# Caught between two races



## Icraig33 (Jun 11, 2011)

I will start by saying that I am no stranger to Warhammer. At least, to Warhammer 40K. But for some reason I now have the sudden urge to collect and play a Warhammer Fantasy army (I tried once many years ago, but never got into it and switched to 40K).

My main dilemma is the fact that the races in Fantasy have no gray area to me. They either look like pure awesomesauce or they look pretty meh. Out of the Fantasy races however, the ones I find the most appealing to me are the Tomb Kings (I always found ancient Egyptian culture interesting) and the Lizardmen (Again, the culture they are based off of is very interesting).

So what I am asking is: Should I start collecting Tomb Kings or Lizardmen? I guess I will split it up into three Criterias:

*Difficulty:* Which race takes more skill/less skill to play.

*Playstyle:* What is the most popular way of setting up and playing the races in question (from full-out frontline combat to sneaky guerrilla warfare)

*Variation:* Which army is more Diverse in their units and playstyle (I.E: which one has more options in terms of different ways I can play the races in question)

Help would be very appreciated.


----------



## coke123 (Sep 4, 2010)

Lizardmen are awesome!

But from an objective point of view, both are fine choices. Since the TK have only just been released, it's kinda hard to judge them on power level, although from the read I've had of their book, I reckon they'll end up upper middle tier. Strong, but not quite as powerful as the top armies. Beautiful models, and a lovely hardback book. They've got some really cool monsters as well.

As for Lizardmen, they shot straight to top tier in 8th edition, thanks to the fact that they have one of the best Wizards in the games- the Slann. They are set up to capitalise on all the strengths of 8th edition- being magic and infantry. They have access to what is generally considered the second best core choice in the game, Saurus (WoC are first), have incredible magic, and have also benefitted greatly from the changes to skirmishers. Their insane Leadership got even stronger now that they are often stubborn via steadfast as well. If you're after a competitive army, these are one of the best choices around.

In regards to playstyle, Lizardmen are generally more about combat, although they take a somewhat more defensive approach. They have very strong short range shooting, but the units that do so will more often than not die in to a stiff breeze. They are based around blocks of some of the toughest infantry around, and this incredible toughness is most commonly compounded upon by the use of magic from the Lore of Life- which is a very defensive Lore, based around increasing survivability. Lore of Life can send your basic troops to T8 with a 4+ save. This toughness is increased again by their awesome Leadership, which makes a well-built Lizardmen army stupidly difficult to shift.

Can't really comment much on Tomb Kings playstyle, but from what I've gleaned, they're about fairly large blocks of infantry backed by magic. They have pretty good shooting (despite BS2) and some wicked monsters. They can also have a very large number of chariots, which can be taken in units, as opposed to single chariots traditionally taken by other armies. They seem to me like a quite balanced army.


----------



## Troublehalf (Aug 6, 2010)

coke123 has basically summed up Lizardmen. They are indeed awesome now, some would argue not as awesome as they could of be bar stat changes (Temple Guard spring to mind... loose Scaly Skin +3.... so they now have a +3 armor save rather than +2) and lots of their units are pretty pointless in competitions. Kroxigors, Terradons, normal skinks are pretty void. Salamanders are much better now thanks to them having a Breath attack. Razordons are expert defence units, they normally shoot D6 (per Razordon! So a pack of 3 can do a max of 18 shots!) however if they are charged they can make a Stand and Shoot reaction which instead of being D6 it's 2D6 meaning each Razordon can pump out 12 shots each. At strength 4 not much can survive a max of 36 shots. Lizardmen armies can be pretty boring in compos due to the fact they need lots of infantry and Lore of Life Slann. In non-competative play they are fun, lots of fancy models with fun rules to use 

TK are new and have had some drastic changes. Not only are their chariots better, but they get a host of new ultra-killy units such as the Sphinxs. Not only do the Spinxs dish out a huge amount, but they have T8 and 6 or 7 wounds I think. That's a lot of hits to take it down. Also they have Heroic Killing Blow... which is stupidly good if you go toe to toe against something big. Other than that it's large blocks of weak infantry and such, but they are very augmentable, I believe if you put a Tomb King in with a normal squad of skeletons they use his WS instead of their pathetic WS2. They are also held together by the Liche Priests, which augment and revive the rank and file back to life. If they fall, the army will also fall apart. TK are slightly more difficult to master than Lizardmen, but both are tricky. If you like a solid army which can counter most things, do a Lizardmen army. If you like an army which can field lots of units, lots of magic and augmentation as well as ultra killy units (as well as a brand new book and the fact they've been updated!) then go for TK. Most people say Lizardmen won't get another update for 2-3 years (last book was 2008/09 I believe) so if you want new stuff go with TK.


----------

