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Quick question please: do you think that dealing with battle shock through the snoutgrovel robe artifact is a viable strategy? I don't think I want to spend the points in a screaming bell or a warpseer. I also don't feel the bell of doom is reliable enough. This would mean losing the vigourdust injector, but isn't it overkill anyway with 6 stormfiends, MMWP and sparks? In exchange, I can skitterleap my battle shock immunity in the middle of the units that need it... Here is the list I have in mind: Allegiance: Skaventide Grey Seer (140) - General - Trait: Master of Magic - Artefact: Snoutgrovel Robes - Lore of Ruin: Skitterleap Warlock Engineer (100) - Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism: More-more-more Warp Power! Warlock Engineer (100) - Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism: More-more-more Warp Power! 40 x Clanrats (200) - Rusty Spear 20 x Clanrats (120) - Rusty Blade 20 x Clanrats (120) - Rusty Blade 6 x Stormfiends (520) - 2x Windlaunchers - 2x Ratling Cannons - 2x Shock Gauntlets Hell Pit Abomination (240) Warp Lightning Cannon (180) Warp Lightning Cannon (180) Warp Lightning Vortex (100) Total: 2000 / 2000 Extra Command Points: 0 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 159 Thanks

@Gwendar Please let us know how that hell pit abomination does! I bought one too but I couldn't get myself to play it yet. @Skreech Verminking Same! Keep us posted please. This list with 4 warlocks seems fun. I'm thinking of playing 3 warlock engineers myself (one on a balewind). Their spell has always impressed me. Free D6 MW ...

Hi, On a youtube battle report that was posted there some time ago (KO vs Skaven), someone posted a comment that got me thinking. The person said that Warlock Engineers cannot cast Mystic Shield and Arcane Bolt. Contrary to other casters, their warscrolls do not state that they know these spells... I double checked the warscrolls and they indeed do not mention these spells... Come on GW, why do you have to create confusion everywhere?? What do you think?

I'm also debating the same issue... What is your current setup of choice? My core is 40 x Clanrats (200) 20 x Clanrats (120) 20 x Clanrats (120) 9 x Stormfiends (780) Hell Pit Abomination (240) Total: 1460 / 2000 To fill the rest, I can: + verminlord warpseer+ arch warlock + 20 clanrats Or + screaming bell + arch warlock + 2*20 clanrats (so 3*40) Or + screaming bell + arch warlock + chaos sorcerer lord (for some free mystic shields) Or swapping arch warlock with bombardier for an extra CP, or 20 clanrats with a warp grinder team. The core question is: is it enough to have 2 heroes (one to babysit the 9 stormfiends and the other for battle shock immunity)? Then the question of how to best spend 160 points: pumping units of clanrats to 40, warp grinders, extra CP, endless spells, doomwheel, chaos sorcerer lord, ... Tough call...

Then may I suggest removing the vermintide to get an extra command point? Or replacing the arch warlock with a warlock bombardier/engineer (they get the same reroll for the WLV but cost less, as you don't have other skryre units anyway). You could then swap the gravetide with soulsnare shackles and still be left with 1950/2000 for an extra CP. Cheers

Having 2 bells seem nice, but how are you usually dealing with tough enemy units that already are on top of objectives? I don't see in your list many ways to actually deal large amounts of damage (stormfiends, plague monks, stormvermins, rat ogors...) Cheers

Hard to tell without seeing the model fully painted, but I personally like it. I don't mind the washed out effect as long as it is for clanrats. Aren't they meant to be dirty anyway? I wash mine a lot too using Agrax Earthshade. I like that they look fresh out of the pit.

