Let's Start Wishing: 3 ideas for a new Skaven Battletome release

[Garrac]

(I created the theme on reddit, but here you go if you wanna have some fun too )

 

So, if a new battletome is going to come this summer (big IF) I say we can play a little game, and suggest 3 changes that are mostly needed for the faction (I put a limit because, well, GW)

 

1. New poison globadiers. I mean, come on, the miniatures were first published literally THE YEAR I WAS BORN. They have aged badly, only have 3 poses, and a lot of 3rd parties are getting rich selling new ones. I think is mostly needed

2. New gutter/night runners. Another mostly needed improvement for miniatures that were published ages ago. Most of all, their poses make them look as if they were shitting on the battlefield.

3. A new Clan Eshin unit. Nowadays, Eshin is the most boring of the 4 clans, with only 3 units. If a clan needs more fuel, it's Eshin. I don't know, put a rat on a samurai armour or something. To create new units for Eshin would be as simple as puting together "Rat" with "anything slightly japanese". The rest writes itself

There's more, ofc. For example, Skrolk's miniature dates back to 1993. We need to recover some spetial characters, to eliminate the resting resin and metal miniatures still existing on the faction... but those 3 I think are the most urgent ones

If you want you can suggest your own 3 biggest wishes

[Kadeton]

People probably won't like this idea, but I personally think the best thing they could do for Skaven would be to simplify and consolidate the range.

Pick a single governing theme and stick to it, dropping stuff that doesn't fit from the range rather than updating it just for historical reasons. An army that tries to mesh Mad Science, Plague and Ninjas is never going to feel thematically coherent.

[Lord Krungharr]

Hmmm, that actually makes sense.  The Horned Rat has too many 'aspects'.  Really shouldn't just be an amalgam of rat-viewed Chaos gods as it seems to be now.  But I don't see them getting rid of the kits that all got repackaged for AoS thus far (I think the Clan Skryre and Pestilens ones are the only Start Collecting kits...those and the Verminlords are the only ones I can think of that have proper boxes with their own pictures on them, but not quite sure.)

Have to agree however assassin rats are so integral with the Skaven lore that Clan Eshin needs some love!  They do have 4 units however with the Deathmaster but they're all old and crappy aside from the Verminlord who just doesn't kill well enough for the masterist assassin of them all.

All the Skryre weapons teams need a new kit, and it should be all coming in units of 3 and built with the same kit.  Doomflayer perhaps nixed but the Doomwheel kit is super amazing and I don't think I'd change a darn thing on that one.

As for rules, their battleline situation is dum.  Change it to be whatever special units are battleline IF general has that Clan keyword.  Period.  AND they should permit battleline units for Skaven to be reinforced once without spending reinforcement points AND Acolytes/Gutter Runners should be min unit 10 so every Clan have a proper horde.  Keep their horde rules too, those are good, just hard to use them now with reinforcement point limits.  Giant rats and rat swarms should be like Nurglings and come out of terrain, or just out of gnawholes on a 4+ add D3 to the swarm if it's in range.

[Gitzdee]

16 hours ago, Kadeton said:

People probably won't like this idea, but I personally think the best thing they could do for Skaven would be to simplify and consolidate the range.

Pick a single governing theme and stick to it, dropping stuff that doesn't fit from the range rather than updating it just for historical reasons. An army that tries to mesh Mad Science, Plague and Ninjas is never going to feel thematically coherent.

I actually like this. I rather have a new addition to the army with creative freedom like Kruleboyz in Warclans than a few single models trying to patch things up. I dont expect any AoS army getting the Necrons/Sisters/Aeldari treatment any time soon.

Edit: If they ever decide to redesign Eshin i would like them to steal some ideas from MtG.

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Iksdee

[Fulcanelli]

16 hours ago, Kadeton said:

People probably won't like this idea, but I personally think the best thing they could do for Skaven would be to simplify and consolidate the range.

