8th Ed. Army Addition Advice?

[ChameleonSkink]

This is my very first post here and I am very excited! I have been sifting through armies slowly with Lizards in the back of my mind and I was always put off of them for one reason or another before finally caving in, buying the battalion and falling madly in love with them!

I've painted my battalion and they are gorgeous.

On top of that I've bought one extra box of Saurus and one extra box of Temple Guard.

My question is...

What should my next step be?!

Slann Mage is the thing that clinched the army for me and I absolutely 100% want one...

But what do you guys think of the Stegadon?

Is it worth getting Kroxigar?

Salamanders or Razordons?

Terradon Riders, yes or no?

Beyond Slann Magi, what is a good Lord/Hero choice?


Sorry for offloading all of my questions at once and I hope this is the proper place to be asking for help. I will get my Lizardlegs before too long, I am sure.

Thanks in advance for any help ^^.

-Chamie

 

[newscales]

First of all, welcome!

IMHO:

Salamanders > Razordon.

Krox only useful in the skink cohort unit. they count as core then, and Temple Guard, Terradons, and Camo skinks are a much better use of Special points.

Steg - bolt thrower is pretty lame since you can't use the BS of a skink chief mounted to make it any good (unless i misread the FAQs). Blowpipes are kinda nice, but its a lot of points for a cannon/stonethrower magnet. Engine is a great tool for skink priest, but again, artillery fodder. I don't often take them.

Terradons are a big yes.

Our names characters are pretty lame, so building your own slann or Old Blood is your best bet. There are lots of builds already posted throughout the forums for your referense. I like me a 1+ rerollable armor save and a 4+ ward with the armor of destiny and a few other items to trick him out, but the combinations are endless.

 

[ChameleonSkink]

Fantastic! Thank you.

I am mainly a painter and am only recently getting into the battling and as far as painting goes I'd rather do the Razordons, but if Salamanders are better for battle I can hardly complain about it. Besides, I could still have fun painting a salamander and after reading Temple of the Serpent, I find the Salamanders incredibly cool.

I had no idea the Terradons could be so grand! I will have to look into that, I am due another purchase in April, so maybe I will get Terradons :O.

I am pleased to know that Slann Magi are the way to go because that is the thing that I want the absolute most though I was pleasantly surprised how much a thick unit of Saurus could do and am excited to add on to it in the future. In the one battle I've done, my Saurus were the stars of the show and thanks to them and my Temple Guard they destroyed every single dwarf they were up against.

 

[Blue Lizard]

The Slann is awsome, with a couple of upgrades he will dominate every magic phase and be a pain in the butt to your opponet. HOWEVER, this will mean that he will get targeted so protect him. I know a lot of people dont rate the Temple Guard but i do (and i like them), they are hard, strong and with a buff or two deadly. That and if your slann is with them (has to) they are stubborn, couple that with general, BSB and cold blooded means the unit will have to be wiped out to a man before they go anywhere.

Salamanders rock, that's it, they just rock. S3 on their weapon isn't the best but with a tempate weapon (if the base is touched then they are hit) you will get quite a few hits and with -2 to armour they can punish opponets who ignore them. Just choose your targets well (anything with T3 and average armour save will burn and you will smile).

Chameleon Skinks are pretty good too, just pick you targets well (monsterous creatures with little to no armour are plum pickings). I've taken out an opponets dwarf artillery line (5 pieces) with two 6 man units of chamoes.

I do agree with newscales about Krox, they need to be with skink cohorts, but there in lies the problem, skinks are very squishy and thus give away combat res a little too easliy for my liking.

Skink Skermishers are a must have IMHO. I always take a couple of 10 man units in my army, they are good for poison when they get in close and since they are skirmishers they can do fairly easily and they also make for good redirecters. Versitile unit.

The other thing I could recommend (IMHO) is a good Scar Vet. These guys base cost for what you get is great, which means you can afford a couple if needed or tailor them to a role or unit. Consider the 'cowboy' Scar Vet, and unit Scar Vet (light armour, your sword of preference, enchanted shiel and dawn stone; or glitering scales, great weapon/halberd with VotFF). What ever way you want to run them Scar Vets are great units, they are fun and can add some flavour to you army (which I always like).

newscales why do you like Terradons?? From what I've seen of them they were good under previous edition but not so must under current.

Hope it helps

 

[newscales]

fast cav redirectors and S4 shooting attacks courtesy of rocks. only fliers we have and good units to lock up a stone thrower. and stomps. they have their uses. camos are better most of the time though.

