8th Ed. Introduction + starting out on a large scale (3000 pt)

[Wadjet]

Hail!

First of all, sorry if this first post is a bit of a monster, but since the questions I have regarding my army are building up on eachother, I figured it'd be the safer bet to pile them up here instead of spamming the forums with it. Sorry if I've violated any forum regulations - if so, I'll try to correct them ASAP.

I've been collecting LM for a while now, fulfilling a childhood dream. They were the first Warhammer army I've encountered and found them highly pleasing visually. (I'm a bit saddened by the fact that GW decided to move away from bronze shields, but there are ways to work around that IMO).

I will go with a desert theme for my LM, utilizing mostly browns, reds and yellows. A good example for the colors I'm aiming at is this picture of a coastal taipan:

http://www.theaustralianbookofrecords.com/records/l_38341909_coastal-taipan snake.jpg

Fluff wise there could be a temple city in the Copper Desert or even the former Nehekhara, though there is a tendency amongst the Slann to create lush jungles wherever
they settle.

While assembling my quite extensive collection I've ran into some problems regarding decision making.

Even though I'm a notorious theorycrafter, being completely new to W* I can only apply my RL strategic knowledge (regarding flanking, charging, terrain usage) to the army I'm building, despite reading through most of the discussions on a few forums. Read: I have a general idea on how most units work and what role they are supposed to fill, but I'm only barely familiar with W40k statlines either, so I can't really judge the exact strength and durability of certain units. The same goes for magic and artifacts, which are a quite integral part of LM gameplay.

My avaliable models are:

1 Slann Mage Priest
2 Skink Priests

10 Skink Skirmishers (blowpipes)
10 Skinks (javelins)
30 Skinks (unassembled)

62 Saurus (hand weapons+shield/musician+standard bearer 3 each)
1 Saurus Scar Vet/Oldblood on Cold One
1 Saurus Scar Vet/Oldblood on foot

20 Temple Guard (unassembled, 18+musician+standard bearer)

10 Cold One Riders (unassembled, would like to switch to DE Cold Ones)
3 Terradon Riders (fireleech bolas)

1 Stegadon
1 Stegadon (unassembled, would like to go Ancient with EOTG)
1 Bastiladon (half assembled, may magnetize, otherwise Solar Engine)


This selection almost scratches the 3000 point mark with bare-bones point costs alone, so it seems to be quite obvious that I'd need to cut down on some stuff to kit out characters/units effectively.

Units I'd like to include:
Carnosaur+Rider (not neccessarily Kroq'Gar)
Tetto'Eko
Kroxigors

My questions:

1. Basing and Unit sizes

I own an unopened GW regiment base kit and a 20 man regiment base for a smaller saurus unit. The other unit will most likely be a horde comprising 40 Saurus. My questions regard bunkers, with which I don't really have experience. The first is a TG bunker of 20+Slann, which means the base should be for 24 units. The only way I see this working is 6*4, but I might be wrong on that. The second bunker would be for Tetto'Eko, which I find considerably harder to do, since the Skink bases are smaller. I thought about bunkering him inside a unit of about 30 javelin Skinks, any suggestions on this?

2. Tetto'Eko and his bunker (continued)

This brings me to the next question. Are shields on the Skinks actually relevant in protecting our cosmic visionary? I imagine the unit won't be prancing around too often because there is no need to, so maybe blowpipes wouldn't be too bad?

SSSSSSSS
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26 Skinks + Tetto'Eko

3. Kroxigors

I really like the fluff and idea of them, but the discussions on various forums didn't help too much in figuring out if they were a good choice. They hit pretty hard (S7 is huge, even in 40k), so I figured there might be some synergy between them and flamin' Terradons in taking down ugly things like Hydras or Trolls, but I'm a bit unsure on their usage.

SSSSSSSSSS
SSKKKKKKSS
SSKKKKKKSS
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24 Skinks + 3 Kroxigors

Is there merit in taking a unit like this? Maybe with a priest to buff them?

