Hi all, hope you can help me choose between these options that are rattling around in my head.

I am planning with sticking with the Drakewarden build coming out in Tasha's and go from 1 through to 20 with it so I'm not looking to multiclass.

I have narrowed down what I want to pick is either a kobold or a lizardfolk as my race. I am fully aware neither is optimal so far for a STRanger but I am choosing them for the lore reasons for if to go with the backstory I had in mind. Plus, I have played so many ranged characters to date I wanted to make a melee focused ranger and when I hit level 13 then the guardian of nature spell is going to be a staple spell my PC wil be casting alot. (Another reason for STR focus)

I also know that I can change their stats around with Tasha's new rules but as they aren't out yet officially, I'd rather ignore them for the time being.

So, on to the options I had in mind-

Lance wielding Kobold who hovers around at the 10ft range to maximise his damage?

Twin shield wielding lizardfolk who uses his bites to attack?

Now, if there are better ways to utilise these races in a STRanger Drakewarden focus please help me as these two options are what I could think of. I would welcome your helpful advice on how to tweak my STRanger for best usage.

Finally, I know it won't be the most min-maxed PC and I'm fine with that. I just want it to be able to hold its own on the battlefield as I know it will be fine RP wise and out of combat.