2007-11-15T21:30:00.001Z

Skaven Tactica

This is my first tactics publication, so bare with me when I go off subject.

This is tactics for Skaven in mainly 1500 point battles. I will try to cover most of the vast array of units available to the Skaven general. First I will go through the strengths and weaknesses in each character and unit choice and my personal preferences. I will then give you ideas on how you can implement these units on the battlefield with devastating force.

First I would like to cover why Skaven is just a damn good choice. Out of all the armies, it is the most technological in my opinion. Imagine a horde army with enough guns to out shoot the dwarves and the empire, yet still have enough troops to boast about. As a Skaven general, you will come to realize how fun it is to kill your own units. The ultimate rule in the Warhammer world is to shoot into combat, killing their expensive troops while laughing at your dying ones as their so cheap. The most amazing thing of all is how their weaknesses are turned into strengths with relative ease. Their leadership is a major worry, however if you have a fully ranked up unit of clanrats, you get leadership 8! That’s more than the empire. How if you put a hero in that unit, it turns to a mighty leadership 9. So for 5 points a model, you get 4+ armour save in combat WS 3 and movement 5 initiative 4 strength 3. I recon that is about 100x better than anything else for that points range. I won’t mention the other great strengths about Skaven as I will be coming back to this issue at the end.

Characters

Characters in the Skaven army are nothing to be proud of. They are essentially a better clanrat, with the exception of the plague priest. However what can be guaranteed is how bloody cheap they are relative to what their capable of. Lets go down the list starting from lords;

· Warlord - at 90 points a model, you can’t go wrong for a lord choice. I must admit that he is very rubbish when just left as is. The best thing about him would be the 4 attacks. Naturally he is the one you would want to live the longest, so I would give him another hand weapon, heavy armour. On top of that, a cautious shield 25 for points, twisted crown of the horned rat for 50 points. That gives him 3+ armour in combat with 4 attacks, or 4+ in combat with 5 attacks. Moreover one enemy in base contact looses one attack ontop of regeneration. Now I would give him the bands of power for 25 points. This works well when everything else you have is magic based so the enemy will use up all their dispel dice. This will give you double strength until your next magic phase. So what does he have now if we assume the bands work? He has regeneration with a 4+ save and strength 8 with 5 attacks at weapon skill 6, toughness 4, and one enemy looses one attack when in base contact with him. Here is the most evil part: if he is in a fully ranked unit, it gives him leadership 10 for every unit 6” around him! All this for 202 points!! I think that’s amazing. He does admittedly rely on a fair bit of luck, however being a Skaven general, it is hopefully normal for you to take risks.

· Grayseers – its not that I don’t like Grayseers. They can be very effective in high point battles. Very especially so with the screaming bell! However he is a MIGHTY point drain for what he does. I prefer not to use them unless I'm at 3000 point or more battles, or if I'm feeling lucky, at 2500 point battles. Anything less and I strongly advise against it… well… unless skitterleap is essential for your plans, which it shouldn’t be. I’ll talk about over reliance later.

· Chieftain - if you can define a 45 point character, here it is. His stats are just above that of a stormvermin. I honestly cannot imagine myself using him in any case apart from giving my other units leadership 9 due to his leadership 6. If your against a magic heavy army (which is quite common these days) then you can find him holding the ring of darkness for 25 points in an expensive unit which gives the unit magic resistance 1. That would make him 70 points. Can be worth it I guess. He is not a bad fighter so you may as well give him heavy armour (4 points) and a shield (2 points). Another 6 points for 3+ armour in combat is good. Now he is 76 points. Up to you I guess.

· Plague priest – hmm let me think… 70 points for a mad nutter with 4 attacks and toughness 5. If that’s not value for money then I don’t know what is! Give him a censor for 16 points and now he has an gas attack as well as S5 on the first turn. 86 points. Now give him a warpstone amulet for 25 points to give him 4+ ward save. Now you have a mean killing machine for 111 points! Away he goes into heavy armoured units, leading a unit of plague monks holding the banner of burning hatred! Now he rerolls all misses in combat. Ouch. Please keep in mind that he cant wear armour.

· Master moulder – he simply sucks. I'm sorry. I'm not paying 65 points for a clanrat who goes behind a rat ogre. I can’t see that happening.

