8th Ed. Any actual Skrox experience with the new book?

Supporting attacks can make up a large portion of the damage output of ranked up units. With the way the rules are set up for skrox, only the enemy's first rank is going to be able to allocate attacks to the kroxigor in a cohort... So is that going to make a noticeable difference in their survivability?

As much as I've heard skrox dismissed entirely in this book, has anyone actually run them in a game or two? I think they might work better than anticipated, and I'm hoping like heck that they do; I used two units of 24 skink/3 kroxigors as my staple battle line all through 7th ed. (ahh, the Lore of Shadows in 7th...) and into 8th, and they consistently performed better than anyone expected.

Now my opportunities to play are severely limited, and I sold most of my skinks when I decided to try a new paint scheme. Should I buy more, or will I have to stick with the painfully slow saurus this edition?

 

ive used them and yes the kroxigor do get a few wounds on them but ive found that most of the time the attack at put on the skinks as the opponent wants the good combat res


ive had fun with them

 

I've played a couple of small games with them as well. My opponent tried targeting the Krox first game and quickly changed his strategy to targeting the Skinks for combat res each subsequent game.

 

I've played a handful of games (with lizards and with the new book) and have had a lot of fun and reasonable success running a couple of mini-skrox units:

11 skinks, 1 krox and a musician


I have one each to run as 'detachments' of sorts for my big saurus block and my TG block. They have a fair bit of utility (8 poison javelin shots, movement 6, 3 ranks and the S7 Krox attacks).

I look to get a supporting flank charge where ever possible by sitting them next to the big blocks but a few inches back. Getting them in a flank helps their survivability loads, both for the skinks and the krox due to the limited attacks back. They also stand a chance at breaking your enemies ranks (need to lose 4 skinks or the krox and 2 skinks to be less than two ranks).

They can also see off chaff units, and the presence of the krox makes tougher stuff a bit warier of them too.

At less than 120pts for each unit you can also use them to bait and flee stuff, after which they're rallying on a cold-blooded 8 (krox Ld7 + musician). They can also be straight up sacrificial units too. They don't cost the earth and might do a bit of damage as they go down!

So far they've been a really good little utility unit which, I think, add more to the army's effectiveness than just a third big block unit will.

 

I shoved a Skrox unit with 2 Kroxis into DE Executioners, which would have been a good matchup in the old book. Now not so much. Skinks didn't do much, Execs got to go before the Kroxis and took 5 wounds out of them and killed some Skinks, remaining 3 Krox attacks didn't do much, lost combat by a lot and ran. I got lucky and rolled really high to flee twice, but I don't think I will use Skrox units over 120 P. ever again with the new book.

They used to have a few good matchups back in the day, like monsters and high S low A Infantry, but now these Matchups aren't that great either. I will test a unit of 11 Skinks and one Kroxi soon. At least they are cheap enough to throw away and have utility as redirector-killer and magebunker.

 

Very much in the crowd of using 24/3 in the last book who immediately dumped them in the new book.

That said, I think 11/1s could work well. I experimented with saurus cav and units of 3 krox as fighty chaff, and they didn't work very well; I think the little skrox could actually work a lot better.

 

Great, thanks for the feedback. I'll get a box of skinks and see how the 24 & 3 setup works, and if nothing else I can run them as skirmishers if things don't pan out. The mini-skrox flanker units sound promising, too.

FlowinEnno, your kroxigor should have struck simultaneously with the executioners in that instance. They have great weapons, and everyone with Always Strikes Last goes at the same time, regardless of their initiative. Or was there some unusual special rule in effect?

 

When I read that I thought too! So many rules to keep track of

 

Sometimges execs are run in a large unit with a death hag BSB with the asf banner (Banner of Hag Grief) (probably will change with the new book). That is the only way Execs could hit before Krox.

I tried basic 10 with 1 Krox for 100 units. Ran 6 skinks in front and four skinks in second rank with Kroxigor. The extra points for music to rally on +1 LD and +1 skink I have not tried yet (thought about the musician but not an extra skink). as LD 7 from the Krox seemed pretty good and most of the time I wanted to stand and shoot and use unit to redirect and block, not bait and flee. LD7 cold blooded is 80% chance of rally and LD7 + music is 89% chance of rally.

If special characters are allowed, I'd consider running a horde unit with Tetto in it as an option. Run 32 skinks, 4 Krox, full command, maybe put in a cheap skink chief as well for challenges and stuff.

 

Though the kroxigor also wield great weapons, which they are forced to always use as per 8th edition BRB. which means that executioners hit first no matter what.

 

Second rank just hits skinks.

 

Now that you mention it, I think there actually was a ASF-BSB in that unit.

 

Executioners have great weapons too, so usually they're ASL. That ASF banner would explain them going before the kroxigor, though. ASL + ASF = strike at initiative, I5 in this case.

You can allocate attacks as you see fit, for example onto models from other enemy units you're in contact with, or characters and unit champions. In this case the supporting attackers can't get at the kroxigor, so their only other option is a skink or a character in the front rank.

 

i used them as $krox and 32skinks the 4krox means that you still get some punch even if a krox gets killed

 

The problem I have with Skrox is this
Being in the second rank the Krox can only make supporting attacks, so they get no benefit from Pred fighter (which they do if fielded in their own unit) plus you give you opponents the choice whether to go right ahead and kill Kroxigor (if they have a combat-capable unit) or to break you by reaping a mighty toll of skinks (for a weaker CC unit).

I would much rather field my Kroxigor from the special slot, probably charge them into something where they can actually use the pred fighter ability they are paying for.

 

Also, Krox on their own get stomps and are immune to stomps. Skrox get no stomps and get ripped apart by stomps.

 

Six kroxigor cost exactly as much as a unit of 24/3 skrox with full command. Let's see how they stack up, assuming 120mm frontage:

Skrox:
+six ranks & banner
+Champ can absorb challenge
+Six poison shots
+Skink parry
+dubious protection for kroxigor
+Core choice
-Can be stomped
-Easy combat rez
-Big footprint

Kroxigor:
+Nine additional S7 attacks
+Three S5 stomps
+Smaller footprint
+Stomp proof
-Special choice
-All wounds go right to kroxigor

I deliberately left out PF as a consideration until we see how the FAQ goes. Any other considerations I'm missing?

 

Well a krox unit can also have a champion to take challenges too (and you might even get the character killing bonus too)

 

I have had good luck with them in a 17/2 flank chargers in support of my big blocks. this seems to be better than the big blocks now that they can be stomped and the krox can be hit. I hadn't read the Krox rule carefully enough and was allowing every enemy that were in the two ranks to attack krox. Might be slightly more survivable.