-
The forum software have been upgraded to the latest version.
If you notice anything that looks off, or does not work, please let us know.
For more information, click here.
7th Ed. Evolution of an Army
- Thread starter Sart
- Start date
Troglodon
hellbreaker
Member
- Messages
- 689
- Likes Received
- 16
- Trophy Points
- 18
Scarloc said:
This settles it, keep your skinks far in front of your saurus.
Never used a BSB, never will. I can get more saurus for those points...
Saurus
Sart
New Member
- Messages
- 97
- Likes Received
- 0
- Trophy Points
- 0
The will of Fooq High Slaan of Thazlaaq
Noq Hand of the Heavens
Saurus Old Blood- Blade of Revered Tzunki, Glyph Necklace, Light Armour, Shield.
Cliq Thalax Fist of Noq
Saurus Scar-Vet- Enchanted Shield, Burning Blade of Chotec, Light Armour.
Sliq Phlaq Herald of Noq
Skink Chief- BSB, Cloak of Feathers, Sword of Might, Light Armour, Shield, Javelin.
Chaqax the Record Keeper
Skink Priest- Dispel Scroll, Diadem of Power.
Lvl 2, Ancient Stegadon with Engine of the Gods.
Core
14x Saurus warriors- Shield, Spear, Standard Musco.
14x Saurus warriors- Shield, Spear, Standard Musco.
11x Skinks- Jav, Shield, Musco.
1x Kroxigor.
11x Skinks- Jav, Shield, Musco.
1x Kroxigor.
10 Skinks- Jav, Shield, Musco.
10x Skink Skirmishers- Blowpipes.
Special
3x Terradons.
3x Terradons
4x Kroxigor.
Rare
1x Salamander.
4x Handlers
1x Salamander.
4x Handlers
Wins 1, losses 0, draws 0
Ok the main Changes to the list are.
dropped 2x Kroxigor and split the x4 terradon unit into 2x units of 3 and took 1x unit of 4x Kroxigor. I also squeezed in a small x10 unit of Skinks.
I played 1 game vs Chaos and smashed him. He rushed in the jaws of the army hoping to smash it apart. I used my SKink units and terradons to clear his trash and then used them to draw him out of position and then forced him to charge the saurus units with his money cav units. The 2 characters then chewed up the cav units. The saurus attacks just bounced off the armour. His Giant spent the game cowering behind a hill in a mexican stand off with the Skink skirmishers. Second last turn the jumped on top of the hill and with the terradons help they killed him in a round of shooting.
Having the 2 units of terradons gives even more board control to this list and it helps spread the points around and allow me to have 1 functional unit if the other one receives heavy attention.
The Kroxigors did fairly well in this turn rebuffing 2 charges from Marauder horsemen with flails then helping re-direct 1 of his Chaos Knight units out of position.
I am hopefully gonna get a game soon vs a very good High Elf player this comming weekend so We will see how it holds up.
Cheers Sart.
And Hellbreaker.. Having your Skinks far in front may just be the problem... seeing as if they break they will run back and through your Lines causing the panic... and if they are over 6 inches ahead (Distance needed to avoid panic for broken in combat) Your Saurus are gonna find it hard to support those poor toughness 2 skinks.
Noq Hand of the Heavens
Saurus Old Blood- Blade of Revered Tzunki, Glyph Necklace, Light Armour, Shield.
Cliq Thalax Fist of Noq
Saurus Scar-Vet- Enchanted Shield, Burning Blade of Chotec, Light Armour.
Sliq Phlaq Herald of Noq
Skink Chief- BSB, Cloak of Feathers, Sword of Might, Light Armour, Shield, Javelin.
Chaqax the Record Keeper
Skink Priest- Dispel Scroll, Diadem of Power.
Lvl 2, Ancient Stegadon with Engine of the Gods.
Core
14x Saurus warriors- Shield, Spear, Standard Musco.
14x Saurus warriors- Shield, Spear, Standard Musco.
11x Skinks- Jav, Shield, Musco.
1x Kroxigor.
11x Skinks- Jav, Shield, Musco.
1x Kroxigor.
10 Skinks- Jav, Shield, Musco.
10x Skink Skirmishers- Blowpipes.
Special
3x Terradons.
3x Terradons
4x Kroxigor.
Rare
1x Salamander.
4x Handlers
1x Salamander.
