Editing Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen (section)

==Units==
Many lizardmen units are available in standard and 'blessed' variants. Blessed units are only made available in the campaign by completing random timed missions, such as getting 1000 kills or winning 4 battles, but make up for their randomness and limited quantity by being free to recruit at any time in any army and by having at least one extra ability or superior stat over their contemporary counterparts. They aren't to be confused with Regiments of Renown, unique units recruited at max rank and limited to one instance per. In casual multiplayer matches with Unit Caps turned off, Blessed Units are recruitable for only a modest bump in price over their generic counterparts.

===Infantry===
Infantry provide the foundation of every army in Total War: Warhammer, and the Lizardmen are no different. Indeed, even the humble skinks have their place.

====Melee Infantry====
*'''Skink Cohort''' - Skinks armed with little macuahuitls and shields, skink cohorts are cheap chaff units primarily used to fill out rosters or to support your more expensive infantry actually doing the killing. Despite being shielded, these guys will die by the score due to their pitiful defensive statline if they face any frontline infantry head on and are one of the few lizardmen units prone to routing from leadership issues. Having said that, skink cohorts are among the fastest cheap infantry units in the game and are still rather decent combatants when fighting similar unarmored units and tend to win such engagements (namely against chaff or low tier infantry like Bretonnian peasantry or Vampire Count zombies). Indeed, their speed is invaluable for flanking enemies tied up by your saurus warriors and chasing routing enemies off the map. When pinching pennies, you can't argue with that. In campaign these guys can be skipped entirely for the javelin version instead as the missile attack for 10 extra upkeep per turn is leagues better than just having the club.

*'''Red-Crested Skinks (DLC 1)''' - Angry skinks wielding poisonous, armor-piercing warhammers. Red-Crested Skinks provide an invaluable source of early game/cheap melee AP damage and poison, though they're less effective against unarmored targets as a whole compared to regular Skink Cohorts. They lack both shields and armor and as they are simply skinks, they will die in droves unless they're taking refuge among the far burlier saurus warriors. On that note, RC skinks synergize excellently with saurus warriors, as they can simultaneously chew through armored units the saurus tend to bounce off of and further cripple these enemies with poison, allowing your much slower saurus to both catch up to and butcher them with greater ease. Just like skink cohorts, these guys are at home in watery environments and are easily able to outflank many slower infantry units.
**'''Cohort of Sotek (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Unbreakable angry skinks wielding poisonous, armor-piercing warhammers. These guys have a unique ability, ''Refuse to Die''. When active, no skink models can die (they can still take damage, however), which can maximize their damage output when taking sudden burst damage or ensure that they hold the enemy in place for a precious few more seconds. The fact that they're unbreakable really synergizes well with this perk, as it means that your opponent is going to have to commit to completely eradicating the unit (which, admittedly, isn't really ''that'' tall an ask all things considered). This can buy some of your other forces some precious moments to regroup should the tide be against your favor.
:::'''Campaign Note''': Auto-Resolve tends to value every flavor of Red-Crested Skink just slightly more than the dirt they stand on, so unless you are ok with them taking massive casualties or outright getting wiped out every time you click that auto-resolve button, you'll either need to fight your battles manually or pick up regular Skink Cohorts if you need chaff infantry to pad out your forces.

*'''Saurus Warriors''' - Saurus warriors are probably the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the lizardmen, and for good reason. Resilient, determined and natural fighters, saurus warriors are one of the most durable base line infantry units in the game due to their high HP and armor and can hold their own even against the more elite infantry options of other factions (Note: they can fight a unit of chaos warriors to stalemate). Should they find themselves in a losing matchup, their naturally high leadership will keep them standing firm against the enemy far longer than their equivalents in other factions would, even if they lose control and rampage towards their inevitable deaths (in game II. They've since become far more disciplined in game III). To compensate, saurus are slow and are prone to being kited, so skink skirmishers/cohorts should be utilized to help pin down the enemy line until the saurus make it into combat. Saurus warriors are available in both standard and shielded variants, but the only reason to not get the shielded version is if you need every last gold coin you can rub together for your bigger monsters on a tight, competitive budget.
**'''Blessed Saurus Warriors''' - Shielded saurus warriors with an even higher base health and [[awesome|perfect vigour]]. These guys make fantastically cost efficient walls that will never tire no matter how hard they're pushed. In the campaign, they are one of the better frontline choices you can give your non-doomstack armies that can find a place even into the late game, so long as they manage to survive and rank up. Gor-Rok, if chosen as your initial legendary lord, can use his rite to grant further defensive bonuses and ''unbreakable'' to them (in game II. Game III replaces unbreakable with the barrier ability and immunity to hostile effects like Poison instead); they will never yield.