· Warlock engineer – my treasure to cause fear and terror in the enemies eyes. Lets think about this: the only spell he gets happens to be the one which deals 2D6 strength 5 magic missile with 24” range, all for 85 points!? Please give him the warp blades, upgraded warp-energy condenser and supercharged warp-power accumulator. Quite simply that makes him 85 points in total. Also give him the storm daemon (25 points) for an EXTRA D6 strength 5 magic missile. Totalling this guy to 3D6 S5 shots. Enough to take down any elf unit way before they can reach you. Do you like that idea? Ok now get another one. In a 1500 point game, I would personally not go without 2 or 3 of these guys. Put one in each clanrat unit with a rattling gun on the side and you’re sorted. I strongly suggest that you give these ones very silly names such as “ted” and “Jeffery”. Make them stand out. Make them noticeable. When someone asks you “why have you named your characters that?” you can reply by saying “one shoots 3D6 S5 magic missiles, while the other 2D6 S5” then watch him do anything in his power to stay out the way of these guys line of sight. People will call you cheesy, but we’re Skaven generals so it’s ok to cause such horror and take minor insults in our stride.

· Assassin – you need one if you’re crazy. Their a massive point drain. If you do get one, try to aim it at a character as they don’t fair too well against units. Because the models look so cool, I generally get a lot of shooting directed at this poor guy, so try to keep him in the woods or hidden in a unit. Note how I said that it’s ok to keep him in the woods without taking wood elves into consideration. That’s because an assassin can take on a wood elf unit, especially dryads. Assassin’s attacks count as magical so they don’t get a ward save. Also hopefully the wood elf general will be too preoccupied with ted and Jeffery (the warlock engineers). I strongly advise on giving him the warpstone amulet. He lacks any armour so is not all that good.

Units
Core

The units of the Skaven army should always be written first when planning a list. The importance of having a fairly bulky army is quite important. Of course you have to keep in mind the mainstay rule so naturally clanrats are vital. Even if they weren’t, I would honestly still pick them. Read on;

· Clanrats – 5 points a model. Leadership 8 when ranked up, otherwise leadership 5. Strength 3, toughness 3, initiative 4. Their not too bad. It’s the 4+ armour saves in combat which makes these little guys special. DO NOT GIVE THEM SPEARS! Leave them as they are! As you have gathered, I'm a rather shooty army, slightly twisted towards hoard thus units of 25 seem optimal. 5x5. this allows me to sustain casualties while still keeping the 3 ranks bonus. I also always purchase a rattling gun for 60 points for every unit of clanrats. The rattling gun only has 15” range however against big units of elves, it looks terrifying. Moreover it can stand and shoot with a 360 line of sight. Not too bad. It’s at S4 with armour piercing so it takes away 2 from armour in total. It also has magic ammunition which rules against chaos daemons and wood elves. Moreover it can do the amazing thing of shooting into combat. That is usually done for fun, and will most lightly butcher your whole unit while leaving them untouched; however I have had some success stories with these things when shooting into combat. So it’s settled. Around about 25 clanrats, 30 are brilliant. Moreover I used to see myself make the mistake of buying a champion for a unit. Don’t do that unless there is a hero in the unit (it can take the place of the hero when a challenge is called, thus saving the hero) the banner is essential. Can you note that clanrats are not designed to kill units (unless possibly elves?) so don’t rely on that. Just make sure that you outnumber and have 3 ranks and a banner and try to minimize the casualties on your side. That way you win combat usually not by killing a lot.

· Warp fire thrower and rattling gun – unless your against a hoard as it causes panic tests, (or army with heavily armoured non-mounted units as it takes off a lot of armour), there is no point of getting a warp fire thrower. Its 15 points extra for not a lot more. Rattling gun is cheaper and has more uses. This is discussed above.

· Stormvermin – I used to think they were rubbish. I kind of still think that. I don’t use them effectively. How they should be used is to protect the general while offering an evil looking unit on the battlefield which will hopefully direct some shooting towards them. If not then your general is safe. If shooting is directed towards them, then you have hopefully invested in an umbranner (4+ ward against anything with S4 or more when shooting at the unit) for 35 points. Any shot with S3 shouldn’t cause much damage so no worry there. A unit of 20-25 should do very well.

· Rat swarms – they suck after the new rules. Don’t even bother. Their not unbreakable anymore. They were a point drain even before the new rules were out. Ignore them.

· Giant rats – one use I can imagine. Flanking. They have movement 6 which is pretty good so run them along side your clanrats for flank protection then quickly try to flank them. That should work. Hehehe. 2 packs should be enough per unit. Also their expendable, so if someone looks threatening, send them into combat then shoot the holy hell out of them. That’s always fun.

