8th Ed. Tetto'Eko vs Slann in low points games

[Zee Deveel]

Trying to work out if I prefer Tetto to a Slann in low point games, here're some thoughts I've come up with:

Casting abilities of the Slann and Tetto are fairly equal 5/6 turns. Assuming that Tetto has passed his Herald roll the average casting scores for the Slann vs Tetto are as follows:

Slann = 1+2+3+4+5+6 / 6 = 3.5 + 4 (castling lvl)
Tetto = 2+3+4+5+6 / 5 = 4 + 2

So from one dice the Slann averages 7.5 and Tetto only 6, but with every additional dice thrown at the spell, Tetto's average score raises by 0.5 relative to the Slann.

2 Dice:
S: 11
T: 10

3 Dice:
S: 14.5
T: 14

4 Dice:
S: 18
T: 18

5 Dice:
S: 21.5
T: 22

Due to rerolling ones, Tetto has an increased chance of exploding compared to the Slann as he's going to reroll the 1s as 6s. Though he also has no TG to kill which is a plus. When Tetto rolls a 1 for his Herald roll, his ability to cast becomes kinda crappy but you can also throw multiple dice at big spells without fear of exploding.

Pros:
D3 Vanguard moves
Loremaster Heavens (synergy with ancient steg)
Rerollable Comet of Casandora (will likely get dispelled often)
Is half the price of a Slann with a few toys
No obligation to take TG
Poor leadership (must take Scar vet / Old Blood to compensate)

Cons:
Weaker at dispelling
No access to disciplines (but they're quite expensive and not that good anymore)
Restricted to Lore of Heavens (though LoH has the ability to melt some face in a 1000/1500 point game)
Needs a skink bunker
Doesn't make TG unbreakable

In the head to head comparison Tetto comes off worse - but not by a huge amount!

Essentially due to the crappy ability of Tetto to be a general, the comparison is basically: A semi-kitted out Slann vs Tetto + Cowboy:

Slann
Wandering Deliberations
Harmonic Convergence
Channeling Staff

VS

Tetto'Eko
+
Scar Vet
- Cold One
- Dawnstone
- Greatweapon
- Light Armour
- Dragonhelm

The latter combination works out 10 Skinks cheaper than the Slann.

So in a big game where a strong general, an uber magic user and a load of unbreakable Lizards in a blob are required then obviously the Slann comes out on top... But in a smaller points game, if you can find an effective way to use Tetto without his Skink Cohort being a useless points sink, then Tetto seems like a really good buy.

Discuss!?!??

 

[Ondjage]

I have never tried tetto out myself, but he seems like a good buy for his points.

My major turn off with him is his lack of magical defence. Having a level 4 wizard in low points game makes a huge difference in the dispel phase, as alot of players will run at level 2 for low point games. Also the arcane slot for the slann is awesome.

You are arguing that you can run a cowboy as general + tetto for cheaper than a slann, but who will carry your BSB? Skink chief? The slann's ability to be both general and BSB is pretty useful aswell in lower points games, even tough this means that you wont be able to kit him alot after you have payed for the bsb.


One major advantage that I see using teto is that he is in the hero section, so you can fit an Old Blood in the Lord section. In my (albeit very limited) experience as a lizardman player, old bloods wreck face at lower point games! You still need a BSB though; cheap skink chief?

I will probably buy/proxy tetto for some games soonish, he seem like a really cool character! I think he could be very useful in large battles aswell, like 2,5k - 3k

 

[godswearhats]

My biggest gripe is that Tetto is ridiculously expensive (in dollars) for the size of model that he is.

 

[Zee Deveel]

My biggest gripe is that Tetto is ridiculously expensive (in dollars) for the size of model that he is.

Stick a Skink Priest on top of a Mage-Palanquin and put them on a 40x40 base?

What do you guys think is the best way to use Tetto vis a vis keeping him alive / in LoS to cast. Skink Cohort? If so, how big and how would you use it in a sub 2k game.

 

[Lizardmatt]

Iceshards and Thunderbolt can be boosted to 48". Comet doesn't need LoS and has infinite range.
I usually stick him in a small unit of skirmishers, and hide in the back.

Personally, I like tetto + 2 bastiladons.
It gives me a lot of long range firepower (which lizards really lack), and I can always throw lots of dice at the bound spells on phases where I'm re-rolling 6's (which doesn't affect bound spells).

What I do like about tetto, is that 2 skink priests, with dispel scroll and with cube of darkness are the exact same cost as tetto. It lets you swap out from offensive magic phase with special character to defensive magic phase without special characters without changing the rest of the army.

In any point value, D3 vanguards can be stupidly good. Especially if you already have 2-5 vanguards and 2 scouts.

-Matt