Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Seraphon

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Grand Alliance Order

Seraphon

Aztec dinosaurs riding bigger dinosaurs that shoot lasers and fuck shit up.

Lore
Tactics
General Tactics

Get on your dinosaur. We’re on a mission from God. The Seraphon are here to enact the Great Plan across all the Realms.

Why Play Seraphon

Because they are Lizardmen in AoS. Motherfucking mesoamerican dinosaur people riding motherfucking dinosaurs, what is not to love?

Want more details?, fine:

Pros

  • Since they survived so well the End of Times, they have 27 different units available; more than any other surviving miniatures without splitting into smaller subfactions (at least for Order players, since Slaves to Darkness also survived really well).
  • Having so many miniatures makes room for extreme flexibility: you can go all Saurus, all Cavalry, all Skinks, all dinostomp, with tons of leaders buffing all of them. Simply you have many options available to choose from.
  • Excellent synergy. Your heroes will buff and buff your dudes.
  • Many big heroes can generate more CP for your Dino synergies.
  • Tons of bonuses for hitting rolls. If your hit roll is worse than 3+, you are doing something wrong.
  • They have arguably the two most powerful, non-Monster keyword, wizards in the entire game: Lord Kroak is still around, being able to cast FOUR spells each hero phase while having extremely aggressive abilities, and the regular Slann is no slouch either
  • They have a strong community and a really passionate fanbase. It's fun to play a faction that has so much love behind it.
  • With the advent of the 2020 Battletome, now we come in two tasty flavours! Do you like the idea of Seraphon being quite literally Order Daemons manifested into existence via Slann memories and/or a summoning/magic centered lizard army? Go Starborne. Do you prefer the idea of Serapohn starting to colonize the Realms and starting to make their very own mini-Lustrias wherever then settle and pure dinosaurian might? Go Coalesced.
  • If you are a returning player from the by-gone days of WHFB, Coalesced will play very much like the Lizardmen of yore, which is a nice return to form if you were a fan of that lore/playstyle
  • Really easy to collect, thanks to having two really good Start Collecting! kits: One is worth a Carnosaur and gives you 12 Warriors and 8 Knights for free, the best deal in the entire GW range; and the other gifts you 12 Skinks, a Star Priest and a Terradon for buying a Bastiladon and other two Terras. All of these units go from really good to must haves in any army.

Cons

  • None. They are Aztec lizardmen riding dinosaurs. How in the actual fuck could they have a con.
  • ...buuuut... as of 2020, the faction got radically redone because of player abuse. Like, really redone. No more OP Summoning (at least you are Dracothion's Tail) and skink kiting. You have to rethink how to play them as many of the old combos have either been done away with or changed to the point the old tactics just won't work anymore. Now, this can also be a pro depending if you played against this army before.
  • Some say that your generals are the glue that keeps your army together: all of your heroes keep your units together; this is a synergy dependent army, most Seraphon units base warscrolls are fairly weak for their points cost
  • They, like their Sigmarine allies, really hate being on the receiving end of Mortal Wounds as there's little they can do about it.
  • They don't make for the best-ranged army, even considering their binocular theropod vision. Yet again, is this Age of Charge-mar.
  • While having lots of bonuses for hit rolls, Seraphon doesn't have many ways to get re-rolls or increase wound rolls. Not much of a problem, since most units already wound on 3+ roll, but still.
  • Most of the models are old, and there's some Finecrap/Failcast units too.

Rulebooks

Faction rules and abilities: Battletome Seraphon


Latest Matched play points: Seraphon - Errata July 2020

Core rules: here

Matched play rules, battleplans and expansions: General's Handbook 2022-23 Season 2, plus the battleplans from the Core Book.

Supplement all the above with any Errata and Designers' Commentary from the FAQs.

Seraphon(2020)

Allegiance Abilities

Battle Traits

If your army has a SERAPHON allegiance and chooses to take the SERAPHON allegiance abilities, it has the following rules:

  • Warriors of the Stars and the Realms: You must pick if your entire army has The Coalesced or Starborne allegiance during list building.
  • Contemplations of the Ancient One: At the end of your hero phase, 1 friendly SLANN WIZARD can swap their Celestial Domination Lore spell with another. It gives you a nice extra level of adaptability to battlefield conditions. This is literally the old rule only Slann had, but it no longer costs a spell less to cast. Fantastic.
  • Sacred Asterisms: At the start of each your hero phases, you pick a constellation to be active.
    • The Great Drake: During combat phase pick a SERAPHON hero, +1 attack to his melee weapons (including his mount, aka Carnosaur/Stegadon)
    • The Hunter's Steed: +1 run and charge for ALL friendly Seraphon.
    • The Sage's Staff: In the hero phase, pick a Seraphon Wizard, he gains +1 casting and dispelling during your turn and +1 unbinding during enemy's. This stacks with the Slann's base +1, making them awesome.

The Coalesced

Some of the Starborne, due to magical fuckery, have now become the savage flesh and blood dinos we all know and love, colonizing the Mortal Realms and making their very own mini-Lustrias wherever they land. They are territorial, with a focus on Saurus and MONSTERS and being a tough and ferocious melee army.

  • Coalesced Constellation: You may take only the Koatl's Claw or Thunder Lizard constellations.
  • Predatory Fighters: +1 attack of jaw weapons by Coalesced. ALL weapons with JAW in the name, take the time to read through which units have jaw weapons, some are surprising (Basically everything that is not a foot Skink, a flying Skink or Slaan)
  • Scaly Skin: -1 damage inflicted for each successful attack against a Coalesced unit (min 1). This works best against 2 damage attacks, halving their damage output and often neutering the units effectiveness. Hear that? Thats Ogor players crying.
  • Cold-Blooded: SERAPHON Ignore Bravery modifiers (both positive and negative). This makes hordes a little less attractive as you dont get the bonus for every 10 models, but this is helpful to keep your Saurus in line.

The Starborne

The living...ish? memories Seraphon had been before 2020. They center on spamming mages and still a mobility faction with teleport and summoning in dinosaws shenanigans.

  • Starborne Constellation: May pick the Dracothian's Tail or Fangs of Sotek keyword and ability.
  • Lords of Space and Time: Once per turn, at the end of your movement phase, you can pick one of your SERAPHON units anywhere on the battlefield to be transported through space and time. If you do so, remove the unit from the battlefield and set up again anywhere more than 9" from any enemy unit.
    • Carnos flanking for days to come and quick escapes for your heavily damaged Slann. Deep striking is kinda what AoS is all about. If you have any experience with it, you know how valuable it is.
  • Unfeeling: Starborne all have Bravery changed to 10 on Warscrolls. Given how they actually nerfed the regular Bravery to 8 on average (or even 5 for skinks), this is how we compensate
  • Celestial Conjuration There are three ways to generate Celestial Conjuration points:
  1. In your hero phase, each SLANN or ORACLE can choose to forego one of his spellcasting attempts to give you D3 Celestial Conjuration points each time.
  2. At the end of your hero phase, if your general is a SLANN or STARSEER and is still alive, you receive d3 more Celestial Conjuration point.
  3. Also at the start of your hero phase, you receive D3 more Celestial Conjuration points if you have any Astrolith Bearers alive on the table. Note that you might have several Astroliths but you'll still only get D3 points a turn.
You can spend these points at the end of your movement phase to summon stuff from the following list. The unit has to arrive wholly within 12" of a friendly SLANN, ORACLE or friendly Astrolith Bearer, and more than 9" from all enemy models.
Note that you can summon several units per turn if you've saved up enough points (you should generate ~4 per turn, +2 for each slann/oracle that gives up a spell). Also note that while the General is the main source of conjuration points, if he dies you can still spend them to bring units in near the Astrolith or a different Slann or Oracle.