Pick a single governing theme and stick to it, dropping stuff that doesn't fit from the range rather than updating it just for historical reasons. An army that tries to mesh Mad Science, Plague and Ninjas is never going to feel thematically coherent.

I admit this sounds a pretty logical thing and it would be coherent with the 'AoSification' of warhammer universe.

Nevertheless, a part of me would be so sad to see the clans squatted, it's such a cool lore (one of my favourite, despite I've never played skaven)... probably it could stay in Old World.

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

Complete Skaven wishlist:

[Gitzdee]

 

[pnkdth]

20 hours ago, Kadeton said:

People probably won't like this idea, but I personally think the best thing they could do for Skaven would be to simplify and consolidate the range.

Pick a single governing theme and stick to it, dropping stuff that doesn't fit from the range rather than updating it just for historical reasons. An army that tries to mesh Mad Science, Plague and Ninjas is never going to feel thematically coherent.

A SBGL tome would make more sense to me. Retain the various clans yet allow for a rat filled smorgasbord to pick units from. Besides, a unified theme doesn't exactly scream Skaven, does it? 😛

I'm not opposed to some AoSification but certain factions are so cool and iconic the way they are. Skaven, to me, is one of them.

Edited April 6, 2022 by pnkdth

[EntMan]

2 minutes ago, pnkdth said:

Besides, a unified theme doesn't exactly scream Skaven, does it?

Exactly this.

[Gitzdee]

10 minutes ago, pnkdth said:

A SBGL would make more sense to me. Retain the various clans yet allow for a rat filled smorgasbord to pick units from. Besides, a unified theme doesn't exactly scream Skaven, does it? 😛

I'm not opposed to some AoSification but certain factions are so cool and iconic the way they are. Skaven, to me, is one of them.

I think they actually did a great job at redoing an army with SBGL. They got rid of the bit and pieces and made it streamlined. Skaven could really use this treatment.

I just hope they get rid of tomes like Gloomspite Gitz/Orruk Warclans that feel like its a few different armies slapped into a book with almost no synergy.

[pnkdth]

1 minute ago, Iksdee said:

I think they actually did a great job at redoing an army with SBGL. They got rid of the bit and pieces and made it streamlined. Skaven could really use this treatment.

Yeah, that is what I meant. SBGL is a good example of how to do it. It didn't butcher the flavour of VC/SBGL and applies the dynasty rules much like how the old bloodlines worked.

[Gitzdee]

1 minute ago, pnkdth said:

Yeah, that is what I meant. SBGL is a good example of how to do it. It didn't butcher the flavour of VC/SBGL and applies the dynasty rules much like how the old bloodlines worked.

Ah yesh, but i do think SBGL had a unified feel to it, could be a personal thing :).

[Skreech Verminking]

I think this person probably says it all:

although I don’t agree with his opinion towards the stormvermins.

What I personallh want:

new models for clan eshin:

it’s not like as if they would have to invent everything from the beginning.

just look at the stuff that total war warhammer brought into the lore:

Clan eshin Triads, deathvermins.

New models for clan moulder:

rat ogors and packmasters really need a new set, they really just didn’t do to well.

also why not include a set of bonebracker ratogre being ridden by the either Stormvermins or a clalword/master moulder

Skaven were always meant  to be together.

So why not bring the idea back that they sel stuff to each other.

-bring back the bigger rats.

it is just upsetting to see how monsters like the brood horror somehow got discontinued.

-more more more monsters.

clan skryre:

just give me those plastic weapon teams, and please just bring back the poisoned wind mortar, ever since ttww2 The need for that model has grown to unimaginable hight.

Oh and a better looking warlock engineer, or that mode from the old blood island kits, is really needed.

I just can’t ever buy myself a such horrible looking metal model.

clan verminus:

-just give me those clalwords on beast thingies.

I can’t believe that the only model we had got discontinued.

just give me something to work with my converted lizard-thing from the kruelboyz.

from a fluff perspective:

you know the realm of heaven where supposedly all those hated poster-things get build?

yeah just let the skaven destroy it with a doomrocket, killing sigmar in the process and wounding grungi as well.

let the skaven be the mover and shakers of realms, the real thread towards all living beings.

