Your selections in this area of the army will be heavily dependent on what decisions you came to about your Lords. You also need to decide if you want a stegadon or not as this will eat up the majority of your points.
Saurus Scar Veteran:
These guys serve the same basic basic purpose as Oldbloods. They can be equipped for a variety of purposes and are relatively cheap so you can take a bunch of them. They have the option to be the army BSB and serve this role very well. If you don't have the points to take a Slann as a BSB or are concerned about your general and your BSB being the same model, this is the guy you should go with.
One of my favorite ways to use these guys is to give them Light Armor, a Great Weapon, and some extra magical item kick (offensive or defensive). It's cheap so you don't have to worry about them dying too much and they can bring a little oomph to the offensive power of your saurus warrior or cavalry blocks.
Stegadons:
Before discussing the other two hero options, we need to think about stegadons. Do we want one in the army? The offensive power of stegadons grew a lot in 8th edition. Thunderstomp in these guys is no joke. If you get him into a combat, he is going to destroy a lot of things. However, they are EXPENSIVE and can quickly eat up your hero points. If you're taking a stegadon, there is a pretty good chance you will only be taking one or two other heroes. The other major downside is the new line of sight rules that make it extremely difficult to hide this guy. The new partial template hits and cannons against multi-part models rules can also devastate a stegadon if you aren't careful. If you are taking one and risking a critical hero on it, you need to make sure you have a plan for keeping this guy protected
Skink Priest:
Skink Priests are pretty cheap. You can get a level 2 wizard for only 100 points or a level 1 wizard for only 65. With all of the cool arcane items now available, it's worth considering spamming these guys on the cheap to take advantage of this and help ensure a good magic phase or to help disable your opponent's magic phase. If you took two slanns for your Lord choice, I would recommend investing few points in this area unless you want specific arcane items that you couldn't get on your slann.
Some items I would recommend considering: Cube of Darkness, Diadem of Power, Plaque of Tepok, Forbidden Rod, Dispel Scroll, and Feedback Scroll.
These guys can also take an Engine of the Gods but if you do take one, be prepared to face a lot of enemy fire. Make sure you always activate The Portent of Warding up until the point you're in combat or enemy warmachines and casters have been taken care of. If you're going to take this, you should also bring some warmachine hunting characters to assure yourself of a way to eliminate the threat. Luckily, you can get some warmachine protection through the use of the lore of heavens signature spell (Iceshard Blizzard). If facing a warmachine heavy army, you will want to use this. If you also have a slann with the lore of light, pha's protection provides additional protection from ranged attacks.
Skink Chief:
They are really cheap but you get what you pay for. That isn't to say they don't have a purpose but they have a difficult time fulfilling multiple roles. They aren't killy enough to be used for combat resolution purposes and they die pretty easily. They can however be used successfully as item carriers. Want to give a unit some MR? Toss a chief in with the MR item. It's the cheapest way to do it if you don't have the points to spare on your other characters. They can also make decent warmachine hunters. Give them cloak of feathers or a terradon to ride and they can be removing warmachines from battle in no time.
I really love the idea of putting one on a stegadon with the warspear as that combination will destroy units in close combat. However, without the engine's powers, or the skink priests to cast Iceshard Blizzard, this guy is a sitting duck against a lot of armies. If you're going to take him and you might face gunline armies, I'd consider the lore of light on a slann for pha's protection a necessity. I think this option is workable but it will require building a list to support it or playing an opponent that can't do anything about it.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Lizardmen in 8th edition: Lords
My buddy Steve over at Boisterous Exuberance has been running a series of articles on his impressions of Dark Elves in 8th edition (part 1). I thought it would be a good idea to do the same.
Slann Mage-Priest:
This is the choice that is going to define your list. The new 8th edition rules drastically change what options are available to you. All of the BRB lores are quite excellent and which one you choose will have a huge impact on what other units you should take with your army to maximize synergy. With the new Lord percentage restrictions it is now also possible to take up to two slanns in a 2500 point list. The third important consideration is that the new miscast results are so devastating that you may want to seriously consider running your slanns without a temple guard bubble. Strength 10 hits centered over the slann is going to wipe out the entire unit very fast.
