8th Ed. 1200 Competitive Skink army

[Matty14]

preinstall

Hi all, im very new to this forum and fresh back from a break. As im speaking on this forum im obviously going for the lizards. Im gunna go for a pure skink army with some big dinosaurs to back it up. My gaming group starts games at 1200 points so that is what im wanting to get too and may have a possible tournament in a months time, i want it to be very competitive but with some fun in the army (thats if a sure skink army can be).

Iv put this list on Dakka but only really had a few people respond and only one or two with helpful comments ( thank you lizardmatt for yours)so im hoping you guys can rip this list apart and tell me where to go and not to go, the better option and the worst options. Also if you could give me some views on tactics/ deployment aswell it would be amazing before i go and buy it all

here goes

Tetto’ eko

Skink Chief
BSB
standard of discipline
light armour
shield

19 skink Cohort
2 Kroxigors
(carrying Tetto’eko)

10 skink skirmishers
javelins and shields

10 skink skirmishers
javelins and shields

10 skink skirmishers
javelins and shields

8 Chameleon Skinks

Bastiladon

Ancient stegadon
Engine of the gods

1198


Thank you all for reading, thanks for haven me

Matt

 

[Scalenex]

Welcome to the forum!

You have a good solid list at that points level with all your basic bases covered and plenty of magic but not too much.

My main criticism is that I think the Standard of Discipline is not a wise purchase. Magic banners on BSBs are nearly always a large risk when given to a non-Slann. If your BSB is going in with the Skroxigor the Standard of Discipline won't matter since Kroxigor already have Ld 7. If you put your BSB in a unit of Skirmishers that's making your BSB very exposed and vulnerable. I would suggest taking the points you spent on a magic banner and applying it towards some defensive items for your BSB or boosting up your Skroxigor unit.

My personal preference would be to make your Skroxigor bunker bigger, but that's a personal preference, not a weakness of the list. I also have a personal preference to field my Skirmishers in packs of 13. That way they need to lose four Skinks to trigger a panic test rather than three (it makes a bigger difference than you think). If you turned your 3x10 Skirmishers into 2 x 13 you could boost the Skroxigor block slightly though if your army envisioned has lots of small units ignore that advice.

Another personal preference is that I am quasi-OCD about spending every point exactly. If you dropped a single Chameleon Skink, you would have 15 points left over which is a nice round number to buy magic items for your BSB with or can translate into a few more Skinks.

 

[Matty14]

Thank you for your reply Scalenex,

i have a few questions for you

So if i remove the standard off the BSB, with the kroxigors in the unit, would i use the LD of the krox and have the re-roll of the BSB at LD 7? How would you equip the chief? Maybe the crown of command maybe, but then again if I'm using the LD of the kroxigors, it would make it useless.

Another question, would you think at this point cost of removing the chameleon Skinks and with the extra points throwing it at another 10 skinks in the big block, adding the skirmished units up to 13 each and then having a few more points for the chief and his items? Maybe try and squeeze a skink priest with a scroll? Or maybe getting rid of the bastiladon, keeping the chameleons as i think they would be a great lose as there a pain in the arse from the start, especially for war machines.


so in terms of deployment how would you set up? Tell if you would do anything different. Id start off with having the block of skinks with Eko in at the back pushed in to one of the corners, then hopefully with Tetto's rules, push the 3 skirmishers up as far as i can but as far away from trouble, keep the bastiladon back to watch the flank you the bunker and have the steg run straight down the middle and smash the biggest threat in front?

Thanks once again

Matt

 

[Scalenex]

Thank you for your reply Scalenex,

i have a few questions for you

So if i remove the standard off the BSB, with the kroxigors in the unit, would i use the LD of the krox and have the re-roll of the BSB at LD 7? How would you equip the chief? Maybe the crown of command maybe, but then again if I'm using the LD of the kroxigors, it would make it useless.

You always use the highest Ld in the unit. The battle standard re-rolls apply to the unit regardless of what the actual battle standard bearer's Ld score is. Also the re-rolls apply to all friendly units within 12 inches (though they use their normal Ld scores). The Crown of Command makes the whole unit Stubborn as long as the bearer of the crown remains alive, regardless of what his Ld score.

Another question, would you think at this point cost of removing the chameleon Skinks and with the extra points throwing it at another 10 skinks in the big block, adding the skirmished units up to 13 each and then having a few more points for the chief and his items? Maybe try and squeeze a skink priest with a scroll? Or maybe getting rid of the bastiladon, keeping the chameleons as i think they would be a great lose as there a pain in the arse from the start, especially for war machines.

You only have 300 points you can allocate to Heroes, so it will be hard to squeeze in too much. I would keep the Bastiladon. It's bound spell is very useful in Slann-less lists, especially at low points games. I don't think getting rid of the Chameleons altogether is a good idea either. Chameleon Skinks are powerful in low points games (because they generally have lots of empty table to deploy in), but you will see relatively little functional difference in a unit of 5 or a unit of 8. Now that I think about it, I feel the urge to play Devil's Advocate to myself: as much as I like to sell the number 13 as a lucky number for Skink Skirmishers, since 1200 points is pretty small, maybe bumping them up to 13 is not a good idea. Not if you have to cut one of the meatier choices off the army anyway.

so in terms of deployment how would you set up? Tell if you would do anything different. Id start off with having the block of skinks with Eko in at the back pushed in to one of the corners, then hopefully with Tetto's rules, push the 3 skirmishers up as far as i can but as far away from trouble, keep the bastiladon back to watch the flank you the bunker and have the steg run straight down the middle and smash the biggest threat in front?

Thanks once again

Matt

Deployment is more art than science. It's hard to set up good guidelines for deployment since I don't know what you will be playing, what the terrain will be, or what order your opponent will deploy their troops. So these are guidelines not rules.

Bastiladons boost units they are nearby (slightly) so they work best by good infantry units. Also, Bastiladons have Low Ld scores so they tend to flee easily when they lose even when they take very few wounds. For both these reasons I recommend keeping your Bastiladon near your Skroxigor block. For similar reason, your EOTG Stegadon should probably be deployed on the OTHER flank of your Skroxigor block though since Stegadons are naturally Stubborn and more kill-y you have a bit more leeway.

Because of how synergy dependent your Skroxigor, Stegadon, and Lasordon are (and Tet), if you put down one of these units you have essentially told your opponent where your main forces are going to be. I would recommend deploying your Skirmishers first. They have a 12 inch march move and have the maneuverability of Skirmishers. Therefore it ALMOST doesn't matter where they start on the board. Hopefully by the time you have deployed your three Skirmishers, your opponent has given away where HIS army center is going letting you respond appropriately. What's appropriate? That depends on what your enemy is fielding. What's appropriate may be either to meet his army center head on with your best units, or it may be to put your army "center" on a flank to take a weak spot on the enemy. This is the "art" part.

And remember, no plan survives contact with the enemy.