Lizardmen Army Book guide and tactica

Post 3 - Lords

Slaan Mage-Priest – 300pts

One of the most powerful generic wizards in the game when fully kitted out. These are all Level 4 Wizards and frankly that is always a good thing, seeing as you require that for magic defence as well as the bonus to casting.

The Slann is very defensible, coming stock with a 4+ ward save, which is more often than not the first item purchased for other armies' Level 4 Wizard choices and has a total of five wounds at Toughness 4, or to put it another way, two more wounds than most other Level 4 Wizards. When you consider that most Level 4 Wizards with a Talisman of Preservation are just under 250 points each, that a Slaan pays an additional 50 or so points for those extra wounds, ignores dangerous terrain, can cast damage spells through supporting Skink Priests and has unique defensive benefits when joined to Temple Guard (for instance, he goes in the 2nd rank so can’t be targeted in combat and auto passes look out sir rolls), makes it a pretty well priced unit at the 300pt price tag.

You could argue that what you really want from a spell caster is just a high Wizard Level and the ability to hide out of harm's way at all times, so paying exponentially more points to increase their survivability can often be unnecessary. This logic weighs heavily on a Slaan's shoulders and argueably makes them inefficient compared to other Level 4 Wizard options from army books such as the Empire or Dark Elves. When you can hide in a Warlock bus or out of sight as a solo model, why bother spending so many points on defensive upgrades? One also needs to remember that the best way to defend a Slaan - joining them to Temple Guard - leaves their protectors notoriously vulnerable to miscast damage, with any of the Strength 10 hit results causing crazy amounts of damage to an expensive Temple Guard unit. Basically, the army book encourages you to spend a lot of points not only on the Slaan itself but also on their bodyguards in the form of Temple Guard, usually in sizes of twenty six or more models. While some might say it stops you from wanting to spent points on an "unnecessary" combat Lord (and besides, the End Times rules supersede this) it doesn't save you points for important units like Salamanders, Stegadons and Terradons.

A Slaan can (and more often than not) will even be your army battle standard bearer. This does mean you add an additional 200 bonus victory points, on top of the actual cost of a Slaan, once your opponent slays it. Whether rightfully or wrongfully, Slaan are actually your best bet as a battle standard bearer seeing as they can still be your General even with the upgrade; give them the Standard of Discipline and you will have a Leadership 10 General that allows every friendly unit inside its Inspiring Presence range to benefit from the Hold Your Ground and Cold-Blooded special rules equally. And they are easily your most survivable Battle Standard Bearer option to boot. As with all BSB’s, if he and his unit flee from combat, you will automatically remove him from combat but being inevitably stubborn LD10 and rr-rolling with 3D6, makes this highly unlikely.

As for what other upgrades you should look at using, perhaps the most common build is to take a channeling staff (in addition to the Standard of Discipline) as your sole magic item, then use the Becalming Cogitation, Harmonic Convergence and Focus of Mystery Disciplines. This will give you a Slaan that will on average channel one extra power or dispel dice per magic phase, re-roll a single failed dispel attempt in each opposing magic phase and have the Loremaster (High Magic) special rule. Not only is this Slaan awesome for magic defence and maximising your magic dice, but it also is arguably the most versatile build as the Lore of High Magic is wonderfully diverse with every spell having some great uses at one point in a game or another.

The lore attribute of the Lore of High Magic is what seals the deal here, allowing you to swap out a spell you have just used, for a randomly determined spell from one of the eight spell lores of your choice - you can use the High Magic spells for as long as they are useful to you, then swap them out for spells that better suit the current situation! Another amusing combination is to take the Arabyan Carpet, the Lore of Death and the Higher State of Consciousness Discipline - this particular Slaan flies around and delivers the incredibly damaging Lore of Death spells to opponents at a close range, while relying on the ethereal special rule to survive. The theme behind a Slaan is that while they are good value in a sense, you generally want to avoid keeping them stock as their unique combination of a high Leadership General, Level 4 Wizard and Battle Standard Bearer on an incredibly well protected platform (assuming you use Temple Guard) is priced adequately once you upgrade them to their maximum potential. The points invested in to a Slaan will thus almost always be titanic, but to say they aren't good choices would be an outright lie; they may be risky to use if you have bad luck with miscasts, but otherwise they are fantastic Lords that mostly live up to their stature as the greatest of all wizards in Warhammer Fantasy.

For Slann Disciplines see POST - 11

For Spell lores, see POST - 12

Link to Common Slann Builds


Saurus Oldblood – 140pts

The Saurus Oldblood is possibly the most efficient combat character in the game when taken at face value. Three wounds at Toughness 5 with a basic 4+ armour save that combines fully with actual sets of armour makes the Oldblood by far the easiest combat Lord in the game to protect. Five Strength 5 attacks with Weapon Skill 6 at Initiative 3 are suitably hard-hitting and nothing to be sniffed at. Their damage output is made even more impressive by the Predatory Fighter special rule, conferring the Oldblood extra attacks for any roll of a 6 he makes when rolling to hit in close combat. While this particular special rule isn't really helpful for ranked-up Saurus with only two Strength 4 attacks each for the most part, giving it to a Lord choice with five attacks that can get up to a ridiculous Strength 8 and still have good defensive stats is just insane and at the same cost as a High Elf Prince.

While a High Elf Prince does have Always Strikes First and slightly better Weapon Skill to boot over an Oldblood, a Prince cannot match an Oldblood's base Strength, Toughness, Attacks or armour save - that they are priced identically sheds an unfavourable light on the Prince. An Oldblood can get to a 2+ armour save on foot just through mundane (i.e. non-magical) equipment, a feat matched only by Dark Elves; a 1+ armour save is ridiculously easy to obtain as soon as you take a mount, while lacking a stock suit of armour but having Scaly Skin means an Oldblood is a perfect recipient for the Armour of Destiny. On that note, how does a 1+ armoured Oldblood on foot with a 4+ ward save and five Strength 7 attacks sound? It seems like it would be expensive but it really isn't, rounding out at just under 240 points - need I mention that the chances of getting at least one extra attack through Predatory Fighter each round are extremely high, effectively leaving the Oldblood with six base attacks? With the possible exception of Crom the Conqueror, you will be hard pressed to find a combat Lord that can match an Oldblood at that point’s level for sheer survivability and damage output.

Oh, and if you want a giant lizard riding an even more titanic dinosaur, the Carnosaur may very well be the perfect fit for you - just be prepared to lose said pairing in almost every game you play. While many different builds exist for this savage combo, I generally prefer prioritizing defence on the Oldblood seeing as a Carnosaur will brutalize almost anything it touches. For the uninitiated this means giving your Oldblood the Armour of Destiny, the Dawnstone and whatever else strikes your fancy such as a cheap Magic Weapon; the Carnosaur might be fragile, but the Oldblood will be a living tank with a 1+ re-rollable armour save and a 4+ ward save. From there, give the Carnosaur the Loping Stride and Bloodroar upgrades and watch as your expensive but devastating Lord either makes it into combat very quickly whereby it will tear almost anything apart, or laugh as your opponents units flee from the terrifying maw of the monstrous Carnosaur. No matter how you kit out an Oldblood, no other generic character option in any army books' Lord slot I can think of comes anywhere close to the sheer efficiency of an Oldblood. About the only real issue with this character is that it makes a poor General - aside from being very survivable - as it has a mere Leadership 8. WS 6 is also a bit of a letdown so items such as fencer’s blades or sword of striking can really boost his output. He is cheap enough that you can fit one in alongside a Slann regardless of whether you use the increased character allowance from the End Times rules.

Some example Old-Blood builds can be found here: eefl.freeforums.net/thread/1444/cowboy-builds-statistics



Lord Kroak - 400pts

If you actually want to honour the Slaan by fielding one of the greatest of their kind ever to live and perhaps the most powerful of all, Lord Kroak should always be your choice over the insipid Lord Mazdamundi. While Itza's Deliver has long since passed into the spirit world, what remains of the First Slaan is still more than enough to cause havoc on the battlefield. While Mazdamundi tries to combine limited combat potential with heavy spell-casting, Kroak should never be directly involved in a combat - remember that a Slaan joined to a Temple Guard unit hides in the second rank - and can at best be used as a tarpit against a mediocre fighter in a challenge. With a single Weapon Skill 1 attack resolved at Initative 1 and Strength 3 with no additional effects to speak of, Kroak is just as capable in combat as a pathetic Zombie - but of course, that isn't why you field the long-dead toad. The reason you can tarpit characters with Kroak is that his defensive stats are actually ridiculous with five Toughness 6 wounds and a whopping 3+ ward save, meaning that any attack lacking the Killing Blow or Multiple Wound special rules may as well be rendered useless against Kroak.

That he can just hide behind the rest of the Temple Guard and never have to worry about challenges he doesn't want to be involved in means you can freely deduce which characters Kroak can hold up and send him against them so that they generate little to no combat resolution, while avoiding the ones that can actually hurt Itza's saviour. Otherwise, Kroak does have two glaring vulnerabilities that opponents will be quick to exploit. Not only does he have a pathetic Initiative 1, but he is also flammable. Both of these will rarely come into play given Kroak's position in a Temple Guard unit and because Slann automatically pass any look-out-sir rolls, so spells like Purple Sun of Xereus or Pit of Shades won't be able to hit him. Where Kroak really starts to become interesting is once you consider all of his many support abilities and equipment, most notably the fact that any Temple Guard unit he joins become Unbreakable. Let me rephrase that in case you didn't catch it the first time; if Lord Kroak joins a unit of Toughness 4, 4+ armoured Temple Guard, they will never run away from anything, ever.

Not only will your opponents hate you for this once you start using supporting wizards to cast Wyssan's Wildform on the Temple Guard, but they will almost assuredly start tearing their hair out once they realize all shooting and close combat attacks made against Kroak and his unit are at -1 to hit. Unless your opponent has access to a "characteristics-test-or-die" spell or lots of attacks that do not roll to hit - ranging from Terrorgheist Death Shrieks and thunderstomps to cannonballs and stone throwers - Kroak's Temple Guard unit will be almost impossible to truly destroy on the battlefield, especially when taken in sizable numbers. While a traditional Slaan can cause lots of damage to his own unit via miscasts, Kroak has an in-built defence against this by effectively ignoring each miscast he suffers on a 2+ to instead treat it as an easily manageable Magical Feedback result exclusive to Kroak. Losing D6 power dice for a Level 4 Wizard that casts his single spell on a 10+ isn't much of an issue, nor is a single Strength 6 hit on a model with six wounds, Toughness 5 and a 3+ ward save. Basically, Kroak makes a block of Temple Guard almost impossible to stop through non-magical means, even if their decent damage output won't actually win combats anyway. You can forget trying to steal Kroak's sole spell or reducing his Wizard Levels either (I am looking at you Malekith) as he can never lose his unique spell nor be reduced below Wizard Level 1 - if you want to stop the vengeance of Lord Kroak, you need to actually put the Slaan down once and for all. On a situational basis, Lord Kroak also causes Fear and thus so too do any Temple Guard in base contact with him, though this is admittedly very limited.

Of course, what would a Slaan be without their magic and this is true of Kroak even if he is but a mere dust-mite compared to his former power since his sacrifice aeons ago. Being a Level 4 Wizard only really applies to dispel and casting attempts seeing as Kroak only knows one spell, so essentially he is very much a basic Slaan with far less spell lores to choose from. His one spell is aptly named the Deliverance of Itza, it is a direct damage spell that is cast on a 10+ and can never be stolen by an enemy wizard. There are three versions of this spell; the first targets all enemy units within 12" and is cast on a 10+, the second targets all enemy units within 18" and is cast on an 18+, and the third targets all enemy units within 24" and is cast on a 24+.

This spell is the next on the list for ‘needing an FAQ’. The spell is direct damage (so can only target units in the front arc) but states it hits all enemy units within xx”. So RAW, it can only hit all enemy units within xx” in his forward arc! It is often argued that hits all enemy units with xx” means that the spell is now a radius/bubble effect. Given that this is how it worked in previous editions, I suspect that this was indeed the intention, else the spell becomes extrememly lacklustre, especially at the lower power/range. Regardless of which version of the spell you use, all affected units suffer 2D6 Strength 4 hits, while Daemonic and Undead units instead suffer 3D6 Strength 4 hits.

Despite (if using RAW) the spell being pretty mediocre, you’ll notice that Lord Kroak can cast this spell as many times as you want in the one Magic phase provided you have the power dice to spare - just be aware that this does not override the "losing focus" rules and thus failing to cast it will still prevent Kroak from casting it again in the same phase. Considering that Kroak will statistically cast the 10+ version on two power dice and cast the 18+ version on four power dice, your opponent will really start feeling the heat once his Temple Guard unit closes the gap (or if cast through a compulsory flying skink mage). It will clear out chaff and severely weaken infantry blocks with ease if your opponent fails to stem the tide of spells early on, though the fact that it cannot affect enemy units in combat means that a force dependent on getting into combat can just rush in and be perfectly safe from the expensive Level 4 Wizard. In that sense, the Deliverance of Itza is more amusing than it is useful, especially as Lizardmen really don't need help clearing out chaff which is what the spell really is best at. Of course, this is all before you remember that Kroak can still cast the Deliverance of Itza through a Skink Priest or Skink Oracle on a Troglodon - while you likely won't use the latter, having the former fly around with the Cloak of Feathers can actually lead to some brutal early game damage against opponents lacking good magic defence, though this is obviously situational.

