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8th Ed. How big should you make units of Skink Skirmishers

Discussion in 'Lizardmen & Saurian Ancients Tactics' started by Scalenex, Jan 2, 2019.

  1. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    For a very long time, I nearly always field my Skink Skirmishers in units of 13.

    The reason I do this is because I do not lot my Skinks panicking over a light slap. A unit of 13 models needs to lose four models in one go in order to trigger a panic test.

    A recent battle report showed someone really stomp the enemy by using five units of Skink Skirmishers to "win" deployment.

    Skink Skirmishers are arguably the most flexible unit we have, so you can deploy them almost anywhere and they can still contribute their full value. Therefore if you make your first four or five drops Skink Skirmishers you can force your opponent to show you his main battleline before you put down your high value deployments (your main infantry block, your largest dinosaurs, and your Salamanders in my opinion. About the only way you can deploy Skink Skirmishers wrong is to clog your deployment zone with Skinks.

    The smaller your Skink units are, the more of them you get. But I really hate losing Panic tests.

    So what are your thoughts on whether to field 10 or 13 Skink Skirmishers.

    Feel free to debate me with a thoughtful reply, but my thoughts are to almost never field a unit other than 10 or 13 barring unusual extenuating circumstance.

    If you are building a 2000 point army and end up with 1993 points, then maybe I'd add a Skink Skirmisher to a unit.

    Other than maybe you have a few points left over boosting a unit to 11 or 14 but whenever possible I would rather add a model to almost any other unit or add a cheap magic item to one of my characters.

    I fielded a unit of 20 to bunker a Slann once. I found that a little untenable. By placing 20 Skinks in one place I gave away my Slann's position very early. You lose some flexibility with deploying a Slann solo if you give away his position. I think I prefer running Temple Guard-less Slann without Skink Skirmisher bunkers but if I might try Slann in units of 13. That way I can deploy the Slann almost anymore and the Slann can always abandon it's bunker if most of them die.

    Once I fielded Skink skirmishers in units of 17 (16 Skink Skirmishers and a Skink Chief actually) but that was a 6000 point game. Every unit in my army had numbers inflation and I have no regrets. I would count a 6000 point game as extenuating circumstances. Though if I played a game that size again, I might go for unit quantity over unit size though I would probably want to deploy them conga line style to not crowd my deployment field overmuch.

    Anyway what are your thoughts on Skink Skirmisher unit size?
     
  2. pendrake
    Skink Priest

    pendrake Well-Known Member

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    Was 10 the minimum?
     
  3. NIGHTBRINGER
    Slann

    NIGHTBRINGER Second Spawning

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    Yes
     
  4. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    Yes 10 was the minimum. There was no maximum unit size in 8th edition. There used to be a maximum size of 20 in previous editions but I don't think anyone ever wanted to field more than 20.

    There is not a lot of reason to field them in big units as far as I'm concerned, but I really like units of 13 because you need to lose four models to force a panic test rather than a mere three. I didn't take detailed notes, but I'm betting if I plotted a bell curve for ranged attacks against Skink skirmishers, three model casualties would be pretty close to the statistical mean.
     
  5. Gary_M
    Razordon

    Gary_M Well-Known Member

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    I've always used them in units of 10 - Primarily because my movement bases are that size!
    I know they're very useful, but they are also our chaff (imo) and losing 10 seems to be less hurtful to me than losing 13.
    Also I found that 3 x 10 plus a block of Saurus (which I love even though not very competitive) will make the core tax almost exactly at 2400 or 2500 points.
     
  6. Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl
    Slann

    Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl Eleventh Spawning

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    I just have 1 unit of 12 of them, so I just use those 12 ;)

    (The rest of my Skinks are in a cohort)
     

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