Hey Everyone, I used to play Fantasy about 15 years ago and recently a buddy of mine mentioned wanting to play AoS so I am getting back into things. The models I currently have from my old army are: 3 salamander hunting packs 20 skinks 30 saurus warriors 1 stegadon 1 oldblood on carnosaur 1 slann 3 chameleon skinks 2 skink priests 1 skink starpriest 8 saurus knights 1 kroxigor 2 saurus oldblood foot units I'm trying to figure out what else I need to put together a coherent army. Based on what I already have, it seems that a lot of what I have is probably more suited to using as a Starborne army. What other models should I prioritize getting first to round a list out? Also, several of my units (stegadon, oldblood/carnosaur, slann, chameleon skinks, skink priest, kroxigor, oldblood foot units, salamander hunting packs) are the old metal models. If I were to eventually do tournament play, this wouldn't be an issue as long as they are GW models, right? Thanks for your thoughts!
First, welcome to Lustria Online and welcome back to the hobby! As far as I know, you are correct. Provided that your models are GW models, it doesn't matter how old they are. It looks like you'll probably need to get a few more of certain models to fill out your units. You can field "understrength units", but most try not to do that. Plus, 3.0 uses "reinforcement points" to increase a minimum strength unit, or MSU. Monsters and heroes cannot be reinforced. A 2000 point game gives you 4 reinforcement points to increase unit sizes. Battleline units can be reinforced up to two times and all other units can be reinforced only one time. Seraphon/Lizardmen battleline are Saurus Guard, Saurus Knights, Saurus Warriors, and Skinks. • Skinks and Warriors are fielded in units of 10 each, reinforced up to 20 or 30 total. So, for example, you could field two MSU of 10 Skinks or one unit of 20 Skinks (using 1 reinforcement point). • Knights & Guard are fielded in units of 5 each, reinforced up to 10 or 15 total. Right now you can only field one unit of 5 Knights. • Salamander/Razordon units are composed of 1 Salamander/Razordon and 3 Skink Handlers. It can be reinforced by 1 Sally/Razor and 3 Handlers, for a total of 2 and 6 respectively. • Chameleon Skinks are fielded in units of 5 or 10 models. You'll need 2 more models to field a MSU of Chameleons. • Kroxigor are fielded in units of 3 or 6 models. You'll need 2 more models to field a MSU of Krox. • Ripperdactyls/Terradons are fielded in units of 3 or 6 models. For Starborne I'd suggest: • A Saurus Astrolith Bearer hero to extend spell ranges, generate more summoning points, and help protect your Slann. • Saurus Guard to help protect your Slann. A box of Guard comes with 15, but you only need a unit of 5. • More Skinks. They are our cheapest unit and the cheapest unit to summon onto the battlefield. Skinks are quick, objective grabbing chaff with mediocre/poor ranged attacks in MSUs. However, a fully reinforced unit of Skinks, buffed by a Skink Priest and Skink Starpriest, can be deadly! They should probably be built with boltspitters and shield for max range and defense. • 1-3 more Salamander units. They are perhaps our strongest all-around unit in 3.0, and arguably the most relable source of combat damage, rend and mortal wounds Seraphon have. Starborne armies often spam this unit. • Maybe Lord Kroak? Our only named hero in AoS and a powerful caster. Draconthian's Tail armies sometimes field both Kroak and a Slann for hard-hitting magic. • If you go for Kroak then possibly an Oracle on Troglodon hero? He helps to extend any Slann's spell ranges, but that's especially good for Kroak. A pretty common base for Starborne - Dracothian's Tail is: 1 Slann (265), 1 Astrolith Bearer (150), 5 Saurus Guard (115), 10 Skinks (75), 10 Skinks (75), 2 x Salamanders (280), 2 x Salamanders (280). Add other heroes & units to taste. You can still play a Coalesced army, since a Slann with Guard are good in either army. For Coalesced I'd suggest: • More Saurus Knights. They are our most flexible/efficient Saurus unit (with the right buffs from heroes like a Starpriest, Starseer, or Scar-Vet). • Sadly, Warriors are not in the most effective place with the current rules, so you already have plenty. • 1-2 more Stegadons. Our monsters are pretty good. Depending on how your group feels about proxies, you could field your Stegadon as either a Stegadon (with either a greatbow or flamers), or as a Skink Chief on Stegadon hero, or as an Engine of the Gods hero. Each Steg has their place, but are best in a Coalesced-Thunder Lizard army; especially since Stegs count as battleline in that army and the EotG can be commanded to activate twice. • 1-2 Bastiladons. Bastiladons with Solar Engines are great in Thunder Lizard armies as well, since one of them can be commanded to fire twice. There could be room for your Carnosaur hero to buff Knights. The Scar-Veteran on Carno sees more play since the Oldblood on Carno is rather overpriced in the game (your model could serve as either). Kroxigor or Chameleon Skinks are decent in any Coalesced list (you don't see them as often in Starborne), but they are more commonly accents. Chamos are useful deep strike threats and Krox are hitters who can be effective even without buffs or commands. Terradons/Ripperdactyls aren't seeing a lot of play these days, but Terradons are currently the better of the two, due to a chance for mortal wounds from rock drops. I'm sorry this was so wordy, but I hope it's helpful.
Thank you so much! This is exactly what I was looking for. You put everything perfectly and answered pretty much everything I was wondering.