Summoning table Additional reference to Lustria Online The Art of Summoning for commentary on units:

  • Excellent (exceptionally useful, you should always have it at hand)
  • Good (almost always useful, some time can be a suboptimal choice)
  • Suboptimal (can be useful, but it's situational; usually there are better choices)
  • Poor (bad unit to summon, useful only under exceptional circumstances)

Seraphon unit --- Cost

1 Dread Saurian - 50 (This will never happen)

1 Stegadon with skink chief--- 30 (Suboptimal)

1 Engine of the Gods --- 30 (Poor)

1 Stegadon --- 25 (Good)

1 Saurus Old-Blood on Carnosaur --- 25 (Good)

1 Skink oracle on Troglodon --- 25 (Suboptimal)

1 Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur --- 20 (Good)

1 Bastiladon --- 20 (Good)

20 Saurus Warriors --- 20 (Suboptimal)

3 Kroxigor --- 15 (Excellent)

1 Saurus Astrolith Banner --- 15 (Suboptimal)

1 Skink Starseer --- 15 (Suboptimal)

1 Skink Starpriest--- 15 (Suboptimal)

5 Chameleon Skinks --- 15 (Suboptimal)

1 Saurus Sunblood --- 15 (Suboptimal)

3 Ripperdactyl Riders --- 10 (Good)

1 Ripperdactyl Chief --- 10 (Poor)

1 Saurus Eternity Warden --- 10 (Good)

5 Saurus Guard --- 10 (Situational)

5 Saurus Knights --- 10 (Suboptimal)

1 Saurus Oldblood --- 10 (Suboptimal)

1 Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One --- 10 (Suboptimal)

10 Saurus Warriors --- 10 (Good)

1 Skink Priest --- 10 (Suboptimal)

3 Terradon Riders --- 10 (Good)

1 Terradon Chief --- 10 (Poor)

1 Razordon --- 10 (Excellent)

1 Salamander --- 10 (Excellent)

10 Skinks --- 6 (Good)

Constellations

Your space-dinos now have Chapter Tactics in the form of these Constellations. As per the norm, taking one of these Constellations means you have to take their Command Trait and Artefact, though you can get around the command trait as your general can be a different type of Seraphon. Starborne armies get Dracothion’s Tail or Fangs of Sotek, while Coalesced armies can choose Koatl’s Claw or Thunder Lizard.

  • Dracothion’s Tail

Poster boys and your go to choice for Slann generals and summoning shenanigans.

Trait - Appear on Command
Pseudo-deepstriking. You can set up every other unit in reserve and then deploy them at the end of your movement phase wholly within 18" of a friendly Slann. While you should never underestimate a surprise Carnosaur, the fact that it relies on where your Slann is makes standard deep strike strategies harder/riskier to pull off.
Command Trait - Ancient Knowledge (Slann only)
Know 1 extra spell for your Slann and can reroll 1 casting, dispelling, or unbundling roll for each hero phase. It’s straight fusion of two generic Slann traits.
Artefact - Godbeast Pendant
When the bearer dies, roll D6. On 1-3 he dies as normal, on 4-6 he is revived with full wounds, and all wounds allocated before are negated. Basically the same as the Skink Artefact but can be given to Slann or Saurus.
  • Fangs of Sotek

Skink spam at its finest.

Trait - First to Battle
Add 3" to friendly Skink movement for the first battle round.
Command Ability - Parting Shot
At the end of the enemy’s charge phase, choose one Skink or Chameleon Skink unit wholly within 18" of a friendly Hero (FAQ UPDATE: unit must have been charged that turn). That unit can immediately take a shooting attack. Then on a 4+, that same unit may retreat.
Command Trait - Old and Grizzled (Saurus only)
So long as your general is on the battlefield at the start of your hero phase, you gain 1 CP on a 3+. The General doesn't have to be a Saurus, but if it is it must take this trait.
Artefact - Serpent God Dagger
Choose one melee weapon. If an enemy model suffers damage from this weapon and has not been slain, you can roll a dice and insta-kill them on a 5+.
  • Koatl’s Claw

Cause we needed Saurus spam.

Trait - Savagery Incarnate
+1 to hit rolls for Saurus who charge the same turn.
Command Ability - Controlled Fury
Choose one Saurus unit within 24" of your Hero. That unit counts as having charged for the Savagery Incarnate rule.
Command Trait - Dominant Predator (Saurus only)
Any time your General uses a Command Ability on a Saurus unit, he gains back a CP on a 4+.
Artefact - Eviscerating Blade
Choose one melee weapon. Unmodified hit rolls of 6 deal 2 mortal wounds in addition to normal damage. The best weapon artefact we have access to, give this to a Scar-vet on Carnosaur or a Sunblood and watch the carnage.
  • Thunder Lizard

When you feel like playing Jurassic Park in the Mortal Realms.

Trait - Mighty Beasts of War
+2 wounds for monsters. Note: this extends their lowest bracket, not the top bracket.
Command Ability - Trove of Old One Technology
Choose either a Bastiladon or EOTG wholly within 18" of a friendly Hero. Bastiladons can fire its Solar Engine again. While the EOTG can use its Cosmic Engine again.
Command Trait - Prime Warbeast (Mounted General only)
+1 to Attacks made by the General’s Mount. General doesn't have to have a mount, but if it does it must take this trait. Best on a Carnosaur or Skink Cheif on Stegadon. The Stegadon's ranged weapon does get +1 Attack from this!
Artefact - Fusil of Conflagration
Choose an enemy within 12" during your shooting phase and roll a dice. On a 6, that unit suffers D6 mortal wounds. On a 4-5, D3 mortal wounds. 2-3, nothing happens. And on a 1, you can no longer use this Artefact for the rest of the battle. Not great, especially with the short range, even worst being forced to use this as your first artifact.

Command Traits

There are nine traits for a SERAPHON General of an army with a SERAPHON allegiance that has chosen to take the SERAPHON allegiance abilities. You can choose one of three depending on which keyword your general has: SLANN, SAURUS or SKINK. (If you roll for picking one; use a 1D3 instead of the regular 1D6 for every other faction in the game).

Slann Command Trait

All of them are pretty interesting and, while not exactly situational, all of them work better under certain circumstances. Because of Starborne's Celestial Conjuration, these are the first Command Trait you will consider.

  1. Arcane Might: Re-roll one casting and unbinding or dispelling roll each hero phase. A modest trait, and the most "generic" of the three.
  2. Vast Intellect: The general knows one more spell from Celestial Domination lore. Considering we can already switch at will, pass.
  3. Great Rememberer: as long as the general is still alive and on the field, you can throw another D6 at the start of your hero phase to get a CP on a 4+. Pretty good, considering how many CP you'll need now. Kroak gets this for free.

Saurus Command Trait

Only considerable in a Coalesced army.

  1. Disciplined Fury: Re-roll hit rolls of 1 for attacks made with the general's melee weapons.
  2. Thickly Scaled Hide: Re-roll saves of 1 for the general.
  3. Mighty War Leader: If your general is on the battlefield at the start of your hero phase, roll a d6. On a roll of 4+, you receive an extra command point. Quite possibly the one you'll want if you play a Saurus General, which will happen very rarely.

Skink Command Trait

If you can't buy a Slann general, have a Skink General. Seriously, this, combined with the Artifacts and Lore make Skink Heroes THE HEROES of your whole army.

  1. Master of Star Rituals: If the general is a WIZARD, you can add 1 to casting rolls for him. If not, you can use command ability from Skink Priest Warscroll once per battle round without spending a Command Point. Very good, especially on a Chief w/ Stegadon to self-buff.
  2. Nimble: Add +1 to the general's Move characteristics and add +1 to its save.
  3. Cunning: If the general is at 3" of an enemy HERO, on a 4 said enemy hero suffers 1 mortal wound. Unless mounted, you don't want Skinks in melee. Even mounted, it is still meh, unless its you Engine of the Gods.

