Lizardmen questions

[doom-kitten]

Hey I'm back don't wanna retype my whole adventure so in the unlikely event you care see my post in the 40K Discussion, to my point I've suddenly had the urge to got back to my Lizards after a test game where a Slann mage priest made me feel as if my carnosaur lord was overrated and overpriced for he's value on the table damn war machines (looking at you cannons). So anyway questions:
Suarus warriors I love them their awesome but wow a horde of them is like over 500 pts and I can't figure out whether to field them with Spears or Hand-weapons that new Parry save rocks but the idea of fours ranks of attacks is alot of attacks and I usually am the one being charged. Basically what do people find works best here?
Skinks I hate the little things they die fast and run alot the poison is nice but you need swarms to bring anything down and at 7 points a skirmisher or 5 a cohort guy I'm not feeling they do alot maybe I'd just using them wrong and tactics I can try to get them doing their thing right?
Fighting war machines I hate these thing their so uncool it makes fielding a Stegadon or two difficult and are way to easy to use like come on if you haven't figured out how to use them right you should probably find a different army any ideas on how to get them first I've tried terradons they work well once and Chameleon skinks are good but toughness 5+ makes it hard to get anywhere, plus I've had cannons crews take them in combat.

[novatomato]

Saurus Warriors don't get as much out of spears other core units do, the reason being they have two attacks base and so, with the step up rule, already have the same number of attacks as other core spear units. Conversely though, if you have a lot of warriors in a unit it can be worthwhile to get spears for them. The rule I go by is 25 and less always Hand Weapon and Shield, 25-30 its debatable either way, and 30+ go for spears
Skinks are amazing, this edition its best to get the little skirmisher chaps javelins. The little fellas die easily yes, so you've got to keep them out of fights and present better targets (ie big saurus blocks, stegadons etc). I would say that the true stars of the lizardmen army are skinks, not quite the normal chaps but the Chameleon Skinks, Terradon Riders and the Hunting packs. It is entirely possible to make an all skink army that is very competitive.
Warmachines are easy for lizards, always always always get two or three units of Chameleon Skinks. With their increased BS over the regular skinks, the Chamos can nearly always use the double shots on their blowpipes. Coupled with the scout rules they can put serious damage on any warmachine turn 1. Toughness has no matter in this instance as their shooting is Poisoned and shooting with double shot you've likely got 12-14 (6-7 chamo skinks) shots. That from a couple units and you're likely to drop a machine each turn.

[Atrocity]

Please, dear God, learn to use commas. Apart from that, a Slann should be your best friend. If you are competent at all with a Slann, he will completely out preform any Oldblood or Scar-Vet. If you're using a Temple Guard bunker, try giving him Focus of Mystery, The Becalming Cognition, and The Focused Rumination. Alternatively you can go Ghost Slann, which is giving him Higher State of Consciousness instead of one of the other disciplines and forgoing a the Temple Guard.

As far as Saurus with spears goes, there are a few things to think about. What lore are you using on your Slann? How big are the blocks you're taking? For example, let's say you're taking Lore of Light and want big 30+ blocks. Having 50+ (20 front rank, 10 second rank, 10 for being a horde, 10 for spears) of Str 4 attacks is pretty scary. If you are using Light we can assume you have a good chance of being Always Strike First (Birona's Timewarp) or Initiative 10 (Speed of Light) negating the Achilles heel of our Saurus. That said, Light is more difficult to use than the Lore of Life. It's definitely worth trying out.

I use Life most games and I find Hand weapon + shield the better choice for that particular lore (that and I usually use blocks of 20). Life is certainly an easier to use lore right out of the box.

Before I write too much more on Saurus, consider if the 23 point champion is worth it. His low initiative gives him a big chance to die before he gets to swing back on challenges (assuming you're not using Light). He's also 12 more points for 1 more attack which is just over what an additional Saurus costs. IMO, unless you are taking Light, leave the champion at home and buy yourself something pretty. Like a Razor Standard or a Wailing Banner for your Temple Guard. (I've written a little more about it here):
http://legionsandchaos.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-saurus-unit-champions-are-total.html

I don't tend to use regular Skinks of either the skirmishing or block variety. What every Lizardmen player needs to do is love their Chameleon Skinks. Scout is a very powerful tool. They are also skirmishers so you can march 12 and shoot, and if you use multiple shots you are hitting on 5's and auto wounding on a to-hit roll of a 6. Poison means you don't care about how tough they are.
The only time you really shouldn't double-tap is if it makes you need to get a to-hit roll of 7 or worse (negating poison). See a lone caster? Send Chameleons. See a Warmachine you can tag? Send Chameleons. In 2000 point games I use 2 groups of 5, since you can ideally deal with more threats and their a little less unwieldy than a group of 10. Don't bother with upgrading one to a Stalker. Their role in your army is inexpensive throw-away Warmachine and caster assassins.

Protecting your Stegadons can be difficult, the best solution is to present multiple high threat targets and be proactive with you Chameleons.

One last thing, use Salamanders.Salamanders are most effective in pairs, and on an enemy's flank. They are also skirmishers so you can march 12 and change the facing of your unit at any time in your movement phase (rotating about the center of the unit). Then shoot a auto-hitting template with a 10-18" range. The best part? -3 to their armor save and if they take a single casualty that unit takes a panic check.

The most glorious experience I have ever had with my Salamanders was advancing them up a flank, flamed a unit, they failed their panic check, and it basically chained up their entire army and 2/3's of it ran off the board turn 1.

TL;DR Use and love your Salamanders and Chameleon Skinks. Slann > any Saurus leader.

[doom-kitten]

Thanks I mostly run a 38 block saurus unit with spears, I also throw in a standard bearer and a scar veteran, my slann mostly uses Death as I like poping my opponents heroes as the come down the table and I love salamanders I want six of the beasts but price tag and finding the points to feild them keeps me down. Sorry about terrible punctuation, I type fast and don't really proof read anyways thanks for the responses I'll give it a thought never really considered Light magic but yeah Int 2 is harsh. The WS 3 confuses me too for a race built for war having the same WS as a human State Trooper is weak.