Lizardmen Review: Army Special Rules and Magic Items Tactica

Haven't posted in a long while now. Got a lot of spare time on my hands lately so I figured I should try reinvigorating the blog. As all of my armies have been updated recently, I decided I would share my thoughts and opinions and write a Tactica on each of them. I'm starting with the Lizardmen for Fantasy as they came out first and I will break it into manageable chunks.

I don't claim to be an expert, but I've picked up a thing or two over the years and you can judge for yourself.

Army Special Rules

Cold-blooded

This is a great special rule that allows you to roll an extra dice for Leadership tests and then discard the highest. Combined with a decent Leadership value, a Slann General, and a BSB, it’ll take a big beating to have your Saurus failing Leadership tests. Skinks tend to have a less respectable Leadership of 5. Cold-blooded or not, Leadership 5 sucks so be careful with Skink units.

Predatory Fighter

When a model with this rule rolls a 6 to hit it gets another attack. RAW only models in the first rank can benefit from this rule as supporting models can never get an extra attack from any source. RAI is a bit unclear but most lean towards all attacks gaining the extra attack.

In addition, unless there is a nearby Skink character, units with this rule cannot restrain pursuit.

This rule gives a little but takes a lot. The extra attacks are nice, but are not game changing. On the other hand, always having to pursue after combat can lose you the game. A clever opponent can use this to their advantage by using a throw away unit. This can result in either your unit being taken out of the game by moving off into the corner of a board or else getting flank charged by another unit fairly easily. This is a good reason to have a Skink Priest or two throughout your battle line.

Aquatic

Many non-monster, non-skink units have this rule. It will rarely come up but could be handy when it does. It gives them the Marshland and River Strider rules in addition to a few other benefits in water features.

Magic Items

The Blade of Unrealities

This weapon will take up an Oldblood’s entire Magic Item allowance. While negating all but Regeneration saves is great, a similar effect can be achieved at a fraction of the cost using a Great Weapon and The Other Trickster’s Shard. The inability to take any kind of ward save results in this being a mediocre choice at best.

Piranha Blade

Weighing in at half the price of The Blade of Realities, the Piranha Blade is worth considering. If you happen to face Ogres a lot this is a great choice as the Multiple Wounds D3 really helps pile on the wounds against them. Ogre armour saves also tend to be fairly average to poor so the S5 combined with Armour Piercing should suffice. In addition, Ogres are one of the few armies were the Initiative 3 of the Scar Veteran and Oldblood might come into effect.  

Note: Some have argued that as this weapon gives the wielder these special rules then it combos with the next Magic Item, the Stegadon Helm of Itza. Others argue that GW differentiates between the wielder and the bearer in situations like these so the effects only last when the Piranha Blade is actually being used. For purposes of this review I assumed that the Items did not combo as that seems to be the obvious RAI from my point of view. As with the Predatory Fighter special rule, we will just have to wait for GW to release an FAQ.

Sacred Stegadon Helm of Itza

The Sacred Stegadon Helm is a decent defensive item well worth considering. Toughness 6 characters are very resilient. Add D3 Impact Hits to the mix and you can make some pretty impressive characters. If you plan to take multiple Oldbloods/Scar Veterans then I’d suggest taking this on one.

Skavenpelt Banner

Initially I disregarded this as a cute fluffy option, but when I actually read it properly the effect it gave wasn’t all that bad. Giving Frenzy and Hatred (Skaven) to a unit is significant. However, the price prevents it from being a viable option in my opinion, even against Skaven. The cost is just too high. The fact that only the BSB can take it hurts, as a Scar Veteran or Skink Chief BSB with this will just be too squishy and the Slann should be taking the Banner of Discipline.

The Jaguar Standard

While this one doesn’t require a BSB to take it, I don’t see why you would bother. Even if I wanted an aggressive Temple Guard bunker I would probably just take the Razor Standard.

Cube of Darkness

Essentially a Dispel Scroll that costs 5 points more and only works on a 2+. It also dispels Remains in Play spells on a 2+. This can be incredibly useful depending on your opponent. If they are using Lore of Life you can let them cast the Throne of Vines, wait for their next spell and then two for one them (assuming they don’t Irresistible Force it). Be aware that it also affects your own Remains in Play spells so watch out for that. I would take a Dispel Scroll over this for the reliability but would take this over basically all other Arcane Items.

Plaque of Dominion

Even if you manage to get it off, it isn’t terribly useful. Not worth considering at all.

The Cloak of Feathers

Allows a Skink to Fly and provides a modicum of protection. It could perhaps be useful to get your Skink Priests in to a good position to use their Arcane Vassal rule or to curb the Saurus’ Predatory Fighter rule. Worth considering at least.

The Horn of Kygor

Not a fan. If it wasn’t a one use only ability, sure, but as it is I don’t think it is useful even in a Monster Mash style list. Don’t bother with it.

The Egg of Quango

Not a bad choice by any means. I would not fault any one for taking it. Similar to a breath weapon, but it goes off at the start of the combat phase. This is another thing that needs FAQ’d. It’s unclear whether this or challenges happen first, so it could be possible to unleash the Quango on the unit and then maul their character in a challenge as a nice one-two punch. It likely won’t see its way into my lists, but it is a tempting option.

That is it for the Army Special Rules and Magic Items. To sum it up:

• Predatory Fighter and Cold-blooded are the most important army special rules. Always be aware that you need a skink character nearby to allow you to refrain from pursuing. Getting redirected is bad and can lose you the game.
• Lizardmen Magic Items that are worth taking are the Piranha Blade, Sacred Stegadon Helm, and the Cube of Darkness. The Cloak of Feathers and the Egg of Quango are worth considering too.

Next up: Lords, Heroes, and the High Magic Lore