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Malus Darkblade

2022-05-15T08:03:01Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Total War */

[[File:Malus.jpg|350px|thumbnail|right|He may have been an asshat, but what an awesome asshat. ''Also pictured: the only living creature he genuinely and unconditionally loves (and loves him back, d'aww.)'']]
{{topquote|Through hate, all things are possible.|Malus Darkblade}}
{{Topquote|If nothing else, Malus Darkblade, you can be counted upon to react to adversity with as much violence as possible.|Tz'arkan, Drinker of Souls, Greater Daemon of <s>Tzeentch</s>Slaanesh}}
{{topquote|An encouraged person will eventually get his drive from encouragement; he becomes more dependent. A person that never really receives encouragement learns to move out of spite; he becomes more independent.|Criss Jami}}

'''Malus Darkblade''' "GW's NOT [[Elric]]"
is a right hard tough bastard who simply won't die. Putting other fantasy characters to shame, while he may be selfish, arrogant, wicked, and basically everything you would expect from a [[Dark Elf]], he is actually portrayed somewhat believably as well in the five novels written of him by Dan 'All hail the great one' Abnett and Mike Lee. He showed moments of comradery and faith towards his companions, and constantly shows, and is even described as having, genuine "affection" for his [[Awesome|giant fuckoff murderlizard]], which he names "Spite," in reflection of one of his most important moral values. Despite generally being what we'd consider a nasty little sociopath, Malus isn't [[Always Chaotic Evil|one-dimensional]] [[Stupid Evil|morally]], he has a surprising level of complexity in his character. He definitely values getting ahead and looking out for number one in all situations, but still has something that, while not exactly honour, might pass for it in the context of druchii society.

''Darkblade'', incidentally, in the books at least, isn't his given or familial name (the Druchii don't have surnames), but rather it's an epithet, and a derogatory one at that, for bastard children implying that he is a faulty creation.

[[File:Spite is beast beast.png|500px|thumbnail|left|Spite is best beast...]]

His [[Nauglir|Cold One]] (''nauglir''), Spite, is unusually intelligent for his breed, a necessary trait to survive as Spite was the runt of his clutch and fully grown is small by Cold One standards in the books (though "small" for them equals 16 feet from snout to tail tip), and seems to be the one living thing that has unconditional affection for Malus. Generally, the druchii have to coat themselves in nauglir venom (which has unfortunate long-term effects of killing the sense of smell, taste and touch - there is treatment to reverse this but its expensive even for the nobles) in order for their mounts not to NOM them, but Spite eventually stopped wanting to NOM Malus even though Malus smelt of [[daemon]]. Malus only had to [[Meme|boop him on the snoot]] once, and maybe actually felt bad about it, despite being the nasty little sociopath he is. The relationship between the two is positively [[Noblebright|noblebright]] in comparison to just about everything else that goes down in the series.

He is one of the most popular Warhammer Fantasy characters because he has that rarest of qualities; actual character. His refusal to give up and his hard as nails approach at slaying the fuck out of anything that gets in his way has made many fanboys hold a torch for him.

If he wasn't a pansy elf and a dark one at that, he and [[Gotrek & Felix|Gotrek]] would be firm drinking buddies.

==The Comics==

[[File:Darkblade comic cover.png|350px|thumbnail|left]]
{{Topquote|Shut UP, daemon.|Malus Darkblade, all the friggin' time (a running joke in the comics, referenced often in the books, too.)}}

Malus comes from a series of comic stories (also written by Abnett) from the days when GW actually cared about making a good story without making it serve a purpose like releasing new models. Malus is the son of a Dark Elf noble, and his soul is stolen by the daemon Tz'arkan when Malus was questing for treasure (Tz'arkan describes himself as a servant of Tzeentch in the comic but of Slaanesh in the books, sort of; he doesn't typically act particularly Slaaneshi, except when in the presence of a Slaaneshi cult (though he does pay homage when seeing an idol of Slaanesh), but he seems pretty driven by nyehehe JUST AS PLANNED rather than lust and excess, so draw your conclusions—really, why this changed is anyone's guess and doesn't seem to make much sense other than to fit Tza'arkan into a plot which involves a secret and forbidden cult of Slaanesh trying to subvert druchii society), Malus had to find five artifacts in order to free the daemon and himself, only for the daemon to steal his soul when it was freed.

==The Books==

{{Topquote|If you see the [[Khaine|Lord of Murder]] before I do, tell him I'm coming. [[Awesome|Tell him that when I get there I'm going to kick his brass teeth straight down his throat]].|Malus Darkblade}}

A series of books were written which greatly expanded upon the story and characters. Malus is still a Dark Elf noble's son, but rather than being the favorite he's the hated bastard in a family with more incest than ''[[Game of Thrones]]''. He has five older half-siblings and they have the same father - a Dark Elf noble second in command of Hag Graef named Lurhan - while the half-siblings share the same mother. The half-siblings are;

* Bruglir (male, the first child, a renowned Corsair, in an incestuous relationship with his younger sister Yasmir, won't let anyone else have her if he's nearby and considers Urial not worth killing despite Yasmir's repeated requests.)
* Isilvar (male, the second child, a skilled merchant, slaver, hierophant of a secret and very much forbidden Slaaneshi cult, who is in a incestuous triad with his younger sister Nagaira along with Malus. This is apparently nothing to write home about in their world.)
* Yasmir (female, the third child, most beautiful woman in Hag Graef, alpha bitch extraordinaire, in an incestuous relationship with her older brother Bruglir though she really sluts it up when Bruglir's away on raids or at war...which is apparently, by Druchii standards, completely acceptable.)
* Nagaira (female, the fourth child, a Dark Elf Sorceress, pretty thicc which makes her fat by Dark Elf standards, secret Slaanesh worshiper and in an incestuous relationship with Malus and Isilvar)
* Urial (male, the fifth child, born deformed and his mother died giving birth to him so Urial was sacrificed to Khaine but a miracle ensured he survived, became a priest of Khaine since he was too handicapped to be an assassin, has incestuous lust for Yasmir but she despises him.)

Malus' mother is a Sorceress named Eldire who is trying to carry out a prophecy with him and made a deal with Lurhan to have Malus (she secretly killed Lurhan's first wife with slow-acting poison while she was pregnant with Urial, which is also why he was born deformed). However, Lurhan hates Malus and has secretly conspired to have Malus killed ever since the latter reached adulthood (only fear of Eldire's retribution prevented Lurhan from having Malus outright killed.)

===Prologue===

A short story which involves Malus going on a rite of passage for Dark Elf nobles called a Haskeer cruise; the young noble is given command of a force and has to conduct a successful raid and return. The send-off they get, how many retainers they have and the amount of ships under their command is a reflection of their status in the family; Malus got one ship - the ''Manticore'', one retainer and no send-off. The story starts with Malus being dragged there after a failed assassination attempt from one of his siblings involving a poisonous snake, [[Grimdark|that he only survived because the snake bit Malus' two "bodyservants"]] - that is to say, [[rape]] slaves - first, so didn't have enough venom to kill when it bit him. Let us not forget that, whilst a popular and well-developed character with a pretty solid fanbase, he's still who he is. Whether he's a product of his environment or [[Always Chaotic Evil|just an evil person]] is not ''quite'' fleshed out, although most stories about the elves/Aeldari, and the amount of time the reader gets to spend inside Malus's head, so to speak, it lean towards the former with a really big handicap from the latter. Other members of the crew include the captain Hathan Gul, and the [[Anime|tsundere]] female first mate, a corsair named Lhunara, with whom he alternatively shares flirtations and blows. Originally, this motley crew were slated to go raid Bretonnia but Malus arranged for them to raid Ulthuan instead because he wanted the cruise over and done with, Ulthuan was closer and [[Elf|elven]] slaves were worth about 100x their [[Aerwin the mon-keigh expert|human]] equivalents (despite the fact that Ulthuan was about equivalently much more dangerous).

Malus suspected his retainer — a down-on-his-luck noble called Silar — was hired by Lurhan to kill him. When Silar confronted Malus, Malus learned that was wrong; Silar had a sense of honor and duty to Malus for the time that his contract covered, and generally wasn't a dude who was about subtlety being much more [[RIP AND TEAR|brutally honest]]. Silar actually confronted Malus to express his disapproval of Malus' plan to raid Ulthuan, which Silar considered suicidally stupid. Lhunara overheard them and, surprised by Malus' move and seeking a better position that what Gul offered her, approached them and spilled the beans to Malus; Lurhan had actually arranged with Gul to get Malus killed by a Bretonnian Duke they had an arrangement with (the corsairs took prisoners from the Duke's dungeons as slaves, in exchange they'd leave the area under his care unmolested). Malus decided to go ahead with attacking Ulthuan and, through a combination of luck, cunning and a surprise attack at night was successful. He captured a village of High Elf civilians but was forced to kill them in a ruse to kill a High Elf Sea Guard patrol the next morning (much to Malus' chagrin, due to the aforementioned value of pointy ears at the flesh markets) and escape. They took a lot of treasure from the High Elves, but Malus gave it to crew to make them loyal to him instead of Hathan Gul; Gul himself was tortured by Malus in a suitably [[grimdark]] manner for the whole Uriah Gambit and killed by his former crew (with Malus keeping Gul's gold false teeth as mementos).

=== The Daemon's Curse ===
Malus is now a successful nobleman, Silar and Lhunara are his retainers and [[Anime|Lhunara has gone dere dere for Malus]]. He also gained the service of Arleth Vann, a renegade assassin from the Temple of Khaine. After coming back from a very successful slave raid (where Malus and his crew tortured a couple as entertainment for the trip), they were ambushed and their captives were all killed, making the raid a bust. Malus figured out who was responsible for the ambush and confronted them. It turned out to be a Dark Elf noble called Fuerlan, a smug schemer and Malus' cousin on his mother's side. Because of the ambush, Malus had Fuerlan tortured, despite Fuerlan's father being the ruler of Naggor, a Black Ark which was in a cold-war-type conflict with Hag Graef, where Fuerlan was staying as a special "hostage" ("hostage" in the medieval European sense, where a noble from one nation would be confined to another's court, and treated with all respect due to their station as long as their nation didn't cause trouble between the two; conversely, there would be trouble if anything bad happened to the hostage).

Malus knew of the political ramifications of harming a noble hostage, but the only concession he made was not to kill Fuerlan. Naturally, this brought some heavy political blowback crashing down on Malus. After enduring the worst of it, Malus learned of a treasure that could increase his power in a temple to the north, and took a personal regiment of Cold One Knights along with his retainers on the trip. Along the way, he encountered and had to negotiate a truce with a tribe of Shades (a feral and aberrant branch of the druchii who even the "dark cousins" to the regular elves thought of as "dark cousins"; their cruelty to their slaves horrified even Malus; the Shades [[Grimdark|removed the eyes and tongues of their slaves while regularly cutting on them in addition to the standard Dark Elf abuses]]). Then the tribe double-crossed him and he and his warband had to fight their way free. After braving a fierce blizzard they encountered Beastmen near the temple and tried to negotiate a truce with them.

When they got to the temple, the Beastmen betrayed them. Malus got his followers to hold the line against the brayherd while he went in alone. Ignoring symbols and statues of Chaos he entered the chamber. He took a ring for himself from the hoard, which awakened the daemon Tz'arkan who possessed him. The daemon announced to Malus what happened, pointing out the Dark Elf's greed and taking the ring brought it on himself. Horrified, Malus tried to commit suicide only for Tz'arkan to stop him by pointing out that if he did Malus would be his plaything for eternity (In the Warhammer Fantasy world, exorcisms involve killing the possessed, [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)#The Cult of Sigmar|with Luthor Huss as the sole exception]].)

[[File:STFUDaemon.png|thumbnail|Like a bickering old couple...]]
Malus and Tz'arkhan have a conversation about the latter's plan; he wanted to be free of the temple, so he tasked Malus to gather five artifacts for the ritual to free Tz'arkan or his soul would be claimed by the daemon. Malus also had a time limit of one year to accomplish this. Enraged and in despair, Malus fled the temple with Tz'arkan's laughter ringing in his ears. In unthinking rage and shame he killed his lieutenants (starting, in a surprisingly emotional scene, with a horrified Lhunara) and then going full [[RIP AND TEAR]] the remaining [[Beastmen]].

Afterwards, he started on a quest with Tz'arkan for the first artifact The Octagon of Praan, a gem that protected its wearer from hostile magic. He acquired this after the killing the Bray-Shaman, a leader of a group of [[beastmen]] who, at least initially, he contacted under peaceful terms but then just went full [[Khaine#mudertenderizer|murdertenderizer]]. When busy not almost getting killed, Malus learned that Tz'arkan could give him power, enhancing his physical abilities beyond mortal means whilst making him uncontrollably violent and more susceptible to the daemon's influence. The powerlevel boost thus gained seemed to have addictive qualities, not unlike the combat stimms (or daemonic aid) over in the other Warhammer. It is described as having pretty drastic (skin pallour, dark bulging veins, etc.) effects on his appearance, and being pretty unmistakable as what it was, so Malus wasn't overtly keen on using it, but wound up having to do so all too many times: as daemons are generally big on temptation, Tza'arkan would be constantly reminding Malus that this was a possibility, sort of like twiddling a syringe with a junkie's drug of choice in their face every five minutes.

=== Bloodstorm ===

Malus returned to Hag Graef to plan getting the second artifact - the Idol of Kolkuth, but got captured by Lurhan's soldiers. He was gruesomely tortured by his father, who was trying to manipulate him into requesting death so Eldire couldn't blame Lurhan for Malus' death. A combination of spite and Tz'arkan's power kept Malus alive, long enough for Eldire to visit him in secret. Eldire and Nagaira worked together to free him, magically heal his wounds and inducted him into the Slaaneshi cult. Then Malus learned they didn't want him, but Tz'arkan, so he sought a way out. During this time, Malus took on another retainer, a witty, down-to-earth (for a Dark Elf) city guard named Hauclir. Eventually his schemes came to the attention of the Drachau of Hag Graef, and Malus made him an offer. There was a fleet of Nurgle-worshiping pirates called the Skinriders - named for the fact that they lost their skins due to disease or injury and wore the skin of those they fought or captured - who often attacked the Dark Elves. Malus asked for a Writ of Iron from the Drachau - a legal document that gives the carrier the authority of the issuer, and since this was issued by the ruler of Hag Graef Malus was now the second-most powerful person in the city (with the caveat that if the carrier failed their duty, the Writ would be melted down and the molten remains were poured down their throat) - and in exchange Malus would hunt down and destroy the Skinriders.

Malus used this to bring Urial and some warriors from the Temple of Khaine with him. He also brought along Yasmir to placate Bruglir, which outraged Yasmir since she was a spoiled snob who couldn't handle not being in control of a situation. Urial used some magic to teleport them to Burglir's ship. There they find out that Bruglir was cheating on Yasmir with his female lieutenant, a scarred woman named Tanithra. Especially problematic since apparently only the male in druchii relationships must maintain his continence, as a show of strength, while the female may slut it up at will and then there's the question of whether rape slaves count. For [[GW|reasons]], this dynamic isn't totally fleshed out, but it is seen in evidence in some other places including deldar 40K novels as well. Yasmir, being thereby justifiably outraged and, bound by her culture's code of conduct to take offense and then take measures about it, flips her shit when she finds out Bruglir is fucking around with the lady-pirate lieutenant. He, according again to druchii standards, doesn't really concern himself with her extensive court of admirers back home as long as she makes him head of the queue when he's around (interestingly, Yasmir had gotten Bruglir to kill suitors she didn't want except for Urial who Bruglir considered not worth it).

None of them are happy about the state of affairs until Malus reminded them that with the Writ he's in charge, though he played to Bruglir's pride and vanity when the latter threatened to kill him anyway. During the voyage the loss of control and Bruglir's sleeping around also sent Yasmir round the bend, so she rarely left her cabin, and started getting into Khainite worship, much to the delight of Urial who saw it as a chance to get close to her. During this time Malus learned that Bruglir had promised Tanithra a captaincy, and was using that to string her along and extort sex from her. Around this time she started to resent that situation, which Malus considered in case it could be useful later. They encountered a few Skinrider ships and had a vicious battle, with Hauclir retrieving the maps to their main base and nearly getting trapped on the ship as it sank. The Dark Elves won after taking some losses, and commandeered one of the Skinrider ships, with Urial's Khainite blessings keeping the crew from getting infected by all the diseases on board. They decided to pull a Trojan Horse stunt to kill them, with Bruglir putting Tanithra in charge of the ship and calling that keeping his promise; this naturally made Tanithra even madder.

They infiltrated the Skinriders base and encountered their chieftain, a Daemon Prince of Nurgle wearing a cloak of flayed skin. Then the Dark Elves were betrayed by Tanithra, who had taken Yasmir captive. She confessed to everyone her part in the plan to defeat the Skinriders and offered to pledge herself to the Skinriders on the condition that she can keep one of the Dark Elf ships and be its captain, while also flaying Yasmir and wearing her skin. Urial attacked to save Yasmir and a battle broke out between Malus, Bruglir's loyal crew and Tanithra and the Skinriders, resulting in the deaths of all in the room but Urial, Yasmir and Malus. Malus broke away during the battle to find the Idol of Kolkuth, which was in an interdimensional maze. Malus was unable to navigate, and asked Tz'arkan for a rope - being Tz'arkan, the daemon unravelled Malus' blood vessels from his body and used them as rope. After fighting past a minotaur, Malus got the Idol - his body restored at the cost of Tz'arkan spreading his influence, and Malus found his way back as the Dark Elves wiped out the Skinriders, but there was no sign of Urial or Yasmir.

=== Reaper of Souls ===

Malus sought to get the next artifact, the Dagger of Torxus. It was a powerful weapon that would take the soul of anyone it cut and bind them to that spot. Malus was stabbed with it, but due to Tz'arkan already having his soul, it just rendered Malus unconscious.

Malus also tracked down the raiding party that took the Dagger, which turned to be led by Lurhan. After a fierce fight with Lurhan and his retainers, Malus slew some while others fled, but was forced to kill Lurhan in self-defense to get the Dagger, making Malus a kinslayer. This was a bittersweet moment for Malus, for even though Malus had long wanted to kill his father due to the latter hating and trying to kill him since childhood, Lurhan was one of the Witch King's vassals, and killing him under those circumstances made Malus an outlaw among the Dark Elves, and Tz'arkan was happy to troll him about it all.

Malus went on the run, pursued by Cold One Knights from Hag Graef who'd been informed of Lurhan's death by the surviving retainers. Malus fled to Naggor, and was nearly caught. But a regiment of knights from Naggor killed the knights of Hag Graef and brought Malus before his uncle Balneth to explain the situation. Unfortunately for Malus, Balneth knew what he'd done Fuerlan, who was also present at the meeting. Malus' tortures had left Fuerlan a heavily scarred, mentally unstable alcoholic swinging between hatred and fear of Malus. Nagaira was also there, much to Malus' chagrin. To his surprise, they offered him help and indicated that they were planning a coup against Hag Graef and that by killing his father he would be a valuable ally to their cause. Malus reluctantly agreed to join them, though Fuerlan's constant threats and Nagaira's scheming got on his nerves. Nagaira also claimed to have a ritual that would give him control of Tz'arkan, which Malus agreed to.

Malus was ambushed in his tent by four of his former retainers Silar, Arleth Vann, Dolthaic and Hauclir. They had been sent on a mission by the Drachau of Hag Graef to kill Malus and be free of the political consequences of their association with him. All but Hauclir ridiculed Malus for ruining their lives, with Hauclir pleading that Malus had a plan to fix the situation. Malus managed escape them and fled. As he got close to Hag Graef, he learned that Nagaira had lied. The ritual was actually drawing on the daemon's power to put a geas on both of them so Malus could be used to slay the Drachau of Hag Graef. Malus fought his way into the throne room, and dealt a severe would to the Drachau before a group of Sorceresses arrived, led by Malus' mother Eldire. Together, the Sorceresses freed Malus from the geas and returned his things, but not before Eldire gave Malus a ring that could contact her if he needed help (and was dismayed to learn of Malus being possessed).

=== Warpsword ===

=== Lord of Ruin ===

Malus fought the Chaos Champion. Their helm got knocked off during the fight, revealing it to be an undead Lhunara, Malus' former retainer; in her dying moments she had pledged herself to the Chaos Gods in exchange for revenge against Malus.

Malus found a severely wounded Hauclir and faced a moral dilemma; get rid of the Warpsword and let the daemonic power in his blood heal Hauclir or keep the Warpsword and let him die. Malus did something compassionate for someone besides himself or Spite and dropped the weapon and successfully healed Hauclir. Unfortunately he didn't get the weapon in time, and Tz'arkan took over. Now in control of Malus, Tz'arkan used his powers to compel Spite and rode the Cold One into the ground to get back to the Temple in time, leaving Spite nearly dead from exhaustion. It's revealed the reason for Tz'arkan's deadline was there was a ground level volcano beneath the temple that was about to erupt and Tz'arkan wanted to get free before then. The ritual was carried out and Tz'arkan left Malus' body, but took his soul as well. Malus fought back, destroying Tz'arkhan's body but the daemon fled with Malus' soul. Malus took up the Warpsword, the only artifact not destroyed or lost in the aftermath, killed a group of Beastmen gathered outside, nursed Spite back to health by feeding him the dead Beastmen and rode out to track down the daemon and get his soul back.

== Aftermath ==

Wandering the chaos wastes as a soulless unstoppable killer, he then found out where the daemon was hiding and went on another quest to reclaim his soul. A Chaos follower knew where Tz'arkan was hiding and tried to stop Malus betraying him by tattooing the map onto his back. Undaunted, Malus flayed the map from the Chaos follower's back and fed him to Spite. Malus found Tz'arkan and reclaimed his soul, but in doing so was cursed to have the daemon trapped back inside of himself again.

==End Times==

{{fail}}

Now he has returned to Naggaroth and what will this strange, legendary dark elf do? Well GW is coyly stopping us answering that question, because they won't move the damn plot along and let Malus kick [[Malekith]]'s tin ass! '''Except where he returns to fuck his sister''' and try to assassinate the Witch King in the End Times. Typical Druchii fashion, that goes as well as expected.

Be careful what you wish for because, unfortunately, he'll never get the chance now. During the final invasion of Ulthuan, Malus played a part and was Morathi's pawn at one point. But Tz'arkan was strengthened by the rising power of Chaos, and Malus drew on the daemon's power one too many times. With that Tz'arkan took over and consumed Malus so he died, causing him to be ripped apart from the inside out while Tz'arkan took physical form, his new body proved too much weight for Spite and broke the Cold One's back, leading the daemon to crush and trample Spite to death. No Malus! Don't go, we liked you.....cue fan boys grieving.

==Total War==

Sometimes you just have to wish hard enough, and give just the proper amount of spite to those you hate, because as stated by the big man himself; "With Hate, all things are possible!"

Our dark and edgy anti-hero/villain protagonist is finally coming to Total War Warhammer 2. Playable in both the Eye of the Vortex Campaign and the Mortal Empires Campaign. Tagging along with him, is of course his lazy roommate Tz'arkan, who never pays rent, and rants at you every minute or so for not picking up enough groceries, or not nabbing that pizza he likes.

Bright side, (or dark depending on how you look at it) Tz'arkan pays rent in a weird manner by turning Malus from a badass, into a one man army shredding badass. Not so great though, is that Tz'arkan has this nasty little habit of eating through Malus' health like a fat man goes through Doritos.

Malus is unique not only in choice of roommate, but also start position. He is the first Legendary Lord in the game to be given 2 start positions rather then one. He starts in Hag Graef, (go figure) and also in the bottom ass end of either the Southlands in the Vortex Campaign, or on the Dragon Isles in Mortal Empires which also was just recently added.

Best part of it all, Spite came along for the ride of course. Lovable little scamp. Though for some reason CA has specifically stated in his description that he’s “larger than most of his breed," which is how he was in the originals comics despite the fact that the armybooks and novels clearly retconned this. ALSO unfortunately, Spite is shit in this game and honestly it's usually just worth using your skill points for just about anything else and keeping Malus on foot.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Darkblade mini.jpg|The glorious bastard had a less-than-glorious mini at one point...
File:Darkblade rip and tear.jpg|[[RIP AND TEAR]]
File:Darkblade vs Furries1.png|Malus gets a boost in his [[Meme|powerlevel]] when fighting some [[Beastmen|furries]]...
File:Darkblade vs Furries.png|...but it hurts.
File:Malusdarkblade ntr bretonnian.png| [[NSFW|Tag: Mindbreak, NTR, Non-Con, Gangbang, BDSM, Corruption, Manipulation, Torture, Tentacles, Snuff]]
File:TWWH2_-_8nmz7d61pe241.png|CRAWWWWWLING IIIN MY SKIIIIIIN
</gallery>
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:Dark Elves]]

Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/Dark Elves

2022-05-15T07:34:48Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Why play Dark Elves? */

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

==Why play Dark Elves?==
Because you like losing. Dark Elves in this edition are extremely tricky with weird gimmicks, leading to many entirely useless units. Lucky for them, they got a major overhaul in 7th edition and stayed quite good in 8th. If you like the edgy elves (and who doesn't?) you'll have a much better play experience there.

==Army Special Rules==
Hate High Elves, +1 in casting rolls. Massive revision.

DO NOT PLAY WITH THEM UNLESS YOU HAVE THE ERRATA.

==Magic item comparison==

==Units Analysis==

=== Named Characters ===
* '''Malekith The Witch King:'''
* '''Morathi:'''
* '''Malus Darkblade:'''
* '''Shadowblade:'''
* '''Rakarth The Beastlord:'''
* '''Kouran:'''
* '''Crone Hellebron:'''
* '''Tullaris:'''

=== Lords & Heroes ===
* '''Dark Elf Highborn:'''
* '''High Sorceress:'''
* '''Noble:'''
* '''Sorceress:'''
* '''Beastmaster:''' Next to useless. The only sensible way to use is to ride manticore to battle and manticore could bea nasty surprise in smaller (~1000 points) games. The downsides are huge points cost and taking two hero slots. And the beastmaster will die as soon as it is in combat.
* '''Assassin:''' Completely useless. Avoid like plague.

=== Core Units ===
* '''Dark Elf Warriors:''' Remember Warriors only cost 7 points base with errata, meaning a solid block of warriors is now an option in defensive lists.
* '''Corsairs:'''
* '''Dark Riders:'''

=== Special Units ===
* '''Cold One Knights:'''
* '''Cold One Chariot:'''
* '''Executioners:'''
* '''Harpies:'''
* '''Shades:'''
* '''Witch Elves:'''

=== Rare Units ===
* '''Black Guard:''' Only a madman would use these. Utterly useless unit which belong to the "Elves on the Shelves" category of Fantasy settings.
* '''Cauldron of Blood:''' The big killer is it can't move. Apart from reaper bolt throwers dark elves don't really have the equipment to make a gunline and this takes up a rare slot so you can only get two throwers.
* '''Reaper Bolt Thrower:'''
* '''War Hydra:'''

== Tactics ==

=== Know your Weaknesses and know your Strengths ===

=== Army compositions ===

===City Garrison army list===

===Watch Tower Patrol===

==Cult of Slaanesh==
This is an unique list of the 6th edition since it combines two armies (Chaos and Dark Elves).
=== Lords & Heroes ===
* '''High Sorceress:'''
* '''Noble:'''
* '''Sorceress:'''

=== Core Units ===
* '''Warriors:'''
* '''Devoted of Slaanesh:''' 1+ Witch Elves with poisoned attacks traded for soporific musk and frenzy traded for Mark of Slaanesh. The musk is a downgrade as devoted already have good WS & I. Frenzy output is mitigated because devoted get 2 attacks base, while Immune to Psychology is always on thanks to the mark. Overall, use them like witch elves.
* '''Shades:'''
* '''Marauders:'''
* '''Daemonettes:'''

=== Special Units ===
* '''Dark Riders:'''
* '''Cold One Knights:'''
* '''Mounted Daemonettes:'''
* '''Warriors of Chaos:''' Your real anvil, shunted into Special. Still you theoretically only need one.
* '''Furies:''' 0-1. Compared to Harpies, more expensive, more dangerous and that ward save probably won't do anything 2/3 of the time but still worthwhile

=== Rare Units ===
* '''Chaos Knights''' Takes two rare slots, must have Mark of Slaanesh and can't be upgraded to chosen. Since bolt throwers are essential, these are rarely seen.
* '''Reaper Bolt Thrower:'''
* '''Chaos Spawn:'''

=== Synergies ===

{{Warhammer6th_Tactics_Races}}
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics]]

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Greenskins

2022-05-15T06:09:29Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Multiplayer Strategies */

{{Topquote|Gork and Mork!|Game battle chant for Orcs}}
{{Topquote|We'z gonna getcha!|Game battle chant for Goblins}}
This is the tactica for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the [[Orcs & Goblins|Greenskins]].

==Why Play Greenskins?==
* Because you like to have fun when fighting.
* Cause you think fantasy-flavoured football riots are hilarious.
* Because you want to paint the map green through the power of ultraviolence.
* You want to see the Old World burn, but find playing Chaos too much of a drag.
* You're either brutally cunning or cunningly brutal.
* '''''"WAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!"'''''

===Pros===
*'''Aggressive Infantry:''' What? You think Da Boyz are gonna lay about and let those gits come to them. Hell no! Greenskins are a rush faction and their infantry love to run up and smash the hell out of their enemies. Combine this with your battlefield WAAAGH mechanic, and you will either dominate the infantry fight or leave the enemy with damn near nothing left.
*'''Deceptively Good at Ranged:''' I mean, OK you aren't going to out shoot the Wood Elves anytime soon, but a lot of players underestimate how good you are at skirmishing. With cheap skirmish cav, surprisingly good archers that can defend themselves and really solid artilery, you are actually pretty damn good at wining fights from afar. Hell, in some matchhups this is sometimes your best way to win!
*'''AP:''' You are a tank buster faction, with a crap load of AP in both ranged and melee. Factions who rely on heavy armor like Dwarfs or Chaos Warriors hate how well you can punch through their high armor values and delete models.
*'''Monsters:''' The Greenskins have some of the most and best monsters to throw at their enemies. Three species of trolls, giant spiders, big stone monuments, hydras, giants, wyverns and giant spiders '''[[Awesome|on fire]]'''... and multiple flavors of squigs too, of course.
*'''Massive unit roster:''' Because your faction is three races with three subcategories apiece plus monsters, you have an extremely broad pool of unit to draw from. Every unit is fabulously designed and brimming with character. You wil not want for opportunities to play with cool thematic armies.
*'''Humour''': If our favorite merry band of 1970s English football hooligans doesn't earn at least a chuckle at one point, you're playing the wrong game. Paired with amazing voice acting and funny writing (the research tree, for example, is called "Big Thinkin'"), CA has done a perfect job of carrying over the ridiculously funny tone of the Tabletop Greenskins.

===Cons===
*'''Low Leadership:''' Greenskin units tend to have bad Leadership, especially Goblins. The general lack of units that cause Fear or Terror and are Immune to Psychology exacerbates this problem when fighting spooky foes. You have options to mitigate this issue, the Black Orc Big Boss especially, but must still expect your troops to be running fairly often.
*'''Tricky Heavy Cavalry:''' Boars are slow movers and tend to lose to most other heavy cav within their price range. As such, you better make sure to support them and work out strategies to get your money's worth from them.
*'''Lack of Armour''': If you aren't a Lord/Hero, a Black Orc or a monster your armor is probably defined as "Tissue Papper"
*''' Lack of Anti-Large:''' Your anti large options are extremly limited, especially outside campaign where you can at least try to mitigate these issues. Big 'Uns (both kinds), Boar Big 'Uns (both kinds) and the Arachnarok Spider are the only units with unmodified anti-large bonuses and none of them have charge defenses against cavalry and monsters. As such, well-aimed and -timed cavalry charges can ''wreck'' your battle lines.
*'''Slow Movers:''' Aside from your gobbo cav, your troops aren't the fastest things around, so expect to be out maneuvered by most good opponents.
*'''Lack of Air Power:''' You get exactly two options for flying units: A high-end Wyvern mount for certain Warbosses and a campaign-exclusive Wyvern unit. Between this and merely being decent at ranged, you will learn to hate and despise races with lots of flying options. It also draws attention to how slow your army is to reach the enemy.
*'''DLC Reliant:''' As with all Core Races (and soon some DLC ones) a lot of your really good units are behind DLCs. If you want to take your green friends and win somewhat consistently, you may be forced to hand over some extra dough.

==Universal Traits==
*'''Expendable:''' A trait most of your Goblins have. As the name implies, your Orks don't give a [[Skaven|rat's]] ass about using Goblins as cannon-fodder and won't suffer any leadership penalties for watching entire units of them explode in horrible ways. Expendable units themselves aren't so brave and will get scared shitless if they see a Carnosaur rampaging through a neighboring Goblin formation, but that's not really your Warboss' problem, now is it?
*'''WAAAAGH!:''' Did anyone really expect it to be called anything else? This is your in battle army ability, used in both campaign and multiplayer. For every second an entity (not a unit, entity) is in melee, it will fill up a bar at the top of the screen. Once that bar is filled, you can call a WAAAGH giving your army a map-wide boost to melee damage and Immune to Psychology. Even the humble Goblin can become a decently scary unit if he is backed up by a WAAAGH. This means you are rewarded for going with a wide melee build, as it will allow you to build up this bar much quicker and get these WAAAAGHs off much faster. In a way, it's very similar to the Dark Elves' Murderous Prowess only it's actually much better for two reasons. One, since you have to push a button to activate it you can use it whenever you want, so you can wait for that perfect moment, and two if you keep the fight going you can use it more than once, though your troops need to be in melee longer and longer to get off successive WAAAGHs. In campaign, your legendary lords have unique WAAAGHs, that can reward going with certain army styles.
*'''Reputation/Call to Waaagh!:''' Finally, the dark days of the old, useless Waaagh! mechanic are over! Krumpin' gits, raiding and basically, everything that involves a good scrap earns you reputation, that gives you growth, income, and public order bonuses. When you reach the maximum of 200 reputation, you can make a Call to Waaagh, dedicated to either Mork or Gork, which gives you bonuses for either ranged or melee troops respectively. When the Waaagh is called, Waaagh armies will start to build up at random on all of your armies, that contain as many units as the army had when the Waaagh was started. They work as additional support armies that reinforce your standing army in combat and consist mostly of fodder, but can, depending on the placement of your army on the map, also contain some exotic units that you can't get elsewhere, like Armoured Squig Hoppers or Feral Wyverns. When you start a Waaagh, you also select an enemy factions capital, if you occupy and hold or raze it within 20 turns, you gain a trophy that has permanent effects depending on how strong the enemy was (i.e. killing a rank 89 faction in the middle of nowhere will yield a smaller bonus compared to factions like Reikland, Karaz-a-Karak or Eataine) and what kind of enemy it was. This mechanic makes Greenskins a serious threat on the campaign map because not even High Elves can hope to withstand 40 units at once, not to mention the support the Orcs might bring with them. It's best used to support your bursts of expansion in a truly Orky fashion and as an added benefit, it also feels very close to the Fluff.
*'''Scrap:''' The second, and very small mechanic the Greenskins have. Killing enemies in battles and razing settlements earns you the Scrap resource, which can be spent on certain technologies, unit upgrades and, if you play as Grom the Paunch, cooking dishes in his cauldron.
[[Category:Total Warhammer]]

==Legendary Lords==

*'''Grimgor Ironhide:''' The one and only Grimgor is a close-combat beatstick who specialises in cracking lines and peeling tin can infantry. His character-killer abilities also make him ideal for going after enemy Lords and Heroes. Just remember that he's not invincible and will need support to avoid getting crumped by things outside of his jurisdiction. Send chaff units to absorb charges from large single entities, Big 'Uns to help him handle cavalry and monsters, Shamans to boost his stats or obscure his approach where necessary and of course Black Orcs to help him crack heavy infantry lines. His personal skill tree will majorly buff Black Orcs and Big 'Uns in his army, so make sure to go for that as soon as possible. Unfortunately, his biggest weakness is very limited mobility. He gets no mounts and moves at Black Orc speed, making him very vulnerable to kiting from the more mobile factions in the game, so make sure to send fast units like Wolf Riders and Spider Riders to tarpit his targets in case you find him targeting something fast (Elves especially).

:: Grimgor's faction, '''Grimgor's 'Ardboyz''' starts in the middle of the Badlands at Black Crag and in a prime position to become a formidable power. Your immediate enemies are the various Greenskin tribes of the Badlands that need a proper krumpin', some Skaven and the isolated Dwarfs of Karak Azul. The main Dwarfen faction of Karaz-A-Karak will be your main enemy for the majority of the early to late game. If you want a general tutorial on how to deal with Dwarfs and their annoyingly thick armour, you pick Grimgor.

*'''Azhag the Slaughterer:''' Azhag is a Hybrid Lord that can do a bit of everything and currently the only Orc LL with access to a flying mount in the form of his trusty Wyvern Skullmuncha. Prior to "The Warden and the Paunch", he was the only character the Greenskins had with access to the Lord of Death, which is a pretty good lore, all things considered. In direct combat, he holds up well enough but is inferior against most Lords and Heroes that are either dedicated melee characters (Like Karl Franz or Grimgor) or are just really tanky; but his utility is pretty good. Too bad that his biggest weakness in MP is his exorbitant price tag; Skullmuncha has to be included because he is too flimsy otherwise.

::Azhag got his own faction now! He leads the '''Bonerattlaz''' in the very northeastern corner of the Old World, starting in Red Eye Mountain and diplomatic bonusses with Vampire factions (and Arkhan the Black) and at war with the Elector Count of Ostermark. A unique advantage Azhag has over other Greenskin factions is that he makes Temperate climate settlements inhabitable (it's "unpleaseant" to others). Also worthy of note is that Azhag alone gets access to the Great Halls of Nagashizzar Landmark, which is only available to Vampires and Arkhan the Black and provides immunity to all effects of Vampiric Corruption as well as a +50 opinion increase with these factions.

*'''[[Skarsnik]] (DLC):''' is a Triscky lord having a surprising about of defense and offense despite being a goblin thanks to the squig he is chained to. He is a support lord that will give enemies hell, with Trisksy Traps letting a detachment of your army be invisible until they do a surprise flank. His Waaagh! gives bonuses AP Damage to missile weapons.

::As Boss of the '''Crooked Moon Tribe''', Skarsnik's campaign is almost entirely no Orcs allowed, as he needs to take and hold Karak Eight Peaks to recruit most Orc units. Until then, his goals are essentially a race across the [[Gray Mountains]] and [[Badlands]] towards his old stomping grounds.

*'''Wurrzag, The Great Green Prophet (FLC):''' Your obligatory Caster LL, and he is not messing around. As with most caster lords, he shouldn't see combat unless you're absolutely forced to send him into melee. He boosts your spellcasting by a ludicrous degree and is basically the loremaster for the Lore of the big Waaagh!, has Greater Arcane Conduit and great discounts on the best spells his Lore gives him, most notably 'Ere we go! and Foot of Gork. As if that wasn't enough he also makes Savage Orcs almost as tough as Black Orcs ''and making them cheaper in the process''. Can passively give magical attacks to his entire army in campaign which will make them better at krumping everyone except dwarfs due to their innate magic resistance.(until game 3 that is)

::Wurrzag starts to the west of Grimgor in the '''Bloody Handz''' faction. He has the unique mechanic of being able to build Savage Orc recruitment buildings ''anywhere'' on the map instead of merely in the southern portions of the Badlands.

*'''Grom the Paunch (DLC):''' Fatter than anyone, Grom is as goofy as he is powerful. Picking Grom unlocks access to his Cauldron, where you can cook food for him and his armies from ingredients that have a mini-quest attached in order to unlock them. Those ingredients come in five categories and their sources are fairly intuitive (Kill a Dragon for dragon wings, kill Dwarfs for Dwarfen Beer etc.). You can also buy them from the Food Merchant which will show up from time to time and can be interacted with by placing a Hero or Army next to her. Diffrent combinations of ingredients give different kinds of food and you need to unlock the recipes themselves first. But what is all this food for, you may now ask? The dishes give ''factionwide'' buffs depending on the recipe, and buffs to Grom himself, and nearly all of them are awesome in some form or another (not to mention that the idea that your main quest revolves around finding stuff to eat is just a hilarious contrast to the usual seriousness of the setting). In combat, Grom isn't that bad either. He gives decent buffs to Goblin units and Pump wagons and he himself rides on his big pimp car (Grom does not walk) as a massive chariot. His big mass (pun intended) ensures that he has little trouble punching through enemy lines, although prolonged exposure to enemies with bonusses against large is not something he likes.

::Grom has the honour of being the only Greenfaction with access to both Mortal Empires and Eye of the Vortex as well having wildly differing starting positions. He leads the '''Broken Axe''' faction and starts the game at war with his eternal enemy, Eltharion the Grim. Your main campaign goal revolves around getting a foothold on Ulthuan and destroying Tor Yvresse, which can take quite some time, but is easily the most fun you can have with any of the Greenskin campaigns, CA did a great job with him. On Mortal Empires, he starts in the middle of Bretonnia in the not-so-creatively named Massif Orcal, on Eye of the Vortex, he starts as far away from Ulthuan as you can get in Karag Orrud, near the southeastern edge of the map. It's important to remember that Eltharion will always send some armies your way.

===Workshop Boyz===

These lads are not leaders of factions, instead being unlockable by any faction through research in the Big Thinkin' techtree. They are both semi-Legendary in that they are Immortal and have specific army-buffing gimmicks but don't have unique voice actors or lines. Also you can change their names.

*'''Raknik Spiderclaw:''' Raknik is a Great Goblin Shaman who gives buffs to all kinds of spider-related units in his army, has the ability to summon Spider Hatchlings up to five times as a bound summon spell and can ride a Catchweb Spidershrine.

*'''Oglok the 'Orrible:''' Oglok is an Orc Warboss who gives decent bonuses to Orc infantry, Boar Boyz and Boar Chariots.

==Units==
===Generic Lords===

*'''Orc Warboss:''' The simple and cheaper beatstick lord. He's not nearly as tricksy as the other two Lords, but he makes up for it with great melee stats. He's also the only other lord besides Azhag to have a Wyvern mount, and he's a pretty good fighter while mounted. If you just want a fighting lord to fly around the enemy and wreck their backline, the Warboss does the job just as well as Azhag for considerably cheaper.
*'''Goblin Great Shaman:''' Your Little Waaagh! caster lord. He was orignally a cheap but fragile debuffing caster, but he got a lot tougher and more dangerous once the Warden and the Paunch DLC added the option to ride a Spidershrine. Also has an ability that increase an enemy targets recharge time for extra obnoxiousness if you know how recharge-time works.
*'''Night Goblin Warboss (DLC):''' A cheaper, enemy controller type of lord. Annoying as hell with conjuring wrecking ball Loons, which causes enemies to rampage, and then Tormentor Sword to lock them in place so they get dogpiled. He's a surprisingly decent duelist especially with a giant cave squig mount, although his low armour means he has to be careful who he goes up against. On the campaign he also unlocks the Goblin-buffing perks Grom and Skarnik have in their skilltrees, making pure Goblin Armies viable in the first place.

===Heroes===

*'''Goblin Big Boss:''' Low cost and surprisingly decent stats. Take 2-3 of them and have them roam around gooning enemy lords + heroes. Always give them a mount. The wolf is faster + cheaper, the spider gives poison attacks to cripple high-value targets.
*'''Orc Shaman:''' Your damage-dealing and buffing wizard. Even on a Warboar, is relatively slower than his contemporary mages on their own faction mount. He is easy to catch but has decent melee offense by virtue of being part of the Orc race but less melee defense than a contemporary old-magic-man so will his hp pool will quickly drain to zero.
*'''Night Goblin Shaman:''' The sneaky debuffing caster, and he needs to be sneaky because he's just a night goblin with no mount options. He's an excellent ambusher with both Vanguard and Stalk for quickly unleashing his spells (likely before getting trampled), and he even gets some magic 'shrooms so he can cast the same spell several times in quick secession.
*'''Black Orc Big Boss:''' Big tough guy that holds the line in addition to or while the lord is the way. Has the best overall melee stats and highest armor value of your Heroes. He's a pretty great fighter, but seriously hampered by his lack of a decent mount. He also provides an aura granting allied units Immune to Psychology, shoring up the low leadership that plagues most greenskins.
*'''River Troll Hag (DLC):''' Your Death caster outside Azhag, while also being very tanky with high ap weapon damage like all swamp trolls. She has the ability to snipe and debuff important enemies while brawling it out in the front lines, but her slow speed and large size makes her easy pickings for fire arrows.

===Melee Infantry===

*'''Goblins:''' Ah, the humble Goblin. One of the few units in the game to match the numbers of Skaven and being a decent option for tarpits for that very reason. All but the most aggressive factions (Think Darks Elves or Norscans) will need quite some time to chew through 160 bodies, and if you combine them with Grom or Skarsnik, they become decent core troops on their own, thanks to the bonusses on Physical Resist and Melee Attack the Goblin Bosses can stack on them. Don't come with a bonus vs. large outside of campaign buffs and even then don't rely on it, since their weapon strength is rather poor.
*'''Night Goblins:''' Crazed Gobbos that are high as a kite and bring poisoned attacks to the table. Night Goblins are really just Goblins +1, gaining Vanguard Deployment poisoned attacks, stalk and better Melee attack. You might not use the base version in the campaign all that much, since Fanatics are superior in almost any way. As with regular Goblins, picking the right Lord can also elevate them to decent Frontline-level.
**'''Da Warlord's Boyz (ROR, DLC):''' Night goblin warriors that trade poison for Armor rending. These nuts are a great way to patch up your lack of armour-piercing damage in the early game. They also have a place in multi-player as a cheap way to give your mobs an edge against armoured foes.
*'''Night Goblins (Fanatics):''' Identical to regular Night Goblins except for having an ability that can clear entire units if used right. Ignore the game telling you it's a vortex with unpredictable release, it's actually identical to Breath-type spells and release exactly where you tell it to.
**'''Da Eight Peak Loonies (ROR, DLC):''' Unbreakable gobbo tarpits. Just don't wait till the last moment to use their ability since it's disabled below 25% HP.
*'''Orc Boyz:''' Da Boyz! They are no slouch and have a lot going for them. While a bit on the pricey side for an early game unit, Boyz love smashing stuff in melee and dominate early game melee encounters with ease and can even hold their ground against some of the more elite units the AI will use. Sturdy, reliable, dead killy.
*'''Nasty Skulkers:''' Glass cannon kan-openers. Stalk allows you to get them to exactly where your opponent least wants them while their smoke bomb keeps victims from getting away by slowing their movement speed by 76% for 21 seconds. Skulkers also have the benefit of being extremely effective for their cost, as well as coming with Goblin numbers of entities in one Regiment.
*'''Savage Orcs:''' Savage Orcs differ from regular Boyz in that they can only be built on Orc pilgrimage sites and have no armour. They make up for it by having physical resistance, a small ward save that can be buffed through research and Wurrzag. Generally speaking, more of a glass cannon.
*'''Orc Big Uns:''' Even killier than regular boys, Big 'Uns love smashing stuff and do it in a truly great fashion. Notable downsides to them are their relatively high price and their lack of a shield; missile units love shooting at them.
*'''Savage Orc Big Uns:''' The equivalent on the Savage side of the Orcs, but these guys are absurdly deadly and only Black Orcs surpass them, Wurrzag makes them arguably even stronger.
*'''Black Orcs:''' Da big Boyz. By the time they show up, the enemy frontline might as well just pack up and leave. If they do leave, you might be in a bit of trouble, since Black Orcs move very slowly (a base speed of 34 when running is considerably slower than standard infantry speed, which is in the 40-45 range for most factions) and are more than other similar elite units in the game dependent on tarpits to tie their targets down. Once they are in melee, you're in for a treat though. Base leadership of 87 means that there is practically nothing in the game they will run from, an abundance of AP damage and an obscene base weapon strength of 70 (for comparison: Swordmasters of Hoeth have 45 WS) turn every enemy unit into a fine red mist within minutes.
**'''Da Krimson Killas (ROR, DLC):''' Have two axes and can just exterminate any other Melee infantry in the game. Has a unique (for infantry units) cleave attack where each unit will swing their two axes hitting multiple enemies at once ''with each swing''. This makes them unparalleled infantry killers, and the single best infantry unit in the entire game. Slap Grimgor's Immortulz banner on them, stick them in a chokepoint and watch them beat entire armies by themselves.

===Ranged Infantry===

*'''Goblin Archers:''' Your first foot archer option and... uh... there's not much to say about them, really. They slightly out-damage Skavenslave Slingers (Hint: that's not really all that good) and can get upgrades to increase their Armour-Piercing damage from 1 damage to a whopping 4. They have their use as counters to skirmishers and cavalry archers, but get rid of them as soon as something better arrives on the scene.
*'''Night Goblin Archers/Night Goblin Archer Fanatics:''' The much preferable alternative to either of the Orc Archers and basic Goblin Archers. They share the comparatively low base damage of their arrows with similar bow infantry, but get poisoned shots - invaluable to whittle down big beasts or elite units. In a pinch you can also build them as Fanatics, that gives them a good answer to crowds - but that's really something you better leave to melee Night Goblins.
**'''Da Rusty Arrers (ROR):''' Night gobbo archers with armor sundering. These guys make a great center for your shooting line: use them to open the enemy armour before the rest of your army finishes them off.
*'''Orc Arrer Boyz:''' A very, very two-sided sword. They gain much needed range and missile strength over Goblins, but at the cost of low accuracy and a low model count of just 80. Not all that good considering that they often lose even against mid-tier Missile Cavalry.
*'''Savage Orc Arrer Boyz:''' The same deal as Arrer Boyz, minus the armour. Yay. Only use them when no other options are available.

===Cavalry and Beasts===

*'''Goblin Wolf Riders:''' Cheap and quick. Has a similar stat line as generic goblins and a much lower unit count, so they don't do well against anything that can actually fight back. Low cost + high speed makes them well suited for killing weapon teams and harassing broken units off the map, similar to chaos warhounds.
**'''Moon-howlers: (RoR)''' Gives them fear. If you need to chase low leadership enemies off the field, these are the ones to do it.
*'''Goblin Wolf Rider Archers:''' Very fast, meek skirmisher unit. Can be used to annoy the shit out of everything on foot and particularly dwarfs, but not much else.
*'''Forest Goblin Spider Riders:''' Straight upgrade from Wolf Riders, except now they actually stand a chance of killing something reliably, due to poison. Their cheapness combined with their speed make them excellent expendable throwaway units to put the enemy backline into serious disarray, while anything short of Dark Elven Dark Riders is completely unable to catch them.
*'''Forest Goblin Spider Rider Archers:''' Ranged poison delivery system. Much like the spear variety, these are a straight upgrade to wolf-riders and will accomplish more against any foe they fight.
**'''Deff Creepers: (RoR)''' Spider rider archers with Regeneration. Quite a boon for an army that doesn't have any healing, but at the end of the day, they're still just spider riders. A decent pick, but not always worth the cost.
*'''Orc Boar Boyz:''' Your anti-infantry heavy cav. They're only have 60 speed, so don't overextend them. They can't outrun fast monsters + most enemy cav so it's pretty much game over for them if they get caught out of position.
*'''Orc Boar Big 'Unz:''' Your anti-large heavy cav. They have similar speed problems as vanilla boar boys so you'll primarily use them to deter enemy cav from charging your boyz.
**'''Broken Tusks Mob:''' Bigger and stronger Boar Big 'Unz. There's no gimmick with this unit; they're just Orc Boar Big 'Unz with more health, armour, and damage. Simple but pretty damn effective.
*'''Savage Orc Boar Boyz''': Actually better than regular Boar Boyz, especially when Wurrzag is leading your army. They might lose missle resistance and armour in exchange for raw Physical resist (which Wurrzag can buff up to 56%!) but gain a substantial amount of weapon strength, melee attack, AP and Frenzy.
*'''Savage Orc Boar Big 'Unz''': Good lord, here is a proppa heavy cav for da boyz. As with the standard boar boyz, much better than their "civilized" counterparts, due to their raw damage output and a bonus vs. Infantry, especially when used with Wurrzag as your leader. Compared with regular Boar Big 'Unz, they lose their ability to fight cavalry as efficiently, so you need to look out for anything on horse or bigger.
*'''Squig Herd (DLC):''' Cheap armor piercing infantry blenders with immune to psychology and rampage. These little balls of teeth and fury are as unsubtle as they are effective; just point them at the biggest infantry the enemy has and let them go. They'll all die, but they'll take quite a few enemies down with them. Rampage is more of a benefit than a drawback for these guys; they're so disposable that blindly attacking whatever is in front of them is a better value than if the ran away. They won't win any battles on their own, but they can soften up an enemy unit before the propa gits finish the job.
*'''Night Goblin Squig Hoppers (DLC):''' Similar to spider riders, these guys are a fast poison delivery system. Squig Hoppers are fragile and cheap but extremely quick backline harasser units that make mincemeat out of a plethora of missle units, as well as elite infantry, thanks to a bonus vs. infantry and AP attacks. The downside is that they are very squishy and vulnerable to intercepting cavalry, to which they have no answers to.
**'''Durkit's Squigs: (RoR):''' Squig Hoppers with added missile resistance. Hoppers are pretty squishy, so anything to keep them alive helps.

===Monsters and Chariots===

*'''Trolls:''' Good stats and regeneration, but terrible leadership. Their purpose is cycle charging, taking breaks to recover. Completely outclassed by their DLC troll cousins.
*'''Stone Trolls (DLC):''' Like regular trolls, but 'arder. They pack more punch and are very durable with built in magic and missile resistance. Less regen though.
*'''River Trolls (DLC):''' An improvement on vanilla trolls with better melee defense and reduce enemy DPS around them. Not as good as Stone Trolls in a straight up fight, but useful as support trolls.
**'''Da Swamp Fingz (RoR, DLC):''' Swamp Trolls with terror and poison. Causing terror is all well and good, but more importantly the ability makes Da Swamp Fings immune to fear and terror, an invaluable trait for such an expensive unit that normally struggles with leadership.
*'''Arachnarok Spider:''' Your big iconic monster. This bad girl has everything you could hope for: speed, armour, anti-large damage, and poison attacks. It even has some goblin archers on top for a bit of ranged damage. One often-overlooked factor is that the Arachnarok Spider has the strider ability, allowing it to move through forests and other terrain with no cost in speed.
**'''The Arachnarok Queen:''' Even better at slaying monsters that the normal Arachnarok, and the queen has the unique ability to summon units of spider hatchlings to absorb enemy charges, help pin down the foe, or clear out enemy chaff.
*'''Rogue Idol (DLC):''' If you want to pummel the enemy front line with the biggest, bluntest object you can find, accept no substitutes. Rogue Idols are scary frontline beatsticks with a crapload of armour and HP that start falling apart when they run low on health, damaging everything around them. It's one crucial weakness is its extremely low speed, making it vulnerable to kiting and fairly easy even for basic infantry to avoid them. Pinning the enemy down with goblins isn't very effective for this monster; the idol is so damn slow that any enemy worth attacking will kill the chaff before you get to them. These guys are absolute monsters when laying siege to an enemy; walls and towers are about the only thing a rogue idol can consistently outrun.
**'''Da big 'Un (RoR, DLC):''' A Rogue Idol that doubles as an Artillery piece can replenish its ammo at the cost of HP. The addition of a ranged attack goes a long way for making up for the Idol's lack of speed.
*'''Giant:''' No. Just no. Giants are far too frail and far too vulnerable to getting tarpitted to be even worth considering, not to mention their price. You could get an Anachnarok Spider for the same money that does the same things a Giant does, with some added missile support and much more durability and mobility. Starting a campaign with Wurrzag gets you one for free, and Azahg needs to get one as part of his legendary armour quest. Aside from those two circumstances you should never bother to get them.
*'''Goblin Wolf Chariots:''' A fast hybrid chariot that can shoot with bows and charge into melee. Most of the time, a unit of wolf archers or a boar chariot will do the job better; but there is something to be said for versatility. Skarsnik and Grom can both get more use out of them in the campaign, but in multi-player it's usually better to leave them out.
**'''Teef Robbers (ROR):''' Wolf chariots with vanguard deployment, allowing them to set up right beside the ordinary wolf riders.
*'''Orc Boar Chariot:''' The big heavy chariot. Like everything orc it's slow, tough, and hits like a ton of bricks. The armour and melee defense mean it won't immediately crumble if it gets stuck in combat, which is good because it's so dang slow that it can't always escape from the enemy. This thing works best as the spear-tip for a larger boar charge; the chariot can put a hole in the enemy lines, and the boar cavalry can keep it open for the chariot to escape. The boar chariot is also great for beginner players to learn the basics of cycle charging; it's armour makes it more forgiving of mistakes and the slower speed makes it easier to see when to hit and when to run. The closest equivalent is the spiky rollaz pump wagon; both cost about the same points and the same tier in the campaign, but the spiky pump wagon does more charge damage, while the boar chariot is better for sustained combats.
*'''Snotling Pump Wagons (Regular/Flappas/Spikey Rollaz) (DLC):''' The snotling pumpwagons are fragile little chariots that come in 3 varieties: the cheap one (regular), the fast one (flappas), and the heavy one (spikey rollas). In all three cases they are flimsy little lawnmowers who need to rely on cycle charging to do any real damage. They're good if you can micro them effectively, but they'll fall apart if they get trapped in combat.
**'''Logey Bogey's Spore 'Sploda's: (RoR):''' This is a weird one. Each chariot has a cache of explosive spores on the front that burst out when it charges into combat, causing some decent damage in a very large area. The spores take 60 seconds to regrow and the cooldown only begins once the wagon is out of combat. Best used to destroy enemy chaff very quickly; but whilst the spores are on cooldown they pump-wagons are basically identical to the normal variety. They need good micro to be useful, even more than normal pump-wagons.

===Artillery===

*'''Goblin Rock Lobbers:''' Generic catapult with decent damage and armor piercing. Cheaper than the Doom-Diver catapult with slightly less damage and much less accuracy. Still a decent weapon, and cheap enough to be fit into most armies. Keep in mind the crew is just a bunch of goblins and they're even more helpless than most artillery crews. Can be useful on harder campaign difficulties that make AI dwarf warriors all but unbreakable.
**'''Hammer of Gork: (RoR)''' Rock Lobbers that blind whatever they hit, making them great for debuffing an enemy before you smash them in melee.
*'''Doom Diver Catapults:''' More damage than the Rock Lobber, shockingly accurate, and utterly hilarious. Their projectiles home in on the enemy, a distinction they share only with Hellcannons. Best used for eliminating key units in the enemy army before they can cause you any problems. If you got the attention to spare taking manual control of them allows you to fly the projectile.

===WAAAAAGH Units/Campaign Only===

*'''Lava Goblin Spider Rider Archers:''' Now that's a mouthful. Trade the poisoned shots for Fire Damage, which makes them infinitely more viable as a harassing skirmisher unit.
*'''Spider Hatchlings:''' Essentially smaller, cheaper spider riders. A cheap way to bring fast poison to the battlefield, but not much else. You can recruit these early in game as Grom during the vortex campaign, but you should phase them out for true spider cavalry ASAP.
*'''Armoured Squig Hoppers:''' Just what it says on the tin: squig hoppers, but with armour. Ordinary squig hoppers are pretty squishy, so anything to increase their survivability helps.
*'''Soopa Squig:''' A squig that explodes when it charges into an enemy in the same way a Bloated Corpse does. Make sure it actually gets to its destination as the enemy will focus fire on it the moment it gets into range.
*'''Lava Arachnarok Spider:''' Arachnarok Spider with 50% fire resistance and three uses of free fire barrage that lays waste to targets with low armour in its vicinity. Pretty great, but very rare.
*'''Feral Wyvern:''' It's your only air unit outside of the warboss, and not a terrible one at that. Flying poison is always useful, and air support is always a good thing.
*'''Feral Hydra:''' It's a hydra, but on the side of the Greenskins. Stat-wise it's identical to the Dark Elf War Hydra.

==Multiplayer Strategies==
In most fantasy games, Orcs are usually tied to brute force and smashing your enemy until there is nothing left to smash. And... yeah in this game that's pretty much the case. With the WAAAAGH! battle ability and your great melee stats few factions can really put up a fight with you in melee. However, what most people don't expect is that your army is surprisingly versatile. You got good skirmishing, monsters, magic and artillery allowing you to employ numerous tactics and be pretty sneaky. What really screws the Greenskins over is their poor leadership, and most of your losses won't come from the enemy out fighting you, but from them exploiting your boyz lack of morale. You also aren't exactly the Empire in terms of versatility, as WAAAGH still encourages you to be aggressive. As long as you can keep the boyz in the fight though, Gork and Mork will be plenty pleased. '''''"WAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!"'''''

*'''Beastmen:''' You need to be aggressive with Beastmen; they do a lot of damage on the charge but you do your best damage in prolonged fights to build up your WAAAAAGH!. An interesting strategy here can be leaving the goblins at home entirely; the enemies considerable speed will be neutralized if everything in your army is a strong fighter that wants to be in melee anyway, and their ranged game is nowhere near strong enough to avoid melee. Just keep your eyes peeled for their monsters; you don't have many options to deal with them and they can cause all manner of problems if you leave them unchecked.

*'''Bretonnia:''' You know how greenskins have a distinct lack of anti-large and anti-air weaponry? You will after fighting Bretonnia. Your best bet is to bring a ton of cheap chaff units to surround their knights and lock them into combat; you benifit from prolonged combat and they suffer in it. Squig Herds and Sneaky Gits are your friend here; they're numerous enough to keep enemy knights in place and do enough anti-armour damage to put the hurt on them. Some skirmishing cavalry is also useful, peasants are one of the only infantry units that your goblins can reliably push around on their own.

*'''Dark Elves:''' It's always interesting to fight an enemy that's as aggressive as you are, and who benefit from a long scrap as much as you do. Dark Elves hit hard and can chase down even your fastest units, so need to be a bit more sneaky to deal with them. Night Goblins can be remarkably useful here; bringing poison and numbers to the fight. Poison is a wonderful tool for whittling Dark Elves down and taking the sting out of their assault. Stone Trolls are great for this battle as they bring magic and missile resistance. And unlike the High Elves, the Dark Elves don't have enough fire damage to reliably counter your trolls. However, they DO have plenty of sources of anti-large, and their Scourgerunners and ap missiles can be very dangerous for your big Arachnaroks and Rogue Idols, so leave them at home unless you're sure you can protect them. Dark Elves have great heavy infantry, but it's expensive for them to bring so you can usually bet on the infantry grind going slightly in your favor. All-in-all Dark Elves are formidable enemies, and make for a very interesting matchup.

*'''Dwarfs:''' An iconic matchup; but also a difficult one for you. The good news is that Dwarfs are too slow and too brave to run from combat, so once you get into melee your WAAAAGH! bar will fill almost constantly. The bad news is actually getting into melee in the first place will blow. You're going to need some fast harassers to disrupt the enemy artillery but most dwarfs will bunker up hard and your wolf and spider riders will struggle to break through. Enter the pump-wagon; cheap enough to be spammed, swift enough to get into combat before being shot to death, and with enough mass to disrupt the enemy's formations with repeated cycle charges. The flapping variety is probably best for this; the increased speed is essential to tying the enemy down ASAP. After that, you gotta bring in your big guys; Black Orcs, Big 'Uns, and Boar cavalry will all wreak havoc on dwarfen lines, especially if you bring some night goblins for the poison debuff. If you really want to bring Grimgor Ironhide in multiplayer this is the matchup to do it; even his mount-less ass can catch a Dwarf, and he's enough of a badass to take whatever they can throw at him and come out on top.

*'''Empire:''' Fighting the Empire can be a hassle because you can never be certain what the enemy is going to bring. One match they could have a solid gunline, next match it's a Bretonnian-style cavalry army. You need to be ready for just about anything; fortunately greenskins have a large and diverse army to choose from. Units like Goblin Spider Archers and Wolf Chariots can fill a large variety of roles and should be strongly considered against the humans, as well as your generalist units like Orc Boyz and Stone Trolls. Regardless of the individual play-style, virtually every Empire army will have a few wizards and artillery in support, so some fast flanking units will always come in handy. Tip: Don't underestimate the worth a unit or two of Nasty Skulkers can bring to the table. Sending out a suicide screen of the little critters to take out the Empire's artillery will seriously hurt them - without having all that much counterplay because of Stalk.