Artifacts of Power

One HERO in your army (+1 per additional warscroll battalion) may take a relic from the following tables:

Slann only:

  1. Zoetic Dial After set-up is complete but before the battle begins, secretly record the number of a battle round. At the start of that battle round, reveal the information and then heal all wounds allocated to the bearer. In addition, during that battle round, you can re-roll save rolls for attacks that target the bearer. Not bad, but relies on prediction and is outclassed by another healing artefact.
  2. Light of Dracothion Once per battle, the bearer can automatically unbind a spell used by an enemy spellcaster OR automatically dispel 1 endless spell within 15". Take this only if you expect a wizard heavy opposition. Otherwise, skip it. It's not like you're short on spellcasters anyway.
  3. Prism of Amyntok Once per battle, at the start of your movement phase, you can target an enemy unit within 12". On a roll of 1, it is struck with 1 mortal wound. A roll of 2-5 inflicts d3 mortal wounds and on a roll of 6 strikes d6 mortal wounds. Great if used in conjunction with Smite Arcane Bolt to kill Heroes. One use only though...
  4. Itxi Grubs heal 1 wound at the start of the hero phase. In addition, in your hero phase, you can re-roll 1 cast/dispel for the bearer. In the enemy hero phase, re-roll 1 unbinding rolls for the bearer. Thats more like it! This doesn't specify your hero phase so you also heal on your opponents turn, plus you get the Arcane Might command trait's effect. The best Slann artefact by far, except maybe in Dracothian's Tail.
  5. Plaque of Dominion In your hero phase, pick 1 visible enemy Hero within 12" of the bearer. Until your next hero phase, that HERO fights at the end of the combat phase. In addition, if that HERO is a WIZARD, until your next hero phase, -1 to casting/dispelling and unbinding for that HERO.
  6. Throne of the Lost Gods +4" to Move and +1 Wound. If you want to make a turbo-toad, then now you can.

SAURUS only: If youre taking a lot of Saurus you are likely in Koatl's Claw, in which cast the constellation artefact beats everything here. The below choices are effectively for your 2nd Saurus hero if you take a battalion.

  1. Blade of Realities Improve rend of one of the bearer's weapons by 1 and add 1 to its damage characteristics if the target of an attack is a HERO. A classic item with amazing lore, continuing its tradition of only okay rules. Outclassed by the Rageblade from Aqshy and the Eviscerating Blade in Koatl's Claw.
  2. Sigils of the Prime Hunter Each time when the bearer fights, after all his attacks a made, roll D6. On 1 nothing happens, on 2-5 1 enemy unit within 1" suffer a mortal wound, on 6 - D3 mortal wounds. Pass.
  3. Bloodrage Pendant Add 1 to attacks of all bearers weapons, if he lost more than half of his wounds. On a carnosaur, this can counteract the damage chart in a pinch.

SKINK only:

These are probably the best artefacts in the book, and are all very hard choices if you have some skink heroes (which you should)

  1. Incandescent Rectrices When the bearer dies, roll D6. On 1-3 he dies as normal, on 4-6 he is revived with full wounds, and all wounds allocated before are negated. Suddenly, an Engine of the Gods or Stegadon Chief returns to 12/10 wounds!
  2. Cloak of Feathers Add 4" to the bearer's move characteristics and subtract 1 from hit rolls of attacks, that target him. He also can fly. Two words: FLYING DINOSAUR. Amazing on a Stegadon hero to move it up the board quickly, or on a support hero for the defense against shooting. All around amazing.
  3. Sacred Stegadon Helm Add 1 to the bearer's save characteristics and 1 to his weapons' damage, if he had charged in the same turn. Combine this with Nimble for 2+ Skink Chief on Stegadon. Only effects the chiefs weapon, not the mount attacks.

Seraphon Spell Lore

Lore of Celestial Domination

SLANN only:

  1. Celestial Apotheosis: CV5, 1 visible friendly unit wholly within 18", heals 1 wound and gets a 3" aura of -1 Bravery. If the casting roll is 10+, heal D3 wounds instead of 1. Not bad, lots of big dinos to heal.
  2. Walk Between Realms: CV6, 1 visible friendly unit wholly within 18", that unit fly until your next hero phase.
  3. Mystical Unforging: CV7, pick 1 visible enemy Hero with an artefact of power within 12". They take D3 mortal wounds and on a 5+ their artefact no longer has any effect. Ultimate Troll in Relocation Orb, and can really mess with a strategy against certain armies.
  4. Celestial Equilibrium: CV7, +1 to cast/dispel/unbind for friendly Wizards other than the caster until your next hero phase. The "other than" ruins it.
  5. Stellar Tempest: CV8, pick 1 visible enemy unit within 24" , roll a die for each model in that unit, 5+ causes 1 mortal wound. Amazing anti-horde spell, should be your first choice as it compliments Comet's Call nicely.
  6. Drain Magic: CV9, all not BOUND endless spells within 24" are dispelled. Very high casting value, often easier to dispel a single spell using the regular method, but can really give the middle finger to Skaven and Cities.

Lore of Celestial Manipulation

SKINK only:

  1. Celestial Harmony: CV5, pick a friendly unit wholly within 18", that unit ignores battleshock tests. If the casting roll is 10 or more, pick all friendly units within 18". Not bad if running skink hordes, but then you're probably Starborne and LD 10 anyway.
  2. Hand of Glory: CV5, pick a friendly unit wholly within 18" and visible to the caster. Until the next hero phase, that unit can re-roll hit rolls of 1. Best Skink spell. Two turns of All-out-attack on a low cast and saves the command points.
  3. Extend Astromatrix: CV6, pick one terrain piece wholly within 18" and visible to the caster, if it is damned, arcane, mystical or inspiring, the effects only apply to the Seraphon player's units. If it is deadly or sinister, the effects only apply to the opponents units. No duration specified!
  4. Fiery Convocation: CV7, pick one enemy unit within 18". Until your next hero phase, roll a dice at the end of each phase, on a 6+ the units suffer d3 mortal wounds. 12 Chances, means an average of 4 mortal wounds but very swingy. Note: if you double turn you only get 6 chances, while if your opponent doubles while this spell is active you get 18 phases of fire!
  5. Bind Endless: CV7, pick one endless spell within 18". Until your next hero phase, that endless spell has the BOUND keyword. Hilarious on faction unique spells, but hard to pick over HoG or Fiery Concocation
  6. Tide of Serpents: CV8, pick one enemy unit within 12". Roll a die for each model in the unit; each 5+ causes a mortal wound. Stellar Tempest with 1/2 range. still a good choice if you don't have a Slann.

