By A'Hara
Taken with permission of Skavenblight
Stormvermin: This
is my favourite Skaven unit, since they hit hard. They've got S4
as their natural strength,S5 with halberds, or a great S6 and a
-3 save modifier with double handed weapons! You really need that
when meeting knight opponents like Chaos Knights and Bretonnians
a lot, sometimes having a save of 1+ (with a magic banner or
similar). To give this unit Skavenbrew could be rewarding, at
least if you field a big unit of 40+, which combined with Rat
Ogres and shielding units of Skavenslaves or Rat Swarms could be
a potential threat to any well armoured enemy. But, they are not
cheap, and should be replaced with Clanrats if you got the chance
of hurting someone with S3, which seems harder and harder
nowadays. Buy a magic standard like Standard of shielding to get
a save of a maximum 4+.
Clanrat Warriors: This should be the main core
of your army, especially if your opponent is T3 and don't carry
too much armour, like elven enemies and light armoured humans. I
really like this unit, but it seems harder and harder to get any
use for them. Get big units of 40+ if possible, why not around a
Screaming Bell? Spears gives your second rank a chance to hit, a
more than possible choice for just 1/2 points extra per model.
Gutter Runners: I like these troops since they
got that S4, and really can disturb your enemies concentration,
making your main units advance more undisturbed. Use a couple of
Assassins to strengthen this unit, and maybe even a Champion with
Heart of Woe or similar magic item. Light armour most often
doesn't make more than a psychological effect (even though the
Gutter Runners can get a 5+ combined with nets), better then to
invest in additional hand weapons and throwing stars or slings,
to increase the harassment of your enemy's lines. Make sure you
are the one who charges. If you are allowed to use special
charachters throw in Deathmaster Snikch to make your unit of
Gutter Runners with a Champion and two Assassins really going!
Assassins: Here is a model I just love to field,
even if they are expensive, 30 points. But to reveal a couple of
Assassins with 2 attacks, WS5, S4 and a -2 saving throw modifier
making not 1 but D3 wounds, able to choose their enemies and
issue and accept challenges, paid from your regiment allowance,
can't be wrong...
Skavenslaves: You get 12 Skavenslaves per 1 Assassin, the only
reason to field this unit. They are cheap, cheap and cheap. And
other Skaven units don't care what happens to them. Now, when
there will be plastic Skavenslave units for a reasonable price,
you maybe even will be able to field those big units you dreamt
of for years! And get that rankbonus help you win your battles
for you.
Plague Censer Bearers: Together with the Poison
Wind Globadiers these members of Clan Pestilens are your true
Knight killers, totally ignoring your enemy's armour save with
their deadly fumes, and got to reroll any misses on the first
round of combat, as well as having a +1 to their Strength in the
initial round of combat, making it S5! They shield your other
units with a -2 to hit modifier (skirmishers and their foul
fumes). And remember they are frenzied and that you don't have to
roll for the fume yourself until you are in hand-to-hand combat.
Plague Monks: Just as their cousins Plague
Censer Bearers, they got a defensive T4 and are affected by
frenzy, doubling their attacks. Be sure to make an initial attack
with your Censer Bearers before charging in with your Plague
Monks (preferrably from the flank), especially if your General
isn't nearby. Even if your Plague Censer Bearers got a Leadership
of 10 when making Break tests, they flee if your Plague Monks
flee. Use that magic banner to increase your chances of standing
ground and keeping your Plague Monks frenzied!
Packmasters: What really makes me pissed, are a Skaven with BS4
and no chance of using it! Wrong stats? Otherwise its a model
fielded because of two reasons:
Rat Ogres: At 43 points per model, these guys
can mess up true Ogres, but what I find them best at, is making
your foe tremble. Even one Rat Ogre seems to attract an
unreasonable amount of attention, which might be good, since it
takes some time killing it, it gives your other units time to get
into hand-to-hand combat without getting shot at. Use tough
characters as Packmasters, and watch those arrows slide off. A
beautiful idea I never tested, so far, is using a Vermin Lord as
a Packmaster, using some Skavenbrew and charge!
Giant Rats: Not sure how good they are, never
used them. But I guess from their stats, they could be used as
blockers, keeping a more powerful enemy occupied for a while.
Their ability to always lap around may help you win battles, by
cancelling the enemies rankbonus.