Still, making an entire unit of Temple Guard Unbreakable and making them harder to hit in combat and shooting is pretty darn good value for only 100 points more than a stock Slaan, especially given how survivable Kroak is for the most part. I just find it rather unfortunate that such an expensive Wizard is relegated to casting a single somewhat limiting damage spell and is neither Leadership 10 nor a Battle Standard Bearer like a regular Slaan will often be, and for these reasons and more I think Kroak is more of a themed choice than anything else. If nothing else, Kroak will obliterate chaff-heavy builds like "Skink Clouds" or massed Dark Riders and Doomfire Warlocks in record time if they don't play very smartly, while he is certainly far more valuable than Mazdamundi. Seeing as Lord Kroak is well and truly dead and the husk that joins the battlefield shares a mere fragment of the First Slaan's ancient power, one can only imagine what a fully restored Lord Kroak would be capable of in-game!

Incidentally with The End Times Kroak can now take the Lore of Undeath, since it says that ALL wizards can generate spells from it (and with him being dead himself you can certainly argue he's more in tune with Death Magic than most Necromancers), so now he has a proper lore again!



Lord Mazdamundi – 780pts

As the most expensive special character in any Games Workshop army book (if you discount the Undead Legion and before any upgrades or optional mounts are taken into account) it would be fair to assume that Lord Mazdamundi is one of the most powerful characters in Warhammer Fantasy. While this is certainly true of the greatest living Slaan in the background, the actual in-game performance is another matter entirely. First of all, if you are going to spend that many points on a Lord choice that will almost assuredly also be your General, the bare minimum you would expect is that it provides you with a Leadership 10 Inspiring Presence - Mazdamundi is Leadership 9 only, though I guess he does at least have an 18" Inspiring Presence. Secondly, said character must also have some very impressive defensive stats to justify such a ridiculously high cost - especially if, like in Mazdamundi's case, they are also the Battle Standard Bearer but I would be lying if I said Mazdamundi was particularly difficult to kill. 780 points worth of Slaan Mage Priest and Ancient Stegadon has never looked so fragile, especially as opponents can field three cannons for less than half of the total cost of Mazdamundi himself.

As soon as any respectable player notices that the Lizardmen General, primary spell-caster and Battle Standard Bearer are combined on a single model on a monster mount - and with the way cannon-balls work, monster mounts are quite sub-par in 8th Edition for the most part - they will focus all of their regular shooting, magic and war machines on to that model and kill it in record time. For a model that is incapable of claiming Look Out Sir rolls, you had better expect it can survive more than two or three cannonball hits assuming average rolls and in that sense Mazdamundi fails completely. Yes, five wounds at Toughness 4 with a 4+ ward save is certainly impressive, especially with the five wound Toughness 6 Ancient Stegadon as a buffer, but war machines will simply tear this particular pairing apart almost contemptuously in record time. Your classic two Great Cannons and two Steam Tanks in an Empire list will statistically flatten both Mazdamundi and his Stegadon in one round of shooting, assuming at least one miss and one or two passed ward saves - regardless of whether Mazdamundi survives because of the ward save, the Stegadon Zlaaq is virtually guaranteed to die. From there, Mazdamundi will be perilously open to attack from roving Demigryph Knight units and other Ballistic Skill based shooting attacks from Helblaster Volley Guns, Archers and so on. The sad truth here is that those pair of Great Cannons and two Steam Tanks are still less expensive than Mazdamundi and can accomplish far more in three shooting phases than just killing the revered Slaan and his precious mount.

The equation becomes even more unbalanced if Dwarfs or Dark Elves enter the fray, with the former able to bring upwards of seven runed war machines for an equivalent cost to Mazdamundi and easily annihilating him in one round (though I appreciate that you wouldn’t normally have that many warmachines but if you are playing a game where you could field this Slann, you may well have that many!), while the latter can use the cheesy Cauldron gun-line build in conjunction with six-dicing Doombolt on Warlocks to splatter the pair in a matter of minutes, not turns. And heck, unless you bring a second Slaan - but really, why would you waste so many points on just spell-casters when you have no reliable power dice generation like Tomb Kings? You will not only lose your probably General and guaranteed Battle Standard Bearer when Mazdamundi is eventually slain, but also your primary spell-caster. Any opponent that ignores Mazdamundi in favour of other targets is either just letting you enjoy the sight of a nicely converted model on the table-top or actively shooting themselves in the foot by not exploiting so many standard and bonus victory points in one ridiculously vulnerable model. Oh, and watch out for the Pit of Shades or Purple Sun of Xereus - both will outright slay both Mazdamundi and Zlaaq at least two thirds of the time they are cast.

If you somehow manage to get over the fact that this model is ridiculously easy to kill when its raw cost is accounted for and suffers the Gorbad Ironclaw syndrome of combining two many roles into one model, there isn't much to look forward to in terms of actual damage output. The Ancient Stegadon lacks any of the ranged weapons or upgrades a usual specimen of its type would have, meaning it relies purely on Impact Hits and Thunderstomps to do damage - and the former is neutered compared to a regular variants' Impact Hits given that it lacks the upgrades. Mazdamundi himself is pitiful in close combat with Weapon Skill 2, Initiative 2 and a single attack. That his magic weapon has Always Strikes First means little as it will almost never benefit from the re-roll to hit, relying on its Poisoned status to inflict a wound. The whole reason Mazdamundi even has this Mace is for the purpose of destroying a models' magic items entirely on a D6 roll of a 6 provided Mazdamundi actually hits them, but given his terrible stats and single attack with the effect only working on a 6, this is a pathetic ability and one that will almost never actually function.

The only thing that is left afterwards is Mazdamundi's magic capabilities, and even these aren't quite as impressive as you would expect both of a model this expensive and one that is the oldest living Slaan hailing from the Second Generation - still, at the very least Mazdamundi does perform well in this regard. He is a Level 4 Wizard that can choose either High Magic or one of the eight rulebook spell lores just like a regular Slaan, though this comes with a twist as Mazdamundi is a Loremaster of whatever spell lore he chooses to use. I won't beat around the bush here; this is a fantastic ability to have and makes him easily the most versatile spell-caster in the army book, though the fact that you have to choose which lore to use in the army list creation phase does make him a lot less versatile than someone like Nagash or Teclis. That Mazdamundi is a wizard level below both of those aforementioned power-houses is a real kick in the teeth, but at least you can guarantee having all the spells in any lore of your choice and build your army list around that - though if you aren't already specifically list-tailoring around a near 800-point model then I think you have got your priorities all wrong.

Like any named Slaan, Mazdamundi does come stock with some of the Disciplines of the Old Ones, namely the Becalming Cogitation (can re-roll his first failed dispel each turn), Harmonic Convergence (rolls 3 dice when channeling), Soul of Stone (when rollig on the misfire chart can add or subtract 1) and Transcendent Healing (at the end of a your magic phase, can roll a D6 per wound lost and on a 6 regains a wound) disciplines. To boil it all down to the basic, once dice averages are involved, Mazdamundi will re-roll his first failed dispel attempt per opposing Magic phase, he will successfully channel once every game turn on average (by channeling two extra dice than normal), he can modify miscast results ever so slightly and has what effectively amounts to the old (and mediocre) Tyranid Regeneration. These are solid disciplines to have but ultimately the fact that Transcendent Healing won't work for Zlaaq and the fact that an opponent can pretty easily kill Mazdamundi in one round with combined forces that cost less doesn't really help his chances. The only other noteworthy thing about the ancient Slaan is his magical banner which can be used to impose a -1 to hit penalty on all enemy units shooting at friendly Lizardmen units within 12” - including Mazdamundi himself - for a single enemy turn. While this is pretty darned handy not only for the army but also the giant target that is Mazdamundi, that what is most likely to kill him doesn't operate off of Ballistic Skill means its uses are rather limited.

Let us be frank here; this is not the profile of a near 800 point model that is supposed to be arguably the most powerful living mage in Warhammer Fantasy. That Teclis, Nagash and Mannfred von Carstein are undeniably better spell-casters (or at least dominate the magic phase better) than Mazdamundi - heck, any Undead Level 4 Wizard backed by a Hierotitan and Casket of Souls works - is not only disappointing but it really forces players to think long and hard about the worth of the Lord of Hexoatl. If he came with the ancient stegadon as an option (thus saving 230pts and removing the biggest liability of the model), then he would be an excellent choice, if only due to the loremaster ability.



Kroq-Gar – 520pts

Before we begin, let us look at the cost of an Old Blood riding a Carnosaur with no upgrades between them; this combo is exactly 180 points cheaper than Kroq-Gar and Grymloq - keep this in mind throughout the review. While Kroq-Gar shares the exact same stats as a regular Old Blood, Grymloq gets one more attack than normal which is always handy seeing as it is a purely combat-oriented monster. The special rules are also largely correlative between the named and generic equivalents, with Kroq-Gar and Grymloq having two unique special rules between them and the latter featuring the Swiftstride upgrade natively - though Grymloq does lack the very useful Bloodroar upgrade, unfortunately. Kroq-Gar also features light armour natively which means you could consider the pairing as 155 points more expensive than the generic Old Blood on Carnosaur, so one need only view their unique traits to determine whether the added cost is worthwhile in this case. First of all, not only does Kroq-Gar himself have a 5+ ward save, but he also confers this to his Carnosaur which is completely off limits for a regular Old Blood. Seeing as the biggest problem with a Carnosaur is its fragility and not its damage output, this is a much needed trait for Kroq-Gar to posses. It also gives the Defender of Xhotl a combined 2+ armour save and 5+ ward save, making for a very durable Toughness 5 Lord choice.

While he is mounted, Kroq-Gar also gains full benefit from his Revered Spear of Tlanxla, receiving a +1 Strength bonus on the turn he charges for a total of five Strength 6 attacks at Weapon Skill 6 on the charge in addition to Grymloq's 5 Strength 7 attacks. If Grymloq falls beneath Kroq-Gar, however, the Spear still provides its other benefit regardless which is that all unsaved wounds caused by it are doubled for the purposes of combat resolution, meaning Kroq-Gar will generally win almost any combat he is involved in, if the opponent relies purely on static combat resolution like ranks and standard bearers. Kroq-Gar also possesses the Hand of Gods, a Magic Item that functions as a bound spell with power level three. This is used to cast Shem's Burning Gaze from the Lore of Light, a spell that causes D6 Strength 4 Flaming hits on a single enemy unit within 24", increasing to 2D6 hits against Daemonic or Undead units. While Grymloq thankfully isn't subject to Frenzy in the same was as other Carnosaurs, removing chaff early on so that your preferred charges aren't impeded is still important and for this reason the Hand of Gods is a neat little item to have with a low power level. Just be aware that if you do miscast with it, it will be destroyed permanently as it is not an innate bound spell. On the side of Grymloq, the great Carnosaur trades the usual Blood Frenzy special rule for being Attuned to the Beast; Grymloq automatically passes Monster Reaction tests and gains Frenzy only if Kroq-Gar is slain. That Grymloq has the extra attack in his base profile means that anyone missing out on easily obtainable Frenzy should be satisfied, while those that are worried about Frenzy-baiting and forced pursuit can happily ignore those deficiencies. If you want an Old Blood on a Carnosaur, Kroq-Gar and Grymloq do make a solid combination with their shared 5+ ward save and ignoring the potentially massive downsides of the Monster Reaction table, but otherwise you are probably wondering if they are worth all those extra points over the generic equivalents. The short answer is not really, especially as for all his centuries of experience, he still rolls in with a LD of 8.

The Hand of Gods is more of a little extra than anything else seeing as you can't use the boosted version, while the Revered Spear of Tlanxla has some really limiting effects - if an Old Blood riding a Carnosaur somehow loses a combat in the first place, you have done something wrong as a player or had horrendously bad luck with dice rolls. The reality is that for less points than Kroq-Gar and Grymloq, you can get an Old Blood with a 1+ re-rollable armour save and 4+ ward save riding a Carnosaur with both the Bloodroar and Loping Stride upgrades and still be roughly 50 points cheaper than the named variation. With the difference in points remaining, you can then give that Old Blood the Sword of Might for a permanent +1 Strength bonus regardless of whether he charges or not. While the Carnosaur is strictly worse in combat than Grymloq, that it has the Bloodroar upgrade means that you can cause a crazy number of failed Terror tests and resulting pursuits with the Carnosaur that Kroq-Gar's Hand of Gods simply cannot match. You will also care less about the Attuned to the Beast rule as the generic Old Blood is both far more survivable and more consistently damaging than Kroq-Gar, meaning that you are far less likely to have to take a Monster Reaction test on the Carnosaur anyway. Overall, Carnosaurs are best used in specific lists that capitalize on their Bloodroar upgrade as they are just far too expensive and fragile for what they can otherwise achieve in a game, and none of Kroq-Gar or Grymloq's upgrades other than the shared 5+ ward save help to alleviate that huge issue.



Tehenhauin – 230pts

The Prophet of Sotek is a very interesting character. He isn't quite as useful as a regular Slaan Mage Priest, being locked into one lore and only a level 3 but he far exceeds a skink priest and his profile is far closer to that of a Skink Chief than anything else in the book (his stat line is probably closest to a General of the Empire – though losing a point of toughness for an increase to initiative). While you normally wouldn't expect a Lord choice Wizard to be a combat character, Tehenhauin bucks this trend by having three Strength 5 attacks on the charge that are Poisoned, all at Weapon Skill 6 and Initiative 6. In addition, he also gets to make an extra D6 Strength 2 Poisoned attacks at Initiative 1 to represent the masses of snakes drawn to the self-styled Prophet of Sotek.

