Total War: WARHAMMER Wiki

The diligent workforce of the Lizardmen Empire, good for throwing into melee as fodder.

Skink Cohort are a Lizardmen melee infantry unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer II.

Recruitment[]

Description[]

Skittish and quick, Skinks stand out from the rest of the sluggish Lizardmen. They are the mass workforce designed by the Old Ones to perform many different roles, and without them, Lizardmen society would quickly collapse. Skinks take up weapons during their many patrols as well as to join the fighting during times of war. As troops, they range between reckless audacity and sudden panic. Their skittish nature makes them much more prone to routing than the stoic Saurus. Most commonly, the Skinks advance before the bulk of the main army, harassing the foe's advance with hails of darts. When massed together in a fighting cohort, they can bulk out a Lizardmen battleline. The volleys of javelins and darts that the Skinks can unleash are astoundingly dangerous, for they have learned to coat their weapons with lethal toxins distilled from venomous amphibians, insects and serpents that thrive in the steamy jungle and profuse swamps of Lustria.

Attributes[]

  • Cudgel Infantry
  • Aquatic: Where other units of small stature struggle to fight and move in shallow water, Aquatic units excel.
  • Shielded: Shields have a chance of blocking arrows, bolts, rifle shots and similar small arms fire - but only in a forward facing arc.

Unit Abilities[]

Passive Abilities[]

Strategy[]

The Skink Cohort may seem like just another cannon fodder unit at first, but these little lizards can be highly useful when properly employed on the battlefield. Skinks have a number of advantages that make them highly useful to put on the flanks of your main battle line.

Skinks are fast. With a speed of 46 they're the fastest cheap infantry units in the game, though they are outpaced by Skaven Death Runners and Vampire Counts Cairn Wraiths (Though you really shouldn't be fighting these with Skinks anyway). Their speed makes Skinks adept at flanking or attacking unprotected units, as well as chasing down fleeing troops. Despite being cheap, Skinks actually have fairly decent combat stats and come standard with shields, which is also better than most basic infantry. If fighting in swamplands, Skinks are your best friend as they are Aquatic. As Skinks are just as numerous as Vampire Coast undead and have much better stats, they can also challenge the pirate undead on their own turf.

Cohorts are best used on the flanks of your main line. Have them engage units with armour-piercing before they can close with your Saurus and do real damage, or push them around the enemy flanks to encircle them. Cohorts are also useful in reserve, ready to fill any holes that might develop in your own line or exploit those in your opponent's. As Lizardmen mount their siege engines on powerful dinosaurs, not as much attention must be paid to keeping them secure, however a Cohort protecting them from anti-large troops is rarely a bad idea.

Skinks don't perform too well late game melee clashes and skirmishes, however as mentioned above they can patch up lines easily, also, they can provide good shields for Kroxigors, pooling like a ocean around them as the massive Crocodilians swing over their small frames. They also come with shields, meaning they can make an early-game frontline, though they are relatively weak, they can be supported by Skink Braves (specialist types like Chameleons and Red-Crests) on the flanks while they maintain a frontline, distracting the enemy. Skink Cohorts are recruitable at any Tier 1 settlement, meaning you can replenish these guys far easier than Saurus warriors and Kroxigors, so don't bother trying to keep these guys alive at all costs, losing them isn't a huge loss since as I said, they can be replaced in one turn at any settlement.

Gallery[]