Editing Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen (section)

====Faction Counterplay====
A list of all the other factions in the game, along side their various strengths, weaknesses and best strategies you have to combat them.

*'''Beastmen''': Highly mobile and capable of dishing out impressive damage, the Beastmen are among the fastest armies in the game (only rivaled by the Wood Elves and Slaanesh). This can be difficult to deal with, as the only infantry you possess that can potentially keep up with them are your Skinks. Skinks...generally aren't a great pick against Beastmen. They're slower still than a significant portion of the Beastmen roster and will die quite quickly due to their lack of armor and defensive stats. Skink Skirmishers/Chameleon Skinks are a minor exception, as between their poisonous missiles and the Beastmen's lack of armor, they'll actually deal respectable damage to them. Otherwise, the stalwart Saurus (Spears) will be your best frontline unit; solid charge defenses, shields and anti-large bonuses will stop any rush in its tracks and the Beastmen's complete lack of armor means that they'll take the full brunt of their attacks. Your monsters USED to be fantastic here, but with the addition of the anti-large regenerating Ghorgon, they are a much more risky proposition. Seriously, this thing will beat the pants off of pretty much any monster you bring to the table, and its surprising mobility means that your slow-moving infantry will have a hard time tarpitting it. Shredder of Lustria builds and monster mash builds which used to be hilariously effective against the Beastie Boys are now quite dangerous to bring. Without being able to overly rely on your monsters, it's going to be up to your characters and magic to be the game-changer.

*'''Bretonnia''': The end-all, be-all cavalry faction, Bretonia has access to some of the strongest mounted soldiers in the game. Their peasantry, though feeble, isn't to be underestimated in sufficient numbers and can still do notable damage through their archers and pikemen. That said, your Skink Cohorts can easily best any peasants they (effortlessly) pin down and a unit or two of Kroxigors will ''evicerate'' any foot soldier unfortunate enough to meet them in combat. Bretonnians will also struggle to hold their lines together from the sheer amount of fear/terror your monsters can cause. However, their cavalry (particularly Grail Knights) won't falter from fear alone and are renowned for their devastating charges. Brace units of Temple Guard (or Saurus Spears, if you're cheap) to mitigate their damage and box them in before they have a chance to pull back. A light slann with the Net of Amyntok can shut down Bretonian cavalry ''hard'' and should heavily be considered as your lord for this matchup.

*'''[[Total_War_Warhammer/Tactics/Chaos_Dwarves| Chaos Dwarfs]]''':

*'''Dark Elves''': The general battle plan here can best be summarized with "Grab a bunch of ranged and 2 Solar Engines and defend them at all costs because otherwise you have no way to deal with Dark Rider Crossbow and Scourgerunner spam." Seriously, those damn Anti Large missile chariots were pretty much designed to fight you. A pure melee monster rush isn't going to work otherwise you will just get kited into oblivion. Have the solar engines shoot them from afar a see if you can get you Chameleon skins to slow them down so your Cold One riders can catch up to them. Your dino cav is better than their dino cav, take advantage of that. Mazdamundi is also great for nets to lock down cavalry and get them ready for a pounding. If you can get rid of all that mobile ranged, the infantry fight should fall in your favor in no time.

*'''Dwarfs''': Dwarfs tend to form nigh impenetrable walls of armorclad infantry and are one of the few factions capable of holding the line better than you. AP weaponry is a must, so mixing Red-Crested Skinks among your Saurus can help chew through thicker formations. Kroxigors, particularly Sacred Kroxigors, will be your best infantry can openers in this fight. Despite their innate spell resistance, your offensive magics can still work wonders against most dwarfen infantry, so a heavens skink priest or fire slann wouldn't be amiss in your army here. Beware of their Giant Slayers; though fragile, they will deal terrible damage to any armored cavalry or monsters they can get their grubby dawi mitts on. Skink Skirmishers/Chameleon Skinks can easily outpace Slayer units and whittle them down with their poisoned missiles, though they'll do absolutely nothing against any of the armored infantry. Terradon riders are virtually untouchable to their ground bound forces with a special shout-out for the Fireleech Bolas variant, but you'll absolutely need to take down any Gyrocopters contesting the skies if you want to get your money's worth. Lastly, you'll want to destroy any artillery they bring before turning your attention to the rest of their forces; Ripperdactyls can easily flank and shred such devices, though you'll need to draw away any screening units if you want them to survive the aftermath. Lastly, this is one of the few matchups where Razordons are a more attractive mid-ranged option than your Salamanders.