*'''Grand Cathay''': This is going to be pretty similar to playing against Dwarfs or the Empire, falling somewhere between the two in terms of versatility. Bring Wolf or Spider riders once again to screen for your main army and tangle up the enemy gunline. Chariots and monsters may not be the best option for cracking this nut though, given Cathay's plentiful halberd units. Big Un's and Black Orcs will be valuable here, as will goblins with Stalk. Boar Boyz might also be a good investment, as Cathay lacks much in the way of cavalry and is vulnerable to flanking. Your biggest problem are likely to be their large and flying units. Terracotta Sentinels, dragon characters, and Sky Lanterns are all going to be difficult to deal with as you lack both good anti-large and flying units of your own.

*'''Greenskins:''' Greenskin internal battles are both interesting and fluffy; and have a surprising amount of nuance simply due to the varieties of units you can bring. In the most generalist terms greenskins counter each other like a game of rock-paper-scissors: goblins can outmaneuver and poison orcs, orcs have the armor piercing damage to bring down monsters, and monsters can trample goblins with impunity. Obviously there is a little more nuance than that, but as a good rule of thumb everything the greenskins have can be hard countered by a different greenskins unit. Mind your positioning and play your strengths against their weaknesses.

*'''High Elves:''' First things first: leave the savage orcs at home. High Elves have so much magic and fire damage that any savage orcs you bring will crumble in short order. Try to to be aggressive (even more than usual, if possible) because you cannot survive high elf archery for very long. If you're good with micro and map-presence you can do amazing things with Stone Trolls, they can run rampage through any lines as long as you stay away from fire. You don't have any easy way to deal with Dragons or Dragon Princes aside from pinning them down and chewing through them with black orcs and Arachnarok Spiders, so keep them surrounded as soon as you can. Don't let fancy units like Pheonix Guard or Swordmasters of Hoeth intimidate you; if you can get close enough to krump'em, the elves will collapse like a house of cards. But getting close is easier said then done.

*'''Khorne''':

*'''Kislev''':

*'''Lizardmen:''' This matchup is where your general lack of anti-large options and leadership issues tend to become rather apparent. With a multitude of large, armored dinosaurs that bowl through your unarmored infantry and scare the shit out of the survivors in the process, you will have issues if the Lizardmen monsters have free reign over the battlefield. Have an Arachnarok Spider supported by some Orc Boar Big 'Unz to focus down the bigger beasties while you use Goblin Spider Riders to run circles around any skink skirmishers trying to poke and prod your flanks. Aside said skinks, Lizardmen have a noted lack of ranged firepower, so regular archers won't go amiss against the scaly rank and file on their slow approach. Trolls, if you can ensure any Salamanders the lizards may have brought are thoroughly shut down, can often shoulder their way through most of the infantry the Lizardmen have on tap, but you'll need to keep them away from anything bigger than they are.

*'''Norsca:''' An important factor in this matchup is how Norscan Rage compares to greenskin WAAAAAGH! Norscan want to stay in melee combat up to a point, then they start to lose steam and need to break away and recuperate. You pretty much never want to leave melee once your there, and benefit from longer engagements. Pile on the pressure with flanking units and nasty skulkers to keep the enemy locked in combat and grind them out. Your goblins can have a lot of fun against these unarmoured northerners; sneak, skulk and skirmish your way to victory with your brutal cunning and archer cavalry. Keep an eye out for mammoths, though. Your best bet to deal with them are your own monsters, but Norscans are quite good at killing monsters so you'll want to hang back until you've softened their lines up a bit.

*'''Nurgle''': Nurgle is slow, wants to stay in a prolonged fight, has no anti-large at all, has weak fliers, is poorly armoured, has mediocre artillery, and has very little defence against missile attacks. Basically, they're completely fucked. The Waaaagh! is powerful enough to overcome Nurgle's progressively growing debuffs and they have basically no way of dealing with your various methods of skirmishing them. Once you swat down any rotflies, drones, or furies; plague toads and pox riders are pretty easy pickings for the likes of stone trolls and boar boy big 'unz, while the Nurglite main line simply isn't killy enough to win before you krump them.

*'''Ogre Kingdoms''': If the Dwarfs are the immovable object to your irresistble force then the Ogres are the equally irresistible force. Except you're vulnerable to terror routing and bad at stopping charges and the Ogres are nearly all monsters who can cause terror and charge like run-away freight trains. This is one of those match-ups where you just don't have a lot of good options. Ogre leadbelchers and ironblasters will reduce your monsters to mush, basic ogres can simply plough through just about any number of infantry you throw in their way, and Ogres are disturbingly fast for such fat lads. Skirmishing them may be your best bet since Ogres generally have poor armour and bad shields.

*'''Skaven:''' Two words: goblin cavalry. Your orcs will be shot to bits before they can reach the skaven lines, so you'll need to tie them down first. Even the humble wolf riders can reliably beat skaven in melee. But pinning down the enemy line isn't enough to win a battle; bring some orcs (or ideally orc cavalry) to finish the rats off once you've got them trapped. Rock lobbas will also do good in this battle, just make sure they're firing at the right targets.

*'''Slaanesh''':

*'''Tomb Kings:''' Tomb Kings have a lot of big scary constructs, and you aren't that good against anything big or scary. A Black Orc Warboss or two is a must for the immune to psychology bubble, and some ordinary black orcs wouldn't hurt either. You'll need some fast cavalry to intercept enemy artillery, the screaming skull catapult does even more leadership penalties than other catapults and can quickly shatter your lines. You should be very careful with your monsters in this matchup; Tomb King Necrosphinxs can tear your big beasts apart. The one bit of good news is that you don't have to worry about enemy infantry; skellingtons are trash and even your goblins have a decent chance of beating them in combat.

*'''Tzeentch''':

*'''Vampire Coast:''' This is a strange one, because most of your best units struggle whilst your often-forgotten units thrive. Black Orcs and monsters will get shot to pieces before they can get into combat, but your humbler ranged cavalry can cause all manner of headaches for the enemy. This is also one of the few circumstances where you'll want orc archers instead of the cheaper goblins; the increased range is really important when fighting a gunpowder army. Despite the aforementioned flaws with Black Orcs, you will probably want to keep a squad or two around to shore up your frontlines, Immune to Psychology is just too valuable against an undead army. Just keep some chaff in front of them; most guns can't arc their shots and will have to deal with whatever's in front of them first. Leave the Arachnorak Spiders and Rogue Idols at home, though; those two are just to easy to shoot to be worth the cost.

*'''Vampire Counts:''' This is where your low leadership really becomes a problem; you can easily outfight basic Vampire Counts units, but your boyz will often rout anyway from fear. Black Orcs, Squig Herds, and Squig Hoppers are all immune to psychology, and should form the core of your army. This is the match to bring a Rogue Idol, the vampires have to deal with it in melee and that thing gets more dangerous as it gets hurt. Doom Diver catapults are useful here; all artillery is useful against Vampire Counts, but the doom diver is especially good at singling out individual targets. Nothing is more satisfying than watching a VC army crumble because an idiot goblin squished their lord.

*'''Warriors of Chaos:''' There aren't many armies that can reliably beat you in melee. Unfortunately, Chaos Warriors can. Bring plenty of artillery and some spider riders to deal with their hellcannons. You're going to need to soften up the Chaos lines before they reach you, but you can't outrun them forever. Chaos Warriors are a hassle for some, but you've got anti-infantry and anti-armour aplenty, which helps out. Black Orcs are one of the only infantry units that can go toe-to-toe with Chaos Chosen and survive; so be sure to bring some of them. Rogue Idols are also pretty great in this matchup, provided you can keep them safe from hellcannons.

*'''Wood Elves:''' Ouch. Not a very fun matchup; a good Wood Elves player will kite you across the battlefield while whittling you down with shooting. Your goblin cavalry is almost as fast as the wood elven kind, but struggles to keep the bastards pinned down for long enough to let your other guys catch up. Sneaky Skulkers can be useful here to lock the enemy in place with smoke-bombs, but again; you have to get close to use them. A good bet is to focus on goblins over orcs; goblins are faster, have better missile resistance, and have the numbers to overwhelm the enemy and hold them in place. Just watch out for flanking attacks and cavalry charges.

==Campaign Strategies==
===General tips===

The Greenskin campaign is probably the one most determined by your legendary lord. If you're Grom or Skarsnik you can get your goblins good or cheap enough to make most orcs obsolete; Wurzzag will also want to skip normal orcs in favor of the savage kind. Skarsnik can't recruit normal orcs anywhere but Eight Peaks, but he can recruit savage orcs in the southern badlands so he'll probably use of lot of those as well. Grimgor Ironhide is the polar opposite, he is best with elite units of Black Orcs and normal Orc Big 'Uns, with no goblins aside from chaff and disruption. Azhag the Slaughterer is probably the most generalized lord with a focus on magic, which slots nicely into any army you care to bring. Azhag, Grimgor, Skarsnik and Wurzzag all get unique scrap upgrades for certain units, whilst Grom uses his scrap for the cauldron. Aquiring scrap is so easy as to almost be incidental; all your favorite things to do (fighting, raiding, and wrecking towns) all provide scrap, so it will build up pretty well without much trouble. On the other hand, if you need extra scrap it can be hard to get it quickly; in a good greenskin campaign you'll be fighting and raiding as much as you can all the time, so you can't exactly pick up the pace for quick scrap. Plan ahead and keep your priorities straight; Big Thinkin' is more beneficial than upgrades for individual units.
The most important mechanic to learn in the Call to WAAAAGH!, which is already explained in the Universal Traits section. The only thing to mention about that ability is that when your WAAAAGH! reputation goes up you get bonuses to public order and growth. Therefore, it can be beneficial to sit on a full WAAAAGH! bar whilst you gather your forces and tighten your grip on your holdings. It should also be mentioned that Calling a WAAAAGH! isn't really worth it unless your targeting an enemy with strength rating of at least 30; if you don't think your strong enough to take such an enemy, feel free to wait until you're strong enough to go big!

===Specific Campaign Tips===

====Azhag====
* Be '' 'very''' careful with your movements and who you declare war to. It' s very easy to get bogged down and overwhelmed fighting the Empire and Elector Counts, so they should always be on your mind.
* Your victory conditions tell you to destroy Kislev, but Throt/Chaos usually does that for you anyway (and even if they don't Kislev is a somewhat passive faction).
* Alliances with the Von Carstiens (ideally both Vlad and Manfred) are quite useful in the early game, and your bonus diplomacy with vampires helps a great deal. Just keep in mind that you and they are competing for the same territories, so you will probably end up at war sooner or later. Manfred especially has an annoying habit of constantly breaking treaties for no reason, and there isn't much you can do about it.

====Grimgor====
* Try to rush the dwarfs as fast as you can; the longer you let Thorgrim fortify the Silver Road the worse things get for you.
* Form an alliance with Wurzzag as soon as you can to keep your eastern flank safe; you can declare war and beat him in combat to force him into a confederation once you have your other sides secured.
* You don't need to ally with Queek to your south, but you shouldn't provoke him either; you want to focus on expanding north and east to take care of the dwarfs. Do consider intervening if it looks like he is going to kill Wurzzag; you want to keep Wurzzag alive to ensure you can snatch him up later.
* You can also push east and meet with Malus Darkblade; eliminating him gives you several nice ports, while the rest of the Dark Elves and their allies are too far away to stop you.
* Once you've pushed up through the dwarf lines you'll run into Azhag. Just like Wurrzag, ally with him for as long as you need to, then force him into confederacy.
* You can also try to confederate with Grom and Skarsnik if you really want to collect every LL, but they are both pretty out of the way for you and don't give your army much benefit.
* Eight Peaks has a unique structure that boosts Black Orcs, so try to grab it as soon as you can.

====Grom====
* (Eye of the Vortex only) Do be aware that at any point, Eltharion may send an army to come and give you a shit day. Due to your relations with high elves, the rest of Ulthuan and the Knights of Caledor will join suit in his war with you. Be prepared for the Elves to come hunt you down.
* (Mortal Empires only) Don't be fooled by the climate, it's much better to take care of Bretonnia before trying to get to Ulthuan. Letting the knights tech up is a really bad idea, as Greenskins suck at Anti-Large, and you'll need a solid power base before attacking the Donut anyway.

====Skarsnik====
* Obviously, you want to rush Eight Peaks as soon as possible. Feel free to abandon your starting area once you've crossed the river into the badlands; you don't want to spread your armies out too thin.
* Try to kill (or at least cripple) Belegar Ironhammer on your way to Eight Peaks; he'll try to take it from you and you have to kill him anyway as part of your win condition.
* On your path to Eight Peaks you'll run into Wurzzag, try to force him into a confederacy as soon as you can. Not only is he a powerful Legendary Lord, but he controls most of the southern badlands where you can recruit savage orcs, which you'll need to take Eight Peaks.

====Wurzzag====
* Form an alliance with Grimgor ASAP. Your armies consider frozen territory inhospitable, so you don't want to expand north. Having Grimgor as an ally takes the pressure of the northern flanks and lets you focus on the south and west.
* Take out Queek Headtaker as soon as you can; you'll both be fighting for the badlands and he can be very difficult to destroy in the late game.
* You'll be fighting a lot of Tomb Kings and Lizardmen in the south, so consider investing in Black Orc bosses for their leadership bonus.

{{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Vampire Counts

2022-05-15T06:02:09Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Multiplayer Strategies */

This is the tactica for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the Vampire Counts.

==Why Play Vampire Counts?==
*Because you want the realms of the living to drown in the night as the dark creatures consume their souls and bodies.
*Because you really, REALLY wanted Dracula to win in the novel.
*The enemy can't dive your backline if you have no backline!
*Because you aren't quite sick of zombies yet.

===Pros===
*'''God Tier Lords''': Every Lord in your army is a caster of the Lore of Vampires, the strongest lore of magic in the entire game. Combine that with impressive melee stats and incredible mount options across the board, and Vampire Lords are among the most powerful in the entire game. Plus, with all the Bloodlines being playable you have plenty of even more powerful lords to choose from.
*'''Fantastic Heroes''': Vampire Counts also have amazing heroes on both the battlefield and the campaign map. Vampires are casters that can fight almost everything and win using their high melee stats and regen. Wight Kings are superb tanks with high HP, a silver shield, and a nifty anti-infantry bonus. Necromancers are essential both on and off the battlefield, granting AoE regen to allies — improved further and adding a few buffs with a corpse cart mount. Outside of fights, have a group of ten Necromancers with the "Lore Keeper" trait run amongst your cities, granting 100% off construction costs, 100% research rate, and a massive "Boost Income" bonus. Banshees are great agents that have access to "Assassinate", "Damage Walls", and "Block Army". The "Devious" trait gives a stacking boost to action success chance and a lower action cost.
*'''Healing''': Other factions have healing, but you are one of very few that can bring back dead models. This means that casualties aren't the biggest concern in the world for you as you can always just bring them back with a good Invocation of Nehek cast. Pro tip: Don't click that "end battle" button; instead, spend your remaining winds of magic to revive everyone and win the fight with zero casualties.
*'''Cavalry''': Blood Knights are among the best cav in the entire game, and, combined with the ability to revive models, can be oppressive. Even Black Knights are pretty damn good for what they do.
*'''Air Power''': With cheap expendable options like Fell Bats and crazy damage creatures like Vargheists and Terrorgheists, getting control of the sky as the Vampires is pretty easy. Just watch out for missiles and vortexes like tempest designed to kill fliers.
*'''Monsters''': You got plenty of large damage dealing monsters for numerous occasions. From fliers to ground monsters to bats and dogs to harass skirmishers, you got a beast for nearly every occasion.
*'''Inexpensive''': Most of your infantry choices are pretty cheap, which allows you to really lean into your more expensive troops and still have enough cash left over to get frontline to hold them in place. You can expect to outnumber your enemy in most battles, so be sure to use that. An early technology renders zombies and skeletons completely free of upkeep.
*'''High Infantry Models''': The zombie and skeleton units boast one of the highest model counts in the game. Pair that fact with your ability to bring back dead models and you have a blob to reckon with.

===Cons===
*'''No Ranged Units''': None whatsoever in the first game, meaning you are always forced to go all-in; otherwise, the enemy will just pick you apart. You do have plenty of tools to deal with enemy ranged, but you can still feel the inability to put out reliable damage from a distance. It also makes your siege defenses an absolute joke.The second game allows the recruitment of a small number of Sylvanian crossbowmen and handgunners after you unlock a Von Carstein Bloodline lord but they honestly aren't worth it unless you're going up against Drycha and her roided up treemen + treekin. Generally the lack of ranged is for game balance reasons, as VC already have brilliant cavalry, Lords, monsters and excellent high teir infantry. Don't be tempted to download mods like Radious which give you cheap access to ranged as it makes the counts unstoppable and the game dull. Or do it, I'm not your mother.
*'''Flimsy Infantry''': Believe it or not, literal walking corpses animated like puppets don't make the best fighters. While Zombies and Skeletons can hold the line, don't expect them to win without help. Your cav, monsters, heroes, and lords will be doing most of the work in winning the battle while infantry hold the enemy in place. Grave guard are not flimsy at all, but they are a lot more expensive.
*'''Reliance on Lords''': Lords are important in all armies, but yours literally keep your shambling mounds moving and fighting during the battle. If they die, the rest of the army is sure to follow.
*'''Lack of Anti-Large''': Aside from Blood Knights and Skeleton Spearmen, you'll be hard pressed to find anything in your Roster with Anti-Large damage. Facing off against heavy cavalry and monsters is not something you particularly enjoy.
*'''DLC''': Yes, a weakness pretty much everyone has but still worth mentioning. Mortis Engines and Corpse Carts are very useful in your average battle – almost essential – and sadly you need to fork over dough if you want to get these key units.
*'''Slow Infantry''': Zombies, walking skeletons, and possessed suits of armor are slow. Who knew?
*'''PC Killer''': Large number of units with high model counts combined with vampire-focused maps specializing in fog and your frame rate can easily take a dive, even on beefy rigs. The campaign map isn't safe as vampire corruption covers the land in fog and particle effects. Lowering or outright disabling volumetric fog is a must.
*'''Outdated''': A problem that plagues all of the Game 1 factions is that the development of game 2 kind of left them behind. Hopefully we will still see a rework or at least a DLC that fixes some of the worst problems (especially your lack of Anti-Large units). That might be a while though, especially since you are the only game one base race to not get a DLC or FLC and game three will probably prioritize its main factions first. You will eventually get your day though, Nagash and Neferata are too important for CA to leave out forever.
*'''Predictability''': A very similar weakness to the Dwarfs, but in the opposite direction. Where as the lack of mobility or offensive infantry means the Dwarfs can never play offense, your lack of ranged units, artillery or solid defensive infantry means you can never play defense. Experienced players will likely know what you're bringing and be able to counter.

==Universal Traits==

*'''Undead''': Everything you have is undead. Duh. Refer to the general tactics page as to what that means.
*'''The Hunger''': The Hunger gives the unit with it a small regeneration buff as long as it is in melee. All Vampiric units (Your Lords, Vargheists, Blood Knights etc.) have this.
*'''Vampiric Corruption''': One of the core features your faction is based around in the campaign and is spread by a combination of your lords/heroes and buildings you construct in settlements you own. Vampiric Corruption is what keeps your armies stitched together and your people...pacified while your armies march on the lands of the living. Speaking of the land of the living, your armies will suffer attrition while striking out into low corruption provinces that you don't control, meaning you need to move quickly to capture neighboring settlements. You'll also need to remain on site until you can establish yourself; you must endure public order penalties in settlements with low Vampiric Corruption which can quickly lead to revolts should you turn a blind eye. Fortunately, once you have established sufficient Vampiric Corruption in a province, it becomes considerably harder for the living to reclaim it; ''they'' suffer attrition when venturing onto your lands and must spend a considerable amount of time purifying your corruption lest ''they'' have to deal with Vampiric rebellions of their own. Additionally, once Vampiric Corruption reaches high enough levels, it can begin to bleed into neighboring regions, hastening how quickly you can move in.
*'''The Dead rise again!''': After each battle, any unit that is completely wiped out has a fairly high chance to come back to life. It can be a bit random and frustrating at times , but it can't be denied that it nullifies a lot of the attrition Armies far away from your cities suffer over the course of a campaign. Combine this with your free skeletons and Raise Dead and your armies will operate at full strength a lot more often than most other factions armies will. This ability is also unique to the Vampire Counts and no other of the undead factions.
*'''Causes Fear/Causes Terror''': Every single one of your units causes fear, and your monstrous ones as well as your Lords all cause Terror.

==Legendary Lords and Subfactions==

'''[[Mannfred von Carstein]]''': the Legendary vampire Caster Lord himself, having the blender power of an already impressive normal vampire lord plus the full selection of Lore of Vampire and Death. Mannfred is the epitome of a Hybrid Lord; he already starts with a discount Arcane Conduit, and the additional magic power from this alone makes him easily on par with Teclis and Morathi. Unlike these two though, he also is a terrific melee combatant, especially when mounted on a zombie dragon. His access to two full lores is rare and exceptional, plus they are death and vampires some of the best lores.
: Mannfred starts in Sylvania proper with Castle Drakenhof. Starting as him can be a bit tedious, as your close proximity to no less than 4 different major order factions that really hate your guts (Reikland, Karaz-a-Karak, Karak Kadrin and The Golden Order) and the shit economy of the VC combined with ludicrous amounts of money your high tier buildings cost, make sure that you have a pretty bad time on Mortal Empires. Try not to push too aggressively into the Elector Counts that surround you, sow your Corruption and you should be fine, but always try to play it safe.

'''[[Heinrich Kemmler]]''': Would be the worst legendary lord if not for the fact that he can summon Krell. not much to say in MP except he is a necromancer that summon a strong Wight King and if you pay more, can your side win an engagement and not immediately die.
: more interesting in campaigns as he is far removed from the vampiric cluster of Sylvania to spread mayhem to [[Bretonnia]] and [[Reikland]] from Castle [[Drachenfels]] in the Grey Mountains. he starts with two ghost units, has a good relationship with chaos, doesn't need to roll out the corruption carpet to move and improve recruitment of necromancers heros.

'''[[Helman Ghorst]]''' (DLC): He would have been the game's first legendary hero if CA had figured out earlier on how that would work, but he is an alternative starting lord for Sylvania. Despite Kemmler's street cred, Ghorst is actually the best and only necromancer lord you should consider in MP. Has Regen for protection and Should always be on his special Lodestone corpses cart to give out his buffs to his troops and passive DPS. what makes him even more worth the cost is summoning a unit of Grave guard or a Wight king instead of regular undead. All this and his price tag make him the best cost-effective caster choice if your trying to save money on a lord.
:In the campaign, Ghorst is about playing the necromancer, Granting high Replenish and Research rates, bonuses to corpses Carts and Mortics Engines, like them having a bound zombie summon. Helman's own army also gives armor to zombies and all units are given poison attacks, turning your cheap undead into scary bricks early game. he's rather lackluster late game.

'''[[Vlad von Carstein]]''' (FLC): Vlad is perhaps the best melee lord in the entire game, across all factions. He combines a terrific statline with a decent mobility, even on foot, an absurd amount of ward saves that total up to the possible maximum of 90% ''The Hunger, Regeneration and a massive self-heal plus the Lore of Vampires on top of that''. Is there anything that he is weak to? Frankly, fire damage will put a significant dent into his defense line once his abilities are on cooldown as well as being tarpitted (although tarpitting isn't as effective against him as other lords, since he is easily able to slaughter any unit that gets thrown his way) or monstrous creatures, which can keep him busy for a considerable amount of time. Picking Vlad often means for your opponent to play around him and this is something you can and should exploit. better if used as a second lord by Isabella in campaign, his faction benefits are very small (just slightly better campaign movement, vs Isabellas awesome bonuses).
:In the campaign, he and Isabella will be almost as inseparable as the Sisters of Twilight due to their combat buffs when reinforcing each other. he leads one of the opposed VC factions next door to Mannfred's Sylvania. As your starting lord, he Gives improved campaign movement and gives his personal army Siege attacker and army-wide Vanguard to not give the enemies time to mess with you.

'''[[Isabella von Carstein]]''' (FLC): the Alternative starting lord for the Von Carstein campaign, Giving big bonuses for vampire heroes. In MP She is A Vampire lord with supportive ability Giving out improved Offence and Regeneration to herself and other units. Comes with numerous buffs to monster units. She gives way better campaign bonus than vlad and you get him for free anyway so ALWAYS start with her.

'''[[The Red Duke]]''' (FLC, MP only): he is in the campaign but you have to confederate with Mousillon to use him. in MP he is more of a duelist lord then the Blood Dragon lord, with his El Syf hex making a target easy picking and cut though its Physical resistance in comparison to the Blood Dragon that is all in on only melee damage.

==Units==
===Generic Lords===

'''Vampire Lord''': like most of VC, the army is held together by a few strong units with the rest being expendable support. Already a Strong melee fighter, able to blow through most infantry. All that plus he is a caster of the lore of Vampire. In MP, He is already Expensive and paints a big target on his back to get shot down, so only buy what you need on and tray to distribute more of your funds spread across your army. bloodline lords largely make him obsolete.

'''Master Necromancer''': If you were to look up the word "Redundant" in a dictionary you'd find a picture of this dude's face. As a caster lord he's rather pointless because literally, EVERY lord in the Vampire roster comes with the Lore of Vampires, which is about all he brings to the table. I mean I guess he's cheap compared to a vampire but the bonus you get with them more than makeup for the price increase. Worse yet he has to compete with the ''hero'' version of the Necromancer, who literally does the exact same thing this dude does but for cheaper and you can have more than one of them in an army if you want. The Master Necromancer either needs a serious buff/rework to give us a reason to pick him over any Vampire or even the hero version, or he needs to just be removed from the game because honestly, I don't think anyone will miss him.

'''Strigoi Ghoul King (DLC)''': Your single entity hunter compared to the infantry muncher that its a Vampire Lord. Is buck naked for defense except for having Regeneration in addition to the Hunger. Has Poison attacks in addition to High AP plus an ability to a Burst of Even more AP for himself and allies, making him Prime as a Hunter of armored single entities. its Magic setup is a mix of Vampires and Death to help in his leader and hunter role, including a unique spell to summon crypt Ghouls/Horrors for a poisonous goon squad. Can be mounted on a Terrorgheist which Improves his survivability, mobility, and is ready a single entity hunter. also made obsolete by bloodline lords however.

===Bloodline Lords===
You can pretty much ignore the generic lords above because in both campaign and MP there's no reason to take them over these guys.

'''Lahmian Vampire Lord''': Focused on Debuffing, and being hard to hurt in melee. She has a mixed caster of Shadow and Vampire. Her role is using her high speed to jump on enemies and use Seduction to slow them down as they take punishment. also has large bonuses to hero action success rate in campaign.

'''Von Carstein Vampire Lord''': a mix caster of Vampire and beast, and summons a Varghulf instead of a manticore. His Storm of the Night will grant you an edge in the Air superiority matchups. does everything generic vampire lords do but better.

'''Blood Dragon Vampire Lord''': Around one of the best melee characters in-game with all the stats that matter (attack, defense, Ap damage, is a wizard, monstrous mount option). The "weakest" of the Bloodlines in terms of magic (Meaning he just has the pure Lore of Vampires instead of a mixed lore, and no access to Arcane Conduit, so take "weak" with a MASSIVE grain of salt.) his magic skill tree may actually be better than normal since you can get access to later spells with fewer points invested.

'''Necrarch Vampire Lord''': Your caster vampire but not as good in melee as even a normal Vampire Lord. His focus is how good a wizard he is getting a mix of Death/Vampire/ and Beast's Buff and debuff spell, very good at keeping your magic tanks full enough to sustain you, wizard assault. kind of awkward, spell selections are not the best and I would prefer a von carstein lord as a caster honestly, raised dead benefits are good though.

'''Strigoi Vampire Lord''': Upgrade to Ghoul King, granting greater Melee attack and defense. Their AP burst ability is only affected themselves, and get another way to give them a burst of HP. same issues as a normal ghoul king but better overall.

===Heroes===

'''Wight King''': Your standard melee hero and right-hand wight. Overall killy and tough. High melee defense and armour make him exceptionally tanky, and seating him on a barded nightmare makes him a very mobile threat. He works best as a mage hunter or single-entity tarpit for anything nasty with a low model count.

'''Necromancer''': Your main source of additional undead, magic support and staying power so that your forces don't crumble. Can be put on one of the three Corpse Cart mounts for additional boons. Competent caster but keep him away from melee. recommend to skip n campaign and camo them in valuable provinces to boost income, have your lord cast instead.

'''Vampire''': A strong fighter caster hybrid like the lord version. Takes up Shadow and Death, lores not fully covered by other units. Generally speaking, a bit of a glass cannon, although her massive regeneration buffs make her much more durable than equivalent heroes from the elven factions. They also have access to zombie pegassi, so their mobility is exceptional, even for a VC hero. Doomstack very well with Isabella.

'''Banshee''': A terror causing Ghost goon with High AP. She defiantly needs to stay away from magic, but good at gooning. they kinda suck in actual fights, use them on the campaign map as assassins and saboteurs.

'''Krell''' (Kemmler Only): A Wight King with better base stats but, as a summon, cannot equip any items at all and will degrade over time (unless you fill his dedicated line in Kemmler's skill tree). Use him as a quick stop-gaps in your flanks or to wreck havoc in the middle of a blob, but don't expect him to last long.

===Melee Infantry===

*'''Zombies''': Dirt-cheap fodder to tie up your enemy, and you better hope that they do that job right, because they have the lowest stats of any unit in the game to the point where Betonnian Peasant Mobs can defeat them. They got two things going for them, large unit size and hitpoint pool. Skeleton Warriors do their job better for only marginally more money and can even hope to kill some weaker enemies, so it's best to skip them.
MP tier: S. Most competitive builds utilize zombies in some way, either as a super cost efficient frontline/tar-pit, or as a summon to block charges/tangle up ranged units.
**'''The Tithe (RoR)''': Zombies with slightly worse stats who replace Expandable with Meat Shields and have 30 more models.
MP tier: A. For the cost some prefer the extra unit of zombies but they still perform well as tar-pit.
*'''Skeleton Warriors''': Spooky scary skeletons with Swords and shields. A more numerous variant of Empire Swordsmen, basically. Doesn't hit as hard, but is undead and comes with 160 models in one regiment. Comes with a shield for good measure.
MP tier:B. 3x the costs of zombies for slightly more staying power. Useful against missile heavy builds thanks to shields. Can trade fairly against other chaff. can become free upkeep with a tech.

**'''The Konigstein Stalkers (RoR):''' Mostly same stats as above except for having better armor. That and having Poisoned, which makes them a step up compared to normal skellies.
MP tier: C. For the price you might as well get Grave Guard, unless you're doing some weird poison centric list.
*'''Skeleton Spearmen''': Basically identical to normal Skeleton Warriors except that they come with Spears and actually are the only infantry unit you have with a Bonus vs. Large. Not that this matters though, their performance is too bad against anything stronger than Mounted Yeomen. honestly I prefer these in campaign to zombies or warriors, at least they have slightly better MD and bonus vs large but personal preference and matchup will decide which you use most of. If you need a line of chaff, take Spearmen over Warriors or Zombies. can become free upkeep with a tech.
MP tier: B. Slightly sturdier skeletons with anti-large.
*'''Crypt Ghouls''': Cheap counter-infantry that works well against other low-level infantry. Have high damage, poisoned attacks, but their low armor makes them fragile (especially against units that can reliably fight them). Use them against units like Skaven Slaves, Goblins and other low-tier infantry. Don't pit them against better units like Chaos Warriors for these will turn them into minced meat. better in campaign then MP, but still get left behind later on, where as skeletons and zombies may stay as chaff all game long in campaign. once skeletons are free upkeep I cant see any reason to use them.
MP tier: C. Has interesting capabilities, but is in an odd place price wise. Is it really worth 5 zombies/2/3s a Grave Guard?
**'''The Feasters in the Dusk (RoR)''': Same as above, but with Stalk and Vanguard. This makes them perfect for flanking and war machine hunting.
MP tier: C. Basically a sneaky/killy/slower version of bats/dire pack. Slightly more survivable.
*'''Grave Guard''': Spookier, scarier Skeletons. A straight, if a bit expensive upgrade from Skeleton Warriors and your go to choice for your main line in the late game. Their bonus vs. Infantry combined with decent armour and a shield make them formidable opponents that have little trouble with handling most other standard infantry.
MP tier: A. If you're looking for a sturdier frontline, this is it. Fares well against most low-armor infantry, can hold the line for quite some time.
**'''The Sternsmen (RoR)''': Beefed-up Grave Guard with additional Regeneration and Charge Defence Against All. Put them as the core of your force the moment you get them.
MP tier: S. Worth every penny. With support they'll usually last the whole fight.
*'''Grave Guard with Greatweapons''': It's in the name. Your dedicated can openers for dealing with armored infantry and anything in between. lack luster source of armor piercing, having worse stats than the shielded version. honestly you have many better sources of AP, they aren't very good in campaign, vargeists and hexwraiths/cairn wraiths are usually better.
MP tier: A. Vulnerable to missiles and a bit pricey, but allows your frontline to grind down most enemy forces. Can provide good support against armored monsters/cav, just don't use them to soak up a charge.
*'''Cairn Wraiths''': High phys resist and high armor piercing damage makes them your goto infantry for dealing with heavy armor piercing infantry like black orks who will eat grave guards for breakfast. They're completely terrible in every other way, trade terribly vs chaff units, and evaporate the moment anything that deals magic damage looks at them funny. much better in campaign than multiplayer, the AI often doesnt counter then correctly, but hexwraiths may be a straight upgrade to these in many ways.
MP tier: B. Good mobile tarpit, can chip away at most armored foes. Don't expect high damage output, and if the enemy has any magic damage (as is common in MP) be prepared to watch them dissolve.

===Cavalry & Beasts===

*'''Dire Wolves''': CA sure love their Wolf units. The archetypical wolf pack which all the others are modeled after. High speed, strider, vanguard deployment and a decent charge bonus make them your very flexible and reliable backline harrasser unit. At least against backlines that don't like being harassed, anything above the level of Empire Crossbowmen or Skavenslaves eats them for breakfast if left unsupervised. Can be a force to reckoned with if handled properly, but if you don't like microing around a lot, you're better off going for real cavalry later in the campaign.
MP Tier: B. In a slow faction with no ranged threats, a fast vanguard threat is invaluable for backline harassment. Useful for chasing off routing units as well.
**'''The Direpack (RoR)''': Same as above but with additional anti-large. It's not significant, but can make a difference when assaulting low-tier cavalry.
MP Tier: C. Anti-large is nice, but lack of AP and high price tag make this a more situational pick.
*'''Fell Bats''': Dire Wolves, but flying! Fell Bats don't really kill anything on their own, but their high mass means that anything they catch will be occupied with them for quite some time. Can be irritating as fuck when used right, but don't get attached to any one unit of them, because they lose against everything. one of those rare early game units that remain useful all game long in campaign.
MP tier: A. Flying tar-pit. Surprisingly survivable in melee due to high MD, fantastic price for how much disruption they cause, a must take against certain factions.
*'''Black Knights''': Now we're getting into the good stuff. Standard Black Knights have the interesting distinction that they are the only proper cavalry in the game that focuses on dealing damage against infantry. Decent armour, melee defense and a bonus against footsoldiers mean that they will execute this job very well, and to make the package complete, they are also very nimble.
MP tier: B. A heavily armored dire wolves. Good for backline harassment, and flank/rear charges. Not a lot of killing power for head on engagements, but is sturdy enough to tangle up more expensive enemy cav/monsters due to it's high armor/mass.
*'''Black Knights (Lances and Barding)''': Have extra armor with a much higher charge bonus because of the lance. Naturally in-between the high damage potential but expensive Blood Knights and the cheapness of Black Knights.
MP tier: C. Charge damage is potent, but lack of AP and shield as well as higher price tag make this unit tricky to use efficiently.
**'''Verek's Reavers (RoR)''': Same as above, but with Regeneration, thus giving this RoR extra survivability.
MP tier: B. Regen is nice.
*'''Hexwraiths''': Mounted Cairn Wraiths with a blistering 94 speed, flaming attacks, and vanguard. like all ghosts, they are very offensive with High ap damage and Terror but crumble quickly with their only defense being a 75% Physical Resistance. Useful at cutting up knights without magic attacks. Easier to use in campaign vs the AI.
MP tier: Situational A. In most situations this unit would be B tier, due to price and prevalence of magic in MP, as well as middling killing power. However Hexwraiths are actually a surprisingly effective elite cav hunter, and can even defeat dedicated anti-large cav like demigryphs!
*'''Blood Knights''': Widely considered to be one of the best Cav units in the game in terms of cost efficiency. It already has meaty stats with a massive charge bonus and anti large, making it a perfect anti cav/monster tool, but add on top of that Frenzy and it will maul anything it charges. They also have a great for of self sustain in The Hunger. The best part about them by far is the ability to bring back dead models so while they will lose one on one to Grail Knights and Demigryphs, you can always bring back casualties. Their only big weakness is their lack of AP.
MP tier: A. Only reason they aren't S tier is lack of AP. Has a home in many competitive lists.

===Chariots===

*'''Corpse Cart''' (DLC): Called a Chariot but actually a slow-moving buffing unit. Usually, only see base or with Unholy Lodestone for cheap base melee buff or additional regeneration. Balefire nerfs enemy wizards' ability to cast, but that's often hard to get much value from. If you're running a mobile army they are way too slow to keep up. You should stop using them in the campaign's late game. Use a Mortis Engine instead for a similar role, but better.
*'''Black Coach''': An unstoppable engine of destruction if you're into cycle charging. Extremely quick, fire, magic and AP damage at once and to top it off, also causes fear and terror. It has a bunch of passive abilities that make it much better at leaving unfavorable encounters, however, it is quite susceptible to being intercepted by other heavy cav, utterly useless against big monsters and also quite expensive. Bringing one is quite the gamble, but at least a fun one.
*'''Mortis Engine''' (DLC): The biggest gun the counts have on offer and a downright terrifying one. Mortis Engines are basically upgraded, ethereal corpse carts that not only buff up your undead minions to unholy strength, but also sap the HP of the enemies frontline. They might be slow, but are scary and big targets, and them being ethereal also means that it is quite the hassle for your opponent to get rid of it.
**'''The Claw of Nagash (RoR)''': Everything that makes the Mortis Engine great, but with the addition of a Chilling Aura that slows enemies around it to make it more difficult to escape its AoE damage aura.

===Monsters===

*'''Vargheists''': They might not look like much, but are actually one of the most cost-effective monstrous infantry in the game. For a meager cost of 700 gold, you get a flying, fairly fast regiment of creatures with Frenzy and The Hunger, that also delivers a tremendous beating with 80 weapon strength, decent melee attack and AP damage. Vargheists will carry your early game armies well into the lategame. Their flight allows them to only pick encounters of your choosing and they certainly have little trouble shutting down enemy flyers that might come your way. take multiple units and keep them cycle charging from the rear to keep them alive.
**'''The Devils of Swartzhafen (RoR)''': Vargheists with Terror and Vanguard, which makes them into even more useful shock troops.
*'''Crypt Horrors''': Vargheists, but with poison, and on the ground. Actually not half bad. They retain a good weapon strength and still get AP damage. If you can't win the air battle, Crypt Horrors aren't that bad of a choice, actually.
*'''Varghulf''': This is an iffy one. On campaign, they're absurdly hard to get for a unit with such low survivability. On the other hand, they can reliably engage all infantry in the game and come out on top. Needs good micro and some attention. When they are exposed to things with bonuses against large, they just melt away. hit and run with them for maximum effect, they do it very well.
*'''Terrorgheist''': If a ranged unit starts attacking them, the breath attack is ready and the said unit is not immune to Terror then burn them, sometimes those two alone are enough to make the ranged unit rout. a specialized, regenerating anti large ap monster, ok vs infantry but really best used on large targets/monsters. breath is wasted on infantry, hit single entities with it.

===Campaign Only===

*'''Sylvanian Crossbowmen''': Identical to Empire Crossbowmen, providing you with much-needed ranged fire. Running out of morale makes them rout, which will affect the morale of undead units as well.
*'''Sylvanian Handgunners''': Identical to Empire Handgunners, providing you with much-needed ranged fire. Running out of morale makes them rout, which will affect the morale of undead units as well.

==Tactics==

===Multiplayer Strategies===
You are currently THE fear faction, as obvious as it may seem. Your armies of spookiness are designed to take advantage of enemy leadership and get them to shit themsleves and run off the field. Your powerful Lords and monsters also act as nice encouragement to get them to flee. Generally your plan in most battles is to invest in your Lord, a few strong units like Blood Knights or Terrorgheists, then spend literally everything else on chaff. Have your chaff soak up enemy fire then use your OP healing to keep your actually important units alive. Better scare them off fast too before they start stabbing your skellies and zombos and realize "Hey, these things are actually really easy to kill." Keep your Lord alive to, for if they die, the game is pretty much over. Anywho, here's how to pilot the champions of the night:

*'''Beastmen''': What used to be one of your best matchups is now one of your worst and it's due entirely to two monsters -- Ghorgons and Jabberslythes. You rely on drowning your enemies in a tide of zombies and skeletons while your characters and monsters do the work of actually killing things. The Ghorgon will kick the crap out of all of your monsters one-on-one, even the anti-large Terrorgheist. The Jabberslythe has its own Mortis Engine effect and a poison vortex that let it chew through hordes of zombies like a puppy through a bowl of kibble. The good news is Beastmen have terrible leadership, low armor and aren't great at winning a war of attrition. Lore of Death is very good against them and be sure focus down any Wargors who might be buffing the leadership of their infantry. Drown Jabberslythes in a mix of Skeleton Spears and zombies, ideally backed up by a Corpse Cart; they might not win but you can slow the Jabber down. Beware of the occasional Bestigor build designed to counter tarpits. Deal with any Ghorgons quickly, ''especially'' the Bloodbrute Behemoth, as they not only can kill your monsters but the Bloodbrute in particular poses a big threat to your lords. Blood Knights, Terrorgheists, debuffs, magic missiles, throw them all at that four-armed cow until it goes down or runs away. Be sure not to bring any ethereal units in this matchup; the Jabber's madness aura deals magic damage.

*'''Bretonnia''': On the one hand, Bretonnia is a pain because they field a lot of cavalry and you lack anti-large. On the other hand Blood Knights are one of the few cavalry units that can take on Grail Knights and win, especially since they can be resurrected while The Lady's simps cannot. Bretonnia's front line probably hasn't eaten more than one potato in the last week so they're pretty easy to roll over with zombies and skeletons, but one or two Grave Guard and a Corpse Cart can give you a good core to fall back on. Bring a few bats or wolves to take out archers and a Wight King or two can fend off Paladins. Bring a few bats or wolves to take out archers and the occasional trebuchet.

*'''Chaos Warriors''': This matchup has all the complexity of a 6-year old smacking Bionicles into each other in his room. It's one of your best matchups because you have 3 HUGE advantages that turn the game in your favor: Fear/terror, Mobility, and Magic. Chaos is reliant on it's slow-moving infantry and monsters, which tend to have pretty middling leadership. This means that their heavy hitters are generally much easier to tarpit than other factions. Since every single unit in your roster causes fear (and many cause terror) this can really add up and cause early routs on key enemy units. You also have the mobility to dick Chaos around all day, and they really have very few options to do anything about it. The units they have that can keep up (like skirmish cav and hounds) really don't have much in the way of killing power. Finally, you have healing. They don't. Invocation of Nehek means you can make even less favorable trades go your way by regenerating models which can pay huge dividends over the course of a battle. Blood Knights are an EXCELLENT pick in this matchup due to their mobility, and they are probably one of the best responses to Chaos' large units. Mortis Engines can really get some work done as well, since you don't have to worry much about it being shot up by missiles. Ethereal units can make the Chaos gods cry if played right, because Chaos has pretty limited sources of magic damage (though you'll still have to worry about lore of fire). Invest heavily in your lord, play aggressively during the skirmish phase (you definitely want to take cav fights!), and do a good job of avoiding their big monsters (Chaos' best option here is usually Shaggoths), and you'll easily be able show the Warhammer world what a pussy-whipped failure Archaon really is.

*'''Dark Elves''': Ironically, all that AP damage is actually wasted, since most of your units are pretty lightly armored. What you're really going to have to worry about are their monsters and anti-large. Their army is quite squishy, and your monstrous infantry and cavalry will have a grand old time stomping on most of their infantry options (though watch out for Black Guard, which can take out your cav and monsters, and still have time for coffee at the end). You can absorb a lot of their missile play with chaff, or use summons to take their Darkshards and Shades out quickly. Make sure to do so before they can get their shots in to your lord or monsters though! Crypt Horrors or Vargheists can also be good for taking them out. Scourgerunners will kite most of your monsters to kingdom come, so bog them down with bats or wolves as soon as you get the chance. Your cavalry can easily outmatch theirs most of the time, but Doomfire Warlocks can be a problem with their bound doombolt spell. The worst units to deal with are their monsters. Kharybdiss can spell doom for many of your better units, but is pretty slow and easy to tarpit. Black Dragons can also be a problem in the air, and many of their lords have them as a mount option. Murderous Prowess also means you can't get the Dark Elves to rout as easily as most of the other factions which can be a very big deal, so make sure you're playing a longer game, and pay attention when it procs.

*'''Dwarfs''': No lies, this is not going to be fun for you. Dwarfs are tough, have great ranged/artillery options, are resistant to magic, and their leadership is so high your fear and terror effects aren't as useful. Fortunately they're super reliant on protecting their back line and aren't great at dealing with large units in melee. Wolves, bats and Vargheists will serve you well here in shutting down their ranged units, Black Coaches can mow down Dwarf infantry for days, and your cavalry can almost always pick optimal engagements. Ethereal units are kind of a mixed bag; dwarfs don't have a lot of access to magic damage but their magic resistance makes it harder for your ghosts to hurt them. A few Grave Guard with Great Weapons can help get through all that dwarf armor but don't over-invest in them. Your biggest challenge will simply be reaching the dwarfs without taking too much damage. If the dwarfs have any characters mounted on Anvils of Doom (especially Thorek) be careful with your casters; if they cast spells too close to those guys they'll eat automatic miscast damage.

*'''Empire''': You can bring a similar build to Bretonnia, mainly zombies/skellies, blood knights, a few bats and wolves, maybe a corpse cart and a couple of Wight Kings. Try to avoid letting anything important get bogged down fighting Flagellants, summon zombies on their back lines, and try to kill their lords and Warrior Priests so your Fear and Terror affects can have maximum impact. Never underestimate the strength of pinning an enemy lord between a zombie summon and a blood knight charge. If Outriders and Pistoliers make your life hell then throw bats at them until they go away.

*'''Greenskins''': Greenskins have few anti-large units, other than archers, which means a Varghulf or some Crypt Horrors are a good idea. This is especially true since Greenskins have shit leadership and Terror routs are very effective against them. Watch out for Black Orcs or Squigs though, as they all have Immune to Psychology. Unfortunately you ''also'' don't have a lot of great anti-large options and the Greenskins have plentiful monsters. You want a mix of Grave Guard (especially Great Weapons) to deal with Black Orcs, along with zombies or skeletons to tarpit everything else. Greenskins love their skirmish cav, tie them up with bats if you can.

*'''Grand Cathay''':

*'''High Elves''': You're one of the few armies that can contest the sky against the High Elves, though it's a risky proposition. With dragons, phoenixes, and Alarielle breaking out the Tempest spell it's very easy to lose the air war with a few bad engagements. Consider bringing the generic Von Carstein lord. His Varghulf summon will mess up the High Elf backline and he has his own version of Tempest that can prove decisive in clearing the skies. All your big flyers have their uses here, but you probably don't want to invest in both them and cavalry so pick one or the other. Big ground monsters will be magnets for arrows so maybe leave them at home. Focus on overwhelming the ground forces with cheap infantry and the usual bats and wolves combo. You'll be beating their elite troops with either your flying circus or some Blood Knights.

*'''Khorne''': This is going to be a bad matchup for you. Bloodthirsters will beat the pants off of your monsters, the Skull Cannon will run circles around you, and if you try to drown them in chaff they'll just laugh in blood and skulls. Grave Guard with great weapons will be needed just for some AP. Forget the bats and wolves, bring Terrorgheists and Vargheists, you need armor piercing ant anti-large. They are absolutely going to try to goon your lord, so maybe put them on a Hellsteed just to keep out of reach. Black Coaches might be useful for running over Chaos Warriors and Blood Knights might not hit as hard as Khorne's cav but at least they can be healed and resurrected. All in all, it looks like you might have to go tight and elite to match the same thing.

*'''Kislev''':

*'''Lizardmen''': Good news, you don't care about their big, scary monsters because your undead soldiers will never run away from them. In fact, you're one of the best armies in the game when it comes to tarpitting them. Bad news, their big, scary monsters will generally slaughter most of your forces without a care in the world if you don't focus them down once they're in battle. Having said that, your first and biggest concern when facing a Lizardmen army will be their casters. Fire and Light Slann, in addition to Heavens Skink Priests, will utterly decimate your lines with their myriad of vortex spells. Slann in particular, due to having Banishment as a bound spell, will be your biggest concern. To this end, the first effective counter is to spread your forces out. Additionally, (Ancient) Salamanders and (Sacred) Kroxigors will be secondary targets due to their flaming/magical attacks being tailor made to ruin your day. If you can take out most of the Lizard magic, Hexwraiths will actually get some solid work done against their armored frontlines and cavalry. Skeleton Spears will be your desired chaff infantry; though more expensive than regular zombies, their spears will enable them to get not-inconsequential chip damage against the monsters they're tying down and their shields give them a bit more staying power against skink skirmishers and even Salamander Hunting Packs.

*'''Norsca''': This can be a rough one. You might think 'Well, the Chaos matchup is pretty favorable, why not Norsca?' The answer to that question is mobility. Norsca is fast enough to keep up, and their constant pressure can wear you down if they are played well. Their skirmish cav will drive you to insanity if you don't manage to shut them down with bats or wolves, their infantry (and monstrous infantry) can go toe-to-toe with yours, and their monsters simply counter yours in most cases. Mammoths in particular are an absolute nightmare for your battle lines to deal with, and you don't have many ways to shut them down quickly. Skin Wolves and Marauder Javelins can take the fight out of your monsters in an instant, and they usually have an easy time positioning their anti-large units to take down your elite cavalry since you can't apply pressure at range. Your best bet is to try and leverage your magic to get their monsters to rout early; perhaps with a death wizard that has spells like spirit leech or doom & darkness. You can typically outfight them in the skies (with the Frost-wyrm being expensive and rather squishy) so use that advantage to the fullest to shut down their ranged (if they bring any) or pick off their skirmish cav. It's a hard matchup for sure, but not impossible.

*'''Nurgle''':

*'''Ogre Kingdoms''':

*'''Skaven''': This matchup kind of sucks, but you do have a few tools to make it work in your favor. Skaven have a ludicrous number of guns built to suit virtually every battlefield need, many of which are either magical, armor-piercing, shield breaking or some unholy combination of the above. They also have artillery and missile units (Warplock Jezzails) that excel at sniping single entities, like the lord holding your shambling forces together. Fortunately, Skaven are rather skittish and have a relative lack of cavalry. Black/Blood Knights and Vargheists can quickly tie down artillery and gunlines while your fear and terror causing wall of meat and bone close in. In fact, their complete lack of an aerial presence will give your flying forces effectively free reign to pick their engagements. But check their casters before committing your fliers. If the skaven brought lore of ruin, they can snare your air units with howling warpgale and shoot them to pieces.

*'''Slaanesh''': Hey look, another faction that thinks ranged units are for pussies! Due to that, there really isn't much reason to invest in Bats and Wolves since there isn't much of a backline to dive. They're are much faster but also much squishier than you, so your goal here is to win a war of attrition. Make sure whoever your lord is has a flying mount, as due to the lack of missiles and only having Furies as fliers, so if they can fly and heal you're in a good spot. Your ground forces should comprise of Zombies whos sole job is to hold whatever deviants get thrown at them in place. Your killing force should go to your airforce, as Slaanesh doesn't really have a lot of ways to contest them. Vargheist and Terrorgheists should be able to choose their engagements and as long as you can keep them from getting pinned you can have them avoid their bad match ups. Bloodknights won't catch their cav but if you can pin them in they should be able to tear apart any Seekers or Hellriders they can get their hands on/

*'''Tomb Kings''': The Counts have an edge over their Nehekaran brethren. Since the Counts are likely the best rush faction in the game, shutting down their artillery and missiles should be second nature. Fliers really matter in this matchup, since all the Tomb Kings have in the skies is the piss-weak Carrion. The Vampires are far superior in the infantry grind (Although Tomb Kings Monstrous infantry is a different story, with Sepulchral Stalkers and Ushabti being a huge pain in the undead behind to deal with), and have an edge in the cavalry matchup (though Necropolis Knights can threaten). The biggest stumbling block is the Tomb Kings constructs, which can be seriously tough if not dealt with effectively. Luckily, you do have a few armor piercing options like Hexwraiths or Blood Knights to counter, or failing that, you can usually shut them down with your lords or hero units. However, watch out for the Necrosphinx with it's ludicrous bonus vs. large. You really just want to lean into the rush element of the VC army, since if the Tomb Kings can withstand your initial assault, things can turn very bad for you.

*'''Tzeentch''':

*'''Vampire Coast''': Once you close the distance, the coast turns into mush. The trick is getting there without getting shot half to hell. In this matchup, a more mobile build will be to your advantage. Make sure you're using your environment, and don't feed too much into their skirmish game. It's tough to bring monsters against coast cause they can get shot full of holes before the battle has even started. The Varghulf CAN work if micro'd well but it's pretty risky and Terrorgheists and Mortis Engines are a HUGE no-no. Trees are helpful to keep your units from getting shot, and you can usually outmatch them in the skies and with cavalry. You're going to need to rely on those fliers and cav for your killing potential, so if there was ever a time to drop that extra money on a unit of Black Knights or Blood Knights, it's this matchup. Also, Ethereal units don't tend to work out great because the coast has a good few units with magical attacks.

*'''Vampire Counts''': Skip the bats and wolves this time, they're no use here. You're both going to be tearing your hair out over how to deal with the other's big monsters. Victory will probably come down to who can snipe the other's lord first.

*'''Wood Elves''': You know the "We have more bodies than they have ammunition" quote? Well, the wood elves have more ammunition than you have bodies and they're fast enough to stay three steps away from your rotting soldiers at all times, so don't try your usual Infantry blob + Wind of Death combo. Bring some Dire Wolves and/or Fell Bats to run down Glade Guard and Waywatchers and bring out the heavy hitters; Black Knights and Blood Knights are likely going to be your go-to core; they're fast enough to catch up to and slaughter any wood elven infantry while Blood Knights can actually tangle quite well with Wild Riders/Great Stag Knights, so long as they're not the ones getting hit by the initial charge. This is also one of the matchups a Black Coach can actually get some solid work done, if the Wood Elven player has any Dryads/Tree Kin on the field. You'll want to shy away from bringing any ethereal units against them; Tree units don't give a shit and several of their ranged units happen to be packing magical arrows.

===Campaign Strategies===

* You don't have any artillery or ranged units, so be ready for sieges to take longer, & for siege assaults to have more casualties as you scale walls & storm gates.
* Create a fortified Northern boundary for the inevitable Chaos/Norsca invasion.
* Establishing good diplomatic relations with ''anyone'' will be a challenge. Don't expect trade agreements with anyone besides Mousillon.
** On the other hand Vlad now has an easier time with the Empire due to one of his new skills giving him a whooping +40 to relationship with Franz and co, so at least this part will be less of a harrow.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Vampire Counts

2022-05-15T06:01:00Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Multiplayer Strategies */

This is the tactica for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the Vampire Counts.

==Why Play Vampire Counts?==
*Because you want the realms of the living to drown in the night as the dark creatures consume their souls and bodies.
*Because you really, REALLY wanted Dracula to win in the novel.
*The enemy can't dive your backline if you have no backline!
*Because you aren't quite sick of zombies yet.

===Pros===
*'''God Tier Lords''': Every Lord in your army is a caster of the Lore of Vampires, the strongest lore of magic in the entire game. Combine that with impressive melee stats and incredible mount options across the board, and Vampire Lords are among the most powerful in the entire game. Plus, with all the Bloodlines being playable you have plenty of even more powerful lords to choose from.
*'''Fantastic Heroes''': Vampire Counts also have amazing heroes on both the battlefield and the campaign map. Vampires are casters that can fight almost everything and win using their high melee stats and regen. Wight Kings are superb tanks with high HP, a silver shield, and a nifty anti-infantry bonus. Necromancers are essential both on and off the battlefield, granting AoE regen to allies — improved further and adding a few buffs with a corpse cart mount. Outside of fights, have a group of ten Necromancers with the "Lore Keeper" trait run amongst your cities, granting 100% off construction costs, 100% research rate, and a massive "Boost Income" bonus. Banshees are great agents that have access to "Assassinate", "Damage Walls", and "Block Army". The "Devious" trait gives a stacking boost to action success chance and a lower action cost.
*'''Healing''': Other factions have healing, but you are one of very few that can bring back dead models. This means that casualties aren't the biggest concern in the world for you as you can always just bring them back with a good Invocation of Nehek cast. Pro tip: Don't click that "end battle" button; instead, spend your remaining winds of magic to revive everyone and win the fight with zero casualties.
*'''Cavalry''': Blood Knights are among the best cav in the entire game, and, combined with the ability to revive models, can be oppressive. Even Black Knights are pretty damn good for what they do.
*'''Air Power''': With cheap expendable options like Fell Bats and crazy damage creatures like Vargheists and Terrorgheists, getting control of the sky as the Vampires is pretty easy. Just watch out for missiles and vortexes like tempest designed to kill fliers.
*'''Monsters''': You got plenty of large damage dealing monsters for numerous occasions. From fliers to ground monsters to bats and dogs to harass skirmishers, you got a beast for nearly every occasion.
*'''Inexpensive''': Most of your infantry choices are pretty cheap, which allows you to really lean into your more expensive troops and still have enough cash left over to get frontline to hold them in place. You can expect to outnumber your enemy in most battles, so be sure to use that. An early technology renders zombies and skeletons completely free of upkeep.
*'''High Infantry Models''': The zombie and skeleton units boast one of the highest model counts in the game. Pair that fact with your ability to bring back dead models and you have a blob to reckon with.

===Cons===
*'''No Ranged Units''': None whatsoever in the first game, meaning you are always forced to go all-in; otherwise, the enemy will just pick you apart. You do have plenty of tools to deal with enemy ranged, but you can still feel the inability to put out reliable damage from a distance. It also makes your siege defenses an absolute joke.The second game allows the recruitment of a small number of Sylvanian crossbowmen and handgunners after you unlock a Von Carstein Bloodline lord but they honestly aren't worth it unless you're going up against Drycha and her roided up treemen + treekin. Generally the lack of ranged is for game balance reasons, as VC already have brilliant cavalry, Lords, monsters and excellent high teir infantry. Don't be tempted to download mods like Radious which give you cheap access to ranged as it makes the counts unstoppable and the game dull. Or do it, I'm not your mother.
*'''Flimsy Infantry''': Believe it or not, literal walking corpses animated like puppets don't make the best fighters. While Zombies and Skeletons can hold the line, don't expect them to win without help. Your cav, monsters, heroes, and lords will be doing most of the work in winning the battle while infantry hold the enemy in place. Grave guard are not flimsy at all, but they are a lot more expensive.
*'''Reliance on Lords''': Lords are important in all armies, but yours literally keep your shambling mounds moving and fighting during the battle. If they die, the rest of the army is sure to follow.
*'''Lack of Anti-Large''': Aside from Blood Knights and Skeleton Spearmen, you'll be hard pressed to find anything in your Roster with Anti-Large damage. Facing off against heavy cavalry and monsters is not something you particularly enjoy.
*'''DLC''': Yes, a weakness pretty much everyone has but still worth mentioning. Mortis Engines and Corpse Carts are very useful in your average battle – almost essential – and sadly you need to fork over dough if you want to get these key units.
*'''Slow Infantry''': Zombies, walking skeletons, and possessed suits of armor are slow. Who knew?
*'''PC Killer''': Large number of units with high model counts combined with vampire-focused maps specializing in fog and your frame rate can easily take a dive, even on beefy rigs. The campaign map isn't safe as vampire corruption covers the land in fog and particle effects. Lowering or outright disabling volumetric fog is a must.
*'''Outdated''': A problem that plagues all of the Game 1 factions is that the development of game 2 kind of left them behind. Hopefully we will still see a rework or at least a DLC that fixes some of the worst problems (especially your lack of Anti-Large units). That might be a while though, especially since you are the only game one base race to not get a DLC or FLC and game three will probably prioritize its main factions first. You will eventually get your day though, Nagash and Neferata are too important for CA to leave out forever.
*'''Predictability''': A very similar weakness to the Dwarfs, but in the opposite direction. Where as the lack of mobility or offensive infantry means the Dwarfs can never play offense, your lack of ranged units, artillery or solid defensive infantry means you can never play defense. Experienced players will likely know what you're bringing and be able to counter.

==Universal Traits==

*'''Undead''': Everything you have is undead. Duh. Refer to the general tactics page as to what that means.
*'''The Hunger''': The Hunger gives the unit with it a small regeneration buff as long as it is in melee. All Vampiric units (Your Lords, Vargheists, Blood Knights etc.) have this.
*'''Vampiric Corruption''': One of the core features your faction is based around in the campaign and is spread by a combination of your lords/heroes and buildings you construct in settlements you own. Vampiric Corruption is what keeps your armies stitched together and your people...pacified while your armies march on the lands of the living. Speaking of the land of the living, your armies will suffer attrition while striking out into low corruption provinces that you don't control, meaning you need to move quickly to capture neighboring settlements. You'll also need to remain on site until you can establish yourself; you must endure public order penalties in settlements with low Vampiric Corruption which can quickly lead to revolts should you turn a blind eye. Fortunately, once you have established sufficient Vampiric Corruption in a province, it becomes considerably harder for the living to reclaim it; ''they'' suffer attrition when venturing onto your lands and must spend a considerable amount of time purifying your corruption lest ''they'' have to deal with Vampiric rebellions of their own. Additionally, once Vampiric Corruption reaches high enough levels, it can begin to bleed into neighboring regions, hastening how quickly you can move in.
*'''The Dead rise again!''': After each battle, any unit that is completely wiped out has a fairly high chance to come back to life. It can be a bit random and frustrating at times , but it can't be denied that it nullifies a lot of the attrition Armies far away from your cities suffer over the course of a campaign. Combine this with your free skeletons and Raise Dead and your armies will operate at full strength a lot more often than most other factions armies will. This ability is also unique to the Vampire Counts and no other of the undead factions.
*'''Causes Fear/Causes Terror''': Every single one of your units causes fear, and your monstrous ones as well as your Lords all cause Terror.

==Legendary Lords and Subfactions==

'''[[Mannfred von Carstein]]''': the Legendary vampire Caster Lord himself, having the blender power of an already impressive normal vampire lord plus the full selection of Lore of Vampire and Death. Mannfred is the epitome of a Hybrid Lord; he already starts with a discount Arcane Conduit, and the additional magic power from this alone makes him easily on par with Teclis and Morathi. Unlike these two though, he also is a terrific melee combatant, especially when mounted on a zombie dragon. His access to two full lores is rare and exceptional, plus they are death and vampires some of the best lores.
: Mannfred starts in Sylvania proper with Castle Drakenhof. Starting as him can be a bit tedious, as your close proximity to no less than 4 different major order factions that really hate your guts (Reikland, Karaz-a-Karak, Karak Kadrin and The Golden Order) and the shit economy of the VC combined with ludicrous amounts of money your high tier buildings cost, make sure that you have a pretty bad time on Mortal Empires. Try not to push too aggressively into the Elector Counts that surround you, sow your Corruption and you should be fine, but always try to play it safe.