*'''Saurus Spears''' - Warriors equipped with anti-large spears for engaging cavalry and monsters. They're nearly identical to regular saurus warriors in every other way, though they do slightly less damage against regular infantry in exchange for their anti-large speciality. Like the warriors, they come in unshielded or, for a slight premium, shielded variants.
**'''Blessed Saurus Spears''' - Buffed up saurus spears with shields, the blessed variant of these saurus are dramatically inferior to their standard cousins since they lack perfect vigour. Instead, the bonus ability granted to them is Forest Strider, a perk that grants additional melee attack and defense buffs to them while fighting in forests. If you can lure cavalry and large monsters into forests, where they'll suffer additional penalties simply due to how forests interact with them, you can deal impressive sustained damage to them in short order. Unfortunately, this ability does nothing for them outside of forests and ''many'' battlefields will have a dearth of forest patches that you can fight in. Additionally, uncooperative opponents will generally avoid trying to engage your forces inside forests and trying to convince them otherwise may prove too time consuming for what it's worth. Regardless, they still have more health than the regular saurus spears. That's always a plus.
**'''Legion of Chaqua (RoR, DLC 1)''' - The Legion of Chaqua, thanks to their special ability, are able to provide themselves and all nearby allied units a surprising 44% missile resistance for a limited time upon activation. This is an invaluable skill to have on the approach, as many of your unshielded infantry and larger monsters are vulnerable to being focused down by the much superior ranged infantry found in other armies and can be further supplemented by a Slann's Shield of the Old Ones if necessary. Otherwise, these guys simply behave exactly as Saurus Spears are expected to.

*'''Temple Guards''' - The fearsome Temple Guards, renowned for their devotion to their Slann masters, stand ready to slaughter all who'd bring harm to their otherwise vulnerable charges. Temple Guard are the only "elite" infantry within the lizardmen roster, which is more a testament to how strong regular saurus are compared to the melee infantry of other armies. Speaking of how strong regular saurus are, Temple Guard fall short of them against unarmored infantry on the whole. This isn't to say Temple Guard aren't impressive; their heightened statline makes them less likely to budge than regular saurus are while their charge defense and bonus damage against large foes and predominantly armor-piercing weaponry lets them effectively face down a majority of late-game/elite cavalry, monsters and even armored infantry much more effectively than regular saurus. Unfortunately, this general prowess reflects heavily in their price tag and you'll struggle to field multiple units of these without heavily cutting into your other options.
**'''Blessed Temple Guards''' - Recolored Temple Guards, these guys are a slightly more offensive version of their default variants thanks to an increased charge bonus. This makes them significantly more well rounded and will allow you to more flexibly choose how you engage your enemies; do you brace and negate an incoming charge, or is the foe squishy enough where a counter charge would be more punishing? All in all a nice upgrade if only for the usual buff to their health blessed units receive.
**'''Star-Chamber Guardians (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Take Temple Guard and make their weapons also deal magical damage: you now have ''the'' most elite infantry unit available to the Lizardmen. Having magical attacks allows the SCG to engage many undead/demonic forces that utilize high physical resistance and cut them down with ease. SCG also serve as excellent bodyguards for lords (particularly Slann) due to their Guardian ability and when properly supported with healing magic, these guys will ''never'' die. Their only major weakness of note is prolonged anti-armor ranged firepower and artillery, but as they are armored and shielded and have a frankly gargantuan health pool, it will take a long time to fully whittle them down.

====Missile Infantry====
*'''Skink Cohort with Javelins''' - Skinks armed with little macuahuitls, shields and three javelins each. For pennies over a regular skink cohort, you can give them limited ranged support with poisonous javelins; a fantastic way to soften up an enemy unit for your front line infantry on the charge. With their speed, they can also easily circle about and pepper an opposing unit's backsides before charging in to cut off their escape while your saurus chew through them. Once they throw all their javelins, they're identical to the default skink cohort in virtually every way. Generally, if you're planning on taking skink cohorts at all, you should almost always pick these guys up over the standard versions (unless you ''really'' need every gold coin you can possibly scrape together for a specific competitive multiplayer build).

*'''Skink Skirmishers''' - Skinks equipped with little blowpipes and poisonous darts, and your first dedicated missile infantry. Skink skirmishers lack the sheer range available to most other factions and struggle to do damage against armored opponents. Instead, they should be used exclusively as harassers; their speed, ability to fire while moving and vanguard deployment options allow them to easily get into flanking positions and kite enemy infantry while inflicting poison onto them for when the rest of your army catches up. These guys will melt quickly if caught in the crosshairs of opposing archers/gunners and are pitiful in a fistfight, so you should only get one or two of these units at most, and only if you absolutely cannot afford taking chameleon skinks instead.
**'''Blessed Skink Skirmishers''' - Skink skirmishers with more health and an innate magic spell resistance. This extra durability is nice, but the spell resistance in particular isn't going to see much use due to these guys rather high mobility and any targetable spell an opponent ''could'' cast on them would be served much better against... literally anything else in your army. There's virtually no reason to bring these in Multiplayer (even if Blessed units are allowed for the match) and the only reason you'll want to recruit them in any of your Campaigns would be if you're in desperate need of reinforcements for a beat-up army you simply cannot afford to lose and you just ''happen'' to have some Blessed Skink Skirmishers to burn. The moment you are in a position where you can recruit/replace other units, these guys should be the first to go.

