Well, the deadline for lists for the Midlands GT I discussed in my last post has come and gone, and I have sumbitted a list for what may well be my last tournament games of 8th Edition. I'll give my views on Age of Sigmar another time, once I have had a chance to read the rules and digest what sort of game it is. For now though, some thoughts about the list I will be taking and how it evolved.
CHOICE
Last time, I was having difficulty choosing between three different lists. I asked for some feedback, and a lot of people seemed to favour the VC and Ogre lists, but the most telling bit of advice was to take what I remembered most from 8th Edition. Of all three, the army that I feel will lose the most (in terms of playstyle) from the change to Age of Sigmar will be the Lizardmen, so I decided on taking them for one last spin.
Bastiladons, ho!
For those that don't know, I have also been into hospital since my last blog post to have a tumour removed from my ear. I am now starting the process of recovery, but it has meant that there has been no time for gaming between then and now. So, in order to improve my list, I turned to Twitter and to Theory.
Mark 2
The first thing Twitter suggested (alright, it was @ukrocky90 so doesn't really count!) was that Temple Guard are boring and I should take lots of dinosaurs. now I've never played the Monster Mash list to it's fullest extent, and I don't have a Carnosaur so couldn't really do it properly. However, I thought I would have a go at writing a list that fit that theme.
Saurus Oldblood: Talisman Of Preservation; Other Tricksters Shard; great weapon; light armour; Cold One 245
Saurus Oldblood: Piranha Blade; Charmed Shield; Potion Of Strength; Dawnstone; Cold One 270
Saurus Oldblood: Arabyan Carpet; Enchanted Shield; Dragonbane Gem; Sword Of Might; light armour 229
Tetto'eko 185
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield 70
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield 70
20 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer 130
20 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer 130
24 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer; 3 Kroxigor 300
Stegadon: Sharpened Horns 235
Stegadon: Sharpened Horns 235
Bastilodon 150
Bastilodon 150
2,399 points
4 dinosaurs, 2 Cold One Oldbloods and an Oldblood on a Carpet, and some Skinks in the Core to do the missions. Seemed like a list that could pack a punch, be a lot of fun in some games, but get shot or out-manouvered too easily to be really competitive.
This idea was quickly abandoned in favour of the Temple Guard. I really feel that the Comp in place for Midlands pushes Lizards towards this style of list, and if there are not a clear majority of Temple Guard lists once they are published I will eat my proverbial hat. Therefore, I went back to the Mk1 list and started making adjustments.
Mark 3
The original list had a couple of areas where it could be improved. The obvious thing to change were the Ripperdactyls - I've not had a lot of practice with them and 160 point of 4+ armour is quite a lot when they do nothing for me in terms of the missions. So, if I was going to drop something it would be them.
What to replace them with though? Well, the comp line that really affects Lizards (aside from the shot cap) is the one about Mounted Saurus, Tetto and a Dispel Scroll. So it would make sense to try and get another of these in, as I only have two in the original list. I know a Scar-Vet on a Cold One comes to around 150 points, so that would be a simple change. However, with the Arcane Vassal rule a Skink Priest is such a valuable commodity that one of these carrying a scroll would be a better investment.
Slann Mage-Priest: Channelling Staff; Harmonic Convergence; Ironcurse Icon; Lore of Life; Battle Standard 375
Saurus Oldblood: Dragonhelm; Other Tricksters Shard; Talisman Of Endurance; great weapon; Cold One 231
Saurus Oldblood: Enchanted Shield; Dawnstone; Piranha Blade; Potion Of Strength; light armour 249
Tetto'eko 185
Skink Priest: Lore of Heavens 65
24 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer; 3 Kroxigor 300
20 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer 130
20 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer 130
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield 70
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield 70
28 Temple Guard: Revered Guardian; Musician; Standard Bearer 422
5 Chameleon Skinks 65
3 Terradon Riders: Flaming Bolas 108
2,400 points
Dropping a single Temple Guard in addition to the Rippers gave me enough points to add in a Priest and a unit of Terradons. I'm not particularly good with these flyers either, but at least their sacrificial role is one that comes cheaper, and the Drop Rocks is rather useful in an age of small Elven cavalry units. I also gave them flaming shooting, just in case a large unit of Trolls made an appearance - Lizards struggle to find Flaming aside from using a banner slot.