2 Slanns:
If you take two slanns, you only have 75 points total for all of their magic items. That's not much. Luckily, you do get one free discipline per slann at this level. If you are giving them temple guard, you need to use this allotment to get you miscast protection. Luckily you can get this for free through the Lore of Life so I would recommend taking this on one of your slanns if it is in a temple guard unit. You should also take the Focus of Mystery to ensure you get Throne of Vines. If the second slann is also in a temple guard unit. You need to give him Cupped Hands of the Old Ones. Since your first slann is going to have to do without The Focused Rumination, you should give it to your second slann. He won't know all of the spells from his chosen lore but having the free power dice every spell will give you some protection from a bad winds of magic roll and you can ensure the second slann will use minimum pool dice so that both slanns can contribute to the magic phase.
The major problem with this setup is it is very expensive. You have to provide a temple guard buffer for two slanns and this quickly adds up. You can always go for a more conservative route and only place one slann in the temple guard, or even running both slanns outside the temple guard, but this leaves you having to dedicate your two disciplines and 75 points towards defensive items that will ensure the slann doesn't get killed.
1 slann:
This is still my recommendation and how I prefer to personally run my lists. I stick him in a temple guard unit and make sure he has some form of miscast protection. Either the lore of life or the cupped hands depending on what I want to do with the rest of my army. Then I give him The Focus of Mystery, The Focused Rumination, and Becalming Cogitation. This ensures that he will have a decent magic phase regardless of what the winds of magic roll and offers him a great deal of protection against the opponent's magic phase. I also make him the BSB as I don't want to have to take another character just to carry the standard. This does pose a risk for some scenarios (all my eggs in one basket) but if I am aware of this and keep the unit safe, it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
I will address synergy with the different lores of magic in a separate post but I will say that I like to give my Slann the lore of light. There are several spells in this lore that help negate the innate weaknesses in the lizardmen army. It also nicely complements Lore of Heavens which your skink priests will have.
Saurus Oldblood:
If you don't want to go with a heavy magic list or are looking to supplement a single slann list with something killy, the oldblood is what you want. One of the old builds I liked in 7th edition was to give an oldblood the maiming shield and scimitar of the sun resplendent. The items in the new BRB allow you to take this idea and make it even better. Sword of Strife is 10 less points than the scimitar and you can take Sword of Bloodshed for 20 points less than both the shield and the scimitar on only one item.
Light Armor, Sword of Bloodshed, Maiming Shield, and Potion of Foolhardiness.
This gives you a 2+ armor save and 9 attacks (10 on the charge). That's going to do some damage to just about anything you run him into.
Shield, Sword of Bloodshed, Glittering Scales, and The Other Trickster's Shard
This gives a 2+ armor save, 8 attacks, and means most attacks need 5s to hit him, and enemies have to reroll successful ward saves.
Shield, Sword of Strife, Glittering Scales, and Talisman of Endurance
This gives a 2+ armor save, with 7 attacks, most attacks need 5s to hit him, and a 5+ ward save.
Sword of Strife, Horned One, Glittering Scales
This gives a movement 8 mount with 7 attacks, most attacks need 5s to hit him, and a 1+ armor save.
Other items worth considering are still the blade of realities, trickster's helm, and stacking Aura of Quetzl with Glittering Scales.
Regardless of what you want in a close combat character. You can get it with the oldblood.
Slann Mage-Priest:
This is the choice that is going to define your list. The new 8th edition rules drastically change what options are available to you. All of the BRB lores are quite excellent and which one you choose will have a huge impact on what other units you should take with your army to maximize synergy. With the new Lord percentage restrictions it is now also possible to take up to two slanns in a 2500 point list. The third important consideration is that the new miscast results are so devastating that you may want to seriously consider running your slanns without a temple guard bubble. Strength 10 hits centered over the slann is going to wipe out the entire unit very fast.