*'''Chameleon Skinks''' - Ninja skinks equipped with little blowpipes and poisonous darts. Though fewer in number than basic skink skirmishers, chameleon skinks are considerably more durable thanks to their flat 40% missile resistance and have a much easier time sneaking around enemies thanks to their Chameleon ability. This, along with their loose formation, can make them surprisingly effective at countering enemy archers. They otherwise fulfill the exact same harassment role your regular skink skirmishers do and deal a disappointingly low amount of damage against armored targets. Also, like skink skirmishers, they are unable to curve their shots well meaning they're less effective in siege battles than the archers of other races.
**'''Blessed Chameleon Skinks''' - Slightly swole Chameleon Skinks with twice the charge bonus (which is barely anything, especially combined with their rather tragic melee statline) and a few extra darts per skink. More ammunition is always welcome in a firefight, but it's hardly a game changer. Regardless, better stats do open up options and if you have a choice between these and regular Chameleon Skinks, may as well pick these guys.
:::Oxyotl's banner army in the campaign should almost entirely consist of these guys. Between the AP bonus damage, variant ammunitions he can grant them in addition to giving them perks like Snipe, there's almost no force these guys can't just shoot to death with relative ease. Siege Battles or battles featuring multiple enemy banner armies might become tricky, but that's why you always have at least a couple Skink Oracles or Skink Chiefs with Stalk to clean up shop.

*'''Chameleon Stalkers (DLC 3)''' - Angry ninja skinks with little blowpipes and [[what|explosive darts]]. Chameleon Stalkers fill the rather niche role of shock infantry for the Lizardmen. Each skink is equipped with two Precursor blowpipe shots that deal rather impressive burst damage against unarmored targets either on the charge or when falling back from a melee engagement. As they possess the same Chameleon ability their standard Chameleon Skink kin have, they do have a lot of wiggle room to get into an optimal charging position and can quickly fade away from the fray when things go south. Speaking of things going south, though Stalkers are reasonably decent at combat due to their poisoned attacks and mediocre stats, they still tend to lose against medium tier and above infantry or anything with armor. That said, even against armored infantry, much of the Stalker's value comes from the heavy formation disruption their Precursor Rounds cause, slowing down their targets and interrupting their charge so that you can take the initiative in the ensuing engagement. They can also deal decent burst damage against single entity units in a pinch, but this is generally an inefficient use of them.

====Monstrous Infantry====
*'''Kroxigors''' - Kroxigors, as to be expected from 12-foot tall crocodile men, are beastly armor-piercing anti-infantry blenders who can carve through lower tier units like butter and are sturdy enough to hold back more elite units for your more capable specialists. Though quite tanky and reasonably quick (compared to your saurus), they are still large (with the weaknesses all that entails) and very vulnerable to getting shot to hell and back or getting slammed by larger cavalry/monsters. While Kroxigors do hit damn hard, their total damage is divided between three subcatagories: Base, Anti-Infantry and Armor-Piercing. As such, they only really get the most bang for their buck when thrown against armored infantry. While they are able to tie up units that fall outside of those categories, they become dramatically less effective and ''will'' lose the grindfest if they aren't supported. Just like in the tabletop, they pair fantastically with supporting skinks to flank and tie up enemy forces or debuff them with poison to make them even more vulnerable to the kroxigors.
**'''Blessed Kroxigors''' - If you thought regular kroxigors were thick, you haven't seen these thunder-thighs strut their stuff. Though the standard health increase is all well and good, blessed kroxigors received a substantial buff to their charge bonus. This can make them surprisingly deadly cycle-chargers which, combined with their anti-infantry/armor niche, will let them crack massive holes in front lines.

*'''Sacred Kroxigors (DLC 2)''' - Kroxigors with [[power fists]]. These magical boxing gloves turn your kroxigors into all-purpose ass pounders who punch holes in armored foes effortlessly and tear through things with low magic resistance like so much wet paper. Much like regular kroxigors, sacred kroxigors get the most bang for their buck when supported by skinks (ideal) or saurus (when you don't want to move from that spot). Unlike standard Kroxigors, Sacred Kroxigors are much more well rounded offensively and will perform much more efficiently against opponents regular Kroxigors tend to struggle or stalemate against. Additionally, as the only non-RoR/Lord unit in your roster with Magical Attacks, these guys are your go-to melee force to deal with Ethereal units, Treemen and other high-physical resistance targets. Additionally, as Magic Resist is slated to change to only affect damage caused by Spells, Sacred Kroxigors will be very well suited to deal with the forces of the Dwarfs and Khorne going forward.
**'''Cohort of Huatl (RoR, DLC 2)''' - Sacred kroxigors with much higher physical resistance and straight up sunder enemy armor, allowing units like your saurus warriors to deal more damage to them.

===Cavalry===
Lizardmen cavalry are slow, for cavalry. They will never catch horse-mounted cavalry of other races, and it is risky to use them as a distraction if your enemy is using anything more than basic cavalry archers. Expect lizardmen cavalry to take heavy losses in prolonged combat, and learn to cycle-charge with them.

*'''Feral Cold Ones''' - A pack of clever girls, with no saurus riders. Feral cold ones are extremely speedy units (by lizardmen standards) that effectively function as light cavalry built for chasing down skirmishers, ranged back lines and artillery pieces. Their ability to cause fear also comes in handy for landing rear charges against a foe tied up in combat with your frontline infantry, as well as ensuring routed enemies leave the battlefield permanently. Unfortunately, their raw damage output is rather low and they themselves are particularly frail and prone to rampaging, which means a bad engagement will result in a swift end for them. They're cheap as chips though, so you can't complain too much over losing 'em.
**Being able to summon them after performing the Rite of Primeval Glory is really handy when facing off against Skaven artillery.