He also, like other skinks, can be mounted on an ancient stegadon with an Engine of the Gods. Though an Engine will help with his casting (making him a sudo level 4), it comes with all the drawbacks already listed under Maxdamundi, so don’t just don’t. If you are that desperate for an ancient stegadon with Engine of the Gods, buy one separately from the rare slot. In addition he also loses his snake attacks if mounted (not that they were game breaking).

Considering that he is also a Level 3 Wizard and has some decent defensive stats with a 5+ armour save and 5+ ward save on top of three Wounds (albeit at Toughness 3), Tehenhauin is certainly a valuable little Skink. Having an immunity to Poisoned attacks is a situational but certainly nice little defensive boost even it is rendered mostly redundant by having a lowly Toughness 3, while allowing all Skinks in your army to purchase Hatred of Skaven for a single point per model is a very fluffy, if highly situational and tailored rule and one you won’t really use unless playing a narrative game. As a Level 3 Wizard Tehenhauin does leave you a tad bit short on magic defence much like many Undead players are discovering with Neferata, though the fact that Tehenhauin is a whopping 70 points cheaper than a Slaan gives Lizardmen players a Lord choice Wizard option that is affordable alongside an Old Blood on a Carnosaur. Being restricted to the Lore of the Beasts is obviously a downside compared to generic spell-casters but having three spells from a Lore that has natural synergy with the numerous Monsters the army can field is very nice; Wyssan's is always a great spell, as are the Amber Spear, Curse of Anraheir and Savage Beasts. While they don't shore up the weaknesses in a Lizardmen list quite as well as the Lore of Light or various other spell lores do, the Lore of Beasts is still a pretty decent spell lore to be stuck with on a named character, all things considered.

Where Tehenhauin can get just a little bit silly is when he is attached to a unit of Jungle Swarms - he has specific permission to do so unlike all other characters - and shares their Unbreakable special rule, but allows the unit to ignore the Squish rule and thus never worry about losing combats ever again. Jungle Swarms are very handy to have for a combat-based Lizardmen list as they provide Poisoned Attacks for all friendly units attacking the enemy unit they are in base contact with, while the Ark of Sotek mounted on a cheap Bastilidon can freely reinforce their numbers each turn. While Tehenhauin won't benefit from a Look Out Sir roll while attached to the unit, having a cheap Unbreakable unit that can literally feed wounds to an opponent and have little care in the world is useful - especially for traditional "Skink Cloud" army lists that revolve around chaff and dominating the Movement phase. You can deploy these as widely or as thinly as you want, but keep in mind that Tehenhauin must unfortunately always be in the front rank - you can't do a "dart" formation with Tehenhauin hiding at the back, sadly.

Realistically though, when you compare Tehenhauin to something like a High Elf Archmage using the Lore of Beasts, it is really hard to complain about his abilities and points costs. Yes, he isn't a Level 4 Wizard and that is definitely a big downside, but actually causing some pretty decent damage in close combat while simultaneously having better defensive stats than many other Lord level Wizards in addition to some situational special rules means that he is at worst, a decent if limited choice. He doesn't over-pay for his abilities and certainly has a place in many Lizardmen army lists, especially as he is incredibly cheap compared to all other high level wizard options in the army. While I will refrain from saying you should take Tehenhauin over a Slaan, at his points cost it is really rather difficult to truly take issue with what he provides for a Lizardmen army list. Another point of note is that Tehenhauin couldn’t care less if he miscasts when attached to a Jungle Swarm unit as the resulting damage will never match that inflicted upon a Slaan's surrounding Temple Guard, making him both a cheaper and safer high level wizard choice.

As a final point, you can fit in Tehenhauin and an Oldblood on Carnosaur, into a list at 2,500pts.

Overall he suffers for being a toolbox character. He is good at everything and that is his issue and why you rarely see him. In a competitive game, where you tend to want to maximise output, you will take a Slann if you want to have the best and most flexible magic, or an Oldblood for the killiest lord.

Post 5 - Dedicated Mounts


Carnosaur – 220pts

On paper the Carnosaur is quite literally a beast, with 4 str 7 attacks and each wound becoming D3 wounds. So anything it hits will more than likely die. The downside is that they hit at WS 3 and initiative 2, so will normally hit on a 4+ and after most things have had a pop at it first. So the question becomes, will it get to attack at all? Well at toughness 5, with 5 wounds and a 4+ save, it is reasonably surviveable but in a frontal attack and against anything with great weapons, expect it to be taken out in short order. Is there anything that can be done to improve this? Well yes there is. For an additional 25pts, you can give it the Bloodroar upgrade. This means that any unit taking a Fear or Terror test must roll an additional D6 and discard the lowest. This gives you a much better chance of causing units to fail their tests, meaning they either run away when you charge them or are reduced to WS1, so you will hit them on a 3+ and they will only hit you back on a 5+. This makes this upgrade an almost auto-include and makes the 15pt Loping stride upgrade (to give the carnosaur swiftstride, meaning you are more likely to make contact on a charge), also worth considering. This does then mean the monster is a whopping 260pts, not including the rider. Even with the upgrades, you will still need to consider its tagets carefully as the prevalence of LD10 general bubbles with BSB re-rolls and even units that are unbreakable or immune to psychology, mean that terror/fear are often of limited use, so often the best targets are those on the edge of battle lines or outside of the general/bsb bubbles.

So what else does the monster give you? Being a large target boosts any general/bsb range to 18”. They also have cold-blooded (though the rider does too and you’ll be using their leadership most of the time). They also have Blood Frenzy. As soon as the monster inflicts an unsaved wound, they gain frenzy for the rest of the game and can never lose it. An extra attack is nice but frenzy is a double edged sword at the best of times.

It’s worth noting that it is available as a mount for both an Oldbood and a scarvet, so if you wanted to bring a Slann, you can still fit one in your Hero allowance, or you can go for broke and field one in the hero and one in the lord slots. At that point you will be wanting to build your list around them and it’s the starting block for the fabled monster mash list.

The final point I want to reemphasis is its cost, with upgrades. 260pts. That is expensive. If you compare it with the Kharibdyss from the darkelf book, that has an impressive Weapon Skill 5 as opposed to the Carnosaur's Weapon Skill 3, meaning that unless it suffers from a to-hit modifier it will never need worse than a 4+ to hit an enemy unit in close combat and will hit the majority of other monsters and units in the game on a 3+. Both share the exact same Strength, Toughness, Wounds and Scaly Skin armour save of a 4+. Both cause Terror and are Large Targets, while the Carnosaur has Movement 7, the Kharibdyss has an ever so slightly lower Movement 6. A Kharibdyss has five base attacks and the Poisoned Attacks special rule, making it quite a bit more reliable. On the other hand, a Carnosaur has four attacks base with the potential to go up to five attacks, the latter being dependent on the Carnosaur causing at least one unsaved wound in any close combat.

As for attacking single models, a Kharibdyss gains an additional D6 automatic Strength 7 hits against any single model that is hit by all five of its regular attacks, whereas the Carnosaur inflicts Multiple Wounds (D3) on all of its attacks. It is also important to note that a Kharibdyss is Initiative 4 rather than sharing the abysmally low Initiative 2 of the Carnosaur. When you crunch the numbers against all manner of monstrous or multiple-wound opponents, that both monsters are clearly intended to fight, the Kharibdyss usually ends up being the victor - being Weapon Skill 5 and Initiative 4 are huge advantages to have for any monster. This allows the Kharibdyss to hit enemy monsters on 3s and often strike first as well, whereas a Carnosaur will struggle to hit other monsters - let alone Weapon Skill 7 or higher models - and suffers by often going last in a direct combat. Considering that Toughness 5, 5 Wounds and a 4+ armour save really aren't great defensive stats as far as monsters are concerned, this is a pretty significant deficiency that one could say is outweighed by its damage output. For average damage output the two are pretty evenly matched with the Kharibdyss hitting more often with the chance for an extra D6 Strength 7 hits as well as usually getting to strike before it dies and easily beating the Carnosaur against models with one wound each, whereas a Carnosaur hits harder against models with multiple wounds but is a bit more reliant on augment spells to guarantee it doesn't stuff up its rolls.

One also shouldn't forget that a Kharibdyss comes stock with the Abyssal Howl special rule, forcing enemy units in base contact with it to re-roll all successful Leadership tests - effectively cancelling out the Hold Your Ground special rule from a Battle Standard Bearer - unless the majority of models in the unit have one or more of the Fear, Terror and Immune to Psychology special rules. This is a very handy ability for a monster that will often be used to flank-charge infantry regiments and can lead to many games won based on your opponent basically being unable to benefit from a Battle Standard Bearer - if you are forced to re-roll both passes and failures then the effects are considered to cancel each other you - which can make such a huge difference for an aggressive army like Dark Elves. The Carnosaur can purchase a similar kind of ability in principle, but it does not come with it stock. As two similar monsters with identical survivability and similar damage output with the Kharibdyss having a useful Leadership-based ability, you would expect the two monsters to be priced roughly the same with perhaps the Carnosaur being either ten points more or less than a Kharibdyss? Unfortunately, that's just the thing - while a Kharibdyss is well priced at 160pts and occupies a Rare slot, a Carnosaur is sixty points more than a Kharibdyss (before upgrades – 100pts more expensive after upgrades!) and is exclusively a mount option. Not only is the Carnosaur far more expensive than it should be individually but it must also be forced to take a rider that adds to the cost of the model considerably. This may be more of a reflection that the Kharibdyss is undercosted, rather than the Carnosaur being overcosted (or a bit of both). Does this mean that the carnosaur is not worth taking? Probably, if only because of the opportunity cost. If you are taking 2, then you will be sacrificing taking a Slann. If you are taking one in the hero slot, then it will likely be costing 330pts at minimum (probably closer to 400pts) and that could have bought you a lot of other things. That said, taking 2 carnosaurs together with a lot of other monsters can be incredibly fun and still reasonably competitive against the right opponent/list that is not expecting it.



Cold One – 20pts

Seeing as this is your only actual cavalry mount throughout the entire army book, the Cold One may as well be the staple of the Lizardmen mount options. These are identical in every way to their Dark Elf counter-parts (except for the models, such a shame) in terms of pricing and stats. This is because unlike the majority of horses in the game, Cold Ones are actually capable of doing a lot of damage themselves, providing two Strength 4 attacks at Weapon Skill 3 and Initiative 2. While these attacks don't benefit from any special rules, they really help out heavy cavalry with one of their huge issues by cutting through rank and file models with far greater speed than other heavy cavalry units. It causes Fear but comes with the cursed Stupidity special rule, though this can be seen as a mixed blessing; units that suffer from Stupidity are also Immune to Psychology as a result, meaning your Lizardmen ground cavalry models or units will never worry about Panic, Terror and Fear tests ever again. Considering all models riding Cold Ones are Leadership 8 with the Cold-Blooded special rule at minimum, this really isn't a bad deal at all whether it be for a Hero or Lord riding one or the actual Cold One Cavalry. Other than these traits, the Cold One offers from your usual "barded warhorse" traits; Movement 7 and a +2 bonus to the armour save of the rider. Not only are these integral to all "cowboy" builds that are infamous among competitive Lizardmen armies, but they are generally just well-priced mount options that make all those armies using regular horses very jealous indeed. You will rarely face a competitive Lizardmen list with out at least one of these in it.



Terradon – 35pts

As a Monstrous Beast, a Skink Chief riding one of these is treated as a Monstrous Cavalry model, however, as the Terradon has identical Toughness and Wounds to a Skink Chief (its only character rider option) this is practically a moot point as he doesn’t gain any of the normal advantages of taking a monstrous mount (i.e. the increase to his wounds and toughness). I mention this because of the Special unit consisting of entire regiments of these; the Terradon Riders. A Skink Chief on a Terradon is priced at just over double the cost of two Terradon Riders but offers identical survivability before any upgrades are considered, and the damage output just barely favours the Chief. On top of that, the terradon has the same toughness and wounds as the chief, so. The chief also doesn’t get the drop rocks ability. Now with that said, taking a chief with this mount, over a unit, does mean that the points come out of the hero allowance rather than the congested special slot and having a hunter with the fly ability is far more flexible than a scarvet on a coldone (which this is often said to be in direct comparison with this model). On the subject of points, a bare minimal build of chief with spear, light armour, enchanted shield and dragonbane gem (for 3 initiative 6, str 5 attacks on the charge and a 2+ save and 2++ ward vs flaming) comes in at 89pts. A similar build on a scarvet cowboy, with a dragonhelm, light armour and great weapon comes in at 120pts. With the higher initiative, movement and fly, I would consider the chief on flying mount to be an assassin/warmachine hunter at first instance.



Ripperdactyl – 40pts

The more expensive of the two flying mounts available to a Skink Chief, a Ripperdactyl offers all the same issues as a Terradon but gives heavily increased combat potential. This is probably the one you should use as a Skink Chief, if going for out and out attacking potential as with a spear, light armour and shield, mounted on one will have a 3+ combined armour save and offer three Strength 5 plus three Strength 4 Armour Piercing attacks on the charge, the latter trio also with the potential for Killing Blow. That's not bad for a shade under 90 points when you consider that a pair of Ripperdactyl Riders in the Special slot will instead have two regular Strength 4 attacks plus six Strength 4 Armour Piercing attacks that have Killing Blow. Sadly, the same problem of survivability rears its ugly head – and adding in frenzy with LD 6, means you have to be careful with your placement of the unit, as Cold-Blooded can only do so much.



Ancient Stegadon

The skink chief can take a standard ancient stegadon as a mount and the skink priest can take an ancient stegadon which must have an Engine of the Gods upgrade. These are exactly the same as the rare options, so please see that section for detail on the mount. It's worth noting again that it is a way of fitting more stegadons into your list and also that the characters are as vulnerable as any other to cannons but they are also only skinks and cheap to boot!