Warscrolls

Heroes

Slann

  • Lord Kroak: (Slann; Unique; 320pts) Kroak is still strong despite being nerfed due to updates. Is defensively 7W, 4+ save and negates any wound suffered on 4+. He has two unique spells: Celestial Deliverance, which he can cast 3 times per turn, allows him to inflict d3 (3 on Chaos Daemons) mortal wounds on up to three enemy units within 10" on a 2+. It gets more difficult to cast each time, starting at a casting value of 7, then 8, and finally 9. Comet's Call inflicts d3 mortal wounds on d3 (d6 if you rolled 10+ when casting) units of your choice. D3 mortal wounds... on up to any six enemy units. This spell has a global range, and only a small handful of units can shrug off mortal wounds. Do you know what you do on turn 1 with this spell? Start peppering as many enemy heroes as you can with this spell, two good shots and on average that's a kill. The enemy is a Legions of Nagash player with an annoying necromancer who'll summon a bunch of reinforcements? Comet's Call. Does your enemy general have a really devastating Command Ability? Comet's Call. Kroak is basically an assassin who traded his sniper rifle for small meteors and he can be devastating from the first turn if you capitalize on this. In addition, in a game where the average number of spells a wizard can cast is one per turn, Kroak can cast four. FOUR! And can generate extra command points. NOTE: The new Command Ability is the same as the Slann's one and Implacable Foresight is a standard ability.
    • Kroaknado A popular and absolutely hilarious strategy thanks to the advent of Endless Spells. Set aside the points and put Kroak on top of a Balewind Vortex. Kroak now throws a whopping 5 spells per turn with an extra 6" to the range! Just going off of his base spells, that gives him 3 Celestial Deliverances, Comet's Call, and an Arcane Bolt each turn. But if you're playing with the Realm of Battle rules, this combo jumps from "Dick Move" to "I didn't really want friends anyways"; Throw more mortal wounds around in Aqshy and Chamon. Make Kroak into a total tank in Ghyran. Debuff your enemies something fierce in Ulgu... but for maximum fun, play against Daemons of Chaos in Hysh. Exorcising Beam+Celestial Deliverance+Comet's Call+Arcane Bolt= 1d6+9+1d3+1d3 = up to 21 Mortal Wounds! Ribbit Ribbit mothafuckas!
    • Kroaknado may be further extended by getting Astrolith Bearer near Kroak (+1 to casting rolls and +6" to spell range). Plus the arcane vassel, if a SKINK WIZARD is within 12" or a ORACLE ANYWHERE on the Battlefield; you may measure the spell range from that SKINK WIZARD. In the new battletome, Kroak has innate +1 to casting/dispell/unbinding rolls. Use Sage's Staff Sacred Asterism on him for another +1 to casting rolls. If you really want your spells to go off, take another Slann and cast Celestial Equilibrium for yet another +1 to casting rolls. Enjoy your +4 bonus to casting rolls, +12" to spell range and 5 cast attempts. With this setup, it is possible to autocast mystic shield and arcane bolt. Celestial deliverance will go off on 3+/4+/5+ natural rolls. This is what's called MAGIC.
  • Slann Starmaster:(Slann, 260pts) Oh boy, did the Old Ones buff these lovable fat frogmen. They went from "hey, they are pretty good, give 'em a chance" to "you are playing this game wrong if you don't have one". Having powerful battle traits backed up with a choice of three strong command traits, expect to see this guy everywhere until nerfed to the ground (or get new competition for the spot). Can cast and unbind 3 spells per turn, CA gives one fellow Seraphon unit wholly within 18" the ability to fly and add 1 to saves in the Shooting Phase, Now Slann's unique spell is Kroak's Comet's Call, has Masters of order (universal unbind and +1 to casting, unbinding and dispelling rolls) and Impeccable Foresight (2d6, 4+ in Slann's case). He is still able to cast spells, through SKINK WIZARDS within 12" of him and through ORACLE ANYWHERE on the battlefield, measuring the distance from them.
    • Currently, The Slann is kinda outclassed by Kroak due in large part to Kroaks 4+ Feel no Pain. To get the same level of protection for a Slann you need to spend another 100 points on 5 Guard, and then you still miss out on the extra spell and Foresight each turn, while paying 40 points more. They are good, but they are your budget Lord Kroak after all is said and done.

Saurus

  • Scar-Veteran on Cold One: (Saurus, 110pts, 10 Summon points): Leader of the Saurus Cavalry. He can get tons of attacks from the rider and mount bites and exploding hits from warpick. His Command Ability allows one Saurus unit to score 2 hits instead of 1 on the unmodified hit roll of 6. extra effective since they have at least 2 melee weapons and extra effective on Knights with their 5 attacks (7 if Coalesced).
  • Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur: (Saurus, Behemoth, 210pts, 25 Summon points): Carnosaur is the big show here! It gained several interesting abilities: its bite attacks get +1 to hit if it targets a unit with wound characteristics of 7 or less, if it kills an enemy model it can run and charge in the same turn for the remainder of the game, and it doles out -1 to Bravery to enemies within 3". Not to mention the bite attack now deals 5 damage (before being bracketed)!! Currently, the best build for the Scar-vet's weapon is the Warspear as it has the same 6 attacks as the warblade with the same 3+ to hit & wound, but gains a 2" range and +1 damage on the charge (greatblade is the weakest with half the # attacks and a 4+ to hit, but does deal a consistent 2 damage). Has the same CA as the Scar-Veteran on Cold One.
  • Saurus Sunblood: (Saurus, 130pts, 15 Summon points) Living avatars of Dracothion Sotek, the Sunblood is a dedicated combat hero that hits shit with his shield and hits even harder with his club. 7 Wounds 3+ save making him quite the tank for a hero. He's pretty good in combat as he deals a total of 7 attacks before his special ability. If he rolls a 6 to hit, that attack becomes 2 hits. And then, a 6 to wound deals 1 mortal wound in addition to any other damage. He also has Scent of Weakness Command Ability. You can pick one enemy unit within 12" of the Sunblood. He then tells his troops "fuck that unit up," which lets every Saurus unit add 1 to wound rolls against that unit until your next turn. Great for when you really need to crush a specific enemy unit fast, and your only bonus to wound rolls in the army. Horrifying with certain artefact weapons.
  • Saurus Oldblood on Foot: (Saurus, 110pts, 10 Summon points): Has FOUR different weapon options (please refer to his warscroll); his CA gives a Saurus unit +1 to hit. Take a sunblood instead if you want a foot Saurus Hero.
  • Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur: (Saurus, Behemoth, 230pts, 25 Summon points): Aside the potent Carnosaur abilities, he loses the regular weapons for a Sunbolt Gauntlet (shoots D6 times at 18", kinda regular profile, with -1 Rend and 1 damage, but get +1 To Wound if he targets CHAOS DAEMONS) and a Sunstone Spear (strong weapon, 3 attacks, 3+ to hit and wound, -1 rend and 3 damage). His Command ability is the same as Oldblood's on Foot one. More support-y version of the Scar-vet on Carnosaur.
  • Saurus Astrolith Bearer: (Saurus, Totem, 140pts, 15 Summon points) A Scar-Veteran with a totem. It allows any Seraphon wholly within 12" to ignore wounds or mortal wounds on a roll of 6 and gives +1 to casting spells and +6" to spell ranges which are all extremely desirably abilities. As if that wasn't enough, these guys can also be used as a focal point for celestial summoning. Usually, you have to summon units close to your Slann, but if you have an Astrolith bearer you can also summon units near the Astrolith bearer. So, you can use Lords of Space and Time to teleport your Astrolith wherever you want and then summon out of it, up to and including dropping Carnosaurs 9" behind juicy enemy battleline and other just as planned goodness, and all without risking your invaluable Slann. Excellent in Starborne armies, and can ramp up the tankiness of Coalesced as well.
  • Saurus Eternity Warden: (Saurus, 110pts, 10 Summon points) Saurus Guard-type hero, wields a big fuck-you-stick that is pretty good on its own, but ultimately you're taking him to bodyguard your Slann and buff nearby Saurus Guard. CA is the same as the Oldblood's but only works on Saurus Guard.

Skinks

Skink Chiefs are back!

  • Skink Starseer: (Skink; Wizard; 140pts; 15 Summon points) The new generic Tetto'eko and CP generator. After years of being just a Skink sitting on a palanquin with you no real competitive or even casual usage, he finally can do something. Mostly useful as a utility-mage, usually generating a CP each of your Herosphases. He also has a dirty spell that increases save rolls for a single friendly unit or decreases save rolls for a single enemy unit by 1. His charge ability is odd since he can't keep up with most aggressive units to stay in range, but can be a big surprise if you pull it off.
  • Skink Starpriest: (Skink; Wizard; 120pts; 15 Summon points) When Age of Sigmar was first released, Tetto'Eko was the only non-Slann wizard Seraphon had, but the Battletome gave them this second guy too. His only weapon's unremarkable, but he has two abilities: His staff, which can give any nearby Seraphon unit to deal mortal wounds on unmodified wound rolls of 6 (yes, this affects ranged weapons), and his special spell, which can reduce the hit rolls of an enemy unit by 1. Amazing buff givers to any unit that can generate a lot of hits (Knights, Skink Hordes, Ripperdactyls).
  • Skink Priest: (Skink; priest; 70pts; 10 Summon points) Allows a SKINK unit wholly within 12" to run and charge/shoot in the same turn if he rolls a 3+ first. His Command ability adds 1 to hit rolls of any attacks made by any one SKINK unit. He is instrumental in any skink-heavy army and having a movement of 8", he can keep up in any Flying lizard or Massive Dino rush build. Outstanding cheap buff piece. Pro-Tip: Instead of buying an expensive Finecrap model from GeeDubs, just use the spare Priest on foot you get from building a Stegadon instead of an EotG.
  • Terradon Chief: (Skink; 70pts; 10 Summon points) Squishy Terradon hero. Makes friendly Terradon drop rocks on 2+ instead of 4+ through Command Ability.
    • Tiktaq'to and Zwup live on!
    • Does NOT have rocks himself in the rules, unless that was an oversight on GW's part.
  • Ripperdactyl Chiefs: (Skink; 80pts; 10 Summon points) Same as above but on Ripperdactyl. Increases friendly Ripperdactyl jaw attacks by 1 with Command Ability. This ability is restricted to once per unit, but is their best support option since he can actually keep up with those units. Same price as 3 more Rippers though, and hard to get 1 model instead of 3...
  • Engine of the Gods: (Skink; Artillery; Behemoth; 260pts; 30 Summon points) Replaces everything we said about the Priest from above with a fucking Triceratops and a table: you roll a number of D6 that depends on if the Slann is near it (2 usually, a Slann within 12" allows you to throw an extra dice) and you can either damage yourself, heal all nearby Seraphon, damage a single unit or many units (this used to be two separate types of attacks, now you have to choose one, which is far more consistent), or summon 10 Saurus Warriors (this is an actual NERF. On the first iteration, it allowed you to place one unit of ANY kind, then just some of a pool of four units, now only Warriors). It's totally random, but almost all of its effects are deadly as fuck. Given how you need a Slann to make 3D6 roll, you will usually get the healing effect and a good chance of attacking. Only with a Slann nearby you get the possibility of summoning Warriors, and only rolling 3 6s you can get the double attack buff. Rolling an 18 on the table has been updated and no longer grants a second turn, instead, it gives all of your units wholly within 24" double attacks and rerolls charge rolls. Still good, but not quite as cool. Also also, these guys now gain +1 to the save rolls against one unit they are fighting that has up to 5 models. This is a welcome increase to your chances of survival against elite units, heroes or monster hunters.
  • Skink chief on Stegadon: (Skink; Behemoth; 250pts; 30 Summon points) Same as Stegadon, but also a Hero. Receives some more attacks with Warspear and a Command Ability to give one SKINK unit wholly within 24" a bonus attack for all melee weapons (use it on yourself to rip and tear).
    • In Thunder Lizard, this guy can become a literal 1-man army. Buff stacking on this character can result in the single highest damage build we have access to, even more than a similarly stacked Carnosaur! Prime Warbeast + ThunderQuake + Great Drake + using his CA on himself results in 28 melee attacks, most of which do 2 or more damage. On top of that, his bow is at 4 shots with 3 damage each, or the flamethrower gets an entire 2nd round of shooting! 20 models in range? heres 40 dice every 5+ is a mortal wound. And then charge for the whole round of attacking after that. Add a Cloak of Feathers on top so he can fly and is -1 to be hit. Move over Archaon, the Skink Chief is here!
  • Skink Oracle on Troglodon: (Skink; Oracle; Behemoth; 220pts; 25 Summon points) No longer the loser it was in WFB. This blind Spinosaurus has the ability to use both range and melee decently. Its Skink Oracle rider is now a fully-fledged WIZARD and can draw upon Slann powers, receiving the Comet's Call spell, unlimited unbind range and +1 to rolls for casts, dispels and unbind attempts! It can be hilariously fast since its ranged attack gives it a reroll charge distance. It gets a bunch of decent attacks in melee and causes enemies within 3" to subtract 1 from their bravery. On top of that, it seems that now GW uses the word "Trog" as a synonym for "regeneration", since now this mofo can heal D3 wounds per turn. It can be fun to watch these bifid-tail fellows snowballing out of control if your enemy somehow let them unchecked. Cool sculpt; jack of all trades, master of none tho, it might have used here and there, especially in starborne summoning lists. Also is Kroak's new best friend since he can cast Celestial Deliverance through it. Unfortunately, it is now the most expensive of the dinos available, due to the buffs. so it no longer makes a cheap filler piece. What you can't take away from him is being a somewhat tanky Slann range extender that won't mind being in melee.

Battleline

  • Saurus Warriors: (Battleline; Saurus; 90/320pts; Min:10; Max:40; 10 Summon points for a unit of 10, 18 for a unit of 20) Saurus Warriors are one of the best Battleline units of any faction, period. With Bravery 8 (10 if STARBORNE), 4+ Save, two melee weapon attacks, they're rock solid. Get +1 attack to their hand weapon if the unit has 15+ models, Nice (more than nice - in a Coalesced force that will give you a battleline unit at four attacks per 9 point model - 8 points if at full unit size. That's horrifying.). Only the meanest Heros and Monsters will kill them fast; in every other circumstance, you can rely on them to get shit done. Tarpitting things, holding objectives, killing hordes, or anything you want, they will do it, and do it well. Make them the anchor of your army, and you won't be disappointed.
  • Saurus Guards: (Conditional battline: Seraphon army; Saurus; 100pts; Min:5; Max:20; 10 Summon points for a unit of 5) Sadly these guys are no longer your generic Seraphon HERO guard and have been reverted to their original fluff-role, protecting the SLANN. Saurus guard units now intercept wounds or MWs aimed at any SLANN within 3" on a 2+. They hit and wound on 3+ with their halberds, make two attacks apiece with rend -1, plus bite attacks that can tack on one or two extra wounds. These guys have decent defense against instant death in a coalesced alliance but are sorely lacking otherwise. A unit of 5 has uses in granting extera wounds to a slann, but thats about it. Honestly they need SOMETHING to make them survivable again.
    • Did some play testing, these guys actually are better in stareborne detachment than coalesced. They cannot be brought back in coalesced and get situational buffs, while starborne just keeps poping more out. A battalion that isn't a super battalion for these guys would be nice though. In certain situations/games, Saurus may be a better option than these guys (see Saurus entry above).
  • Saurus Knights: (Conditional battline: Seraphon army; Saurus; 100pts; Min:5; Max:20; 10 Summon points for a unit of 5) A bunch of lizards riding lizards, each able to be armed with a bevy of tools. They are proper cavalry now, instead of elite infantry: they finally move at 8". Have Weapon choice to hit on 3s or get bonus damage on the charge. Run a Scar-Vet with a Skink Starseer to devour Peasants in a blink of an Eye.
    • These guys got quite scary. 5 of them can get up to seven attacks (5 normally, 7 in coalesced) and cost 10 points more than 10 saurus warriors, with 4 attacks less (leader gets an additional attack so 36vs40 if you have 15+ models at least). Where they pull ahead is more speed, more damage on the charge, and being more effective in smaller units. Not great on their warscroll, but probably the best buff-absorber in the book, their damage can quickly spiral out of control. Most Coalesced lists should have a core of either these or Warriors, but these aren't worth their price in Starborne.
  • Skinks: (Conditional battline: Seraphon army; Skinks; 60pts; Min:10; Max:40; 6 Summon points for a unit of 10) They get a +1 attack if the unit has 15+ models. They are stupidly fast for infantry (seriously, now they might as well be our ranged skirmish "cavalry", and not that squishy because of their shields, unlike the plenty of skirmishers of the game. Nerfed by no longer having the retreat ability. they are still a good ranged harassing and objective Holding/Stealing unit. Sadly, their Bravery got nerfed to the ground: 5. You don't have to worry if you are Starborne. You HAVE to worry if you are Coalesced.
    • The standard box comes with the pieces to build 24 Skinks and the SC! set comes with 12. Two boxes and the start collecting gives you an even 60 which is a solid number for skink focused lists. (40 + 2x10)