*'''Cold One Riders''' - Standard cold one riders are your first full-blooded cavalry option. Though significantly swifter than your infantry, cold one riders lag behind their competition in other factions and are particularly vulnerable to anti-large cavalry units because of this. In an ideal setting, cold one riders will serve as the hammer to the anvil that is your saurus frontline; decisive charges into the rear of enemy formations can deal heavy damage and can completely lock down ranged infantry or artillery. Being both armored and shielded gives them respectable staying power as well and allows them to remain in extended combat should the need arise. That said, like most cavalry, they truly shine when they're able to freely cycle charge to maximize their damage output and heavily abuse enemy morale.

*'''Cold One Spear-Riders''' - The name says it all; these are cold one riders with spears. This turns them into a dedicated anti-large cavalry unit that can deal not inconsequential damage to opposing cavalry, artillery and monsters. Unfortunately, in cav v. cav engagements, cold one spear riders will often fall short due to their below average speed letting many opposing options run circles around them. As such, they tend to work best when used defensively. When opposing cavalry buckles down to charge into your flanks, counter charge them with your spear-riders to either intercept or divert them from your more vulnerable elements. They do deal decent armor-piercing damage on their own right, but they'll often lose against more elite cavalry options and their strength quickly diminishes in prolonged engagements.
**'''Blessed Cold One Spear-Riders''' - Blessed cold one spears are extremely similar to the Pok-Hopak Cohort in the sense that they both don't run the risk of rampaging. This is a very valuable perk on a unit that will often find itself separated from your main army, especially when combined with their heightened durability. If you have a need for cold one spears and have access to these, there's literally no reason not to take them.
**'''Pok-Hopak Cohort (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Fearless and focused spear-riders, these guys are both immune to psychology ''and'' lack primal instincts, meaning you'll never need to worry about them rampaging or fleeing from enemy monsters. Additionally, the Pok-Hopak cohort is able to utilize vanguard deployment, giving them a tactical edge over their generic counterparts that cannot be underestimated. If you're thinking about taking a unit of spear-riders, there's literally no reason to not just take these guys instead.

*'''Horned Ones''' - Your only elite cavalry, horned ones are simply buffed up cold one riders, plain and simple. They are significantly faster than all of your cold one riders and as such are on par with the cavalry options found in many other factions. They pack a meaty punch with a rather chunky charge bonus to boot, letting them simply smash through frontline infantry as both hammer and anvil. You'll be paying for that swollen statline though, as they are one of your most expensive non-monster units out of your entire roster (they're even more expensive than some of your monsters).
**'''Blessed Horned Ones''' - Just like the blessed cold one spears, blessed horned ones won't rampage when caught unawares. Considering these are your elite cav units, you will ''always'' want to make sure they can get out of a bad engagement whenever you need them to.

*'''Terradon Riders''' - Javelin skinks riding Terradons and carrying stone bombs. While relatively fast for the lizardmen, terradon riders are among the slowest flying cavalry in the game, and are a fairly niche choice in battle. This niche can best be summed up as aerial harriers, ideal for sniping out artillery, mages or unarmored infantry or monsters (which is admittedly a bit of a rarity). Their attacks also apply Poison, which makes them a little more useful than their raw stats make them seem on paper and helps further support other units in your army. Additionally, they are quite micro-friendly since they are able to fire and move with their javelins and, with proper positioning, can drop a once-per-battle set of stone bombs to deal massive damage to clustered up infantry beneath their wings. That said, as fairly large, unarmored and slow moving targets with fairly pitiful melee stats, these guys can be very easy to snipe out of the air by decent missile infantry and are ''very'' vulnerable to pretty much anything else that is also in the air with them. In a pinch, they can also be used as rear-chargers to help route enemies or tie down missile infantry, but Old Ones help them if something points an extra long stick at them. If you're facing an infantry heavy army, Fireleech Bolas Terradons tend to net you better value.
**'''Pahuax Sentinels (RoR, DLC 1)''' - These special edition terradon riders are particularly nimble and have an innate resistance to melee and missile attacks that gives them ''far'' more staying power than any of your other flying cavalry. If only to serve as a distraction, these guys can be used in lieu of skink priests/chiefs in an attempt to waste your opponent's missile infantry/artillery ammo. Otherwise, use them to harass enemy units with poisoned missiles and to escort routing foes off the battlefield.

*'''Fireleech Bolas Terradon Riders''' - These are far better Terradon Riders than the base variant. While they no longer inflict Poison on enemy units, their fireleech bolas deal explosive fire damage, inflicting greater damage overall against infantry formations and fire-weak entities while dealing higher leadership penalties in the process. Like regular Terradon Riders, they also can fire and move, letting them more or less function as prehistoric bombers. They still carry stone bombs, which can be devastatingly effective when used in concert with a line of saurus warriors pinning enemy melee units or shutting down artillery, but just like regular Terradon Riders, they are fairly useless in melee and are terribly vulnerable to other fliers and ranged missile fire. If you're dealing with smaller, physically larger units (monstrous infantry or single-entity monsters) with low armor, Terradon Riders are more efficient against them. 
**'''Blessed Terradon Riders''' - Blessed Terradon Riders, aside the traditional increase in health, only received one minor adjustment over their basic counterparts; speed. At a speed stat of 110 as opposed to the standard 90, Blessed Terradon Riders can manuever across the battlefield notably more quickly than any other unit in your entire army. Nice, for a unit designed to harass and waste/dodge enemy missile fire, but ultimately a rather minor selling point on an admittedly mediocre and situational unit.
**Fireleech Bolas can be used to game the AI, especially when you're facing off against the Chaos Invasion. Even having just three of these guys bombard the Chaos Hellcannons can save you a lot of grief, and you're not really going to miss them if they got shot down. They're also really helpful against Vampire Coast, as they're one of the few skirmishers you have that can raise hell against a zombie gunline/artillery.