4x Handlers
Wins 1, losses 0, draws 0
Ok the main Changes to the list are.
dropped 2x Kroxigor and split the x4 terradon unit into 2x units of 3 and took 1x unit of 4x Kroxigor. I also squeezed in a small x10 unit of Skinks.
I played 1 game vs Chaos and smashed him. He rushed in the jaws of the army hoping to smash it apart. I used my SKink units and terradons to clear his trash and then used them to draw him out of position and then forced him to charge the saurus units with his money cav units. The 2 characters then chewed up the cav units. The saurus attacks just bounced off the armour. His Giant spent the game cowering behind a hill in a mexican stand off with the Skink skirmishers. Second last turn the jumped on top of the hill and with the terradons help they killed him in a round of shooting.
Having the 2 units of terradons gives even more board control to this list and it helps spread the points around and allow me to have 1 functional unit if the other one receives heavy attention.
The Kroxigors did fairly well in this turn rebuffing 2 charges from Marauder horsemen with flails then helping re-direct 1 of his Chaos Knight units out of position.
I am hopefully gonna get a game soon vs a very good High Elf player this comming weekend so We will see how it holds up.
Cheers Sart.
And Hellbreaker.. Having your Skinks far in front may just be the problem... seeing as if they break they will run back and through your Lines causing the panic... and if they are over 6 inches ahead (Distance needed to avoid panic for broken in combat) Your Saurus are gonna find it hard to support those poor toughness 2 skinks.
Troglodon
hellbreaker
Member
- Messages
- 689
- Likes Received
- 16
- Trophy Points
- 18
congrats to the victory. 
But why 2 units of sallies that's alone? Versatility or...?
Well you said something about having my skinks in front of the saurus might be the problem?
So... having the saurus just beside them is better? I really don't know, don't play Fantasy that much.
But why 2 units of sallies that's alone? Versatility or...?
Well you said something about having my skinks in front of the saurus might be the problem?
So... having the saurus just beside them is better? I really don't know, don't play Fantasy that much.
Ripperdactyl
Dalkarius
New Member
- Messages
- 468
- Likes Received
- 2
- Trophy Points
- 0
Depends on what your opponent is shooting at you. My skinks are always in front unless my enemy has a hill, then to hell with that. If you keep the General close they can use his Leadership 8 or 9 with makes the skinks hold their ground.
Troglodon
hellbreaker
Member
- Messages
- 689
- Likes Received
- 16
- Trophy Points
- 18
well in that block behind the skinks I got my saurus hero/lord so I guess your right. But you gotta hate hills!
Saurus
Sart
New Member
- Messages
- 97
- Likes Received
- 0
- Trophy Points
- 0
Actually I love hills Paticulary if they are on my opponents side and he is a heavy shooting army.
60% of the battle is won and lost in deployment. If my heavy shooting opponent ha a hill on his side of the table It telegraphs where he is going to setup and he will try and cram as many Units as possible onto that hill to maximise his shooting. Tat tells me where is going to deploy and that in turn allows me to out deploy him. Not only that if he can see me I can also see him... Salamanders adore Blocks of Archers sitting on a hill... There is a silver lining to every storm cloud fella's you just gotta see it.
Hills are also invaluable in outmanouvring Cav etc with infantry as is Impassible and difficult terrain.
I love scenery Paticulary with the lizards as you have alot of units that can move freely through it.
(Imagine Saurus in a building Hahahaha that is just plain nasty!! )
I take x2 x1 salamanders because its more flexible You only need 1 sally to really make an impact and being able to shoot at differnt targets is invaluable x2 panic tests instead of one. It also means as a unit they arent worth much and half the time my opponents wont bother with them because of this.
Cheers
60% of the battle is won and lost in deployment. If my heavy shooting opponent ha a hill on his side of the table It telegraphs where he is going to setup and he will try and cram as many Units as possible onto that hill to maximise his shooting. Tat tells me where is going to deploy and that in turn allows me to out deploy him. Not only that if he can see me I can also see him... Salamanders adore Blocks of Archers sitting on a hill... There is a silver lining to every storm cloud fella's you just gotta see it.
Hills are also invaluable in outmanouvring Cav etc with infantry as is Impassible and difficult terrain.
I love scenery Paticulary with the lizards as you have alot of units that can move freely through it.
(Imagine Saurus in a building Hahahaha that is just plain nasty!! )
I take x2 x1 salamanders because its more flexible You only need 1 sally to really make an impact and being able to shoot at differnt targets is invaluable x2 panic tests instead of one. It also means as a unit they arent worth much and half the time my opponents wont bother with them because of this.