Other

  • Chameleon Skinks: (Skinks; 90pts; Min:5; Max:20; 10 Summon points for a unit of 5) They can teleport into and out of reserve instead of moving (except during the 4th battle round). Also, have a 3+ save in cover, and shooting attacks deal a mortal wound on a 6 to hit. Often outclassed by the point efficiency of regular skinks, especially since they lose a turn of shooting every time they teleport. A single unit can work wonders in Coalesced by giving you a way to threaten objectives quickly.
  • Terradon Riders: (Skinks; 90pts; Min:3; Max:12; 10 Summon points for a unit of 3) First flying cavalry. Once per game they drop mortal wound-causing boulders on units they passed through in Movement Phase, Sunleech Bolas make d6 attacks. Used as Flying Harassing Shooting and Objective Grabbing with its 16" of movement. NOTE: New battletome nerfed them hard but made them dirt-cheap too.
  • Ripperdactyl Riders: (Skinks; 80pts; Min:3; Max:12; 10 Summon points for a unit of 3) The other vicious flying one. New battletome cuts their damage output to roughly 1/3 of what it was, but also cuts their points cost nearly in half. They can make a lot of beak attacks, making 3 attacks that explode on 6 to hit and which once per battle rerolls hits when near an enemy near a materializing Bloat Toad. Six of these guys make for 18 (24 for Coalesced) beak attacks. If not using hero support, run multiple units of 3 to get more toads. 2 units of 3 isn't a bad mobile threat in Coalesced, and is cheap enough to throw away. Definitely not worth the time in Starborne.
  • Salamanders: (Skink; 110pts; Min:4; Max:12; 10 Summon points) Fucking hell, these guys are deadly. They make four shooting attacks now, but those shots hit and wound on 3+ and does D3 DAMAGE! A unit of these guys can really mess up an enemy monster or character. In addition, any hit rolls of 6 stop the attack sequence and deal D3 mortal wounds instead. Did I mention it has rending -2? Yeah, -2. Because fuck your enemies. Handlers are now the part of the unit and serve no purpose other than ablative wounds. In coalesced they even have the same melee profile as their shooting, so go ahead and charge to really melt a unit! Nerfed point-wise with the 2020 GHB errata.
  • Razordons: (Skink; 80pts; Min: 4; Max:12; 10 Summon points) Another ranged unit, Razordons make 2d6 attacks at 18" which gain rending -1 within 6". In addition, it can fire D6 more spikes when charged or charges, and that is still on a decent fighter. Cheaper Salamanders with longer range but worse shots and melee. Best used as a charge blocker, keep some on hand in starborne to summon right in your opponents way. Were the best unit in the old tome so many players probably have quite a few laying around.
  • Kroxigor: (140pts; Min: 3; Max:12; 15 Summon points for a unit of 3) Melee beatsticks that have 4 hammer attacks. 1 in 3 can instead take a moonhammer (4+/3+/-1/2D) gaining a number of attacks equal to all enemies within its 2" range. If their bite hits on unmodified 6, it deals a mortal wound in addition to any damage. If any Skink unit (which includes skink heroes, stegadons, bastilodons, etc) is within 3" of the Krox, they add 1 to hit rolls. Wrap them up with a Skink Cohort and let the Kroxigor hammer.

Behemoth

  • Stegadon: (Conditional Battline: Thunder Lizards army; Skink; Behemoth; 240pts; 25 Summon points) A monster triceratops that buffs skinks and aren't too shabby in combat itself. Unlike the Carnosaur, the Stegadon seems more fit for range combat with all the ranged attacks it gets. Unlike the next monster, however, it can defend itself in combat a decent amount. Either take a Giant bow (24"/3A/4+/3+/-1/3) or Sunfire Throwers. Remember those giant blowpipes? Yeah well, we replaced the darts with FIYAAAA! Basically they're now flamethrowers, and instead of making an attack, you have to throw dice for every model in the targeted unit that is in range. On 5+ it suffers a mortal wound. Against Ogres? Not so good. Against a massive horde of zombies? Fuck me, that's a lot of attacks. Also, these guys roll 1 dice per enemy unit within 1" after charging. On a 3+, it takes D3 mortal wounds. This works better than the last iteration and is also now exclusive for this Steggies, not for the EotG. And really, what's more metal than a giant war-dinosaur piloted by smaller dinosaurs with fucking flamethrowers? Nothing. Also also, this guy now gains +1 to the save rolls if against one unit they are fighting that has up to 5 models. This is a welcome increase to your chances of survival against elite units, heroes and monsters hunters.
    • Note, however, that you have to be more than 3" from enemy units unless you are in close combat. This reduces the effective range to mere 5". The lores have two spells with similar effects, which makes bow loadout a little more appealing.
  • Bastiladon: (Skink; Behemoth; 220pts; 20 Summon points) OH BOY, this dinosaur got some major tweaking. Some buffs and some nerfs. Just like the glass being half empty or half full, if it was nerfed or buffed, it depends on the eye of the beholder. Some might argue that these changes are perfectly balanced, as all things should be. A crazy tanky ankylosaur monster. It has a GIANT CRYSTAL POWERED LASER on its back or can send out snakes for mortal wounds. However, this is a ranged beast. 24" range, 9 attacks with -1 rend that do 2 damage? Now they also got 2 extra wounds by default (for a total of 10 wounds), and start WITH A FUCKING SAVE OF +1.This guys used to have a +4 FNP, but not anymore, and now they have a damage table with diminishing stats: making the saves worst by -1 each time they take 2 wounds, up to a +4 save, and both weapons will make less and less attacks the more damage the Bastie gets. Solar Engine used to make 2D6 attacks, so having a default 9 attacks is an actual buff; a stable number of attacks and not being trolled by dice suddenly wanting to make a 2 for you. The Arc of Sotek is now a "melee" weapon with 3" range, instead of the old 8" bubble. This is... something that makes it work differently.
    • Watch out for mortal wounds! With 4+ feel no pain is gone, the only mortal wound defense for this guys is mere Astrolith Bearer's aura of 6+ wound negation. Enemies can hurt it with mortal wounds, reduce its save and then finish off in close combat. Any time it suffers 5 or more wounds, you want to heal it as soon as possible. Sticking a bound Emerald Lifeswarm near it maybe not a bad idea.
    • 2+ UNRENDABLE SAVE!!!! Rememeber that rend affects the save roll, not your save characteristic and you cant reduce a die roll to less than a 1. So the 1+ save on the warscroll makes him immune to rend in his top bracket

  • Dread Saurian (Forge World) (Behemoth; 510pts; 50 Summon points): So you have more gold than an entire Starhost and want to show it? Fine, do it. This freshly updated 3-kilogram beast is now 510 points, with a STAGGERING 35 wounds and a 4+ save. At full health, it has Gargantuan Jaws (2"/3/3+/3+/-2/STRAIGHT FREAKING 6), Raking Claws (2"/6/2+/3+/-1/2) and Armoured Tail (2"/1/4+/3+/-1/D6). It also shrugs off magic on a 6+ (4+ if there's a Slann within 12") and when it charges, it does damage on a 2+, for D3 to MONSTERS and D6 to non-MONSTERS. When it goes down, each unit within 3" that isn't a MONSTER gets to roll. On a 4+, that unit takes D3 damage. It ALSO can, once a battle at the start of the battleshock phase, reduce all enemy bravery within 12" to HALF, which triggers before its always present -1 to bravery, meaning you can drop that Daemon squad from 10 Bravery to 4 for their battleshock phase.
    • Throw this bad boy into a Coalesced army and watch him go HAM. 35 wounds, taking 1 less damage from every attack? Thing's a beast in more ways than one. Did we forget to mention he’ll also get an extra attack on his Gargantuan Jaws for being Coalesced. Yeah, four jaw attacks, enjoy.
    • Ir if your feeling more Starborne on a particular day you teleport this bad boy around the board and plop him right were your opponent does not want him to be. And worth mentioning while it will be a lot of work, nothing will be more satisfying than managing to get summoning off for this Dino. Your opponent will definitely not like it.

Scenery

  • Realmshaper Engine: The obligatory setpiece exclusive to this army like the Ossiarch Bone-Tithe Nexus, this is a giant Aztec Pyramid that can garrison up to 20 wounds, and your wizard or priest can live on. During a Hero phase, you can have them select one terrain setpiece on the field. Roll a d6 for each enemy unit within 3" of the setpiece, adding +2 if this is all within 18" of the engine and subtracting 2 if the setpiece is beyond 36" of the engine; on a 4+, the unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.
    • Note that currently, this scenery piece is a mediocre one. This model is set up Before other terrain, but after objectives and can be placed anywhere more than 6" away from an objective or the table edge, meaning certain missions will be more restrictive than others. The drawback to this terrain piece is that if you aren't picking table sides your opponent could simply take the side it is on. They cannot shoot you with its power unless they are using seraphon models but they can still start with units inside of it, so a lot of players wont set it up if they lose the roll to pick sides.

Endless Spells

Worth mentioning. We didn't really get any exclusive spells/summons like the other re-released armies, but now have access to Bound Endless Spells which can only be controlled by us. The enemy will no longer send our Purple Suns back to us.

These spells are known as BOUND >Malign Portents Endless Spell Goes Here<, and cost 10 points more than the regular Endless Spells and do not get bonuses for matching realm. HOWEVER the benefits are not limited to predatory spells. Because the spells have a different name than their Malign Portents counterpart, you are allowed to take both versions in a single list. Kroaknado and Skinknado? sure. Double Chronomantic Cogs? Absolutely. Cover the board in shackles? Why not? The board is yours to control.

Edit. Can't take double of same endless spell as per faq

Battalions

These are divided into two sections, depending on whether you take your army as Starborne or Coalesced. Starborne gets starhosts, while Coalesced gets temple-hosts.

  • Starhosts:
    • Eternal Starhost: (200pts; 4030pt. min.) A big wizard (Slann, Starseer, or Oracle on Troglodon), an Eternity warden, 3 units of Saurus Guard, 2+ Sunclaw Starhosts, 1+ Firelance Starhosts, 2+ Shadowstrike Starhosts, 1+ Thunderquake Starhosts.
      • All other abilities aside, you get an extra d3 summoning points if the big wizard from this battalion is alive.
    • Sunclaw Starhost: (160pts; 540pt. min.) A Saurus Oldblood or Sunblood, and three units of Saurus Warriors.
      • All units from this battalion get an extra -1 rend on their Celestite weapons. A good choice if you are making a Saurus Starborne list for some reason.
    • Firelance Starhost: (160pts; 570pt. min.) A Scar-Veteran (cold one or carnosaur) and three units of Saurus Knights.
      • Attacks with Celestite weapons made by units from this battalion do a mortal wound on an unmodified wound roll of a 6. Would be so much better swapped with the Coalesced version for 6 inch charges after a teleport.
    • Shadowstrike Starhost:(170pts; 440pt. min.) A Skink Priest or Starpriest, 2 units of Chameleon Skinks or Skinks (in any combination) and a unit of Ripperdactyl riders or Terradon riders.
      • Allows any unit from this battalion to stay in reserve and deep strike 9" away from enemies at the end of any of your movement phases. Dracothians tail can already do this, Fangs of Sotek only.
    • Thunderquake Starhost:(130pts; 910pt. min.) An Engine of the gods or Skink Chief on Stegadon, 2 Bastiladons or Stegadons (in any combination) and a unit of kroxigors, a salamander hunting pack, or a razordon hunting pack.
      • Each unit from this battalion can heal for 1 wound in your hero phase, upped to D3 if the unit is within 18" of a friendly slann. Really make those bastilidons tanks.
  • Temple-Hosts:
    • Eternal Temple-Host: (180pts; 3970pt. min.) A big wizard (Slann, Starseer, or Oracle on Troglodon), an Eternity warden, 3 units of Saurus Guard, 2+ Sunclaw Starhosts, 1+ Firelance Starhosts, 2+ Shadowstrike Starhosts, 1+ Thunderquake Starhosts.
      • All other abilities aside, your Primeval Domain extends to the entire board provided the big wizard from this battalion is alive.
    • Sunclaw Temple-Host: (140pts; 520pt. min.) A Saurus Oldblood or Sunblood, and three units of Saurus Warriors.
      • All units from this battalion get an extra -1 rend on their Jaws weapons. Strictly worse than the Starhost version, but it does work on a Carnosaurs jaw. Take it with an Oldblood on Carno and a seperate Sunblood in Koatl's Claw to do work.
    • Firelance Temple-Host: (160pts; 570pt. min.) A Scar-Veteran (cold one or carnosaur) and three units of Saurus Knights.
      • All units from this battalion add 3 to run and charge rolls if they are within 18" of the Scar-Veteran. Would be so much better swapped with the Starborne version to synergize with their 7 attacks.
    • Shadowstrike Temple-Host:(150pts; 420pt. min.) A Skink Priest or Starpriest, 2 units of Chameleon Skinks or Skinks (in any combination) and a unit of Ripperdactyl riders or Terradon riders.
      • In your hero phase, the Priest or Starpriest from this battalion can point at an enemy unit it can see. All units in this battalion add 1 to hit rolls against that unit until your next hero phase. Not bad, 40 skinks, 5 chameleons, and 6-9 rippers makes for a solid mix of units
    • Thunderquake Temple-Host:(150pts; 930pt. min.) An Engine of the gods or Skink Chief on Stegadon, 2 Bastiladons or Stegadons (in any combination) and a unit of kroxigors, a salamander hunting pack, or a razordon hunting pack.
      • In your hero phase, you can choose to make all units from this battalion swift or savage.
        • Swift: Units from this battalion can run and still shoot and/or charge in the same turn.
        • Savage: Units from this battalion get an extra attack on each of their melee weapons.
      • Only worth it in Thunder Lizard, but can really enable some power combos with a Skink Chief and Stegadons

Army Building

Start Collecting!

Arguably the best way to start your army is to get two Start Collecting! boxes. With the advent of now having to choose from both Skinks and Saurus units, now we have some of the best ways to make an army faster and having welcome discounts for buying all the models compared as buying them on their own.

Really, that easy. 2 Saurus Warriors units, 3 Saurus Knights units and an extra Knight that can be converted to a Scar-Veteran on Cold One, and two Carnos/Trog as you want, and 4 extra Warriors that can be used as summoning fodder or conversion material. Also if you're willing to field some cheeky conversions, there's a useful post at Lustria Online that details how to really pimp this kit far beyond GW ever intended, squeezing out a solid 800+ points per box.

You could simply buy more Start Collecting! boxes, maybe another 3. This is because one box comes with 12 Warriors (because is a relatively old sprue and the regular box has 20 Warriors), so you can have 60 Warriors between the 5 boxes. You will also get another 24 Knights, but they are a pretty viable unit (unlike Oldhammer latest editions), and you will never, ever, will have extra Carnosaurs. They are just beautiful models, worth every cent.

NEW FOR THE NEW BATTLETOME: START COLLECTING! SKINKS! 12 nimble mini-lizards, with 3 flying cavalry models, who you can use as objective grabbers or dive bombers, given their high movement, a Bastie, which means you get a Bastie, and a Starpriest, which means you get a Starpriest.


The point here is to share and pillage, and steal collaborate ideas to build an army on the shape, but you should think about playing what you like the most (as always, fun is first, as long as you don't act like That Guy). Also, we'll try to suggest you easy ways to get a strong force while trying to save the most money possible, which shouldn't be that hard, since GW have been releasing bundles with decent saving on a constant basis WHAT KIND OF HERESY IS THIS?). Keep in mind that with all the different special rules, opponents may get a bit tired of hearing Seraphon ignore that (e.g. Slann wizards can dispel or unbind spells anywhere on the battlefield). Sucks to be them.


Fortunately, Seraphon has a wide array of units, and everyone is viable.

From a single Start Collecting! you get:

  • 90 points from 10 Saurus Warriors.
  • 100 points from 5 Saurus Knights.
  • 260 points from a Troglodon OR 210 from a Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur OR 230 from a Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur.
  • Total: 450 points using a Troglodon OR 400 points using a Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur OR 420 points using an Oldblood on Carnosaur.

Not counting the possible extra models you can use: 110 for a Knight converted or counting as a Scar-Vet on Cold One (damn, you could simply use the 3 extra Knights as Scar-Vets too), 110 from using the free Saurus Oldblood on foot if you built a Troglodon and 70/120 from getting creative to use your Skink Oracle as a Skink Priest or Starpriest, and you could even use Jungle Swarms from the Cold One's bits if you are allowed.

1000 pt.

Here the core tax is 1 Leader and 2 Battleline units, you can have up to 4 Leaders, 2 Artilleries and 2 Behemoths. Your minimum tax is 220 points; 2 10-units Skins and a Skink Priest or Starpriest.

Two Start Collecting! kits give you a quick and easy to get force, as well as a multi-task list, with some spared models to use in larger games.

