Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/Lizardmen

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Army Special Rules

Cold-blooded: All leadership test are thrown with 3D6 and the highest value is discarded.

Amphibious: Skinks, Kroxigor and Salamanders. You count water bodies as open terrain and they grant you light cover, too. Never forget you have this, park your skirmishers in a swamp and blowdart away.

Blowdart: unique weapon, presented as a special rule. 12" range, multiple shots x2, str 3 and poisoned, you know the drill. Makes your Skinks really good at tearing through units if they don't move.

Sacred Spawnings: marks of chaos, in my lizardmen? More likely than you think! Units of Warriors and all your Saurus characters can receive 1 or 2 spawnings (3 for an Oldblood) which have a flat cost per unit and move Warriors from Core to Special or Rare, depending on whther you pick one or two spawnings. Characters need the Itzl spawning to pick a mount (basically it's a 5 points tax that also precludes 3-spawning carnosaur riding oldbloods or oldbloods) and can only join units of unmarked Warriors or Warriors who match their spawnings (so a Sotek/Chotec Scar-vet can join units of unmarked, Sotek, Chotec or Sotek/Chotec marker Warriors, but not units of Tepok, ot Sotek/Tepok marked ones).

• Tzunki: grants Amphibious, +1 Initiative. Meh. But it's cheap very cheap and makes you laugh at rivers and marshes. Also you become teal. 5 points (character) / 10 points (Unit)
• Sotek: the classic. +1 attack on the charge, which in this edition means Always Strikes First? Saurus were made for this- Skinks, not so much, though hilariously they can take it as well (don't do it). It is very expensive though, but probably worth it to make your Saurus red. 20/30 points.
• Quetzl: +1 armor save, basically giving your Warriors heavy armor and your characters Gomril. Not bad on a saurus pike wall. 15/30 points.
• Tlazcotl: immune to psychology. Not amazing with cold blooded beign a thing already, and doesn't apply to stupidity from Cold Ones either. Also makes you yellow? Probably a pass. 20/20
• Chotec: getting there. +1 dice and choose the 2 best results on pursue moves, guarantees you catch whatever is fleeing from you. Reasonably cheap, but is it better than Sotek? Orange scales pop well on blue Saurus, at least. 15/20.
• Huanchi: situational, but Wood Elves will throw models at you for making your unit go through woods and jungles as if it was open terrain. Expensive for this amount of satisfaction, though. 20/25 points
• Tepok: +1 dispel die. Ever wanted to be purple? Odds are if you have a Slann you don't need this, unless you are having a magic slapfest with a Tzeentch player. 20/30
• Itzl: character only, 5 points, get a mount. Yawn. You will need it and you will curse having to get it.
• Blessed Mark of the Old Ones: character only, 35 points. Lets you reroll D3 (roll before the battle begins) D6s but bans you from other spawnings and comes with a host of safety nets like one character ONLY per army. Skinks can get it as well though, and you can join whatever unit regardless of spawnings. Also chosen albino Saurus? I wonder where did this end up in later editions...

Slann Generations The grandad of Slann Disciplines. You pick what generation you want your Slann to be part of, pay the points tag, and get the benefit of all the lower ones as well.

• 5th: bog standard Slann. Gives the ability to mix and match from all BRB lores when generating spells.
• 4th: 40 points for ignore miscasts. A steal. You are bound to double 1 with all the spells you are going to cast and when it happens you're going to be glad you have this.
• 3th: 85 points, plus a Hero choice and granting 100 move VP if killed. Approaching a level where only 3000+ points games are going to cut it. On the other hand, the upsides are pretty sweet... +1 wound, and Drain Magic, an easy to cast spell that can absolutely shut down an enemy wizard. When you play against magic heavy armies a 9+ cast of this is going to completely ruin their gameplan, so know your enemy, as they say...
• 2th: 135 points, an additional Rare choice, AND 200 additional VP conceded if it dies. Holy shit. What you get is another wound, and a *free* power die on *each* cast, which is ridiculous. Sure it's 460 points naked, but you are paying for the best wizard in the game.

