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534 Posts
Howdy all
Well iv got some games in with my Lizardmen and tried various configs for my slann, and thought i would share some lessons i have learned
First of all, 8th edition is a blast. My friends and i dropped out at 6th and concentrated purely on 40k because Fantasy was...well...dull. 8th has brought pace and brutality back into warfare and i for one am glad of it! :victory:
The magic phase has seen a big change with the random pool of dice generated as well as the changes to IF/Miscasts which are linked and more brutal. The lizardmen have always been focussed around the slann as the centrepiece of the army and in 8th this will become even more pronounced. Kermit is the best wizard in the game (Teclis is arguably the most potent but cant match the sheer number of spells a turn the Slann can) and can dominate a magic phase
Equipping your slann
So lets look at some set-ups for him. The one image most commonly linked with the Slann is one in a temple guard unit. This provides him with a nice 2+ LOS save vs. templates as well as a solid combat unit that can charge an enemy and stil let Toad of Toad Hall do his thing. :wink:
This config was used in my first battle, with Warts an' all sitting in his temple guard unit:
Focus of Mastery, Focussed Rumination, Becalming Cogitation, Soul of Stone, Cupped Hands, BSB with Sun Standard of Chotec
Quite a whopper of a guy. Against a magic-heavy High Elf army and equipped with Lore of Light, he managed to miscast his first spell (and attack the LVL4 Enemy Mage ala Cupped hands) and spent the rest of the game casting Phas illumination over...and over....and over again. The buffs from the lore of light allowed me to grind my way through even the elite Elven units nicely
But the issue i had was that he wasnt very flexible, he was stuck in the middle of the temple guard and couldnt get about very quickly at all.
So i decided next battle (again vs. high elves) to go for a flying frog of doom. set-up this time was
Focus of Mastery, Focussed Rumination, Becalming Cogitation, Higher State of Consciousness, Cupped hands, BSB, Arabian Carpet
ZOOM-ZOOM-froggy sat behind my solid line of saurus and i went for Lore of Life. By jove the Lore of Life goes with a Slann like cock and balls! the ridiculously low casting values for the spells meant i was able to chuck out 2-3 spells with a poor dice pool and almost the whole lore with a good pool. Dwellers below ate his mage (plus half the unit he was in) and throne of vines boosted everything brilliantly, one casting of awakening of the wood took a lion chariot apart and flesh to stone saurus held a prince on a moon dragon up for the entire game!
The arabian carpet let me position him where i needed the spells/Leadership/BSB the most, and Higher State meant the RBT had nothing to do but sprinkle my saurus with a light shower of arrows (casualties promptly regrown)
My big worry with this set-up is coming up against skaven or dwarves, with a high number of magical war machines. To combat this i think it may be best to ditch cupped hands (throne of vines does the job for me) and take the divine plaque of protection. 2+ ward save against all ranged attacks means it will take a pit of shades or purple sun to take me down
Just a quick note about Becalming Cogitation. There has been a lot of debate about just how useful this is, given that it means your enemy wont miscast. I say "so what?" to these people!! It stops your enemy getting an IF on a spell you REALLY dont want to go off (Purple sun, Pit of Shades, Final Transmutation etc.) and also means your opponent has to throw a stack of dice at any high-to-cast spell just to make sure it goes off. This means less spells coming at you, letting you use your dispel dice more effectively. Plus it really increases the chance of a lose of concentration, which could neuter your opponents mage. literally :shok:
all for 25pts?? HELL YEH :shok:
The other issue i have is the "Last Stand" rule. i was really hoping this would be FAQ'd for the lizzies but no luck. Now if broken in combat (very likely if he is caught by any sort of ranked unit) Kermie will be removed instantly! This worries me. I may give the BSB to a scar vet and c how tht goes, u really cant afford to lose your slann
so there you have it, my two starter builds for your slann. i intend to work my way through the army book and give my thoughts on each section and the best builds i have found so far, so stay tuned.