*'''Empire''': Karl Franz brings a relatively balanced roster to the table, with plenty of long ranged anti-armor firepower and cavalry that'll run circles around yours. With the sheer volume of AP [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder]] units and artillery, this is a faction you'll generally want to leave the Saurus at home for. Skink Cohorts with shields are for once a rather reliable pick for your frontline, with Red-Crested Skinks and/or Kroxigors diving in once you've tied down the missile units that otherwise threaten them. Additionally, your Terradon Riders can actually be quite effective in this matchup, particularly in shutting down Grenade Launcher Outriders. A Skink Priest of Heavens with Urannon's Thunderbolt and/or Comet of Cassandora is a rather cost-efficient answer to units such as the Steam Tank and Artillery Platforms, though regular Stegadons can punch holes through them if you can keep them safe. A Slann Priest with Light Magic and the Net of Amyntok coupled with a squad or two of Salamander Hunting Packs makes for an excellent cavalry deleting squad, but you'll absolutely need to shield them with your own cavalry or at the very least some shielded Saurus Spears.

*'''Grand Cathay''': Go fast and hard into cathay's lines. Cathay brings a good amount of options against single-entity units with accurate Grand Cannons and Iron Hail Gunners amongst others. The largest you should go is an Ark of Sotek or two to mass-poison damage Cathay's entire packed formation. Go full offensive with Saurus and try to briefly contest the skies to disrupt the artillery and missiles on the charge. In general it's a poor matchup as while the other 'monster race' in the Ogres is great against Cathay it's simply a matter of price. Ogres can beat Cathay with a lot cheaper units than you can bring with Kroxigors filling the same role as Ogre bulls but 2.5 times the price. Unless your units get major discounts in multiplayer for Immortal Empires it's not a good time

*'''Greenskins''': Hordes of expendable Goblins and Ork Boyz make up the rank and file of the Greenskins. Despite having a particular focus towards mobbing you in melee combat, the Greenskins have a fairly diverse roster capable of performing decently well at ranged combat or skirmishing with their relatively diverse cavalry options. As the coup-de-grace, Greenskins also have access to several monstrous units between their selection of Trolls and Arachnarok Spiders that can mulch their weight in infantry. However, there are two major weaknesses to the Greenskin roster: they typically have ''terrible'' leadership (especially their expendable Goblin and Troll units) and a majority of their roster is unarmored. Saurus units will typically stand firm on the front lines while your Skink Skirmishers will actually do some solid work while easily outpacing the sluggish Ork Boyz, but you will ''need'' to watch out for their Cavalry. Fireleech Bolas Terradons and Salamanders will have a field day against their infantry as well, especially against the fire-weak troll units who will crumble rapidly in the face of their flammability and terrible leadership. On the note of leadership; your pantheon of Jurassic beasties will have the time of their lives against the Greenskins. Their lack of charge defense, anti-large, and low leadership means that a Carnosaur or two will bowl through their ranks largely uncontested. However, keep an eye out for Black Orcs; they're one of the few armored infantry units in the Ork roster, are armor piercing and are immune to Fear/Terror. Red-Crested Skinks are a decent budget option to deal with them, though you may prefer to kite them with Razordon Hunting Packs instead.

*'''High Elves''': Lizardmen will have some trouble countering High Elf flying monsters, particularly Phoenixes. Your ranged units aren't going to get the chance to take them down in the air, so you have to rely on catching them when they drop down to attack and that can be tricky if you're running an all-dino army. At the same time, if you're using Saurus then you will take some heavy losses from archers and cavalry if you commit them all to tarpitting the Phoenix. Chameleon Skinks are an excellent pick against archer heavy builds; their lose formation coupled with their innate missile resistance will make them extremely hard to take down at range while their chameleon skin will let them dip in and out of combat with relative ease. Sisters of Averlorn are a priority target if present on the field; a Skink Priest of Beasts may be considered if only to summon Manticores to tie them down. Additionally, the Legion of Chaqua should strongly be considered as a core part of your frontline; the ability to grant multiple units around it a 44% missile resistance is too valuable to ignore.