Cheers
Saurus
Sart
New Member
- Messages
- 97
- Likes Received
- 0
- Trophy Points
- 0
Ok here is an Update.
I am going to Include some Pictures Of how I deploy and the Painted stuff to date.
I had another Game this time Vs a Demon Army Mainly consisting of Slaanesh and Khorne units with 1 Unit of Horrors... It was fairly Heavy Magic with 3 Casters not including the Horror Unit... (Sorry Cant remember exact make up)
I got lucky in this game He had me Well and truely beaten but the EOTG rolled 11 inches and 12 inches then 12 inches again on the strength 5 d6 hits allowing me do some seriously massive damage to his Khorne hounds and half killed units giving me the Pip up for a Draw.
Things I learnt from this game... Killing Blow is still the nastiest thing Oldbloods and Scar vets have to deal with.... (Lost my Lord in the Third turn to this damn Bloodletters) When facing Demons do Not allow my line to splinter off as it makes it easy for the demons to take me peicemeal.
EOTG is awesome vs Demons but it isnt something that is reliable enough to base a winning tactic off.
Here is the Typical Deployment I found this Deployment is very veristile allowing me to be aggresive or defensive depending on the situation.
The Lord and Scarvet sit in the Saurus units and the Bsb Goes to where he is needed.
I also upgraded the Shield on my Oldblood.
See Below
I am going to Include some Pictures Of how I deploy and the Painted stuff to date.
I had another Game this time Vs a Demon Army Mainly consisting of Slaanesh and Khorne units with 1 Unit of Horrors... It was fairly Heavy Magic with 3 Casters not including the Horror Unit... (Sorry Cant remember exact make up)
I got lucky in this game He had me Well and truely beaten but the EOTG rolled 11 inches and 12 inches then 12 inches again on the strength 5 d6 hits allowing me do some seriously massive damage to his Khorne hounds and half killed units giving me the Pip up for a Draw.
Things I learnt from this game... Killing Blow is still the nastiest thing Oldbloods and Scar vets have to deal with.... (Lost my Lord in the Third turn to this damn Bloodletters) When facing Demons do Not allow my line to splinter off as it makes it easy for the demons to take me peicemeal.
EOTG is awesome vs Demons but it isnt something that is reliable enough to base a winning tactic off.
Here is the Typical Deployment I found this Deployment is very veristile allowing me to be aggresive or defensive depending on the situation.
The Lord and Scarvet sit in the Saurus units and the Bsb Goes to where he is needed.
I also upgraded the Shield on my Oldblood.
See Below
Temple Guard
Aranigej
Member
- Messages
- 229
- Likes Received
- 3
- Trophy Points
- 16
I really enjoyed looking at the way you composed your army. It seems to be a very balanced and solid force (I actually think I will try and make an army on these lines 
).
One question about deployment and tactics.. for what reason do you deploy the skirmishers behind the steg at the very back of the army?
Also, personally I would like another unit of skirmishers rather than the unit of 10 skinks (but that's me and perhaps, as you stated in an earlier post, the day of the skirmisher is really over)
Final comment, that Oldblood is great! Nice painting and I especially like the shield!
Aranigej
).One question about deployment and tactics.. for what reason do you deploy the skirmishers behind the steg at the very back of the army?
Also, personally I would like another unit of skirmishers rather than the unit of 10 skinks (but that's me and perhaps, as you stated in an earlier post, the day of the skirmisher is really over)
Final comment, that Oldblood is great! Nice painting and I especially like the shield!
Aranigej
Troglodon
Revered_Guardian
New Member
- Messages
- 618
- Likes Received
- 4
- Trophy Points
- 0
i deploy all of my skirmishers as meat shields for the saurus and tempies, also they are very good for hiding my skink assassin... (FSOD)
Saurus
Sart
New Member
- Messages
- 97
- Likes Received
- 0
- Trophy Points
- 0
Why would a second unit of skirmishers be better??
I would actually prefer a second unit of 10 Jav Skinks but TBH having the blowpipes there does make large targets second guess themselves. (Although I am seriously Considering droping the Blowpipes for Javilens as they have always been more effective. With the old book I always took javs never blowpipes and I did very well)
In fact I am going to drop Blowpipes and take Javs instead on the Skirmisher unit.
