8th Ed. Warhammer Newbie: 1500 point List

[Fleetfiend]

As the topic title states, I have just recently discovered Warhammer and I am overwhelmed with its awesomeness and wish i had discovered it earlier. After a few days of heated deliberation, I have decided to try the Lizardmen for my first army. I will almost certainly be playing for fun, so point limits are no real concern right now as long as they are about even; however, I think I will aim for 1500.

Here goes nothing.



Saurus Scar-Veteran w/ Battle Standard, Halberd, Cold One, Light Armor, Shield, Venom of the Firefly Frog, Dawnstone
Skink Priest lvl 2 w/ Plaque of Tepok

Saurus Warriors x25 w/ Spears, Champion and Standard
Saurus Warriors x25 w/ Spears, Champion and Standard
Skink Skirmishers x10 (x2)
Skinks x14 w/ Priest

Chameleon Skinks x5
Terradon Riders x4

Salamander Hunting Pack x2 w/ Two extra handlers each

1500 points exactly. Oh yeaaaaaaaah



Now, if I calculated correctly this amounts to 1539 points, and that gives me quite a bit of wiggle room. Which is good, because I have no idea what to do in regards to magical equipment and such, and I can always add more saurus.

Update: the new value is 1597 so I will need to shorten it up to get under the 1500 limit, and I could also use something else to put on the Scar Vet... I'm considering a Trickster's Helm. Tips?

Update: You have got to be freaking kidding me. I removed the Priest with the Cupped Hands as well as a few skinks in its unit, added Tricker's helm on to the Scar vet, and threw in standards for the saurus. 1501 points. >.> But after a bit of research I discovered that Chameleon Stalkers are kind of pointless, so I took it out, bringing me down to 1495. So, now I'm either going to add another handler to one of the Salamanders or throw one of those cheapy shields on someone... or perhaps throw Light Armor on my Scar Vet? I'm really unsure about what accessories to put on the Scar Vet. Another thing I am considering is the Crown of Command.

Update: Getting closer. Adjusted the equipment some more, though I'm still really unsure.


And though this might not apply to this point limit, but I thought I would mention that I would like to avoid Slenn if at all possible. I'm not a big fan of the models, and I kind of resent how popular they are. I know I will probably be converted eventually, but for now I would like to resist the temptation of their awesomeness.

Since I am really, really new to the game, I have yet to look at the rulebook much or see an actual game played. As such it would be great to have a mentor of sorts to help me out and help me to learn, so any general tips would also be appreciated as well as help on what to change or add to this current list.

Thanks!

 

[DanBot]

Re: Warhammer Newbie; First Army idea

I think you should drop the temple guard and add more saurus. They're extra stats aren't really worth the price. It's really just +1 initiative, +1 WS and +1 armor.

Giving the Scar vet a cold one rather than a horned one would open up more room for items. And if you run him solo you're going to want those items. But if you plan to run him in a block, drop the cold one all together. I think you should run him solo and make him your battle standard.

Typically one priest will have a dispell scroll and the other should take something like cube of darkness or cupped hands. Both solid items. Also bump one up to level 2. It will help a lot with dispelling without a Slann. And the heavens signature spell is pretty handy. Plaque of Tepok wouldn't be bad either. It would give you access to all the spells you wanted from heavens almost every time. Combined with another level 2 wizard of course.

Running 15 saurus with spears is probably a bad move. You want them 5 wide at least. So that will only leave you with 3 ranks. And at initiative 1, count on them to attack last. Meaning at least a few will die before getting to attack so you wont get to attack with 3 full ranks ever. Run maybe 25-30 in that block. So when a few die the ones from the back ranks will step forward and give you a full 3 ranks worth of attacks. A second block of say 25 hand weps and shields to replace those temple guard.

Drop the skinks skirmishers to 10. You can only shoot in your front two ranks. You probably want to keep them 5 wide so they get a rank bonus and stay thin enough to move quickly. Wider units spend more movement turning than a thinner one. So at 15, 5 of them will never fire. Also think about a non skirmishing unit of skinks to keep your wizards safe. They tend to die solo. Shooting and magic missiles without an armor or ward save is a danger. A couple more units of 10 skirmishers wouldn't hurt either. But remember, heroes can't join skirmishers unless its in their rules.

I think you should plan for 1500 points to start. 2000 is probably going to come out to way more models than you are expecting. And at 1500 points, not running a Slann is probably better than running with a Slann.

