firstly read this Q&A from the 2009 JAN faq: Q. As part of its rules, an Assassin may be placed in a unit of Scouts and thus be deployed out of sight in or behind terrain. If he is revealed at the start of the owning player's first turn, can the displaced rank-and- file model be placed closer than 10" from the enemy and/or so that he has line of sight to the enemy, thus potentially granting the unit the ability to charge on the first turn? A. A creative use of an Assassin, but a legal one nevertheless… sneaky! in the dark elve book it says that the assasin DISPLACES a rank and file model, jsut as here in the example. in this example it says that displacing means the " character" actually pushes the rank and file model away and showing up from nowhere. giving you an extra model. in the rules of the stegadon it says the Skink character DISPLACES one Skink crew. in following the wording of displacing as the dark elve assasin, this means the 5 crew remain, but one skink is actually " moved" to a other position. but as the crew is part of a bigger model it has no effect when talking about moving models. So, a stegadon as mount counts 5 skinks crew plus the character.. enjoy.
The word Displace when used in reference to the Darkelf player indicates there is somewhere for the displaced model to go. The Stegadon crew member does not there is room on the stegadon for 5 crew no more no less when you add a character he Displaces the crew member who then is gone. leaving the required amount of 5 crew in total (as character is part of the crew now. ) I am just gonna grab the Lizard book I have a sneaking niggle at the back of my mind the word replaced is used in reference to this at some point. nope it is displaced... But imo as it reads it simply follows the rules of a mount and the word displaced is in reference to the character replacing a crew member and not as per the rules of an assasin taking the spot of a model in a unit.
Heh, interesting idea. I think though that since the assassin is paid for on top of the unit (you don't pay for individual skinks on the steg) and the skink character is there from the start of the battle it is a little different. The assassin is hidden, the appears. Is one model going to vanish half way through a battle because of it? Probably not. In the steg case, he is placed before the battle so it is logical to have a character instead of a crew. Also, if you look at the steg instructions and all the stegs GW have made, there are only ever 5 skinks including characters on the steg, which would indicate that is how to do it. But you do make an interesting point from a rules as written perspective. PS, I am happy how it is because I am having enough trouble fitting 5 onto the howday, letalone 6.
well it is an option if you reveal the assasin tru the battle or deploy it right away in the unit. jup i know, but even then they also make mistakes. this rule was actually pointed to me by a club mate, and he told me it was even in a errata were it is said that an assasin pushes away the model, so granting you an extra model. i on th eother hand only found this " tactical" rule explenation of the assasin, but also covering up this rule. but in the question asked it is already clear that the wording of " displaces" is already clarifeid before. so i will have to search a bit more and see where it actually says about the displacing part. further, i don't really care if i get one extra skink or not, and ind it is already tough to place 5 skinks on the howdah.