Units Analysis

Named Characters

• Venerable Lord Kroak:

In 6th edition Kroak is at the most powerful it's ever been, kicking it with Zacharias the Everliving and all the other old school costs-more-than-2-dragons lord choices. What this ludicrous mummified bundle of rules nets is the toad-father of all wizards, with 6 spells known that can be rolled from any corebook lore, plus 2 unique spells, one shared with all slanns that can shut down enemy casters hard, the other being a massive AOE that ruins units and outright destroyes buildings, and they all are cast at +2, provoke no miscast effects, and can be cast through any other Wizard in your army as if they were Kroak. Not satisfied? Try 2+ ward save, which becomes 3+ in btb; -1 to be hit; automatic str 3 panic inducing hit against anything on btb, which becomes str 5 against daemons; immunity to magic weapons; +2 to dispel; +1 power and dispel die; magic resistance 2; and all the other palanquin rules for Slanns. What's not to love? Well... At 1225 (!!!) points and occupying the slots of a Lord, Hero and Rare choice, Kroak is basically impossible to field outside of a gentlelizard duel with an opponent also rolling with some titanically oversized model. Not to mention that if you ever lose Kroak (unlikely, but still...) you forfeit 200 VPs and can't ever win the current match. Period. So yeah, there's that.

• Kroq-Gar:

Way more reasonably costed than Kroak... which is not saying much as this sexy beast is still 573 points (220 are for Grymloq). If either of them dies, the survivor gets Frenzy, which in the case of Grymloq can never be lost for the remainder of the battlefield. Speaking of Grymloq, he lacks the Blood Frenzy rule for regular Carnosaurs... but has one more Attack stock, which is basically all the upsides without downsides. As for the rider, Kroq-Gar packs the triple spawning of Quetzl (+1 armor save, bringing it to 3+ when combined with scaly skin and light armor), Itzl (for Grymloq) and Xhotl (Unique to Kroq-Gar, bestows a 5+ ward save, which is very relevant in an era prior to the ubiquitos Ward Save BRB amulets, and slaps anyone who gets through with a str 5 hit.). Keeping in with a theme of the time where special characters do silly things to your army, Kroq-gar must be your general and wants you to build a mobile army, swapping Cold One Riders and Saurus Warriors around, making the former Core and the latter Specials (incidentally this means Saurus with one spawning are Rare, and you can't have Saurus units with 2). Not the most beneficial of changes, as it precludes you from bringing both a stegadon and a unit of salamanders if you have, say, Sotek-blessed warriors, and warriors are in general a very common building block for 6th ed Lizardmen, so beware. For gear, Kroq-gar carries the Hand of Gods, which is a ranged weapon in this edition that can target every unit in Kroq-gar's frontal arc in 8" range for D6 str 4 hits, and the Spear of Tlanxla, which gives +1 str on the charge and forces units who took losses from it to test Leadership and flee on a failure before combat results are determined. This is not as relevant against high disciplined units and mostly works on chaff and low leadership tarpits, things that Kroq-gar both mulches through already and shouldn't be wasting time fighting... but hey, sometimes it's worth it to see a unit of Chaos warriors win combat, roll a 9 and flee anyway. In other words: pricey, does weird things to your FOC, and a bit unsure of what role it wants to be in, but on the other hand durable (for 6th anyway) and at least as lethal as you'd expect an oldblood on carnosaurus to be without being forced to always pursue.

Lords & Heroes

• Slann-Mage Priest:

A large magical Kermit on a flying stone chair which fries everything with magic. What is not to love? Well for one, it's 325 points vanilla, but on the other hand tricked out 6th ed Lords ARE expensive and a vanilla Slann is basically a suped up mage from any other army. Pick spells from any lore, check. Mix and match them? Check. Free +1 to cast AND dispel? You bet. Cast through the eyes of a Skink Priest? Sure. Cast from melee? No problem, not that you would ever be in melee because of the palanquin rules putting you in the second rank of any unit you join (not a big issue in 6th ed where the second rank doesn't get to attack). Tack on 6 wounds and an in-built 4++. And unit strenght 5, sure. You can also make the Slann be both General (and they will because of their LD 9) and BSB (not as bad as it sounds if you are in a Stubborn TG unit with cold-blooded) for 25 points. Add generations and magic items and this frog gets mighty expensive. Your best budget option is probably 4th generation and Tepok's Plaque for + 1 spell at a comfortable (ack) 380 points.