Oh and just to finish this section off: Oldbloods. em.....why bother? take the slann if you have the points. Scar Vets are choppy enough
Oh and just so you all know, my Slann is called Lord Boom-Shaqa-Laqa. You HAVE to name your slann, otherwise your spells will miscast and your testicles will shrink. you have bn warned :threaten:
Well iv got some games in with my Lizardmen and tried various configs for my slann, and thought i would share some lessons i have learned
First of all, 8th edition is a blast. My friends and i dropped out at 6th and concentrated purely on 40k because Fantasy was...well...dull. 8th has brought pace and brutality back into warfare and i for one am glad of it! :victory:
The magic phase has seen a big change with the random pool of dice generated as well as the changes to IF/Miscasts which are linked and more brutal. The lizardmen have always been focussed around the slann as the centrepiece of the army and in 8th this will become even more pronounced. Kermit is the best wizard in the game (Teclis is arguably the most potent but cant match the sheer number of spells a turn the Slann can) and can dominate a magic phase
Equipping your slann
So lets look at some set-ups for him. The one image most commonly linked with the Slann is one in a temple guard unit. This provides him with a nice 2+ LOS save vs. templates as well as a solid combat unit that can charge an enemy and stil let Toad of Toad Hall do his thing. :wink:
This config was used in my first battle, with Warts an' all sitting in his temple guard unit:
Focus of Mastery, Focussed Rumination, Becalming Cogitation, Soul of Stone, Cupped Hands, BSB with Sun Standard of Chotec
Quite a whopper of a guy. Against a magic-heavy High Elf army and equipped with Lore of Light, he managed to miscast his first spell (and attack the LVL4 Enemy Mage ala Cupped hands) and spent the rest of the game casting Phas illumination over...and over....and over again. The buffs from the lore of light allowed me to grind my way through even the elite Elven units nicely
But the issue i had was that he wasnt very flexible, he was stuck in the middle of the temple guard and couldnt get about very quickly at all.
So i decided next battle (again vs. high elves) to go for a flying frog of doom. set-up this time was
Focus of Mastery, Focussed Rumination, Becalming Cogitation, Higher State of Consciousness, Cupped hands, BSB, Arabian Carpet
ZOOM-ZOOM-froggy sat behind my solid line of saurus and i went for Lore of Life. By jove the Lore of Life goes with a Slann like cock and balls! the ridiculously low casting values for the spells meant i was able to chuck out 2-3 spells with a poor dice pool and almost the whole lore with a good pool. Dwellers below ate his mage (plus half the unit he was in) and throne of vines boosted everything brilliantly, one casting of awakening of the wood took a lion chariot apart and flesh to stone saurus held a prince on a moon dragon up for the entire game!
The arabian carpet let me position him where i needed the spells/Leadership/BSB the most, and Higher State meant the RBT had nothing to do but sprinkle my saurus with a light shower of arrows (casualties promptly regrown)
My big worry with this set-up is coming up against skaven or dwarves, with a high number of magical war machines. To combat this i think it may be best to ditch cupped hands (throne of vines does the job for me) and take the divine plaque of protection. 2+ ward save against all ranged attacks means it will take a pit of shades or purple sun to take me down
Just a quick note about Becalming Cogitation. There has been a lot of debate about just how useful this is, given that it means your enemy wont miscast. I say "so what?" to these people!! It stops your enemy getting an IF on a spell you REALLY dont want to go off (Purple sun, Pit of Shades, Final Transmutation etc.) and also means your opponent has to throw a stack of dice at any high-to-cast spell just to make sure it goes off. This means less spells coming at you, letting you use your dispel dice more effectively. Plus it really increases the chance of a lose of concentration, which could neuter your opponents mage. literally :shok:
all for 25pts?? HELL YEH :shok:
The other issue i have is the "Last Stand" rule. i was really hoping this would be FAQ'd for the lizzies but no luck. Now if broken in combat (very likely if he is caught by any sort of ranked unit) Kermie will be removed instantly! This worries me. I may give the BSB to a scar vet and c how tht goes, u really cant afford to lose your slann
so there you have it, my two starter builds for your slann. i intend to work my way through the army book and give my thoughts on each section and the best builds i have found so far, so stay tuned.
Oh and just to finish this section off: Oldbloods. em.....why bother? take the slann if you have the points. Scar Vets are choppy enough
Oh and just so you all know, my Slann is called Lord Boom-Shaqa-Laqa. You HAVE to name your slann, otherwise your spells will miscast and your testicles will shrink. you have bn warned :threaten:
