Rare
The better of the two Stegadons we can get, the Ancient
Stegadon exchanges an Initiative, an Attack, the Giant Bow, and its 4+ Scaly
Skin for an extra Strength, Giant Blowpipes, and a 3+ Scaly Skin. It has the
same two upgrades that the regular Stegadon had and can also upgrade its Giant
Blowpipes to an Engine of the Gods.
The loss of an Initiative doesn’t make too much difference as
it wasn’t great to begin with. The loss of an Attack is slightly more impactful
but a Stegadon does most of its damage through Thunderstomps and Impact Hits.
On that subject the extra point of Strength the Ancient has over the regular
Stegadon improves makes these Strength 6. Strength 6 Thunderstomps and D6+1
Impact Hits combined with an above average resilience allows the Ancient
Stegadon to go toe to toe with most infantry. The only other monster we have
that I would not be afraid of sending into combat alone is the Carnosaur.
I’d still suggest giving Unstoppable Stampede a miss, but I
would always take the Sharpened Horns upgrade unless you knew for a fact you
wouldn’t be facing any multi-wound models. With that in mind always try to get
the charge with this. Without the charge you are missing out on a lot of this
monsters potential. If you are taking a Slann with High Magic, an Ancient
Stegadon is one of the best targets for Walk Between Worlds. This can really
help get it up there early and threatening the flanks or rears of units.
For the howdah weaponry, the five Skinks have access to two
Giant Blowpipes. These get 2D6 poisoned S3 shots each at a range of 18”.
Unfortunately the Skinks BS3 limits the amount of damage these can do. If you
want to benefit from poison you will need to either not move and fire at the
full range, or move into half range. A lot of the time when you are moving to
within half range you would have been better attempting a charge, but there are
times when the charge would have been disadvantageous or perhaps the enemy is
lightly armoured so the 4D6 (8D6 if you take into account any Stand and Shoot)
poisoned attacks has the potential to be more effective against them.
Statistically, each time you fire a Giant Blowpipe you will manage slightly
more than two wounds so they are not to be relied on.
Upgrading the Giant Blowpipes to an Engine of the Gods is
relatively expensive but it does provide three handy abilities. The first
ability reduces the casting values of a BRB Lores spells by 1 until the start
of your next magic phase. The obvious use for this is to help Skink Priests
cast Wyssan’s Wildform more reliably. The Ancient Stegadon itself is a good
target for Wyssan’s as Strength and Toughness 7 help it deal and take more
damage. This ability can help the opponents wizards too so bare that in mind
when choosing which Lore to make easier to cast. Lore of Beasts is relatively
unpopular so that is handy though your mileage may vary there.
The second ability it grants is a Power Level 3 Bound Spell.
It is a direct damage spell that targets every enemy unit within 4D6” and deals
D6 S4 Flaming hits. An FAQ is needed to determine if it can hit enemy units in
close combat. I’m assuming not due to the fact it’s a direct damage spell and
the use of the word target. If you can move into a good position the effect has
the potential to be a lot better than the Beam of Chotec. The Beam of Chotec is
much better against a single target while this is better if you can hit
multiple.
The final ability gives a 6+ Ward Save to the Ancient
Stegadon and all friendly units within 6”. The effect isn’t strong enough to be
relied upon but can’t complain too much about it. It provides the Ancient with
a little extra protection from cannons, and makes the choice between Spear and
Hand Weapon Saurus much easier as long as they are kept near the Engine.
Overall, the Ancient Stegadon is great. I would consider it
the strongest monster Lizardmen have access to and you can’t go wrong adding
one, or better yet two, to a list. Unlike the regular Stegadon which is all
about the howdah weaponry, the Ancient is all about the Impact Hits and
Thunderstomp. The extra Strength really helps. I’d suggest taking Sharpened
Horns every time. The Engine of the Gods has gotten a lot of flak but that is
just a knee jerk reaction to the nerf it got in my opinion. I don’t think
taking one in a list would be a bad call but it isn’t an auto include like it
used to be.
Salamander Hunting
Pack
A fire thrower on legs, Salamanders are great and are own of
our best counters to hordes. They are fairly good in close combat but you
shouldn’t be taking enough of these in a unit to take advantage of this. They
can handle a unit of chaff reasonably well but don’t intentionally get into
combat with much else.
The reason you take Salamanders is their Spout Flames rule.
This shoots as a fire thrower at S4 and is Flaming and Slow to Fire. It can be
fired on the move but not if it marches despite being a Skirmisher. Like the
Ancient Stegadon, Salamanders are a great target for Walk Between Worlds. This
helps line up better shots and makes torching a unit down its width easier.
The Strength 4 breath template will work wonders against any
T3 infantry, especially if they are on 20mm bases. They really help thin out
units like elves or skaven. Spout Flames is much less effective against 25mm
and up, especially as these tend to be more heavily armoured or have multiple
wounds. It can still be used to cause Panic Tests on these units as only one
casualty is needed for this.
