Clan Pestilens Defense in the GH17

Skaven in the GH17

Over the next few weeks I intend to write a few little something-somethings about my beloved Skaven, and how I suppose to superintend my units on the battlefield. I figure it will be a fun thing to do, and hope that it will help me, and possibly you, decide how to proceed with GH2 Skaven list-building.

I see you noticed the word, superintend… While I can often be pretentious, I am not trying to be in this case. I use the word because most other synonyms infer a higher level of leadership. Rats, once shuffled correctly into position, pretty much play themselves, despite what you want them to do. A Skaven general need only hang around with a clipboard.

To further re-enforce the point, the rest of this write-up, or article, or whatever, will draw-on, pretty much, some of my last year in AoS, as-well-as one of the three most basic categories for any Skaven supervisor: DEFENSE. I will delve more deeply into the other two categories, Offense, and Luck, in future write-ups. But seeing as any Skaven supervisor has very few options defensively, I figured I’d start here.

So to it, then…

DEFENSE.

Rats are generally weak in the classical definition of defense. They have so precious few “ward” save options, and now, because the nerf-gun totting gods willed it so, only one-and-a-half options for immunity to battle-shock.

Regardless of how this may seem on the surface, it matters not. I fully endorse finding solutions, over wallowing in what could have been. Let’s face it, even though GW are somewhat of a democracy

these days, ultimately, you have very little say in how the game evolves. And rightly so. Most of us do not see the bigger picture anyway. You must embrace it, carry on, or GTFO.

What Skaven supervisors do have for defense, is numbers… Massive amounts of 1s and 0s… Ridiculous levels of table-top real-estate can be covered with the right build. Before GH17, I fielded a hoard of Clans Pestilens at my favourite competitive tournament of all time… Paul Ting’s Warhammerd, in Calgary, AB. It topped-out at 160 models, or 196 wounds. It terrified people. It terrified me. But it was the first time, in a long time, that I felt I was finally beginning to supervise Skaven correctly. So, for most of this defense babble, I will concentrate mostly on Clans Pestilens as the example, as they would appear to be the most hopeless in defense. However, it applies across the board.

Ultimately, I finished 5th at Warhammerd 2017. Not a bad effort. But, as hindsight is so often a wonderful thing, I could have done better – or even won the whole thing. In the end though, I lost to better generals. More to the point, I lost to those who understood their armies, the game, and their defensive tactics way better than me.

My point to all this digression, are the lessons I took from the losses. You cannot possibly hope to understand defense, if you insist on charging and murdering ****** the whole time. And, if you still insist on charging and murdering ****** the whole time, you will struggle to win larger, competitive events.

Whoever said that the best defense is a good offense, never heard of three Bastiladons in a corner, or an Alarielle led Sylvaneth force in the Realm of Life, with the added ability to completely heal each turn. #SavageGarden. You are not going to murder these things. Ever.

I played with 163 models, remember? 160 of which were Monks, mostly in multiples of 20 – most of the time with four attacks each, re-rolling all failed hits, and a massive number of other offensive boosts. I still lost. My opponent’s armies, at best, had half the model count, half the wounds, and way-less attacking potential. Trust me, there are some things you are not going to destroy offensively. If certain armies are commanded  well defensively, you must consider your options towards the same. I’m not suggesting that you completely ignore your army’s offensive strengths – which in the case of Clans Pestilens is ridiculous amount of attack dice – I’m saying that it is imperative you find the balance. It needn’t be a 50/50 balance either. Just remember, If you have nobody left to attack with, what good is your charge?

As far as Skaven armies are concerned, mass numbers are more a versatile defense than any kind of save roll you have access too. You should definitely consider using them that way. I didn’t, and I lost pivotal games.

GH17 encourages massive regiments almost all around. In the case of Clans Pestilens, that is now cheap swarms of 40 Monks. Before, I would have argued that taking Monks in multiple smaller units of, say, 20, would afford you way more versatility on the tabletop. Now, however, with the ability to take multiple immunity-to-battleshock options gone, this is definitely not the case.

You can now, at best, make only one unit completely immune to battleshock. This may as well be a massive block of 40. Granted. But what about all the other big blocks of Monks?

