This article will describe in detail the Seraphon army starting from its lore, describing the main units and their roles, how the army plays and finally our personal opinion of the army.
For a complete run-down of the different armies available in Age of Sigmar, consult our Age of Sigmar army overview article.
In this article we will refer often to Matched Play and other technical terms like allegiance abilities, command points, army roles in building a list, core battalions, Endless Spells/Invocations, etc. We assume the reader will be knowledgeable with those terms, otherwise please refer to the relevant guides for more details.
Age of Sigmar 4.0
This article has not been updated yet with the newest rules and discoveries from the fourth edition of Age of Sigmar. We will be reviewing all articles and updating them really soon.
Overview of the Seraphon Army
If you ever dreamt as a kid to play with dinosaurs riding dinosaurs, shooting laser beams and travelling with spaceships, then look no longer: Seraphon is the army for you. Age of Sigmar 3.0 has been so far kind to the monsters of this army, giving them more purpose and ductility than in the previous versions.
Basically, most aspects of the army are now perfectly playable in both friendly and more competitive games. The gameplay varies from charging head down with your strongest units, to shoot from afar with your powerful spellcaster and shooting units. The army is highly competitive with a strong magic phase and many ways to spread mortal wounds to your opponent.
With the third edition battletome came also a range refresh that introduced new warscrolls, replaced some older sculpts but also permanently retired others:
- Saurus Knights (replaced by the Aggradon Lancers)
- Saurus Eternity Warden
- Saurus Scar-Veteran on Cold One (replaced by the Saurus Scar-Veteran on Aggradon)
- Saurus Sunblood
- Skink Priest
- Chameleon Skinks
- Razordon Hunting Pack (replaced by Spawn of Chotec)
- Salamander Hunting Pack (replaced by Spawn of Chotec)
There are two main ways to play the army: Coalesced represents the most bestial aspect of the army, with Saurus and big dinosaurs leading the charge, strong in melee and powerful in defence, while the Starborne are those more magic-attuned, able to summon on the battlefield fresh units to shift the balance of the contention.
Lore of the Seraphon Army in Age of Sigmar
Seraphon’s history is older than the Mortal Realms and hidden in the fog of time. An entire race created by the mysterious Old Ones, great beings whose existence was entirely devoted to fight the Chaos Gods, which continues its purpose even long after its creators disappeared.
During the End Times and the destruction of the World-That-Was, the Lizardmen (as they were once called) left the world in ruin through their giant spacefaring vessels and reached the Mortal Realms to continue their fight against the Chaos Gods. They follow the “Great Plan”, an overall strategy that allows them to hit in the most important moments in history disregarding all other minor events to prevent Chaos to get an advantage. This often results in the other races questioning if they are friends or enemies.
At the top of the Seraphon society there are the Slann, bloated toad-like creatures gifted with incredible magic powers. The most revered of them is actually being dead long before the end of the world and the creation of the Mortal Realms: Lord Kroak. His spirit is so powerful that is still lingering around his mummified body and is able to communicate telepathically and send showers of meteors against his opponents.
Every Seraphon sub-specie is particularly versed in specific jobs. The Skinks are nimble creatures adept in more intellectual jobs like priests, scholars, etc. However, if required they are great warriors experts in skirmish tactics.
The Saurus represent instead the warrior chaste. These lizards are powerful fighters and are spawned specifically to battle the Seraphon enemies. The heavy labour is left to Kroxigor, giant biped crocodilians that compensate lack of intelligence with brute strength.
During the Age of Myth, the Seraphon kept fighting Chaos directly from their temple-cities floating in space, being teleported on the battlefield in a flash of light and disappearing equally quickly. This led to the credence that Seraphon were actually incorporeal beings dreamt to life by the Slann.
Instead, they are so imbued with energies from Azyr that they may appear as magical entities. Those with strong links with the Realm of Heavens, still living in the space vessels are called Starborne.
Those instead that started settling in the Mortal Realms are called Coalesced and are now more brutal and primordial than their space-faring cousins. The temples that descended on the ground started terraforming the surroundings to resemble the Seraphon original jungles that they now protect as their own habitat.
During the Realmgate Wars the Seraphon aided Sigmar forces where necessary and when this benefitted the Great Plan, creating a fragile unspoken alliance with the Stormcast Eternals. In reality, the Seraphon are more interested in maintaining order in a complex geomantic web of lines called Astromatrix that they believe will be crucial to defeating the Chaos Gods.
