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Seraphine Battlelines
Seraphine Battlelines
0)
1. So, here we are.
Seraphons are dead, long live Seraphons. The old battletome has gone down in flames, and
the new battletome arises from its ashes, with entire new ways to wage the war.
the goal is to have a general overview of the army, especially helpful for beginners so, in this
thread i will analyze everything. the following posts (with handy links) will cover:
3 - synergies table
8 - magic (artefacts)
9 - Battalions
WARNING
The thread has been updated to the new 3.0 AoS editions (i hope nothing escaped me).
If new FAQ / Errata will change something, i will try to correct things on the run.
Last edited: Sep 24, 2021
Killer Angel, Mar 8, 2020
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SERAPHON ABILITIES
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
Sacred Asterisms:
start hero phase, you choose a constellation to be active (useful to plan tactics)
• Great Drake: pick a hero, +1 attack to melee weapons. Situational but useful to
buff that oldblood on carno when you want your next target to die
• Hunter's Steed: +1 run and charge for friendly Seraphon. The most general one,
always useful
• Sage's Staff: pick a single Seraphon Wizard, he gains +1 casting and dispelling
during your turn or +1 unbinding during enemy's. Buff your main caster for
magical war dominance and nice tricks.
Unfeeling.
all units are considered to have bravery 10.
A Starborne army, CAN choose (for free) to pick one of the following 2 sub-factions, with the
relative abilities:
Appear on Command:
for each unit you have on the battlefield, you can set one in reserve. At the end of the move
phase, you can call on the battlefield one or more units from the reserve, setting them within
18" from a Slann and more than 9" from enemy's units.
mandatory Command trait for slann
Ancient Knowledge: knows 1 extra spell and can reroll 1 cast/dispel/unbind each hero phase.
First to battle:
add 3" to move to skinks units, in the first round of battle.
additional Command ability
allows a skinks or chameleon skinks unit that has been charged (FAQ april 2020), to shoot at
the end of your opponent’s charge phase and then (on a 4+) move away, thus denying the
charge.
mandatory Command trait for saurus
Old and Grizzled: on a 3+, gain an extra CP.
(please note that this is mandatory only if your general is a Saurus. If it's something different,
you can pick the trait you want. The same applies to all sub-factions)
COALESCED Seraphon
Predatory Fighters:
+1 attack of jaw weapons. A much needed bost in damage for saurus and Dinos. It’s one of the
many multipliers we’ll have at disposal
Scaly Skin:
-1 damage inflicted for each successful attack against a Coalesced unit (min 1). You lose
bravery 10, but this is a huge boost to survavibility, it works wonders to protect your monsters
and also your troops. It doesn't apply to MWs caused by attacks (Designer's commentary april
2020-august 2021). Basically, it can be either borderline useless or super powerful, depending
on the opponent.
Cold-Blooded:
Your units Ignore Bravery modifiers. Your bravery is low, but at least you won’t suffer from
abilities that stacks upon the target negative bonuses. It’s a really small ability, but hey.
Primeval Domain:
You ignore negative terrain effects in your table half AND restricts your opponent from gaining
positive effects in your territory, but only if you're using the Mysterious Terrain rule. Borderline
useless.
A Coalesced army, CAN choose (for free) to pick one of the following 2 sub-factions, with the
relative abilities:
Savagery incarnate:
add +1 to hit rolls made by Saurus after a charge.
additional Command ability
pick a saurus unit within 24" from a saurus hero at the beginning of the combat phase. That
unit is considered to have completed a charge for the use of Savagery Incarnate.
mandatory Command trait for saurus
Dominant predator: when the general spend a CP, it's given back on a 4+.
Beasts of war
Add 2 to the wounds to each Thunder-Lizard Behemoth.
additional Command ability
pick a Bastiladon or a EotG unit within 24" from a hero at the end of the shooting phase. That
unit can shoot / use the engine again.
mandatory Command trait for hero on behemoths
Prime Warbeast: add 1 attack to all mount's weapons of the General.
_____________________________________
Coalasced is a melee army, much more resilient and with more hitting power (more on line
with the current AoS armies), but gives away our old habit of master of battlefield control via
movement shenanigans.
_____________________________________
Realmshaper Engine
This pyramid is the terrain that ALL seraphon armies can field for free.
It’s set up after territories are determined (at more than 3" from objectives and other terrains),
so it could end in your opponent territory. However, it won’t do any particular good to said
opponent.
It can be garrisoned by anyone (up to 15 models), but if you place in it a friendly seraphon
wizard or priest, you can use its (very good) special ability, delivering d3 Mortal wounds to all
enemy units that are within 3” from a terrain. It works on a 2+ if the target terrain is within 18”
from the Realmshaper, on a 4+ if between 18” and 36”, on a 6+ if at more than 36”.
Last edited: Aug 27, 2021
Killer Angel, Mar 8, 2020
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units analysis
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
HEROES – NO MOUNTS
“SERAPHON” HEROES
Slann
265 pts.
7 wounds, save 4+
Our classic general, comes with a lot of nice, passive bonuses:
Each turn, can generate up to 2 Command Points for free (roll to dices, gain a CP on a 4+).
got a +1 to cast and unbind, can cast 3 spells and 3 unbind attempts.
For casting, he got Arcane Vassal (can cast through a skink wizard / oracle within 12”)
For unbind, he can attempt to unbind enemy spells anywhere on the battlefield.
its signature spell is Comet’s call (casting 7): d3 Mortal wounds to d3 units anywhere on the
battlefield. A casting of 10+ affects d6 units. It’s a huge spells, and (given that the 10+ can be
modified by bonuses to cast, it can let you do something nasty).
Plus, the guy got a strong command ability, giving fly to nearby Seraphon unit AND +1 on roll
saves vs shooting.
Lord Kroak
430 pts.
Being one of the strongest magical being ever, he's rightfully powerful.
is basically a souped up Slann (with even the same command ability), which comes with a lot
of bonuses for those additional 165 pts.
18 wounds, save 4+ but at the end of each phase he suffers wounds, you roll 3d6+number of
wounds: on 20+ Kroak dies, otherwise he's totally healed.
Each turn, can generate up to THREE Command Points.
got a +2 to cast and unbind, can cast and unbind 4 spells (unbinding anywhere on the
battlefield).
two signature spells: Comet’s call (the same as the Slann) and Celestial
deliverance (damages up to 3 units within 10”, can be cast multiple times with an increasing
difficulty).
SKINKS HEROES
Skink Priest:
80 pts.
with 4 wounds and save 5+ he’s a squishy, but got an exceptionally useful ability, that works
on units with the skink keyword: on a 3+ , target unit can run and still shoot / charge, AND +1
on save rolls. Mandatory on a bastiladon with laser, but immensely useful on, well, everything.
Command ability: pick a unit with the skink keyword, add +1 to hit rolls for attacks made by that
unit.
If you bring skinks on the table, you MUST have a priest... more so because with the keyword
priest, he'll have also the "universal prayer scripture" (enhancement - AoS 3.0 Core Rules)
Skink Starpriest:
130 pts.
Squishy as a priest (only 1 more wound), but he’s also a wizard.
can give you an additional command point on a 5+.
Another exceptionally useful ability: pick a unit with the seraphon keyword: unmodified “to
wound” rolls of 6, inflict an additional mortal wounds.
The signature spell is Blazing Starlight: pick an enemy unit and it must subtract 1 from “to hit”
rolls. can be situationally strong.
The Starpriest venom can be truly useful, but given its cost you need to plan your list to exploit
the MW chance (for example, play hordes, or buffed models that can deliver a lot of attacks,
like a stegadon which is more likely to get into combat without being "decreased in number")
Skink Starseer
145 pts.
Squishy as a starpriest and even slower, but he’s exceptionally useful.
can give you an additional command point on a 4+.
His ability lets you pick a unit with the seraphon keyword and you can roll 3d6 for the charge.
This alone is huge and justifies his inclusion in a list.
The signature spell is Control Fate and lets you pick a unit: if it’s enemy, subtract 1 from saves;
it it’s friendly, add 1 to saves.
Exceptionally strong, it’s another “must have” for any kind of army, that lets you do some
insane combo.
