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Nah, GW was probably just too lazy to release a new Saurus kit.
Remember Lizard book came out back in 7th, giving them GW back then wouldnt have been overpowered, in fact everyone would still probably take spears back then.
Besides, everything is balanced by points, make it a 3 pts upgrade or something.

I don't have every book, but I have close. I don't see one instance of units having the option of purchaseable GW with an initiative of 1. There's a few with I2, but just a few. I'm betting it's some internal rule of theirs. Halberd is much more likely.

But as more fluffery, jungle isn't the best place to try and fight with a great weapon. Kroxigor has no problems cuz it's a MI anyway.

Well, I was suggesting that, from the perspective of army design in terms of competitiveness, they should have always been an option.

And Duke, I agree that they'd be super amazing with them (you quoted me saying as much), but...:

- great weapons don't make you I1, they make you Strike Last. Not a big difference, though.
- what other infantry is I1? Zombies? I don't think a lack of other examples is a point in the favor of "it's not balanced", but instead "I1 isn't common".

- when someone says "it would make sense in the fluff", I think the key word there is "sense". Anyone can b.s. some lame story, sure, but we all know what we're talking about.

- large weapons are fine in rain forests; they're surprisingly clear, once you actually step under the canopy.

- and maybe a unit-to-unit comparison is hard to do, but if that's the case, an army-to-army one is even harder, considering all the variables. Both, however, can be done, and with success.
Chaos Warriors and Dwarfs are both Core infantry that hit hard and can take a beating. They fill the same role in their armies that the Saurus do in theirs.

I'd wager that great weapons, even at 2 or 3pts/model, would make Saurus a bit too awesome. Though, honestly, I really do think it's only a bit.

DukeRustfield wrote:I don't have every book, but I have close. I don't see one instance of units having the option of purchaseable GW with an initiative of 1. There's a few with I2, but just a few. I'm betting it's some internal rule of theirs. Halberd is much more likely.

But as more fluffery, jungle isn't the best place to try and fight with a great weapon. Kroxigor has no problems cuz it's a MI anyway.

lol just curious, how many units in this game actually have I1?

As above: two's my guess.

Giving Saurus S6 with no disadvantages would be madness, they are already unlikely to flee, are tough enough to take anything but a serious battering and have enough strength to be wounding most basic infantry on a 3+. They are happy with their spears, leave it at that.

if Saurus had GWs then Temple guard and Kroxigors would probably become redundant, Saurus would have better strength, no initiative loss, cheaper both money and points wise and solid numbers compared to Guards and Kroxi

That would mean GW wouldn't sell nice shiny Kroxi or Temple Guard
making GW sadd

Jackster wrote:

DukeRustfield wrote:I don't have every book, but I have close. I don't see one instance of units having the option of purchaseable GW with an initiative of 1. There's a few with I2, but just a few. I'm betting it's some internal rule of theirs. Halberd is much more likely.

But as more fluffery, jungle isn't the best place to try and fight with a great weapon. Kroxigor has no problems cuz it's a MI anyway.

lol just curious, how many units in this game actually have I1?

Just scanning the back of the BRB, nearly 30.

Um...counting special characters, I see 18.

I mean, there's more than you'd think, I'll give you that. But...that's a pretty small fraction.
Beyond that, the vast majority of them don't have any weapon options at all.

At any rate, the idea is that Saurus with great weapons would be, overall, better than Saurus with spears or hand weapons, because they are not effectively suffering a penalty (though they still technically are).

So Games Workshop has the right idea, in that they'd swing the odds to the Saurus by a good margin, but there's no secret rules here; it's (1) basic game design, and (2) a matter of lore/historical accuracy.

I counted everything and I think it was 29.

Tomb Guard are in the same boat. I1. Option of Halberd only, even though GW are available to other units.

Interestingly, Necrolith Colossus (Bone Giant) is the only I1 unit in the game (that I know) with an option of a purchaseable GW. But he's a 170pt monster. But it also makes that Unstoppable Assault even more likely to fire.

Damn TK have a lot of stuff.

Ah. Well, I was only looking at the BRB, not the counting the new Tomb Kings stuff. Not counting Tomb Kings, we've got:

- Ancient Stegadon
- Jungle Swarm
- Kroxigor
- Lord Kroak
- Saurus Warrior
- Greasus Goldtooth
- Troll
- Beast of Nurgle
- Kairos Fateweaver
- Plague Bearer
- Bat Swarm
- Corpse Cart
- Spirit Host
- Zombie
- Great Fire Dragon
- Hellcannon
- Kholek Suneater
- Chaos Troll

Total count: 18. Of those, 6 use manufactured weapons and aren't special characters. One of them, to my knowledge, has the option to purchase different equipment at all.

So...anyway. The primary issue on Saurus with great weapons is as follows:

- they gain a substantial bonus for a negligible drawback.
- the offensive power they would provide couldn't realistically be represented with +2-3pts/model; too few points, and they'd be the best. Too many, and no one would take them, due to their low survivability versus high point cost.

I'd say 16pts/model would be reasonable, if they were an option.
Temple Guard would, obviously, be almost always a worse choice, but that's part of my point: soldiers should use the best weapons they can. So, really, if great weapon wielding Saurus were around, I would expect to see some 19pt Temple Guard with similar equipment.