During the Age of Sigmar and the following Necroquake, some Seraphon groups (called Constellations, led by a Slann Starmaster) created embassies in the cities created by the followers of Sigmar, understanding those civilizations could be useful in the right circumstances.
It was the Seraphon that destroyed a Silver Tower, hampering Tzeentch plans badly but also allowing Be’Lakor, the First Daemon Prince to damage the Astromatrix and summon the “Cursed Skies”, a curse that severs the link of the Mortal Realms from Azyr preventing the Stormcast Eternals to return home upon their death.
And it was Lord Kroak, together with the ancient Draconith Princes, that in the Age of Myth fought and imprisoned Kragnos, the living Earthquake, deep beneath Twinhorn Peak in Ghur. The Draconith gave the last of their eggs to the Seraphon so that they could protect and breed them. They have now hatched and the Dragons are back in the Mortal Realms, taking advantage of the Stormcast link to Azyr to create a powerful alliance with Sigmar best warriors.
Now that Teclis, the elven God of Light, undid the Necroquake and Alarielle, the goddess of Life, took advantage to free life magic in all realms, primal and bestial energies have been unleashed, especially in Ghur. Kragnos is now free and the Seraphon closer to Ghur are now rampaging uncontrolled. More than one city-temple succumbed to self-destruction caused by those beasts and some spawns had to be eliminated before they could cause any harm.
And it is a Seraphon void-ship, the Eye of Chotec, that falling in Ghur became immediately both a coveted place for treasure hunter and cause of uncontrolled energies spreading across the Gnarlwood leaving the entire realm on the brink of self-destruction (and creating the backdrop for Warcry second season).
Despite all odds, the Slann are continuing their relentless war against the Chaos forces.
It is, indeed, the Age of the Beast!
Army Rules for Seraphon
Seraphon army rules are all contained in their third edition battletome. The first choice you have to make when selecting a Seraphon army is if they are either Coalesced or Starborne and is the most important one as it will force you in a certain direction. Basically you are looking at two different armies.
- Coalesced are the more monster-focussed and Saurus based army, increasing the damage output and resistance of your units.
- Starborne instead are the Azyr-based armies, focussing on spell casting and summoning abilities.
This decision will greatly influence your next choices, including sub-factions or Constellations, and which battle traits, command traits or artefacts are relevant to you.
Starborne rules in Seraphon Army
Starborne have access to two constellations:
- Dracothion’s Tail, the most zealous and better prepared to enact the Great Plan. You can set up a unit in reserve for each one deployed and summon it at the end of your movement.
- Fangs of Sotek, embody the serpents sacred to their god and are experts in ambushing tactics. The Redeploy command can be used up to 3 times per phase, and the first 2 times Skink units receive it, no command point is spent. Unlocks both Raptadon as battleline.
The main trait of Starborne rotates around the cosmic nodes: friendly Starborne wizards, Astrolith Bearers and Realmshaper Engines. At the start of your hero phase, you receive a cosmic point for each wizard or Astrolith Bearer on the battlefield. In addition you receive 1 cosmic point for each time a friendly Starborne wizard successfully casts an unbound spell, unbinds a spell, or dispels an endless spell.
There are different ways to use these cosmic points, mainly on abilities or summoning. Summoning starts at 8 points for 10 Skinks, all the way to 30 for an Engine of the Gods. These are the abilities:
- For 5 points you can resurrect D3 models to any unit with a wound characteristic of 1 or 2 and wholly within 12″ of a cosmic node.
- For 10 points the Saurus Astrolith Bearer gives a 5+ ward instead of 6+.
- For 15 points on a 2+ each enemy unit within 12″ of a cosmic node receives D6 mortal wounds.
Starborne heroes have access to 2 heroic actions that can use in replacement of the standard ones:
- Contemplation of the Ancient Ones: a Slann can replace his known spell with another from the Lore of Celestial Domination.
- Spatial Translocation: teleport another friendly unit within 12″ anywhere more than 9″ from enemies.
Starborne have their own list of enhancements, starting from command traits divided between Slann exclusives and Skink exclusives. Slann have access to a good list with Lord of Celestial Resonance giving double cosmic points from the general when casting, dispelling, etc. Skinks (but why would you have a Skink general??) wizards can have access to their entire lore with Master of Star-rituals.
Artefacts of power are equally divides with Slann being able to carry the Spacefolder’s Stave that allows to summon the next unit (once per turn) within 7″ of enemy units instead of 9″, and Skinks can use the Sacred Stegadon Helm that gives +1 save and when charging +1 damage on melee.