SAURUS HEROES
Saurus Oldblood.
120 pts.
Saurus hero with a solid Command Ability (“Wrath of the Seraphons”, +1 to hit rolls) works on
any saurus unit. It's a cheap buffer.
Saurus Sunblood.
125 pts
Our first really dedicated melee guy, that hits hard and stacks nasty effects on nat. rolls of 6s,
both on to hit and to wound. His command ability adds +1 to “to wound” rolls by a target saurus
unit. It's our only source of bonus to wound, so he's pretty useful and with 6 melee attacks,
he's a great candidate for an artefact weapon.
Ripperdactyls Chief.
80 pts.
5 wounds, save 5+, move 12
his command ability gives +1 attacks to all melee weapons of a rippers unit.
Ripperdactyls have been nerfed, so… maybe to buff a maxed unit?
anyway, despite the way it's written on the warscroll, it's an ability that cannot be stacked (FAQ
april 2020), so rippers are still a suboptimal unit, to say the least.
Terradon Chief.
80 pts.
Squishier than anything, a hero with 5 wounds and save 6+. imposes a -1 to be hit to melee
weapons used by non flyiers (so don’t count on it).
However, he’s got a 16 move and, oh boy… the Command Ability buffs the Deadly Cargo
attacks of terradons (MWs on a 2+, instead of 4+). It’s so strong that you can build a bombers
list on it. See details in the description of the “Terradon riders” unit
SAURUS HEROES
Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur.
215 pts.
12 wounds, 4+ save
The Scar-Vet comes with 3 different melee weapon, with different profiles (with the celestite
warspear being probably the best one, given the special rules attached to it).
The Carnosaur is a nice monster, not exceptional but nice (and requires support to perform /
survive); once was a monster hunter, now is a horde hunter, increasing its “to hit” for the
massive jaws when the target has a wound characteristic of 7-.
Command ability is saurian savagery: same as scarvet on CO (and same ability cannot affect
the same unit twice).
You usually want a coalesced carno, to enjoy the additional jaws attack and the damage
reduction.
Oldblood on Carnosaur.
270 pts
the carnosaur got the same profile of the one with a scar-vet rider.
The differences are in the oldblood, which can bring a more powerful weapon and, most of all,
in the Commmand Ability Wrath of the Seraphons: (same as Oldblood afoot: select a saurus
unit, +1 on to hit rolls).
Usually it's not worth the 55 additional points, but the oldblood is, indeed, a heavy hitter.
COMMAND TRAITS
One of your heroes will be your general, and will have a Command Trait
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THE SYNERGIES
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
Seraphon work on synergies granted by heroes and army abilities. But heroes are costly, so
when you choose them, it’s always better to optimize your picks to obtain the most you can out
of them, to support the strategy you have in mind (alpha strike with flyers, dino carnage,
delivering mortal wounds, melee block…). Plus, many abilities are command abilities, so if you
plan to use them, you also must plan to have a reliable source of additional command points.
These tables are a handy quick reference to see what kind of buffs you can apply to units and
understand how many bonuses you can stack. Of course “seraphon” keyword applies to both
skink and saurus.
Usually I would firstly review the units, but in this case I think it’s better to immediately see the
bonuses, so when I will review the units, I can already give a hint to what they could do if you
want to max them or build a list around a particular unit, given the already listed possible
bonuses.
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units analysis
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
BATTLELINES
Saurus warriors
105 pts for 10; max 30 saurus
1 wound, save 4+, move 5, only 2 attacks (1 weapon, 1 jaws)
These guys are not a bad unit, especially when you consider the ability “ordered cohort”, that
let them deliver an additional attack with celestite weapon when the unit has 15+ models; of
course, they are there to be fielded in great numbers (to avoid the loss of ordered cohort), to
suffer losses, and to win by attrition. They also can reroll charges, which is always handy.
But it's when properly buffed that they become impressive: coalesced Koatl’s claw warriors
gain +1 jaws attacks and scaly skin for added durability, so your block delivers 2+2 attacks per
model.
Supported by a Sunblood and an oldblood, on charge they’re going to hit/wound at 2+/2+
(weapons) and 3+/3+ (jaws).
Further support can come from a skink starseer (save 3+ and 3d6 charge), scar-veteran
(additional attacks on 6s to hit), skink starpriest (MWs on 6s to wound), emerald lifeswarm
(rise!).
Plenty of possibilities, it’s just a matter of how many points you wanna spend to support them.
Saurus knights
110 pts for 5 (max 15)
2 wound, save 4+, move 8, 5 attacks (2 celestite weapon, 1 knight jaw, 2 Cold Ones jaws)
These guys are solid hitters, really dangerous on charge, as they DOUBLE the damage dealt
by their celestite lances on charge (which you can re-roll, btw).
Even taking them outside the firelance battalion, a coalesced Koatl’s claw unit is impressive,
gaining +1 jaws attacks on charge and a +1 bonus to hit. That alone lets them do SEVEN
attacks each (2 weapons, 2 jaws, 3 CO jaws), hitting on 2+/4+.
Support them with something quick, as an oldblood on Carno and a Scar-Vet on CO, to double
the attacks on a nat. 6 to hit. As for warriors, both skink Starseer and Starpriest are excellent
buffer for them: the first one for increased save and because you WANT to charge (3d6 FTW)
and the second one because when a unit of 10 delivers 70 attacks, the chance of MW on 6s
“to wound” is a consistent threat.
Plenty of possibilities, you could just use a scar-vet and a starpriest: no bonuses to hit, but 10
knights deals 70 attacks that doubles on 6s “to hit” and deal MWs on 6s “to wound”… we are
probably talking about a tenth MW, plus normal saves. Here comes the pain scaly train!
I would always avoid units of more than 10 knight, because you will miss too many attacks.
Saurus guards
115 pts for 5 (max 15)
2 wound, save 4+, move 5, 3 attacks (2 celestite weapon, 1 jaw)
It’s the same exact reasoning made for warriors: support from heroes is the key.
looking at warriors, these guys have some advantage: they are less numerous (so it’s more
probable you won’t lose attacks when in combat) and are less susceptible to battleshock.
However they deliver a lesser number of attacks.
All in all, I believe warriors are better, BUT if you don’t plan to field them, consider a 5-sauri
unit, to soak wounds for your Slann / Kroak.
Skinks
75 pts for 10 (max 30)
1 wound, save 6+ (5+ if equipped with starbuckler), move 8, 1 ranged attack, 1 melee attack,
all of them with pitiful profile (to hit goes from 5+ fo 4+).
It’s our cheapest battleline, and they gain 1 attack if a unit contains more than 15 models.
They probably will be used in 2 varieties:
10-skinks unit: fast and good objective grabbers and cheap disposable screen. Don't expect
nothing more from them.
30-skinks unit, with boltspitters: buff them with a Skink Priest (taking them to a respectable 4+
save and increasing their 60 shots to a “to hit 4+”) and a skink Starpriest (triggering 1 MW for
each 6 “to wound”)
with that configuration, on average you will roll 30 “to wounds”, delivering 5 MW.
If you really like skinks army, go full-route on them; Starborne Fangs of Sotek can move 11” in
the first round, buff them with a Priest, a Starpriest, a Starseer and a Stegadon chief; use
Hunter’s steed and a command point to have them run for a grand total of 18”; shoot to
weaken the target with mortal wounds, then charge 3d6+1 and each skink will also do THREE
attacks in melee, for further mortal wounds for each 6s.
Last edited: Aug 27, 2021
Killer Angel, Mar 8, 2020
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units analysis
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
ARTILLERY - BEHEMOTH
Engine of the Gods
265 pts
I cannot tell why this is an artillery (and our only one, btw) but hey.
12 wound, save 4+, move 8 (full health)
it has been discussed in the “hero” section. Here I will add that there’s little reason to take
more than one, and take that one only in case you are bringing some other big dino that could
enjoy the healing effect. With AoS 3.0 it has been improved tnx to the additional rules for
monsters and priest prayers (given that now, due to august 2021 FAQ, the EotG has gained
the keyword priest)
BEHEMOTHS
Bastiladon
165 pts (ark of Sotek)
250 pts (solar engine)
10 wound, save 1+ (full health), move 5
weird monster: at full health, it can be damaged only by MWs or you rolling 1s to save
(designer's commentary april 2020 says that rend cannot lower the save to less than 1+). great
target for healing effects, can really be tanky, but beware of MWs.