 

[Fleetfiend]

Re: Warhammer Newbie; First Army idea

-snip-

Alrighty, thanks for the tips. I really liked the idea of the Horned one, but to be honest I totally forgot that it takes up item space, so that I will definitely switch once I figure out what items I want to use. Same for the core units; most of that was due to my general unfamiliarity.

 

[DanBot]

Re: Warhammer Newbie; First Army idea

-snip-

Alrighty, thanks for the tips. I really liked the idea of the Horned one, but to be honest I totally forgot that it takes up item space, so that I will definitely switch once I figure out what items I want to use. Same for the core units; most of that was due to my general unfamiliarity.

I figured as much. I edited it a bit to make it more understandable in parts. Hope it helps. Not sure you'd know what a BSB is. XP

At 2000 points a good BSB(Battle Standard) and understanding the steadfast rule will be invaluable. At 2000 points losing a single unit to a failed break test tends to be half of your workable army. It's really harsh. I made a lot of mistakes assuming cold blooded was enough when I started playing. Blood letters, DE and Ogres first charge can take a unit out in one turn, but become much more manageable after their first combat. As well as buying you time to come to a losing units aid when you aren't winning combat.

 

[Fleetfiend]

Re: Warhammer Newbie; First Army idea

I figured as much. I edited it a bit to make it more understandable in parts. Hope it helps. Not sure you'd know what a BSB is. XP

At 2000 points a good BSB(Battle Standard) and understanding the steadfast rule will be invaluable. At 2000 points losing a single unit to a failed break test tends to be half of your workable army. It's really harsh. I made a lot of mistakes assuming cold blooded was enough when I started playing. Blood letters, DE and Ogres first charge can take a unit out in one turn, but become much more manageable after their first combat. As well as buying you time to come to a losing units aid when you aren't winning combat.

Yeah, haha.

I think I mostly understand BSBs, though I think it will be a little bit clearer once I watch/play a few games. I would be doing that now, but alas I can't access Youtube on my dorm internet.

 

[magician]

Re: Warhammer Newbie; First Army idea

Character can join skirmishers, it is one of the rules that the unit can give a character.

Skirmishing units do not get rank bonuses.

I tend to like a unit of 10-12 skink cohorts with a musician for dealing with chaff, redirecting and providing inexpensive poisoned shots along the way. I run them in 2 ranks.

I have also run skink skirmishers (J&S) as much as 7 wide (14 skinks). Their mobility helps them stay out of trouble.

Just my $0.02.

 

[Scalenex]

Re: Warhammer Newbie; First Army idea

I'm pretty sure Cupped Hands of the Old Ones is Slann only. Dropping a skink priest woudl be an easy way to get under 1500 points anyway

 

[Fleetfiend]

Re: Warhammer Newbie; First Army idea

I'm pretty sure Cupped Hands of the Old Ones is Slann only. Dropping a skink priest woudl be an easy way to get under 1500 points anyway

Really? The army book doesn't give any limitations besides "caster," though I dunno if that was changed in 8th edition or not.

I would really like to have two priests, but I may end up cutting one just for the sake of points.


In slightly related news I just bought my first figures; an unopened box of saurus for $20. IT HAS BEGUN.

 

[Durandal]

Re: Warhammer Newbie; First Army idea

I'm pretty sure Cupped Hands of the Old Ones is Slann only. Dropping a skink priest woudl be an easy way to get under 1500 points anyway

Really? The army book doesn't give any limitations besides "caster," though I dunno if that was changed in 8th edition or not.

I would really like to have two priests, but I may end up cutting one just for the sake of points.


In slightly related news I just bought my first figures; an unopened box of saurus for $20. IT HAS BEGUN.

Cupped Hands is not Slann-only, however at 40 or 50 points (I forget which) it just isn't worth it on a Skink, so no one ever does it (by the time you have enough points to just tack it onto an extra skink, you have enough points to take a Slann anyway).

 

[Fleetfiend]

Re: Warhammer Newbie; First Army idea

Cupped Hands is not Slann-only, however at 40 or 50 points (I forget which) it just isn't worth it on a Skink, so no one ever does it (by the time you have enough points to just tack it onto an extra skink, you have enough points to take a Slann anyway).

Alrighty. So do you also agree that I should cut out one of the priests entirely?