Also nothing would be changed from a gamplay perspective.

At this point the story for the stormcast would get more dramatic, so more interesting, with no god to lead them and their ranks no longer being able to be filled, keeping the dead-things dead.

And through fully said, sigmar really never was needed anyway.

He is a human spirit overtaking the body of some Imperial Prince (who was much more interesting), while calling himself a god.

No reason to keep an impostor-thing alive.

let him be showed why the 12 members of the council of 13, who once lived, were punished for a millennium.

Oh and bring back the Fellblade.

just oh please gw, give the skaven a weapon that is so powerful that it literally kills anything with one strike, ignoring rules that ignore being slayed.

just make the risk extraordinarily.

(like roll a dice every round one a 1,2 or 3 this models wounds characteristic gets reduced by d3 (or d6).

or roll at the beginning of every turn a dice on a 1 and 2, this model is slain.

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Skreech Verminking

[pnkdth]

2 hours ago, Iksdee said:

Ah yesh, but i do think SBGL had a unified feel to it, could be a personal thing :).

They are, I suppose, but they're also not in that you can create pretty much anything you want under the banner of X dynasty. That said, I do lament the fact we cannot get the archetypes of mind-games vampire, martial arts vampire, and sorcerer vampire as regular vampire lords. That's about in terms of issues I have with the book though.

In either case, that is what I meant with a 'SBGL tome.' Give us the clans and a chaotic sandbox of rats!

[Skreech Verminking]

Wel since we are already talking about archetypes, I actually really think that most of us agree that skaven just aren’t meant to be played as a mono faction.

basically what I would like to see are grand schemes.

Grand schemes that the skaven faction can be aligned to.

have at least a scheme that represen one of the great horned rats aspect.

With maybe giving some kind of buff (for example: grand scheme of shadows: each time a range attack is made against a unit from this army, subtract 1 from the hit roles made with this weapon), I would also like to see certain kind of battleline being unlocked with taking those schemes (for example taking the scheme of plague would grand you a single unit of plague monks being taken as battleline or something like this.

This would not only improve the playability of the skaven but also change the list building step.

making skaven much more interesting.

I would then keep the rules they already had (including, additional content rules we got via, campaign book, see hidden weapon team rules etc.).

edit: and to end it all,

I really want a warlock engineer using a doomwheel, which would then allow one to use doomwheels as battleline.

I really, really want a doomwheel army.

just please oh mighty great horned rat, let this be a thing in the next book.

Even if it comes with the cost of sacrificing everything that games workshop owns

Edited April 6, 2022 by Skreech Verminking

[Snorri Nelriksson]

They just need to update resin models and add something to Moudler and Enshin imho...

[Umjammerlama]

I think the Skaven need some more named characters in AOS. We only have two at the moment. 

[Verminlord]

I want an Allegiance ability that reflects the in-faction treachery always going on. Specifically something like the old skaven banner bearer rule but rewritten as a more useful Allegiance ability. Kill my skaven General? Who cares, another rat takes its place. The nearest skaven hero becomes your general, pick a command trait for that hero.

Besides that, just more minis and a SbG style format with the great clans kept in tact. Moulder is best-best.

[TheMuphinMan]

As for the book, I hope it is like orruk warclans where you have rules for the individual clans (with weapons teams/masterclan/HPA/clanrats/etc as coalition) then a combined allegiance so players have the choice of flavor

For hero units I'd want each clan to have a hero option between the foot heroes and verminlords. Bring back the clawlord on broodhorror as a dual kit for clawlord/master moulder on brood horror, the priest on furnace works for pestilens, an archwarlock on some doomwheel tank for skyre, then a deathmaster on some agile rat-snake or rat-gecko monster as another dualkit with master moulder since moulder would be making these beasts

For non-heroes, return of wolfrats, calvary upgrade for those wolfrats and last, as said many times in this thread, updated sculpts for resin/metal monkeyrats