*'''Khorne''': Don't bring Skinks to this matchup. Barring Chameleon Skinks, Skink Skirmishers if you want to be cheap, all of your Skink Infantry will do little more than feed their skulls to Khorne's throne before they get an opportunity to do anything meaningful. A pricy Saurus front line is definitely worth it here, potentially supported by Kroxigors. For once the 'Engine of the Gods' Stegadon's death-beam will actually be useful as the Stegadon itself can knock about units and the death-beam being magic and AP will counter any infantry Khorne can bring. Bring Saurus, bring magic and your anti-large Carnosaur. A very good matchup in your favor.

*'''Kislev''': Kislev is a relatively fearless foe for you, a nice change of pace for mere mortal men. Their higher tier infantry is generally able to out-trade yours, Tzar Guard (especially the Great Weapon variety) can and will gradually carve their way through regular Saurus lines while Streltsi and Ice Guard will prove quite competent at dealing with your forces at range. Fortunately, your sheer versatility means you aren't wanting for options. Even if they're a bit slower, your Cavalry will generally outclass Kislev's, barring any War Bear Riders they may have brought. Even regular Cold One Riders will make a fantastic hammer to the anvil that is your Saurus and even a losing matchup against their stronger Tzar Guard will quickly turn in your favor with a rear charge or two. Of course, aside their War Bear Riders, Kislev's monsters can't hold a candle to yours. Once you shut down some of the ranged AP Missiles, your dinos can wreak terrible havoc upon the enemy lines. Razordons are particularly effective right now, though Salamanders can be used to efficiently deal with the more monstrous enemy units. Terradons are almost always a never-pick however as since in essence every single Kislev unit has a ranged attack that is more than capable of dealing with them Terradons are free kills for even Kossars.

*'''Lizardmen''': This...should be a no brainer in concept, though countering opposing Lizardmen can be somewhat difficult to execute. Anti-large units in some shape or form are an inarguable must; Cold One Spear-Riders accompanied by Saurus Spears can surround and pin down enemy monsters in a relatively cost-effective manner. Red Crested Skinks are an ideal infantry choice due to their poison and armor piercing bonus coming into play against a majority of the Lizardmen roster. Salamander Hunting Packs and Ancient Salamanders are fantastic all-rounders that can deal terrifying damage across the entire board. Your main objective should be to focus down any Slann Mage-Priest or Skink Priests present on the field, followed by any other lord/hero keeping potential rampages in check. If there is an opposing Slann, avoid clumping up your infantry to reduce the threat of a Banishment and/or any other vortex spell devastating your frontlines. Regular Stegadons are fantastic monster snipers who should focus fire on major threats like Carnosaurs or Dread Saurians before anything else.

*'''Norsca''': These guys are pretty much Warriors of Chaos with a little bit of [[Space Wolf|wolf]] thrown in. Like the Warriors of Chaos, they have a relative lack of missile units but unlike the Warriors of Chaos, are considerably less armored as a whole. However, they more than make up for it with their mobility and plentiful sources of anti-large, which can be seriously dangerous for one of your central strategies. Saurus Warriors as such are substantially better at holding off the bulk of their front lines while Temple Guard are a fantastic answer to their Skin Wolves and Trolls. You need to be on top of your positioning however, as Skin Wolves and Ice Wolves can run circles around your plodding infantry. Skink Skirmishers are also fantastic for dealing chip damage and applying poison while staying well out of arm's reach for a majority of their forces. (Ancient) Salamanders are also a superb choice, as are Fireleech Bolas Terradons as general damage dealers. Stegadons and Carnosaurs will likely be your go-to monsters, as a pair of Carnosaurs can typically take down a War Mammoth, at least in theory. Caution should be exercised against War Mammoths in particular, as they are one of the best monster units in the game. Considering the fact that half your list is made of monsters, that's saying something. No Norscan worth his salt will allow you to freely target down the crown jewel of his army, so make sure you commit well and truly to the fight.

*'''Nurgle''': Nurgle has no anti-large, bad armour piercing, relies on outlasting his enemies, has almost no ranged firepower worth mentioning, has incredibly poor armour, is ridiculously slow, hates fire damage, and is mediocre in the air-game. Basically, everything Nurgle hates is something you have plenty of while Nurgle has precisely zero counters to your playstyle. You almost can't lose this match-up it's so one-sided.

