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I've always loved, and I mean LOVED reptiles...When I was a teenager, at one point I had over 30 different species of lizards and snakes (most of the snakes being wild caught) in my bedroom, in various terrariums, aquariums and cages and so forth...
And needless to say, my mom couldn't stand going into my room...

I'd spend every spare chunk of change I could get my hands on, to either feed or buy new reptiles for my growing horde...Man, I still miss some of those animals...

My fascination with all things cold-blooded always made me love Warhammer Fantasy Battle Lizardmen, but my love for Sci-Fi always kept me from getting into it (I'm a die-hard 40k lover)...Plus, the minis for the Lizardmen, although there are exceptions, are kinda bland to me, and have always found myself being much more attracted to other miniature companies reptilian denizens...

So, that said, with some of my tax return to burn this year, I've decided I'm going to finally follow my dream of finally creating a Lizardman army for the game I love, 40k (especially, as of late, Armeggedon)...

I'm going to be using a plethora of minis from tons of different lines (some just for heads, or a tail here or there, and so forth) to realize this dream army of mine, and really do wish to make them look quite unique, in the context of them not just being (as my friend said) "Space Marines with lizard heads"...

But I'm kind of held up on one aspect of it...The army I'm designing, I'm calling the "Slanni : Children of Slann"...Now, fluffnutters can say whatever they want pertaining to whom the Slann were/are and whether they're extinct or what have You, it doesn't matter to me in the slightest (even that "Tau are lizardmen" or "Tyranids are space dinosaurs")...I'm doing this army, primarily, because I've always wanted to...I do intend, at some point, to have an avid 40k rules lawyer friend help me design a fan codex for them, but the idea of just having a 40k Lizardman army is what really excites me about this project, not whether the fluff is accurate or not...

My biggest problem is this...I want to have my army range from extremely high tech (nearly Tauesque, tech wise), to quite primitive...My army, as I'm planning it, is to be something of a Confederacy of reptilian descendants whom see the Slann (whether true or imagined) as they're progenitors, and thereby, to a degree, look on their memory with an almost religious fervor (save not in the classical sense of religion)...

Being as I love Armeggedon, is the idea of having both huge, hulking mechanical Titanesque warbeasts and gigantic Dinosaurian monsters in the same army a tad overkill?...Should I probably go with one or the other, or do You guys think that the addition of both would really show the varied levels of technological capacity within those races belonging to the Children of Slann?...

I know, in alot of ways, this really ends with what I'd prefer, but I'm honestly curious what others in the hobby would think on this...

Thanks for any opinions and feedback, they're greatly appreciated...

First off, that is a very cool theme.

Army-wise, I think you should play them as Chaos Marines.

You will have lots of options to work with, and they're all quite good. Fearless ~ Cold Blooded. Power Armour ~ Scaly Skin. etc.

You could do a Carnosaur as a Daemon Prince, and Kroxigors as Possessed. Terradons as Raptors. And so on.

Or you could have a couple of Skink-piloted Defiler / Dreadnought thingamajigs.

Have fun!

Hello!

Man, I am right there with you on the reptile thing. I wish you luck in this endeavor! I don't think it's too much to have hi-tech mix with savage beasts; look at the Tau army. It's my personal favorite to collect/convert because I can do armor, guns, and sleek ships on one hand, and savage kroot monsters on the other.

I personally like armies that strive to unify many varied elements, rather than try to add a little variety to a bunch of similar models/units.

I like the children of the Slanni idea, and I think it will give you a lot to work with. The universe is a very big place, after all. I am working on some mercenary lizards to use with my IG and Tau, and they are going to use hi-tech weapons on one hand, but on the other brutal cc weapons.



The idea I had for these guys is that are actually very smart, rather philosophical when not at war, but can be roused to sudden bursts of savage violence when neccessary.

I am a big fan of space lizards, and will watch your army develop with great interest.

A friend at my local GW has a lizard/dino themed Eldar army. He runs them like this:

Fire Prisms = Dragons, with guns and guys mounted on them, and placed on a base that is the rough outline of the size of a Fire Prism.

Seer Council on Bikes = Seer Council on Tzeentch screamer thingies (the ones that fly)

Shining Spears = Shining Spear bobos on the Lizardmen pterodactyls (they look great with their lances outstreatched )

Guardian Jet Bikes = Guardian Jet Bike bobos riding Dark Elf Carnosaurs (these also look badass, he used green-stuff tassles/harnesses to better incorporate the rider with the mount)

and i believe he had plans to use Stegadons as Wraith Lords ^^

all in all the army looked incredibly awesome on the tabletop, and i hope it gives you some ideas!

hivefleet_providence wrote:...I'm calling the "Slanni : Children of Slann"...

Oooh I like that.

*writes down name for future use*

I'd love to see how this turns out.

