Hey guys, I'm rapidly warming up to Skinks (originally wasnt digging the models much). I have 12 more to assemble. My first batch was 12 skirmishers with blow pipes. I've read about the advantages of Javs and the advantages of pipes, so I guess I understand that. What I'm wondering is: are they almost always more useful as skirmishers? I know you can take them in rank and file, and am wondering if that's ever a good idea? (and if so, is it only if you add some Kroxis to them?). Any thoughts or experiences with that?
I've never played them in units, just got the book yesterday. however I can't see them being effective without Kroxigors. If they were to work it would have to be in big blocks, with standards, and maybe even Battle Standards and even then would probably not be greatly effective, they do have worse stats then goblins even.
Well i used to play skaven and i can already see the benefit of having a cheap throw away unit. I would only use them in cheap units of ten to bait units and set up flank charges for the Saurus Warriors (something you couldn't do with the skirmishers).
yes, skinks is a good unit to tie up hard hitting stuff for atleast a turn or maybe two. but, in greater numbers they can hunt giants GD and other large stuff without poison immunity.
Ya they would be effective at that, just don't expect them to do much, if any damage. Though there are always lucky shots.
The skink block can stand and shoot right, so that's a bonus, but it's only the front rank right, or do they all get to throw their javelins? How would a 10 man gun line with javelins work? Maybe more, say 15 or 20?
I personally love the ranked skinks. 25 of them with full command is only 145, the same as empire halberdiers. They are, to my knowledge, the fastest rank and file unit available to any army, and this is huge. I put them on a flank and they dominate. Most of the time in my games there is a main battle, and a flank battle, with all the skirmishers and harassment units duking it out on the sides, and maybe the occasional cavalry stand off. A block of skinks will stop marauders, even with flails, they can stop wood elf horse archers, spider riders, or any of the other fast cav, just by combat res. (usually, good rolls suck sometimes) Further, though only the front rank can typically stand and shoot, every rank can throw javs against large targets like tree men or giants, and if a unit is on a hill then all your ranks can throw as well. I have never felt the need to add a kroxigor, though I have put stegadons into the ranks, or supported them with swarms. If you use a swarm as a roadblock the skinks can even be used like a detachment, flank charging something that has charged your saurus, and often granting ranks to smaller blocks of spearmen, (15). If you really feel like being a bastard, make the unit 5 ranks wide and put two stegadons in it, since mounts move to the front of the unit and the stegs are 50mm wide, on a unit that was 100mm wide, the stegs will simply displace the entire front, with the skinks piling up behind them out of combat, but still giving ranks to the res. Give one guy a BSB and war banner and the other a stegadon lance and nobody will want to stand in front of that unit. I've done a stegadon battering ram strategy like this before, and nothing can stop it's charge, the problem is, then it tends to run past whatever it beat and take forever to turn around and be useful. Text wall! Sorry!
Nice comment hellbreaker I would guess you could put a character on a stegi as a mount option. In that case, its good to go hence to the character joining other unit rule.
I don't think monstrous mounts can join units... could be wrong but I'll have to check the rulebook again.
skink priests and chiefs can take them as mounts and they can join the skink units... right? [edit] Monsters always fight individually; they can never join other models to form a unit, except when they are ridden by a character. [edit2] and steggies are _not_ monstrous according to the army book, just a large target
they are monsters! And as al mount they can join any rank and file unit. In the new errata it is said that when a monster mount ( gryphon, dragon etc) is in al unit when its rider is killed then the mount is pushed out of the unit at the end of the phase where the rider died.
being a monster makes some sense for the steggie, but I don't see them labeled as Monstrous in the army book, just Large Target..
It doesnt need to be labled as al mnster. Look into the brb. If you assumination is correct then dragons and treeman arent monsters to. But they are!!!
I don't like to field ranked skinks as big units, they just die to fast and the inability to turn makes them somewhat immobile. But there is one thing they are great at: beeing cheap distractions. I like to take at least two units of just 10 skinks, ranked in a single line. the can take away rank bonuses so i put them on the flanks . they can lure frenzied units, they can provide protection from missile fire for more expensive units and of course they can still shoot. basically i still use them like skirmishers. they can not move through terrain as freely, but for that job i still take a unit of skirmishers or two.
Yeah they can, check the rulebook to confirm. Flying mounts cannot join units, but ones on foot are fine. A Steg in a unit..... That would look strange, and make the unit quite big. Sounds like an interesting idea, and you could use the unit champ of the unit to challenge and keep your skink hero alive longer against enemy characters. I think it would be a bit unweildy though.
Well i think it would work out great in some circumstances. And also the steg fills up 8places which are effectifly almost 2ranks that cant be killed as fast.
A unit of, say 24 skinks, with full command and two stegies, one with the war-spear and the other with the stegadon helm. That would look goofy as f#$@* and be a major point sink but it would allot of fun to field. A fast, expensive, terror causing block with a unit str of 44 that does 3d6+2 impact hits on the charge. Can the howdah shoot while the stegadon is in combat? The skinks are high enough that combat shouldn't really effect them but that might be too cheesy.
No, the skinks count as being in combat too and they fight in combat so can't shoot. They can also be hit in combat..
The champ can't fight if the unit is 5 wide because no foot skinks are touching. The stegadon is as wide as 2.5 skinks, so two of them negates your opponents ability to fights skinks on foot. A stegadon counts as 12.5 skinks for taking up spaces in ranks,if you have two or displaces 8 if you don't. Further, the unit would stand and shoot with 4 javs, and 8d6 blowpipes, plus whatever your chiefs have (the staff of two heads, err... whatever that staff is, can also ruin days with str 5 hits, and your BSB can take it and still get a ward save.) If you are running Phalanx Strategy you can put a diagonal line of skinks up front so that if something hits them and overruns, or pursues, they will have their flank exposed to you. Also, skink units with Kroxigors can't turn, but for some reason the stegadons don't stop this. Also, don't underestimate the value of 25 skinks, with full command. Let me ask you this, would you take goblins if they had a movement of 6? Leadership 6 on 3 dice? Init 4? In my opinion, skinks are the cream of the crap, they do the job of being weedy better then all the other weedy little buggers, and they'll often tie up gobos, halberdiers, or even skellies. A master strategist at my game store runs men at arms, and many Bretonian players are baffled by it, why? Table quarters. Even if the game looks grim at the end, if you've won some duels and you have skinks in every table quarter you can still win. 400 points is a lot, don't be afraid to have your skinks do seemingly nothing for 5 turns if 25 of them are just loitering in your opponents base, they can have a strong delaying effect by making your opponents fear rear charges and flank charges. They skinks are particularly helpful at just joining combats that you're gonna win anyway, because that's one more unit that can pursue and maybe roll high enough to catch someone, plus if they break, have the SKINKS take the banner and just run off with it, saurus will probably do more fighting later but skinks, nah, a hundred points of banner is worth hiding for.