'''[[Heinrich Kemmler]]''': Would be the worst legendary lord if not for the fact that he can summon Krell. not much to say in MP except he is a necromancer that summon a strong Wight King and if you pay more, can your side win an engagement and not immediately die.
: more interesting in campaigns as he is far removed from the vampiric cluster of Sylvania to spread mayhem to [[Bretonnia]] and [[Reikland]] from Castle [[Drachenfels]] in the Grey Mountains. he starts with two ghost units, has a good relationship with chaos, doesn't need to roll out the corruption carpet to move and improve recruitment of necromancers heros.

'''[[Helman Ghorst]]''' (DLC): He would have been the game's first legendary hero if CA had figured out earlier on how that would work, but he is an alternative starting lord for Sylvania. Despite Kemmler's street cred, Ghorst is actually the best and only necromancer lord you should consider in MP. Has Regen for protection and Should always be on his special Lodestone corpses cart to give out his buffs to his troops and passive DPS. what makes him even more worth the cost is summoning a unit of Grave guard or a Wight king instead of regular undead. All this and his price tag make him the best cost-effective caster choice if your trying to save money on a lord.
:In the campaign, Ghorst is about playing the necromancer, Granting high Replenish and Research rates, bonuses to corpses Carts and Mortics Engines, like them having a bound zombie summon. Helman's own army also gives armor to zombies and all units are given poison attacks, turning your cheap undead into scary bricks early game. he's rather lackluster late game.

'''[[Vlad von Carstein]]''' (FLC): Vlad is perhaps the best melee lord in the entire game, across all factions. He combines a terrific statline with a decent mobility, even on foot, an absurd amount of ward saves that total up to the possible maximum of 90% ''The Hunger, Regeneration and a massive self-heal plus the Lore of Vampires on top of that''. Is there anything that he is weak to? Frankly, fire damage will put a significant dent into his defense line once his abilities are on cooldown as well as being tarpitted (although tarpitting isn't as effective against him as other lords, since he is easily able to slaughter any unit that gets thrown his way) or monstrous creatures, which can keep him busy for a considerable amount of time. Picking Vlad often means for your opponent to play around him and this is something you can and should exploit. better if used as a second lord by Isabella in campaign, his faction benefits are very small (just slightly better campaign movement, vs Isabellas awesome bonuses).
:In the campaign, he and Isabella will be almost as inseparable as the Sisters of Twilight due to their combat buffs when reinforcing each other. he leads one of the opposed VC factions next door to Mannfred's Sylvania. As your starting lord, he Gives improved campaign movement and gives his personal army Siege attacker and army-wide Vanguard to not give the enemies time to mess with you.

'''[[Isabella von Carstein]]''' (FLC): the Alternative starting lord for the Von Carstein campaign, Giving big bonuses for vampire heroes. In MP She is A Vampire lord with supportive ability Giving out improved Offence and Regeneration to herself and other units. Comes with numerous buffs to monster units. She gives way better campaign bonus than vlad and you get him for free anyway so ALWAYS start with her.

'''[[The Red Duke]]''' (FLC, MP only): he is in the campaign but you have to confederate with Mousillon to use him. in MP he is more of a duelist lord then the Blood Dragon lord, with his El Syf hex making a target easy picking and cut though its Physical resistance in comparison to the Blood Dragon that is all in on only melee damage.

==Units==
===Generic Lords===

'''Vampire Lord''': like most of VC, the army is held together by a few strong units with the rest being expendable support. Already a Strong melee fighter, able to blow through most infantry. All that plus he is a caster of the lore of Vampire. In MP, He is already Expensive and paints a big target on his back to get shot down, so only buy what you need on and tray to distribute more of your funds spread across your army. bloodline lords largely make him obsolete.

'''Master Necromancer''': If you were to look up the word "Redundant" in a dictionary you'd find a picture of this dude's face. As a caster lord he's rather pointless because literally, EVERY lord in the Vampire roster comes with the Lore of Vampires, which is about all he brings to the table. I mean I guess he's cheap compared to a vampire but the bonus you get with them more than makeup for the price increase. Worse yet he has to compete with the ''hero'' version of the Necromancer, who literally does the exact same thing this dude does but for cheaper and you can have more than one of them in an army if you want. The Master Necromancer either needs a serious buff/rework to give us a reason to pick him over any Vampire or even the hero version, or he needs to just be removed from the game because honestly, I don't think anyone will miss him.

'''Strigoi Ghoul King (DLC)''': Your single entity hunter compared to the infantry muncher that its a Vampire Lord. Is buck naked for defense except for having Regeneration in addition to the Hunger. Has Poison attacks in addition to High AP plus an ability to a Burst of Even more AP for himself and allies, making him Prime as a Hunter of armored single entities. its Magic setup is a mix of Vampires and Death to help in his leader and hunter role, including a unique spell to summon crypt Ghouls/Horrors for a poisonous goon squad. Can be mounted on a Terrorgheist which Improves his survivability, mobility, and is ready a single entity hunter. also made obsolete by bloodline lords however.

===Bloodline Lords===
You can pretty much ignore the generic lords above because in both campaign and MP there's no reason to take them over these guys.

'''Lahmian Vampire Lord''': Focused on Debuffing, and being hard to hurt in melee. She has a mixed caster of Shadow and Vampire. Her role is using her high speed to jump on enemies and use Seduction to slow them down as they take punishment. also has large bonuses to hero action success rate in campaign.

'''Von Carstein Vampire Lord''': a mix caster of Vampire and beast, and summons a Varghulf instead of a manticore. His Storm of the Night will grant you an edge in the Air superiority matchups. does everything generic vampire lords do but better.

'''Blood Dragon Vampire Lord''': Around one of the best melee characters in-game with all the stats that matter (attack, defense, Ap damage, is a wizard, monstrous mount option). The "weakest" of the Bloodlines in terms of magic (Meaning he just has the pure Lore of Vampires instead of a mixed lore, and no access to Arcane Conduit, so take "weak" with a MASSIVE grain of salt.) his magic skill tree may actually be better than normal since you can get access to later spells with fewer points invested.

'''Necrarch Vampire Lord''': Your caster vampire but not as good in melee as even a normal Vampire Lord. His focus is how good a wizard he is getting a mix of Death/Vampire/ and Beast's Buff and debuff spell, very good at keeping your magic tanks full enough to sustain you, wizard assault. kind of awkward, spell selections are not the best and I would prefer a von carstein lord as a caster honestly, raised dead benefits are good though.

'''Strigoi Vampire Lord''': Upgrade to Ghoul King, granting greater Melee attack and defense. Their AP burst ability is only affected themselves, and get another way to give them a burst of HP. same issues as a normal ghoul king but better overall.

===Heroes===

'''Wight King''': Your standard melee hero and right-hand wight. Overall killy and tough. High melee defense and armour make him exceptionally tanky, and seating him on a barded nightmare makes him a very mobile threat. He works best as a mage hunter or single-entity tarpit for anything nasty with a low model count.

'''Necromancer''': Your main source of additional undead, magic support and staying power so that your forces don't crumble. Can be put on one of the three Corpse Cart mounts for additional boons. Competent caster but keep him away from melee. recommend to skip n campaign and camo them in valuable provinces to boost income, have your lord cast instead.

'''Vampire''': A strong fighter caster hybrid like the lord version. Takes up Shadow and Death, lores not fully covered by other units. Generally speaking, a bit of a glass cannon, although her massive regeneration buffs make her much more durable than equivalent heroes from the elven factions. They also have access to zombie pegassi, so their mobility is exceptional, even for a VC hero. Doomstack very well with Isabella.

'''Banshee''': A terror causing Ghost goon with High AP. She defiantly needs to stay away from magic, but good at gooning. they kinda suck in actual fights, use them on the campaign map as assassins and saboteurs.

'''Krell''' (Kemmler Only): A Wight King with better base stats but, as a summon, cannot equip any items at all and will degrade over time (unless you fill his dedicated line in Kemmler's skill tree). Use him as a quick stop-gaps in your flanks or to wreck havoc in the middle of a blob, but don't expect him to last long.

===Melee Infantry===

*'''Zombies''': Dirt-cheap fodder to tie up your enemy, and you better hope that they do that job right, because they have the lowest stats of any unit in the game to the point where Betonnian Peasant Mobs can defeat them. They got two things going for them, large unit size and hitpoint pool. Skeleton Warriors do their job better for only marginally more money and can even hope to kill some weaker enemies, so it's best to skip them.
MP tier: S. Most competitive builds utilize zombies in some way, either as a super cost efficient frontline/tar-pit, or as a summon to block charges/tangle up ranged units.
**'''The Tithe (RoR)''': Zombies with slightly worse stats who replace Expandable with Meat Shields and have 30 more models.
MP tier: A. For the cost some prefer the extra unit of zombies but they still perform well as tar-pit.
*'''Skeleton Warriors''': Spooky scary skeletons with Swords and shields. A more numerous variant of Empire Swordsmen, basically. Doesn't hit as hard, but is undead and comes with 160 models in one regiment. Comes with a shield for good measure.
MP tier:B. 3x the costs of zombies for slightly more staying power. Useful against missile heavy builds thanks to shields. Can trade fairly against other chaff. can become free upkeep with a tech.

**'''The Konigstein Stalkers (RoR):''' Mostly same stats as above except for having better armor. That and having Poisoned, which makes them a step up compared to normal skellies.
MP tier: C. For the price you might as well get Grave Guard, unless you're doing some weird poison centric list.
*'''Skeleton Spearmen''': Basically identical to normal Skeleton Warriors except that they come with Spears and actually are the only infantry unit you have with a Bonus vs. Large. Not that this matters though, their performance is too bad against anything stronger than Mounted Yeomen. honestly I prefer these in campaign to zombies or warriors, at least they have slightly better MD and bonus vs large but personal preference and matchup will decide which you use most of. If you need a line of chaff, take Spearmen over Warriors or Zombies. can become free upkeep with a tech.
MP tier: B. Slightly sturdier skeletons with anti-large.
*'''Crypt Ghouls''': Cheap counter-infantry that works well against other low-level infantry. Have high damage, poisoned attacks, but their low armor makes them fragile (especially against units that can reliably fight them). Use them against units like Skaven Slaves, Goblins and other low-tier infantry. Don't pit them against better units like Chaos Warriors for these will turn them into minced meat. better in campaign then MP, but still get left behind later on, where as skeletons and zombies may stay as chaff all game long in campaign. once skeletons are free upkeep I cant see any reason to use them.
MP tier: C. Has interesting capabilities, but is in an odd place price wise. Is it really worth 5 zombies/2/3s a Grave Guard?
**'''The Feasters in the Dusk (RoR)''': Same as above, but with Stalk and Vanguard. This makes them perfect for flanking and war machine hunting.
MP tier: C. Basically a sneaky/killy/slower version of bats/dire pack. Slightly more survivable.
*'''Grave Guard''': Spookier, scarier Skeletons. A straight, if a bit expensive upgrade from Skeleton Warriors and your go to choice for your main line in the late game. Their bonus vs. Infantry combined with decent armour and a shield make them formidable opponents that have little trouble with handling most other standard infantry.
MP tier: A. If you're looking for a sturdier frontline, this is it. Fares well against most low-armor infantry, can hold the line for quite some time.
**'''The Sternsmen (RoR)''': Beefed-up Grave Guard with additional Regeneration and Charge Defence Against All. Put them as the core of your force the moment you get them.
MP tier: S. Worth every penny. With support they'll usually last the whole fight.
*'''Grave Guard with Greatweapons''': It's in the name. Your dedicated can openers for dealing with armored infantry and anything in between. lack luster source of armor piercing, having worse stats than the shielded version. honestly you have many better sources of AP, they aren't very good in campaign, vargeists and hexwraiths/cairn wraiths are usually better.
MP tier: A. Vulnerable to missiles and a bit pricey, but allows your frontline to grind down most enemy forces. Can provide good support against armored monsters/cav, just don't use them to soak up a charge.
*'''Cairn Wraiths''': High phys resist and high armor piercing damage makes them your goto infantry for dealing with heavy armor piercing infantry like black orks who will eat grave guards for breakfast. They're completely terrible in every other way, trade terribly vs chaff units, and evaporate the moment anything that deals magic damage looks at them funny. much better in campaign than multiplayer, the AI often doesnt counter then correctly, but hexwraiths may be a straight upgrade to these in many ways.
MP tier: B. Good mobile tarpit, can chip away at most armored foes. Don't expect high damage output, and if the enemy has any magic damage (as is common in MP) be prepared to watch them dissolve.

===Cavalry & Beasts===

*'''Dire Wolves''': CA sure love their Wolf units. The archetypical wolf pack which all the others are modeled after. High speed, strider, vanguard deployment and a decent charge bonus make them your very flexible and reliable backline harrasser unit. At least against backlines that don't like being harassed, anything above the level of Empire Crossbowmen or Skavenslaves eats them for breakfast if left unsupervised. Can be a force to reckoned with if handled properly, but if you don't like microing around a lot, you're better off going for real cavalry later in the campaign.
MP Tier: B. In a slow faction with no ranged threats, a fast vanguard threat is invaluable for backline harassment. Useful for chasing off routing units as well.
**'''The Direpack (RoR)''': Same as above but with additional anti-large. It's not significant, but can make a difference when assaulting low-tier cavalry.
MP Tier: C. Anti-large is nice, but lack of AP and high price tag make this a more situational pick.
*'''Fell Bats''': Dire Wolves, but flying! Fell Bats don't really kill anything on their own, but their high mass means that anything they catch will be occupied with them for quite some time. Can be irritating as fuck when used right, but don't get attached to any one unit of them, because they lose against everything. one of those rare early game units that remain useful all game long in campaign.
MP tier: A. Flying tar-pit. Surprisingly survivable in melee due to high MD, fantastic price for how much disruption they cause, a must take against certain factions.
*'''Black Knights''': Now we're getting into the good stuff. Standard Black Knights have the interesting distinction that they are the only proper cavalry in the game that focuses on dealing damage against infantry. Decent armour, melee defense and a bonus against footsoldiers mean that they will execute this job very well, and to make the package complete, they are also very nimble.
MP tier: B. A heavily armored dire wolves. Good for backline harassment, and flank/rear charges. Not a lot of killing power for head on engagements, but is sturdy enough to tangle up more expensive enemy cav/monsters due to it's high armor/mass.
*'''Black Knights (Lances and Barding)''': Have extra armor with a much higher charge bonus because of the lance. Naturally in-between the high damage potential but expensive Blood Knights and the cheapness of Black Knights.
MP tier: C. Charge damage is potent, but lack of AP and shield as well as higher price tag make this unit tricky to use efficiently.
**'''Verek's Reavers (RoR)''': Same as above, but with Regeneration, thus giving this RoR extra survivability.
MP tier: B. Regen is nice.
*'''Hexwraiths''': Mounted Cairn Wraiths with a blistering 94 speed, flaming attacks, and vanguard. like all ghosts, they are very offensive with High ap damage and Terror but crumble quickly with their only defense being a 75% Physical Resistance. Useful at cutting up knights without magic attacks. Easier to use in campaign vs the AI.
MP tier: Situational A. In most situations this unit would be B tier, due to price and prevalence of magic in MP, as well as middling killing power. However Hexwraiths are actually a surprisingly effective elite cav hunter, and can even defeat dedicated anti-large cav like demigryphs!
*'''Blood Knights''': Widely considered to be one of the best Cav units in the game in terms of cost efficiency. It already has meaty stats with a massive charge bonus and anti large, making it a perfect anti cav/monster tool, but add on top of that Frenzy and it will maul anything it charges. They also have a great for of self sustain in The Hunger. The best part about them by far is the ability to bring back dead models so while they will lose one on one to Grail Knights and Demigryphs, you can always bring back casualties. Their only big weakness is their lack of AP.
MP tier: A. Only reason they aren't S tier is lack of AP. Has a home in many competitive lists.

===Chariots===

*'''Corpse Cart''' (DLC): Called a Chariot but actually a slow-moving buffing unit. Usually, only see base or with Unholy Lodestone for cheap base melee buff or additional regeneration. Balefire nerfs enemy wizards' ability to cast, but that's often hard to get much value from. If you're running a mobile army they are way too slow to keep up. You should stop using them in the campaign's late game. Use a Mortis Engine instead for a similar role, but better.
*'''Black Coach''': An unstoppable engine of destruction if you're into cycle charging. Extremely quick, fire, magic and AP damage at once and to top it off, also causes fear and terror. It has a bunch of passive abilities that make it much better at leaving unfavorable encounters, however, it is quite susceptible to being intercepted by other heavy cav, utterly useless against big monsters and also quite expensive. Bringing one is quite the gamble, but at least a fun one.
*'''Mortis Engine''' (DLC): The biggest gun the counts have on offer and a downright terrifying one. Mortis Engines are basically upgraded, ethereal corpse carts that not only buff up your undead minions to unholy strength, but also sap the HP of the enemies frontline. They might be slow, but are scary and big targets, and them being ethereal also means that it is quite the hassle for your opponent to get rid of it.
**'''The Claw of Nagash (RoR)''': Everything that makes the Mortis Engine great, but with the addition of a Chilling Aura that slows enemies around it to make it more difficult to escape its AoE damage aura.

===Monsters===

*'''Vargheists''': They might not look like much, but are actually one of the most cost-effective monstrous infantry in the game. For a meager cost of 700 gold, you get a flying, fairly fast regiment of creatures with Frenzy and The Hunger, that also delivers a tremendous beating with 80 weapon strength, decent melee attack and AP damage. Vargheists will carry your early game armies well into the lategame. Their flight allows them to only pick encounters of your choosing and they certainly have little trouble shutting down enemy flyers that might come your way. take multiple units and keep them cycle charging from the rear to keep them alive.
**'''The Devils of Swartzhafen (RoR)''': Vargheists with Terror and Vanguard, which makes them into even more useful shock troops.
*'''Crypt Horrors''': Vargheists, but with poison, and on the ground. Actually not half bad. They retain a good weapon strength and still get AP damage. If you can't win the air battle, Crypt Horrors aren't that bad of a choice, actually.
*'''Varghulf''': This is an iffy one. On campaign, they're absurdly hard to get for a unit with such low survivability. On the other hand, they can reliably engage all infantry in the game and come out on top. Needs good micro and some attention. When they are exposed to things with bonuses against large, they just melt away. hit and run with them for maximum effect, they do it very well.
*'''Terrorgheist''': If a ranged unit starts attacking them, the breath attack is ready and the said unit is not immune to Terror then burn them, sometimes those two alone are enough to make the ranged unit rout. a specialized, regenerating anti large ap monster, ok vs infantry but really best used on large targets/monsters. breath is wasted on infantry, hit single entities with it.

===Campaign Only===

*'''Sylvanian Crossbowmen''': Identical to Empire Crossbowmen, providing you with much-needed ranged fire. Running out of morale makes them rout, which will affect the morale of undead units as well.
*'''Sylvanian Handgunners''': Identical to Empire Handgunners, providing you with much-needed ranged fire. Running out of morale makes them rout, which will affect the morale of undead units as well.

==Tactics==

===Multiplayer Strategies===
You are currently THE fear faction, as obvious as it may seem. Your armies of spookiness are designed to take advantage of enemy leadership and get them to shit themsleves and run off the field. Your powerful Lords and monsters also act as nice encouragement to get them to flee. Generally your plan in most battles is to invest in your Lord, a few strong units like Blood Knights or Terrorgheists, then spend literally everything else on chaff. Have your chaff soak up enemy fire then use your OP healing to keep your actually important units alive. Better scare them off fast too before they start stabbing your skellies and zombos and realize "Hey, these things are actually really easy to kill." Keep your Lord alive to, for if they die, the game is pretty much over. Anywho, here's how to pilot the champions of the night:

*'''Beastmen''': What used to be one of your best matchups is now one of your worst and it's due entirely to two monsters -- Ghorgons and Jabberslythes. You rely on drowning your enemies in a tide of zombies and skeletons while your characters and monsters do the work of actually killing things. The Ghorgon will kick the crap out of all of your monsters one-on-one, even the anti-large Terrorgheist. The Jabberslythe has its own Mortis Engine effect and a poison vortex that let it chew through hordes of zombies like a puppy through a bowl of kibble. The good news is Beastmen have terrible leadership, low armor and aren't great at winning a war of attrition. Lore of Death is very good against them and be sure focus down any Wargors who might be buffing the leadership of their infantry. Drown Jabberslythes in a mix of Skeleton Spears and zombies, ideally backed up by a Corpse Cart; they might not win but you can slow the Jabber down. Beware of the occasional Bestigor build designed to counter tarpits. Deal with any Ghorgons quickly, ''especially'' the Bloodbrute Behemoth, as they not only can kill your monsters but the Bloodbrute in particular poses a big threat to your lords. Blood Knights, Terrorgheists, debuffs, magic missiles, throw them all at that four-armed cow until it goes down or runs away. Be sure not to bring any ethereal units in this matchup; the Jabber's madness aura deals magic damage.

*'''Bretonnia''': On the one hand, Bretonnia is a pain because they field a lot of cavalry and you lack anti-large. On the other hand Blood Knights are one of the few cavalry units that can take on Grail Knights and win, especially since they can be resurrected while The Lady's simps cannot. Bretonnia's front line probably hasn't eaten more than one potato in the last week so they're pretty easy to roll over with zombies and skeletons, but one or two Grave Guard and a Corpse Cart can give you a good core to fall back on. Bring a few bats or wolves to take out archers and a Wight King or two can fend off Paladins. Bring a few bats or wolves to take out archers and the occasional trebuchet.

*'''Chaos Warriors''': This matchup has all the complexity of a 6-year old smacking Bionicles into each other in his room. It's one of your best matchups because you have 3 HUGE advantages that turn the game in your favor: Fear/terror, Mobility, and Magic. Chaos is reliant on it's slow-moving infantry and monsters, which tend to have pretty middling leadership. This means that their heavy hitters are generally much easier to tarpit than other factions. Since every single unit in your roster causes fear (and many cause terror) this can really add up and cause early routs on key enemy units. You also have the mobility to dick Chaos around all day, and they really have very few options to do anything about it. The units they have that can keep up (like skirmish cav and hounds) really don't have much in the way of killing power. Finally, you have healing. They don't. Invocation of Nehek means you can make even less favorable trades go your way by regenerating models which can pay huge dividends over the course of a battle. Blood Knights are an EXCELLENT pick in this matchup due to their mobility, and they are probably one of the best responses to Chaos' large units. Mortis Engines can really get some work done as well, since you don't have to worry much about it being shot up by missiles. Ethereal units can make the Chaos gods cry if played right, because Chaos has pretty limited sources of magic damage (though you'll still have to worry about lore of fire). Invest heavily in your lord, play aggressively during the skirmish phase (you definitely want to take cav fights!), and do a good job of avoiding their big monsters (Chaos' best option here is usually Shaggoths), and you'll easily be able show the Warhammer world what a pussy-whipped failure Archaon really is.

*'''Dark Elves''': Ironically, all that AP damage is actually wasted, since most of your units are pretty lightly armored. What you're really going to have to worry about are their monsters and anti-large. Their army is quite squishy, and your monstrous infantry and cavalry will have a grand old time stomping on most of their infantry options (though watch out for Black Guard, which can take out your cav and monsters, and still have time for coffee at the end). You can absorb a lot of their missile play with chaff, or use summons to take their Darkshards and Shades out quickly. Make sure to do so before they can get their shots in to your lord or monsters though! Crypt Horrors or Vargheists can also be good for taking them out. Scourgerunners will kite most of your monsters to kingdom come, so bog them down with bats or wolves as soon as you get the chance. Your cavalry can easily outmatch theirs most of the time, but Doomfire Warlocks can be a problem with their bound doombolt spell. The worst units to deal with are their monsters. Kharybdiss can spell doom for many of your better units, but is pretty slow and easy to tarpit. Black Dragons can also be a problem in the air, and many of their lords have them as a mount option. Murderous Prowess also means you can't get the Dark Elves to rout as easily as most of the other factions which can be a very big deal, so make sure you're playing a longer game, and pay attention when it procs.

*'''Dwarfs''': No lies, this is not going to be fun for you. Dwarfs are tough, have great ranged/artillery options, are resistant to magic, and their leadership is so high your fear and terror effects aren't as useful. Fortunately they're super reliant on protecting their back line and aren't great at dealing with large units in melee. Wolves, bats and Vargheists will serve you well here in shutting down their ranged units, Black Coaches can mow down Dwarf infantry for days, and your cavalry can almost always pick optimal engagements. Ethereal units are kind of a mixed bag; dwarfs don't have a lot of access to magic damage but their magic resistance makes it harder for your ghosts to hurt them. A few Grave Guard with Great Weapons can help get through all that dwarf armor but don't over-invest in them. Your biggest challenge will simply be reaching the dwarfs without taking too much damage. If the dwarfs have any characters mounted on Anvils of Doom (especially Thorek) be careful with your casters; if they cast spells too close to those guys they'll eat automatic miscast damage.

*'''Empire''': You can bring a similar build to Bretonnia, mainly zombies/skellies, blood knights, a few bats and wolves, maybe a corpse cart and a couple of Wight Kings. Try to avoid letting anything important get bogged down fighting Flagellants, summon zombies on their back lines, and try to kill their lords and Warrior Priests so your Fear and Terror affects can have maximum impact. Never underestimate the strength of pinning an enemy lord between a zombie summon and a blood knight charge. If Outriders and Pistoliers make your life hell then throw bats at them until they go away.

*'''Greenskins''': Greenskins have few anti-large units, other than archers, which means a Varghulf or some Crypt Horrors are a good idea. This is especially true since Greenskins have shit leadership and Terror routs are very effective against them. Watch out for Black Orcs or Squigs though, as they all have Immune to Psychology. Unfortunately you ''also'' don't have a lot of great anti-large options and the Greenskins have plentiful monsters. You want a mix of Grave Guard (especially Great Weapons) to deal with Black Orcs, along with zombies or skeletons to tarpit everything else. Greenskins love their skirmish cav, tie them up with bats if you can.

*'''Grand Cathay''':

*'''High Elves''': You're one of the few armies that can contest the sky against the High Elves, though it's a risky proposition. With dragons, phoenixes, and Alarielle breaking out the Tempest spell it's very easy to lose the air war with a few bad engagements. Consider bringing the generic Von Carstein lord. His Varghulf summon will mess up the High Elf backline and he has his own version of Tempest that can prove decisive in clearing the skies. All your big flyers have their uses here, but you probably don't want to invest in both them and cavalry so pick one or the other. Big ground monsters will be magnets for arrows so maybe leave them at home. Focus on overwhelming the ground forces with cheap infantry and the usual bats and wolves combo. You'll be beating their elite troops with either your flying circus or some Blood Knights.

*'''Khorne''': This is going to be a bad matchup for you. Bloodthirsters will beat the pants off of your monsters, the Skull Cannon will run circles around you, and if you try to drown them in chaff they'll just laugh in blood and skulls. Grave Guard with great weapons will be needed just for some AP. Forget the bats and wolves, bring Terrorgheists and Vargheists, you need armor piercing ant anti-large. They are absolutely going to try to goon your lord, so maybe put them on a Hellsteed just to keep out of reach. Black Coaches might be useful for running over Chaos Warriors and Blood Knights might not hit as hard as Khorne's cav but at least they can be healed and resurrected. All in all, it looks like you might have to go tight and elite to match the same thing.

*'''Kislev''':

*'''Lizardmen''': Good news, you don't care about their big, scary monsters because your undead soldiers will never run away from them. In fact, you're one of the best armies in the game when it comes to tarpitting them. Bad news, their big, scary monsters will generally slaughter most of your forces without a care in the world if you don't focus them down once they're in battle. Having said that, your first and biggest concern when facing a Lizardmen army will be their casters. Fire and Light Slann, in addition to Heavens Skink Priests, will utterly decimate your lines with their myriad of vortex spells. Slann in particular, due to having Banishment as a bound spell, will be your biggest concern. To this end, the first effective counter is to spread your forces out. Additionally, (Ancient) Salamanders and (Sacred) Kroxigors will be secondary targets due to their flaming/magical attacks being tailor made to ruin your day. If you can take out most of the Lizard magic, Hexwraiths will actually get some solid work done against their armored frontlines and cavalry. Skeleton Spears will be your desired chaff infantry; though more expensive than regular zombies, their spears will enable them to get not-inconsequential chip damage against the monsters they're tying down and their shields give them a bit more staying power against skink skirmishers and even Salamander Hunting Packs.

*'''Norsca''': This is a rough one. You might think 'Well, the Chaos matchup is pretty favorable, why not Norsca?' The answer to that question is mobility. Norsca is fast enough to keep up, and their constant pressure can wear you down if they are played well. Their skirmish cav will drive you to insanity if you don't manage to shut them down with bats or wolves, their infantry (and monstrous infantry) can go toe-to-toe with yours, and their monsters simply counter yours in most cases. Mammoths in particular are an absolute nightmare for your battle lines to deal with, and you don't have many ways to shut them down quickly. Skin Wolves and Marauder Javelins can take the fight out of your monsters in an instant, and they usually have an easy time positioning their anti-large units to take down your elite cavalry since you can't apply pressure at range. Your best bet is to try and leverage your magic to get their monsters to rout early; perhaps with a death wizard that has spells like spirit leech or doom & darkness. You can typically outfight them in the skies (with the Frost-wyrm being expensive and rather squishy) so use that advantage to the fullest to shut down their ranged (if they bring any) or pick off their skirmish cav. It's a hard matchup for sure, but not impossible.

*'''Nurgle''':

*'''Ogre Kingdoms''':

*'''Skaven''': This matchup kind of sucks, but you do have a few tools to make it work in your favor. Skaven have a ludicrous number of guns built to suit virtually every battlefield need, many of which are either magical, armor-piercing, shield breaking or some unholy combination of the above. They also have artillery and missile units (Warplock Jezzails) that excel at sniping single entities, like the lord holding your shambling forces together. Fortunately, Skaven are rather skittish and have a relative lack of cavalry. Black/Blood Knights and Vargheists can quickly tie down artillery and gunlines while your fear and terror causing wall of meat and bone close in. In fact, their complete lack of an aerial presence will give your flying forces effectively free reign to pick their engagements. But check their casters before committing your fliers. If the skaven brought lore of ruin, they can snare your air units with howling warpgale and shoot them to pieces.

*'''Slaanesh''': Hey look, another faction that thinks ranged units are for pussies! Due to that, there really isn't much reason to invest in Bats and Wolves since there isn't much of a backline to dive. They're are much faster but also much squishier than you, so your goal here is to win a war of attrition. Make sure whoever your lord is has a flying mount, as due to the lack of missiles and only having Furies as fliers, so if they can fly and heal you're in a good spot. Your ground forces should comprise of Zombies whos sole job is to hold whatever deviants get thrown at them in place. Your killing force should go to your airforce, as Slaanesh doesn't really have a lot of ways to contest them. Vargheist and Terrorgheists should be able to choose their engagements and as long as you can keep them from getting pinned you can have them avoid their bad match ups. Bloodknights won't catch their cav but if you can pin them in they should be able to tear apart any Seekers or Hellriders they can get their hands on/

*'''Tomb Kings''': The Counts have an edge over their Nehekaran brethren. Since the Counts are likely the best rush faction in the game, shutting down their artillery and missiles should be second nature. Fliers really matter in this matchup, since all the Tomb Kings have in the skies is the piss-weak Carrion. The Vampires are far superior in the infantry grind (Although Tomb Kings Monstrous infantry is a different story, with Sepulchral Stalkers and Ushabti being a huge pain in the undead behind to deal with), and have an edge in the cavalry matchup (though Necropolis Knights can threaten). The biggest stumbling block is the Tomb Kings constructs, which can be seriously tough if not dealt with effectively. Luckily, you do have a few armor piercing options like Hexwraiths or Blood Knights to counter, or failing that, you can usually shut them down with your lords or hero units. However, watch out for the Necrosphinx with it's ludicrous bonus vs. large. You really just want to lean into the rush element of the VC army, since if the Tomb Kings can withstand your initial assault, things can turn very bad for you.

*'''Tzeentch''':

*'''Vampire Coast''': Once you close the distance, the coast turns into mush. The trick is getting there without getting shot half to hell. In this matchup, a more mobile build will be to your advantage. Make sure you're using your environment, and don't feed too much into their skirmish game. It's tough to bring monsters against coast cause they can get shot full of holes before the battle has even started. The Varghulf CAN work if micro'd well but it's pretty risky and Terrorgheists and Mortis Engines are a HUGE no-no. Trees are helpful to keep your units from getting shot, and you can usually outmatch them in the skies and with cavalry. You're going to need to rely on those fliers and cav for your killing potential, so if there was ever a time to drop that extra money on a unit of Black Knights or Blood Knights, it's this matchup. Also, Ethereal units don't tend to work out great because the coast has a good few units with magical attacks.

*'''Vampire Counts''': Skip the bats and wolves this time, they're no use here. You're both going to be tearing your hair out over how to deal with the other's big monsters. Victory will probably come down to who can snipe the other's lord first.

*'''Wood Elves''': You know the "We have more bodies than they have ammunition" quote? Well, the wood elves have more ammunition than you have bodies and they're fast enough to stay three steps away from your rotting soldiers at all times, so don't try your usual Infantry blob + Wind of Death combo. Bring some Dire Wolves and/or Fell Bats to run down Glade Guard and Waywatchers and bring out the heavy hitters; Black Knights and Blood Knights are likely going to be your go-to core; they're fast enough to catch up to and slaughter any wood elven infantry while Blood Knights can actually tangle quite well with Wild Riders/Great Stag Knights, so long as they're not the ones getting hit by the initial charge. This is also one of the matchups a Black Coach can actually get some solid work done, if the Wood Elven player has any Dryads/Tree Kin on the field. You'll want to shy away from bringing any ethereal units against them; Tree units don't give a shit and several of their ranged units happen to be packing magical arrows.

===Campaign Strategies===

* You don't have any artillery or ranged units, so be ready for sieges to take longer, & for siege assaults to have more casualties as you scale walls & storm gates.
* Create a fortified Northern boundary for the inevitable Chaos/Norsca invasion.
* Establishing good diplomatic relations with ''anyone'' will be a challenge. Don't expect trade agreements with anyone besides Mousillon.
** On the other hand Vlad now has an easier time with the Empire due to one of his new skills giving him a whooping +40 to relationship with Franz and co, so at least this part will be less of a harrow.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen

2022-05-15T05:42:59Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Tiktaq'to */

This is the tactics page for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the Lizardmen.

==Why play Lizardmen==
*You love the parts of Jurassic Park where the dinosaurs eat everyone.
*They're [[awesome|aztec dinosaurs riding dinosaurs]] into battle. Some of those dinosaurs also have magical lasers strapped to them.
*You want to be a master of the arcane, but you don't want to wear [[High Elves|foppish headgear]] or have a racial lifespan only in the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|double digits]].
*You'll have a nearly fearless army that's more likely to fight to the death before they turn tail and run.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMwpC70di2w Do you want to see what one of these does to your enemies?]

===Pros===
*'''A Multitude of Monsters''' - The Lizardmen have the largest diversity of massive monsters in the game at their disposal. Between the various Bastilidons, Stegadons and Carnosaurs you can field, you won't be wanting for big beasties.
*'''Intimidating Presence''' - Unsurprisingly, the average man will struggle to keep calm and collected when facing down a stampede of hungry carnivorous dinosaurs many times his size. Virtually every monster and cavalry unit in this army inspires fear and terror in the mortal hearts of men; a few well timed Carnosaur charges can break and rout forces not outright immune to psychology. Conversely, this also renders your monsters immune to fear/terror effects as well.
*'''Resilient Frontline''' - Saurus Warriors, even unshielded, are among the most durable baseline infantry units in the game. Though their damage output is rather low, their good armor and leadership will ensure they'll hold the line. Most non-AP grindfests will tend to work out in your favor on virtue of that alone. Of course this isn't even mentioning how tanky higher tier units like the Temple Guard or Kroxigors are.
*'''Mastery of Magic''' - With the notable exception of High Elves, Lizardmen have reliable access to more schools of magic than any other race. Slann and the mighty Lord Kroak offer not only some of the most reliable casting in the game, but have consistent access to the otherwise elusive Greater Arcane Conduit skill. Your skink priests are no push overs in magical matters either and are very cost effective options for when slann [[heresy|just aren't your thing]].
*'''Flexible Artillery''' - Where most other factions have to slowly wheel siege engines into place and are vulnerable to attacks in melee, Lizardmen give no fucks. Due to their solar engines and bastila being strapped on the backs of mighty Bastilidons/Stegadons, they can easily reposition themselves and hold their own in melee combat. Additionally, where the actual artillery models of other races can actually be destroyed, the Bastilas and Solar Engines will remain fully intact so long as the creature bearing it remains standing.
*'''Cavalcade of Cavalry''' - Cold Ones, Horned Ones, Terradons and Ripperdactyls, oh my! Though not as fast or as effective as some other faction's cavalry, you have a very diverse selection of fast-moving dinosaurs that can outflank enemies and flexibly adapt to the variety of terrain you may find yourself in. Just don't expect your cav to top any particular charts when compared against any faction that specializes in them.
*'''Predatory Senses''' - As your army consists heavily of predatory animals that excel at sniffing out prey, your enemies will be hard pressed to remain hidden from them. Enemies that rely on stealthy abilities like Stalk are revealed to you far more quickly than others, giving you far more time to react to (in battle) ambushes than other factions.
*'''Poison Aplenty''' - Many of the weapons wielded by your skinks are poisonous, inhibiting the mobility/combat performance of enemies afflicted by their noxious attacks. Despite poison no longer dealing constant damage like on the tabletop, their debuffs are still useful for weakening the enemy for your frontline troops. Thank to the recent update that removes any form of poison debuffs that can apply to the player units through friendly fire, skink's poison darts are even better.
*'''DLC Aplenty''' - You are tied with the Skaven for the honor of having the most DLC. You also have two FLC lords on top of all this, so between a grand total of 7 legendary lords and three DLC lord packs, you are the most supported main game faction in Total War: Warhammer II.
*'''Blessings of the Old Ones''' - Many of your units have "Blessed" variants available in casual multiplayer matches or the campaign. Blessed units are effectively pseudo-Regiments of Renown and every single one is given a buffed health pool and, where applicable, an increased model count per unit. Additionally, many of these blessed units receive additional passive abilities or upgraded stats to further their combat potential. What's better is, unlike Regiments of Renown, you can technically have as many blessed units as you want. The only downside (admittedly a big one) is that in order to acquire blessed units in the campaign, you must complete randomly generated quests that issue a set quantity of a random blessed unit upon completion. If you want an army of blessed carnosaurs, you're going to have to earn it. This is a complete non-issue in causal multiplayer matches, where blessed units are freely available for a very minor upcharge in cost compared to regular variants. Blessed units are unavailable in competitive games.

===Cons===
*'''Slow''' - A majority of the Lizardmen list, namely Saurus infantry, take their sweet time to cross the field. Though there are exceptions to this, such as the various cavalry and skink units available to you, this particular weakness is exacerbated by...
*'''Vulnerable to Range''' - ...their dearth of viable missile units. The only ranged infantry available to you are Skinks; particularly squishy infantry that, though nimble, have pitiful range and DPS against anything shielded and/or armored. Your more potent offensive options, namely Salamanders or Stegadons/Bastilodons, cannot fire while moving and are rather easy to tie down in melee. Defensively, though your Saurus are quite tanky and often come with shields, they are very vulnerable to being kited by ranged cavalry/infantry due to their rather slow movement speed. Additionally, all your units save for Gor-Rok are stuck with Bronze Shields (35% block chance), meaning that even when they're in a position to use them, you'll still be soaking a significant portion of the incoming shots all the same. The same can also be said about most of your monsters, with some minor exceptions.
*'''Sub-par Air-Force''' - Though you have flying cavalry, a luxury many other factions lack, they're among the weakest/slowest of them. Terradons and Ripperdactyls aren't ''bad'', per se, but they will lose if faced with the flying cavalry/monsters from the likes of Bretonnia or High/Wood Elves.
*'''Expensive Roster''' - As you can imagine, breeding and training massive dinosaurs and mounting arcane instruments of war onto them isn't cheap. All of your high tier units can get crazy expensive both in initial cost and upkeep. Even the bog standard Saurus Warriors come at a premium compared to some other factions options, though this is only particularly notable in competitive multiplayer.
*'''Rampage''' - A majority of the Lizardmen list is prone to going berserk and rampaging towards their deaths if they take too much damage too quickly. Though the Lord/Hero Cold-Blooded ability can help keep this in check, it is in limited supply. That said, though rampaging units will end up dying more often than not, the silver lining is that these rampaging units can still tie up enemy units until the bitter end, which can buy the rest of your army some time.
*'''Bland Campaign''' - Aside Oxyotl and ''possibly'' Tehenhauin, the Lizardmen have the most boring campaign mechanics of any of the game II races (including some of the game I ones). Their unique mechanic, the Geomantic Web, is a very passive and basic provincial buff that takes a lot of resources and time to properly build up to a level you'll actually notice the effects of and offer no benefit to provinces you don't ''completely'' control. Yes, losing that one minor settlement causes the provincial capital to shut off its Geomantic Pylon until you reclaim it. Additionally, without mod support, Lizardmen are among the most stubborn and oppositional to confederation.
*'''DLC Locked Content''' - Though a con for virtually every other faction in the game, this is a particularly notable one for Lizardmen. Many, if not most of the Lizardmen's better units are locked behind DLC lord packs. You'll need the Prophet and the Warlock for all units marked with DLC 1, the Hunter and the Beast for everything marked with DLC 2 and the Silence and the Fury for everything marked DLC 3.

==Universal Traits==
There are a couple of perks and abilities shared across a significant portion of the lizardmen unit roster, which will be mentioned here.
*'''Primal Instincts''' - A perk found on a majority of the lizardman roster (exempting lords/heroes and skinks), primal instincts will cause a unit with this ability to rampage out of control should their health drop too quickly or below a certain threshold. This can be a bit of a mixed blessing, as a rampaging unit will receive minor stat bonuses and continue to fight nearby opponents in situations that any other unit would turn tail and rout. The bad news is that your opponent has more control over the rampaging unit than you do; rampaging units will single-mindedly charge at the nearest enemy unit, which your opponent can take to his advantage by using faster infantry/cavalry to kite the rampaging unit while his ranged infantry/artillery finishes it off. Should the rampage end ''before'' the unit dies, they'll usually begin to rout from the field and will often be too far out of position for you to properly recover them. now only applies when at 20% health or less.

*'''Cold Blooded''' - A targetable ability found on most lizardmen lords and heroes, Cold Blooded helps to counter the innate weakness in the lizardmen faction; their tendency to rampage. When used, Cold Blooded will snap a single unit out of a rampage (if they are currently doing so) and will temporarily buff their leadership. This ability can be used pre/post rampage as well, as the leadership buff can potentially prevent a rampage from occurring or can help prevent a tattered unit from routing once their rampage expires. As this ability has a somewhat lengthy cooldown an is only found on lords/heroes, care should be taken on when it is used and what it is used on.

*'''Predatory Senses''' - An ability found on all non-Slann/Skink units in your roster, this allows your units to detect hidden or stealthed units far sooner and from farther away than other armies (around 160 meters). This also disregards any faction/unit/terrain modifiers that enhance stealth, with the only exception being the ''Unspottable'' trait. With proper coverage, this can make ambushing or outflanking your forces extremely challenging to do discreetly.

*'''Aquatic''' - An ability found on all Skink infantry, Kroxigors (though their stat card doesn't mention the trait, they still receive the Aquatic bonus) and your Salamander/Razordon hunting packs, this not only allows them to ignore the usual penalties for fighting in water-logged environments, but gives them a 20% bonus to melee attack/defense when they do so. Considering non-aquatic infantry suffers a 20% malus to those stats when slogging around in the water, this can become a rather substantial combat buff for a significant portion of your roster (keep your Saurus dry). Potentially losing matchups will suddenly swing into your favor and that's not even factoring in your abundant poisoned weaponry and robust catalog of supportive magics to widen that gap further. As amazing as all that sounds... marsh and shallow water environments are rather few and far in between. Additionally, for the maps that ''do'' have swamped areas, coercing your opponent to willingly splash around with you is a battle all its own, one you're not likely to succeed in without careful planning.

*'''Quick Learners''' - Another Skink-exclusive ability, this greatly increases the rate that your Skinks gain ranks. This helps distinguish skinks against comparable chaff infantry since they'll benefit from rank-boosted stats much more quickly and, as such, makes them surprisingly effective early-mid game infantry. This perk also applies to units such as Terradon Riders due to having Skink Riders.

==Lords==
The scaly faces of the Lizardmen. Compared to a few of the other factions in game, Lizardmen generally have solid lord choices and their legendary lords aren't an exception. They do face very heavy in-house competition, however. It's very difficult to justify taking a saurus oldblood over any flavor of slann mage-priest due to the sheer versatility the latter bring to your army, especially since you are not hurting for giant, single entity beatsticks to ram into enemy formations. slaan benefit from star chambers in campaign, other dont, no contest, only use slaan if stacking chambers (which you really should).

===Legendary Lords===
*'''Mazdamundi''' - The last second generation Slann (lore-wise), Mazdamundi uses magic primarily from the Lore of Light to act as a hybrid support/offensive caster. The two main selling points of Mazdamundi over a generic Slann Mage-Priest are his stegadon mount Zlaaq and his signature spell ''Ruination of Cities''. Zlaaq allows Mazdamundi to actually engage in melee, something no other Slann can safely do, and makes him substantially more durable against most forms of attack. ''Ruination of Cities'', especially when combined with ''Banishment'', makes Mazdamundi an excellent AoE caster capable of tearing infantry focused armies to shreds with ease without chewing through your Winds of Magic reserve. These spells are limited however, being bounded spells, so make sure you wait until the right moment to utilize them. Additionally, don't put too much faith in them; as their movement patterns are random, these spells (particularly Ruination of Cities) can just as easily do nothing or even devastate your own forces as they can your enemies if you aren't careful.

*'''Kroq-Gar''' - Your dedicated duelist, Kroq-Gar is an offensive powerhouse that shines when seated atop Grimloq, his faithful Carnosaur mount. Though expensive, Kroq-Gar/Grimloq can engage virtually any enemy type in the game effectively and is able to duel against many enemy lords and come out on top. Though a monstrous force on his own merits, Kroq-Gar is something of a glass cannon however and as a larger target is prone to getting mobbed by multiple units or getting focused down by ranged infantry/artillery. Another notable shortcoming is that he provides limited support for the rest of your army (a bit of a problem for all Saurus Oldbloods), and as such is not recommended for dino-heavy army builds, his bonuses to armor and leadership being less important than the healing abilities of Life Slann.

*'''Tehenhauin (DLC 1)''' - Your only Skink-Priest lord choice, Tehenhauin is something of a niche pick. He can deal solid enough damage against footlords/cavalry lords in a fight (particularly if on a Ripperdactyl) and is also capable of dealing notable damage to swarms of infantry (with his Lore of Beasts and/or with his Engine of the Gods), but he's extremely frail for a Lizardmen lord when unmounted. Never get the Fanatic skill in his skill tree; it only benefits skink units and they are pretty trash after the mid-game.

*'''Tiktaq'to (FLC)''' - Another somewhat niche pick, Tiktaq'to is a dedicated flier who excels in lists built with Terradons, Ripperdactyls and Coatls as the focus. Though mounted on Zwuup, Tiktaq'to is your squishiest (legendary) lord and lacks the support/damage options available to the others, but he's inarguably the swiftest of the bunch (which doesn't mean much compared to other flying lords and heroes). Under no circumstances is he a direct combat lord; against any duelist or large/monstrous lord he will lose handily. The only targets he can safely engage are dedicated casters, artillery and dedicated ranged infantry. Because of this, playing him requires far more finesse than what is required for virtually every other lord; even against targets he ''can'' engage effectively, prolonged combat will invariably whittle him down and may the Old Ones help you if he's surrounded while grounded. Keep a squad or two of Ripperdactyls close by to make up the difference in combat ability and to take advantage of Tiktaq'to's buffs. Also, his unique Epic weapon doesn't work if he is attacking a ground target in melee because its attack bonuses are only in effect when flying, so he's weaker than a Skink Terradon Rider when attacking ground targets UNLESS you swap out his weapon. When used in campaign, much of his value comes from his rather insane and stackable upkeep discount for flier units. Even on higher difficulties, it is extraordinarily easy to stack enough upkeep cost reductions to have a full Coatl doomstack damn near for free (until the Supply Lines penalties become particularly swollen, at least). Additionally, his unique rite gives all of his armies the ability to easily chase down fleeing armies or attack multiple settlements a turn which can be ''devastating'' to an enemy faction if used at the right moment.

*'''Nakai (DLC 2)''' - The largest and oldest of the Kroxigor Ancients, Nakai is an infantry mulcher who (thanks to his enthusiastic animations) will literally sweep his way through the thickest blobs of infantry. Nakai possesses a few notable traits over his competitors; his ability to grant perfect vigour to nearby allies ensures they're in peak form throughout the entire battle while his Miasma of Dispair can cripple enemies within his presence; a potentially nasty combo that can ensure your forces slowly but steadily chew through enemy frontlines. Unfortunately, Nakai has a few major weaknesses: As a large entity, he's vulnerable to anti-large weaponry (which does abound among baseline infantry) and is an easy, defenseless target for ranged units to snipe. He also struggles to properly duel opposing heroes/lords due to his size and janky animations making him lunge about haphazardly while they continue to poke him to death. Because of this, he tends to work best as a force multiplier for infantry builds.

*'''Gor-Rok (FLC)''' - Where Kroq-Gar is the spear, Gor-Rok stands as the shield. Gor-Rok is a dedicated footlord, among the slowest of them, but makes up for it through sheer, unbreaking resilience. As the only unit in the entire Lizardmen roster with a silver shield (55% missile block chance), Gor-Rok is able to shoulder his way through the kind of firepower that would fell a lesser Old-Blood on the approach. Gor-Rok can also stand neck-deep among hordes of angry infantry and walk out seemingly unscathed. When equipped with the ''Mace of Ulumak'', Gor-Rok can also prove a competent duelist in his own right, even if it's only in temporary bursts. Gor-Rok does falter against mounted/monstrous heroes/lords and is vulnerable to duelists with good AP values, though the Twisted and the Twilight patch has helped address the issue of him being staggered to hell and back. Never the less, Gor-Rok is a relatively cost effective legendary lord who can and will hold the line until the bitter end. His campaign starts with Lord Kroak fully unlocked and active, which makes his campaign among the easiest in the entire game, even on higher difficulties.

*'''Oxyotl (DLC 3) ''' - The legendary daemon-slaying chameleon skink of Oyxl is the last legendary lord for the faction (at least for TWW2). As to be expected from any shape or form of a Chameleon Skink, Oxyotl is a rather cheap, stealthy character hunter who behaves somewhat like a Wood Elf Waystalker. Unlike Waystalkers, Oxyotl has a particularly nasty trick in the form of Master Predator; a toggle-able skill that reduces his movement speed in exchange for an increase in range, Snipe and the ability to remain undetectable unless the enemy gets extremely close to his position. Combined with his modestly powerful armor piercing missiles, this can quickly wear down most armored lords and heroes rather quickly if left to his own devices. Of course, as a reasonably cost effective LL, the drawbacks have to come in somewhere and for Oxyotl, that drawback is melee combat. While he has acceptable melee attack and defense, Oxyotl has no armor or damage mitigation tools at his disposal. Any combat lord or hero worth his or her salt can and will kill him in a hand-to-hand duel. Fortunately, he's fast enough that virtually no footlord can catch up to him unless you willfully allow it. He also struggles to deal with the rank and file and lacks any notable support abilities for his own forces, but that's fairly typical of the niche Oxyotl fills.

===Generic Lords===
Your generic lords are no less able than their famed counterparts, and in competitive multiplayer, are often preferable. However, in the campaign, you'll generally never want to get non-slann lords after turn 20(ish) because lizardmen Star Chamber buildings give 3 bonus levels to your slann lords, meaning they quickly outpace any other lord available. Any need for a melee lord can be filled by one of the many lizardmen heroes, who can also be easily recruited at higher starting level than the melee lords. You may still find the need to recruit cheaper stand in lords in case of an emergency, as the Rite of Awakening's cooldown is a notable hitch in acquiring more slann.

*'''Slann Mage-Priest''' - Your almighty magic toads, slann are dedicated mages who don't participate in fights directly, but wreak havoc upon your enemies from afar with their magics or supplement your forces with defensive/healing energies. Slann are the only generic lords in the game who have access to the ''Greater Arcane Conduit'' ability which, when combined with their reliable casting, can allow savvy players to call upon vast reserves of the Winds of Magic long after lesser mages have tapped out of theirs. In addition to ''Greater Arcane Conduit'', each slann has access to Banishment as a bound spell as well as the ''Shield of the Old Ones''; a large AoE defensive buff that applies a 22% damage resistance modifier to all allied units within it's bubble. Understandably, for all their arcane might, slann are practically helpless if caught in a fight. They are the single slowest unit in your entire army and are quite chunky, making them easy targets up close or at range. To this end, you'll almost always want a screening unit of Temple Guard (or at least shielded saurus) to keep enemies from ganking them. Outside of that, there are four varieties of Slann Mage-Priests, each dedicated to a specific lore of magic:
**'''Fire Slann''' - When you want to burn the [[HERESY|heretic]] in holy fire for the Old Ones. Combined with their bound Banishment, fire slann are capable of mulching clumps of infantry wholesale and can even churn out respectable single target damage with their Fireball and Piercing Bolts of Burning spells. Fire damage is particularly useful against the myriad of enemies with regeneration, though you're not exactly short on unit options capable of filling that niche.
**'''Life Slann''' - These guys are the MVP in any monster heavy list; though you have a few other options for healing (such as the Revivification Bastilidon, high slann and the newly added Skink Oracle), life slann are still the uncontested kings at it. If you want an army built on the back of beasts, a life slann is essential to keeping them in the fight. With a life slann, you can wipe away any damage your stack of monsters take during the routing phase of a battle, making them both tactically and strategically important. Pair one with a Revivification Bastilidon to very rapidly resurrect slain models in any infantry unit and bring back even the most tattered units to full fighting strength.
**'''Light Slann''' - Light slann are fantastic supports for an infantry-heavy army namely due to two spells: Net of Amyntok and Birona's Timewarp. Like every other army, Net of Amyntok is an excellent tool for pinning down faster cavalry from the likes of Bretonnia or the Dark Elves so that your ''much'' slower saurus can catch up and engage them in melee (or to keep them still while your Salamanders incinerate them wholesale). Birona's Timewarp can turn the tide in a key engagement when used properly. Offensively, being able to cast Banishment much more frequently can also deal devastating damage to enemy infantry. That said, even your Greater Arcane Conduit will struggle to keep you topped off; the Lore of Light can consume your Winds of Magic quite quickly.
**'''High Slann''' - Similarly to light slann, high slann are a hybrid offensive/support caster. Unlike the Lore of Light, you do have access to minor magical healing through Apotheosis and have access to an excellent anti-flier vortex spell in Tempest (Net of Amyntok is superior in most cases, however). High slann offensively specialize in single target damage and can deal devastating amounts of it between the Arcane Unforging and Soul Quench spells, giving them a solid niche against duelist lords/heroes and larger monsters.
**'''Heavens Slann''' - Multiplayer only, the Heavens Slann is unfortunately the worst slann of the bunch. It's not that the Heavens lore is lacking nor is it the slann himself, but the fact that he faces strict competition against your Skink Priests of all things. A Skink Priest of Heavens, though lacking the Greater Arcane Conduit, is a much faster/smaller target by default and has access to several mount options that make him much more flexible offensively or defensively. Additionally, as a hero, you can take a more offensively focused melee lord or a slann attuned to a different lore for more magical variety. Even if you're only running one with nothing but the crest on his skinky-head, the cheaper price alone makes the Heavens slann a hard sell comparatively.

*'''Saurus Old-Blood''' - Offensive duelists through and through, saurus old-bloods are flexible masters of combat who can lead on foot, on the back of a cold one, or atop a mighty carnosaur (you'll usually want one on a carnosaur). Compared to the kroxigor ancient, saurus old-bloods are less powerful in melee combat but can be much faster and have marginally better faction support skills. For the purposes of both Multiplayer and Campaign, you'll want to avoid taking Old-Bloods as your lord (unless you have ''no'' DLC content). Their role can easily be filled by Saurus Scar Veterans, who ''don't'' take up your only Lord slot for the army (and are, for all intents and purposes, identical sans Campaign skill trees). If you insist on taking an Old-Blood, take Kroq-Gar. Otherwise, a Slann or Kroxigor Ancient would be better suited for your needs.

*'''Red-Crested Skink Chief (DLC 1)''' - Your discount Lord and the one you'll want to take if you want to reserve as much money for your big beasties as possible. Of course, you could splurge a little to put him atop an ancient stegadon to scorch swaths of infantry with the Engine of the Gods (though if you're going to do that, you may as well spring for Tehenhauin so that you at least have access to the Lore of Beasts as well). The RCSC is a competent combatant equipped with poisonous, armor-piercing attacks that can make him surprisingly dangerous in a fight, though like everything skinky, he's a particularly squishy lord when unmounted. The best use you can put him to is boosting your heroes in a 'Pompous' trait-stacking lizardman hero army, which makes an already broken strategy even stronger.

*'''Kroxigor Ancient (DLC 2)''' - Baby Nakais for those who don't quite feel up for splurging on the big boy himself. Kroxigor ancients are quite literally just watered down versions of Nakai; though they won't grant perfect vigour to all friendly forces near them, they will still wade through most infantry due to their size and mass and put out such raw damage that most non-elite infantry will falter swiftly against them. However, just like Nakai, they are completely helpless at range, are vulnerable to AP and anti-large weapons and are ''slow''. In competitive multiplayer, though they are still a bit of a niche pick, they are much more attractive than Nakai due to their cheaper price and because they have access to the Amulet of Itzl, which grants the Kroxigor Ancient 66% damage resistance for a short time. This can give them enough of an edge to eek out against enemy duelists or to survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

==Heroes==
Lizardmen have a surprisingly versatile selection of heroes, including one of the strongest Legendary Heroes in the game: Lord Kroak. These guys are capable of dealing immense damage to your enemies and ''all'' of them (except Kroak) can be mounted on one of your massive dinosaurs.

===Legendary Hero===
You've only got the one, but he's all you'll need. Lord Kroak is your expensive but powerful offensive caster and forms the center of many army formations.
*'''Lord Kroak (FLC)''' - The first of the Slann doesn't let something as trivial as death inconvenience him, or keep him from kicking warmblood ass to the Old World and back. Lord Kroak is one of a very select few heroes in the game with access to ''Greater Arcane Conduit'' (which can be paired with another Slann's Greater Arcane Conduit), making him a fantastic force multiplier in a caster-heavy list just from being present. For better or worse, Kroak doesn't have access to any lore of magic and only has two notable abilities. But ''damn'' can those abilities turn the tide of battle. His only bound ability (other than the universal Cold-Blooded) is the ''Supreme Shield of the Old Ones'', an upgraded version of the regular Shield of the Old Ones that grants allies a 44% damage resistance while within it (and stacks with the regular version if you're really in a bind). The only spell(s) he has access to is his signature Deliverance of Itza (and its three varying strengths). Deliverance of Itza, ''the'' reason you're bringing him, can virtually delete entire units from existence with an efficiency only known to the Winds of Death spell, but it has a few major drawbacks. First, it is intensely mana hungry: you'll typically only get one or two DoI (III) casts per battle before you run dangerously low on magic. By relying on DoI I or II, you won't consume as much magic per cast, but the difference in damage dealt becomes very apparent. Secondly, there is a very lengthy and obvious tell for when the spell is cast; most competent opponents will be able to move their forces away from the blast before it goes off unless you manage to pin them down with supporting spells like the Net of Amyntok or simply bodyblocking them from all sides. Thirdly, this spell is virtually useless against single entities such as Lords/Heroes and giant monsters, meaning he'll do little towards more elite doomstack lists. Despite all these cons working against him, a well timed Deliverance of Itza can and will win you battles if you plan accordingly. The best part, it deals absolutely no friendly fire damage. [[Meme|You may fire when ready]].

===Generic Heroes===
All Lizardmen heroes benefit from the 'Humble' trait, which appears on Lords and Heroes at random. This lets you recruit them at 2 additional ranks higher than their default rank, with unlimited stacking potential, making them stronger and more versatile earlier in the game than heroes of other factions. In the late-game, you can disband Humble heroes as you build more Slann Star-Chambers, however these are expensive buildings for non-Hexoatl factions; for the 6000 gold needed for 1 Star-Chamber, you can hire at least 4 Humble heroes for 8 bonus levels.

*'''Saurus Scar-Veteran''' - A step down from the Old-Blood, Scar-Veterans behave in much the same manner as your generic saurus lords. Vicious and powerful combatants, Scar-Veterans are built to brazenly charge into combat and deal bloody death to all who stand in their way. The real reason you'll want to take any Scar-Vets isn't for the saurus himself, however badass he may be, but for the carnosaur mount you can put him on. Though a more expensive version of the feral carnosaur, Scar-Vets are immune to rampaging (and can indeed stop others from rampaging thanks to their Cold Blooded ability) and have a slightly stronger statline, making them excellent all-round threats to whatever your opponent might be packing. These Scar-Vets are ideal choices for armies led by slann-mage priests; they won't be competing for Winds of Magic like the skink priests and will more than make up for the slann's melee deficiency. If you want to keep him cheaper, you can take one on foot to lead fellow saurus infantry into battle, or stick in on a Cold One to ride with the rest of your cavalry.

*'''Skink Priest''' - Skink priests are your humble, mortal casters. Cheap and nimble, these guys can easily outrun most footslogging infantry and are fantastically flexible mages that can fill any offensive or defensive holes your army might have. If mounted on a terradon, their speed will be unparalleled (for Lizardmen); they'll be able to rain magical death anywhere on the battlefield with ease and can quickly deliver support to your forces no matter how spread out they may be. Alternatively, you may mount them on stegadons or ancient stegadons to make them terrifying all-rounders, though their price tag will quickly reflect that.
**'''Skink Priest (Heavens)''' - The Heavens discipline is among the better offensive lores of magic in the game for the instant raw damage output it's capable of. Wind Blast and Chain Lightning will be your go-to offensive spells. Comet of Cassandora, though powerful, should generally be avoided due to how long its casting time is. Harmonic Convergence and Curse of the Midnight Wind are staples of support sets and can turn your saurus infantry into immovable walls of tooth and claw.
**'''Skink Priest (Beasts)''' - Formerly your worst discipline, the Lore of Beasts has recently received a bit of a tweaking to make it considerably more attractive and usable. It's still among the least potent of your available magics, but it is among the most flexible in utility. Wyssan's Wild Form and Pann's Impenetrable Pelt provide rather significant combat buffs (particularly when stacked) while Curse of Anraheir debilitates your enemies. Offensively, Flock of Doom is a fantastic and cheap chaff cleaner that affects any units that have at least one model within its 30m range. For your single target needs, The Amber Spear allows your caster to act as impromptu artillery should the need arise. Formerly ''the'' reason to take a Beasts caster was for the Transformation of Kadon; being able to summon up to two Manticores to flank enemy formations or dive into backlines can have a massive impact on the flow of battle, but a bump up to ''20'' Winds of Magic per summon makes it challenging to make much use of your other spells in multiplayer.

*'''Skink Chief''' - Your skirmishing duelist, skink chiefs cripple enemy forces with their poisonous darts so that your army can face weaker resistance. Skink chiefs are a force to be feared when mounted on a stegadon, allowing them to easily face down many enemy heroes/lords in a one-on-one fight. In the campaign, the ability to build skink chief capacity-increasing buildings in minor settlements means you can spam them across the map or stack up to 19 of them into an army, which can be hilariously broken depending on the traits and items you equip them with.