*'''Ripperdactyl Riders (DLC 1)''' - The obsidian knife of lizardmen flyers. Ripperdactyls are your flying can-openers with a minor bonus against infantry and a ''massive'' AP bonus. Combined with their solid melee attack stat and Frenzy bonus, these guys utterly shred armored foot soldiers. Unfortunately, their non-existent armor, low melee defense, low model count and large size makes these guys terribly susceptible to counterattack. If they get boxed in, much less by anything with an anti-large bonus, you will be impressed by how quickly they die. Because of this, and the fact much of their damage is dedicated against armored targets, Ripperdactyls tend to be a bit of a niche choice in army lists not built around Tiktaq'to. None-the-less, they are much more effective than Terradon Riders at shutting down missile infantry formations and artillery platforms. Just make sure you are constantly aware of the tactical situation and only call them down when you can support them or escape before enemy reinforcements manage to pin them down.
**'''Colossadon Hunters (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Bigger, hungrier ripperdactyls with a penchant for bigger prey; an additional anti-large bonus can turn them into cavalry buzzsaws and can let them deal sickening damage to mounted enemy lords or cavalry and are the best/only option for fighting flying enemy lords/heroes on semi-even ground. Suffice to say, they're still very weak to anti-large weaponry themselves and will seldom win against combat dedicated lords/heroes in a "1"v1 fight. As such, they'll need support through terradon riders (for the poison) as well as additional ripperdactyls to stand an honest shot against such a foe, though they're still not guaranteed a victory. Should they lose, they'll still leave a hell of a mark on whatever cavalry/monster they were fighting and such scars could prove pivotal to bringing them down with the rest of your army.

===Hunting Packs===
*'''Salamander Hunting Pack (DLC 1)''' - A ''much'' needed addition to the Lizardmen's borderline vacant missile unit roster, Salamander Hunting Packs are a fantastic general use ranged unit and are among the better missile cavalry options in the game. Though they can't fire while moving like other missile cavalry options, they deal a rather frightening amount of flaming explosive damage per volley with not inconsequential AP and rather notable anti-large bonuses to top it off. Much like your other non-single entity heavy hitters, Salamanders can do some damage in melee, but they really should avoid it unless absolutely necessary. Terrible defensive values will make Salamander Hunting Packs feel every blow that hits their unarmored hides. If you want to keep them in the fight, make sure you have a few Saurus Spears or Spear Cold One Riders to counter enemy cavalry. They can fire over units and obstacles.
**'''The Umbral Tide (RoR, DLC 1)''' - Sneaky salamander hunting packs with perfect vigour and stalk, the Umbral Tide is able to covertly cross a majority of the battlefields you may find yourself on and can easily set up an ambush against unsuspecting opponents. Even after running from one end of the battle to the other and loosing every last fireball from their collective gullets, the Umbral Tide will still have a spring to their step should they join the melee fray. If you can only afford a single Salamander Pack, try to budget for these guys.

*'''Razordon Hunting Pack (DLC 2)''' - Razordons are your anti-armor missile cavalry. Unlike the Salamanders, who burp up one flaming projectile apiece, Razordons lob three spikes at a time when they attack. Though the damage per individual projectile is... well, pitiful, combined they can deal a rather staggering amount of AP damage that can either be divided among dense clusters of armored infantry formations or a single armored target. Additionally, Razordons are much more adept at lobbing their shots, giving them a bit of an edge over Salamanders in uneven terrain. Unfortunately, that's about where the good news ends. With a shorter firing range than Salamanders and utterly abysmal base damage on their projectiles ([[What|Chameleon Skinks have stronger missiles against unarmored foes than these guys]]) and no additional bonuses to speak of (fire damage, explosive damage, anti-large/infantry, nothing), there's generally no reason to take Razordons over Salamanders in general lists. Against the heavily armored forces of the Warriors of Chaos, Dwarfs or even other Lizardmen, Razordons might find a more valuable niche.
::'''Warhammer III''' Not only have these guys gained a better firing arc, enabling them to better fire spikes at targets over terrain/allied units, but the projectiles themselves now pierce through multiple entities. Currently, they're particularly powerful and can quickly mulch armored infantry with as few as two or three volleys.
**'''Amaxon Barbs (RoR, DLC 2)''' - Razordons with poisonous spikes and a flat 15% missile resistance, these guys aren't much to write home about. Yes, poison is nice, but you don't exactly need to dig very deep for alternative ways to access it. The missile resistance is a nice, if moderately more situational perk, but it's not a particularly notable resistance and it does nothing for potential melee engagements. In the event you need a razordon hunting pack for anti-armor firepower, you may as well pick these guys up, but only if you have the extra gold once you've established your core army roster.