Coalesced rules in Seraphon Army
Coalesced units have access to the following constellations:
- Koatl’s Claw, the most savage and destructive of all constellations. Add +1 to wound to melee attacks of Saurus and Kroxigor that charged in the same turn. Unlocks both Kroxigor as battleline.
- The Thunder Lizard, famous for their devastating stampedes. Can carry 2 monstrous rampages with each monster. Unlocks Stegadon as battleline.
Their battle traits are much simpler: add 1 to the bite roll of Saurus and Kroxigor and reduce by 1 (to a minimum of 1) the damage taken by Saurus, Kroxigor or Monsters.
Instead of heroic actions, they have a list of 4 monstrous rampages, one for each type of monster:
- A Carnosaur can slain a model within 3″ if it beats his wound characteristic.
- A Stegadon that charged in the same phase on a 4+ gives strike-last effect to the targeted unit.
- A Troglodon extends to 12″ his -1 to hit bubble.
- A Bastiladon has a chance to do mortal wounds based on the number of models of the target unit. You can reliably do D6 mortal wounds to a unit with 7 or more models but doesn’t work against heroes or single units.
Coalesced have their own list of enhancements. The command traits are divided by type of general, where a Slann can pick, between the others, Wrath of Aeons that gives a 12″ bubble of +1 attack to Saurus and Kroxigor in range (once per battle), while a Saurus can choose Thickly Scaled Hide for a simple but efficient +1 to save.
Between the artefacts of power, Coalesced Slann can choose Itxi Grubs that heals 1 wound each hero phase and gives a +1 to cast, dispel and unbind. A Coalesced Saurus instead can bear Sotek’s Gaze that prevents enemy units with Wound characteristic of 1 and 2 from contesting objectives within 6″ of him.
Both Coalesced and Starborne have 2 spell lore each, discussed in more details in the Wizards section.
Units and their roles in a Seraphon Army
Heroes of the Seraphon
Heroes can perform Heroic Actions, in addition to the other abilities they can perform. You do it in the hero phase and you can only do one heroic action. Here is the list:
- Heroic Leadership: on a 4+ (or 2+ if your general has been slain) get a command point only that hero can use.
- Heroic Willpower: one non-Wizard hero can attempt to dispel or unbind a spell for that phase like he was a wizard.
- Their Finest Hour: can be used only once by each hero to improve save and wound rolls by 1 for that turn.
- Heroic Recovery: a disengaged hero can heal D3 wounds if he rolls less or equal to his bravery with 2D6.
At the top of military caste there are the Saurus commanders. The most important of them are the Saurus Oldblood and what’s mightier than riding a Carnosaur? This model has actually 3 different assembly options, including the next warscroll and the Oracle on Troglodon.
In game it is a good monster with great attacks and the mount can even go on 2+ to wound after killing the first enemy. Pity the 4+ to hit on its most damaging profile (5 damage at rend -2).
It prevents enemies reception of Inspiring Presence in a 3″ bubble around it and can issue twice the same command at two different units at the cost of a single command point. This is great to give All-out Attack to two units in the same phase or Inspire two units in the battleshock.
The other version, the Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur keeps the monster profile with the Blood Frenzy that brings the mount attacks to 2+ to wound and Terror that prevents the reception of Inspiring Presence, but loses the double command ability at the price of an ability that has a chance to do extra mortal wounds to an already injured hero or monster (works with anyone above 2 wounds characteristic, but wasted to anything below 5 wounds).
The Saurus Oldblood is also available on foot with one of the few remaining ancient sculpts. He works well in tandem with a unit of Saurus Warriors or Saurus Guard as when he attacks, one of them can follow immediately after, and when giving them All-out Attack, it adds +1 to wound (on top of the +1 to hit) to their melee attacks.
He also introduces the Bite Roll that is a chance to make mortal wounds at the end of all his attacks. In his case he rolls 3 dice and wounds on a 6+ or 5+ in a Coalesced army.
The Saurus Astrolith Bearer got a brand-new model, and considering his use as cosmic node and cosmic point generator in a Starborne is a must-have in any list. But his use is not limited to Starborne, as he gives to all Seraphon wizards within 12″ a generic +1 to cast and it increases their spell range of 6″, increasing to 18″ many deadly spells.
This alone would be enough to justify him in any list, but we also have a 6+ ward to any friendly Seraphon unit within 12″ and the fact that as a Totem he can issue generic commands at 18″ range. His melee profile is not bad for a foot-hero and he has the same 3 dice Bite Roll as other Saurus.