*'''Skink Oracle (DLC 3)''' - In hot contention for the title of "best Hero" for the Lizardmen, the Skink Oracle brings a cavalcade of well rounded offensive and supportive magic to the field atop a mighty Troglodon. And only on a Troglodon, so he's very much an "all or nothing" type of unit. The first major reason the Skink Oracle makes for a popular pick is the fact that he's your only non-Slann source of magical healing, potentially freeing up your Lord choice for a more offensive beat stick like Kroq-Gar or even a Kroxigor Ancient. Secondly, as a hero, not only does your Skink Oracle provide a use of Cold-Blooded for the rest of your forces, but his own Troglodon will never rampage. Magical prowess aside, this alone is worth considering the rather steep price-tag. Speaking of, the Troglodon allows the Skink Oracle to function as a mid-range anti-Monster skirmisher. Combined with a potential Fireball cast here or there, the Skink Oracle ''excels'' at chunking opposing Lords/Heroes, especially if they're atop a mount or naturally monstrous in size. Just don't have him brazenly lead the charge into melee combat, as he won't last terribly long in it. in campaign recruit fully leveled slaan with star chambers is still better than using the other lord options but a skink oracle and some healing bastillodon's can allow you to use lore's other than life at least, but honestly, ask yourself if its even worth using you WOM on anything other than healing? your probably still better off spending your winds on heals. Dino and hero doomstacks dont need any offensive spell support to kill things, maybe use light for AOE buffs.

==Units==
Many lizardmen units are available in standard and 'blessed' variants. Blessed units are only made available in the campaign by completing random timed missions, such as getting 1000 kills or winning 4 battles, but make up for their randomness and limited quantity by being free to recruit at any time in any army and by having at least one extra ability or superior stat over their contemporary counterparts. They aren't to be confused with Regiments of Renown, unique units recruited at max rank and limited to one instance per. In casual multiplayer matches with Unit Caps turned off, Blessed Units are recruitable for only a modest bump in price over their generic counterparts.

===Infantry===
Infantry provide the foundation of every army in Total War: Warhammer, and the Lizardmen are no different. Indeed, even the humble skinks have their place.

====Melee Infantry====
*'''Skink Cohort''' - Skinks armed with little macuahuitls and shields, skink cohorts are cheap chaff units primarily used to fill out rosters or to support your more expensive infantry actually doing the killing. Despite being shielded, these guys will die by the score due to their pitiful defensive statline if they face any frontline infantry head on and are one of the few lizardmen units prone to routing from leadership issues. Having said that, skink cohorts are among the fastest cheap infantry units in the game and are still rather decent combatants when fighting similar unarmored units and tend to win such engagements (namely against chaff or low tier infantry like Bretonnian peasantry or Vampire Count zombies). Indeed, their speed is invaluable for flanking enemies tied up by your saurus warriors and chasing routing enemies off the map. When pinching pennies, you can't argue with that.

*'''Red-Crested Skinks (DLC 1)''' - Angry skinks wielding poisonous, armor piercing warhammers. Red-Crested Skinks provide an invaluable source of early game/cheap melee AP damage and poison, though they're less effective against unarmored targets as a whole compared to regular Skink Cohorts. They lack both shields and armor and as they are simply skinks, they will die in droves unless they're taking refuge among the far burlier saurus warriors. On that note, RC skinks synergize excellently with saurus warriors, as they can simultaneously chew through armored units the saurus tend to bounce off of and further cripple these enemies with poison, allowing your much slower saurus to both catch up to and butcher them with greater ease. Just like skink cohorts, these guys are at home in watery environments and are easily able to outflank many slower infantry units.
**'''Cohort of Sotek (RoR, DLC 1)''' - A slightly buffed up unit of RC Skinks, these guys have a unique ability, ''Refuse to Die''. When active, no skink models can die (they can still take damage, however), which can maximize their damage output when taking sudden burst damage or ensure that they hold the enemy in place for a precious few more seconds. They're also one of the few Unbreakable units in your list, allowing them to fight to the very last skink.

*'''Saurus Warriors''' - Saurus warriors are probably the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the lizardmen, and for good reason. Resilient, determined and natural fighters, saurus warriors are one of the most durable base line infantry units in the game due to their high HP and armor and can hold their own even against the more elite infantry options of other factions (Note: they can fight a unit of chaos warriors to stalemate). Should they find themselves in a losing matchup, their naturally high leadership will keep them standing firm against the enemy far longer than their equivalents in other factions would, even if they lose control and rampage towards their inevitable deaths. To compensate, saurus are slow and are prone to being kited, so skink skirmishers/cohorts should be utilized to help pin down the enemy line until the saurus make it into combat. Saurus warriors are available in both standard and shielded variants, but the only reason to not get the shielded version is if you need every last gold coin you can rub together for your bigger monsters on a tight, competitive budget.
**'''Blessed Saurus Warriors''' - Shielded saurus warriors with an even higher base health and [[awesome|perfect vigour]]. These guys make fantastically cost efficient walls that will never tire no matter how hard they're pushed. In the campaign, they are one of the better frontline choices you can give your non-doomstack armies that can find a place even into the late game, so long as they manage to survive and rank up. Gor-Rok, if chosen as your initial legendary lord, can use his rite to grant further defensive bonuses and ''unbreakable'' to them; they will never yield.

*'''Saurus Spears''' - Warriors equipped with anti-large spears for engaging cavalry and monsters. They're nearly identical to regular saurus warriors in every other way, though they do slightly less damage against regular infantry in exchange for their anti-large speciality. Like the warriors, they come in unshielded or, for a slight premium, shielded variants.
**'''Blessed Saurus Spears''' - Buffed up saurus spears with shields, the blessed variant of these saurus are dramatically inferior to their standard cousins since they lack perfect vigour. Instead, the bonus ability granted to them is Forest Strider, a perk that grants additional melee attack and defense buffs to them while fighting in forests. If you can lure cavalry and large monsters into forests, where they'll suffer additional penalties simply due to how forests interact with them, you can deal impressive sustained damage to them in short order. Unfortunately, this ability does nothing for them outside of forests and ''many'' battlefields will have a dearth of forest patches that you can fight in. Additionally, uncooperative opponents will generally avoid trying to engage your forces inside forests and trying to convince them otherwise may prove too time consuming for what it's worth. Regardless, they still have more health than the regular saurus spears. That's always a plus.
**'''Legion of Chaqua (RoR, DLC 1)''' - The Legion of Chaqua, thanks to their special ability, are able to provide themselves and all nearby allied units a surprising 44% missile resistance for a limited time upon activation. This is an invaluable skill to have on the approach, as many of your unshielded infantry and larger monsters are vulnerable to being focused down by the much superior ranged infantry found in other armies and can be further supplemented by a Slann's Shield of the Old Ones if necessary. Otherwise, these guys simply behave exactly as Saurus Spears are expected to.

*'''Temple Guards''' - The fearsome Temple Guards, renowned for their devotion to their Slann masters, stand ready to slaughter all who'd bring harm to their otherwise vulnerable charges. Temple Guard are the only "elite" infantry within the lizardmen roster, which is more a testament to how strong regular saurus are compared to the melee infantry of other armies. Speaking of how strong regular saurus are, Temple Guard fall short of them against unarmored infantry on the whole. This isn't to say Temple Guard aren't impressive; their heightened statline makes them less likely to budge than regular saurus are while their charge defense and bonus damage against large foes and predominantly armor-piercing weaponry lets them effectively face down a majority of late-game/elite cavalry, monsters and even armored infantry much more effectively than regular saurus. Unfortunately, this general prowess reflects heavily in their price tag and you'll struggle to field multiple units of these without heavily cutting into your other options.
**'''Blessed Temple Guards''' - Recolored Temple Guards, these guys are a slightly more offensive version of their default variants thanks to an increased charge bonus. This makes them significantly more well rounded and will allow you to more flexibly choose how you engage your enemies; do you brace and negate an incoming charge, or is the foe squishy enough where a counter charge would be more punishing? All in all a nice upgrade if only for the usual buff to their health blessed units receive.
**'''Star-Chamber Guardians (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Take Temple Guard and make their weapons also deal magical damage: you now have ''the'' most elite infantry unit available to the Lizardmen. Having magical attacks allows the SCG to engage many undead forces that utilize the Ethereal ability and cut them down with ease, as well as neutering anything without good magic resistance or anything that has physical resists. SCG also serve as excellent bodyguards for lords (particularly Slann) due to their Guardian ability and when properly supported with healing magic, these guys will ''never'' die. Their only major weakness of note is prolonged anti-armor ranged firepower and artillery, but as they are armored and shielded and have a frankly gargantuan health pool, it will take a long time to fully whittle them down.

====Missile Infantry====
*'''Skink Cohort with Javelins''' - Skinks armed with little macuahuitls, shields and three javelins each. For pennies over a regular skink cohort, you can give them limited ranged support with poisonous javelins; a fantastic way to soften up an enemy unit for your front line infantry on the charge. With their speed, they can also easily circle about and pepper an opposing unit's backsides before charging in to cut off their escape while your saurus chew through them. Once they throw all their javelins, they're identical to the default skink cohort in virtually every way. Generally, if you're planning on taking skink cohorts at all, you should almost always pick these guys up over the standard versions (unless you ''really'' need every gold coin you can possibly scrape together for a specific competitive multiplayer build).

*'''Skink Skirmishers''' - Skinks equipped with little blowpipes and poisonous darts, and your first dedicated ranged infantry. Skink skirmishers lack the sheer range available to most other factions and struggle to do damage against armored opponents. Instead, they should be used exclusively as harassers; their speed, ability to fire while moving and vanguard deployment options allow them to easily get into flanking positions and kite enemy infantry while inflicting poison onto them for when the rest of your army catches up. These guys will melt quickly if caught in the crosshairs of opposing archers/gunners and are pitiful in a fistfight, so you should only get one or two of these units at most, and only if you absolutely cannot afford taking chameleon skinks instead.
**'''Blessed Skink Skirmishers''' - Skink skirmishers with more health and an innate magic spell resistance. This extra durability is nice, but the spell resistance in particular isn't going to see much use due to these guys rather high mobility and any targetable spell an opponent ''could'' cast on them would be served much better against... literally anything else in your army. There's no cause to bring these guys in multiplayer matches and the only reason you'll want to recruit them in any of your Campaigns would be if you're in desperate need of reinforcements for a beat-up army you simply cannot afford to lose and you just ''happen'' to have some Blessed Skink Skirmishers to burn. The moment you are in a position where you can recruit/replace other units, these guys should be the first to go.

*'''Chameleon Skinks''' - Ninja skinks equipped with little blowpipes and poisonous darts. Though fewer in number than basic skink skirmishers, chameleon skinks are considerably more durable thanks to their flat 40% missile resistance and have a much easier time sneaking around enemies thanks to their Chameleon ability. This, along with their loose formation, can make them surprisingly effective at countering enemy archers. They otherwise fulfill the exact same harassment role your regular skink skirmishers do and deal a disappointingly low amount of damage against armored targets. Also, like skink skirmishers, they are unable to curve their shots well meaning they're less effective in siege battles than the archers of other races.
**'''Blessed Chameleon Skinks''' - Slightly swole Chameleon Skinks with twice the charge bonus (which is barely anything, especially combined with their rather tragic melee statline) and a few extra darts per skink. More ammunition is always welcome in a firefight, but it's hardly a game changer. Regardless, better stats do open up options and if you have a choice between these and regular Chameleon Skinks, may as well pick these guys.

*'''Chameleon Stalkers (DLC 3)''' - Angry ninja skinks with little blowpipes and [[what|explosive darts]]. Chameleon Stalkers fill the rather niche role of shock infantry for the Lizardmen. Each skink is equipped with two Precursor blowpipe shots that deal rather impressive burst damage against unarmored targets either on the charge or when falling back from a melee engagement. As they possess the same Chameleon ability their standard Chameleon Skink kin have, they do have a lot of wiggle room to get into an optimal charging position and can quickly fade away from the fray when things go south. Speaking of things going south, though Stalkers are reasonably decent at combat due to their poisoned attacks and mediocre stats, they still tend to lose against medium tier and above infantry or anything with armor. That said, even against armored infantry, much of the Stalker's value comes from the heavy formation disruption their Precursor Rounds cause, slowing down their targets and interrupting their charge so that you can take the initiative in the ensuing engagement. They can also deal decent burst damage against single entity units in a pinch, but this is generally an inefficient use of them.

====Monstrous Infantry====

*'''Kroxigors''' - Kroxigors, as to be expected from 9-foot tall crocodile men, are beastly armor-piercing anti-infantry blenders who can carve through lower tier units like butter and are sturdy enough to hold back more elite units for your more capable specialists. Though quite tanky and reasonably quick (compared to your saurus), they are still large (with the weaknesses all that entails) and very vulnerable to getting shot to hell and back or getting slammed by larger cavalry/monsters. While Kroxigors do hit damn hard, their total damage is divided between three subcatagories: Base, Anti-Infantry and Armor-Piercing. As such, they only really get the most bang for their buck when thrown against armored infantry. While they are able to tie up units that fall outside of those categories, they become dramatically less effective and ''will'' lose the grindfest if they aren't supported. Just like in the tabletop, they pair fantastically with supporting skinks to flank and tie up enemy forces or debuff them with poison to make them even more vulnerable to the kroxigors.
**'''Blessed Kroxigors''' - If you thought regular kroxigors were thick, you haven't seen these thunder-thighs strut their stuff. Though the standard health increase is all well and good, blessed kroxigors received a substantial buff to their charge bonus. This can make them surprisingly deadly cycle-chargers which, combined with their anti-infantry/armor niche, will let them crack massive holes in front lines.

*'''Sacred Kroxigors (DLC 2)''' - Kroxigors with [[power fists]]. These magical boxing gloves turn your kroxigors into all-purpose ass pounders who punch holes in armored foes effortlessly and tear through things with low magic resistance like so much wet paper. Much like regular kroxigors, sacred kroxigors get the most bang for their buck when supported by skinks (ideal) or saurus (when you don't want to move from that spot). Unlike standard Kroxigors, Sacred Kroxigors are much more well rounded offensively and will perform much more efficiently against opponents regular Kroxigors tend to struggle or stalemate against. Additionally, as the only non-RoR/Lord unit in your roster with Magical Attacks, these guys are your go-to melee force to deal with Ethereal units, Treemen and other high-physical resistance targets. Additionally, as Magic Resist is slated to change to only affect damage caused by Spells, Sacred Kroxigors will be very well suited to deal with the forces of the Dwarfs and Khorne going forward.
**'''Cohort of Huatl (RoR, DLC 2)''' - Sacred kroxigors with much higher physical resistance and straight up sunder enemy armor, allowing units like your saurus warriors to deal more damage to them.

===Cavalry===
Lizardmen cavalry are slow, for cavalry. They will never catch horse-mounted cavalry of other races, and it is risky to use them as a distraction if your enemy is using anything more than basic cavalry archers. Expect lizardmen cavalry to take heavy losses in prolonged combat, and learn to cycle-charge with them.

*'''Feral Cold Ones''' - A pack of clever girls, with no saurus riders. Feral cold ones are extremely speedy units (by lizardmen standards) that effectively function as light cavalry built for chasing down skirmishers, ranged back lines and artillery pieces. Their ability to cause fear also comes in handy for landing rear charges against a foe tied up in combat with your frontline infantry, as well as ensuring routed enemies leave the battlefield permanently. Unfortunately, their raw damage output is rather low and they themselves are particularly frail and prone to rampaging, which means a bad engagement will result in a swift end for them. They're cheap as chips though, so you can't complain too much over losing 'em.

*'''Cold One Riders''' - Standard cold one riders are your first full-blooded cavalry option. Though significantly swifter than your infantry, cold one riders lag behind their competition in other factions and are particularly vulnerable to anti-large cavalry units because of this. In an ideal setting, cold one riders will serve as the hammer to the anvil that is your saurus frontline; decisive charges into the rear of enemy formations can deal heavy damage and can completely lock down ranged infantry or artillery. Being both armored and shielded gives them respectable staying power as well and allows them to remain in extended combat should the need arise. That said, like most cavalry, they truly shine when they're able to freely cycle charge to maximize their damage output and heavily abuse enemy morale.

*'''Cold One Spear-Riders''' - The name says it all; these are cold one riders with spears. This turns them into a dedicated anti-large cavalry unit that can deal not inconsequential damage to opposing cavalry, artillery and monsters. Unfortunately, in cav v. cav engagements, cold one spear riders will often fall short due to their below average speed letting many opposing options run circles around them. As such, they tend to work best when used defensively. When opposing cavalry buckles down to charge into your flanks, counter charge them with your spear-riders to either intercept or divert them from your more vulnerable elements. They do deal decent armor-piercing damage on their own right, but they'll often lose against more elite cavalry options and their strength quickly diminishes in prolonged engagements.
**'''Blessed Cold One Spear-Riders''' - Blessed cold one spears are extremely similar to the Pok-Hopak Cohort in the sense that they both don't run the risk of rampaging. This is a very valuable perk on a unit that will often find itself separated from your main army, especially when combined with their heightened durability. If you have a need for cold one spears and have access to these, there's literally no reason not to take them.
**'''Pok-Hopak Cohort (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Fearless and focused spear-riders, these guys are both immune to psychology ''and'' lack primal instincts, meaning you'll never need to worry about them rampaging or fleeing from enemy monsters. Additionally, the Pok-Hopak cohort is able to utilize vanguard deployment, giving them a tactical edge over their generic counterparts that cannot be underestimated. If you're thinking about taking a unit of spear-riders, there's literally no reason to not just take these guys instead.

*'''Horned Ones''' - Your only elite cavalry, horned ones are simply buffed up cold one riders, plain and simple. They are significantly faster than all of your cold one riders and as such are on par with the cavalry options found in many other factions. They pack a meaty punch with a rather chunky charge bonus to boot, letting them simply smash through frontline infantry as both hammer and anvil. You'll be paying for that swollen statline though, as they are one of your most expensive non-monster units out of your entire roster (they're even more expensive than some of your monsters).
**'''Blessed Horned Ones''' - Just like the blessed cold one spears, blessed horned ones won't rampage when caught unawares. Considering these are your elite cav units, you will ''always'' want to make sure they can get out of a bad engagement whenever you need them to.

*'''Terradon Riders''' - Javelin skinks riding Terradons and carrying stone bombs. While relatively fast for the lizardmen, terradon riders are among the slowest flying cavalry in the game, and are a fairly niche choice in battle. They are best used harassing enemy infantry or charging into enemy artillery and wizards, something they can easily achieve thanks to their vanguard deployment options, though they'll lose straight-up melee fights with almost anything due to their small unit size and low defensive stats. Their attacks apply Poison, which makes them a little more useful than their raw stats make them seem, but in general you're going to want to use fireleech bolas riders.
**'''Pahuax Sentinels (RoR, DLC 1)''' - These special edition terradon riders are particularly nimble and have an innate resistance to melee and missile attacks that gives them ''far'' more staying power than any of your other flying cavalry. If only to serve as a distraction, these guys can be used in lieu of skink priests/chiefs in an attempt to waste your opponent's missile infantry/artillery ammo. Otherwise, use them to harass enemy units with poisoned missiles and to escort routing foes off the battlefield.

*'''Fireleech Bolas Terradon Riders''' - These are far better Terradon Riders than the base variant. While they no longer inflict Poison on enemy units, their fireleech bolas deal explosive fire damage, inflicting greater damage overall against infantry formations and fire-weak entities while dealing higher leadership penalties in the process. They still carry stone bombs, which can be devastatingly effective when used in concert with a line of saurus warriors pinning enemy melee units or shutting down artillery.
**'''Blessed Terradon Riders''' - Blessed Terradon Riders, aside the traditional increase in health, only received one minor adjustment over their basic counterparts; speed. At a speed stat of 110 as opposed to the standard 90, Blessed Terradon Riders can manuever across the battlefield notably more quickly than any other unit in your entire army. Nice, for a unit designed to harass and waste/dodge enemy missile fire, but ultimately a rather minor selling point on an admittedly mediocre and situational unit.

*'''Ripperdactyl Riders (DLC 1)''' - The obsidian knife of lizardmen flyers. Ripperdactyls are your flying can-openers with a minor bonus against infantry and a ''massive'' AP bonus. Combined with their solid melee attack stat and Frenzy bonus, these guys utterly shred armored foot soldiers. Unfortunately, their non-existent armor, low melee defense, low model count and large size makes these guys terribly susceptible to counterattack. If they get boxed in, much less by anything with an anti-large bonus, you will be impressed by how quickly they die. Because of this, and the fact much of their damage is dedicated against armored targets, Ripperdactyls tend to be a bit of a niche choice in army lists not built around Tiktaq'to. None-the-less, they are much more effective than Terradon Riders at shutting down missile infantry formations and artillery platforms. Just make sure you are constantly aware of the tactical situation and only call them down when you can support them or escape before enemy reinforcements manage to pin them down.
**'''Colossadon Hunters (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Bigger, hungrier ripperdactyls with a penchant for bigger prey; an additional anti-large bonus can turn them into cavalry buzzsaws and can let them deal sickening damage to mounted enemy lords or cavalry and are the best/only option for fighting flying enemy lords/heroes on semi-even ground. Suffice to say, they're still very weak to anti-large weaponry themselves and will seldom win against combat dedicated lords/heroes in a "1"v1 fight. As such, they'll need support through terradon riders (for the poison) as well as additional ripperdactyls to stand an honest shot against such a foe, though they're still not guaranteed a victory. Should they lose, they'll still leave a hell of a mark on whatever cavalry/monster they were fighting and such scars could prove pivotal to bringing them down with the rest of your army.

===Hunting Packs===
*'''Salamander Hunting Pack (DLC 1)''' - A ''much'' needed addition to the Lizardmen's borderline vacant missile unit roster, Salamander Hunting Packs are a fantastic general use ranged unit and are among the better missile cavalry options in the game. Though they can't fire while moving like other missile cavalry options, they deal a rather frightening amount of flaming explosive damage per volley with not inconsequential AP and rather notable anti-large bonuses to top it off. Much like your other non-single entity heavy hitters, Salamanders can do some damage in melee, but they really should avoid it unless absolutely necessary. Terrible defensive values will make Salamander Hunting Packs feel every blow that hits their unarmored hides. If you want to keep them in the fight, make sure you have a few Saurus Spears or Spear Cold One Riders to counter enemy cavalry.
**'''The Umbral Tide (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Sneaky salamander hunting packs with perfect vigour and stalk, the Umbral Tide is able to covertly cross a majority of the battlefields you may find yourself on and can easily set up an ambush against unsuspecting opponents. Even after running from one end of the battle to the other and loosing every last fireball from their collective gullets, the Umbral Tide will still have a spring to their step should they join the melee fray. If you can only afford a single Salamander Pack, try to budget for these guys.

*'''Razordon Hunting Pack (DLC 2)''' - Razordons are your anti-armor missile cavalry. Unlike the Salamanders, who burp up one flaming projectile apiece, Razordons lob three spikes at a time when they attack. Though the damage per individual projectile is... well, pitiful, combined they can deal a rather staggering amount of AP damage that can either be divided among dense clusters of armored infantry formations or a single armored target. Additionally, Razordons are much more adept at lobbing their shots, giving them a bit of an edge over Salamanders in uneven terrain. Unfortunately, that's about where the good news ends. With a shorter firing range than Salamanders and utterly abysmal base damage on their projectiles ([[What|Chameleon Skinks have stronger missiles against unarmored foes than these guys]]) and no additional bonuses to speak of (fire damage, explosive damage, anti-large/infantry, nothing), there's generally no reason to take Razordons over Salamanders in general lists. Against the heavily armored forces of the Warriors of Chaos, Dwarfs or even other Lizardmen, Razordons might find a more valuable niche.
**'''Amaxon Barbs (RoR, DLC 2)''' - Razordons with poisonous spikes and a flat 15% missile resistance, these guys aren't much to write home about. Yes, poison is nice, but you don't exactly need to dig very deep for alternative ways to access it. The missile resistance is a nice, if moderately more situational perk, but it's not a particularly notable resistance and it does nothing for potential melee engagements. In the event you need a razordon hunting pack for anti-armor firepower, you may as well pick these guys up, but only if you have the extra gold once you've established your core army roster.

===Monsters===
The big beasts and the creatures most opponents expect to face when fighting the lizardmen. Potent and powerful monsters, you have a dinosaur for every occasion; you'll simply need to choose the right ones. Beware of enemy tarpits if you don't have a high-level mage in your army; dinosaurs will take additional damage from their flanks and rear if they are surrounded and that can quickly wear them down.

*'''Feral Stegadon''' - A wild stegadon, pure and simple. A living battering ram, stegadons are fantastic line breakers and are well rounded enough to survive the ensuing melee while dealing respectable damage in turn. Like all feral dinosaur variants, its only major weakness is a vulnerability to rampaging courtesy of its lower leadership. This is a forgivable flaw, considering how cheap they are and the fact that you can simply use Cold Blooded to snap them out of it definitely lessens the severity of an occasional rampage.

*'''[[Stegadon]]''' - A stegadon with a long-range ballista and skink handlers mounted upon its back. Stegadons serve as the first of your two artillery options and are arguably the best at dealing raw damage: the ballista is unerringly accurate and can easily snipe opposing artillery pieces, usually destroying the cannon/catapult models in question before they can get much usage. What's more is that, as it's connected to a single entity monster itself, the ballista is not vulnerable to these same tactics, but it can take more punishment just like cygors, steam tanks and other large entities with ranged attacks. The stegadon's ranged attack generally struggles to deal significant damage to infantry formations due to the narrow projectiles and low splash damage (despite the bonus anti-infantry damage). Regardless, the shot still deals incredible damage to heavily armored, single entity monsters (particularly a majority of mounted lords/heroes) due to their immense bonus AP damage. Even should you run out of ammunition or should your opponent try to tie it down in melee... it's still a stegadon. With skinks firing poisoned darts at everything surrounding its legs, it will put up just as much of a fight as its feral counterpart and then some. The only downside to the ballista is that firing it will drain the stegadon's vigour (even if it's standing perfectly still), meaning it'll likely perform less efficiently in any ensuing melee if it doesn't get a break between firing and fighting.
**'''Blessed Stegadon''' - Hoh boy, now we're talking. A massive buff to the stegadon's health will allow him to take significantly more punishment over the rest of his variants, but that's not really the main selling point here. The blessed stegadon is also gifted with perfect vigour; a massive boon to the offensive prowess of this beast. Being able to act as full blown artillery then rush into glorious melee combat to tear enemies a new asshole at peak performance is something no other faction can achieve remotely as effectively as these guys can. If a quest pops up in the campaign with these as a reward, you should do your damndest to accomplish it. They're well worth it.

*'''Ancient Stegadon''' - Where the stegadon does its best work from afar, the ancient stegadon needs to get up close and personal to do business. The howdah, though packed with significantly more ammo, is much shorter ranged and is primarily meant to soften up nearby targets for a follow up charge into melee. Ancient stegadons are somewhat tankier than other stegadon variants, though their limited range debatably renders them less effective offensively. In general, you should either spring for the Engine of the Gods or stick with a regular stegadon..
**'''The Thunderous One (RoR, DLC 1)''' - A beefed up ancient stegadon that calls down bolts of lighting every 20 seconds, the Thunderous One was made to wade into the enemy's front line and deal indiscriminate damage. Unfortunately, these bolts of lightning can and will deal friendly fire to your units. This can make it somewhat challenging to support its charge with infantry or cavalry, though allied single entity monsters typically won't mind the stray blast.

*'''Engine of the Gods Ancient Stegadon (DLC 1)''' - Is all the gold armor embedded into your ancient stegadon not quite flashy enough for you? Just give it the ability to call down an orbital bombardment to glass swarms of warmbloods in the name of the Great Plan. The Stegadon itself is, functionally, an Ancient Stegadon. It behaves identically like one and has the exact same statline, but once you get to its abilities, things start to get interesting. It has two supporting abilities, Arcane Configuration (Winds of Magic Power Recharge rate boost) and the Portent of Warding (a 5% Ward Save for all allied units within 40m). These effects make EotG Stegadons fantastic supporting units simply from their presence alone. And yes, this applies to EotG Stegadon Mounts, so your (Red-Crested) Skink Chiefs can support Skink Priest casters or front line infantry if he's on one of these. The third, and debatably the main reason you're considering this ornate beast, is the Burning Alignment active ability. Though limited to only two uses, the Engine of the Gods can deal devastating damage to infantry focused lists if the Burning Alignment is used at just the right moment. It's particularly effective when fired into choke points or along your enemy's frontline ranks when they're tied up with your forces. Thankfully, the Burning Alignment ability is extremely accurate for (what is functionally) a wind spell; so long as you aim carefully and don't wander your lizardmen into it's path, you can drop it right in front of your forces with little fear.

*'''Feral [[Bastilidon]]''' - Your cheapest single entity dinosaur as well as your sturdiest. Feral bastilidons are effectively just a [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]] that you throw into enemy frontlines to stir up some chaos, cause some fear and just generally soak damage while the rest of your army dismantles the enemy. These guys can still earn you some crazy value against armies that field a lot of chaff infantry, like Skaven, Beastmen or Bretonnia.

*'''Solar Engine Bastilidon''' - Your second, cheaper artillery option. Solar Engines fire off a single missile that simultaneously blinds and burns enemy units, reducing their combat effectiveness and dealing bonus damage against anything that regenerates health naturally. These laser bolts are relatively slow moving, however, and are much easier to dodge than the smaller, faster, harder to see bolts fired by the stegadon, but they have slightly higher damage per shot and a larger splash radius when targeting groups of infantry. In another contrast to the stegadon, the beams fired by the solar engine deal flat magical damage, meaning enemies with high magical resistance will largely shrug off the damage dealt by the solar engine itself. The only ''major'' drawback of the solar engine is that the Beam of Chotek, though an armor-piercing missile (its unit toolbar does not show the armor-piercing icon), deals relatively low bonus damage against armored units and as such will become less efficient compared to the stegadon when targeting heavily armored monsters over formations of armored infantry. At the end of the day, when all else fails, there's still a fully grown bastilidon underneath that laser crystal. Keep in mind, like every range units, their range shots depletes a unit's vigour and should be taken into account if you're planning on sending it in.
**'''Blessed Solar Engine Bastilidon''' - Everything said about the blessed stegadon applies here, only to a slightly lesser extent. Perfect vigour's value cannot be overstated on a melee capable monster that would otherwise tire itself out just from holding a laser cannon in place. The greater defensive value of the bastilidon compliments the increased health quite nicely and will allow the blessed variant to stay in the thick of it considerably longer than others of its kind (bar perhaps a Revivification bastilidon healing itself, though it could just simply support the blessed bastilidon instead).

*'''Revivification Crystal Bastilidon''' - Your only non-magical source of healing, revivification crystals are one of the few healing options in the game that not only restores a unit's health but also actually revives dead models; a perk that's particularly valuable on your elite units like kroxigors or temple guard. A revivification crystal pairs excellently with a Life Slann in infantry heavy lists as you can very rapidly bring a unit back from the brink to near pristine (or whatever their healing cap is, depending on how used and abused they are), or for ensuring crucial monsters (like carnosaurs and dread saurians) become virtually unkillable. They are of limited use in a dinosaur army if your lord isn't a Life Slann, as their minor healing ability is short-ranged and can only target a single unit with a relatively lengthy cooldown between uses. Additionally, and this is notable hitch, models don't start coming back to life until all the still living models have been healed up. This, consequently, makes it difficult to rebuild your forces if they're in active combat or taking damage from other sources. Having said that, they're still the only source of healing non-slann lords have access to and the only healing option that doesn't impose on your Winds of Magic reserve (which is still a plus, as other armies don't have such a luxury). As a bastilidon variant, it can also throw itself into combat with little fear. Pro tip: Don't click that "end battle" button; instead, use it to revive what you can and win the fight with fewer casualties.

*'''Ark of Sotek Bastilodon (DLC 1)''' - Functionally just a regular bastilidon, but with the ability to unleash an AoE burst of poison on all enemies surrounding it. As it's only a minor increase in cost over the feral version, the Ark of Sotek may be worth getting for the very minor amount of damage and extra poison it can apply to the invariable mosh pits bastilidons often find themselves in. Alternatively, you can get much more utility from the other two non-feral variants, and rely on your skinks to supply poison or your mages to deal burst damage to tarpits of infantry.

*'''Ancient Salamander (DLC 1)''' - A single giant salamander, tempered with age, experience and able to melt opponents with literal hellfire. Ancient salamanders are more durable than their lesser hunting pack kin and are more reliably able to survive the occasional melee scuffle, though it generally shouldn't participate in it. Instead, the ancient salamander truly shines when paired with fire slann, salamander hunting packs, fireleech bolas terradons, or solar engine bastilidons thanks to its ability to render enemy units flammable with its own fireballs. This flammable effect greatly improves the damage dealt by flaming attacks and when executed properly and will burn through most infantry-focused armies with terrifying efficiency.

*'''Feral Carnosaur''' - An offensive machine, the apex predator of Lustria (you know, conventionally) and a signature monster of the lizardmen, the carnosaur is a ferocious beast that specializes in hunting other monsters, skaven weapon teams, and artillery due to their innate anti-large bonuses and armor-piercing capabilities. They're considerably frailer than stegadons and bastilidons defensively, though they are much swifter and tear through most enemies far more quickly due to their much higher attack. When funds are too tight to take a Saurus Scar-Vet or Old Blood on a carnosaur, a feral version with proper support won't steer you wrong. Just make sure you keep a leader or hero with Cold-Blooded on standby in case they get a little carried away.
**'''Blessed Feral Carnosaur''' - The blessed carnosaur. Formerly the pinnacle of lizardmen might (the dread saurian says hi), blessed carnosaurs have all the anti-large, armor-piercing wrath of the regular carnosaur supplemented by a much more rounded defensive statline. Additional health and magic resistance makes the blessed carnosaur surprisingly survivable against a myriad of generic threats and allows it to commit to fights that regular carnosaurs would hesitate towards. They are still just as vulnerable as any other carnosaur to getting mobbed or picked apart from regular armor-piercing weapons and absolutely will rampage in a bind, so don't get reckless with your charges.
**'''Geltblöm’s Terror (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Feral Carnosaur that never rampages and is blessed with both Vanguard deployment and the Strider ability, enabling it to keep up to speed in any terrain. Vanguard deployment and rampage immunity is a fantastic combination for a Lizardmen monster designed to fight other monsters, but don't get reckless.

*'''Feral Troglodon (DLC 3)''' - A Troglodon without a Skink Oracle to keep it in check. Troglodons are in essence a hybrid between an Ancient Salamander and Carnosaur in that they're able to burp up potent poisonous spit that's extremely effective against large targets. Troglodons are quite possibly the first real "skirmisher" single entity monster introduced: though they're quick for ground-bound dinosaurs, they should generally only engage in melee as a last resort or with ''heavy'' support because they are not designed to put up much of a fight. In a direct melee engagement against most other combat monsters, Troglodons tend to lose pretty handily. Their low leadership also tends to cause them to rampage quickly when caught up in a brawl. However, if they focus on kiting and sniping their targets rather than charging them, they can do frankly sickening amounts of damage.
**'''The Pale Death (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Feral Troglodon that can buff itself and nearby allies in melee whenever it uses it's Primeval Roar, giving them a rather substantial Melee Attack bonus for a short while. Though a buff of 24 Melee Attack is certainly an eyebrow raiser, it only recharges when the Pale Death is actively engaged in melee combat. For 60 seconds. On a creature that's prone to rampaging at the drop of a hat, this is a very risky commitment without a Lord/Hero nearby to keep it in check.

*'''Feral Dread Saurian (DLC 2)''' - The single largest monster in the game, dread saurians are nigh uncontested in raw damage output and are more than capable of killing every other unit in the game in a straight fight. Unfortunately for you, your opponent will be able to field ''far'' more units than your dread saurian will be able to deal with at once and most of said units will likely be picking it off at range. As a massive, lumbering behemoth, dodging even slow moving projectiles is well and truly beyond the dread saurian and it will take tremendous damage on the approach. Even once it arrives in melee, the sheer volume of bodies capable of surrounding it and poking it with anti-armor/anti-large sticks will wear it down quite quickly. Their size also provides another source of jank whenever they get bogged down by hordes; they'll struggle to properly path their way through the crowds (it doesn't help that the Dread Saurian also has relatively low mass considering it's literal size) and their attacks, while lethally brutal, also tend to miss depending on the terrain it's fighting on. They are also prohibitively expensive and will eat up a significant portion of your funds, meaning the rest of your army will be extremely limited in number. Ensure you have a proper supporting mage (a life slann is essential) if you're bringing one.

*'''Dread Saurian (DLC 2)''' - The single largest monster in the game, now wearing a howdah filled to the brim with skinks. A modest price bump from the already exorbitant feral variant will grant the regular dread saurian a higher leadership, ranged attacks and poison. Frankly, there's little reason not to go ahead and splurge for these upgrades.
**'''Shredder of Lustria (RoR, DLC 2)''' - The single most expensive beast you could ever field, and boy does he do work. In addition to all that a dread saurian can bring to bear, the Shredder of Lustria is stacked with the full complement of veterinary stat buffs and a leadership debuff for all enemies surrounding it, a perk that, when combined with the innate fear and terror dread saurians cause, will make most enemy infantry run the ''fuck'' away very fast. If that weren't enough, the Shredder of Lustria also encourages all nearby allied troops, buffing their leadership. After all, who wouldn't be inspired by seeing the apex of lizardmen might devouring any and all who oppose the Great Plan? Speaking of the Great Plan, you're going to need one: considering how much money you're sinking into this puppy, you're going to need to really budget the rest of your army carefully.

*'''Coatl (DLC 3)''' - Previously a relic of a long lost bit of Lizardmen lore, the Coatl makes a rather striking return as the premier Lizardmen flying monster. The Coatl, though packing two casts of Urannon's Thunderbolt and one cast of Lesser Chain Lighting as bound spells, is designed more as a source of support for ground-bound allies. Infact, the main draw to the Coatl isn't its combat capabilities (which are mediocre at best), but for the fact that it grants all allied units under its wings Stalk. Yes, everything from that unit of Red-Crested Skinks to that Dread Saurian doomstack becomes invisible and untargetable until they're either far too close to do anything about or the Coatl "lands" or dies. As a faction desperately starved of long range missile units, this is a massive boon for protecting your high-value targets on the approach. Once the Coatl has safely delivered it's charges into battle, it still can serve as an excellent disruptor of backline units, Snipe artillery or single entity monsters with thunderbolt or punish a large blob with lesser chain lighting. Just be careful: even your Terradons move faster than this thing and its size does it no favors when trying to dodge missile fire.
**'''Spirit of Tepok (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Coatl that has Banishment and Shield of Thorns as bound spells instead. The option to lean more heavily into a support role does suit the Coatl quite well, though this largely depends on what lord choice and focus your army has. If you brought a life slann or a skink priest, a regular Coatl might get you more mileage.

==Tactics==
Lizardmen are a very versatile faction when viewed over the entire campaign, however there will be times when your army composition and thus tactics are limited depending on the progress you've made in developing your empire. Your greatest limiting factor will be money; be it in single-player or multiplayer, many mid-high tier units will cost a fortune and you will invariably have a lower unit count compared to other armies. You will need to carefully consider the faction you're currently facing when forming your armies.

===Multiplayer Strategies===

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

*'''Beastmen''' - Highly mobile and capable of dishing out impressive damage, the Beastmen are debatably the fastest overall army in the game (only rivaled by the Wood Elves, perhaps). This can be difficult to deal with, as the only infantry you possess that can potentially keep up with them are your Skinks. Skinks...generally aren't a great pick against Beastmen. They're slower still than a significant portion of the Beastmen roster and will die quite quickly due to their lack of armor and defensive stats. Skink Skirmishers are a minor exception, as between their poisonous missiles and the Beastmen's lack of armor, they'll actually deal respectable damage to them. Otherwise, the stalwart Saurus (Spears) will be your best frontline unit; solid charge defenses, shields and anti-large bonuses will stop any rush in its tracks and the Beastmen's complete lack of armor means that they'll take the full brunt of their attacks. The units that'll get you the most mileage however, are going to be your monsters. The fear and terror your massive beasties toss about will destroy attempts to form a cohesive front line and their utter lack of armor means that even your Bastilodons will deal rather substantial damage to them. Have a Carnosaur or two hunt down any Cygors or non-Great Axe Minotaurs they might have on hand.

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

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

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

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

*'''Grand Cathay''' -

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

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

*'''Khorne''' -

*'''Kislev''' -

*'''Lizardmen''' - This...should be a no brainer in concept, though countering opposing lizardmen can be somewhat difficult to execute. Anti-large units in some shape or form are an inarguable must; cold one spear-riders accompanied by saurus spears can surround and pin down enemy monsters in a relatively cost-effective manner. Red-crested skinks are an ideal infantry choice due to their poison and armor piercing bonus coming into play against a majority of the lizardman roster. Salamander hunting packs and ancient salamanders are fantastic all-rounders that can deal terrifying damage across the entire board. Your main objective should be to focus down any slann mage-priest or skink priests present on the field, followed by any other lord/hero keeping potential rampages in check. If there is an opposing slann, avoid clumping up your infantry to reduce the threat of a banishment and/or any other vortex spell devastating your frontlines. Regular stegadons are fantastic monster snipers who should focus fire on major threats like carnosaurs or dread saurians before anything else.

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

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

*'''Ogre Kingdoms''' -

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

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

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

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

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

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

*'''Daemons of Chaos''':

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

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

===Campaign Strategies===
In the campaign, be it the Vortex or Mortal Empires, the biggest concern lizardmen have is obtaining a consistent source of income; skinks will only carry you so far in the early game and sacking settlements will only provide a quick short-term boost to your treasury. Your economy generally lacks bonuses, especially compared to other Warhammer 2 factions, though you won't be as constrained as, say, Wood Elves or Beastmen, and expanding the Geomantic Web and getting upkeep reduction skills will go a long, long way. As such, if you aren't playing as Hexoatl it is imperative to get the city as soon as possible for its landmark, which reduces upkeep on the lizardmen's most powerful units. Most other landmark buildings add some bonus to several unit chains, such as additional damage for skinks or more defense for saurus warriors.

Lizardmen research is locked behind building completion; many important technologies cannot be accessed until a specific, often mediocre in mid-early game, building is built in one of your settlements. Generally speaking, it is better to unlock research to start improving your weaker units rather than focus on your economy in the early- to mid-game. You simply won't be generating much revenue from economy buildings until the Geomantic Web is expanded and upkeep is reduced. However, that also means you need to be smart about what buildings to construct in your limited settlements; depending on how much money you have coming in through battles and sacking, it may be worth it to construct something just to unlock research and then destroy it to make room for something you genuinely need.

Despite skinks being largely cannon fodder after turn 75, the skink Spawning Pool building should be built in every minor settlement so that you can hire as many Skink Chief heroes as possible. Not only are they the faction assassins, which help lizardmen remove otherwise troublesome heroes that would be difficult to snipe on the battlefield, they can all get stegadon or ancient stegadon mounts. These are functionally equivalent to the generic version but come with extended range and bonuses to damage. It is possible to have two full armies of just Skink Chiefs by the Chaos invasion, if you so wish, and it is even more OP than the standard dinostack. Skink Priests also have access to these mounts, but increasing their recruiting slots is much more difficult.

Once you start becoming established and have a few provinces under your belt, it is imperative to begin constructing Star Chambers in every province you can afford to do so. Each Star Chamber boosts the starting rank of all newly recruited Slann Mage-Priests by 3 levels and all new heroes by 2. Yes, this stacks all the way up so that you can recruit max level Slann every 10 turns. Each Star Chamber also offers a small but lucrative bonus to all income for the whole Province, which helps to address your stone-age economy and extends enemy sieges by an extra 3 turns, potentially granting you just enough time to save the city should it fall under attack.

===Subfaction Strategies===
In general, this section will assume you're playing in the Mortal Empires campaign.

====Mazdamundi====
*'''City of the Sun''' - Big boss Mazdamundi starts with a couple nice things going for him; As the proud owner of Hexoatl, late game Dino-Doomstacks can become particularly affordable. Additionally, he can expand south relatively freely due to a province's worth of abandoned settlements ripe for the plundering/taking. Not everything is as bright as his city's namesake suggests; A permanent -10 diplomatic penalty to all Non-Lizardmen factions can make diplomacy somewhat problematic. This is exacerbated by the fact that Mazda starts directly south of the Dark Elves and has a cluster of aggressive Vampire Coast and lizard-hating Empire colonists barring his access to the rest of Lustria. After you secure your initial holdings, you should weigh your options carefully then commit to eradicating one threat at a time if you can help it. Wiping out Morathi's Dark Elves is the more challenging prospect; their abundance of Armor Piercing weaponry (melee and ranged) can make early game excursions north particularly brutal. This is made worse by the climate incompatibilities, where growth and replenishment are dramatically hindered. On the other hand, Morathi's capital city does provide some rather significant bonuses to your research, income and public order (reduction of penalties from corruption). Should you choose to go south, you'll have a much easier time and will be able to meet up with several other Lizardmen factions you can trade/confederate with.

====Kroq-Gar====
*'''The Last Defender''' - Starting in the ass-crack of the southeast, Kroq-Gar has a bit of a rough start. His only legendary lord neighbor, Tiktaq'to, is still a veritable hike through Vampire/Tomb King infested deserts and Skaven/Ork-filled mountains. You do have two other generic Lizardmen factions nearby, but they often get wiped out within the first 20 turns by either Vampires, Tomb Kings or Malus Darkblade, if you don't do the job for them. To get to the rest of your Lizard brethren (who actually matter), you're going to have to carve a path of bloody carnage across the literal length of the map. There are a couple of ways to go about it, however. If you focus your efforts, you can shove off the coast above your capital city and take the Dragon Isles province directly to the north. If you head north quickly, you can snag a veritable batch of handy Legendary Lord traits that'll turn Kroq-Gar into a particularly potent duelist and secure a number of relatively isolated, defendable provinces before you press westward. If you'd rather focus on pressing west initially... prepare for the long haul. You'll want to keep a banner army stationed either in Charnel Valley (where Clan Mors starts) or in Devil's Backbone (where the Court of Lybaras starts) to help defend against Ork or potential Dark Elf incursions.

====Tehenhauin====
*'''Lllllet's get ready to RUMBLE!''' - Brace yourself, you're deep in the Lustria-Bowl. Tehenhauin has the roughest start of all your lords, even including Horde-faction Nakai; though he has one potential ally to his immediate south, he has Vampire Coast, Dark Elves, Skaven and expansionist Empire folk surrounding him on all sides. Worse, you're effectively stuck with Skinks for infantry until you can make progress on your Skaven genocide quest. To this end, you're going to want to either focus on pumping out a flood of Skinks or focus on building your Beast Lairs to try to pump out some monstrous units to compensate for your lack of early-game muscle. Taking out the Vampire Coast first is strongly recommended, as not only do they spread vampiric corruption, but all of their settlements will provide you with valuable ports. From there, you can put the screws to the Dark Elves and Skaven to the south and claim some valuable land and sacrifices for Sotek.

====Tiktaq'to====
* Perhaps the most... bland campaign, Tiktaq'to just kind of exists in the middle of the Southlands, caught between some Tomb Kings, a random Empire faction and a fair few crusading Bretonnians. If you want, you can focus on allying with the Tomb Kings initially. They can provide a reasonable source of Trade income and provide a buffer against the burgeoning Greenskin-tide while you clean up the Bretonnians and Empire. Additionally, if you focus on sweeping east, you can get a solid point of entry into Lustria.

====Gor-Rok====
*'''The world is your Itza''' - Despite being solidly in the Lustria-Bowl and being a Saurus-dedicated, exclusive footlord, Gor-Rok is basically guaranteed supremecy due to beginning the game with Lord Kroak ''and'' starting with Itza as his capitol. Tehenhauin will often end up confederating with you pretty early and without much fuss due to the various Lustria-Bowl contenders beating the piss out of him. You'll likely want to focus your initial expansion down south to clear out the Skaven and secure the various resources found on the southeast coastline before pushing north to clear out the Vampires. Once you control the majority of Lustria, you effectively have free reign to set your sights anywhere you feel like conquering.

====Nakai====
* Formerly the most wayward of the Children of the Old Ones, Nakai's start in Albion effectively tries to throw you against the forces of Norsca for a majority of your early-mid game. After some research, he's admittedly geared for it; natural Snow and Chaos Attrition immunity courtesy of your unique tech tree grants Nakai a lot more flexibility for engaging the northern Chaos factions and despite not controlling any of the settlements he captures, the Defenders of the Great Plan generate a ''ton'' of Untainted corruption. Though this won't really benefit you personally much, your allies (or fellow players on Co-Op campaigns) will find traversing the north considerably less threatening. Having said that, due to being a Horde faction, you're perfectly free to just abandon Albion entirely and find new stomping grounds to start your Campaign in.

====Oxyotl====
*'''Deep in enemy territory''' - Aside Nakai and ''potentially'' Tehenhauin, Oxyotl has the most unique (and arguably best) Campaign. His initial start is a bit rough, being awkwardly sandwiched in the far north between the rapidly confederating Dark Elves to the west and the pugnacious Norscans to the east. Though his universal climate habitability is a (necessary) godsend, he'll find it somewhat difficult to defend and expand his home territory. If you can, try to focus down the Dark Elves once you secure your home province. Oxyotl's particular playstyle actually counters Dark Elves to a degree and if you can nip Malekith in the bud before he confederates the rest of his misbegotten kind, you can spare yourself a late-game headache and get a hell of an infrastructure set up with all the unique building chains found in Naggarond. Just make sure you keep a couple standing armies in the region for the Chaos Invasion.
*'''Don't neglect your missions''' - This is because, unless you want to get constant debuffs, buff random enemy armies into the stratosphere or cause the Chaos Invasion to happen way ahead of schedule, Oxyotl's army is going to be consistently busy warping around the map doing missions rather than naturally expanding your home territory. He can warp back to the capitol and any one Silent Sanctum of your choosing freely (which you can establish in any settlement you've laid eyes upon at least once), but only once per turn and he does not regain any of the movement/actions spent prior to the warp. However, many of the missions Oxyotl needs to undertake often involves him razing or capturing enemy settlements, so you'll often find yourself with various holdouts sprinkled across the map. Just make sure that you get a banner army or two to defend your capitol if you can help it; things get ''extremely'' messy once the Chaos Invasion starts.
*'''Your Silent Sanctums''' - Your other unique mechanic is a game-changer for the Lizardmen. Functionally, they're similar to Skaven Undercities; you can construct unique buildings to benefit any of your forces within the Region it was established, as well as any other regions neighboring it. This can include granting your forces permanent vision on everything within those regions, a flat 20% upkeep reduction for all of your forces within the area or even a random chance to deal damage to enemy forces happening by. Whenever you amass 8 gems, you can construct a Silent Sanctum in any settlement any of your characters have personally seen. One key function truly unique to Oxyotl is that you can actually construct a building that allows Oxyotl's army to teleport there at will. You can literally teleport a full Stegadon doomstack right next to an enemy faction's capitol city if you so desire. Suffice to say, Silent Sanctums are extremely useful and worth investing in.
*'''Take Albion!''' - If you can afford the excursion, send Oxyotl or a generic banner army south to Albion and claim it. Several unique buildings in Konquata provide rather substantial financial boons and, especially when coupled with a specially kitted out Silent Sanctum, can serve as a rapid recruitment center for your efforts in the Old World. You're the only Lizardmen faction within a reasonable distance who can actually make use of these unique buildings and an early capture can prove to be a rather profitable investment for your economy.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen

2022-05-15T05:40:34Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Tiktaq'to */

This is the tactics page for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the Lizardmen.

==Why play Lizardmen==
*You love the parts of Jurassic Park where the dinosaurs eat everyone.
*They're [[awesome|aztec dinosaurs riding dinosaurs]] into battle. Some of those dinosaurs also have magical lasers strapped to them.
*You want to be a master of the arcane, but you don't want to wear [[High Elves|foppish headgear]] or have a racial lifespan only in the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|double digits]].
*You'll have a nearly fearless army that's more likely to fight to the death before they turn tail and run.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMwpC70di2w Do you want to see what one of these does to your enemies?]

===Pros===
*'''A Multitude of Monsters''' - The Lizardmen have the largest diversity of massive monsters in the game at their disposal. Between the various Bastilidons, Stegadons and Carnosaurs you can field, you won't be wanting for big beasties.
*'''Intimidating Presence''' - Unsurprisingly, the average man will struggle to keep calm and collected when facing down a stampede of hungry carnivorous dinosaurs many times his size. Virtually every monster and cavalry unit in this army inspires fear and terror in the mortal hearts of men; a few well timed Carnosaur charges can break and rout forces not outright immune to psychology. Conversely, this also renders your monsters immune to fear/terror effects as well.
*'''Resilient Frontline''' - Saurus Warriors, even unshielded, are among the most durable baseline infantry units in the game. Though their damage output is rather low, their good armor and leadership will ensure they'll hold the line. Most non-AP grindfests will tend to work out in your favor on virtue of that alone. Of course this isn't even mentioning how tanky higher tier units like the Temple Guard or Kroxigors are.
*'''Mastery of Magic''' - With the notable exception of High Elves, Lizardmen have reliable access to more schools of magic than any other race. Slann and the mighty Lord Kroak offer not only some of the most reliable casting in the game, but have consistent access to the otherwise elusive Greater Arcane Conduit skill. Your skink priests are no push overs in magical matters either and are very cost effective options for when slann [[heresy|just aren't your thing]].
*'''Flexible Artillery''' - Where most other factions have to slowly wheel siege engines into place and are vulnerable to attacks in melee, Lizardmen give no fucks. Due to their solar engines and bastila being strapped on the backs of mighty Bastilidons/Stegadons, they can easily reposition themselves and hold their own in melee combat. Additionally, where the actual artillery models of other races can actually be destroyed, the Bastilas and Solar Engines will remain fully intact so long as the creature bearing it remains standing.
*'''Cavalcade of Cavalry''' - Cold Ones, Horned Ones, Terradons and Ripperdactyls, oh my! Though not as fast or as effective as some other faction's cavalry, you have a very diverse selection of fast-moving dinosaurs that can outflank enemies and flexibly adapt to the variety of terrain you may find yourself in. Just don't expect your cav to top any particular charts when compared against any faction that specializes in them.
*'''Predatory Senses''' - As your army consists heavily of predatory animals that excel at sniffing out prey, your enemies will be hard pressed to remain hidden from them. Enemies that rely on stealthy abilities like Stalk are revealed to you far more quickly than others, giving you far more time to react to (in battle) ambushes than other factions.
*'''Poison Aplenty''' - Many of the weapons wielded by your skinks are poisonous, inhibiting the mobility/combat performance of enemies afflicted by their noxious attacks. Despite poison no longer dealing constant damage like on the tabletop, their debuffs are still useful for weakening the enemy for your frontline troops. Thank to the recent update that removes any form of poison debuffs that can apply to the player units through friendly fire, skink's poison darts are even better.
*'''DLC Aplenty''' - You are tied with the Skaven for the honor of having the most DLC. You also have two FLC lords on top of all this, so between a grand total of 7 legendary lords and three DLC lord packs, you are the most supported main game faction in Total War: Warhammer II.
*'''Blessings of the Old Ones''' - Many of your units have "Blessed" variants available in casual multiplayer matches or the campaign. Blessed units are effectively pseudo-Regiments of Renown and every single one is given a buffed health pool and, where applicable, an increased model count per unit. Additionally, many of these blessed units receive additional passive abilities or upgraded stats to further their combat potential. What's better is, unlike Regiments of Renown, you can technically have as many blessed units as you want. The only downside (admittedly a big one) is that in order to acquire blessed units in the campaign, you must complete randomly generated quests that issue a set quantity of a random blessed unit upon completion. If you want an army of blessed carnosaurs, you're going to have to earn it. This is a complete non-issue in causal multiplayer matches, where blessed units are freely available for a very minor upcharge in cost compared to regular variants. Blessed units are unavailable in competitive games.

===Cons===
*'''Slow''' - A majority of the Lizardmen list, namely Saurus infantry, take their sweet time to cross the field. Though there are exceptions to this, such as the various cavalry and skink units available to you, this particular weakness is exacerbated by...
*'''Vulnerable to Range''' - ...their dearth of viable missile units. The only ranged infantry available to you are Skinks; particularly squishy infantry that, though nimble, have pitiful range and DPS against anything shielded and/or armored. Your more potent offensive options, namely Salamanders or Stegadons/Bastilodons, cannot fire while moving and are rather easy to tie down in melee. Defensively, though your Saurus are quite tanky and often come with shields, they are very vulnerable to being kited by ranged cavalry/infantry due to their rather slow movement speed. Additionally, all your units save for Gor-Rok are stuck with Bronze Shields (35% block chance), meaning that even when they're in a position to use them, you'll still be soaking a significant portion of the incoming shots all the same. The same can also be said about most of your monsters, with some minor exceptions.
*'''Sub-par Air-Force''' - Though you have flying cavalry, a luxury many other factions lack, they're among the weakest/slowest of them. Terradons and Ripperdactyls aren't ''bad'', per se, but they will lose if faced with the flying cavalry/monsters from the likes of Bretonnia or High/Wood Elves.
*'''Expensive Roster''' - As you can imagine, breeding and training massive dinosaurs and mounting arcane instruments of war onto them isn't cheap. All of your high tier units can get crazy expensive both in initial cost and upkeep. Even the bog standard Saurus Warriors come at a premium compared to some other factions options, though this is only particularly notable in competitive multiplayer.
*'''Rampage''' - A majority of the Lizardmen list is prone to going berserk and rampaging towards their deaths if they take too much damage too quickly. Though the Lord/Hero Cold-Blooded ability can help keep this in check, it is in limited supply. That said, though rampaging units will end up dying more often than not, the silver lining is that these rampaging units can still tie up enemy units until the bitter end, which can buy the rest of your army some time.
*'''Bland Campaign''' - Aside Oxyotl and ''possibly'' Tehenhauin, the Lizardmen have the most boring campaign mechanics of any of the game II races (including some of the game I ones). Their unique mechanic, the Geomantic Web, is a very passive and basic provincial buff that takes a lot of resources and time to properly build up to a level you'll actually notice the effects of and offer no benefit to provinces you don't ''completely'' control. Yes, losing that one minor settlement causes the provincial capital to shut off its Geomantic Pylon until you reclaim it. Additionally, without mod support, Lizardmen are among the most stubborn and oppositional to confederation.
*'''DLC Locked Content''' - Though a con for virtually every other faction in the game, this is a particularly notable one for Lizardmen. Many, if not most of the Lizardmen's better units are locked behind DLC lord packs. You'll need the Prophet and the Warlock for all units marked with DLC 1, the Hunter and the Beast for everything marked with DLC 2 and the Silence and the Fury for everything marked DLC 3.

==Universal Traits==
There are a couple of perks and abilities shared across a significant portion of the lizardmen unit roster, which will be mentioned here.
*'''Primal Instincts''' - A perk found on a majority of the lizardman roster (exempting lords/heroes and skinks), primal instincts will cause a unit with this ability to rampage out of control should their health drop too quickly or below a certain threshold. This can be a bit of a mixed blessing, as a rampaging unit will receive minor stat bonuses and continue to fight nearby opponents in situations that any other unit would turn tail and rout. The bad news is that your opponent has more control over the rampaging unit than you do; rampaging units will single-mindedly charge at the nearest enemy unit, which your opponent can take to his advantage by using faster infantry/cavalry to kite the rampaging unit while his ranged infantry/artillery finishes it off. Should the rampage end ''before'' the unit dies, they'll usually begin to rout from the field and will often be too far out of position for you to properly recover them. now only applies when at 20% health or less.

*'''Cold Blooded''' - A targetable ability found on most lizardmen lords and heroes, Cold Blooded helps to counter the innate weakness in the lizardmen faction; their tendency to rampage. When used, Cold Blooded will snap a single unit out of a rampage (if they are currently doing so) and will temporarily buff their leadership. This ability can be used pre/post rampage as well, as the leadership buff can potentially prevent a rampage from occurring or can help prevent a tattered unit from routing once their rampage expires. As this ability has a somewhat lengthy cooldown an is only found on lords/heroes, care should be taken on when it is used and what it is used on.

*'''Predatory Senses''' - An ability found on all non-Slann/Skink units in your roster, this allows your units to detect hidden or stealthed units far sooner and from farther away than other armies (around 160 meters). This also disregards any faction/unit/terrain modifiers that enhance stealth, with the only exception being the ''Unspottable'' trait. With proper coverage, this can make ambushing or outflanking your forces extremely challenging to do discreetly.

*'''Aquatic''' - An ability found on all Skink infantry, Kroxigors (though their stat card doesn't mention the trait, they still receive the Aquatic bonus) and your Salamander/Razordon hunting packs, this not only allows them to ignore the usual penalties for fighting in water-logged environments, but gives them a 20% bonus to melee attack/defense when they do so. Considering non-aquatic infantry suffers a 20% malus to those stats when slogging around in the water, this can become a rather substantial combat buff for a significant portion of your roster (keep your Saurus dry). Potentially losing matchups will suddenly swing into your favor and that's not even factoring in your abundant poisoned weaponry and robust catalog of supportive magics to widen that gap further. As amazing as all that sounds... marsh and shallow water environments are rather few and far in between. Additionally, for the maps that ''do'' have swamped areas, coercing your opponent to willingly splash around with you is a battle all its own, one you're not likely to succeed in without careful planning.

*'''Quick Learners''' - Another Skink-exclusive ability, this greatly increases the rate that your Skinks gain ranks. This helps distinguish skinks against comparable chaff infantry since they'll benefit from rank-boosted stats much more quickly and, as such, makes them surprisingly effective early-mid game infantry. This perk also applies to units such as Terradon Riders due to having Skink Riders.

==Lords==
The scaly faces of the Lizardmen. Compared to a few of the other factions in game, Lizardmen generally have solid lord choices and their legendary lords aren't an exception. They do face very heavy in-house competition, however. It's very difficult to justify taking a saurus oldblood over any flavor of slann mage-priest due to the sheer versatility the latter bring to your army, especially since you are not hurting for giant, single entity beatsticks to ram into enemy formations. slaan benefit from star chambers in campaign, other dont, no contest, only use slaan if stacking chambers (which you really should).

===Legendary Lords===
*'''Mazdamundi''' - The last second generation Slann (lore-wise), Mazdamundi uses magic primarily from the Lore of Light to act as a hybrid support/offensive caster. The two main selling points of Mazdamundi over a generic Slann Mage-Priest are his stegadon mount Zlaaq and his signature spell ''Ruination of Cities''. Zlaaq allows Mazdamundi to actually engage in melee, something no other Slann can safely do, and makes him substantially more durable against most forms of attack. ''Ruination of Cities'', especially when combined with ''Banishment'', makes Mazdamundi an excellent AoE caster capable of tearing infantry focused armies to shreds with ease without chewing through your Winds of Magic reserve. These spells are limited however, being bounded spells, so make sure you wait until the right moment to utilize them. Additionally, don't put too much faith in them; as their movement patterns are random, these spells (particularly Ruination of Cities) can just as easily do nothing or even devastate your own forces as they can your enemies if you aren't careful.

*'''Kroq-Gar''' - Your dedicated duelist, Kroq-Gar is an offensive powerhouse that shines when seated atop Grimloq, his faithful Carnosaur mount. Though expensive, Kroq-Gar/Grimloq can engage virtually any enemy type in the game effectively and is able to duel against many enemy lords and come out on top. Though a monstrous force on his own merits, Kroq-Gar is something of a glass cannon however and as a larger target is prone to getting mobbed by multiple units or getting focused down by ranged infantry/artillery. Another notable shortcoming is that he provides limited support for the rest of your army (a bit of a problem for all Saurus Oldbloods), and as such is not recommended for dino-heavy army builds, his bonuses to armor and leadership being less important than the healing abilities of Life Slann.

*'''Tehenhauin (DLC 1)''' - Your only Skink-Priest lord choice, Tehenhauin is something of a niche pick. He can deal solid enough damage against footlords/cavalry lords in a fight (particularly if on a Ripperdactyl) and is also capable of dealing notable damage to swarms of infantry (with his Lore of Beasts and/or with his Engine of the Gods), but he's extremely frail for a Lizardmen lord when unmounted. Never get the Fanatic skill in his skill tree; it only benefits skink units and they are pretty trash after the mid-game.

