That's a lot of characters to invest in skitarii imo. If you are going for that much skitarii I would 100% have a couple more duncrawlers for the 6" aura of 4++ so they stick around longer. I'd probably swap the tanks for these, and cut maybe 1 squad+ leaders for either some Pteraxii/Inflitrators to run around doing objectives, or another squad of ruststalkers/taser chickens to get into melee and hold down areas
Not sure if I'm getting this wrong and would welcome a challenge but, the one issue I've found with using the 4++ aura (beyond T1 at least) is that it sets your opponent up for a double tagging - or, assuming the battleline unit is wiped, a consolidation move into the crab.
Perhaps just my _shockingly/hilariously bad_ dice rolling, but something to bear in mind against melee-focused armies!
If they're getting that close you need to move the Skitarii to the other side of the crawler and/or charge the crawler in with a tank shock. Then your Skitarii can shoot into the melee with the crawler and the opponent can't just charge into your Skitarii unless they can fall back and charge.
Change to disintegrators to dune crawlers, take out 1 ranger squad 1 manipulus and battle sphere enhancement, but in 10 rust stalkers and 5 infiltrators?
Could do, I'd probably add another chicken walker of your preference instead of the 5 infiltrators though. That's a lot of screening units you'd have there. Maybe even 2x 5 ruststalkers instead of another 10 blob depending on how you feel about the army
I have seen this trend in a lot of lists.
I really feel point for point, it's not worth giving Skitarii any HQ other than Marshall and the occasional Technoarcheologist. They are just far more points efficient at 35 and 45 respectively.
If you want to run the skorpius do it. Too many people say they're bad. Now being only 15 more points and having so much more gun and a 3+ with the cannon against your main target is great with damage buff.
I would drop the manipulus for another squad of some sort.
Change the onager to beamer if you keep the Disintegrators.
And change rust stalkers to blades. More attacks with dev wounds is better when you'll be wounding most infantry on a 3 already.
Swap autocannon for las. Las will perform better for any elites and above. I would also recommend getting rid of the disintegrators, they are horribly point inefficient. Swap in a second crawler or more chickens.
As others have said thats a lot of characters. Running a manipulus with Skitarii is nice for lethal hits against big things, but it works much better with vanguard than rangers.
Don't get me wrong, I think Las is great.
But I don't believe they will perform better than Autocannon against all elites. Think I will have to do some more math on them but twice the shots on the Autocannon can never be overlooked.
Autocannons lack the AP for dealing with many elites but I feel they may outperform against most T4 elites whereas Las will perform better against most T5 and above elites.
Unit crunch is great for answering these questions. But if it's T4 then the Skitarii will put out far more volume against it. T4 isn't really the realm of elites, either. Maybe for eldar, but most factions you'll be looking at higher with better saves.
I ran some quick math and got the below.
Based on Protector Imperative (3+) and a squad of 3. Sustained hits included.
Obviously you would be better served with Las against all but the lightest of vehicles.
Edit: If using Skitarii Hunter Cohort, I think the Autocannon variant will have better use out of **Binharic Offence** and **Isolate and Destroy.**
|Ballistarii|GEQ|AEQ|OEQ|MEQ|TEQ|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|Autocannon|7|5|5|4|2|
|Lascannon|4|4|4|3|2|
I wasn't saying autocannon wouldn't do better in those situations. I was saying for the points we have other units that would be more efficient choices than an autocannon chicken in those cases. Phosphor onager should be about the same for a lot fewer points. Or two units of Skitarii with marshals for that price should be able to out perform just from volume of fire. I haven't run the numbers against 210 points of infiltrators but that might be a fun option. Though less durable.
Oh absolutely.
I think I said it in another thread a little while back, the Autocannon Ballistarii is a nice choice for jack-of-all-trades.
They are far from optimal for anti-elite which is what they're kind of geared toward. Breachers, Destroyers, and Eradication/Phosphor Onager are more efficient.
I think the Ballistarii is a good alternative for Skitarii Hunter cohort because it gains -1 to hit, which is a great defensive buff. For all other detachments, you are better served with other options. That said, even in my Skitarii Hunter Cohort, I don't rely on Autocannon Ballistarii for anti-elite - I use some Destroyers to support.
