Aggradon Lancers

Aggradon Lancers are destructive attack force.  They are capable of wiping out tough enemy units and heroes with high damage output and good rend.  Aggradon Lancers are not natively very resilient for a melee unit, especially in Starborne, so they depend on a good offense to wipe out the enemy before they can be attacked back, or protective buffs such as Mystic Shield or the Starseer's Scry the Stars to help them weather an attack.

While Seraphon has faster hammers (Raptadon Chargers and Ripperdactyls) and stronger hammers (Kroxigor), Aggradons bring a good balance of speed and power, and are more resilient in melee than even the Kroxigor.  Their native +1 to Charge rolls also really helps them reach their quarry.

Aggradon Lancers are good targets for the Skink Starpriest's Serpent Staff ability, and Empowered Celestite can help them hit a heavily armored target even harder.  Hoarfrost is fairly inefficient on them, and it only buffs them a little whether buffing To Hit (especially if they have clubs), To Wound or Rend; but it can still make a difference in combat.

With a Wounds characteristic of 5, each Aggradon Lancer model counts as 2 for contesting objectives, a quality that no other hammer in the army can boast.

It's also worth noting that Aggradon Lancers do tend to lose models over the course of the battle, and are a good target for Rally, which can bring back two of these precious models to the unit.

In Coalesced, especially Koatl's Claw, Aggradon Lancers really shine.  They are SAURUS, so the -1 to Damage against them can really help.  And Koatl's Claw's +1 to Wound rolls greatly enhances their damage output.  Coalesced is also more likely to have a SAURUS general, which makes them battleline, and can potentially give them the benefit of the SAURUS general's command trait, Vengeful Defender, which can give them an incredible boost of speed for an alpha strike, or to zip across the battlefield to strike an enemy pinned by an anvil.  The SKINK spell Heavenly Frenzy also serves them well, as being able to run and charge in the same turn takes advantage of both their +1 to Run rolls and their +1 to Charge rolls.

Starborne has few synergies with SAURUS, so Aggradon Lancers are less efficient in that faction.  But Starborne is light on hammers, especially those that can survive an attack, so Aggradon Lancers can still fill an impactful role.  Adding more melee punch to Starborne helps them to handle diverse scenarios, especially against magic-resistant armies like Blades of Khorne and Ossiarch Bonereapers Null Myriad subfaction.  Aggradons can be used as a tough screen, especially when buffed defensively, to protect the wizard castle, and retaliate hard when they can strike back.  In Dracothion's Tail, Aggradon Lancers can be dropped in anywhere outside of 9" of the enemy and wholly within 12" of a cosmic node using the subfaction's Appear on Command ability.  This happens at the end of the movement phase, but if combined with the Spacefolder's Stave to let them drop in outside of 7" instead of 9", and their +1 to Charge, let's them strike out of nowhere with an easy 6" equivalent charge.  Because the cosmic node can be teleported earlier in the turn, they can drop in and wipe out nearly any enemy unit that wasn't properly screened.  However, because they don't arrive until the end of the movement phase, only combat phase buffs (such as All-out Attack, All-out Defense and the Scar-Veteran on Aggradon's Alpha Roar) can enhance them on that turn.  Since offensive buffs are limited, Starborne can make up for that be softening the Aggradon's intended target with mortal wound magic for the Aggradon attack.

Aggradon Lancers are most commonly taken in units of 3 and 6, which they only need to remain within 1" of one other model in the unit to maintain coherency.

Units of 3 are pretty fast melee units that are good at going up the flanks and hunting down lighter threats on the battlefield.  Two units of 3 can have pretty good board coverage, and each unit can count as 6 models on an objective.

Units of 6 are the deadly hammers that can devastate most enemy units and kill even very tough heroes and monsters.  And counting as 12 models on the objective makes them difficult to contest.

Units of 9 are pretty scary, but coherency restrictions will prevent them from getting all their attacks in.  Still, these units have 45 wounds, and don't become offensively weakened by slaying a few of them.  And counting as 18 models on an objective, if you can fit them all, is pretty deadly.

Aggradon Lancers can be equipped with Celestite spears or clubs.  Both loadouts are good, with only a slight difference between them in their average damage output.  After all, most of this unit's damage comes from the Aggradons themselves.

Spears are preferred choice when targeting enemy units with strong armor, which is often what the Lancers will be targeting.  They have a slight edge over clubs against an enemy with a 2+ save or equivalent after modifiers that improve armor (e.g., a 3+ save plus Mystic Shield).  The difference is more pronounced if the Aggradons have received All-out Attack, which makes spears do better against an enemy with a 3+ save or equivalent.  Spears also have a longer range than clubs, which can be helpful occasionally, but because the Aggradons' Bites and Talons' range is just 1", it's really important to get them within 1" of the enemy as much as possible either way.

Clubs does better against lightly armored enemies with a save of 4+ or worse, after modifiers that improve armor (e.g., a 5+ save plus Mystic Shield).  Clubs may be preferred if the Aggradons are in smaller units to hunt down those smaller, lightly armored threats on the flanks.

The two weapons respond differently to buffs, with Spears benefitting more from All-out Attack or Hoarfrost modifying To Hit.  Clubs responds better to Serpent Staff, Empowered Celestite or Hoarfrost modifying Rend.  But other than Hoarfrost, the differences are small, and Hoarfrost's randomness make it difficult to plan around.  Spears are more vulnerable to a -1 To Hit debuff.

Spears are the more popular choice, but whichever loadout you chose, the Aggradon Lancers will be an effective hammer, so don't sweat it too hard.  The differences are small — usually within a wound or two on average — so you really can't go wrong.

If Aggradon Lancers do get stuck into battle, their Primal Rage ability can kick in, making they mounts that much more deadly, and making up for lost models that may have fallen in the battle.  After each combat phase of both player's turns, if the Aggradon's are still in combat, their Rage score increases by 1, to a maximum of three.  The Rage score is added to the Attacks characteristic of the Aggradons' Bites and Talons.  This can make them much more potent as a melee combat rages on.  But if the Aggradons ever end the combat phase out of combat, their Rage will drop back down to zero.