I never understood the Meatshield idea... Seems like an exercise in pointlessness..... Having your skinks in front of your line means more panic tests and a Skink Meatshield can easily be turned against you ie run a unit of Cav up 1 inch away (Brett unit for instance) Your skinks cant beat them in combat its very crowded you cant move foward and your saurus get stuck behind them.... if you move your skinks your saurus get charged by Cav if you dont the skinks get charged then the saurus get charged anyways.... Also if your opponent has a hill it makes the meat shield even less useful.... I always found that tactic rather wasteful and slightly silly (I seen a snotling meatshield hold up an Ogre army due to animosity for 4 turns.....)
No if I ran multiple units of Skirmishers they would run inbetween the Saurus Blocks and using Movement 12 they would hop out in front to divert or do whatever the turn Before the Lines Met.
I would actually prefer a second unit of 10 Jav Skinks but TBH having the blowpipes there does make large targets second guess themselves. (Although I am seriously Considering droping the Blowpipes for Javilens as they have always been more effective. With the old book I always took javs never blowpipes and I did very well)
In fact I am going to drop Blowpipes and take Javs instead on the Skirmisher unit.
I never understood the Meatshield idea... Seems like an exercise in pointlessness..... Having your skinks in front of your line means more panic tests and a Skink Meatshield can easily be turned against you ie run a unit of Cav up 1 inch away (Brett unit for instance) Your skinks cant beat them in combat its very crowded you cant move foward and your saurus get stuck behind them.... if you move your skinks your saurus get charged by Cav if you dont the skinks get charged then the saurus get charged anyways.... Also if your opponent has a hill it makes the meat shield even less useful.... I always found that tactic rather wasteful and slightly silly (I seen a snotling meatshield hold up an Ogre army due to animosity for 4 turns.....)
No if I ran multiple units of Skirmishers they would run inbetween the Saurus Blocks and using Movement 12 they would hop out in front to divert or do whatever the turn Before the Lines Met.
Saurus
Sart
New Member
- Messages
- 97
- Likes Received
- 0
- Trophy Points
- 0
Ok Utilising the Latest Version of my List I played in a Local Derby (Small Tourny 20 or so players)
Was Fortunate to be 1 of 4 Lizard armies that turned up on the day.
First Game
Lizardmen vs High Elves (Jay Calvert)
Jay is a phenomenal player who I have known for a long time.
His list Consisted of
Hero Bsb (Sits with Draogn Princes)
Hero Reaver Bow
Lvl 2 Mage 2xd6 Strength 4 bound.
Lvl 2 2x Scrolls.
2x 10 archer Units
2x 6 Draogn Princes units 1 with Banner of Sorcery
2x Repeater Bolties
1x 5 Eyrilian Reavers
2x Grt Eagles
7x Sword Masters
16-19 (cant remember) White Lions
1x 6 Silver Helms
Over all a finely tuned list that he plays with alot of grace.
He won the roll for sides and relegated to a fairly Open side.
I turtled up in the Corner using the Kroxigor to cover my right Flank and keeping them safe form shooting and magic with some impassable terrain in the middle of the board.
I won the Roll to go firast and promptly took the first turn.
I pushed up hard making sure to just stay out of charge range of his Cav units my magic phase fizzled and it was his turn. Jay pushed up slightly with all his cav units sending one Dragon prince unit far out wide on my right flank preparing to threaten. His magic phase was uneventful I let his magic missiles b cast and stopped his bound. his shooting phase did even less dmge as most units where out of range.
My turn 2 was magical with the Slamanders going nuts Killing 11 White Lions. The terradons dropped rocks on the Swordmasters and threatened one of this mages and the RBT's. I repositioned the Kroxigor to Counter the threatening DPrinces and I shifted the Skirmishing Skinks up to Block and reposition his Silver Hlems and BSB DPrinces unit Realligning the Skink and Saurus unit with Oldblood to Flank Charge.
Jays next turn was the Turning Point His magic did a fair whack of dmge and he charged the Skirmishing Skinks with the Dragon Princes he tried to charge the 10 man unit of Skinks with the Silver Helms but the Skirmishing Skinks where in the way (As I had planned) The Skirmishing Skinks Amazingly out ran the DP'S who Pursued. Jay and used one of his Grt eagles to Block the Lords saurus Unit. I hit it in the Flanks with the Oldblood charging out of the unit and a Skink Kroxigor unit. After Killing his BSB the oldblood chewed the Unit then took out the silverhelms. Things where lookin good for the Lizards!!
Disaster over the next 3 turns saw Jay manage to scrap the game back to a draw with some good shooting and Magic phases (Mostly the shooting tho) His reaver bow boy in paticular was devastating.