The obvious retort is, “But, Dean, I’m going to take them in smaller units to reduce the overall amount that run-away each turn.” This is, in my opinion, the reverse of what you want to do defensively. It is definitely a valid tactic though, but there are now better options. Obviously, if there are only 10 or 20 models in a unit, only 10 or 20 can die or run away. Makes sense. However, bigger units now afford better bravery, and facilitate more models in your overall build because of the Massive Regiments savings. These things cannot be ignored. Max-out unit sizeS whenever you can.

Listen, I’m really not one for “Math Hammer.” I just don’t get my kicks that way. I also genuinely believe that AoS has far too many variables in it for that style of play to pay-off. The direct application of averages is only going to hurt you due to poor reliability. I don’t see how you can apply averages, with any level of certainty, to something so random and chaotic as an AoS dice roll. So, I don’t. It also strikes me as obvious that the people writing the rules for this game, love it just as much as we do – probably even more. They’re doing it for a living. To that end, it can be assumed that they know what they are doing when making rules changes. If there is an over-all blanket rule introduced, you had probably better employ it. It’s done for the benefit of the entire game.

Your best defensive tool is this… Skaven Pestilens now get double the strength in numbers bonus than any other force out there. I assume that this will obviously apply to Clan Verminus soon, too. However, at this point it doesn’t. Yes, it saddens me greatly, because they have been on my to-do list for what seems like a century. Either way, for Clans Pestilens, you absolutely must use this to your advantage. You actually have no other option.

A block of 40 Monks now has a bravery of 13 (Nice!). Sure, you will still lose a lot. But I hope you realize what this means… Skaven Hoards are now just as brave, if not more-so, than any other army in the game!

Just let that sink in…

Also remember, the fact that you have a ridiculous number of models to boot, should tell you that you will always be losing a ridiculous number of models. Embrace this. That fact that you can now only ever make one unit completely immune to battleshock, should tell you that every other faction in the game has similar restrictions too. So, don’t worry about it. For most scenarios, all you have to do is out-last them. Given what I’ve just said, that should be relatively easy, right?  

When it comes to magic in Clans Pestilens, you have a Verminlord Corrupter. This is it. If you can’t reach the enemy with Plague, then throw a mystic shield on your Furnace, or yourself. In fact, even if you can reach the enemy with Plague, I would still almost always Mystic Shield my Furnace. With the addition of all the new prayers, traits, magic items, you need to keep these damn things alive to buff your hoards. These furnaces, and single Priests, are as vital to your army as mass numbers. Because of this, once the word gets around, they will be targeted to death. You need to prepare for this. Throw a Mystic Shield, on a priest in cover, and you have a winning combination.

Just think out-side the box for a second... When list building, do you ever try to wonder what your opponent might thinking, as he/she is staring across the table at 200 Monks and a couple of furnaces? They are most probably wondering what to try and kill first. This thought should actually leave a Pestilens player with a air of confidence. If your opponent does take out 2 furnaces, it's not the end of the world. They now have 200 charging Monks to deal with. If they take out some Monks first, then the furnaces will buff thew monks who survive. I'm not saying you will win every time, but it isn't as hopeless as some people would have you believe.

As far as allies are concerned, your best choice for a defensive ally, are, controversially, Daemons of Nurgle. Sure, there are all the other Skaven Clans to choose from, too. But, this is about maximizing defense. And, for a no-******, solid defensive line, you will not go wrong with Daemons of Nurgle. I won’t go into details on Daemons, as I want this to be about Skaven alone. But you should definitely invest the time to look at them, if you haven’t already. It all comes down your preference really.

Honestly, that is really about it, when it comes to Clan Pestilens defence. They don’t offer many other options.

I hope you take this article at face value, because it is only intended as an interest piece, not a bible of how. I love my rats, and I love it more when they win. I spend hours stooped over lists, and books, and rules, and practiced dice rolls, just to figure out works best for me. What I have found, though, to paraphrase the great General Hannibal, is that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. I know this to be absolutely true for AoS. Wwhat I have learned, is that versatility, and adaptability win games. Defense is just one part.

Cheers.