Slann Mage-Priest Painting Part VI

I did more work on this guy too. Made quite a bit of progress actually. I picked all the various little critters crawling around on it, finished up the tiny leaves, and highlighted the scrawling branches with Vermin Brown. I then started working on the little skink dude. I wanted to emulate the way they had done him in the book. The sort of albino/bluish color but I apparently fail at working with whites and getting colors to blend that smoothly. I'm not very happy with him and he'll probably go through several more iterations before I'm done.

From Slann Mage-Priest I

From Slann Mage-Priest I

From Slann Mage-Priest I

From Slann Mage-Priest I

Really all that's left to do is get the horns to look the way I want them, figure out how I want to do the pieces that currently the dwarf bronze color, and finish off the little skink guy. Then I'll have my first completed model!

Cold One Cavalry Painting Part I

Rather than continue showing off models I'm not happy with, I thought I'd take a moment to share some of the models I've been working on that I am proud with. These guys need washes and highlighting still but here is the basic approach I'm going to be using for my Cold Ones.

From Cold One Cavalry

From Cold One Cavalry

From Cold One Cavalry

From Cold One Cavalry

From Cold One Cavalry

Skin was done in Gretchin Green and the scales were done in Orkhide Shade. I'm planning to highlight the scales with Hawk Turquoise.

Saurus Warrior Workshop

Here's where I'm at with my Saurus Warrior test model currently. Basecoated with Mechrite Red then did the skin in Blood Red and the scales in Scab Red. I'm going to experiment with some washes today and see how things turn out with that.

From Saurus Warriors

I think this gets me the contrast I need but I won't know how it will look until I experiment a little with some washes. I'm also wondering if Red Gore or Mechrite Red for the scales would have been a better as Scab Red is almost purpleish in color.

Temple Guard Workshop

Here are the samples I've been painting up to test some ideas for the temple guard.

This first one is basecoated Leviathan Purple and the scales were coated with Liche Purple.

From Drop Box

This one used Mechrite Red with the scales in Liche Purple. Experimenting a little with the idea from my previous post. I'm not sure I like it.

From Drop Box

On the other side of the previous model, I tried scales in Leviathan Purple (shoulder) as well as scales in Warlock Purple (leg).

From Drop Box

On this model I tried basecoating with Warlock Purple and scales in Liche Purple on the shoulder. On the leg I basecoated with Leviathan Purple and did the scales with Warlock Purple.

From Drop Box

What do people think of the different color schemes? Right now I'm thinking I'll scrap the red/purple combination I was thinking of and go with either the Leviathan Purple/Liche Purple combination of Leviathan Purple/Warlock Purple combination.

Saurus Painting Workshop

I've spent a good chunk of the day playing around with my Lizardmen some more and trying to figure out how to move forward with painting some of them. Mostly I've been basecoating several cold one cavalry and finetuning some minor details on my slann's palanquin.

The big things I've been playing around with though are these guys. My saurus warriors and my temple guard. Here is a sample of the work I had done on them previously that I'm not very happy with.

From Impact Hits

From Impact Hits

I actually really like the temple guard model but am disappointed with the way the skin/scales turned out. I want my temple guard to be purple in color to represent their elite almost royal role in Lizardmen society. To that end, I had painted them Liche Purple, washed them with Purple Ink, and then drybrushed them with Liche Purple again. The issue I have is there isn't enough of a difference between the skin and the scales for me to be happy. I want the scales to be the deep, vibrant purple with a lighter, similar shade for the skin. Trying to figure this out is where I'm failing though.

A test model I've been working with (unfortunately no picture due to dead camera) used Leviathan Purple as the basecoat. I then started picking out the scales in the Liche Purple. I'm not sure this is going to get me to the final effect that I want though. The Leviathan Purple contrasts with the Liche Purple extremely well but it's unfortunately a dull purple and not really what I'm looking for.

I've considered using the Warlock Purple instead of Leviathan Purple but I'm thinking I would rather have that as the drybrush highlight on the Liche Purple scales. I'm also thinking that would take it too far away from the royalty type colors I was hoping to achieve.

I am having the same problem with the normal Saurus warrior models. I wanted them to be red based (all of my Lizardmen species are a different color) and so my initial try (the ones seen above) were all basecoated in Scab Red and then washed with Badab Black. I love the way the scales looked afterwards but I'm not happy with the way the skin looks once again. I want a brighter red for the base of the lizardmen with the scales the darker color.

To this end I decided to start one of them from scratch and basecoated it with Mechrite Red. It's a very nice color but unfortunately is not bright enough to achieve what I wanted for the skin. I attempted to paint a basecoat of Blood Red onto the skin but began experiencing extreme difficulties getting an even coat on that looked uniform. It would appear that red is a very difficult color to work with. Would anyone have any ideas on a good way for me to get a basecoat of Blood Red on them or am I just going to have to layer it several times to get what I want? One solution I was thinking of was to just heavy drybrush the whole model with Blood Red and then darken up the scales from there to create the contrast. Any suggestions on what might work would be much appreciated.

