8th Ed. more or less saurusless

[cresty]

Howdy folks.
Being quite the noob, not even having a proper list nor army, id like to plan ahead before going all dr.mengele on my minies and putting down a new purchase list. I would like to attempt a fast, hard hitting list and that leaves me with onky skinks as a real core option. I was thinking of one/two big/medium skrox cohorts as main infantry, 2 10skink cohorts to act similary to warhounds, annoyance, and a couoke of skirmisher units as harassment units. Still not sure wether i would be better to have one big cohort or two medium ones. But from what ive read on this forum, most people use one fat block of saurus and tg. Are they really unavoidable? I do not think that they are bad units, and tg are clearly a bargain pointwise from what i have seen them do, but the m4 and low i is kind of a turnoff, since most e locals i know play elves (not that it matters, i aint inthe hobby to win,but to play and have fun. I like the skittish running idea of a lizard, fast enough to run over water surfaces ).also i got over 50 old archer skinks wich would, imho, make sweer cohorts, id then take the new skink models for skirmishers (i know that is not a tactical argument, i just had to say it )
I would not mind having sauruses... Saurusi? In my army in the form of cold ones or carnosaur riders.

 

[Man0waR]

I've been playing the following list:

30 skink cohorts full command
24 skink cohorts + 3 kroxigor full command

10 skirmishers w/ javelin
10 skirmishers w/ javelin

7 CoR options may vary between games in term of available points.

3 Terradon / Ripperdactyles
3 Terradon / Ripperdactyles
3 Terradon / Ripperdactyles

Salamander w/ extra snack

Skink chief BSB w/ banner of Eternal flame

Skink priest w/ dispel scroll lvl2 heavens

Skink priest w/ cube of darkness lvl2 heavens

Scarvet on Cold One. GW AD

Oldblood on Cold One. GW StegHelm Talisman of 4++

Oldblood on Cold One. Charmed Shield, Piranha blade, Potion of Str , Dawn Stone.

2400 points

 

[Skinquisitor]

Hey!

Im big fan of skinks aswell. My recipe for core choice is a mixture of skirmishers: 3-4 units equipment depends on competition, and ~4 units of 10 skinks with musician, jav+shield. I often use skink blocks as bunkers for my cowboys. I have one unit of them to the opponets face, stopping 1 inch from them, and i put a second block of them with the cowboy behind that unit 12,1 inches, so even if the unit in the front is beaten, they wont be cought by overruns, but you are close enough to charge safely next turn with the saurus cowboy. And, if the front block is charged, simply stand and shoot because of qtf, they do 1-2 wounds Next turn, you can charge ~no matterwhat happens

 

[Scalenex]

I tried something new recently that produced mixed results, is to make a big Skroxigor block and put a bunch of Skink chiefs in the front rank. Take a lot of Lore of Beast casters in the army and try to bubble Savage Beast of Horros and possibly Pann's Impenetrable Pelt. Then you have a front rank that hits hard and is hard to kill backed with Strength 7 supporting attacks.

I blundered into a tarpit so the combo lost effectiveness, but I am going to try this again.

 

[cresty]

How does this look for a 1k point army?

Scar vet,general, cold one, light armor, shield, gold sigil sword and crown of command
2 x skink priest lvl2, one with dispel scroll one witgh cube of darkness
24 cohort skinks with fc, poison and two krox
2x 11 skirmishers with javelins
2 razordon packs

I know it aint nowhere near e point value you guys usualy see, but i gotta start somewhere. my idea was to dart around with te skirmishers and shoot down some models with them and the razordons before commiting to hth. The scar vet is mobile enough to keep up with the army, crown of command for not suffering from bad cr (dead skinks). The magical weapon is mostly so i dont have to fear ethereals and the i10 could be a surprise coming from a saurus id keep him behind the skinks to provide a mobile ld bubble, ready to charge in when extra kills are needed(i am just worried about lack of ward, it was either ward or stubborn, which i think may be worth it cause he lacks a unit) . Still not sure what lore is overall better. I must admit i am surprised how little fits into a thousand points, since this is my first list.seeing that skink cohorts are 5pts per model i thought i would end up with almost a hundred of them in a thousand points

 

[Ixt]

I'd drop the Razors - they're not very useful except for when they're run in groups of 5+, 4 at minimum.

Maybe pick up 3 Rippers instead?

Also, try to get a BSB in there!

Looks fun otherwise!

 

[Scalenex]

Agreed, a BSB is vital.

 

[Agrem]

How does this look for a 1k point army?
2 x skink priest lvl2, one with dispel scroll one witgh cube of darkness

For 1k game this is just overkill. I think you should do well just with one priest with dispel scroll. I might also not bother with the crown of command. The Vet should be able to tackle with most opponents without this also.

