8th Ed. skinks vs chaos

[chimaira2s]

So, in light of recent events (four bowing archaon fanboys, nagash rising and mazdamundi cryptic utterings) my very first lizardman battle is commencing. I've been collecting and painting them for over a year, but due to very, very slow painting it never really came to playing. My first opponent will be a quite experienced chaos warriors player (a GW employee for kroak's sake), while I only have skinks to field. No problem really; I do not expect to win or anything but can anyone give me some good advise on this. It will be around 750 points. I have skinks, chiefs, a priest, one salamander, terradons and very maybe one kroxigor at my disposal. I love the look of cohorts, but after consulting our tactica index, I realize that would be pretty useless, especially without kroxigor muscle.
So:
- What can I expext? I recon chaos warriors cannot field terribly much at this point level.
- What should I focus on? Or is it only a matter of outmanouvering and darts?

Thanks all!

 

[n810]

Avoid close combat with skinks at all cost,
try and concentrate your skink on one unit at a time if possible,
try and position your salamander about 8" from your target, thats his best chance for hiting something.
try and have you terradons drop thet rocks on their chaff unit early and the harrass your enemy back field for the rest of the game.

 

[Scalenex]

At a low points level, a level two Heavens priest with a Ruby Ring of Ring can do a lot of damage.

 

[teufelhund]

Are you running J&S or blow pipes; I play them both differently. J&S is the standard flee, rally, harass, etc. But with blow pipes I try to set traps so I can get juicy no movement short range double shots. Also if you run J&S; wyssans on skinks for ranged attacks isn't bad. Basically just avoid combat at all costs and try to focus your fire on one enemy unit at a time. Keep the salamander on the flank near his largest unit so you can make the best use out of that template firing down his lines. If you have an extra terradon maybe an egg chief? Best of luck.

 

[GCPD]

I love the look of cohorts, but after consulting our tactica index, I realize that would be pretty useless, especially without kroxigor muscle.

I'm not sure what the Tactica says, but Skink Cohorts are far from useless - especially against Warriors. They key thing to bare in mind is that you cannot outfight Warriors, so don't try. Your advantages will be numbers and mobility - use these to fight on your terms, not on his.

There's a few options to take with Cohorts:

Minimum Size: 10 are effective chaff at only 50 points. Use them to redirect blocks you don't want to fight. I've been bumping these up to 12 with Muscians and Standards recently, and although its a bit more pricey it does give you more flexibility. Throw them in front of things or use them to tie up lone characters for 2-3 rounds. Skirmisher units do a similar job, but better (albeit at larger cost, bigger footprint, and no Steadfast).

Medium Size: 16-20 with Full Command. Double or more of the cost, but not to be trifled with as 20 shots can be a surprisingly effective firebase. The Poison upgrade makes them decent monster hunters. Go 10 wide vs monsters, and 5 wide vs anything with ranks to tarpit them.

Large Size: 20+ with Full Command. The purpose of this unit is to go for horde and overwhelm with poison shots on a Stand and Shoot, then 30 Poison attacks in combat. Kroxigor would really help here, otherwise you are reliant on the Poison.

I would suggest a level 2 Beasts Priest, and aim to get Wildform on any melee units before combat. S4 on the stand and shoot and Poison attacks will help crack that Chaos Armour. Just remember, if he's charging you then you need to cast it a turn in advance!

There's an excellent thread on Useful Skink Chiefs going about in the Tactics forum which might give you some ideas for builds. I'd suggest one with Egg of Quango, Enchanted Shield and Golden Sigil Sword (his purpose will be to inflict damage before taking any/dying horribly), and the other with Potion of Strength, Sword of Striking and Dragonhelm (this is the armour cracker. For bonus points, try to set it up so he drinks his Potion of Strength in your opponents turn, and gets a S7 stand and shoot!). Light armour, shields and Javelins on both where possible.

Edit: Just tried this, and sadly you can't get both Chiefs and a Priest at 750. So, without knowing your model availability, I'd go with:

Skink Chief - Potion of Strength, Enchanted Shield, Sword of Striking, Light Armour, Javelin.
Skink Priest - Level 2 Beasts. General. Hide him at the back somewhere.

25 Skinks, Full Command, Poison.
10 Skinks
10 Skinks
10 Skink Skirmishers

3 Terradons
1 Salamander, Extra Handler.

Just mix and match those Core Skinks to your personal preference. Priest sits in a small unit at the back of the board, Chief goes in the big unit.

 

[chimaira2s]

Many thanks!

I will give the list you made a go (albeit with some changes, sadly I currently own a mere 26 skinks or so), and give the quango chief a go. However to actually get to the 750 points, I probably have to include swarms. I guess their only purpose would be locking a unit in combat (for a very short time)

Also if you run J&S; wyssans on skinks for ranged attacks isn't bad

try and have you terradons drop thet rocks on their chaff unit early and the harrass your enemy back field for the rest of the game.

After doing some research on Chaos Warriors, that is probably (and hopefully) exactly what I will be doing most of the battle.

I will post the army list in the army list section, and try to do a proper battle report. Should be fun.