8th Ed. How to Skink Chief - or "Why should I bother?"

So I got a Skink Chief model in my Steggle box and he does look pretty cool (cooler than the Skink Priest from the same box anyway), and I was wondering, tactically what use are they? How do you deploy them, what purpose do they serve etc?

 

They allow Saurus to restrain pursuit, which they normally have to.

Furthermore, they are an insanely cheap character, very fit for holding up enemy killer lords for cheap, and slapping on an Egg is very useful for adding some extra combat res.

Also, throw 3 chiefs in a unit of 20 cohorts, and you have a ridiculously cheap unit that is even more ridiculously hard to kill. Give all chiefs a handweapon + shield combo for the parry save, and always challenge characters. Against lone characters, they'll be held up for a minimum of 3 turns because they can't kill the rank and filers with anything but stomps, and even that is unlikely to strip away steadfast before those 3 turns have passed.

Keep them near a BSB + Slann, and their Ld9(or even 10!) coldblooded with rerolls... you might as well be unbreakable. Even guys like the Ascended Karl franz will have problems with a unit like this, and it wont cost you more than 226 points. Used this to great effect in a recent game against an Elf Prince on a Star Dragon, where the unit held him up for a total of 3 combat rounds, before he wiped the unit on the 4. combat turn. The prince lost a few of his wounds to some poison skink shots, and a few to some random magic (Comet struck him, and it took its toll), and after this combat, the game ended, and his expensive lord had killed 226 points, and nothing else.

He wasn't amused.

Though to be honest, it might be a bit of a "douche" tactics, because it feel like a ruleexploitation... But considering the amount of cheese that some armies has available, this tactic included. 20 clanrats and 5 naked warlock engineers with are practically free without their wizard levels? 155 points. Damn those rats! (Or not, they are my second army after all! )

 

Mine always has a Egg and will always get a few wounds in combat with the Kroxigor that sometimes allows me to win the round. As I'm an all skink list I have at least 1 in the cohort and 1 flying a ripper just becaso

 

I've tried the chief out on flyers in the past few games and I gotta say, the Terradon is better. You still get all the maneuverability of the flyer but with none of the drawbacks of the frenzy. He's almost as good a multi tool as the beloved cowboy. He can break an egg for combat res, wreck fast cav and other skirmishers, redirect and work with skinks for the double flee, or pop a potion of strength and have at it in a challenge.
Still don't think it's worth it on a Stegadon or Ancient, have not tried on foot or as BSB yet

 

Everyone likes the egg. I put the egg on my slann.

I put all my "eggs into one basket".... so to speak

I'm not against the flying egg caddy, i just wanted to make that joke.. huehuehue
I tend to put the egg caddy on a terradon though, for the rear support charge.

 

Bad jokes aside, the EggTerradon chief is pretty effective at dealing with chaff, because he can rock one, and egg another, where a terradon chief would be mostly useless after dropping the rocks. Neither terradon nor chief is powerful enough to deal with anything of value, though they are good at adding combat res through charges to existing combats.

ASF is actually surprisingly effective on the chiefs... Their initiative means they get rerolls against most things that don't have ASF in the first place. With a potion of strength, it can make the chief a real threat in close combat. Not having room for the egg is a shame, but if you already placed the egg on another chief, it can be a viable option. I've managed to deal with an empire lord with rune this way.

 

Anyone have any luck with the Skink Chief on a Stegadon or Ancient Stegadon as a BSB? The extra 6" BSB range to help support Terradons, Ripperdactyls, Chameleon Skinks, etc. seems useful, if risky. I've been weighing the pros and cons of Scar Vet on Carnosaur vs Skink Chief on Stegadon/Ancient Stegadon as a BSB in a list with an Old Blood on Carnosaur as the general (or Kroq-Gar).

- Both offer a second cannon target, helping with target saturation (ideally you would want a third high value monster in the list, such as an Ancient Stegadon with EOTG).

- Skink Chief is cheaper, and allows a little more flexibility in design if you are still restricted by 25% Heroes.

- Stegadon is a more survivable mount than the Carnosaur with an extra point of toughness, and the Ancient Stegadon has 1 extra armor save over both of them.

- Stegadon, in particular, has a long range weapon which could allow the unit to be somewhat useful if you don't have a good target to engage in close combat or you want to keep your BSB safer. This is true to a lesser extent with the Ancient Stegadon.

- Saurus Scar Vet is much more survivable than the Skink Chief, with 2 extra points of Toughness and 1 better armor save.

