Lizardmen Rare Options

The Lizardmen have 3 different options for the army. Ancient Stegadon, Razordons, and Salamanders. All three are ranged oriented but the Steg has the big punch of a chariot with extras. The hunting packs of Razordon and Salamanders can be fielded up to 3 per pack.

Start off with Razordons. Their ability is to shoot their spikes at the enemy from a distance of a nomial short distance. Their strength is when they are charged they get double the chances to hit by rolling twice with the artillery dice instead of the normal of one. On the downside, they use their BS to roll to hit after determining the number of shots fired. So half of the number of shots should hit but if you misfire you lose all the shots from that razordon. I have not taken them into battle in 8th ed, yet, though compared to the other units I believe this is the weakest. If there was not salamanders, I know I would still use razordons.

Ancient Stegadons are very nice still even if you dont take the Engine of the Gods. (I'll explain the Engine of the Gods later in Heroes) The duel Giant Blowpipes can blast can criple a unit of lightly armored troops. The Stegadons stubborn ability makes it a chariot on the charge and throws out its anchor. Besides its terrifying nature, extra scaly skin and extra howdah protection for the crew on top, an ancient time aged skin helps it stay alive. Cannons are the bane of Stegs just like any other monster in the warhammer world. I always say, "If the cannons are firing at your steg(or other monster) they ain't targeting anything else". Right or Wrong I still like taking a form of a steg onto the battlefield. The model is awesome, the psychological effect of them, and its a frickin dinosaur. Anybody who doesn't like a dinosaur is jealous, simply jealous.

Salamanders are the great, unless you are receiving fire from them. Being able to march and shoot, a flame template that melts metal and flesh, is an option that the razordons can not do. Though, their is no stand and shoot option unlike the razordon. One of the over powered traits of a salamander is when you wound a model the unit must take a panic test. I have had outstanding results using salamanders to the point of making the following statement. If you run more than one unit of them, you dont want to have any friends or opponents. I feel very strongly about this. Salamander are overpowered when their is more the a unit of the on the table unless you are playing over 3ooo points. Part of being overpowered is the new rules for monster and handlers. The other is the test for panic from a single wound. Also having more than one "breath" weapon use per game seems kinda unfair considering dragons and hydras only get to use their breath once per game. (salys can not use its breath in combat) Finally the point cost is too low for all of the special abilites, raise the point cost per salamander to fix them. If i played against anyone who ran two units of 3, I would give them the losest score on sportsmanship in a tournament. Everytime. Period. End of Story. Cheese. Big Ole' Stinky Moldy Cheese.

I normally run a unit of salamanders of 2 or 3 in a 2500 list. I use them as target bait for shooting and magic and also to take out knights or other high AS units. I also try to run some form of a steg. That is my opinion on the rares and I am going to try a unit of Razordons in the near future to see how they hold up in the 8th realm. Next up is the Lord choice for Lizardmen.

Lizardmen Core Choices

The Lizardmen Core choices are very very basic. Infantry and weak infantry. Saurus Warriors are arguably the best point per point infantry in the game and they are core. Sweet! unless you are facing them. The only option for Saurus is spears. Take em or leave em doesn't matter a bit, thanks to the support attacks rule. Saurus are a great core choice but have some short comings. M4 and low I1 will allow them to strike b4 ASL weapons and average mobility on the battlefield. The Strengths of a Saurus warrior greatly outways the weaknesses easily. 11 Point stock for S4 T4 A2 and 4+AS plus a HtH 6+WS these guys are anvils and hammers.

Skinks are the option for core. M6 and I4 Skirmishers and Block Units are the versatility of the skinks. With all their weapons coated in poison it is a nice feature for the fragile newts. Skirmisher Skinks have blowpipes so they can be screening or a distraction unit, not much else. I prefer to use Chameleons Skinks from the special units over the core skirmisher skinks. Ranked up skink units is a cheap and viable Horde unit for Lizardmen. With the ability to add a Kroxigor for every 8 skinks helps the T2 WS2 skinks greatly. A single Krox with increase the LD to 7 and also cause Fear to the models in BtB contact. The S6 with a Great Weapon Krox help the damage output of the unit. T4 W3 and a 4+AS fills out the stats and survivability of the Krox. I recommend a horde of 36 skinks with S and M with a single Krox. 249 points this unit has mobility, ranks, hordeability, and a throw away unit against elites, cav, and flankers. Steadfast on Ld 7 (thanks to a Krox) on 3D6 this unit has the potential to hold a unit up for 2 turns easily when it is ranked up 5x8. Lizardmen players remember that you get your 6+WS in HtH thanks to Hand weapon and shield(I forget all the time).

To sum up the Core choices for Lizardmen is very simple as said in the beginning. Saurus; standard issue tank grunts that you cant go wrong for taking to the battlefield. Skinks serve a different role and have some limited uses. Skirmishers are decent for harassing and shooting. If you are looking for a cheap point horde unit go with a skink with a krox unit. Low in points and better than average move it is a good all around unit to through at enemy elites to hold up or slim down their ranks before a flank charge. Until next time what it your favorite setup with saurus units? 30 5x6 , 25 5x5, or a nasty horde of 40 10x4? I only been running 30 5x6 and seems to be working well.

Lizardmen from 50,000 ft.

Lizardmen was the first army I started to play after our 10 year layoff of Warhammer. Back in 3rd edition there wasnt many models or players of the race, but there was high interest in the oldest race of the warhammer world. Now with 7th in the past and 8 in the present some of the units scene on the battle have changed slightly. A brief breakdown of the Lizardmen can be summed up in one sentence. No matter what army choices you take, you have a good shot at winning. PERIOD! (oh that's a exclamation point after the word period-sarcasm)

Despite the armies ultra low Initiative except for skinks, their toughness and armor saves rival the elites of other armies. One of largest race specifics from high above the Lizardmen is there Cold Blooded Leadership. The gift to roll 3D6 on any leadership test is a huge advantage comparative to any other army. To Slann or not to Slann; is not that big of a question thanks to the engine of the gods. You can have magic defense with the engine and still pack some punch in your magic phase due to the engines powers. The Lizardmen can be competitive in every phase of the game due to their range of units. From Horded skink/kroxigor unit to a pack of devastating salamanders you can strike fear into the belly of a Greater Daemon or bring a proud High Elf Prince to his knees. Over the next weeks I will be breaking down the Lizardmen into their primordial ooze as a guide to the first race of the Old Ones.