  • 20 Saurus Warriors (Battleline).
  • 10 Saurus Knights (Battleline).
  • Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (Leader/Behemoth).
  • Saurus Oldblood on Foot (Leader).
  • Troglodon (Behemoth).

This uses exactly 1000 points. As of the new battletome, this list is 960 points and got a bit better.

This is a heavily focused melee list.

Depending on what you are facing, the Scar-Veteran and the Saurus Oldblood are good generals; excellent weapons and stats. The Saurus Oldblood is more defensive, favouring a steady approach, and the Scar-Vet is generally more offensive.

Use your Warriors in one or two blocks as you wish; you get a +1 To Hit if you have at least 15 on the same unit, but with only 20 this will probably last 1-2 turns. Bring them along your Saurus Oldblood on foot if you are using him as your general.

Use two units of Knights, using the weapons you find the most useful. They are quite slow for regular cavalry tho, at 8". Use them as flankers and alongside your Scar-Vet if he is your general.

The Troglodon is a great addition here, since its a jack of all trades. D3 ranged attack with good profile and damage (and the only ranged unit on this list), and get 3" extra if it can charge successfully and damaged with his poison, which can be quite effective since it has 7 attacks at +4 hit (with enough luck and not having taken so much damage, it can be able to deal 15 wounds on melee), it has its own roar that subtracts 1 from enemy Bravery and, most importantly, it is a wizard that can cast 1 and unbind one spell, gets a +1 to casting, unbinding and dispelling, and knows the spell comet's call in addition to one from the skink spell lore.

Not a specialist, but it gets shit done. However, never expose it to get 8 or more wounds. Its ranged attack has 18", gets worst if by 3" each time it suffers 2 or more wounds, it gets 1" for each two wounds and its bite starts at +2 to wound, reduces to +3 the next for wounds and get worst by one each time it suffers two additional wounds. (this is less of an issue now that it can heal D3 wounds a turn on a 2+, but still try to be careful with him)

It biggest flaw is that it fills lots of roles. Expect to see some heavy focus upon it.

2000 pt.

Here the core tax is 1 Leader and 3 Battleline units, you can have up to 6 Leaders, 4 Artilleries and 4 Behemoths. Your minimum tax is 260 points; 3 10-units of Skinks (60 points per 10) and one of the following leaders: Saurus Oldblood, Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One, Skink Priest (80 points) or Skink Starpriest.

Keep using 2 Start Collecting! kits, now you can deploy all the models included:

  • 20 Saurus Warriors (Battleline).
  • 15 Saurus Knights (Battleline).
  • Scar-Veteran on Cold One (Leader).
  • A Firelance Starhost (using the Cold One Scar-Veteran)
  • Saurus Oldblood/Scar-vet on Carnosaur (Leader/Behemoth).
  • Saurus Oldblood on Foot (Leader)
  • Troglodon (Behemoth).

This alone costs 1370 points. But if you can replace the Oldblood on foot or count it as, you can pick a Saurus Sunblood for 20 additional points.

Now, add:

  • A Stegadon (Behemoth).
  • A Skink Priest/Starpriest (Leader). (use the priest model from the Stegadon kit)
  • 1 Slann(Leader).

This will cost 1920 points, or 1990 if you play a Sunblood instead of the Oldblood on foot and starpriest instead of the priest.

This list features more magic and dinosaurs, which is really what Seraphon is all about.

Having 16 Cold One Knights, you can easily convert one into a Scar-Vet and make a Firelance. The Scar-Vet on Cold One is a good choice for a general because his command ability synergizes strongly with the Knights: re-rolling hits and charges is important, more considering how the Blazing Lances stacks with Blazing Cohort (yet another mortal wound), and the Cold Ones gain an additional attack. This battalion can easily snowball if left unchecked.

While lacking the Stardrake Shield, the Oldblood on Carno might be a little more killy than the Scar-Veteran by virtue of his sunbolt beams, while his spear is still as good as the regular. His command ability is strong for heroic wrecking balls.

The Oldblood on foot is a strong support for your Saurus, even without its command ability. The Sunblood is a big, bulky, scary lizard, able to soak decent amounts of damage and dealing it back. The Skink Star/Priest are reliable support options; the Priest can be a strong buff machine, while the Starpriest is a wizard that can help your units with magic, and an excellent buff to boot.

The Stegadon is a solid ranged/melee monster, and is an excellent sculpt to boot (plus the free priest), and the Slann is the traditional centerpiece of the army that no Seraphon player should be without.

As a bonus, deploying this whole army should be a sight to behold!

STEGAGEDDON

WARNING: This is a GW invention, and even they admit this is more of a meme list than anything else. So basically, yeah, we Order Beastclaw Raiders now. Just with a herd of rampaging Stegadons. This also quite a throwback to WHFB 7th edition, with the old dead meme of "replace X, add Stegas".

  1. Field a Coalesced Thunder Lizard army. This already sounds as pleasing as you guess.
  2. Because of this, Steggies are now BATTLELINE instead of BEHEMOTH, so you will need FOUR. Yes, you'll need money. Yes, you'll won't regret it. Equip them with a healthy blend of Skystreak Bows (A whooping 25" range, 3 attacks, 4+/3+/-1/D3) and Sunfire Throwers (A bubble of 8" 3+/3+/-/1). Remember, this celestial flamethrower MAKE AN ATTACK FOR EACH MODEL IN RANGE. This will deter your enemy from sending units with low wounds and plenty of models against you, will disappoint hordes immeasurably, and their day will be ruined.
  3. Get yet another Steggie and give him a Skink Chief as commander. His/it command ability lets you pick 1 SKINK unit per phase, wholly between 2" of range, and adds 1 to the attacks it can make with melee weapons. All Steggies, being crewed by Skinks, get this keyword, so you can trample all over your enemies with a little extra dinomight. Nice.
  4. Grab two Engines of the Gods. Remember the mantra of our enlightened Slann Masters: More Stegs, more fun. This will give you the needed support you lacked so far. The effects from Cosmic Engine will get tweaked, since the article says that now rolls of 4-8 heal D3 wounds to nearby units. This means that the single lazor beam or the dakka Whirpool will get modified. We only have to wait two weeks more, and the Engines will still rock, so no prob.
  5. The article here suggests you pick a Bastie with Solar Engine (but you can technically still use other Stega). This to use it in tandem with a new Command Ability: TROVE OF OLD ONE TECHNOLOGY. Per phase, a unit can use its Engines (Solar or Cosmic) once again. If Cosmic, this means it can heal D6 2D3 wounds, or get another chance to shoot cosmic dakka to your enemies. If Solar, this means you effectively will shoot 18 attacks PER SHOOTING PHASE.

1970 POINTS OF SAURIAN STOMPS! This of course means some problems: you will not cover the whole battlefield, you relly on MONSTERS that get diminishing stats as they get hurt, and you will be slow as Nurgle after a nightover. They also say that you can try tweaking the list adding a Slann and some Star Skink (priest or seers, so maybe the seers will get a buff to make them actually viable, even for a meme list), but this list is just a paleo-sight to behold, and an inversion worth every single cent. And if you have played Total Warhammer II, you already know how satisfying is to send a herd of Steggies to wipe clean a horde of pesky ratmen.

Who knows? this might be the dawn of a new Stega-Meta!


Allied Armies

Stormcast Eternals and now Sylvaneth. Fluff-wise, it makes sense: Sigmarines hate Chaos as much as we do, and Sylvaneth and us are kinda... sorta... forma... forces of nature... Coalesced and Sylvaneth share a love of foliage, a hatred of Chaos and "get off our lawn!" policies.

  • Bundo Whalebiter: A Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant mercenary available to all Order factions. Taking him uses up your entire ally points allowance and he ignores any Behemoth or Hero limitations. A big terrifying centerpiece who can kick objectives around and instantly kill models by shoving them into his net. You can choose at the start of the Combat phase for him to fight at the end of the phase, in exchange for re-rolling failed hit rolls.

External links

Age of Sigmar Tactics Articles
General Tactics
Order
Chaos
Death
Destruction
Others
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