AoS Hesitation for Army build help.

[TheKuznetsov]

Greetings, I did a post recently in Army List for a Fangs of Sotek build I wanted to make, however I soon realised that I poorly planned that build and decided to scrap it completely.

However, the subject I want to bring is to be frank as a newcommer. I feel quite intimidated by the choices of batallions we can chose for our cold blooded lizards. I am very new to the hobby in general and just started buying my army via the battleforce and the start collecting. Nothing is more scarier than buying units that will serve nothing in your builds personaly.

A build I saw people keep mentioning is Shadowstrike Starhost and Thunderquake Starhost. Both seem to have a good units and units I can afford with the budget I give myself. Plus with Malign Sorcery that enhanced magic way beyond. Im more hesitating in my builds.

Another thing I must point out is, Im not very familiar with their gameplay and strategy in general. Lets say a build of 2000 points to get a good idea. Also its obvious that a Slann will be the leader since hes our only magic user and the most important one.

Thank you and I patiently await your help

 

[LizardWizard]

It can be extremely intimidating to enter into the hobby. In terms of deciding which units to collect and what battalions to build towards there are several things to consider. Firstly, is what type of games are you hopping for. Do you want to play a tournaments? Are you looking to build an army around a central concept or character you have created? And who will you be playing with most often? Next you will need to decide how much you care about winning. Finally, you will need to decide how best to balance the type of play you are looking for with how much you care about winning. There are no wrong answers, this is your hobby enjoy it how you see fit.

If you are not looking to play in tournaments then there are really no wrong models. Collect units based on what seems the most cool to you. However, if you are wanting to build towards something that you can take to events then there are two main Battalions as you mentioned above. In my signature there is a link to are a number of AoS Seraphon list which I have posted and provided a brief overview of how they are designed to be used. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about them.

Best of luck as you venture further into Warhammer.

 

[TheKuznetsov]

It can be extremely intimidating to enter into the hobby. In terms of deciding which units to collect and what battalions to build towards there are several things to consider. Firstly, is what type of games are you hopping for. Do you want to play a tournaments? Are you looking to build an army around a central concept or character you have created? And who will you be playing with most often? Next you will need to decide how much you care about winning. Finally, you will need to decide how best to balance the type of play you are looking for with how much you care about winning. There are no wrong answers, this is your hobby enjoy it how you see fit.

If you are not looking to play in tournaments then there are really no wrong models. Collect units based on what seems the most cool to you. However, if you are wanting to build towards something that you can take to events then there are two main Battalions as you mentioned above. In my signature there is a link to are a number of AoS Seraphon list which I have posted and provided a brief overview of how they are designed to be used. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about them.

Best of luck as you venture further into Warhammer.

Well to start very easily, I tend to play with friends as of now casualy, and I intend in the future to play tournaments since I seem to be the only Seraphon player unless somebody comes out of hidding in my local area

I could also maybe state that indeed winning is important in games like these. But the gameplay im trying to find is questionnable at best. I tend to be agressive but not full on berzerk. Always ready for a plan B if things goes wrong and a bit Tactical-ish

 

[Scurvydog]

For all around play so far I enjoy the thunderquake the most and can make that work from 1500 pts and up (if you play with 2000-500 otherwise it has too many behemoths).

This is because I find the big dinosaurs to be a lot of fun, nice to collect and paint and just cool all around. The thunderquake makes use of that and still allows room for stuff like Terradons/rippers to compliment the list, so you can bring Jurassic park to the table and be competitive as well. (For reference the thunderquake is 1 lead dino, typically engine of the gods, but can also use a troglodon and then 2 additional big dinos, bastis or stegadons and finally a unit of either kroxigors or razordons+skink handlers.

You can be both defensive and aggressive with this and it is not too cheesy to put people of playing against you. In contrast I feel the shadowstrike, while powerful, can have that effect, if it works as intended it destroys the key component in your opponents army on your first turn. This can be extremely demoralizing and I don't use it often unless the agreement is to be very competitive. Experiences may vary though.

The other battalions are a bit more niche and only really works under specific conditions and unit compositions. Sunclaw is saurus warrior spam, and you absolutely need a unit of 40 and then at least 2 units of 10+ to get any value out of it. This is baseline 60 saurus models and they only work well in that battalion, so I think it is very limiting to go for this, unless you sit on cash to burn and got all other models aplenty.

Firelance works best with the Dracothions tail battalion from the generals handbook to make hard hitting first turn strikes. LizardWizard has an example of this used with a shadowstrike, but this is not really a beginner list to use I think.

 

[LizardWizard]

@Scurvydog Great overview of the battalions!

Hopefully our advice will give you some guidance.

 

[TheKuznetsov]

For all around play so far I enjoy the thunderquake the most and can make that work from 1500 pts and up (if you play with 2000-500 otherwise it has too many behemoths).