It comes in 2 profiles (which a notable points difference, which is amply justified):
Solar engine: shooting 24”, at full health its 9 shots, BUT at 4+ to hit, which is horrible. Its
usefulness increases greatly (especially against chaos daemons) in a coalesced thunder lizard
list, where can shoot TWICE.
Ark of sotek: melee, 18 attacks, for each 6 to hit unmodified deal 1 MW. Unless you’re very
lucky, it’s terribad. However, 165 is very cheap and could be used in Starborne armies where
you can teleport it in plaes where you need to tank something.
OTHER UNITS
Chameleon skinks
115 pts for 5
1 wound, save 6+, move 8
when within 1" fro a terrain, gain a 4+ Ward, and they can be set in ambush, setting them
anywhere on the battlefield at the end of the move phase, at more than 9” from enemy units.
They can also disappear and reappear later.
A unit of 5 shoots 10 darts, 3+/4+ no rend, 1 dam. They do a MW on a 6 to hit, but it’s kinda
unreliable.
not a great unit, but in a coalesced army that lacks LoSaT, at least they give some additional
battlefield control.
Kroxigor
150 pts for 3
4 wound, save 4+, move 8
armed with jaws (1 attack that on a unmodified 6 inflicts a MW) and drakebite maul (4 attacks,
4+/3+ -1 rend 2dmg), 1 every 3 can have a Moon Hammer (stronger against hordes). Gain +1
to hit if nearby a skink unit
Let’s consider only the Maul.
that 4+ on to hit is pitiful, but the only way to increase it is via skink babysitting.
Let’ try to pick a unit of 6 Coalesced Kroxigor. 300 pts.
24 wounds, 24 mauls attacks, 12 jaws. Stick a Starpriest with them (babysit and poison ability)
and those 36 attacks will hit at 3+ on charge, dealing on average 4 MWs. Plus the standard
damage.
All in all, if properly buffed, they can do something good. IMO always pick also a
MoonHammer.
RAZORDON
a hunting pack costs 95 pts;
missile weapon 18”, 2d6 hits (3+/4+, no rend, 1 dam)
melee: 3 attacks, 3+/3+ rend -2, 1 dam.
if charged, can resist and shoot automatically, but shooting only a d6 (which is basically a
weak "unleash hell" for free).
Now, a maxed unit with 2 razor costs 190 pts and shoots an average of 14 spikes; only 5 will
wound, with no rend (unless you want to waste on them an All Out Attack).
If you buff them with a skink priest, things will improve a little.
they are far more dangerous in melee (-2 and 2 dam is solid), but their cost is too high
SALAMANDERS
a hunting pack costs a crazy amount of 140 pts.
missile weap. 12” (but with move 8”, it’s not that bad)… 4 hits 3+/3+ rend -2, d3 dam. with a
chance for direct MWs on nat 6s (it burns!).
melee: 3 attacks, 3+/3+, -2 rend, d3 dam.
obviously, the possible buffs you could apply to razordons, work also for sallies.
Sallies are a great target for the command ability "Unleash hell", but beware the nerf, as now
works only within 6"
Conclusion:
sometime, when you ask “it’s better the unit X or the unit Y?”, the answer is “it depends”. Not in
this case. Burn Baby Burn. Despite the points difference, sallies are just too good.
Starborne sallies are great, because with bravery 10 you will be much less vulnerable to
battleshock due to the loss of handlers. It's much more a problem for Coalesced ones, but
remember that you can also pick the handlers as fleeing models (if there's someone still alive);
or just use the skink spell to avoid battleshock.
Ripperdactyls riders
85 pts
3 wounds, save 5+, move 12”
They took a hard nerf , but let’s see what are they now.
they’ve got 1 spear attack and 3 jaws attacks at 4+/3+. no rend, 1 dam
At the beginning of the combat, you can “mark” a unit, rerolling all yaws “to hit” on it (once per
battle). The yaws, come with a built-in multiplier (for each nat. 6, you score 2 hits).
it’s clear that the number of attack is pitiful, especially given the “no rend”. Can they be
optimized?
Alas, no... a ripper chief can use its command ability to give additional attacks to all melee
weapons of a ripper unit, so each ripper will deliver 6 (2+4) attacks. 7 attacks (2+5) for
Coalesced.
21 for a 3 models unit, 42 attacks for a 170 pts reinforced unit.
Marking a unit, you'll have:
12 spears attacks, 4 will wound
30 jaws attacks rerollable, more or less 21-22 will wound.
the winter FA 2021 discounted their cost, but we are stilll looking at : once per battle, 26 saves
with no rend, employing 250 pts and if everything goes smooth.
Terradons riders
105 pts
3 wounds, save 6+, move 16”
2 different shooting weapons (pick sunleech bolas), 4 jaws attack by the terradon, and the
once-per-battle ability “Deadly cargo” (when you pass across on an enemy unit, with any
kind of move, roll a die for each terradon, and on a 4+ delivers d3 MWs)
Their personal buffer is the terradon chief, that let them release the deadly cargo on a 2+.
Don’t even think to play terradons without a chief.
the main utility granted by these guys is the dealing of lots of MWs, then try to do something
more with shooting and possibly also CC.
To deliver the Cargo, you need move, so Fangs of Sotek is good, but anyway you can have a
huge mobility even with coalesced: hunter’s steed, skink priest and a CP will give them a
16+7+2d6+1” (average 31”!) move/charge. And a maxed unit of 6 terradons will be able to deal
around 5d3 MWs, followed by around 21 bolas attacks and 24 (or 30) melee attacks. the
potential damage is solid, but 6 terradons + chief are 290 pts, so pick your target carefully.
FORGEWORLD MODELS
Dread Saurian
545 pts.
(monstrous arcanum august 2021)
7.
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MAGIC – SERAPHON LORE
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
Unique spells
Celestial Deliverance
(Lord Kroak)
casting value 7+
Can be cast up to 3 times, with increasing casting value: 7+, 8+, 9+.
Pick 3 units within 10”, each one on a 2+ suffers d3 MWs (3 MWs if chaos daemon).
Kroak got the rule Arcane Vassal, so stuck an astrolith bearer near him, use the Sage’s staff
constellation, and you’ll cast the spell with a +4, in a 16” range from a vassal (or Kroak
himself).
Comet’s call
(Lord Kroak, Slann, Oracle on Troglodon)
Casting value 7+.
Pick d3 units on the whole battlefield; each one suffers d3 MWs. on a casting roll 10+, pick d6
units. Pretty potent, as you don’t even need LoS and you can target heroes.
It’s not a unmodified roll, so grab as many bonuses to cast you can, and drop d6 comets
Control Fate
(Skink Starseer)
Casting value 7+.
Pick an enemy unit within 18”, subtract 1 from its save rolls.
OR
Pick a friendly enemy unit within 18”, add 1 to its save rolls.
Pretty potent. Brutal when you wanna see dead a tough target (because there's a whole world
of difference when you can force a -1 to saves, when you have a Carnosaurs that deals 5
wounds with a single hit), Vital when you wanna increase the resistance of a key unit (a horde
of 30 saurus warriors, a Bastiladon, a Dread Saurian). Never underestimate this. Never.
Blazing Starlight
(Skink Starpriest)
Casting value 6+.
Pick a enemy unit within 18”, subtract 1 from its To hit rolls.
It stacks nicely with buffs and debuffs available to our army. Use in combo with control fate for
maximum power.
Slann spells
Each Slann (Kroak included) knows one of these. Thanks to the rule “Contemplations of the
Ancient One”, 1 Slann can swap a Lore spell with another one, but only at the end of your hero
phase
Celestial Apotheosis
casting value 5+,
Pick a friendly unit within 18”, heal 1 wound. on a 10+ heal d3. (secondary effect: give -1 to
bravery to nearby enemy).