One last thought that just occurred to me. To create a more uniform army look, maybe I could paint the temple guard with dark red skin and the purple scales and the saurus with bright red skin and the dark red scales. Show a transition of saurus to temple guard over time as the elder saurus warriors became more elite and their skin/scales darkened over time.

I will hopefully get an opportunity to take some pictures in the morning. When I get the chance, I'll toss up the pictures for everyone to see what I've been working with. If I can, I'll try to paint up a few rough test examples of what I'm thinking for everyone to take a look at and offer suggestions.

Weekend Painting Progress

I've been making a lot of painting progress this weekend. Unfortunately, my cell phone that I use for taking my pictures has died and since I'm not at home, I don't have a good way to charge it. I'll be posting pictures later this week of everything I've been doing but I thought I'd give an update.

The main thing I spent some time on was my Salamanders which I am pretty happy with. They're mostly finished, I just need to complete their eyes and then I might try to find a way to make their back fin and other "webbing" type parts stand out a little more. I'm unsure what I want to do with that so they will probably be stuck in limbo for a while until I decide.

I also decided to take another shot at my Saurus Warriors and Temple Guard since I decided I wasn't very happy with the way their scales were turning out. I didn't feel like the scales were standing out enough from the base color of their bodies so I took one of the saurus and started a new test model base coated with Mechrite Red and I took one of the Temple Guard and base coated it with Leviathan Purple. I'm going to try to build up from there and see if I can get a result I'm happier with.

I spent some time on my slann picking out the last of the leaves on the palanquin. Now I need to go back and highlight/wash them before I pick out the rest of the little critters riding around on it.

The thing I'm most happy about though are my Cold One Cavalry. I was inspired by one of the color schemes in the Lizardmen book and basecoated the entire cold one with Gretchin Green, did the scales in Orkhide Shade, and then drybrushed the scales with some Hawk Turquoise. It really looks fantastic. I'm going to need to experiment with washes some still to get the right shading I want but I am really excited about the way those test models are starting to come together.

The Bellower #3 Review

The Ogre Stronghold recently released the latest issue of their webzine "The Bellower". You can check it out here. My Ogres are in a holding pattern for now while I wait for the new book rumored to be out some time next year. I don't have much interest in relearning Ogres for 8th edition when it will all be for naught soon enough and my play time is as limited as it has been recently but I still enjoy reading about them and day dreaming of a future in which I lead my hungry Ogre horde to dominion over the lesser races of the world.

This issue is chock full of awesome stuff. I wasn't a huge fan of the first two issues but this one really got me excited.

As far as Ogres go, they have a really nice guide to all of the magic items. They break them down in much the same way I've been doing for Lizardmen and a lot of the advice they give is very useful. They even have their own ratings system to let you know how good each item is.

My favorite part though has got to be the Blood Bowl section. One of their authors converted a Goblin team out of Gnoblars and offers lots of tactical advice on how to win with them. I don't play much Blood Bowl and know very little about tactics but I sure love the idea of a bunch of Gnoblar running around the field!

Some of the sections are a little too fluffy for my taste (like Ask Aunty Doreen) but its worth skipping those pages for the meatier articles. If you've never checked out the Bellower before, now's a good time to take a look.

Lizardmen in 8th Edition: Lore of Beasts

Right about now I will either be in or just getting out of my wisdom teeth surgery I am unfortunately having to undergo. However, I prepared a handful of posts ahead of time to keep you, my loyal readers, entertained. After today though I'll be taking some time to relax, recover, and work on some minis so there may not be any updates for a while depending on how I'm feeling.

Wildheart (Lore Attribute):
Pretty cool attribute that makes the spells easier to cast against everything that isn't Infantry.

Wyssan's Wildform (Signature Spell):
Pretty cool spell. I wish you could 12" AOE it like the other augment spells in this line. As it is, it's the most universally useful spell in this list. It'll work well with all of your units. It will even make rank and file skinks into something to be feared. I like the idea of pairing this with Cold One Cavalry myself to give them some extra punch and defense. T5 with a 2+ armor save is nothing to sneeze at. They'll even be S6 on the charge. Toss a scar veteran or oldblood in with the unit and cast Savage Beast for even more ridiculous devastation.

The Flock of Doom (1):
I think this is a terrible spell. 2D6 Strength 2 hits means you're getting on average less than 2 wounds per roll of the spell against a lot of units. It's dirt cheap though and slann can get a free power dice per attempt so if you've got a spare die, there's really no reason not to cast it.

Pann's Impenetrable Pelt (2):
Cool spell that will help keep your characters alive. I'm not sure how often you'll cast it though but I could see it being partnered with other spells in this lore to send a nasty character to take on a monster by himself.

The Amber Spear (3):
I actually like this. It gives you a great tool against monstrous creatures. Nice range and the upgraded version is fantastic if you can hit a unit of monstrous infantry on a flank. Unfortunately a slann in a temple guard bunker is not too likely to get such a flank shot.

The Curse of Anraheir (4):
Fun spell especially if you end up with lots of terrain on the board. Noone is going to want to enter any terrain with this on them (hills too!) and if they are already in terrain, they certainly won't be moving them that turn. It's also a nice penalty to shooting and combat units.

