CORE UNITS
I'll start with the Core Unit choices, as they are the bulk of the Lizardmen army. Firstly, and most importantly, the Saurus. These guys are the backbone of the Lizardmen army, vicious warriors hatched and bred solely for the purpose of war – so it is appropriate to make them the focus of the list. I found the idea of Saurus in the second rank with spears still attacking twice a bit strange really, so reintroduced a version of the old 'Bite' attack, which I called 'Predatory Fighters'.

We really wanted the Saurus to look almost like living weapons, so they could easily kill using almost any part of their body – even their shields are designed so they could be used as an effective weapon. In game terms, this means that Saurus in the front rank fight with 2 Attacks, but spear-wielding second-rankers only get 1 Attack. To give the Saurus a bit more variation, I gave them the option to take Blessed Spawnings, but I'll get to them later…

Temple Guard have now been moved into the Core Units section (and much rejoicing was heard). However, I've made them a 0-1 choice per Slann in the army. The Temple Guard are spawned to protect the temple (funny that), and their whole existence is focused on doing that job. As the Slann are basically the temple given living form, when the Slann goes to war, the Temple Guard go with them (and so, are Core). Even if the Slann might wish it, the Temple Guard aren't going to be leaving their charge for anything, and so they will always protectively form up around the Slann.

The next on the list of Core Units are the Skinks. These guys are not spawned as warriors, but are the craftsmen (craftslizards?) and artisans of the Lizardmen. They are the scribes, the interpreters, the priests – really, they fulfil all the jobs that make day-to-day life in the temple-cities actually work. In times of war, they are drafted in to be scouts and such, but on the whole they don't really have the nerve to be proper warriors – that's the Saurus' role anyway, as they are the ones that ARE spawned to fight. For this reason, Skinks cannot be formed up into ranks (except in the Southlands, but again I'll get to that later), but rather fight in loose skirmish formations. They can Scout, but this is an option, giving players a bit more choice in how they choose to use them. For weapon options, they can take either blowpipes or javelins and shields – all poisoned of course.

To round out the Core Units, there are the ever-useful Jungle Swarms. They are much the same as they were in the Annual list, only I've made them a little quicker (Movement 5).

SPECIAL UNITS
Right, on to Special Units. To start with, everyone's favourites, the Kroxigor. These are much the same as they have always been, but I've made their scaly skin a bit thicker – it has become a 4+ save, which seemed only appropriate for the big fellas. They can still charge through units of Skinks, but now instead of trampling the Skinks underfoot, the Skinks must pass a Leadership test or they cannot move that turn – in effect they are ducking and weaving to avoid getting trod on.

Saurus Cavalry are here to stay, and they have some fantastic new models (so no need for any more headaches trying to convert them anymore). Not much to say here really, except that they have proved to be some of the hardest hitting cavalry in the game.

Chameleon Skinks have managed to find themselves a spot in Special Units rather than Rare, but have remained a 0-1 choice to represent their scarcity. They are still as sneaky and nasty as ever.

Terradons fill out the Special Unit choices, and out of the Special Troops they have had the most work done to them. They hit a bit harder now, for each one has 3 Strength 4 Attacks (the Terradons and the Skinks have been combined into a single stat line). They have a special rule, the Hit-and-Run Attack. This allows them, on the turn that they charge, to fight a single round of combat and then elect to flee automatically. The enemy cannot pursue the Terradons when they use this attack, and the Terradons rally automatically. Using these attacks, the Terradons can strike where they want without getting bogged down in combat, making them more useful than they were in the past.

RARE UNITS
The Rare Units include the Stegadon and Salamander Hunting Packs. The problem I saw with the Stegadon was that it had a horrible tendency to run away from things – it was clearly a very jittery thing that would run screaming whenever a pack of Skinks fled past it. Not really an inspiring image for the towering tank-like dinosaur. To rectify this, I've made it Immune to Panic. In addition, to give it a little staying power, it has become Stubborn. With a Leadership of 5 (on 3 dice remember), this keeps it in the fight a bit longer than it would normally last (though of course, it should be supported with other units), and actually means that you can send it off on its own without it bolting at the slightest loud noise.

Salamander Hunting Packs have found themselves in the Rare Units section now, and consist of between 1 and 3 Salamanders each with 3 Skink Handlers. Now, the Salamanders have probably undergone the most change out of all the existing rank and file troops in the Lizardmen army, but it is a change which I think is a good one, and one that makes them more characterful. In the past, the Salamanders operated like living artillery, providing the Lizardmen with some long-ranged weaponry that was great against high armoured enemies.

The idea of these reptiles spitting across a board (amusing as it was) really didn't seem that appropriate, especially when you think of how dense Lustria is meant to be.

Also, it almost seemed like something that was in the list to compensate for an obvious weakness – I didn't like this either. In my opinion, each army should have a weakness, but it's learning to make the army work despite this that is the fun of playing games. Long ranged firepower just didn't fit with the army in my mind, and so I began to devise a new method of fighting for Salamanders.

What I ended up with is more of a close support unit – a swift moving skirmishing unit that can unleash a torrent of flaming liquid at close/medium range and then join the combat directly. I see these creatures as being probably the most vicious and aggressive hunters in Lustria (except perhaps for the Carnosaur), and to have them sit still and spit at people was odd. In game terms, each Salamander now unleashes an Artillery dice number of hits (hits mind, not shots) at Strength 3 with a –1 to Armour Saves. This has a relative short range of 18", but seeing as they can move 6" and also fire, they have a working range of 24". Oh yes, and on the roll of a Misfire, the Salamander gobbles up a few Skinks, or burns them with its belly-fire. That always makes me chuckle, almost as much as my opponents.

Now I know that some might moan that the Salamanders now can't kill heavily armoured knights with the ease that they used to, but I see this as a slight shift in focus rather than a genuine downgrade in effectiveness. Besides, there is plenty that can deal with knights in this army (Strength 7 Kroxigors, Carnosaurs and Saurus characters amongst them). I'm really happy with the Salamanders, and they are now one of my favourite parts of the Lizardmen army.

That's the regiments briefly explained, so I shall move onto the characters.

Next: Lizardmen Characters
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