Lizardmen

Sorry about the photo, just took a quick snap with my phone.  Anyway, after spending some time reading the 6th edition rumors for 40k I got fired up about running my Eldar.  Then reality set in and I realized a new codex is likely a year away.  Whether the rumors are true or not, I think it is agreed that 6th edition is likely going to change the game dramatically as Fantasy did from 7th to 8th.  Because of the change 6th will bring, I've decided to switch tracks and give Fantasy a try.

I've had my lizardmen sitting in boxes for the last couple of years and decided to give them a go.  The photo above shows my nearly assembled 1500 point list.  Going to bring it up to 2k then start playing some games.  To be honest fantasy is a bit daunting, new lists/armies/tactics to figure out.  The more I read the more impressed I am with the level of thought required to build a balanced list.  Though I should state that I'm not out to build a hard list or planning to attend tournaments.  Visual aesthetics are my primary goal with this project.  Back on track, it seems that the army you build should be reflective of whatever lore of magic you choice.  With respect to the Lizardmen, two lore's stand out: Life and Light (though I've read some lists that are tweaked for death and shadow).  The lore of life seems to be especially tailored to the lizardmen.  Spells, that heal multi-wound models, increase toughness, and a solid damage spell with dwellers makes Life a go to lore of magic for a defensive styled lizardmen list.  On the other end we have Light.  Light also provides great synergy with a Lizardmen army providing powerful buffs to the already solid saurus warriors.  Buffs include increasing movement, WS and initiative (all stats that the Lizardmen generally lack).  Light also provides nice offensive spells that make up for the Lizardmen's lack of long range shooting.

All things being equal I've decided to run with the lore of life to learn the Fantasy ropes.  Defensive in nature speaks to my play-style in general.  Plus it allows the Lizardmen to bring more monsters to the table (which can be cannon bait in the 8th edition rule set).  A big part of my thought process involved ways to include the stegadon (or two) model in my army.  Also, I figure lore of life allows for a more varied army. From what I can gather, lore of Light lists are at their strongest when there are gobs of saurus warriors on the table.  One big plus on the life side is that temple guard tend to do very well in life lists.  One thing for sure is that if I'm going to be playing lizardmen I want a Slann bunkered in a temple guard unit.  The lore of life encourages this.

So with my lore selected, and the knowledge of some key units I wanted to include, the following two lists are what I'm planning to try at 1500 points before I build up to 2k and beyond.

Lord:
Slann - General, Lore of Life, Focus of Mystery (know all spells in a lore), Cube of Darkness

Heroes:
Skink Priest - Dispel Scroll

Core:
24 Saurus Warriors - full command
(2) 10 Skink Skirmishers

Special:
20 Temple Guard - Musician, Magic Banner (Banner of Eternal Flame)
1 Stegadon

Rare:
1 Salamander

While the Slann does not have all the perks normally selected, this list is still designed to dominate the magic phase.  No cupped hands as the lore of life has thrown of vines.  At this point level the level 4 slann should be able to outplay opposing mages.  The skink is there to carry a dispel scroll and provide a debuff spell on any important assaults going on.  One big glaring omission is the lack of a BsB on the Slann.  At these low point levels though I figure I will just have to rely on cold blooded for my leadership rolls.  I went with the skink over the scar-vet in this list to provide extra insurance against the dreaded death magic spell purple something or other (fail an initiative test and die - lizards generally have 1 for initiative).

The other list I've been thinking about is as follows:


Lord:
Slann - General, Lore of Life, Focus of Mystery (know all spells in a lore), Dispel Scroll

Heroes:
Scar-Vet - Great Weapon, Light Armour, Dragon Helm, Venom of the Firefly

Core:
20 Saurus Warriors - Musician, Banner, Spears
(2) 10 Skink Skirmishers

Special:
20 Temple Guard - Musician, Magic Banner (Banner of Eternal Flame)
1 Stegadon

Rare:
1 Salamander


With this list, I don't quite have the magic dominance as the first list but I gain a hard hitting hero model.  The Scar-Vet is a great little HtH beast for the points spent.  Great Weapon strikes at strength 7 and the Venom makes his attacks magical.  The spears on the saurus may not be the best choice (but I have twenty models already with the spears in place).  You loose the 6+ ward save of sword and shield but you get to make an attack with an extra rank on a turn you did not charge.

I'm not sure on how to bring my list up to 2k.  I think I should include some chameleon skinks and another unit of saurus or ancient stegadon.  I'm leaning towards the ancient stegadon simple because I like the model.  Anyway, the 1500 point list is nearly built and I hope to get some games in.  I've got to say I'm excited to try Fantasy out.  It's an entirely different game imbued with a ton of tactics.

On the hobby side of the new army, I'm planning to keep the painting minimal and simple.  As it stands I've three colours that I wish to use to tie the army together.  Green, Purple and Grey.  Any given unit will only have two of the three colours (plus extra detail colours for eyes, teeth and weapons).  My painting strategy is simple.  Prime white, then paint the scales with a foundation colour then drybrush the scales with an extreme highlight.  Once dried, wash the whole model with the respective wash colour two times.  The models second colour then will be used for the shileds.  As it stands, the saurus I want to paint green with grey shields.  The skinks will be purple with green shields.  The temple guard I will take some extra time with and paint the bodies grey and either green or purple scales and the third colour applied to the shield.  As for the monsters, I'm thinking the basic stegadon will be painted like my saurus and the salamander painted to look like my skinks (though I may add extreme contrast with yellows and oranges).

Great thing about the lizardmen models is that they are very textured and therefore conducive to drybrushing.  My overall painting strategy is premised on the idea that while individually the models may not be that outstanding, seen as units and ultimately as an army the army will look good.  All using simple techniques.  No multi-layering shades of a colour, I'm taking the quick path to painting this army.

So that's all for now, I'll post some photo's (taken with a proper camera) as I progress along with my new project.  Have a good one.