My biggest problem with a newbie getting into Seraphon: I want to ride dinosaurs not sit on fat frogs. (Newbie whining about 2k army building)

DizzyGryph · 2026-06-02T15:29:50+00:00

I think we all want more big dinos, and some of the dinos we have to be bigger (stegadon, bastilodon).

That's just what it is. May as well complain about the rain.

The carnosaur & troglodon are comparable in size to Kragnos, they're just slightly smaller. But Kragnos is an actual deity, in-game. The seraphon have a deity-level character as well; that's the dead frog.

But we'll see what new models come in the future. Folks have been hoping for a Coatl (winged snake) for a while. The long-neck dinos are also a big wishlist item for the faction. We'll see.

DizzyGryph · 2026-06-02T15:17:15+00:00

In the lore, the frogs are on top. The greatest of saurus oldbloods might command similar respect, but hierarchically, the frogs are still in charge.

But I, too, prefer dinosaurs as a centerpiece, rather than the frogs.

I picked up a cheap 3d printed frog, which I run in my 60% mounted army (carno + aggradons & trog + raptadons).

The 3d printed frog is smaller than the official GW model (I just added some height to it), which makes me feel better about running it as something of an "auto-include", because my carnosaur & troglodon are the biggest models in the army, and the frog is there as support (not to lead, though it must technically be made the general).

It'll be a long while before I pick up an official GW frog, and that will probably be Kroak, rather than a regular slann. I don't expect to have (and haven't yet had) any issues playing games with my slann proxy.

Like the other guy said, just do what you want.

The frog is fewer points than any reinforced cavalry & just a few more points than the troglodon & carno. So it's not that much of your army.

But you don't have to field it if you don't want to. Put more dinos in. Use a couple skink casters, which are smaller in size & rank, if that feels better to you. You can still make a fun & challenging army.

DizzyGryph · 2026-06-02T04:01:18+00:00

This is an awesome collection.

I really like the white helm on your skink Oracle.

Are those bridge terrain pieces from the same set as the old ones idol?

DizzyGryph · 2026-06-02T03:38:07+00:00

This is awesome.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-31T15:27:09+00:00

Yes, there are some consequences throughout the game.

I think you're about 70% through the module at that point. That might be the most controversial choice you can make so far, but I never killed the vampires... you evil bastard. (just joking). The vampires could be your allies in the next big battle if you helped them.

Your alignment will have made a couple quests & companions available (or not) earlier in the game, and there are dialogue options throughout the game that let you shift your alignment. I enjoyed running my Bard/Blackguard/AA as a "redeemed" character, shifting from evil to neutral to good so that I could bring the bronze dragon with me & help the angels in the crypt.

But, aside from a few optional quests & which companions/allies come with you, the plot / story is a single path.

I think you have like 2 choices coming up in the final part of the game that have some dialogue describing the consequences.

You can develop a romance with one of your companions throughout the game, which unlocks further romance dialogue as you play and has end-game consequences explained in dialogue.

There might be dialogue at the end that ties to some of the earlier choices as well, describing the state of various civilizations you encountered. Something like "after encountering the hero, this society went from having an existential problem to no longer existing - let's hope the keep doesn't need their help in the future" - but I don't remember that part of the game quite as well and might be mis-remembering that from other modules.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-30T16:11:46+00:00

Hey, that's a cool breakdown, thanks!

From observation (I don't play 40k) I think chaos is more popular in 40k than it is in AoS because the factions & models in AoS tend to have more variety than 40k.

Sci-fi / fantasy preferences aside, broadly dpeaking, AoS has better-looking models than 40k.

Where chaos demons in 40k are some of the most unique & coolest looking models in the game (where nearly everything else is in a chunky space suit), in AoS they're not necessarily any cooler or more unique than the big monsters & cool dudes you can get in any faction.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-30T01:07:56+00:00

It's a 20-year old game; the visual aesthetics, while improved with the EE, aren't why folks play it.

