Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen

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

Why play Lizardmen

They're dinosaurs riding dinosaurs into battle. Some of those dinosaurs also have magical lasers strapped to them.

Pros

• A Multitude of Monsters - The Lizardmen have the largest diversity of massive monsters at their disposal. Between the various Bastilodons, Stegadons and Carnosaurs you can field, you won't be wanting for big beasties.
• Fearsome Beasts - Unsurprisingly, the average man will struggle to keep calm and collected when facing down a stampede of hungry carnivorous dinosaurs many times larger than he is. Virtually every monster 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. Of course this isn't even mentioning higher tier units like the Temple Guard.
• Mastery of Magic - Debatably only second to the High Elves, Lizardmen have reliable access more schools of magic than any other race. Skink Priests, Slann and the mighty Lord Kroak offer not only some of the most reliable casting in the game, but have consistent access to the Arcane Conduit skill.
• 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 Bastilodons/Stegadons, they can easily reposition themselves and hold their own in melee combat.
• Cavalcade of Cavalry - Cold Ones, Horned Ones, Terradons and Ripperdactyls, oh my! Though not as fast as some other faction's cavalry, you have a very diverse selection of fast-moving dinosaurs that can flank enemies
• 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.
• Poisonous Assaults - 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 deal constant damage like on the tabletop, their debuff is 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.

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, namely the various cavalry and skink units available to you, this particular weakness is exacerbated by...
• Vulnerable to Range - ...their dearth of viable ranged units. The only ranged infantry available to you are Skinks; particularly squishy infantry that, though nimble, have pitiful range and DPS against anything shielded/armored. Defensively, though your Saurus are quite tanky, they are very vulnerable to being kited by ranged (cavalry) due to their rather slow movement speed. The same can be said about most of your monsters, with some minor exceptions.
• 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.
• 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. Though these DLC packs are definitely worth it for dedicated players, they can get expensive rather quickly and certainly might be a tough sell to players who aren't fully invested in the respective armies included.

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.

• 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 anything in your list with sharp teeth, this allows your units to detect hidden or stealthed units far sooner and from farther away than other armies. With proper coverage, this can make ambushing or outflanking your forces extremely challenging to do discreetly.

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.

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 relative 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. Mazdamundi can easily gain the following Legendary Lord victory traits:
  • A 'Fitting' End? - Defeat Ikit Claw (Vortex Campaign only). Improves Winds of Magic reserve and faction research rate, which will stack with Scrying Pools. Ikit Claw starts very far from Lustria in Mortal Empires and so this trait is much harder to get.
  • Siren Extinguished - Defeat Cylostra Direfin. Improves Winds of Magic starting amount, which helps negate bad Winds starts in battles, and reduces enemy starting Winds. Also reduces miscast chance, but this is of debatable value for Mazdamundi.
  • Not So Grand Hierophant - Defeat Grand Hierophant Khatep. Improves Winds of Magic reserve by a good amount, and negates desert attrition. Khatep is located beyond Naggarond, however, and it can be difficult to reach him on the Mortal Empires map.
  • Ruin Unrestrained - Teclis (Vortex Campaign only). Improves Winds of Magic reserve. Teclis starts on the other side of Lustria in Mortal Empires and can be difficult to get to early or before he is wiped out.

• 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 tear through virtually any foe with ease and can go toe to toe with almost every other lord 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 builds.

• Tehenhauin (DLC) - Your only Skink-Priest lord choice, Tehenhauin is something of a niche pick. He's can deal surprising 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 and Ripperdactyls as the focus. Though mounted on Zwuup, Tiktaq'to is arguably 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). He excels at tying up enemy artillery and ranged infantry and is easily able to dodge incoming fire on the approach. Playing him requires far more finesse than is required for virtually every other lord; prolonged combat will invariably whittle him down and may the Old Ones help you if he's surrounded while grounded.

• Nakai (DLC) - 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. Gor-Rok can 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

Generic Lords

Your generic lords are no less able than their famed counterparts, and in competitive multiplayer, are often preferable. However, you will never, ever get non-Slann lords after turn 20 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.

• 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 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 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 a monster heavy list; Life Slann are your only dedicated magical source of healing in the entire army, and the only other unit outside Revivification Bastilodons capable of healing other units at all. 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.
  • 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 cavalry or elite units 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) and Birona's Timewarp can turn the tide in a key engagement. 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, however). High Slann offensively specialize in single target damage and can deal devastating amounts of it between Arcane Unforging and Soul Quench spells, giving them a solid niche against duelist lords/heroes and larger monsters.

• 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.

• Red-Crested Skink Chief (DLC) - 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) - 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 with ease due to their size, mass and pure damage output. However, just like Nakai, they are completely helpless at range, are vulnerable to AP and anti-large weapons and are slow.

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 death inconvenience him, or keep him from kicking warmblood ass. Lord Kroak is the only hero 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

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.

• 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 be lacking. If mounted on a Terradon, their speed will be unparalleled; 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) - The lore of beasts, though filled with supporting spells and a few offensive powers, is arguably the least useful lore of magic at your disposal. The one major niche that Beast Skinks are taken at all for is the Transformation of Kadon, as Feral Manticores can easily be summoned in a position to flank exposed artillery, mages or ranged infantry without giving your opponent much time to respond to their approach. Though the supporting spells are still certainly useful, they pale compared to the raw damage output your other lores are capable of achieving.

• 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. 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.