The Savage Beast of Horros (5):
I think this is a fantastic spell. It makes any character instantly awesome at combat including even the lowly skink chief. The boosted version of this spell to make all nearby characters fantastic is also great. There's no need to make your characters killy if you can just rely on this spell to do it for you. I also love the idea of a skink chief with stegadon warspear that has this spell. 6 Strength 9 attacks (10 if you synergize with Wildform) and 2D6+2 strength 6 impact hits? Yes please. The downside is you

Transformation of Kadon (6):
Very cool spell. Slann can't use it (see the Lizardmen FAQ) so it doesn't really matter how good it is.

Other Lizardmen Thoughts:
I don't really like it for Lizardmen. I think it'd be fun to make a list built around it with a mobile slann and a bunch of cheap scar veterans or even skink chiefs to do some serious damage. I think it'd be a fun list to break out every once in a while for a fun game but I don't see it as being overly competitive. The real problem I have with this lore is that it is great for enabling your characters to take on things they can't beat normally but you have to commit your characters in the movement phase and then have no guarantee you get the specific spells you need off. If Pann's Impenetrable Pelt and The Savage Beast of Horros could effect the entire unit, I'd be all over this lore.

Lizardmen in 8th Edition: Magic Weapons

Taking a quick break from the magic lores to spice things up a little bit.

Blade of Realities:
This is a fun item with all sorts of uses. Put it on an oldblood and watch your opponent sweat. It is actually less good in 8th edition now that a BSB can let you reroll all failed leadership tests.

Blade of Revered Tzunki:
You can only give this to an Oldblood for 6 strength but for 5 points less you can give him the Giant Blade that has the same end result.

Giant Blade:
This is probably a little over kill on a guy who is already strength 5. Strength 8 is nice if you know you're going to be facing monsters. I'm not sure you need that much strength in general though.

Sword of Bloodshed:
Excellent weapon. Scimitar of the Sun Resplendent was a 7th edition favorite of mine and for just 10 more points you can give your Oldblood an extra attack. Pair this with maiming shield and enjoy a whopping 9 attacks. Add the Potion of Foolhardiness and enjoy a breathtaking 10 S6 attacks on the charge.

Obsidian Blade:
Not really worth it. I'm not a fan of negating armour saves unless it comes from strength.

Scimitar of the Sun Resplendent:
A 7th edition staple made obsolete by the Sword of Strife.

Stegadon War-spear:
Fun item. I don't know that it's good but you can guarantee that stegadon is going to mess up whatever it charges.

Ogre Blade:
You probably don't need much more strength than this so I recommend it over the Giant Blade. It is too pricey for skink chief or scar veteran and there are better options for an oldblood.

Sword Of Strife:
Scimitar of the Sun Resplendent but cheaper. Nice item when you want to get some defense on your oldblood or want a killy scar veteran.

Fencer's Blades:
This is more of a defensive item than an offensive item and there are better defensive items out there. I don't really like it much. Though I do find the idea of pairing this up with Glittering Scales and Aura of Quetzl to make a virtually unhittable character very humorous.

Staff of the Lost Sun:
I could see it being useful on a Skink Chief in a unit of Terradon riders but it would make the unit a little too expensive for how fragile it is. Very situational and opponent dependent. Putting him in a unit of skirmishers would be throwing him away.

Piranha Blade:
It has some uses but I personally wouldn't take it. There are more versatile options out there and you have better ways of dealing with nasty monsters.

Sword of Anti-Heroes:
I don't really see a situation where this buys you much. At best you're going to get +1 strength, +1 attack out of it but only when fighting characters. It gets you nothing against monsters or elite units.

Spellthieving Sword:
I would never take it. If you're hitting a spellcaster, you're probably killing him. There are of course exceptions worth considering (daemons, warriors, vampire counts, etc.).

Sword of Swift Slaying:
If you want to attack first, take the Lore of Light on a slann. It'll go much further. There are much better items.

Dagger of Sotek:
I don't see many reasons to take a Skink Chief let alone equip him with this.

Sword of the Hornet:
Exact same as the Sword of Swift Slaying above.

Sword of Battle:
Very basic. Good for a cheap magic weapon.

Berserker Sword:
Makes a unit immune to psychology. You're lizardmen so you aren't really worried about psychology though.

Sword of Might:
Very basic. Good for a cheap magic weapon.

Burning Blade of Chotec:
I like this. Gives a cheap hero a way to deal with regen and armour. Toss on something like a cheap scar veteran and stick him in an infantry unit. Gives bonuses for assaulting buildings and dealing with cavalry/war beasts for an extra perk.

Gold Sigil Sword:
Much like the Sword of Swift Slaying, there are better ways to strike first if you want to.

Sword of Striking:
Let's you hit on 2s instead of 3s. Nothing really special though synergy with lore of light for I10 and ASF is fun to think about.

Biting Blade:
Ewwww.

Relic Sword:
You're already doing this unless you're beating on a steam tank or you're a skink chief. Not much point.