===Monsters===
The big beasts and the creatures most opponents expect to face when fighting the lizardmen. Potent and powerful monsters, you have a dinosaur for every occasion; you'll simply need to choose the right ones. Beware of enemy tarpits if you don't have a high-level mage in your army; dinosaurs will take additional damage from their flanks and rear if they are surrounded and that can quickly wear them down.

*'''Feral [[Bastilidon]]''' - Your cheapest single entity dinosaur as well as your sturdiest. Feral bastilidons are effectively just a [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]] that you throw into enemy frontlines to stir up some chaos, cause some fear and just generally soak damage while the rest of your army dismantles the enemy. These guys can still earn you some crazy value against armies that field a lot of chaff infantry, like Skaven, Beastmen or Bretonnia.
::'''Campaign''': These guys are your entry-level monsters, being recruitable basically from the start of the game. As tanky anti-infantry monsters, these guys can net you some crazy value against the early-game armies of other factions for cheap-as-chips prices.

*'''Solar Engine Bastilidon''' - Your first, cheaper artillery option. Solar Engines fire off a single missile that simultaneously blinds and burns enemy units, reducing their combat effectiveness and dealing bonus damage against anything that regenerates health naturally. These laser bolts have a lower maximum range, are relatively slow moving and are much easier to dodge than the smaller, faster, harder to see bolts fired by the stegadon, but they have slightly higher damage per shot and a larger splash radius when targeting groups of infantry. In another contrast to the stegadon, the beams fired by the solar engine deal flat magical damage, meaning enemies with high magical resistance will largely shrug off the damage dealt by the solar engine itself. The only ''major'' drawback of the solar engine is that the Beam of Chotek, though an armor-piercing missile (its unit toolbar does not show the armor-piercing icon), deals relatively low bonus damage against armored units and as such will become less efficient compared to the stegadon when targeting heavily armored monsters over formations of armored infantry. At the end of the day, when all else fails, there's still a fully grown bastilidon underneath that laser crystal. Keep in mind, like every ranged unit, firing their missiles depletes their vigour and should be taken into account if you're planning on sending it into combat.
**'''Blessed Solar Engine Bastilidon''' - Perfect vigour's value cannot be overstated on a melee capable monster that would otherwise tire itself out just from holding a laser cannon in place. The greater defensive value of the bastilidon compliments the increased health quite nicely and will allow the blessed variant to stay in the thick of it considerably longer than others of its kind.

*'''Revivification Crystal Bastilidon''' - Your only non-magical source of healing, revivification crystals are one of the few healing options in the game that not only restores a unit's health but also actually revives dead models; a perk that's particularly valuable on your elite units like kroxigors or temple guard. A revivification crystal pairs excellently with a Life Slann in infantry heavy lists as you can very rapidly bring a unit back from the brink to near pristine (or whatever their healing cap is, depending on how used and abused they are), or for ensuring crucial monsters (like carnosaurs and dread saurians) become virtually unkillable. They are of limited use in a dinosaur army if your lord isn't a Life Slann, as their minor healing ability is short-ranged and can only target a single unit with a relatively lengthy cooldown between uses. Additionally, and this is a notable hitch, models don't start coming back to life until all the still living models have been fully healed up. This, consequently, makes it difficult to rebuild your forces if they're in active combat or taking damage from other sources. Having said that, they're still one of two sources of healing non-slann lords have access to and the only healing option that doesn't impose on your Winds of Magic reserve (which is still a plus, as other armies don't have such a luxury). As a bastilidon variant, it can also throw itself into combat with little fear. Pro tip: Don't click that "end battle" button; instead, use it to revive what you can and win the fight with fewer casualties.

*'''Ark of Sotek Bastilodon (DLC 1)''' - Functionally just a regular bastilidon, but with the ability to unleash an AoE burst of poison on all enemies surrounding it. As it's only a minor increase in cost over the feral version, the Ark of Sotek may be worth getting for the very minor amount of damage and extra poison it can apply to the invariable mosh pits bastilidons often find themselves in. Alternatively, you can get much more utility from the other two non-feral variants, and rely on your skinks to supply poison or your mages to deal burst damage to tarpits of infantry. In Campaign these boys are one of your mainstay units until tier 4 stegadons, with the lizardmens low growth and poor early-game economy the low-cost high reward of these guys can easily melt through tons of early game infantry, a must-get.

*'''Feral Stegadon''' - A wild stegadon, pure and simple. A living battering ram, stegadons are fantastic line breakers and are well rounded enough to survive the ensuing melee while dealing respectable damage in turn. Like all feral dinosaur variants, its only major weakness is a vulnerability to rampaging courtesy of its lower leadership. This is a forgivable flaw, considering how cheap they are and the fact that you can simply use Cold Blooded to snap them out of it definitely lessens the severity of an occasional rampage.