• Saurus Oldblood:

Slaps hard, with 5 str 5 attacks, inbuilt heavy armor, and a good selection of fairly costed magic items. Units will be munched for breakfast on the charge, especially from atop a Cold One, and you aren't paying too much for it at 145 points base; the sticking point is obviously I3 and WS6, a dire proposition against dedicated duelist characters, which is what you SHOULDN'T be fighting if you can avoid it unless you kit out for bears. Mount options include a Cold One (yes) and a Carnosaurus.

• Saurus Scar-Veteran:

Oldblood -1, in basically everything but dat amazing base 5 str and in built armor; 85 points of carnage begging to be taken on a Cold One. Can be your BSB if you are slann-less, which is not a common occurrence. Still plows through units like a farmer through a field. Honorable mention to the Jaguar Saurus of Doom, a Great Weapon-toting foot fielded Saurus with the Charm of the Jaguar Warrior giving it a 18" charge range to keep small flanking units honest and tear through light cavalry.

• Skink Chief:

Well, it's cheap? Later editions have been kind to this honcho, as your only mount here is the stegadon which will LOSE the use of the greatbow! Leadership 6 means it's also not great at leading skinks either. The chief is fast, at least, and with I5 and paired weapons it can shred through light units... but why do that when the JSOD is a thing?

• Skink Priest:

Oh no, it's limited to Heavens! The best lore in the game! Whatever shall we do? Memes aside don't leave home without one of these small douchebags in your pockets, they do it all. Scroll caddy? Check. Heaven spam? Check. LOS extenders for Slann? Check. Love the small skink with a staff for they are shaped like a friend.

Mounts

• Cold One:

Saurus heroes on mounts have never been bad, and while the Jaguar Charm was a thing in this edition, sticking a scar vet in a unit of cold one riders WILL result in very expensive, heavy armored carnage. Grants a very sizeable save bonus of +2, swings as hard as a Saurus, cause Fear, and stupidity is less of an issue with Cold Blooded.

• Carnosaurus:

Obligatory monster mount. 210 points is not that expensive as far as monsters go, but neither is the Carnosaurus the most cost effective monster. WS3 is kind of stinker when you are supposed to go after other monsters who will probably have a higher WS (ahem, dragons...) than you do to cash in your D3 damage on Large Targets; but your 4 attacks at 6 strenght, 5 toughness, 4+ armor and need to kill a model to trigger Blood Frenzy (it's like frenzy but it never ends) means you are more suited to devouring heavy cavalry. That said, you ARE cheaper than a dragon, Terror is pretty good in this edition, and you carry a very scary rider... just don't get into fights with a large block of infantry on your own.

Core Units

• Saurus Warriors:

The almighty blue lizard that could. Saurus Warriors are probably at their best in this edition, despite being at their worst point and statwise. Charging gets around their pitiful Initiative score, shields and hand weapons give +1 save (which means they are still 4+ in melee despite their scaly skin being 6+) and their 2 str 4 base attacks are very scary to deal with (3 on the charge with Sotek, mighty is he!). Because you want to charge so badly, pikes are a little less attractive than hand weapons: they cost 2 points each, you can't use them on the charge, they forfeit your save increase, and Saurus have a very funny special rule made especially to make sure rear rank Surus with pikes only get to attack once (thanks GW); however this IS 6th ed, where you can choose to not use pikes and switch to hand weapons if needed. Figure it out: pikes are better when charged, hand weapons are better on the charge. You want a block of them somewhere in your army, do well by them and they will do well for you.

• Temple Guard:

Halberd wielding Saurus with light armor on top of scaly skin, but shields come at one extra point. Halberds are pretty good on the charge as no one wants to trifle with 2 attacks at strenght 5 and WS 4. Having a Slann in the second rank makes the unit Stubborn, pretty handy to make sure a skewed round of combat doesn't cost you your BSB. Also they fulfill core tax, freeing space for Spawning Warriors. Remember they are 0-1 per Slann you field, so you can only take them with one.

