinks, 4 kroxigor, full command

11 Skinks, 1 kroxigor, musician, poisoned attacks

10 Skink skirmishers, blowpipes

27 Temple guard, full command

1 Stegadon, sharpened horns

1 Stegadon, sharpened horns

5 Chameleon skinks

1 Salamander

 

[airjamy]

A non soul of stone Slann, feisty. There is a really good article in the tactica on the strenght of that mastery for protecting your Slann and your surrounding TG. I always take it when i have a TG Slann. I feel you when you talk about the Stegadon's missile peapons, especially with hand of glory your Giant Bows can actually kill stuff turn one, or at least suck DD. 3 wounds on that Hellpit will really matter in the game. I take it you have a snack on your salamander? Also a point of personal preference, i prefer the mastery that lets you reroll your first failed dispell attempt each turn above the scroll. You can then dominate every dispell phase instead of just one spell with your scroll. Scrolls are nice to have, and in big games i take both. Lots of monsters, warmachine hunting, target saturation and a lot of DINOSAWS, i like this list, expecially with the lore of nature Slann, healing all those monsters.

 

[Agrem]

Unfortunately I have to echo what has been said on the stegadons. I would really like to see you find those points for the upgrades. It's just two temple guards (and then some) to get that strenght 6. It's a world of difference there, where as the howdah weaponry doesn't really play any big role. Most of the time you will be moving and at long range so the shots will hit on 6's anyway.

I also disagree with airjamy. I would definately pick the scroll over the reroll. Scroll quarantees you the ability to dispel one additional spell when cogitation only helps you to succeed in dispelling the one spell. Therefore I would keep the scroll on the list.

Otherwise the list looks quite nice with cowbows and monsters. You should definately have enough bigger bodies to make sure atleast some of them are able to hit your opponents lines. Also the lore of life is really good here. Although, you could also argue going with high and aphothesis. But then again you are able to heal those monsters with every spell in life.

I feel that the fourth kroxigor in the bigger unit is a bit awkward as it either makes the unit really wide or then it sits in the back without the ability to strike. I do understand why you have taken it though. Have you considered running two mid sized skrox units instead of a larger and a smaller one? Or have you tried them and if so have they performed any better or worse?

BR
Agrem

 

[FRYtheEGGofQUANGO]

I can comfortably make room for the ancient steg upgrades, so that is certainly an option. Its painful eating into my temple guards, though. Yes you make a good point Agrem, though you are usually looking for 6's on the hit roll to autowound the target anyway. Another reason for the dual reg stegs setup was to have some answer to any nurgle demon princes i'd come face to face with (I have never fought one, though on paper they seem almost indestructible vs lizardmen), as well as lords on dragons etc.

I've recently been testing out skrox units instead of my staple saurus block, and i've found skrox to be a bit more useful in general. I've been trying out a unit of 25skinks+3krox vs O&G, and they fared better than I was expecting. Here i've gone for 4 krox, as I had the points for it and wanted a solid, reliable cc block. I've been debating whether or not to field it as an 8-wide unit (6 additional skink attacks probably wont do much) for a thinner formation, or 10-wide for horde. What do you think?

I read somewhere about a ~10 skinks+1krox unit, with poison, as a good monster/chariot hunter unit. After seeing how cheap it was and its potential on paper, it's probably going to make up for its points every game. I haven't used this unit before, so I can let you know once i've had some real experience with it. I never thought about mixing+matching the small and the main skrox blocks; they are fulfilling different roles in this list, but thats also an option yes.

The salamander had (and has) no snack party because i'm being greedy with points. But to be honest, my solo salamander never gets much done in my games. He's become a bit of a laughing stock between myself and my regular O&G opponent because the sal always messes up even the easiest of shots at big horde units, or eats all his handlers. I include him because I love him regardless, and still win games despite him thinking with his stomach. Here is my revised list if I am to include the big bad steggies. If I am to include the soul of stone aswell, something has got to go i'm afraid:

1 Slann (lore of life), bsb, channeling staff, harmonic convergence

1 Skink priest (lore of beasts), dispell scroll

1 Scar veteran, cold one, great weapon, armour of destiny

1 Scar Veteran, cold one, light armour, charmed shield, dawnstone, sword of might

11 Skinks, 1 Kroxigor, poisoned attacks, musician

33 Skinks, 4 Kroxigor, full command

10 Skinks, blowpipes

25 Temple Guard, full command

5 Chameleon Skinks

1 Ancient stegadon, sharpened horns

1 Ancient stegadon, sharpened horns

1 Salamander (no snack)