8th Ed. Skink chief...

[Heinz the Hammer]

I have a scar vet, and will be getting a stegadon soon, but I have one question concerning this...
Is a skink chief useless?

 

[Elmquasmash]

Is a Skink Chief useless in general or on top of a Stegadon?

Skink Chiefs have been known to hold an infantry unit all on their own as well as run down the whole unit after a supporting attack comes their way. If you play them correctly they can be a very useful piece but that goes to say with ANY unit in the game or Character in the game (I just lost -.- ). They have also been known to die on the first turn or 2nd turn without giving even the slightest fight or even earning 5% of their points back for you.. It's chance.. You can spend 500 points on a Slann and have him miscast first turn on his first spell and fail his Cupped Hands roll and take a stroll through the realm of Chaos but it doesn't mean he'll be useless in other games

On top of a Stegadon? Well, give him the Stegadon War Spear and now he will be causing an extra d6 strength 6 impact hits on charges as well as his weapon granting his 4 strength an extra +2 making his three attacks at Initiative 6 strike at WS 4 Strength 6 which go along with attacks from four crew members and the additional 3 strength 6 attacks (Ancient Stegadon) or 4 strength 5 attacks (normal Stegadon). It makes for a pretty impressive charge.. Stegadon's are also Cannon magnets and if you fail a 'Look Out Sir' roll his life will be very short indeed (Edit: Do they even get a 'Look out Sir!' roll on the Stegadon? Puzzling...)

But what you must decide (and trust me, I am going through the same debate right now with how to build my Stegadon): Do you go with the Skink Chief on top? Or do you grab the always formidable Engine of the Gods with the Skink Priest? Its a tough decision, but think about how your army is going to be built and around what cornerstones and how you are going to improve the strengths of those cornerstones..

As to your question on if they are useless, I don't think so

 

[venom_x51]

I always find one on a Terradon with Staff of the Lost Sun and the Bane Head makes for a great lone character assassin. 3 S5 shots, with a BS of 5. Each unsaved wound doubling to 2 wounds. He took 2 wounds off a Chaos Sorcerer lord last game in the first turn. (ok, he got Purple Sun'd the next turn and died, but it was worth 150 points for those 2 wounds...)

 

[Heinz the Hammer]

Okay makes sense, never tried it like that.

I have a battalion, a few extra skinks, 2 priests and 1 old blood, but will be getting a stegadon asap.
But that is also the thing I am wondering about now, I want to eventually get a Slann, so should I make my Stegadon go Ancient or not? Well I am considering it since I have no rare units, and it will fill the hole quite nicely.

IF you do see that I have something that will not work, let me know, I want a formidable Lizardmen army, especially since my fiancee's DoC army is growing faster than expected.

 

[Elmquasmash]

First of all, your Fiance plays Warhammer? That equals WIN Congrats!

A Battalion with a few extra Skinks, two priests and an Oldblood... Well, if you take the Stegadon as a mount for a Chief or for a Priest he doesn't cost you a rare or special slot at all.. If you are going to get a Slann it might be worth it to make him into an Ancient Stegadon and put one of your Priests on him with an Engine of the Gods as those are always good to have in a large army and it will boost your armies effectiveness. Try visiting the Army List thread in the Lizardmen Forums to try and find an army that would seem close to your playing style/wants and then make it your own and work off of that

 

[JohnMavrick]

There are really only two builds worth their wiles for Chiefs atop stegadons and both are on ancients...

If you want an army oriented for close combat the Chief w/ Stegadon War Spear is the only way to go. While the A. Steg is just a mount it's an awesome mount truely (especially with the new monster stomp rule). The War Spear adds to this awesomeness.

If you want a magic heavy army then an EotG is a way to go over the top with your list. It's true the Slann is the powerhouse caster of the game. But a level three caster beside your Slann makes your casting phase all the more formidable. If your Slann runs out of viable spells or loses concentration you can switch to your Lvl 3 (or really for any reason under the sun).

Now something nice about the Steg you don't realize until you have the box in your hot little hands. You can actually buy one box and use it for BOTH an EotG AND a regular (A.) Steg. The throne the skink priest sits atop is easily removeable, and replaceable. So your kit becomes all the more versitile.