*'''Tiktaq'to (FLC)''' - Another somewhat niche pick, Tiktaq'to is a dedicated flier who excels in lists built with Terradons, Ripperdactyls and Coatls as the focus. Though mounted on Zwuup, Tiktaq'to is your squishiest (legendary) lord and lacks the support/damage options available to the others, but he's inarguably the swiftest of the bunch (which doesn't mean much compared to other flying lords and heroes). Under no circumstances is he a direct combat lord; against any duelist or large/monstrous lord he will lose handily. The only targets he can safely engage are dedicated casters, artillery and dedicated ranged infantry. Because of this, playing him requires far more finesse than what is required for virtually every other lord; even against targets he ''can'' engage effectively, prolonged combat will invariably whittle him down and may the Old Ones help you if he's surrounded while grounded. Keep a squad or two of Ripperdactyls close by to make up the difference in combat ability and to take advantage of Tiktaq'to's buffs. Also, his unique Epic weapon doesn't work if he is attacking a ground target in melee because its attack bonuses are only in effect when flying, so he's weaker than a Skink Terradon Rider when attacking ground targets UNLESS you swap out his weapon. When used in campaign, much of his value comes from his rather insane and stackable upkeep discount for flier units. Even on higher difficulties, it is extraordinarily easy to stack enough upkeep cost reductions to have a full Coatl doomstack damn near for free (until the Supply Lines penalties become particularly swollen, at least). Additionally, his unique rite gives all of his armies the ability to easily chase down fleeing armies or attack multiple settlements a turn which can be ''devastating'' to an enemy faction if used at the right moment.

*'''Nakai (DLC 2)''' - The largest and oldest of the Kroxigor Ancients, Nakai is an infantry mulcher who (thanks to his enthusiastic animations) will literally sweep his way through the thickest blobs of infantry. Nakai possesses a few notable traits over his competitors; his ability to grant perfect vigour to nearby allies ensures they're in peak form throughout the entire battle while his Miasma of Dispair can cripple enemies within his presence; a potentially nasty combo that can ensure your forces slowly but steadily chew through enemy frontlines. Unfortunately, Nakai has a few major weaknesses: As a large entity, he's vulnerable to anti-large weaponry (which does abound among baseline infantry) and is an easy, defenseless target for ranged units to snipe. He also struggles to properly duel opposing heroes/lords due to his size and janky animations making him lunge about haphazardly while they continue to poke him to death. Because of this, he tends to work best as a force multiplier for infantry builds.

*'''Gor-Rok (FLC)''' - Where Kroq-Gar is the spear, Gor-Rok stands as the shield. Gor-Rok is a dedicated footlord, among the slowest of them, but makes up for it through sheer, unbreaking resilience. As the only unit in the entire Lizardmen roster with a silver shield (55% missile block chance), Gor-Rok is able to shoulder his way through the kind of firepower that would fell a lesser Old-Blood on the approach. Gor-Rok can also stand neck-deep among hordes of angry infantry and walk out seemingly unscathed. When equipped with the ''Mace of Ulumak'', Gor-Rok can also prove a competent duelist in his own right, even if it's only in temporary bursts. Gor-Rok does falter against mounted/monstrous heroes/lords and is vulnerable to duelists with good AP values, though the Twisted and the Twilight patch has helped address the issue of him being staggered to hell and back. Never the less, Gor-Rok is a relatively cost effective legendary lord who can and will hold the line until the bitter end. His campaign starts with Lord Kroak fully unlocked and active, which makes his campaign among the easiest in the entire game, even on higher difficulties.

*'''Oxyotl (DLC 3) ''' - The legendary daemon-slaying chameleon skink of Oyxl is the last legendary lord for the faction (at least for TWW2). As to be expected from any shape or form of a Chameleon Skink, Oxyotl is a rather cheap, stealthy character hunter who behaves somewhat like a Wood Elf Waystalker. Unlike Waystalkers, Oxyotl has a particularly nasty trick in the form of Master Predator; a toggle-able skill that reduces his movement speed in exchange for an increase in range, Snipe and the ability to remain undetectable unless the enemy gets extremely close to his position. Combined with his modestly powerful armor piercing missiles, this can quickly wear down most armored lords and heroes rather quickly if left to his own devices. Of course, as a reasonably cost effective LL, the drawbacks have to come in somewhere and for Oxyotl, that drawback is melee combat. While he has acceptable melee attack and defense, Oxyotl has no armor or damage mitigation tools at his disposal. Any combat lord or hero worth his or her salt can and will kill him in a hand-to-hand duel. Fortunately, he's fast enough that virtually no footlord can catch up to him unless you willfully allow it. He also struggles to deal with the rank and file and lacks any notable support abilities for his own forces, but that's fairly typical of the niche Oxyotl fills.

===Generic Lords===
Your generic lords are no less able than their famed counterparts, and in competitive multiplayer, are often preferable. However, in the campaign, you'll generally never want to get non-slann lords after turn 20(ish) because lizardmen Star Chamber buildings give 3 bonus levels to your slann lords, meaning they quickly outpace any other lord available. Any need for a melee lord can be filled by one of the many lizardmen heroes, who can also be easily recruited at higher starting level than the melee lords. You may still find the need to recruit cheaper stand in lords in case of an emergency, as the Rite of Awakening's cooldown is a notable hitch in acquiring more slann.

*'''Slann Mage-Priest''' - Your almighty magic toads, slann are dedicated mages who don't participate in fights directly, but wreak havoc upon your enemies from afar with their magics or supplement your forces with defensive/healing energies. Slann are the only generic lords in the game who have access to the ''Greater Arcane Conduit'' ability which, when combined with their reliable casting, can allow savvy players to call upon vast reserves of the Winds of Magic long after lesser mages have tapped out of theirs. In addition to ''Greater Arcane Conduit'', each slann has access to Banishment as a bound spell as well as the ''Shield of the Old Ones''; a large AoE defensive buff that applies a 22% damage resistance modifier to all allied units within it's bubble. Understandably, for all their arcane might, slann are practically helpless if caught in a fight. They are the single slowest unit in your entire army and are quite chunky, making them easy targets up close or at range. To this end, you'll almost always want a screening unit of Temple Guard (or at least shielded saurus) to keep enemies from ganking them. Outside of that, there are four varieties of Slann Mage-Priests, each dedicated to a specific lore of magic:
**'''Fire Slann''' - When you want to burn the [[HERESY|heretic]] in holy fire for the Old Ones. Combined with their bound Banishment, fire slann are capable of mulching clumps of infantry wholesale and can even churn out respectable single target damage with their Fireball and Piercing Bolts of Burning spells. Fire damage is particularly useful against the myriad of enemies with regeneration, though you're not exactly short on unit options capable of filling that niche.
**'''Life Slann''' - These guys are the MVP in any monster heavy list; though you have a few other options for healing (such as the Revivification Bastilidon, high slann and the newly added Skink Oracle), life slann are still the uncontested kings at it. If you want an army built on the back of beasts, a life slann is essential to keeping them in the fight. With a life slann, you can wipe away any damage your stack of monsters take during the routing phase of a battle, making them both tactically and strategically important. Pair one with a Revivification Bastilidon to very rapidly resurrect slain models in any infantry unit and bring back even the most tattered units to full fighting strength.
**'''Light Slann''' - Light slann are fantastic supports for an infantry-heavy army namely due to two spells: Net of Amyntok and Birona's Timewarp. Like every other army, Net of Amyntok is an excellent tool for pinning down faster cavalry from the likes of Bretonnia or the Dark Elves so that your ''much'' slower saurus can catch up and engage them in melee (or to keep them still while your Salamanders incinerate them wholesale). Birona's Timewarp can turn the tide in a key engagement when used properly. Offensively, being able to cast Banishment much more frequently can also deal devastating damage to enemy infantry. That said, even your Greater Arcane Conduit will struggle to keep you topped off; the Lore of Light can consume your Winds of Magic quite quickly.
**'''High Slann''' - Similarly to light slann, high slann are a hybrid offensive/support caster. Unlike the Lore of Light, you do have access to minor magical healing through Apotheosis and have access to an excellent anti-flier vortex spell in Tempest (Net of Amyntok is superior in most cases, however). High slann offensively specialize in single target damage and can deal devastating amounts of it between the Arcane Unforging and Soul Quench spells, giving them a solid niche against duelist lords/heroes and larger monsters.
**'''Heavens Slann''' - Multiplayer only, the Heavens Slann is unfortunately the worst slann of the bunch. It's not that the Heavens lore is lacking nor is it the slann himself, but the fact that he faces strict competition against your Skink Priests of all things. A Skink Priest of Heavens, though lacking the Greater Arcane Conduit, is a much faster/smaller target by default and has access to several mount options that make him much more flexible offensively or defensively. Additionally, as a hero, you can take a more offensively focused melee lord or a slann attuned to a different lore for more magical variety. Even if you're only running one with nothing but the crest on his skinky-head, the cheaper price alone makes the Heavens slann a hard sell comparatively.

*'''Saurus Old-Blood''' - Offensive duelists through and through, saurus old-bloods are flexible masters of combat who can lead on foot, on the back of a cold one, or atop a mighty carnosaur (you'll usually want one on a carnosaur). Compared to the kroxigor ancient, saurus old-bloods are less powerful in melee combat but can be much faster and have marginally better faction support skills. For the purposes of both Multiplayer and Campaign, you'll want to avoid taking Old-Bloods as your lord (unless you have ''no'' DLC content). Their role can easily be filled by Saurus Scar Veterans, who ''don't'' take up your only Lord slot for the army (and are, for all intents and purposes, identical sans Campaign skill trees). If you insist on taking an Old-Blood, take Kroq-Gar. Otherwise, a Slann or Kroxigor Ancient would be better suited for your needs.

*'''Red-Crested Skink Chief (DLC 1)''' - Your discount Lord and the one you'll want to take if you want to reserve as much money for your big beasties as possible. Of course, you could splurge a little to put him atop an ancient stegadon to scorch swaths of infantry with the Engine of the Gods (though if you're going to do that, you may as well spring for Tehenhauin so that you at least have access to the Lore of Beasts as well). The RCSC is a competent combatant equipped with poisonous, armor-piercing attacks that can make him surprisingly dangerous in a fight, though like everything skinky, he's a particularly squishy lord when unmounted. The best use you can put him to is boosting your heroes in a 'Pompous' trait-stacking lizardman hero army, which makes an already broken strategy even stronger.

*'''Kroxigor Ancient (DLC 2)''' - Baby Nakais for those who don't quite feel up for splurging on the big boy himself. Kroxigor ancients are quite literally just watered down versions of Nakai; though they won't grant perfect vigour to all friendly forces near them, they will still wade through most infantry due to their size and mass and put out such raw damage that most non-elite infantry will falter swiftly against them. However, just like Nakai, they are completely helpless at range, are vulnerable to AP and anti-large weapons and are ''slow''. In competitive multiplayer, though they are still a bit of a niche pick, they are much more attractive than Nakai due to their cheaper price and because they have access to the Amulet of Itzl, which grants the Kroxigor Ancient 66% damage resistance for a short time. This can give them enough of an edge to eek out against enemy duelists or to survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

==Heroes==
Lizardmen have a surprisingly versatile selection of heroes, including one of the strongest Legendary Heroes in the game: Lord Kroak. These guys are capable of dealing immense damage to your enemies and ''all'' of them (except Kroak) can be mounted on one of your massive dinosaurs.

===Legendary Hero===
You've only got the one, but he's all you'll need. Lord Kroak is your expensive but powerful offensive caster and forms the center of many army formations.
*'''Lord Kroak (FLC)''' - The first of the Slann doesn't let something as trivial as death inconvenience him, or keep him from kicking warmblood ass to the Old World and back. Lord Kroak is one of a very select few heroes in the game with access to ''Greater Arcane Conduit'' (which can be paired with another Slann's Greater Arcane Conduit), making him a fantastic force multiplier in a caster-heavy list just from being present. For better or worse, Kroak doesn't have access to any lore of magic and only has two notable abilities. But ''damn'' can those abilities turn the tide of battle. His only bound ability (other than the universal Cold-Blooded) is the ''Supreme Shield of the Old Ones'', an upgraded version of the regular Shield of the Old Ones that grants allies a 44% damage resistance while within it (and stacks with the regular version if you're really in a bind). The only spell(s) he has access to is his signature Deliverance of Itza (and its three varying strengths). Deliverance of Itza, ''the'' reason you're bringing him, can virtually delete entire units from existence with an efficiency only known to the Winds of Death spell, but it has a few major drawbacks. First, it is intensely mana hungry: you'll typically only get one or two DoI (III) casts per battle before you run dangerously low on magic. By relying on DoI I or II, you won't consume as much magic per cast, but the difference in damage dealt becomes very apparent. Secondly, there is a very lengthy and obvious tell for when the spell is cast; most competent opponents will be able to move their forces away from the blast before it goes off unless you manage to pin them down with supporting spells like the Net of Amyntok or simply bodyblocking them from all sides. Thirdly, this spell is virtually useless against single entities such as Lords/Heroes and giant monsters, meaning he'll do little towards more elite doomstack lists. Despite all these cons working against him, a well timed Deliverance of Itza can and will win you battles if you plan accordingly. The best part, it deals absolutely no friendly fire damage. [[Meme|You may fire when ready]].

===Generic Heroes===
All Lizardmen heroes benefit from the 'Humble' trait, which appears on Lords and Heroes at random. This lets you recruit them at 2 additional ranks higher than their default rank, with unlimited stacking potential, making them stronger and more versatile earlier in the game than heroes of other factions. In the late-game, you can disband Humble heroes as you build more Slann Star-Chambers, however these are expensive buildings for non-Hexoatl factions; for the 6000 gold needed for 1 Star-Chamber, you can hire at least 4 Humble heroes for 8 bonus levels.

*'''Saurus Scar-Veteran''' - A step down from the Old-Blood, Scar-Veterans behave in much the same manner as your generic saurus lords. Vicious and powerful combatants, Scar-Veterans are built to brazenly charge into combat and deal bloody death to all who stand in their way. The real reason you'll want to take any Scar-Vets isn't for the saurus himself, however badass he may be, but for the carnosaur mount you can put him on. Though a more expensive version of the feral carnosaur, Scar-Vets are immune to rampaging (and can indeed stop others from rampaging thanks to their Cold Blooded ability) and have a slightly stronger statline, making them excellent all-round threats to whatever your opponent might be packing. These Scar-Vets are ideal choices for armies led by slann-mage priests; they won't be competing for Winds of Magic like the skink priests and will more than make up for the slann's melee deficiency. If you want to keep him cheaper, you can take one on foot to lead fellow saurus infantry into battle, or stick in on a Cold One to ride with the rest of your cavalry.

*'''Skink Priest''' - Skink priests are your humble, mortal casters. Cheap and nimble, these guys can easily outrun most footslogging infantry and are fantastically flexible mages that can fill any offensive or defensive holes your army might have. If mounted on a terradon, their speed will be unparalleled (for Lizardmen); they'll be able to rain magical death anywhere on the battlefield with ease and can quickly deliver support to your forces no matter how spread out they may be. Alternatively, you may mount them on stegadons or ancient stegadons to make them terrifying all-rounders, though their price tag will quickly reflect that.
**'''Skink Priest (Heavens)''' - The Heavens discipline is among the better offensive lores of magic in the game for the instant raw damage output it's capable of. Wind Blast and Chain Lightning will be your go-to offensive spells. Comet of Cassandora, though powerful, should generally be avoided due to how long its casting time is. Harmonic Convergence and Curse of the Midnight Wind are staples of support sets and can turn your saurus infantry into immovable walls of tooth and claw.
**'''Skink Priest (Beasts)''' - Formerly your worst discipline, the Lore of Beasts has recently received a bit of a tweaking to make it considerably more attractive and usable. It's still among the least potent of your available magics, but it is among the most flexible in utility. Wyssan's Wild Form and Pann's Impenetrable Pelt provide rather significant combat buffs (particularly when stacked) while Curse of Anraheir debilitates your enemies. Offensively, Flock of Doom is a fantastic and cheap chaff cleaner that affects any units that have at least one model within its 30m range. For your single target needs, The Amber Spear allows your caster to act as impromptu artillery should the need arise. Formerly ''the'' reason to take a Beasts caster was for the Transformation of Kadon; being able to summon up to two Manticores to flank enemy formations or dive into backlines can have a massive impact on the flow of battle, but a bump up to ''20'' Winds of Magic per summon makes it challenging to make much use of your other spells in multiplayer.

*'''Skink Chief''' - Your skirmishing duelist, skink chiefs cripple enemy forces with their poisonous darts so that your army can face weaker resistance. Skink chiefs are a force to be feared when mounted on a stegadon, allowing them to easily face down many enemy heroes/lords in a one-on-one fight. In the campaign, the ability to build skink chief capacity-increasing buildings in minor settlements means you can spam them across the map or stack up to 19 of them into an army, which can be hilariously broken depending on the traits and items you equip them with.

*'''Skink Oracle (DLC 3)''' - In hot contention for the title of "best Hero" for the Lizardmen, the Skink Oracle brings a cavalcade of well rounded offensive and supportive magic to the field atop a mighty Troglodon. And only on a Troglodon, so he's very much an "all or nothing" type of unit. The first major reason the Skink Oracle makes for a popular pick is the fact that he's your only non-Slann source of magical healing, potentially freeing up your Lord choice for a more offensive beat stick like Kroq-Gar or even a Kroxigor Ancient. Secondly, as a hero, not only does your Skink Oracle provide a use of Cold-Blooded for the rest of your forces, but his own Troglodon will never rampage. Magical prowess aside, this alone is worth considering the rather steep price-tag. Speaking of, the Troglodon allows the Skink Oracle to function as a mid-range anti-Monster skirmisher. Combined with a potential Fireball cast here or there, the Skink Oracle ''excels'' at chunking opposing Lords/Heroes, especially if they're atop a mount or naturally monstrous in size. Just don't have him brazenly lead the charge into melee combat, as he won't last terribly long in it. in campaign recruit fully leveled slaan with star chambers is still better than using the other lord options but a skink oracle and some healing bastillodon's can allow you to use lore's other than life at least, but honestly, ask yourself if its even worth using you WOM on anything other than healing? your probably still better off spending your winds on heals. Dino and hero doomstacks dont need any offensive spell support to kill things, maybe use light for AOE buffs.

==Units==
Many lizardmen units are available in standard and 'blessed' variants. Blessed units are only made available in the campaign by completing random timed missions, such as getting 1000 kills or winning 4 battles, but make up for their randomness and limited quantity by being free to recruit at any time in any army and by having at least one extra ability or superior stat over their contemporary counterparts. They aren't to be confused with Regiments of Renown, unique units recruited at max rank and limited to one instance per. In casual multiplayer matches with Unit Caps turned off, Blessed Units are recruitable for only a modest bump in price over their generic counterparts.

===Infantry===
Infantry provide the foundation of every army in Total War: Warhammer, and the Lizardmen are no different. Indeed, even the humble skinks have their place.

====Melee Infantry====
*'''Skink Cohort''' - Skinks armed with little macuahuitls and shields, skink cohorts are cheap chaff units primarily used to fill out rosters or to support your more expensive infantry actually doing the killing. Despite being shielded, these guys will die by the score due to their pitiful defensive statline if they face any frontline infantry head on and are one of the few lizardmen units prone to routing from leadership issues. Having said that, skink cohorts are among the fastest cheap infantry units in the game and are still rather decent combatants when fighting similar unarmored units and tend to win such engagements (namely against chaff or low tier infantry like Bretonnian peasantry or Vampire Count zombies). Indeed, their speed is invaluable for flanking enemies tied up by your saurus warriors and chasing routing enemies off the map. When pinching pennies, you can't argue with that.

*'''Red-Crested Skinks (DLC 1)''' - Angry skinks wielding poisonous, armor piercing warhammers. Red-Crested Skinks provide an invaluable source of early game/cheap melee AP damage and poison, though they're less effective against unarmored targets as a whole compared to regular Skink Cohorts. They lack both shields and armor and as they are simply skinks, they will die in droves unless they're taking refuge among the far burlier saurus warriors. On that note, RC skinks synergize excellently with saurus warriors, as they can simultaneously chew through armored units the saurus tend to bounce off of and further cripple these enemies with poison, allowing your much slower saurus to both catch up to and butcher them with greater ease. Just like skink cohorts, these guys are at home in watery environments and are easily able to outflank many slower infantry units.
**'''Cohort of Sotek (RoR, DLC 1)''' - A slightly buffed up unit of RC Skinks, these guys have a unique ability, ''Refuse to Die''. When active, no skink models can die (they can still take damage, however), which can maximize their damage output when taking sudden burst damage or ensure that they hold the enemy in place for a precious few more seconds. They're also one of the few Unbreakable units in your list, allowing them to fight to the very last skink.

*'''Saurus Warriors''' - Saurus warriors are probably the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the lizardmen, and for good reason. Resilient, determined and natural fighters, saurus warriors are one of the most durable base line infantry units in the game due to their high HP and armor and can hold their own even against the more elite infantry options of other factions (Note: they can fight a unit of chaos warriors to stalemate). Should they find themselves in a losing matchup, their naturally high leadership will keep them standing firm against the enemy far longer than their equivalents in other factions would, even if they lose control and rampage towards their inevitable deaths. To compensate, saurus are slow and are prone to being kited, so skink skirmishers/cohorts should be utilized to help pin down the enemy line until the saurus make it into combat. Saurus warriors are available in both standard and shielded variants, but the only reason to not get the shielded version is if you need every last gold coin you can rub together for your bigger monsters on a tight, competitive budget.
**'''Blessed Saurus Warriors''' - Shielded saurus warriors with an even higher base health and [[awesome|perfect vigour]]. These guys make fantastically cost efficient walls that will never tire no matter how hard they're pushed. In the campaign, they are one of the better frontline choices you can give your non-doomstack armies that can find a place even into the late game, so long as they manage to survive and rank up. Gor-Rok, if chosen as your initial legendary lord, can use his rite to grant further defensive bonuses and ''unbreakable'' to them; they will never yield.

*'''Saurus Spears''' - Warriors equipped with anti-large spears for engaging cavalry and monsters. They're nearly identical to regular saurus warriors in every other way, though they do slightly less damage against regular infantry in exchange for their anti-large speciality. Like the warriors, they come in unshielded or, for a slight premium, shielded variants.
**'''Blessed Saurus Spears''' - Buffed up saurus spears with shields, the blessed variant of these saurus are dramatically inferior to their standard cousins since they lack perfect vigour. Instead, the bonus ability granted to them is Forest Strider, a perk that grants additional melee attack and defense buffs to them while fighting in forests. If you can lure cavalry and large monsters into forests, where they'll suffer additional penalties simply due to how forests interact with them, you can deal impressive sustained damage to them in short order. Unfortunately, this ability does nothing for them outside of forests and ''many'' battlefields will have a dearth of forest patches that you can fight in. Additionally, uncooperative opponents will generally avoid trying to engage your forces inside forests and trying to convince them otherwise may prove too time consuming for what it's worth. Regardless, they still have more health than the regular saurus spears. That's always a plus.
**'''Legion of Chaqua (RoR, DLC 1)''' - The Legion of Chaqua, thanks to their special ability, are able to provide themselves and all nearby allied units a surprising 44% missile resistance for a limited time upon activation. This is an invaluable skill to have on the approach, as many of your unshielded infantry and larger monsters are vulnerable to being focused down by the much superior ranged infantry found in other armies and can be further supplemented by a Slann's Shield of the Old Ones if necessary. Otherwise, these guys simply behave exactly as Saurus Spears are expected to.

*'''Temple Guards''' - The fearsome Temple Guards, renowned for their devotion to their Slann masters, stand ready to slaughter all who'd bring harm to their otherwise vulnerable charges. Temple Guard are the only "elite" infantry within the lizardmen roster, which is more a testament to how strong regular saurus are compared to the melee infantry of other armies. Speaking of how strong regular saurus are, Temple Guard fall short of them against unarmored infantry on the whole. This isn't to say Temple Guard aren't impressive; their heightened statline makes them less likely to budge than regular saurus are while their charge defense and bonus damage against large foes and predominantly armor-piercing weaponry lets them effectively face down a majority of late-game/elite cavalry, monsters and even armored infantry much more effectively than regular saurus. Unfortunately, this general prowess reflects heavily in their price tag and you'll struggle to field multiple units of these without heavily cutting into your other options.
**'''Blessed Temple Guards''' - Recolored Temple Guards, these guys are a slightly more offensive version of their default variants thanks to an increased charge bonus. This makes them significantly more well rounded and will allow you to more flexibly choose how you engage your enemies; do you brace and negate an incoming charge, or is the foe squishy enough where a counter charge would be more punishing? All in all a nice upgrade if only for the usual buff to their health blessed units receive.
**'''Star-Chamber Guardians (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Take Temple Guard and make their weapons also deal magical damage: you now have ''the'' most elite infantry unit available to the Lizardmen. Having magical attacks allows the SCG to engage many undead forces that utilize the Ethereal ability and cut them down with ease, as well as neutering anything without good magic resistance or anything that has physical resists. SCG also serve as excellent bodyguards for lords (particularly Slann) due to their Guardian ability and when properly supported with healing magic, these guys will ''never'' die. Their only major weakness of note is prolonged anti-armor ranged firepower and artillery, but as they are armored and shielded and have a frankly gargantuan health pool, it will take a long time to fully whittle them down.

====Missile Infantry====
*'''Skink Cohort with Javelins''' - Skinks armed with little macuahuitls, shields and three javelins each. For pennies over a regular skink cohort, you can give them limited ranged support with poisonous javelins; a fantastic way to soften up an enemy unit for your front line infantry on the charge. With their speed, they can also easily circle about and pepper an opposing unit's backsides before charging in to cut off their escape while your saurus chew through them. Once they throw all their javelins, they're identical to the default skink cohort in virtually every way. Generally, if you're planning on taking skink cohorts at all, you should almost always pick these guys up over the standard versions (unless you ''really'' need every gold coin you can possibly scrape together for a specific competitive multiplayer build).

*'''Skink Skirmishers''' - Skinks equipped with little blowpipes and poisonous darts, and your first dedicated ranged infantry. Skink skirmishers lack the sheer range available to most other factions and struggle to do damage against armored opponents. Instead, they should be used exclusively as harassers; their speed, ability to fire while moving and vanguard deployment options allow them to easily get into flanking positions and kite enemy infantry while inflicting poison onto them for when the rest of your army catches up. These guys will melt quickly if caught in the crosshairs of opposing archers/gunners and are pitiful in a fistfight, so you should only get one or two of these units at most, and only if you absolutely cannot afford taking chameleon skinks instead.
**'''Blessed Skink Skirmishers''' - Skink skirmishers with more health and an innate magic spell resistance. This extra durability is nice, but the spell resistance in particular isn't going to see much use due to these guys rather high mobility and any targetable spell an opponent ''could'' cast on them would be served much better against... literally anything else in your army. There's no cause to bring these guys in multiplayer matches and the only reason you'll want to recruit them in any of your Campaigns would be if you're in desperate need of reinforcements for a beat-up army you simply cannot afford to lose and you just ''happen'' to have some Blessed Skink Skirmishers to burn. The moment you are in a position where you can recruit/replace other units, these guys should be the first to go.

*'''Chameleon Skinks''' - Ninja skinks equipped with little blowpipes and poisonous darts. Though fewer in number than basic skink skirmishers, chameleon skinks are considerably more durable thanks to their flat 40% missile resistance and have a much easier time sneaking around enemies thanks to their Chameleon ability. This, along with their loose formation, can make them surprisingly effective at countering enemy archers. They otherwise fulfill the exact same harassment role your regular skink skirmishers do and deal a disappointingly low amount of damage against armored targets. Also, like skink skirmishers, they are unable to curve their shots well meaning they're less effective in siege battles than the archers of other races.
**'''Blessed Chameleon Skinks''' - Slightly swole Chameleon Skinks with twice the charge bonus (which is barely anything, especially combined with their rather tragic melee statline) and a few extra darts per skink. More ammunition is always welcome in a firefight, but it's hardly a game changer. Regardless, better stats do open up options and if you have a choice between these and regular Chameleon Skinks, may as well pick these guys.

*'''Chameleon Stalkers (DLC 3)''' - Angry ninja skinks with little blowpipes and [[what|explosive darts]]. Chameleon Stalkers fill the rather niche role of shock infantry for the Lizardmen. Each skink is equipped with two Precursor blowpipe shots that deal rather impressive burst damage against unarmored targets either on the charge or when falling back from a melee engagement. As they possess the same Chameleon ability their standard Chameleon Skink kin have, they do have a lot of wiggle room to get into an optimal charging position and can quickly fade away from the fray when things go south. Speaking of things going south, though Stalkers are reasonably decent at combat due to their poisoned attacks and mediocre stats, they still tend to lose against medium tier and above infantry or anything with armor. That said, even against armored infantry, much of the Stalker's value comes from the heavy formation disruption their Precursor Rounds cause, slowing down their targets and interrupting their charge so that you can take the initiative in the ensuing engagement. They can also deal decent burst damage against single entity units in a pinch, but this is generally an inefficient use of them.

====Monstrous Infantry====

*'''Kroxigors''' - Kroxigors, as to be expected from 9-foot tall crocodile men, are beastly armor-piercing anti-infantry blenders who can carve through lower tier units like butter and are sturdy enough to hold back more elite units for your more capable specialists. Though quite tanky and reasonably quick (compared to your saurus), they are still large (with the weaknesses all that entails) and very vulnerable to getting shot to hell and back or getting slammed by larger cavalry/monsters. While Kroxigors do hit damn hard, their total damage is divided between three subcatagories: Base, Anti-Infantry and Armor-Piercing. As such, they only really get the most bang for their buck when thrown against armored infantry. While they are able to tie up units that fall outside of those categories, they become dramatically less effective and ''will'' lose the grindfest if they aren't supported. Just like in the tabletop, they pair fantastically with supporting skinks to flank and tie up enemy forces or debuff them with poison to make them even more vulnerable to the kroxigors.
**'''Blessed Kroxigors''' - If you thought regular kroxigors were thick, you haven't seen these thunder-thighs strut their stuff. Though the standard health increase is all well and good, blessed kroxigors received a substantial buff to their charge bonus. This can make them surprisingly deadly cycle-chargers which, combined with their anti-infantry/armor niche, will let them crack massive holes in front lines.

*'''Sacred Kroxigors (DLC 2)''' - Kroxigors with [[power fists]]. These magical boxing gloves turn your kroxigors into all-purpose ass pounders who punch holes in armored foes effortlessly and tear through things with low magic resistance like so much wet paper. Much like regular kroxigors, sacred kroxigors get the most bang for their buck when supported by skinks (ideal) or saurus (when you don't want to move from that spot). Unlike standard Kroxigors, Sacred Kroxigors are much more well rounded offensively and will perform much more efficiently against opponents regular Kroxigors tend to struggle or stalemate against. Additionally, as the only non-RoR/Lord unit in your roster with Magical Attacks, these guys are your go-to melee force to deal with Ethereal units, Treemen and other high-physical resistance targets. Additionally, as Magic Resist is slated to change to only affect damage caused by Spells, Sacred Kroxigors will be very well suited to deal with the forces of the Dwarfs and Khorne going forward.
**'''Cohort of Huatl (RoR, DLC 2)''' - Sacred kroxigors with much higher physical resistance and straight up sunder enemy armor, allowing units like your saurus warriors to deal more damage to them.

===Cavalry===
Lizardmen cavalry are slow, for cavalry. They will never catch horse-mounted cavalry of other races, and it is risky to use them as a distraction if your enemy is using anything more than basic cavalry archers. Expect lizardmen cavalry to take heavy losses in prolonged combat, and learn to cycle-charge with them.

*'''Feral Cold Ones''' - A pack of clever girls, with no saurus riders. Feral cold ones are extremely speedy units (by lizardmen standards) that effectively function as light cavalry built for chasing down skirmishers, ranged back lines and artillery pieces. Their ability to cause fear also comes in handy for landing rear charges against a foe tied up in combat with your frontline infantry, as well as ensuring routed enemies leave the battlefield permanently. Unfortunately, their raw damage output is rather low and they themselves are particularly frail and prone to rampaging, which means a bad engagement will result in a swift end for them. They're cheap as chips though, so you can't complain too much over losing 'em.

*'''Cold One Riders''' - Standard cold one riders are your first full-blooded cavalry option. Though significantly swifter than your infantry, cold one riders lag behind their competition in other factions and are particularly vulnerable to anti-large cavalry units because of this. In an ideal setting, cold one riders will serve as the hammer to the anvil that is your saurus frontline; decisive charges into the rear of enemy formations can deal heavy damage and can completely lock down ranged infantry or artillery. Being both armored and shielded gives them respectable staying power as well and allows them to remain in extended combat should the need arise. That said, like most cavalry, they truly shine when they're able to freely cycle charge to maximize their damage output and heavily abuse enemy morale.

*'''Cold One Spear-Riders''' - The name says it all; these are cold one riders with spears. This turns them into a dedicated anti-large cavalry unit that can deal not inconsequential damage to opposing cavalry, artillery and monsters. Unfortunately, in cav v. cav engagements, cold one spear riders will often fall short due to their below average speed letting many opposing options run circles around them. As such, they tend to work best when used defensively. When opposing cavalry buckles down to charge into your flanks, counter charge them with your spear-riders to either intercept or divert them from your more vulnerable elements. They do deal decent armor-piercing damage on their own right, but they'll often lose against more elite cavalry options and their strength quickly diminishes in prolonged engagements.
**'''Blessed Cold One Spear-Riders''' - Blessed cold one spears are extremely similar to the Pok-Hopak Cohort in the sense that they both don't run the risk of rampaging. This is a very valuable perk on a unit that will often find itself separated from your main army, especially when combined with their heightened durability. If you have a need for cold one spears and have access to these, there's literally no reason not to take them.
**'''Pok-Hopak Cohort (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Fearless and focused spear-riders, these guys are both immune to psychology ''and'' lack primal instincts, meaning you'll never need to worry about them rampaging or fleeing from enemy monsters. Additionally, the Pok-Hopak cohort is able to utilize vanguard deployment, giving them a tactical edge over their generic counterparts that cannot be underestimated. If you're thinking about taking a unit of spear-riders, there's literally no reason to not just take these guys instead.

*'''Horned Ones''' - Your only elite cavalry, horned ones are simply buffed up cold one riders, plain and simple. They are significantly faster than all of your cold one riders and as such are on par with the cavalry options found in many other factions. They pack a meaty punch with a rather chunky charge bonus to boot, letting them simply smash through frontline infantry as both hammer and anvil. You'll be paying for that swollen statline though, as they are one of your most expensive non-monster units out of your entire roster (they're even more expensive than some of your monsters).
**'''Blessed Horned Ones''' - Just like the blessed cold one spears, blessed horned ones won't rampage when caught unawares. Considering these are your elite cav units, you will ''always'' want to make sure they can get out of a bad engagement whenever you need them to.

*'''Terradon Riders''' - Javelin skinks riding Terradons and carrying stone bombs. While relatively fast for the lizardmen, terradon riders are among the slowest flying cavalry in the game, and are a fairly niche choice in battle. They are best used harassing enemy infantry or charging into enemy artillery and wizards, something they can easily achieve thanks to their vanguard deployment options, though they'll lose straight-up melee fights with almost anything due to their small unit size and low defensive stats. Their attacks apply Poison, which makes them a little more useful than their raw stats make them seem, but in general you're going to want to use fireleech bolas riders.
**'''Pahuax Sentinels (RoR, DLC 1)''' - These special edition terradon riders are particularly nimble and have an innate resistance to melee and missile attacks that gives them ''far'' more staying power than any of your other flying cavalry. If only to serve as a distraction, these guys can be used in lieu of skink priests/chiefs in an attempt to waste your opponent's missile infantry/artillery ammo. Otherwise, use them to harass enemy units with poisoned missiles and to escort routing foes off the battlefield.

*'''Fireleech Bolas Terradon Riders''' - These are far better Terradon Riders than the base variant. While they no longer inflict Poison on enemy units, their fireleech bolas deal explosive fire damage, inflicting greater damage overall against infantry formations and fire-weak entities while dealing higher leadership penalties in the process. They still carry stone bombs, which can be devastatingly effective when used in concert with a line of saurus warriors pinning enemy melee units or shutting down artillery.
**'''Blessed Terradon Riders''' - Blessed Terradon Riders, aside the traditional increase in health, only received one minor adjustment over their basic counterparts; speed. At a speed stat of 110 as opposed to the standard 90, Blessed Terradon Riders can manuever across the battlefield notably more quickly than any other unit in your entire army. Nice, for a unit designed to harass and waste/dodge enemy missile fire, but ultimately a rather minor selling point on an admittedly mediocre and situational unit.

*'''Ripperdactyl Riders (DLC 1)''' - The obsidian knife of lizardmen flyers. Ripperdactyls are your flying can-openers with a minor bonus against infantry and a ''massive'' AP bonus. Combined with their solid melee attack stat and Frenzy bonus, these guys utterly shred armored foot soldiers. Unfortunately, their non-existent armor, low melee defense, low model count and large size makes these guys terribly susceptible to counterattack. If they get boxed in, much less by anything with an anti-large bonus, you will be impressed by how quickly they die. Because of this, and the fact much of their damage is dedicated against armored targets, Ripperdactyls tend to be a bit of a niche choice in army lists not built around Tiktaq'to. None-the-less, they are much more effective than Terradon Riders at shutting down missile infantry formations and artillery platforms. Just make sure you are constantly aware of the tactical situation and only call them down when you can support them or escape before enemy reinforcements manage to pin them down.
**'''Colossadon Hunters (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Bigger, hungrier ripperdactyls with a penchant for bigger prey; an additional anti-large bonus can turn them into cavalry buzzsaws and can let them deal sickening damage to mounted enemy lords or cavalry and are the best/only option for fighting flying enemy lords/heroes on semi-even ground. Suffice to say, they're still very weak to anti-large weaponry themselves and will seldom win against combat dedicated lords/heroes in a "1"v1 fight. As such, they'll need support through terradon riders (for the poison) as well as additional ripperdactyls to stand an honest shot against such a foe, though they're still not guaranteed a victory. Should they lose, they'll still leave a hell of a mark on whatever cavalry/monster they were fighting and such scars could prove pivotal to bringing them down with the rest of your army.

===Hunting Packs===
*'''Salamander Hunting Pack (DLC 1)''' - A ''much'' needed addition to the Lizardmen's borderline vacant missile unit roster, Salamander Hunting Packs are a fantastic general use ranged unit and are among the better missile cavalry options in the game. Though they can't fire while moving like other missile cavalry options, they deal a rather frightening amount of flaming explosive damage per volley with not inconsequential AP and rather notable anti-large bonuses to top it off. Much like your other non-single entity heavy hitters, Salamanders can do some damage in melee, but they really should avoid it unless absolutely necessary. Terrible defensive values will make Salamander Hunting Packs feel every blow that hits their unarmored hides. If you want to keep them in the fight, make sure you have a few Saurus Spears or Spear Cold One Riders to counter enemy cavalry.
**'''The Umbral Tide (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Sneaky salamander hunting packs with perfect vigour and stalk, the Umbral Tide is able to covertly cross a majority of the battlefields you may find yourself on and can easily set up an ambush against unsuspecting opponents. Even after running from one end of the battle to the other and loosing every last fireball from their collective gullets, the Umbral Tide will still have a spring to their step should they join the melee fray. If you can only afford a single Salamander Pack, try to budget for these guys.

*'''Razordon Hunting Pack (DLC 2)''' - Razordons are your anti-armor missile cavalry. Unlike the Salamanders, who burp up one flaming projectile apiece, Razordons lob three spikes at a time when they attack. Though the damage per individual projectile is... well, pitiful, combined they can deal a rather staggering amount of AP damage that can either be divided among dense clusters of armored infantry formations or a single armored target. Additionally, Razordons are much more adept at lobbing their shots, giving them a bit of an edge over Salamanders in uneven terrain. Unfortunately, that's about where the good news ends. With a shorter firing range than Salamanders and utterly abysmal base damage on their projectiles ([[What|Chameleon Skinks have stronger missiles against unarmored foes than these guys]]) and no additional bonuses to speak of (fire damage, explosive damage, anti-large/infantry, nothing), there's generally no reason to take Razordons over Salamanders in general lists. Against the heavily armored forces of the Warriors of Chaos, Dwarfs or even other Lizardmen, Razordons might find a more valuable niche.
**'''Amaxon Barbs (RoR, DLC 2)''' - Razordons with poisonous spikes and a flat 15% missile resistance, these guys aren't much to write home about. Yes, poison is nice, but you don't exactly need to dig very deep for alternative ways to access it. The missile resistance is a nice, if moderately more situational perk, but it's not a particularly notable resistance and it does nothing for potential melee engagements. In the event you need a razordon hunting pack for anti-armor firepower, you may as well pick these guys up, but only if you have the extra gold once you've established your core army roster.

===Monsters===
The big beasts and the creatures most opponents expect to face when fighting the lizardmen. Potent and powerful monsters, you have a dinosaur for every occasion; you'll simply need to choose the right ones. Beware of enemy tarpits if you don't have a high-level mage in your army; dinosaurs will take additional damage from their flanks and rear if they are surrounded and that can quickly wear them down.

*'''Feral Stegadon''' - A wild stegadon, pure and simple. A living battering ram, stegadons are fantastic line breakers and are well rounded enough to survive the ensuing melee while dealing respectable damage in turn. Like all feral dinosaur variants, its only major weakness is a vulnerability to rampaging courtesy of its lower leadership. This is a forgivable flaw, considering how cheap they are and the fact that you can simply use Cold Blooded to snap them out of it definitely lessens the severity of an occasional rampage.

*'''[[Stegadon]]''' - A stegadon with a long-range ballista and skink handlers mounted upon its back. Stegadons serve as the first of your two artillery options and are arguably the best at dealing raw damage: the ballista is unerringly accurate and can easily snipe opposing artillery pieces, usually destroying the cannon/catapult models in question before they can get much usage. What's more is that, as it's connected to a single entity monster itself, the ballista is not vulnerable to these same tactics, but it can take more punishment just like cygors, steam tanks and other large entities with ranged attacks. The stegadon's ranged attack generally struggles to deal significant damage to infantry formations due to the narrow projectiles and low splash damage (despite the bonus anti-infantry damage). Regardless, the shot still deals incredible damage to heavily armored, single entity monsters (particularly a majority of mounted lords/heroes) due to their immense bonus AP damage. Even should you run out of ammunition or should your opponent try to tie it down in melee... it's still a stegadon. With skinks firing poisoned darts at everything surrounding its legs, it will put up just as much of a fight as its feral counterpart and then some. The only downside to the ballista is that firing it will drain the stegadon's vigour (even if it's standing perfectly still), meaning it'll likely perform less efficiently in any ensuing melee if it doesn't get a break between firing and fighting.
**'''Blessed Stegadon''' - Hoh boy, now we're talking. A massive buff to the stegadon's health will allow him to take significantly more punishment over the rest of his variants, but that's not really the main selling point here. The blessed stegadon is also gifted with perfect vigour; a massive boon to the offensive prowess of this beast. Being able to act as full blown artillery then rush into glorious melee combat to tear enemies a new asshole at peak performance is something no other faction can achieve remotely as effectively as these guys can. If a quest pops up in the campaign with these as a reward, you should do your damndest to accomplish it. They're well worth it.

*'''Ancient Stegadon''' - Where the stegadon does its best work from afar, the ancient stegadon needs to get up close and personal to do business. The howdah, though packed with significantly more ammo, is much shorter ranged and is primarily meant to soften up nearby targets for a follow up charge into melee. Ancient stegadons are somewhat tankier than other stegadon variants, though their limited range debatably renders them less effective offensively. In general, you should either spring for the Engine of the Gods or stick with a regular stegadon..
**'''The Thunderous One (RoR, DLC 1)''' - A beefed up ancient stegadon that calls down bolts of lighting every 20 seconds, the Thunderous One was made to wade into the enemy's front line and deal indiscriminate damage. Unfortunately, these bolts of lightning can and will deal friendly fire to your units. This can make it somewhat challenging to support its charge with infantry or cavalry, though allied single entity monsters typically won't mind the stray blast.

*'''Engine of the Gods Ancient Stegadon (DLC 1)''' - Is all the gold armor embedded into your ancient stegadon not quite flashy enough for you? Just give it the ability to call down an orbital bombardment to glass swarms of warmbloods in the name of the Great Plan. The Stegadon itself is, functionally, an Ancient Stegadon. It behaves identically like one and has the exact same statline, but once you get to its abilities, things start to get interesting. It has two supporting abilities, Arcane Configuration (Winds of Magic Power Recharge rate boost) and the Portent of Warding (a 5% Ward Save for all allied units within 40m). These effects make EotG Stegadons fantastic supporting units simply from their presence alone. And yes, this applies to EotG Stegadon Mounts, so your (Red-Crested) Skink Chiefs can support Skink Priest casters or front line infantry if he's on one of these. The third, and debatably the main reason you're considering this ornate beast, is the Burning Alignment active ability. Though limited to only two uses, the Engine of the Gods can deal devastating damage to infantry focused lists if the Burning Alignment is used at just the right moment. It's particularly effective when fired into choke points or along your enemy's frontline ranks when they're tied up with your forces. Thankfully, the Burning Alignment ability is extremely accurate for (what is functionally) a wind spell; so long as you aim carefully and don't wander your lizardmen into it's path, you can drop it right in front of your forces with little fear.

*'''Feral [[Bastilidon]]''' - Your cheapest single entity dinosaur as well as your sturdiest. Feral bastilidons are effectively just a [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]] that you throw into enemy frontlines to stir up some chaos, cause some fear and just generally soak damage while the rest of your army dismantles the enemy. These guys can still earn you some crazy value against armies that field a lot of chaff infantry, like Skaven, Beastmen or Bretonnia.

*'''Solar Engine Bastilidon''' - Your second, cheaper artillery option. Solar Engines fire off a single missile that simultaneously blinds and burns enemy units, reducing their combat effectiveness and dealing bonus damage against anything that regenerates health naturally. These laser bolts are relatively slow moving, however, and are much easier to dodge than the smaller, faster, harder to see bolts fired by the stegadon, but they have slightly higher damage per shot and a larger splash radius when targeting groups of infantry. In another contrast to the stegadon, the beams fired by the solar engine deal flat magical damage, meaning enemies with high magical resistance will largely shrug off the damage dealt by the solar engine itself. The only ''major'' drawback of the solar engine is that the Beam of Chotek, though an armor-piercing missile (its unit toolbar does not show the armor-piercing icon), deals relatively low bonus damage against armored units and as such will become less efficient compared to the stegadon when targeting heavily armored monsters over formations of armored infantry. At the end of the day, when all else fails, there's still a fully grown bastilidon underneath that laser crystal. Keep in mind, like every range units, their range shots depletes a unit's vigour and should be taken into account if you're planning on sending it in.
**'''Blessed Solar Engine Bastilidon''' - Everything said about the blessed stegadon applies here, only to a slightly lesser extent. Perfect vigour's value cannot be overstated on a melee capable monster that would otherwise tire itself out just from holding a laser cannon in place. The greater defensive value of the bastilidon compliments the increased health quite nicely and will allow the blessed variant to stay in the thick of it considerably longer than others of its kind (bar perhaps a Revivification bastilidon healing itself, though it could just simply support the blessed bastilidon instead).

*'''Revivification Crystal Bastilidon''' - Your only non-magical source of healing, revivification crystals are one of the few healing options in the game that not only restores a unit's health but also actually revives dead models; a perk that's particularly valuable on your elite units like kroxigors or temple guard. A revivification crystal pairs excellently with a Life Slann in infantry heavy lists as you can very rapidly bring a unit back from the brink to near pristine (or whatever their healing cap is, depending on how used and abused they are), or for ensuring crucial monsters (like carnosaurs and dread saurians) become virtually unkillable. They are of limited use in a dinosaur army if your lord isn't a Life Slann, as their minor healing ability is short-ranged and can only target a single unit with a relatively lengthy cooldown between uses. Additionally, and this is notable hitch, models don't start coming back to life until all the still living models have been healed up. This, consequently, makes it difficult to rebuild your forces if they're in active combat or taking damage from other sources. Having said that, they're still the only source of healing non-slann lords have access to and the only healing option that doesn't impose on your Winds of Magic reserve (which is still a plus, as other armies don't have such a luxury). As a bastilidon variant, it can also throw itself into combat with little fear. Pro tip: Don't click that "end battle" button; instead, use it to revive what you can and win the fight with fewer casualties.

*'''Ark of Sotek Bastilodon (DLC 1)''' - Functionally just a regular bastilidon, but with the ability to unleash an AoE burst of poison on all enemies surrounding it. As it's only a minor increase in cost over the feral version, the Ark of Sotek may be worth getting for the very minor amount of damage and extra poison it can apply to the invariable mosh pits bastilidons often find themselves in. Alternatively, you can get much more utility from the other two non-feral variants, and rely on your skinks to supply poison or your mages to deal burst damage to tarpits of infantry.

*'''Ancient Salamander (DLC 1)''' - A single giant salamander, tempered with age, experience and able to melt opponents with literal hellfire. Ancient salamanders are more durable than their lesser hunting pack kin and are more reliably able to survive the occasional melee scuffle, though it generally shouldn't participate in it. Instead, the ancient salamander truly shines when paired with fire slann, salamander hunting packs, fireleech bolas terradons, or solar engine bastilidons thanks to its ability to render enemy units flammable with its own fireballs. This flammable effect greatly improves the damage dealt by flaming attacks and when executed properly and will burn through most infantry-focused armies with terrifying efficiency.

*'''Feral Carnosaur''' - An offensive machine, the apex predator of Lustria (you know, conventionally) and a signature monster of the lizardmen, the carnosaur is a ferocious beast that specializes in hunting other monsters, skaven weapon teams, and artillery due to their innate anti-large bonuses and armor-piercing capabilities. They're considerably frailer than stegadons and bastilidons defensively, though they are much swifter and tear through most enemies far more quickly due to their much higher attack. When funds are too tight to take a Saurus Scar-Vet or Old Blood on a carnosaur, a feral version with proper support won't steer you wrong. Just make sure you keep a leader or hero with Cold-Blooded on standby in case they get a little carried away.
**'''Blessed Feral Carnosaur''' - The blessed carnosaur. Formerly the pinnacle of lizardmen might (the dread saurian says hi), blessed carnosaurs have all the anti-large, armor-piercing wrath of the regular carnosaur supplemented by a much more rounded defensive statline. Additional health and magic resistance makes the blessed carnosaur surprisingly survivable against a myriad of generic threats and allows it to commit to fights that regular carnosaurs would hesitate towards. They are still just as vulnerable as any other carnosaur to getting mobbed or picked apart from regular armor-piercing weapons and absolutely will rampage in a bind, so don't get reckless with your charges.
**'''Geltblöm’s Terror (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Feral Carnosaur that never rampages and is blessed with both Vanguard deployment and the Strider ability, enabling it to keep up to speed in any terrain. Vanguard deployment and rampage immunity is a fantastic combination for a Lizardmen monster designed to fight other monsters, but don't get reckless.

*'''Feral Troglodon (DLC 3)''' - A Troglodon without a Skink Oracle to keep it in check. Troglodons are in essence a hybrid between an Ancient Salamander and Carnosaur in that they're able to burp up potent poisonous spit that's extremely effective against large targets. Troglodons are quite possibly the first real "skirmisher" single entity monster introduced: though they're quick for ground-bound dinosaurs, they should generally only engage in melee as a last resort or with ''heavy'' support because they are not designed to put up much of a fight. In a direct melee engagement against most other combat monsters, Troglodons tend to lose pretty handily. Their low leadership also tends to cause them to rampage quickly when caught up in a brawl. However, if they focus on kiting and sniping their targets rather than charging them, they can do frankly sickening amounts of damage.
**'''The Pale Death (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Feral Troglodon that can buff itself and nearby allies in melee whenever it uses it's Primeval Roar, giving them a rather substantial Melee Attack bonus for a short while. Though a buff of 24 Melee Attack is certainly an eyebrow raiser, it only recharges when the Pale Death is actively engaged in melee combat. For 60 seconds. On a creature that's prone to rampaging at the drop of a hat, this is a very risky commitment without a Lord/Hero nearby to keep it in check.

*'''Feral Dread Saurian (DLC 2)''' - The single largest monster in the game, dread saurians are nigh uncontested in raw damage output and are more than capable of killing every other unit in the game in a straight fight. Unfortunately for you, your opponent will be able to field ''far'' more units than your dread saurian will be able to deal with at once and most of said units will likely be picking it off at range. As a massive, lumbering behemoth, dodging even slow moving projectiles is well and truly beyond the dread saurian and it will take tremendous damage on the approach. Even once it arrives in melee, the sheer volume of bodies capable of surrounding it and poking it with anti-armor/anti-large sticks will wear it down quite quickly. Their size also provides another source of jank whenever they get bogged down by hordes; they'll struggle to properly path their way through the crowds (it doesn't help that the Dread Saurian also has relatively low mass considering it's literal size) and their attacks, while lethally brutal, also tend to miss depending on the terrain it's fighting on. They are also prohibitively expensive and will eat up a significant portion of your funds, meaning the rest of your army will be extremely limited in number. Ensure you have a proper supporting mage (a life slann is essential) if you're bringing one.

*'''Dread Saurian (DLC 2)''' - The single largest monster in the game, now wearing a howdah filled to the brim with skinks. A modest price bump from the already exorbitant feral variant will grant the regular dread saurian a higher leadership, ranged attacks and poison. Frankly, there's little reason not to go ahead and splurge for these upgrades.
**'''Shredder of Lustria (RoR, DLC 2)''' - The single most expensive beast you could ever field, and boy does he do work. In addition to all that a dread saurian can bring to bear, the Shredder of Lustria is stacked with the full complement of veterinary stat buffs and a leadership debuff for all enemies surrounding it, a perk that, when combined with the innate fear and terror dread saurians cause, will make most enemy infantry run the ''fuck'' away very fast. If that weren't enough, the Shredder of Lustria also encourages all nearby allied troops, buffing their leadership. After all, who wouldn't be inspired by seeing the apex of lizardmen might devouring any and all who oppose the Great Plan? Speaking of the Great Plan, you're going to need one: considering how much money you're sinking into this puppy, you're going to need to really budget the rest of your army carefully.

*'''Coatl (DLC 3)''' - Previously a relic of a long lost bit of Lizardmen lore, the Coatl makes a rather striking return as the premier Lizardmen flying monster. The Coatl, though packing two casts of Urannon's Thunderbolt and one cast of Lesser Chain Lighting as bound spells, is designed more as a source of support for ground-bound allies. Infact, the main draw to the Coatl isn't its combat capabilities (which are mediocre at best), but for the fact that it grants all allied units under its wings Stalk. Yes, everything from that unit of Red-Crested Skinks to that Dread Saurian doomstack becomes invisible and untargetable until they're either far too close to do anything about or the Coatl "lands" or dies. As a faction desperately starved of long range missile units, this is a massive boon for protecting your high-value targets on the approach. Once the Coatl has safely delivered it's charges into battle, it still can serve as an excellent disruptor of backline units, Snipe artillery or single entity monsters with thunderbolt or punish a large blob with lesser chain lighting. Just be careful: even your Terradons move faster than this thing and its size does it no favors when trying to dodge missile fire.
**'''Spirit of Tepok (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Coatl that has Banishment and Shield of Thorns as bound spells instead. The option to lean more heavily into a support role does suit the Coatl quite well, though this largely depends on what lord choice and focus your army has. If you brought a life slann or a skink priest, a regular Coatl might get you more mileage.

==Tactics==
Lizardmen are a very versatile faction when viewed over the entire campaign, however there will be times when your army composition and thus tactics are limited depending on the progress you've made in developing your empire. Your greatest limiting factor will be money; be it in single-player or multiplayer, many mid-high tier units will cost a fortune and you will invariably have a lower unit count compared to other armies. You will need to carefully consider the faction you're currently facing when forming your armies.

===Multiplayer Strategies===

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

*'''Beastmen''' - Highly mobile and capable of dishing out impressive damage, the Beastmen are debatably the fastest overall army in the game (only rivaled by the Wood Elves, perhaps). This can be difficult to deal with, as the only infantry you possess that can potentially keep up with them are your Skinks. Skinks...generally aren't a great pick against Beastmen. They're slower still than a significant portion of the Beastmen roster and will die quite quickly due to their lack of armor and defensive stats. Skink Skirmishers are a minor exception, as between their poisonous missiles and the Beastmen's lack of armor, they'll actually deal respectable damage to them. Otherwise, the stalwart Saurus (Spears) will be your best frontline unit; solid charge defenses, shields and anti-large bonuses will stop any rush in its tracks and the Beastmen's complete lack of armor means that they'll take the full brunt of their attacks. The units that'll get you the most mileage however, are going to be your monsters. The fear and terror your massive beasties toss about will destroy attempts to form a cohesive front line and their utter lack of armor means that even your Bastilodons will deal rather substantial damage to them. Have a Carnosaur or two hunt down any Cygors or non-Great Axe Minotaurs they might have on hand.

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

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

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

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

*'''Grand Cathay''' -

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

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

*'''Khorne''' -

*'''Kislev''' -

*'''Lizardmen''' - This...should be a no brainer in concept, though countering opposing lizardmen can be somewhat difficult to execute. Anti-large units in some shape or form are an inarguable must; cold one spear-riders accompanied by saurus spears can surround and pin down enemy monsters in a relatively cost-effective manner. Red-crested skinks are an ideal infantry choice due to their poison and armor piercing bonus coming into play against a majority of the lizardman roster. Salamander hunting packs and ancient salamanders are fantastic all-rounders that can deal terrifying damage across the entire board. Your main objective should be to focus down any slann mage-priest or skink priests present on the field, followed by any other lord/hero keeping potential rampages in check. If there is an opposing slann, avoid clumping up your infantry to reduce the threat of a banishment and/or any other vortex spell devastating your frontlines. Regular stegadons are fantastic monster snipers who should focus fire on major threats like carnosaurs or dread saurians before anything else.

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

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

*'''Ogre Kingdoms''' -

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

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

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

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

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

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

*'''Daemons of Chaos''':

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

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

===Campaign Strategies===
In the campaign, be it the Vortex or Mortal Empires, the biggest concern lizardmen have is obtaining a consistent source of income; skinks will only carry you so far in the early game and sacking settlements will only provide a quick short-term boost to your treasury. Your economy generally lacks bonuses, especially compared to other Warhammer 2 factions, though you won't be as constrained as, say, Wood Elves or Beastmen, and expanding the Geomantic Web and getting upkeep reduction skills will go a long, long way. As such, if you aren't playing as Hexoatl it is imperative to get the city as soon as possible for its landmark, which reduces upkeep on the lizardmen's most powerful units. Most other landmark buildings add some bonus to several unit chains, such as additional damage for skinks or more defense for saurus warriors.

Lizardmen research is locked behind building completion; many important technologies cannot be accessed until a specific, often mediocre in mid-early game, building is built in one of your settlements. Generally speaking, it is better to unlock research to start improving your weaker units rather than focus on your economy in the early- to mid-game. You simply won't be generating much revenue from economy buildings until the Geomantic Web is expanded and upkeep is reduced. However, that also means you need to be smart about what buildings to construct in your limited settlements; depending on how much money you have coming in through battles and sacking, it may be worth it to construct something just to unlock research and then destroy it to make room for something you genuinely need.

Despite skinks being largely cannon fodder after turn 75, the skink Spawning Pool building should be built in every minor settlement so that you can hire as many Skink Chief heroes as possible. Not only are they the faction assassins, which help lizardmen remove otherwise troublesome heroes that would be difficult to snipe on the battlefield, they can all get stegadon or ancient stegadon mounts. These are functionally equivalent to the generic version but come with extended range and bonuses to damage. It is possible to have two full armies of just Skink Chiefs by the Chaos invasion, if you so wish, and it is even more OP than the standard dinostack. Skink Priests also have access to these mounts, but increasing their recruiting slots is much more difficult.

Once you start becoming established and have a few provinces under your belt, it is imperative to begin constructing Star Chambers in every province you can afford to do so. Each Star Chamber boosts the starting rank of all newly recruited Slann Mage-Priests by 3 levels and all new heroes by 2. Yes, this stacks all the way up so that you can recruit max level Slann every 10 turns. Each Star Chamber also offers a small but lucrative bonus to all income for the whole Province, which helps to address your stone-age economy and extends enemy sieges by an extra 3 turns, potentially granting you just enough time to save the city should it fall under attack.

===Subfaction Strategies===
In general, this section will assume you're playing in the Mortal Empires campaign.

====Mazdamundi====
*'''City of the Sun''' - Big boss Mazdamundi starts with a couple nice things going for him; As the proud owner of Hexoatl, late game Dino-Doomstacks can become particularly affordable. Additionally, he can expand south relatively freely due to a province's worth of abandoned settlements ripe for the plundering/taking. Not everything is as bright as his city's namesake suggests; A permanent -10 diplomatic penalty to all Non-Lizardmen factions can make diplomacy somewhat problematic. This is exacerbated by the fact that Mazda starts directly south of the Dark Elves and has a cluster of aggressive Vampire Coast and lizard-hating Empire colonists barring his access to the rest of Lustria. After you secure your initial holdings, you should weigh your options carefully then commit to eradicating one threat at a time if you can help it. Wiping out Morathi's Dark Elves is the more challenging prospect; their abundance of Armor Piercing weaponry (melee and ranged) can make early game excursions north particularly brutal. This is made worse by the climate incompatibilities, where growth and replenishment are dramatically hindered. On the other hand, Morathi's capital city does provide some rather significant bonuses to your research, income and public order (reduction of penalties from corruption). Should you choose to go south, you'll have a much easier time and will be able to meet up with several other Lizardmen factions you can trade/confederate with.

====Kroq-Gar====
*'''The Last Defender''' - Starting in the ass-crack of the southeast, Kroq-Gar has a bit of a rough start. His only legendary lord neighbor, Tiktaq'to, is still a veritable hike through Vampire/Tomb King infested deserts and Skaven/Ork-filled mountains. You do have two other generic Lizardmen factions nearby, but they often get wiped out within the first 20 turns by either Vampires, Tomb Kings or Malus Darkblade, if you don't do the job for them. To get to the rest of your Lizard brethren (who actually matter), you're going to have to carve a path of bloody carnage across the literal length of the map. There are a couple of ways to go about it, however. If you focus your efforts, you can shove off the coast above your capital city and take the Dragon Isles province directly to the north. If you head north quickly, you can snag a veritable batch of handy Legendary Lord traits that'll turn Kroq-Gar into a particularly potent duelist and secure a number of relatively isolated, defendable provinces before you press westward. If you'd rather focus on pressing west initially... prepare for the long haul. You'll want to keep a banner army stationed either in Charnel Valley (where Clan Mors starts) or in Devil's Backbone (where the Court of Lybaras starts) to help defend against Ork or potential Dark Elf incursions.

====Tehenhauin====
*'''Lllllet's get ready to RUMBLE!''' - Brace yourself, you're deep in the Lustria-Bowl. Tehenhauin has the roughest start of all your lords, even including Horde-faction Nakai; though he has one potential ally to his immediate south, he has Vampire Coast, Dark Elves, Skaven and expansionist Empire folk surrounding him on all sides. Worse, you're effectively stuck with Skinks for infantry until you can make progress on your Skaven genocide quest. To this end, you're going to want to either focus on pumping out a flood of Skinks or focus on building your Beast Lairs to try to pump out some monstrous units to compensate for your lack of early-game muscle. Taking out the Vampire Coast first is strongly recommended, as not only do they spread vampiric corruption, but all of their settlements will provide you with valuable ports. From there, you can put the screws to the Dark Elves and Skaven to the south and claim some valuable land and sacrifices for Sotek.

====Tiktaq'to====
* Perhaps the most... bland campaign, Tiktaq'to just kind of exists in the middle of the Southlands, caught between some Tomb Kings, a random Empire faction and a fair few crusading Bretonnians. If you want, you can focus on allying with the Tomb Kings initially. They can provide a reasonable source of Trade income and provide a buffer against the burgeoning Greenskin-tide while you clean up the Bretonnians and Empire. Additionally, if you focus on sweeping east, you can get a solid point of entry into Lustria. With the Silence and the Fury update however, Tiktaq'to gets a pretty nice increase in utility. He buffs (and significantly reduces the upkeep cost of) Coatls now which are a pretty fantastic unit with their maneuverability, stealth aura and bound spells. This helps his campaign out a lot since he can actually field viable armies that aren't just 'throw 1000 pterodactyls at the enemy and watch half your army get wiped out'. Finally, it's worth mentioning that Tiktaq'to is an ''awful'' fighter with no magic, so his options on the actual battlefield are limited. The only thing he's good for is chasing down routing units, or maybe catching out enemy casters. DO NOT USE HIM TO DUEL, as he will get dumpstered by most melee lords/heroes that are near his level.