• Skink Skirmishers:

6 points each, 7 if Scouts. Blowdart or javelin&shield, both poisoned. No cohorts, no second rank kroxigors, no shortbows, no poison on melee weapons. And NO scaly skin. Are they still good? Oh old ones yes. You probably won't go about nabbing swarms of them for double your whole core allowance like in later editions but you'd be a fool not to show up with multiple small units of them considered how cheap and deadly they can be. Just beware for they are very vulnerable to shooting, having no armor save at all unless armed with javelin and shield, which is probably better on your screening units because of quick to fire, unlike the blowdart which should be reserved for scouts.

• Jungle Swarm:

Ahh, not really? Sure it's leadership 10 and a swarm, so it's impossible to break, but it's kind of easy to just slaughter through and each costs as much 2 whole cold one riders. They don't even break line of sight, so screening is better done through skinks. Hard pass.

Special Units

• Saurus Cavalry:

Hits very hard on the charge, has an amazing armor save, temple guard statline, causes fear, the mount is almost as vicious as the rider, why aren't we taking 20? Oh right, 35 points and stupidity. To be fair, LD8 and coldblooded is pretty good to make sure they move when you need them, and while people like to call them slow they are just as fast as any barded cavalry (elves nonwithstanding). Don't discount the lizard riding a lizard, for while expensive they deliver devastating charges and love to escort a mounted Hero. Just beware that 5-lizard units, despite often talked about, are very dicey outside of 1500 and lower points games (where they are in fact a slaughter waiting to happen).

• Kroxigors:

Not a dead unit, but the impressive 58 points pricetag is hard to swallow. That said we are looking at 3 str 7 attacks with those great weapons of theirs, and for once the pitiful initiative of non-skink lizardmen is kind of moot with 3 wounds each protected by a 4+ and Fear. Uniquely to this edition, Kroxigors have the ability to charge through units of skinks, including chameleons (the skinks have to test and probably fail Leadership when this happens, and on a failure they don't get to move this turn) and are only considered to be charging from the front of the Skink unit for the purpose of stand and shoot, which is situational but neat and really gives a new meaning to screening units. Units of 3 can bash some heads in, but don't expect them to survive too long. Units of 6 are Very Expensive.

• Terradons:

Your flying cavalry. Later editions really buffed them: here we are looking at a combined profile with 3 WS 3 str 4 attacks, javelins, a 6+ with 2 wounds, and the ability to charge, conduct combat, and then flee voluntarily without pursue move and with an automatic rally. All things considered there are better choices to kill small isolated targets and warmachines, such as...

• Chameleon Skinks:

You can put them *anywhere*. Anywhere! No really, they can be fielded either in open, anywhere 12" from your enemy, or in cover like normal scouts but with no restriction to distance from enemy troops. That is a nice fence you got there protecting the side of your mage bunker, would be a shame if it was actually MADE UP OF CHAMELEON SKINKS! Jokes aside, they come out of the box at 15 points a pop with blowdarts only, no armor save, and all the regular rules for skinks plus their scouting shenanigans and a natural -1 to hit modifier on all ranged attacks made agains them; which sums up to an impressive -3 if you are in light cover, like, I don't know, in a pond of water with your Amphibious trait. Don't ever let them get charged though, they will just die and they are too expensive and frail to be used as screening units like skinks. You can't even put a Skink Chief in their unit to shore their combat up a little. They are expensive and frail, which is a very unfortunate combination, but fill a role that is unique to them and they do it WELL; that alone is worth consideration.

Rare Units

• Salamander:

Sweet dancing Chotec! 65 points?! Sure, they can misfire, in which case they just end up eating a few skinks (lol), but funnily enough you only need a single skink to keep the entire unit going. What you are getting is a ranged beast with 6 movement who goes through water like it's not there, with a 5+, Fear, and shoots at strenght 3 with 15" inch range an armor penetration for an Artillery Die number of hits. And their melee? It's still good, with two strenght 5 attacks from each salamander! Unit size is up to 3, which is the only drawback as you really wish you could take more of them, instead of having to stuff your entire rare allowance with units of 3. Which you will do, because these things pop units open for breakfast. Did I mention they are skirmishers, so they are at -2 to hit in the water?