· Night runners - they are expensive. Their not a ranked up unit so don’t benefit from the best Skaven rule which counters our weakness. If you have to, get one unit of 14 and use them to clear out forests and kill heroes who stand alone very far away. Also use them to capture table quarters.

· Clanrat slaves – I can’t say enough how important these are. I used to go without them, but for 2 points a model, their actually amazing. This is purely because they can be shot at by your guys and the enemies’ guys and you find it funny when they die. Either way, they die. Don’t get units of more than 20. That’s 40 points. Leave it as that. No upgrades, no nothing. Leave them in front of your more expensive units or rattling guns (as they can get picked out and shot at in the new rules). I only made them rally once in my whole life. That’s impressive as they have leadership 2 when fleeing.

· Wind globeadiers – a very risky unit. Their cheap so very worth getting. However they can cause a panic test and at leadership 5, they are very lightly. Keep them close to general if you do get them. I personally love them. Very good against cavalry. As their skirmishers, their very good at keeping skinks and waywatchers at bay when deployed at the back of your lines. They do kill themselves which is a laugh.

Special

I personally think that Skaven have the best when it comes to special choises. I know for sure that every unit has its limits; however Skaven special units can be pushed the extra mile when it comes to them making up their points. They are a tad bit on the expensive side and you should only take special units, when you know that you have a couple of strong core units to fall back on i.e. 2 units of 25 clanrats is more than enough to fall back on.

· Gutter runners – if you like random things happening to your army, look no further. A tunnelling team can really spice up a boring game by adding more randomness to an already unstable army. They are HUGELY risky and cost a bomb, however if they work against dwarves and empire artillery, they can insure your army a safe trip to victory. When I take a tunnelling team, I always like to emphasize how amazing they are when they work to the enemy. That way even if they don’t work, it would have at least altered the enemy’s plans to compensate for the eventuality of when they do work. They are also very good at hitting trolls and giants due to everything they own being poison, however if you do choose that role for them, I suggest just poisoning their weapons and keeping them cheap as many of them will die. They have no armour what so ever and T 3. I would consider them a weak special option, however still strong enough to make up their points – or have a bit of fun.

· Warplock jezzails – their 20 points each. For that you get 1 strength 6 shot with -4 armour save at 36” range and a 4+ armour save against shooting. I’d consider that quite good for taking out terror causing targets. As you know – never take less than 7, as they don’t hit their target often unless it’s a giant or a dragon. However when it does it, Skaven generals all across the country are laughing due to the strength 6 shot for only 20 points. If you kill 2 knights each jezzail and consider that they have a minimum of 2 rounds of shooting, your looking at a unit of 10-13 dead knights even before they reach you. Their a must if your opponent is over confident about its greater chaos daemon, as all shots count as magical so no silly ward save. I used to think they are amazing, so I went out and brought 40 of them! I soon found out they have to work with the rest of the army in order to be successful. Don’t go out and buy 40 of them. Please. Learn from my mistake.

· Plague monks – an amazing choice for a special. It combines cheap with raw power. You always buy them their extra hand weapon. Always. So therefore their 8 points each. That means you get a Toughness 4, Strength 3 model with 3 attacks each. That’s ok but they have weapon skill 3 so only half will hit. That’s ok because if you give them the banner of burning hatred, they reroll all their misses thus you have 70-80% of them hitting. If you have a front line of 6 then that’s 19 attacks including champion and 15 hitting at Strength 3. That can wipe out a unit with no armour – wood elves beware! I would always advise for a unit of 30. You may think that’s a lot, and your right, but you have to consider that this is your hardest hitting unit, who will kill most things in its path. Saying that, just try to avoid the knights with heavy armour. Their strength 3 attacks against 1+ armour save is nothing and thus will only rely on its 3 ranks and outnumber and banner. If the enemy is lightly armoured, you’re hopefully winning combat by 7-9 if not easily more depending on the enemies armour. For a unit like this, all you have to spend is a measly 290 points. I strongly advise that you place a plague priest in that unit so it may too benefit from the hatred and hopefully take down some of the more armoured units the monks face.