 

[Blue Lizard]

yeh fair call, guess they would be good at drawing out those annoying gobbo fanatics too. Without tailoring too much: teradons and camo skinks against dwarf artillery line... nice

 

[ChameleonSkink]

Brilliant! Thank you.

I adore my Temple Guard, I absolutely love them so it's not a problem to me to have loads of them to protect my future Slann. I am undercoating my newest 10 today so I can get started and will have 20 by the time I am done.

I didn't know that about the Scar Veterans and will definitely look into that now that I know. Since I only tend to battle with my husband... Who has Orcs and Gobbos, Dwarfs, and Tomb Kings (against my Lizards, High-Elves and Skaven), I am always excited to hear ways of defeating him thoroughly. I am unlucky with dice and he rarely rolls anything lower than a 3, so it's always a pain to get the upper hand with his lucky streaks.

I will be indulging in Salamanders in the near future after I get my Slann and perhaps a few more skinks as well, as I only have 12 right now.

What are your guyses thoughts on having random Skink Priests in your army for your Slann to channel off of?

Since they are cheap and all... I don't know the rules that well yet, having only been a painter until a couple of months ago, but in my mind it sounds fancy and sneaky.

Also... What of Jungle Swarms? No one has even mentioned them, are they not worth it?

I will study the units on GW and I am sure I will have more questions for you ^^

I really appreciate both of your help with this, I am feeling so confident about my beautiful reptiles now.

 

[Wreckr]

I AM un sûre about Swarovski but i hav Read They CAN Be strong.. But there are better things.. So iv herd haha ha and defs more skinks haha and agreed temple guards are awsome haha

 

[jg0124]

Jungle swarms are good redirecters, and annoy the heck out of your opponent. More or less speed bumps that halt charges, march block, stop your opponent from moving where they want etc. I haven't used them but I have seen their use from other players. And other armies with similar units.

 

[newscales]

Skink priest is usually the obligatory Scroll/cube carrier. If you aren't running lore of Life, the arcane slot on the Slann is often taken up by Cupped Hands, and if not Focus of Mystery, the Plague of Tepok. Another channeler is always nice to have, and the ability of the slann to fire magic missiles through the priest is an awesome, but oft forgotten ability (at least I never remember it). The upgrade to level 2 isn't worth it since the slann will be casting 99% of the time. The Heavens signature is pretty solid and I usually swap whatever I roll for it (unless i'm playing dwarves and have gotten Comet)

I have never used a swarm in a game. They won't break, which is nice and have 5 poison attacks. However, they are hitting on 4+, and wounding on 5s or 6s. meanwhile, anything hitting them with impacts or stomps is sure to wipe them, and they are wounding on 2s or 3s. The unit will die in the first turn due to combat res and the enemy will get their free overrun or reform. The only use I would have for them is to maybe draw somebody towards the outer table edge as a redirect so that the middle of the board has more time to react or make a charge on their terms instead of getting popped by the enemy. Defering Ogre impacts or Bret lance charges is a good deal and probably worth 45 points.

 

[ChameleonSkink]

Alright, -nod- That's something I will need to think on and perhaps practice with before I decide how I feel about it. Yesterday I thought up a very rough estimate of what my army will look like (as follows)... I'd like to know what you think or if it is even legal (which I am pretty sure it is). This is just a fun and competativeish army, nothing I'd brag about at Warhammer World or anything ...

Also, I've not picked magical items or banners yet, I only threw up the absolute total. Eventually, when I convert a box of regular skinks to Chameleon Skinks (which, along with the Slann, are the reason I chose Lizards. Chameleons are my absolute favourite reptile) this list will be changing a bit, but for now this is what I am aiming for for a basic army.


Army List
Lord:
Slann Mage Priest
100 pts Magic, 300 pts Discipline Points: 675


Core:
54 Saurus Warriors
Full Command
Points: 624
26 Skink Skirmishers
Champion
Points: 188

Special:
40 Temple Guard
Full Command, 25pts Magic Items, Banner
Points: 590

Rare:
15 Cold One Cavalry
Full Command, Banner Points: 625


Total: 2702
Breakdown:
Lord: 24.98% (0-25%)
Hero: 0.00% (0-25%)
Core: 30.05% (25-100%)
Special: 21.83% (0-50%)
Rare: 23.13% (0-25%)

 

[david l]

Slann Mage Priest
100 pts Magic, 300 pts Discipline Points: 675

There is almost no reason to buy that many disciplines on a Slann, and almost no Slann spends his full magic item allotment. Yet you left off the most automatic upgrade there is - make him the BSB.