Shrieking Blade:
Fear isn't that fantastic any more and there are other ways to get it. Take a real weapon.

Tormentor Sword:
If you're beating on a guy, he's already in combat and this isn't going to do much unless he kills you.

Warrior Bane:
What I said for Tormentor Sword.

There's a lot of cool items to pick from and I'd love to try some of them out. You can make some truly terrifying Oldbloods with these. Unfortunately, I love my slann and rarely get to try some of the awesome weapons as a result. My biggest Fantasy regret might be not getting a chance to try out Blade of Realities under 7th edition! Though I can't wait to field a Sword of Bloodshed Oldblood some time.

New Skaven Models Announced

Games Workshop has just put up some new Skaven models for advanced order. They will be released on September 18th.

They have announced a Skavenslaves Sling Upgrade Pack.

As well as a re-release of classic rat ogre models.

Maulerblades, Ironclaws, and Stitch Spikegouger.

I usually don't like the look of a lot of Games Workshop's classic models but I'm sort of digging the new rat ogres. It's a shame they aren't part of a plastic kit and I already have more rat ogres than I will ever need, especially after I purchase Island of Blood.

This post is a bit of an experiment. Are people interested in seeing more breaking news on here? Or should I stick to theoryhammer, modeling, painting, and battle report posts?

Lizardmen in 8th Edition: Lore of Death

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.

Lizardmen in 8th Edition: Lore of Light

I like this lore a lot.

Exorcism (Lore Attribute):
Great if your enemy is undead or daemonic, not so fantastic otherwise.

Shem's Burning Gaze (Signature Spell):
Great range and it gives you flaming attacks. It can be increased to S6 for taking out nasty monsters too. Nice little magic missile and a great tool for an army with very little long ranged threats.

Pha's Protection (1):
Fantastic gunline protection. Combine this with Iceshard Blizzard and you can really hose an enemy shooting unit. Can be aed to protect all of your valuable units.

The Speed of Light (2):
Gives you high initiative to make sure you strike first and high weapon skill to make sure you hit. It also makes it harder for your opponent to hit you. Can be aed and given to all of your units. Great synergy with both Iceshard Blizzard and Pha's Protection to virtually guarantee your opponent can't hit you.

Light of Battle (3):
Great for low leadership armies. Not so great for others.

Net of Amyntok (4):
This is a cool little utility spell. Gives you a chance to hold a unit in place and do some damage while you're at it. Use this to prevent that critical charge or make your opponent think twice about committing his other resources to battle.

Banishment (5):
Great damage spell against things with ward saves. This makes it the best spell in the game for busting through magic resistance. It's not very high strength though which is unfortunate.

Birona's Timewarp (6):
This is a really great spell. Terrific synergy with the rest of the lore and turns your guys into close combat beasts. More attacks, more movement, and always strikes first? Fantastic. Pair this with Speed of Light to give your guys hatred. Even better, it can also be cast in an area effect.

Lizardmen Thoughts:
This is the creme de la creme of Lizardmen lores in my book. It counters all of their weaknesses and really makes it hard for an opponent to beat them. Net of Amyntok gives you extra utility to prevent your saurus from being outmaneuvered. Shem's Burning Gaze and Banishment provide you with very nice ranged threats to assist your Lore of Heavens ranged threats. Worried about Purple Sun and initiative tests? Cast Speed of Light and worry no more!

The real nice thing here though are the ways the augments synergize. Take a ranked up unit of saurus with spears and cast Pha's Protection, Speed of Light, and Birona's Timewarp on them. You now have 25 S4 WS10 attacks that can reroll to hit and will always go first. Not to mention, anything wanting to attack back is going to need 6s just to hit you. Combine that with Curse of the Midnight Wind from Lore of Heavens and they have to reroll their successful to hit rolls too!

On a unit of temple guard, you're looking at 20 S5 WS10 attacks. That's going to dish out some serious damage and really put a hurting on your opponent. This combination even makes your saurus cavalry suddenly awesome!

The only spell that isn't fantastic for Lizardmen is Light of Battle but only because their leadership is already godly.

I REALLY like this lore for the slann. It helps you from turn 1 all the way through to the end of the game. Start off with magic missiles, Net of Amyntok, and Pha's Protection to keep your guy's safe and transition to the augments as your combat units collide.

One thing of note. You have no miscast protection so you'll either need to run your slann solo or take Cupped Hands of the Old ones. Soul of Stone is also worth considering.

Lizardmen in 8th Edition: Lore of Life

By request, here are my thoughts on Lore of Life.

Lifebloom (Lore Attribute):
This is a pretty cool attribute. Free healing is very nice and you can use this to keep a choppy saurus character or a stegadon going long after it should have succumbed. Very nice.

Earth Blood (Signature Spell):
Nice spell. Regeneration is always nice and with Throne of Vines it's working half the time. This is somewhat negated by the sheer amount of flaming attacks available to most armies now but it's still pretty good to have. You're going to want to use this in conjunction with Throne of Vines and the other spells in this lore to create a really nasty anvil unit your opponent will never get through.

