7th Ed. The Slann is unstoppable in 8th edition.

[The Lybithian]

So yesterday at my local game store we were playing 8th edition with the store rule book.

We were all bringing 3,000 point lists. So I decided to give the Slann a go in 8th edition, and I also brought engine of the gods, with a skink priest with the diadem of power.

I was playing Chaos Warriors with a level 4 and a level 2.

I tabled him by turn 3.

The Slann is absolutely unstoppable. I had upgrade the Slann so his special effects were -

- Knows all spells
- Ethereal
- Generates of 'free' power dice every time he casts a spell
- Re-rolls results on the miscast table
- On a 2+ bounces his miscast to an enemy wizard

The WoC player simply couldn't stop the Slann's casting and the engine pulsing. I then went on to play to a High Elf player with the same list. Same result, I had a massacre by turn 5.


Ladies and gentlemen, we have entered an era of lizardhammer!

 

[The Hunted]

What lore did you use?
Were your casting rolls high enough to attempt the 'powered-up' version of the spells frequently?
Do the 'new' dispell scrolls (with their side effects) play a part? If so, how much?
Does the new magic system actually work? Or is it out of balance/ too slow/ too complicated/overpowered/over the top/ ....

Did you need Soul of Stone?

These are the first things that spring to mind when I read your post. If you would be willing to answer some of them, I'd be a very happy man .

Otherwise:
Sweeeeet! A true master of the magic phase then?

The Hunted

 

[The Lybithian]

What lore did you use?
Were your casting rolls high enough to attempt the 'powered-up' version of the spells frequently?
Do the 'new' dispell scrolls (with their side effects) play a part? If so, how much?
Does the new magic system actually work? Or is it out of balance/ too slow/ too complicated/overpowered/over the top/ ....

Did you need Soul of Stone?

Q: What lore did you use?
A: Since the new rules for magic require a person to stick with a predetermined lore for all their games, I went with Lore of Fire because of its powerful offensive strengths.

Q: Were your casting rolls high enough to attempt the 'powered-up' version of spells frequently?
A: Yes, on most casting attempts I would try to cast the upgraded spell, and most of the time was successful. The extra die you gain every time you try to cast a spell proves invaluable.

Q: Do the 'new' dispell scrolls (with their side effects) play a part? If so, how much?
A: Honestly, no. The new rule is that you are only allowed one dispel scroll in your ENTIRE army list. The one time my oppenent did use a powerful dispel scroll, the Slann's 4+ ward save easily stopped it from doing much damage.

Q: Does the new magic system actually work? Or is it out of balance/ too slow/ too complicated/overpowered/over the top/ ....
A: The new magic system can be abused by a very, very strong wizard. Out of watching mostly every army play with strong magic lists, the only abusive list is the Slann/Engine that really can knock someone on their ass. Even so,
when the Slann uses up Cupped Hands of the Old Ones, the repercussions for miscasting are very, very calamitous. So with new, titanic magical power comes the greater responsibilty of the caster, less he miscast and tear apart his army.

Q: Did you need Soul of Stone?
A: Yes. It was a very useful upgrade when I had used up my Cupped Hands of the Old Ones item. It saved my Slann from imploding and destroying my battleplans, because I could roll the worse results and re-roll and get a less devastating
result.

 

[ColdBlood666]

Did you run your Slaan in a unit or was he solo?

If so, how did it work?

If not, would you recommend putting him in a unit?

Whats your take on a Slann in Temple Gaurd?

 

[Great Lord Tlanxla]

Did I read that correctly when you said that players must use a predetermined lore of magic for all of their games?? Does that mean if I were to pick lore of metal, I can never use any other lore, EVER??

Please explain
Thanks

 

[OmegaRed]

Well if I may interject: it seems that it's suggested that you build an army around a lore. To be honest in friendly games I don't see it mattering, as you can just say you built it for this or that lore. The only place I see it making a difference is in tournaments.

 

[strewart]

Did I read that correctly when you said that players must use a predetermined lore of magic for all of their games?? Does that mean if I were to pick lore of metal, I can never use any other lore, EVER??

Please explain
Thanks

What it basically means is rather than choosing spell lores right before the battle, you must choose your lore while writing your list, put it on the list, and not change from battle to battle if you are in a tournament for example. In friendlies, I imagine most people would let you change if they let you change bits of your standard list before each battle, which they should.

Congrats on the win, looks like the Slann is pretty good. That is quite an expensive toad though.

 

[the-graven]

If the Slann is really that good, it's my best buy ever

Slann in TG is no option in 8th, wich sucks since i have 20 of them, ah well in friendlies I can use them as spear saurus, I mean c'mon they have wooden sticks with something on top of them too, right.

 

[vapor]

If the Slann is really that good, it's my best buy ever

Slann in TG is no option in 8th, wich sucks since i have 20 of them, ah well in friendlies I can use them as spear saurus, I mean c'mon they have wooden sticks with something on top of them too, right.