It’s another spell that can be triggered in its empowered version by modified rolls, so it’s not
bad at all and can be played in combo with other healing effects to ensure your dinos will stay
alive. I would rank this as second / third best Slann spell.
Mystical Unforging
casting value 7+
pick a enemy hero with an artefact within 12”. d3 MW and a 1/3 chance to break the carried
artefact by said hero.
it helps you in killing a weak hero in a key position, but alas it works only on heroes that
actually carry an artefact.
EDIT: Once it was a situational spell... but with the current state of the game, with high wounds
heroes equipped with Amulet of Destiny or other impressive defensive items, this one can be
very powerful, if only for its deterrent power.
Celestial equilibrium
casting value 7+
add +1 to cast, dispel and unbind for all friendly wizards (but not the caster).
Kinda meh, the Slann loses a spell without even enjoying the bonus.
I would consider it only if you’re planning a magical bombardment, with a list that includes also
Kroak and another wizard.
Stellar Tempest
casting value 8+
Pick an enemy unit within 24”; roll a die for each model in the target unit, 1 MW for each 5+.
finally a serious anti horde, with some nice MW spam, that can easily target the opponent
since turn one even if you go first. One of the best spell we have, there’s really no
contest. This should always be included in your list.
Drain magic
casting value 9+
Dispel all not-bonded endless spells within 24”. Pick it when you face a heavy magic army that
uses them (possibly more than 2).
Skinks spells
No “Contemplations of the Ancient One” for skinks, so be careful with your choices
Celestial Harmony
casting value 5+
Pick a friendly unit within 18”, that unit is immune to battleshock tests. On a roll of 10+, it
affects all friendly units within 18”
If you run Coalesced, you know you want this one. BUT skinks spells are good, and you could
always use a CP to avoid losses due to low bravery.
Hand of Glory
casting value 6+
Pick a friendly unit within 18”, that unit can re-roll all 1s to hit until your next hero phase.
It’s almost the only way we have to re-roll 1s. It’s a must have for any kind of
army (Starborne or Coalesced).
Extend Astromatrix
casting value 6+
Pick a basic terrain element (damned, arcane, inspiring…) within 18; “good” effects apply only
to Seraphon, while “bad” ones affects only enemies. Of course, if you know you are facing an
army that uses magic, it could be good to negate a +1 to cast… but it’s situational at best.
Fiery convocation
casting value 7+
Pick a enemy unit within 18”; up til your next hero phase, roll a dice at the end of each phase:
on a 6+, inflict d3 MWs.
Weird spell: basically (not counting double turns) you are going to roll 12 dices (6 in your turn
and 6 in the opponent’s), hoping to score as many 6s you can. it’s 2d3 on average, but I
wouldn’t count too much on statistic on this. Excellent for lucky players.
Tide of Serpents
casting value 8+
Pick an enemy unit within 12”; roll a die for each model in the target unit, 1 MW for each 5+.
it’s basically as “stellar tempest”, but with lower range. Its additional value is that you can cast
TWO anti-horde spell (leaving aside endless spells).
____________________________________________________
As you can see, our spells covers basically 2 different aspects: direct damage OR buff /
debuffs, plus some weird situational utility.
Keep in mind that, especially with skinks, you will always find yourself in some difficulty: being
them able to cast just one spell, you will need to take hard decisions.
It’s up to you to decide what kind of power you want to develope: Slanns are better equipped
with damage and healing spells, while skinks excel in buffs / debuffs.
An army with Slann or Kroak could push for a magical barrage, while a Thunder Lizard could
immensely enjoy a “protective” magical phase.
It’s always good, anyway, to have something for everything.
Last edited: Oct 10, 2021
Killer Angel, Mar 8, 2020
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Slann
Killer AngelProphet of the Stars
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MAGIC – ENDLESS SPELLS
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
With AoS 3.0 the mechanics of Endless Spell have changed and so, also our old ability "bound
endless spells" works in a different way
As general rule, when an Endless Spell is cast it is under the control of the Wizard who cast it,
and remains that way until either the wizard dies, the wizard casts a second spell (they can
only ever maintain control of one but they can choose which) or the spell moves more than 30″
from the caster.
Endless Spells not under control are "wild" and can be controlled by a enemy wizard
Our rewamped ability “Bound Endless Spells”, basically tells that a bonded endless spells is
always under the control of the seraphon wizard, even if it moves away more than 30". There's
no points cost difference between endless spells and bounded endless spells
Combine 1+2 and bound spells, and you can threaten the other corner of the battlefield.
Aethervoid pendulum
65 pts
casting value 5+, predatory spell
6"+8" move, on a 2+ it deals d3 MW to units moved over and where it ends. Once set, it can
move only in one direction, so no swing back and forth.
Stupendously worthless.
Balewind Vortex
no more available in matched play.
Burning head
20 pts
casting value 7+, predatory spell
6"+8" move. On a 2+, d3 MWs to any units within 1" from it (that means that if it ends near a
garrisonable terrain, it deals damage to every unit inside the terrain). Then you automatically
remove the head from the battlefield.
well, it's not bad for 20 pts, and if it happens that you are able to hit multiple targets, then it will
repay itself pretty quickly.
Chronomantic Cogs
45 pts.
casting value 6+, range 6"; it gives "a" or "b"
a: +1 to charge for units wolly within 18"
b: every wizard within 6" can cast one additional spell.
the b version is not that costly AND it's hugely useful. But you need to don't move away from it
Emerald lifeswarm
60 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
range 6", move 8"
heals d3 wounds / raises dead models to a unit within 1"
This is a real solid spell. If you want to play a resilient coalesced army, with damage reduction
and healing, this spell can be impressive, especially in a Thunder Lizard subfactions with an
EotG and the Slann healing spells, for a potential of 3d3 heal to your buffed dinosaurs, and
anyway useful to bring back the slain models of your hordes.
Being a predatory spell, you will heal in every hero phase.
Geminids of Uhl-Gysh
80 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
range 9"+8" move. two different models, each one inflicts (on a 2+) 1 MW on each unit passed
through or within 1" at the end and blocks all command abilities, both being issued and
received. It’s a top-tier spell, but it costs a staggering amount of points.
Malevolent maelstrom
65 pts
casting value 5+, predatory spell
range 6" + move 8".
Needlessly complicated, with a doubious utility and a excessive cost. Trust me and don't take
it.
Prismatic palisade
40 pts
casting value 5+, range 6"
It blocks LoS, and so it's very useful.
Purple sun
70 pts
casting value 8+, predatory spell
6"+8" move.
Technically, at the end of the hero phase on a 5+ it becomes wild, but i think our "bond" rule
prevents this, as a bonded spells is always under our control.
you deal MWs on each unit passed through and within 1" at the end: on a 2+ d3 MWs, on a 6+,
d6 MWs
It's costly but all in all a scary spell.
Quicksilver swords
90 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
6"+8" move. Fly over a unit and roll 12 dices for it; the spell inflicts MW for each 6+.... those
MWs cannot be negated by saves.
Err... bypassing ward is great, but the damage is negligible and it costs a lot.
Soulsnare shakles
65
casting value 7+
range 12"
nice denial zone, units within 6" cannot run nor charge, and can suffer MWs.
The effect is huge, but it's not a predatory spell. But it definitely can be of some use as when it
kicks in is crazy powerful.
Suffocating gravetide
50
casting value 6+, predatory spell
6"+8" move. Roll a die for each model in a unit it passes over and deals a MW on a 6
A nice horde killer, less strong than our "stellar tempest", however its utility is that, being a
predatoy spell, it will act also in your opponent's turn.
Umbral spellportal
70 pts
casting value 5+, range 18"
you can cast through it only one spell each turn OR move one endless spell through it.
We are not Nagash with Hand of Dust.
Horrorghast
65 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
12"+8" move. Units wholly within 12” cannot receive commands in the battleshock phase and
you add d3 to the fleeing numbers.
You really need to plan carefully around this. But you certainly can select an area you are
going to devastate with shooting and charging (double basti + stegadon chief?) and enjoy the
carnage.