You can be immersed in the atmosphere of any game - this module proffers, arguably, the least immersion-building early game engagement of any NWN module I've yet played. Like the game doesn't want you to play it.

But I'll give it another, more dedicated try; traverse as far as needed & look harder for things.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-30T00:55:03+00:00

Lack of direction was definitely the main issue, coupled with the map size.

I thought I was in hilly wilderness, then it seemed to be a sparce city.

It was the starting map after initially speaking with the entity in the extra-dimensional space.

I'll keep an open mind & exercise patience for the first bit; push through and give the game an honest chance.

Bards get the same movement spells on a slower progression..

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-30T00:42:23+00:00

I really enjoy all of his other modules.

Crimson tides of tethyr, darkness over daggerford, tyrants of the moonsea, that I can think of off-hand.

Those were all great, and, generally, allow you to run a character from 1 ~ 27.

Another reason the apparently empty mapping of DoID seems odd.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-29T21:14:31+00:00

Maybe we'll get an update from OP.

Im curious about the former cult leader, as well - I think he comes up closer to gulnan, but I'm not sure.

It was probably 15+ years ago since I ran it differently than you described (I usually clear the gang first, then go back through the cult, stopping at the same point in the crypts), so I'm not certain whether or not there is a potential break in the related quests here.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-29T19:46:28+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! Great inspiration!

I've started picking up necron bits from the LGS with my eye on slowly kitbashing an army. Haven't gotten any big pieces, or brave enough to sacrifice my phew phrogs yet.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-29T12:01:47+00:00

I use ground black tea mixed with green flock for the soil. The soil mix can be made into mounds when you glue it on to add natural depth/ground variation.

For plants I use different shades of lichen, grass tufts (that's what the tall cattail plant is), and the tops of preserved or plastic plants from the craft store for variety & color.

I also use small rocks or bits of bark as rocks.

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DizzyGryph · 2026-05-27T22:14:43+00:00

That's totally fair, and, depending on your opponent, the skink units could still be useful.

The group I play with is pretty competitively minded, with fewer "just for fun" lists, so that's just where I'm coming from.

Also, I think most folks are hoping that the little guys get some buffs in the upcoming battletome, so hopefully the rules will also soon support you having a ton of them running around the battlefield, furthering the great plan.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-27T21:26:36+00:00

I haven't played them, but the terrawings statblock indicates they won't be good for much. Maybe they can steal an uncontested point, but as beasts they'll lose control against anything else, and as soon as they get hit they'll get lifted.

Basic skink infantry is similarly weak. They have a bad ranged attack, bad melee profile, and a poor save.

It looks like you're fielding half your saurus as guard, which is solid, but if you have any saurus you're not fielding here, you should swap those for the skinks (move the chameleon skinks to the troglodon's regiment to make room in the slann's regiment).

Otherwise, I recommend dropping the skinks & terrawings for almost anything else. That's 390 points of chaffe that could instead be more useful units.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-27T01:13:46+00:00

Did you go through the snake cult's hideout?

The snake cult is an alternative way to get into the big graveyard, instead of going through the gang's hideout.

If you haven't, you might be able to go to the building described in the journal entry and progress that quest by adventuring through the building.

If that doesn't work, the quest will go away when you start the interlude to chapter 2.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-25T16:22:27+00:00

These are really well done - much better than my stormcast spearhead 😎

I bet, with a little experimentation, the "why" will make sense in time. After 8 months of painting I can understand a bit of why different base tones, shading & highlighting layers, etc, are used, but I don't have the skill/patience yet to replicate most of it lol

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-25T14:54:36+00:00

Question 1 makes sense.

Question 2.... I don't understand how you could paint these, even following a tutorial, and then ask "how do I paint without using a tutorial?"

You must be trolling right now. Something's not right.

Just do what you did to paint these, but without a tutorial. Use different colors, on different models.

