Hello and good afternoon all, So I am just starting Seraphon, about to build my first skinks from the start collecting set, and have a quick question regarding loadout/build for skinks. I have very limited knowledge about aos, only played a couple of games when it first came out, so basically going in brand new, far as I can tell, blowpipes and shield seems to be the best option, as it would allow you to shoot from decent range but also add some durability. Is this correct?, looking to be quite competitive overall if that helps. Cheers all
welcome to the jungle glad you could join us. as for your question kinda? it depends on what you wan't your skinks to do. i think they work best as switch hitters shooting and then charging to hit in melee. (always with serpents staff for the MW) if you wan't them to be ranged suport then yes bolts and sheilds are better but a 5+ save is not great in this game so they will still die over all almost any load out can work for skinks it just depends on the roll you wan't them to fit
Welcome to Lustria. I agree with @Erta Wanderer's assessment. This is how I use the various loadouts: Boltspitters and Shields if you aren't planning to charge. Only worth it on 20x + imo. Boldspitters Clubs on units you want to get max damage from. Shooting and Combat. (Best on 20x +) I like Javs and Shields for 10x units of Skinks.
Ah ok, I think as I am mainly going for a skink based force, I would like to be able to dabble in shooting and combat etc, little bit of everything. So maybe il build half with the blowpipes and half with the clubs and shields. Question, the skinks in the start collecting box, for the shield component, the sprues have no arms on its own for the shield to attach to. There is a melee weapon (assume the shield goes on here), do you give them this melee weapon part on the model, when building blowpipes + shields?
With the current models I own (20 blowpipes and shields and 20 spears and shields) I have another 10 I assembled which I will make blowpipes and sheilds. My idea is to have 40 blowpipes and sheilds and 2x10 spears and shields as a basic “skink battleline” fulfillment. If/when I get more, I would either consider more spears, or, potentially start some blowpipes and clubs to make a shooting/melee blob that needs to be dealt with.
In general you are going to get a lot of good mileage out of blobs of 40 boltspitters with shields. Especially if you keep a Starpriest near them to drop a staff on them before they shoot. In fact it's a pretty efficient thing to do to the point where I wouldn't rule out having 2x40 blobs each with a Starpriest. That's more command points, damage, and magic. Just a good all around value at 360 per blob. Not to mention the look on your opponent's face when they take 160 shots in AoS. They will start feeling like they are facing Tau, especially later on if they charge you. (assuming Fangs of Sotek) Honestly I think the big sleeper hit in the Skink load out is going to be the Club and Shield combo in mass. They are 2 attacks 4+ 4+ on a 25mm base with a 5+ save which against something without Rend -1 is the same as what we used to get out of our Saurus Warriors for a fraction of the price. Not to mention with a priest you can get them a 4+ save. That is 240 points for 40 wounds. Running that as Coalesced and use it to body block important places. You are going to get your value out of it on sheer numbers alone. Though if you are going to run it as Fangs of Sotek I'd suggest doing Spitter and Club to use For The Greater Good....I mean Parting Shot to deal damage and pull out to dictate which engagements you want to take.