even though I don't have anywhere near your numbers
I got roughly the same amount of skinks as you
I know it's a lot, lol! But when I got into the hobby I went all-in on searching Ebay and sites like TheTrollTrader for cheaper, second-hand models, since there was no way I could afford to buy everything at GW prices. I think the only models I've bought directly from them were Kroak and the Starblood Stalkers, just because I wanted to support new Lizardmen models. Since I'm more into the gaming side of the hobby, having already assembled or even already painted models isn't a big deal for me (as long as the paint job is good)
However, I am a little perplexed that GW both made Kroak a cool new model and reduced his table play at the same time, at least for tournaments.
While other armies like Tzeentch had dominated the game for longer than we did, and armies like KO dominated it harder than we did, at the end of 2nd edition Lord Kroak was the single most hated *unit* in the entire game. GW had probably been working on his new model for a while, but with all of the internet rage about how game-breakingly ridiculously OP Kroak was, we were all expecting an overall nerf to his stats even when his new model was announced. I'm just surprised he made it through so many FAQs without getting nerfed to the ground...
I honestly hope some books do keep some of the more unique sub allegiance breakdowns they have. I really like how seraphon has two distinct halves and would be bummed if they lost that. Same with their general play strategy, I'd really hate for them to just become another "has good scrolls" army.
I really hope they keep the sub allegiance abilities as well. I think others were pointing out that judging from the new Stormcast, Orruk and Nurgle battletomes, it looks like sub-allegiances basically give you one bonus thing in AoS 3. So for example, I could see them doing something like Fangs of Sotek: Skinks get a 6in pre-game move. Dracothion's Tail: Deploy half your army in reserve. Koatl's Claw: Saurus get +1 to hit on charge. Thunder Lizards: Stegs are battleline and monsters get +2 wounds. No more unique command abilities, no more double-firing bastiladons, no more Skinks shooting and retreating. And of course no more unique command traits or artifacts.
That would suck, but it's in line with what they're giving other sub-allegiances, unfortunately. So either our buff stacking needs to be moved other areas like the core subfaction abilities, or we will suffer massively without an overall stat buff. I like the difference between Starborne and Coalesced, especially since Coalesced has gotten more viable. And I think that they will keep these basic subfactions. But if they follow the same examples they've shown so far, they're going to take a lot of the flavor out of the Constellations, and without the specific buffs that those subfactions give out our army will be nerfed hard.
What they could and should do if they plan to go that route is make our base Seraphon and subfaction abilities much better. Since their way to try and counter save-stacking is giving everyone and their mother's aunt's cousin ways to dump loads of mortal wounds, they'll need to do something similar to us. Maybe making all Coalesced units do a mortal wound on 6s to hit, get +1 rend on all weapons, while also allowing Scaly Skin to apply to mortal wounds would make up for losing the special abilities of Thunder Lizards, while also making Saurus viable again since our "bucket of dice" attack style of our infantry would actually be good again. Allowing Starborne to accumulate conjuration points faster would go a long way. And they could also do something like adding +1 to casting for all Starborne wizards or some other way of improving their magic.
Of course, that's all assuming that they want to keep our abilities and playstyle the same while also not buffing our base stats much if at all. They could go for a complete overhaul. I think it would be unnecessary, but if they really are planning on releasing a lot of updated models then I could definitely see them going for a complete rework that might unfortunately end up being OP to help sell said models...
Mazdamundi on steg would be an instabuy!
Yes! Give us a mounted wizard that's actually good at his job! (Also buff the poor Troglodon, but mounted Slann is absolutely needed!)
