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Here is my question guys i'm bluilding a lizardmen army and should i give them spears or hand weapons what do you guys think

Spears are usually not what people choose in this case. The reason being your second rank does not get the 2 attacks that saurus get normally and the shields for the extra protection are generally more useful.

ok i guess its hand weapons . i thought the spears would make them a good flank holders

Spears aren't bad, especially with S4, but you lose a point of armor save to the front (compared to HW & Shield) and have to pay more per model.

Usually the cheaper price combined with the better save is better, because Saurus are mostly an anvil unit; meant to provide static CR and not break while you flank the enemy unit with something else killy (like a steggy or kroxigors). Or just have a character in the unit dealing death.

Even with spears, don't you still have the hand weapon option, if needed?

ZF-

Certainly. The main issue is just cost. A lot of lizard players don’t field Saurus AT ALL, in the philosophy that M4 and ranked is just too big a handicap in a list where everything else is just so fast and maneuverable. Folks that do field them tend to keep the price down so as to allow them to still get more of those other goodies (like skinks, kroxies, and salamanders).

I haven't seen enough FB games to know all the "effective" builds yet. I've always liked the more brutish aspect of the basic saurus, but I imagine a more "guerilla" army of skinks and such must drive certain other armies mad.

ZF-

It's brutally effective. Quick and nasty shooting, and still has decent HtH (and magic if you want it). skinks got downpowered a little in 7th thanks to skirmishers now not being immune to march blocking, but in a lot of places you get comp points and/or kudos just for fielding Saurus in the first place.

Honestly Saurus are a good unit. S4, T4, 2A, and Cold Blooded make one of the best infantry blocks you could want. It's just that so many of the choices in the Lizard list are SO good that the Saurus look unimpressive by comparison.

Personally, I like my Saurus Warriors with hand weapons and shields and the first thing I try to secure the points for in any list is two 20 man units. The rest of my points go to my "heavies" (tricked out characters, kroxigor, stegadons, cold ones- whatever is good at killing things) and my "harrassers" (terradons, skink chieftan with cloak of feathers, scout skinks- anything that can quickly engage weapon crews or mages, then harry larger units. My Saurus Warriors mostly draw fire from these two unit types and lets them do their work and tie up hammer units for counter charges.

Hand weapon, shield.
I use saurus as tarpit units and need the 4+ save in combat to survive enemy shock and awe units. With WS 3 I don't generate enough hits to warrant taking spears.

ok starting to see tactics here, I'm just getting in WFB I've painted a 15 man unit Saurus going to bump it up to 20 . I was going to build a cold one army using that guy who rides a T-Rex(don't have the dex in front of me ) and i was going to use the saurus to hold the line so to speak as the rest of my army surged forward. thats for the input guys

Unless you're less worried about the competitiveness of your army list, a carnasaur (the big, t-rex-looking thing) isn't all that great unless you know your opponent is going to field big nasties. It has a special rule called ultimate predator where it does d3 wounds per attack against large targets only.
Outside of that, carnasaurs are kinda lackluster and after they cause an enemy wound, they're subject to frenzy. That means high mobility armies can draw him off and you have a very expensive model spending the rest of the game like the fat kid playing tag at school: always running after the other kids, but never tagging any of them. That being said, the model is sweet and I bought one for no other reasons than for large scale games where you can have fun bringing out the big guns.
To be point cost conscious when I field my Oldblood, I field him on a cold one and in a unit of cold one riders. Then, I give the unit the +d6" movement banner to aid their mobility. The sheer number of strength 4-6 attacks being poured on during their charge is devastating.
Almost every special choice the Lizardmen have is great. Kroxigor are great for scaring off chariots and ripping heavy calvary to shreds. Terradons are terrific mage and warmachine seekers. Cold One Riders are great hammer units and hell.. if used right Chameleons are very respectable harrassment units(even if everyone says terradons fill this role better).
Just make sure your army includes some scouting skinks to attract your opponent's fire so that your Saurus Warriors and other units get to them with fewer casualties.

just put the Carni on a flank and attack from the side. Don't run him up the middle.

Tacobake wrote:just put the Carni on a flank and attack from the side. Don't run him up the middle.

Of course, that's a valid tactic. It's worthwhile against any low mobility army that won't be able to escape it's wrath. The only issue with taking one is a gunline army will trounce him thoroughly, either through a high volume of gunfire or through bolt throwers and cannons who can do multiple wounds and quickly knock him off the table top. If you did take one, I would put a larger importance on fielding scout skinks, terradons and (to a lesser extent) chameleon skinks to divert, engage or eliminate the worst portions of an opponent's gunline.
One great thing not to forget about your carnisaur is it's movement 7 with terror. If you deploy him on a far flank, there's a chance you can panic units outside your opponent's general's leadership and if done early enough in the game you'll be able to eliminate units without ever having to roll dice against them, which is a very fast way to earn a unit's points on the table.

yeeees.

I always field one 12/13 (forget the number) scouting squad with javelins and one 12/13 squad with blowguns. I have terradon riders and often take them but points can be tight and I have 32 Saurus, too.

I always run him the same, him and a Steggy side by side with Cold Ones nearby in a front assault. But I don't play fantasy that much anyway.

Not to de-rail the thread, but why take the javelins? I wouldn't think the armor save would be even remotely worthwhile and only in VERY specific circumstances are blowpipes less effective than javelins in the shooting phase.

I like the Jav and shield personally. It also turns the skinks into a semi-assaulty unit if need be (5+ armor save means they can take on most missile units/gun crews)

themandudeperson wrote:Not to de-rail the thread, but why take the javelins? I wouldn't think the armor save would be even remotely worthwhile and only in VERY specific circumstances are blowpipes less effective than javelins in the shooting phase.

I'm going to start another thread on this as I think it's worth discussing further.

skyth wrote:I like the Jav and shield personally. It also turns the skinks into a semi-assaulty unit if need be (5+ armor save means they can take on most missile units/gun crews)

yup. I remember scouting Javelin guys vs Tomb King archers was a good fight. I just take one of each. They are still good, the blow pipes need 6es anyway. I take 12 Javelins, 12 Blowpipes scouting, the other 24 or so blowpipes march with Skink Preists inside, in water if it is feasible. If I bought another box I would probably add 8 Javelins to get 10 and 10 or else 20.

I remember now. They are better against cover than blowpipes, since you can still get 6es. I am not familiar with 7th edition, though. So blowpipes against targets in the open, and Javelins against cover, and Javelins are a bit better in close combat. Besides, they look cool.

Saurus!