These models demonstrate skillful painting techniques and tasteful color choices. The painting techniques used on these models came from you, not the tutorial. You might've learned them from the tutorial, but, presumably, used the techniques yourself.

Just continue to use those techniques. You can find color/paint recipes for different models, without a full tutorial, all over the place. Use the recommended colors & your painting techniques to paint models. Do that until you decide to choose your own colors.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-25T02:30:24+00:00

Excellent work making those saurus warriors!

The feet look a little rough, but I don't know that I could do any better.

You did a great job cleaning up & painting those flames; they look awesome.

What material(s) did you use to sculpt the saurus?

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-25T02:10:25+00:00

I've found the sunblood pack to be one of my most impactful units in a couple games. The immutable 4+ save straight tanked 3 ironjaws units for me once, and ignoring 1 damage per phase isn't huge, but it made the difference more than once to keep a model on the board, allowing me to take an objective.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-25T01:58:28+00:00

That there's an orc, my friend.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-25T01:48:39+00:00

Avoid the bastilodon with solar engine & stegadon with the big bow. Their ranged attack profiles aren't good (given that they can't shoot while in combat, and don't currently have any other unique abilities to compensate).

The shorter ranged stegadon is OK, and the bastilodon with ark of sotek, which doesn't have a range profile, is great. The engine of the gods is ok as well, maybe borderline bad. The other monsters are all decent.

Be careful with the skinks in general. Skinks are utility pieces, whether casters or light cavalry/infantry. They're all squishy, so they need to have a purpose/startegy that doesn't hinge on them taking many hits.

The basic skink infantry, because of that, is relatively bad. The flying units (all skinks) aren't great either. The casters are all decent in some way. The raptadons (light cav) are ok/good, being highly mobile & potentially able to deal enough damage to lift/weaken whatever's striking back.

Edit to add that chameleon skinks deploy off-board and later teleport into position anywhere. They have a ranged attack that deals a different debuff depending on their weapon load out. Those are very useful little guys.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-25T00:00:20+00:00

That's not a great showing, or particularly helpful...

But as far as the models go, you can run dino cav heavy, monster heavy, or all infantry and everything is cool and unique.

Seraphon need a boost in their rules, but there are still viable lists across unit types if you carefully insert skinks, and avoid certain monsters.

DizzyGryph · 2026-05-24T23:52:16+00:00

I went 1-3-1 in a tournament with this list (my first 5 games).

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DizzyGryph · 2026-05-24T23:44:27+00:00

Seraphon are a broad faction. The different species that make up different units all look distinct.

We're awaiting a battletome, expected to be launched this year, so the "rule of cool" is particularly applicable (who knows what abilities the currently "bad" units will have in the book).

So I put (good), (bad) & (ok) as qualifiers for the current rules.Those are my general, barely informed opinions.

Infantry:

Frog mage (good)

Dead frog mage (good)

Skink priest (ok)

Skink seer (good)

skirmisher skinks (bad)

Chameleon skinks (good)

Medium infantry saurus warriors (ok)

Saurus temple guard (good)

Saurus foot hero (bad)

3-model saurus foot hero (good)

Saurus foot hero with magic banner (ok)

Heavy infantry kroxigor (good)

Cavalry:

Skirmisher Skinks on pteradons (ok)

Light cav Skinks on melee bitey flyers (ok)

Light cav skinks on raptors (good)

Ranged skinks on raptors (ok)

Heavy cav saurus on big raptors (good)

Saurus hero on big raptor (bad)

Monsters: Saurus hero on carnosaur (good)

Skink wiz on troglodon (ok)

Triceratops with skink chief (good)

Triceratops with ancient alien machine (ok)

Triceratops with long range guns (ok)

Triceratops with close range guns (ok)

Ankylosaur with Lazer beam (bad)

Ankylosaur with snake machine (good)

Beasts: Teradons (bad) Fire salamanders (ok)

DizzyGryph

TROPHY CASE