I have played LM for a while now and my primary opponent is Choas Mortals. Maybe it's just against them but the skinks never seem to do much for me. I kill a few things with poison, maybe a couple Maurerders (sp?) or a Minotaur if I'm lucky but they basically get blasted and can't stand up to much of anything. With no standard or rank options combat res is brutal for them. Maybe I'm missing something or playing them wrong, or maybe it's just against Chaos, but I feel that skinks are probably the worst unit in the LM army. Judging from what more experienced players lists look like and the majority on pretty much every forum, Skinks are just about everyone's favorites and some even go as far as to say one of the best units in the game! Could someone please enlighten me on why I have had such bad luck with skinks or what army's they do well/poorly against. thanks
Hi mate, welcome to the boards My primary use for skinks is to screen. Since mortal chaos don't have (m)any ranged units, you're unlikely to see their effectiveness in this role. Later in the game they are good for fleeing and setting up counter charges, getting off a few shots with their poison, march blocking and generally being a hassle to the enemy. My skinks do die a lot, but I'd rather they were dieing for the greater good of keeping my other units alive! On top of everything else, they are core and cheap! I always go for at least 3 units of 10 in any 2k list I make
Thanks for the info, I was thinking they may be more effective against shooty armies and will keep that in mind when I make an "all comers" rather than one for Chaos. I'm sure they could be quite deadly against a low T, lightly armored army (Skaven, WE, Empire etc) by the way do you prefer your skinks with Javs or Blowpipes?
i play javs for the skinks that makes the screen for my stonger units, and blowpipes as skirmishers to prevent marchs and kill with luck some wizz, they are very usefull ineed.
I like mine with blowpipes, multiple shot can be pretty good. In a weird way, I don't mind my skink screens dieing, sometimes they can get in the way later on in the game if I've been a bit careless!
If your skinks are getting charged all the time you're likely not moving them around the board the most effectively. If skinks are going to get into combat you must be on the charge. But sticking them right up behind enemy infantry knowing they can't be caught is the most fun. Your opponents irritation is very enjoyable. Remember the beautiful thing about skinks is that you can form them up any way you like. Strings of skinks. Blobs of skinks. Be creative. Have fun. Worst case scenario: you lose 60-70 points.
I use Javelin and shield skinks for meat shields and blowpipes for scouts. The army that skinks are born to fight is Ogres. They have low armour and high T and a skink unit shootin 20 times will usually get a few 6s and by pass that high T. I try to get the scouts to charge a war machine and either kill it or at least tie it up for a few turns, they are also good when you put them behind the main combat and your enemy flees through them and is hence destroyed
Never thought of using them as road blocks for fleeing units but that would be a good idea. Spread them out 10 wide and bust up the enemy with Krox or Saurus. Even if it doesn't work they can still pepper away and if my opp. wastes the time to track them down then all the better. thanks for the good idea!!
Another good tactic is to screen the Koxi with the skinks and the koxi charge though them and kill some guys. Aslo with the chaos thing, if i`m right a chaos warrior cost 18 pts but a skinks cost like 6 so you out swarm him so there going to die because there weaker.
I also play Chaos mortals, Dark Elves, and Orcs and Gobbos. The biggest benefit you'll get from skinks against Chaos mortals is truckloads of deployments. Take 6 10x skinks, you've spent 360 points and you've got 6 units you can slap down with exactly 0% chance of revealing 1) where you're heavy hitters are, 2) what your strategy is, 3) weak points that can be exploited. for 70 points, take scouts. +1 on my roll to go first? Well, if you insist. My opponent usually has a lot of deployments as well (warhounds, Marauder cav, etc) but I can usually keep up with only 3 units of non-skirmishing skinks. As far as weapons, the screeners definitely need javelins. You'll be moving them, and javelins suffer no penalty for move and fire (or long range). So almost every shot will be at a 4+ instead of blow-pipes, where if you move, multi-shot, and long-range it's 7+. Finally, remember that a unit of skinks is just 60 points. Last game, I needed to set up a charge, but needed another turn to get my Kroxigors into position. My opponent was stuck in against some Saurus Warriors that he wsa going to kill this turn. Fortunately, I had a unit of skinks nearby. CHARGE!!! Did 10 skinks with javelins and shields do well against Chosen Chaos warriors of Slannesh? No, but did they pin his unit in place for the turn that I needed them to? Yes. For 60 points, let your skinks serve the Old Ones in life AND death.
@doulos05: Although that aforementioned tactic did work in that case, I would hardly suggest that as a tried and true method. You get +1 to the overall CR through the flank charge (maybe +2 from outnumber), but beyond that the only additional staying power provided by the skinks is through any damage they themselves may do. When you compare the amount of damage dealt by the skinks to the additional attacks from the chosen chaos unit allowed by the flank charge (chosen and WS 2 T 2 5+ AS opponents doesnt usually work out well), it would seem that you are just giving your opponent more easy kills. I would think that skinks even more potent against chaos mortals. Without ranged weapons or skirmishers of their own, the only real threat to your skinks would be fast cavalry (a stand and shoot I would imagine could defeat a chaos hound unit). With the frenzied Khorne troops, your skinks provide you an easy/cheap bait. Although they might not deal a huge amount of damage to a unit from shooting each turn while they march block/harass, taking off one rank does negate the main bonus that back rank had provided (a 65 pt rank of executioners will mean little in combat with only 1 shot down by a 60 pt unit of skinks).
Yeah, I would hardly recommend it in normal situations. In that case, it was just what I needed. Next turn, he was charging the skinks. That would have given him overrun, which would have given him the drop on my Kroxigors. By charging him instead, I denied him overrun (In fact, only 7 skinks died and I passed my snake-eyes leadership test, leaving him not just unable to overrun, but also unable to move forward because he was stuck in.
Yes, in your situation that was indeed the only logical option. I just wanted to point out that to others in the forum for the purpose of clarifying, as charging with skinks appears to be the downfall of many new players.