Post 7 - Special


Jungle Swarms – 35pts per base

Swarm type units are always interesting if only because they are so far removed from the rest of the options an army list offers, not really classifying as a tarpit, considering they are Unstable and bleed combat resolution, but being a decently cheap Skirmisher unit. The idea is to use these as charge re-directors and blockers which they do well enough, though they don't offer the same mobility as a War Beast or Cavalry type units do. While I tend not to rate most swarm type units, as generally speaking each army book they feature in has better chaff units at a more reasonable price point, Jungle Swarms are interesting if only because of the very decent combat buff they provide to friendly units in a melee. Compared to Skaven Rat-Swarms, for example, Jungle Swarms have a much lower Initiative value of one and move slightly slower to boot, but each of their own five attacks are Poisoned and they also provide any friendly unit fighting an enemy unit the Jungle Swarm itself is in base contact with, the Poisoned Attacks special rule. This means they are best suited to flank or rear charges in conjunction with a frontal charge from one of your primary combat blocks or monsters, giving them a very decent upgrade in the form of "free" Poisoned Attacks. This is amusing when used with Saurus-type warriors that possess the Predatory Fighter special rule; each 6 rolled to hit from the front rank will not only automatically wound but also provide an additional attack resolved immediately. When you consider the buffs to Predatory Fighter and the natural synergy Lizardmen units have with the Lore of Light, it isn't difficult to see how much of the army revolves around supporting your Saurus regiments by improving their generally decent or mediocre combat capabilities.

Sadly, I do struggle to see how a Jungle Swarm can really be more useful than the equivalent points in Skink Skirmishers or Chameleon Skinks. This is because Movement 5 on a Swarm does mean they can keep up with Saurus and Skink units for the most part, but the fact that they are so insanely fragile even with the -1 penalty applied because of their Skirmisher classification means you need quite a bit of luck for them to reach a combat, let alone guarantee they are part of a combo-charge. Once in combat, the pathetic Initiative values of almost all Lizardmen units means that opponents can simply direct their attacks at the Weapon Skill 2, Toughness 2 Jungle Swarms and kill them outright before your friendly units can benefit from the Poisoned Attacks buff. Even with five wounds each, keeping these alive is not easy and especially so if they charge in the front; remember that these are not Fast Cavalry and thus will have trouble setting up a flank charge. If you want to ensure you get the Poisoned buff, you need to take at least two Jungle Swarms so that you have a good chance of applying their unique special rule, but by doing so they cost just as much as five Chameleon Skinks or ten Skink Skirmishers - or even just ten points shy of a Salamander! All of those units are far more useful generally than the Jungle Swarms, and that doesn't even account for the inherently random nature of Poisoned Attacks; if we assume maximum benefits by applying their handy benefit to a six-wide block of Temple Guard with multiple ranks, the averages dictate that only three Poisons will occur from their eighteen or nineteen attacks. It doesn't help that Lizardmen combat blocks tend to be mediocre outside of a heavily beneficial magic phase and Jungle Swarms aren't guaranteed to stop war machine crews in their tracks. Still, while this is a unit that tends to fail in practice on their own merits for the many reasons listed above, they are still very cheap for what they do and can fulfill some important roles in the army. Just because those other aforementioned Skink affiliated units are almost always more competitive doesn't mean the Jungle Swarms themselves are necessarily bad, just that they aren't as valuable for most lists. It is worth noting that you do need to take at least 2 jungle swarms to get the benefit of taking a Basilidon with the Arc of Sotek (not that you are likely to but I’m getting ahead of myself).



Temple Guard – 14pts per model

If you want a rock solid and hard hitting infantry block from the Lizardmen book, that is dependable and reliable in almost any situation, Temple Guard are definitely what you want and need. Not only are they easily more points-efficient than Saurus Warriors but they also serve as the best bodyguards by far, for the expensive Slaan Mage Priests, even if the latter can prove calamitous for the former given the risks of miscasts and the attention they draw. Their improved profile over Saurus Warriors features Weapon Skill 4 and Initiative 2 on the stat front, meaning they strike simultaneously with Dwarfs and will importantly only be hitting on 5s against Weapon Skill 9 opponents (unless you count actual modifiers like the Mark of Nurgle) while needing 3s against weaker units. They also get the best equipment out of the two units by receiving light armour for a standard 4+ armour save, shields for a 3+ armour save against shooting, and halberds for Strength 5 attacks across the whole unit. Not only is this a very durable unit against both shooting and close combat attacks with their good Toughness 4, but they also bring the pain with two Strength 5 attacks each, that can benefit from Predatory Fighter. While Predatory Fighter will usually only result in a few extra hits, that they are resolved at Strength 5 and can be easily combined with the Razor Standard makes Temple Guard a combat block to be respected - or feared - by your opponent.

While you probably won't bother with the magic weapon upgrade on a Temple Guard champion, having access to a 50pt magical standard is a very nice addition over Saurus Warriors that allows you to further specialize or improve the unit (frustratingly it is the only magic standard you can take, outside of the BSB, in the army). The aforementioned Razor Standard is very useful as it allows the Temple Guard to effectively engage well armoured units and at least force a stale-mate, while the Banner of Eternal Flame allows them to go head-to-head with Trolls or other Regenerating units and emerge victorious. Their unique relationship with Slaan Mage Priests affords them an important place in a standard Lizardmen list even if it is only to have a well protected Level 4 Wizard bunker. When combined with the Lore of Light or any of the other "buff" oriented spell lores from the Slaan, Temple Guard can quickly become one of the hardiest anvils in the game that still possesses a nasty melee presence. They are a solid combat unit on their own and compare reasonably well to elite melee units such as Chaos Warriors or Dark Elf Black Guard, but you will find that without augment spells their low Initiative and lack of ward saves will be exploited by things like Nurgle Daemons, Hellcannons, Frostheart Phoenixes and test-or-die spells such as the Pit of Shades or Purple Sun of Xereus. Initiative 2 is still terrible against spells that force Initiative tests and for fighting similarly hard hitting enemy units like Chaos Warriors with halberds of their own, or even White Lions of Chrace with their Strength 6 Initiative 5 attacks that fight in an extra rank due to Martial Prowess. However, I still rate Temple Guard as they combine the survivability and raw hitting power of Chaos Warriors at a low price, suffering from lower Weapon Skill and Initiative to balance this out but also making for a far hardier combat block because they are Leadership 8 with Cold-Blooded and can easily benefit from Stubborn.



Cold One Riders – 30pts per model

While many commonly refer to these as mounted Saurus Warriors, the closer analogy would be to Temple Guard, given that Cold One Riders share the exact same stats as the latter unit; the hallmark Strength and Toughness 4 remain with two attacks each, though they are Weapon Skill 4 and Initiative 2 to fit their elite billing. Cold One Riders are among the few heavy cavalry choices in the game that can actually cut through ranked units semi-reliably as each individual model packs in a very impressive four Strength 4 attacks before upgrades, two of which are at Weapon Skill 4 and the other two are at Weapon Skill 3. Toughness 4 with a 2+ armour save makes them only slightly less survivable than the infamous Chaos Knights, while their weaker profile compared to the scions of Chaos justifies a significant ten-point reduction in cost per model compared to the Warriors of Chaos' Special choice. Predatory Fighter and Fear give them some slightly improved melee potential beyond their actual profiles, while they are permanently Immune to Psychology because of the Cold Ones' Stupidity. While having Stupidity would generally be seen as a massive downside for any unit not just for the potentially uncontrollable movement but also the inability to choose the flee charge reaction, Cold One Riders are Leadership 8 with Cold-Blooded so it means they are unlikely to fail a Stupidity test - even more so than Dark Elf Cold One Knights. Being Immune to Psychology does also provide the trade-off of being immune to Terror and Panic tests at the very least, while causing Fear gives the Cold One Riders a nice if situational close combat advantage against lesser foes.

They are certainly a decent unit in that sense, but one must remember that Cold One Riders come stock only with hand weapons rather than the lances or other similar special melee weapons employed by their heavy cavalry competitors throughout Warhammer Fantasy. Four Strength 4 attacks with no access to a magical standard means that Cold One Riders are good only for killing very lightly armoured units - make no mistake, they chew through infantry very efficiently - but will struggle immensely once faced with other heavily armoured cavalry or, their name bearing dread, the many monstrous cavalry options running around in 8th Edition. Their attacks can at best impose a -1 armour save modifier, meaning 1+ or 2+ armoured models will easily hold them up almost indefinitely, especially considering that Cold One Riders have mediocre Weapon Skill and terrible Initiative values. Striking at Initiative 2 means that Cold One Riders will almost always suffer casualties in a combat before they themselves can attack which, considering heavy cavalry units of their kind only really work in a ten or fifteen strong unit at absolute maximum - and such regiments are insanely expensive before adding in mandatory characters - is a huge blow to their damage output. Considering they are Movement 7, enemies such as High Elf Dragon Princes or Brettonian Knights will always have a mobility advantage over them, with the former in particular laughing at their more expensive Lizardmen counter-parts as a pure shock-choice.

The main benefit of the Cold One Cavalry is that a five-wide formation will result in twenty Strength 4 attacks coming from the front rank alone which is more than enough to chew through infantry while using the hardy Toughness 4, 2+ armour saves to survive return attacks. They can't really compete with opposing heavy cavalry - particularly Dark Elf Cold One Knights if they get the charge - and well armoured units in decent to large numbers, and they are priced very oddly compared to many of those other choices. The fact that they can purchase spears but at a ridiculous 4pts per model, ensures this is a unit best left as an infantry blender, something that can already be done almost or just as well by the equivalent points in Saurus Warriors. Being mobile, tough and decently hard hitting isn't enough in an edition where heavy cavalry are universally out-shined by monstrous cavalry, where Step Up and Steadfast eliminate the competitive usage of such units outside of character buses, unwieldy death-stars and expensive "chaff". Cold One Riders are at the very least a good chaff clearer with their huge wealth of attacks but their lower mobility compared to most other cavalry options restricts their uses in that regard, while their uses in a character bus are decidedly limited given their high cost. Scar Veterans and Old Bloods mounted on Cold Ones are often better foraging off by themselves where they don't have to spend a ridiculous amount of points on a bodyguard, or even placed within Saurus or Templeguard units. I feel they would be the perfect unit to have if they came stock with the spears or only paid at most a few points per model for them, but when you compare them to their Dark Elf equivalent that comes stock with Always Strikes First, Murderous Prowess, lances and numerous other benefits such as a higher Weapon Skill value, there is just little reason to really consider these in a highly competitive environment. Again, they aren't a bad option to take but they are quite pricey and with spears, definitely overcosted and suffer again from being in the amazingly competitive special slot, vying for space against other argueably better choices.



Terradon Riders - 35pts per model

While these have been around long before the new plastic models were released, it nonetheless surprises me just how good this flying monstrous cavalry unit can be, even though it isn't intended to fight in melee against anything save for weak chaff units or war machines. Seriously, it is hard to find a monstrous cavalry unit as poor in combat as Terradons; there are a total of two attacks provided by the model, one at Strength 3 with Weapon Skill 2 and the other at Strength 4 with Weapon Skill 3 - the Strength 4 Stomp of course bears mentioning. The Skink rider is Initiative 4 while the Terradon has a lowly Initiative 2, and the unit has a mere two Toughness 3 wounds with a 5+ armour save on defence. Being Skirmishers due to the Flying Cavalry rules affords them some minor extra defence against shooting attacks that roll to hit, while causing Fear and having Forest Strider gives them very slight boosts to their melee prowess while safeguarding them from dangerous terrain in the most common terrain type for Warhammer Fantasy. Each Skink riding a Terradon bears a lustrian javelin meaning they can fire a single shot at Ballistic Skill 3 with the Poisoned and Quick to Fire special rules, making for a decent little shooting attack to complement the 10" normal and 20" march moves of the Terradons.

That they are Leadership 5 with Cold-Blooded means they aren't going to stick around in a fight all that often but ideally these are more of an annoyance unit and shouldn't be considered a pivotal part of your army's success in terms of investment value. Once per game, Terradons can also drop rocks on a unit they move over provided the target unit is unengaged, and the Terradon Riders themselves are not fleeing or declared a charge. This is a nifty little ability as the target unit suffers D3 Strength 4 automatic hits per Terradon that flies over it which gives Lizardmen an awesome way to deal with enemy Skirmishers and Scouts - Wood Elf Waywatchers in particular are deathly afraid of this! With a 20" potential movement and the ability to freely pivot or reform combined with their decent shooting and melee capabilities as well as the Drop Rocks once per game, Terradons are a very valuable unit for any Lizardmen army that packs on the chaff. They function as chaff-destroyers, war machine hunters, character assassins and light harassers at a lower cost overall in average unit size (three of these just barely break the century mark in terms of points) compared to Chameleon Skinks, and their insane mobility means they can be a legitimate threat throughout any stage of the game. Competitive Lizardmen army lists usually feature at least one unit of three Terradon Riders simply because they are yet another fantastic chaff tool - even if used just as a re-director with Swiftstride - to add to the extensive arsenal fielded by the denizens of Lustria.

It’s worth noting that you can upgrade the riders to have fireleech bolas for 1pt per model. This exchanges their Str 3 poisoned 12” javelins to a Str 4, 6” quick to fire flaming attack. Having flaming attacks is useful as is the additional strength but the range is quite lacklustre.