- Saurus Scar Vet is superior in close combat.

- Carnosaur is faster and can get into combat quicker, with one extra Movement and Loping Stride.

- Bloodroar adds to the survivability of the Carnosaur and rider in close combat.

The Skink Chief on Stegadon or Ancient Stegadon certainly has some points in its favor. Has anyone had success with this? Would you choose the regular Stegadon for cheapness/higher Init/more Attacks/longer range weapon, or the ancient Stegadon for the extra armor save/strength? Or is the Scar-vet on Carnosaur the clear choice?

 

On page 72 under Large Target:
"However, if your General or Battle Standard Bearer is a Large Target (or is mounted on one), then the range of their respective Inspiring Presence and Hold Your Ground! abilities is increased from 12" to 18" to represent the ease with which your troops can see them."

On page 107, there is a reminder about the Large Target rule under General section and they fail to remind you about the Large Target rule under the BSB section, but the rule still applies.

Tell your friend he was wrong!

 

The most survivable set-up for a Skink Chief "Large Target" BSB that I can come up with is Lustrian Javelin, Light Armour, Warrior Bane, Charmed Shield, Opal Amulet, Ironcurse Icon. Its nice because it doesn't use any of the premium items that you might want on an Old Blood Carnosaur, yet provides maximum cannon protection.

I'm honestly not sure whether to go with Stegadon or Ancient Stegadon, but am leaning towards the former to keep it cheap. The above Chief set-up on a regular Stegadon with both upgrades and two level 2 Priests with Cube and Scroll comes to 599 Hero points. Not bad for a Monster Mash list.

 

This will likely change if they change multiple profiles to single profiles, like they did with Ascended Karl Franz.

In that case, a Skink Chief on a Stegadon will be far better choice than he is now, because he gets better strength, better toughness, more attacks, and whatever magic weapon he gets will apply to all his attacks. Karl Franz is a perfect example of why that is really powerful.

 

A slight deviation. I reckon that the Ancients are the way to go. The extra point of strength is just king, and with the bsb in top the extra armour save will go a long way.

 

Regadon > Ancient imo. However, their differences are easily shored up.

That said, the extra initiative has been better for me in the long game. The armor save has turned out to be moot, and the Strength difference is easily made negligible through Wyssan's or Iceshard.

Let's face it -- in combat, you're probably buffing your Stegadon or debuffing your enemy if you have any interest in it lasting through multiple combats. I try not to count on Impact Hits. Typically, they haven't been enough.

BSB or not, I usually went with...

***
Regadon
- Sharpened Horns
- Unstoppable Stampede

Skink Chief
- Warrior Bane
- Potion of Strength
- Charmed Shield
- Opal Amulet
***

For what it's worth, two rounds of combat with a Regadon that's got the Devastating Charge upgrade will see 9 attacks being directed at your enemy. Two rounds of combat with an Ancient Stegadon (which probably hasn't taken Devastating Charge, if we're going point-for-point anyway) will see 6.

4+ to hit, the Regadon hits 4 or 5 times. The old guy sees 3 hits. Fighting T6, the old guy wounds once or twice. The Regadon also wounds once or twice. Against T3 infantry, the Regadon outrolls the old guy on its regular attacks with ease and causes more wounds.

*shrug* To me, I'd rather have the initiative here. Most monsters are I2 or less, and Stegadons happen to be great monster hunters. The Regadon - with HoG or a nearby Solar Engine Bastiladon (great synergy between these two monsters) - will go first against most stuff at I3. If it does well, it takes no wounds. The Ancient will almost always go simultaneously or last, meaning that it's taking wounds. Just something to consider for the long haul, I guess.

The Skink Chief w/ Warrior Bane at S7 furthers this potential, essentially limiting your opponent's ability to hit back (typically stripping 1-2 attacks) if/when the time comes for it to strike back. Monsters do have an easy time with Chiefs, though.

I'm speaking from experience here, so go ahead and salt it up.

 

RE dev charge.
If you plonk a character on the steg with dev charge, does the character, too, gain extra attack?

I sincerely hope yes.

 

Eh, I've always assumed not. It would be cool though.

 

Interesting perspective on Stegadon vs Ancient Stegadon, Ixt. More food for thought...

I'm fairly sure that Unstoppable Stampede does not confer an extra attack to the rider, based upon the "Ridden Monsters and Special Rules" section on page 105 of the BRB.

 

Why not though? "A model with this upgrade gains the Devastating Charge special rule."
Would a chief on the steg not be part of the model?