8th Ed. Utilizing the Lore of Shadow in 2,5k

[ShlaqTur]

Hello fellow Lustrian-brethren!
I have been using this forum for quite a while, and I have to say, that this is far one of the most friendly forums I have lurking around on. I really like how some of you are committed to provide your fellow Fellow Generals with Tactics, rules-clarification, Fluff, Armysettings and manage to keep it all in a proper and sometimes humoristic tone.

I have been thinking of creating an army, that gives me a bit of everything, and now... Here is my humblee idea.

Slann Teheximni (translates to "The Scholar of the smoke")Stays the same
Harmonic Convergence, Channeling Staff, iron curse icon, Lore of Shadow
Nearly all of the spells in the Lore of Shadow are useful. I will not take the signature "miasma" unless I am facing an Enemy against whom I feel it will be necessary. Even "The steed of Shadow" can support one of my many characters. The Slann runs solo, but stays within 4" of the saurus, for the 4+ look-out-sir.

Saurus Oldblood ChaqLoq (translates to, "He who hunts the dead")
Arabyan Carpet, Enchanted Shield, Luckstone, Sword of might
Can hunt and kill Ethereals, and Chaff. Inspired by GCPD's Flying Old'ie, he fits very well into the list (I removed the skink chief) and can also be swapped with smoke bomb (just like the chief), if Slann is engaged.

Scar Veteran Huehuelot (translates to "The Trickster Slayer")Stays the same
Coldone, Armour of Fortune, Other Tricksters Shard, Great Weapon
A very much toned down version of the popular Oldblood build (w. 1+ 4+ & reroll)
I could consider giving him lucktone instead of the shard, and save myself 10 pionts. But I prefer the utility it has against some enemies

Scar Veteran Tepequabotl (translates to "He who gives morale")Stays the same
Coldone, Stegadon Helmet, Dragonbane Gem, Great Weapon, Light armour, BSB, Potion of Foolhardiness
The oldest and toughest of the 2 Vets. He is my BSB and have decent fighting and defense properties. 1+ AS 2+ward against fire and T6, will make some regular units struggle against him. "But why dont you make your Slann the BSB?" - Well, I dont like putting all my eggs in one basket. If the Slann dies, I have no consistency in my army, in regard to leadership.

Skink Priest Nkatli (translates to "Twister of Air")Given dispel Scroll
Lore of Heavens & Dispel Scroll
The skink priests finest job, is to act as an mere substitute for the "Smoke bomb" Attribute and constrain the bloodthirsthy predators. He can utilize the vassal for a good placement of the pit or the Pendulum and support my units with wildform.

10 Skink Skirmishers (Javelins)
The priest will join these, and allow the slann to "smok'n mirror" into the flank for a good damaging spell (If I roll one, that is) og hex enemies further ahead (since my slann is so slow, he cant keep up with rest of the army)

24 Skink Cohort with 3 kroxigors
24 Skink Cohort with 3 kroxigors
banner
They give me a banner. The Chief will join this. Also, they provide me with a small tarpit (for a round or two) and a hammer, if need be. So, basically this is where my saurus and the little cohort got replaced.. And models got reversed, so I now got stronger "saurus" in special section

6 Chamelions
6 Chamelions added another unit
They will do the usual hunt of priority targets. I prefer a bigger unit of 6-8, so the chance for wounding is higher. They can act as redirectors, just like regular skirmishers and costs almost the same.

24 Temple guards Templeguards instead of saurus
Full command & Banner of Swiftness
The Temple guards, together with the Slann(execpt for his swapping), will be the slowest part of my army. Though they will act as a center, with The Slann hanging around just behind. The remain a good target for "Mindrazor"

Ancient Stegadon Stays the same
Sharpened Horns
The stegadon gives me another solid "anvil", it cannot deny ranks in the flank, as with kroxigors. The Army consists of plenty "high threat" units. Making the enemies atillery decisions that much harder.

Salamander 1 Sally removed
Handler

1 salamander. "The withering" will soften up potential targets first.


I think some fluff, that would go nice with this armytheme, would be something like:
The remaining defenders of "The Stellar Pyramids of the southern skies", where the Slann has been corrupted after meditating. (Some ideas for further fluff would be appreciated )

I hope you will comment on my ideas and give me some constructive feedback on this army

Sorry for All the editing, it's just.. I keep finding errors in my grammar!

 

[Qupakoco]

Looks like a fun list! Love the thought you've put into their names Shadow definitely takes a tactful magician to play right sometimes, especially with using Smoke and Mirrors as much as you plan to. Just be careful with your Slann. He ain't bulletproof.

I'd say your army looks alright. The singular Saurus block might get torn up against anything significant, but you've got lots of support for them so it might be ok.

Lore.... How about...

"Lord Teheximni and his army prefer the darker thoughts of the penumbrae. As shadows jump to join one another in the dimly lit jungles of their homeland, so do their dark obsidian blades. Leaping from shadows, disappearing into flesh and bone as swiftly as light fades in the depths of the foliage. Skinks and Kroxigor alike have trained themselves to move in the dark depths of the swamps surrounding the Stellar Pyramids, embracing the shadow as their master commands.

The army moves unseen. Those who bear witness to it recall nothing of the predators themselves, but rather the darkness that forever will haunt them."

Eh, eh? Lol.

 

[Lawot]

I agree with Qupakoco, I think the army looks like a challenge, but could be really effective - and lots of fun! I wonder about the massive unit of Kroxigors - I love the idea (because I love Kroxigors, back in 6th ed. they were always my MVP's) - but I would be concerned that they'll make up for their points. If you want to go with 8, then go for it (and let us know how it goes!) but I think an good alternative would be to drop a few and either beef up the Saurus unit (25 isn't all that big in 2500) or add another supporting unit (Bastiladon, Steg).