• Stegadon:

The only Dinosaur Monster sized unit in the book that is not (only) a character mount (Terradons and Salamanders are not in fact dinosaurs). A relic of a time when the Aztect Dinos where more Aztec and less Dinos. No Bastiladons or Troglodons in here, not even Ancient Stegadons carriying a Stargate reference, just the humble Stegadon with no upgrades and a makeshift ballista on its wooden howdah. Is it good? Eh. It's competent at 235 points, but it really wishes it was not competing for space with Salamanders (and in fact fares much better when it's a Special unit in later books). Discipline is low, and Stubborn is wasted on it. The five skinks on top get to throw javelins, but two of them can also man the Giant Bow, the only artillery in the book, which is a Strenght 5 Ballista. At least it ignores panic and its defense is pretty decent with toughness 6, a 4+, 5 wounds and unit strenght 8, and it deals a respectable d6+1 str 5 impact hits on the charge. Not the worst choice, but stuck in a bad spot.

Magic Items

Sacred Plaques Slann only. Indestructible magic items, the book states out loud that not even Vaul's Unmaking can break them, so High Elf players can leave now.

• Cupped Hands of the Old Ones: 50 points to give the Slann's unit a 5++ against ranged attacks. Expensive and only useful against armies with strong ranged presence like Dwarves, which will try to gun down your Slann from turn 1.
• Sacred Plaque of Protection: 50 points to make the Slann 2++ against ranged attacks. Pass, too expensive when you have LOS! and a 4++.
• Plaque of Dominion : Yet another 50 points for a free power and dispel die each turn. Expensive. Consider only after grabbing a 2nd generation Slann and if you still find you need magical firepower than your thrist for magic is truly unrivaled.
• Sacred Plaque of Tepok: 15 points, +1 spell known. Yoink!

Magic Weapons

• Blade of Revered Tzunki: +1 strenght and no armor saves allowed, feels a little like a runic item from the Dwarfs' book. Getting higher strenght kind of defeats the point of disallowing armor saves when you start at strenght 5. Pass.
• Scimitar of the Sun Resplendent: Two more attacks. It's 50 points, otherwise it would be a must have. As it is, a little expensive but still strong.
• Staff of the Lost Sun: 35 points for a strenght 5 shortbow which fires 3 times a turn. Only skink chiefs realistically want this, and the stenght of a chief is being cheap, and I think you know where I am going with this.
• Blade of Realities: Back when it wasn't 100 points. 35 points to negate Ward saves and deal 2 wounds against demons. I mean... pick it against demons...?
• Dagger of Sotek: 25 points, Skinks only. Grants Killing Blow and causes Fear against Skaven. Skaven beign plagued by low leadership and a skink chief's high Initiative do give this weapon some merit. IF you are fighting skaven. Otherwise don't.
• Piranha Blade: Every wound you inflict becomes 2 after saves, for 35 points. Potentially good against monstrous infantry and characters, which tend to have 3 wounds, meaning your character has to hit one less time to get a kill. Useless against regular infantry, cavalry, and most other things, though.
• Sword of the Hornet: 25 points for Always Strikes First. While low initiative does plague Lizardmen, charging tends to fix it and lizards prefer something to make their attacks count more.
• Burning Blade of Chotec: Inflicts Fire damage and -2 to armor save, for 25 points. Trolls hate this. Not the worst actually, helps you make the most of your many attacks against high armor targets and plow through Warriors of Chaos. When your starting strenght is 5, this is basically the same as ignoring armor saves. Good and cheap!

Magic Armor

• Sacred Stegadon Helm: The mainstay of later edition started out not very attractive, being 40 points and restricted to skinks, granting +1 armor and Leadership. Yah, no.
• Shield of the Mirrored Pool: A magic shield, so it works like a mudane shield while also deflecting magic missiles back at the caster on a 4+. It's hilarious for 35 points, but situational. You don't needs protection from spells when you have a slann!
• The Maiming Shield: 30 points, +1 save, +1 attack. Elegant, simple and deadly.

