This is another lore that seems to be receiving a lot of Internet praise. Unfortunately, it is not so great with Lizardmen.
Life Leeching (Lore Attribute):
Extra power dice is always fantastic. Your slann should already be generating an extra dice per spell so with this attribute and some judicious spellcasting, you should be able to have an amazing magic phase.
Spirit Leech (Signature Spell):
Assassination spells. Your slann's leadership actually makes this a decent choice. The extra range option on the spell also makes it quite functional.
Aspect of the Dreadknight (1):
Very nice spell to pair with Doom and Darkness. Use the assassination spells in this list to kill the enemy BSB, give your big saurus blocks fear or terror, then reduce your enemies leadership. Very nice combination that will really cause some damage if you can get it all off.
The Caress of Laniph (2):
Great character killing spell. The range severely limits its usability when taking an immobile slann unless you're willing to up the casting value for extra inches.
Soulblight (3):
This is a very nice spell. The ability to hit all enemy models with it is fantastic. Increases the survivability and killiness of your troops in close combat.
Doom and Darkness (4):
This might be the best spell in this lore. With the FAQ changes to Steadfast, this can be used to defeat Stubborn. Steadfast isn't so great when your leadership is only 5. Use this to break that critical unit in close combat or make sure that panic test fails. Also nice to pair this with Fear and Terror.
The Fate of Bjuna (5):
Another great spell with a fantastic chance to kill whatever you target. However, the short range severely limits its use. Your slann is going to be easy for your opponent to avoid. It's great if your opponent charges something big and nasty into your temple guard as you will get several turns to try this spell out. It's bad if you get tied up with cheap troops while the nasties destroy your flanks.
The Purple Sun of Xereus (6):
Fantastic spell. Not so great for Lizardmen. Your saurus are going to be obliterated by this spell and the only thing that can get it is a slann. If he's in a temple guard block and you misfire with this bad boy, you just lost the game. If he's by himself, he doesn't have the mobility to get to the enemy line and unleash this on them and is worth far too many points to risk on a suicide run.
Lizardmen Thoughts:
I covered a lot of these inline today. The major issue here is that slann's don't have the mobility that would be really nice with this spell. However, putting them in a temple guard unit means you don't necessarily need the mobility if you can get yourself into position. The other major downside is that the really nasty spell in this list has too much potential to destroy yourself. You'll probably never want to cast Purple Sun unless all else seems lost.
In the early turns of the game, I'd cast boosted Spirit Leech and Caress of Laniph in an attempt to wipe out the BSB and then the general (in that order). Once that's handled you can direct your focus towards nasty monsters. With the BSB and general gone, start getting fear/terror on your critical units and Doom and Darkness and Soulblight on your opponent's critical units. At this point, you get to watch his line start to crumble.
This isn't a terrible lore for Lizardmen and it isn't a fantastic lore either. I think there's a lot of potential here for some interesting list builds (particularly ones that go fear/terror heavy) but I'm not convinced a savvy opponent wouldn't be able to counter and limit your plans. Either way, I certainly think its a fun sounding list and will probably run it at some point to see how it plays out.
As for slann mobility, how about a flying carpet?
ReplyDeleteIt seems if you want to run a purple sun slann, you need to run him solo, as vortexes are placed on the edge of the casters base to start their travel, meaning you'll hit 2-3 TG with it if in a unit, since hes in the 2nd rank.
Now, reading about running him solo on Lustria Online, give him the following kit:
Lore of Death
Higher State of Consciousness
Unfathomable Presence
Focus of Mystery
Focused Rumination
Arabyan Carpet
Cupped Hands
Or if you don't care about miscasts, as he is gonna be alone, I think switching cupped hands and unfathomable presence to divine plaque of protection, and tossing on another 20 pts of magic items could work as well.
Hes pricey at 520pts, but gives you a flying ethereal slann with a 2+ ward.
It's an interesting idea and certainly worth trying but if your opponent has things that can get into combat with him, he's not going to kill anything and he's going to be rendered useless for most of the rest of the game.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing is, I really think his ability to take the Arabyan Carpet is going to be FAQed. He already can't use Transformation of Kadon because he isn't "on foot" so I'm not convinced they won't take this away from him too.
Putting him on a carpet also means you lose your general in your center line for those leadership tests and you can't make him your BSB.
You can still cast 'Purple Sun' whilst in combat though, so anyone trying to tie down your jetfighter Slann better have good ward/magic defense rating or they'll end up as crystal. Not to mention they have to catch him first.
ReplyDelete