8th Ed. Arming Skinks... how many with what?

[Captain Krox]

Greetings everybody!

New to the world of Lustria and WFB. 40K player for a while, but really enjoy the dynamics of WFB and more importantly, love the fluff of the Lizardmen!

Second post on this board (aside from introduction) and I have a question about building some models.

I got the Battalion and am slowly putting it together. I'm starting with the Skinks, and was wondering how many you build as Javelin/Shield and how many are Blowpipe/weapon? There are 12 in the box, and I'm not sure what weapons to give them. I will be buying a few more by the end of the week, I just want to plan ahead.... Likey a 24 Skink Box and a few other things. Now most of our games will be 2000-2400 pts. I got the Rule Book and army book, and to be honest, spent most of my time in the Army Book!

How many Skinks do you normally play with at these point levels? (I know a lot depends on your specific playstyle) I'm just looking for some guidelines, and I'll experiment as time goes on.

Any advice would be great! Thanks so much!

- Capt. Krox

 

[strewart]

Have a bit of a browse through the army list section, Captain Krox! In general, skinks are a pretty useful unit and the 36 you end up with (12 already plus a box of 24) should be enough unless you want to go fairly skink heavy.

For equipment, it is never worth upgrading skinks. So if you want a ranked unit (lots of people finding them good with kroxigor) they should have javelin and shield, some skirmishing units (always very useful) should have blowpipes. For me personally, I have 22 in a ranked unit and 12 skirmishing at 2.5k.

In addition to that, you can convert some to be charmeleon skinks since the GW metal models are very expensive. These guys will have blowpipes, and you should make them unique in some way, units of 6 or more for them is good.

 

[Captain Krox]

Most excellent!

I appreciate your reply!

Thanks!

 

[Arli]

Strewart makes valid points. I like an all skink army occasionally. I do not use blowpipes in 8th edition. They do not fit my play style currently. Most times, I will be hitting on 7s if I double tap (-1 for moving, -1 for range-to stay out of charge distance for stand and shoot, and -1 for double tapping). However, if I upgrade them to skirmishers with javelin and shield, I can always stand and shoot and ignore the moving rule. Also, on the plus side, the shields may allow them to hold in combat for an additional turn (yea, right).

Couple that with lore of Light (light of battle for auto pass leadership test) or Lore of Life (Toughness 6 skinks) and that unit of skinks is a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Captain Krox]

what do you give your Braves? With the Javelin/Shield Skinks, do you give the Brave the same, or with something else? How about the Blowpipe Brave?

I'll likely go 24 Javelin/Shield and 12 Blowpipes.

Please let me know!

Thanks

 

[Arli]

I only take braves in the cohort units. That way, that 'brave' can earn his name. The upgrade for the skirmishers brave only gives you +1 BS, no extra attack. I think that is a waste (as usually, I forget he has a higher BS).

The primary reason I want my skirmishers to have javelins is the stand and shoot reaction to a charge. A few weeks ago, I took a few units of 20 cohorts lined up in rows of 10. That way I could shoot 20 javelins, then follow that up with another 20 javelins on the charge. On average, that will be as many as 6 poisons plus the 5 or 6 hits that I score as well.

 

[strewart]

Braves get the same equipment as the rest of the unit, yes. And Arli is right, they are not worth it in a skirmishing unit. The only use of them in a cohort is to issue a challenge to a character to absorb a few attacks and briefly keep a few more of your skinks alive.

 

[Arli]

And it is just awesome to accept a challenge with a skink!