11.0 Skaven army list - a tactical study

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(With thanks to the sadly deceased Shannon. I paid a vast fortune to the Clan Pestilence to infect his Clanhold with the Black Plague. - Can't have competitors you know... Neek-neek!)

Young warlord Kreekish stepped inside the dark cell. Old, one-eyed Skaven, dressed in rags rose slowly to his feet, blinking his only eye in the light of the visitors torch. Once this prisoner had been a mighty, dark-furred Warrior, but now his arms had withered away almost to nothing, and his skin was bald and blotched. Still, he was tall, and his eye glared vengefully from it's socket. "Sraqual." Said Kreekish. "Your accursed son defeated yet another army I sent against him. My allies, warriors of Clan Kritus complain that he is too good strategist for the likes of me. Still, I know that it was YOU who taught him everything he knows about the Arts of War." The Warlord bent over his enfeebled prisoner, brandishing a serrated knife. "Now you'll share your knowledge with ME or I shall cut you up and feed your carcass to my breeders!"

For a while Sraqual smiled the Dark Smile. Finally he answered. "Yes-yes. I will tell. This was how I won those victories, all those years ago..."

11.1 Skaven in General

Skaven are a very interesting case. In straight hand to hand, they have advantage over the closest thing, the Humans, since their I and M are better, allowing them to charge and strike first. But LD 5, inability to use cavalry and the lack of missile troops swing the balance in the favor of Humans. Then again, Skaven cost just 4,5 points... just cheap enough to get the special WH discount of 50 per cent on equipment! The one thing that always holds true about the Skaven is that you've got to have lots of them. The bigger their units are, the better. This way you can increase their LD to a more acceptable level.

11.2 Characters

11.2.1 Skaven Warlord, Chieftains, Champions

If leading a big unit the low LD of the Skaven isn't so much of a problem, and since they are good value for points in hand to hand. Your characters are cheap, so you should be able to give them good deal of magical toys.

11.2.2 Plague Priests

Close-combat monster! Get them while they are frenzied! Only 73 points! Plaque priests are very good value for the points, and it is a rare day that I leave my Clanhold without one. I often give him a Blade of Darting Steel (automatic hits) against the Elves and the like who have low toughness and armor save, or Ogre Blade (+2 S) against Chaos or such. For extra magical power, equip him with the Liber Bubonicus and grab those Nurgle spells.

11.2.3 Vermin Lords

One of the most powerful characters in WH, Vermin Lords are truly powerful but also a bit problematic. They are pretty cheap compared to most Greater Daemons, but that 600 points comes out of your Character allowance...

One good trick is to put Vermin Lord in to a unit of Rat Ogres. This gives him a protection against missiles and War Machines, and he can't be picked out as target for missile fire. The merits of the Vermin Lord also include it's magical powers. It has an access to the Dark Magic deck, and in larger games this is a Good Thing since Skaven have only one deck available to them without Crown of Sorcery or such. Against Chaos he is almost essential since he can beat up practically anybody except the Bloodthirster, and Chaos lacks the War Machines that are very dangerous to this rat.

11.2.4 Skaven Warlocks

These wizards are cheap, but unlike many other sorcerers they are very weak in combat. Also, they can't use many of the best spells in the Skaven deck. They are good of keeping the winds of magic rolling 2D6, carrying dispel scrolls and (in the case of the Warlock Master) leading units.

11.2.5 Grey Seers

These are your best wizards, and your rats can be served with a Screaming Bell side order. Grey Seers are as powerful warriors as your General, just as good leaders, have greater resilience and the ability to use some of the best Skaven spells. Thus it is no wonder that I always include one in my army. Very often I don't buy anything combat-orientated to my wizards, but Grey Seers are an exception and quite often get at least Warpstone Armor or Black Amulet for protection. Their only negative side is that they are truly expensive.

As far as the magic is concerned, try to get the Death Frenzy, Plague, Curse of the Horned Rat and the Madness from the Skaven deck.

11.3 Regiments

11.3.1 Stormvermin

Cream of the Clanrats, these Skaven warriors are very unSkavenlike. They are expensive! They are your best basic infantry unit, and they are one of the three chances Skaven get to field a magical standard without allies.