Ripperdactyl Riders – 40pts per model

While Terradons have a clearly defined role in the Lizardmen army book and fulfill it very well, Ripperdactyls are a bit more confused about what exactly they are supposed to provide. To clarify my point, Ripperdactyls are still a great chaff unit by virtue of being flying monstrous cavalry at a low cost per model - packing in the all the benefits of being Flying Cavalry such as the ability to freely reform, Vanguard moves and the Skirmisher classification. They are only very slightly more expensive than Terradon Riders but pack in some very obvious advantages mostly revolving around a seriously improved close combat phase overall. They also feature slightly boosted survivability to boot which pairs up very well with the Skirmisher special rule by applying a -1 to hit penalty for ranged attacks directed against them. The Skink rider is mostly identical to that on a Terradon in terms of stats, though the hand weapon and lustrian javelin of a Terradon Rider is swapped for both a spear and a shield. This means a Ripperdactyl Rider has a combined armour save of 4+ which is quite nice for a Toughness 3, 2 Wound model, while the Skink itself provides a single Strength 4 attack on the charge resolved at Initiative 4, albeit still with that pitiful Weapon Skill 2.

The Ripperdactyl itself has three attacks (excluding its stomp) once its Frenzy is accounted for, and each of these is Strength 4 with both the Armour Piercing and Killing Blow special rules. Weapon Skill 3 and Initiative 3 make them middling fighters but the threat of Killing Blow and a standard -2 armour save modifier from its three attacks make it a really nasty monstrous mount option - overall, a single Ripperdactyl Rider definitely provides some impressive damage output considering their low cost per model as a monstrous cavalry unit. That they are a flying unit with Vanguard, two Toughness 3 wounds with a 4+ armour save each and have an extra Strength 4 attack on the charge from the Skink rider make for a very impressive and efficient melee unit. There's just one potentially significant issue here, and that is Frenzy on a Cold-Blooded model with Leadership 5; this is a unit that will fail quite a few Frenzy tests and as good as the damage output for Ripperdactyls' is they simply cannot engage actual dedicated melee units on their own, at least not in a frontal charge. Their mediocre Weapon Skill and Initiative means that Elven and Chaos' basic Core units will strike before them and hit on 3s, wounding on 4s at the very least with the potential to force a lot of armour saves. If you consider that two Chaos Warriors of Nurgle armed with halberds are ever so slightly cheaper than a single Ripperdactyl, those two Chaos Warriors will average three hits, three wounds of which at least two are unsaved leading to a dead Ripperdactyl. Ranked units have the numbers to bog down and exploit the fragility of the Ripperdactyl Riders, while the low Initiative of the unit means charging an enemy heavy cavalry or equivalent unit can often be a bad idea even if those units don't get to use their lances or equivalent weapons in the first round of combat.

Ripperdactyls' excel against Initiative 3 or lower cavalry units of the non-monstrous variety, while elite units with low Initiative values make for easy prey unless they are taken in sizable numbers. Ripperdactyls are a dedicated melee unit and definitely have the damage output to provide that against non-monstrous units, but they are fragile enough not to really endure against other proper combat units - Chaos Warriors, Sword Masters, Black Guard, Greatswords, Black Orcs and all other manner of elite units will easily chew through Ripperdactyl Rider units whether through superior numbers or their own considerable melee prowess. With three Killing Blow attacks per model it is obvious that Ripperdactyls are intended as character assassins and cavalry hunters, but being Frenzied with such a low Leadership value despite Cold-Blooded means they will often attempt to charge a unit you don't want them in combat with. That they must always pursue can be a hefty downside if your opponent knows how to Frenzy bait with chaff units, though there are tricks to solving this particular issue with the unit. For one, having the first turn and using the Vanguard movement means the Ripperdactyls are incapable of charging and are thus free to advance up the battlefield. Additionally, the ability to freely reform as much as they want during their movement phase has led many wily players to deploying Ripperdactyls facing backwards towards your own deployment zone, then spinning them around so that you can set up a favourable turn two charge.

If you really want Ripperdactyls to destroy a given unit, their Toad Rage special rule is the key to doing so, increasing the Frenzy of the riders to D3+1 rather than the usual +1 attack against a single unit of your choice at the start of the game - all those Armour Piercing and Killing Blow attacks are enough to devastate nearly any heavy cavalry unit, certainly! This still doesn't mean you should put a marker on a ranked infantry unit even though you can easily set up a rear charge with the unit as Ripperdactyl's can quickly become bogged down and lack the fragility to properly hold up most units for an extended combat. At the very least, however, you can use Ripperdactyls as your guaranteed war machine destroyers with their insane mobility and impressive combat profile, then switch them to targeting sizable ranged units such as Dwarf Quarreler regiments or the equivalents from other army books where Ripperdactyls' can tear apart several models a turn in quick succession. Where Terradons are more of a generalist choice because they can be useful in almost any phase of the game, the combat restriction of Ripperdactyl's means they are especially vulnerable against Elves, though their improved armour save does help to compensate for this against the strong ranged presence such armies typically possess.

It’s worth noting that taking multiple units allows you to put down multiple toad markers and the tokens aren’t uniue to the unit that laid them, meaning that any unit of ripperdactyls with gain the boosted frenzy if in combat with a unit with a marker. Frenzy also gives them immune to psychology, so they are unable to flee if charged by something they don’t want to fight.



Bastiladon – 150pts

If you are looking for a monster that is good in close combat through a mixture of regular attacks and a Thunderstomp as a bare minimum, look elsewhere; for those that want one of the few true "support" monsters in the game, the Bastiladon is the perfect foil for your army list.

The profile is about as unimpressive as it gets in terms of melee capabilities with a seemingly unprecedented base Strength 4 on the monster itself with a mere three attacks at Initiative 1 and Weapon Skill 3 to go with it. This means that even the creature's Thunderstomp is middling at best with it requiring a good bit of luck to damage even Elven or similar Toughness 3 units that are typically fodder for such attacks. It also appears to be lacking in terms of survivability as well with four Toughness 5 wounds, though its natural 2+ armour save ensures that it is almost entirely immune to small arms fire with only the usual war machines really threatening it in the shooting phase. On that note, be wary of bolt throwers; with only four wounds and no armour saves allowed from a bolt throwers' standard shot, Bastiladons at Toughness 5 make easy prey for those most inexpensive of war machines. Initiative 1 and Always Strikes Last makes it very susceptible to the spells testing off of Initiative, while almost any opponent will strike before them - it attacks simultaneously with most great weapon wielders and is not built to survive their strikes whatsoever. The four Skink crew (as opposed to a Stegadon's five) are treated very similarly to the crew of a Stegadon, being immune to damage and using their lustrian javelins and single Strength 3 attacks per model to provide a little boost to a Bastiladon's overall damage output.

Cold-Blooded and Leadership 6 are decent enough for sticking around, but a Bastiladon lacks both Stubborn and Immune to Psychology meaning it is very susceptible to breaking from combat or failing a Panic test. It also has an incredibly below average Movement 4 which means it can at best keep up with your Saurus infantry choices, though this solidifies its place as a support choice rather than a potential outlier or aggressive unit option. That it ignores combat resolution bonuses for being charged in the flank or rear, plus treating one of its three attacks as being Strength 10 with a +1 to hit bonus against opponents in its' rear arc are nice extras but ultimately don't change the fact that this is, frankly, a terrible melee monster compared to all of the other options in the book. This is where its support abilities come into play and actually stamp out a nice little niche in the Special slot, making up for its terrible damage potential.

With one of two configurations, the Ark of Sotek and the Solar Engine, a Bastiladon can be freely tailored to fit your army list based on what other unit choices you field.

Arc of Sotek

The Ark of Sotek provides the Bastiladon with a negligible shooting attack and the ability to add free Jungle Swarms to an already established unit. This is by far the weaker option of the two. Perhaps worth taking if you are using Tehenhauin with Jungle Swarms.

“Free” Jungle Swarms

Unfortunately this is a hard ability to use effectively. I’ve tried keeping Swarms near my Bastiladon for much of the game, and I’ve seen other LM players try this. It is not a winning strategy.

Most will agree that Jungle Swarms are a bottom tier unit choice for our army, so free Swarms aren’t that exciting. Granted, generally in life if something is free and has any use at all I'll take as many as I can get my hands on. Unfortunately, Ark of Sotek generated Swarms have an invisible cost.

To get the most out of Swarms, you need to be ready to be flexible. Based on your enemy’s army and the emerging deployment, you need to be ready to use your Swarms to redirect the enemy, stall the enemy (preferably in a river or marsh), or use your Swarms to buff friendly attacks (preferably Sauri since Skinks can get Poison elsewhere and the bigger stuff doesn’t need poison to wound). It is very hard to be flexible with your Swarm usage while keeping them near your Bastiladon(s)

If you decided to keep an Ark of Sotek near your Jungle Swarm unit(s) then you have committed yourself to using your Swarms as a buff unit. In order for this to work, you need to keep your Bastiladon near your Swarms and your Swarms near at least one block of friendly infantry AND you need to have a potent (but not too potent) enemy conveniently in front of your trio of synergy. That’s very hard to do because there are so many things that can go wrong. Terrain pieces or enemy counter deployment will thwart this combo fairly easily. You may decide during deployment that you feel you must deploy LM unit X to counter Enemy unit Y somewhere you wanted to place your Swarms or Bastiladon. Or you might just have trouble rolling 4+ when you really need it.

Cannons or stone throwers make things worse, a Bastiladon that’s hanging back to generate free Swarms (or shoot the Beam of Chotec but that’s beside the point) is a secondary threat to your enemy. That means rather than agonizing about which giant monster to shoot first, your opponent will be targeting their artillery at your frontline dinosaurs, presumably Stegadons and Carnosaurs but also possibly including things like Salamanders and Saurus Cowboys. Once your front line dinosaurs are dead (or engaged in close combat), the cannons that would ordinarily have nothing decent to shoot at can then turn their attention to your Bastiladons in your backfield. To add insult to injury, they can easily shoot through your Jungle Swarms with no penalty.

Conclusion: If you can get an Ark of Sotek near your Jungle Swarms (or your Swarms near your Ark), by all means do so. A free Swarm base here or there is nice when you can get it, but it’s not worth tying down a portion of your battle line to set it up. It’s not even worth delaying your Bastiladon’s entry into close combat.

In my opinion, while an Ark of Sotek makes Swarms a slightly more viable choice, an Ark of Sotek Bastiladon does not obligate you to take Jungle Swarms and it should certainly not obligate you to limit your swarms deployment and movement options.

Shooting Attack

This is the money move of the Ark of Sotek Bastiladon though it is limited by very short range and a low damage output. It requires no power dice and is always “on,” even when the Bastiladon is engaged in close combat.

T4+ troops rarely care about these attacks. Armor Save 4+ or better troops rarely care about these attacks. The snakes can do a fair bit of damage against T3 enemies with relatively weak (or nonexistent) saves. Given that most of the Bastiladon regular attacks are at Strength 4, these are exactly the sort of units that a Bastiladon should be charging anyway. The Bastiladon has a 2+ armor save, so most soft skinned enemies will have trouble wounding the beast. Terror is just gravy.

The Bastiladon has no flanks or rear so you can get a lot of snake shooting in if you can get a Bastiladon surrounded by MSU low Strength enemies. Hard to do, but not impossible. The Achilles heel of all Bastiladons of either build is their low Leadership score sans Stubborn, so you want to keep your general and BSB nearby if you plan to let your Bastiladon get double or triple teamed. Even without giving away a bonus for flanks, a surrounded Bastiladon is likely to have a lot of static CR against it.

A Bastiladon should be able to grind through a tarpit better than most things we have. Since you aren’t going to break the steadfast unit, the fact that the snake shooting casualties don’t contribute to close combat is a non-issue. Because the Bastiladon is so tough and well-armored, you will probably win most of your combats despite the enemy static CR, so you don’t need an anti-tarpit Bastiladon to be near your General and/or BSB. You still want them there though, but you can live without it.

If you are fighting an elite unit with poor saves (such as Witch Elves) rather than a pure tarpit then your Bastiladon should be ideally attacking the unit in tandem with a block of friendly infantry. The friendly ranks and banner should keep your Bastiladon from being routed with static CR. You can get by without a supporting unit if the general and BSB are nearby.

It’s not a good idea to fight enemy great weapon troops with a Bastiladon, but if said great weapon troops are poorly armored and relatively low Toughness, it’s not a suicidal move to engage them with your Ark of Sotek Bastiladon if he or she has infantry support.

If your melees are occurring near each other, a Bastiladon can hit multiple units with snake shooting. This is good to set up if you can arrange it, but do not send your Bastiladon into a subpar combat match up just for a bit of extra snake shooting. Better to get one unit to throw snakes out that can’t hurt you then throwing snakes at three units where two of them can gut your dinosaur.

Conclusion: In terms of infantry mashing, the Ark of Sotek Bastiladon is better than the Solardon. The difference between “negligibly better” and “considerably better” depends on the target. For the Ark of Sotek Bastiladons, large numbers of poorly armored low Toughness fodder enemies are better than small numbers of tough elite enemies, especially if said elite enemies have great weapons. Essentially think of them as a monstrous tarpit grinder.

Point-for-point, an Ark of Sotek Bastiladon will arguably handle an enemy tarpit better than a Stegadon or Ancient Stegadon in most cases, particularly if said tarpit is trying to set up a supporting flank attack (given that Bastiladons do not provide flanking bonuses to the enemy). Mostly Bastiladons are cheap and don't have many front-loaded offensive bonuses like Stegadons so if the Bastiladon takes along time to chew through the enemy, no biggie.