BYE

Seems like there are lots of places you could take this. If you want to play it as chaos or eldar, others have already sugested several possibilities. Playing the army as Tau also seems very reasonable. They bring all kinds of other planets into their empire right? Why not one with lizard men? Some of them could easily be normal Tau units while others could be kroot. The theme of the army also sounds like it could mesh well with the orc codex. Def kopters could be petradon riders, you could use stegadons for truks and/or battle waggons. After that, they get whatever kind of tec and ancient style weapons you want to model. In the end, really all you need to do is decide which direction you think you would like to go and then start working on ideas of how to flesh it out.

Tyranids might be (again) a great codex to use. You already have super tough monstrerous creatures, but you also have your pick of middle weight fighters like warriors, and little gribblies. Fliers are no problem, and even psychic things like 'thropes can be technology that is somewhat less than reliable. That would probably be my choice, especially since it allows for various "species" by way of brood upgrades, etc. Sticking in different tech is just a matter of modeling different weapons types.

Personally, if I were picking a Codex, I'd focus on a new-style Codex (CSM, Tau, Eldar) over an old-style Codex (Nids).

Tyranids may not be the new format for Codices, but there's no reason not to use them.

They won't get a new release until Dark Eldar/Guard/Necrons/Inquisition/Space Wolves/Planetstrike are all done - so we're talking another 3-4 years of that Codex at the very least.

BYE

That (falsely) presumes that Dark Eldar & Inquisition will get new Codices. Dead armies don't get new books.

Given that Nids sell better and have more metagame presence than Dark Eldar & Inquisition, we will see their update long before either of the others.

Guard and Necrons will like get books before Nids, and the pups sometime after. So the Nid book might only have a year or two worth of shelf life.

I second the suggestion to use the Chaos list. the Slann were servants of the Old Ones, who wielded the powers of the warp amongst other things.

Nice prototype, Nathonicus.

JohnHwangDD wrote:That (falsely) presumes that Dark Eldar & Inquisition will get new Codices. Dead armies don't get new books.

That's one hell of an assumption there John.

JohnHwangDD wrote:Given that Nids sell better and have more metagame presence than Dark Eldar & Inquisition, we will see their update long before either of the others. Guard and Necrons will like get books before Nids, and the pups sometime after. So the Nid book might only have a year or two worth of shelf life.

This came up with you before John. You seem perpetually afraid that a new Codex will come out for every army, so therefore using anything that's out now is a bad idea. That doesn't happen. Look historically at the books - the only army that gets redone quickly is Marines, and they get it once an edition. We're getting Daemons this year, followed by Marines again, then Wolves, Necrons and probably Guard - and then, yes, Dark Eldar, despite what you may think about 'dead' armies. So assuming two Codices a year, including Planetstrike in there somewhere, and assuming 'Nids are the first ones they re-do, 'Nids have got another 3-4 years on them.

It's true that a new Codex is always coming - that's how GW makes money, they make new models, rewrite the rules, and then bring out a new Codex to sell those models, and it's a cycle that repeats itself - but it takes a long time. Even if Tyranids get a revision as fast as Marines do, that's still 4-6 years between revisions, and if they get one as quickly as Orks or Eldar did, that's 8 years.

So calm down, and stop telling people to use new Codices because one that's a year, year and a half older might get a replacement within the next 3-4 years.

BYE

Thanks for all the comments and opinions guys...

I've been a Nid player since I first started 40k, back in '95, so I'm not very up on alot of the other armies and the rules pertaining to such...

My son plays a Chaos United army, so I'm going to give his codex a look see and see if it'd work for my Slanni project...But since I'm building it primarily to be an Apocalypse army, I may end up choosing based off the allies list in back, so I can mix and match a few different armies together...

At one point, I'd considered a Tau Army using a combination of Tau and Lizardman models - I think the Firewarrior stats for the Skinks tend to work well, while your Saurus would be your Crisis Suit drivers.

I have a modeling suggestion. I'm not as well read up on all the codexes out there. Didn't the defunked game VOID have an army w/a big lizard/dinosaur thing w/armor & guns sticking out of it w/guys riding on it? Maybe finding 1 of those models might help set the theme for your army or @ least be a unique addition to it. Hope that helps. Good luck.

Dude, I have a Fantasy Dogs of War army that hasn't had an Army Book since 5th Edition Fantasy (and is now no longer legal for 7th Edition GT play). And we were still getting new units and models.

So don't you go telling me that Dark Elves are ever getting a new Codex. They haven't even gotten any new models since 3rd Edition 40k.

If the Nid book is unbalanced relative to the other new-style Codices, non-thematic relative to the Fluff concept, and selling in decent numbers, it *will* get an update before things that don't need rebalancing, don't need reconcepting, or don't sell.

I agree with some that the Tau list might be the better one to use. Larger models as battlesuits, foot soldiers some hi-tech (using Fire Warrior stats) and others more primative (Kroot). Or heck, just run the Kroot mercenary list now that I think about it. Good luck, and be sure to post some pictures as you go out this project.