Learn to use the powerful and adaptive Lizardmen in battle.
Lizardmen: Battle Tactics
The various breeds of Saurus – from Warriors through to Temple Guard – are formidable frontline fighters that match most foes to the death (even if they do go feral along the way). The best practice is to place them at the front of your army, forming a formidable defensive line of protection. Saurus also have Predatory Senses, allowing them to sense when hidden prey are close by; particularly useful when fighting against Skaven.
To the sides, try placing some Cold One riders in preparation to flank any enemy that might be giving your slower frontline trouble. Flying Terradon Riders also make great flankers, and their powerful rock-dropping can devastate massed enemy infantry.
Skink Skirmishers and Chameleon Skinks both have vanguard deployment: if you have some Chameleon Skinks in your army, try deploying them closer to where the enemy will advance. They have access to the Stalk ability which allows them to move concealed in any terrain, are resistant to ranged fire, and have a poison attack that weakens enemy speed and damage – the perfect way to soften a foe before your forces meet.
The smaller units in the Lizardmen roster, as well as the giant ones, have the advantage in shallow water as it doesn’t bog them down. Where the enemy will be hindered by the mud, Skinks can happily rush through, giving them a large advantage in melee. If there are no hills around, try to position your troops by any shallow water you can see, giving them an extra line of defence against the enemy.
The Lizardmen Legendary Lords have high leadership over their troops, making units less likely to rout. However, even the most loyal of Lizardmen may be overcome by their Primal Instincts, causing them to rampage when their hit points drop to lower than 50% of their base. This explosive fury is best understood as routing in reverse: you will lose control of the rampaging unit, but instead of fleeing it will pile into the nearest enemy and keep fighting until it falls or rallies. While losing control of a unit in the middle of a fierce melee may not alter the outcome of a battle, you’ll need to be careful to manage your approach to battle to ensure that rampage doesn’t kick in before the right positioning can be achieved.
Lastly, given the slow speed of many Saurus units and Lizardmen monsters, the forces of Lustria need to find inventive ways to get around enemy lines and disrupt ranged units. At your command, Lizardmen armies have the ability to summon a unit of vicious Feral Cold Ones to run amok amongst an unexpecting enemy. The perfect time to use this is right a your warriors are moving into missile range: as their archers nock their first arrows, give them a much more immediate problem to deal with.
Lizardmen: Campaign Tactics
Hailing from deep within the jungles of Lustria, the cold-blooded Lizardmen are the most ancient race of all. They are comprised of multiple species – the agile Skinks, the monstrous Kroxigor, the warlike Saurus and the completive Slann.
Hailing from deep within the jungles of Lustria, the cold-blooded Lizardmen are the most ancient race of all. They are comprised of multiple species – the agile Skinks, the monstrous Kroxigor, the warlike Saurus and the completive Slann, who lead the Lizardmen with their matchless wisdom and command over the Winds of Magic.
In the Eye of the Vortex campaign, there are 2 ways to obtain victory: either complete all the rituals and win the final battle, or destroy your rival factions and maintain control of 50 provinces. However, when playing as Lizardmen, it is not necessarily desirable to expand beyond the borders of Lustria: the Lizardmen are most at home in the jungle climbs of their homeland and will not thrive in the snowy North, for example. The climate here is uninhabitable – although you may control these settlements if you choose, there will be significant debuffs in settling here. The Lizardmen Legendary Lords should also take an interest in each other’s starting positions as both contain lizardmen ruins.
The Lizardmen have access to a ritual currency known as Ancient Plaques, these are to spend on rituals which are used to influence the Great Vortex. All around the campaign map, you may notice some settlements have strange, glowing Ancient Plaques by their names: these are vital locations for rituals. Try seizing control of one of these settlements and looking through the building browser, you may find a unique building train that would most certainly boost your production of Plaques…
When playing as Lord Mazdamundi, he starts very close to a mysterious, ruined settlement called the Mirror Pool of Tepok, perhaps this could be of great use to you. Tread carefully though, as some ruins may be more than what they seem… Make sure you have built up your army sufficiently before exploring this seemingly abandoned place.
Kroq-Gar begins on the other side of the map altogether, but also very close to a vital ritual location. This one seems a little less mysterious, and perhaps a little easier to seize.
Lizardmen also have access to powerful rites: in exchange for money, these provide various buffs to your armies – perhaps the most powerful being the ability to summon a ferocious army of Feral Carnosaur, Stegadon and Basildon units at your capital, as well as unlock the ability to summon “Feral Cold Ones” during battle. These benefits come at great expense however, so focus on building up your treasury so you can use this formidable army ability in combat as early as possible.
Settlements of the Lizardmen are linked by a network of power known as the Geomantic Web, an unseen matrix of energy which crosses the entire world. By increasing the power of the Geomantic Web in a province, a Lizardmen faction can increase the potency of any commandments issued there. The Web’s links can be viewed by holding down the spacebar.
As soon as the Geomantic Web has been restored and your empire is generating the resources and ritual currency needed, focus instead on defence: secure Lustria against invaders and work on completing the rituals that will allow you to trigger the final battle for the Vortex.
Lizardmen technology is cheap and flexible relative to other factions, so you’re not committed to following a single, defined path. If you are having troubles with your treasury, the Tablet of Crafts is a great place to start as it leads onto a boost to industry income, and then to a big reduction in building costs.
The spawning pools of the Lizardmen will occasionally bring forth an especially gifted set of warriors; a special mission will be issued to you when a blessed spawning event occurs. Once this mission is completed, the blessed units can be recruited immediately by clicking on the Blessed Spawnings button on the Province Overview panel. This will recruit your army with warriors of unusual potency.
Armies of the Lizardmen have access to a unique stance on the campaign map called “Astromancy”. This increases the army’s vision and defence, and allows for vanguard deployment of certain units in battle. Adopt this stance if you are attacking with Saurus Warriors or Spears with shields in your current army, as they will be able to deploy outside of the deployment zone!
To unlock the ability to recruit shielded Saurus Warriors or Spears, first you must construct the Sacred Spawning Caverns in a settlement: a level 2 upgrade of the Underground Lagoon. When a Lizardmen settlement is upgraded to level 3, you have the options to build a Terradon Hatchery or some Cold One Caves – these allow you to recruit flying Terradons and Cold One riders respectively. These are great early-game cavalry: useful for flanking and taking out enemy artillery.