Game ended up a hard faught 10-10 Draw.
Unit of the Match- Salamanders
Game 2
Lizardmen vs Lizardmen (Josh forget last name)
Josh's list was rock hard
Slaan all the trimmings.
Skink Hero In Steg
Skink Priest EOTG
Jag Charm Saurus Hero
2x Large Skink Kroxigor Units
2x 15 Skink Unit
1x 10 Skink Unit
2x 3 Terradon Unit
5x Cham Skinks
1x Normal Stegadon
I wont go into to much detail about this game needless to say I prooved a well balanced list is far stronger then a Overpowered magic reliant list. I outflnaked him and the Salamanders again prooved how fantastic they where tearing apart his Skink units and causing havoc. He made a couple crucial errors in this game he Joined the Stegs into the massive Skink Kroxigor units allowing me to break them easily without allowing them to utilise their stubborn.
17-3 Victory
Unit of the Match- Salamanders
Game 3
Orcs & Goblins Vs Lizardmen (Young Harry (again forgot last name)
Harry's Army was another Brutal Build
Blorc Lord on Wyvern
x3 Shamans lvl2
x4 chariots in the Army
x2 Giants
x2 Orc Units
x2 Night Gobbo Units (x2 fanatics each)
x2 Bolt throwers
x4 Wolf Rider Units
This game Was awful for Harry His dice did little to support his cause by turn 3 I had killed everything bar half a unit of Orcs and 2 wolf rider units..... Case in point Lord on Wyvern Bounced off a krox Skink unit and was run down..... Even still I played it well Drawing out his fanatics with no cost of my own utilising his own fleeing chariots to kill themselves thanks to some well planned charges with the terradons. And a strong Deployment phase.
Harry did well but was outgunned both with the tactics utilised and the Dice.
20-0 Victory.
Unit of the match - Tie between a 11x Skink and 1xKroxigor unit and The Salamanders
Wow my first outing with the Lizards at a tourny (albiet a smallish one) and I carve up was undefeated and if I had used a painted army would have come 3rd or equal Second over all instead of 5th Still was very happy to have drawn with Jay (Who won the tournament) and to have beaten the X3 steg Slaan lizard build (perceived atm to be the nastiest unfriendliest build one can do).
Looking foward to future Tournys where the Lizards I am hoping will do us all proud.
I also had a practice game vs a Chaos Mortals army the night before I won that 19-1
Again it was very magic heavy but the lizardmen army is prooving to be quite resilient to magic Half the time I dont even bother dispelling spells in paticular magic missiles.
Was Fortunate to be 1 of 4 Lizard armies that turned up on the day.
First Game
Lizardmen vs High Elves (Jay Calvert)
Jay is a phenomenal player who I have known for a long time.
His list Consisted of
Hero Bsb (Sits with Draogn Princes)
Hero Reaver Bow
Lvl 2 Mage 2xd6 Strength 4 bound.
Lvl 2 2x Scrolls.
2x 10 archer Units
2x 6 Draogn Princes units 1 with Banner of Sorcery
2x Repeater Bolties
1x 5 Eyrilian Reavers
2x Grt Eagles
7x Sword Masters
16-19 (cant remember) White Lions
1x 6 Silver Helms
Over all a finely tuned list that he plays with alot of grace.
He won the roll for sides and relegated to a fairly Open side.
I turtled up in the Corner using the Kroxigor to cover my right Flank and keeping them safe form shooting and magic with some impassable terrain in the middle of the board.
I won the Roll to go firast and promptly took the first turn.
I pushed up hard making sure to just stay out of charge range of his Cav units my magic phase fizzled and it was his turn. Jay pushed up slightly with all his cav units sending one Dragon prince unit far out wide on my right flank preparing to threaten. His magic phase was uneventful I let his magic missiles b cast and stopped his bound. his shooting phase did even less dmge as most units where out of range.
My turn 2 was magical with the Slamanders going nuts Killing 11 White Lions. The terradons dropped rocks on the Swordmasters and threatened one of this mages and the RBT's. I repositioned the Kroxigor to Counter the threatening DPrinces and I shifted the Skirmishing Skinks up to Block and reposition his Silver Hlems and BSB DPrinces unit Realligning the Skink and Saurus unit with Oldblood to Flank Charge.
