Well those 180 points really aren't needed when the unit would do the same if you added another Caiman instead of the Caiman Ancient. Saves you over 100 points And same here I converted a Styg aswell. Hope it wont get nerfed into oblivion (but I doubt that will happen).
The WS4 sharing has proven to be really nice actually (would be super neato if it was ws5 *hint hint* ). And usually people go for him instead of the unit since he does that, helps soak up a few wounds. Sure, he's probably not all the cost efficient, but my other choices to fill the void didn't really suit my army list much.
Might as well put my 2 cents in here, right? Characters: Love the Skink High Priest! Caiman ancient: Needs some lovin', I'd never even consider him. Skink chief with BS4 somehow annoys me. Otherwise, fairly happy. Core: Skink braves are way too expensive to make them do something. Already 5 points for enemy combat resolution is iffy..but the upgrades are too expensive to make them worthwile. Perhaps add in poison (either shooting or CC) as standard? The caiman option could perhaps be reduced in price. I find that an interesting thought. Speaking of options and upgrades; totems for skinks like in the old days. That could incorporate all kinds of things (including poison). Frenzy, weapon options and..well whatever you please. One thing I do want to say here is that I hate expensive combat skinks. It feels bad to me pushing 8 point skinks into combat with basically any other infantry. They feel so lackluster. As others have mentioned; poisoned skirmishers in core just feels right. One way to balance them is to give them a hard unit cap. Like 0-3. Then you have them in core, but without the option to cloud (can't even store them in the cloud! ;p) Saurus Warriors: They're decent. Spears for 2 pts are expensive, too much for me. Totems are great, kudos on that one again. Swarms: no opinion, never used them. Special: Hunters: As above, put in core; hard cap the unit. Chameleons: Always liked them, but scouting is not great at 18". Ambushing chameleons sounds great, on the other hand. I would be willing to pay an upgrade for that. Temple Guard: Holy totems they are expensive. And get blown up by the Cuatl. I don't like them at all currently. Drop the price, give them MR to protect them from their own Cuatl...something. Anything, really. I do love the flavour of these though . Raptor Riders: Low initiative and significantly reduced efficiency at low models keeps haunting them through any edition. I don't have the answer ready sadly, but they need help. Caimans: Solid. Just solid in every regard. No change. Sky-riders: Expensive and fragile. The upside with pteradons is 'meh' and with ramphodons it's okay. Slight price reduction. Thyroscutus: Can't judge, never played with him. Seems okay as a slow buff-wagon that protects rears or flanks. Slow movement really hampers it. Weapon beasts: Seem fine to me. Only play with 1 Salamander, so I don't know the extremes of them. Taurosaur: I feel he is expensive for his damage output. Other monsters are much more dangerous in combat and cost the same (or less). Kraken, Hydra, Fire phoenix, Frost phoenix (costs same, but does much more), Gargantula, Gortach......etc.) Yes impact hits are good (and fun), but when the grinding starts he is thorougly disapointing. His upgrades are well-priced though, do like them. Stygiosaur: Love him. Multipurpose, strong enough to survive some incoming attacks; weak enough to go down to them eventually. Well-priced. To recap: Skinks in core need reworking, totems could become an interesting option for them (also to expend our core options). Temple guard and raptor riders need help the most. Our monsters are generally 'okay', certainly nothing amazing. I hope you made it this far; kudos to the 9th age staff; amazing work! The Hunted