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Well, considering how well received my Slann Lore of Magic Tactica was, I thought I’d write up another for the Lizardmen. In the aforementioned tactica, I alluded to the two biggest arguments that occur between Lizardmen players- the first being which lore of magic to give your Slann, and the second being which of the two hunting packs to take- Salamanders vs Razordons.
Now, if you spend much time on the internet, you’ll find that the majority of Lizardmen players vastly prefer the Salamander to the Razordon- claiming that they are much better. Now, there is some truth to this, however, it’s a sort of twisted, illogical truth that I tend to disagree with. Salamanders are no better point for point than Razordons. They are simply two different tools for two different roles. People seem to think that Razordons are inferior to Salamanders because they attempt to use Razordons for the same role as Salamanders- which the Razordons will inevitably fail at. Ultimately, Salamanders shouldn’t be an auto-pick, but rather when choosing their list the player should really consider what role they need their pack to fulfil. We’ll start with Salamanders.
Salamanders are the more aggressive of the two hunting pack monsters. They are not terribly subtle- they run up and kill shit with fire. They make excellent horde killers, due to their flame templates, as well as being able to completely wreck heavy cavalry due to their insane armour modifier. Their ridiculous speed combined with their ability to march and shoot in 8th edition makes them potent flankers, as well as making them easy to position midfield in amongst your saurus to maximise you damage potential early on. This incredible movement also allows them to fight a very effective retreat, running up, shooting fire and then moving backwards whilst shooting as the enemy advances. People will point out that they can have a better range than Razordons, but in reality they don’t- to make the best use of their abilities they should be closer than 12” to the enemy. I have a few simple rules for using Salamanders; follow these and you should be burning your enemies all game.
Now, if you spend much time on the internet, you’ll find that the majority of Lizardmen players vastly prefer the Salamander to the Razordon- claiming that they are much better. Now, there is some truth to this, however, it’s a sort of twisted, illogical truth that I tend to disagree with. Salamanders are no better point for point than Razordons. They are simply two different tools for two different roles. People seem to think that Razordons are inferior to Salamanders because they attempt to use Razordons for the same role as Salamanders- which the Razordons will inevitably fail at. Ultimately, Salamanders shouldn’t be an auto-pick, but rather when choosing their list the player should really consider what role they need their pack to fulfil. We’ll start with Salamanders.
Salamanders are the more aggressive of the two hunting pack monsters. They are not terribly subtle- they run up and kill shit with fire. They make excellent horde killers, due to their flame templates, as well as being able to completely wreck heavy cavalry due to their insane armour modifier. Their ridiculous speed combined with their ability to march and shoot in 8th edition makes them potent flankers, as well as making them easy to position midfield in amongst your saurus to maximise you damage potential early on. This incredible movement also allows them to fight a very effective retreat, running up, shooting fire and then moving backwards whilst shooting as the enemy advances. People will point out that they can have a better range than Razordons, but in reality they don’t- to make the best use of their abilities they should be closer than 12” to the enemy. I have a few simple rules for using Salamanders; follow these and you should be burning your enemies all game.
- Avoid combat at all costs. As previously mentioned, these guys are terrible in combat. Never charge, even if a flank or rear charge presents itself. Shoot it instead. Always flee. Some will point out that there are times when this will be suicide, as the enemy will catch you. This brings me to my next point. If you get them into combat, you’re minimising you damage potential and are quite probably handing you opponent Victory Points.
- Your optimum killing range is about 5-8”. If in the enemy’s front arc, never get closer than 8”- the length of the flame template. You risk being caught when fleeing. When attacking the flank or rear, 5” is about right, and you can decrease this to 4” when attacking a unit in horde formation in the flank. Any closer and there’s a good chance you’ll overshoot, or at least do a negligible number of hits as the fat end of the template overshoots.
- If attacking the midfield, these guys should be advancing with saurus, so they can hide behind them as the saurus receive charges for them. The same really applies when hunting heavy cavalry. This essentially stems from rule one.
- Remember, the attack is only S3. Don’t bother attacking T5+.
- Don’t use these guys against High Elf Dragon Princes. I forgot about Dragon armour and learned that the hard way...
- Superior Range. They’ve got 12” range, use it.
- S4. Whilst they don’t have the lovely save modifier of Salamanders, they will wound higher toughness models.
- Super awesome sexy Stand and Shoot power. This is the main reason for their existence in your list.
- Make the most of your range- There are no to hit modifiers for long range or moving, so once they have guided your Saurus into combat, and have negated any threats to their flank, move back and maintain distance. If the enemy close enough to negate their Stand and Shoot reaction, then the poor Razordons are dead.
- Use them defensively- covered above.
- Remember that they are there to protect your other units from nasty charges and to soften enemies up- don’t worry about them dying, the charge reaction is more important. Not to mention they will devastate anything that charges them with shooting
- Like Salamanders, never charge. Shooting is more potent, and they will contribute little to a combat. One should also note that they really shouldn’t flee ever, as if they would be allowed to flee (meaning that their Stand and Shoot reaction is negated) they will likely be caught. If this is the case, then obviously it’s better to fight a combat that might result I killing a few models than to have them destroyed outright.