Complete Lizardmen tactica

Complete Lizardmen tactica
OVERVIEW: The Lizardmen of Lustria are the army of the steady advance, largely because of their cold-blooded personalities. This army is almost impossible to slow down when they march as you can't break them, cause an all out panic or use massed missle power to keep them from advancing. Despite limited troop selection, the lizardmen remain a flexible army but one thing is for certain, they always advance for their archers need short range and are easy targets for longbowmen, their general is a hth monster but needs to get into hth and their battleline RARELY breaks. Yet, the lizardmen are plaqued with a notorious lack of flyers and flying mounts. The most dangerous flyer you can have is a skink hero on a terradon (oh the fear that won't cause!) and only two troops get 3d6 for pursuit, cold one riders and terradons, both fragile troops.

OVERALL STRENGTHS:

SMP are about the toughest characters in the game.
SMP start with a unmodified 4+ save
SMP in smaller games combine cost of general/wizard and standard bearer into one affordable package.
Cheap St4 archers.
Cheap wizards who can carry 2 magic items.
Saurus heroes as powerful as most lord level characters.
Extremely quick infantry.
Aquatic troops which can shoot from impassible water terrain.
Ability to skirmish in MASS NUMBERS
St 4 T4 2 attack basic infantry troops!
Cold Blooded Test for ALL leadership tests 3d6 (they never break or panic!) and if you don't catch them on the pursuit they rally.
Kroxigors can provide needed leadership for skinks.
Stegadons combining monster/charriot/bolt throwers and defensive platforms for skink characters.
Good infantry saves with an unmodifiable 6+ save.
Some of the best race only magic items

WEAKNESSES:

SMP is expensice and a large target.
SMP has horrible movement with no ability to fly.
NO NO NO flying ability other than terradons.
Abismal lack of monsters.
Very limited troop selection.
Extremely limited ability to get a 3d6 pursuer.
Icky Initiative.
Poor WS.
No infiltrators means you will be going straight through the enemy lines!
Average BS made worse by the fact you USUALLY need to move to hit anything and will hit from long range (ie 6 to hit!)
FEAR THE BLACK GEM!!!!!! (Unless allowed the Blade of Cocacila).

BASIC STRATEGIES:

STEADY ADVANCE: Put Your Troops in a Standard Battle Line. SMP in middle with temple guard, Saurus warriors to the sides, Stegadons on the flanks. Get a cheap swarm or two to protect the rear, use skinsk to screen your advance and just move slowly towards your enemy. No amount of massed missle fire will break these troops, your skinks are expendible and will block your main units from taking a charge (plus their stand and shoot is not half bad!)
PART THE WATERS: This strategy relies on the massive destructive power of stegadons along with their relatively good movement. Get two SMPs (they don't have to be Lords) and place one on each flank. Alternatively, place the SMP on one flank and use Cold One Riders on the other flank with skink screens. The Stegadons on their charge (especially if you add a skink hero/w 2 handed weapon and potion of strength and the banner of might of course) will do such enormous damage that the middle of the enemy's battle line will crumble leaving the enemy fighting two flank battles! Just run the stegadons back and forth through the middle. SMP's advance slowly to battle the bewildered remains to the enemies army.
PICK AND ROLL: One of my favorite Lizardmen tactics is to use a serated battle line. . .like this . . . . .
```
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sssssss       tttttttt
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                 ttttttttt
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skinks in mass behind the serated ranks in small units.

Once the battle line is set and the charges complete, help the saurus warriors and temple guards push back the enemy line with SKINKS which either run through the space between the temple guard and saurus spearmen OR swing around the flanks to get behind enemy lines. In either rate, soon after the charge, your skinks will be busting ranks or hitting vulnerable missile and war machine crews.
COLLAPSING OFFENSE: This strategy takes into account the fantastic ability of Lizardmen troops to rally. Place a large unit of skinks forward with saurus warriors immediately behind them. The skinks advance, firing when they can (even though they will only hit 1/6) and the skinks bear the charge with their formidable stand and shoot. Of course, the skinks break. Do you want to pursue the skinks only to be thrown into saurus spearmen (that will be 3str4 attacks with T4. . .mucho better than HE citizen levies for taking a charge)? Now you sauruses are great at sticking around even when they lose a round of combat so your next move is to reinforce the battle with kroxigors, more skinks to break rank bonus etc. Meanwhile, your stegadons/cold riders with a skink screen have advanced nicely behind enemy lines to deal with reserves, shooters or war machine crews. Let the skinks take the charge. That always allows you to a) get your expensive troops out of the way or b) counter-charge with a vengence. This is the collapsing offense because once the skinks stand and shoot (and absorb the charge) you can COUNT on the front line collapsing and causing your combat troops to come to bear. This strategy works because it is almost impossible to cause panic in lizardmen troops. . . .they won't trun and run just because the archers do!

REGIMENT ANALYSIS (Always think in terms of Regiments 1st):

TEMPLE GUARD: The elite of your basic st4,t4 2 attack troops (kinda sick they need an elite hehehehe). Best thing about the temple guard is there extra pip of WS. Halberds are always nice, expecially when you face knights. Cold Blooded LD of 8 means unless they are slaughtered in combat they stick around. If facing a barrage of missle fire, consider temple guard to bear the longbow fire. With T4 and a save of 3+, Only about one in ten shots at long range from a WS5 WE scout will wound and get through the save. Not bad all things considered..

SAURUS WARRIORS: Darn GW gives you plastic sauruses with hand weapons then allows you to buy spears for only one point more! Always go for spears unless your pocket book does not allow it. Saurus spearmen are the most vicious in the Warhammer World. You get 3 st 4 attacks. Your troops have T4, a 4+ save which includes and unmodifiable 6+ save and are cold blooded. Saurus warriors can stand up and survive most any charge allowing their reserves to get stuck in and break that enemy's rank and will. Saurus Warriors are extremely suceptible to initiative based magic. Of course, Lizardmen are wonderful at dispelling enemy magic as High Mages :)

SKINK WARRIORS: Some of the best cheap regimental troops out there. Sure they are squishy and die BUT remember you only get VP if you destroy a unit or have it fleeing at the end of the game! Skinks always rally, rarely fail a panic test and can cheaply unleash a volley of St4 and St5 missle hits (Strength 5 coming from a javelin carrying champion)! Use in small units and skirmish. Extremely fast with M6, these guys will screen anything from your stegadons, cold one riders to kroxigor units. Just make sure there is something your enemy will pursue into (even another unit of skinks!) Aquatic ability can be a lot of fun with the right terrain, especially a river. As skirmishers, skinks make wonderful screens for your flanks. Skinks. . . .then unleash a devastating hail of javelins and arrows and then flee safely away. Meanwhile, the enemy runs into a nasty set of saurus spears. The skinks next turn will of course rally and be able to charge the following turn, if the sauruses can't break the enemy in one turn. The greatest use for skinks is to remember their DOUBLE PACE rule as skirmishers means they move 12" right through engaged enemy troops, just leave a little bit of room in the battle line to run them through and so they can see the enemy (very important). By holding some skinks right behind your main assault forces. . . .rest assured that the skinks will get behind enemy lines and will break rank bonuses a lot on subsequent rounds. Another use of skinks, is as cheap scirmishers they double pace! That means that even if they are within 8" of the enemy they move 12" which gives them PLENTY of room to double pace through opennings in your cohort battle line, helping the sauruses out by QUICKLY getting BOTH flank and rear attacks! 22.5 pts per set of five rank breakers.