And if you really need to survive a particular round, for 10 cosmic points you can extend the ward to 5+.
The real question is not if to include him or not, but how many can you fit in your list within reason?
The Saurus Scar-Veteran on Agraddon is a new hero that leads the newest heavy cavalry. They have a decent movement of 8″ and decent melee profile but an incentive to remain stuck in combat that makes them less versatile.
Their rage ability increases by 1 to a maximum of 3 each combat phase they end still engaged, and reset to 0 each time they are not engaged anymore. Meaning that if they do what you paid them for, i.e. to kill an enemy unit, they lose their rage…
They add the value of their rage to the mount attack characteristic, that is a nice 3+/3+ rend -2 2 damage. The leader, once per battle, can increase the rage of a single Aggradon unit by 1.
The firsts of our Skink military leaders come from a single kit, but only one every 3 models can easily be assembled as a Chief. You will need a bit of creativity to kitbash them if you want to have flexibility and still maintain the unit minimum size required. Otherwise you will need 3 kits to obtain 1 unit and 1 hero of each type and one extra model that you can kitbash in either chief.
The Terradon Chief is the leader of the Terradon unit and really is useful only to trigger their “bombardment” on a 2+ instead of 4+ once per battle. In itself this ability allows to roll a dice and allocate D3 mortal wounds to an enemy unit they moved or ran across. If at least one wound is allocated, the enemy movement is also halved until your next hero phase.
The Ripperdactyl Chief instead provides once per battle a much more useful +1 attack to all friendly Ripperdactyl units in range. In addition he comes with a Bloat Toad marker that can be given to an enemy unit to increase by 1 the to hit and to wound characteristic of the melee attacks of his mount. His unit more than him, is also a great Unleash Hell deterrent as a unit shooting back at them when they charge hits only on unmodified hit rolls of 6.
The Stegadon Chief is one of the assembly options available in this kit that makes also an Engine of the Gods, but is the only one that is a leader. He sits in a weird position, because on one side is a valid monster with few attacks on a 3+/3+, on the other only -1 rend and only 4+ save.
He supports Skinks by issuing to them a command for free each turn and giving them +3 Bravery while they stay within 12″ but is that enough to justify the price? The shooting attacks that does mortal wounds on a 5+ and can throw as many dice as the number of models in the targeted unit is not bad, but the normal Stegadon has that as well. It’s much more interesting the damage on charge.
From Warhammer Underworlds game, we have the warband Starblood Stalkers that contains Kixi-Taka the Diviner, that lost his priesthood but once per battle can prevent an enemy unit from contesting an objective, his companion Klaq-Troq that is a hero but not a leader (but a perfect alternative to the Oldblood sculpt) and 4 skinks that can bodyguard Kixi-Taka.
Wizards and Priests in Seraphon
The third edition removed all Priests from the roster.
Seraphon wizards have access to 4 spell lore, 2 for each type of army.
The Starborne have access to the Lore of Celestial Domination, accessible only to Slann and Lord Kroak with excellent picks like Comet’s Call for D3 mortal wounds to D3 or D6 units on the battlefield (no range) and Tepok’s Beneficence, that gives a -1 to wound to attacks against the targeted friendly Skink unit, and the Lore of Celestial Manipulation, for all other Skink wizards, with options like Cosmic Crush that is excellent to do mortal wounds to units with few models and high save characteristic (e.g. 2+/3+).
While Lord Kroak knows all spells from his lore, normal Slann can benefit from the heroic action Contemplation of the Ancient Ones that allows them to swap known spell in the right situation.
The Coalesced Slann (including Lord Kroak) instead pick from the Lore of Ancient Domain, another great range with options like Empowered Celestite that improves the rend of the Celestite weapons of the targeted Saurus unit by 1, and Telepathic Summons that can teleport a Saurus non-monster unit.
Coalesced Skink wizards have access to the Lore of Primal Jungles, with choices like Tide of Serpents that for each model in target unit on a 5+ allocates a mortal wound.
Seraphon magic caste is dominated by the Slann. At the top, there must surely be Lord Kroak. His soul is so strong to still linger around the mummy of his body whose departure predates the Mortal Realms. In game this is represented by an almost immortal model that can mathematically be killed only after doing 17 wounds in the same phase (at the end of each phase sum the wounds allocated to the roll of 3D6, if you don’t make at least 20, all wounds are healed).
