AoS A Skink Army of 1000 points?

[Stahlax]

Hey fellow spawnlings. During the train ride to work today I was trying to figure out a playstyle that would fit me. Earlier on this forum, I posted about how much I like Skinks. After finishing up an Engine of the Gods, I was dabbling around with a swift strike formation with an EoTG. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

• Shadowstrike Starhost (120 pts.)
• 1 Skink Starpriest (100 pts.)
• 1 Engine of the Gods (240 pts.)
• 1 unit of Ripperdactyls (140 pts.)
• 1 unit of Skink Javelinthrowers (80 pts.)
• 2 units of Skink Boltspitters (160 pts.)
• 2 units of Skink Boltspitters (160 pts.)

I'll admit straightforward that I've never played a game of AoS before, so I have no idea whether this could work. I have, however, thought about it. With 400 points worth of Skinks I'll field a total of 50 models - and even with their low chances to hit & wound, I still hope they would make quite the force. The 10 with javelins would function as a sort of screen, utilising the Stealthy Advance ability to be a bit more forward and pelt the enemy with their javelins. If they can draw in some charges, or fire, it will hopefully allow my Boltspitters to get in some shots. The Engine of the Gods could wreak havoc among the enemy, not just with the magic, but also with its fierce charge. The Steadfast Majesty gives the surrounding Skinks a bit more of a safeguard towards their battleshock tests. If the EotG is engaged in combat, the Ripperdactyl should be able to wreak some havoc in the back lines, while the Starpriest could give a lot of sustain, while buffing the EotG if necessary.

It's a fragile army, however, one that might be ripped to shreds quite easily. But I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on them.

 

[Bowser]

This is pretty solid. I would change it up slightly to have 2 units of 20 skinks Boltspitters and Shields and put in a skink chief asyour general. You will lose 20 points there but look at that command ability. If you want switch out the engine with the stegadon and put sunfire throwers on it. That will get you your 20 points back.

But with 20 skinks you get +1 to hit, chief you get +1 to hit. Those 5 to hit Boltspitters just became a 3 to hit.

If you want a 2 up you would have to get rid of the engine/steg and have 2 units of 30 and then I would put in Oxyotl (if you can find or convert one) or a skink priest.

 

[Stahlax]

Thanks for the advice! I couldn't find much about the Skink Chief in the Seraphon Battletome, must've completely missed it! I can take the Skink Chief that came with the EotG and place him on a base as my chief. The benefits are obviously there. Do you prefer the Sunfire Throwers over the Engine? I don't mind losing 20 points, to be honest, I like the magic of the EotG and its randomness.

 

[Bowser]

Thanks for the advice! I couldn't find much about the Skink Chief in the Seraphon Battletome, must've completely missed it! I can take the Skink Chief that came with the EotG and place him on a base as my chief. The benefits are obviously there. Do you prefer the Sunfire Throwers over the Engine? I don't mind losing 20 points, to be honest, I like the magic of the EotG and its randomness.

Chief isn't in the battletome, it's a legacy unit. You can get the info from the WHAOS app though.

I prefer the Engine too, so if you don't mind losing 20 points stick with that.

 

[Stahlax]

Chief isn't in the battletome, it's a legacy unit. You can get the info from the WHAOS app though.

I prefer the Engine too, so if you don't mind losing 20 points stick with that.

Right, the app! I'll look for it. Well, as soon as I finish up more of my Skinks, my Rippers and Starpriest, this might be my list to go!

 

[Bowser]

They are under the Lizardmen heading instead of Seraphon.

 

[SupaSuton]

Is the skink chief that comes with the stegadon kit the same as the one on the warscroll for the skink chief?

 

[Bowser]

It can be if you base it separately.

 

[Killer Angel]

Bowser gave good advices, but I will offer something different.
Rippers have been nerfed. .. Actually you are paying the formation and the rippers to have a nerfed unit. In a 1000 pts battle, where every point is important.
EotG is good but with no slann nor starseer, the Engine will work poorly.
Have you considered a standard stegadon and a unit of chama skinks?

 

[Stahlax]

@Killer Angel, Have they been nerfed to such a degree that they're no longer viable? I wanted them in my army as a harassing force, to keep certain parts of the enemy army in place. I don't need them to be the absolute vicious monsters they were before, but enough of a nuisance so the enemy needs to divert parts of their army while my skinks & steg pummel them from the other side.

Could you elaborate on why the EotG would work poorly?

I've considered Chameleons, and I can see the obvious benefits they bring. Currently, I don't have the models in my possession, but I'm sure to try it out in the future. For now, I'd try to give the rank 'n file Skinks a go.

to @Bowser, @SupaSuton and others - what weapons would you go on Skinks? I'm thinking Boltspitters and Clubs, unless you feel like shields are worth it on them?

