I think thats a bit of an overreaction, lets take a look at what the dread saurian actually does:
(Rules found here for the uninitiated-
https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Aos-Dread-Saurian.pdf )
Mobility
With a max move of 10", that decreases as it takes damage, the Saurian is average at best. Far less than the likes of other big hitters such as Alarielle, or other Behemoth heroes with the same points cost (GK on Terrorgheist/Zombie dragon for example). True, you can summon this so you can deploy it closer to your opponent, but you're more than likely going to fail either the cast roll or the charge roll, not to mention that our Slann should arguably never be close enough to aggressively summon like this in.
This issue doubles down when you see that it doesn't have a ranged attack or ability in any form, so it
has to rely on its shoddy movement range to even get in any attacks.
Damage
4 attacks at -3/D6, and 2D6/-1/1. Pretty good, but I am not overly impressed. I always dislike random damage as it can sometimes wiff horribly, but a max damage potential of 6 on a -3 is not bad. Most importantly it provides another source of high rend that we actually seriously lack, the only contender off the top of my head are salamanders and the Steg. Lets compare it to its competitors at the same points cost- the Ghoul king on TG/ZD.
Ghoul king on Zombie Dragon: 5/3+/3+/-1/1 \\\ 3/4+/3+/-2/D6 \\\ 7/4+/3+/-1/2
Max Damage output for zombie dragon- 37. Max damage output for Dread Saurian: 36.
So you see, not even massively damaging (bonus points to zombie dragon as it has a ranged attack too).
Flexibility
Atrocious. Run at enemy, hit enemy. That's pretty much it. The only other vaguely interesting ability it has is the -2 to bravery- that offers some great opportunities for breaking elite units when combined with the Saurus Warriors' banners. Now, when we compare that to Kroq-Gar (Oldblood on Carno), we see a huge disparity. The Oldblood has a great command ability, so instanty becomes a force multiplier for your army. He also has a ranged attack with rend, always useful. His carno also has a
better battleshock ability, with a higher chance of forcing elite units to crumble. He also has great mobility options, with the ability to run and charge after a kill. And he's 80 points cheaper. The Dread Saurian? No force multipliers, no ranged attacks, an ok battleshock ability, no movement options.
Survivability
With a 3+ save and 16 wounds, the Saurian is pretty intimidating to take down- its actually the same statline as Alarielle in that regard. It also has a regen ability, although it only works in combat. No immunity to rend, and no 'mortal wound' saves however, does cost it somewhat. On a psychological level, your opponent is going to see this on the table and point all their killiest stuff at it. Unfortunately, its decent survivablity is hobbled by its average movement, so it would likely get reduced to thin red paste before it gets close to your opponent.
- - - - -
So, after that pummeling I gave the poor Dread Saurian, I feel like I can say that it is pretty fairly costed. It has exciting damage potential, but it is simply too random to be reliable in killing important targets. Its healing ability is nice, but it relies on you being in combat, and it can be a very long walk to get there.
Now, I'm not saying never take this model (although in small friendly games, it would be a nice geature to perhaps leave him at home), but it just isn't this god-tier forge world cheese that people seem to think he is. It has some really fun synergies ( such as amber wizard + starpriest = 2D6 damage at -3rend on a 5+) but it is not the end of army comp as we know it. To be perfectly honest, I would rather take a Bastiladon and a Starpriest for the same points cost 9/10 times, but there we go.
My god this is what happens when I have too much time on a saturday morning