*'''[[Stegadon]]''' - A stegadon with a long-range ballista and skink handlers mounted upon its back. Stegadons serve as the second of your two artillery options and are arguably the best at dealing raw damage: the ballista is unerringly accurate and can easily snipe opposing artillery pieces, usually destroying the cannon/catapult models in question before they can get much usage. What's more is that, as it's connected to a single entity monster itself, the ballista is not vulnerable to these same tactics. Like Cygors or Steam Tanks, Stegadons compensate for the lack of firepower volume traditional artillery pieces can put out by retaining its long ranged assaults until it is either out of ammunition or has been killed. The stegadon's ranged attack generally struggles to deal significant damage to infantry formations due to the narrow projectiles and low splash damage (despite the bonus anti-infantry modifiers it gets). Regardless, the shot still deals incredible damage to heavily armored, single entity monsters (particularly a majority of mounted lords/heroes) due to their immense bonus AP damage. Even should you run out of ammunition or should your opponent try to tie it down in melee... it's still a stegadon. With skinks firing poisoned darts at everything surrounding its legs, it will put up just as much of a fight as its feral counterpart and then some. The only downside to the ballista is that firing it will drain the stegadon's vigour (even if it's standing perfectly still), meaning it'll likely perform less efficiently in any ensuing melee if it doesn't get a break between firing and fighting.
**'''Blessed Stegadon''' - Hoh boy, now we're talking. A massive buff to the stegadon's health will allow him to take significantly more punishment over the rest of his variants, but that's not really the main selling point here. The blessed stegadon is also gifted with perfect vigour; a massive boon to the offensive prowess of this beast. Being able to act as full blown artillery then rush into glorious melee combat to tear enemies a new asshole at peak performance is something no other faction can achieve remotely as effectively as these guys can. If a quest pops up in the campaign with these as a reward, you should do your damndest to accomplish it. They're well worth it.

*'''Ancient Stegadon''' - Where the stegadon does its best work from afar, the ancient stegadon needs to get up close and personal to do business. The howdah, though packed with significantly more ammo, is much shorter ranged and is primarily meant to soften up nearby targets for a follow up charge into melee. Ancient stegadons are somewhat tankier than other stegadon variants, though their limited range debatably renders them less effective offensively. In general, you should either spring for the Engine of the Gods or stick with a regular stegadon..
**'''The Thunderous One (RoR, DLC 1)''' - A beefed up ancient stegadon that calls down bolts of lighting every 20 seconds, the Thunderous One was made to wade into the enemy's front line and deal indiscriminate damage. Unfortunately, these bolts of lightning can and will deal friendly fire to your units. This can make it somewhat challenging to support its charge with infantry or cavalry, though allied single entity monsters typically won't mind the stray blast.

*'''Engine of the Gods Ancient Stegadon (DLC 1)''' - Is all the gold armor embedded into your ancient stegadon not quite flashy enough for you? Just give it the ability to call down an orbital bombardment to glass swarms of warmbloods in the name of the Great Plan. The Stegadon itself is, functionally, an Ancient Stegadon. It behaves identically like one and has the exact same statline, but once you get to its abilities, things start to get interesting. It has two supporting abilities, Arcane Configuration (Winds of Magic Power Recharge rate boost) and the Portent of Warding (a 5% Ward Save for all allied units within 40m). These effects make EotG Stegadons fantastic supporting units simply from their presence alone. And yes, this applies to EotG Stegadon Mounts, so your Skink Priests have access to their own personal WoM batteries. The third, and debatably the main reason you're considering this ornate beast, is the Burning Alignment active ability. Though limited to only two uses, the Engine of the Gods can deal devastating damage to infantry focused lists if the Burning Alignment is used at just the right moment. It's particularly effective when fired into choke points or along your enemy's frontline ranks when they're tied up with your forces. Thankfully, the Burning Alignment ability is extremely accurate for (what is functionally) a wind spell; so long as you aim carefully and don't wander your lizardmen into it's path, you can drop it right in front of your forces with little fear.

*'''Ancient Salamander (DLC 1)''' - A single giant salamander, tempered with age, experience and able to melt opponents with extra spicy hellfire. Ancient salamanders are more durable than their lesser hunting pack kin and are more reliably able to survive the occasional melee scuffle, though it generally shouldn't participate in it. Instead, the ancient salamander truly shines when paired with fire slann, salamander hunting packs, fireleech bolas terradons, or solar engine bastilidons thanks to its ability to render enemy units flammable with its own fireballs. This flammable effect greatly improves the damage dealt by flaming attacks and when executed properly and will burn through most infantry-focused armies with terrifying efficiency.

*'''Feral Carnosaur''' - An offensive machine, the apex predator of Lustria (you know, conventionally) and a signature monster of the lizardmen, the carnosaur is a ferocious beast that specializes in hunting other monsters, skaven weapon teams, and artillery due to their innate anti-large bonuses and armor-piercing capabilities. They're considerably frailer than stegadons and bastilidons defensively, though they are much swifter and tear through most enemies far more quickly due to their much higher attack. When funds are too tight to take a Saurus Scar-Vet or Old Blood on a carnosaur, a feral version with proper support won't steer you wrong. Just make sure you keep a leader or hero with Cold-Blooded on standby in case they get a little carried away.
**'''Blessed Feral Carnosaur''' - The blessed carnosaur. Formerly the pinnacle of lizardmen might (the dread saurian says hi), blessed carnosaurs have all the anti-large, armor-piercing wrath of the regular carnosaur supplemented by a much more rounded defensive statline. Additional health and magic resistance makes the blessed carnosaur surprisingly survivable against a myriad of generic threats and allows it to commit to fights that regular carnosaurs would hesitate towards. They are still just as vulnerable as any other carnosaur to getting mobbed or picked apart from regular armor-piercing weapons and absolutely will rampage in a bind, so don't get reckless with your charges.
**'''Geltblöm’s Terror (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Feral Carnosaur that never rampages and is blessed with both Vanguard deployment and the Strider ability, enabling it to keep up to speed in any terrain. Vanguard deployment and rampage immunity is a fantastic combination for a Lizardmen monster designed to fight other monsters, but don't get reckless.

