8th Ed. Entry-level tactics of the new Lizards

[Raithial]

in short; this will be my first game played with the new Lizards, and I need some help putting some order into the chaos that has just popped up. I haven't read all of the book yet, but from what gathered is that the new rules are quite a bit different from the previous lines. Unfortunately no spawnings still, but hey~ at least we get an extra attack at every 6 with the majority of the steady units(anything with S4+ save for the mounts)

first off; is the Troglodon any good? I'm really digging the model, and I'd love to put it in the field without compromising on my army balance. His shooting attack is decent enough, but How does that nasty work itself out in combat, or should I keep it ranged?

second: The reworked slann;
what kind of disciplines and lore do well for a first go with the reworked rules? I'm personally thinking Focus of Mystery, Becalming and Soul of Stone, but I'd like your opinion on that as well. And what magic items should I use?

third: The Saurus
What sort of impact will the Predatory fighters rule have in general for my core, and my Temple Guards for that matter.

Fourth: Should I still stick with a nice group of 20 temple guards, and fill the rest up with CoR or can I plop a Bastiladon, Stegadon or Terra/Ripper's?

Fifth: The Skinks
Cohorts or skirmishers? I've mostly viewed the Skink Cohorts as Krox-delivery-units, and that has always worked quite well, but are there other methods I should use Cohorts or simply use them as skirmishers?

so can you guys help me clear this up? Thanks in advance

 

[Dragnog]

third: The Saurus
What sort of impact will the Predatory fighters rule have in general for my core, and my Temple Guards for that matter.

This is very dependent on how many attacks you get but as an example rolling 15 attacks: About 85% of the time you will get 1-4 extra attacks.

 

[Worloch]

Wow, lots of questions.


First - Common consensus seems to be that the Troglodon is a cool model that had potential but really doesn't work very well on the table. Most LM players seem to be leaving it out of their lists. If you do include it, be ready to work around its limitations.

Second - The Slann is still a really good, albeit expensive, caster. A good build right now is Focus of Mystery, Becalming Cogitation, Harmonic Convergernce, Soul of Stone + Standard of Discipline and Channeling Staff. This will give you a Ld 10 General + BSB, presumably plunked down in your 20+ strong TG unit, with Lore Master of High Magic, and 3 dice for channeling that succeed on 5+. Statistically, that averages out to +1 PD/DD per magic phase. Becalming gives you some insurance in the dispel phase, and Soul of Stone is insurance for a potential miscast.

Third - PF will have little impact in terms of bonus attacks overall, though it will be nice when you luck out and it comes through heavy. You do have to be careful of forced pursues taking you out of position, which is kind of annoying, and taking a skink character babysit Saurus Warriors is ugh.

Fourth - I think at least 20 TG if you're taking a Slann is a good place to be. I personally like EotG on Ancient Steggy w/ upgrades and Basiladon to anchor a flank. Between the two, you have a couple decent bound spells to unleash in your magic phase, decent buffs to support your combat blocks and decent to good monsters for some CC action.

Fifth - I like skirmishers, but either can work. I'm not a huge fan of skrox - just not my cup of tea. A couple units of skirmishers at least to harass and redirect your opponent seems like a solid bet, and more generally don't hurt.

 

[Raithial]

I'm wondering wether or not I can do a list sort of like:

Slann (high)
Focus of Mystery, Becalming Cogitation, Harmonic Convergernce, Soul of Stone + Standard of Discipline and Channeling Staff

Skink Priest, Dispell Scroll
Skink Priest, Ancient Stegadon + Engine

Saurus Block 6x4 FC

12 skink skirmishers
12 skink skirmishers

20 Templeguards FC

3 Salamanders
1 Troglodon

This lets me cast my Direct Damage and Magic Missiles pretty much anywhere on the field and the Trog will attract quite a bit of attention on it's own like this, but most opponents of mine have seen the carnosaur fail badly, and they'll probably expect the same for the trog.
Second; 12 skirmishers (I can exchange a troup of them for a group of Chammy's if I have room in the specials) are basically there to lend some support to the flanks and hunt their monsters.

Given my regular enemies I'll have little to worry about in terms of canons; Vampire Counts, Skaven, Deamons, and on occasion ogres. Not really anything to worry about against my monsters. The Ogres can get nasty against Lizardmen, but with High Magic in my arcenal I'll be more than capable of defending myself against their attacks.

On a sidenote
Considering this is my first battle with the new Lizards, I left the old book with a bang.
My opponent launched a spell that did 2D6 S4 or 5 attacks, on a block of saurus warriors. He launched the spell at full power, 12 attacks at S4 or 5 or something, and amongst my saurus there was a single hero with the Shield of the Mirrored Pool, sending all those attacks back, and completely destroying his mage. Considering it were Vampire Counts the army then started to crumble.

 

[Blackthorne]

Unless your opponents specifically avoid certain options, your meta sounds like it is actually very cannon heavy. Skaven, daemons, and ogres all have access to cannons and in my experience, those are rarely left out of the lists since they're all so point efficient. Two of those options have cannons that can move and the third lands a template at the end of the shot, very possibly blowing a hole in a unit. I would definitely suggest bringing war machine killers if those are your regular opponents.

 

[Lizardmatt]

first off; is the Troglodon any good? I'm really digging the model...

second: The reworked slann...

third: The Saurus
What sort of impact will the Predatory fighters rule have in general for my core, and my Temple Guards for that matter.

Fourth: Should I still stick with a nice group of 20 temple guards, and fill the rest up with CoR or can I plop a Bastiladon, Stegadon or Terra/Ripper's?

Fifth: The Skinks
Cohorts or skirmishers?

1) Yeah, cool looking model... subpar performance. It doesn't do anything great. It doesn't even do anything good. But, it is only 200 points. You can choose to take a hit in performance and put the model on the table. It's kind of like playing a giant. It's fun, it just under performs for its cost.

2) Lots of options for slaan. I've shifted to cheaper and cheaper slaans, and been happier and happier. I'm now down to a BSB, and the channels (3 times on a 5+). More than that I've seen diminishing returns.
I haven't needed the re-roll to dispel yet. Tried it with a 1 die dispel (needed a 3+) and failed on the re-roll as well. Slaan can skyrocket in cost if you're not careful.

3) Saurus: They are awesomely average. They that totally murder poor quality troops, and hold up well against mid grade troops. They need help (magic buff/hero) if going against elite troops.

4) I'm running either 14 or 20 temple guard. It's been enough. You could go with more, but I like having addition support. You can swing the support where you need it (saurus fight or with the temple guard).

5) Cohorts or Skirmish? Both. I'm running Cohorts with musician and skirmishers. The +1 Ld to rally really helps out on the flanks. You lose a bit of range by not being able to march and fire, and not being able to rally, march and fire; but you can't do any of that if you just fail to rally. Cohorts let me redirect (taking the charge) doing the stand and fire, and then the survivors break and flee, and have a good shot at a rally if they get away.