8th Ed. Tips for Skink Cohorts survival.

[cashzombie]

Hi, scaled friends


I've been running the popular skink cohorts for a while with good results, but I find them hard to keep alive. I run 20 in a unit and 21 in the other (core points requiered), they walk, the shoot and do whatever a skink is suppossed to do (I guess), but there's always something looking for them that sometimes I can't avoid.

So, do you have some tips or strategies to move your cohorts in order to increase their survability?

Nowadays, that many people consider them mandatory this thread could be really useful for new and lost players.


Thank you!

 

[Dyvim Tvar]

Tip #1 -- Don't be afraid to flee

If you're getting charged by an enemy unit that the cohort can't stand up to, feel free to run away.

Tip #2 -- Don't get too close to the enemy.

You may be tempted to get very close in order to avoid range penalties on your shooting. This can be a bad idea--if you are within 6" of the enemy, you may be too close to flee and get away if the enemy charges.

 

[Ixt]

The above is good advice: definitely flee if you must. Best not to get charged.

Most importantly: pick a specific role when you build the unit.

I can go into detail (as far as what's worked for me) if you need.

Anyway, some general stuff:

This goes for everything, but keep a Cowboy around.

Against Breath Weapons, Thunderstomps, and/or in the face of heavy casualties, challenge with your cohort champ if possible. He'll more than likely lose (by a lot), but that's typically okay: challenging will help you to maintain Steadfast for at least one round & get some back-up in position.

Sounds weird, but try giving them extra killing power to keep them around longer:

a: Take at least one Krox, though I prefer taking two (aside from the very hard hits, Ld7 is nice).

b: Poisoned Attacks.

c: Killy Skink Chief/Egg Chief. A Skink Priest is nice too.

d: Some combination.

If you're running an HM Slann (they synergize very well with these) and your opponent is targeting the Krox, try picking up two Life or Death (lol) spells to keep the Krox up.

The Krox draw a lot of attention, especially against hi-T & hi-Sv armies. Apotheosis is decent too, I guess.

With no Krox, it's imperative to support them with other units in close combat as necessary. They can't stand up to much, and their leadership is low. It's been hard for me to run them as a tarpit with them sans Krox.

Use Wyssan's on them, and/or Iceshard against whatever is fighting them - it goes a long way. I prefer rolling Heavens on a priest, and giving my Slann Wyssan's since he can reliably two-dice it (whereas a Priest typically needs 3).

Two Krox + Trog has been nice for me, for what it's worth - turning 3 hits (avg.) into 4 (Primeval Roar) goes a long way when you're S7 or S8 -- I've killed a DP like this (Krox had help from Skinks, but the two of them rolled 3 unsaved wounds on 4 hits thanks to Primeval Roar's 2 bonus attacks).

As for everything else, make them seem more threatening than they are.

 

[cashzombie]

I'll try to keep them far enough, although I'm of the stand and shoot school hahaha, like always happen, I guess this will be a question of choosing what can your skinks hold and what not (one of my cohorts managed to kill an unkillable tzeentch hero with the 3++ and 1's rerrolls winning the combat with their files and standard and making him run to it's death, that's the kind of weird moment that makes me think they're invencible when obviously they're not)

About making them skrox, I've tried the number in my head, cause the 16 skinks and 2 krox unit looks great on the battlefield, but I find kroxigors weak, I might be wrong, but those 100p are really worth?

I've been running them alone and poisoned, the shoot, the stand and shoot and the I4 poisoned attacks are wonderful against chaff.

 

[Ixt]

Well, start off with being able to take Krox - a Special choice - as Core. Pretty cool.

Then, if nothing else, their Ld7 is a great improvement over Ld5 (or 6 with a Priest/Chief).

Beyond that, the S7 attacks put a hurt on monsters & armor - Krox synergize very well with Skinks' poison shooting & attacks in this regard.

Then, of course, the T4 is pretty sweet too. The unit becomes a highly desirable target for Wyssan's and/or HoG.

Additionally, Fear. If you can get Fear (provided by Krox) on your opponent, your WS2 Skinks will loooove ya!

The flipside of Fear is that your Skinks - with a Krox - are immune to Terror. No more running from monsters, and the little guys stand to bring them down.

All in all, it's pretty great for 50 pts imo.

I like Dual Krox because it provides a little better insurance and an even harder punch. I've found that savvy opponents target the Krox and usually kill one, so having two has saved my butt on more than one occasion.

 

[Dyvim Tvar]

By the way, I normally field 1 cohort unit in my army. It's primary purpose is to serve as a hiding place for my skink priest (or sometines 2 of them). I generally try to keep the unit out of serious combat, but will take on chaff if the opportunity arises, and will use it to bait as well. Here is how I set it up and why:

10 x skinks - Keep the unit small and cheap.

1 x Krox - Mostly there for the leadership boost. Don't want my Priest failing a panic test.

