8th Ed. New player - 1500pts vs skaven - need help

[Pinktaco]

Hi

So I'm a completely new player. I've owned Vapire Counts before, but never actually played the game. Me and my friends, however, decided to start again. So we're 4 friends in all, 1 high elf, 1 wood elf and 1 skaven player. Obviously I'm a soon-to-be lizardmen player.

So I finally got myself the 7th edition army book and 8th edition rule book, which made things a bit easier for me.

I've thought of an army list to fight against my friend who plays skaven, but I think that I need some help with it.

Here's what I've come up with:

Slann
Focus of mystery, the focused rumination, BSB

Scar Vet
Cold one, light armour, enhanched shield, burning blade of chotec

Scar vet
enhanched shield

25 x Saurus warrior with full command
10 x skinks

8 x cameleon skinks
1 x stegadon

2 x salamander + one additional handler for each

So the way I see it is that with 1500pts I need at least 375pts in core units along. With a slann in the army I figured it would be too cost heavy to have a TG + slann unit along with 375pts core units, at least if I want the TGs to be any kind of effiecient.

So from what I can understand is that if I want my slann to be protected in a unit of saurus I'll have to make sure that he cannot be in the front row. This means that I'll have to go 5 unit wide with full command and one scar vet. This'll put him in the second row and since the he's on his palanquin and the 8th edition LOS he's still able to cast his magic.

Here's what I don't understand though. Once the saurus block is engaged in close quarter combat what will happen once my saurus starts to die? What I mean is in what ordre do they die. For instance will it always be the regular saurus that'll die first so that the command unit and scar vet unit is left intact/for last? Because there's not much point in doing this if the slann will be in front row after first round of combat because the musician died.

My other issue is that I don't really feel like I have a lot of .. reliable killing power besides the saurus warriors. I mean the number of skinks are rather low and originally I wanted to fit in 16 skinks with 2 kroxigors, but that's just not possible as it is now.

So the real issue here, I think, is whether or not I should keep the stegadon. it takes up a lot of points and without it I would be able to field another 6 skirmish skinks and a unit of 16 skinks and 2 kroxigors.
Also, I don't know if the second scar vet is under-equipped. I gave him the enhanched shield because I'm sort of uncertain what would fit him the most in the saurus unit with slann - again this also depends on who that'll die first in combat.

My army list appear to, at least in my eyes, consist of as much crap as possible without necessarily being good at anything. I would really want to have both a slann, stegadon and salamanders in my army list, but they're all expensive units. Hell I would also like to through kroxigors into the mix, but It would appear that I'll have to wait until my friends and I are capable of playing with 2000-2500 points armies.

Anyways, what's you guys thoughts on it ? How will it fare against a skaven player?

 

[david l]

Re: New player - need all the help I can get (1500-2000pts)

High elves get a new army book in 6 days, so any advice against them should be taken with great skepticism.

general answer is simple - take a Slann with Life or Light with rumination. Mounted scar-vets are good, so are salamanders. Skink skirmishers are great. Saurus and SKrox work in big units, but ddon't expect them to stand up to elite enemies. Ancient stegadons are pretty goo, baby stegs less so. Both are vulnerable to cannons, but with those enemies you only face the Skaven WLC, which iisn't such as good at killing stegs as a regular cannon.

 

[newscales]

Re: New player - need all the help I can get (1500-2000pts)

until we get a new book, the saurus cavalry too many points for too little return. Our cav is a definite weakpoint. That said, Scarvets and old bloods on them make effective war machine hunters, and are great in the flank of other units just ripping things to bits.

slann is going to be better lord points in 2500 and smaller games than kroq just because you need a L4 caster and we have one of the best. When you are in larger games, a carnosaur can be brought with the slann and then you can wreak havoc

Our saurus core is resilient and strong 4+ AS and 4S/T. against other core (other than OK, WoC) we are very intimidating. the WS3 sucks, but thats core for you.

skins and sallies = win.

 

[Pinktaco]

Re: New player - need all the help I can get (1500-2000pts)

So am I to understand that a scar vet on cold one is good at hunting warmachines just by himself?

 

[Pinktaco]

Re: New player - need all the help I can get (1500-2000pts)

Skinks vs cameleons? I get that cameleons are better albeit more expensive so when do you mostly use them? I suppose they both do the same job.

 

[david l]

Re: New player - need all the help I can get (1500-2000pts)

Scar-vets on cold ones are just good, period. Sure they can be killed by war machines, but so can lots of other things. Traditional war machines can be killed by traditional war machine hunters (terradons, skinks), but those light units have almost no value against the huge war machines in recent army books (ogres, daemons). A scar-vet can actually fight those, not lose immediately, and maybe kill them.

Chameleons are often useful because they often force your enemy to react to their potential in deployment. But a good opponent should should very rarely allow an ideal scouting position, so investing lots of points in chameleons is typically not a good idea. Regular skinks should make up the bulk of your skirmishers because you get more of them for the points, and they are just as good at their primary purpose of diversion.

 

[Pinktaco]

So I finally got myself the 7th edition army book and 8th edition rule book, which made things a bit easier for me.

I've thought of an army list to fight against my friend who plays skaven, but I think that I need some help with it.

Here's what I've come up with:

Slann
Focus of mystery, the focused rumination, BSB

Scar Vet
Cold one, light armour, enhanched shield, burning blade of chotec

Scar vet
enhanched shield

25 x Saurus warrior with full command
10 x skinks

8 x cameleon skinks
1 x stegadon

2 x salamander + one additional handler for each

So the way I see it is that with 1500pts I need at least 375pts in core units along. With a slann in the army I figured it would be too cost heavy to have a TG + slann unit along with 375pts core units, at least if I want the TGs to be any kind of effiecient.

So from what I can understand is that if I want my slann to be protected in a unit of saurus I'll have to make sure that he cannot be in the front row. This means that I'll have to go 5 unit wide with full command and one scar vet. This'll put him in the second row and since the he's on his palanquin and the 8th edition LOS he's still able to cast his magic.

Here's what I don't understand though. Once the saurus block is engaged in close quarter combat what will happen once my saurus starts to die? What I mean is in what ordre do they die. For instance will it always be the regular saurus that'll die first so that the command unit and scar vet unit is left intact/for last? Because there's not much point in doing this if the slann will be in front row after first round of combat because the musician died.

My other issue is that I don't really feel like I have a lot of .. reliable killing power besides the saurus warriors. I mean the number of skinks are rather low and originally I wanted to fit in 16 skinks with 2 kroxigors, but that's just not possible as it is now.

So the real issue here, I think, is whether or not I should keep the stegadon. it takes up a lot of points and without it I would be able to field another 6 skirmish skinks and a unit of 16 skinks and 2 kroxigors.
Also, I don't know if the second scar vet is under-equipped. I gave him the enhanched shield because I'm sort of uncertain what would fit him the most in the saurus unit with slann - again this also depends on who that'll die first in combat.

My army list appear to, at least in my eyes, consist of as much crap as possible without necessarily being good at anything. I would really want to have both a slann, stegadon and salamanders in my army list, but they're all expensive units. Hell I would also like to through kroxigors into the mix, but It would appear that I'll have to wait until my friends and I are capable of playing with 2000-2500 points armies.

Anyways, what's you guys thoughts on it ? How will it fare against a skaven player?