Awakening of the Wood (1):
Decent spell for its cost. Unfortunately, I don't really foresee many people getting any use out of this. With the random terrain generation chart, I at least don't foresee myself putting anything in a Mysterious Forest that has such a potential to start munching on my guys. Luckily its a good spell even when not in the woods.

Flesh to Stone (2):
+2 Toughness is fantastic. +4 Toughness is even more fantastic. This will make your opponent need 5s to wound you at best, 6s to wound you with Throne of Vines. This is a must have spell for this lore.

Throne of Vines (3):
This is the spell that makes this lore. It allows you to throw tons of dice at each spell with no fear of miscast and makes all of your spell but Dwellers Below even more fantastic. You will start every magic phase with casting this spell if you don't already have it up.

Shield of Thorns (4):
Great spell for your impossible to kill anvil unit. Get this up and it forces your opponent to seriously think about whether they'd rather dispel Throne of Vines or this in their turn. Every turn they don't dispel this (if cast with Throne of Vines), they'll have to take 4D6 S4 hits. That is just awesome.

Regrowth (5):
Bring your units back to life? Very cool. D3+1 is so-so for the point cost but D6+1 with Throne of Vines is truly very nice.

The Dwellers Below (6):
A fantastic spell against some armies. The last spell you will cast against others. Strength test or die is very nice against things like elves but against things likely to pass their tests, you are probably better off keeping all of your buffs going.

Overall Lizardmen Thoughts:
This seems to be the lore that everyone on the internet absolutely loves for their slann. It's easy to see why. Take a big old unit of temple guard, stick your slann in it, march it up the field, and give it 4+ regen, +4 toughness, bring back D6+1 casualties, and give it an extra 4D6 S4 hits in close combat every turn? That's just AWESOME!

I haven't tried it myself but when I really think about it, I don't see it as actually being that great on the table. If your opponent brings a badly unbalanced list, sure, you're going to dominate the magic phase and their is nothing he can do about it. But what it really comes down to is Throne of Vines. This is the spell your opponent has to stop. Without this, your battle plan falls apart.

You have two choices every magic phase, cast this spell with a lot of dice to keep it from being dispelled or go for the minimum. If you go for the minimum, your opponent can throw all of his dice at it because this is what he needs to stop. All of your other spells lose a lot of their effectiveness without it and will expire by the next turn anyways so you'll just have to recast them all over again and who knows how good your next magic phase will be.

What if you throw enough dice at it to make it difficult to dispel? Well, if you irresistable force it, that's fantastic and you get it. If you don't, this is where he whips out his dispel scroll or feedback scroll and we get to watch your slann implode. What if you do get it off and he knows he can't stop it with his dice? Well, then all he has to do is stop your follow up spells. If you've thrown a ton of dice at this spell, you're not going to have much left for your other spells. And he can just dispel throne of vines in his magic phase. On average, it only takes 2 dice on a level 1 wizard to dispel it. 2 dice on a level 4 wizard is virtually a guarantee.

I think a savvy opponent that brings any decent amount of dispel is going to tear apart a Lore of Life list. Sure, if your opponent isn't so savvy or just plain has shitty lucky, you're going to tear him apart with this list, but with magic so random in this edition, I think this list relies too heavily on being able to be consistent in your magic phase.

There are of course some ways to mitigate this and try to make sure you have enough dice to do what you need to do. My personal recommendations are to always take The Focused Rumination on your slann and seriously consider taking the Forbidden Rod on a skink priest and a Power Stone on the slann himself. These will help you generate your necessary power dice on a bad winds of magic roll and enable you to recover and get things back on track. A Power Scroll to irresistible force Throne of Vines or another spell on command is also useful and should be considered.

As far as partnering this with Lore of Heavens on your skinks, look for synergy with Iceshard Blizzard to help get your anvil unit into combat and Curse of the Midnight Wind to make it even harder to kill them.

Lizardmen in 8th Edition: Lore of Heavens

Let's start here since it's the lore that skink priests have to take. I'm going to go through the lores one by one since this is my first time covering them and I'll give my general thoughts as well as Lizardmen specific thoughts.

Roiling Skies (Lore Attribute):
Interesting lore attribute. Unfortunately, interesting doesn't mean good. It's not going to do too much and is really just a nice extra rather than a reason to specifically take this lore. There is some debate on whether or not the hits are inflicted for merely targeting the enemy or if the spell has to be successfully cast. I'm in the camp that says it needs to actually go off but a FAQ will be needed to clear this up. It's nice for lizardmen because it gives them a little extra oomph against things like dragons that are going to be difficult to take down from a distance. I don't think it's enough oomph though to really make much of a difference.

Iceshard Blizzard (Signature Spell):
Pretty nice spell. Lets you shut down a shooty unit or a warmachine. This is particularly useful for lizards worried about their saurus blocks being demolished. It also combos nicely with some of the Lore of Light spells. Combo it with The Speed of Light (Light) and Curse of the Midnight Wind (Heavens) and you can make your enemies elite block need 6s to hit and all 6s get rerolled.