Solar Engine

The real winner here is the Solar Engine (sometimes called a Solardon), providing all Cold-Blooded units within 6" a +1 bonus to their Initiative values while also packing a very nasty innate bound spell. That the Initiative buff affects all Cold-Blooded units means that every single choice in the army book gets the benefit, from Carnosaurs to Saurus Warriors, and makes it the perfect support choice to push up alongside a combat-centric Lizardmen army list. The innate bound spell has a tiny power level of three, a nice range of 24" and inflicts a random number of automatic flaming hits based on a separate D6 roll. While rolling a '1' does barely anything, rolling a '2-3' provides D6 Strength 4 hits, which is perfect for clearing out small chaff units or assassinating lone characters, while the roll of a '4-5' leads to 2D6 Strength 5 hits, which can cause some serious damage even to full on combat blocks. A roll of ‘6’ casues a whopping 2D6 Strength 6 hits and in addition, the target suffers a -1 penalty to their WS and BS until the start of the Basilidons next magic phase. That is some very potent damage and a nasty debuff. Worth noting, is that, it is an Innate bound spell, so you can happily 6 dice cast it, looking for irresistable force, to prevent dispelling without fear of losing the spell.

While a Bastiladon with an Ark of Sotek is a middling choice at best that only really suits a themed list featuring multiple units of Jungle Swarms, a Bastiladon with a Solar Engine is easily the best support element for combat blocks in a Lizardmen list and also features one of the nastier innate bound spells around. It is very tough for the most part and its melee damage output is still decent by virtue of being a monster, combining to make it a hugely valuable and effective unit - this is a great addition to the Lizardmen army book indeed!



Kroxigor – 50pts per model

While they rarely make an appearance in Core due to the changes to their rules in the Skink Cohort, Kroxigor can still be a useful hammer when taken on their own individual merits - who needs Skink padding that arbitrarily increases the cost of the truly valuable part of the regiment, the Kroxigor themselves? Don't ever mistake these as larger Saurus equivalents as that couldn't be further from the truth; where Saurus are a natural anvil with their good survivability and medium cost per model, Kroxigor are very expensive but absolutely hit hard and justify the "tonne of bricks" metaphor. Each Kroxigor has a profile very reminiscent of a standard Ogre, with three Toughness 4 wounds on defence, a middling Weapon Skill 3, a pitiful Initiative 1 and three attacks each at Strength 5. They are Leadership 7 with Cold-Blooded which means they aren't going to be failing Panic or Break tests in a hurry, while having a 4+ Scaly Skin armour save makes them more survivable than most Ogre infantry. Base Strength 5 also contributes to their overall damage output against lighter targets with the Stomp, but the key here is that each Kroxigor natively wields a great weapon. For not much more than an Ogre Irongut, Kroxigor provide three Strength 7 attacks per model at Weapon Skill 3, are tougher to put down and harder to control via Leadership tests and penalties, though as a result they are more expensive and do not provide Impact Hits whatsoever. Predatory Fighter gives Kroxigor a slight boost to their damage output but ultimately is too random to really be relied upon to get them out of a bad engagement. They also get Aquatic, like their skink brethren but is a bit too situational to be considered a truly important aspect of the unit. They actually compare quite well to Ogre Ironguts when you weigh up the various traits of either unit, though obviously that Ironguts are Core whereas Kroxigor are Special. In any case, Kroxigor are undoubtedly the hardest hitting dedicated melee unit in the Lizardmen army book with a unit of three providing nine Strength 7 Always Strikes Last attacks and three Strength 5 Stomp attacks that, also have Always Strikes Last. Not that it matters too much as with Initiative 1, they are more than likely going last anyway.

If you need a monstrous type unit or other heavily armoured force dealt with, a flank charge from three or more Kroxigor should do the trick and do so with aplomb. They will statistically kill a Carnosaur or War Hydra equivalent (meaning Toughness 5 and five wounds with a 3+ or worse armour save) on the charge, provided at least three Kroxigor get to strike, while even 1+ armoured monstrous cavalry will have to be extremely careful around these brutish Lizardmen warriors. Unfortunately, there are some pretty hefty issues to remember here; being Initiative 1 means that not only will Pit of Shades and other such spells annihilate them in an instant, but they also cannot afford to perform a frontal charge against other dedicated melee units that have the tools to easily deal with nine or more Toughness 4, 4+ armoured wounds. With the width of the Kroxigor equaling that of six infantry models on the standard 20mm base, which means maximising will allow eight such models from the front rank alone to attack the Kroxigor, a sizable unit of anything from White Lions to Chaos Warriors will scythe through Kroxigor with incredible ease. As an example, a six-wide and five-deep formation of White Lions (the equivalent in points of six Kroxigor) will on average kill three Kroxigor per round of combat when we account for Martial Prowess, hitting on 3s and wounding on 2s with no save allowed for the Kroxigor (Strength 6). Even though the Kroxigor should average out to around seven or eight kills in return, the White Lions - and other infantry units by extension - have the rank bonuses and numbers to bog down the Kroxigor, if not kill them outright in the next round of combat (which is what will happen in the case of the White Lions). The equation is similarly weighted against the Kroxigor when you consider fifteen Chaos Warriors of Nurgle armed with halberds, deployed six-wide and three-deep, are less expensive than six Kroxigor but will deal an average of eight unsaved wounds to the Kroxigor, killing two and severely wounding a third. The four remaining Kroxigor need 5s to hit the Chaos Warriors in turn with their 12 attacks, leading to only 4 hits and 4 casualties inflicted for a crushing victory in favour of the Chaos Warriors.

Whereas Ironguts can have character support, come from Core and thus fill up your mandatory points, a lower cost per model and Impact Hits to help win combats, Kroxigor are a very expensive and elite unit that has no available character models on equivalent base sizes able to join them - at least, not characters that would work well alongside Kroxigor. If we assume that you should use at least six Kroxigor in a unit deployed three wide and two deep to make the most of their attacks and ensure at least a few of them reach combat after all shooting and magic is accounted for, that is a 300pt unit that has some severe weaknesses and can just as easily be held up by a single Ethereal model (like a Spirit Host) as any of the cheaper Lizardmen monsters. They function as the hunters of anything monstrous or heavily armoured, in an army book populated by Stegadons with the Sharpened Horns upgrade that fulfill the same role via Impact Hits rather than their regular close combat attacks. With poor actual stats for hitting and never going before any opponent, Kroxigor are quite limited in terms of what they can actually perform, assuming your opponent has the counters available to stop them. As I mentioned earlier, however, they are still at the very least points efficient compared to other similar monstrous infantry units from other army books. Ushabti wish they could mimic the effectiveness of Kroxigor and the fact that their preferred targets tend to struggle against other monstrous-type units and themselves have low Weapon Skill or Initiative values means Kroxigor are still good in their intended role.

Just be aware that Kroxigor aren't designed to be a full front-line combat unit despite how expensive they are, as they can be easily bogged down or outright slaughtered by the great weapon wielding Elven elites or halberd-armed Chaos Warriors. Even humble Empire Halberdiers will take chunks out of them. They need to be used on the flank where their good Movement 6 allows them to get flank or even (unlikely) rear charges off, while threatening your opponents war machines and skirmishers or chaff units. When you consider that four of these are the rough equivalent of three Dragon Ogres equipped with great weapons and trade one point of both Movement and Weapon Skill plus a situational ability for another, the Kroxigor get Predatory Fighter and an extra three attacks thrown into the mix which solidifies their crazy hitting power. I rate these as competitive over Dragon Ogres simply because Lizardmen can have issues dealing with well armoured units outside of Oldblood or Scar Veteran "cowboys" and Stegadons, whereas Warriors of Chaos have Hellcannons, Gorebeast Chariots, Chaos Trolls, Chimeras, Chaos Ogres and Chaos Knight with lances all particularly suited to that role. I rate Kroxigor slightly above Dragon Ogres as a unit, but in the context of their own army book I find they are a lot closer to being necessary and thus competitive because of the reduced options for dealing with those heavily armoured enemies. I don't give them a competitive rating lightly, mind, as I do feel the "cowboys" and Stegadons are far more efficient and have such a small footprint to fulfill numerous other roles and find their preferred charge with greater ease. However, the extra attacks and Predatory Fighter at similar points costs to Dragon Ogres gives Kroxigor the edge in that particular comparison, especially with Lizardmen having far greater access to useful augment spells to buff them. With WS3 being their true Achilles heel. Any spell to give bonuses to hit or boosted WS is good (or hexes that hit the enemy in those traits). Boosting Kroxigor Strength is redundant. If you can’t buff/hex WS you want to either boost the Kroxigor’s Toughness or hex the enemy’s Strength.

Fortunately, the two most popular Slann builds work well with Kroxigor. Wandering Deliberations Slann (the one that gives access to all signature spells) have Miasma and Iceshard Blizzard to hex or penalize enemy WS. Earthblood can also heal a few Kroxigor wounds occasionally with the Lifebloom lore attribute if your Kroxigor are somewhat near your Temple Guard bunker.

High Magic Slann have Hand of Glory to boost WS and Walk Between Worlds to try to set up an ideal Kroxigor matchup (or flee from a bad matchup). You also have the opportunity to swap in for the aforementioned useful signature spells. As for BRB lores, Shadow and Light synergize best with Kroxigor. Life isn’t too bad either.

What size unit is best for them?

Minimum 3 Kroxigor: I don’t like this. Between enemy shooting and the fact that they are ASL, you are lucky if you can have two Kroxigor able to swing their axes on the first round of close combat. If you are fielding 3 Kroxigor, they better be surrounded by Skinks.

4-5 Kroxigor: I like this size. Rank bonuses will probably not matter, so I field them as 2x2 squares. That’s still all your attacks. If you are fighting crappy infantry, you’ll want to adjust to three wide for that extra Stomp, but generally a small frontage is best. This makes it a lot easier to one-two punch enemies with Saurus/Kroxigor combos. A fifth Kroxigor is probably unnecessary, but there are worse things to spend your points on.

6-8 Kroxigor: This gives you two full ranks of Monstrous Infantry. I’ve done okay with units of six, but points permitting, I like units of 7 or 8. This gives you a small crumple zone against shooting and close combat letting you fight at your full attacks even after taking a modest beating.

9-17 Kroxigor: I’ve played 9 Kroxigor a few times. I didn’t like it. I can’t imagine liking it better with 10, 11, or 12. Units in this range have a prohibitively expensive “crumple zone” for a unit deployed three wide. If you deploy wider, you are almost guaranteeing that your Kroxigor will get bogged down by infantry. You might actually beat infantry with a unit like this, but your points cost will be so much higher than the enemy it won’t feel like winning. I’d rather field two reasonably sized blocks of Kroxigor than one block this size.

18+ Kroxigor: I will admit that I haven’t tried this yet, but I can see the appeal. This allows you to field a full horde of Monstrous Infantry with a theoretical 55 attacks (plus a lot of PF attacks). Awfully expensive and unwieldy. If you have a floating Slann hiding behind them, you can theoretically steamroller any opposition with the right buffs, but this unit strikes me as a bit gimmicky. Tactically speaking, I’d rather field three reasonably sized blocks of Kroxigor than this.

Multiple Units: I have yet to try three Kroxigor blocks. I have done two blocks a few times, but I have better luck with one block. If you want two blocks of Kroxigor I’d recommend 2x2 squares to keep the footprints small. When I field two blocks of 6-7 Kroxigor, the Kroxigor tend to compete for table space with my Saurus blocks and someone has to deploy behind someone else which does not let you project your strength very well.

Skink Clouds are not my style, but I think multiple Kroxigor larger blocks would do well in a Skirmisher /Traditional Army hybrid. If all your Core is Skink Skirmishers, there are no Saurus Warriors to get in the way of your Kroxigor or visa versa. Still you need to be very good at redirection or your Kroxigor will get bogged down fighting hated infantry, and they won’t be able to call on Saurus reinforcements.

For a less extreme way of accommodating multiple Kroxigor units, you can run your Slann solo. With no Temple Guard that’s one less block to get in the way (and more Special points to spend on additional Kroxigor).


Kroxigor Ancients: You want them. Ten points is cheap for a Strength 7 PF attack. You don’t want to be fighting enemy infantry if you can help it, but at least having a reasonable chance of killing a character in an underdog challenge is a nice consolation prize to having a subpar matchup.


Cowboy Buddies?: Lots of Orc and Goblin players put an Orc Big Boss on a Boar tacked on to the side of their Troll units for both more hitting power and the Ld. We could in theory do the same with Saurus Cowboys and Kroxigor, but I would not recommend it. Kroxigor are not subject to Stupidity so they don’t need the extra point of Ld all that bad (and the Cold One actually brings Stupidity). Due to non-compatible bases, your Cowboy can’t make way so a positioning error well cost you if he’s stuck out of combat.

As much as Kroxigor hate light targets, they really hate ethereal enemies generating virtually zero static CR. A Cowboy buddy can provide magical attacks in this scenario. That would be the only time I would combine Kroxigor and Saurus characters in a big unit, but in most cases a solo Saurus character on a Cold One should be able to engage these nasty ethereals without a unit.

One idea I came across in an unrelated thread is giving a Crown of Command to a Saurus Cowboy and sticking him with a Kroxigor unit, thus making the Kroxigor Stubborn. It also makes the Kroxigor subject to Stupidity so you want to make sure you keep your Slann nearby if you decide to try that unorthodox tactic.

As a final note, they do cause fear. Very situational but remember to make opponents take the test as it will help with both their offence and defence if it is failed.

Overall they are a unit with a specific role. They do that role very well but at quite a cost. It’s why I would likely use them in units of 4 when fielded. It keeps their cost down, reduces their threat and keeps their footprint small enough that they can get to where they are needed.