====Gor-Rok====
*'''The world is your Itza''' - Despite being solidly in the Lustria-Bowl and being a Saurus-dedicated, exclusive footlord, Gor-Rok is basically guaranteed supremecy due to beginning the game with Lord Kroak ''and'' starting with Itza as his capitol. Tehenhauin will often end up confederating with you pretty early and without much fuss due to the various Lustria-Bowl contenders beating the piss out of him. You'll likely want to focus your initial expansion down south to clear out the Skaven and secure the various resources found on the southeast coastline before pushing north to clear out the Vampires. Once you control the majority of Lustria, you effectively have free reign to set your sights anywhere you feel like conquering.

====Nakai====
* Formerly the most wayward of the Children of the Old Ones, Nakai's start in Albion effectively tries to throw you against the forces of Norsca for a majority of your early-mid game. After some research, he's admittedly geared for it; natural Snow and Chaos Attrition immunity courtesy of your unique tech tree grants Nakai a lot more flexibility for engaging the northern Chaos factions and despite not controlling any of the settlements he captures, the Defenders of the Great Plan generate a ''ton'' of Untainted corruption. Though this won't really benefit you personally much, your allies (or fellow players on Co-Op campaigns) will find traversing the north considerably less threatening. Having said that, due to being a Horde faction, you're perfectly free to just abandon Albion entirely and find new stomping grounds to start your Campaign in.

====Oxyotl====
*'''Deep in enemy territory''' - Aside Nakai and ''potentially'' Tehenhauin, Oxyotl has the most unique (and arguably best) Campaign. His initial start is a bit rough, being awkwardly sandwiched in the far north between the rapidly confederating Dark Elves to the west and the pugnacious Norscans to the east. Though his universal climate habitability is a (necessary) godsend, he'll find it somewhat difficult to defend and expand his home territory. If you can, try to focus down the Dark Elves once you secure your home province. Oxyotl's particular playstyle actually counters Dark Elves to a degree and if you can nip Malekith in the bud before he confederates the rest of his misbegotten kind, you can spare yourself a late-game headache and get a hell of an infrastructure set up with all the unique building chains found in Naggarond. Just make sure you keep a couple standing armies in the region for the Chaos Invasion.
*'''Don't neglect your missions''' - This is because, unless you want to get constant debuffs, buff random enemy armies into the stratosphere or cause the Chaos Invasion to happen way ahead of schedule, Oxyotl's army is going to be consistently busy warping around the map doing missions rather than naturally expanding your home territory. He can warp back to the capitol and any one Silent Sanctum of your choosing freely (which you can establish in any settlement you've laid eyes upon at least once), but only once per turn and he does not regain any of the movement/actions spent prior to the warp. However, many of the missions Oxyotl needs to undertake often involves him razing or capturing enemy settlements, so you'll often find yourself with various holdouts sprinkled across the map. Just make sure that you get a banner army or two to defend your capitol if you can help it; things get ''extremely'' messy once the Chaos Invasion starts.
*'''Your Silent Sanctums''' - Your other unique mechanic is a game-changer for the Lizardmen. Functionally, they're similar to Skaven Undercities; you can construct unique buildings to benefit any of your forces within the Region it was established, as well as any other regions neighboring it. This can include granting your forces permanent vision on everything within those regions, a flat 20% upkeep reduction for all of your forces within the area or even a random chance to deal damage to enemy forces happening by. Whenever you amass 8 gems, you can construct a Silent Sanctum in any settlement any of your characters have personally seen. One key function truly unique to Oxyotl is that you can actually construct a building that allows Oxyotl's army to teleport there at will. You can literally teleport a full Stegadon doomstack right next to an enemy faction's capitol city if you so desire. Suffice to say, Silent Sanctums are extremely useful and worth investing in.
*'''Take Albion!''' - If you can afford the excursion, send Oxyotl or a generic banner army south to Albion and claim it. Several unique buildings in Konquata provide rather substantial financial boons and, especially when coupled with a specially kitted out Silent Sanctum, can serve as a rapid recruitment center for your efforts in the Old World. You're the only Lizardmen faction within a reasonable distance who can actually make use of these unique buildings and an early capture can prove to be a rather profitable investment for your economy.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen

2022-05-15T05:39:49Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Tiktaq'to */

This is the tactics page for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the Lizardmen.

==Why play Lizardmen==
*You love the parts of Jurassic Park where the dinosaurs eat everyone.
*They're [[awesome|aztec dinosaurs riding dinosaurs]] into battle. Some of those dinosaurs also have magical lasers strapped to them.
*You want to be a master of the arcane, but you don't want to wear [[High Elves|foppish headgear]] or have a racial lifespan only in the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|double digits]].
*You'll have a nearly fearless army that's more likely to fight to the death before they turn tail and run.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMwpC70di2w Do you want to see what one of these does to your enemies?]

===Pros===
*'''A Multitude of Monsters''' - The Lizardmen have the largest diversity of massive monsters in the game at their disposal. Between the various Bastilidons, Stegadons and Carnosaurs you can field, you won't be wanting for big beasties.
*'''Intimidating Presence''' - Unsurprisingly, the average man will struggle to keep calm and collected when facing down a stampede of hungry carnivorous dinosaurs many times his size. Virtually every monster and cavalry unit in this army inspires fear and terror in the mortal hearts of men; a few well timed Carnosaur charges can break and rout forces not outright immune to psychology. Conversely, this also renders your monsters immune to fear/terror effects as well.
*'''Resilient Frontline''' - Saurus Warriors, even unshielded, are among the most durable baseline infantry units in the game. Though their damage output is rather low, their good armor and leadership will ensure they'll hold the line. Most non-AP grindfests will tend to work out in your favor on virtue of that alone. Of course this isn't even mentioning how tanky higher tier units like the Temple Guard or Kroxigors are.
*'''Mastery of Magic''' - With the notable exception of High Elves, Lizardmen have reliable access to more schools of magic than any other race. Slann and the mighty Lord Kroak offer not only some of the most reliable casting in the game, but have consistent access to the otherwise elusive Greater Arcane Conduit skill. Your skink priests are no push overs in magical matters either and are very cost effective options for when slann [[heresy|just aren't your thing]].
*'''Flexible Artillery''' - Where most other factions have to slowly wheel siege engines into place and are vulnerable to attacks in melee, Lizardmen give no fucks. Due to their solar engines and bastila being strapped on the backs of mighty Bastilidons/Stegadons, they can easily reposition themselves and hold their own in melee combat. Additionally, where the actual artillery models of other races can actually be destroyed, the Bastilas and Solar Engines will remain fully intact so long as the creature bearing it remains standing.
*'''Cavalcade of Cavalry''' - Cold Ones, Horned Ones, Terradons and Ripperdactyls, oh my! Though not as fast or as effective as some other faction's cavalry, you have a very diverse selection of fast-moving dinosaurs that can outflank enemies and flexibly adapt to the variety of terrain you may find yourself in. Just don't expect your cav to top any particular charts when compared against any faction that specializes in them.
*'''Predatory Senses''' - As your army consists heavily of predatory animals that excel at sniffing out prey, your enemies will be hard pressed to remain hidden from them. Enemies that rely on stealthy abilities like Stalk are revealed to you far more quickly than others, giving you far more time to react to (in battle) ambushes than other factions.
*'''Poison Aplenty''' - Many of the weapons wielded by your skinks are poisonous, inhibiting the mobility/combat performance of enemies afflicted by their noxious attacks. Despite poison no longer dealing constant damage like on the tabletop, their debuffs are still useful for weakening the enemy for your frontline troops. Thank to the recent update that removes any form of poison debuffs that can apply to the player units through friendly fire, skink's poison darts are even better.
*'''DLC Aplenty''' - You are tied with the Skaven for the honor of having the most DLC. You also have two FLC lords on top of all this, so between a grand total of 7 legendary lords and three DLC lord packs, you are the most supported main game faction in Total War: Warhammer II.
*'''Blessings of the Old Ones''' - Many of your units have "Blessed" variants available in casual multiplayer matches or the campaign. Blessed units are effectively pseudo-Regiments of Renown and every single one is given a buffed health pool and, where applicable, an increased model count per unit. Additionally, many of these blessed units receive additional passive abilities or upgraded stats to further their combat potential. What's better is, unlike Regiments of Renown, you can technically have as many blessed units as you want. The only downside (admittedly a big one) is that in order to acquire blessed units in the campaign, you must complete randomly generated quests that issue a set quantity of a random blessed unit upon completion. If you want an army of blessed carnosaurs, you're going to have to earn it. This is a complete non-issue in causal multiplayer matches, where blessed units are freely available for a very minor upcharge in cost compared to regular variants. Blessed units are unavailable in competitive games.

===Cons===
*'''Slow''' - A majority of the Lizardmen list, namely Saurus infantry, take their sweet time to cross the field. Though there are exceptions to this, such as the various cavalry and skink units available to you, this particular weakness is exacerbated by...
*'''Vulnerable to Range''' - ...their dearth of viable missile units. The only ranged infantry available to you are Skinks; particularly squishy infantry that, though nimble, have pitiful range and DPS against anything shielded and/or armored. Your more potent offensive options, namely Salamanders or Stegadons/Bastilodons, cannot fire while moving and are rather easy to tie down in melee. Defensively, though your Saurus are quite tanky and often come with shields, they are very vulnerable to being kited by ranged cavalry/infantry due to their rather slow movement speed. Additionally, all your units save for Gor-Rok are stuck with Bronze Shields (35% block chance), meaning that even when they're in a position to use them, you'll still be soaking a significant portion of the incoming shots all the same. The same can also be said about most of your monsters, with some minor exceptions.
*'''Sub-par Air-Force''' - Though you have flying cavalry, a luxury many other factions lack, they're among the weakest/slowest of them. Terradons and Ripperdactyls aren't ''bad'', per se, but they will lose if faced with the flying cavalry/monsters from the likes of Bretonnia or High/Wood Elves.
*'''Expensive Roster''' - As you can imagine, breeding and training massive dinosaurs and mounting arcane instruments of war onto them isn't cheap. All of your high tier units can get crazy expensive both in initial cost and upkeep. Even the bog standard Saurus Warriors come at a premium compared to some other factions options, though this is only particularly notable in competitive multiplayer.
*'''Rampage''' - A majority of the Lizardmen list is prone to going berserk and rampaging towards their deaths if they take too much damage too quickly. Though the Lord/Hero Cold-Blooded ability can help keep this in check, it is in limited supply. That said, though rampaging units will end up dying more often than not, the silver lining is that these rampaging units can still tie up enemy units until the bitter end, which can buy the rest of your army some time.
*'''Bland Campaign''' - Aside Oxyotl and ''possibly'' Tehenhauin, the Lizardmen have the most boring campaign mechanics of any of the game II races (including some of the game I ones). Their unique mechanic, the Geomantic Web, is a very passive and basic provincial buff that takes a lot of resources and time to properly build up to a level you'll actually notice the effects of and offer no benefit to provinces you don't ''completely'' control. Yes, losing that one minor settlement causes the provincial capital to shut off its Geomantic Pylon until you reclaim it. Additionally, without mod support, Lizardmen are among the most stubborn and oppositional to confederation.
*'''DLC Locked Content''' - Though a con for virtually every other faction in the game, this is a particularly notable one for Lizardmen. Many, if not most of the Lizardmen's better units are locked behind DLC lord packs. You'll need the Prophet and the Warlock for all units marked with DLC 1, the Hunter and the Beast for everything marked with DLC 2 and the Silence and the Fury for everything marked DLC 3.

==Universal Traits==
There are a couple of perks and abilities shared across a significant portion of the lizardmen unit roster, which will be mentioned here.
*'''Primal Instincts''' - A perk found on a majority of the lizardman roster (exempting lords/heroes and skinks), primal instincts will cause a unit with this ability to rampage out of control should their health drop too quickly or below a certain threshold. This can be a bit of a mixed blessing, as a rampaging unit will receive minor stat bonuses and continue to fight nearby opponents in situations that any other unit would turn tail and rout. The bad news is that your opponent has more control over the rampaging unit than you do; rampaging units will single-mindedly charge at the nearest enemy unit, which your opponent can take to his advantage by using faster infantry/cavalry to kite the rampaging unit while his ranged infantry/artillery finishes it off. Should the rampage end ''before'' the unit dies, they'll usually begin to rout from the field and will often be too far out of position for you to properly recover them. now only applies when at 20% health or less.

*'''Cold Blooded''' - A targetable ability found on most lizardmen lords and heroes, Cold Blooded helps to counter the innate weakness in the lizardmen faction; their tendency to rampage. When used, Cold Blooded will snap a single unit out of a rampage (if they are currently doing so) and will temporarily buff their leadership. This ability can be used pre/post rampage as well, as the leadership buff can potentially prevent a rampage from occurring or can help prevent a tattered unit from routing once their rampage expires. As this ability has a somewhat lengthy cooldown an is only found on lords/heroes, care should be taken on when it is used and what it is used on.

*'''Predatory Senses''' - An ability found on all non-Slann/Skink units in your roster, this allows your units to detect hidden or stealthed units far sooner and from farther away than other armies (around 160 meters). This also disregards any faction/unit/terrain modifiers that enhance stealth, with the only exception being the ''Unspottable'' trait. With proper coverage, this can make ambushing or outflanking your forces extremely challenging to do discreetly.

*'''Aquatic''' - An ability found on all Skink infantry, Kroxigors (though their stat card doesn't mention the trait, they still receive the Aquatic bonus) and your Salamander/Razordon hunting packs, this not only allows them to ignore the usual penalties for fighting in water-logged environments, but gives them a 20% bonus to melee attack/defense when they do so. Considering non-aquatic infantry suffers a 20% malus to those stats when slogging around in the water, this can become a rather substantial combat buff for a significant portion of your roster (keep your Saurus dry). Potentially losing matchups will suddenly swing into your favor and that's not even factoring in your abundant poisoned weaponry and robust catalog of supportive magics to widen that gap further. As amazing as all that sounds... marsh and shallow water environments are rather few and far in between. Additionally, for the maps that ''do'' have swamped areas, coercing your opponent to willingly splash around with you is a battle all its own, one you're not likely to succeed in without careful planning.

*'''Quick Learners''' - Another Skink-exclusive ability, this greatly increases the rate that your Skinks gain ranks. This helps distinguish skinks against comparable chaff infantry since they'll benefit from rank-boosted stats much more quickly and, as such, makes them surprisingly effective early-mid game infantry. This perk also applies to units such as Terradon Riders due to having Skink Riders.

==Lords==
The scaly faces of the Lizardmen. Compared to a few of the other factions in game, Lizardmen generally have solid lord choices and their legendary lords aren't an exception. They do face very heavy in-house competition, however. It's very difficult to justify taking a saurus oldblood over any flavor of slann mage-priest due to the sheer versatility the latter bring to your army, especially since you are not hurting for giant, single entity beatsticks to ram into enemy formations. slaan benefit from star chambers in campaign, other dont, no contest, only use slaan if stacking chambers (which you really should).

===Legendary Lords===
*'''Mazdamundi''' - The last second generation Slann (lore-wise), Mazdamundi uses magic primarily from the Lore of Light to act as a hybrid support/offensive caster. The two main selling points of Mazdamundi over a generic Slann Mage-Priest are his stegadon mount Zlaaq and his signature spell ''Ruination of Cities''. Zlaaq allows Mazdamundi to actually engage in melee, something no other Slann can safely do, and makes him substantially more durable against most forms of attack. ''Ruination of Cities'', especially when combined with ''Banishment'', makes Mazdamundi an excellent AoE caster capable of tearing infantry focused armies to shreds with ease without chewing through your Winds of Magic reserve. These spells are limited however, being bounded spells, so make sure you wait until the right moment to utilize them. Additionally, don't put too much faith in them; as their movement patterns are random, these spells (particularly Ruination of Cities) can just as easily do nothing or even devastate your own forces as they can your enemies if you aren't careful.

*'''Kroq-Gar''' - Your dedicated duelist, Kroq-Gar is an offensive powerhouse that shines when seated atop Grimloq, his faithful Carnosaur mount. Though expensive, Kroq-Gar/Grimloq can engage virtually any enemy type in the game effectively and is able to duel against many enemy lords and come out on top. Though a monstrous force on his own merits, Kroq-Gar is something of a glass cannon however and as a larger target is prone to getting mobbed by multiple units or getting focused down by ranged infantry/artillery. Another notable shortcoming is that he provides limited support for the rest of your army (a bit of a problem for all Saurus Oldbloods), and as such is not recommended for dino-heavy army builds, his bonuses to armor and leadership being less important than the healing abilities of Life Slann.

*'''Tehenhauin (DLC 1)''' - Your only Skink-Priest lord choice, Tehenhauin is something of a niche pick. He can deal solid enough damage against footlords/cavalry lords in a fight (particularly if on a Ripperdactyl) and is also capable of dealing notable damage to swarms of infantry (with his Lore of Beasts and/or with his Engine of the Gods), but he's extremely frail for a Lizardmen lord when unmounted. Never get the Fanatic skill in his skill tree; it only benefits skink units and they are pretty trash after the mid-game.

*'''Tiktaq'to (FLC)''' - Another somewhat niche pick, Tiktaq'to is a dedicated flier who excels in lists built with Terradons, Ripperdactyls and Coatls as the focus. Though mounted on Zwuup, Tiktaq'to is your squishiest (legendary) lord and lacks the support/damage options available to the others, but he's inarguably the swiftest of the bunch (which doesn't mean much compared to other flying lords and heroes). Under no circumstances is he a direct combat lord; against any duelist or large/monstrous lord he will lose handily. The only targets he can safely engage are dedicated casters, artillery and dedicated ranged infantry. Because of this, playing him requires far more finesse than what is required for virtually every other lord; even against targets he ''can'' engage effectively, prolonged combat will invariably whittle him down and may the Old Ones help you if he's surrounded while grounded. Keep a squad or two of Ripperdactyls close by to make up the difference in combat ability and to take advantage of Tiktaq'to's buffs. Also, his unique Epic weapon doesn't work if he is attacking a ground target in melee because its attack bonuses are only in effect when flying, so he's weaker than a Skink Terradon Rider when attacking ground targets UNLESS you swap out his weapon. When used in campaign, much of his value comes from his rather insane and stackable upkeep discount for flier units. Even on higher difficulties, it is extraordinarily easy to stack enough upkeep cost reductions to have a full Coatl doomstack damn near for free (until the Supply Lines penalties become particularly swollen, at least). Additionally, his unique rite gives all of his armies the ability to easily chase down fleeing armies or attack multiple settlements a turn which can be ''devastating'' to an enemy faction if used at the right moment.

*'''Nakai (DLC 2)''' - The largest and oldest of the Kroxigor Ancients, Nakai is an infantry mulcher who (thanks to his enthusiastic animations) will literally sweep his way through the thickest blobs of infantry. Nakai possesses a few notable traits over his competitors; his ability to grant perfect vigour to nearby allies ensures they're in peak form throughout the entire battle while his Miasma of Dispair can cripple enemies within his presence; a potentially nasty combo that can ensure your forces slowly but steadily chew through enemy frontlines. Unfortunately, Nakai has a few major weaknesses: As a large entity, he's vulnerable to anti-large weaponry (which does abound among baseline infantry) and is an easy, defenseless target for ranged units to snipe. He also struggles to properly duel opposing heroes/lords due to his size and janky animations making him lunge about haphazardly while they continue to poke him to death. Because of this, he tends to work best as a force multiplier for infantry builds.

*'''Gor-Rok (FLC)''' - Where Kroq-Gar is the spear, Gor-Rok stands as the shield. Gor-Rok is a dedicated footlord, among the slowest of them, but makes up for it through sheer, unbreaking resilience. As the only unit in the entire Lizardmen roster with a silver shield (55% missile block chance), Gor-Rok is able to shoulder his way through the kind of firepower that would fell a lesser Old-Blood on the approach. Gor-Rok can also stand neck-deep among hordes of angry infantry and walk out seemingly unscathed. When equipped with the ''Mace of Ulumak'', Gor-Rok can also prove a competent duelist in his own right, even if it's only in temporary bursts. Gor-Rok does falter against mounted/monstrous heroes/lords and is vulnerable to duelists with good AP values, though the Twisted and the Twilight patch has helped address the issue of him being staggered to hell and back. Never the less, Gor-Rok is a relatively cost effective legendary lord who can and will hold the line until the bitter end. His campaign starts with Lord Kroak fully unlocked and active, which makes his campaign among the easiest in the entire game, even on higher difficulties.

*'''Oxyotl (DLC 3) ''' - The legendary daemon-slaying chameleon skink of Oyxl is the last legendary lord for the faction (at least for TWW2). As to be expected from any shape or form of a Chameleon Skink, Oxyotl is a rather cheap, stealthy character hunter who behaves somewhat like a Wood Elf Waystalker. Unlike Waystalkers, Oxyotl has a particularly nasty trick in the form of Master Predator; a toggle-able skill that reduces his movement speed in exchange for an increase in range, Snipe and the ability to remain undetectable unless the enemy gets extremely close to his position. Combined with his modestly powerful armor piercing missiles, this can quickly wear down most armored lords and heroes rather quickly if left to his own devices. Of course, as a reasonably cost effective LL, the drawbacks have to come in somewhere and for Oxyotl, that drawback is melee combat. While he has acceptable melee attack and defense, Oxyotl has no armor or damage mitigation tools at his disposal. Any combat lord or hero worth his or her salt can and will kill him in a hand-to-hand duel. Fortunately, he's fast enough that virtually no footlord can catch up to him unless you willfully allow it. He also struggles to deal with the rank and file and lacks any notable support abilities for his own forces, but that's fairly typical of the niche Oxyotl fills.

===Generic Lords===
Your generic lords are no less able than their famed counterparts, and in competitive multiplayer, are often preferable. However, in the campaign, you'll generally never want to get non-slann lords after turn 20(ish) because lizardmen Star Chamber buildings give 3 bonus levels to your slann lords, meaning they quickly outpace any other lord available. Any need for a melee lord can be filled by one of the many lizardmen heroes, who can also be easily recruited at higher starting level than the melee lords. You may still find the need to recruit cheaper stand in lords in case of an emergency, as the Rite of Awakening's cooldown is a notable hitch in acquiring more slann.

*'''Slann Mage-Priest''' - Your almighty magic toads, slann are dedicated mages who don't participate in fights directly, but wreak havoc upon your enemies from afar with their magics or supplement your forces with defensive/healing energies. Slann are the only generic lords in the game who have access to the ''Greater Arcane Conduit'' ability which, when combined with their reliable casting, can allow savvy players to call upon vast reserves of the Winds of Magic long after lesser mages have tapped out of theirs. In addition to ''Greater Arcane Conduit'', each slann has access to Banishment as a bound spell as well as the ''Shield of the Old Ones''; a large AoE defensive buff that applies a 22% damage resistance modifier to all allied units within it's bubble. Understandably, for all their arcane might, slann are practically helpless if caught in a fight. They are the single slowest unit in your entire army and are quite chunky, making them easy targets up close or at range. To this end, you'll almost always want a screening unit of Temple Guard (or at least shielded saurus) to keep enemies from ganking them. Outside of that, there are four varieties of Slann Mage-Priests, each dedicated to a specific lore of magic:
**'''Fire Slann''' - When you want to burn the [[HERESY|heretic]] in holy fire for the Old Ones. Combined with their bound Banishment, fire slann are capable of mulching clumps of infantry wholesale and can even churn out respectable single target damage with their Fireball and Piercing Bolts of Burning spells. Fire damage is particularly useful against the myriad of enemies with regeneration, though you're not exactly short on unit options capable of filling that niche.
**'''Life Slann''' - These guys are the MVP in any monster heavy list; though you have a few other options for healing (such as the Revivification Bastilidon, high slann and the newly added Skink Oracle), life slann are still the uncontested kings at it. If you want an army built on the back of beasts, a life slann is essential to keeping them in the fight. With a life slann, you can wipe away any damage your stack of monsters take during the routing phase of a battle, making them both tactically and strategically important. Pair one with a Revivification Bastilidon to very rapidly resurrect slain models in any infantry unit and bring back even the most tattered units to full fighting strength.
**'''Light Slann''' - Light slann are fantastic supports for an infantry-heavy army namely due to two spells: Net of Amyntok and Birona's Timewarp. Like every other army, Net of Amyntok is an excellent tool for pinning down faster cavalry from the likes of Bretonnia or the Dark Elves so that your ''much'' slower saurus can catch up and engage them in melee (or to keep them still while your Salamanders incinerate them wholesale). Birona's Timewarp can turn the tide in a key engagement when used properly. Offensively, being able to cast Banishment much more frequently can also deal devastating damage to enemy infantry. That said, even your Greater Arcane Conduit will struggle to keep you topped off; the Lore of Light can consume your Winds of Magic quite quickly.
**'''High Slann''' - Similarly to light slann, high slann are a hybrid offensive/support caster. Unlike the Lore of Light, you do have access to minor magical healing through Apotheosis and have access to an excellent anti-flier vortex spell in Tempest (Net of Amyntok is superior in most cases, however). High slann offensively specialize in single target damage and can deal devastating amounts of it between the Arcane Unforging and Soul Quench spells, giving them a solid niche against duelist lords/heroes and larger monsters.
**'''Heavens Slann''' - Multiplayer only, the Heavens Slann is unfortunately the worst slann of the bunch. It's not that the Heavens lore is lacking nor is it the slann himself, but the fact that he faces strict competition against your Skink Priests of all things. A Skink Priest of Heavens, though lacking the Greater Arcane Conduit, is a much faster/smaller target by default and has access to several mount options that make him much more flexible offensively or defensively. Additionally, as a hero, you can take a more offensively focused melee lord or a slann attuned to a different lore for more magical variety. Even if you're only running one with nothing but the crest on his skinky-head, the cheaper price alone makes the Heavens slann a hard sell comparatively.

*'''Saurus Old-Blood''' - Offensive duelists through and through, saurus old-bloods are flexible masters of combat who can lead on foot, on the back of a cold one, or atop a mighty carnosaur (you'll usually want one on a carnosaur). Compared to the kroxigor ancient, saurus old-bloods are less powerful in melee combat but can be much faster and have marginally better faction support skills. For the purposes of both Multiplayer and Campaign, you'll want to avoid taking Old-Bloods as your lord (unless you have ''no'' DLC content). Their role can easily be filled by Saurus Scar Veterans, who ''don't'' take up your only Lord slot for the army (and are, for all intents and purposes, identical sans Campaign skill trees). If you insist on taking an Old-Blood, take Kroq-Gar. Otherwise, a Slann or Kroxigor Ancient would be better suited for your needs.

*'''Red-Crested Skink Chief (DLC 1)''' - Your discount Lord and the one you'll want to take if you want to reserve as much money for your big beasties as possible. Of course, you could splurge a little to put him atop an ancient stegadon to scorch swaths of infantry with the Engine of the Gods (though if you're going to do that, you may as well spring for Tehenhauin so that you at least have access to the Lore of Beasts as well). The RCSC is a competent combatant equipped with poisonous, armor-piercing attacks that can make him surprisingly dangerous in a fight, though like everything skinky, he's a particularly squishy lord when unmounted. The best use you can put him to is boosting your heroes in a 'Pompous' trait-stacking lizardman hero army, which makes an already broken strategy even stronger.

*'''Kroxigor Ancient (DLC 2)''' - Baby Nakais for those who don't quite feel up for splurging on the big boy himself. Kroxigor ancients are quite literally just watered down versions of Nakai; though they won't grant perfect vigour to all friendly forces near them, they will still wade through most infantry due to their size and mass and put out such raw damage that most non-elite infantry will falter swiftly against them. However, just like Nakai, they are completely helpless at range, are vulnerable to AP and anti-large weapons and are ''slow''. In competitive multiplayer, though they are still a bit of a niche pick, they are much more attractive than Nakai due to their cheaper price and because they have access to the Amulet of Itzl, which grants the Kroxigor Ancient 66% damage resistance for a short time. This can give them enough of an edge to eek out against enemy duelists or to survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

==Heroes==
Lizardmen have a surprisingly versatile selection of heroes, including one of the strongest Legendary Heroes in the game: Lord Kroak. These guys are capable of dealing immense damage to your enemies and ''all'' of them (except Kroak) can be mounted on one of your massive dinosaurs.

===Legendary Hero===
You've only got the one, but he's all you'll need. Lord Kroak is your expensive but powerful offensive caster and forms the center of many army formations.
*'''Lord Kroak (FLC)''' - The first of the Slann doesn't let something as trivial as death inconvenience him, or keep him from kicking warmblood ass to the Old World and back. Lord Kroak is one of a very select few heroes in the game with access to ''Greater Arcane Conduit'' (which can be paired with another Slann's Greater Arcane Conduit), making him a fantastic force multiplier in a caster-heavy list just from being present. For better or worse, Kroak doesn't have access to any lore of magic and only has two notable abilities. But ''damn'' can those abilities turn the tide of battle. His only bound ability (other than the universal Cold-Blooded) is the ''Supreme Shield of the Old Ones'', an upgraded version of the regular Shield of the Old Ones that grants allies a 44% damage resistance while within it (and stacks with the regular version if you're really in a bind). The only spell(s) he has access to is his signature Deliverance of Itza (and its three varying strengths). Deliverance of Itza, ''the'' reason you're bringing him, can virtually delete entire units from existence with an efficiency only known to the Winds of Death spell, but it has a few major drawbacks. First, it is intensely mana hungry: you'll typically only get one or two DoI (III) casts per battle before you run dangerously low on magic. By relying on DoI I or II, you won't consume as much magic per cast, but the difference in damage dealt becomes very apparent. Secondly, there is a very lengthy and obvious tell for when the spell is cast; most competent opponents will be able to move their forces away from the blast before it goes off unless you manage to pin them down with supporting spells like the Net of Amyntok or simply bodyblocking them from all sides. Thirdly, this spell is virtually useless against single entities such as Lords/Heroes and giant monsters, meaning he'll do little towards more elite doomstack lists. Despite all these cons working against him, a well timed Deliverance of Itza can and will win you battles if you plan accordingly. The best part, it deals absolutely no friendly fire damage. [[Meme|You may fire when ready]].

===Generic Heroes===
All Lizardmen heroes benefit from the 'Humble' trait, which appears on Lords and Heroes at random. This lets you recruit them at 2 additional ranks higher than their default rank, with unlimited stacking potential, making them stronger and more versatile earlier in the game than heroes of other factions. In the late-game, you can disband Humble heroes as you build more Slann Star-Chambers, however these are expensive buildings for non-Hexoatl factions; for the 6000 gold needed for 1 Star-Chamber, you can hire at least 4 Humble heroes for 8 bonus levels.

*'''Saurus Scar-Veteran''' - A step down from the Old-Blood, Scar-Veterans behave in much the same manner as your generic saurus lords. Vicious and powerful combatants, Scar-Veterans are built to brazenly charge into combat and deal bloody death to all who stand in their way. The real reason you'll want to take any Scar-Vets isn't for the saurus himself, however badass he may be, but for the carnosaur mount you can put him on. Though a more expensive version of the feral carnosaur, Scar-Vets are immune to rampaging (and can indeed stop others from rampaging thanks to their Cold Blooded ability) and have a slightly stronger statline, making them excellent all-round threats to whatever your opponent might be packing. These Scar-Vets are ideal choices for armies led by slann-mage priests; they won't be competing for Winds of Magic like the skink priests and will more than make up for the slann's melee deficiency. If you want to keep him cheaper, you can take one on foot to lead fellow saurus infantry into battle, or stick in on a Cold One to ride with the rest of your cavalry.

*'''Skink Priest''' - Skink priests are your humble, mortal casters. Cheap and nimble, these guys can easily outrun most footslogging infantry and are fantastically flexible mages that can fill any offensive or defensive holes your army might have. If mounted on a terradon, their speed will be unparalleled (for Lizardmen); they'll be able to rain magical death anywhere on the battlefield with ease and can quickly deliver support to your forces no matter how spread out they may be. Alternatively, you may mount them on stegadons or ancient stegadons to make them terrifying all-rounders, though their price tag will quickly reflect that.
**'''Skink Priest (Heavens)''' - The Heavens discipline is among the better offensive lores of magic in the game for the instant raw damage output it's capable of. Wind Blast and Chain Lightning will be your go-to offensive spells. Comet of Cassandora, though powerful, should generally be avoided due to how long its casting time is. Harmonic Convergence and Curse of the Midnight Wind are staples of support sets and can turn your saurus infantry into immovable walls of tooth and claw.
**'''Skink Priest (Beasts)''' - Formerly your worst discipline, the Lore of Beasts has recently received a bit of a tweaking to make it considerably more attractive and usable. It's still among the least potent of your available magics, but it is among the most flexible in utility. Wyssan's Wild Form and Pann's Impenetrable Pelt provide rather significant combat buffs (particularly when stacked) while Curse of Anraheir debilitates your enemies. Offensively, Flock of Doom is a fantastic and cheap chaff cleaner that affects any units that have at least one model within its 30m range. For your single target needs, The Amber Spear allows your caster to act as impromptu artillery should the need arise. Formerly ''the'' reason to take a Beasts caster was for the Transformation of Kadon; being able to summon up to two Manticores to flank enemy formations or dive into backlines can have a massive impact on the flow of battle, but a bump up to ''20'' Winds of Magic per summon makes it challenging to make much use of your other spells in multiplayer.

*'''Skink Chief''' - Your skirmishing duelist, skink chiefs cripple enemy forces with their poisonous darts so that your army can face weaker resistance. Skink chiefs are a force to be feared when mounted on a stegadon, allowing them to easily face down many enemy heroes/lords in a one-on-one fight. In the campaign, the ability to build skink chief capacity-increasing buildings in minor settlements means you can spam them across the map or stack up to 19 of them into an army, which can be hilariously broken depending on the traits and items you equip them with.

*'''Skink Oracle (DLC 3)''' - In hot contention for the title of "best Hero" for the Lizardmen, the Skink Oracle brings a cavalcade of well rounded offensive and supportive magic to the field atop a mighty Troglodon. And only on a Troglodon, so he's very much an "all or nothing" type of unit. The first major reason the Skink Oracle makes for a popular pick is the fact that he's your only non-Slann source of magical healing, potentially freeing up your Lord choice for a more offensive beat stick like Kroq-Gar or even a Kroxigor Ancient. Secondly, as a hero, not only does your Skink Oracle provide a use of Cold-Blooded for the rest of your forces, but his own Troglodon will never rampage. Magical prowess aside, this alone is worth considering the rather steep price-tag. Speaking of, the Troglodon allows the Skink Oracle to function as a mid-range anti-Monster skirmisher. Combined with a potential Fireball cast here or there, the Skink Oracle ''excels'' at chunking opposing Lords/Heroes, especially if they're atop a mount or naturally monstrous in size. Just don't have him brazenly lead the charge into melee combat, as he won't last terribly long in it. in campaign recruit fully leveled slaan with star chambers is still better than using the other lord options but a skink oracle and some healing bastillodon's can allow you to use lore's other than life at least, but honestly, ask yourself if its even worth using you WOM on anything other than healing? your probably still better off spending your winds on heals. Dino and hero doomstacks dont need any offensive spell support to kill things, maybe use light for AOE buffs.

==Units==
Many lizardmen units are available in standard and 'blessed' variants. Blessed units are only made available in the campaign by completing random timed missions, such as getting 1000 kills or winning 4 battles, but make up for their randomness and limited quantity by being free to recruit at any time in any army and by having at least one extra ability or superior stat over their contemporary counterparts. They aren't to be confused with Regiments of Renown, unique units recruited at max rank and limited to one instance per. In casual multiplayer matches with Unit Caps turned off, Blessed Units are recruitable for only a modest bump in price over their generic counterparts.

===Infantry===
Infantry provide the foundation of every army in Total War: Warhammer, and the Lizardmen are no different. Indeed, even the humble skinks have their place.

====Melee Infantry====
*'''Skink Cohort''' - Skinks armed with little macuahuitls and shields, skink cohorts are cheap chaff units primarily used to fill out rosters or to support your more expensive infantry actually doing the killing. Despite being shielded, these guys will die by the score due to their pitiful defensive statline if they face any frontline infantry head on and are one of the few lizardmen units prone to routing from leadership issues. Having said that, skink cohorts are among the fastest cheap infantry units in the game and are still rather decent combatants when fighting similar unarmored units and tend to win such engagements (namely against chaff or low tier infantry like Bretonnian peasantry or Vampire Count zombies). Indeed, their speed is invaluable for flanking enemies tied up by your saurus warriors and chasing routing enemies off the map. When pinching pennies, you can't argue with that.

*'''Red-Crested Skinks (DLC 1)''' - Angry skinks wielding poisonous, armor piercing warhammers. Red-Crested Skinks provide an invaluable source of early game/cheap melee AP damage and poison, though they're less effective against unarmored targets as a whole compared to regular Skink Cohorts. They lack both shields and armor and as they are simply skinks, they will die in droves unless they're taking refuge among the far burlier saurus warriors. On that note, RC skinks synergize excellently with saurus warriors, as they can simultaneously chew through armored units the saurus tend to bounce off of and further cripple these enemies with poison, allowing your much slower saurus to both catch up to and butcher them with greater ease. Just like skink cohorts, these guys are at home in watery environments and are easily able to outflank many slower infantry units.
**'''Cohort of Sotek (RoR, DLC 1)''' - A slightly buffed up unit of RC Skinks, these guys have a unique ability, ''Refuse to Die''. When active, no skink models can die (they can still take damage, however), which can maximize their damage output when taking sudden burst damage or ensure that they hold the enemy in place for a precious few more seconds. They're also one of the few Unbreakable units in your list, allowing them to fight to the very last skink.

*'''Saurus Warriors''' - Saurus warriors are probably the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the lizardmen, and for good reason. Resilient, determined and natural fighters, saurus warriors are one of the most durable base line infantry units in the game due to their high HP and armor and can hold their own even against the more elite infantry options of other factions (Note: they can fight a unit of chaos warriors to stalemate). Should they find themselves in a losing matchup, their naturally high leadership will keep them standing firm against the enemy far longer than their equivalents in other factions would, even if they lose control and rampage towards their inevitable deaths. To compensate, saurus are slow and are prone to being kited, so skink skirmishers/cohorts should be utilized to help pin down the enemy line until the saurus make it into combat. Saurus warriors are available in both standard and shielded variants, but the only reason to not get the shielded version is if you need every last gold coin you can rub together for your bigger monsters on a tight, competitive budget.
**'''Blessed Saurus Warriors''' - Shielded saurus warriors with an even higher base health and [[awesome|perfect vigour]]. These guys make fantastically cost efficient walls that will never tire no matter how hard they're pushed. In the campaign, they are one of the better frontline choices you can give your non-doomstack armies that can find a place even into the late game, so long as they manage to survive and rank up. Gor-Rok, if chosen as your initial legendary lord, can use his rite to grant further defensive bonuses and ''unbreakable'' to them; they will never yield.

*'''Saurus Spears''' - Warriors equipped with anti-large spears for engaging cavalry and monsters. They're nearly identical to regular saurus warriors in every other way, though they do slightly less damage against regular infantry in exchange for their anti-large speciality. Like the warriors, they come in unshielded or, for a slight premium, shielded variants.
**'''Blessed Saurus Spears''' - Buffed up saurus spears with shields, the blessed variant of these saurus are dramatically inferior to their standard cousins since they lack perfect vigour. Instead, the bonus ability granted to them is Forest Strider, a perk that grants additional melee attack and defense buffs to them while fighting in forests. If you can lure cavalry and large monsters into forests, where they'll suffer additional penalties simply due to how forests interact with them, you can deal impressive sustained damage to them in short order. Unfortunately, this ability does nothing for them outside of forests and ''many'' battlefields will have a dearth of forest patches that you can fight in. Additionally, uncooperative opponents will generally avoid trying to engage your forces inside forests and trying to convince them otherwise may prove too time consuming for what it's worth. Regardless, they still have more health than the regular saurus spears. That's always a plus.
**'''Legion of Chaqua (RoR, DLC 1)''' - The Legion of Chaqua, thanks to their special ability, are able to provide themselves and all nearby allied units a surprising 44% missile resistance for a limited time upon activation. This is an invaluable skill to have on the approach, as many of your unshielded infantry and larger monsters are vulnerable to being focused down by the much superior ranged infantry found in other armies and can be further supplemented by a Slann's Shield of the Old Ones if necessary. Otherwise, these guys simply behave exactly as Saurus Spears are expected to.

*'''Temple Guards''' - The fearsome Temple Guards, renowned for their devotion to their Slann masters, stand ready to slaughter all who'd bring harm to their otherwise vulnerable charges. Temple Guard are the only "elite" infantry within the lizardmen roster, which is more a testament to how strong regular saurus are compared to the melee infantry of other armies. Speaking of how strong regular saurus are, Temple Guard fall short of them against unarmored infantry on the whole. This isn't to say Temple Guard aren't impressive; their heightened statline makes them less likely to budge than regular saurus are while their charge defense and bonus damage against large foes and predominantly armor-piercing weaponry lets them effectively face down a majority of late-game/elite cavalry, monsters and even armored infantry much more effectively than regular saurus. Unfortunately, this general prowess reflects heavily in their price tag and you'll struggle to field multiple units of these without heavily cutting into your other options.
**'''Blessed Temple Guards''' - Recolored Temple Guards, these guys are a slightly more offensive version of their default variants thanks to an increased charge bonus. This makes them significantly more well rounded and will allow you to more flexibly choose how you engage your enemies; do you brace and negate an incoming charge, or is the foe squishy enough where a counter charge would be more punishing? All in all a nice upgrade if only for the usual buff to their health blessed units receive.
**'''Star-Chamber Guardians (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Take Temple Guard and make their weapons also deal magical damage: you now have ''the'' most elite infantry unit available to the Lizardmen. Having magical attacks allows the SCG to engage many undead forces that utilize the Ethereal ability and cut them down with ease, as well as neutering anything without good magic resistance or anything that has physical resists. SCG also serve as excellent bodyguards for lords (particularly Slann) due to their Guardian ability and when properly supported with healing magic, these guys will ''never'' die. Their only major weakness of note is prolonged anti-armor ranged firepower and artillery, but as they are armored and shielded and have a frankly gargantuan health pool, it will take a long time to fully whittle them down.

====Missile Infantry====
*'''Skink Cohort with Javelins''' - Skinks armed with little macuahuitls, shields and three javelins each. For pennies over a regular skink cohort, you can give them limited ranged support with poisonous javelins; a fantastic way to soften up an enemy unit for your front line infantry on the charge. With their speed, they can also easily circle about and pepper an opposing unit's backsides before charging in to cut off their escape while your saurus chew through them. Once they throw all their javelins, they're identical to the default skink cohort in virtually every way. Generally, if you're planning on taking skink cohorts at all, you should almost always pick these guys up over the standard versions (unless you ''really'' need every gold coin you can possibly scrape together for a specific competitive multiplayer build).

*'''Skink Skirmishers''' - Skinks equipped with little blowpipes and poisonous darts, and your first dedicated ranged infantry. Skink skirmishers lack the sheer range available to most other factions and struggle to do damage against armored opponents. Instead, they should be used exclusively as harassers; their speed, ability to fire while moving and vanguard deployment options allow them to easily get into flanking positions and kite enemy infantry while inflicting poison onto them for when the rest of your army catches up. These guys will melt quickly if caught in the crosshairs of opposing archers/gunners and are pitiful in a fistfight, so you should only get one or two of these units at most, and only if you absolutely cannot afford taking chameleon skinks instead.
**'''Blessed Skink Skirmishers''' - Skink skirmishers with more health and an innate magic spell resistance. This extra durability is nice, but the spell resistance in particular isn't going to see much use due to these guys rather high mobility and any targetable spell an opponent ''could'' cast on them would be served much better against... literally anything else in your army. There's no cause to bring these guys in multiplayer matches and the only reason you'll want to recruit them in any of your Campaigns would be if you're in desperate need of reinforcements for a beat-up army you simply cannot afford to lose and you just ''happen'' to have some Blessed Skink Skirmishers to burn. The moment you are in a position where you can recruit/replace other units, these guys should be the first to go.

*'''Chameleon Skinks''' - Ninja skinks equipped with little blowpipes and poisonous darts. Though fewer in number than basic skink skirmishers, chameleon skinks are considerably more durable thanks to their flat 40% missile resistance and have a much easier time sneaking around enemies thanks to their Chameleon ability. This, along with their loose formation, can make them surprisingly effective at countering enemy archers. They otherwise fulfill the exact same harassment role your regular skink skirmishers do and deal a disappointingly low amount of damage against armored targets. Also, like skink skirmishers, they are unable to curve their shots well meaning they're less effective in siege battles than the archers of other races.
**'''Blessed Chameleon Skinks''' - Slightly swole Chameleon Skinks with twice the charge bonus (which is barely anything, especially combined with their rather tragic melee statline) and a few extra darts per skink. More ammunition is always welcome in a firefight, but it's hardly a game changer. Regardless, better stats do open up options and if you have a choice between these and regular Chameleon Skinks, may as well pick these guys.

*'''Chameleon Stalkers (DLC 3)''' - Angry ninja skinks with little blowpipes and [[what|explosive darts]]. Chameleon Stalkers fill the rather niche role of shock infantry for the Lizardmen. Each skink is equipped with two Precursor blowpipe shots that deal rather impressive burst damage against unarmored targets either on the charge or when falling back from a melee engagement. As they possess the same Chameleon ability their standard Chameleon Skink kin have, they do have a lot of wiggle room to get into an optimal charging position and can quickly fade away from the fray when things go south. Speaking of things going south, though Stalkers are reasonably decent at combat due to their poisoned attacks and mediocre stats, they still tend to lose against medium tier and above infantry or anything with armor. That said, even against armored infantry, much of the Stalker's value comes from the heavy formation disruption their Precursor Rounds cause, slowing down their targets and interrupting their charge so that you can take the initiative in the ensuing engagement. They can also deal decent burst damage against single entity units in a pinch, but this is generally an inefficient use of them.

====Monstrous Infantry====

*'''Kroxigors''' - Kroxigors, as to be expected from 9-foot tall crocodile men, are beastly armor-piercing anti-infantry blenders who can carve through lower tier units like butter and are sturdy enough to hold back more elite units for your more capable specialists. Though quite tanky and reasonably quick (compared to your saurus), they are still large (with the weaknesses all that entails) and very vulnerable to getting shot to hell and back or getting slammed by larger cavalry/monsters. While Kroxigors do hit damn hard, their total damage is divided between three subcatagories: Base, Anti-Infantry and Armor-Piercing. As such, they only really get the most bang for their buck when thrown against armored infantry. While they are able to tie up units that fall outside of those categories, they become dramatically less effective and ''will'' lose the grindfest if they aren't supported. Just like in the tabletop, they pair fantastically with supporting skinks to flank and tie up enemy forces or debuff them with poison to make them even more vulnerable to the kroxigors.
**'''Blessed Kroxigors''' - If you thought regular kroxigors were thick, you haven't seen these thunder-thighs strut their stuff. Though the standard health increase is all well and good, blessed kroxigors received a substantial buff to their charge bonus. This can make them surprisingly deadly cycle-chargers which, combined with their anti-infantry/armor niche, will let them crack massive holes in front lines.

*'''Sacred Kroxigors (DLC 2)''' - Kroxigors with [[power fists]]. These magical boxing gloves turn your kroxigors into all-purpose ass pounders who punch holes in armored foes effortlessly and tear through things with low magic resistance like so much wet paper. Much like regular kroxigors, sacred kroxigors get the most bang for their buck when supported by skinks (ideal) or saurus (when you don't want to move from that spot). Unlike standard Kroxigors, Sacred Kroxigors are much more well rounded offensively and will perform much more efficiently against opponents regular Kroxigors tend to struggle or stalemate against. Additionally, as the only non-RoR/Lord unit in your roster with Magical Attacks, these guys are your go-to melee force to deal with Ethereal units, Treemen and other high-physical resistance targets. Additionally, as Magic Resist is slated to change to only affect damage caused by Spells, Sacred Kroxigors will be very well suited to deal with the forces of the Dwarfs and Khorne going forward.
**'''Cohort of Huatl (RoR, DLC 2)''' - Sacred kroxigors with much higher physical resistance and straight up sunder enemy armor, allowing units like your saurus warriors to deal more damage to them.

===Cavalry===
Lizardmen cavalry are slow, for cavalry. They will never catch horse-mounted cavalry of other races, and it is risky to use them as a distraction if your enemy is using anything more than basic cavalry archers. Expect lizardmen cavalry to take heavy losses in prolonged combat, and learn to cycle-charge with them.

*'''Feral Cold Ones''' - A pack of clever girls, with no saurus riders. Feral cold ones are extremely speedy units (by lizardmen standards) that effectively function as light cavalry built for chasing down skirmishers, ranged back lines and artillery pieces. Their ability to cause fear also comes in handy for landing rear charges against a foe tied up in combat with your frontline infantry, as well as ensuring routed enemies leave the battlefield permanently. Unfortunately, their raw damage output is rather low and they themselves are particularly frail and prone to rampaging, which means a bad engagement will result in a swift end for them. They're cheap as chips though, so you can't complain too much over losing 'em.

*'''Cold One Riders''' - Standard cold one riders are your first full-blooded cavalry option. Though significantly swifter than your infantry, cold one riders lag behind their competition in other factions and are particularly vulnerable to anti-large cavalry units because of this. In an ideal setting, cold one riders will serve as the hammer to the anvil that is your saurus frontline; decisive charges into the rear of enemy formations can deal heavy damage and can completely lock down ranged infantry or artillery. Being both armored and shielded gives them respectable staying power as well and allows them to remain in extended combat should the need arise. That said, like most cavalry, they truly shine when they're able to freely cycle charge to maximize their damage output and heavily abuse enemy morale.

*'''Cold One Spear-Riders''' - The name says it all; these are cold one riders with spears. This turns them into a dedicated anti-large cavalry unit that can deal not inconsequential damage to opposing cavalry, artillery and monsters. Unfortunately, in cav v. cav engagements, cold one spear riders will often fall short due to their below average speed letting many opposing options run circles around them. As such, they tend to work best when used defensively. When opposing cavalry buckles down to charge into your flanks, counter charge them with your spear-riders to either intercept or divert them from your more vulnerable elements. They do deal decent armor-piercing damage on their own right, but they'll often lose against more elite cavalry options and their strength quickly diminishes in prolonged engagements.
**'''Blessed Cold One Spear-Riders''' - Blessed cold one spears are extremely similar to the Pok-Hopak Cohort in the sense that they both don't run the risk of rampaging. This is a very valuable perk on a unit that will often find itself separated from your main army, especially when combined with their heightened durability. If you have a need for cold one spears and have access to these, there's literally no reason not to take them.
**'''Pok-Hopak Cohort (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Fearless and focused spear-riders, these guys are both immune to psychology ''and'' lack primal instincts, meaning you'll never need to worry about them rampaging or fleeing from enemy monsters. Additionally, the Pok-Hopak cohort is able to utilize vanguard deployment, giving them a tactical edge over their generic counterparts that cannot be underestimated. If you're thinking about taking a unit of spear-riders, there's literally no reason to not just take these guys instead.

*'''Horned Ones''' - Your only elite cavalry, horned ones are simply buffed up cold one riders, plain and simple. They are significantly faster than all of your cold one riders and as such are on par with the cavalry options found in many other factions. They pack a meaty punch with a rather chunky charge bonus to boot, letting them simply smash through frontline infantry as both hammer and anvil. You'll be paying for that swollen statline though, as they are one of your most expensive non-monster units out of your entire roster (they're even more expensive than some of your monsters).
**'''Blessed Horned Ones''' - Just like the blessed cold one spears, blessed horned ones won't rampage when caught unawares. Considering these are your elite cav units, you will ''always'' want to make sure they can get out of a bad engagement whenever you need them to.

*'''Terradon Riders''' - Javelin skinks riding Terradons and carrying stone bombs. While relatively fast for the lizardmen, terradon riders are among the slowest flying cavalry in the game, and are a fairly niche choice in battle. They are best used harassing enemy infantry or charging into enemy artillery and wizards, something they can easily achieve thanks to their vanguard deployment options, though they'll lose straight-up melee fights with almost anything due to their small unit size and low defensive stats. Their attacks apply Poison, which makes them a little more useful than their raw stats make them seem, but in general you're going to want to use fireleech bolas riders.
**'''Pahuax Sentinels (RoR, DLC 1)''' - These special edition terradon riders are particularly nimble and have an innate resistance to melee and missile attacks that gives them ''far'' more staying power than any of your other flying cavalry. If only to serve as a distraction, these guys can be used in lieu of skink priests/chiefs in an attempt to waste your opponent's missile infantry/artillery ammo. Otherwise, use them to harass enemy units with poisoned missiles and to escort routing foes off the battlefield.

*'''Fireleech Bolas Terradon Riders''' - These are far better Terradon Riders than the base variant. While they no longer inflict Poison on enemy units, their fireleech bolas deal explosive fire damage, inflicting greater damage overall against infantry formations and fire-weak entities while dealing higher leadership penalties in the process. They still carry stone bombs, which can be devastatingly effective when used in concert with a line of saurus warriors pinning enemy melee units or shutting down artillery.
**'''Blessed Terradon Riders''' - Blessed Terradon Riders, aside the traditional increase in health, only received one minor adjustment over their basic counterparts; speed. At a speed stat of 110 as opposed to the standard 90, Blessed Terradon Riders can manuever across the battlefield notably more quickly than any other unit in your entire army. Nice, for a unit designed to harass and waste/dodge enemy missile fire, but ultimately a rather minor selling point on an admittedly mediocre and situational unit.

*'''Ripperdactyl Riders (DLC 1)''' - The obsidian knife of lizardmen flyers. Ripperdactyls are your flying can-openers with a minor bonus against infantry and a ''massive'' AP bonus. Combined with their solid melee attack stat and Frenzy bonus, these guys utterly shred armored foot soldiers. Unfortunately, their non-existent armor, low melee defense, low model count and large size makes these guys terribly susceptible to counterattack. If they get boxed in, much less by anything with an anti-large bonus, you will be impressed by how quickly they die. Because of this, and the fact much of their damage is dedicated against armored targets, Ripperdactyls tend to be a bit of a niche choice in army lists not built around Tiktaq'to. None-the-less, they are much more effective than Terradon Riders at shutting down missile infantry formations and artillery platforms. Just make sure you are constantly aware of the tactical situation and only call them down when you can support them or escape before enemy reinforcements manage to pin them down.
**'''Colossadon Hunters (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Bigger, hungrier ripperdactyls with a penchant for bigger prey; an additional anti-large bonus can turn them into cavalry buzzsaws and can let them deal sickening damage to mounted enemy lords or cavalry and are the best/only option for fighting flying enemy lords/heroes on semi-even ground. Suffice to say, they're still very weak to anti-large weaponry themselves and will seldom win against combat dedicated lords/heroes in a "1"v1 fight. As such, they'll need support through terradon riders (for the poison) as well as additional ripperdactyls to stand an honest shot against such a foe, though they're still not guaranteed a victory. Should they lose, they'll still leave a hell of a mark on whatever cavalry/monster they were fighting and such scars could prove pivotal to bringing them down with the rest of your army.

===Hunting Packs===
*'''Salamander Hunting Pack (DLC 1)''' - A ''much'' needed addition to the Lizardmen's borderline vacant missile unit roster, Salamander Hunting Packs are a fantastic general use ranged unit and are among the better missile cavalry options in the game. Though they can't fire while moving like other missile cavalry options, they deal a rather frightening amount of flaming explosive damage per volley with not inconsequential AP and rather notable anti-large bonuses to top it off. Much like your other non-single entity heavy hitters, Salamanders can do some damage in melee, but they really should avoid it unless absolutely necessary. Terrible defensive values will make Salamander Hunting Packs feel every blow that hits their unarmored hides. If you want to keep them in the fight, make sure you have a few Saurus Spears or Spear Cold One Riders to counter enemy cavalry.
**'''The Umbral Tide (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Sneaky salamander hunting packs with perfect vigour and stalk, the Umbral Tide is able to covertly cross a majority of the battlefields you may find yourself on and can easily set up an ambush against unsuspecting opponents. Even after running from one end of the battle to the other and loosing every last fireball from their collective gullets, the Umbral Tide will still have a spring to their step should they join the melee fray. If you can only afford a single Salamander Pack, try to budget for these guys.

*'''Razordon Hunting Pack (DLC 2)''' - Razordons are your anti-armor missile cavalry. Unlike the Salamanders, who burp up one flaming projectile apiece, Razordons lob three spikes at a time when they attack. Though the damage per individual projectile is... well, pitiful, combined they can deal a rather staggering amount of AP damage that can either be divided among dense clusters of armored infantry formations or a single armored target. Additionally, Razordons are much more adept at lobbing their shots, giving them a bit of an edge over Salamanders in uneven terrain. Unfortunately, that's about where the good news ends. With a shorter firing range than Salamanders and utterly abysmal base damage on their projectiles ([[What|Chameleon Skinks have stronger missiles against unarmored foes than these guys]]) and no additional bonuses to speak of (fire damage, explosive damage, anti-large/infantry, nothing), there's generally no reason to take Razordons over Salamanders in general lists. Against the heavily armored forces of the Warriors of Chaos, Dwarfs or even other Lizardmen, Razordons might find a more valuable niche.
**'''Amaxon Barbs (RoR, DLC 2)''' - Razordons with poisonous spikes and a flat 15% missile resistance, these guys aren't much to write home about. Yes, poison is nice, but you don't exactly need to dig very deep for alternative ways to access it. The missile resistance is a nice, if moderately more situational perk, but it's not a particularly notable resistance and it does nothing for potential melee engagements. In the event you need a razordon hunting pack for anti-armor firepower, you may as well pick these guys up, but only if you have the extra gold once you've established your core army roster.

===Monsters===
The big beasts and the creatures most opponents expect to face when fighting the lizardmen. Potent and powerful monsters, you have a dinosaur for every occasion; you'll simply need to choose the right ones. Beware of enemy tarpits if you don't have a high-level mage in your army; dinosaurs will take additional damage from their flanks and rear if they are surrounded and that can quickly wear them down.

*'''Feral Stegadon''' - A wild stegadon, pure and simple. A living battering ram, stegadons are fantastic line breakers and are well rounded enough to survive the ensuing melee while dealing respectable damage in turn. Like all feral dinosaur variants, its only major weakness is a vulnerability to rampaging courtesy of its lower leadership. This is a forgivable flaw, considering how cheap they are and the fact that you can simply use Cold Blooded to snap them out of it definitely lessens the severity of an occasional rampage.

*'''[[Stegadon]]''' - A stegadon with a long-range ballista and skink handlers mounted upon its back. Stegadons serve as the first of your two artillery options and are arguably the best at dealing raw damage: the ballista is unerringly accurate and can easily snipe opposing artillery pieces, usually destroying the cannon/catapult models in question before they can get much usage. What's more is that, as it's connected to a single entity monster itself, the ballista is not vulnerable to these same tactics, but it can take more punishment just like cygors, steam tanks and other large entities with ranged attacks. The stegadon's ranged attack generally struggles to deal significant damage to infantry formations due to the narrow projectiles and low splash damage (despite the bonus anti-infantry damage). Regardless, the shot still deals incredible damage to heavily armored, single entity monsters (particularly a majority of mounted lords/heroes) due to their immense bonus AP damage. Even should you run out of ammunition or should your opponent try to tie it down in melee... it's still a stegadon. With skinks firing poisoned darts at everything surrounding its legs, it will put up just as much of a fight as its feral counterpart and then some. The only downside to the ballista is that firing it will drain the stegadon's vigour (even if it's standing perfectly still), meaning it'll likely perform less efficiently in any ensuing melee if it doesn't get a break between firing and fighting.
**'''Blessed Stegadon''' - Hoh boy, now we're talking. A massive buff to the stegadon's health will allow him to take significantly more punishment over the rest of his variants, but that's not really the main selling point here. The blessed stegadon is also gifted with perfect vigour; a massive boon to the offensive prowess of this beast. Being able to act as full blown artillery then rush into glorious melee combat to tear enemies a new asshole at peak performance is something no other faction can achieve remotely as effectively as these guys can. If a quest pops up in the campaign with these as a reward, you should do your damndest to accomplish it. They're well worth it.

*'''Ancient Stegadon''' - Where the stegadon does its best work from afar, the ancient stegadon needs to get up close and personal to do business. The howdah, though packed with significantly more ammo, is much shorter ranged and is primarily meant to soften up nearby targets for a follow up charge into melee. Ancient stegadons are somewhat tankier than other stegadon variants, though their limited range debatably renders them less effective offensively. In general, you should either spring for the Engine of the Gods or stick with a regular stegadon..
**'''The Thunderous One (RoR, DLC 1)''' - A beefed up ancient stegadon that calls down bolts of lighting every 20 seconds, the Thunderous One was made to wade into the enemy's front line and deal indiscriminate damage. Unfortunately, these bolts of lightning can and will deal friendly fire to your units. This can make it somewhat challenging to support its charge with infantry or cavalry, though allied single entity monsters typically won't mind the stray blast.

*'''Engine of the Gods Ancient Stegadon (DLC 1)''' - Is all the gold armor embedded into your ancient stegadon not quite flashy enough for you? Just give it the ability to call down an orbital bombardment to glass swarms of warmbloods in the name of the Great Plan. The Stegadon itself is, functionally, an Ancient Stegadon. It behaves identically like one and has the exact same statline, but once you get to its abilities, things start to get interesting. It has two supporting abilities, Arcane Configuration (Winds of Magic Power Recharge rate boost) and the Portent of Warding (a 5% Ward Save for all allied units within 40m). These effects make EotG Stegadons fantastic supporting units simply from their presence alone. And yes, this applies to EotG Stegadon Mounts, so your (Red-Crested) Skink Chiefs can support Skink Priest casters or front line infantry if he's on one of these. The third, and debatably the main reason you're considering this ornate beast, is the Burning Alignment active ability. Though limited to only two uses, the Engine of the Gods can deal devastating damage to infantry focused lists if the Burning Alignment is used at just the right moment. It's particularly effective when fired into choke points or along your enemy's frontline ranks when they're tied up with your forces. Thankfully, the Burning Alignment ability is extremely accurate for (what is functionally) a wind spell; so long as you aim carefully and don't wander your lizardmen into it's path, you can drop it right in front of your forces with little fear.

*'''Feral [[Bastilidon]]''' - Your cheapest single entity dinosaur as well as your sturdiest. Feral bastilidons are effectively just a [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]] that you throw into enemy frontlines to stir up some chaos, cause some fear and just generally soak damage while the rest of your army dismantles the enemy. These guys can still earn you some crazy value against armies that field a lot of chaff infantry, like Skaven, Beastmen or Bretonnia.

*'''Solar Engine Bastilidon''' - Your second, cheaper artillery option. Solar Engines fire off a single missile that simultaneously blinds and burns enemy units, reducing their combat effectiveness and dealing bonus damage against anything that regenerates health naturally. These laser bolts are relatively slow moving, however, and are much easier to dodge than the smaller, faster, harder to see bolts fired by the stegadon, but they have slightly higher damage per shot and a larger splash radius when targeting groups of infantry. In another contrast to the stegadon, the beams fired by the solar engine deal flat magical damage, meaning enemies with high magical resistance will largely shrug off the damage dealt by the solar engine itself. The only ''major'' drawback of the solar engine is that the Beam of Chotek, though an armor-piercing missile (its unit toolbar does not show the armor-piercing icon), deals relatively low bonus damage against armored units and as such will become less efficient compared to the stegadon when targeting heavily armored monsters over formations of armored infantry. At the end of the day, when all else fails, there's still a fully grown bastilidon underneath that laser crystal. Keep in mind, like every range units, their range shots depletes a unit's vigour and should be taken into account if you're planning on sending it in.
**'''Blessed Solar Engine Bastilidon''' - Everything said about the blessed stegadon applies here, only to a slightly lesser extent. Perfect vigour's value cannot be overstated on a melee capable monster that would otherwise tire itself out just from holding a laser cannon in place. The greater defensive value of the bastilidon compliments the increased health quite nicely and will allow the blessed variant to stay in the thick of it considerably longer than others of its kind (bar perhaps a Revivification bastilidon healing itself, though it could just simply support the blessed bastilidon instead).

