Hey everyone I'm picking Seraphon back up for the new tome/models and just throwing some list together and was wondering what people think of skink loadouts so far? I haven't played a game with Seraphon since book one so I'm not really familiar with the synergies or what we use skinks for beyond harassing and objectives tagging.
Skinks are not the damage-generating hordes they once were. They are cheap, mobile screens now, that can use their run/redeploy ability (roll 2 dice and choose the best one) to get to where you need them, and maybe avoid being in charge range. They are still a great unit, but there aren't many ways to effectively buff them, so their damage output is limited. With that said, personally I don't think the loadout matters much. I would lean towards taking any two of clubs, boltspitters and bucklers; depending on whether you prefer a better-but-still-usually-inconsequential melee attack, ranged attacked or save. I'm less of a fan of the javelins but others may disagree, preferring the rend to the range. They are screens, so will get into melee, and the clubs are their best damage profile by a lot (but it's still bad). With 2 attacks each at 4+/4+, you can expect to average 2.5 damage against a 4+ save if they get to attack, and then they die. The boltspitters are likely to do 0.8 wounds against a 4+ save, but they can do so from a safe distance of 16". Javelins will get you 1.1 wounds against the 4+ save. A small damage boost of .3 wounds on average (a 30% improvement, but on small numbers), but from 8" instead of 16". The shields will help them survive, but they will still die. Sometimes that will be the difference between losing the unit and not, though, so it could have value from time to time. If you still have a few models, you can still get utility out of it, and may even revive models with Azure Light in Starborne. But all in all, the loadouts are well balanced so there isn't a clear best option. All loadouts could make a difference in a game, but most of the time they're not likely to have a big impact whatever you choose. The skinks' biggest value comes from being cheap mobile bodies.