If you choose the lore of life you can safely tuck him in a TG unit, the RIP spell not only boosts your other spells but it also allows you to ignore miscasts on a 2+.

 

[The Lybithian]

Q: Did you run your Slaan in a unit or was he solo?
A: I ran him solo.

Q: If so, how did it work?
A: I've found that using the Slann is much more effective than running him in the Temple Guard. By putting him in the TG you dump 1,000+ points in one basket. The temple guard are tough, but a well planned multi-charge will kill that 1,000+ points. Running a Slann that's completely decked out and by himself gives you much more options and a lot of flexibility. The Slann completely fill out to the max is worth the points. He's 500 points, but you save 200 points by not bringing him with the Temple Guard, giving you more points to spend elsewhere.

If not, would you recommend putting him in a unit?
Nope, in 8th edition it's more cost effective to run him by himself.

Whats your take on a Slann in Temple Gaurd?
Read above.


My input on 8th edition is that it is has improved greatly. The game itself is much more exciting and much more random. This represents the indecisiviness of a real battle. The charges are much more random, as is magic. Though what I enjoyed the most was the randomness of terrain generation. You roll 2D6 and look on a chart and about half of them require you to roll another D6 or 2D6 to see what type of fence it is, like a blazing fence, a holy fence, etc.

 

[kables]

I want to add the fact the slaan is diffidently Good.

Just a reminder that if he is NOT solo;
And he’s in a group of TG’s AND if you TG’s break and your Slaan is a BSB AND a General you just gave a LOT of points to a Enemy.

WHAT does that mean
In the new rules if a group of infantry With a BSB breaks from Close combat than the BSB will fight to the end and die.

Sucks for our SLAAN.
So ive been taking mine SOLO and hes DONE really REALLY well.

 

[Walgis]

it sounds good but i dont thin that that would work that good on WoC marauder (+GW) spamm army i mean 400+ S5 WS 4 I 4 cost 5pts... i did some calculations and they easaly outmatch saurus warriors (not tu mention they cost 5pt and saurus 11/12 pt)

games look good when theres no powerlisting. but when you think about there are few psobilitys of unreal list, like one i mentioned. cheap and super efektive.

 

[strewart]

I've heard that the LM FAQ will make the Slann's 4+ regen save a 3+ instead. That might be sweet, however, if it is true that you can only take one of ward or regen it probably isn't worth it.

 

[Kurlin]

I've heard that the LM FAQ will make the Slann's 4+ regen save a 3+ instead. That might be sweet, however, if it is true that you can only take one of ward or regen it probably isn't worth it.

Ya if you can only choose one save(between ward and regen) then it is not worth it in its current form.

I have not been around for an edition change since I just started playing in 7th(and lizardmen just had a new book), do the erratas between editions change that much stuff typically?

 

[Walgis]

well these erratas will be due too 8ed so no its not tipical to have huge erretas between army codexes but now it has to be large.

 

[Kurlin]

well these erratas will be due too 8ed so no its not tipical to have huge erretas between army codexes but now it has to be large.

I know they will be due to 8th and not a new codex, but that doesn't mean they have to be huge at all. They don't have to change point values or regen saves or anything at all really. I was asking if they typically have erratas between editions(like 6th to 7th) since I was not playing when there was an edition change, and I never needed to look up an errata from 6th to 7th because lizardmen were already current.

 

[vapor]

well these erratas will be due too 8ed so no its not tipical to have huge erretas between army codexes but now it has to be large.

I know they will be due to 8th and not a new codex, but that doesn't mean they have to be huge at all. They don't have to change point values or regen saves or anything at all really. I was asking if they typically have erratas between editions(like 6th to 7th) since I was not playing when there was an edition change, and I never needed to look up an errata from 6th to 7th because lizardmen were already current.

Usually the erratas are out after new army books are released to clear up questions or fix typo's, not make major changes.

Edition-wise, 6th to 7th was more of a clean-up of rules than it was a real edition change so there really wasn't much needing to be errataed. 8th has a LOT of changes to the overall game so these erratas will potentially make or break the various armies out there (I'm look at you, Tomb Kings!). I wouldn't expect to see point changes or things like that, but I am expecting to see a lot of wording changes on magic items and special rules. GW's erratas are meant to make army books usable, not to balance them.

 

[strewart]

Yeah the erratas almost never actually change rules or balance things, they just make it so they work. The change to the regen save is definitely the exception not the rule. About the only other outright change I know of is HE composition will be different to 25/25 heroes/lord and 25 core. I'm sure TK magic will have to change a bit as well, but they will get a new army book soon anyway. Expect all points values to stay the same and pretty much all other rules, just changing the things that are incompatible.

There is said to be over 100 pages of errata and FAQ when you add up all the armies and the core rules. It is a big change from 7th to 8th.