*'''Revivification Crystal Bastilidon''' - Your only non-magical source of healing, revivification crystals are one of the few healing options in the game that not only restores a unit's health but also actually revives dead models; a perk that's particularly valuable on your elite units like kroxigors or temple guard. A revivification crystal pairs excellently with a Life Slann in infantry heavy lists as you can very rapidly bring a unit back from the brink to near pristine (or whatever their healing cap is, depending on how used and abused they are), or for ensuring crucial monsters (like carnosaurs and dread saurians) become virtually unkillable. They are of limited use in a dinosaur army if your lord isn't a Life Slann, as their minor healing ability is short-ranged and can only target a single unit with a relatively lengthy cooldown between uses. Additionally, and this is notable hitch, models don't start coming back to life until all the still living models have been healed up. This, consequently, makes it difficult to rebuild your forces if they're in active combat or taking damage from other sources. Having said that, they're still the only source of healing non-slann lords have access to and the only healing option that doesn't impose on your Winds of Magic reserve (which is still a plus, as other armies don't have such a luxury). As a bastilidon variant, it can also throw itself into combat with little fear. Pro tip: Don't click that "end battle" button; instead, use it to revive what you can and win the fight with fewer casualties.

*'''Ark of Sotek Bastilodon (DLC 1)''' - Functionally just a regular bastilidon, but with the ability to unleash an AoE burst of poison on all enemies surrounding it. As it's only a minor increase in cost over the feral version, the Ark of Sotek may be worth getting for the very minor amount of damage and extra poison it can apply to the invariable mosh pits bastilidons often find themselves in. Alternatively, you can get much more utility from the other two non-feral variants, and rely on your skinks to supply poison or your mages to deal burst damage to tarpits of infantry.

*'''Ancient Salamander (DLC 1)''' - A single giant salamander, tempered with age, experience and able to melt opponents with literal hellfire. Ancient salamanders are more durable than their lesser hunting pack kin and are more reliably able to survive the occasional melee scuffle, though it generally shouldn't participate in it. Instead, the ancient salamander truly shines when paired with fire slann, salamander hunting packs, fireleech bolas terradons, or solar engine bastilidons thanks to its ability to render enemy units flammable with its own fireballs. This flammable effect greatly improves the damage dealt by flaming attacks and when executed properly and will burn through most infantry-focused armies with terrifying efficiency.

*'''Feral Carnosaur''' - An offensive machine, the apex predator of Lustria (you know, conventionally) and a signature monster of the lizardmen, the carnosaur is a ferocious beast that specializes in hunting other monsters, skaven weapon teams, and artillery due to their innate anti-large bonuses and armor-piercing capabilities. They're considerably frailer than stegadons and bastilidons defensively, though they are much swifter and tear through most enemies far more quickly due to their much higher attack. When funds are too tight to take a Saurus Scar-Vet or Old Blood on a carnosaur, a feral version with proper support won't steer you wrong. Just make sure you keep a leader or hero with Cold-Blooded on standby in case they get a little carried away.
**'''Blessed Feral Carnosaur''' - The blessed carnosaur. Formerly the pinnacle of lizardmen might (the dread saurian says hi), blessed carnosaurs have all the anti-large, armor-piercing wrath of the regular carnosaur supplemented by a much more rounded defensive statline. Additional health and magic resistance makes the blessed carnosaur surprisingly survivable against a myriad of generic threats and allows it to commit to fights that regular carnosaurs would hesitate towards. They are still just as vulnerable as any other carnosaur to getting mobbed or picked apart from regular armor-piercing weapons and absolutely will rampage in a bind, so don't get reckless with your charges.
**'''Geltblöm’s Terror (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Feral Carnosaur that never rampages and is blessed with both Vanguard deployment and the Strider ability, enabling it to keep up to speed in any terrain. Vanguard deployment and rampage immunity is a fantastic combination for a Lizardmen monster designed to fight other monsters, but don't get reckless.

*'''Feral Troglodon (DLC 3)''' - A Troglodon without a Skink Oracle to keep it in check. Troglodons are in essence a hybrid between an Ancient Salamander and Carnosaur in that they're able to burp up potent poisonous spit that's extremely effective against large targets. Troglodons are quite possibly the first real "skirmisher" single entity monster introduced: though they're quick for ground-bound dinosaurs, they should generally only engage in melee as a last resort or with ''heavy'' support because they are not designed to put up much of a fight. In a direct melee engagement against most other combat monsters, Troglodons tend to lose pretty handily. Their low leadership also tends to cause them to rampage quickly when caught up in a brawl. However, if they focus on kiting and sniping their targets rather than charging them, they can do frankly sickening amounts of damage.
**'''The Pale Death (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Feral Troglodon that can buff itself and nearby allies in melee whenever it uses it's Primeval Roar, giving them a rather substantial Melee Attack bonus for a short while. Though a buff of 24 Melee Attack is certainly an eyebrow raiser, it only recharges when the Pale Death is actively engaged in melee combat. For 60 seconds. On a creature that's prone to rampaging at the drop of a hat, this is a very risky commitment without a Lord/Hero nearby to keep it in check.

*'''Feral Dread Saurian (DLC 2)''' - The single largest monster in the game, dread saurians are nigh uncontested in raw damage output and are more than capable of killing every other unit in the game in a straight fight. Unfortunately for you, your opponent will be able to field ''far'' more units than your dread saurian will be able to deal with at once and most of said units will likely be picking it off at range. As a massive, lumbering behemoth, dodging even slow moving projectiles is well and truly beyond the dread saurian and it will take tremendous damage on the approach. Even once it arrives in melee, the sheer volume of bodies capable of surrounding it and poking it with anti-armor/anti-large sticks will wear it down quite quickly. Their size also provides another source of jank whenever they get bogged down by hordes; they'll struggle to properly path their way through the crowds (it doesn't help that the Dread Saurian also has relatively low mass considering it's literal size) and their attacks, while lethally brutal, also tend to miss depending on the terrain it's fighting on. They are also prohibitively expensive and will eat up a significant portion of your funds, meaning the rest of your army will be extremely limited in number. Ensure you have a proper supporting mage (a life slann is essential) if you're bringing one.

*'''Dread Saurian (DLC 2)''' - The single largest monster in the game, now wearing a howdah filled to the brim with skinks. A modest price bump from the already exorbitant feral variant will grant the regular dread saurian a higher leadership, ranged attacks and poison. Frankly, there's little reason not to go ahead and splurge for these upgrades.
**'''Shredder of Lustria (RoR, DLC 2)''' - The single most expensive beast you could ever field, and boy does he do work. In addition to all that a dread saurian can bring to bear, the Shredder of Lustria is stacked with the full complement of veterinary stat buffs and a leadership debuff for all enemies surrounding it, a perk that, when combined with the innate fear and terror dread saurians cause, will make most enemy infantry run the ''fuck'' away very fast. If that weren't enough, the Shredder of Lustria also encourages all nearby allied troops, buffing their leadership. After all, who wouldn't be inspired by seeing the apex of lizardmen might devouring any and all who oppose the Great Plan? Speaking of the Great Plan, you're going to need one: considering how much money you're sinking into this puppy, you're going to need to really budget the rest of your army carefully.

*'''Coatl (DLC 3)''' - Previously a relic of a long lost bit of Lizardmen lore, the Coatl makes a rather striking return as the premier Lizardmen flying monster. The Coatl, though packing two casts of Urannon's Thunderbolt and one cast of Lesser Chain Lighting as bound spells, is designed more as a source of support for ground-bound allies. Infact, the main draw to the Coatl isn't its combat capabilities (which are mediocre at best), but for the fact that it grants all allied units under its wings Stalk. Yes, everything from that unit of Red-Crested Skinks to that Dread Saurian doomstack becomes invisible and untargetable until they're either far too close to do anything about or the Coatl "lands" or dies. As a faction desperately starved of long range missile units, this is a massive boon for protecting your high-value targets on the approach. Once the Coatl has safely delivered it's charges into battle, it still can serve as an excellent disruptor of backline units, Snipe artillery or single entity monsters with thunderbolt or punish a large blob with lesser chain lighting. Just be careful: even your Terradons move faster than this thing and its size does it no favors when trying to dodge missile fire.
**'''Spirit of Tepok (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Coatl that has Banishment and Shield of Thorns as bound spells instead. The option to lean more heavily into a support role does suit the Coatl quite well, though this largely depends on what lord choice and focus your army has. If you brought a life slann or a skink priest, a regular Coatl might get you more mileage.

==Tactics==
Lizardmen are a very versatile faction when viewed over the entire campaign, however there will be times when your army composition and thus tactics are limited depending on the progress you've made in developing your empire. Your greatest limiting factor will be money; be it in single-player or multiplayer, many mid-high tier units will cost a fortune and you will invariably have a lower unit count compared to other armies. You will need to carefully consider the faction you're currently facing when forming your armies.

===Multiplayer Strategies===

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

*'''Beastmen''' - Highly mobile and capable of dishing out impressive damage, the Beastmen are debatably the fastest overall army in the game (only rivaled by the Wood Elves, perhaps). This can be difficult to deal with, as the only infantry you possess that can potentially keep up with them are your Skinks. Skinks...generally aren't a great pick against Beastmen. They're slower still than a significant portion of the Beastmen roster and will die quite quickly due to their lack of armor and defensive stats. Skink Skirmishers are a minor exception, as between their poisonous missiles and the Beastmen's lack of armor, they'll actually deal respectable damage to them. Otherwise, the stalwart Saurus (Spears) will be your best frontline unit; solid charge defenses, shields and anti-large bonuses will stop any rush in its tracks and the Beastmen's complete lack of armor means that they'll take the full brunt of their attacks. The units that'll get you the most mileage however, are going to be your monsters. The fear and terror your massive beasties toss about will destroy attempts to form a cohesive front line and their utter lack of armor means that even your Bastilodons will deal rather substantial damage to them. Have a Carnosaur or two hunt down any Cygors or non-Great Axe Minotaurs they might have on hand.

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

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

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

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

*'''Grand Cathay''' -

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

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

*'''Khorne''' -

*'''Kislev''' -

*'''Lizardmen''' - This...should be a no brainer in concept, though countering opposing lizardmen can be somewhat difficult to execute. Anti-large units in some shape or form are an inarguable must; cold one spear-riders accompanied by saurus spears can surround and pin down enemy monsters in a relatively cost-effective manner. Red-crested skinks are an ideal infantry choice due to their poison and armor piercing bonus coming into play against a majority of the lizardman roster. Salamander hunting packs and ancient salamanders are fantastic all-rounders that can deal terrifying damage across the entire board. Your main objective should be to focus down any slann mage-priest or skink priests present on the field, followed by any other lord/hero keeping potential rampages in check. If there is an opposing slann, avoid clumping up your infantry to reduce the threat of a banishment and/or any other vortex spell devastating your frontlines. Regular stegadons are fantastic monster snipers who should focus fire on major threats like carnosaurs or dread saurians before anything else.

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

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

*'''Ogre Kingdoms''' -

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

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

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

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

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

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

*'''Daemons of Chaos''':

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

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

===Campaign Strategies===
In the campaign, be it the Vortex or Mortal Empires, the biggest concern lizardmen have is obtaining a consistent source of income; skinks will only carry you so far in the early game and sacking settlements will only provide a quick short-term boost to your treasury. Your economy generally lacks bonuses, especially compared to other Warhammer 2 factions, though you won't be as constrained as, say, Wood Elves or Beastmen, and expanding the Geomantic Web and getting upkeep reduction skills will go a long, long way. As such, if you aren't playing as Hexoatl it is imperative to get the city as soon as possible for its landmark, which reduces upkeep on the lizardmen's most powerful units. Most other landmark buildings add some bonus to several unit chains, such as additional damage for skinks or more defense for saurus warriors.

Lizardmen research is locked behind building completion; many important technologies cannot be accessed until a specific, often mediocre in mid-early game, building is built in one of your settlements. Generally speaking, it is better to unlock research to start improving your weaker units rather than focus on your economy in the early- to mid-game. You simply won't be generating much revenue from economy buildings until the Geomantic Web is expanded and upkeep is reduced. However, that also means you need to be smart about what buildings to construct in your limited settlements; depending on how much money you have coming in through battles and sacking, it may be worth it to construct something just to unlock research and then destroy it to make room for something you genuinely need.

Despite skinks being largely cannon fodder after turn 75, the skink Spawning Pool building should be built in every minor settlement so that you can hire as many Skink Chief heroes as possible. Not only are they the faction assassins, which help lizardmen remove otherwise troublesome heroes that would be difficult to snipe on the battlefield, they can all get stegadon or ancient stegadon mounts. These are functionally equivalent to the generic version but come with extended range and bonuses to damage. It is possible to have two full armies of just Skink Chiefs by the Chaos invasion, if you so wish, and it is even more OP than the standard dinostack. Skink Priests also have access to these mounts, but increasing their recruiting slots is much more difficult.

Once you start becoming established and have a few provinces under your belt, it is imperative to begin constructing Star Chambers in every province you can afford to do so. Each Star Chamber boosts the starting rank of all newly recruited Slann Mage-Priests by 3 levels and all new heroes by 2. Yes, this stacks all the way up so that you can recruit max level Slann every 10 turns. Each Star Chamber also offers a small but lucrative bonus to all income for the whole Province, which helps to address your stone-age economy and extends enemy sieges by an extra 3 turns, potentially granting you just enough time to save the city should it fall under attack.

===Subfaction Strategies===
In general, this section will assume you're playing in the Mortal Empires campaign.

====Mazdamundi====
*'''City of the Sun''' - Big boss Mazdamundi starts with a couple nice things going for him; As the proud owner of Hexoatl, late game Dino-Doomstacks can become particularly affordable. Additionally, he can expand south relatively freely due to a province's worth of abandoned settlements ripe for the plundering/taking. Not everything is as bright as his city's namesake suggests; A permanent -10 diplomatic penalty to all Non-Lizardmen factions can make diplomacy somewhat problematic. This is exacerbated by the fact that Mazda starts directly south of the Dark Elves and has a cluster of aggressive Vampire Coast and lizard-hating Empire colonists barring his access to the rest of Lustria. After you secure your initial holdings, you should weigh your options carefully then commit to eradicating one threat at a time if you can help it. Wiping out Morathi's Dark Elves is the more challenging prospect; their abundance of Armor Piercing weaponry (melee and ranged) can make early game excursions north particularly brutal. This is made worse by the climate incompatibilities, where growth and replenishment are dramatically hindered. On the other hand, Morathi's capital city does provide some rather significant bonuses to your research, income and public order (reduction of penalties from corruption). Should you choose to go south, you'll have a much easier time and will be able to meet up with several other Lizardmen factions you can trade/confederate with.

====Kroq-Gar====
*'''The Last Defender''' - Starting in the ass-crack of the southeast, Kroq-Gar has a bit of a rough start. His only legendary lord neighbor, Tiktaq'to, is still a veritable hike through Vampire/Tomb King infested deserts and Skaven/Ork-filled mountains. You do have two other generic Lizardmen factions nearby, but they often get wiped out within the first 20 turns by either Vampires, Tomb Kings or Malus Darkblade, if you don't do the job for them. To get to the rest of your Lizard brethren (who actually matter), you're going to have to carve a path of bloody carnage across the literal length of the map. There are a couple of ways to go about it, however. If you focus your efforts, you can shove off the coast above your capital city and take the Dragon Isles province directly to the north. If you head north quickly, you can snag a veritable batch of handy Legendary Lord traits that'll turn Kroq-Gar into a particularly potent duelist and secure a number of relatively isolated, defendable provinces before you press westward. If you'd rather focus on pressing west initially... prepare for the long haul. You'll want to keep a banner army stationed either in Charnel Valley (where Clan Mors starts) or in Devil's Backbone (where the Court of Lybaras starts) to help defend against Ork or potential Dark Elf incursions.

====Tehenhauin====
*'''Lllllet's get ready to RUMBLE!''' - Brace yourself, you're deep in the Lustria-Bowl. Tehenhauin has the roughest start of all your lords, even including Horde-faction Nakai; though he has one potential ally to his immediate south, he has Vampire Coast, Dark Elves, Skaven and expansionist Empire folk surrounding him on all sides. Worse, you're effectively stuck with Skinks for infantry until you can make progress on your Skaven genocide quest. To this end, you're going to want to either focus on pumping out a flood of Skinks or focus on building your Beast Lairs to try to pump out some monstrous units to compensate for your lack of early-game muscle. Taking out the Vampire Coast first is strongly recommended, as not only do they spread vampiric corruption, but all of their settlements will provide you with valuable ports. From there, you can put the screws to the Dark Elves and Skaven to the south and claim some valuable land and sacrifices for Sotek.

====Tiktaq'to====
* Perhaps the most... bland campaign, Tiktaq'to just kind of exists in the middle of the Southlands, caught between some Tomb Kings, a random Empire faction and a fair few crusading Bretonnians. If you want, you can focus on allying with the Tomb Kings initially. They can provide a reasonable source of Trade income and provide a buffer against the burgeoning Greenskin-tide while you clean up the Bretonnians and Empire. Additionally, if you focus on sweeping east, you can get a solid point of entry into Lustria. With the Silence and the Fury update however, Tiktaq'to gets a pretty nice increase in utility. He buffs (and significantly reduces the upkeep cost of) Coatls now which are a pretty fantastic unit with their maneuverability, stealth aura and bound spells. This helps his campaign out a lot since he can actually field viable armies that aren't just 'throw 1000 pterodactyl's at the enemy and watch half your army get wiped out'. Finally, it's worth mentioning that Tiktaq'to is an ''awful'' fighter with no magic, so his options on the actual battlefield are limited. The only thing he's good for is chasing down routing units, or maybe catching out enemy casters. DO NOT USE HIM TO DUEL, as he will get dumpstered by most melee lords/heroes that are near his level.

====Gor-Rok====
*'''The world is your Itza''' - Despite being solidly in the Lustria-Bowl and being a Saurus-dedicated, exclusive footlord, Gor-Rok is basically guaranteed supremecy due to beginning the game with Lord Kroak ''and'' starting with Itza as his capitol. Tehenhauin will often end up confederating with you pretty early and without much fuss due to the various Lustria-Bowl contenders beating the piss out of him. You'll likely want to focus your initial expansion down south to clear out the Skaven and secure the various resources found on the southeast coastline before pushing north to clear out the Vampires. Once you control the majority of Lustria, you effectively have free reign to set your sights anywhere you feel like conquering.

====Nakai====
* Formerly the most wayward of the Children of the Old Ones, Nakai's start in Albion effectively tries to throw you against the forces of Norsca for a majority of your early-mid game. After some research, he's admittedly geared for it; natural Snow and Chaos Attrition immunity courtesy of your unique tech tree grants Nakai a lot more flexibility for engaging the northern Chaos factions and despite not controlling any of the settlements he captures, the Defenders of the Great Plan generate a ''ton'' of Untainted corruption. Though this won't really benefit you personally much, your allies (or fellow players on Co-Op campaigns) will find traversing the north considerably less threatening. Having said that, due to being a Horde faction, you're perfectly free to just abandon Albion entirely and find new stomping grounds to start your Campaign in.

====Oxyotl====
*'''Deep in enemy territory''' - Aside Nakai and ''potentially'' Tehenhauin, Oxyotl has the most unique (and arguably best) Campaign. His initial start is a bit rough, being awkwardly sandwiched in the far north between the rapidly confederating Dark Elves to the west and the pugnacious Norscans to the east. Though his universal climate habitability is a (necessary) godsend, he'll find it somewhat difficult to defend and expand his home territory. If you can, try to focus down the Dark Elves once you secure your home province. Oxyotl's particular playstyle actually counters Dark Elves to a degree and if you can nip Malekith in the bud before he confederates the rest of his misbegotten kind, you can spare yourself a late-game headache and get a hell of an infrastructure set up with all the unique building chains found in Naggarond. Just make sure you keep a couple standing armies in the region for the Chaos Invasion.
*'''Don't neglect your missions''' - This is because, unless you want to get constant debuffs, buff random enemy armies into the stratosphere or cause the Chaos Invasion to happen way ahead of schedule, Oxyotl's army is going to be consistently busy warping around the map doing missions rather than naturally expanding your home territory. He can warp back to the capitol and any one Silent Sanctum of your choosing freely (which you can establish in any settlement you've laid eyes upon at least once), but only once per turn and he does not regain any of the movement/actions spent prior to the warp. However, many of the missions Oxyotl needs to undertake often involves him razing or capturing enemy settlements, so you'll often find yourself with various holdouts sprinkled across the map. Just make sure that you get a banner army or two to defend your capitol if you can help it; things get ''extremely'' messy once the Chaos Invasion starts.
*'''Your Silent Sanctums''' - Your other unique mechanic is a game-changer for the Lizardmen. Functionally, they're similar to Skaven Undercities; you can construct unique buildings to benefit any of your forces within the Region it was established, as well as any other regions neighboring it. This can include granting your forces permanent vision on everything within those regions, a flat 20% upkeep reduction for all of your forces within the area or even a random chance to deal damage to enemy forces happening by. Whenever you amass 8 gems, you can construct a Silent Sanctum in any settlement any of your characters have personally seen. One key function truly unique to Oxyotl is that you can actually construct a building that allows Oxyotl's army to teleport there at will. You can literally teleport a full Stegadon doomstack right next to an enemy faction's capitol city if you so desire. Suffice to say, Silent Sanctums are extremely useful and worth investing in.
*'''Take Albion!''' - If you can afford the excursion, send Oxyotl or a generic banner army south to Albion and claim it. Several unique buildings in Konquata provide rather substantial financial boons and, especially when coupled with a specially kitted out Silent Sanctum, can serve as a rapid recruitment center for your efforts in the Old World. You're the only Lizardmen faction within a reasonable distance who can actually make use of these unique buildings and an early capture can prove to be a rather profitable investment for your economy.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dark Elves

2022-05-15T05:23:36Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Malekith */

{{Topquote|Skulls for Khaine! Blood for Khaine!|Game battle chant for Dark Elves. Why does it sound familiar...}}
This is the tactica for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the Dark Elves.

==Why Play Dark Elves==
*Because you'd like your elves to take their arrogance to the next level and just start murdering people for the crime of not being elves.
*Because you believe that everything looks roughly 1000 times better when covered in spikes.
*Because you enjoy the inherent power fantasy that comes from playing a big spiky asshole out to conquer and enslave.
*You like a versatile unit roster with some serious killing power.
*Because being the good guy is just so boring sometimes.

===Pros===
*'''AP for Days''': If you're playing Dark Elves and having a hard time with armoured troops, you're playing them wrong. A large chunk of the roster has majority AP damage, so armor should be the least of your concerns.
*'''Solid Range''': While you may not be the shootiest of factions, the Dark Elves are more than capable. They are fully capable of melting enemy units before they close to melee with the right build.
*'''Mobility''': You're not as good at it as the Asrai, but with a ton of good light cav and infantry like Witch Elves and Sisters of Slaughter, you are able to get around the battlefield pretty damn fast. Light Cav tactics are a favorite among Dark Elf players.
*'''Powerful Lords''': When it comes to lord options, you are spoiled for choice. Most of their lords are at the very least decent and some like Malekith can carry an entire army to victory if given the time.
*'''Flexibility''': Thanks to Murderous Prowess, you can play offense unlike a lot of factions can. You can also play Defense, kite, heavy monster focus and all-around can use whatever tactic you can think of with these guys.
*'''Strong Economy''': Your economy is god-tier, and this is even before you bring in trade. Raking in high numbers of Slaves all but guarantees that your cash flow reaches insane levels which you can further boost by abusing the Master hero who reduces Slave decay to the point that they literally cannot decay anymore. Combine this with the extremely generous discounts on Black Arks and your pockets will never be empty again.
*'''Naval Supremacy''': An often overlooked, but still important feature is that your Black Arks can dominate the oceans of the world and keeping your homeland secure from any threats. The only faction that rivals your naval power are (big surprise here) the Vampire Coast.

===Cons===
*'''Frail''': Okay, so you don't have it as bad as the Wood Elves, since many of your units are bringing actual armor to the fight, but you're still a glass cannon rush faction. Running into a faction that can simply outlast your burst of melee damage once Murderous Prowess proccs, can and will give you a lot of trouble.
*'''Limited Range''': Their ranged units aren't bad, in fact, Darkshards are extremely good for their cost, but they don't shoot very far. Even some gunpowder units will outrange you, and most factions will get one or two shots off before you get in position.
*'''Unreliable Heavy Cav''': The Stupidity of Cold Ones Knights in this game got translated to Rampage, meaning if they take too much damage, you lose control and they charge forward to probably die if you're facing a smart opponent. Similar to the Lizardmen, but unlike them, you don't have a way to make them stop. [[Fail|Even Malus, who specializes in Cold Ones and had a rule that allowed them to ignore stupidity, can't get rid of rampage]]. The addition of Rakarth finally gives you an ability that allows Cold Ones to ignore Rampage, ironically making him a better Cold One specialist than the ACTUAL Cold One specialist. - they were reworked to only frenzy at 20% health or less, so it’s mostly a positive now. Still not amazing but good with campaign buffs from beast-master lords
*'''Lack of Healing''': You're the only Elven faction with no multi-target healing. The only thing you have is Soul Stealer, which only heals the caster. Combine this with your low health pools, and your units will die a lot faster than their tanky statline might lead you to believe.
*'''Expensive''': Not as much as High Elves, but still pretty pricey. Expect to be outnumbered most of the time.
*'''Poor Public Order''': Being the quarrelsome lot that they are, Dark Elves suffer from a multitude of public order penalties (especially once you have a lot of slaves) and don't have a lot of tools to counter them; managing it can quickly devolve into a frantic nightmare, particularly on high difficulties.
*'''No Encampments''': If you are away from your territory, you can't recruit new guys while encamping. This can be offset somewhat with Black Arks, though that's not an option in regions far from the coast.
*'''DLC''': Scourgerunners and Supreme Sorceresses are some of your best units. They also cost extra. As with most Non DLC factions, you will need to pay extra money to be consistent in multiplayer

==Universal Traits==
*'''Murderous Prowess''': A passive, army-wide ability that gives all units on the map considerable offensive bonuses after you hit a certain threshold of kills (usually around 30-50% of the enemy force). Hard to time right and difficult to control, but extremely effective regardless. Seeing your Corsairs, Shades, and whatnot go into overdrive for 90 seconds is a scary and satisfying spectacle to behold. For a few units, the effect lasts 120 seconds instead of 90.
*'''Slaves''': You get slaves by raiding, winning battles, and looting/sacking settlements. Slaves go to your cities to do the crapwork and are gradually worked to death turn by turn. The Druchii can make a hell of a lot of money by capturing slaves. However the more slaves you've got the harder it is to control them, which leads to unrest.
*'''Black Arks''': A special kind of campaign unit that acts as one of the two true "navies" in the entire game, Black Arks can only exist on the water but they are essentially floating garrisoned cities that can also let your other armies recruit and exchange from them. A powerful incentive for any Druchii player to adopt the raiding lifestyle and an excellent tool for mobile defence across Naggaroth's extensive coastline.

==Lords==

===Legendary Lords===
*'''[[Malekith]]''': Warhammer's rendition of Darth Vader with severe mummy issues arrived on the scene, and he doesn't mess around. A monster of a Hybrid LL, he is everything the likes of Azhag the Slaughterer and Arkhan the Black wish they could be. He punches hard, gets a Dragon relatively early on and his spellcasting doesn't disappoint either. You can hardly go wrong with Malekith.
*'''[[Morathi]]''' : Morathi is a ''very'' weird animal (There's gotta be a sex joke in here somewhere). Unlike many other Legendary Lords, her skill tree is the only one in the game where you actually get to make meaningful choices, as she can alternate between ridiculously powerful spellcasting and good backline harasser, both paths are viable. What sets her apart from other caster lords as her spellcasting is concerned is that, like Teclis, she doesn't specialize in single lore and her pool of spells draws from the Lores of Dark, Death, and Shadows and favors all-out offensive spells from all of them. Arguably the second-best Caster Lord in the game, just behind Teclis. Unfortunately her campaign mechanics are badly broken, she has to spread corruption but doesn't get public order benefits from it, only downsides. This makes her campaign more difficult than you'd expect simply due to serous public order issues. They even nerfed the building in quintex that made the public order manageable for no apparent reason.
*'''[[Hellebron]] (DLC)''' : Hellebron exists in her own little niche. Barely armored like Witch Elves, but really, really bloody fast and a buffmachine for your already busted murdermachine frontline. She excels in prolonged combat, preferably against lightly armored chaff and will rack a high kill count very quickly but will cave against elite units and other single entity monsters or characters.
: Get a unique campaign mechanic of her vitality slowly draining way and have to progressively sacrifice more slaves during the Death Night to keep the faction buffed instead of Debuffed, but also create a new stack of frenzied elves to attack [[Ulthwe]].
*'''[[Lokhir Fellheart]] (FLC)''' : Lord of the [[Black Ark]]s. He is a cheaper blender lord in comparison to Hellebron, being a well-armored Infantry blender while on foot like a Vlad von Carstein without magic. CA also gave him his own Dragon mount which only make him better than a Dread Lord on dragon when he pops his attack buffs.
:the Drukii pirate lord starts in the thunder dome that is Lustria but can have a lot of freedom by starting with a middle settlement that is a Black Ark.
*'''[[Malus Darkblade]] (DLC)''': an unremarkable lord until he lets the daemon take over, and then he is a melee powerhouse. Using Malus in combat is like burning a candle wick, his Tz'arkan form and abilities are powerful but drain his hit points so know when he should be in daemon or Malus mode. He does have Resistance and Healing in combat so he won't burn out as fast in a fight. Switching to daemon mode restores all his health and vigor and makes him unbreakable so it's best to wait until the last moment before switching.
:in campaign his battle with his inner deamon is a game mechanic, with having a possession meeter, giving you greater campaign bonuses while Malus is mostly in control, but as Tz'arkan slowly takes over, he gains greater battle prowess but at the cost of large penalties to your empire. You control the possession by drinking a potion that gets progressively more expensive until you finish his storyline to make it free. Tz'arkan will also offer an additional quest to increase the possession but with very good payoffs. For your start position, you get a Black ark in the Southern Land, in addition, have your traditional Drukii hold, [[Hag Graef]], that you can sell for a lot of money but have to listen to [[Malekith]] (which will be an AI) or make it harder by having to run and protect the dame place yourself while also declaring on the big cheese. -disappointingly he is actually more effective if you confederate him then if you play as him, confederated he gets the benefits of full possession with no downsides. making him insanely tanky. His faction benefits are actually more of a hassle than they are helpful.
*'''Rakarth (FLC)''' Your man you pick if you want to go for a full monster build. he comes with heavy armor and Anti Large to deal with enemy big monsters while also providing buffs to his own beasties. He will also have a Scourgerunner for skirmishing, a Manticore and a Dragon for a straight up brawl. He serves as your best counter to mounters, with his whip being able to strip Fear and Terror from monsters (leaving said monsters susceptible to fear and terror) and armor that gives him buffs as enemy monsters are around him. He's also being voiced by [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Ramsay Bolton]].

===Generic Lords===
*'''Dread Lord (Melee & Ranged)''': Your two generic lord with one focused on melee and has a shield while the other is a hybrid that focuses on shooting. In multiplayer, their ability change to help them buff their respective areas, Sword & Shield having buffs to melee attacks and debuffing enemy damage, while Sword & Crossbow supports other crossbows unit while also being a sniper, and gives a burst bonus to Ld. Note that the lords have almost identical melee stats once you put them on a black dragon and the melee lord looses her shield when mounted on one while the ranged lord keeps his ranged weapon. at high levels i cant see much reason to use the melee version instead but she will be better in melee until they get the dragon.
*'''Supreme Sorceress (DLC)''': Makes a Sorceress as a lord for money-saving cost. Somewhat feeble in combat until she levels up enough to get a black dragon mount, after which she fights better than many dedicated melee lords.
*'''High Beastmaster (DLC)''': Your monster hunter Lord. not as tanky in melee as a Dread Lord but deals a good amount of anti-large damage in addition to his burst of additional weapon strength. is Also is supportive by giving a single unit a big buff as they charge into melee (don't yet specify anything except can't be used on characters, so go crazy on an Executioners charge). Can Come on a Scouregrunner Chariot(roll though everyone while armed with a ballast) or ride a Manticore which has proven to be cost-effective flying monsters. Can give a big boost to cold ones and monsters in campaign as well as recruiting them faster. If running cavalry or monster stacks, likely your best option. The big MA/MD/ and charge boost they give colds ones really makes them preform better.

==Heroes==
*'''Death Hag''' : Single-entity Witch Elves dialed up to 11. Death Hags excel as extremely vicious infantry blenders with a lot of speed of behind them and, as an added bonus, a variety of buff abilities that make them even deadlier. They tend to get the shorter end of the stick against dedicated duelist characters and their only mount option consists of the Cauldron of Blood, which, to be frank, is a waste, since it sacrifices offensive power and speed for more durability, something that Death Hags with their high Melee Defense don't really need. I’m not sure what the above was talking about, death hags kinda suck on foot like most foot heroes, the mount is good vs infantry and makes them actually pretty tough plus buffs nearby units. Always mount in campaign, foot may have more use in multiplayer I guess.
*'''Sorceress''' : Caster bitches in the flavours of Death, Dark, Shadows, Beasts, and Fire.
*'''Khainite Assassin''' : good on campaign map, terrible in an actual fight.
*'''Master (DLC)''' : Tyrants in Training who never graduate in game to Dreadlords :(. Masters are your tanky Dark Elf hero. You can’t really overuse these, they are amazing. Ap anti large heavily armored high stat combat monsters with great mount options, the guardian skill, easy recruitment from a tier 3 building, the ability to reduce slave decline to zero if stacked, access to martial names of power granting incredibly powerful bonuses, easy to recruit at level 9 and up in any 4 city province. A doom stack of these with the regeneration or hunger/frenzy skill name of power and access to the extra melee attack army wide or leadership reduction traits is probably the campaigns deadliest hero doomstack, rivaling or beating Isabella vampire stacks or lizardmen hero spam. Really, really good heroes. And easier to spam then any comparable hero. Recommend cold one for ground duty (extra armor and ap) or Pegasus for flying (fast and flying with good charge but no shield). Foot is ok too but generally mounts are more than worth it for mobility alone.

==Units==

===Infantry===
*'''Dreadspears''': Your most basic spearmen unit in the DE roster. They're... alright? They lack an offensive punch and High Elf Spearman performs better at the job they are supposed to be doing, being to hold the line to stop enemy cavalry punching through to your precious archers. They work fine in the early game, as well as being cheap, but don't rely on them for too long.
**'''The Hellebronai (RoR)''': Dreadspears that are a bit better in general with poison attacks.
*'''Bleakswords''': The offensive counterpart to Dreadspears, just as basic, just as mediocre. Their only redeeming feature is their large shield. They have more damage potential ''in theory'' but this more or less comes down to what they are facing; they will hold up well against Goblins and Empire State Troops, but basically anyone can hold up well against these units. As with Dreadspears: Okay for the early game, drop them the moment something better becomes available. Seriously only use dreadspears. Never use these. Dreadspears are better defensively and have anti large, the slightly higher MA will never be worth losing antilarge. Alternate Opinion, they're rather cost effective being fairly cheap, are well shielded and can beat most other infantry at their price point and in the early phases of the game. If you take things into consideration they can be quite useful, just don't expect them to move mountains.
*'''Black Ark Corsairs''' : ...These guys. Oh, these guys. Frail as all hell, but worth it. Corsairs should make up the majority of melee troops of your midgame armies as soon as they become available. Their raw damage output as well as their armour (having a value of 90, putting them on the same level as dwarf warriors!) makes them a solid frontline and they will cut down all basic infantry used against them with ease and surprising speed. Their easy availability combined with a reasonable price make sure they are always a good choice, especially against horde-centric factions. One glaring weakness is their lack of AP damage. - whoever wrote the above likes corsairs way too much, they’re good but non synergistic with usual dark elf campaign strategies of crossbow spam. And they aren’t worth using after the early game. You can honestly never use them and just go dreadspears and darkshards and usually do better in the early campaign. I hear they are nice in multiplayer, but campaign wise meh.
*'''Witch Elves''': Talk about glass cannons, Witch Elves are a really weird bunch. They have no armour, but (try to) compensate for this with 20% physical resistance and a 5% ward save after you research technologies. In exchange, they excel in melee attack and apply debuffs to enemy forces attacked by them. The debuff in itself is very unique, as it not only debuffs enemy melee stats but also sends them on a rampage; causing them to stay way longer in a fight which they otherwise would be comfortable with. This is especially useful against all elven factions, since you can lure their expensive specialized elite tropps in matchups that they are not equipped to deal with (i.e. Swordmasters against a Hydra or a Dragon) and ''reliably keep them there''. Well at least as long as your Witch Elves survive the encounter, which, given that their only defense is a meager 28 melee defense and a 5% ward save, might not be that long...
**'''Sisters of Singing Doom (RoR)''' :
*'''Sisters of Slaughter (DLC)''': They wear even less clothes than Witch Elves do, yet are more resilient. Strangely. Their extremely high melee defense, among the best a single unit has, and their missile resistance of 20% make them surprisingly tough to crack, despite being able to easily dispatch many kinds of troops. As one of the few resilient Dark Elven melee units, their job is to dispatch units with otherwise high defensive stats, like Phoenix Guard or Helbardiers, where their melee defense in conbination with their bonus vs. infantry lets them reliably come out on top. Additionally, they come with a unique passive that boost their melee defense and physical resist even further as long as they are losing their current encounter, which makes them surprisingly viable as a high damaging tarpit unit. These and black guard compete to be your best frontline, against elite ap infantry sisters can last up to twice as long because of high physical resist, poison, and amazing stats.
*'''Executioners''': The offensive counterpart to the Black Guards, your ol' reliable murderers of heavy armoured elite troops and anything in between. They won't last long, but kill everything in their path. Frail, especially against missiles, but as a Dark Elf player, you're used to that. I don’t recommend these, they’re fragile, slow and they have weirdly low melee stats compacted to your other elite units. You can replace these with cold one dread knights even. Seriously with the change to primal instincts dread knights have massively higher stats especially with beast master lords skills. And otherwise fill the exact same role but do it better and faster.
**'''Blades of the Blood Queen (RoR)''' :
*'''Black Guard''': Extremely beefy, these are your dedicated elite line holders and monster slayers. Remember murderous prowess makes them into an absolute force of destruction. And they have very good stats, the only downside is knowing that they’ll never be as awesome as Phoenix guard. Even if they can be offensively much deadlier the survivability of Phoenix guard is insane.

===Missile Infantry===
*'''Darkshards''': Basic Dark Elf ranged unit and all and all pretty darn good for the entire game. Indirect fire with pretty good AP makes them very useful, especially when focusing on firing key targets into oblivion. For a little extra, you can get these guys with shields which makes them excellent in an arrow exchange, which is important given [[High Elves|who one of your biggest foes is]] always go shields.
**'''The Bolt-Fiends (ROR)''' : The cool thing about these guys is that they degrade and nullify shields.
*'''Black Ark Corsairs (Repeater Handbows)''': A mixed bag, making up for the relative lack of skirmish units in the Dark Elf roster. Surprisingly mobile and difficult to catch, their biggest strength is easily their flexibility. Nice vs skaven early on.
*'''Shades''': Don't let the low model count discourage you, Shades rank among the best Missile Troops in the game. The high rate of Fire, high damage output, and even decent in melee, especially with greatswords. Actually not really that much better than dark shards if you just use them as archers, much more expensive for only slightly better ranged performance. However if combined with a shadow dart name of power lord can be as good or better than sisters of avelorn. 210 or more range, crazy ap, and better in melee than the sisters by a large margin due to AP and anti infantry. Even with all that taken into account you need a specific name of power, some later technologies, and the red skill tree to make them as good/slightly better than the sisters. And they cost 50% more upkeep with great swords than sisters do. Which really just shows how op sisters are in campaign.

===Cavalry===
*'''Dark Riders''': Your extremely quick light cavalry, comparable to most other units of their class. One key feature is that they are actually fast enough to chase down most other missile cavalry. If your micromanagement skills hold up, Dark Riders can terrorize the enemy backline very efficiently and do so at the highest speed any base game cavalry unit offers, but they get vaporized the instant their charge bonus wears off, so will need to keep the cycle charges going.
*'''Dark Riders (Crossbows)''': changes light melee skirmish cavalry into ranged harassment cavalry. As using repeater Crossbows, they fire two shots of primarily AP damage. As always Useful to annoying poke an enemy to death but also those higher armor units that are normally resistant to those shenanigans. (most other factions only get close-range hand axes or more squisher handguns)
**'''The Raven Heralds (ROR)''': Rather distinct from their vanilla Dark Riders, these guys ride Dark Pegusii and can fly around the battlefield.
*'''Doomfire Warlocks (DLC)''': Really, really weird hybrid unit. In melee they have actually pretty good attack with magic and poison and charge, plus an aoe melee attack animation. They also have 40% physical resist to help keep them alive. One key advantage they have over comparable light to medium cavalry is their ability to fling around the Doombolt spell from the Lore of Dark and Soulblight from the Lord of Death as bound spells. A unit of these is pretty much always useful if nothing else, plus they look great.
**'''Slaanesh's Harvesters (ROR)''' :
*'''Cold One Knights''': A massive disappointment. Evil Elven Dino-Riders should be barrels of fun, alas. They are outclassed by any other medium cavalry they are supposed to be fighting against, really slow for a cavalry unit, have rampage, and share the frailty of all Dark Elves units. Don't bother with them. -actually they no longer have rampage just reworked primal instincts, which means they only rampage at 20% health or less. The new beast master lords can grant them plus 8 MA and MD plus 10 extra charge from their unique skills and another 8 to both from the red skill tree. With both of these they actually become cost effective anti cav. They trade favorable against much more expensive units.
*'''Cold One Dread Knights''': The same problems with the basic Cold One Knights are even worse here since they are exceedingly expensive and hard to get. Dread Knights actually rank among the worst units in the game. How can it get even worse, you might ask? Well, they are Shock Cavalry. On the lowest base speed of any true cavalry unit in the game, making it extremely difficult to get them out of melee combat once they're stuck in it and cycle charging nearly impossible. On top of all that, the bonus vs. large that nearly every high-tier Shock Cavalry in the game gets is also denied to them. - same as cold one knights, the presented info is outdated. they now only risk frenzy at 20% health or less. With campaign skills from a beast master lord they end up with mid 60’s in both MA and MD, they are actually better than sword chaos knights in campaign because of better skills. With how high they’re stats go they can function as prolonged melee units easily. Compare them to executioners and they can basically do everything better.
**'''Knights of the Ebon Claw (ROR)''': What's this? Cold One Knights that don't spaz out.

===Chariots===
*'''Cold One Chariot''' :
*'''Scourgerunner Chariot''' : Scourgerunner Chariots are your jack of all trades chariot, that has a special boon in being on the very few ranged units in the game that get a bonus vs. large on their ranged attacks. Their key advantage is that they also move at Dark Rider speed, which makes them extremely difficult to catch or even hit, and in a pinch, they can even reliably dispatch basic missile tropps and infantry, thanks to a bonus vs. infantry.
**'''The Ravagers of Rakarth (ROR)''' :

===Artillery===
*'''Reaper Bolt Thrower''': Essentially identical to the High Elf counterpart (in spite of the significantly more badass name), the Reaper is likewise probably not going to be winning any prizes for the best artillery piece. Alright, it does hit a bit harder and has a smidge less range, but this is not something people would notice much in most situations. Nevertheless, it remains a useful and versatile addition to a Dark Elf army. Just don't go in expecting a WMD. Like the repeater, they possess two firing modes and can be particularly useful for sniping enemy artillery. In short a decent, if not exactly exceptional, artillery unit.
*'''Bloodwrack Shrine (DLC)''': A Bloodwrack Medusa with a Go-Cart. Despite being described as a chariot don't use it as such, it's too slow to pass through a unit.
Provides +7 MA and -7 MD to nearby allies/enemies respectively. Similar in purpose to the high elf frost Phoenix but offensive. Quite effective if you want your melee units buffed. Plus ok ranged damage from the Medusa herself.

===Monsters===
*'''Harpies''': Harpies fulfill essentially the same role as war hound and fell bat units. They're intended to be fast-moving harassers best used to hunt down or disrupt enemy missile units and artillery crews. When used in their intended capacity they can get some work done, just don't expect them to do much against anything with actual staying power. Even some of the sturdier archer units can prove a bit too much for them. If you're up against an opponent with a heavy focus on ranged firepower they can be a valuable addition. However, sending them in unsupported against basically anything else is a good way to end up with a whole lot of dead bat-ladies. Rakarth makes then a lot better, giving them bonus Melee Attack as well as a smidge of AP damage.
**'''The Crows of Khaine (ROR)''': Basically Harpies with Fear and the ability to regenerate when fighting. Surprisingly tanky because of it, just watch out for units that counter them.
*'''Feral Manticore''': Surprisingly good backline harasser. Manticores make Harpies pretty much obsolete and make for great mid-tier carnage against everything that doesn't have a bonus against large. They are very susceptible to Rampage, so take care of them. Manticores are best taken in groups of 2-4 in order to kill targets fast enough that they don’t die themselves. Paired with a flying master they can make a fast deadly Air Force for cheap which can act as a single unit killing gank squad. Can usually staggerlock foot heroes. And usually outfight other aerial units short of dragons or heroes.
*'''War Hydra''': Lots of nasty surprises with the Hydra, your standard frontline melee monster. One of its core features is its flexibility; it's effective against a lot of targets and can reliably hunt down infantry thanks to its speed and breath attack. It tends to get the short end of the stick against other monsters and anti large. In campaign you can get these 25% cheaper from a klar karond building. Super cheap and easy to spam regenerating monster.
**'''The Chill of Sontar (ROR)''' : Same regenerating monstery goodness as a normal hydra, though it replaces its flaming breath in exchange for one that slows down whatever it hits.
*'''Kharibdyss (DLC)''' : OMNOMNOMNOM. A Hydra on steroids, trades the regeneration factor and flaming breath for poisoned attacks, anti-large, and lots of AP goodness. Works best against armoured monsters, so if the enemy brings big scary beasts it can go toe to toe. If you want to blend infantry though, you’re better off with the Hydra.
*'''Bloodwrack Medusa (DLC)''': Combination monster and short rate direct fire artillery. Can delete chunks of elite infantry very quickly.
**'''The Siren of Red Ruin (ROR)''' : Same as a normal Medusa, but gains a AOE ability that causes moderate damage to all enemies around her.
*'''Black Dragon''' : Evil Dragonny Goodness. Occupies a niche between Sun and Star Dragons in terms of killyness, but retains a devastating breath attack, huge mass, and good mobility. As is tradition, compared with other dragons, quite frail when caught on the wrong foot. Harder to use because dark elves don’t have healing lores.

===Rakarth Campaign Units===

==Tactics==
===Multiplayer Strategies===
Long, Long ago in the distant times of 2017 Dark Elves where one of the top factions in the game with their massive amount of AP, powerful Lords and flexible army. Unfortunately after years of being beaten with the Nerf Bat they have fallen from grace. As of the Twisted and the Twilight patch they are considered low tier they really only have one viable tactic, relying on Scourgerunners and Crossbow Dark Riders. Now just because they are considered low tier doesn't mean you can't win with them as they still have some favorable match ups. As of right now, you are a bit of a one trick pony so you may have to get creative.

*'''Beastmen''':
*'''Bretonnia''':
*'''Chaos Daemons''':
*'''Chaos Warriors''': Chaos Warriors are slow as hell and very vulnerable to anti-armor.
*'''Dark Elves''': Since Murderous Prowess cares about kills and not whose side they're on it's going to trigger roughly at the same time for both factions.
*'''Dwarfs''': You have the heavy AP to pierce your opponent's stunties. Unfortunately, they have the firepower to shut down a lot of your ranged units before you can get close enough to return the favor.
*'''Empire''':
*'''Grand Cathay''':
*'''Greenskins''':
*'''High Elves''':
*'''Khorne''':
*'''Kislev''':
*'''Lizardmen''': This is one of the matchups in which you shine. All their armored dinosaurs are extremely vulnerable to your wide selection of AP troops, with a special shoutout to Dark Shards and Shades. Lizardmen lack missile infantry beyond their rather frail Skink Skirmishers, though their Chameleon Skinks will prove particularly annoying due to their missile resist and loose formations. Scourgerunner Chariots will run circles around the Lizardmen and, with proper positioning, can easily slip around their screening units to chunk the bigger Artillery Stegadons/Bastilodons that could potentially retaliate against your ranged forces. Try to kite them as much as you can, whittle down their frontline before sending in your Executioners and Blackguard to clean up.
*'''Norsca''':
*'''Nurgle''':
*'''Skaven''':
*'''Slaanesh''':
*'''Tomb Kings''':
*'''Tzeentch''':
*'''Vampire Coast''':
*'''Vampire Counts''':
*'''Wood Elves''':

===Campaign Strategies===
Focus on economy in a few good provinces with 4 cities (Hag Graef, Naggarond, Ghrond, Quintex, Har Ganeth, etc) put income, slave pens, and then black roads or special resources on every city/town. Then put all slaves here. Add 3 or 4 masters to reduce slave decline to zero and you have the strongest, easiest, and fastest to grow economy in the game bar none. Can field near unlimited armies of doom stacks. There you go, you win.

Actually, the most prosperous slave province for the Dark Elves is Yvresse owing to the unique Tower of the Warden building which generates 50 gold per 100 slaves. With a maximum slaveholding capacity of 15500 slaves, combined with the multiplicative effect of slaves on base province income and the ability to stack slave income multipliers through heroes that are essentially unlimited, it surpasses any Druchii province in gold-generating potential. Proving, once again, that Naggarond sucks. This wealth is also why it is viable for certain Dark Elf factions to abandon their starting capitals and conquer Ulthuan instead.- while that may be more profitable technically, it’s irrelevant. Any proper slave strategy give’s effectively unlimited money even in just the dark elf lands. Conquer Ulthuan first or not, either way you won’t need for money with even a little strategy.

===Campaign Specific===

====Malekith====

*'''Beware Hellebron''': Malekith's campaign is generally pretty easy (and very fun!), but it can really depend on what Hellebron does at the start. Usually you can get pretty powerful early, build up diplomatic relations and just confederate her, but it's not unknown for her to just straight up declare war on you, which can really send your campaign down shit swamp. Furthermore, she can actually out-recruit you, making it next to impossible to confederate her. One strategy is to just rush to Har Ganeth immediately after securing Naggarond, while another is trying to out-recruit her in turn. Just ignoring her CAN be fine, but Har Ganeth is a good early game province, and you don't want to risk a civil war with her.

*'''Don't spend too long in Naggaroth''': Look, I get it, who doesn't want to rule a city made entirely out of towers that look like spiky black dildos? But conquering Ulthuan as Malekith can and should be done fairly early in the game, because it takes a loooonnnggg time to take over all those provinces settlement-by-settlement. You definitely want to get Ulthuan conquered before the chaos invasion rolls in, as they basically spawn right on top of Naggarond, and constantly fighting them until someone knocks off Archaon on the other side of the map can be a huge pain.

*'''Tyrant is the way to go''': Malekith has OPTIONS and almost all of them are good, but if it's your first campaign, Tyrant can really bring your slave economy to the next level. More money -> more stacks -> Druchii supremacy, baby!

====Morathi====
*'''The start. Oh god, the start''': Yeahhh, there's no getting around it. Morathi's start is a bitch and a half (kind of like Morathi herself!). She's surrounded by enemies who hate her guts, and one mistake here can spell doom for your campaign. Here's the thing though: she actually has all the tools she needs to deal with it (She's an incredibly strong legendary lord, and tier 1 Dark Elf units like bleakswords and darkshards are awesome even into the late game), it can just be tough learning the first few times around. You need to be EXTREMELY aggressive in consolidating your starting province, as the Ss'ildra Tor can just out-recruit you if you leave them alone long enough. Once you do that and deal with Alith Anar though, everything gets easier so have faith!
*'''You can use her in melee!''' A mistake I see a lot of players make is using Morathi as you'd use a typical caster lord, i.e. keeping them at a distance and shying away from any fight. If you do this though, you aren't getting her full value. Her unique weapon combined with one of her unique skills (Enchanting Beauty) can lower enemy melee attack by 18 and defence by 9 JUST FOR BEING NEAR HER. She can basically use her darksword as a strap-on to peg enemy melee stats. Be careful how you use her, because of course she isnt going to outduel dedicated melee combatant characters, but these passive abilities combined with lore of shadows make her great for absolutely dumpstering enemies that your units are having a tough time dealing with.

====Hellebron====
*'''Unpaid interns''': Hellebron requires a constant influx of slaves to keep active, which means that you are going to have to be ultra aggressive throughout your campaign, more so than other druchii factions who can just sit back and let their slaves do all their work for them.

*'''Malekith''': It's harder (though not impossible!) to confederate Naggarond than vice-versa, and pissing off Malekith can really become a problem, since he usually skyrockets to strength rank 1 after turn 20 or 30. One strategy is just to leave for Ulthuan right away, but this can be very challenging. Rushing Naggarond is also an option, but you can also ally with them, which is what I'd recommend for less experienced players.

*'''Blood Fleets suckkkk''': Remember how the Greenskins WAAGGHH worked before their update? Theoretically it was a way to encourage aggressiveness and movement on the campaign map. How it actually worked was that they'd spawn AI controlled armies that would allahu-akbar themselves upon the nearest settlement. Wellll, Hellebron's voyages basically have the same idea and it's honestly worse because you can't choose where they spawn. Just don't rely on them to do any heavy lifting.
====Lokhir====
*'''The Blender King''': Ah, Lustria. Let's see, the lizards hate you because they don't want a dark elf caravan on their land. Teclis hates you because he doesn't like your stupid face, and Harkon hates you for... stealing all his treasure, I guess? Packing up and leaving for Ulthuan on turn 1 can actually be a pretty viable strategy here. Lustria-bowl honestly sucks for you, but if you're intent on doing it, allying with the rats can secure your western border, and allow you to focus on Teclis at the start, which takes one of the major pressures off your campaign.
*'''The Black Ark King''': Black Arks are awesome and should be your main method of recruiting units to your armies, especially in the early game. BUILD THE GROWTH BUILDING FIRST! You'll get to those higher tiers so much faster, and can laugh over the corpses of your enemies when your tier 5 dread knights are running over red-crested skinks.

*'''What to do with Karond Kar?''': Lokhir's campaign is pretty weird, because his unique item requires taking over the city of Karond Kar which is wayyyy in the middle of assfuck nowhere compared to where you start. You don't really want to manage a split empire in Warhammer 2, so taking Karond Kar by force isn't really advisable. Luckily, he now has a quest line that allows him to confederate Karond Kar remotely. I'd recommend confederating with them, and then just selling all the buildings and abandoning the province. Keeping it generally means dealing with High elf DEATHstacks every two turns, along with Wood Elves and Taurox if he's still alive which will really make you want to deepthroat a cactus.

====Malus Darkblade====
Malus is a fan-favorite character, and CA honestly did him pretty dirty, which is kind of upsetting. His campaign is very difficult especially at the start, and he slightly boosts cold one knights, a notoriously cost-inefficient unit. He is a monster on the battlefield, but ''it's pretty much always better to play as another dark elf faction and confederate him'', since he gets all his battlefield strengths and none of the weaknesses. If you insist on playing his campaign though, keep these tips in mind:
*'''SNIKCH MUST DIE!''': Snikch must die unless you like having 30 million filthy rats coming over the border to take your land and deflower your sorceresses (oh, who are we kidding? There’s no such thing as a virgin sorceress, they literally worship the goddess of massive orgies). Sometimes you can even make a non-aggression pact with Imrik to focus on Snikch which I definitely recommend. After killing him, you can slow down a little, and pick off your enemies one-by-one, but it's an absolute miserable campaign experience if you allow Snikch to get his shit together.

*'''Black Arks are essential''': You start with a Black Ark and you NEED it to get past Malus' cancerous early game. You probably aren't going to have the money to spend on potions at the start, which means your troops will replenish at the speed of a glacier. A Black Ark can help a lot with this problem, and can provide a good base to recruit from.

*'''Keep your alliance with Malekith going''': Keeping your alliance with Malekith alive allows you to cheese the 'Tz'arkans whispers' mechanic a little bit, since the unique quests might be to declare war on a faction you don't care about halfway across the map. The rewards from these missions can be quite powerful, so complete as many as you can.

====Rakarth====
*'''Ulthuan''': Rakarth's starting place in Albion offers him a variety of options in theory. however, you're kind of forced into attacking Ulthuan which sucks. Once they discover you (which happens very early in the game), they will start sending stack after stack after you, and trying to expand eastward or southward just becomes unviable. Sure, Morathi can sometimes get super aggressive and start conquering Ulthuan early taking some of the pressure off you, but it's a gamble that sometimes doesn't pay off.

*'''Rakarth only for beastpen armies''': Beast pens areeee... interesting? The thing is, the only boosts to monstrous units from the beast pens come from Rakarth's army skills. For your generic lords, it's better to stick to your tried and true druchii units, unless you're in an emergency and need units fast.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dark Elves

2022-05-15T05:22:28Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Rakarth */

{{Topquote|Skulls for Khaine! Blood for Khaine!|Game battle chant for Dark Elves. Why does it sound familiar...}}
This is the tactica for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the Dark Elves.

==Why Play Dark Elves==
*Because you'd like your elves to take their arrogance to the next level and just start murdering people for the crime of not being elves.
*Because you believe that everything looks roughly 1000 times better when covered in spikes.
*Because you enjoy the inherent power fantasy that comes from playing a big spiky asshole out to conquer and enslave.
*You like a versatile unit roster with some serious killing power.
*Because being the good guy is just so boring sometimes.

===Pros===
*'''AP for Days''': If you're playing Dark Elves and having a hard time with armoured troops, you're playing them wrong. A large chunk of the roster has majority AP damage, so armor should be the least of your concerns.
*'''Solid Range''': While you may not be the shootiest of factions, the Dark Elves are more than capable. They are fully capable of melting enemy units before they close to melee with the right build.
*'''Mobility''': You're not as good at it as the Asrai, but with a ton of good light cav and infantry like Witch Elves and Sisters of Slaughter, you are able to get around the battlefield pretty damn fast. Light Cav tactics are a favorite among Dark Elf players.
*'''Powerful Lords''': When it comes to lord options, you are spoiled for choice. Most of their lords are at the very least decent and some like Malekith can carry an entire army to victory if given the time.
*'''Flexibility''': Thanks to Murderous Prowess, you can play offense unlike a lot of factions can. You can also play Defense, kite, heavy monster focus and all-around can use whatever tactic you can think of with these guys.
*'''Strong Economy''': Your economy is god-tier, and this is even before you bring in trade. Raking in high numbers of Slaves all but guarantees that your cash flow reaches insane levels which you can further boost by abusing the Master hero who reduces Slave decay to the point that they literally cannot decay anymore. Combine this with the extremely generous discounts on Black Arks and your pockets will never be empty again.
*'''Naval Supremacy''': An often overlooked, but still important feature is that your Black Arks can dominate the oceans of the world and keeping your homeland secure from any threats. The only faction that rivals your naval power are (big surprise here) the Vampire Coast.

===Cons===
*'''Frail''': Okay, so you don't have it as bad as the Wood Elves, since many of your units are bringing actual armor to the fight, but you're still a glass cannon rush faction. Running into a faction that can simply outlast your burst of melee damage once Murderous Prowess proccs, can and will give you a lot of trouble.
*'''Limited Range''': Their ranged units aren't bad, in fact, Darkshards are extremely good for their cost, but they don't shoot very far. Even some gunpowder units will outrange you, and most factions will get one or two shots off before you get in position.
*'''Unreliable Heavy Cav''': The Stupidity of Cold Ones Knights in this game got translated to Rampage, meaning if they take too much damage, you lose control and they charge forward to probably die if you're facing a smart opponent. Similar to the Lizardmen, but unlike them, you don't have a way to make them stop. [[Fail|Even Malus, who specializes in Cold Ones and had a rule that allowed them to ignore stupidity, can't get rid of rampage]]. The addition of Rakarth finally gives you an ability that allows Cold Ones to ignore Rampage, ironically making him a better Cold One specialist than the ACTUAL Cold One specialist. - they were reworked to only frenzy at 20% health or less, so it’s mostly a positive now. Still not amazing but good with campaign buffs from beast-master lords
*'''Lack of Healing''': You're the only Elven faction with no multi-target healing. The only thing you have is Soul Stealer, which only heals the caster. Combine this with your low health pools, and your units will die a lot faster than their tanky statline might lead you to believe.
*'''Expensive''': Not as much as High Elves, but still pretty pricey. Expect to be outnumbered most of the time.
*'''Poor Public Order''': Being the quarrelsome lot that they are, Dark Elves suffer from a multitude of public order penalties (especially once you have a lot of slaves) and don't have a lot of tools to counter them; managing it can quickly devolve into a frantic nightmare, particularly on high difficulties.
*'''No Encampments''': If you are away from your territory, you can't recruit new guys while encamping. This can be offset somewhat with Black Arks, though that's not an option in regions far from the coast.
*'''DLC''': Scourgerunners and Supreme Sorceresses are some of your best units. They also cost extra. As with most Non DLC factions, you will need to pay extra money to be consistent in multiplayer

==Universal Traits==
*'''Murderous Prowess''': A passive, army-wide ability that gives all units on the map considerable offensive bonuses after you hit a certain threshold of kills (usually around 30-50% of the enemy force). Hard to time right and difficult to control, but extremely effective regardless. Seeing your Corsairs, Shades, and whatnot go into overdrive for 90 seconds is a scary and satisfying spectacle to behold. For a few units, the effect lasts 120 seconds instead of 90.
*'''Slaves''': You get slaves by raiding, winning battles, and looting/sacking settlements. Slaves go to your cities to do the crapwork and are gradually worked to death turn by turn. The Druchii can make a hell of a lot of money by capturing slaves. However the more slaves you've got the harder it is to control them, which leads to unrest.
*'''Black Arks''': A special kind of campaign unit that acts as one of the two true "navies" in the entire game, Black Arks can only exist on the water but they are essentially floating garrisoned cities that can also let your other armies recruit and exchange from them. A powerful incentive for any Druchii player to adopt the raiding lifestyle and an excellent tool for mobile defence across Naggaroth's extensive coastline.