WEAKNESSES:
High point cost plus low toughness and armor save. Your enemy will shoot at them with the fury of an ape.
USES:
Stormvermin are a problematical unit. On the other hand, they are much better warriors than almost any other unit of rats, but their high point cost is un-Skavenish. Since IMHO there is no sense cutting the corners with a Skaven unit, a small unit is out of the question. I have two answers.
  1. Simply drop some of the auxiliary troops and take a large regiment of the Stormvermin as your core unit. The Ruby Chalice is probably a good buy against opponents with lots of missile weapons, since -2 to shoot is something that bothers even the Elves. Put all the usual Skaven paraphernalia of Screaming Bells, Warlords and assassins with this unit, plus perhaps the Black amulet and Banner of Might, and off you go.
  2. Buy some 20 Stormvermin to act as a bait for enemy missile fire. It is not a very good option against armies with very powerful missile weapons, but if your Undead opponent targets your Stormvermin instead of your main unit of Clanrats with his Skull Chukers as he is bound to do, it might save you. In this devious tactic, don't buy stormvermin any additional equipment (except perhaps halberds) to keep the cost low. Deploy as narrow and deep unit as possible to keep the leadership value as high as possible. This is a risky option, but sometimes worth it.

11.3.2 Clanrat Warriors

Basic Skaven: The only real fault is their low leadership, but as long as you have your extra three ranks, you should be OK.

WEAKNESSES:
Leadership 5 and average statistics.
USES:
For their core unit, many people use the clanrats with spears since A) they are cheap B) with spears your rats might even get a chance to fight back! Since they are very cheap, you often find that you have points for an additional unit that might be worth it just to draw missile fire and transport assassins, globadiers and a Warpfire thrower. Unit sizes should start at 30-40, and can go up to infinity.

11.3.3 Gutter Runners

Fast, strong, well equipped, expensive. Their special deployment is very useful since they don't have to suffer from the hail of missiles as your other units.

WEAKNESSES:
Can't field a magic standard. Expensive. Low toughness.
USES:
The usual method is equip them with everything imaginable, use their special deployment rule, and harass War Machines, marching units and such. Unit sizes from 6 to 12 should be enough.

The other method I use is sneaky and frighteningly risky. Since Gutter Runners are great fighters, (weapon skill 4, strength 4, and 2 attacks with additional hand weapons) they can be formed into a standard regiment instead of skirmishing and deployed near the enemy. You should be able to charge your opponents on a first or second turn. With assassins, good leaders and wise choice of magic equipment, there are not many regiments that can stand their charge. Of course this option is very costly and can cause you your worst defeat, but it is an entertaining variation.

11.3.4 Assassins

Poisoned blades, weapon skill 5, 2 attacks and a handy disguise rule make Adepts of Clan Eshin very useful rats to have.

WEAKNESSES:
Elven and Dwarven elites have as high weapon skill as they and thus are hard to hit. strength 4 isn't that hot against a Nurgle Character with toughness 6.
USES:
I almost always take as many assassins as I can. Good fighters, dangerous against characters and they don't eat up my character allowance. Though it must be said that when I need more points, the assassins are the ones that go.

11.3.5 Skavenslaves

Weak, weaker, Skavenslave, but don't ignore them! They are cannon fodder par excellence!

WEAKNESSES:
Leadership 4, weapon skill and ballistic skill 2. Need I say more?
USES:
If you are playing on a battlefield with relatively few hills, you'll do well by using slaves as living shields against the enemy missile fire. If your opponent has a nasty habit of using frenzied troops, you can use slaves to take the charges of these very dangerous things. With a Crown of Command and 40+ slaves you can lock that Khornate knight unit in a futile and endless combat.

11.3.6 Plague Censer Bearers

If there ever was a good troop type, it's plague censer bearers. 2 attacks, re-rolls on the first turn, hard to hit, weapon skill 4, leadership 10 for break tests, and the poison wind effect, all at 15 points!