This is because I find the big dinosaurs to be a lot of fun, nice to collect and paint and just cool all around. The thunderquake makes use of that and still allows room for stuff like Terradons/rippers to compliment the list, so you can bring Jurassic park to the table and be competitive as well. (For reference the thunderquake is 1 lead dino, typically engine of the gods, but can also use a troglodon and then 2 additional big dinos, bastis or stegadons and finally a unit of either kroxigors or razordons+skink handlers.

You can be both defensive and aggressive with this and it is not too cheesy to put people of playing against you. In contrast I feel the shadowstrike, while powerful, can have that effect, if it works as intended it destroys the key component in your opponents army on your first turn. This can be extremely demoralizing and I don't use it often unless the agreement is to be very competitive. Experiences may vary though.

The other battalions are a bit more niche and only really works under specific conditions and unit compositions. Sunclaw is saurus warrior spam, and you absolutely need a unit of 40 and then at least 2 units of 10+ to get any value out of it. This is baseline 60 saurus models and they only work well in that battalion, so I think it is very limiting to go for this, unless you sit on cash to burn and got all other models aplenty.

Firelance works best with the Dracothions tail battalion from the generals handbook to make hard hitting first turn strikes. LizardWizard has an example of this used with a shadowstrike, but this is not really a beginner list to use I think.

If I go Thunderquake Im only wondering how many Saurus or Skinks I should lay on the field even so, Would kroxigors be worth it? Or how many bastilodon must I put?

 

[LizardWizard]

Here is how I run Thunderquake Starhost:

2000pt Thunderquake Starhost

Allegiance: Seraphon
- Mortal Realm: Ulgu

LEADERS:
Slann Starmaster (260)
- General
- Command Trait : Great Rememberer
- Artefact : Miasmatic Blade
Engine of the Gods (220)
- Artefact : Spellmirror
Saurus Astrolith Bearer (160)
Skink Starpriest (80)

UNITS:
40 x Skinks (240)
- Boltspitters & Star Bucklers
10 x Skinks (60)
- Boltspitters & Star Bucklers
10 x Skinks (60)
-Boltspitters & Star Bucklers
4 x Razordons (160)
3 x Skink Handlers (40)

BEHEMOTHS:
Bastiladon (280)
Bastiladon (280)

BATTALIONS:
Thunderquake Starhost (120)

ENDLESS SPELLS:
Balewind Vortex (40)

TOTAL: 2000/2000
EXTRA COMMAND POINTS: 1
WOUNDS: 118

A pretty standard Thunderquake Starhost. Just shoot things.

Spellmirror can get a lot of value in this list. Most of your army will be turtled within 8" of your EotG.

 

[TheKuznetsov]

Here is how I run Thunderquake Starhost:

Would it be wise to have Saurus Warriors?

 

[LizardWizard]

Would it be wise to have Saurus Warriors?

I prefer Skinks due largely to their point cost and the fact that they are ranged. Wary Fighter also makes them incredibly annoying for opponents to remove them from objectives.

 

[TheKuznetsov]

I prefer Skinks due largely to their point cost and the fact that they are ranged. Wary Fighter also makes them incredibly annoying for opponents to remove them from objectives.

How does Wary Fighter works?

 

[LizardWizard]

How does Wary Fighter works?

Wary Fighters: When it is this unit’s turn to pile in and attack, it can withdraw instead. Move each model in the unit up to 8", so that each one ends up at least 3" from the enemy.

This allows you to retreat from combat while still maintain superior numbers on objectives. Due to the order or rotation in combat selection it can make it extremely hard for your opponent to ever gain more than one objective a turn.

 

[TheKuznetsov]

Wary Fighters: When it is this unit’s turn to pile in and attack, it can withdraw instead. Move each model in the unit up to 8", so that each one ends up at least 3" from the enemy.

This allows you to retreat from combat while still maintain superior numbers on objectives. Due to the order or rotation in combat selection it can make it extremely hard for your opponent to ever gain more than one objective a turn.

And how would I use all of my units effectively and position them?

 

[Schwaaah]

And how would I use all of my units effectively and position them?

Let's say that you have a unit of skinks on objective A and another unit of skinks on objectiveB. Both are successfully charged. Your opponent fights the unit of skinks on Objective A. Now, you can choose to fight with your skinks on B, but instead of piling in, you wary fighter 3"+ away, but still close enough to hold the objective. Your opponent now would normally fight with the guys on B, but no longer can. So, if you have any skinks left on A, you get to fight with them or retreat. This can make large blobs of skinks almost impossible to remove.

It just makes combat really tricky for the opponent as they have to prioritize fighting skinks first or risk them running away. This also makes skinks excellent screening units as they can gum opponents up, but retreat allowing for you to counter charge easily. They are just fast, mobile, and surprisingly hard to kill in combat since they run away.