2 Slanns:
If you take two slanns, you only have 75 points total for all of their magic items. That's not much. Luckily, you do get one free discipline per slann at this level. If you are giving them temple guard, you need to use this allotment to get you miscast protection. Luckily you can get this for free through the Lore of Life so I would recommend taking this on one of your slanns if it is in a temple guard unit. You should also take the Focus of Mystery to ensure you get Throne of Vines. If the second slann is also in a temple guard unit. You need to give him Cupped Hands of the Old Ones. Since your first slann is going to have to do without The Focused Rumination, you should give it to your second slann. He won't know all of the spells from his chosen lore but having the free power dice every spell will give you some protection from a bad winds of magic roll and you can ensure the second slann will use minimum pool dice so that both slanns can contribute to the magic phase.
The major problem with this setup is it is very expensive. You have to provide a temple guard buffer for two slanns and this quickly adds up. You can always go for a more conservative route and only place one slann in the temple guard, or even running both slanns outside the temple guard, but this leaves you having to dedicate your two disciplines and 75 points towards defensive items that will ensure the slann doesn't get killed.
1 slann:
This is still my recommendation and how I prefer to personally run my lists. I stick him in a temple guard unit and make sure he has some form of miscast protection. Either the lore of life or the cupped hands depending on what I want to do with the rest of my army. Then I give him The Focus of Mystery, The Focused Rumination, and Becalming Cogitation. This ensures that he will have a decent magic phase regardless of what the winds of magic roll and offers him a great deal of protection against the opponent's magic phase. I also make him the BSB as I don't want to have to take another character just to carry the standard. This does pose a risk for some scenarios (all my eggs in one basket) but if I am aware of this and keep the unit safe, it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
I will address synergy with the different lores of magic in a separate post but I will say that I like to give my Slann the lore of light. There are several spells in this lore that help negate the innate weaknesses in the lizardmen army. It also nicely complements Lore of Heavens which your skink priests will have.
Saurus Oldblood:
If you don't want to go with a heavy magic list or are looking to supplement a single slann list with something killy, the oldblood is what you want. One of the old builds I liked in 7th edition was to give an oldblood the maiming shield and scimitar of the sun resplendent. The items in the new BRB allow you to take this idea and make it even better. Sword of Strife is 10 less points than the scimitar and you can take Sword of Bloodshed for 20 points less than both the shield and the scimitar on only one item.
Light Armor, Sword of Bloodshed, Maiming Shield, and Potion of Foolhardiness.
This gives you a 2+ armor save and 9 attacks (10 on the charge). That's going to do some damage to just about anything you run him into.
Shield, Sword of Bloodshed, Glittering Scales, and The Other Trickster's Shard
This gives a 2+ armor save, 8 attacks, and means most attacks need 5s to hit him, and enemies have to reroll successful ward saves.
Shield, Sword of Strife, Glittering Scales, and Talisman of Endurance
This gives a 2+ armor save, with 7 attacks, most attacks need 5s to hit him, and a 5+ ward save.
Sword of Strife, Horned One, Glittering Scales
This gives a movement 8 mount with 7 attacks, most attacks need 5s to hit him, and a 1+ armor save.
Other items worth considering are still the blade of realities, trickster's helm, and stacking Aura of Quetzl with Glittering Scales.
Regardless of what you want in a close combat character. You can get it with the oldblood.
Monday, August 2, 2010
July Competition Progress
At the start of this month, several friends of mine began a hobbying competition that will last until the end of the year. The basic premise is that we compete in four major categories and at the end of the month, we reach an agreement on who won in each. Each category you win in net you a single point. At the end of the year, the person with the most points wins. The categories are blogging, painting, assembly, and playing. You can see a full description of the competition here.
So what have I accomplished this month?
Not much unfortunately.
I did get two games of 8th edition in. (Battle reports coming I promise!) The first I took my Lizardmen against Sam's Demons. The second was a learning game where I took my Ogres against my Lizardmen (played by Nathan).
I made some progress on the Slann I've been painting (an updated progress post of that is also coming).
Beyond that, I've been neglectful of this blog and haven't really assembled anything new.