*'''Ogre Kingdoms''': This is a fairly balanced matchup depending on what you bring. Saurus Spears are the obvious pick here and try to avoid Skink units entirely unless you want to give the Gorgers free food. Carnosaurs with their anti-large are an obvious pick here and going for a Stegadon with or without a hero on the back is great for counterplay against Leadbelchers. The scariest thing Ogres can bring are Rhinoxes or their artillery. Essentially settle in for a large-on-large slugfest.

*'''Skaven''': An iconic matchup, the Skaven are everything the Lizardmen aren't. Massive hordes of cheap, cowardly cannon fodder will fill the ranks of many Skaven lists purely to get in the way of your Jurassic might and their rickety engines of war. Aside delaying the inevitable through piles of bodies, the ratmen have precious little in the way of durable front line units and will typically fall apart when thrown in the grinder. Rather, Skaven will rely on their wide array of artillery and arcane firearms to rain warpfire upon the hapless masses (friend and foe alike). Ratling Gunners are notorious for their ability to rapidly shred infantry, cavalry and monsters alike while their jezzails excel at picking apart single entity monsters, lords and heroes from halfway across the battlefield. Any frontline infantry you have you'll want shielded. In general, Skaven are modestly quick on their feet, so you'll want a selection of cavalry or skinks to catch up to and tie down their missile infantry. Chameleon Skinks are generally a strong pick against skaven due to their missile resistance and for once can do respectable damage due to the relative lack of armor in the Skaven roster. Skink Cohorts will typically win in a straight fight against Skaven Slaves or Clanrats, though against anything more elite you'll want Saurus or Kroxigors to deal with them. Your monsters will also have virtually free reign should they manage to make it into melee, though you'll want to ensure any artillery or missile infantry are well and truly tied down before you let them loose.

*'''Slaanesh''': Much like the Dark Elves, this matchup falls considerably in their favor. Speedy infantry, cavalry and chariots ''all'' packing AP damage makes a front line of Saurus undesirable. However, unlike the Dark Elves, Slaanesh [[/d/|comes]] up short in the ranged game; your Chameleon Skinks, Skink Skirmishers and even both Terradon Riders will prove quite valuable at whittling away Slaaneshi daemons, though exquisite care will be needed for your Skink infantry; even with poison debuffs, Slaaneshi units are ''damn'' fast and will still be able to chase down and tie up your Skinks without screening support. Other options include your trademark dinosaurs; despite packing AP damage, Slaanesh is not generally kitted with a diverse Anti-Large roster and may struggle trying to hold back your high-mass monsters from tearing through their ranks. When it comes to your Terradons, take a care. Slaanesh will usually pack some Furies to help defend the skies and though Furies won't win against any of your other monsters, your Terradons aren't most other monsters.

*'''Tomb Kings''': There's not a lot a basic skeleton army can do to the Lizardmen. Unit for unit, Saurus are just better and Skinks will be more maneuverable. An all-dino army can destroy Ushabti and higher-tier units with ease, provided you've picked the right dinos (Stegadons). However, this is not a reason to be complacent - the Tomb Kings roster has some very deadly Anti-Large AP units on their roster that will make very short work of your dinos. Of particular note are the Ushabti Greatbows and Necrosphinx; the former are dedicated monster snipers and the latter is absolute murder against other single-entity monsters. Try to mob these units with your infantry or try to make them irrelevant with magic, because the high innate armor and mass these units naturally have will mean they can and will be able to move around the battlefield with impunity.

*'''Tzeentch''': The key against Tzeentch is to get into melee quick and hold their units in place; Tzeentch daemons, even with their Protoss-like shields, aren't built for combat and will either try to do all their work at range (something you ''desperately'' will not want to combat them at) or by cycle charging before you get a chance to crack their shields. This is one of the rare matchups your Cold One Riders can actually excel at; they're rather decent in combat and can engage the enemy far sooner than your standard Saurus or Skinks can (and will likely/hopefully suffer less casualties for it). Additionally, Chameleon Stalkers can safely sneak up to vulnerable flanks; open up with a rather explosive burst of their own and start chewing through Horrors before they get much opportunity to return fire. Try not to contest the skies if you can, though Ripperdactyls will likely best most of the units they'd be fighting in the skies... they'll be outnumbered substantially ''and'' move much more slowly. They'll be lit up far before they can ever catch up to anything.