The biggest change was a decision to go for Life on the Slann rather than Death. Death is an obvious Lore, and has some cracking spells in it, but for me it never does as well as it should. Purple Sun from the middle of an I2 unit is a Bad Idea(tm) and the Snipe Spells I can never get to work as they should. Dwellers though is always feared, and the idea of T8 Temple Guard is just funny! Plus, as I had Tetto I didn't need to rely on the Slann for his magic as much as in other lists.
However, I couldn't find the points for the Scroll, so the addition of Drop Rocks and some flaming shooting was not really worth it. On to the next evolution!
Mark 4
Now we started to get somewhere. The Terradons went, and in came a Bastilodon. I love these guys, they are the best thing to be added to the book in this edition, both in terms of models and rules. When running a single combat block, being able to boost their Initiative is massive, plus the addition of the laser beam will help against Elves and other chaff heavy armies. I also added the Scroll to the Priest - if that was the point of having him then he should get it, right?! I even managed to get the Ward save on the Oldblood up to a much more cannon-resiliant 4+ and return the Temple Guard to 29 strong.
Slann Mage-Priest: Channelling Staff; Harmonic Convergence; Ironcurse Icon; Lore of Life; Battle Standard 375
Saurus Oldblood: Dragonhelm; Other Tricksters Shard; Talisman Of Preservation; great weapon; Cold One 246
Saurus Oldblood: Enchanted Shield; Dawnstone; Piranha Blade; Potion Of Strength; light armour 249
Tetto'eko 185
Skink Priest: Dispel Scroll 90
24 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer; 1 Kroxigor 200
20 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer 130
20 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer 130
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield 70
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield 70
29 Temple Guard: Revered Guardian; Musician; Standard Bearer 436
5 Chameleon Skinks 65
Bastilodon: Solar Engine 150
2,396 points
Again, not a huge amount of change but we can see the style of the list. The problem here was that the extra points were found from the Skink/Krox unit in the Core section, leaving me with just the Temple Guard as a combat threat. Not necessarily a problem, that Skink unit has the potential to take down some smaller stuff even with only 1 Kroxigor. However, the balance of the list just didn't look right. So I tried to find the points elsewhere to get those two Kroxigor back.
Mark 5
Now we had a plan, it was simply a case of playing a bit to get those extra points needed to keep everything I wanted. At the end of the day, it seemed the obvious place was to lose a unit of Skirmishers. Not an ideal solution, as 2 units with Javalins are a really good nuisance team. But unfortunately I just couldn't see another place to get the points from. I also sacrificed the 4+ Ward on the Oldblood back to a 5+ Ward, and the Temple Guard went back down to 28.
Now a few people might see blowpipes on the skirmishers and laugh, but I've found a unit of these are not too bad. I've certainly found a few uses for them, and the very few times I've only had a single unit of skirmishers I've felt more comfortable when they've had blowpipes. Most of the time though they will end up being sacrificed for something, so whilst javalins and shields are a good defence they don't help when you're run down!!!
Here's my final list then:
Slann Mage-Priest: Channelling Staff; Harmonic Convergence; Ironcurse Icon; Lore of Life; Battle Standard 375
Saurus Oldblood: Dragonhelm; Other Tricksters Shard; Talisman Of Endurance; great weapon; Cold One 231
Saurus Oldblood: Enchanted Shield; Dawnstone; Piranha Blade; Potion Of Strength; light armour 249
Tetto'eko 185
Skink Priest: Dispel Scroll; Lore of Heavens 90
24 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer; 3 Kroxigor 300
20 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer 130
20 Skinks: Skink Brave; Musician; Standard Bearer 130
10 Skink Skirmishers: Blowpipes 70
28 Temple Guard: Revered Guardian; Musician; Standard Bearer 422
5 Chameleon Skinks 65
Bastilodon: Solar Engine 150
2,397 points
After 5 iterations, I'm fairly happy with it. It should be able to do all of the Secret Missions. It has a pretty powerful combat unit with a character who can take on almost anyone. It has a variety of magic, not reliant on a single spell. It has maxed out the shot cap. It can push forward quickly, and it can hold back. Above all, it should be fun to play with!
If you have any suggestions, or want to discuss how you build your lists, please feel free to get in touch - either below or through Twitter, or via any other means. If I do manage to get any practice in with this list I'll try and document it, and I will certainly be back after the event to let you know how my first Midlands GT went.
TTFN!