Otherwise the list looks quite solid and should be able to take on most armies and compete with them.

 

[cresty]

Thank you for your advice

Ive redone the list, attempting to take into considerstion as much of your advice as i could

Scar vet, gold sigil sword, armor, shield, cold one
Skink chief, bsb, shield, light armor, blowpipe
Skink priest, lvl2, dispel scroll

Cohort, 20 skinks, fc, 2 krox, poison
2x 10 javelin skirmishers

Now with over 250pts left i am tempted to go for an ancient steg and buy more bodies for the cohort, to have at least something that won't die after a turn and a half of combat (rippers seem squishy) that can also serve as a shooting platform. For its point its right under the maximum, and would be a great added threat factor on the table (krox die easier and could possibly be ignored cause of that). Still not sure about the bsb, chiefs seem squishy. The units he could are not tanky either.

 

[Ixt]

If the Chief's squishiness is a concern, remember that you can make Scar-Veterans into BSBs (they're great BSBs). By the way, you ought to squeeze a Dragonhelm or Dragonbane Gem in there. Lore of Metal will mess your day up!

As far as what to take with the leftovers, a Bastiladon could provide you some nice long range support. Remember that it can march & activate its Solar Engine in the same turn, giving the Beam a topped-out 32" range.

There's also the option of getting more Skink Chiefs, which would add a substantial punch to your main block (especially if you're taking Beasts) or your Skirmisher squads. Handy with blowpipes, they can split off into firing squads in a pinch. Maybe even a flying Chief? In either case, a bunch of these guys with Savage Beast is a force to be reckoned. They are a very, very good Heroes choice for what they cost, especially when you run them in numbers.

A Salamander or two wouldn't hurt, since you'll need to thin your enemy's elite infantry before taking them on.

A block of 4 Kroxigor w/ the Ancient Krox would pack a serious punch. That's a lot of S7 attacks (13 + PF) & S5 stomps to throw at something that you don't want your main block to get involved with. Just don't forget that they can't have a musician, so you've got to position them well.

The Ancient Stegadon is pretty good, too. A 6+ ward is nice, and its bound spell will clear out chaff nicely. Both Stegadons are good choices.

Plenty of options! Right now, it looks like your army could use some high strength and/or high toughness stuff.

 

[Skinkinitup]

I'd drop the Razors - they're not very useful except for when they're run in groups of 5+, 4 at minimum.
!

Truth be told they are more effective in a single pack.

Sure, they do not dish out MAJOR damage in 1 single pack but they never get caught, and if you do the math where they are always hitting on 5s (long range) then they generally will dish out between 3-8 wounds/game.

Thats 6-16 wounds based on 130 points. Those wounds have ALWAYS been important and ALWAYS been worth more than 130 points.

Completely disagree with this thought.

 

[Ixt]

Agree to disagree, I suppose.

I prefer for my Razors to harry & receive a charge, which, in my opinion, is where they shine: block units, shoot at them, stand and shoot, maul stuff in close combat.

In numbers, that works wonderfully. Alone (or in a group of two), they're entirely ineffective in that role.

Will two Razordons go the whole game with no trouble? Two may be effective by the numbers (hasn't been my experience), but how many magic phases do you expect them to last?

Take numbers - much harder to bring down 4-6 MBs with spells than 2. Hell, a decent mid-level Fireball will take down 2.

If the goal is to field something that tramps around the field, flees, and shoots, scores bunches of wounds... well, I guess a lone Razordon isn't *terrible*, but I think we've got much more reliable options to fill that role.

If my biggest concern is, "What'll get me lots of wounds at range?," then I take a Bastiladon over two Razordons every time.

Even so, that list doesn't have much use for two Razors... without Saurus, it needs anti-infantry and/or anti-armor.

 

[cresty]

what worries me most is elite, heavy armored infantry. i dont think the skinks will do very well against them (i dont put much faith in saurus either, since i believe chaos warriors/phoenix guard/black guard can dish more damage than the saurus can take). I have never played with the basty, 2+ seems nice, but the toughnes leaves to be wished for. he is hardy, and way cheaper than a stegadon... how would salamanders fare in a skink dominant army? the template seems effective against infantry big enough to threaten skinks (at least to dwindle them down to manageable size)

 

[Ixt]

Although one bad Terror roll can upset your opponent's gameplan, Sallies are probably our best choice overall for handling basic infantry blocks (aside from our various Saurus units), yeah.

Elite infantry? Normally, I'd say TG w/ Armour Piercing & de/buffs. Without any Saurus, that's a bit more tough. Whittle them down for sure.. depending on the army, Rippers could work with some magic support. Toughy there.