Lizards: Guard? Saurus Safety? Krox Cage-Breaker?

[RogueThirteen]

I'm playing a fairly developed (~170TV) Lizardmen team and am mulling over the developmental path of the saurses and krox (or, perhaps, fantasizing about because more level-ups for AG1 pieces doesn't really come without at least some MVP love). Below are the Sauri and the Krox, and the league is a pretty even blend of bash, agile, and hybrid teams.

Sauruses:
#1: Block
#2: Block
#3: Block
#4: Block
#5: Block, Mighty Blow
#6: Break Tackle, Tackle

Krox: Guard

So I've been mulling over three 'big' questions with regards to team development, and as always I like to toss my reasoning out there in order to stimulate some discussion:

Question 1: do Lizards need Guard? I would normally answer "Yes, just about every team needs as much Guard as it can get" except that Skinks can't get Guard and Sauruses level so slowly that I'm not sure Guard is really worth one of the two skills they're ever likely to get in a realistically long, non-perpetual league. I'm thinking that with so much Strength 4, it's possible to keep the team loosely spread out (I do this anyways) which greatly minimizes the effect of opponent's Guard. If an opponent has some Guard, the worst thing you can do is bunch up. At most, I think I might take two Guard on Sauruses, but the downside with that is that Sauruses are some of the most immobile pieces in the game (and before everyone counters with Break Tackle -- let's keep the discussion in the realm of realism and assume that these sauruses will each only get to two skills: so that means BLOCK + SOMETHING ELSE).

Question 2: Now that being said, there is Saurus #6 who has Break Tackle AND is about to get his third skill soon (this is due in no small part to the ungodly 4 or 5 MVPs he has rolled). Assuming he levels again, the question is should he take: Block, Wrestle, or Guard. He's the free safety Saurus who is mainly responsible for getting loose and hitting the ball carrier. Wrestle would be nice here for added reliability of blocks and for extra help bringing down blodger ball-carriers. Block keeps my Str4 piece from going prone, though. Guard on him would give me a very mobile Guard saurus that could be really, really useful - but then I sacrifice some reliability at the safety position. Nonetheless, with Tackle on him and several skinks with SideStep + Diving Tackle, if I can mark the ball-carrier with this guy and some of those skinks, it's still somewhat effective at slowing an opponent's score.

Question 3: The Krox has Guard. If he rolls doubles, he will probably take Block. Assuming he doesn't roll doubles, I'm thinking either Grab, Stand Firm (to keep his guard and prehensile tail in place), or Break Tackle. I kind of rather like Break Tackle, because it let's him get his tail where it is most needed. The downside is, I HATE rolling dice with a loner, even if it's a 2+ - so I'd probably be pretty conservative in how often I actually used Break Tackle. BUT, breaking cages is getting pretty hard for my team as cage-corners keep getting better and better. A Krox with Break Tackle can dodge next to a cage center with only a 4+ roll (2 +1 for doge -3 for TZs = 4). A 50/50 chance to either put a guard-tail Krox right in a cage is pretty good, or even a blitz to hit is nice. It's not terribly reliable, so I'd only try it when things were somewhat desperate and even then only near the end of the turn.

[Hitonagashi]

1) Yes, if and only if you have to play orcs and dwarves. Chaos/Nurgle/Pact, you are far better off with MB/PO and trashing beastmen/Pestigors. Without claw though, you can't outbash an av 9 team, so you need to outposition them. For that, you need guard. Personally, depending on how many games you have to play, I actually start with block/mb on all the saurii. Short term pain, and makes positioning harder (it does slaughter necro and undead though), but I find it's actually faster to go from block/mb to a 3rd skill than it is to go from block to mb. My primary team is here. It is a Box team though, so the majority of it's games are against chaos/nurgle at high TV, so the skills are chosen accordingly.

2) Block. The problem with wrestle is, assuming you want to use that break tackle, you could take a -2d hit to try and take you down, and with wrestle, there's a good chance it will work. I always look at tackle players as elf killers, not as ball carrier hitters, because it's a saurus! Even with break tackle, they've made a serious mistake caging if they neglect to consider the only BT player on the pitch when building their cage and just put 2 tz for him to dodge through. Tis why I don't take BT for ages...block/mb/guard/tackle first for me always.

3) Stand Firm. Kroxigors with guard/stand firm are amazingly useful. Don't put him on the LOS, use your saurii to shove a clump of players together and stick the Krox in the middle. Remember, to use BT, you need 2x2+. That's like making 2 gfi every time you want to use it. Especially awesome against dwarves, as he can happily tie up 3-4 dwarves for most of a half.

[MKL]

Hi Rogue

Since no-one else chime in, here are my 2c.
If you are playing online, I can add nothing to what Hitonagashi said.
On the other hand, if you play tabletop, where you got fewer games (and fewer slayer teams)...
1) An alternative to Guard for the Sauri is BreakTackle. One of my regular opponents got massed B-Tackle on the Sauri without any Guard, and was very successful. Disengage against slayers, reposition quickly against agility teams.

2) Same as Hitonagashi.

3)

A 50/50 chance to either put a guard-tail Krox right in a cage is pretty good, or even a blitz to hit is nice.

Very dangerous, and unneeded imo. With B-Tackle Sauri and S-Step/D-Tackle Skinks you can bog down any normal cage. And S-Firm on Krox is awesome.