Chameleon Skinks Preface To start, I would just like to say how excited I am to make this tactica. As some may already know, I am a huge proponent of skink, and my favorite being chameleons. Feel free to comment on this, and supplement it with post on anything I might have left out. I hope it is of use. Chameleon Skinks Chameleons are light, mobile troops. The elites of skinks; they excel in getting close to and firing upon enemy units. Despite their lack of armor, the have a large pool of abilities at their disposal to counteract this short coming. Pros and Cons Pros - Scouting - High movement and ballistics skill - Lake, river and marsh strider - Poison hits and double shot - 24" effective range - (-2) to hit when being fired upon Cons - Relatively high point cost (this is open of debate) - Restrictive units size (5 - 10) - Poor combat capabilities - No armor or ward save Basic Uses Chameleon should target low armor units, war machine crews and lone characters (primarily wizards.) Also great for taking out high toughness units with low armor. Should avoid combat against most troops. Sniper - Takes full advantage of the Scouting ability, and excels in the early game. A sniper unit hunts down high value targets such as war machine crews, wizards and other lone characters. Should prioritize the target and avoiding casualties, meaning use of terrain is often critical for shelter. Units deploy and remain behind enemy lines for the majority of the game. Harasser - As their name entails, harassers are meant to be a thorn in you opponent’s side. Scouting allows for march blocking in the early game. They can deal more damage than the regular skink, softening up large block, and at times diverting their attention. Ease of use of terrain allows them to chase down target units quickly. A harasser unit deploys near the main force and trails behind them the remainder of the game. Ambusher – This use of chameleons relies heavily on use of terrain. Deploying near the flanks, they target fast cavalry, skirmishers and shock troops attempting to come around the edge. The priority of an ambusher unit is to neutralize these threats. Large units work best for this; they wait within terrain until they are in the enemy’s flank arc (so the cannot be charged), and fire upon them until they break, are destroyed or can no longer cause harm. In desperate situations ambushers can charge, but it is not recommended. Unit Size Generally speaking in terms of unit size, the more chameleons the better, until points become an issue. More chameleons mean more shots and higher survivability. The downside to this is they become a high value target that is rather easy to kill in combat. Here is a chart explaining the pros and cons: 5 - 6 - A small unit with relatively few shot. Cannot take too many hits, but it is not likely many will be directed their way. Good snipers since the enemy's focus will be elsewhere; not enough shots to do enough damage while harassing, but still able to march block. To few in number to stage a solid ambush. 7 - 8 - A medium sized unit that is well rounded (and my preferred unit size.) All-purpose, they do not excel or fall behind in any one area. 9 – 10 – A large unit that can do a fair amount of damage in the shooting phase. Good for harassing large units, and excellent ambushers; can snipe, but should avoid open space when being shot at by war machine. Should avoid combat at all cost, more so than others, being a high value target. Upgrades Chameleon Skinks only have one unit upgrade, which is a stalker. With only a +1 increase to ballistics skill, it generally is not worth it. Characters can join a chameleon skink unit, but do not receive the -1 to hit bonus, and since they do not have the scouting ability, cannot join them in the start (except Oxyotl.) If you decide to do this, the stalker can be of use. Cheers, Camo-Skink
Worth noting: Water terain is the best piece of terrain to place skinks or Chameleons in. Ps. I believe it's an additional -1 to hit for being in water on top of the -1 for being in terrain. ---- for a total of -4 to hit with ranged BS attacks for Chameleons -3 for skinks.
Love that someone has finally written an 8th ed tactica and that it's for skinks Worth noting that many monsters and units can be tied up indefinetly by circling the unit as they cannot charge and can either run away or summon backup, usually the first option. Shooting units are more of a problem but at least -3 to hit is nothing to shake your head at.
i have gotten rid of the three headed thing. it only worked twice and it wasn't the most experienced player, so i guess it is not applicable. i also plan to do a terradon tactica soon, so be on the look out. thanks for you rcomments though! i really appreciate it, and i hope you found it useful. camo-skink
Also, Oxyotl is the only character/hereo that can join scouting Chameleons at the start of the battle.
yes, you are correct about the water and general terrain modifiers. but since they were not unique to chameleons i left it out, they do greatly benefit them though. on on oxyotl, i have made the fix, but i will not elaborate on him, as i have never actually used him. though feel free to add a post on him. thanks for your comments! camo
I have used oxyotl. He is really fun to use. When you explain what he can do, your opponent will start to worry about him. I used him against a HE player who brought Teclis. Although he did not kill Teclis, the HE player was very worried about him. To sum it up, he is fun to play, but do not place all your hopes on that one model. And of course, he is extremely expensive for what he does.
Nice work camo-skink. Hopefully this will spark more articles! I haven't been able to do them, as I don't have much experience with 8th (yet!). Studying tactics/army lists etc..now. Real life got in the way What I like to do with my unit(s), consisting of 6 chameleons: Scout them ahead (normal), move them towards the war machines and shoot at stuff. Then; instead of going into a shoot-off with the war machine: Charge. 6 chameleons vs 3 crew, often striking first I'll take my chances. -Elven crews are easy; only 2 crewmembers. If you screw this one up, you're having a bad day. -Human crews are doable; 3 crewmembers, but you have a higher initiative. Most of the time, you kill 1 crew and lose 1-2 chameleons. Next turn you kill 1 crewmember and lose 1 chameleon. With only 1 crewmember left; you should be able to finish it. -Dwarven crews are TOUGH; no really. Their high toughness makes it VERY hard for our skinks too assault them. And against dwarves I prefer the shoot-off most of the time (just watch out for that organ gun). -Hellcannon is an 'outside category'* and should be treated in it's own special way. -O&G crew are pretty easy if there is no orc bully present. Goblins are barely better than skinks, after all. The orc has a high toughness, so can be a nuisance. Still, you should be able to take it down. -Skaven weapon teams: honestly, I have no idea. I have never played skaven before. Can somebody help me out on this one? Charging a WM crew also has the effect of stopping the firing of the machine for at least a turn (unless you screw up!). So your heavy troops can enter the fray with less casualties. It seems I like to charge with my supporting troops...I recently explained it on the Salamander, and now my chameleons will enter the fray too! The Hunted *: For the Tour de France geeks
Having faced Skaven weapon teams for than once, the majority of them I would stay away from, with the exception of the Warp-Grinder and Catapult. The Doomflayer will maul skinks in combat more than likely, and the other two get to stand and shoot. So generally weapon teams are something I would keep from charging. Though war machines on the other hand, I would be more than happy to get into the fray with.
I forgot to add the best part of this tactic: IT'S FUN AS HELL! Skinks and combat is just great. Especially if you have a fighting chance. Really, I'd suggest you try it, I'm sure you'll like it. Hm, I guess we should stay away from weapon teams then...Stupid rats... The Hunted