==Lords==

===Legendary Lords===
*'''[[Malekith]]''': Warhammer's rendition of Darth Vader with severe mummy issues arrived on the scene, and he doesn't mess around. A monster of a Hybrid LL, he is everything the likes of Azhag the Slaughterer and Arkhan the Black wish they could be. He punches hard, gets a Dragon relatively early on and his spellcasting doesn't disappoint either. You can hardly go wrong with Malekith.
*'''[[Morathi]]''' : Morathi is a ''very'' weird animal (There's gotta be a sex joke in here somewhere). Unlike many other Legendary Lords, her skill tree is the only one in the game where you actually get to make meaningful choices, as she can alternate between ridiculously powerful spellcasting and good backline harasser, both paths are viable. What sets her apart from other caster lords as her spellcasting is concerned is that, like Teclis, she doesn't specialize in single lore and her pool of spells draws from the Lores of Dark, Death, and Shadows and favors all-out offensive spells from all of them. Arguably the second-best Caster Lord in the game, just behind Teclis. Unfortunately her campaign mechanics are badly broken, she has to spread corruption but doesn't get public order benefits from it, only downsides. This makes her campaign more difficult than you'd expect simply due to serous public order issues. They even nerfed the building in quintex that made the public order manageable for no apparent reason.
*'''[[Hellebron]] (DLC)''' : Hellebron exists in her own little niche. Barely armored like Witch Elves, but really, really bloody fast and a buffmachine for your already busted murdermachine frontline. She excels in prolonged combat, preferably against lightly armored chaff and will rack a high kill count very quickly but will cave against elite units and other single entity monsters or characters.
: Get a unique campaign mechanic of her vitality slowly draining way and have to progressively sacrifice more slaves during the Death Night to keep the faction buffed instead of Debuffed, but also create a new stack of frenzied elves to attack [[Ulthwe]].
*'''[[Lokhir Fellheart]] (FLC)''' : Lord of the [[Black Ark]]s. He is a cheaper blender lord in comparison to Hellebron, being a well-armored Infantry blender while on foot like a Vlad von Carstein without magic. CA also gave him his own Dragon mount which only make him better than a Dread Lord on dragon when he pops his attack buffs.
:the Drukii pirate lord starts in the thunder dome that is Lustria but can have a lot of freedom by starting with a middle settlement that is a Black Ark.
*'''[[Malus Darkblade]] (DLC)''': an unremarkable lord until he lets the daemon take over, and then he is a melee powerhouse. Using Malus in combat is like burning a candle wick, his Tz'arkan form and abilities are powerful but drain his hit points so know when he should be in daemon or Malus mode. He does have Resistance and Healing in combat so he won't burn out as fast in a fight. Switching to daemon mode restores all his health and vigor and makes him unbreakable so it's best to wait until the last moment before switching.
:in campaign his battle with his inner deamon is a game mechanic, with having a possession meeter, giving you greater campaign bonuses while Malus is mostly in control, but as Tz'arkan slowly takes over, he gains greater battle prowess but at the cost of large penalties to your empire. You control the possession by drinking a potion that gets progressively more expensive until you finish his storyline to make it free. Tz'arkan will also offer an additional quest to increase the possession but with very good payoffs. For your start position, you get a Black ark in the Southern Land, in addition, have your traditional Drukii hold, [[Hag Graef]], that you can sell for a lot of money but have to listen to [[Malekith]] (which will be an AI) or make it harder by having to run and protect the dame place yourself while also declaring on the big cheese. -disappointingly he is actually more effective if you confederate him then if you play as him, confederated he gets the benefits of full possession with no downsides. making him insanely tanky. His faction benefits are actually more of a hassle than they are helpful.
*'''Rakarth (FLC)''' Your man you pick if you want to go for a full monster build. he comes with heavy armor and Anti Large to deal with enemy big monsters while also providing buffs to his own beasties. He will also have a Scourgerunner for skirmishing, a Manticore and a Dragon for a straight up brawl. He serves as your best counter to mounters, with his whip being able to strip Fear and Terror from monsters (leaving said monsters susceptible to fear and terror) and armor that gives him buffs as enemy monsters are around him. He's also being voiced by [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Ramsay Bolton]].

===Generic Lords===
*'''Dread Lord (Melee & Ranged)''': Your two generic lord with one focused on melee and has a shield while the other is a hybrid that focuses on shooting. In multiplayer, their ability change to help them buff their respective areas, Sword & Shield having buffs to melee attacks and debuffing enemy damage, while Sword & Crossbow supports other crossbows unit while also being a sniper, and gives a burst bonus to Ld. Note that the lords have almost identical melee stats once you put them on a black dragon and the melee lord looses her shield when mounted on one while the ranged lord keeps his ranged weapon. at high levels i cant see much reason to use the melee version instead but she will be better in melee until they get the dragon.
*'''Supreme Sorceress (DLC)''': Makes a Sorceress as a lord for money-saving cost. Somewhat feeble in combat until she levels up enough to get a black dragon mount, after which she fights better than many dedicated melee lords.
*'''High Beastmaster (DLC)''': Your monster hunter Lord. not as tanky in melee as a Dread Lord but deals a good amount of anti-large damage in addition to his burst of additional weapon strength. is Also is supportive by giving a single unit a big buff as they charge into melee (don't yet specify anything except can't be used on characters, so go crazy on an Executioners charge). Can Come on a Scouregrunner Chariot(roll though everyone while armed with a ballast) or ride a Manticore which has proven to be cost-effective flying monsters. Can give a big boost to cold ones and monsters in campaign as well as recruiting them faster. If running cavalry or monster stacks, likely your best option. The big MA/MD/ and charge boost they give colds ones really makes them preform better.

==Heroes==
*'''Death Hag''' : Single-entity Witch Elves dialed up to 11. Death Hags excel as extremely vicious infantry blenders with a lot of speed of behind them and, as an added bonus, a variety of buff abilities that make them even deadlier. They tend to get the shorter end of the stick against dedicated duelist characters and their only mount option consists of the Cauldron of Blood, which, to be frank, is a waste, since it sacrifices offensive power and speed for more durability, something that Death Hags with their high Melee Defense don't really need. I’m not sure what the above was talking about, death hags kinda suck on foot like most foot heroes, the mount is good vs infantry and makes them actually pretty tough plus buffs nearby units. Always mount in campaign, foot may have more use in multiplayer I guess.
*'''Sorceress''' : Caster bitches in the flavours of Death, Dark, Shadows, Beasts, and Fire.
*'''Khainite Assassin''' : good on campaign map, terrible in an actual fight.
*'''Master (DLC)''' : Tyrants in Training who never graduate in game to Dreadlords :(. Masters are your tanky Dark Elf hero. You can’t really overuse these, they are amazing. Ap anti large heavily armored high stat combat monsters with great mount options, the guardian skill, easy recruitment from a tier 3 building, the ability to reduce slave decline to zero if stacked, access to martial names of power granting incredibly powerful bonuses, easy to recruit at level 9 and up in any 4 city province. A doom stack of these with the regeneration or hunger/frenzy skill name of power and access to the extra melee attack army wide or leadership reduction traits is probably the campaigns deadliest hero doomstack, rivaling or beating Isabella vampire stacks or lizardmen hero spam. Really, really good heroes. And easier to spam then any comparable hero. Recommend cold one for ground duty (extra armor and ap) or Pegasus for flying (fast and flying with good charge but no shield). Foot is ok too but generally mounts are more than worth it for mobility alone.

==Units==

===Infantry===
*'''Dreadspears''': Your most basic spearmen unit in the DE roster. They're... alright? They lack an offensive punch and High Elf Spearman performs better at the job they are supposed to be doing, being to hold the line to stop enemy cavalry punching through to your precious archers. They work fine in the early game, as well as being cheap, but don't rely on them for too long.
**'''The Hellebronai (RoR)''': Dreadspears that are a bit better in general with poison attacks.
*'''Bleakswords''': The offensive counterpart to Dreadspears, just as basic, just as mediocre. Their only redeeming feature is their large shield. They have more damage potential ''in theory'' but this more or less comes down to what they are facing; they will hold up well against Goblins and Empire State Troops, but basically anyone can hold up well against these units. As with Dreadspears: Okay for the early game, drop them the moment something better becomes available. Seriously only use dreadspears. Never use these. Dreadspears are better defensively and have anti large, the slightly higher MA will never be worth losing antilarge. Alternate Opinion, they're rather cost effective being fairly cheap, are well shielded and can beat most other infantry at their price point and in the early phases of the game. If you take things into consideration they can be quite useful, just don't expect them to move mountains.
*'''Black Ark Corsairs''' : ...These guys. Oh, these guys. Frail as all hell, but worth it. Corsairs should make up the majority of melee troops of your midgame armies as soon as they become available. Their raw damage output as well as their armour (having a value of 90, putting them on the same level as dwarf warriors!) makes them a solid frontline and they will cut down all basic infantry used against them with ease and surprising speed. Their easy availability combined with a reasonable price make sure they are always a good choice, especially against horde-centric factions. One glaring weakness is their lack of AP damage. - whoever wrote the above likes corsairs way too much, they’re good but non synergistic with usual dark elf campaign strategies of crossbow spam. And they aren’t worth using after the early game. You can honestly never use them and just go dreadspears and darkshards and usually do better in the early campaign. I hear they are nice in multiplayer, but campaign wise meh.
*'''Witch Elves''': Talk about glass cannons, Witch Elves are a really weird bunch. They have no armour, but (try to) compensate for this with 20% physical resistance and a 5% ward save after you research technologies. In exchange, they excel in melee attack and apply debuffs to enemy forces attacked by them. The debuff in itself is very unique, as it not only debuffs enemy melee stats but also sends them on a rampage; causing them to stay way longer in a fight which they otherwise would be comfortable with. This is especially useful against all elven factions, since you can lure their expensive specialized elite tropps in matchups that they are not equipped to deal with (i.e. Swordmasters against a Hydra or a Dragon) and ''reliably keep them there''. Well at least as long as your Witch Elves survive the encounter, which, given that their only defense is a meager 28 melee defense and a 5% ward save, might not be that long...
**'''Sisters of Singing Doom (RoR)''' :
*'''Sisters of Slaughter (DLC)''': They wear even less clothes than Witch Elves do, yet are more resilient. Strangely. Their extremely high melee defense, among the best a single unit has, and their missile resistance of 20% make them surprisingly tough to crack, despite being able to easily dispatch many kinds of troops. As one of the few resilient Dark Elven melee units, their job is to dispatch units with otherwise high defensive stats, like Phoenix Guard or Helbardiers, where their melee defense in conbination with their bonus vs. infantry lets them reliably come out on top. Additionally, they come with a unique passive that boost their melee defense and physical resist even further as long as they are losing their current encounter, which makes them surprisingly viable as a high damaging tarpit unit. These and black guard compete to be your best frontline, against elite ap infantry sisters can last up to twice as long because of high physical resist, poison, and amazing stats.
*'''Executioners''': The offensive counterpart to the Black Guards, your ol' reliable murderers of heavy armoured elite troops and anything in between. They won't last long, but kill everything in their path. Frail, especially against missiles, but as a Dark Elf player, you're used to that. I don’t recommend these, they’re fragile, slow and they have weirdly low melee stats compacted to your other elite units. You can replace these with cold one dread knights even. Seriously with the change to primal instincts dread knights have massively higher stats especially with beast master lords skills. And otherwise fill the exact same role but do it better and faster.
**'''Blades of the Blood Queen (RoR)''' :
*'''Black Guard''': Extremely beefy, these are your dedicated elite line holders and monster slayers. Remember murderous prowess makes them into an absolute force of destruction. And they have very good stats, the only downside is knowing that they’ll never be as awesome as Phoenix guard. Even if they can be offensively much deadlier the survivability of Phoenix guard is insane.

===Missile Infantry===
*'''Darkshards''': Basic Dark Elf ranged unit and all and all pretty darn good for the entire game. Indirect fire with pretty good AP makes them very useful, especially when focusing on firing key targets into oblivion. For a little extra, you can get these guys with shields which makes them excellent in an arrow exchange, which is important given [[High Elves|who one of your biggest foes is]] always go shields.
**'''The Bolt-Fiends (ROR)''' : The cool thing about these guys is that they degrade and nullify shields.
*'''Black Ark Corsairs (Repeater Handbows)''': A mixed bag, making up for the relative lack of skirmish units in the Dark Elf roster. Surprisingly mobile and difficult to catch, their biggest strength is easily their flexibility. Nice vs skaven early on.
*'''Shades''': Don't let the low model count discourage you, Shades rank among the best Missile Troops in the game. The high rate of Fire, high damage output, and even decent in melee, especially with greatswords. Actually not really that much better than dark shards if you just use them as archers, much more expensive for only slightly better ranged performance. However if combined with a shadow dart name of power lord can be as good or better than sisters of avelorn. 210 or more range, crazy ap, and better in melee than the sisters by a large margin due to AP and anti infantry. Even with all that taken into account you need a specific name of power, some later technologies, and the red skill tree to make them as good/slightly better than the sisters. And they cost 50% more upkeep with great swords than sisters do. Which really just shows how op sisters are in campaign.

===Cavalry===
*'''Dark Riders''': Your extremely quick light cavalry, comparable to most other units of their class. One key feature is that they are actually fast enough to chase down most other missile cavalry. If your micromanagement skills hold up, Dark Riders can terrorize the enemy backline very efficiently and do so at the highest speed any base game cavalry unit offers, but they get vaporized the instant their charge bonus wears off, so will need to keep the cycle charges going.
*'''Dark Riders (Crossbows)''': changes light melee skirmish cavalry into ranged harassment cavalry. As using repeater Crossbows, they fire two shots of primarily AP damage. As always Useful to annoying poke an enemy to death but also those higher armor units that are normally resistant to those shenanigans. (most other factions only get close-range hand axes or more squisher handguns)
**'''The Raven Heralds (ROR)''': Rather distinct from their vanilla Dark Riders, these guys ride Dark Pegusii and can fly around the battlefield.
*'''Doomfire Warlocks (DLC)''': Really, really weird hybrid unit. In melee they have actually pretty good attack with magic and poison and charge, plus an aoe melee attack animation. They also have 40% physical resist to help keep them alive. One key advantage they have over comparable light to medium cavalry is their ability to fling around the Doombolt spell from the Lore of Dark and Soulblight from the Lord of Death as bound spells. A unit of these is pretty much always useful if nothing else, plus they look great.
**'''Slaanesh's Harvesters (ROR)''' :
*'''Cold One Knights''': A massive disappointment. Evil Elven Dino-Riders should be barrels of fun, alas. They are outclassed by any other medium cavalry they are supposed to be fighting against, really slow for a cavalry unit, have rampage, and share the frailty of all Dark Elves units. Don't bother with them. -actually they no longer have rampage just reworked primal instincts, which means they only rampage at 20% health or less. The new beast master lords can grant them plus 8 MA and MD plus 10 extra charge from their unique skills and another 8 to both from the red skill tree. With both of these they actually become cost effective anti cav. They trade favorable against much more expensive units.
*'''Cold One Dread Knights''': The same problems with the basic Cold One Knights are even worse here since they are exceedingly expensive and hard to get. Dread Knights actually rank among the worst units in the game. How can it get even worse, you might ask? Well, they are Shock Cavalry. On the lowest base speed of any true cavalry unit in the game, making it extremely difficult to get them out of melee combat once they're stuck in it and cycle charging nearly impossible. On top of all that, the bonus vs. large that nearly every high-tier Shock Cavalry in the game gets is also denied to them. - same as cold one knights, the presented info is outdated. they now only risk frenzy at 20% health or less. With campaign skills from a beast master lord they end up with mid 60’s in both MA and MD, they are actually better than sword chaos knights in campaign because of better skills. With how high they’re stats go they can function as prolonged melee units easily. Compare them to executioners and they can basically do everything better.
**'''Knights of the Ebon Claw (ROR)''': What's this? Cold One Knights that don't spaz out.

===Chariots===
*'''Cold One Chariot''' :
*'''Scourgerunner Chariot''' : Scourgerunner Chariots are your jack of all trades chariot, that has a special boon in being on the very few ranged units in the game that get a bonus vs. large on their ranged attacks. Their key advantage is that they also move at Dark Rider speed, which makes them extremely difficult to catch or even hit, and in a pinch, they can even reliably dispatch basic missile tropps and infantry, thanks to a bonus vs. infantry.
**'''The Ravagers of Rakarth (ROR)''' :

===Artillery===
*'''Reaper Bolt Thrower''': Essentially identical to the High Elf counterpart (in spite of the significantly more badass name), the Reaper is likewise probably not going to be winning any prizes for the best artillery piece. Alright, it does hit a bit harder and has a smidge less range, but this is not something people would notice much in most situations. Nevertheless, it remains a useful and versatile addition to a Dark Elf army. Just don't go in expecting a WMD. Like the repeater, they possess two firing modes and can be particularly useful for sniping enemy artillery. In short a decent, if not exactly exceptional, artillery unit.
*'''Bloodwrack Shrine (DLC)''': A Bloodwrack Medusa with a Go-Cart. Despite being described as a chariot don't use it as such, it's too slow to pass through a unit.
Provides +7 MA and -7 MD to nearby allies/enemies respectively. Similar in purpose to the high elf frost Phoenix but offensive. Quite effective if you want your melee units buffed. Plus ok ranged damage from the Medusa herself.

===Monsters===
*'''Harpies''': Harpies fulfill essentially the same role as war hound and fell bat units. They're intended to be fast-moving harassers best used to hunt down or disrupt enemy missile units and artillery crews. When used in their intended capacity they can get some work done, just don't expect them to do much against anything with actual staying power. Even some of the sturdier archer units can prove a bit too much for them. If you're up against an opponent with a heavy focus on ranged firepower they can be a valuable addition. However, sending them in unsupported against basically anything else is a good way to end up with a whole lot of dead bat-ladies. Rakarth makes then a lot better, giving them bonus Melee Attack as well as a smidge of AP damage.
**'''The Crows of Khaine (ROR)''': Basically Harpies with Fear and the ability to regenerate when fighting. Surprisingly tanky because of it, just watch out for units that counter them.
*'''Feral Manticore''': Surprisingly good backline harasser. Manticores make Harpies pretty much obsolete and make for great mid-tier carnage against everything that doesn't have a bonus against large. They are very susceptible to Rampage, so take care of them. Manticores are best taken in groups of 2-4 in order to kill targets fast enough that they don’t die themselves. Paired with a flying master they can make a fast deadly Air Force for cheap which can act as a single unit killing gank squad. Can usually staggerlock foot heroes. And usually outfight other aerial units short of dragons or heroes.
*'''War Hydra''': Lots of nasty surprises with the Hydra, your standard frontline melee monster. One of its core features is its flexibility; it's effective against a lot of targets and can reliably hunt down infantry thanks to its speed and breath attack. It tends to get the short end of the stick against other monsters and anti large. In campaign you can get these 25% cheaper from a klar karond building. Super cheap and easy to spam regenerating monster.
**'''The Chill of Sontar (ROR)''' : Same regenerating monstery goodness as a normal hydra, though it replaces its flaming breath in exchange for one that slows down whatever it hits.
*'''Kharibdyss (DLC)''' : OMNOMNOMNOM. A Hydra on steroids, trades the regeneration factor and flaming breath for poisoned attacks, anti-large, and lots of AP goodness. Works best against armoured monsters, so if the enemy brings big scary beasts it can go toe to toe. If you want to blend infantry though, you’re better off with the Hydra.
*'''Bloodwrack Medusa (DLC)''': Combination monster and short rate direct fire artillery. Can delete chunks of elite infantry very quickly.
**'''The Siren of Red Ruin (ROR)''' : Same as a normal Medusa, but gains a AOE ability that causes moderate damage to all enemies around her.
*'''Black Dragon''' : Evil Dragonny Goodness. Occupies a niche between Sun and Star Dragons in terms of killyness, but retains a devastating breath attack, huge mass, and good mobility. As is tradition, compared with other dragons, quite frail when caught on the wrong foot. Harder to use because dark elves don’t have healing lores.

===Rakarth Campaign Units===

==Tactics==
===Multiplayer Strategies===
Long, Long ago in the distant times of 2017 Dark Elves where one of the top factions in the game with their massive amount of AP, powerful Lords and flexible army. Unfortunately after years of being beaten with the Nerf Bat they have fallen from grace. As of the Twisted and the Twilight patch they are considered low tier they really only have one viable tactic, relying on Scourgerunners and Crossbow Dark Riders. Now just because they are considered low tier doesn't mean you can't win with them as they still have some favorable match ups. As of right now, you are a bit of a one trick pony so you may have to get creative.

*'''Beastmen''':
*'''Bretonnia''':
*'''Chaos Daemons''':
*'''Chaos Warriors''': Chaos Warriors are slow as hell and very vulnerable to anti-armor.
*'''Dark Elves''': Since Murderous Prowess cares about kills and not whose side they're on it's going to trigger roughly at the same time for both factions.
*'''Dwarfs''': You have the heavy AP to pierce your opponent's stunties. Unfortunately, they have the firepower to shut down a lot of your ranged units before you can get close enough to return the favor.
*'''Empire''':
*'''Grand Cathay''':
*'''Greenskins''':
*'''High Elves''':
*'''Khorne''':
*'''Kislev''':
*'''Lizardmen''': This is one of the matchups in which you shine. All their armored dinosaurs are extremely vulnerable to your wide selection of AP troops, with a special shoutout to Dark Shards and Shades. Lizardmen lack missile infantry beyond their rather frail Skink Skirmishers, though their Chameleon Skinks will prove particularly annoying due to their missile resist and loose formations. Scourgerunner Chariots will run circles around the Lizardmen and, with proper positioning, can easily slip around their screening units to chunk the bigger Artillery Stegadons/Bastilodons that could potentially retaliate against your ranged forces. Try to kite them as much as you can, whittle down their frontline before sending in your Executioners and Blackguard to clean up.
*'''Norsca''':
*'''Nurgle''':
*'''Skaven''':
*'''Slaanesh''':
*'''Tomb Kings''':
*'''Tzeentch''':
*'''Vampire Coast''':
*'''Vampire Counts''':
*'''Wood Elves''':

===Campaign Strategies===
Focus on economy in a few good provinces with 4 cities (Hag Graef, Naggarond, Ghrond, Quintex, Har Ganeth, etc) put income, slave pens, and then black roads or special resources on every city/town. Then put all slaves here. Add 3 or 4 masters to reduce slave decline to zero and you have the strongest, easiest, and fastest to grow economy in the game bar none. Can field near unlimited armies of doom stacks. There you go, you win.

Actually, the most prosperous slave province for the Dark Elves is Yvresse owing to the unique Tower of the Warden building which generates 50 gold per 100 slaves. With a maximum slaveholding capacity of 15500 slaves, combined with the multiplicative effect of slaves on base province income and the ability to stack slave income multipliers through heroes that are essentially unlimited, it surpasses any Druchii province in gold-generating potential. Proving, once again, that Naggarond sucks. This wealth is also why it is viable for certain Dark Elf factions to abandon their starting capitals and conquer Ulthuan instead.- while that may be more profitable technically, it’s irrelevant. Any proper slave strategy give’s effectively unlimited money even in just the dark elf lands. Conquer Ulthuan first or not, either way you won’t need for money with even a little strategy.

===Campaign Specific===

====Malekith====

*'''Beware Hellebron''': Malekith's campaign is generally pretty easy (and very fun!), but it can really depend on what Hellebron does at the start. Usually you can get pretty powerful early and just confederate her, but it's not unknown for her to just straight up declare war on you, which can really send your campaign down shit swamp. Furthermore, she can actually out-recruit you, making it next to impossible to confederate her. One strategy is to just rush to Har Ganeth immediately after securing Naggarond, while another is trying to out-recruit her in turn. Just ignoring her CAN be fine, but Har Ganeth is a good early game province, and you don't want to risk a civil war with her.

*'''Don't spend too long in Naggaroth''': Look, I get it, who doesn't want to rule a city made entirely out of towers that look like spiky black dildos? But conquering Ulthuan as Malekith can and should be done fairly early in the game, because it takes a loooonnnggg time to take over all those provinces settlement-by-settlement. You definitely want to get Ulthuan conquered before the chaos invasion rolls in, as they basically spawn right on top of Naggarond, and constantly fighting them until someone knocks off Archaon on the other side of the map can be a huge pain.

*'''Tyrant is the way to go''': Malekith has OPTIONS and almost all of them are good, but if it's your first campaign, Tyrant can really bring your slave economy to the next level. More money -> more stacks -> Druchii supremacy, baby!

====Morathi====
*'''The start. Oh god, the start''': Yeahhh, there's no getting around it. Morathi's start is a bitch and a half (kind of like Morathi herself!). She's surrounded by enemies who hate her guts, and one mistake here can spell doom for your campaign. Here's the thing though: she actually has all the tools she needs to deal with it (She's an incredibly strong legendary lord, and tier 1 Dark Elf units like bleakswords and darkshards are awesome even into the late game), it can just be tough learning the first few times around. You need to be EXTREMELY aggressive in consolidating your starting province, as the Ss'ildra Tor can just out-recruit you if you leave them alone long enough. Once you do that and deal with Alith Anar though, everything gets easier so have faith!
*'''You can use her in melee!''' A mistake I see a lot of players make is using Morathi as you'd use a typical caster lord, i.e. keeping them at a distance and shying away from any fight. If you do this though, you aren't getting her full value. Her unique weapon combined with one of her unique skills (Enchanting Beauty) can lower enemy melee attack by 18 and defence by 9 JUST FOR BEING NEAR HER. She can basically use her darksword as a strap-on to peg enemy melee stats. Be careful how you use her, because of course she isnt going to outduel dedicated melee combatant characters, but these passive abilities combined with lore of shadows make her great for absolutely dumpstering enemies that your units are having a tough time dealing with.

====Hellebron====
*'''Unpaid interns''': Hellebron requires a constant influx of slaves to keep active, which means that you are going to have to be ultra aggressive throughout your campaign, more so than other druchii factions who can just sit back and let their slaves do all their work for them.

*'''Malekith''': It's harder (though not impossible!) to confederate Naggarond than vice-versa, and pissing off Malekith can really become a problem, since he usually skyrockets to strength rank 1 after turn 20 or 30. One strategy is just to leave for Ulthuan right away, but this can be very challenging. Rushing Naggarond is also an option, but you can also ally with them, which is what I'd recommend for less experienced players.

*'''Blood Fleets suckkkk''': Remember how the Greenskins WAAGGHH worked before their update? Theoretically it was a way to encourage aggressiveness and movement on the campaign map. How it actually worked was that they'd spawn AI controlled armies that would allahu-akbar themselves upon the nearest settlement. Wellll, Hellebron's voyages basically have the same idea and it's honestly worse because you can't choose where they spawn. Just don't rely on them to do any heavy lifting.
====Lokhir====
*'''The Blender King''': Ah, Lustria. Let's see, the lizards hate you because they don't want a dark elf caravan on their land. Teclis hates you because he doesn't like your stupid face, and Harkon hates you for... stealing all his treasure, I guess? Packing up and leaving for Ulthuan on turn 1 can actually be a pretty viable strategy here. Lustria-bowl honestly sucks for you, but if you're intent on doing it, allying with the rats can secure your western border, and allow you to focus on Teclis at the start, which takes one of the major pressures off your campaign.
*'''The Black Ark King''': Black Arks are awesome and should be your main method of recruiting units to your armies, especially in the early game. BUILD THE GROWTH BUILDING FIRST! You'll get to those higher tiers so much faster, and can laugh over the corpses of your enemies when your tier 5 dread knights are running over red-crested skinks.

*'''What to do with Karond Kar?''': Lokhir's campaign is pretty weird, because his unique item requires taking over the city of Karond Kar which is wayyyy in the middle of assfuck nowhere compared to where you start. You don't really want to manage a split empire in Warhammer 2, so taking Karond Kar by force isn't really advisable. Luckily, he now has a quest line that allows him to confederate Karond Kar remotely. I'd recommend confederating with them, and then just selling all the buildings and abandoning the province. Keeping it generally means dealing with High elf DEATHstacks every two turns, along with Wood Elves and Taurox if he's still alive which will really make you want to deepthroat a cactus.

====Malus Darkblade====
Malus is a fan-favorite character, and CA honestly did him pretty dirty, which is kind of upsetting. His campaign is very difficult especially at the start, and he slightly boosts cold one knights, a notoriously cost-inefficient unit. He is a monster on the battlefield, but ''it's pretty much always better to play as another dark elf faction and confederate him'', since he gets all his battlefield strengths and none of the weaknesses. If you insist on playing his campaign though, keep these tips in mind:
*'''SNIKCH MUST DIE!''': Snikch must die unless you like having 30 million filthy rats coming over the border to take your land and deflower your sorceresses (oh, who are we kidding? There’s no such thing as a virgin sorceress, they literally worship the goddess of massive orgies). Sometimes you can even make a non-aggression pact with Imrik to focus on Snikch which I definitely recommend. After killing him, you can slow down a little, and pick off your enemies one-by-one, but it's an absolute miserable campaign experience if you allow Snikch to get his shit together.

*'''Black Arks are essential''': You start with a Black Ark and you NEED it to get past Malus' cancerous early game. You probably aren't going to have the money to spend on potions at the start, which means your troops will replenish at the speed of a glacier. A Black Ark can help a lot with this problem, and can provide a good base to recruit from.

*'''Keep your alliance with Malekith going''': Keeping your alliance with Malekith alive allows you to cheese the 'Tz'arkans whispers' mechanic a little bit, since the unique quests might be to declare war on a faction you don't care about halfway across the map. The rewards from these missions can be quite powerful, so complete as many as you can.

====Rakarth====
*'''Ulthuan''': Rakarth's starting place in Albion offers him a variety of options in theory. however, you're kind of forced into attacking Ulthuan which sucks. Once they discover you (which happens very early in the game), they will start sending stack after stack after you, and trying to expand eastward or southward just becomes unviable. Sure, Morathi can sometimes get super aggressive and start conquering Ulthuan early taking some of the pressure off you, but it's a gamble that sometimes doesn't pay off.

*'''Rakarth only for beastpen armies''': Beast pens areeee... interesting? The thing is, the only boosts to monstrous units from the beast pens come from Rakarth's army skills. For your generic lords, it's better to stick to your tried and true druchii units, unless you're in an emergency and need units fast.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dark Elves

2022-05-15T05:21:36Z

2601:283:4C80:11C0:E9B9:640D:638E:4C48: /* Malus Darkblade */

{{Topquote|Skulls for Khaine! Blood for Khaine!|Game battle chant for Dark Elves. Why does it sound familiar...}}
This is the tactica for the [[Total War: Warhammer]] version of the Dark Elves.

==Why Play Dark Elves==
*Because you'd like your elves to take their arrogance to the next level and just start murdering people for the crime of not being elves.
*Because you believe that everything looks roughly 1000 times better when covered in spikes.
*Because you enjoy the inherent power fantasy that comes from playing a big spiky asshole out to conquer and enslave.
*You like a versatile unit roster with some serious killing power.
*Because being the good guy is just so boring sometimes.

===Pros===
*'''AP for Days''': If you're playing Dark Elves and having a hard time with armoured troops, you're playing them wrong. A large chunk of the roster has majority AP damage, so armor should be the least of your concerns.
*'''Solid Range''': While you may not be the shootiest of factions, the Dark Elves are more than capable. They are fully capable of melting enemy units before they close to melee with the right build.
*'''Mobility''': You're not as good at it as the Asrai, but with a ton of good light cav and infantry like Witch Elves and Sisters of Slaughter, you are able to get around the battlefield pretty damn fast. Light Cav tactics are a favorite among Dark Elf players.
*'''Powerful Lords''': When it comes to lord options, you are spoiled for choice. Most of their lords are at the very least decent and some like Malekith can carry an entire army to victory if given the time.
*'''Flexibility''': Thanks to Murderous Prowess, you can play offense unlike a lot of factions can. You can also play Defense, kite, heavy monster focus and all-around can use whatever tactic you can think of with these guys.
*'''Strong Economy''': Your economy is god-tier, and this is even before you bring in trade. Raking in high numbers of Slaves all but guarantees that your cash flow reaches insane levels which you can further boost by abusing the Master hero who reduces Slave decay to the point that they literally cannot decay anymore. Combine this with the extremely generous discounts on Black Arks and your pockets will never be empty again.
*'''Naval Supremacy''': An often overlooked, but still important feature is that your Black Arks can dominate the oceans of the world and keeping your homeland secure from any threats. The only faction that rivals your naval power are (big surprise here) the Vampire Coast.

===Cons===
*'''Frail''': Okay, so you don't have it as bad as the Wood Elves, since many of your units are bringing actual armor to the fight, but you're still a glass cannon rush faction. Running into a faction that can simply outlast your burst of melee damage once Murderous Prowess proccs, can and will give you a lot of trouble.
*'''Limited Range''': Their ranged units aren't bad, in fact, Darkshards are extremely good for their cost, but they don't shoot very far. Even some gunpowder units will outrange you, and most factions will get one or two shots off before you get in position.
*'''Unreliable Heavy Cav''': The Stupidity of Cold Ones Knights in this game got translated to Rampage, meaning if they take too much damage, you lose control and they charge forward to probably die if you're facing a smart opponent. Similar to the Lizardmen, but unlike them, you don't have a way to make them stop. [[Fail|Even Malus, who specializes in Cold Ones and had a rule that allowed them to ignore stupidity, can't get rid of rampage]]. The addition of Rakarth finally gives you an ability that allows Cold Ones to ignore Rampage, ironically making him a better Cold One specialist than the ACTUAL Cold One specialist. - they were reworked to only frenzy at 20% health or less, so it’s mostly a positive now. Still not amazing but good with campaign buffs from beast-master lords
*'''Lack of Healing''': You're the only Elven faction with no multi-target healing. The only thing you have is Soul Stealer, which only heals the caster. Combine this with your low health pools, and your units will die a lot faster than their tanky statline might lead you to believe.
*'''Expensive''': Not as much as High Elves, but still pretty pricey. Expect to be outnumbered most of the time.
*'''Poor Public Order''': Being the quarrelsome lot that they are, Dark Elves suffer from a multitude of public order penalties (especially once you have a lot of slaves) and don't have a lot of tools to counter them; managing it can quickly devolve into a frantic nightmare, particularly on high difficulties.
*'''No Encampments''': If you are away from your territory, you can't recruit new guys while encamping. This can be offset somewhat with Black Arks, though that's not an option in regions far from the coast.
*'''DLC''': Scourgerunners and Supreme Sorceresses are some of your best units. They also cost extra. As with most Non DLC factions, you will need to pay extra money to be consistent in multiplayer

==Universal Traits==
*'''Murderous Prowess''': A passive, army-wide ability that gives all units on the map considerable offensive bonuses after you hit a certain threshold of kills (usually around 30-50% of the enemy force). Hard to time right and difficult to control, but extremely effective regardless. Seeing your Corsairs, Shades, and whatnot go into overdrive for 90 seconds is a scary and satisfying spectacle to behold. For a few units, the effect lasts 120 seconds instead of 90.
*'''Slaves''': You get slaves by raiding, winning battles, and looting/sacking settlements. Slaves go to your cities to do the crapwork and are gradually worked to death turn by turn. The Druchii can make a hell of a lot of money by capturing slaves. However the more slaves you've got the harder it is to control them, which leads to unrest.
*'''Black Arks''': A special kind of campaign unit that acts as one of the two true "navies" in the entire game, Black Arks can only exist on the water but they are essentially floating garrisoned cities that can also let your other armies recruit and exchange from them. A powerful incentive for any Druchii player to adopt the raiding lifestyle and an excellent tool for mobile defence across Naggaroth's extensive coastline.

==Lords==

===Legendary Lords===
*'''[[Malekith]]''': Warhammer's rendition of Darth Vader with severe mummy issues arrived on the scene, and he doesn't mess around. A monster of a Hybrid LL, he is everything the likes of Azhag the Slaughterer and Arkhan the Black wish they could be. He punches hard, gets a Dragon relatively early on and his spellcasting doesn't disappoint either. You can hardly go wrong with Malekith.
*'''[[Morathi]]''' : Morathi is a ''very'' weird animal (There's gotta be a sex joke in here somewhere). Unlike many other Legendary Lords, her skill tree is the only one in the game where you actually get to make meaningful choices, as she can alternate between ridiculously powerful spellcasting and good backline harasser, both paths are viable. What sets her apart from other caster lords as her spellcasting is concerned is that, like Teclis, she doesn't specialize in single lore and her pool of spells draws from the Lores of Dark, Death, and Shadows and favors all-out offensive spells from all of them. Arguably the second-best Caster Lord in the game, just behind Teclis. Unfortunately her campaign mechanics are badly broken, she has to spread corruption but doesn't get public order benefits from it, only downsides. This makes her campaign more difficult than you'd expect simply due to serous public order issues. They even nerfed the building in quintex that made the public order manageable for no apparent reason.
*'''[[Hellebron]] (DLC)''' : Hellebron exists in her own little niche. Barely armored like Witch Elves, but really, really bloody fast and a buffmachine for your already busted murdermachine frontline. She excels in prolonged combat, preferably against lightly armored chaff and will rack a high kill count very quickly but will cave against elite units and other single entity monsters or characters.
: Get a unique campaign mechanic of her vitality slowly draining way and have to progressively sacrifice more slaves during the Death Night to keep the faction buffed instead of Debuffed, but also create a new stack of frenzied elves to attack [[Ulthwe]].
*'''[[Lokhir Fellheart]] (FLC)''' : Lord of the [[Black Ark]]s. He is a cheaper blender lord in comparison to Hellebron, being a well-armored Infantry blender while on foot like a Vlad von Carstein without magic. CA also gave him his own Dragon mount which only make him better than a Dread Lord on dragon when he pops his attack buffs.
:the Drukii pirate lord starts in the thunder dome that is Lustria but can have a lot of freedom by starting with a middle settlement that is a Black Ark.
*'''[[Malus Darkblade]] (DLC)''': an unremarkable lord until he lets the daemon take over, and then he is a melee powerhouse. Using Malus in combat is like burning a candle wick, his Tz'arkan form and abilities are powerful but drain his hit points so know when he should be in daemon or Malus mode. He does have Resistance and Healing in combat so he won't burn out as fast in a fight. Switching to daemon mode restores all his health and vigor and makes him unbreakable so it's best to wait until the last moment before switching.
:in campaign his battle with his inner deamon is a game mechanic, with having a possession meeter, giving you greater campaign bonuses while Malus is mostly in control, but as Tz'arkan slowly takes over, he gains greater battle prowess but at the cost of large penalties to your empire. You control the possession by drinking a potion that gets progressively more expensive until you finish his storyline to make it free. Tz'arkan will also offer an additional quest to increase the possession but with very good payoffs. For your start position, you get a Black ark in the Southern Land, in addition, have your traditional Drukii hold, [[Hag Graef]], that you can sell for a lot of money but have to listen to [[Malekith]] (which will be an AI) or make it harder by having to run and protect the dame place yourself while also declaring on the big cheese. -disappointingly he is actually more effective if you confederate him then if you play as him, confederated he gets the benefits of full possession with no downsides. making him insanely tanky. His faction benefits are actually more of a hassle than they are helpful.
*'''Rakarth (FLC)''' Your man you pick if you want to go for a full monster build. he comes with heavy armor and Anti Large to deal with enemy big monsters while also providing buffs to his own beasties. He will also have a Scourgerunner for skirmishing, a Manticore and a Dragon for a straight up brawl. He serves as your best counter to mounters, with his whip being able to strip Fear and Terror from monsters (leaving said monsters susceptible to fear and terror) and armor that gives him buffs as enemy monsters are around him. He's also being voiced by [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Ramsay Bolton]].

===Generic Lords===
*'''Dread Lord (Melee & Ranged)''': Your two generic lord with one focused on melee and has a shield while the other is a hybrid that focuses on shooting. In multiplayer, their ability change to help them buff their respective areas, Sword & Shield having buffs to melee attacks and debuffing enemy damage, while Sword & Crossbow supports other crossbows unit while also being a sniper, and gives a burst bonus to Ld. Note that the lords have almost identical melee stats once you put them on a black dragon and the melee lord looses her shield when mounted on one while the ranged lord keeps his ranged weapon. at high levels i cant see much reason to use the melee version instead but she will be better in melee until they get the dragon.
*'''Supreme Sorceress (DLC)''': Makes a Sorceress as a lord for money-saving cost. Somewhat feeble in combat until she levels up enough to get a black dragon mount, after which she fights better than many dedicated melee lords.
*'''High Beastmaster (DLC)''': Your monster hunter Lord. not as tanky in melee as a Dread Lord but deals a good amount of anti-large damage in addition to his burst of additional weapon strength. is Also is supportive by giving a single unit a big buff as they charge into melee (don't yet specify anything except can't be used on characters, so go crazy on an Executioners charge). Can Come on a Scouregrunner Chariot(roll though everyone while armed with a ballast) or ride a Manticore which has proven to be cost-effective flying monsters. Can give a big boost to cold ones and monsters in campaign as well as recruiting them faster. If running cavalry or monster stacks, likely your best option. The big MA/MD/ and charge boost they give colds ones really makes them preform better.

==Heroes==
*'''Death Hag''' : Single-entity Witch Elves dialed up to 11. Death Hags excel as extremely vicious infantry blenders with a lot of speed of behind them and, as an added bonus, a variety of buff abilities that make them even deadlier. They tend to get the shorter end of the stick against dedicated duelist characters and their only mount option consists of the Cauldron of Blood, which, to be frank, is a waste, since it sacrifices offensive power and speed for more durability, something that Death Hags with their high Melee Defense don't really need. I’m not sure what the above was talking about, death hags kinda suck on foot like most foot heroes, the mount is good vs infantry and makes them actually pretty tough plus buffs nearby units. Always mount in campaign, foot may have more use in multiplayer I guess.
*'''Sorceress''' : Caster bitches in the flavours of Death, Dark, Shadows, Beasts, and Fire.
*'''Khainite Assassin''' : good on campaign map, terrible in an actual fight.
*'''Master (DLC)''' : Tyrants in Training who never graduate in game to Dreadlords :(. Masters are your tanky Dark Elf hero. You can’t really overuse these, they are amazing. Ap anti large heavily armored high stat combat monsters with great mount options, the guardian skill, easy recruitment from a tier 3 building, the ability to reduce slave decline to zero if stacked, access to martial names of power granting incredibly powerful bonuses, easy to recruit at level 9 and up in any 4 city province. A doom stack of these with the regeneration or hunger/frenzy skill name of power and access to the extra melee attack army wide or leadership reduction traits is probably the campaigns deadliest hero doomstack, rivaling or beating Isabella vampire stacks or lizardmen hero spam. Really, really good heroes. And easier to spam then any comparable hero. Recommend cold one for ground duty (extra armor and ap) or Pegasus for flying (fast and flying with good charge but no shield). Foot is ok too but generally mounts are more than worth it for mobility alone.

==Units==

===Infantry===
*'''Dreadspears''': Your most basic spearmen unit in the DE roster. They're... alright? They lack an offensive punch and High Elf Spearman performs better at the job they are supposed to be doing, being to hold the line to stop enemy cavalry punching through to your precious archers. They work fine in the early game, as well as being cheap, but don't rely on them for too long.
**'''The Hellebronai (RoR)''': Dreadspears that are a bit better in general with poison attacks.
*'''Bleakswords''': The offensive counterpart to Dreadspears, just as basic, just as mediocre. Their only redeeming feature is their large shield. They have more damage potential ''in theory'' but this more or less comes down to what they are facing; they will hold up well against Goblins and Empire State Troops, but basically anyone can hold up well against these units. As with Dreadspears: Okay for the early game, drop them the moment something better becomes available. Seriously only use dreadspears. Never use these. Dreadspears are better defensively and have anti large, the slightly higher MA will never be worth losing antilarge. Alternate Opinion, they're rather cost effective being fairly cheap, are well shielded and can beat most other infantry at their price point and in the early phases of the game. If you take things into consideration they can be quite useful, just don't expect them to move mountains.
*'''Black Ark Corsairs''' : ...These guys. Oh, these guys. Frail as all hell, but worth it. Corsairs should make up the majority of melee troops of your midgame armies as soon as they become available. Their raw damage output as well as their armour (having a value of 90, putting them on the same level as dwarf warriors!) makes them a solid frontline and they will cut down all basic infantry used against them with ease and surprising speed. Their easy availability combined with a reasonable price make sure they are always a good choice, especially against horde-centric factions. One glaring weakness is their lack of AP damage. - whoever wrote the above likes corsairs way too much, they’re good but non synergistic with usual dark elf campaign strategies of crossbow spam. And they aren’t worth using after the early game. You can honestly never use them and just go dreadspears and darkshards and usually do better in the early campaign. I hear they are nice in multiplayer, but campaign wise meh.
*'''Witch Elves''': Talk about glass cannons, Witch Elves are a really weird bunch. They have no armour, but (try to) compensate for this with 20% physical resistance and a 5% ward save after you research technologies. In exchange, they excel in melee attack and apply debuffs to enemy forces attacked by them. The debuff in itself is very unique, as it not only debuffs enemy melee stats but also sends them on a rampage; causing them to stay way longer in a fight which they otherwise would be comfortable with. This is especially useful against all elven factions, since you can lure their expensive specialized elite tropps in matchups that they are not equipped to deal with (i.e. Swordmasters against a Hydra or a Dragon) and ''reliably keep them there''. Well at least as long as your Witch Elves survive the encounter, which, given that their only defense is a meager 28 melee defense and a 5% ward save, might not be that long...
**'''Sisters of Singing Doom (RoR)''' :
*'''Sisters of Slaughter (DLC)''': They wear even less clothes than Witch Elves do, yet are more resilient. Strangely. Their extremely high melee defense, among the best a single unit has, and their missile resistance of 20% make them surprisingly tough to crack, despite being able to easily dispatch many kinds of troops. As one of the few resilient Dark Elven melee units, their job is to dispatch units with otherwise high defensive stats, like Phoenix Guard or Helbardiers, where their melee defense in conbination with their bonus vs. infantry lets them reliably come out on top. Additionally, they come with a unique passive that boost their melee defense and physical resist even further as long as they are losing their current encounter, which makes them surprisingly viable as a high damaging tarpit unit. These and black guard compete to be your best frontline, against elite ap infantry sisters can last up to twice as long because of high physical resist, poison, and amazing stats.
*'''Executioners''': The offensive counterpart to the Black Guards, your ol' reliable murderers of heavy armoured elite troops and anything in between. They won't last long, but kill everything in their path. Frail, especially against missiles, but as a Dark Elf player, you're used to that. I don’t recommend these, they’re fragile, slow and they have weirdly low melee stats compacted to your other elite units. You can replace these with cold one dread knights even. Seriously with the change to primal instincts dread knights have massively higher stats especially with beast master lords skills. And otherwise fill the exact same role but do it better and faster.
**'''Blades of the Blood Queen (RoR)''' :
*'''Black Guard''': Extremely beefy, these are your dedicated elite line holders and monster slayers. Remember murderous prowess makes them into an absolute force of destruction. And they have very good stats, the only downside is knowing that they’ll never be as awesome as Phoenix guard. Even if they can be offensively much deadlier the survivability of Phoenix guard is insane.

===Missile Infantry===
*'''Darkshards''': Basic Dark Elf ranged unit and all and all pretty darn good for the entire game. Indirect fire with pretty good AP makes them very useful, especially when focusing on firing key targets into oblivion. For a little extra, you can get these guys with shields which makes them excellent in an arrow exchange, which is important given [[High Elves|who one of your biggest foes is]] always go shields.
**'''The Bolt-Fiends (ROR)''' : The cool thing about these guys is that they degrade and nullify shields.
*'''Black Ark Corsairs (Repeater Handbows)''': A mixed bag, making up for the relative lack of skirmish units in the Dark Elf roster. Surprisingly mobile and difficult to catch, their biggest strength is easily their flexibility. Nice vs skaven early on.
*'''Shades''': Don't let the low model count discourage you, Shades rank among the best Missile Troops in the game. The high rate of Fire, high damage output, and even decent in melee, especially with greatswords. Actually not really that much better than dark shards if you just use them as archers, much more expensive for only slightly better ranged performance. However if combined with a shadow dart name of power lord can be as good or better than sisters of avelorn. 210 or more range, crazy ap, and better in melee than the sisters by a large margin due to AP and anti infantry. Even with all that taken into account you need a specific name of power, some later technologies, and the red skill tree to make them as good/slightly better than the sisters. And they cost 50% more upkeep with great swords than sisters do. Which really just shows how op sisters are in campaign.

===Cavalry===
*'''Dark Riders''': Your extremely quick light cavalry, comparable to most other units of their class. One key feature is that they are actually fast enough to chase down most other missile cavalry. If your micromanagement skills hold up, Dark Riders can terrorize the enemy backline very efficiently and do so at the highest speed any base game cavalry unit offers, but they get vaporized the instant their charge bonus wears off, so will need to keep the cycle charges going.
*'''Dark Riders (Crossbows)''': changes light melee skirmish cavalry into ranged harassment cavalry. As using repeater Crossbows, they fire two shots of primarily AP damage. As always Useful to annoying poke an enemy to death but also those higher armor units that are normally resistant to those shenanigans. (most other factions only get close-range hand axes or more squisher handguns)
**'''The Raven Heralds (ROR)''': Rather distinct from their vanilla Dark Riders, these guys ride Dark Pegusii and can fly around the battlefield.
*'''Doomfire Warlocks (DLC)''': Really, really weird hybrid unit. In melee they have actually pretty good attack with magic and poison and charge, plus an aoe melee attack animation. They also have 40% physical resist to help keep them alive. One key advantage they have over comparable light to medium cavalry is their ability to fling around the Doombolt spell from the Lore of Dark and Soulblight from the Lord of Death as bound spells. A unit of these is pretty much always useful if nothing else, plus they look great.
**'''Slaanesh's Harvesters (ROR)''' :
*'''Cold One Knights''': A massive disappointment. Evil Elven Dino-Riders should be barrels of fun, alas. They are outclassed by any other medium cavalry they are supposed to be fighting against, really slow for a cavalry unit, have rampage, and share the frailty of all Dark Elves units. Don't bother with them. -actually they no longer have rampage just reworked primal instincts, which means they only rampage at 20% health or less. The new beast master lords can grant them plus 8 MA and MD plus 10 extra charge from their unique skills and another 8 to both from the red skill tree. With both of these they actually become cost effective anti cav. They trade favorable against much more expensive units.
*'''Cold One Dread Knights''': The same problems with the basic Cold One Knights are even worse here since they are exceedingly expensive and hard to get. Dread Knights actually rank among the worst units in the game. How can it get even worse, you might ask? Well, they are Shock Cavalry. On the lowest base speed of any true cavalry unit in the game, making it extremely difficult to get them out of melee combat once they're stuck in it and cycle charging nearly impossible. On top of all that, the bonus vs. large that nearly every high-tier Shock Cavalry in the game gets is also denied to them. - same as cold one knights, the presented info is outdated. they now only risk frenzy at 20% health or less. With campaign skills from a beast master lord they end up with mid 60’s in both MA and MD, they are actually better than sword chaos knights in campaign because of better skills. With how high they’re stats go they can function as prolonged melee units easily. Compare them to executioners and they can basically do everything better.
**'''Knights of the Ebon Claw (ROR)''': What's this? Cold One Knights that don't spaz out.

===Chariots===
*'''Cold One Chariot''' :
*'''Scourgerunner Chariot''' : Scourgerunner Chariots are your jack of all trades chariot, that has a special boon in being on the very few ranged units in the game that get a bonus vs. large on their ranged attacks. Their key advantage is that they also move at Dark Rider speed, which makes them extremely difficult to catch or even hit, and in a pinch, they can even reliably dispatch basic missile tropps and infantry, thanks to a bonus vs. infantry.
**'''The Ravagers of Rakarth (ROR)''' :

===Artillery===
*'''Reaper Bolt Thrower''': Essentially identical to the High Elf counterpart (in spite of the significantly more badass name), the Reaper is likewise probably not going to be winning any prizes for the best artillery piece. Alright, it does hit a bit harder and has a smidge less range, but this is not something people would notice much in most situations. Nevertheless, it remains a useful and versatile addition to a Dark Elf army. Just don't go in expecting a WMD. Like the repeater, they possess two firing modes and can be particularly useful for sniping enemy artillery. In short a decent, if not exactly exceptional, artillery unit.
*'''Bloodwrack Shrine (DLC)''': A Bloodwrack Medusa with a Go-Cart. Despite being described as a chariot don't use it as such, it's too slow to pass through a unit.
Provides +7 MA and -7 MD to nearby allies/enemies respectively. Similar in purpose to the high elf frost Phoenix but offensive. Quite effective if you want your melee units buffed. Plus ok ranged damage from the Medusa herself.

===Monsters===
*'''Harpies''': Harpies fulfill essentially the same role as war hound and fell bat units. They're intended to be fast-moving harassers best used to hunt down or disrupt enemy missile units and artillery crews. When used in their intended capacity they can get some work done, just don't expect them to do much against anything with actual staying power. Even some of the sturdier archer units can prove a bit too much for them. If you're up against an opponent with a heavy focus on ranged firepower they can be a valuable addition. However, sending them in unsupported against basically anything else is a good way to end up with a whole lot of dead bat-ladies. Rakarth makes then a lot better, giving them bonus Melee Attack as well as a smidge of AP damage.
**'''The Crows of Khaine (ROR)''': Basically Harpies with Fear and the ability to regenerate when fighting. Surprisingly tanky because of it, just watch out for units that counter them.
*'''Feral Manticore''': Surprisingly good backline harasser. Manticores make Harpies pretty much obsolete and make for great mid-tier carnage against everything that doesn't have a bonus against large. They are very susceptible to Rampage, so take care of them. Manticores are best taken in groups of 2-4 in order to kill targets fast enough that they don’t die themselves. Paired with a flying master they can make a fast deadly Air Force for cheap which can act as a single unit killing gank squad. Can usually staggerlock foot heroes. And usually outfight other aerial units short of dragons or heroes.
*'''War Hydra''': Lots of nasty surprises with the Hydra, your standard frontline melee monster. One of its core features is its flexibility; it's effective against a lot of targets and can reliably hunt down infantry thanks to its speed and breath attack. It tends to get the short end of the stick against other monsters and anti large. In campaign you can get these 25% cheaper from a klar karond building. Super cheap and easy to spam regenerating monster.
**'''The Chill of Sontar (ROR)''' : Same regenerating monstery goodness as a normal hydra, though it replaces its flaming breath in exchange for one that slows down whatever it hits.
*'''Kharibdyss (DLC)''' : OMNOMNOMNOM. A Hydra on steroids, trades the regeneration factor and flaming breath for poisoned attacks, anti-large, and lots of AP goodness. Works best against armoured monsters, so if the enemy brings big scary beasts it can go toe to toe. If you want to blend infantry though, you’re better off with the Hydra.
*'''Bloodwrack Medusa (DLC)''': Combination monster and short rate direct fire artillery. Can delete chunks of elite infantry very quickly.
**'''The Siren of Red Ruin (ROR)''' : Same as a normal Medusa, but gains a AOE ability that causes moderate damage to all enemies around her.
*'''Black Dragon''' : Evil Dragonny Goodness. Occupies a niche between Sun and Star Dragons in terms of killyness, but retains a devastating breath attack, huge mass, and good mobility. As is tradition, compared with other dragons, quite frail when caught on the wrong foot. Harder to use because dark elves don’t have healing lores.

===Rakarth Campaign Units===

==Tactics==
===Multiplayer Strategies===
Long, Long ago in the distant times of 2017 Dark Elves where one of the top factions in the game with their massive amount of AP, powerful Lords and flexible army. Unfortunately after years of being beaten with the Nerf Bat they have fallen from grace. As of the Twisted and the Twilight patch they are considered low tier they really only have one viable tactic, relying on Scourgerunners and Crossbow Dark Riders. Now just because they are considered low tier doesn't mean you can't win with them as they still have some favorable match ups. As of right now, you are a bit of a one trick pony so you may have to get creative.

*'''Beastmen''':
*'''Bretonnia''':
*'''Chaos Daemons''':
*'''Chaos Warriors''': Chaos Warriors are slow as hell and very vulnerable to anti-armor.
*'''Dark Elves''': Since Murderous Prowess cares about kills and not whose side they're on it's going to trigger roughly at the same time for both factions.
*'''Dwarfs''': You have the heavy AP to pierce your opponent's stunties. Unfortunately, they have the firepower to shut down a lot of your ranged units before you can get close enough to return the favor.
*'''Empire''':
*'''Grand Cathay''':
*'''Greenskins''':
*'''High Elves''':
*'''Khorne''':
*'''Kislev''':
*'''Lizardmen''': This is one of the matchups in which you shine. All their armored dinosaurs are extremely vulnerable to your wide selection of AP troops, with a special shoutout to Dark Shards and Shades. Lizardmen lack missile infantry beyond their rather frail Skink Skirmishers, though their Chameleon Skinks will prove particularly annoying due to their missile resist and loose formations. Scourgerunner Chariots will run circles around the Lizardmen and, with proper positioning, can easily slip around their screening units to chunk the bigger Artillery Stegadons/Bastilodons that could potentially retaliate against your ranged forces. Try to kite them as much as you can, whittle down their frontline before sending in your Executioners and Blackguard to clean up.
*'''Norsca''':
*'''Nurgle''':
*'''Skaven''':
*'''Slaanesh''':
*'''Tomb Kings''':
*'''Tzeentch''':
*'''Vampire Coast''':
*'''Vampire Counts''':
*'''Wood Elves''':

===Campaign Strategies===
Focus on economy in a few good provinces with 4 cities (Hag Graef, Naggarond, Ghrond, Quintex, Har Ganeth, etc) put income, slave pens, and then black roads or special resources on every city/town. Then put all slaves here. Add 3 or 4 masters to reduce slave decline to zero and you have the strongest, easiest, and fastest to grow economy in the game bar none. Can field near unlimited armies of doom stacks. There you go, you win.

Actually, the most prosperous slave province for the Dark Elves is Yvresse owing to the unique Tower of the Warden building which generates 50 gold per 100 slaves. With a maximum slaveholding capacity of 15500 slaves, combined with the multiplicative effect of slaves on base province income and the ability to stack slave income multipliers through heroes that are essentially unlimited, it surpasses any Druchii province in gold-generating potential. Proving, once again, that Naggarond sucks. This wealth is also why it is viable for certain Dark Elf factions to abandon their starting capitals and conquer Ulthuan instead.- while that may be more profitable technically, it’s irrelevant. Any proper slave strategy give’s effectively unlimited money even in just the dark elf lands. Conquer Ulthuan first or not, either way you won’t need for money with even a little strategy.

===Campaign Specific===

====Malekith====

*'''Beware Hellebron''': Malekith's campaign is generally pretty easy (and very fun!), but it can really depend on what Hellebron does at the start. Usually you can get pretty powerful early and just confederate her, but it's not unknown for her to just straight up declare war on you, which can really send your campaign down shit swamp. Furthermore, she can actually out-recruit you, making it next to impossible to confederate her. One strategy is to just rush to Har Ganeth immediately after securing Naggarond, while another is trying to out-recruit her in turn. Just ignoring her CAN be fine, but Har Ganeth is a good early game province, and you don't want to risk a civil war with her.

*'''Don't spend too long in Naggaroth''': Look, I get it, who doesn't want to rule a city made entirely out of towers that look like spiky black dildos? But conquering Ulthuan as Malekith can and should be done fairly early in the game, because it takes a loooonnnggg time to take over all those provinces settlement-by-settlement. You definitely want to get Ulthuan conquered before the chaos invasion rolls in, as they basically spawn right on top of Naggarond, and constantly fighting them until someone knocks off Archaon on the other side of the map can be a huge pain.

*'''Tyrant is the way to go''': Malekith has OPTIONS and almost all of them are good, but if it's your first campaign, Tyrant can really bring your slave economy to the next level. More money -> more stacks -> Druchii supremacy, baby!

====Morathi====
*'''The start. Oh god, the start''': Yeahhh, there's no getting around it. Morathi's start is a bitch and a half (kind of like Morathi herself!). She's surrounded by enemies who hate her guts, and one mistake here can spell doom for your campaign. Here's the thing though: she actually has all the tools she needs to deal with it (She's an incredibly strong legendary lord, and tier 1 Dark Elf units like bleakswords and darkshards are awesome even into the late game), it can just be tough learning the first few times around. You need to be EXTREMELY aggressive in consolidating your starting province, as the Ss'ildra Tor can just out-recruit you if you leave them alone long enough. Once you do that and deal with Alith Anar though, everything gets easier so have faith!
*'''You can use her in melee!''' A mistake I see a lot of players make is using Morathi as you'd use a typical caster lord, i.e. keeping them at a distance and shying away from any fight. If you do this though, you aren't getting her full value. Her unique weapon combined with one of her unique skills (Enchanting Beauty) can lower enemy melee attack by 18 and defence by 9 JUST FOR BEING NEAR HER. She can basically use her darksword as a strap-on to peg enemy melee stats. Be careful how you use her, because of course she isnt going to outduel dedicated melee combatant characters, but these passive abilities combined with lore of shadows make her great for absolutely dumpstering enemies that your units are having a tough time dealing with.

====Hellebron====
*'''Unpaid interns''': Hellebron requires a constant influx of slaves to keep active, which means that you are going to have to be ultra aggressive throughout your campaign, more so than other druchii factions who can just sit back and let their slaves do all their work for them.

*'''Malekith''': It's harder (though not impossible!) to confederate Naggarond than vice-versa, and pissing off Malekith can really become a problem, since he usually skyrockets to strength rank 1 after turn 20 or 30. One strategy is just to leave for Ulthuan right away, but this can be very challenging. Rushing Naggarond is also an option, but you can also ally with them, which is what I'd recommend for less experienced players.

*'''Blood Fleets suckkkk''': Remember how the Greenskins WAAGGHH worked before their update? Theoretically it was a way to encourage aggressiveness and movement on the campaign map. How it actually worked was that they'd spawn AI controlled armies that would allahu-akbar themselves upon the nearest settlement. Wellll, Hellebron's voyages basically have the same idea and it's honestly worse because you can't choose where they spawn. Just don't rely on them to do any heavy lifting.
====Lokhir====
*'''The Blender King''': Ah, Lustria. Let's see, the lizards hate you because they don't want a dark elf caravan on their land. Teclis hates you because he doesn't like your stupid face, and Harkon hates you for... stealing all his treasure, I guess? Packing up and leaving for Ulthuan on turn 1 can actually be a pretty viable strategy here. Lustria-bowl honestly sucks for you, but if you're intent on doing it, allying with the rats can secure your western border, and allow you to focus on Teclis at the start, which takes one of the major pressures off your campaign.
*'''The Black Ark King''': Black Arks are awesome and should be your main method of recruiting units to your armies, especially in the early game. BUILD THE GROWTH BUILDING FIRST! You'll get to those higher tiers so much faster, and can laugh over the corpses of your enemies when your tier 5 dread knights are running over red-crested skinks.

*'''What to do with Karond Kar?''': Lokhir's campaign is pretty weird, because his unique item requires taking over the city of Karond Kar which is wayyyy in the middle of assfuck nowhere compared to where you start. You don't really want to manage a split empire in Warhammer 2, so taking Karond Kar by force isn't really advisable. Luckily, he now has a quest line that allows him to confederate Karond Kar remotely. I'd recommend confederating with them, and then just selling all the buildings and abandoning the province. Keeping it generally means dealing with High elf DEATHstacks every two turns, along with Wood Elves and Taurox if he's still alive which will really make you want to deepthroat a cactus.

====Malus Darkblade====
Malus is a fan-favorite character, and CA honestly did him pretty dirty, which is kind of upsetting. His campaign is very difficult especially at the start, and he slightly boosts cold one knights, a notoriously cost-inefficient unit. He is a monster on the battlefield, but ''it's pretty much always better to play as another dark elf faction and confederate him'', since he gets all his battlefield strengths and none of the weaknesses. If you insist on playing his campaign though, keep these tips in mind:
*'''SNIKCH MUST DIE!''': Snikch must die unless you like having 30 million filthy rats coming over the border to take your land and deflower your sorceresses (oh, who are we kidding? There’s no such thing as a virgin sorceress, they literally worship the goddess of massive orgies). Sometimes you can even make a non-aggression pact with Imrik to focus on Snikch which I definitely recommend. After killing him, you can slow down a little, and pick off your enemies one-by-one, but it's an absolute miserable campaign experience if you allow Snikch to get his shit together.

*'''Black Arks are essential''': You start with a Black Ark and you NEED it to get past Malus' cancerous early game. You probably aren't going to have the money to spend on potions at the start, which means your troops will replenish at the speed of a glacier. A Black Ark can help a lot with this problem, and can provide a good base to recruit from.

*'''Keep your alliance with Malekith going''': Keeping your alliance with Malekith alive allows you to cheese the 'Tz'arkans whispers' mechanic a little bit, since the unique quests might be to declare war on a faction you don't care about halfway across the map. The rewards from these missions can be quite powerful, so complete as many as you can.

====Rakarth====
*'''Ulthuan''': Rakarth's starting place in Albion offers him a variety of options in theory. however, you're kind of forced into attacking Ulthuan which sucks. Once they discover you, they will send stack after stack after you, and trying to expand eastward or southward just becomes unviable. Sure, Morathi can sometimes get super aggressive and start conquering Ulthuan early taking some of the pressure off you, but it's a gamble that sometimes doesn't pay off.

*'''Rakarth only for beastpen armies''': Beast pens areeee... interesting? The thing is, the only boosts to monstrous units from the beast pens come from Rakarth's army skills. For your generic lords, it's better to stick to your tried and true druchii units, unless you're in an emergency and need units fast.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}