You forgot he also dies to; mosquitos, scary looks, loud noises, disturbing smells, general physical contact, shocking views, magical energy, large teeth, hooves, jungle mushrooms, falling rocks, pointy stuff, blunt stuff, sharp stuff, falling coconuts and indeed; the swift breeze. Keep him in a cohort unit for protection would be my advice. Any army with any shooting and/or magic will be making a prime target on this guy. Problem is, that a unit of cohort +a somewhat protected skink chief BSB costs as much as a cheap scar-vet BSB. Which is a lot tougher too... The Hunted
Throw him on a basic steg and let him shoot a giant bow, give him a 3+ from his own mundane upgrades and mounted, and even a banner if you are so inclined. Or do the same with an ancient and have a tougher base plus shooting blowpipes at his BS is a lot of hits.
I actually still do not have the book (mailing issues), but can yo use the BS of the chief on a stegadon? Stegadon does provide basic protection. But you would want to get your stegadon into combat, an enviroment where the chief isn't all too comfortable. The Hunted
As far as I can tell from the book, characters mounted on the steg replace one of the crew. It is worded pretty much as unclearly as it was in the last book, so it will need to be FAQ'd again. Who knows, maybe GW will throw us a bone this time?
I assume that he replaces crew; crew fire the bow. Don't know of any rules saying he can't. With lore of beasts, my skink chief wants that pirhana blade or fencers blades and the beast buffs. Even just wyssans makes him a S5 T4 I6 murderer.
Not played Lizardmen yet (awaiting new book which is now in the post) but I thought the Egg of Quanyo looked like a nice item for a Skink BSB. I'd have him running solo but near units for a 4+ LOS. He can then provide BSB rerolls and keep your Saurus from overrunning due to PF and try and stay out of trouble. He can bale in and out of units as need be and then if anything actually gets into combat with him, it's likely to be a bit of a faster chaff unit. You can then crack the Egg at the start of the first turn of combat and even on some average rolling there shouldn't be too much left to actually hit your Chief. With Dragonhelm, LA and Shield he'll have a handy 3+ AS and a 6++ parry. If he's not used his Egg, then late game he could charge a weakened unit to try and finish them off with the damage from the Egg. Any thoughts on that?
My thought is... that sounds like something to try, but don't make the chief a BSB. That way he can be less picky about what he charges with the Egg of Quango, and if he dies you won't really care. There's something that would be satisfying about a lone skink chief charging, breaking them by his Egg hits, and then running down a unit. Might be worth playing around with, although unfortunately the Egg is rotten if you roll under 4.
Skink BSBs had two advantages in the last book over other BSBs. They were cheaper than Scar Veterans and they could ride monsters giving them an 18 inch BSB range. Now Scar Veterans are cheaper so the first advantage is eroded a bit (I guess Skink Chiefs are cheaper too though). The second advantage is also nullfied. A Scar Veteran can be a BSB on a Carnosaur now. I don't see much reason for a Skink Chief BSB anymore outside a themed list.
I'm going with light armor, shield, javelin and Egg. I plan on hiding him as much as I can, and popping the egg when he gets caught. 2D6 S5 hits at the start of combat will take out quite a few problems. -Matt
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions guys, main reason for wanting a Skink Chief is I like the model al lot, and I think if I hide him in a Skink regiment/Skrox Unit he'll do okay?
Probably not since they Skrox units are expensive enough you need to use them in combat. But I suppose if the enemy is directing attacks at your chief bsbs they aren't killing your Kroxigors.
He can sit on a temple guard or Saurus unit and keep them from pursuing, soak up challenges in addition to your champion and maybe even kill a few people with high initiative and some armor reducing their ability to hit him. The idea of wyssans on him and the unit and then him being a mini scar vet with great init sounds good. I have already made a list with the egg chief and ill let you know how it goes when I get to use it.
How about... he joins a cohort unit of maybe 14 skinks with poison. Use them as redirection like you normally would, but have the option of accepting a charge from something like a chariot. Or maybe just tack him onto a normal chaff unit. I also like the idea of putting him on a Ripperdactyl with the Egg and a 2+ armor save, maybe with enchanted shield and spear. He'll get in and do his damage, and have an ok chance of surviving or even winning the combat if the 2d6 strength 5 goes off. He'll also have some decent strength and a chance to KB with the ripper.
I like the Ripper idea, but try a Teradon I think. If you look at the actual benefits of Teradons and Rippers, I don't think the frenzy is worth it on Ld6. Especially because the wording on the Toad Rage Rule would prevent your Chief from using the best part of having a Ripper. Either way, solid idea.
A SKink Chief (LA,S, Jav) on a Teradon is only 40.5 SS and could be one of the best redirectors in the game. Since the Teradon give him the flying cav rule he will be able to vanguard. It also gives him the "feign flight" rule which lets him move and shoot after he rallies. He also gets to drop rocks once a game. A pair of these will let you pull off the double flee tactic and with a 3+ armor save and -1 to hit because of the Skirmish rule they should be able to shake off most small arms fire. Not sure about making him a BSB, but with the right defensive gear the Teradon should give him the mobility to hide from most dangers.