*'''Vampire Coast''': In terms of punching through these undeads' lines they're even easier than their Vampire Counts brothers with very little in the way of durable infantry to hold back your Saurus killing machines. Where you will have to watch out is their ranged units - they have one of the cheapest gunlines in the game and it's even harder to break open their protectors because they're all undead and can't run. Their monsters will tarpit your dinos but rarely kill them, but without proper maneuvering you will be munching on polearm zombies all day while their undead musketeers and cannons fuck you up. Abuse magic hard and don't let them bog down your dinos, keep them constantly rolling through the zombies until you can trample over their gunners. Be very wary about Necrofex Colossi, not only can they kite your dinos but they can also put substantial hurt on them if not checked quickly.

*'''Vampire Counts''': If there's any faction in the game more stunted in the range-game, it's the Vampire Counts. Hordes upon hordes of meat-shields often form the rank and file of many undead lists while the lords and heroes do all the heavy lifting. You'll want to avoid clumping your units up or getting bogged down by the fodder, as a single Winds of Death can delete your entire frontline if you allow it. Kroxigors will make short work of any infantry the Vampire Counts send your way and Sacred Kroxigors in particular are extremely valuable against the ethereal units that might otherwise threaten your physical forces. Additionally, Skink Skirmishers will prove a frustrating thorn in your opponents side as they kite any non-cav across the field and back. Typically you'll want to focus on bringing down any characters the Vampire Counts field, as they quite literally hold the army together. Without their leadership and magic support, many of the undead will quickly crumble against the might of your superior soldiers. Fire damage is particularly useful in this regard, so Salamander Hunting Packs, Ancient Salamanders, Solar Engines and Fire Slann can quickly incinerate many of these lords and heroes (in the case of the Slann, they are also fantastic at dealing with ethereal heroes).

*'''Daemons of Chaos''': Expect to see a roster comprising mostly of Slaanesh and Tzeentch daemons. If this is the case, you're in for a rough one. If your opponent decided to focus on Khorne or Nurgle forces... well, hopefully you enjoy the borderline free win. Regardless, this can be a tricky matchup to properly plan for, so just try to take a balanced list. With a slight focus against Tzeentch/Slaanesh, of course.

*'''Warriors of Chaos''': Another faction almost devoid of ranged options, the Warriors of Chaos is almost dedicated to advancing a wall of steel and meat from one end of the map to the other. Many of their units are armored and/or shielded and as such, armor-piercing units will be your friend against them. Take a few units of Saurus (Spears) to hold their units in place while you have some Red-Crested Skinks chip away at them. Spears are strongly suggested due to the relative abundance of large/monstrous units within their roster; they might not win against them, but your spears will go down fighting much harder than your regular warriors would. Take a unit or two of Ripperdactyls to shut down any Hellcannons they might've brought to the table. Take no half-measures with them either; they're unbreakable so you ''will'' need to completely wipe them out if you don't want to be bombarded the entire match. Otherwise, some (Sacred) Kroxigors, Razordons and Stegadons are fantastic damage dealers and a Skink Priest of Heavens or a Fire Slann can delete large chunks of their infantry at a time with proper placement and timing.

*'''Wood Elves''': Wood Elves are a flighty foe and one of the hardest for your army to actually pin down. Their relatively cheap access to long-ranged anti-armor missile infantry will pose a massive pain in the ass and their basic frontline infantry, the Eternal Guard, can hold their own surprisingly well against your monsters, courtesy of their spears. In a rare twist, a front line of Skink Cohorts will prove more effective than your Saurus against Wood Elves; they're quicker still than many elven infantry options and can further hinder their combat effectiveness thanks to their poison. Chameleon Skinks will prove invaluable at harassing enemy archers and can kite a majority of their infantry with relative ease. Now when it comes to dealing with their tree units, I have one word for you. Fire. (Ancient) Salamanders can deal with Dryads, Tree Kin and Treemen with laughable ease and will prove just as effective at dealing with the rest of the Wood Elf roster, though you'll absolutely want a contingent or two of Saurus Spears to screen against Wild Riders. Wood Elves are also a rare instance of being a faction with ''less'' artillery than you (hint, they have none). Solar Engine bastilidons can heavily discourage their archers from setting up and will do bonus damage to any tree units they shoot. Lastly, many Wood Elf units are capable of vanguard deployment; keep an eye on your surroundings once the battle starts to ensure you aren't caught unawares.