Poison Wind Globadiers: Here is an excellent killer of anything
that moves. You are able to field two Poison Wind Globadiers in
for example your second or maybe third rank, throwing their
fragile globes into (hopefully) the enemies, even in hand-to-hand
combat! Isn't that something! 20 points are actually cheap for
this kind of model, so field as many as possible in your
regiments. They often make the difference.
Jezzail Teams: Does it feel great to be able to
shoot 36", with S4 and a -2 saving throw modifier? YES! Even
though a Skaven army could go without these guys, D3 wounds help
you kill characters, preferrably riding large monsters, or
wounding knight units, warmachine crews and similar. Try to use
them at models with more than one wound anyway, if you have the
chance. And remember to use them against flying creatures, since
they are the only warmachine allowed to stand and shoot against
those creatures.
Warpfire Throwers: This makes your enemies think twice before
standing in front of your Skaven units. You can severely damage
any opponent by making a succesful stand-and-shoot. The nicest
way to deploy them are by your enemies flank, shooting down at
their units entire length. He he, I love them, my wonderful
Skavens!
Tactics and Characters
Everybody says about Skaven and tactics: "Charge!" And
to some extent its true. You got nothing to lose by engaging your
enemy as soon as possible. What you should be aware of, is with
which units you should engage different threats.
First of all, you should always be able to be on top with magic
and characters in general, since you got the cheapest guys around
(except some Goblin and alikes). This doesn't contradict the fact
that they could be really dangerous. You will always be able to
field a lot of characters with a lot of magic items, which could
help you win your battles. I like to include a Grey Seer,
whatever the size of my army, and preferrably back it up with a
few level 1 wizards. With 9 spells out of 13 with a direct attack
aspect, you can do lots of good damage on your opponents. Sure
you can win battles with defensive spells, but how fun is it
compared to blowing away your enemies? Skitterleap makes you move
any character, remember that you can also send an enemy away from
the battles, leaving them frustrated in a corner or put in front
of an extensive threat. And don't forget to munch Warpstone. The
taste of it is great!
Often you see Skaven regiments' front rank filled with
characters. It's a way to counter monsters and daemons (without
taking any yourself), but try to be fair to your opponent, and
don't make it a habit!
The characters can be equipped with a lot of cool equipment.
Using a few Chieftans with Handguns (the old Warplock Jezzails
and the Warlock Engineer with Handgun works fine) can easily make
up for your lack of missilepower, and hitting on 2+ is then not
an elven only thing! Use them together with your Jezzails to pick
out characters, preferrably magicians, not in units. Then charge!
Put javelins on Chieftans or Plaguepriest with Potion of Strength
or Bands of Power. It can really make a difference to throw
javelins on attackers with Strength 7 or 8. Bands of Power and
Sword of Swift Slaying is a combo for a Plaguepriest which works
fine, even though most often dispelled, it helps your Warlocks
destructive magic inflict severe damage. Use the Skaven only
items first, they work extremely well and are in character. Then
throw in some other destructive items, which seems to go well
with the philosophy of Skaven society.
Try to distract your enemies with Gutter Runners and/or Rat
Ogres, keeping your core of the army safe until they are in
hand-to-hand combat. It's after all they who got to do the
serious damage anyway, in most of the cases.
Another way is using shields of Skavenslaves or Giant Rats, but
remember not to be right behind them with your quality
Skavenunits, cause if they break, you could have a charging enemy
on your throat. Not good-good. Try to manouvre your Stormvermins
and Clanrats around the Skavenslaves, attacking from the side, or
at least be out of the way of the broken Skavenslaves (they will
eventually break, considering you don't have massive ranks, good
characters, or a Battlestandard Bearer with them, which you
shouldn't, apart from ranks then). And as always, which should be
possible with the fast and numerous Skavens, try to outmanouvre
your enemy and hit them with more than one unit per time.
Always use Skavenbrew! It's fun and it's rewarding. Preferrably
together with a Warpstone Charm on a Chieftan or a Warlock.
Use some smaller units or missile power (like a Chieftan with a
Handgun) to try out dangerous enemy units, to see if it is worth
charging them with Clanrats. It's so frustrating to stand against
enemies with a 1+ Save (or 2+ for that matter) with a S3, isn't
it? Isn't there a way for GW to change this rule, making it
possible to hit once in a while anyway!?! Make 7+ etcetera a rule
when comparing Strength to Toughness!