COLD ONE RIDERS: Don't dismiss these guys just yet. Remember, you have a wonderful screen in skinks that can move the cold ones forward with little fear they will be shot at or charged. T2 is your great weakness granted! But against St3 troops such as archers, basic humans and even spearmen, the incredible save of the cold ones 3+ with their St5 and 2St4 attacks should win the combat. If they flee GREAT, they flee 3d6. I often use them to stop or slow down the enemy infantry.Place them forward, seriously! They can get the charge on most any troop. Sure they will get beat up and flee but they flee 3d6. The enemy won't catch them and they sure will rally. Play with this for a while and you will see how by charging the enemy then having to flee you will wind up USUALLY being able to charge and not be charged with your second battle line troops. Cld One Riders are great fun against troops that must pursue, you know pursue right into the charge range of the SMP with temple guard. You can really have fun with this. This also works to keep frenzied troops from ever doing anything. March up close to them on the flank, they must charge. Your charge reaction is to to to FLEE. You rally on your next phase and just move up to where they have to charge you again. Bye bye plaque monks! Use a skink hero to get ld7 if you are going to do this. Fun to use the skink hero on a cold one with the cloak of feathers/black gem. Get rid of that nasty mage! You can count on your cold ones being able to charge something really quickly!

KROXIGORS: With 3St7 attacks and 3 wounds, these guys have hitting and staying power even if they strike last. They also give your skinks LD9. Here are just a few uses for them. #1 Place them in their own unit just BEHIND a unit of skirmishing skink archers. The archers of course stand and shoot, take a whipping and flee. Now the enemy gets to pursue right into these monstrosities (why not, they are going to hit last anyway!) Kroxigors are also wonderful at tearing apart enemy warmachines when the crews flee and chopping down any and all fords on river terrain. Within units of skinks, Kroxigors pose a rude choice for your opponent to make. Slaughter the skinks for combat resolution and get pounded by the Kroxigors, or try to harm the Kroxigors, and give up a huge, cheap rank bonus. This problem is compounded if you use a skink champion and hero. God knows what magic items you have on them! Kroxigors with 8-10 skinks are a powerful small mission unit, able to do anything from attack a flank to advance on enemy archers (sure you lose a few skinks but the Kroxigor will beat the snot outta the archers), or hold off enemy flankers.

TERRADON: The only flyers the Lizardmen EVER Get. Terradons are prone to mass missle fire and have squishy T2. Yet, if you can protect them, their charge can be amazing (auto St6 hit with 4 st 4 hits). Focus on quieting enemy war machines (you'll lose the rocks there :(). Skink heroes on Terradons are effective because of their manueverability and cheap cost. They can deliver a potent message (Black gem, heart of woe etc). Sometimes, you can catch and smash a lone enemy character.

STEGADON: The combination monster (low ws), charriot (st5 hits), and bolt thrower (low Bs and allows an armor save). . .is one of the best units in the lizardman army. First, each model can take a magic standard, leading to great combinations of the banner of might (help them skinks and steggies hit) and the dread banner. Stegadons are the best place to put your skink shaman as it is extremely hard to hit a character in a howdah. First, you must randomize where you hit. Then, if you hit a crew member, you randomize which crew member. OUCH! Every Stegadon should have a cheap skink hero with a halberd or double handed weapon to help with the combat resolution. Stegadon's giant bows rarely hit anything as you are almost always moving but they do provide 2 extra crew for randomization so their real cost is only 8pts. Don't forget that the spears will do St4 damage on the charge! Make sure these guys charge byplacing a unit of skinks in front to absorb enemy charges.

CHARACTERS

SMP: Great big giant toads that are large targets (bad side), but have a free 4+ special save (good side). The bigger toads are some of the nastiest characters or monsters in the game, especially with 4 high magic spells and 5 magic items on top of 8 attacks and 8 wounds. COSTLY to field the large toadies. Often, I find it more intimidating to place a few low level Slann on the board. A level 1 Slann is every bit as tough as the best hero and comes with a free 4+ special save. Compared to elves, they cost the same. A level 2 SMP has the stats of a Lord Character (with lance) and has an extra wound. and can carry the full quota of magic items for a Lord. Again, the SMP has 2 spells and the special 4+ save making him a real bargain. 80 pts for the 4+ special save, 2 spells and St 6 over an elf. The horrible costs you hear about come from when you want a Lvl 3 or 4 mage! 2 level2 SMPs often are more than adequate for smaller games or tournaments. In a larger game without the restriction on magic items, a LEVEL 4 SMP with the blade of coca-cila and crown of command is just about impossible to beat, but easy to avoid. SMP's biggest weakness is a movement of only 4". Jaguar banner helps some, but still, your mages and lords can not fly and the jaguar standard won't let you catch fast troops that want to avoid you. It's not that SMPs are expensive per se it is that the points are so CONCENTRATED in one model!