Chameleon Skinks - 13pts per model

Billed as the "elite" Skink Skirmisher equivalent, Chameleon Skinks are far more of a specialist choice that are easily the best unit in the army book for hunting war machines, lone characters and other vulnerable backfield options employed by your enemies. They function much the same as Skink Skirmishers with blowpipes; they are terrible in combat but are Movement 6 Skirmishers that fire two Poisoned shots at 12" per model to compensate. Where Chameleon Skinks are improved is that enemies shooting at them not only suffer a -1 to hit penalty because the Skinks are Skirmishers, but they also suffer a second -1 to hit penalty because of their Chameleon special rule. This means that even Elf archers will be hitting the Chameleon Skinks on 5s at best (assuming they are Ballistic Skill 4) while any kind of soft cover or hard cover bonuses will see almost any ranged unit needing 6s and 4s (effectively '7s') to hit the Chameleon Skinks. For a chaff unit that is purpose built for ranged avoidance this is definitely a very nice defence to have, making up mostly for their pathetic Toughness 2 and 6+ armour save.

Warmachine Hunters

The real reason you want these over Skink Skirmishers is that they have the ever useful Scout special rule, allowing them to deploy anywhere on the battlefield so long as that spot is 12" or more away from enemy units. Combine that with their two Poisoned shots each at Ballistic Skill 4 rather than Ballistic Skill 3, which means they can still poison a target when moving and at long range, their high Movement 6 and Skirmisher profile allowing them to also shoot when marching, Chameleon Skinks are far and away the primary answer to war machines for a Lizardmen army. Ten of these are priced similarly to most Dwarf and Empire war machines and will statistically kill a typical three-wound war machine in one round of shooting regardless of most typical to-hit modifiers. Not only do they make their points back in one shooting phase, but they have the speed and capability to harass and seriously pester your opponents' forces thereafter, hunting any other valuable but fragile (to Poison) targets they can find with their high Movement 6. If they fail to kill a warmachine at range, you can even charge the crew. Sure the skinks have low WS and toughness but sometimes you are better off charging the war machines despite this. If the war machine has hard cover, your probably are going to have better luck with CC than with shooting. It’s not just a matter of what will kill a particular war machine faster. If you wipe a war machine out in one round of close combat you can overrun into the next one if they are arranged in an artillery line (as is often the case). Whether you kill the war machine in CC or not, a war machine engaged in melee has to stop shooting at you while it’s in melee.

Hunting Big Game Units

Large monsters with high toughness and weak or nonexistent saves are vulnerable to mass volleys of poisonous darts. This category includes but is not limited to Giants, Terrogheists, Mangler Squigs, and the occasional low save monstrous mount for a lord (such as Manticores). Sometimes you can kill these monsters with darts alone. Other times you just soften up them enough to make them much more killable when said monsters reach your mainline. Either way the Chamo Skinks inflict serious damage. Even better most giant monsters are not maneuverable enough to prevent a Chamo Skink from circling around them and firing on them again next round. Said monsters pretty much have to act like the Chamo Skinks aren’t there and make their best possible attempt to reach your Saurus blocks as quickly as possible before they succumb to the dart barrage.

A different sort of “big game” target is lone character, while a large monster is likely to keep lumbering towards your main line, a lone character is likely to stay back in a little nest much like a war machine (perhaps even nestled amongst the war machines). Like a war machine, you can often stop a character from doing their nasty stuff by engaging it in melee. Lone characters are usually tougher fighters than war machine crews. Because of this, buffs on your skinks are even more important if you are going the CC route. If you go the shooting route and fail to kill the character, the risk is that the character will retaliate on the following turn, either by charging you, pulling out their special ability, or blasting the skinks with a spell.

A third type of big game is elite infantry with low armor. This includes but is not limited to Dwarven Slayers, Savage Orcs, and High Elf Swordmasters. While the results are less dramatic than with the other “big game” targets, Chamo Skinks will usually pay for themselves whittling down these types of targets to a manageable size to let your Saurus or Skroxigor beat them.

Being annoying

A group of Chamo Skinks can keep moving and shooting while staying well out of the charge arc of a big block of infantry (or most other unit types) and keep nickeling and diming the unit while avoiding its wrath. An experienced player will either entrap the unit boxing it with another unit or just ignore the little guys altogether, but sometimes this is the best option available for us to do with our Chamo Skinks. Even if the enemies entrap your Chamo Skinks, you can at least console yourself with the fact that they the units they are using to pincer your skinks probably cost a lot more than the skinks themselves and you’ve kept them away from the rest of your army.

Regular skinks can run similar interference for fewer points, but Chamo Skinks can keep their ability to hit on 6s even when using multi-shot at long range, something regular Skinks cannot do. Also on average, Chamo Skinks will get into firing range at least one round before regular skinks will meaning that not only is their shooting better, but you get more of it. The same comments also apply to the Big Game Hunting targets. Skink Skirmishers can do it too, but Chamo Skinks do it better.

March blocking also fits under this heading. March blocking is most viable as a strategy against low leadership armies, but it’s worth remembering even against high leadership armies. Once in a blue moon a High Elf unit will fail a Fear test. Likewise, once in a blue moon a High Elf unit will fail a march test too.

Even more useful than march blocking is Vanguard blocking. @hooligan's trick works against any enemy with Vanguard units and be accomplished even if the enemy deploys his units too tight to allow Scouts in his backfield.

HOOLIGAN SAID: A small unit of chamo skinks are awesome for messing with their first turn. Plant them exactly 12" from the front of his Wild Riders and he can't vanguard. He can charge if he gets turn 1 but your skinks have a good chance of out-fleeing him. Even if they get truflighted right after that, I consider it well worth it.

Skirmisher Screen

You probably want regular skinks to screen for you since they are cheaper and thus more expendable. But if your screen is mainly to prevent BS shooting, Chamo Skinks may be worth the extra points. As scouts you have more flexibility deploying Chamo Skinks than regular Skinks. Also if you don’t take regular skinks on your lists, you can use Chamo Skinks as a skirmisher screen if circumstances beyond your control prevent you from using your skinks to do the above mentioned roles.

Skirmisher vs. Skirmisher

There are usually better things to do with Chamo Skinks than matching their blowpipes against the bows of enemy skirmishers, but it is still a viable strategy. Chamo Skinks have an edge over most other Skirmishers in a pure shooting match between multi-shot, poison, BS4, and the additional penalty enemies have for shooting at them. There are a few skirmishers that can hold their own versus Chamo Skinks in a shooting match, but most of the units that CAN are pretty expensive. Thus, Chamo Skinks still win out on a point-for-point basis. Whoever you are fighting with, make sure that you stay out of their charge arc since Chamo Skinks are noticeably WEAKER compared to pretty much every other skirmisher in close combat unless you are fighting another Lizardmen player.

Culling the Weak

While it’s normally not efficient to shoot at the regular infantry units of your opposing side with Chamo Skinks, sometimes the tiny dregs of a fleeing unit escape the wrath of your Saurus. You want to get the victory points for the unit, but you can’t afford to redirect your main units away from the stronger threats. It usually a simply matter to redirect your Chameleons to finish the unit off for you, especially late in the game when most war machines and big game targets have been accounted for. You can also shoot up small healthy units such as Empire Detachments. The downside of targeting small healthy units with Chamo Skinks is that it’s not that cost efficient. A healthy unit that is weak enough to succumb to Chamo Skinks is likely to cost a fraction of the Chamo Skinks you are wielding against them. Even then, you do not what Chamo Skinks to fight regular Skinks hand-to-hand. That's a battle of attrition you will lose.

Common Threats to Chamo Skinks

Auto-hit ranged Attacks

This broad category mainly includes magic missile spells, but auto-hit special abilities creep up in various army lists, especially undead with their scream attacks. Each threat has a different response.

Magic missiles are the most straight forward, dispel anything directed at your Chamo Skinks. The army specific threats require you to know the basic capabilities of the unit and plan accordingly. Tomb Banshees (and other screamers) only have an eight inch range so use your 12” march move to stay out of range. One thing you can do against all auto-hit threats is bring additional units of Chamo Skinks, that way you can afford to lose one unit and still hit your desired targets. If I can’t afford two or more Chamo Skink units, I usually go with zero. EDIT: I've experimented with larger units of Chamo Skinks. That works too, but I think multiple small units are sightly better.

Shooting from Tomb Kings or Wood Elves: All Tomb King BS based shooting has no penalties to hit for skirmishing, camouflage, or anything else. Chances are pretty good that a typical TK list will take enough archers to guarantee that your Lizardmen will be fighting in the shade, especially if they take the buff spell that gives them an extra round of shooting. Chamo Skinks cost 13 points each, have practically no armor save, low T and Ld. They will be very popular with the undead archers. Tomb Kings conveniently have war machines for us to hunt, but I am still at a loss for what to do when my all-comers list leads to me pitting my Chameleon Skinks against the forces of Nehekara. If anyone knows what to do in that situation, feel free to share it in this thread.

Wood Elf archers can take an upgrade to ignore all shooting penalties (trueflight arrows) and so will hit our skinks on a 3+ and wound on a 3+. They are even scarier.

Night Goblin Fanatics

Fanatics can steam roller your Chamo Skinks quite easily. One strategy is just to have your Chamo Skinks give blocks of Night Goblins a wide berth. That's a stall at best because that exposes the rest of your army to fanatics (unless you use Walk Between Worlds to trigger them, he he he). I prefer to have my Chamo Skinks trigger the Fanatics at maxium range (8 inches) as early as possible. Fanatics that spring early have a better chance of rolling doubles, blundering into a forest, randomly redirecting into a friendly unit, or flailing in an empty quarter of the table. Worst case scenario you have more time to pick off Fanatics with shooting. If you can send Chamo Skinks at a Night Goblin block and come at them from the side or the rear, the O&G will probably not want to send the Fanatics at your Scouts. Note, O&G players are not required to send their Fanatics towards the triggering units, they could send them out any direction they choose. Four times out of Five, if you can force your opponent's hand in this manner thought, it will be to your benefit.

Fast Cavalry and Flyers

Like almost everything else, most Fast Cavalry and Flyers are capable of tearing through Chamo Skinks in melee without breaking a sweat. Unlike most other enemy units, these have a reasonable chance of forcing Chamo Skinks into close combat without another unit pincering them. Under most circumstances, the maneuverability of Chamo Skinks will keep them out of harm’s way from even these fast unit types. There is a trade-off though. A skilled general expecting Chamo Skinks will deploy their mobile units in front of their war machines and other vulnerable targets. This forces you to make a difficult choice between exposing your Chamo Skinks to danger or sending them against subpar targets.

Heavy cavalry is also a threat to Chamo Skinks. That’s like using a sledge hammer to tap a nail though, most of the time there are better targets in the LM army for heavy cavalry. The worst thing you can do is put your Chamo Skinks in a place where heavy cavalry can run them down and then still hit your main line. Then your Chamo Skinks can’t even have died for a redirect.

Other Issues

Should I take a Stalker?

A ten point upgrade will not make or break a game, but if you are the type of player who likes to squeeze every point, don’t take Stalkers. For almost the price of another Chameleon Skink, you can hit on 5+ instead of 6+. Poisoned Shooting really only needs 6s.

How Big Should my Units Be?

The consensus is that 6-8 is best, though some like ten. As far as I know, even though we aren’t capped at ten any more, few if any Lizardmen players have fielded units larger than ten. Multiple smaller units will usually out perform a single large unit because they split their fire and take a hit better. If you lose five Chameleon Skinks from a unit of ten, the unit is 50/50 likely to panic. If you lose five Chameleon Skinks and you have two groups of five, you still have one group shooting for you.

Bigger units aren’t worthless. A larger unit can take a magic missile with less chance of dying or panicking. They gain more from buff spells. The buff spells worth casting on Chameleon Skinks tend to be Harmonic Convergence, Hand of Glory (BS), and sometimes Walk Between Worlds. Also, sometimes you just want to roll a lot of dice at once and big units help there. In a smaller game, large units of Chameleon Skinks will have generally plenty of room to move and they can devastate relatively small enemy units with their shooting.

What if the Enemy Deploys Really Tight, are my Scouts Worthless?: Hopefully I gave you enough ideas for secondary targets to seek and roles to play. Also the very fact that your opponents are deploying to stop Chameleon Skinks means even at the deployment stage, your enemy is responding to you rather than forcing you to respond to them. Press the initiative if at all possible and your Chameleon Skinks will still be valuable additions to your army. A good example of this is using Chameleon Skinks to prevent enemy Vanguard moves.

The greatest threat Chamo Skinks face is irrelevance.

Sometimes you face an army with no “big game” targets or war machines. When this happens, your Chamo Skinks main reason for existing is gone. In this case, the best thing you can do is fall back onto secondary targets plinking whatever you can get at without exposing your Chamo Skinks to things that can kill them. Not every unit in your army has to kill its point’s worth of enemy units. At least try to keep them alive.

In a less severe case, the optimum Chamo Skinks targets are all locked away real tight in a place where it’s practically impossible to get your Chamo Skinks at them. This is something time called a “castle.” I have not yet figured out a good way to counter this without magic leaving my Chamo Skinks outside the wall impotently throwing darts at a wall of infantry. If any of you know a non-magical solution to counter an enemy “castle” let me know.

Another cause of irrelevance is AFTER you killed the targets that are vulnerable to Chamo Skinks and your main infantry blocks are mixing it up with what’s left. This leaves your Chamo Skinks without anything obvious to do. This is a good problem to have because it means you’ve dealt with most if not all of the threats left on the table. Don’t fall into the temptation to use your Chamo Skinks just because they are standing idle. If you can take some pot shots at something, feel free to do so. Don’t feel obligated to toss your Chamo Skinks into the flank or rear of an enemy engaging your Saurus just because you can. Chances are they will fight so poorly and die so easily that it will be a net loss to your CR. Whether you seem to be winning or losing the main battle, you probably want to deny your opponent the victory points for killing your Chamo Skinks if you can.

