Posts tagged Lizardmen
Part 2 Round Based Man, Square Based World
Oct 11th
Hi folks
So week 2 and another game played with my beloved Lizardmen, this time at 2,500 points which I’m reliably informed is widely championed as the new default tournament level. I played Gabhann and his Warriors of Chaos and being a 7th ed tournament veteran and all round good guy I expected a quality game. Once again a huge number of things learned…and shockingly a similarity discovered with 40k which is probably a good place to start.
People have started in Fantasy to construct what are described in 40k terms “deathstar units”. These deathstars are big units, often 50 or so strong and are designed to march up the field and act as something virtually unkillable to enemy units under regular circumstances (often deployed in horded units with spears for maximum kill potential) In my case its a unit of 50 sauras waddling up the field to beat the crap out anything they come near(which they did very well last night thank you very much) Another one I’ve heard of is the giant night goblin unit of 120 or so guys, or the big unit or lothern sea guard. That should be interesting and somewhat similar to the diversified nob squads of doom from 40k (At least in application if not composition)
Secondly shooting is all well and good, BUT (yes its a big but) its not the game winner that it tends to be in the 41st millennium. My current 2,500 list had 4 units of blowpipe toting skinks which I’ll not lie did not set the world alight with their performance. This view of course might have something to do with going up against an army of high toughness high armour save chaos warriors (not to mention the every annoying mark or nurgle) but I still think 2 units of 10 skinks with blowpipes might suit me better and allow for more bells and whistle on other units.
An exception to this thinking on shooting are my Salamanders who were an absolute revelation. I’ll be keeping my unit of 3 of them as they seem to work regardless of occasion 
I might even consider a second unit of these incredibly useful beasts
Last but by no means least of this weeks lessons is that magic is not all about blowing the crap out of stuff. Game 1 saw me go all out with a super destructive Lore of Death toting Slann trying to zap units left and right with the already infamous “Purple Sun”. This week saw me going for a little more tree hugging hemp trouser wearing Slann using the Lore of Life. It too has its uber killy spell in the form of the excellent “Dwellers Below” (str test or die) but the buff, debuff and counter nature of the rest of the lore really appeals to me (of particular note being Thrown of Vines which lets you throw around the dice “goodoh” without any major worries miscasting while improving all the buff spells in the lore). In fact I didn’t once find occasion where I didn’t have at least 2 things I wanted to cast. I may try it in my game next week too, or have a crack at the lore of light. Who wouldn’t want an Int and WS 10 stegadon eh
Anyway guys comments would be most welcome as I’m pretty much flying blind here on the list building.
Until next week
Mandragoran
Round Based Man, Square Based World
Aug 13th
Heya Lads
For those of you that don’t know me you may not know that I’m a rather conspicuous player of all things 41st Millennium. Yes thats right I’m a 40k player and I shoot lasers. So much so that I somehow ended up brining a band of raggamuffins to this year’s ETC as Captain…But enough of that and on to the important business of talking about games
Over the last few months I’ve had my appetite whetted in a serious way for all things fantasy. The 8th ed teasers really struck a chord with me and so I decided that it was about time that I give WHFB a proper go. Now this is not to say I’d never played before, I do have a Wood Elf army. But in a lot of ways these guys aren’t your typical fantasy army as they don’t rely on blocks, magic or big monsters to do their business. So I set me sights on collecting an army that used all three. Which of course led me to Lizardmen, God bless them but they’re awesome.
So in a really round about way this is a blog chronicling me “Mr 40K” playing the “real mans game” with my lizards in 8th Edition.
One game in and heres what I’ve found
1. Big blocks are super important: Gone are the days of 20-30 infantry units, its more like 40-50 as the Warhammer world seems to be a brutal place where your troops drop like flies. Thusly you need staying power and that dear friends comes from buying big units. My weapon of choice in this case is a block of 50 sauras
2. Movement: A lot of 40k players claim that WHFB has a very restrictive movement set up. I haven’t found that to be the case at all. Sure a block of infantry is hard to turn but doesn’t that in many ways make sense. Plus with the net increase in charge distances for a lot of units with 8th ed lack of movement hasn’t really hit me as of yet
3. Magic: Magic is truly awesome! There are spells all over that are game winners. A good number of folks have been drawn to the Lore of Death and its Purple Sun of Game Winning, I personally don’t feel I have a handle on the lores yet so that will require a number of games to get right. I get the feeling that theres something for everyone in 8th ed magic and I look forward to finding my magical niche
Anywho thats me guys…The plan is to be back next week with more findings. But here’s the most important so far. Its a whole lot of fun being a round based man in a square based world!
Til next week
Mandragoran