· Rat ogres – the ultimate in flanking technology. It has movement 6 and 3 attacks at S5 and the guy at the back deals 1 S3 attack too. At 50 points a model, I can’t see you needing more than 3. Also note that they cause fear, so if you happen to have plague monks too, try to use the rat ogres to flank any unit the plague monks charge and also use them to protect your own flanks. Over all a useful unit. If you happen to have a grayseerer and happen to get the death frenzy spell, then cast it on them. With frenzy they can take out a whole unit (yes believe me)

Rare

I am very biased when it comes to a rare choice… you’ll see:

· Censer bearer – 17 points a model for a hard hitting fanatic with gas which kills most things. Not bad. Let’s look further. They are frenzied skirmishers which deal 2 S5 attacks each and then a gas attack, even when the enemy has charged before they attack. They are skirmishers so wont get shot easily, and when they do they have toughness 4. But that’s about it for defence. They also have a sneaky tactic of protecting your flanks as they have a charge of 10” and 360 line of sight. It’s better if the rare choice dies than 290 point unit.

· Warp lighting cannon – 100 points of random shooting. It’s rare to hear me say that something random in Skaven is bad, but if your looking to loose, then pick this as a rare choice. It just cannot make its points purely because its range is random. As its 100 points I may take it in a situation where I don’t have enough painted models to make 100 points worth of clanrat slaves or can’t afford 5 more jezzails.

I think that was a very thorough review of what you should and shouldn’t do with every unit. If you cant be bothered to read all that then I don’t blame you. I did put some effort into writing this, for your benefit so its your loss if you don’t read it. Now that’s out of the way, lets continue!

GENERAL SKAVEN TACTICS

Rather than a long winded essay, I'm going to try short effective points which will hopefully make you champion of Warhammer. Hehe. Ok here goes:

1. Your general on the battle field is you. If he dies, then all your Skaven leadership will drop and you will crumble before your opponent.

2. Try to go for a wide flank-less formation as shown below:

3. Terror causing targets are our number 1 enemy. Kill them first with everything you got.

4. Roll about 3-4 dice with the rattling gun depending on what you get. If your first rolls are 5 and 6 then roll one more. If you roll 1 and 2 then roll 2 more. Saying that, if you find that you like rolling dice then please roll more.

5. Don’t over rely on one particular unit or thing. Always have a minimum of 2 back up plans, with the last fall back plan being sheer ranks and outnumbering the enemy to win the battle.

6. When you loose, laugh. You most probably killed your own guys and point that out to him. Then shake hands and claim that eshin rats will come after him while he is sleeping at night.

7. I'm going to use this bullet point to emphasize the importance of rule 8…

8. Skaven is a hoard army. A very dam good hoard army. Please make it your business to act like one. A unit of 30 clanrat slaves could beat glade guard in combat! 60 points beats 180 points. Not bad.

9. I know for sure that painting Skaven is basically rubbish. Use this to your advantage on the battlefield. Make clanrats look nearly the same as the slaves (they are the same models so it shouldn’t be too hard) that will confuse the enemy.

10. Having the rattling gun in between the clanrats and the clanrat slaves means you always have line of sight to shoot into the slaves if you choose not to flee.

11. Slaves can, and are encouraged to flee. It makes shooting 100% accurate rather than 50/50 chance. Remember that they don’t cause panic tests.

12. Warp lighting spell can be your best friend. Make sure that your engineers are facing towards most of the battlefield. Also remember you can cast into combat (oh the fun!)

13. Don’t be scared to shoot at your plague monks when their in combat. Their not that much more expensive and if you think it will help you win, then do so.

14. Slaves can be used as a screen for shooting heavy armies.

15. If you’re winning by miles, make it fun for your opponent too. Just point your rattling gun at your unit of slaves and let him roll the dice. Please only do this when you’re totally absolutely sure that you’re going to win.

16. Skaven = luck. If you’re unlucky then take less risky stuff, such as clanrats.

17. Clanrats are dam good and worth protecting with a screen of slaves if you have enough models.

18. Clanrats start combat resolution with +5 in their favour due to 3 ranks, banner and outnumbering against most armies. Also not a lot of them die due to 4+ armour save.

19. If you play on terrain which has lots of trees and not a lot of movement freedom for large units, then use a lot of night runners. 2 hand weapons each makes them worth 7 points a model. Not too bad. Can take most humanoid woodelves. But try to avoid dryaids.

20. Orcs and gobos will usually outnumber you. But that’s why you have rattling guns and warp lighting spell. Make their team smaller than yours.

Right, I think that’s all I can think of at the moment, however if I come up with some more, I will update this. If its copy and pasted, can you please refer back to this web site:
http://samo-ok.110mb.com
then click on the Warhammer icon.

Also check out my army lists which I hope, with conjunction with this, would help you win more Warhammer battles.

Thank you for reading.

Samo

Samo's Warhammer

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