One thing you CAN do with your Chamo Skinks in the late stage of battle is parking your Skinks an inch away from the back of an enemy unit to prevent reforms. Particularly useful when you are fighting a horde formation unit that’s been reduced to the point where they would prefer to reform into extra ranks as opposed to remaining ten wide. They risk getting in the way if your units break the unit the Chamo Skinks are planted behind and are prevented from pursuing through them.

Overall they are a solid unit. If you deploy them correctly and your opponent has little good shooting that can deal with the permanent -2 to hit modifier applied before soft or hard cover, long range and movement penalties are even applied, they will be very difficult to deal with outside of investing damage spells or melee units to their destruction. Their high cost compared to regular Skink Skirmishers does limit them somewhat but I feel the Scout redeployment is easily worth the price of admission, as Lizardmen otherwise can struggle immensely with gunlines featuring numerous war machines.



Stegadon – 215pts

Earmarking themselves as the go-to monster for competitive Lizardmen players, Stegadons (including their Ancient siblings) provide the army book with its most cost-efficient monster and also one of the toughest by far. Toughness 6 with 5 wounds and a 4+ armour save is only ever so slightly more durable in a sense than a Carnosaur, but in actual application it means that Strength 4 Chaos Warriors and other common elite choices won't have such an easy time against a Stegadon. It also greatly reduces its vulnerabilities to many spells and war machines such as bolt throwers, though obviously cannonballs and direct hits from stone throwers will still get the job done against a Stegadon regardless of the improved Toughness value. The key term here is value and that is because the Stegadon is priced well as a monster on its own but also comes with five Skinks atop it that cannot be targeted separately to the Stegadon itself, providing the beast with some light ranged presence and a minimal boost to its' melee damage output. Speaking of close combat, a Stegadon might seem unappealing at first but it is easily the superior of a Carnosaur once you consider its overall survivability and damage dealt against a wide range of different targets.

The Toughness 6 helps, but what really sets the Stegadon is the fact that it deals D6+1 Impact Hits at Strength 5 on a turn in which it charges, adding on to its four Strength 5 attacks that are resolved normally at Initiative 2 and Weapon Skill 3. The five Skinks themselves provide an extra five Strength 3 attacks at Initiative 4 and Weapon Skill 2, and once the Strength 5 Thunderstomp is accounted for the Stegadon is easily superior to the Carnosaur when it comes to crushing infantry of all kinds. It can have a further purchased upgrade: Unstoppable Stampede. This gives it devastating charge, so another Str 5 attack on the charge. 10pts to further boost its damage on the charge isn’t a bad price.

It is also Stubborn on Leadership 6 that combines well with the Cold-Blooded special rule and should see it pass just over half of the (hopefully few) Leadership tests it is forced to take, a slight improvement over the Skinks that crew the great beast. Immune to Psychology means it will never have to worry about taking Panic tests which no doubt makes the owners of Chimera's look on enviously, while the five lustrian javelins wielded by the Skink crew provide the Stegadon with some decent little shooting capabilities. They also cause Terror so can sometimes cause targets to run without even making combat! The bolt thrower is not as much of a gem as many may think it is, seeing as it is mounted on a platform that should generally be moving and is crewed by Ballistic Skill 3 models. The bolt thrower has a range of 36" which complements the good Movement 6 of the Stegadon well, with it being reduced to Strength 5 as opposed to most bolt throwers but gaining the Poison special rule to make up for it. When you consider that the Stegadon is very well priced as a monster based on its close combat capabilities alone, the bolt thrower is effectively a nice little extra that can potentially do a lot of damage if you get lucky with your to hit rolls. Moving and firing at long range see the bolt thrower need 6s to hit, but any 6 to hit counts as Poisoned, automatically wounding, ignoring armour saves and inflicting D3 wounds on the model struck - remembering though that subsequent models hit still require a successful to-wound roll in order to be harmed.

Even if you throw it into a list just as the cheap monster that it is, the combination of Impact Hits, shooting, good survivability and immunity to Panic make for a valuable and strong monster option with all the usual traits that unit type brings to the table. If you really want to capitalize on its capabilities as a monster or monstrous cavalry hunter, however, you can also upgrade it to Sharpened horns for 20pts, which add the Multiple Wounds (D3) special rule to all of its Impact Hits. Resolved at Strength 5 and receiving D6+1 of them, the Impact Hits of Stegadons affected by this appropriately priced upgrade quickly become a very real and dangerous tool against enemy models with more than one wound. If we go off a random roll of three plus the guaranteed one extra, four Strength 5 Impact Hits resolved against an enemy War Hydra will statistically wound twice, allowing only a 6+ armour save. We can assume both are failed, leading to the War Hydra taking at least two wounds; if the average roll of 2D6 is 7 we can guess the two dice rolled are a 3 and a 4 (usually), meaning the War Hydra takes four wounds just from the Stegadon's Impact Hits alone. That is a very dead War Hydra once the Skinks and Stegadon itself attack in close combat! To say I am a big fan of Stegadons would be an understatement, and their small base size compared to something like an Arachnarok Spider means they can easily get around your opponent and get off a nasty flank charge or otherwise target your vulnerable units.

For a detailed tactica covering both Stegadons, see this post: Comprehensive Stegadon Tactica | The Eighth Edition For Life (EEFL) Warhammer Forum (freeforums.net)

Post 9 - Army Book Magic items


Magic Weapons

The Blade of Realities – 100pts

The compulsory 100pts item in the army book and unlike most items at this cost, it can be worth considering. For this you get a magic weapon that ignores both armour AND Ward Saves. Considering that the obsidian blade (and dwarf runic equivilent) are 50pts on the nose, you are paying an additional 50pts for bypassing the ward.

The only downside of this blade is that it now takes up all of a Lord's points for magic items and thus robs you of the ability to take any Ward Saves of your own. On the plus side, the Oldblood (the only lord you will take it on), can get a generic 2+ save on foot just by taking light armour and a shield or a 1+ save if on a coldone, purely by taking a shield, so is therefore pretty survivable anyway.

It also means that opponents Lords/Heroes will have to rely on purely their Toughness and Weapon Skill to avoid dying and against any lord with the same or higher WS and Toughness of 5, your 5, base strength 5 attacks will on average cause 2 wounds, 3 if Predatory figher proc’s and that is a dead enemy lord.

Now you do have to get your Oldblood into combat with the right target to make this a worthwhile point’s investment and with Wizards normally being the main single model to have a ward, the question becomes would you be better off taking other items? Sure witch elves and phoenix guard and a few other select units also have wards but your rank and file often kill these just as easily and you could take other items and give the oldblood the other tricksters shard to force ward save re-rolls for just 15pts.


The Piranha Blade – 50pts

The wielder gets the multiple wound (D3) and armour piercing rules. This item is probably a bit expensive as although armour piercing is never a bad thing (consistently giving you a -3 vs armour saves), the multiple wound rule is quite conditional, only really of use against enemy monsters or characters.

I’d be remiss not to mention that both the Armour Piercing and multiple wounds stack on Impact Hits, so this item could be used on a mounted Oldblood, together with the Stegadon Helm, to give D3 Str 5, AP impact hits, with each wound multiplying to D3. Basically a mini Stegadon but with more combat power after the initial hits and you will have a few points left over for other magic items.

Another use is to give it to a Scar Vet on foot and challenge, as it allows you to rack up the combat bonus with Overkill. With only 4 attacks you have a strong potential to get one Wound to kill the champ and the +5 Overkill bonus for a total of +6 to combat res. Pretty good for only 4 attacks.


Magic Armour

Sacred Stegadon Helm of Itza – 40pts

The only Magic Armour the Lizardmen get but what an armour! It gives +1 to Armour Save, +1 Toughness AND +D3 Impact Hits. Although not the cheapest of armour, for the bonuses it gives, it is very well costed but it is definitely of more use on an Oldblood due to the price as it allows you to then stack up with other magic items. RAW, the impact hits allow this to stack with the Piranha Blade. I’ve seen this occasionally argued against and we are not going to get an FAQ at this point but it’s a safe assumption that the combination was intended by the GW writers considering that the two magic items are listed right next to each other

Skavenpelt Banner – The item is BSB only but there is much appeal in making a unit of Temple Guard Frenzied since the extra attacks benefit from Predatory Fighter and whatever buff or hex spells the Slann is throwing about. It is expensive though. I’d actually be LESS likely to take this versus Skaven since only the Temple Guard would get the Hatred and every single Skaven unit thrown at the Temple Guard would get Hatred against them.


Magic Standards

Skavenpelt Banner – 65pts

This banner grants the Frenzy and Hatred (Skaven) rules, but all Skaven gain Hatred when attacking the bearer. As it is more than 50 points this banner can only be used on the BSB. You won’t take this banner on a Scar Vet BSB as he won’t be able to take any other magic items but it could be worth considering on your Slann. A Slann won’t normally be able to be targeted in combat so the listed drawback (Skaven gaining hatred vs the bearer) isn’t a great worry and if you still wanted an LD10 general, the standard of Discipline could go on the Templeguard banner. The downside of getting frenzy, the compulsory overrun and being frenzy baited, isn’t much different from the downside of Predatory fighter (though of course PF can be mitigated through the use of a Skink character).

While 3 attacks each on the front rank of your Templeguard is very nice, the biggest downside to the banner is the cost. This is both the actual 65pts cost and the opportunity cost. With the banner, you are likely getting 6-8 additional attacks (based on an average frontage of between 5-7 models and including Predatory Fighter proc’s), which isn’t bad as they will be at Str 5. The bigger question is whether you prefer the volume of attacks over other useful banners such as the Banner of Eternal Flame (to help strip regen), the Razor Standard (to give armour piercing and thus the sweet -3 to enemy saves) or the Standard of Discipline (to boost the LD). Given that the BSB and Temple Guard are the only way that you can take a magic standard, you have very limited choices and what combo to take is a big consideration and probably the main reason you rarely see this.


Jaguar Standard – 50pts

The Jaguar Standard gives the unit Swiftstride and is just cheap enough to be used by a unit of Temple Guard. It's an OK choice for a banner but there are others that could probably work better. It’s a nice way to make sure that if the Temple Guard run off after a unit, due to their Predatory Fighter rule, they catch and kill whatever fled.



Arcane Items

Cube of Darkness – 30pts

A 5 point, more expensive Dispel Scroll that ‘only’ works on a 2+. In addition, you roll a die for each Remains in Play spell on the board and on a 2+ it ends. After taking a Dispel Scroll this is an almost "must take" (if you can), as having 2 almost guaranteed ways of getting rid of an enemy spell can be game changing. As such a lot of tournament packs (at least in the UK) will comp this item heavily. Be careful as this item, by RAW, can also dispel your own remains in play spells!


Plaque of Dominion – 25pts

A Bound Spell (power level 3) that contains a hex spell that targets all enemy wizardswithin 18”. If the mages fails a leadership test, they are subject to stupidity until the start of your next magic phase. If your opponent has his mage parked within range of a General/BSB leave this at home. If not... probably still leave it at home and just take a Dispel Scroll first and the Cube second.

As a corner case, if you manage to get this off, the wizard will become immune to psychology and thus won’t be able to flee any charges made against him (/her) and any bunker they are in.


Enchanted Items

The Cloak of Feathers – 35pts

For 15pts less than the main rulebook flying carpet, this item not only gives the wearer the flay ability but also grants them magic resistance (1). The magic res is very conditional and unlikely to make any difference so you are mainly taking this item to allow a skink to get in favourable positions to utilise the arcane vassel rule. On top of this, you will likely only take it if using specific Slann builds, such as using a Death Slann (to get around the short ranged nature of many of the snipes) or when using Lord Kroak. In those instances, this item becomes an almost must take but outside of that, you will probably not use it.


The Horn of Kygor – 35pts

A musical instrument carved from a long dead dinosaur. When your Hero blows it all Monsters and Beasts in your army, within a 12” range, will gain the Frenzy rule for one turn. As it will not affect the riders and is extremely expensive for a One Use Only item that does fairly little, it's best to leave this at home. Could be useful if you are running a large number of Coldone riders but probably not.


The Egg of Quango – 30pts

Another One User Only item but this one can be more useful. You can summon the ancient dinosaur from its egg and with a little luck he will clobber your enemies. Why luck? Well its effect is based on a dice roll. On a 1, the enemy suffers D6 Str 3 hits. On a 2-3 they suffer D6 Str 4 hits and on a 4-6 they suffer 2D6 Str 5 hits. As a One Use Only and with only a 50% chance of getting the most from it, this should probably be left at home. But when you like dinosaurs (and that's why you're playing Lizardmen) then it's not bad. While it's 'fun' it's also rather silly. The whole point of the Quango was that it was some rare, mystical creature which could change the outcome of the War against Chaos, with Mazamundi deciding when it should be opened... He's decided it is now and it doesn't do anything to help the War in terms of fluff. But it is an amusing item.

This actually isn't a worry at all.  Kroak in a unit of Temple Guard is fully immune to spells like Purple Sun or Pit of Shades.  Those spells still allow for Look Out Sir rolls, and Kroak with his Mage-Priest Palanquin special rule (just like regular Slann) automatically passes Look Out Sir rolls while in a unit of Temple Guard (as long as he is in b2b contact with at least one such model) because of their Guardians special rule.

Great work Knoffles! I enjoyed reading what you have so far, look forward to the rest!