But as we will see later, Kroak can be easily bodyguarded and transfer some of his wounds to a Saurus Guard unit nearby.
In addition, he can cast or unbind 4 spells per phase and knows all spells from the Slann lore of the faction he belongs to (either Coalesced or Starborne). But that’s not all: he has +2 to cast, dispel and unbind and once per phase he can launch spells from any other Skink wizard within 12″ or any Oracle (the Troglodon) on the battlefield meaning that he can reach everywhere.
When dispelling, he straight up covers all battlefield without using proxies. His signature spells are one that applies the strike-last effect to a unit if he beats their bravery, and one that can be cast multiple times to do D3 mortal wounds to 3 different units.
As a leader, he has a chance to provide up to 3 bonus command points per round and always counts as a general even when not picked as one. There’s not many that can compete in the magic game with him, making him an excellent pick in any list.
Of course, despite his longevity, keep him away from the melee and protect him well against mortal wounds.
The generic Slann Starmaster (coming from a different and new kit), has many similarities but is cheaper. He is “only” a triple caster with an embedded +1 bonus to the usual cast, dispel, unbind. Has the same trick that calculates the range from Skink wizards and Oracles, and can create up to 2 bonus command points per round.
The first spell he casts is always the +1 to cast to all other wizards, no range. With his other signature spell, he can provide a 4+ ward against mortal wounds to a friendly unit while his command ability can give fly and +1 save against missile attacks to a Seraphon unit.
If you have a Starborne army and heavily relying on cosmic points, Lord Kroak and at least one Slann can easily coexist, but either is an excellent addition also in a Coalesced army.
The Skink Starseer got an upgraded seat in this brand-new model. He is a double caster with an ability that once per battle can give 5+ ward to as many Seraphon unit on the battlefield as the number of the current battle round (rolling 2+ for each) and a spell that instead can remove the ward from an enemy unit. Sneaky! Small concentration of magic power at a decent price, plus his seat doesn’t count as a mount (the Mortisan Soulmason looks at him in awe and hate).
Despite his name, the Skink Starpriest is actually a wizard, single caster. His signature spell can give a -1 to hit debuff to an enemy unit but more importantly, he can give for free to a Seraphon unit additional mortal wounds on unmodified 6s to wound, that is great, especially with units that can roll a lot of dice like a buffed up Saurus Warriors unit. He is also the cheapest wizard in the army.
The Skink Oracle on Troglodon is a monstrous wizard whose main characteristic, apart from terrorising enemy units preventing their use of Inspiring Presence when engaged with him, is to extend the range of casting of Lord Kroak and the Slann Starmasters. With such a beast with 14″ movement. there’s no corner those Slann can’t reach.
As a single caster his signature spell greatly impacts units within 3″ of the targeted objective or terrain feature, as it prevents them from running or retreating and halves their charge roll. Attention that impacts all units that can’t fly or are Skinks, including then your Saurus et similia.
His combat profile is also decent to be a wizard, thanks to his mount that can shoot starting at 18″ distance and doing mortal wounds on unmodified 6 to hit, a bit of damage in melee, regenerates every hero phase D3 wounds and gives -1 to hit to any enemy unit within 9″ of it. That can become 12″ if he is used in Coalesced army and activates his monstrous rampage.
Monsters in Seraphon
Monsters can perform special abilities called Monstrous Rampages at the end of the Charge phase. Each action can be performed only once per phase therefore only up to 4 monsters can perform one at a time. Here is the current list:
- Roar: on a 3+ an engaged enemy unit cannot issue or receive orders in the following combat phase.
- Stomp: on a 2+ do D3 mortal wounds to an engaged unit that is not a monster.
- Titanic Duel: + 1 to hit rolls against another engaged Monster.
- Smash to Rubble: on a 3+ demolish a close-by terrain feature, disabling its scenery rules.
Seraphon have quite a list of monsters, the following being leaders already discussed in the section above: Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur, Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur, Skink Oracle on Troglodon and Stegadon with Skink Chief.
The Bastiladon has a single warscroll but 2 different points depending on which weapon is equipped. They are both Behemoths and monsters with a 2+ save and 5″ movement.
The Ark of Sotek is the cheapest one and the one melee oriented with 20 attacks making mortal wounds on unmodified 6s to hit.
The Solar Engine instead has 3 24″ attacks with rend -3 that are quite devastating, but are not comparable with the melee potential of the ark that is also much cheaper.
