7th Ed. Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index (Updated with Picture)

[Celticfire]

Well i might as well add my contribution to this site-wide Index so with out further ado i present to you:

Skink Skirmishers

Role

Screen - Deploy them in front of your battle line and have them absorb any Shooting and Magic.

Harassment - Deploy them on the flanks of your army and let have them pick off people from there. Moving them into terrain is useful for the protection it offers. From this point they may also become a screen or a redirector.

Redirection - This role is better suited for Ranked Skinks but can be done by Skirmishers as well. Deploy the closest visible Skink at the angle which you want to redirect the enemy unit. This can happen later in the game if you first use them as harassers.
Kudos to Azactoth for this picture

Unit Size

10 - This size will work well for all roles.

12 - This also pretty common. This is mostly used if extra points are available as it makes the unit a bit bigger and more survivable. Also the boxes give you multiples of 12 so it ensures you use all the models purchased. (strewart)
13 - For 7 pts more you can make the unit take one more death before taking a panic test which is good. This size gives sturdiness to your unit.(Dumbledore)
Pros

• -1 To Hit while being shot
  Ignore difficult terrain
  Blowpipes
  Loose formation
  Poison

Cons

• No rank bonus
  Loose formation
  Average BS
  More expensive than Ranked Skinks
  Low Ld

Upgrades

Brave – Typically not worth it to have one attack at a slightly increased BS. Skink Skirmishers will usually require a 6+ To Hit enemies due to movement, range and Multi-Shot penalties and so rely on Poison to kill. This negates the need for a +1 BS. It is easy to forget about this guy as the battle progresses. I myself have forgotten every time I try.

Javelins and Shields - This is really personal preference: you can decrease your range to 8" and lose the Multi-Shot in order to lose the -1 penalty to Moving and Shooting and Long Range.

The Basics

Skirmishing - First, Skirmishers have a -1 to being shot, which is good as they have Ld 6. Second, and more importantly, they ignore difficult terrain. They depend on using terrain for hiding and surviving. Third, they do not use Movement to wheel, turn or any other positional changes. They can move their full movement in any direction or pattern, as long as they don’t exceed their Movement range. Fourth, they need only be within 1” of another model in their unit. This allows them to stretch into a long line, huddle into oddly shaped terrain, or even form a horse-shoe around an enemy unit to stay out of charge range.

This also makes it harder to position them for redirecting. I would suggest that you practice trying to set up the redirection a number of times before actually doing it in battle. Of course, if there is a battle that is geared for learning, then I couldn't think of a better time. They are also 2 points more each than Ranked Skinks, who are easier to use for redirection.

Blowpipes – Due to their longer range and their Multi-Shot, they are the perfect tool for taking out large amounts of low armor troops. With Poison they can take out high toughness enemies as well. Unfortunately, with only BS 3 they will almost always require 6s to hit.

Targets

• Low armor targets
  High Toughness targets with low armor ie:giants, Ogres, and the like
  Fast Cavalry-these normally have a low armor save and can foul up your important Sarus if they hit in the flanks

Things To Avoid

you should not find yourself in combat often. You should be fleeing most charges, or Standing and Shooting to try to make athe enemy take a panic test.

High armor save Units like Knights of Chaos, Chosen, Grail Kights. you will do nothing to these units. (Barotok)

 

[strewart]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

A good start. The humble skink skirmisher can be one of our most important and useful units in a battle. Do you mind if I (or someone else) goes through and fixes up some of the spelling and grammar to make it easier to read?

Unit size: 12 is also pretty common. Mostly if extra points are available they just get thrown there, it makes the unit a bit bigger and more survivable. Also the boxes give you multiples of 12 so it ensures you use all the models you bought.

Upgrades: The common consensus is javelins are not worth it. The skirmishers are already more expensive than the ranked skinks, why pay even more for javelins? Blowpipes I believe have been statistically shown to be more effective as well.

I think the diagram from the other thread explaining the charge redirection for skirmishers would be helpful here, since it is a hard thing for people to get their head around.

Added to the Index.

 

[Grifthin]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

My skinks have special "rage Button" Bult in - Every game they do nothing for the first 1-3 turns. Then my opponent normally Comments - "such a waste of points" or "useless". I am GARUNTEED to roll 5+ 6's from that turn onward, They have in their time Chased down vampire lords, annihilated DWARF regiments, killed warmachine crew, Dragon Knights.