Shards of Valagharr
70 pts
casting value 5+, predatory spell (2 models)
range 18”. Place the models wholly within 12” from each other and within range from the
caster. To move, just remove one model and set it up within 12” from the other one (so your
range when you cast it is potentially 30”; 36" with an Astrolith Bearer).
trace a line between the models, each unit caught in between cannot fly and its move is
halved.
Anything that messes up with movement is good, but this is not cheap. You could use it to slow
a part of the enemy's army while you attack the other side.
Soulscream bridge
70 pts
casting value 6+, 2 models
range 18”. Place the models wholly within range from the caster. in the move phase, remove 1
unit wholly within 6” from one bridge and place it within 6” from the other one and more than 9”
from enemy (count as a move).
There are some available tricks you can do with this one:
deep strike your oldblood on Carno to charge on 8+ with hunter's steed;
in a starborne - fang of sotek army you could move 1 unit of sallies and LoSaT another one, to
concentrate those 16 blasts;
again in Starborne: Mystic shield on a Dread Saurian (or control fate the target to worsen its
save, if in range), move with the bridge a Starseer, LoSaT your Dread saurian, charge the
target with a rerollable 3d6.
As you can see, there are some spells that are truly powerful, some other ones are situational,
and then there is the garbage.
- at the moment spells as Lifeswarm and Geminids are almost always golden;
- other spells are good (Cogs, Purple sun, shackles), but they are not a no-brainer. And the
ones that mess with move requires some thinking and positioning, you can't just cast them
- Some spells are exceptional, but you need to plan specific tactics and builds around them
(Lauchon, soulscream)
- I don’t think we will ever play things as quicksilver swords.
Last edited: Nov 7, 2021
Killer Angel, Mar 8, 2020
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Slann
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ARTEFACTS OF POWER
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
There are the generic Core artefacts, then we have Slann, Skinks and Saurus artefact (for a
grand total of 16), plus the mandatory “unique” ones available to sub-factions.
Arcane tome.
the bearer becomes a wizard or casts an additional spell if already a wizard. Now i have the
image in an all saurus list, of this oldblood on Carno that casts mystic shield on himself... or
arcane bolt, in combo with stomp to deal 2d3 MWs on charge. Definitely fun, but not a
competitive choice for us.
Seeds of rebirth.
Re-roll recovery rolls for the bearer. The least useful of all universal artefacts.
Slann artefacts
Zoetic dial
secretly record a certain battle round. at the beginning of that round, heal all wounds taken and
reroll all saves. Nah.
Light of Dracothion
once per battle, you can unbind / dispel automatically 1 spell within 15”. Nice to shut down that
nasty spell cast with a roll of 11, but it’s so situational I would never pick this one.
Prism of Amintok
Once per battle, pick an enemy unit within 12” and deal from 1 to d6 MWs. Move on.
Itxi Grubs
during EACH hero phase (so yeah, also during your opponent’s) heal 1 wound and can reroll 1
cast / one unbind attempt. This one is solid; it replicates the “rerolling” command trait but also
with double healing.
Plaque of dominion
in your hero phase pick a enemy hero within 12”; up til your next one he fights at the end of the
fight phase and suffers -1 to cast/dispel/unbind. It can be strong, especially if you plan to move
your slann to the frontline, surrounded by warriors / guards. 12” range is pretty limited, though.
Saurus artefacts
Blade of realities
pick 1 melee weapon, add -1 to rend and 1 to dam (this one if you target a enemy hero).
Nothing exceptional, but can be good on a Sunblood or on a ScarVet on Carno.
Bloodrage pendant
+1 to number of attacks if the number of wounds taken is equal or superior to the wounds
characteristic. it’s no good.
Skink artefacts
Incandescent rectrices
When the bearer dies roll a dice. 1-3 it dies, 4-6 it heals all wounds and cancel every remaining
wounds allocated to it. I’m not a fan of random effects, but I could gladly take a chance for a
double digit Stegadon chief or a EotG.
Cloak of feathers
-1 to hit the bearer, +4 to move and can fly. Stop dreaming, here’s your flying hard-to-hit
stegadon with 12” move.
Sub-faction artefacts
when you pick a sub-faction (basically always), the first artefact MUST be the one of the
subfaction
10.
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BATTALIONS
WARNING: with AoS 3.0, our Faction Battalions are no more legal in matched play.
You can, however, still use them in different games (narrative, mutual agreement
between players and so on), and for thise reason i will not erase this part.
Battalions are a vital part of an army, but not a mandatory one, you can play with no battalions
at all… this would let you save points (as each battalion comes with a cost) but you won’t have
the bonuses granted by said battalion.
Given the cost of Battalions, you don’t want to field them at minimum cost.
Both Starborne and Coalesced armies got 4+1 battalions - the names are identical, but the
granted bonuses are different.
Starborne armies
Sunclaw
Cost: 160 pts
Units: 1 Saurus Oldblood / Saurus Sunblood; 3 units of Saurus Warriors
Bonus: additional -1 to rend to celestite weapons
The battalion is pretty good, your saurus horde will have spears with rend -1, and clubs will
have a terrifying rend -2. Remember that this bonus applies also to the weapon of your hero.
It’s melee focused, so one-trick pony, but it’s pretty easily to optimize your army.
Example with Dracothion’s tail: The saurus Oldblood can be on Carnosaur (which will be an
excellent bearer of the artefact that 50% doesn’t let him die): move forward your Oldblood,
drop a 40 Sauri unit in charge range, charge at 6+ rerollable (Cogs + Hunter’s steed) with your
unit and fight with the bonuses granted by the command ability of the Oldblood. In the
meantime, LoSaT something to increase the pressure on your opponent.
Firelance
Cost: 160 pts
Units: 1 Saurus ScarVeteran (it can be on CO or on Carno); 3 units of Saurus Knights
Bonus: 1 Mortal Wound on each unmodified roll of 6 on “to wound” for celestite weapons (it
applies also to the weapon of the ScarVet)
The battalion is pretty good, as it turns your charging dudes into a potential death machine.
Example with Dracothion’s tail: move forward your ScarVet, drop a 10 Sauri unit in charge
range; charge at 6+ rerollable (Cogs + Hunter’s steed) with your unit and fight with the
bonuses granted by the command ability of the ScarVet. The spears alone are 23 attacks, and
on average 4 of them will generate 2 hits, then you will deal double of the wounds, threatening
MWs.
In the following round, LoSaT the unit away and charge with a second unit, maybe buffed also
by a Starpriest, to enjoy double MWs on each 6.
Shadowstrike
Cost: 170 pts
Units: 1 Skink Starpriest OR Priest; 1 unit of Terradons OR Ripperdactyls; 2 Units of Skinks /
Chama Skinks
Bonus: you can set up units in reserve, and set up this unit at the end of the move phase,
anywhere on the battlefield, at more than 9” from enemy.
I’m torned about this battalion. With Dracothion’s Tail you already can call units from reserve…
yes, Shadowstrike don’t have the limitation of “must be set within 18” from the Slann”, but
LoSaT exists.
With Fangs of Sotek, the units placed in reserve with Shadowstrike won’t enjoy the +3” to
move bonus. And for alpha strikes, you WANT to have terradons (or rippers) on the battlefield
since the start of turn 1. At least, it includes skinks (a battleline you are going to pick anyway)
So, is it good? yes, more battlefield control is always good and flyiers / skinks blob appearing
from nowhere are a threat. Is it worth 170 pts? I don’t think so.
Anyway, you can still drop you terradons and have a reliable charge, but you need cogs and
Hunter's steed.
Thunderquake
Cost: 130 pts
Units: 1 EotG OR Stegadon Chief; 3 unit of Kroxigor OR Hunting pack; 2 Bastiladons /
Stagadons
Bonus: in your hero phase heal 1 wound to each unit. d3 if within a friendly Slann.
A pretty nice battalion, and also the cheapest one (which is compensated by the fact that the
units are costly).
The healing buffs should work better if a kroxigor unit is included (only because in the case of
hunting packs, you are going to sacrifice skinks handlers as ablative wounds, and those
cannot be healed back), but anyway you want it for the big dinos.
Starborne dinos don’t have the additional wounds granted by Coalesced Thunderlizard, but the
battalion works nicely nonetheless.