WEAKNESSES:
Sometimes an unlucky row of dice rolls can thwart your plans and the globadiers kill themselves with the poisonous fumes, or break regardless of their unmodified leadership of 10. You can't have a really big regiment since their formation. Other than that, no weaknesses.
USES:
Try to find toughest possible target for them. On the first round of their charge the Cencer Bearers always cause immense damage, and even after that they tie the enemy up because of their hatred, and the fact that they are toughness 4 troops and thus very hard to hurt. They are very useful for their brother Plague Monk's also, since they can act as a missile shield as they are -2 to hit. The one problem is to get the unit size right since otherwise they get in each others way an possibly poison themselves. 12 should serve you well. As a final word, don't ever forget these troops! They are IMHO an essential part of any Skaven army.

11.3.7 Plague Monks

The initiates of infection and the disciples of disease have toughness 4, ability to carry a magical standard and they are affected by the rules for frenzy.

WEAKNESSES:
Low strength. Spells which require armor save are dangerous.
USES:
As they give access to Plaque Priests, Censer Bearers and additional magic standard, I always field at least one unit. With toughness of 4, they can take quite a lot of punishment from missile fire, and it partially offsets their low armor save. I always give them additional hand weapons, and if facing somebody with regular bows, like Wood Elves, I consider giving them light armor.

11.3.8 Packmasters and Rat Ogres

Rat Ogres are your heavy hitters.

WEAKNESSES:
If you lose all your packmasters, the Rat Ogres are history. Stupidity and leadership 4 are a deadly combination.
USES:
As shock troops since you lack heavy cavalry. I've seen many different units, ranging from a single handler and Rat Ogre to a monster unit of 24 Rat Ogres! I would say that a large unit is better than smaller one, since spells like Death Frenzy are of much more use. But remember that if your unit of 12+ Rat Ogres breaks and is destroyed, it could well mean the end of you. Crown of Command is a good buy to the character leading such an expensive unit. It is sometimes worth to move a Skaven Character from a regular units to the Rat Ogre unit if all their packmasters get killed. Characters can act as packmasters.

11.3.9 Packmasters and Giant Rats

Since they are so cheap, they are a good place to invest some extra points.

WEAKNESSES:
Of course they can't beat heavy cavalry, don't even try.
USES:
There are couple of pitfalls to avoid. Don't fight opponents with weapon skill of 5 or more, since you'll hit them only with 5+. Also, don't take too many packmasters, since the cost of the unit will be too high then. Giant Rats can fight against Skeletons, Goblins and such, act as a knight trap with Crown of Command, and draw out charges of the frenzied troops. Remember that they can always lap around their enemies.

11.3.10 Poison Wind Globadiers

At 30 points, they are expensive and must be always used for the best effect.

WEAKNESSES:
You really can't use them in their own regiments. They can't stand any hand to hand combat, and their "Stand and Shoot" reaches only 6 inches.
USES:
Since they can hurt anybody, they are a valuable part of any Skaven force. You should always include them in every regiment allowed, for even though the often let you down, their psychological effect is so great that your opponent often uses too much time trying to kill them, neglecting your real units. Always target your worst nightmares with these things since they can hurt even a Dwarf Lord with Toughness of 10.

11.4 War Machines

11.4.1 Warpfire Throwers

When these thing work they are deadly to extreme. remember that the crew have heavy armor! That 5+ armor save has helped me time and again. If used as their own units (You must be very brave or stupid to do this since they have leadership of 5) keep them away from the rest of your troops! They have the worst misfires in the whole game! I recommend using them attached to units.

11.4.2 Doomwheel

Against Chaos and other armies with little or no missile power and dangerous hand to hand troops, Doomwheel is almost essential. It is one of the few things in Skaven army that can operate alone, for the Warlock Engineer driving it has a leadership of 10! Obviously too much warpstone snuff.

It is a good idea to keep the Doomwheel on a hill in the beginning of the game since it gains extra impetus when it rolls down the slopes. Don't forget that the Engineer wears heavy armor! This has saved my hide now and then.

