Lord Brrrp
19-01-2008, 22:17
Why a Slaan is worth taking?
1. He is your general and extremely good at holding skinks together with LD9 and coldblooded.
2. He replaces the need to take a BSB for a mere 25 pts.
3. He has both high leadership and is a level 4 wizard.
4. He only has to be 325 points. That is only about about 50-100pts over a level 4 mage of other races (orc versus elf)
5. The other races will need to take magical protection and often horses for additional points narrowing the gap. They will often be attacked and die at some point.
6. Even at Generation 5, you have the advantage of lots of wounds, large target and a ward save. You also can +1 dispel and +1 cast. You easily can field a naked Fifth Spawning Slaan as a solid option.
7. The additional points base level 4 Slaan versus base level 4 wizard in another race is explained by:
• LD9 which is coldblooded (significantly better than any other general)
• The ability to be the bsb too.
• The ability to be hidden in a unit where you can’t reach me.
• The ward save
• The ability to +1 cast and dispel
• The ability to take one to four lores.
8. Additional generations cost points but are optional. The second generation makes huge sense if you want to overwhelm the enemy with magic. You simply can cast 6 default or low cost spells (generally 7+ spells or under) spells a turn without any fear of not casting them. Your average roll will be 8. Your opponent will struggle 2d6 to dispel or 3d6? He will run out of dispel options quickly.
9. Slaan don’t NEED magic items. When you start adding magic items and generations, yes you get brutally expensive but that is a choice. A Naked 2cd Generation Slaan is little different than a loaded level 4 mage for some higher cost races like elves.
10. You hardly have to worry about enemy magic. Their key mage will have a hard time as you can use 1d6 plus the free die and the +1 casting bonus to easily make all 5’s and 6’s go away in their casting phase. Any other lower level mage will face the fact you have +1 to dispel and lots of dice.
11. I will grant you that often a second generation slaan is overkill depending on the army you face. But to say a fifth generation slaan is overkill, I beg to differ. You really need virtually no magic items. The 4+ save works depending on the enemy and you have plenty of wounds. Look, if they have that much missile fire take the lore of life and likely you will have the ability to heal yourself and stop their machines. You can always take 15pts of magic to ensure you get virtually any spell in a single lore. You also are the easiest general and battle standard bearer to protect.
12. As for LOS issues, if the enemy can’t get to me (I will know after deployment) easily, then go ahead and get the slaan out on his own. One of the reasons I don’t always take temple guard is because then my Slaan can leave and join the unit as he wishes (to get 360 degree LOS for several early rounds).
My Slaan does a lot for my army for little more than the cost of a level 4 mage. Only against certain opponents do I sacrifice slots and points for a 2cd generation spawning. But against the right opponents, that 2cd generation spawning is brutal.
1. He is your general and extremely good at holding skinks together with LD9 and coldblooded.
2. He replaces the need to take a BSB for a mere 25 pts.
3. He has both high leadership and is a level 4 wizard.
4. He only has to be 325 points. That is only about about 50-100pts over a level 4 mage of other races (orc versus elf)
5. The other races will need to take magical protection and often horses for additional points narrowing the gap. They will often be attacked and die at some point.
6. Even at Generation 5, you have the advantage of lots of wounds, large target and a ward save. You also can +1 dispel and +1 cast. You easily can field a naked Fifth Spawning Slaan as a solid option.
7. The additional points base level 4 Slaan versus base level 4 wizard in another race is explained by:
• LD9 which is coldblooded (significantly better than any other general)
• The ability to be the bsb too.
• The ability to be hidden in a unit where you can’t reach me.
• The ward save
• The ability to +1 cast and dispel
• The ability to take one to four lores.
8. Additional generations cost points but are optional. The second generation makes huge sense if you want to overwhelm the enemy with magic. You simply can cast 6 default or low cost spells (generally 7+ spells or under) spells a turn without any fear of not casting them. Your average roll will be 8. Your opponent will struggle 2d6 to dispel or 3d6? He will run out of dispel options quickly.
9. Slaan don’t NEED magic items. When you start adding magic items and generations, yes you get brutally expensive but that is a choice. A Naked 2cd Generation Slaan is little different than a loaded level 4 mage for some higher cost races like elves.
10. You hardly have to worry about enemy magic. Their key mage will have a hard time as you can use 1d6 plus the free die and the +1 casting bonus to easily make all 5’s and 6’s go away in their casting phase. Any other lower level mage will face the fact you have +1 to dispel and lots of dice.
11. I will grant you that often a second generation slaan is overkill depending on the army you face. But to say a fifth generation slaan is overkill, I beg to differ. You really need virtually no magic items. The 4+ save works depending on the enemy and you have plenty of wounds. Look, if they have that much missile fire take the lore of life and likely you will have the ability to heal yourself and stop their machines. You can always take 15pts of magic to ensure you get virtually any spell in a single lore. You also are the easiest general and battle standard bearer to protect.
12. As for LOS issues, if the enemy can’t get to me (I will know after deployment) easily, then go ahead and get the slaan out on his own. One of the reasons I don’t always take temple guard is because then my Slaan can leave and join the unit as he wishes (to get 360 degree LOS for several early rounds).
My Slaan does a lot for my army for little more than the cost of a level 4 mage. Only against certain opponents do I sacrifice slots and points for a 2cd generation spawning. But against the right opponents, that 2cd generation spawning is brutal.