Units

All lizardmen units are available in standard and 'blessed' variants. Blessed units are only made available by completing random missions, such as killing 1000 units or winning 4 battles, but make up for their randomness and limited quantity by being free to recruit and having the statline of a fully-trained, level nine version of their unit. This means you can create a powerful late-game army very quickly if you have the reserves available.

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 decently capable of fighting similar units and winning (namely 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) - Angry skinks wielding poisonous, armor piercing warhammers. RC skinks are one of the few units in the lizardmen roster that can be considered "glass cannons" and hold an invaluable niche as a source as cheap, frontline anti-armor damage. 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) - 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. 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're losing money.

• 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.
  • Legion of Chaqua (RoR, DLC) - 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 Guard - The fearsome Temple Guard, 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. 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 against large foes and armor piercing weaponry lets them effectively face down virtually any type of melee unit in combat. 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.
  • Star-Chamber Guardians (RoR, DLC) - 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. 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.

Ranged 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. Once they throw all their javelins, they're identical to the default skink cohort in virtually every way.

• 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.

• 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 a 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.

Monstrous Infantry

• Kroxigors - Kroxigors, as to be expected from 9-foot tall crocodile men, are beastly infantry blenders who can carve through lower tier units with relative ease and are sturdy enough to hold back more elite units for your more capable specialists. Though quite tanky, they, like much of your list, are slow and vulnerable to ranged and anti-large weaponry. Just like in the tabletop, they pair fantastically with supporting skinks to flank and tie up enemy forces or debuff them to make them even more vulnerable to the kroxigors.

• Sacred Kroxigors (DLC) - Kroxigors with power fists. These magical boxing gloves turn your kroxigors into all-purpose ass pounders who punch holes in armored foes with ease 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). They are straight-up better than kroxigors, so if you have access to these, use them instead.
  • Cohort of Huatl (RoR, DLC) - Sacred kroxigors who give even less of a fuck about physical attacks directed towards them 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.

• Cold One Riders -

• Cold One Spear-Riders -

• Horned Ones -

• 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, 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.

• 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 fire splash damage, inflicting greater damage overall and dealing higher leadership losses. They still carry stone bombs, which can be devastatingly effective when used in concert with a line of saurus warriors pinning enemy melee units.

• Ripperdactyl Riders (DLC) - The obsidian knife of lizardmen flyers. Ripperdactyls can deal out a decent amount of damage for their low unit size, however they are squishy and will take damage quickly and either rout or rampage far sooner than you might expect. Do not expect them to win battles against most infantry units by the time you're able to recruit them. If you use them to harass enemy archers or artillery, make sure you pay attention to them and do not let the enemy catch them with dedicated melee units. You will generally not want more than one in your army unless it's Tiktaqto's army, where some of their weakness is negated by his unique skills.

Hunting Packs

• Salamander Hunting Pack (DLC) - Frankly speaking, salamander hunting packs are your strongest mid-range unit choice and among the better offensive units in the game. Though exceedingly fragile, salamanders can deal a punishing amount of damage to a wide selection of enemy units thanks to their armor-piercing fireballs. They're also quite swift and can outrun regular infantry with ease, allowing them to easily flank enemy frontlines and get to the tender ranged units in the rear or unleash a fiery fusillade upon the backs of your enemy while your saurus hold them in place. Salamanders can also fight in melee if they run out of "ammo", though this should only be a last resort due to their low defenses. Lastly, salamanders are extremely vulnerable to being chased down by cavalry, so having a unit or two of Cold One Spear-Riders two countercharge such units is advised.
  • The Umbral Tide (RoR, DLC) - Sneaky salamander hunting packs, the Umbral Tide is able to utilize its Stalk ability to covertly cross a majority of the battlefields you may find yourself on and can easily set up an ambush against unsuspecting opponents.

• Razordon Hunting Pack (DLC) - Spikier, tougher versions of salamander hunting packs, razordons lack the flaming attacks that salamanders have but are considerably more durable (due to being armored) and have a much easier time engaging targets on uneven terrain due to being able to lob their shots. In terms of pure damage output, they are inferior to salamanders (if only slightly), though the difference is relatively minor.

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.

• 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. 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.

• 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) - A beefed up ancient stegadon that randomly calls down bolts of lighting, 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) - 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. Though limited to only two uses, the Engine of the Gods can deal devastating damage to infantry focused lists if used at just the right moment and is particularly effective when fired into choke points. Otherwise, you just have a slightly shinier ancient stegadon.

• 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.

• 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. Of course, when the going gets tough, there's still a fully functional bastilidon carrying that Solar Engine.

• 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. As a bastilidon variant, it can also throw itself into combat with little fear.

• Ark of Sotek Bastilodon (DLC) - 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 is usually worth springing for if only for the added source of poison to aid in the invariable mosh pits bastilidons often find themselves in.

• Ancient Salamander (DLC) - 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 anything your opponent has to offer with jaw dropping ease.

• Feral Carnosaur - An offensive machine, the apex predator of Lustria (you know, conventionally) and signature monster of the lizardmen, the carnosaur is a ferocious beast that specializes in hunting other monsters and cavalry 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.

• Feral Dread Saurian (DLC) - 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 ranged attacks isn't even a conceivable concept for the dread saurian and it will take tremendous damage on the approach and from the sheer volume of bodies capable of surrounding it and poking it with anti-armor/anti-large sticks. 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 (ideally a life slann) if you're bringing one.

• Dread Saurian (DLC) - 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) - 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 compliment of veterency 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.