Gods I love my skinks.

 

[Celticfire]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

Do you mind if I (or someone else) goes through and fixes up some of the spelling and grammar to make it easier to read?

be my guest, it was 10 Pm and i had to deal with the scrolly page of doom.

EDIT: Done and Done

 

[snowywlf]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

*removed*

 

[Celticfire]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

Somehow i know i should feel happy that everyone wants to correct my spelling and grammer but....

i guess it is good that i did not go into AP english

 

[snowywlf]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

Somehow i know i should feel happy that everyone wants to correct my spelling and grammer but....

i guess it is good that i did not go into AP english

Haha! Please dont take it personally. I happen to have a degree in English and I've done several jobs as an editor. It is more about my english oddities than your grammar/spelling.

You put together some great info on the Skirmishers! Thanks!

 

[Barotok]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

I would also volunteer that having a Tactica that is written in a consistent manner is much easier for the user to read thereby providing more use to more players. As it seems we have folks who are willing to make sure that the tactica is edited and formatted consistently, it shouldn't look bad on anyone.

I have a suggestion for additional information to be included in this FAQ. Since SS are typically utilized for their march blocking and missile fire, would it not be a good idea to include a list of good targets for skinks to aim at? I know that I typically target units that have little or no armor or very high toughness monsters. Targetting high armor troops seems futile me and being one who has actually tried it, I am always disapointed with the results of such endeavors.

If you find yourself in combat you have done something wrong. You should be fleeing all charges, or Stand and Shooting IF and only IF you can wipe them out.

I won't attempt to say that this statement is not true. However, I feel that this rule can be very situational. I know that most of the time I will elect to flee with my skirmishing units, unless I find myself in a situation where I am forced to use them as a screen or redirector unit, I am certian that I can cause enough casualties with my stand and shoot to either cause panic or be able to best the remainder in CC (the FAQ mentions this), I am willing to use the skirmisher to tie up what ever unit is charging in CC for a round or two. This equates to fleeing most of the time, but I don't 100% agree with the fact that having your skirmishing skinks in CC means you're doing something wrong.

Hope this helps, and keep up the good work.

 

[Dumbledore]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

13 is a far more optimal unit size than 12 as it requires one more to die before panicking. Cold blooded makes this point a little moot, but every little helps and it's only 7 points for a reasonably considerable meat shield and general sturdiness advantage. Odd (or rather prime) unit sizes isn't an issue with skirmishers, after all.

edit: ps I second the call for a roughly uniform format to these guides.

 

[Celticfire]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

I would also volunteer that having a Tactica that is written in a consistent manner is much easier for the user to read thereby providing more use to more players. As it seems we have folks who are willing to make sure that the tactica is edited and formatted consistently, it shouldn't look bad on anyone.

which is why i attempted to to follow Snowywlf's form when i wrote mine, but.....you can't please everyone.

great advice guys, thanks

 

[strewart]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

Maybe we should make a template for future ones with the code already in place.. Should be pretty easy if the first two are already much the same.

Anyway yeah don't worry it being edited, the whole point of this undertaking is it is a community endevour, I would expect all of them to be picked apart quite heavily and modified, if we're going to go to all the effort to make them we should make them as best as we can combined. Which, given the knowledge and skills of people I have seen around here, should make a pretty damn good list of articles.

 

[DonkeyHotep]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

I would point out that the javelins skinks still cost as much as an empire archer, and with the added armor save could conceivably beat such creatures if you charge them, not very effective against the flails of marauders, but could do some good even against ranged attacks. Personally, I don't run them merely because I typically don't run skirmishers of any kind, but I think it would be worth considering them.

 

[stumpyfjord]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

A couple of things from me.

- Do you folks see Skinks as ranged threats?
- How do you keep them safe from ranged or flyers?