*'''Feral Troglodon (DLC 3)''' - A Troglodon without a Skink Oracle to keep it in check. Troglodons are in essence a hybrid between an Ancient Salamander and Carnosaur in that they're able to burp up potent poisonous spit that's extremely effective against large targets. Troglodons are quite possibly the first real "skirmisher" single entity monster introduced: though they're quick for ground-bound dinosaurs, they should generally only engage in melee as a last resort or with ''heavy'' support because they are not designed to put up much of a fight. In a direct melee engagement against most other combat monsters, Troglodons tend to lose pretty handily. Their low leadership also tends to cause them to rampage quickly when caught up in a brawl. However, if they focus on kiting and sniping their targets rather than charging them, they can do frankly sickening amounts of damage.
**'''The Pale Death (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Feral Troglodon that can buff itself and nearby allies in melee whenever it uses it's Primeval Roar, giving them a rather substantial Melee Attack bonus for a short while. Though a buff of 24 Melee Attack is certainly an eyebrow raiser, it only recharges when the Pale Death is actively engaged in melee combat. For 60 seconds. On a creature that's prone to rampaging at the drop of a hat, this is a very risky commitment without a Lord/Hero nearby to keep it in check.

*'''Feral Dread Saurian (DLC 2)''' - The single largest monster in the game, dread saurians are nigh uncontested in raw damage output and are more than capable of killing every other unit in the game in a straight fight. Unfortunately for you, your opponent will be able to field ''far'' more units than your dread saurian will be able to deal with at once and most of said units will likely be picking it off at range. As a massive, lumbering behemoth, dodging even slow moving projectiles is well and truly beyond the dread saurian and it will take tremendous damage on the approach. Even once it arrives in melee, the sheer volume of bodies capable of surrounding it and poking it with anti-armor/anti-large sticks will wear it down quite quickly. Their size also provides another source of jank whenever they get bogged down by hordes; they'll struggle to properly path their way through the crowds (it doesn't help that the Dread Saurian also has relatively low mass considering it's literal size) and their attacks, while lethally brutal, also tend to miss depending on the terrain it's fighting on. They are also prohibitively expensive and will eat up a significant portion of your funds, meaning the rest of your army will be extremely limited in number. Ensure you have a proper supporting mage (a life slann is essential) if you're bringing one.

*'''Dread Saurian (DLC 2)''' - The single largest monster in the game, now wearing a howdah filled to the brim with skinks. A modest price bump from the already exorbitant feral variant will grant the regular dread saurian a higher leadership, ranged attacks and poison. There's little reason not to go ahead and splurge for these upgrades, feral or not the dread saurian will be the centerpiece of your army which you'll do everything to keep alive.
**'''Shredder of Lustria (RoR, DLC 2)''' - The single most expensive beast you could ever field, and boy does he do work. In addition to all that a dread saurian can bring to bear, the Shredder of Lustria is stacked with the full complement of veterinary stat buffs and a leadership debuff for all enemies surrounding it, a perk that, when combined with the innate fear and terror dread saurians cause, will make most enemy infantry run the ''fuck'' away very fast. If that weren't enough, the Shredder of Lustria also encourages all nearby allied troops, buffing their leadership. After all, who wouldn't be inspired by seeing the apex of lizardmen might devouring any and all who oppose the Great Plan? Speaking of the Great Plan, you're going to need one: considering how much money you're sinking into this puppy, you're going to need to really budget the rest of your army carefully.

*'''Coatl (DLC 3)''' - Previously a relic of a long lost bit of Lizardmen lore, the Coatl makes a rather striking return as the premier Lizardmen flying monster. The Coatl, though packing two casts of Urannon's Thunderbolt and one cast of Lesser Chain Lighting as bound spells, is designed more as a source of support for ground-bound allies. Infact, the main draw to the Coatl isn't its combat capabilities (which are mediocre at best), but for the fact that it grants all allied units under its wings Stalk. Yes, everything from that unit of Red-Crested Skinks to that Dread Saurian doomstack becomes invisible and untargetable until they're either far too close to do anything about or the Coatl "lands" or dies. As a faction desperately starved of long range missile units, this is a massive boon for protecting your high-value targets on the approach. Once the Coatl has safely delivered it's charges into battle, it still can serve as an excellent disruptor of backline units, Snipe artillery or single entity monsters with thunderbolt or punish a large blob with lesser chain lighting. Just be careful: even your Terradons move faster than this thing and its size does it no favors when trying to dodge missile fire.
**'''Spirit of Tepok (RoR, DLC 3)''' - A Coatl that has Banishment and Shield of Thorns as bound spells instead. The option to lean more heavily into a support role does suit the Coatl quite well, though this largely depends on what lord choice and focus your army has. If you brought a life slann or a skink priest, a regular Coatl might get you more mileage.