Feel free to answer or comment only on questions you find interesting. Fluff Lizardmen don't pay points for their army. They field as much as they can of every unit available. What is the biggest limiting factor for fielding Cold Ones? Is it upkeep at home? Do they eat a lot (and possibly eat Beast caste Skinks or Saurus rider trainees)? Can they breed in captivity? Can they be stabled with a minimum of fuss or do they have to essentially be caged? Is it upkeep on the field? Do they need a lot of water? Do they not handle long marches well? What is usually bigger, the number of available Cold Ones or the number of available Cold One Riders? Would Lizardmen and Dark Elves fight over Cold Ones or do they mostly get their Cold Ones from different places? Would Dark Elves and Saurus not be able to use "liberated" Cold Ones. Stolen LM Cold Ones not obeying a warmblooded creature. Stolen DE Cold Ones having stockholm syndrome and being too viscious for the kinship based riding of Lizardmen? Would Cold Ones be too stupid to care? Are Cold One Riders "born" or "made" or "both"? If they are born, spawnings of Saurus Cold One Riders occur concurrently with nearby Cold One hatchings and the two have a preordained bond. If they are made, Sauri have to tame Cold Ones. Both would mean that most Cold One cavalry are "born" but elite Saurus infantry (aka Scar Veterans) would develop the instincts and ferocity necessary to tame Cold Ones. What are "Cold Ones" really called? Dark Elves would call them "Cold Ones," but are they really any colder than other dinosaurs the Lizardmen deal with. It'd be like us saying, "That's a pigeon, that's a sparrow, that's an eagle, and that's a feathered flying thing." and everyone knows what the last one is. Could Cold Ones help pull loads in peace time or would that be more trouble than it's worth? Besides Horned Ones, what kind variations might you see?
My 2c I would say that the fact that they are stupid/disobedient/hard to maintain. It would disrupt others, i'd think. I recall reading somewhere that lizardmen are all spawned with a purpose. I figured that they're spawned to ride a dinohorse, and a dinohorse they will ride.
Yay theoretical dinosaur discussion! What is the biggest limiting factor for fielding Cold Ones? From memory some of the fluff justification for Cold One cavalry being uncommon is not so much the Cold Ones being the problem, rather that the riders were relatively rare. I think it was in the 6th edition book where Cold One Riders had the mark of Itzl, which gave them the instinct/ability required to tame (for lack of a better word) and ride the dinos. The key point here is that Saurus are so single minded in the scope of what they are created to do, they just didn't have the mental ability and instinct required to ride the Cold One unless they were from a sacred spawning of Itzl. I imagine Cold Ones themselves being apex pack predators (and apparently rather dim witted and agressive ones) would be somewhat difficult to manage in a domestic capacity as well. Having poisonous skin probably doesn't help. Are Cold One Riders "born" or "made" or "both"? I got carried away and covered this in the first point, but I'd say "both". Current background suggests that Scar Vets and Oldbloods have such strength of will they are able to dominate the beasts they ride. The spawnings of Itzl have an affinity with the beasts of Lustria, not just Cold Ones. I think that Itzl spawned saurus constitute the rank and file Cold One riders is more of a convenience of that spawning rather than their explicit purpose. Over time a Saurus who is old enough, experienced enough and powerful enough would be able to develop the skills and instinct to overpower the willpower (or stupidity) of their mount. What are "Cold Ones" really called? I'm of the opinion that the term "Cold One" is a catch-all phrase made up by human (or elf) observers to cover a range of different species with similar attributes. Kind of like "House Cat". I had the same opinion about the Carnosaur (mostly for my own modelling justification!), but since then they've been cemented in my mind as specific species with the emergence of new and unique critters (ie a Troglodon would fit into the "Carnosaur" category in my old mindset, but now they're two distinct creatures). Could Cold Ones help pull loads in peace time or would that be more trouble than it's worth? Honestly, I don't think so. From all I've read about them they really don't lend themselves as a domesticated animal. It would be like trying to make rabid lions pull a plow to till a field - you might be able to pull it off but it's dangerous and there will be other animals to do the same job but better and with less risk of spontaneous death. Besides Horned Ones, what kind variations might you see? Off the top of my head Feathered Ones - more contemporary dinosaur looking things. Swift Ones - ostrich-like dinos along the lines of Ornithomimus or Gallimimus. Sacred Ones - some kind of mini-troglodon pack? Maybe similar to Jurassic Park style dilophosaurus with the frills and spitting venom.
If you search the word "Derpy" on L-O it is uniquely associated with cold ones, by such esteemed authors as Arli, Scalenex and *modest cough* Spawning of Bob, *modest coughing fit* twice. Therefore, Derpydon is the obvious and only choice. But......If High Saurian is your thing, Tlaza: "Those," "They." -Raz: "To bear," "To carry." In shorter words, it is typically translated as carrying, as "bearing" is a more serious and formal method of transport reserved for longer and more weighty expressions. This word is typically applied to Skinks, as Saurus Warriors do not usually carry anything apart from war materials, and Skinks are uniquely adapted to be excellent users of this word. Goratecah: "Ones in the process of striking," "Warriors." Self-explanatory. or some combination of the above. Tlaz-raz-tecah Tlaza-derpi-raz