The Bastiladon needs to go and sit on an objective, considering also his monstrous rampage, Bludgeoning Sweep, that can do up to D6 mortal wounds to a unit with 7 or more models, making it a great choice for an anvil. Which profile to use will depend on the point cost changes, but at the moment wins the Ark.
The Stegadon has the same drawbacks of the Stegadon Chief, but is cheaper. The only difference is that it counts 10 when controlling objectives, while the Chief counts only 5. Its monstrous rampage applies strike-last to the targeted enemy unit on a 4+ but can be used only after a charge.
Of the 2 missile options, the Sunfire Throwers seem the most interesting as they have the potential to do some damage to horde units. They are, however, completely useless against heroes or small units.
It becomes battleline in a Thunder Lizard army.
The Engine of the Gods lost both the Hero/Leader role and priesthood, to be replaced with a slot machine game: you choose one of its abilities and roll 2D6. If you reach a certain score, the ability triggers, otherwise you have some negative effects. To improve that, each of your shooting phases, you can decide to not roll and to keep one of those dice to add to the next roll. You can do it as many times as you want meaning in the 5th shooting phase, should the Engine still be alive with a 4+ save and no ward, could roll 6D6.
On a 7+ you can heal all Seraphon units within 6″. Good ability but short range despite the big base of this model. On a 9+ you can do mortal wounds to enemy units within 24″. This is much better and deserves to store one dice in the first round to use it in the second. On an 11+ you can summon 10 Saurus Warriors or 20 Skinks, that is not bad but banking on it and nothing else with this expensive model is a bit of a waste of time.
Battlelines in the Seraphon Army
The Saurus Warriors were another unit in dire need of a re-sculpt and the result is excellent. They are a great battleline option with a good melee profile (the club better than the spear especially in minimum size units). Their role is to defend objectives as they receive +1 save when contesting one making them a bit tougher with a 3+ save and 2 wounds apiece.
Add an Astrolith Bearer behind them for an extra 6+ ward and you have a tough unit to remove that can punch back. An Oldblood on foot issuing All-out Attack to them bring them to 2+/2+ on the Club profile.
The Saurus Guard, as the name implies, is there to bodyguard your non-monster heroes, in particular the Slann. Indeed, on a 3+, each wound and mortal wound taken by a hero is instead passed over to them. Considering they can be healed and even summoned back in a Starborne army, it makes Lord Kroak almost immortal.
Aside from this, they have the same profile of Warriors with the club but with a much more useful 2″ range, same bite rolls and same ability to receive buffs so they can also attack on a 2+/2+ when receiving the All-out Attack command from a Saurus Oldblood.
The Skinks are the only non-Saurus standard battleline and they are the more nimble with 8″ movement and the ability to choose between two dice when determining the distance they move after receiving Redeploy. And remember Fang of Sotek armies can issue for free that command the first two times they target Skink units.
The complexity in their profile comes from the weapon options as they have 4 different loadouts: 3 can choose between 2 different missile weapons whose difference is 8″ and -1 rend or 16″ and no rend, 3 can have a shield that gives them a 5+ save instead of 6+ and one is the more melee focussed with better attacks and the 5+ save. Overall is personal preference, but Javelin and shield seem the most efficient.
Conditional Battlelines for Seraphon
Kroxigor finally got a new sculpt and 2 new warscrolls. Both become battleline in a Koat’s Claw army, can’t issue commands to themselves, but can receive from Skink champions as well (like the Skink Alpha from a Skink unit) and can roll 3 dice each for their bite roll ability.
They have a similar profile in stats and melee weapons, but the Kroxigor have more attacks, rend -1 and exploding 6s to hit (each 6 makes 2 wound rolls instead of 1) when fighting units with 10 models or more.
The Kroxigor Warspawned have rend -2, add an extra attack if a friendly Skink model has been slain in the same phase within 12″ and force a -1 to wound to enemies targeting them with missile attacks.
Both have a really niche role, so niche that there are better options in this army at the moment.
The Aggradon Lancers become battleline if the general is any Saurus. They represent the heavy cavalry but, as already mentioned when discussing their leader, the Saurus Scar-Veteran, the incentive to keep them engaged every round is counter-intuitive considering their better mobility and damaging attacks that could potentially wipe enemy units.
They do have 5 wounds per model counting 2 when contesting objectives, but a 4+ save without ward would not see them survive against heavy hitters.
The Raptadon are the new light cavalry ridden by Skinks. They have a low save but 12″ movement. They both become battleline in a Fang of Sotek army that allows two units to Redeploy for free each turn.