 

[Bowser]

The rippers are still viable, just not a point and kill kind of scary and don't allow for as much board control as they did before the rules of 1.

Boltspitters and shields. I will always suggest this load out. The ability to ignore 1 rend is huge.

With a slann nearby an engine you roll 4 dice and choose the three you want. That gives you a lot of control over what the engine does instead of randomly hoping for the best.

 

[Stahlax]

Alright. What would be the biggest weakness of this army? I imagine an army with swift cavalry would simply obliterate this list.

 

[SupaSuton]

I actually did the numbers on the EotG results table at full wounds base, with slann, and with slann and starseer! Here's the results given as the percent chance to get each result per dice roll.

Base Slann Slann+Starseer
3-5 2.50% 5.93% 13.6%

6-9 33.1% 54.9% 70.0%

10-13 51.5% 77.5% 88.7%

14-17 12.8% 25.0% 39.6%

18 0.10% 0.28% 1.80%

I attached a table as a PDF so it's a little easier to read.

 

[Bowser]

Alright. What would be the biggest weakness of this army? I imagine an army with swift cavalry would simply obliterate this list.

Yeah, basically anything that can outrun you and lock you into combat is going to be a challenge. You uave support from the Engine and rippers but not much.

 

[Stahlax]

I actually did the numbers on the EotG results table at full wounds base, with slann, and with slann and starseer! Here's the results given as the percent chance to get each result per dice roll.

Base Slann Slann+Starseer
3-5 2.50% 5.93% 13.6%

6-9 33.1% 54.9% 70.0%

10-13 51.5% 77.5% 88.7%

14-17 12.8% 25.0% 39.6%

18 0.10% 0.28% 1.80%

I attached a table as a PDF so it's a little easier to read.

That's some great work, thank you so much for sharing. I never really looked into the scroll, but the odds of inflicting damage on an enemy with a healthy EotG is still quite high. I might give it a go without a Seer or a Mage Priest, allthough I have the latter in my collection. If I understand correctly, having one of those allows you to roll more dice and choose? Can't really find it in the scrolls.

 

[SupaSuton]

That's some great work, thank you so much for sharing. I never really looked into the scroll, but the odds of inflicting damage on an enemy with a healthy EotG is still quite high. I might give it a go without a Seer or a Mage Priest, allthough I have the latter in my collection. If I understand correctly, having one of those allows you to roll more dice and choose? Can't really find it in the scrolls.

I was bored yesterday morning, and having just picked up a stegadon kit and Slann myself wanted to see what the numbers looked like! Yeah, the Mage priest lets you roll one more dice than you normally could and discard one of your choice, so you can make a few different rolls per hero phase depending on the dice. Also, I only accounted for curse of fates from the seer, not any possible rerolls.

 

[Stahlax]

I was bored yesterday morning, and having just picked up a stegadon kit and Slann myself wanted to see what the numbers looked like! Yeah, the Mage priest lets you roll one more dice than you normally could and discard one of your choice, so you can make a few different rolls per hero phase depending on the dice. Also, I only accounted for curse of fates from the seer, not any possible rerolls.

You're the type of person that could rule a nation man. If I'm bored, I play video games and watch YouTube =D Thanks again for sharing, will certainly keep that in mind.

Looking online at the GW Store and eBay, my eye fell on the Kroxigor again. In the future, I might even add in a Kroxigor or 3 to have some more of a melee punch! I love the synergy, so Kroxi + Skinks + Steg seems rather fun.

 

[Killer Angel]

@Killer Angel, Have they been nerfed to such a degree that they're no longer viable? I wanted them in my army as a harassing force, to keep certain parts of the enemy army in place. I don't need them to be the absolute vicious monsters they were before, but enough of a nuisance so the enemy needs to divert parts of their army while my skinks & steg pummel them from the other side.

The EotG has already been covered.

About the rippers. They need to use the toad (you can place it on an objective).
A unit of 3 rippers costs 140.
9 attacks of beaks, with the rule of one, deliver 12 successful to hit (on average). 10-11 successful "to wound"
9 attacks of claws will deliver 7 wounds and another 2 from the 4 warspears.
Let's say 20 wounds that need to be saved.

It won't be enough to blast a horde.
It won't be enough to kill a strong unit with good saves.
It won't be enough to kill the majority of behemots.
Costly heroes won't step on the toad.

Rippers are weak and will be easily killed by retaliation.

You’ll have a glass cannon that will weaken its target without killing it.
If you want more flexibility you need the formation but this means that your throw away unit will be more costly.

All in all, rippers are not bad, but I don't know if they will repay themselves.