8th Ed. How powerful is the Slann?

[Joe]

Can someone explain why people are still complaining about blowing temple guard up when the Slann doesn't need to sit in them?

And of you put him to one side of the unit you save 4 TG when he blows (on anything above 2-4)

And we can take earthing rods and souls of stone?

You place it in the TG unit because is the best way to protect it form the danger, it is designed to be there. You can have it on his own if you want, but it is too slow and also vulnerableo ranged attacks.

Even if you place him on the side ofthe unit (wich looks awkward), you would still kill way too many expensive guys.

You can take that item and power to reduce the damage, but the problem is that every misscast result is catastrophic except for 8-9 wich just almost kill the Skink Priest you kinda need to take to make up for the lack of mobility of the Slann. Every other result kills a lot of TG or turns the Slann into a crappy mage. And probably you would need that Arcane Item slot for something else.

The Slann needs and deserves either having his own miscast table or an effective way to avoid miscasting.

But you can take him out and put him in a Skink unit for that key turn of 6 dicing spells, and then back to safety for the combat. The thing is, in long range you will want to throw all those big 6 dice spells, but when the close combat time is coming, you go back to the TG unit, and start throwing those 2-3 dice buff/debuff spells.

I find this Slann/TG problem much more challenging and fun than before, and not that bad for us.

Anyway, I stopped using TGs. My main hammer is a CoR delivery system for the Cowboys, with an "as cheap as possible" Slann in a 10 Skink skirmishers unit. And if things go wrong, and I need to fall back, I can put all my heroes in my 30 Saurus, leaving the Slann in the second rank.

 

[Man0waR]

Also you can field your Lore of Heaven Slann in a corner of the battlefield far from any harm and buy 3+ naked Skink priest lvl1.

Roll first the spells of 2 skinks and if you get any damage spell swap it to signature.
Then roll your 4 spells with slann in order to get Cassandora's comet and some other damage spell.

6 dice every turn boosted Comet. Arcane Vassal dmg spells. March block / redirect unit on the mid of the battlefield. Watch Armageddon as comets fall.

Feel the power of the Slann as the whole battlefield die.

 

[JuQ]

...Slann in a 10 Skink skirmishers unit...

That is interesting. Are the skinks still skirmishers when the slann joins them? The slan type is infantry but he is not on foot, so I'm not sure about that.


@Man0waR You can only make all your swappings and elections for duplicates after all spells have been rolled. So if you roll with your low level mage the spell you need for your lvl4, you may be screwed.

 

[Joe]

...Slann in a 10 Skink skirmishers unit...

That is interesting. Are the skinks still skirmishers when the slann joins them? The slan type is infantry but he is not on foot, so I'm not sure about that.


@Man0waR You can only make all your swappings and elections for duplicates after all spells have been rolled. So if you roll with your low level mage the spell you need for your lvl4, you may be screwed.

As far as I know, they are, and that's why I do that. If you stay at a safe distance, you'll have a 10 inch skirmishing bunker, that will save you from 1-2 spells, 3-5 cannon balls, etc. (because when their are 5 or less skinks left, you lose all the protection).

It's a light protection, but if you understand what you are doing risk can be managed and minimized. After all, 8th is about odds of success and failure. Stay with a 50%+ success and you will win more than you lose in every phase. This added to tactics is what gives you the edge, and what most 8th haters can't understand.

 

[T_Saurus]

...Slann in a 10 Skink skirmishers unit...

@Man0waR You can only make all your swappings and elections for duplicates after all spells have been rolled. So if you roll with your low level mage the spell you need for your lvl4, you may be screwed.

That's not true. According to the BRB p. 162 under Spell Generation

If your army includes more than one Wizard you can choose the order in which you generate their spells

 

[JuQ]

I "studied" that part of the book of a friend and we finally got to the conclusion that you should roll the spells for each wizard in the order you want, then choose spells for the duplicates and then swap for identificative spells.
But it is unclear the way it is worded.

Do you guys do the process as I described or do you make the steps separately for each wizard?

 

[hdctambien]

Do you guys do the process as I described or do you make the steps separately for each wizard?

I believe you are supposed to roll for spells, swap duplicate rolls, and swap for signature spell for each wizard one at a time. If you read the example of Jervis' Level 4 Celestial Wizard on BRB Pg 490 in italic text it seems to spell that out pretty clearly.

 

[Sleboda]

One wizard at a time. Never seen it played differently, tbh.

 

[cwalker]

Heck - if you want to get crazy take Tekko and a Heavens Priest - MOAR COMETS!!!

Flood the field with skinks - you won't have any fortitude though - unless you take lots of skink cohorts with banners.