Many thanks in advance.

Wadjet

 

[Ondjage]

Now THIS is a first post! Welcome to the forum and the hobby! Why did you choose to start off with such a massive amount of models? Your'e looking at hundreds and hundreds of hours painting all of that

Anyways, great start! I'll try to answer some of your questions:

1. While 6 wide is a very reasonable formation, you should not choose it because it is visually pleasing. Having the unit 5 wide, the Slann sitting slightly to the side and a few odd models not filling the back rank out, might be better. Don't let visual preference hinder your tactical choices! However, 6 wide is a perfectly sound formation, much used for TG and saurus blocks.


2. Jav+shield is by far the most popular and easy-to-use choice for skink skirmishers, because of the quick to fire special rule and the low BS they have (blowpipes using multiple shots will very often bet at 7+ to hit, disabling their poisoned attacks special rule). The extra defensive capacity the shield gives is also decent, giving the little skinks a 5+ armour save and a 6+ close combat ward save.

I definitively recommend javelin+shield for skink skirmishers, especially if you use them as a bunker for a character.

You should also consider whether you want to use a skirmisher unit or a cohort as your bunker, both choices have pros and cons.

Note that skink cohorts (tight formation) cannot use blowpipes.


3. I have no experience using kroxigor, so I'll let someone else answer this



Good luck with the army! I'm looking forward to seeing some painted models from you, the colour scheme sounds great.

 

[Wadjet]

Thank you very much for the quick answer!

Starting out this big was quite a gamble, and I didn't get to build/paint anything since mid September because of work. In the past 2 weeks I've been able to assemble most of my stuff though, only a Stegadon, a few Skinks and my TG remain.

To your answers:

1. You are likely right about taking the minimum width. I thought it was 6 at first, because I've seen quite some people deploy that way. What's the reason TG or Saurus should be deployed like that?

As for 5 wide or 6 wide on Saurus-base units, I might build 1-2 5*6 regiment bases so it wouldn't matter. The problem are the Skinks, which have smaller bases and aren't usually in a tight formation. Does the 5 wide rule apply to them as well?

2. Sounds reasonable, thanks. Though it'd be hilarious if the 6+ shield ward would be able to miraculously stop a cannonball ^^

3. I'll just wait for someone else to answer that. The problem I see with Kroxigors is their T4 and their low I. For the cost of 3 Kroxigors I could take almost 5 additional Terradons for example. I wonder where they could bring their S7 to bear though. With so many unbelievably awesome options to make "counts as" models for them, I'd really like to include some.

 

[Kblock]

I am also looking forward to seeing some of your painted models. It takes me quite a while to get to painting with all the other things going on in my life, but I enjoy it, and enjoy seeing others Lizardmen models.

1. I like running my TG 6 wide because it gives me 12 S5 attacks with Predatory Fighter and 18 total attacks with the supporting attacks from rank 2. Running 5 wide with 20 TG is 3 fewer attacks and does not quite give you an extra rank compared to running 6 wide. 21 TG x 5 wide would gain the extra rank, but is still fewer attacks. This is all based on having a Slann in the TG unit.

IN larger games, you can also run the Saurus 6 wide for the extra attacks in a large unit. In smaller pt. games, (under 2000) I do run my Saurus 5 wide sometimes to get the extra ranks. This helps in combat resolution.

Skinks still gain a rank from having 5 models across. This is true for the Cohorts, and for Skirmishers if they have to go into CC. When Skirmishers get into CC they automatically close ranks to a tight formation.

2. I agree with Ondjage on the javelins vs. blowpipes. I have Skink Skirmishers with both, and I have to be more careful with the blowpipe units movement in order to still get the poison attacks.

3. I have not used Kroxigor. I do not have any of the models yet. I usually read about players using them in Skink Cohort units. Someone else will have to give advice on them.