Champion - Put him on the opposite corner of the unit from the priest. If the unit is charged by a lone character, the champ issues a challenge, the lone character has to accept and slide over to contact the champ. The Priest is then out of immediate danger. Even after the champ dies, the Priest is not in BTB and can't be targeted in subsequent rounds.

Musician - Help rally when the unit flees.

Standard - Will take if I have the points. The extra point of combat res helps a lot when taking on fast cav and other chaff.

 

[Stuntyogre]

I've been running a unit of 11-13 with standard and Krox plus poison. Really valuable multi tool, like others have said you have to be judicious about picking targets. I like using them as part of a double flee with Skirmishers since the Ld 7 makes them a lot less likely to flee from the friendly unit than a second Skirmisher unit.

This is a little unrelated but how can the Kroxigor(s) get the benefit of PF if they are permanently in the 2nd rank? Seems to contradict the way PF works with Saurus and their ilk

 

[Ixt]

I think that because the Krox is Monstrous Infantry, it gets its full attack value as supporting attacks, and is thereby entitled to PF... although no stomp is a bummer.

 

[Ixt]

Champion - Put him on the opposite corner of the unit from the priest. If the unit is charged by a lone character, the champ issues a challenge, the lone character has to accept and slide over to contact the champ. The Priest is then out of immediate danger. Even after the champ dies, the Priest is not in BTB and can't be targeted in subsequent rounds.

I've never tried this, but it's pretty smart.

Coombat reform wouldn't let them slide over after the challenge to go B2B woth the Priest?

 

[Dyvim Tvar]

I think that because the Krox is Monstrous Infantry, it gets its full attack value as supporting attacks, and is thereby entitled to PF... although no stomp is a bummer.

Unfortunately it doesn't work this way. The Monstrous Support rule limits a Monstrous Infantry model to 3 supporting attacks, which is the number of attacks on the Krox profile. This number can't be increased, and so PF has no effect.

Combat reform wouldn't let them slide over after the challenge to go B2B woth the Priest?

A combat reform cannot be used if it would result in taking any models (friend or foe) out of BTB contact with the enemy. Slinding the lone character over would result in one or more skink models that were in BTB contact then being out of BTB contact, and so it would not be legal.

 

[cashzombie]

With no clear wording PF should be applied like the army book says, cryers can't make the rules they want...

HE have their rules for support attacks with an extra rank and that's not what the rule book shows...

 

[Mortheim]

Lol. Some people forget about one discipline. There is one discipline, that can (somehow) prove, that PF generates attacks in second rank. Wording in "Reservoir of Eldritch Energy": "...on 2+ you can add that dice to your power pool (this cannot take your power pool beyond the normal limit).". So, if they write this statement in ONE discipline, why should they forgot to appoint that in the army rule?

 

[cashzombie]

Luckily my Team understands that PF works in every rank, but don't turn this thread in a battlefield hahaha

Have anyone of you tried a big borde cohort? I've been thinking on 34 skinks and 4 kroxigors, could this work?

 

[Ixt]

Have anyone of you tried a big borde cohort? I've been thinking on 34 skinks and 4 kroxigors, could this work?

I applaud your bravery, and this sounds awesome. I haven't, but now I'm considering it!

 

[cashzombie]

The front is 200mm, 14poisoned attacks and 12 S7 attacks (with PF when allowed)

This could be an option against monsters and chariots, something I usually find and saurus can't handle, also M6 gives more maniobravility for flank charges.

 

[PlasmaDavid]

maniobravility

I think I just had a seizure when I came across this attempt at spelling :S Doesn't your browser have a built in spellcheck?

I've never really tried to use Cohorts as a serious core choice, more of a for fun card. I have a block of 20 odd old metal skinks and a painted toy anklysaurus standing in for two Kroxigors, but I've never put much consideration into how I use them. Always just too tempting to send in more Saurus, and save the precious magic buffs to improve said Saurus.

 

[Ixt]

At that size, I wonder if it'd be worthwhile to Frenzy them..

 

[cashzombie]

My phone has an evil tendency to mix what I write while doing it... Sorry, guys...

I've played saurus in all sizes, and they are worthless in my competitive meta, everyone comes with high T or 1+As. At least skroxs come with poison and high strength, a monster will kill a krox and thunderstomp 3-4 skinks, but after two rounds of shooting, the poisoned attacks and the three remaining krox, the monster will suffer. And all without a single buff.

 

[PlasmaDavid]

Excellent points. I guess I've never faced enough high T/S armies to start to see Saurus as expensive wounds.

Is poison an auto-buy for cohorts?

 

[cashzombie]

For solo skinks I would say yes. 7 points for a poisoned skink gives you a lot of flexibility with shooting, standing and shooting and tien fighting, having a change if doing something.

If you add kroxigors, consider that you're paying for attacks you won't do until kroxigors die, but being 2p each we're talking of 68p max in poison, what I find worthwile.