So far, we have covered all the "core" troops (Warriors, Guards, Kinghts and Skinks), plus a couple of special ones (Kroxigor and Chama skinks).
What are we still missing? of course, the:
LUSTRIAN AIR FORCES
We have 2 units: Terradons and Ripperdactyls.
Rippers are better at straight up damage, as well as area control control with the toad. They are the quintessential glass cannon.
Terradons are better to harass the enemy and targeting weak units, while someone else does the hard work.
In the end, you can build an army around rippers, and probably around rippers and terradons, while terradons-only it's hard (they are a useful add-on).
So:
RIPPERS
I'm not going to discuss how you should attack or use your rippers (it has been debated in different threads), I'm taking it for granted, so I'm going to focus on how you should build an army around them.
Especially with toads, they can deliver so much attacks that they're going to shred any opponent will be on their way, so, with enough of them, you can effectively kill an army. You can use them as assassins, monster hunters, horde killers... the only thing they cannot do is to fight defensively.
Should I use a Formation?
They have the Shadowstrike Starhost. It gives them "hidden in the clouds" which is golden. At least one is mandatory (and you'll see really why in the next point).
For the other units of the formation, pick at least one of basic skink unit.
How many should I field?
They work better with toads. Toads works also as battlefield control and negate areas. The more toads you place, the better.
However, you can place the toads only in your first hero phase, so if you summon in the other turns a unit of rippers, you have to work with the toads already on the battlefield.
So, you need to maximize the number of units at the beginning.
The minimum for a unit is 3 rippers.
If you don't have at least 6 rippers, avoid the idea.
With two units of rippers, you can place 3 toads.
(Wait, what? Killer Angel, i'm not sure I'm following you...)
the trick is: you field the 3+3 rippres on the battlefield. Then you declare that the third unit is "hidden in the clouds" tnx to the formation. By rules, you don't have to field it, they're nowhere: You place them only when they attack. But 3 toads will be on the battlefield.
You attack with your already placed rippers, when the first unit will die, you recycle them as the unit's formation, and swoop from the sky.
The minimum number for such an army should be 2 units + 1 in the sky.
Better if 3 +1 (or 4+1, or 4+2...)
What heroes are good for them?
Skink Priest / Starpriest: useful, but you'll have more 'cause it's included in the formation, rather than a real need.
Slann Starmaster: no doubt here… you need constellations (you'll see why more in details later), and you need summons. Because yeah, you will attack with rippers every turn, the enemy will kill them, and you will summon them again. On the battlefield, you will have every turn your whole number of rippers models! to win, you must drown you enemy in a rain of vicious beaks
Starseer: re-roll dices and curse of fate. you will need them, as explained in the tactic.
Skink Chief (it's in the original battlescrolls): if you use him, he’ll be the general, his command ability gives a +1 to hit to a Skink unit. You need to have a unit available during the hero phase, and that's why many of your rippers are already on the battlefield.
Eternity Warden: could help your Slann to stay alive. field him if you can, it's not mandatory.
Olblood (on foot); an alternative to skink chief as general. You'll see why in the tactic.
The tactic
Toad will cover hot spots in the battlefield: put one near your first target, one or two between you and the enemy to redirect him (or upon objectives, if you play with them), and
absolutely put a toad just in front of your Slann. Toads are a key to win, they move slowly, so you should try to cover as much terrain as you can.
You'll do wave attacks with rippers, annihilating targets one by one. Use the ones hidden in the clouds to assassinate protected targets in the rearline. For "standard" combat, when you throw your rippers at a horde / monsters / a couple of near targets, buff the heck out of the attacking unit: with Skink Chief you will hit at 3+ and wound at 3+, re-rolling. On a re-roll to hit of 2, use Curse of fate.
The Slann will stay in the rearlines, at 1" from the toad, casting summons to replenish the rippers that will be surely killed by retaliation (remember, they're glass cannons), and so on.
Use the skinks unit to form a wall around you Slann: he won't be engaged in CC, and attacking units will stop against the skinks. In your turn, you'll have the toad and a unit of ripper will charge furiously who dared to come near your precious Slann.
If enemies are too much numerous, don't fear to sacrifice a ripper unit as chaff, in the following turn you will summon the killed ones.
At a certain point, you'll need to summon rippers and have them immediately in combat. This is tricky, summoned rippers are placed at 9" distance from the enemy, and they cannot move in the movement hase. However, they can charge... but rolling 9 is not so immediate, how can we improve our chances? Well, you summon them in the hero phase, so they are eligible targets for spells and general abilities. With the constellation Hunter's steed, you have a +1 on charge (rippers reroll by themselves, you don't need the Great Drake), and with curse of fate, you could have another +1: you only need to roll a 7, and probably you can re-roll tnx to Cosmic Herald. This is sufficiently reliable.
It could be better: the oldblood's command ability, lets you re-arrange models of a unit: one will stand still, but the other ones can move up to 3"... your summoned ripper at 9" from the enemy, are now at 6", and with the other bonuses, already listed, you only need to roll a 4; and after the succesful charge, the one that will start a little behind can pile in. You won't have the +1 granted by the skink chief, but you summon and charge, summon and charge...
But that is only for 1 dice right? Is star seer worth picking over Skink priest, Tehenhuauin, or starpriest?