8th Ed. new lizardmen player - 800 point escalation league

[protomane0]

hey guys, i'm new to lizardmen (not new to fantasy although I've been out of it for most of 8th) and my local GW is doing an escalation league. my friend has been incessantly nagging me to get back into it, so I'm using this chance to get back into the game with a fresh start (my last army was empire.... all I'm gonna say is green stuff. cobblestone. bases...)
I've got the book and nabbed a set of the magic cards, and have been planning out 800 points over the past few days, each day bringing a few more ideas. anyway onto the list I've planned out at the moment:

Heroes
Skink priest
level 2 wizard

Core
Saurus warriors x 20
full command
(H/W + shields)

Skink skirmishers x 10
(javelins and shields)

Skinks skirmishers x 10
(javelins and shields)

special
Temple guard x20
full command

works out as 800 points on the noggin

Anyway, any comments or criticisms will be welcomed with an open mind, i have about 2 weeks left until i get paid, and get money from selling my empire, so i will be buying the 800 points then and will most likely have an extra £50 or so for the next few hundred points.

its probably good to note that by the time i can start the army the league will have moved onto 1000 point games (im joining a bit late), so ideas for expansion will be good too =D

thanks in advance, proto

 

[MHK Pathfinder]

At this point size, I'm not really keen on a unit of 10 Temple Guard. Your saurus will fill the role of taking damage and holding up other units. I'd like to see either a fast-moving unit (a skink cohort unit with 2 kroxigor, or a unit of 5 Cold one Riders) or a big ol' monster (at 150 points, I love the bastiladon in smaller engagements).

Or, if you want some artillery, a couple salamanders might do nicely, but I'd pick one of the above options before salamanders

Substituting your temple guard for one of these other options will allow you much more freedom in how you play the army.


Those are just my thoughts, though. There are many viable ways to play Lizardmen (and I'm not that experienced, I'll admit). But those are some of the combinations I've had success with thus far.

Good luck, and keep us informed on what you decide (and, of course, how it turns out.).

 

[Zee Deveel]

I feel like the Bastiladon would be hard to deal with at this level, it'd give you a useful bound spell, it'd be extremely hard to kill and as unit sizes are small it wouldn't be so likely to lose combat and run away.

Ripperdactyls should be lethal too, with the small unit sizes at unit of 3-4 should shred things.

I'd definitely drop the Ruby RoR and make the priest lvl 2, gives you +1 on all your cast/dispel rolls in addition to an extra spell. Beasts could be a good option.

I second 10 TG being a bit "meh".

 

[protomane0]

OK... so i took your point about the temple guard.... and i may have flipped it on its head.... 20 temple guard... and honestly my main reasoning behind this is the way i wanna build the army, more importantly the order i wanna build it.... probably should have put this into the OP... sorry =p. anyway, i wanna get all the stuff i'll more than likely be using every game, by the time i get to big points i'll be using bigger blocks of saurus and temple guard (will probs max at 30 temple guard but anything can change between now and 2000 points ;p). i'd like to get the core of a bigger army finished sooner rather than later so i can get the flashy stuff later...

all the above and.... I REALLY LOVE TEMPLE GUARD!!!! they're just so awesome.... anyway, i shall amend the first post with my new list (i also noticed a big problem with the first list.... its illegal ;p (the skink priest and the scar vet go over the 25% limit for heroes... oops ;p)

 

[MHK Pathfinder]

Play your list and see how you like it.

I have two concerns with your new list: First, it's basically two blocks of units (with two small skirmisher units). You will have to look out for flanking charges, which WILL happen. And second, you're list is slow-moving. Your list can't threaten or re-direct the enemy unless they're within that small charge distance of your saurus/TG.

I love temple guard. The models are fantastic. The unit is good. But at nearly 300 points, you could have a bastiladon AND a unit of CoR, which gives you mobility, fear, a tough monster, AND an excellent bound spell. This opens up your ability to threaten the enemy in different phases of the game, get them out of position, and hit them with some spells to soften them up.

That's how I would play it. That said, it's a game, so play it like you want to and have fun with it!