11.4.3 Jezzail Teams

These are one of the few long-ranged Skaven weapons. The trouble is that their leadership 5 causes them to run away practically every time there is a panic test to take. They are also uncommonly expensive rats. They have ballistic skill of only 3 so you generally hit with 5+ on D6. Because of this, choose your targets! Go for knights, ogres, chariots and such. Because of their strength of 5 and D3 wounds you can hurt almost anything badly. I recommend targeting anything larger than 10' since you gain +1 to hit bonus. Don't over rely on them! They are too expensive to compensate for your lack of bowmen.

11.4.4 Screaming Bell

As a package, Screaming Bell is cheap. It charges as a chariot, has 4+ dispel, makes the Grey Seer and the Bell Slave immune to psychology and gives them hatred, grants you one extra magic card, plus gives you the random powers of the Bell itself! On the other hand, it slows down the regiment pushing it, can be targeted with missile weapons, may explode if strung with too high note and becomes a prime target for the enemy. I wouldn't field it against Elves or such since it is far too easy to lose your invaluable Grey Seer, and even the loss of the Striker is a sad blow. It might be a good idea to give the Grey Seer a Warpstone armor when he is riding Screaming Bell. Recommended against assault armies like Chaos.

11.5 Monsters

I avoid mounting Skaven characters on monsters since they often become the prime targets for enemy missile fire. The problems are even greater if you send your Warlord or Grey Seer to face the enemy alone. The low leadership of the Skaven Characters will probably be the death of you.

A powerful monster might be able to swing the balance to your favor in hand to hand, and without rider it doesn't eat up your character allowance.

Rat Swarms are the best buy on this list. They are cheap, but above all, they are immune to psychology and break tests. There is a unit you don't want to fight? Send couple of swarms to bug it down!

11.6 Special Characters

11.6.1 Grey Seer Thanquol

If you want good value for points, choose Thanquol. He is accompanied by extra-strong rat-ogre, is able to re-roll warpstone tests, and costs only little more than normal Grey Seer. Since he replaces the general you can save couple of points in smaller battles. In bigger ones, you must use Special characters to field Skaven Lords with Thanquol. He is pretty good if you feel you must take risks since his Special Blessing from the Horned Rat that shifts wounds suffered by him to other Skaven. Just remember to keep him with units or near them!

11.6.2 Lord Skrolk

Need to kill somebody? Lord Skrolk is your rat. With 8 attacks while frenzied and one of the deadliest weapons in the game, Lord Skrolk really send shivers up your opponent's spine. He is actually pretty good against big monsters since they don't wear magical armor, and they will die on a roll of 6 on D6 regardless of their toughness. While he is expensive, I consider him every time when my Stormvermin start pressing Clanrats into service.

11.6.3 Ikit Claw

I like Ikit very much since he can take his spells from any spell deck, overcoming the normal Skaven problem of limited choice of magic. He is actually pretty tough in hand to hand and is immune to psychology and rout tests. He also can act as an extra poison wind globadier from the middle of the unit if you don't fancy your chances in hand to hand, and besides he is not even that expensive.

On the down side, he has to take the Storm-Daemon, which is a good weapon but the wizards really need those power scrolls and such. He also replaces your general and forces you to field 25 per cent of your points as war machines. I've seen him defeat the Undead and the Chaos very handily with High Magic Spells.

As he always acts as a general, try to keep him alive. He is actually extremely good at leading army because of his unheard of leadership of 9! He really puts some backbone to your army's morale.

11.6.4 Throt the Unclean

He can act as a extra-strong packmaster that your opponents fear since he tends to snap their necks with his Man-Catcher. Typically dirty trick is to give him a Sword of swift slaying that can really shock your opponents. A good place for extra points, but not essential.

11.6.5 Deathmaster Snikch

One of my answers for too powerful characters, the Deathmaster will put fear of the Horned Rat into the hearts of your opponents. Give him the Black Amulet and put him on the orders of terminating everything non-Skaven. All in all, I can't recommend him highly enough. There is almost no easy way to take the Deathmaster on.

11.6.6 Queek the Head-Taker

Against the Dwarfs and Orcs and Goblins, I try to always include this very colorful creature. Mind you, a Chaos Lord will usually have him for lunch in challenge match, and you might need that Warpstone Armor somewhere else. Remember that in a challenge match against Dwarfs he wounds automatically since he gets +1 to wound rolls and the Dwarf-Gouger wounds Dwarfs on 2+!