They are units that should work in pairs, with the Raptadon Hunters able to perform -2 rend shooting attacks and if they are within 12″ of a unit of Chargers that charged in the same turn, they can shoot twice in that phase (the second time they have to target a unit engaged with the Chargers).
The Raptadon Chargers are instead the melee unit, with ok attacks especially the lance (one of the two weapon options) that becomes 2 damage when contesting objectives. The synergy with the previous unit continues because the lances get +1 to hit if a unit of Hunters shot at their target in the same turn.
So to visualize it: you have a unit of Chargers covering a unit of Hunters. The Hunters shoot in the shooting phase any unit in range. The Chargers charge a unit. The Hunters shoot again at the charged unit. The Chargers now have a bonus to hit and if they are contesting an objective even to damage.
The Stegadon becomes battleline in a Thunder Lizard army.
Other units of the Seraphon Army
The Salamander era is gone, long live the Spawn of Chotec. This new Artillery piece replaces both Salamander and Razordon. In the shooting department, it has 2 different types of missile attacks to choose from each phase: one with greater range able to reduce the target save by 1 but it is a single shot, and one with shorter range that can go up to 10 attacks for potential much more damage (but the number depends on the amount of models in the targeted unit, so against a hero would still be a single shot).
In melee the accompanying staff is not that scary, but the creature itself can defend itself, making it a dangerous artillery piece to engage.
From Warcry we have the Hunters of Huanchi that can make 3 different Age of Sigmar units. The Skinks all have 8″ movement and the ability to be deployed in reserve and re-appear outside 9″ from enemy models until the 4th battle round. This is important, because they can even be removed from the battlefield at the end of any movement phase and re-set up in a later round. They are also invisible when 12″ away from an enemy unit or in cover.
The Hunters of Huanchi with Dartpipes have the longest range and do mortal wounds on unmodified 6s to hit on their shooting attacks.
The Hunters of Huanchi with Starstone Bolas have lesser range, give -1 to hit to a targeted enemy when rolling at least an unmodified 6 to hit on their shooting attacks and have better melee profile and save.
It can be tricky to assemble two performant units from a single box of Hunters, so you may want to buy two boxes and have some spares for a Warcry narrative campaign.
On the other end, the Terrawings can fly 12″ and be used to prevent an enemy unit from receiving or issuing command abilities until the end of the turn if they can beat their Bravery with 2D6. As this happens at the start of any shooting phase, it can be quite devastating against low-bravery armies like Destruction armies.
The Terradon Riders share a fair amount with their Chief, in particular the bomb on a 4+ when flying over an enemy unit and the -1 to hit when targeted by missile attacks. They have a choice of 2 different missile weapons, but overall they are not a great unit.
The Ripperdactyl Riders are a bit better. They also share the same Blot Toad with the Chief that gives their mounts +1 to hit and to wound when attacking an enemy unit to which this marker was assigned. As each unit can give a marker to a different opponent unit, a few of them can spread quite easily the across key enemy targets. Unfortunately, despite the Unleash Hell deterrent, and the decent melee attacks, they compete in this role with the Raptadon. On their side they have 12″ of flying movement.
Endless Spells, Terrain and Start Collecting for Seraphon
The Seraphon don’t have their own Endless Spells, and they lost any special rules about using the generic ones available in Malign Sorcery and Forbidden Power treating them as every other army now.
Their faction terrain is the Realmshaper Engine, of which there are 2 different warscrolls.
In a Starborne army, it provides a venue to do mortal wounds to any enemy unit within 3″ of a terrain feature. In a Coalesced army, it adds one to the Bite Roll of Saurus and Kroxigor units within 12″ and in the same range allows monsters to always use the top row of their damage table even if wounded.
The Seraphon had 2 Start Collecting boxes that were a great way to start either the Skink or the Saurus side. The Vanguard box takes the Saurus one and improves it with the latest models released: 10 Saurus Warriors and 3 Kroxigor that can be assembled in both ways. At the centre of the box is however the Carnosaur/Troglodon that can be assembled in 3 different ways, meaning that there is quite some potential re-buy value for this box. At least twice: once for the Carnosaur and you magnetise each hero, and one for the Troglodon.
Tactics and Final Verdict on the Seraphon Army
Seraphon is really more than one army. The distinction between Coalesced and Starborne could never have been clearer than today, with even the terrain feature having different rules. However, compared to the past where Starborne meant Slann and Skinks and Coalesced meant Saurus and big monsters, now the lines are more blurred and almost every unit can be fielded in either faction.
