Slann
Scalenex
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A flying skink priest would be extremely potent with chain lightning. A flying Skink priest with Wind Blast is also potentially very useful. Odds of rolling the exact spell you want with a level one or two wizard are fairly low. Hence you don’t see too many flying skink priests in LM lists.
Regardless of what lore for a Slann I nearly always take lore mastery and the extra power dice. I've been pondering magic lores and army concepts that don't require lore mastery so I can save 50 points.
What about giving the Slann Heavens? Roll the Slann's spells first. If you roll Chain Lightning for the Slann, take the signature spell of Iceshard Blizzard instead. If you roll doubles for chain lightning, assign the double and turn the first one into the sig spell.
Cue the flying skink priest! Unless he rolls the one spell that isn't chain lightning or already possessed by the Slann he’ll get Chain Lightning now. A level one priest has a 5/6 chance of getting chain lightning. A level two priest or level one priest with the plaque of tepoc has a 100% of getting chain lightning.
If the Slann DIDN’T randomly roll chain lightning and your skink priest is level or two or has the plaque of Tepoc, you can swap Wind Blast out for Iceshard Blizzard. Now you have a good chance of getting a flying priest with BOTH the optimum spells for a flying skink priest.
Now you have a flying engine of destruction that doesn't have to be within 24" of the Slann to cast Chain Lightning and possibly Wind Blast in addition. The fifty points you saved from dropping the "standard" Slann discipline will indirectly subsidize about half of your skink priest's cost. You now have the deadliest skink in the universe at your disposal.
If your priest is singled out by enemy shooting or magic, the whole plan is for naught. A unit of skirmishers can keep him safe until he’s in position to blast things. In fact, a group of skirmishers is mobile enough you can just forgo the cloak of feathers and still have a fairly versatile Chain Lightning dispenser. If you didn’t take the Plaque of Tepoc (either because your flying priest is level two or because you chose to take a 5/6 chance of chain lightning instead of a 100% chance), you can take up to a 20 point defensive Talisman to make him slightly less vulnerable to shooting.
You only really need to get one good chain lightning cast to pay for the priest to pay for itself. (Remember the priest is effectively half cost because you saved 50 points on your Slann). If you can get a second (or third) chain lightning off before he is killed by missile fire or a miscast, the priest moves from paying for himself to distinguishing himself. You can afford to throw lots of dice at your priest without much fuss because he’s not going to cost you nearly as much on a miscast as a Slann will.
The trade off is you are stuck with lore of Heavens all game. Most LM players prefer other lores for their Slann. A Slann with Heavens is nothing to sneeze at, however. Slann usually slant combat in the LMs favor with hexes and augments and occasionally blast things. Heaven’s has two hexes and an augment spell, in addition to several damaging attacks. Make your opponent choose between dispelling Comet of Casandora and Chain Lightning and your odds of getting at least one super damaging spell off each turn are pretty high barring extremely unfavorable Winds of Magic rolls.
Regardless of what lore for a Slann I nearly always take lore mastery and the extra power dice. I've been pondering magic lores and army concepts that don't require lore mastery so I can save 50 points.
What about giving the Slann Heavens? Roll the Slann's spells first. If you roll Chain Lightning for the Slann, take the signature spell of Iceshard Blizzard instead. If you roll doubles for chain lightning, assign the double and turn the first one into the sig spell.
Cue the flying skink priest! Unless he rolls the one spell that isn't chain lightning or already possessed by the Slann he’ll get Chain Lightning now. A level one priest has a 5/6 chance of getting chain lightning. A level two priest or level one priest with the plaque of tepoc has a 100% of getting chain lightning.
If the Slann DIDN’T randomly roll chain lightning and your skink priest is level or two or has the plaque of Tepoc, you can swap Wind Blast out for Iceshard Blizzard. Now you have a good chance of getting a flying priest with BOTH the optimum spells for a flying skink priest.
Now you have a flying engine of destruction that doesn't have to be within 24" of the Slann to cast Chain Lightning and possibly Wind Blast in addition. The fifty points you saved from dropping the "standard" Slann discipline will indirectly subsidize about half of your skink priest's cost. You now have the deadliest skink in the universe at your disposal.
If your priest is singled out by enemy shooting or magic, the whole plan is for naught. A unit of skirmishers can keep him safe until he’s in position to blast things. In fact, a group of skirmishers is mobile enough you can just forgo the cloak of feathers and still have a fairly versatile Chain Lightning dispenser. If you didn’t take the Plaque of Tepoc (either because your flying priest is level two or because you chose to take a 5/6 chance of chain lightning instead of a 100% chance), you can take up to a 20 point defensive Talisman to make him slightly less vulnerable to shooting.
You only really need to get one good chain lightning cast to pay for the priest to pay for itself. (Remember the priest is effectively half cost because you saved 50 points on your Slann). If you can get a second (or third) chain lightning off before he is killed by missile fire or a miscast, the priest moves from paying for himself to distinguishing himself. You can afford to throw lots of dice at your priest without much fuss because he’s not going to cost you nearly as much on a miscast as a Slann will.
The trade off is you are stuck with lore of Heavens all game. Most LM players prefer other lores for their Slann. A Slann with Heavens is nothing to sneeze at, however. Slann usually slant combat in the LMs favor with hexes and augments and occasionally blast things. Heaven’s has two hexes and an augment spell, in addition to several damaging attacks. Make your opponent choose between dispelling Comet of Casandora and Chain Lightning and your odds of getting at least one super damaging spell off each turn are pretty high barring extremely unfavorable Winds of Magic rolls.
