8th Ed. First Time Player, 1,500 point Starting List

[Deflare]

All right, I've yet to play a game of WFB. For the moment, I'm trying to avoid biting off more than I can chew like I did with my tau over in WH40k, so I'm starting with army lists that I can build up. After poking around at various bits of army advice, I have a tentative list set up--generic, but a potentially good starting point.

Slann Mage-Priest (Cupped Hands of the Old Ones, Two Disciplines [Focus of Mystery, Soul of Stone], Lore of Light)

Saurus Scar Veteran* (Battle Standard Bearer, Burning Blade of Chotec, Shield, Light Armor)

Saurus Warriors (20x Saurus, Spears)
Saurus Warriors (20x Saurus)
Skink Skirmishers (10x Skinks)

Chameleon Skinks (5x Skinks)
Temple Guard (10x Temple Guard)

Salamander Hunting Pack (3x Salamander, Additional Handlers)

*The idea with the Veteran is to add a killy character to one of the Saurus blocks. Any advice on which one to put him in?

I kinda want to drop the Temple Guard to buff up the other units, but I worry about leaving the Slann exposed.

I feel like there's a better use of points than Light Armor for the Veteran, but the magic items are a dense wall of rules that I have trouble analyzing for useful pieces.

So, thoughts?

 

[Arli]

So, here is what you could do:

On the Slann, drop soul to stone and take ethereal. Also, give him the crown of command. If you have the points allowed, I would take the slann as BSB with the banner of discipline.

Then, drop the temple guard. Combine the two saurus units into one unit with hand weapons and shields (spears are over rated in smaller blocks). Drop the scar-vet and the slann in that unit. Suddenly, you have a cheaper version of the temple guard. Now the problem is that the slann is in the front rank. Not too bad, because the scar-vet is there to absorb challenges. Because the slann is ethereal that will keep him from being injured by standard wounds. He can also leave the unit if needed.

Add 5 more chameleons, they are worth it.

Add another unit of skirmishers, or a unit of skrox.

One salamander is good at this points level, two is better (if you can squeeze it in).

Hope this helps.

 

[Gammal]

The poster above has the right idea.

I do however like the spears, but thats just me .

Drop one salamander and put the two remaining alone.
I would advice another skink skirmisher unit oif you plan on keeping the 2 saurus blocks, that way each of your blocks will have a nice screen

 

[Scalenex]

I think Arli's plan is a good one but a bit complicated for someone's first game. I'd go no magic your first few games or limit yourself to a Skink priest.

Two good sized blocks of Saurus, a Salamander, two Scar Veterans or a Scar Veteran and a Priest should work as a good base.

Add two to three units of Skinks Skirmishers and CHameleon Skinks and a Salamander.

Then fill in the rest of your points with a Stegadon, Skroxigor (Skink unit with Kroxigor), another Salamander or some Cold ONe Cavalry depending on what models you feel like using.

That should give you good practice for the basics of Lizardmen. The newest article from the Tactica index may also be a good primer.

“Lizardmen 101” http http://www.lustria-online.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8009&p=79616#p79616

 

[david l]

I don't think you should be taking a Slann without extra power dice.

10 TG is almost certainly not worth fielding. Too easy to kill and they trap the Slann.

Scar-vet build is easy - add Dawnstone and charmed shield instead of mundane shield. Or 5+ ward. Putting him on a cold one is good too, although makes him vulnerable to templates.

 

[Deflare]

Hmm. Odd as it feels to just ignore magic, I can see the merit of it.

Crunching the numbers, I'm almost tempted to field Temple Guard on their own as an infantry block, as the better statline seems to warrant the increase in cost. EDIT: Oh wait, no, looking at it again, I can see why you wouldn't bother with that. I can see why people say TG aren't worth taking without a Slann to give them their Sacred Duty bonuses.
Anyway, for now, I'm mostly basing my revision on Scalenex's thoughts:

Saurus Scar Veteran (Dawnstone, Enchanted Shield)
Saurus Scar Veteran (Battle Standard Bearer, Dragon Helm, Great Weapon, Light Armour)

Saurus Warriors (30x Saurus)
Saurus Warriors (30x Saurus)
Skink Skirmishers (10x Skinks)
Skink Skirmishers (10x Skinks)
Skinks (2x Kroxigor, 16x Skinks)

Chameleon Skinks (7x Chameleons)
Chameleon Skinks (7x Chameleons)

Salamander Hunting Pack (1x Salamander, Additional Handlers)

I wanted to throw in a Skink Priest just to have SOME magic, but that left me a bit thin on blocks of troops. Especially since, if I'm reading the rules right, that means I wouldn't have a BSB in my army--the Scar Veteran would be the general due to higher Ld, and the Priest can't carry the banner.

I'm a little skeptical of Skroxigor units, I must admit; they seem awfully pricy for how few hard-hitting units you actually get, and the skinks seem a bit pricy for a bunch of ablative wounds. Looking at the FAQ, it says to ignore Great Reach; that means that the Krox add some high-WS/high-S melee attacks to the block via supporting attacks, yes? If I dropped the Skrox, I'd probably grab another Salamander before buffing up the infantry blocks. Possibly giving the Saurus spears, because I really like the idea of having that extra fighty rank.

I have no idea how many skirmishers to run in a unit, as they run on different logic than rank-and-file infantry.

So. Revised thoughts?

 

[Scalenex]

Anyway, for now, I'm mostly basing my revision on Scalenex's thoughts:

Yay!

I wanted to throw in a Skink Priest just to have SOME magic, but that left me a bit thin on blocks of troops. Especially since, if I'm reading the rules right, that means I wouldn't have a BSB in my army--the Scar Veteran would be the general due to higher Ld, and the Priest can't carry the banner.