Good Luck! I just started using Lore of Shadow myself, and thoroughly enjoyed hexing my enemies' WS and S down to insignificant levels. Have fun!

 

[The Hunted]

The list looks flavorfull and solid, props on the names

A few details you might want to think twice over:
No dispell scroll. Your priest can still carry one, and I highly recommend you give him one. It stops that one gamebreaking spell if your opponent 6-diced it without IF.
Also, lore of beasts over heavens on the priest? I love Iceshard Lizard, because it's easier to cast and is very powerfull still. Wyssan's Wildform is ofcourse awesome...but maybe hard to cast. For support; Iceshard lizard is still awesome though not as strong as wildform is. Give it a shot maybe?

Ancient on your Kroxigor. If a scary character (Daemon prince or the like) charges this unit, do you want to challenge the enemy and hold on steadfast for a turn; or just smash face with loads of S7 attacks?
I prefer to smash face, but I guess either on is fine.

Reverse deal with the Saurus: no champion here? I'd be more worried if my opponent charges the Saurus with a big scary character than my Kroxigor. Also, if you (for some reason) must put your Slann in with your Saurus; you might want to be able to challenge for a turn and them Smoke&Mirrors away from danger. You cannot always count on magic to pull you out in that crucial turn, so having backup is never a bad idea.

Huinihua (the skink chief) is an interesting use of him. I'm curious to see how it works out.

All Jav/shield on your skinks? 1 unit with blowpipes can be good to specifically hunt down monsters.

20 cohort...how do you plan on using them? As a 100 point tarpit within range of your Slann&BSB? They pretty much have to be, because they will run otherwise...
What enemies do you plan on taking on with them? Quite interested in your answer here.
Not quite sure about this one, but I also never say no to more skinks

Chameleons, stegadon, salamanders are all just amazing units.


This might be a long post; but the actual points I try to make aren't that big. It's just something you have probably put some thought in (or not ) and I cannot see in your brain as to why you have certain things.

As always; my comments are just here to make you think twice about stuff. Use whatever yóu want on the battlefield!

Good luck!

The Hunted

 

[ShlaqTur]

Thank you for the feedback, guys! - I really appreciate it.
Your comments made me think "What if I swap things around, a little?"
Putting choices from the special section into core section and vica versa.
Basically my army almost stays the same, in regard to numbers of banners and numbers of models.

@ Qupakoco:

I'd say your army looks alright. The singular Saurus block might get torn up against anything significant, but you've got lots of support for them so it might be ok.

Okay, since 25 regular Saurus wont do much, maybe 25 Templeguards with a swiftness banner would do better. They have better stats, and the Slann may go in, when a bad situation seems to emerge.

Thank you for the inspiration to some lore and fluff - I especially like the last two lines

The army moves unseen. Those who bear witness to it recall nothing of the predators themselves, but rather the darkness that forever will haunt them."

@ Lawot:

I wonder about the massive unit of Kroxigors -

Theres seems to be some Skepticism around the lone block of Kroxigors. I too, really like the models and would like as many "effective" kroxigors with me, without hindering rest of the army. Hence I may try to adapt them into the fluff provided by Qupakoco and put them in skroxes, instead of letting them run alone. That would also give me two units with banners, that could either hold for a turn or two... OR break enemy ranks, by attacking the flank.

@ The hunted:
He he.. Although your post got a bit long, I chewed through the many words and had some second-thoughts.. As said earlier, all kind of feedback is very welcome
So.. Basically, I did some of the things you suggested (Kind of.. At least):

Also, if you (for some reason) must put your Slann in with your Saurus; you might want to be able to challenge for a turn and them Smoke&Mirrors away from danger.

You defiantly have a point here. Champion added to templeguards.

My Skink chief has no special use.. It's just... I want some kind of uniqueness to the army along with the fluff
- I could swap him and a single Templeguard, and beef my Chamelions into two units of 6, but i dont know..

Also.. Now, I only got two skirmishers units, and a single unit of chamelions.. So I figured the javelins could stay

20 cohort...how do you plan on using them? As a 100 point tarpit within range of your Slann&BSB? They pretty much have to be, because they will run otherwise...
What enemies do you plan on taking on with them? Quite interested in your answer here.
Not quite sure about this one, but I also never say no to more skinks

The 20 cohort skinks, was just there for a small tarpit, but a skroxigor unit may do that better, since it A: has more wounds, B: has Ld7, C: is a better target for mindrazor and D: Two of these units, may be a bigger threat than one single large skrox unit.
In my local game community, although it's very small.. We have almost the entire range of WFB armies, except from Brettonians. So it's hard to say whom I am gonna play. You basically just meet up with your army, and play whomever is free to play

I will Edit my list in the original post, so you can see the changes.
Sorry for the bad layout in my posts.. I haven't learnt how to make everything easy readable just yet

And once again, Thank you for the feedback, all of you!!

 

[Lawot]

Also, fluff-wise, I love what Qupakoco wrote...and I'd add, why not associate them with Xlanhuapec, the City of Mists? That's a nicely shadowy place. I've toyed with idea doing some house rules to create a Host of Xlanhuapec, in which Skink Priests must use the Lore of Shadow.

 

[ShlaqTur]

Indeed, I also really like what he wrote already. The last two lines may even be my signature, if Qupakoco allows so. Very good idea Lawot! - Maybe his name should translate to "Scholar of the Mist" instead, perfect for the smoke bombs and it would fit with the Lizardmen book.