Healing is always good (you can stack many other healing tricks to keep healthy your big guys:
EotG + emerald lifeswarm + celestial apotheosis, for a potential of 4d3 healed wounds) and
with Fangs of Sotek you can place your Dinocastle at the center of the board since turn 1.
With Dracothion’s Tail it’s even funnier: place the whole battalion in reserve, LoSaT your Slann
wherever you want and drop the dinos around him (that should definitely give the enemy
something to think about). And the DT artefact can keep alive and kicking your main dinosaur.
Love it.
Eternal Starhost
Cost: 200 pts
Units: 6 battalions plus many other units
Bonus: d3 additional CPs / round.
Usable only in narrative, apocalypse battles with something in the order of 5000 pts per army.
Move on.
Coalesced armies
Sunclaw
Cost: 140 pts
Units: 1 Saurus Oldblood / Saurus Sunblood; 3 units of Saurus Warriors
Bonus: additional -1 to rend to jaws weapons.
The battalion is really strong. The bonus to jaws is less appealing than the one to weapons
(granted by the Starborne version), as weapons’ profile is 4+/3+, while jaws are stuck with
5+/4+, but nonetheless it can give a couple of significant boosts:
1 - Coalesced warriors always got 2 jaws attacks (without the need to be more than 14) and
Koatl’s Claw hits with jaws at 4+
2 - the bonus works for every unit. The Carnosaur’s jaws of your Oldblood will hit 4 times (at
3+) with rend -2
Of course, this battalion MUST be played with Koatl’s Claw.
Firelance
Cost: 160 pts
Units: 1 Saurus ScarVeteran (it can be on CO or on Carno); 3 units of Saurus Knights
Bonus: +3 to run and charge if wholly within the ScarVet.
Shadowstrike
Cost: 150 pts
Units: 1 Skink Starpriest OR Priest; 1 unit of Terradons OR Ripperdactyls; 2 Units of Skinks /
Chama Skinks
Bonus: pick a enemy unit visible to the Priest / Starpriest, add +1 to hit that unit.
No Deep Strike for poor coalesced… if you want some “teleport” to grab distant objectives, you
need to insert one unit of those chameleon skinks.
It’s a battalion that works generally with coalesced (no matter the sub-faction), picking the
bonus to jaws attacks to Ripperdactyls and the damage reduction.
Select your target, each unbuffed ripper will deliver 4 tearing jaws attacks at 3+ rerollable; buff
your rippers with 1-2 command abilities by the ripperchief / stagadon chief, buff them with the
Starpriest’ Staff and they should be able to do something.
Coalesced Terradons won’t enjoy particularly Shadowstrike: their main utility is the dropping of
MWs, and this is unaffected by the Battalion. Of course, you could use the bonus for the
following “standard” attacks.
If you field shadowstrike, you should pick a large unit of 40 skinks with boltspitters: buff them
with a Skink Starseer (and a skink Starpriest plus Hand of Glory): we’re talking about 80 shots
hitting at 4+, rerolling 1s, triggering 1 MW for each 6 “to wound”. if the Priest Star-stone Staff
kicks in, your skinks can also run and have a save 4+.
So yes, a shadowstrike with 6-9 rippers, 40 skinks and 5 chama skinks, would be very
powerful. Just protect your squishy heroes.
Thunderquake
Cost: 150 pts
Units: 1 EotG OR Stegadon Chief; 1 unit of Kroxigor OR Hunting pack; 2 Bastiladons /
Stegadons
Bonus: in your hero phase choose: the units can be swift (run and still shoot / charge),
OR savage (add 1 to the number of melee attacks).
The only battalion that costs more than the starborne version. You know you want to play a
Thunderlizard Thunderquake, there’s really no reason to play this battalion with a different sub-
faction.
Commander choice:
EotG: support it with emerald lifeswarm and celestial apotheosis, for a potential of 3d3 healing
to your guys (which already have damage reduction and 2 additional wounds)
Stegadon Chief as General, buffed also by the command ability of a skink priest… it’s able to
deliver 21 melee attacks hitting at 2+.
Generic dinosaurs:
Bastiladon with laser is not that great, but thunderlizard can shoot twice, and swift ones can
compensate their awful 5” move.
Stegadon: try to always bring one armed with Sunfire thrower. if you already have a chief with
it, go for the Bow.
“lesser” additional unit…
Kroxigor enjoy immensely Thunderquake: each savage kroxy can deliver 5 Maul and 3 jaws
attacks.
Savage Salamanders in melee are vicious too (5 burning jaws rend -2 d3 dam? yes please).
Leave home the razordons.
Eternal Starhost
see what’s already being said for Starborne. it’s for Apocalypse.
Last edited: Aug 28, 2021
Killer Angel, Mar 8, 2020
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TIPS & TACTICS – STARBORNE
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
Premise: Keep in mind that this won’t be a specific guide on all the possible tactics and
strategies, I’m not pretending this will cover all the bases, but I’m going to give you just some
hint on what you should look when building a Starborne army and planning a tactic.
I’m certain you will be able to exploit the possibilities granted by Starborne, coming up with
synergies and builds that here are not mentioned, this is just a friendly intro.
As you will see, all Starborne armies favor finesse and smart play, while still being able to
deliver concentrated, powerful blows
Starborne Units
If we look at the bonuses granted by Starborne and Coalesced, it’s pretty clear that some
units, while being always a good pick, work better in a certain kind of army.
Starborne LOVE:
Skinks
Large blocks of skinks as battleline work greatly in Starborne, as they don’t gain great bonuses
from Coalesced, while they enjoy many of the goodies granted by Starborne.
For example, in the hero phase, a skink priest and a skink starpriest (thanks to Ability,
command ability and Hand of Glory spell) will be able to buff a unit, which you can LoSaT
wherever you need to deliver 60 shots at 4+ rerolling 1s, triggering mortal wounds on each 6+
to wound.
Skinks in a Fangs of Sotek subfaction get also an additional move and the ability to shoot and
run away if charged.
Basically, you will rarely go wrong if you pick skinks in Starborne.
Slann:
Don’t get me wrong: our fav. frog is always a great pick, in any kind of army, but in Starborne
they truly shine.
1 – they can help you in summoning units. Not that great but still useful when you know you
can spare a spell
2 – in a Dracothion’s Tail he knows 1 extra spell and can re-roll one cast/dispel/unbind in each
hero phase, which is powerful
Salamanders
Salamanders are a great unit in any kind of Seraphon army; Starborne salamanders only lose
the additional bite attack given by coalesced, but they gain:
1 – resistance to battleshock: handlers work as ablative wounds, and having bravery 10
(instead of their horrible 5) is exceptionally useful to minimize the risk of having your precious
sallies run away
2 – a reinforced unit of sallies can be buffed in the hero phase (for example 3+ save with a
skink priest and 2+ vs shooting with a Slann), and LoSaT where you need, landing those sweet
8 shooting Attacks
Terradon riders
Terradons is a solid unit that gains nothing from coalesced (scaly skin won’t save your dudes),
while can gain nice bonuses from Starborne armies: they rely on move and Fangs of Sotek
increases their movement in the first round, making them a great threat since turn 1, forcing
your opponent to set-up cautiously.
As a general suggestion, any Starborne army should always include no less than a couple of
these units.
Skink Priest
Starborne or Coalesced make no difference for the guy, but many skink-based units love
Starborne and the Priest will buff ‘em all. It's basically mandatory.
Dread Saurian
you can buff the beast and LoSaT it. Have fun.
Dracothion’s Tail
DT comes with 2 very strong abilities:
Appear on Command: (for each unit you have on the battlefield, you can set another one in
reserve. At the end of the move phase, you can call on the battlefield one or more units from
the reserve, setting them within 18" from a Slann and more than 9" from enemy's units.)
Command trait for slann (knows 1 extra spell and can reroll 1 cast/dispel/unbind each hero
phase
It’s pretty clear that a DT list should be planned to optimize these goodies.