The synergies are still Skinks with Skinks and Saurus with Saurus and Kroxigor, but nothing stops from mixing the two subgroups, each with their own scope. Skinks are mostly used for cheap screening, harassing tactics and of course their wizards to sustain their army or produce cosmic points.
Saurus can either be summoned or fielded from the beginning to protect wizards in a Starborne army, or be the core of a Coalesced one thanks to their improved defence and bite rolls that contributes to the splash mortal wounds game the Seraphon play.
And if there’s one thing that brings together the two sides, is exactly the ability to distribute mortal wounds left and right. Between the Slann and Skink magic, the Realmshaper Engine in Starborne and the enhanced bite rolls in Coalesced, there’s mortal wounds for all tastes that cover the entire battlefield.
The magic phase is definitely a key part of Starborne armies, but is still strong for Coalesced. Slann in particular can guarantee some essential support and to get rid of the surviving nuisances so that your main troops are able to move in the following phase instead of retreating.
Independently from which faction you choose, Saurus would want to get into melee early on and keep the enemies away from the objectives, Skinks instead would harass your enemy retrieving all objectives not covered by your opponent and screening the important parts of your army.
Monsters have an important role in the third edition, and Coalesced monsters have extra monstrous rampages with a couple of interesting choices. However, monsters are not exclusive to Coalesced as the Troglodon combined with a Slann is equally important in either faction, and Bastiladon with their 2+ save and potential ward (from the Astrolith Bearer or through magic spells) can be big anvils hard to remove.
Of the sub-factions, Fangs of Sotek and their ability to redeploy Skink units twice for free each phase is definitely the most popular, but Koat’s Claw and the +1 to wound to Saurus and Kroxigor after charge is not to be underestimated either.
Talking about individual winners, the Astrolith Bearer is a clear must in any army: either to provide cosmic points and act as cosmic node, or just to give ward to your objective holders. Apart from this, the Slann Starmaster is a great wizard but Lord Kroak is an even greater wizard. Depends on how many points you have available, because either Slann has to be protected by a unit of Saurus Guard to ensure their survivability. Attention, at the moment the Starmaster has all requirements to enjoy the revised Look out, Sir! rule that makes him untargettable by shooting attack 12″ afar.
The Skink Starseer is another great addition at a decent price, with double casting abilities and a once-per-battle ward ability that can dramatically change one of the last turns, especially if you managed to summon new units and field them in the right pivotal points.
Another great Skink for either army is the Oracle on Troglodon. Not only to extend the Slann range for a spell per turn, but also for their 9″ -1 to hit bubble than in Coalesced can become 12″. He is an all-round unit, with a bit of potential in all phases (has a shooting attack and prevents the use of Inspiring Presence to units engaged with him).
On the Saurus side, the clear winner is the Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur. More useful if you are heavily pointing to a Saurus/Coalesced army, but still a great monster. Both Saurus Warriors and Guard are a must, as they not only cover the role of battleline but they are also excellent in their role of attrition objective holders and bodyguards respectively.
Seraphon have a great range of cavalry, from the heavy Aggradon to the lighter Raptadon to conclude with the flying Terradon and Ripperdactyl. Of all of those, at the moment the Raptadon Chargers are probably the most efficient, but they are Skinks so they need to synergise with Skink heroes.
The Spawn of Chotec is not as scary as was one of the past iterations of the Salamander warscroll, but is still an artillery piece that can literally bite in melee, so it can be used in various ways, including redeploying for free in a Fang of Sotek army as it has the Skink keyword.
Overall there are only few units that are not performing well, but there’s so much variety that can satisfy anyone from the top competitive players to the casual ones that love roaring with their big dinosaurs and have a fun game.
The main drawback in the army, the super-dated range of sculpts, has been resolved. Sure, some warscrolls disappeared in the void and some are still old, but overall there is a great choice of excellent new models. That increased a bit the cost of the army overall, but also allowed to field a much more eye-pleasing force. The Vanguard box is not to be underestimated for beginners: the ductility of the centrepiece with 3 different assembly variations makes the purchase of at least 2 boxes a great investment. You can still find some older models in the second-hand market if you want to save something.
To summarize, this is a great army, extremely competitive and fun for every type of player. You still need to study the synergies well but combining the various type of units is much more satisfying than before. If you want more information about Seraphon you can follow Caleb’s YouTube channel.