If Saurus are the brawn, then Skink Runner Linemen (or just Skinks for those who value their time) are the… well not the brains but certainly speedy little buggers!  MV8 makes them officially the fastest “linemen” player and with Dodge and Stunty they are incredibly agile and cover massive swathes of the pitch. At 60k they’re 10k more than your baseline Human lineman, which for what you get is pretty darn good and can fulfil a variety of roles.

However, with Strength 2, AV8+ and rolling on the Stunty Casualty table, they would much rather avoid taking hits and Saurus wielding a pitiful AG5+, they are your only source of ball movement and thus have massive targets on their backs. Much like Gutter Runners, players LOVE removing Skinks and doing so cripples the Lizardman team’s ability to score touchdowns, so they require good positioning of the Saurus to protect them and need to use their speed to escape from threats. They also only have Agility in their Primary access, but at least you’re not reliant on double rolls for General Skills anymore so it’s less of a problem than in BB2.

You’ll usually have 4 to 5 of these, depending on if you’re running a Kroxigor or not, plus whatever you have on the bench. Along with scoring, they tend to fill in the gaps left by the Saurus who are usually just hitting and protecting.

Build List:

• Random Skills
• Ball Carrier
• Scaly Sacker
• Utility Skink

Skink Runner Linemen Base Stats:

Randomised Skills:

Not a bad shout at all, especially for some cheaper Secondaries! Doing so will help define your Skink’s role early on for a much cheaper cost and I’d seriously consider randomly rolling at least a couple of players. Block or Sure Hands can be used for a Ball Carrier, Wrestle/Tackle/Strip Ball for ball hawks, Dirty Player for some fun Lizardmen fouling shenanigans and even Dauntless could be good if your Saurus are all tied up. Kick and Fend have their uses too and Pro is never explicitly bad.

The only “duds” are Frenzy as you’re not going to be Blitzing with them often unless you have plenty of Assists and probably Shadowing because, well for an extra 10k you can just get a Chameleon Skink instead.

Ball Carrier | Skink Runner Linemen Build

Primaries: Sure Feet, Catch, Sprint, Side Step
Secondaries: Block, Sure Hands, Fend
Characteristics: ST, AG, MV

With the SPP changes, you no longer have to worry about rolling doubles for an effective ball carrier, just a slightly larger SPP investment instead!

It shouldn’t take too long to get at least one Skink to 12 SPP fairly early on, it’s 4 touchdowns worth and if you get some help from an MVP then you won’t have to wait too long at all. If you Randomly roll Block too (lucky you!) or Sure Hands then making a dedicated ball carrier is absolutely worth it. Both of these Skills are far more defensive than offensive on Skinks, but if you get a couple of these, as you should, then they can also make decent Blitzers vs other Strength 2 targets, or with a couple of assists.

Sure Feet will save you some Team ReRolls and make your already massive movement go the extra mile, while Catch means you can further extend your scoring range with some Hand Offs. With these two skills, your effective scoring range can be anywhere between 16 to 20 squares depending on if you’re feeling confident to go for those Rushes, which is absolutely huge and only really matched by Gutter Runners. Stunty really helps here too by having all your Dodges be 3+ no matter what, but watch for Tackle and Diving Tackle, better off waiting for a clear run than risking it.

Sprint will give you further threat range and Fend will help mitigate the need for dodges when running away after being hit. Side Step is always brilliant on agile players and if you do get hit while carrying the ball, means if you’re fortunate enough not to be knocked down you can place yourself in a safer space.

Get a couple of these at least, you’re going to need a backup, maybe even two as your skinks will be targeted. Feel free to get Catch first as well for the larger scoring threat, you should be able to generate plenty of SPP on these things if they survive.

All the usual Characteristics are good, Strength provides some added protection while Agility means magic happens on a 2+ instead. Movement will put you at the cap of 9 but means your threat range is bonkers!

Scaly Sacker | Skink Runner Linemen Build

Primaries: Side Step, Diving Tackle, Jump Up, Defensive
Secondaries: Wrestle, Tackle, Dauntless
Characteristics: ST, AG

MV8 not only is a big scoring range, but there are very few players out there that can outrun a skink and those that get tend to either be other Skinks or Gutter Runners which are also ST2. Stunty is also the premium for cage diving now that Leap has been nerfed, so short of running through tons of Tackle or Diving Tackle, Skinks have no issues getting at ball carriers.

Wrestle is a Ball Carriers kryptonite as they’ll usually be running around with Block, so this will drag them to the floor should you roll Both Down. If you don’t know then down, the Side Step is great for sticking to a Ball Carrier and then Diving Tackle will make them think twice about running away. Jump Up will keep your threat range and maximum, or let you try again from the ground. I like Defensive here as well, it gives them a bit more utility and combos well with Side Step, although definitely pick it as a latter skill as Strength 2 is less than ideal and easy to remove unless you already have Side Step.

It’s a pretty big SPP investment or hope to roll them with Randoms, but Tackle and Dauntless work really well with this build as well. Tackle/Diving Tackle/Side Step is pretty annoying to have to get away from, even for AG2+ and Dauntless means you can truly attempt a cage dive with some cheeky 1-die blocks.

Strength obviously is your best bet here but Agility means you’re dodging into a cage or past a screen on a 2+!

One or two of these will be a big asset on your team and really help vs fast teams as well. Your Saurus should be the ones doing the hitting and blitzing with their General and Strength access, but they can be bogged down and throwing a Wrestle Skink at the ball will get it down often enough.

Utility Skink | Skink Runner Linemen Build

Primaries: Side Step, Diving Tackle, Sure Feet, Jump Up
Secondaries: Block, Kick
Characteristics: ST, AG, MV

Not every Skink is going to be flush with SPP so a couple of simple Skinks to round out the team is a good shout. These guys will be your assist pieces, markers and screeners, making a general nuisance of themselves over the course of the game.

Side Step will probably be your first go-to, it’s just really good on them and easy to get. Diving Tackle ups their marking game vs agility teams and as mentioned before, with Side Step means it’ll be really hard for your opponent to break free. Sure Feet is nice to keep hold of ReRolls for your Saurus and then Jump Up means they’ll always be at their maximum movement.

If you can get Block, as always it’s a real boon and keeps them upright and away from fouls. If you randomly roll Kick then you’ll want to keep them cheap and cheerful anyway while still providing some utility. Skinks can make a shallow kick work in your favour, especially if you manage to get a Blitz kick-off event as well.

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All of the above builds are a little reliant on General skills, so your options really are to save up and hope they live long enough to spend it, or hope for some luck in the random rolls. You can still make some decent Skinks with just Agility skills but getting some Block and Wrestle in there really helps them out, but at least you’re not beholden to waiting for a double roll! Keep them safe and be patient, they’ll get there eventually and you’ll find they perform really well, especially for their cost.

That’s it for the Skink Runner Linemen build! Check out our guides for Saurus Blockers, Chameleon Skinks and the Kroxigor.