A Slann / Lord Kroak is mandatory, and you need to exploit the superior placing of units
granted by Appear on Command, keeping in mind 3 simple things:
1) - if you call units from reserve, the best ones are those that can already act at their full
potential when they arrive on the battlefield: for example, Salamanders can immediately shoot
(even if they won’t be buffed)
2 – be ready to have buffs for charge when you plan to call units that must physically assault
the target (hunter’s steed, Skink Starseer)
3 – force your opponent to play in a cautious way. 2/3 full units of Sallies or a Dread Saurian
that can appear everywhere will almost surely result in a defensive set-up.
Remember also that you can adopt different styles, for example:
- call units one by one, each time going for the soft spot
- go all in (imagine LoSaT your Slann and drop around half of your army on the weakest side
of your opponent’s army)
Fangs of Sotek
FoS comes with 2 very strong abilities:
First to battle: add 3" to move to skinks units, in the first round of battle. It favors alpha strikes
without being reliant on teleport.
additional Command ability: allows a skinks or chameleon skinks unit that has been charged,
to shoot at the end of your opponent’s charge phase and possibly (on a 4+) move away, thus
denying the charge.
First to battle works on every units with the skink keyword, so it’s good on terradons,
Stegadons, Salamanders… even if it works only in the first turn, it’s exceptionally powerful, as
it will force your opponent to set-up in a defensive position, thus leaving you more room to
move and grab key points with LoSaT on lesser units (be them objectives or particular
terrains). let’s see:
Terradons? with move 19” (and further buffs) it’s trivial to land the deadly cargo by turn 1
salamanders? buff them with a priest and hunter’s steed: threat a 30” range hitting on 2+
30 Skinks buffed by a starpriest venom, a priest and hunter’s steed: threat a 34” range!
the Command Ability will put fear into your opponent, especially when that big blob of skinks
has been buffed by serpent staff: no one is going to charge your front rank of skinks without
thinking twice… your opponent will almost always try to deal with them with shooting (and it’s
not that hard to have them save on a 5+ and negate rend) or something else, thus forcing him
to adapt his play to your will.
Last edited: Sep 24, 2021
Killer Angel, Mar 8, 2020
#11
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Premise: as already said for Starborne, this will just be a friendly intro, not a specific guide on
all the possible tactics and strategies. I’m going to give you just some hint on what you should
look when building a Coalesced army and planning a tactic: it’s up to you the task to discover
the possibilities granted by Coalesced, coming up with synergies and builds that here are not
mentioned.
Coalesced weakness:
- no LoSaT or deep strike
- low bravery and immunity to modifiers (positive and negative)
Coalesced is a fun army, that doesn’t require much thinking: advance, use flyers and shooting
to kill support heroes, buff your main troops and smash.
(well, that's not completely true: you must play tactically to overcome your lack of shenanigans
move, but it requires less planning than starborne)
Coalesced Units
If we look at the bonuses granted by Starborne and Coalesced, it’s pretty clear that some
units, while being always a good pick, work better in a certain kind of army.
Coalesced LOVE:
Saurus knights
One of the most buffed unit, as predatory fighters ability gives them TWO additional attacks for
each model. They excel in Koatl’s Claw (with the +1 on to hit) and are an excellent target for
the Hand of Glory spell, Serpent’s staff and Scarvet Command Ability. If you manage to target
a enemy also with the curse prayer, that would be the icing on the cake.
Saurus warriors:
When played in horde, for them are valid the same considerations already said for the Knights:
only one additional attack, but quantity has a quality of its own.
Skink Starpriest
the majority of coalesced armies will rely of a massive number of attacks. The Serpent’s staff is
one of the most useful ability we can count on. Plus, the Starpriest grants a spell which is
always nice.
Big Dinosaurs
Dinos are often a target for multiwounds attack, and scaly skin help them staying alive; that
said:
Carnosaurs just love Coalasced, for the additional jaw attack… and they work greatly both in
Koatl’s Claw (+1 to hit on charge) and Thunder Lizard (additional wounds).
Bastiladons with solar beam are made for Thunder Lizard and double shooting.
EotG: it’s the only way coalesced have to summon reinforcements to the battlefield, which is
nice. Plus, the summoned saurus warriors are buffed by coalesced predatory fighters.
As a general suggestion, any Coalesced army should always include no less than 2-3 of these
units.
Salamanders
Salamanders are a great unit and coalesced salamanders are truly scary also in melee.
Remember that they have only bravery 5 and so, while handlers work as ablative wounds, they
trigger losses by battleshock tests. If you run a full block, be sure to have CPs to avoid
battleshock, otherwise you could run minimum sized units (single sallies).
Kroxigors
A solid unit to be fielded, where each Kroxy will be able to deal 6 attacks.
Ripperdactyls riders
I’m listing them only because many players own them in numbers.
RR is a poor unit, but at least they gain the additional attack, and with the support of a single
CP each of them delivers 5 yaws attacks, so a 160 pts unit does 30+7 attacks. Nothing
impressive but I suppose is something?
Skinks
situational, but if you meet the right opponent, skink units with scaly skin are cheap and very
durable.
Chameleon skinks
all in all a weak unit, but they give Coalesced the only way to deep strike a unit, so 115 pts for
the chance to grab a distant objective could be worth the price.
Dread Saurian
In Thunderlizard you have a 37 wounds monster with scaly skin and additional jaw attack. just
throw it in the middle of the enemy and force your opponent to deal with your king of distraction
carnifex.
Koatl’s Claw
KC comes with 2 very strong abilities:
Savagery incarnate: +1 to hit rolls for saurus after a charge
Additional command ability : triggers Savagery incarnate even if the sauri didn’t charged.
It’s pretty clear that a DT list is made to swarm the battlefield with saurus warriors / knights /
heroes, and do it in a pretty brutal way.
1 - Common builds will include a solid core of Sunclaw or Firelance Battalion, with saurus
blocks supported by heroes, often mounted on carnosaurs. Buff your hordes with skink
starpriest (Hand of Glory + Serpent’s staff), the command ability of a Sunblood / Oldblood and
possibly also a ScarVet, and drown the enemy under loads of dices and MWs. Give the
mandatory sub-faction’s artefact to the Sunblood or the ScarVet.
2 - The downside is that your nice block of warriors is painfully slow (a problem that knights
don’t have), so you will be easily the target of charges / shooting… to soften it, an alternative is
to focus on defensive design: babysit your horde with a Slann and possibly a Starseer, to have
a horde with save 2+/3+ rerolling 1s, then slap an Astrolith bearer for FNP 6+ and raise the
dead with emerald swarm.
3 – ATM, the most solid way to run koatl's claw, is to use saurus knights as battleline.
Thunder Lizard
Last but least, the subfaction for our dinosaurs!
Beast of war: add 2 to the wounds of each behemoth.
additional Command ability: shoot twice with a Bastiladon or activate twice the EotG.
Command trait: add 1 attack to the general’s mount’s weapons (all of them, so the more the
better)
Of course TL is designed to field big dinosaurs (Stegadons are even battleline!) and to have a
general with a behemoth as mount… Don’t even think to play a TL list with less than 2-3
dinosaurs.
This is the sub-faction that lets you play Stegageddon, but leaving aside such funny but
impractical list, it’s a really solid faction.
keep in mind that the mandatory artefact of the TL subfaction is suboptimal at best, so you
want at least a battalion to pick the nice ones. Let’s see how you can play it.
1 – pick a Stegadon chief (highly offensive) or EotG (defensive) and then choose any
combination between bastiladon / stegadon, complete it with a Slann and some kroxigors /
salamanders, then keep at hand something to buff / protect / raise your walking castle of doom
(astrolith bearer, emerald lifeswarm). fill the rest of the army with mobile units (saurus
knights!).
3 – weird experiments are possible: for example, concentrate on multiple EotG and go for a
summoning warriors route.
All in all, we can say that all Coalesced armies favor a brutal and aggressive playstyle, being
able to deliver massive blows, with an unparalled violence if confronted to Starborne (or old
seraphon, for what matters). Ideally, you force the enemy to defend from you.
However, you must still be careful, as coalesced armies are “slow” (you lack teleports and
deep strikes), so you must keep at hand some fast unit to be able to don’t lose battlefield
control.
