Tutorial Different Skink Chief Roles

Skink Chiefs have changed a lot in the new book, so I’ve rewritten the old Skink Chief Tactica.

Predatory Fighter Babysitter


PF units need Skink characters nearby to let them restrain from pursuit. It's not worth taking a Skink character just for this, but when working on the other roles below, you should try to keep your Skink Chiefs near your highest risk PF units whenever possible.

If you use your Skink Priests to help your Slann aim spells, then they are probably have movement priorities that take them away from your high risk PF fighters. Skink Chiefs are not constrained like this. If you WEREN'T planning on using your Skink Priests as targeting systems, then you don't need Skink Chief babysitters. A Skink Priest not trying to aim a Slann's spells is generally pretty safe hiding behind a block of Saurus or Kroxigor, so they can pull your baby sitting duties.


Flying Skink of Doom


With the options of riding a Ripperdactyl or Terradon, giving a Skink Chief the Cloak of Feathers is probably not a good idea. Either flyer will give you more hitting power for a comparable points cost and won’t chew up three fifths of your magic item allotment.

A minimal Skink Chief on a Terradon is 75 points. There are a lot of things an expendable 75 point flyer can set up that are worth way more than the cost. Any of these tricks with Great Eagles from the High Elf Tactica would work. Just replace “great eagle” with “skink chief on terradon” and it carries over.

The Greatest Tactica I've Ever Seen

Assuming GW gets around to FAQing their apparent oversight soon, a Skink chief on a Terradon or a Ripperdactyl can lead a unit of Terradons or Ripperdactyl riders. The Terradon riders benefit from the extra hitting power of a chief. The chief gets the benefit of rank and file troops to soak up enemy missile fire and he moves towards his target. Basically instead of using cavalry as a hero bus, you use flying cav as a hero Southwest airlines. Rippers will give you a lot more hitting power but you risk your flying killy bus being redirected via Frenzy.

A mobile flying Skink Chief can fly near a unit of Predatory Fighters you want to rein in, but that should only be done in emergencies (a very obvious a nasty trap set by your opposing player). Generally it’s more important to get your Flying Skink of Doom into close combat than to rein in your Saurus and Kroxigor.


Stegadon Hammer


A Stegadon or Ancient Stegadon doesn’t really need a Skink Chief, but Skink Chiefs are so cheap points wise it won’t break your bank running one. It adds a little bit of hitting power. You might lose some wounds if a unit champion challenges you but the Stegadon will stomp flat most characters. In case of enemy characters, you probably want to take Sharpened Horns and Unstoppable Stampede.


Added Muscle to Normal Skink blocks


A Skink chief can add hitting power to a unit of skirmishers or a skink cohort. Block skinks gain relatively little from the inclusion of a skink chief. A Kroxigor provides comparable extra hitting power and a better leadership boost for about the same cost. If you are expecting to fight enemies that require magical hits to wound, a skink chief can take a cheap magical weapon.

If you only want hitting power, you should not take Skink Chiefs in your Skink units. It’s not worth it even with the new cheaper cost for Skink Chiefs. If you are worried about your Predatory Fighters running amok, Skink Chiefs can be worth their points by adding hitting power and serving as a babysitter to your Kroxigor and Saurus. To get maximum use out of babysitters, you can flank a block of Skroxigor with a Skink Chief with a Saurus or Kroxigor unit on both sides.

EDIT: If you put LOTS of Skink Chiefs in the front rank of a Skroxigor block, you make it so most of your enemy attacks have to be allocated between characters which makes the unit a lot more resilient. Also, a Skink Chief in a Skirmisher unit makes it about 15% more likely to pass their base Ld tests. Large numbers of Skink Chiefs works best when you are taking lots of Lore of Beasts.


Poor Man’s General


Regardless of the point total of an army we are required to take one character to be the general. Skink chiefs are the cheapest character we have. They are moderately cheaper than Skink priests and can survive slightly longer in close combat. I can see a skink chief general for an all skink theme army, armies of less than 1500 points or as the sole character for a player who wants to free up maximum points for non-character units. In most cases you are better off with a Scar Veteran general cause they are tougher and have Ld 8. If your army is mostly Saurus based though, a non-Slann general won’t help you at all, so you may just go for the cheapest general you can use.


Poor Man’s BSB


If your army doesn’t have a Slann, or your Slann is flying solo without Temple Guard, you probably want someone else to be the BSB. In most cases you want a Scar Veteran BSB. They are stronger and tougher and can ride Cold Ones. If you are strapped for points you might consider a Skink BSB. If you plan to run with an all-skink army you might want a Skink BSB. A chief on a Stegadon is a good way to get an 18 inch BSB range. Regardless of WHY you are fielding a Skink BSB, you probably don’t want to give him a magical standard. Skinks are brittle and you probably want to give your BSB some kind of magical protection.

A Skink Chief BSB on a Steggy will give you an 18 inch Stand your Ground range. You can get the same basic effective with a Scarnisaur BSB, but a Carnosaur generally tries to push as far in the enemy lines as possible (ideally from a flanking position) and a Stegadon is better suited to following your main infantry blocks. A Skink Chief BSB is a little bit cheaper than a Scarnosaur BSB.

A skink BSB in a Skroxigor block has some protection, but a Stegadon mounted BSB is fairly exposed. It’s a big risk in tournament armies, but if you know you are playing a specific army that lacks the artillery to shoot your chief off his mount, the risk goes down considerably. To get the most out of a Steggy BSB, you probably want a wider battle line and a coherent plan that benefits from a wide battle line. If you are deploying most of your troops within a 12” radius you don’t really gain anything other than novelty for a monster mounted BSB.

In THEORY you can field a BSB on a Terradon or even a Ripper. He could then fly to wherever you need the Ld rerolls the most. The BSB would only have a 12 inch range and are fairly exposed to enemy shooting. Terradons usually advance ahead of the main army and BSBs usually remain in the center of your main forces. I see a fun conversion challenge in making a flying BSB, but little utility in game play.

Regardless of what build you choose, a Skink Chief BSB will probably be centrally located in your army. This has the added bonus of putting your BSB in a good position to babysit your Predatory Fighters and keep them from pursuing things you don’t want them to.


Hand Grenade


Sometimes you only need one round of use. I’ve been reading recently about people using Skink Chiefs as a delivery system for the Egg of Quango. Not a bad strategy. The fragility of Skink Chiefs isn’t a problem if you get all your money’s worth out of them in one turn. Another variant of the Hand Grenade that I saw used in the old army book was to give a Skink Chief a Potion of Strength. Same basic principle. The Skink Chief has one round of doing lots of damage, then you don’t need to worry about him anymore.


Hero Hammer and Lore of Beasts


Skink Chiefs are really cheap. If you are taking 3 levels or more of the Lore of Beasts you can have some fun with a unit of Skrox where most or all of the front rank is Skink Chiefs. Bubble the hero buffs and you can potentially have a lot of really strong really tough Skinks in the front rank that force the enemy to allocate individual attacks, back with Kroxigor supporting attacks.