11.7 Magic Items

Skaven have access some of the best magic items in whole game, so read the Skaven book thoroughly. Crown of Command is compulsory, don't even think of not taking it. The only problem is where to put it. Weeping Blade is one of the most point cost effective things you can get and should always be a high priority. Warpstone Armor is good, since it can give an unmodified save even to the wizards of your army. Since your army generally includes large units, a things like Skavenbrew work very well.

Because it is very, very hard to rally fleeing Skaven, the Horn of Urgok is a good buy. Also, since you don't want to roll against that lousy leadership of yours, you should consider Sword of Fortitude.

11.8 Tactics

Take many jezzails and warpfire-thrower units with poison wind globadiers, NOT!

No, even I can't make a defensive Skaven army. Offense is the way to go. But the problem is that very few rats can gnaw, say a large unit of Dragon Ogres, to death. because of this you have to resort to very low tricks. Then again, you're a Skaven Lord, so dirty tricks are your life's blood!

Remember, keep your units large. Missiles will cut your numbers, but if you have enough rats, you can afford the losses. Take magic items that protect whole units; they are the most cost efficient.

According to GWUK all weapons that include warpstone are classified as magical.

Here then are some of my suggestions for the overall tactic.

11.8.1 The Chittering Horde

This is the famed "all or nothing" tactic. Concentrate everything you've got on 1 big unit. If you want to make an impression on your enemy with sheer numbers, then take Clanrats. I've seen a unit of 200 Clanrats once! Other troops should be there only to support your main unit. The magical items you need are Crown of Command, Amulet of Obsidian, the Talisman of Ravensdark, Skavenbrew and perhaps the Battle Banner. Give your characters the best possible weapons like Slayer Swords, Frostblade, Fellblade and so on. Just watch out for those goblin units with Crown of Command and Warbosses with the Heart of Woe. The Ring of Corin should serve you well.

11.8.2 Fury of the Horned Rat

Skaven army has some very powerful characters and special troops, and sometimes I like to go for the quality and not the quantity. With a Vermin Lord leading the attack of the Gutter Runners, Rat Ogres, Stromvermin and Plaque Monks with Cencer Bearers, you have every possibility to defeat anybody in hand to hand. This works best against opponents who dislike missile troops and war machines. Losing many of these valuable troops before actual combat spells D-E-F-E-A-T.

11.8.3 The Claws of Decay

This is my favorite tactic: Since Skaven get many cheap and effective sacrificial troops, I use them to the best effect: Rat swarms and Skavenslaves plus Giant Rats will tie up the most dangerous parts of the enemy. Meanwhile, using their local superiority, the actual regiments defeat the weaker parts of the enemy force. Imagine your opponent's heavy cavalry struggling with 100+ Slaves who have the Crown of Command.

This is definitely a thinking man's tactic, since a mindless and destructive charge is much easier to master. Then again, it is very difficult to defeat a Chaos or competently led Dark Elf army without any tricks.

11.8.4 The Flames of the Under-Empire

This is not a tactic on it's own, it is rather a compliment to any other Skaven Tactical approach. Many opponents are quite happy to stay in cover and shoot at your rats. This might be problematic, especially if your opponent is skulking behind a defended obstacle, making hand to hand a risky business. The answer to this problem is to field as many Warp-Fire throwers as possible, perhaps even in their own units, and fire away against your opponents. The immense destruction these devices cause, combined with the panic tests they cause, soon make your opponent to re-consider his tactics.

The eyes of Kreekish glittered. "Fool-fool!" he cried. "Now I shall vanquish your Clan and bring the head of your son for my breeders to gnaw! You have recreated your own Doom!"

Triumphant young Warlord left his prisoner and hurried off to muster his army. "Yes-yes." Whispered Sraqal. "I have told you everything. Everything but that your allies, Clan Kritus have secretly pledged alliance to my son. It's your fate that is sealed." Skral fell silent in his unholy joy.

Next part: Against Chaos.