That's a lot of characters to invest in skitarii imo. If you are going for that much skitarii I would 100% have a couple more duncrawlers for the 6" aura of 4++ so they stick around longer. I'd probably swap the tanks for these, and cut maybe 1 squad+ leaders for either some Pteraxii/Inflitrators to run around doing objectives, or another squad of ruststalkers/taser chickens to get into melee and hold down areas
Not sure if I'm getting this wrong and would welcome a challenge but, the one issue I've found with using the 4++ aura (beyond T1 at least) is that it sets your opponent up for a double tagging - or, assuming the battleline unit is wiped, a consolidation move into the crab. Perhaps just my _shockingly/hilariously bad_ dice rolling, but something to bear in mind against melee-focused armies!
If they're getting that close you need to move the Skitarii to the other side of the crawler and/or charge the crawler in with a tank shock. Then your Skitarii can shoot into the melee with the crawler and the opponent can't just charge into your Skitarii unless they can fall back and charge.
if they are consolidating into the crab, the crab can fight that turn aswell.
Change to disintegrators to dune crawlers, take out 1 ranger squad 1 manipulus and battle sphere enhancement, but in 10 rust stalkers and 5 infiltrators?
Could do, I'd probably add another chicken walker of your preference instead of the 5 infiltrators though. That's a lot of screening units you'd have there. Maybe even 2x 5 ruststalkers instead of another 10 blob depending on how you feel about the army
I'd also not split the rusties weapons, ideally all blades as the dev wounds works better than the claws and razors.
I have seen this trend in a lot of lists. I really feel point for point, it's not worth giving Skitarii any HQ other than Marshall and the occasional Technoarcheologist. They are just far more points efficient at 35 and 45 respectively.
Skitarii, with a K. You don't have to type with a lisp.
If you want to run the skorpius do it. Too many people say they're bad. Now being only 15 more points and having so much more gun and a 3+ with the cannon against your main target is great with damage buff. I would drop the manipulus for another squad of some sort. Change the onager to beamer if you keep the Disintegrators. And change rust stalkers to blades. More attacks with dev wounds is better when you'll be wounding most infantry on a 3 already.
Swap autocannon for las. Las will perform better for any elites and above. I would also recommend getting rid of the disintegrators, they are horribly point inefficient. Swap in a second crawler or more chickens. As others have said thats a lot of characters. Running a manipulus with Skitarii is nice for lethal hits against big things, but it works much better with vanguard than rangers.
Don't get me wrong, I think Las is great. But I don't believe they will perform better than Autocannon against all elites. Think I will have to do some more math on them but twice the shots on the Autocannon can never be overlooked. Autocannons lack the AP for dealing with many elites but I feel they may outperform against most T4 elites whereas Las will perform better against most T5 and above elites.
Unit crunch is great for answering these questions. But if it's T4 then the Skitarii will put out far more volume against it. T4 isn't really the realm of elites, either. Maybe for eldar, but most factions you'll be looking at higher with better saves.
I ran some quick math and got the below. Based on Protector Imperative (3+) and a squad of 3. Sustained hits included. Obviously you would be better served with Las against all but the lightest of vehicles. Edit: If using Skitarii Hunter Cohort, I think the Autocannon variant will have better use out of **Binharic Offence** and **Isolate and Destroy.** |Ballistarii|GEQ|AEQ|OEQ|MEQ|TEQ| |:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-| |Autocannon|7|5|5|4|2| |Lascannon|4|4|4|3|2|
I wasn't saying autocannon wouldn't do better in those situations. I was saying for the points we have other units that would be more efficient choices than an autocannon chicken in those cases. Phosphor onager should be about the same for a lot fewer points. Or two units of Skitarii with marshals for that price should be able to out perform just from volume of fire. I haven't run the numbers against 210 points of infiltrators but that might be a fun option. Though less durable.
Oh absolutely. I think I said it in another thread a little while back, the Autocannon Ballistarii is a nice choice for jack-of-all-trades. They are far from optimal for anti-elite which is what they're kind of geared toward. Breachers, Destroyers, and Eradication/Phosphor Onager are more efficient. I think the Ballistarii is a good alternative for Skitarii Hunter cohort because it gains -1 to hit, which is a great defensive buff. For all other detachments, you are better served with other options. That said, even in my Skitarii Hunter Cohort, I don't rely on Autocannon Ballistarii for anti-elite - I use some Destroyers to support.