You are half right. A Priest can’t carry the banner but the general is the one with the highest Ld who is not disqualified from being the general. A Scar Veteran BSB is disqualified for being the general (there are also a few oddball rules in other armies saying character X can never be your general). Thus the Skink Priest would be your general in such an army. His leadership would not help anything, but you would have a legal army. A Scar Veteran general’s leadership is exactly the same as regular Saurus so he only contributes his Ld to the Skroxigor and Skirmishing units (when they are close enough which is not frequent).

I'm a little skeptical of Skroxigor units, I must admit; they seem awfully pricy for how few hard-hitting units you actually get, and the skinks seem a bit pricy for a bunch of ablative wounds. Looking at the FAQ, it says to ignore Great Reach; that means that the Krox add some high-WS/high-S melee attacks to the block via supporting attacks, yes?

Yes, not that I call WS 3 “high.” Without the Skink buffer, Kroxigor tend to die before they can get a good number of strikes in. With only 16 Skinks, you want to keep the Skroxigor as Saurus flank support because Skroxigor tend to break when they lose Steadfast. If you want your Skroxigor to be able to fight without the support of another unit, It may be worth it to drop your Saurus blocks down to 27 or 28 models in order to buy more Skinks.

If I dropped the Skrox, I'd probably grab another Salamander before buffing up the infantry blocks. Possibly giving the Saurus spears, because I really like the idea of having that extra fighty rank.

This is probably just as good too. Probably better because this is your idea not mine.

I have no idea how many skirmishers to run in a unit, as they run on different logic than rank-and-file infantry.

I’m not particularly great with these guys. I tend to prefer Chameleon Skinks because they have the better BS to take advantage of multiple shots and they can deploy forward farther meaning they usually get to shoot earlier. I tend to run my Skirmishers with javelins for the Quick to Fire bonus. You could also free up some points dropping a Skirmisher unit. With two Chameleon Skinks you probably don’t need TWO Skink Skirmishers. Then again using Skirmishers is more about practice, so having extra units may be a good idea for early games.

 

[Rhodium]

I’m not particularly great with these guys. I tend to prefer Chameleon Skinks because they have the better BS to take advantage of multiple shots and they can deploy forward farther meaning they usually get to shoot earlier. I tend to run my Skirmishers with javelins for the Move or Fire bonus. You could also free up some points dropping a Skirmisher unit. With two Chameleon Skinks you probably don’t need TWO Skink Skirmishers. Then again using Skirmishers is more about practice, so having extra units may be a good idea for early games.

Not to come across as rude!
But the skinks with the Javs have the quick to fire special rule , not move or fire special rule.
Obviously you knew this and just wrote the wrong name, but i thought it was best to say just incase a first time player got confused without clarification.

 

[Scalenex]

Oops, fixed the typo.

 

[Deflare]

You are half right. A Priest can’t carry the banner but the general is the one with the highest Ld who is not disqualified from being the general. A Scar Veteran BSB is disqualified for being the general (there are also a few oddball rules in other armies saying character X can never be your general). Thus the Skink Priest would be your general in such an army. His leadership would not help anything, but you would have a legal army. A Scar Veteran general’s leadership is exactly the same as regular Saurus so he only contributes his Ld to the Skroxigor and Skirmishing units (when they are close enough which is not frequent).

Oh, okay, I got my order of operations mixed up there. I thought general was determined, then potential BSB bearer, not the other way around. I'm not too worried about leadership issues with the Lizardmen, thanks to Cold-Blooded.

I’m not particularly great with these guys. I tend to prefer Chameleon Skinks because they have the better BS to take advantage of multiple shots and they can deploy forward farther meaning they usually get to shoot earlier. I tend to run my Skirmishers with javelins for the Quick to Fire bonus. You could also free up some points dropping a Skirmisher unit. With two Chameleon Skinks you probably don’t need TWO Skink Skirmishers. Then again using Skirmishers is more about practice, so having extra units may be a good idea for early games.

My thought with the Skink swarms is that I can keep one on either side of my Saurus blocks to support them and keep them from getting outflanked. Chameleons are too pricy and not numerous enough for the job; they're better as dedicated hunters. Blowpipes' rate of fire endears them to me, especially when I'm going for more 6's thanks to Jungle Poisons. That said, I don't really need two packs of Chameleons for the hunting job, and one of my flanks will have enough other stuff that I probably don't need the skirmishers over there. Time to trim for points.

My revised list:

Saurus Scar Veteran (Dawnstone, Enchanted Shield)
Saurus Scar Veteran (Battle Standard Bearer, Dragon Helm, Great Weapon)

Saurus Warriors (29x Saurus)
Saurus Warriors (29x Saurus)
Skink Skirmishers (10x Skinks)
Skink (25x Skinks, 3x Kroxigor)

Chameleon Skinks (7x Chameleons)

Salamander Hunting Pack (1x Salamander, Additional Handlers)
Salamander Hunting Pack (1x Salamander, Additional Handlers)

I was going to focus on building up more Saurus doom-blocks, but I realized I was setting up a pair of mighty anvils with no hammer. Current battle plan: Strong center of Saurus supplemented with Scar Veterans, Salamanders and Skrox on one flank, skirmishers on the other, Chameleons on Important Stuff-hunting duty. Engage enemy with central anvils, hammer with Skrox on a flank, use Salamanders and skirmishers to support.

Still feels wrong to ignore magic, but Slann are expensive and I'm not sure how to use/outfit a Skink Priest on its own.