Harmonic Convergence (1):
This and Curse of the Midnight Wind are opposite sides of the same coin. This is best used on things that need 3s to hit and/or 2s to wound as it will virtually ensure every to hit roll succeeds and every to wound roll succeeds. Give this to your elite troops or a unit that is going to be causing a lot of rolls. I can see it being useful on blowpipes and salamanders in addition to the more elite saurus type units. In the end though, unless you really need that critical extra hit/wound, I think you're going to be better off trying one of the other spells in this lore.

Wind Blast (2):
Very cool spell. I like it a lot though I'm not convinced of its usefulness. Clever placing of this spell can force your opponent's units to trip over each other and really hose his battleline. You can also force your opponent out of charge position and might even cause some damage to some of his lighter troops. It's pretty cheap to cast too and I think it's certainly worth taking just for the chance to mess with your opponent. The major benefit of this spell is restricting your opponent's movement when you have less mobile (saurus) troops and beating him to position is critical. Fun combos are possible with Fulminating Flame Cage (Fire) and Net of Amyntok (Light) as well.

Curse of the Midnight Wind (3):
This is a pretty interesting spell. Combo it with things that give your units extreme toughness and/or weapon skill and they become virtually impossible to kill. Double the casting value and you can hit multiple enemy units at once which is a very nice extra bonus. Use this on units targeting saurus warriors, temple guard, cold one knights, stegadons, etc. It's not really worth casting to save skinks because those little buggers will be dead anyways unless you've managed to dramatically up their toughness. Better than Harmonic Convergence because it's easier to make your guys harder to kill than it is to make them killy.

Urannon's Thunderbolt (4):
It's a pretty basic magic missile. Nothing particularly great about it besides S6. The best use for this spell is high toughness/armored small units. With only D6 hits, it's not going to do many wounds which is why you need to make the wounds it does do count. This is for elite units. Don't bother casting it at cheap throwaway units unless you absolutely have to stop that unit of skirmishers/fast cav. It's a nice little ranged threat that lizards don't get much of.

Comet of Cassandora (5):
Much better than the older version of the spell. No longer remains in play means you don't have to worry about your opponent dispelling it before it goes off but you also have to be more careful about placement and your own troops. Drop this on top of your opponent's warmachines/shooting units and watch him scramble. It also makes for a terrific way to control your opponent's advance. Noone is going to want to take their elite troops through the middle of this thing's target area. Lizardmen don't have much in the way of anti-shooting so this is a great spell for them.

Chain Lightning (6):
This bad boy is Urannon on steroids. It's the same spell for an extra 5 casting value. It has the bonus of not requiring line of sight and hopping to more units 2/3 of the time. With a lucky roll of this and bad planning on your opponent's part, you can wipe out mass units of heavy cav, light cav, skirmishers, independent characters, monsters, and warmachines. It's a fantastic spell. Gives lizardmen another great way to deal with targets at a range.

Lizardmen Thoughts:
I think most Lizardmen lists are going to have this lore in it. Magic is such a powerful phase in 8th edition that you have to bring something for it. This will probably be a slann but even a slann needs backup. The last thing you want is to roll 12 for winds of magic then have your slann's first spell break his concentration and you can't cast anything else. As a result, I foresee a skink priest of some sort in every list.

This lore provides a variety of spells that help negate Lizardmen weaknesses. There are several terrific ranged threats in its arsenal as well as anti-shooting and anti-maneuverability spells. You can't go wrong with most of these spells. I would try to give each priest you take at least one damage and one utility spell. Harmonic Convergence is probably the least useful spell for Lizardmen (unless comboed effectively) so i would trade it for Iceshard Blizzard most of the time.

1st Foray Into 8th Edition (part 2)

In part 1 I talked about my game against Daemons of Chaos. After we finished up our game, I played again against my friend Nathan.

I let him borrow my Lizardmen from the game, it was his first time playing with Lizardmen.

I took an Ogre list I had brought with the hope of being balanced against the Lizardmen list.

Tyrant
- Wyrdstone Necklace
- Sword of Bloodshed
- Enchanted Shield
- Heavy Armour
- Luck Gnoblar
Slaughtermaster
- Siegebreaker
- Halfling Cookbook
- 3 Gnoblar Thiefstone
Bruiser
- BSB
- Obsidian Lodestone
- Heavy Armour
- Cathayan Longsword
Butcher
- Dispel Scroll
10 Gnoblar Trappers
30 Gnoblar Fighters
6 Bulls
- Standard Bearer
6 Ironguts
- Standard Bearer
6 Ironguts
- Standard Bearer
1 Scraplauncher
1 Scraplauncher
2 Leadbelchers
- Bellower
2 Leadbelchers
- Bellower

Tyrant and Slaughtermaster went in one Ironguts unit. BSB and Butcher in the other.

We rolled up a lot of obstacles for our terrain and we rolled dawn attack. This really made our deployment difficult. It basically killed any strategy regarding deployment because there was no guarantee your critical units would be where you wanted them.

Nathan deployed the lizards first but I managed to seize the initiative.

It was unfortunately a slightly dull game. Not much happened as we had to cut it short because it was getting late. I also didn't get a chance to take any pictures.