I would suggest taking a unit or two of 1-2 of these
guys in most lists. They are one of the Lizardmen’s best anti-horde units and the only unit that
can handle them at range.
Razordon Hunting Pack
Identical to the Salamanders, but 15pts cheaper with an
additional rule and it is a walking grapeshot generator rather than a walking
fire thrower.
Their shooting attack is fired like grapeshot but at S4, a
range of 18” and it is Quick to Fire. This can be used if they move, but not if
they march. The additional rule they have means that Razordons must Stand and
Shoot if charged, but they can reroll the artillery dice to see how many shots
are fired. This means that whereas Salamanders could not Stand and Shoot,
Razordons always can, and even improve when they do. This is useful as their
ranged attack has a short range meaning that getting charged will be a very
real possibility.
One issue with Razordons is that they are probably going to
only be hitting on 6’s due to long range and moving, or long range and being
charged. Razordons are therefore one of the few units in the book that are a
good target for a BS boosting Hand of Glory. To take full advantage of this,
bigger squads will be better. Bigger squads will also have the advantage of
making them better in close combat, but I’d still recommend not charging them
into combat. If there are no other targets in range and the enemy unit is
already engaged then it’s fine to let the Razordons lend their weight to the fight.
Razordons are not a bad choice but I wouldn’t rate them as
highly as Salamanders. Against armies such as Ogres the Razordons can do more
damage than Salamanders but overall the Salamanders are just more useful. If
you do decide to take Razordons, I’d suggest a unit of 4-5 of them. This
ensures that they get enough shots to be significant, and makes Hand of Glory
and their combat ability more effective.
Troglodon
The last unit in the book and the third new unit, the
Troglodon is pretty mediocre which is a shame as I like the model. It has
average to below average stats for a monster. It’s one option is fairly cheap
and allows it to channel power and dispel dice. It has four abilities of note.
The first is Arcane Vassal. Combined with the Troglodon’s high
Movement 7, this gives you access to a fast moving conduit to cast a Slann’s spells
through. However, the Troglodon isn’t really able to roam up field by himself;
he just isn’t that survivable. Like the Bastiladon, the Troglodon should really
be staying back with the Saurus and Temple Guard.
The second is Terror. Fairly straightforward. This can cause
enemy units to flee when charged and can cause them to take a Fear test in close
combat. Good ability to have and can help make up for its mediocre WS.
The third is Primeval Roar. This is one of the reasons why
it should hang back with the Saurus and Temple Guard. Once per battle, the
Troglodon can roar causing itself and friendly units within 12” to gain an
extra attack on a 5+ rather than on a 6 from Predatory Fighter for a combat
phase. This has potential but you will need to use it when it affects multiple units
to have it achieve much as it will usually only gain you an extra wound or two
per unit.
The fourth ability is Spit Venom. This is a 18” range S5 poisoned
shooting attack with the Quick to Fire and Multiple Wounds (D3) special rules. It’s
better than nothing but it isn’t anything special. You’ll generally only be
hitting on 5’s so don’t expect too much from this.
The Troglodon also has the Poisoned Attacks and Predatory
Fighter special rules, but with only three Attacks they won’t achieve much.
The Troglodon tries to do a bit of everything in every phase
and just ends up being mediocre in them all. If it was 30-40pts cheaper then I
think it would be a viable choice but it is just too expensive at its current
price in my opinion. If I were to take one I would march it up a flank on turn
one to get in a good position for Arcane Vassal. Turn two/three I would use it
to clear chaff through Terror and combat/spit venom at monsters/support
Chameleon Skinks/try not to get bogged down or die. Once the Saurus catch up
and start engaging the opponents units the Troglodon can come in from the flank,
lending its Thunderstomps and Roar to the combat. It’s not a great plan but it’s
about as useful as I think it could be. I could just be missing something with
these. If I am, do feel free to leave a post in the comments. I’d love to know
how to use them
Summary
- Ancient Stegadons are great and you should always take the Sharpened Horns upgrade. Engine of the Gods isn’t an auto-include but one can be useful in a list.
- Salamanders are great. I’d suggest taking one or two units with one or two models in each.
- Razordons are good too. Not as great as Salamanders but they aren’t bad. A unit of 4-5 would work best in my opinion.
- Troglodon is disappointing. It tries to do a bit of everything and ends up being mediocre at everything. It’s generally better to just spend the points on another Ancient Stegadon or anything really.
And that’s the Rare section finished. Next up is the Special Characters, then I’ll have one final
article giving my overall impressions of the book and compiling it all together
into an army list or two over the weekend. If you managed to stick through my
rambling till the end, I hope it was in some way helpful. Leave any feedback
you want and let me know if I have gotten anything wrong or missed something somewhere.
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