AoS Skink Priest on Engine of the Gods

[Korloq Huan]

So I was just going through the rules for my Seraphon as I'm getting back into AoS. I was reading the Engine f the Gods description and saw that it mentioned a Skink Priest. This got me thinking whether or not the Engine of the Gods unit includes a Skink Priest unit. Here's my reasoning:

The description reads: "An Engine of the Gods is a single model crewed by a Skink Priest and a number of skinks. The Stegadon bearing the engine attacks with its Sharpened Horns and flattens the foe with its Crushing Stomps, while the skinks riding in its howdah hurl Meteoric Javelins - enchanted projectiles that transmute into meteors as they soar towards the enemy".

Key words: ORDER, DAEMON, CELESTIAL, SERAPHON, STEGADON, SKINK, MONSTER, HERO, PRIEST, SKINK PRIEST, ENGINE OF THE GODS

1) The description mentions Skink Priest using capital letters, this means it is referring to the unit. When describing what the unit attacks with, where it reads, "the skinks riding in its howdah hurl Meteoric Javelins", it is referring to "a number of skinks". Since it made the distinction between them in the first sentence, it keeps the distinction in the second sentence.
2) When mentioning which weapons are used, it mentions that, "the skinks riding in its howdah hurl Meteoric Javelins", then provides their weapon stats for the Metoric Javelins, yet there is no mention of the Skink Priest with regards to the weapons used.
3) the unit has the keyword SKINK PRIEST.
Therefore it seems as though it refers to the Skink Priest unit from page 118. So would that mean I should use the Skink Priest rules along with the Engine of the Gods rules?

I did some further checking with another 2 units (the Plague Furnace/Screaming Bell) and it would seem to suggest the above is correct. Both Plague Furnace and Screaming Bell are exactly the same with the example I'll be giving so i'll just go over the Plague Furnace.

The Plague Furnace description with regards to the Plague Monk reads: "At its fore stands a cackling Plague Priest wielding a Warpstone-tipped Staff that sparks with malign power". In this case it provides the weapon stats for the Warpstone-tipped Staff. I then decided to check the Plague Monk unit Warscroll to check. If it was the same unit then it would prove the Skink Priest + Engine of the Gods theory wrong. However the Plague Priest in the Plague Furnace Warscroll is a different Plague Priest to the Plague Priest in the Plague Priest Warscroll. They have different Warpstone-tipped Staffs and abilities, so even though they're both Plague Monks. They are different Plank Priest units.

Going back to the Skink Priest + Engine of the Gods theory, the only other instance of a Skink Priest in the Seaphon book, is the Skink Priest Warscroll, so surely according to all of the above the Skink Priest in question in the Engine of the Gods Warscroll must be the Skink Priest from the SKink Priest Warscroll.

The conclusion from all this would be that the rules for the Skink Priest in the Skink Priest Warscroll should be used alongside the Engine of the Gods when using the Engine of the Gods Warscroll.

What do you guys think? is this correct, and should the rules be used side by side? or is there some faq out there that I've missed? xD

 

[Crowsfoot]

I thought the priest on the EOG was a Skink Alpha.

 

[Aginor]

No the Skink Alpha is just on the Stegadon, not on the EotG.

But sorry @Korloq Huan I disagree.
Every warscroll in the game describes a single unit. The keywords are about that unit. The EotG _is_ a Skink Priest.
Everyone plays it that way at official GW tournaments.
There is no reason to assume it is meant to be played otherwise.
Warscrolls are not made by lawyers, their wording (especially that of old warscrolls like this) is sometimes just weird, allowing interpretations such as yours.

That being said: I think it would be kinda cool to have such a modular unit.

 

[Korloq Huan]

Yeah, I had a feeling they'd probably meant it how you put it Aginor. It would be cool if they added in a Skink Priest ability for the Engine of the Gods. The Stegadon's Skink Alpha has an ability. I wouldn't mind a bit of a point increase if you shoved the Skink priest Celestial Rite ability to it. It'd make it a sweet hero unit.

 

[Aginor]

Yeah, I had a feeling they'd probably meant it how you put it Aginor. It would be cool if they added in a Skink Priest ability for the Engine of the Gods. The Stegadon's Skink Alpha has an ability. I wouldn't mind a bit of a point increase if you shoved the Skink priest Celestial Rite ability to it. It'd make it a sweet hero unit.

Absolutely agree.

 

[Killer Angel]

The skink priest is there because she's the operator of the Engine, so the priest can only do that.
It's a magical device, basic skinks cannot unleash its power.

 

[Joshua Horchler]

Basic Skinks can do anything they put their minds too. Don't doubt them.

 

[John1974]

Also with having the skink priest on board this is also why it can take an artifact

 

[Ritual]

Key words are fun, but alas still only describe the single unit. It would, however, be useful if at some point in the future we get a spell or command ability that buffs a skink priest or skink hero, as the EotG would technically be able to receive whatever that buff was.