54 Saurus Warriors
Full Command

Little value to a unit that big except trying for points denial. Horde formation does relatively little for Saurus, and at 5 wide there isn't much point in going above size 40.

26 Skink Skirmishers
Champion

Terrible. No real reason to take skirmishers above size 10, and the champ is useless.

40 Temple Guard
Full Command, 25pts Magic Items, Banner

Yikes that is a big unit!! More useful than the huge Saurus though, so if you really want to put everything in one basket, keep it.

15 Cold One Cavalry
Full Command, Banner

Without a couple characters to beef them up, this unit is not worth its points. Cavalry in general just aren't very good in 8th, and Saurus Cavalry are clearly overpriced. A small unit has some potential value as support, or a big unit loaded with characters, but this is neither.


Where is the rest of the army? More skirmishers? Chameleons? Salamanders? Maybe SKrox units or Terradons? Just more units?

 

[rychek]

You should definitely consider a Scar-Vet or two, an Old-Blood and a Skink Priest or two. These are all very useful Lord/Hero units that can pack some extra punch in CC or Magic (Slann magic missile launch point from the priest can be "wonderfully" surprising for your opponent).

Salamanders deserve a good long look as well. They are just too good not to have access to. They aren't perfect for every match up, but they are for most.

 

[newscales]

If you are making a list solely on models you have, then it is hard to work up a list. If you can proxy though, definitely get some salamanders, and old blood, and a scar vet in there. small units of skink skirmishers have the best return, and camo skinks are solid. saurus with HW and shield are usually under 30, spears between 35-45 since they are dying slightly more often w/o the parry save.

 

[Rhodium]

Army List
Lord:
Slann Mage Priest
100 pts Magic, 300 pts Discipline Points: 675

Wait this isn't even legal,

A slann can only take a maximum of 4 disciplines which costs 150 points, you can't spend 300 points on disciplines

Also make the slann the bsb for sure

 

[jg0124]

and at 2500 points 625 is the max allowed on lords.

 

[ChameleonSkink]

@Rychek: I will consider all of that ^^ This is just what I have at the moment. Newscales has been an absolute love and given me a lot of advice already on this thread, so I am working toward adding new things to the list.

@Newscales: I want Salamanders but they are just so damn expensive, it will take me a bit of time to save up for something so small. I plan to upgrade most of the skinks into chameleons once I have the green stuff to mod them ^^. I prefer Chams anyway, so it's all good there.

@Rhodium: First discipline is free and mandatory, second is 50, third is 100, fourth is 150... Which equals 300 points . At least that's how it reads to me in the book.

And I will make him a BSB, merely forgot to add it^^. But thank you.

@JG: It's 2700 points, not 2500.

 

[Rhodium]

@Rychek: I will consider all of that ^^ This is just what I have at the moment. Newscales has been an absolute love and given me a lot of advice already on this thread, so I am working toward adding new things to the list.

@Newscales: I want Salamanders but they are just so damn expensive, it will take me a bit of time to save up for something so small. I plan to upgrade most of the skinks into chameleons once I have the green stuff to mod them ^^. I prefer Chams anyway, so it's all good there.

@Rhodium: First discipline is free and mandatory, second is 50, third is 100, fourth is 150... Which equals 300 points . At least that's how it reads to me in the book.

And I will make him a BSB, merely forgot to add it^^. But thank you.

@JG: It's 2700 points, not 2500.

ahh okay, but no that isnt how it works,

you only take one of the possible upgrades:

"A Mage Priest must take one of the following upgrades"
And thereon:
Choose four disciplines of the Ancients = 150 pts

so to have 4 of them is 150 points, it isnt cumulative so you have 150 points more to spend on your list!

 

[ChameleonSkink]

ahh okay, but no that isnt how it works,

you only take one of the possible upgrades:

"A Mage Priest must take one of the following upgrades"
And thereon:
Choose four disciplines of the Ancients = 150 pts

so to have 4 of them is 150 points, it isnt cumulative so you have 150 points more to spend on your list!

Wowz! Thank you very much ^^ I definitely read it wrong AND that makes it cheaper, which I like very much!!! You're a darling, thank you!