SAURUS HERO: Extremely tough and low cost. Unfortunately, this guy can't ride anything. S5T5 HEROES are better than almost any races Lord Characters. You don't need to take a magic weapon as St6 (with halberd) covers it. Good Cheap strong attacks!

SKINK HERO: Fantastically cheap hero if you can get by the low toughness. Skink Heroes belong in Howdahs with either double handed weapons or halberds! Skink Heroes are also particularly useful on terradons delivering nice messages such as the black gem or heart of woe.

SKINK CHAMPION: 20pts for a BS 4 St4 bow attack not entirely bad. If skinks get hit by something huge (flying terrors) it's ok for them to run but why have the unit destroyed when the champion can foolishly challenge???

SAURUS CHAMPIONS: 32 pts for 3 Str 5 attacks which can EASILY be 2 St6 attacks and a st5 attack with toughness 4. Very Cheap and Very powerful character. Sword of swift slaying and most any opponent will fair poorly. Imagine this guy with the armor of protection. With a shield he would have a 1+ save along with a 6+ unmodifiable save and a 4+ special save, which equals a 3+ equivalent unmodifiable save!!!! Good chance he can handle a calvery attack and strike back with 2st6 and a st5 flury of attacks.

SLANN ONLY MAGIC ITEMS:

Cloak of Feathers: Wonderful item (does cost a magic slot though) to get a hero off where he is needed, BUT you must be able to get into combat. A saurus hero with this and a good +attack weapon will quickly dispense of an enemy war machine crews. However, you can COUNT on skinks with 6" movement quickly getting into combat. Black gem/cloak of feathers is particularly nasty especailly because you can attack then gem.

BANE HEAD: A very good magic item despite what others say. Often if you can do double wounds you WILL kill a character in a round, especially a general or mage where otherwise, they would have an opportunity to strike back. If you get the general or mage baned, I assure you your opponent will be far more careful with them. Another great chaaracter to bane is the hero riding a monster. Bane him and then quickly attack with terradons. I like the staff of lightning with the bane head. Of course the best use is making his hth GOD characer think twice about picking a fight.

PLAQUE OF DOMINION: A bound spell which can be dispelled, but if it gets through its impact is devastating especially with saurus temple guard with champion or the Kroxigors with double handed axes cracking armor. The magic item is so potent most armies will keep a dispel stored each round to just avoid its effects.

AMULET OF XAPATI: 3+ dispel with no modifications. Nice. You can then cast one of your own spells for free. Pretty good, but can your opponent attempt to dispel it? MOST IMPORTANTLY, after you dispel one spell, your enemy's magic phase is OVER. This is again one of the magic items which is expected by the enemy and often he will not try to cast magic at a SMP assuming the SMP has this item.

BLADE OF COCACILA: One of the best magic items in the game. Your basic St 6 will ensure you can wound what you attack and NO magic items will work in contact with you, BUT all yours continue working (unlike sword of destruction!). Once you wound, a magic item is destroyed so if the character flees he still is disadvantaged. Wizards hate this blade!!!! Strongest anti-magic item in the game a virtual automatic ring of corin! Great fun to take two SMPs and have one take Blade of Cocila and the other take the Sword of Destruction.

Potential Tournament Army

10 Temple Guard with light armor and shield 256pts
Standard-Jaguar Standard

16 Skinks with Bow,poison and standard 183.5pts
2Kroxigor

10 Skinks with bows, poison and standard 60pts

8 Skinks with bows, poison and standard 49.5

8 Skninks with bows, poison and standard 49.5

Stegadon-with Great Bow and 4 Crew -295pts
Standard of Might

3 Terradons with spears and shields 135pts

Skink Hero with double handed weapon (rides in Stegadon): 60pts
Armour of Fortune (Effectively gives hero a 4+ special save)

Skink Shaman (rides in Howdah):141
Ring of Corin
Skull Staff
(Run in check the magic defenses and destroy them!)

Skink Hero with halberd 78pts
Black Gem

SMP Champion (General in Temple Guard) 700pts even.
Sword of Swift Slaying (Not much will whip him when he strikes first!)
Black Amulet (Just in case)
Rod of Power
Plaque of Dominion (Always!)
Battle Standard w/banner of sorcery
Hon Mention: Crown of Command (I guess with Sword of Swift Slaying I can't see you winning combat by much plus I have +5combat resolution to start!)

The two skink heroes ensure that the stegadon will CRUSH any opponent. After all you now have, 5 st 7 hits and 3 st 9 hits and 3 st 5 hits along with all the other skinks and the impact hits. The Black Gem is to prevent icky terror causing monsters from hitting the stegadon OR to rush in and gem the enemy wizard or general :) Take advantage of the randomness of hits 1/3 hit a skink crew and the randomizing of which skink crew is hit (which is why you might want to add more crew members to protect the heroes and mage. I just like 295pts :)) Small Kroxigor/skink unit can provide combat resolution for stegadon charges (they charge flanks if possible) , provide a flank for the SMP or handle anything that gets behind enemy lines (infiltrators etc!). One skirmishing skink unit screens advance while others are used AFTER the enemy engages to double pace through gaps in the battle line and hit from behind! 12" :) They have many uses but often wind up costing you 2 Vps.

Written by: Richard Kottmeyer