Jump to content

Skaven: how,where and should one start with them?


Saproling

Recommended Posts

While I'm still painting my Aelves, I still have 2 lots of Spire of Dawn skaven sitting around and I'm unsure on what to do with them.

Should I sell them off, keep them and start up skaven- this in and of itself raises some questions:

Hypothetically, if I kept the skaven,

  • Is there a Skaven Allegiance ability?
  • Do hordes upon hordes of clanrats have any place in AoS (as in blocks of 40 units, 120+ minis all told) and can one multi-base for ease of movement?
  • Are warmachines/big gribblies the way to go?
  • How in the Realms does one paint so many minis? O.o

Right now, I'm leaning towards selling as I've a "No Chaos in AoS" policy that's starting to waver. I figure I'd ask for advice before splashing out on more skaven or selling things off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

-No skaven allegiance ability, but you can use the generic chaos. Some great ones spring to mind, like the crown of command (great for big units of clanrats) and lord of war.

-Big hordes definitely have a place, and I think can be really effective with skaven - both for killing and for objectives. Check out the verminus claw-pack  formation as a good starting point. Multi basing is a bit iffy, id use the round base movement trays available out there to make movement a bit easier for yourself.

-Warmachines will really help give you something that can reach out and touch key pieces. Warp lightning cannons are popular for good reason. As far as big gribblies go, the verminlord deceiver gives you another unit that can touch pieces at the back of the board, and has a very useful -3 rend. The warbringer synergises very well with clanrats and stormvermin.

-I'm not sure how you paint it all without going crazy! I did 40 clanrats a while ago and that's enough for me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm really enjoying mine! I started with IoB, and have added a small skryre contingent to them too. The range is so useful... My 2k list has 90 clanrats in total (50 more to paint!) and a Warpseer, so definitely not optimised but I Iike the magic he gives me with an arch warlock, and the ability to massively reduce the moment of key enemy units. The jezzails and warp lightning cannon are great, especially if you stick your general with Lord of War near the jezzails for MW on a 5+. I'm currently lacking some movement flexibility, but will sort that out with some eshin maybe.

I also, perversely, really painting them. I'm doing some Tzeentch as a bit of a brightly coloured break, but definitely see myself with a small (1,000 point?) force from each clan. Is it totally efficient? No. Does it look like an awesome skaven horde with some crazy war machines and shenanigans? Absolutely!

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hypothetically, there is only one option of going Skaven allegiance without having to paint hundreds of rodents - going all-out Skryre army:

Pros

- 20 models for 2000 points (Clan Skryre battalion)

- competitive (12 competitive pitched games without a single defeat)

- just looks awesome

Cons

- your friends and opponents hate you, at least when dice are on your side

- not really fun to play

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 2:56 AM, Taviscaron said:

Hypothetically, there is only one option of going Skaven allegiance without having to paint hundreds of rodents - going all-out Skryre army:

Pros

- 20 models for 2000 points (Clan Skryre battalion)

- competitive (12 competitive pitched games without a single defeat)

- just looks awesome

Cons

- your friends and opponents hate you, at least when dice are on your side

- not really fun to play

Mind giving me a run down of a competitive Skryre list? I am very much interested in starting an army of them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Dez said:

There is a Clan Skryre Battalion in the Chaos Allegiance book. Just take all Warpfire Throwers and Stormfiends.

Exactly so, here is an example:

Allegiance: Chaos

Arch Warlock (140)
Warlock Engineer (100)
- General
- Trait: Lord of War
- Artefact: Crown of Conquest
Warlock Engineer (100)
- Artefact: Beguiling Gem
3 x Stormfiends (300)
- Warpfire Projectors
3 x Stormfiends (300)
- Warpfire Projectors
3 x Stormfiends (300)
- Warpfire Projectors
1 x Warp Grinder Weapon Team (100)
1 x Warp Grinder Weapon Team (100)
1 x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team (60)
1 x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team (60)
1 x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team (60)
1 x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team (60)
1 x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team (60)
1 x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team (60)
Clan Skryre (200)

Total: 2000/2000


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coolio, does the Screaming Bell have a place in the Verminus hordes? I've always loved the image of poor mutant rats having to push a Doom weapon like that around.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk



I think the Screaming bell was made for a Verminus horde. You need lots of rats to push the thing and they get great buffs from it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just checked the rules this morning and you're right. Thanks for the help. Just need to get some money together now and grab the Start Collecting Pestilens box :-D

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk



That's what I did. I made the Warp Lightning Cannon, Screaming bell, then added shields to the 'plague monks' to make them clanrats.
If you were to get the Spire of Dawn boxed set, you'd be pretty much set
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Theres so much possibilities for Skaven its always fun. All the clans seem to have some level of viability (although stormfiend spam is #1 right now, but I assume not for long once the points come out for the new General book) Ratling guns are tons of fun,  and Stormvermin with a Warlord's kill buff make them completely unstoppable (like wiping out 3 Juggernauts and a skulltaker without taking a single hit). If you are feeling particularly cheeky you can magnetize the warp lightning cannon and plague claw and the screaming bell/ plague furnace (the latter is EXTREMELY hard).  Also having only dabbled in plague rats slightly I have found them to be outrageously insane killing machines that die in droves. If you can get a ton of them they are murder machines (and when they die they also explode and cause mortal wounds!)

As for painting you have some really easy options, my current choice is using Army Painter Colored Primer Rat Fur. Prime it with this, paint the metal bits, slap on some argax earthshade, dry brush, rust up the weapons and you are good to go. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...