Enchanted Items

• Gleaming Pendant of Chotec: An interesting item. It's one use only and 35 points to make an enemy unit Always Strike Last for a turn. Can really mess up some opponents who charged their heavy cavalry into a wall of Temple Guard only to get slaughtered before they can lift their weapons, or to keep the offensive up if you didn't break a unit on the charge. Consider it in high points game, where such trickery could win you an important fight.
• Blood Statuette of Spite: 30 points for a Bound item that can Curse an enemy character to start taking Toughness tests, losing a wound every time they fail one until they pass. Meh. Even on a frail elf wizard this has a 50% chance to do nothing. Pass.
• Cloak of Feathers: Skinks on foot only, grants Fly for 30 points. Not an item to ignore, as it means you can position a Skink priest to give your Slann a perfect visual of the field. That said you are also sending a skink priest flying solo, which doesn't tend to end well.
• Charm of the Jaguar Warrior: There we go. 20 points to make a character Movement 9". 18" charge treath on a scar-vet is nasty. Classic 6th edition mainstay or overused meme, no two ways about it. Can really mess up screeners and low armored units trying to get around your army, though. Remember that Chariots explode if they take a strenght 7 hit, which is about as much strenght as a Scar Vet with a Great Weapon has...
• Curse-charm of Tepok: Do you feel lucky, punk? 20 points, one use only to force an enemy wizard who miscasts to roll again and take the second result. Not a first choice really, and kind of useless agaisnt an enemy who did not pack a wizard General. But it's cheap I guess?
• Bane Head: Choose an enemy character when the battle begins, all wounds you deal to them are doubled. 15 points means it's cheap to take but really only pays back against something with 6 or more wounds, which is very rare to see.
• Dragonfly of Quicksilver: 15 points, +1 to Scouting roll. Pass. Even IF your opponent HHAS scouts (and if they do not, congrats on wasting 15 points), you don't really care as your scouts are either very versatile regarding where you can put them, or can literally hide anywhere. The only time this is remotely useful is to stop a Wood Elf player from scouting half their board on your ass.
• Venom of the Firefly Frog: 15 points for magic, poisoned attacks. The high volume of attacks on a Saurus hero is remarkable, so this has merit as a budget option that allows you to still pick something like a great weapon to go with it.

Arcane Items

• Rod of the Storm: A 35 points bound item with a magic missile in it. Skip, you have all the magical firepower you need.
• Cube of Darkness: Might be the single most classic and ubiquitous item in this list. The priciest it has ever been at 40 points, but well worth it: not only it's an instant dispel scroll that kills every Remain in Play spell with no rolls required, but on a roll of a D6 it also ends the magic phase. Period. Stop. CEASE. Pick it if you can, always.
• Diadem of Power: 35 points is just a tad overpriced, something that GW realized in later editions. You get to keep 2 Power of >Dispel dice for your next phase if you don't use them, which rarely happens as you will be slinging spells non stop with your Slann.

Talismans

• Amulet of Itzl: 40 points for a ward save of 2+ (neat!) agaisnt your first wound (oh...). Skip.
• Aura of Quetzl: 30 points for a 4+ Ward save (alright) agaisnt Strenght 5 or higher attacks (getting there). Neat, but...
• Glyph Necklace: 30 points for a 5+ Ward save. This is the one you want on your Oldblood.

Magic Banners

• Totem of Prophecy: Unit causes Fear. Alright, neat sure, Fear is decent in 6th ed- what? 75 points? Nope.
• Sun Standard of Chotec: Missile attacks are made at -1 to hit. 40 points are reasonable and it will stop most ranged units to even attempt it, but it doesn't work against, say, cannons. Choose wisely whether this is better than the Cupped Hands. against Dwarves and the Empire, definitely no, against Elves, heck yes. The big upside is that it can be given to a Temple Guard or Cold One Rider standard bearer, freeing points for your Slann.
• Blessed Totem of Huanchi: Once per battle, move D6" forward in the magic phase. A little iffy for 40 points. Leave.
• Jaguar Standard: 25 points to Pursue 3d6". Basically Chotec's Spawning for Temple guards. Not bad.