Basically, he was unable to do much in his magic phase. Dispel scroll kept it in check and the slann was taken out early due to loss of concentration. In one of my shooting phases, a scraplauncher misfired but the other dropped a template almost spot on and dealt pretty good damage to a unit of saurus. Scraplaunchers are pretty fantastic but I didn't get to do much against them.

On our last turn of play, I got a series of charges and redirects off that resulted in several of the small skirmishing units fleeing and one unit of Ironguts colliding with a block of saurus spears. The Ironguts handily won combat but unfortunately needed one more wound to negate steadfast and failed to get it with their Stomps. The saurus held.

That was when the game ended. It was looking like a win for the ogres as they were about to enter combat in full force but who knows what would have happened in Nathan's next turn!

Slann Mage-Priest Painting Part V

Not a whole lot to report here though I am pretty happy with one of the pieces that I completed.

I spent most of my time during this painting session touching up the random leaves around the back of the palanquin. I got the initial Knarloc Green on a lot of them and also did some touching up of the branches in spots I had missed my first time through. Still have washing and highlighting of the leaves to do as well as figuring out the next step to really make my branches pop.

From Slann Mage-Priest I

The other day when I was working on this, I also decided how I wanted to do up one of the many little critters that is chilling out on the palanquin. I used Chaos Black and Blazing Orange to paint the stripes and then filled in the eye slits with two tiny strokes of Chaos Black. This will probably receive a Devlan Mud wash. I'm not sure if there is any point in highlighting him.

From Slann Mage-Priest I

Lizardmen in 8th edition: Rare

Not much in the way of options in this category.

Ancient Stegadon:
These are a better option than the normal stegadon. Extra strength to make the Thunderstomps and impact hits even better. Extra armor save for a little extra shooting and magic protection. I also like the double blowpipes more than the bolt thrower. Unfortunately, it still gets destroyed by cannons and other warmachines. The real problem with this selection is it uses up your rare points that I personally would prefer to spend on Salamanders. I think these might make it into my list occasionally.

Salamander Hunting Pack:
Love them. 8th edition has made them absolutely fantastic. A unit of skirmishing multi-use breath weapons that can march and fire, hit on partials, and give a -3 to armor saves? Take them. Take more of them. Then take even more of them. These guys are going to wipe out blocks of infantry like nobody's business. They are also useful for getting guys out of buildings. Each template that touches the building is going to inflict D6 hits on the unit and since the attacks are flaming, you'll get to reroll the to wound roll. Not to mention the panic attacks for any wounds caused. They are also slightly more survivable now with the monsters and handlers rule giving them an effective 5+ ward save.

I like unit sizes of 2 as they don't get too expensive for a unit at that point so you can use them as a bait/redirect if you have to. They are also going to be charged because your opponent is not going to leave these guys in his flank to flame him all game. So the smaller units of 2 helps to minimize the points loss when these guys do inevitable end up in combat. I plan to always field at least a unit of two.

Razordon Hunting Pack:
Like them. I don't think they're as good as salamanders but on a good roll, they do have a lot more damage potential. On a bad roll though, they are going to do nothing, and they have the potential to get really hosed on the charge. It's a real trade off with these guys, you'll either get complete crap, average, face meltingly good.

Like the salamanders, at 75 points a pop, I'd run them in units of two. Though three is really tempting for that once in a million turn when your opponent charges them and they unload 60 shots. The main advantage these guys have over salamanders, is they won't necessarily keel over and die when they get charged in combat. With their stand and shoot reaction, you're probably going to take some of the enemy with you. They are also better than salamanders at dealing damage to smaller blocks. Salamanders really only excel if you can get the template on a lot of enemies. The main disadvantage is they aren't nearly as good as salamanders at forcing panic tests or dealing with high armor targets. These guys will probably see themselves show up in my lists as an occasional complement to my salamanders.

This concludes my breakdown of the units. What are people interested in seeing next? A run through of magic items or the magic lores?

Return of the Stegadon!

It's been a long time since I last worked on this guy but I finally took the time to focus on him for a little while and made quite a bit of progress.

From Engine Of The Gods 1

From Engine Of The Gods 1

From Engine Of The Gods 1

From Engine Of The Gods 1

I coated the entire body with Hawk Turquoise then washed it all with Thraka Green. I then applied a light drybrush of Space Wolves Grey focusing on the body but also hitting the scales a little too. I washed the scales with Devlan Mud and then gave them an extremely heavy drybrushing of Regal Blue. I rewashed the scales with Thraka Green again and then gave the whole body another light drybrushing of Space Wolves Grey.

I think the effect turned out really nicely. I'm not sure there's enough shading in the non-scales portion though. I'm going to leave it for now but I'm thinking I might give the skin a wash of Devlan Mud too and make sure I get it down into the crevices.

Lizardmen in 8th edition: Special

I'm not sure how much I like Lizardmen special choices in 8th. They all have a use but only in a support role. I'm not sure you can really build an army around any of them.