So I think the only thing I have a shot at this month might be painting.
Next month I'm hoping to compete in all major categories.
So what have I accomplished this month?
Not much unfortunately.
I did get two games of 8th edition in. (Battle reports coming I promise!) The first I took my Lizardmen against Sam's Demons. The second was a learning game where I took my Ogres against my Lizardmen (played by Nathan).
I made some progress on the Slann I've been painting (an updated progress post of that is also coming).
Beyond that, I've been neglectful of this blog and haven't really assembled anything new.
So I think the only thing I have a shot at this month might be painting.
Next month I'm hoping to compete in all major categories.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Beginning Hordes
After putting it off for a long time, I've finally decided to take the dive and start playing Hordes. The new Mk ii book is out which I picked up, as well as the Trollbloods faction deck. I have several friends that have started to get into Warmachine and to a lesser extent Hordes and I've just been waiting for the new rules. I don't have a good grip on the rules yet as I haven't finished reading them and have never played so I'm not sure what warlock I'll be using but I'm pretty excited. Trollbloods have some of the coolest looking models in the game and I love the character of the guys. A special rule called Comfort Food? Awesome. Steve and I will be learning the basics using the starter boxes during our lunch breaks which should make the work day a lot more bearable. After we've had a chance to get a few games under our belt, I'll be sure to post up my impressions and thoughts on how I want to proceed with my army.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
What is this garbage?
http://www.yesthetruthhurts.com/2010/07/build-request-empire-for-8th-edition.html
This may be the dumbest article I have ever read over at Yes The Truth Hurts. Seriously, this is the cheesiest trying to cheat the system list I have ever seen in my life.
First, you post up an Empire list that features the Goblin Hewer, a unit from Dogs of War/Storm of Chaos (that is no longer supported) to try and cheese out your gunline. Who is going to actually let you field that against them? This alone makes the list unusable for most people.
Second, what the hell is the deal with the knights being equipped with 1/2 lances, 1/2 great weapons? Noone is going to let you do that. If I tried that, the guy I was playing against would NEVER play me again. Just because the wording isn't 100% clear in the book does not mean it isn't obvious what the intention was. Who would actually want to be the douchebag trying to argue they can do this?
This list is a great idea if you don't want to have friends!
How about posting a real Empire list that someone may actually want to try out and offering useful advice besides trying to cheat the system to win?
Edit/Disclaimer: I read Yes The Truth Hurts for tactical advice as the players over there are far better at this game than I am, however it really pisses me off when I see things like this that emphasize cheating over real tactics.
This may be the dumbest article I have ever read over at Yes The Truth Hurts. Seriously, this is the cheesiest trying to cheat the system list I have ever seen in my life.
First, you post up an Empire list that features the Goblin Hewer, a unit from Dogs of War/Storm of Chaos (that is no longer supported) to try and cheese out your gunline. Who is going to actually let you field that against them? This alone makes the list unusable for most people.
Second, what the hell is the deal with the knights being equipped with 1/2 lances, 1/2 great weapons? Noone is going to let you do that. If I tried that, the guy I was playing against would NEVER play me again. Just because the wording isn't 100% clear in the book does not mean it isn't obvious what the intention was. Who would actually want to be the douchebag trying to argue they can do this?
This list is a great idea if you don't want to have friends!
How about posting a real Empire list that someone may actually want to try out and offering useful advice besides trying to cheat the system to win?
Edit/Disclaimer: I read Yes The Truth Hurts for tactical advice as the players over there are far better at this game than I am, however it really pisses me off when I see things like this that emphasize cheating over real tactics.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Slann Mage-Priest Painting Part III
After a few more hours of work and experimentation I have made more progress.
The actual Slann is pretty much finished at this point. Only the palanquin remains. To finish him off, I dry brushed the main body with Fortress Grey to give him a slightly more aged look and then applied a second coat of Devlan Mud. This made the grey highlights really pop and I think created a really cool effect. I then coated the jewelry pieces with Dwarf Bronze, applied Skull White to the teeth, and gave him Space Wolves Grey eyes. After touching up the areas around these, I washed the teeth and jewelry with some Devlan Mud.