Coalesced armies (as also Starborne ones for what matters, but they can mitigate the issue
somehow), are also hungry for CPs and need multiple heroes in key roles to work properly. For
example, in a KC list you could want a Slann, a skink Starpriest, a Starseer, a oldblood, a
ScarVet, an astrolith bearer… these are already 6 heroes, and with a couple of Endless spells
they are gonna eat half of your army points.
You will be forced to take hard choices, because you cannot have everything and, even then, a
certain amount of your key heroes will be single squishy models, favorite target by enemy’s
“snipers”. Given that we are an army that works on synergies, the loss of a couple of
irreplaceable heroes could mean the crumbling of our tactics.
Last edited: Sep 24, 2021
Killer Angel, Mar 8, 2020
#12
ChapterAquila92, Nart, Dreamkeeper and 10 others like this.
13.
Slann
Killer AngelProphet of the Stars
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POWERFUL BUILDS & TRICKS
(updated to FAQ 27-08-2021)
Ok, this won’t be a real “tutorial”, but I think that I could some suggestion on how to exploit
single models or a block of a certain unit, to have a strong centerpiece for your army. Nothing
new for the members of this community but still helpful for beginners that would like to field
something that hurts.
I won’t do theme-based lists (this is @LizardWizard’s job), but I will also give some suggestion
on units’ choice to develop a particular tactic.
At the same time, I will also give some hint on tricks (and mind tricks) you could employ to
surprise the unwary opponent.
As always, I’m not going to cover all the bases, you are free to experiment, do some
mathammer and discover by yourself the various possibilities.
This is a post that can and will see continuous adds-on, as we will discover new cool things.
This is the most powerful single build available to stegadon (and probably to seraphon)
Basic stegadon got (at full profile):
10 wounds, move 8, save 4+
missile weapons: you can choose between skystreak bow (24” – 3 attacks 3+ /3+ / -1 /3dmg)
or Sunfire throwers (1 attack / roll a dice for models in a target unit within 8”, deal MWs on
each 5+)
basically, long ranged or anti melee
Melee weapons: 4 different weapons, ALL hitting on 3+/3+/rend -1: 3 meteoric warspear
(branded by the chief, 1dmg), 2 massive horns (4 dmg), 2 jaws (2 dmg), 5 crushing stomps (2
dmg). a grand total of 12 meee attacks.
a very respectable statline.
1st step - use the Coalesced faction:+1 attack to jaws weapon: you go to 13 melee attacks.
2nd step - pick thunder lizard subfaction and make the stegadon chief your general with 12
wounds: tnx to the command trait you gain +1 attacks to ALL the weapons of the mount (crew
is counted as mount); so:
shooting: 5 javelins by skinks and then 4 Bow or 2 dices rolling for the sunfire thrower (the
profile of ST is “attacks = 1; so it turns into “attacks = 2).
melee: Having 4 melee weapons, 3 of them of the mount, you gain 3 attacks for a updated
total of 16 Attacks
3th step: start of hero phase: select the Great Drake, add +1 attacks to all hero melee
weapons (4): The updated total of you melee attacks is now 20.
4th step: use your command ability on yourself and add 1 attacks to each melee weapon...
The final total is 24 melee attacks: 5 warspear +5 horns +6 jaws +8 stomps
5th step: give your general a cool artefact (for example, Cloak of feathers: -1 to be hit, +4 to
move and fly).
There, this is an auto-sufficient build, and it can be improved with a minimal support.
For example, give to it a Sacred Stegadon’s helm for save 3+, stick near it a single puny skink
priest and now your stegadon with 3+ save is impervious to rend -1, can run, shoot and charge
and all his attacks now hit at 2+.
Or give it a ward save 5+.
Too many variables here. I will try to examine some of the ones that (IMO) are the most
effective (and less reliant on external support – I will basically consider only a Starseer, but a
Sunblood is great for a carno).
The carnosaur at its full profile got:
2 forelimbs: 3+ / 3+ / - / 2 dmg
3 jaws: 4+ / 3+ / -1 / 5 dmg (these are the big damages you’re looking for). the 4+ to hit
becomes a 3+ when targeting models with 7 or less wounds characteristic.
the heroes got:
ScarVet: 6 attacks 3+ / 3+ / - / 1 dmg
Oldblood: 3 attacks: 3+ / 3+ / -1 / 3 dmg. on each 6s to hit it doubles the hits.
IMO some heroes works better in some subfaction then in different ones.
Coalesced, Thunderlizard.
Oldblood with command trait Prime Warbeast for +1 attacks; give it something to help keep it
alive (Amulet of destiny).
Set the Sacred asterism on Great Drake, use the starseer as described above.
Charge and activate the command ability for a +1 to hit.
Now you ALL your multiple-damage attacks hit on 2+:
5 spears (rend -2, doubling the attacks for each nat. 6);
4 forelimbs (rend -1),
6 jaws (rend -2)
This is related to the Horned King, as it gives its best with a similar set-up.
Kroxigors are heavy hitters. save 4+, 4 wounds, move 8”, they are sufficiently though and fast;
each one got 4 Maul attacks and yaws attacks, all of them with rend -1, hitting at 4+ (3+ if
nearby a skink unit).
The maul deals 2 dmg, the jaws 1 dmg (with additional MWs for each nat. 6+ on HIT rolls)
For the sake of simplicity I will consider only the maul, but each unit should have also at least a
moonhammer:
simplest build: 6 kroxi, 1 Skink Starpriest (430 pts).
1st step - use the Coalesced faction:+1 attack to jaws weapon. The total of melee attacks for
each kroxigor is now 6: 4 maul + 2 jaws. 24 + 12 for the whole unit.
3rd step – have your Starpriest babysit them, to give them +1 to hit, serpent’s staff and
magical support (for example: hand of glory).
now your unit will have:
24 maul attacks hitting on 3+, rerolling 1s, dealing 2 dmg for each unsaved successful hit
12 jaws attacks, hitting on 3+
plus an average of 6-7 additional MWs.
Lord Kroak.
1,2,3 - cast 3 times Celestial deliverance (range 16” from the vassal) with increasing casting
value: 7+, 8+, 9+. You have a +4 to cast it.
4 – cast comet’s call. with a 4+ you will succeed on a roll of 3+; on a 6+ you will hit d6 targets.
Lord Kroak alone is going to deal an average of 10-11 d3 MWs, basically 20-22 MWs in a
single round of casting. Sounds pretty good.
Of course, variations are possible (you may need life-saving spells, or stellar tempest or spells
as Purple Sun for a more focussed firestorm), but you get the idea.
...and with the endless spell Lauchon the soulseeker, you can do it in T1!
Hard as a Rock
You have a melee general and you wanna keep it alive? use artefacts and spells and stack
their effect for maximum protection.
Spells: Control Fate (Starseer: +1 to saves); mystic shield (+1 on saves), Slann C.A. (+1 saves
vs shooting), Blazing starlight (Starpriest: gives to a enemy unit -1 to hit)
Abilities: Priest staff (+1 to saves, skink only)
Artefacts: Stegadon helm (+1 saves, skink only), cloak of feathers (-1 to be hit and fly, skink
only), Gryph-feather Charm (-1 to be hit)
as you can see, by combinations of items and spells, it’s trivial to have a hero with saves 3+,
ignoring some rend, and with -1 to be hit
not something you can optimize, but it’s useful to know how you can employ our terrain.
Any Realmshaper Engine must be set in your territory, more than 3" from any objectives and
other terrain features.
You must garrison the terrain with a seraphon wizard or priest if you want to use its effect. (a
unit can be set up as a garrison at the start of a battle if the terrain feature is wholly within the
unit’s deployment zone. Alternatively, a unit can garrison a terrain feature instead of making a
normal move if all of its models are within 6" of the terrain feature, and there are no enemy
models already garrisoning it. this also means that you cannot LoSaT into it)
Given that you can place the RE at more than 3" from an obj, you can set it in your deployment
zone to garrison it immediately, and control the obj with your garrisoned unit/s
And yeah, you could garrison it with your slann, and keep the saurus guards not garrisoned,
but hidden behind it, to negate LoS to them and grant total safety to your main dude.