Saurus Guard

STARBORNE: ★★★★☆ COALESCED: ★★★★☆

Saurus Guard are the protectors of the Seraphon temples and Seraphon leadership. They are able to take on wounds that were allocated to unmounted heroes, allowing them to protect the Slann, Skink wizards and Saurus heroes on foot. Unlike the Saurus Warriors, they have a natural 3+ save that is active wherever they are, and their weapon attacks have the accuracy of Saurus Warriors' clubs and the range their spears. They have the same bite attacks, +1 to run and charge from their musicians and +1 to bravery from their standard bearer. However, unlike Warriors, they come in units of 5 (which means fewer wounds in the unit), for a higher cost per model.

They are battleline in all sub-factions.

See the Saurus Guard warscroll on Wahapedia.

Builds and Tactics

Defend the Heroes

Saurus Guard are primarily there to protect the magic core of a Seraphon army: the Slann, the Skink wizards and the Astrolith Bearer. And they are able to do this well, in three ways: they are tough screens, they provide Look Out, Sir! to eligible units (though many other units can do that) and they can re-allocate wounds to themselves on a 3+. They are excellent at this role, but for the cost of 140 points for 5 Guard, its not always necessary. With one exception!

Lord Kroak needs a unit of five Guard to prevent him from dying randomly due to his Dead for Innumerable Ages rule. Having just five Guard is usually considered enough to protect Kroak by transferring excessive wounds to the Guard and keeping Kroak's death rolls from becoming too risky.

Faction Distinctions

Saurus Guard are functionally similar in Starborne and Coalesced. In Starborne, there are usually more wizards to protect, and Lord Kroak is a common hero, so they are a common unit in Starborne. It's usually unnecessary to bring more then five, but if you do, it's best to keep them in small units of five. That way, damage allocation from Selfless Protectors can be spread between them, and then all the units can have D3 models restored using the Starborne cosmic power, Azure Light. If you do run out of Saurus Guard, more can be summoned in a unit of 10 for 22 CPP. (Don't forget to equip your summoned Guard with two musicians and two standard bearers!)

In Coalesced, the Guard benefit from the SAURUS synergies: +1 to Bite rolls, -1 to enemy damage, and +1 to wound on charge in Koatl's Claw. That's all nice, but with fewer wizards in Coalesced, they are generally less important. Of course, Lord Kroak is popular in Coalesced as well, and where Kroak goes, five Saurus Guard are needed.

Selfless Protectors

Selfless Protectors is a "bodyguard" ability. It allows the Saurus Guard to take any wound or mortal wound allocated to a non-MONSTER Seraphon hero, and on a 3+, allocate it to themselves instead. This can protect your heroes and keep them in the game. Every 5 Guard protecting a hero can absorb 10 wounds of damage (more with healing or returned models).

This ability is especially important for Lord Kroak. For our other wizards and heroes, good screening and Look Out, Sir! may be sufficient to protect them.

It's important to understand that the hero's save roll prevents the need to absorb regular (non-mortal) wounds, so buffing the hero's save also helps to protect the Guard, which in turns makes them able to last longer when absorbing a hero's wounds. Also, no ward rolls are allowed for any wounds that you attempt to re-allocate.

For each wound, you can choose whether or not to use Selfless Protectors. You can use this ability at any time, in combat or not.

Reinforced Units

Saurus Guard are most commonly taken in units of 5. It's not often that 10 are needed, though 10 will provide more screening than 5 (but not as well as 10 Warriors), and more wounds to absorb damage. In Starborne, units of 5 benefit a lot more from the reinforcing power of Azure Light. But Saurus Guard can only be summoned in units of 10.

As battleline units, Saurus Guard can be double-reinforced, but units of 15 are not typically used.

Frequently Asked Questions

If a hero is wounded near Saurus Guard, must I roll for Selfless Protectors?

No. Selfless Protectors is an optional ability.

Can a Hero that is protected by Selfless Protectors still use a Ward ability?

No. Selfless Protectors specifically states that its use to re-allocate a wound from a hero is instead of any ward roll that hero may be able to make. For each wound allocated to the hero, you may choose to use Selfless Protectors or take a chance with the ward roll, but not both.

Can the Guard use a Ward ability after reallocating a wound to themselves?

No. As of the update to the Core Rules FAQ in September of 2023, section 14.3, Wards, specifically prohibits units like Saurus Guard from making a ward roll on wounds that were re-allocated to them from abilities such as Selfless Protectors, unless their ability specifically allows it. And in the case of Saurus Guard, there is no such exception, so they can't make the Ward roll.

When are Guard that die from Selfless Protectors removed from play?

Slain models are removed from a unit after all attacks that target the unit are resolved and all wounds that need to be allocated to it have been.

In most cases with Selfless Protectors, the Saurus Guard are not the target of an attack, which means the only criterium for a model being removed is that the wound has been allocated. So if the Saurus Guard is being allocated damage that came from an ability or attack that targeted a hero, they are removed immediately after they have been allocated two wounds. Be careful! If you remove the Guard that are within 3" of the hero, any remaining Guard will be out of range to use Selfless Protectors. Of course, if all the Guard are slain, they cannot be allocated anymore wounds; they have been removed from the battlefield.

However, there is an unusual case where an enemy splits their attacks between the Saurus Guard and a hero the Guard can protect with Selfless Protector. Now both units are being attacked, and as long as the Guard suffer at least one wound from the attack, none of those attacks will be fully resolved until all of the attacks are complete. This means that the Guard can use Selfless Protectors to re-allocate wounds wounds inflicted on the hero to themselves, and none of the models can be resolved until the attacks are complete. Now all Guard will remain on the battlefield through the attack sequence, and since they are on the battlefield, they can continue to use Selfless Protectors to re-allocate wounds to themselves even if enough wounds have been allocated to the unit to equal or exceed their combined wounds characteristics. So you could potentially re-allocate more than 10 wounds to a unit of 5 Guard in this scenario. Remember, that's only if an enemy splits its attack (melee or missile weapon, not spells or abilities) between the hero and the Guard, and at least one wound from the attack that targeted the Guard got through the Guard's armor save.

When do bite rolls happen?

Bite rolls happen after the Saurus Guard have finished their melee attacks, but before any slain enemy models are removed as a result of those attacks. This timing was clarified in the Official FAQ for Battletome: Seraphon.

Should I take a Champion, Standard Bearers and Musicians?

Yes! Always take a Champion and as many Standard Bearers and Musicians as you're allowed.

One model in the entire unit can be a champion. Not only does the Champion get an extra attack, it also is able to issue commands to its own unit, which is an important ability for your unit to have. Both these abilities remain as long as the Champion survives.

Standard Bearers and Musicians give your unit their respective abilities as long as at least one of that type survives in the unit, so having duplicates gives you some redundancy to help make sure you don't lose the abilities. You can have one of each in a unit of 5, two of each in a unit of 10 and three of each in a unit of 15. These special models can still attack as normal with their celestite weapon, so there's no downside to taking as many of each as possible.

If I give my Starborne Astrolith Bearer an Arcane Tome, how many CPP does it gain?

Just 1 Cosmic Power Point (CPP). Each friendly Starborne wizard or Astrolith Bearer on the battlefield generates 1 CPP at the start of your hero phase. Because the rule uses the word "or" and not "and", even though an Astrolith Bearer with the artefact Arcane Tome is both an Astrolith Bearer and a wizard, it still only gets 1 CPP.

It will, of course, generate a second CPP if it successfully casts a spell that is not unbound.