 

[Barotok]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

I know that most of my opponents regard my skirmishing skinks as ranged threats and thereby I do as well. What they lack in range the can almost make up for in movement. While they may not provide a traditional level of threat that a typical shooter provides, they can be often times underestimated. This allows them to reach areas where they can come up big in a shooting phase (IE kill a bloodthirster or wipe out a unit) surprising the opponent and providing a psychological advantage in some cases. Most of my opponents now are well versed on the threat skirmishing skinks bring when then land on the table and treat them carefully. This opens up more room for different stratagem to be used in the case of my other uints.

As far as keeping them safe, skinks have great natural defenses that help protect them from shooting (-1 to hit for being Skirmishers). Positioning plays a cruical role here as poorly placed skinks draw a charge. If you're not intending for them to take a charge at that point, it can foul up even the best battle plan. Skink Skirmishers are often used as screens to shield other more expensive troops from shooting until they are able to get into combat. As far as keeping flyers away from them, most of my opponents (the ones who use flyers) don't seem to want to chase a 70 point unit of skinks around the board. Although an average unit of flyers could probably end up beating a unit of skink skirmishers on a consistent basis, I don't seem to have a lot of opponents who want to bother with them as I usually field another unit that can do what ever the destroyed one was supposed to do.

 

[Quillum]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

Perhaps a bit of a dumb question, but does screening the skinks in front of whatever unit you want to protect work if the ranged shots are coming from a hill? Or does that hill provide them with line of sight over them to the unit behind? If not, what can one do to negate the bonus such a ranged unit has? Deploy away from the hill?

 

[strewart]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

Yeah from a hill they can shoot over your units..

There is very little you can do about it except target the units on the hill. Hills are fairly uncommon so you shouldn't encounter it too often, and usually they aren't huge so they shouldn't be able to put too many units on it.

 

[kables]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

How do you properly 'Screen" as ive seen it

for me personally in the dozen games ive lost

Most of my opponets are not scared or even care about them.

 

[strewart]

Re: Skink Skirmisher FAQ and Index

Screening is simply lining them up in front of one of your own units or maybe several. Since they are in skirmish formation, you can spread them out thin easily. Since they move fast they don't get in the way of what is behind them, and when you get near combat if they are still alive they can be shifted out of the way or used to redirect charges. The image for that will be in the thread soon.

Remember, enemy units cannot see through your units, even skirmishers. This means unless they are a large target or on a hill, if they point weapons (or magic) at you they need to destroy the skink skirmishers first before they can target what is behind them. Skinks are cheap and expendable, plus being skirmishers they are harder to hit by missile fire, so they do the job very well. The idea is to keep the bulk of your army alive for when it reaches combat.

 

[Dumbledore]

I think this FAQ actually underestimates skirmishers. They are genuinely much easier to redirect with, I have found, than an equivalent ranked unit (eg 10 skink cohort), though of course you have to remember the diagram. Their skirmishing actually makes them much more fluid and in the few games that I have played this allows them, if needed, to squeeze just outside of the charge arc of things etc. Also they are much better redirectors as they can move freely through rough terrain, making them much less likely to be run down by the enemy (handy when leading something frenzied or cumbersome on a jaunt through a forest). If redirecting they can flee - then rally (good chance of rallying, especially if you have wardrums nearby) - then fire 20 shots due to 360 vision - then repeat if needed.

A successful redirect should either help you flank charge a unit or avoid combat from a nasty such as chaos knights. If the former then you can probably try and get the (hopefully) rallied skirmishers behind the unit you flanked. If the latter, then you get the add 20 poisoned shots to harass the enemy unit with. Considering that the skinks would have earned their points simply by having an expensive unit chase them for several turns, a hopeful few sets of 20 shots can be thought of as a bonus, a substantial one with any luck.

IMO therefore, skirmishers are better than ranked skinks for redirecting in every possible way (I inferred it but did not state overtly: they also obviously do not need to wheel, and so get into position much more easily). I also did not mention that by use of the closest skink they can be used to get in the way of two enemy units on occasion, either hopefully resulting in an awkward redirect.

I would also personally not consider loose formation a disadvantage in any other way than pushing twenty or more skirmishers around each turn is a bit time consuming. I've never seen a situation myself where ranked units could do a maneuver that skirmishers could not and most of the time skirmishers could do it better.

 

[Celticfire]

The idea was to say that it is harder to get used to redirecting with skirmishers. i do agree with you about using skirmisher ot redirect. i now use them exclusivly for redirecting.