An animal resembling a serpent, with legs added to it. [Johnson, late C14th]

"The lizard brain is hungry, scared, angry, and horny.

The lizard brain only wants to eat and be safe.

The lizard brain will fight (to the death) if it has to, but would rather run away. It likes a vendetta and has no trouble getting angry." - Seth Godin


So it's been a few days since the last blog post, Luke and I have explained why we aren't collecting the vast majority of the Warhammer armies so it's now about time that I explain what I like about the one I'm going for.

Now I know you've probably figured it out from the picture at the bottom of my last post, if not from cross-referencing with Luke's (if you actually did this good for you! Top marks for effort) but that's no reason to not try and announce things with style.

Without further ado then... the Warhammer army I am collecting for this sorry Tale is...

[Fanfare please]

 

 

That's right - Lizardmen are my chosen force.

 



Now, you're probably thinking (based on the last post) that that's simply because I eliminated the other possibilities and this was the one I disliked least, so here is what it is that I like about this army.


One, IT'S AN ARMY OF DINOSAURS!

Ahem, sorry for shouting, but I just want to get over what a big thing this is.

Other armies are cool and have interesting technology (Empire Steam Tank, here's looking at you...) or fantastic monsters (always had a soft spot for a decent dragon) but these are all reptilian creatures from the dawn of time - how awesome is that!


Two, their backstory (aka the fluff as it's called in the hobby.)

This is the single oldest race in the Warhammer world, predating elves, dwarfs and certainly men by millennia. In that time they have tried to keep the entire world on the track set by mysterious Old Ones and have fought off every other race attempting to get a foothold in the jungles where the Lizardmen make their home.


Three, the miniatures.

I refer you to my comment about dinosaurs above, just take a look at these:

I don't know how on earth I'm going to paint them, but I want all these in my army eventually (watch out Luke!

Those are just the big 'uns as well, even the smaller creatures are brilliantly sculpted.


Four, the Slann.

What's a Slann? You'd be right to ask, as this is a little bit specialist, and pulls together all of the other three factors.

The Slann are the ultimate rulers of the Lizardmen, and are represented on the battlefield as can be seen to the right.

Now I appreciate that that miniature might not be to everybody's taste (my Mum in particular has always thought the "floating frog" looked silly) but I've liked it since it was first released for Warhammer 5th edition.

But it's not just the miniature that makes me like these guys.

The Slann are in fluff the most powerful wizards in the world. Full Stop. No questions asked.

In the past they have shifted continents, raised mountain ranges, obliterated armies and, at one point, moved the entire world closer to it's star.

Sure, they aren't quite up there now, and can't quite gather that focus to make games with one present meaningless but their battle magic is still pretty cool - after all it is the Most Powerful Magic™ in the world, just like my beloved High Elves.

On top of all that though, there are two named Slann characters that you can add to a Lizardmen army, both of whom I think are supremely wonderful.

One of these require a conversion to represent as Games Workshop have never made a specific model for him and that is Lord Mazdamundi. A mage capable of going toe (flipper?) to toe spellwise with anyone else in the world, and yet riding on the back of a Stegadon (see the middle picture of the three dinosaurs above.)

The second of these is the Venerable Lord Kroak (see left).

Yes, that is a mummified Slann in the picture.

Lord Kroak died about 4,450 years before the founding of the Empire, approximately 7,000 years before the Warhammer present day.

He hasn't let this stop him though.

After being slain in the final battle of a four century long siege, Lord Kroak's spirit refused to disperse and continued to invoke immensely powerful magic, destroying the invading army.

Since then his spirit still loiters around his mummified body which is floated out when the Lizardmen need the help of this ancient mage on the battlefield.

Despite a small problem with flammability, I look forward to adding Lord Kroak to my forces as well as he's one of my favourite characters in the entire game.


 Anyhow, this post has gone on a bit longer than I initially thought, but I hope I've enlightened you to the joy that is the Lizardmen.


Next time, the first miniature!