Chameleon Skinks:
I think these guys got a pretty good boost with 8th edition. They can deploy anywhere at least 12" from the enemy now, line of sight doesn't matter. In 7th, I used to have a hard time finding a place I could actually put these guys that wasn't my own deployment zone. Now it's easy to place them and in some scenarios, it's incredibly easy to drop them in the opponent's backfield. They can march and shoot now making them an immediate threat from turn 1 that your opponent has no choice but to deal with. As scouts they can also be used to prevent placement of your opponent's scouts and hinder your opponent's vanguard moves.

These are the only skinks that can move and double shot without losing their poison. They are twice as effective as the regular skirmishers (with regards to damage output) and only 5 points more. They're also at an additional -1 to hit making them difficult to kill once they get around behind your enemy's blocks. That's a steal and I'd recommend taking at least one unit of 10-12.

Terradon Riders:
These guys got a mixed bag of changes with 8th edition. Since man sized no longer matters for the skirmisher shooting penalty, these guys are now harder to shoot at. The line of sight changes however mean it's a lot harder to hide them from enemy shooting though so you're going to need it. One thing to keep in mind is that wings don't count for line of sight purposes. Your opponent needs to be able to draw line of sight to the body of the model. The vanguard move they get also helps negate the line of sight issue by helping them reach the opponent's backfield much quicker than they could have in 7th edition. With proper planning and if your opponent isn't careful, you could be dropping rocks on turn 1. I think these guys are still useful but I don't know that I'd take more than one unit

Temple Guard:
I like these guys in 8th quite a bit. In 7th edition I always had trouble with the front rank dying and not getting enough attacks back. That isn't a problem any more. They are better than saurus warriors with higher weapon skill and also higher strength. Since they can't use their shields in close combat and with their light armor, they have the same armor save as saurus warriors in close combat, even though they can't use their shields.

Like the Saurus Warriors, these guys are a great target for a lot of the new spells your Slann can field. Taking them with a Slann makes them virtually Unbreakable though non-combat resolution leadership modifiers are something you will need to be aware of with the changes to Stubborn. Immune to Psychology makes this less of a problem but it is still a concern. The other thing to keep in mind is that this unit will be demolished if your Slann miscasts. Be VERY wary of this as the miscast not only wipes out the expensive temple guard, but it will leave your slann undefended.

Cold One Cavalry:
Heavy cavalry is a bit of a mystery to me in 8th edition. I'm not really sure they're any good. I personally will not be taking these guys very often. There are a few things that are clear though. These guys will not break infantry blocks by themselves. They just don't have the damage output on their own and they are too expensive to ever negate Steadfast. I can see pairing them up with infantry blocks of your own. Run these guys into the flank, an infantry block into the front, and hope your block is able to negate steadfast. These guys do have quite a bit of killing potential (especially with spell support) so I won't rule them out yet.

I think they should be run in units of at least 5. Possibly go to 7 wide as they will be striking last and are bound to take missile fire on the way as well. I think they might also be a great melee character delivery system for some extra oomph in combat.

Kroxigor:
Everything I said about Cold One Cavalry also applies to these guys with the exception of character delivery. They have extra strength from their great weapons so are better against heavily armored infantry and heavy cavalry. They will always strike last but have extra wounds to help them weather your opponents attacks. However, they have the same toughness and a worse armor save than cold one cavalry.

The key advantage these guys have over Cold One Cavalry is Skinks. Stick these guys in a unit of skinks and suddenly most of their downsides disappear. Your opponent is going to get extra combat resolution from killing the skinks, but now you have a flanking unit that can negate ranks and possibly help negate steadfast. Your kroxigors that you took for damage output are fully protected in combat and have excellent protection from shooting. While I'm not sure it will work, this is the only way I see these guys being useful.

Stegadon:
I don't like Stegadons at all. It's a big giant target that your opponent is going to fire everything at. If he has warmachines, the crew is as good as dead, and so is the stegadon. It comes with a bolt thrower, which can be incredibly useful, but I really don't think you'll get a chance at more than 2 shots with it.

It does have Thunderstomp now which is very nice. It means that once it's in combat, it's actually going to do some damage. It's also never going to flee from combat due to Cold Blooded and Stubborn so once you hit something with it, that unit will be there for a while. I personally won't take them.

Slann Mage-Priest Painting Part IV

I've been working on my slann piecemeal for a while but haven't made much progress until this weekend. Mostly I've been tracing all of the branches that wind around the palanquin's base.

The two big things I've accomplished is I picked up some gloss varnish for the slann and applied it to him in his entirety. I was having problems with the paint chipping and was told that sealing them with varnish is a good way to prevent that from happening. I'm trying to decide now if I should get some matte varnish to apply and reduce the shininess a little.

From Slann Mage-Priest I

I also figured out my color scheme for the leaves and did those up. Credit goes to Alex for his tips on the matter. I coated the leaves with Knarloc Green, washed them with Devlan Mud, applied a drybrush of Goblin Green, washed them with Thraka Green, drybrushed with Snot Green, and then applied a final wash of Thraka Green.

From Slann Mage-Priest I

Anyone have suggestions? They are welcome!