The Great Gnaw- Skaven release?

[Mayple]

I like the idea of Gnaw-holes as terrain features. Something like 'after setting up this terrain feature, you may place X <skaven> units that have been set up underground within 3'', and 9'' away from any enemy models.'

[Throt the Unclean]

I think a combined Skaven battletome is desperately needed or at the very least a Clan Skryre battletome, anything that makes Skaven competitive.

On 4/14/2018 at 2:36 AM, Bloodmaster said:

Make him not only the Glue but also the lynchpin. If he dies, everything else brakes apart. Sub-factions go at each other, something similar to WhFB infighting of Orcs.

This is a neat, but I'm kind of tired of the gimmicks with Skaven. I would really like to see them be more reliable, not less. The fact that Skaven are not in any way competitive is a huge problem to me. I don't think this would help that any.

Plus, Skaven are not mindless. While they will definitely ****** over each other to benefit themselves, they work together for shared goals. Having an entire army fall apart if one dude dies just doesn't seem to fit imo. Although, with Skaven being split up into clans maybe they could write lore to have that make sense. But having such a huge Achilles heel on top of already being arguably the most unreliable army just seems like a bad idea. 

[Bloodmaster]

Skaven should stay unreliable, it's one of their core features. But you are right as there has to be a way to balance it. Part of which should be in the rules, part is up to the player to have safe guards at place. For example, make the warlord durable, and keep him safe. But if he dies and all breaks apart, there might be an option that a competitor takes his place - but only after some infighting. The success is up to the player, take one strong sub-commander and only weak competitors to assure a quick succession but in consequence have weak heroes to buff your army and protect the warlord. Or take strong heroes/sub-commanders to strangthen your troops, making a more reliable battle line and guard your warlord, but if he dies chaos reigns and you have a hard time getting your troops to fight and win. 

Make it a weakness but offer ways to counter it, if played skillfully 

[Skreech Verminking]

13 minutes ago, Bloodmaster said:

Skaven should stay unreliable, it's one of their core features. But you are right as there has to be a way to balance it. Part of which should be in the rules, part is up to the player to have safe guards at place. For example, make the warlord durable, and keep him safe. But if he dies and all breaks apart, there might be an option that a competitor takes his place - but only after some infighting. The success is up to the player, take one strong sub-commander and only weak competitors to assure a quick succession but in consequence have weak heroes to buff your army and protect the warlord. Or take strong heroes/sub-commanders to strangthen your troops, making a more reliable battle line and guard your warlord, but if he dies chaos reigns and you have a hard time getting your troops to fight and win. 

Make it a weakness but offer ways to counter it, if played skillfully 

Well we really need some kind of rule which denies other players to aim all their shooting against our Warlord.

I’m thinking of something similar like the Deepkins armeetrade, but in a different way, so that it would only affect our hero’s

[Num]

8 minutes ago, Skreech Verminking said:

Well we really need some kind of rule which denies other players to aim all their shooting against our Warlord.

I’m thinking of something similar like the Deepkins armeetrade, but in a different way, so that it would only affect our hero’s

Verminous valour was somehow in this vein and very fluffy: make the surrounding weaklings take the hit instead

[Skreech Verminking]

1 hour ago, Num said:

Verminous valour was somehow in this vein and very fluffy: make the surrounding weaklings take the hit instead

Yeah??

[Rogue Explorator]

2 hours ago, Bloodmaster said:

Skaven should stay unreliable, it's one of their core features. But you are right as there has to be a way to balance it. Part of which should be in the rules, part is up to the player to have safe guards at place. For example, make the warlord durable, and keep him safe. But if he dies and all breaks apart, there might be an option that a competitor takes his place - but only after some infighting. The success is up to the player, take one strong sub-commander and only weak competitors to assure a quick succession but in consequence have weak heroes to buff your army and protect the warlord. Or take strong heroes/sub-commanders to strangthen your troops, making a more reliable battle line and guard your warlord, but if he dies chaos reigns and you have a hard time getting your troops to fight and win. 

Make it a weakness but offer ways to counter it, if played skillfully 

Sounds really messy.

And not in the fun mayhem and misfortune way typical for Skaven, but the unfun "puts game to a grinding halt as I resolve this" way. Rules like crumbling for Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings where never any fun for any one, so even if this was not remotely as punishing, I am very happy GW just does not make rules as fiddly to resolve like that anymore.