I didn't add a pupil to the eyes because I was thinking it would be cool to give him eyes that were reflective of the sky and then leave them looking like he was in a trance with his eyes rolled back or possibly blind or meditating on matters of great importance.
The palanquin has not made much progress in comparison as I have been trying to decide between a few different colors for some of the pieces. In these pictures you can see some of my experimentation.
I'm trying to make a decision between Snot Green and Dark Angels Green for the leaves. I'm not sure which seems more jungly. I'm not sure either actually looks quite the way I'd like it to. Any suggestions?
I'm also experiencing the same dilemma deciding on the color of the branches. On the picture you can see where I've tested out Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown, Vermin Brown, and Calthan Brown. Neither is quite what I want I don't think.
I've started to coat the decorative pieces in Dwarf Bronze (eventually going to coat with Devlan Mud) to match the Slann. I'm not sure I want the round parts where the tusks/horns are mounted to be this color though. I need to think on it some more.
The last issue I'm grappling with is the tusks/horns themselves. I had initially coated them with Skull White with the idea that I would dirty them up a little bit but I'm not sure I like the effect the Devlan Mud has had. It's almost too dirty. I need to find a good way to give these shading and make the white slightly less pristine without just making them look brownish.
The actual Slann is pretty much finished at this point. Only the palanquin remains. To finish him off, I dry brushed the main body with Fortress Grey to give him a slightly more aged look and then applied a second coat of Devlan Mud. This made the grey highlights really pop and I think created a really cool effect. I then coated the jewelry pieces with Dwarf Bronze, applied Skull White to the teeth, and gave him Space Wolves Grey eyes. After touching up the areas around these, I washed the teeth and jewelry with some Devlan Mud.
I didn't add a pupil to the eyes because I was thinking it would be cool to give him eyes that were reflective of the sky and then leave them looking like he was in a trance with his eyes rolled back or possibly blind or meditating on matters of great importance.
The palanquin has not made much progress in comparison as I have been trying to decide between a few different colors for some of the pieces. In these pictures you can see some of my experimentation.
I'm trying to make a decision between Snot Green and Dark Angels Green for the leaves. I'm not sure which seems more jungly. I'm not sure either actually looks quite the way I'd like it to. Any suggestions?
I'm also experiencing the same dilemma deciding on the color of the branches. On the picture you can see where I've tested out Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown, Vermin Brown, and Calthan Brown. Neither is quite what I want I don't think.
I've started to coat the decorative pieces in Dwarf Bronze (eventually going to coat with Devlan Mud) to match the Slann. I'm not sure I want the round parts where the tusks/horns are mounted to be this color though. I need to think on it some more.
The last issue I'm grappling with is the tusks/horns themselves. I had initially coated them with Skull White with the idea that I would dirty them up a little bit but I'm not sure I like the effect the Devlan Mud has had. It's almost too dirty. I need to find a good way to give these shading and make the white slightly less pristine without just making them look brownish.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Slann Mage-Priest Painting Part II
Day 2 of working on the Slann. I finished coating the palanquin in the Space Wolves Grey and after experimenting with several washes, settled on Devlan Mud.
For the Slann himself, I wanted to go with some tropical coloring. To this end, I decided on a pattern of Warlock Purple and Chaos Black. Afterwards, to bring him back towards toad-like (the tropical colors had started making him look more like a frog, I washed him with Devlan Mud.
Here the two pieces are together.
 |
| From Slann Mage-Priest I |
 |
| From Slann Mage-Priest I |
For the Slann himself, I wanted to go with some tropical coloring. To this end, I decided on a pattern of Warlock Purple and Chaos Black. Afterwards, to bring him back towards toad-like (the tropical colors had started making him look more like a frog, I washed him with Devlan Mud.
 |
| From Slann Mage-Priest I |
 |
| From Slann Mage-Priest I |
Here the two pieces are together.
 |
| From Slann Mage-Priest I |
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