Jays next turn was the Turning Point His magic did a fair whack of dmge and he charged the Skirmishing Skinks with the Dragon Princes he tried to charge the 10 man unit of Skinks with the Silver Helms but the Skirmishing Skinks where in the way (As I had planned) The Skirmishing Skinks Amazingly out ran the DP'S who Pursued. Jay and used one of his Grt eagles to Block the Lords saurus Unit. I hit it in the Flanks with the Oldblood charging out of the unit and a Skink Kroxigor unit. After Killing his BSB the oldblood chewed the Unit then took out the silverhelms. Things where lookin good for the Lizards!!
Disaster over the next 3 turns saw Jay manage to scrap the game back to a draw with some good shooting and Magic phases (Mostly the shooting tho) His reaver bow boy in paticular was devastating.
Game ended up a hard faught 10-10 Draw.
Unit of the Match- Salamanders
Game 2
Lizardmen vs Lizardmen (Josh forget last name)
Josh's list was rock hard
Slaan all the trimmings.
Skink Hero In Steg
Skink Priest EOTG
Jag Charm Saurus Hero
2x Large Skink Kroxigor Units
2x 15 Skink Unit
1x 10 Skink Unit
2x 3 Terradon Unit
5x Cham Skinks
1x Normal Stegadon
I wont go into to much detail about this game needless to say I prooved a well balanced list is far stronger then a Overpowered magic reliant list. I outflnaked him and the Salamanders again prooved how fantastic they where tearing apart his Skink units and causing havoc. He made a couple crucial errors in this game he Joined the Stegs into the massive Skink Kroxigor units allowing me to break them easily without allowing them to utilise their stubborn.
17-3 Victory
Unit of the Match- Salamanders
Game 3
Orcs & Goblins Vs Lizardmen (Young Harry (again forgot last name)
Harry's Army was another Brutal Build
Blorc Lord on Wyvern
x3 Shamans lvl2
x4 chariots in the Army
x2 Giants
x2 Orc Units
x2 Night Gobbo Units (x2 fanatics each)
x2 Bolt throwers
x4 Wolf Rider Units
This game Was awful for Harry His dice did little to support his cause by turn 3 I had killed everything bar half a unit of Orcs and 2 wolf rider units..... Case in point Lord on Wyvern Bounced off a krox Skink unit and was run down..... Even still I played it well Drawing out his fanatics with no cost of my own utilising his own fleeing chariots to kill themselves thanks to some well planned charges with the terradons. And a strong Deployment phase.
Harry did well but was outgunned both with the tactics utilised and the Dice.
20-0 Victory.
Unit of the match - Tie between a 11x Skink and 1xKroxigor unit and The Salamanders
Wow my first outing with the Lizards at a tourny (albiet a smallish one) and I carve up was undefeated and if I had used a painted army would have come 3rd or equal Second over all instead of 5th Still was very happy to have drawn with Jay (Who won the tournament) and to have beaten the X3 steg Slaan lizard build (perceived atm to be the nastiest unfriendliest build one can do).
Looking foward to future Tournys where the Lizards I am hoping will do us all proud.
I also had a practice game vs a Chaos Mortals army the night before I won that 19-1
Again it was very magic heavy but the lizardmen army is prooving to be quite resilient to magic Half the time I dont even bother dispelling spells in paticular magic missiles.
Temple Guard
Aranigej
Member
- Messages
- 229
- Likes Received
- 3
- Trophy Points
- 16
Congrats on your good results in the tourney!
As regards the skirmishers, seeing as you use yours in order to consolidate table quarters and to protect your rear and flanks, I think that another unit of skirmishers would further help.
I honestly can't see the use of a small unit of 10 rank and file skinks. They are slowed down by standard movement restrictions (such as wheeling) and they are easier for enemy to target. Skirmishers are much more flexible and you can get them where you need them much more efficiently. It is not a question of weaponry (although I do personally prefer blowpipes) but rather of skirmishers vs rank and file.
As regards to the meat shield, that is something that I have never, and probably will never use. It would definitely get in the way.
As regards the skirmishers, seeing as you use yours in order to consolidate table quarters and to protect your rear and flanks, I think that another unit of skirmishers would further help.
I honestly can't see the use of a small unit of 10 rank and file skinks. They are slowed down by standard movement restrictions (such as wheeling) and they are easier for enemy to target. Skirmishers are much more flexible and you can get them where you need them much more efficiently. It is not a question of weaponry (although I do personally prefer blowpipes) but rather of skirmishers vs rank and file.
As regards to the meat shield, that is something that I have never, and probably will never use. It would definitely get in the way.