Now, what I could see is this scenario being included as narrative Battleplan in a Skaven book. But it is just unsuitable to being simulated as a general skaven rule for all modes of play. Rules like that just generate more annoyance than they add to the game.

[treeclimber]

A skaven release of any kind would be quite nice. My personal hope is that  all clans get alligiance abilities and stuff. I would love a mixed skaven alligience and I think “Masterclan” could be used here. A Masterclan army would require a masterclan general (grey seer, any verminlord, screaming bell, Thanquel and boneripper) but be able to use any of the other clans battleline. So giant rats, stormvermin, Skryre acolytes ect. would all be battleline in a masterclan army. Then give them some suitable alligience abilities and you are good to go! 

[Skreech Verminking]

3 hours ago, treeclimber said:

A skaven release of any kind would be quite nice. My personal hope is that  all clans get alligiance abilities and stuff. I would love a mixed skaven alligience and I think “Masterclan” could be used here. A Masterclan army would require a masterclan general (grey seer, any verminlord, screaming bell, Thanquel and boneripper) but be able to use any of the other clans battleline. So giant rats, stormvermin, Skryre acolytes ect. would all be battleline in a masterclan army. Then give them some suitable alligience abilities and you are good to go! 

Well yeah and an update or change for the screaming Bell would also be quite nice, since it’s literally not worth taking it.

after all nobody likes to take a Modell worth a fortune, which can literally only buff itself, or do for the rest of the game more or less nothing,

(I really wouldn’t mind it if the pointcost of the Modell would be encreased as long as it get’s some kind of an update which will hopefully give him some kind of an aura effect affecting all skaven units in range and not just itself?)

[treeclimber]

3 hours ago, Skreech Verminking said:

Well yeah and an update or change for the screaming Bell would also be quite nice, since it’s literally not worth taking it.

after all nobody likes to take a Modell worth a fortune, which can literally only buff itself, or do for the rest of the game more or less nothing,

(I really wouldn’t mind it if the pointcost of the Modell would be encreased as long as it get’s some kind of an update which will hopefully give him some kind of an aura effect affecting all skaven units in range and not just itself?)

Im not entirely sure what you mean by it only buffing itself. If you roll 3-4 on the Peal of Doom then yes but otherwise it does not buff itself? Still I agree that it does seem like it could use a change or two. I would properly change the command ability to just be a passive aura (like the skaven warlord on brood horror) and make rolling a 12 with Peal of Doom do something different than summoning a verminlord. Maybe rolling 12 would be such a powerfull blast that all the other effects would happen at the same time? 

[Skreech Verminking]

On 25/04/2018 at 8:45 PM, treeclimber said:

Im not entirely sure what you mean by it only buffing itself. If you roll 3-4 on the Peal of Doom then yes but otherwise it does not buff itself? Still I agree that it does seem like it could use a change or two. I would properly change the command ability to just be a passive aura (like the skaven warlord on brood horror) and make rolling a 12 with Peal of Doom do something different than summoning a verminlord. Maybe rolling 12 would be such a powerfull blast that all the other effects would happen at the same time? 

Well it would probably be nice if they changed the roll of 3-4 for the extra 6inch movement for the Screaming Bell, for something like “ pick a unit within one of the screaming Bell, the unit chosen and the screaming Bell can move in the proceeding movement phase an extra 6inches”

[Snoe]

I just bought the Start Collecting Pestilence box but I'm not gonna do a Pestilence army. I'm more interested in a mixed Skaven Force so it will be built as Screaming Bell and Warplightning Cannon, because I like the look of those more and the bell is so iconic for Skaven. But as many of you have discussed it's not that great in-game. Have anyone used it and how in that case?

On the wish-listing topic and Screaming Bell, how about a cumulative/ramping-up mechanic like DoK and ID have but more unpredictable?

In each of your heroephases you roll a dice and keep track of the total sum, compare it to a chart and see what you get. If you roll five 6:s during a game the army will be in such a frenzy that High Tide will look like ripple in a pond! But if you roll five 1:s you have clearly been sabotaged by your rivals and the underlings are barely doing what they are told. And a few different stages in-between to make every roll possibly mean something, will you reach the next threshold this turn or the next? "Just need to roll a 4+ to get the chargebonus!"