8th Ed. Challenge: A Skink Chief That Works!

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of having a Hero-level character who never, ever, ever makes my lists. It basically amounts to us only having two Heroes to chose from, which is a shame because the idea of a plucky, little skink kicking ass on the battlefield really appeals to me! So, as far as I can tell, he usually gets fielded (briefly) in one of two ways;

1) Flying Skink Chief of (so-called) Fiery Death

Chief + Terradon + Lt. Armour & Shield + Bane Head + Staff of the Sun [Total: 139pts]

Too many points for a character with a 4+AS, no ward, limited killing ability and, let's face it, who runs solo mages consistently anymore? Everything this guy is good at is wiped out with a 10-man bunker unit. He'll add a little killing power to a unit of terradons but costs quite a bit more than the unit he joins (with a 3-4 strong unit). Who wouldn't prefer another unit of 3-4 terradons? He also loses his poison shots, which is a shame. In short, this guy has played a handful of battles for me and has NEVER made his points back. He does, however, paint a big, fat target on a unit that would otherwise be left to complete their goals in peace.


2) The Littlest BSB

Chief + BSB + anything. [Total: 80+pts depending on equipment]

Why? Zombies can kill this character! I wouldn't put the BSB on a skink unless I was playing less than 1k points, and even then I'd feel uneasy about it. He is cheap though...


And that's about it. I'd love for the flying skink to work, I really would, but he never has. Has anyone ever had any success with that build?

So, here are two of my suggestions for a skink chief who can fulfill all the roles of a bane-headed, fire-shooting skink but cost less;

1) Flying Skink of Super-Venom

Chief + Terradon + Lt. Armour & Shield + Blowpipe + Venom of Firefly [Total: 107]

30pts cheaper than his fire-breathing counterpart, but loses some of that killability. Can fire twice (instead of three times), rerolls (always useful when you're looking for those 6s), good BS so can actually use his blowpipe with a modicum of decency, still has poisoned, magical attacks in close combat. Useful for taking down relatively unprotected mages and nasties (I'm seeing a lot of ethereal mages against HE and banshees against VC). Plonk him in a unit of 3 terradons and use those 30 extra points wisely.


Flying Suicide Skink of Wounding

Chief + Terradon + Bane Head + Piranha Blade [Total: 135]

Expensive, but just like chess, who wouldn't sacrifice a pawn to kill a rook? Keep him with a small unit of terradons and have him charge (alone would work if there's no stand and shoot) whatever bunker is hiding that lvl4 mage you Bane-Headed. Cross your fingers and hope for a single wound to get through and BANG! He just paid for himself two or three times over. Salute him as he gets chopped to bits in the enemy phase. Works less well against HE and Always Strike First people.

Anyone got anything better?

 

I used a skink chief with bane head and blood statuette against Dark Elfs once.. Only one use for the skink but pretty nice to be rid of his sorceress the first turn nominate with bane head and use the statuette = massive wounds on low T-targets and the exchange rate.. 95pts for the skink and 225+ for the supreme sorceress, almost guaranteed kill to.

 

Unfortunately, you can't have both a blood statuette and a bane head on the same character. They're both Enchanted Items. Otherwise that would be a brutal combo...

Arli, nice to hear a story about a skink actually doing something! I'm still not sold on the skink BSB, they're far too mushy and the stegadon is a steep price to pay for some extra range on the rerolls. I like the crown of command idea, though.

 

oh yeah your right my bad..

 

Skink Chief BSB - Banner of the Eternal Flame - Ancient Steg.

Rangeed Attacks - 4d6 + 2 Flaming Poison Attacks from the Giant Blow Pipes and Javs from other 2 Skinks

Close Combat -
Skinks +
d6+1 Flaming Impact Hits
3 Str 6 Flaming Stegadon Attacks

Good-bye Hell Pit Abomination, Tree Man, Trolls, etc.

 

And D6 Flaming Thunderstomps at the end of the combat! Well, I suppose you wouldn't get them against Hellpits etc, but that's still a nice combo. I may have try that out when my treeman-loving WE friend gets back in a few months!

 

I plans to use Skin Chief on Terradon with:

- Shield of Ptolos
- Dragonbane gem
- Light armour
- Venom of Firefly Frog (?)

against Flamers of Tzeentch. 1+ Armour Save against theirs stand & shot and 4+ in CC paired with 2+ Ward should be enough to charge them and block theirs shots. With a bit of luck ( they got only 2 WS) I may be able to get nice combat resolution

 

I've been thinking about running this build with my Oldblood on Carnosaur. I don't know how effective it would be, but it looks like a lot of fun. Though the flaming doesn't affect thunderstomp (I had thought it doesn't affect impact hits either, but after rechecking the FAQ I don't see any prohibition on it).

 

I just wanted to add that as another kick in the teeth for the flying skink, he can not march and shoot. so if he wants to shoot, he can only move 10 inches.

I must say that the shield of ptolos build seems to be the most viable to me (or possibly the suicide skink) but it seems frightfully specific to work against flamers and only flamers. He might have a shot at killing a warmachine crew, but im not even sure he can manage that. I may try him against my dwarf buddy (dont have a daemon player in my group) cause he has flaming warmachines and no BS shoting. could be kinda fun to see him shake off a cannonball

 

Does this also apply when he joins a unit of skirmishing terradons?

 

The rules say a character that joins a unit of skirmishers has the skirmish special rule.
but it then says a character on a mount can't join a unit of skirmishers.

That being said Terradons aren't skirmishers, but but they do have the Fast Cavalry rule and therefore can fire on the march. Skink on a terrordon, can too, Unless he has a weapon that is move or fire.

 

Worth pointing out: Page 70 of BRB - Flying units consisting of more than 1 model have the skirmishers special rule.

 

ideed. but if he is alone...

 

Single characters still count as skirmishers don't they?

 

No mention of them having skirmish, but even if they did. The fast cav rule lets him fire on the march.

 

So a skink chief can't join a unit of terradons? Ooops.

 

How about an army based around a Lore of Beasts Slann and a whole metric sh*t-tonne of skinks chiefs in Skrox units all over the place? Maybe a flying priest or two to make sure those 12" ranges for the mass-Hero pumping spells really work for you? In a 2k battle you could potentially field up to 7 skink chiefs with room left for a lvl1 priest with the cloak of feathers and maybe a bit of armour or a magic weapon here and there. Sure, they'll die easily, but not if they're +3T, +3S and +3A!

 

terradon riders are indeed both fast cavalry and skirmishers, but a CHARACTER riding a terron who is alone is NOT a skirmisher, and neither does he have the fast cavalry special rule. hence he can not march and shoot. If he decides to join a unit of terradons he will get the skirmish rule (as stated) and can march and shoot.

this apply to most single characters. the only exception that i can think of from the top of my head is a woodelf char riding an elven steed. in the WE FAQ it says that the steed confers fast cavalry to its rider. sadly, most characters do not have this special rule.

 

The rulebook says that a character on a mount can't join a unit of skirmishers. So......................