What if I were to get hold of 140 clanrats in addition to the 100 I already have? I remember we talked a lot about the horde strategy a while ago, but I didn't hear about reports besides one from @Skreech Verminking do you think fielding 240 clanrats is still a promising strategy? Along with a bell, and a verminlord warpseer I suppose. Why not a warp grinder, a bridge or a chronomantic cogs besides. Or would I lose too much by not using a hammer like stormfiends or plague monks? Cheers

Great thinking @swarmofseals As 9 stormfiends is still uncommon and under tested, I'm not sure either about how to pair them. I almost brought 9 to a local game until learning that it was going to be a 2v1. So I didn't want to bring a "all eggs in one basket" list with 2 opponents... I had a Chaos Sorcerer Lord in this list, allied with a nurgle mark. I feel it doesn't look so great on paper for 160pts, but I brought it in nevertheless to babysit the stormfiends even more with a reroll saves of 1. It acts the same as for MMMWP/deranged inventor, in that the ability can be used to compensate for a failed spell. In addition to a warlock/archwarlock and a warpseer/bell, that would make 3 babysitting heroes: 1 for save, 1 for damage and 1 for battle shock

Welcome As you can see from the battle report of @Skreech Verminking above, stofmvermins are very different to clanrats. They are also very fringe, and will never be able to be worth without clanrats around. They also need to be 30 or 40... So I think a start would be to invest in clanratd, which are key to absolutely all the lists. Then test your 20 stormvermins alongside the clanrats and decide whether you are willing to bring 20 more like in Skreech's list. From a hobby side, I personally love the models but hate painting them. Personal taste though... Many here enjoyed painting the stormvermins because of the details

What if we were to use the Warp Lightning Vortex as a melee support spell? Throw it on a unit we are going to charge with clanrats. The unit takes damage. Movement phase, the unit takes damage again. The clanrats charge and lock the unit into melee. Next turn, everyone takes damage (clanrats included), but, well, that is what they are here for. It would take several turns for the locked unit to escape the WLV, assuming we protect the clanrats from battle shock. The wizard could then cast WLV from closer to the combat area. With a few more spells in addition (death frenzy, wither, plague, or warp lightning storm, mmmwp...). I feel that the spell casters now work better from a closer range, as does the WLV. I'm going to test it like this next time, with blobs of 40 clanrats... as for the gnawbomb, I always wanted to have a Skaven army in which each turn sees hordes of Skaven sent from one side of the map to another. Endless hordes coming from everywhere.... I have seen a deal for 160 clanrats and 40 giant rats which I am considering, to add to my 100 clanrats and 80 giant rats...

That js great to know, thanks :) Enjoy collecting Skaven then! And feel free to join us on the Skaventide topic. Skaven is so great to collect. There are so many cool models available. I have over 5000 points of Skaven and I still miss plenty of cool minis (verminlords, hell pit abominations, doom wheels...) Cheers

I had another game with my 2k army. This time 1v2 - me versus 1k idoneth and 1k slaneesh. I lost round 5 with 13 points to 15. It was a really tense and close game. I'm not sure I will be able to do a full battle report, but here were my key learnings: - the endless spells continued to disappoint... WLV at 13" is way too hard to cast I feel. Casting it after a teleport is highly uncertain, as you need to succeed both the teleport and the WLV. I failed twice. Casting it in the melee comes too late to make enough impact. The soulsnare shackles did not do much. The balewind vortex neither, as the extra range could not be put to much use and the extra spell neither. I think I will drop all the endless spells and focus on the realm ones, unless I could find another shenanigan... What were your experiences post nerf? - 6 stormfiends MVP but they need a bravery boost or battle shock immunity... I again lost one on a 6. Some powerful opponents can wipe 2 stormfiends in one phase so it becomes very risky. I feel that babysitting is a must... I'm thinking of throwing a unit of 9 and an allied Chaos Sorcerer Lord for that reroll 1s on save, hit, wound (but it costs 160pts...). It can also serve as a backup for a failed MMMWP. - skitterleap is great... Gnawholes are great... How do you abuse these? What about an assassin with Gnawbomb? Or I'm thinking about a couple of warp grinders... - I find the cannons still very random. I may focus on stormfiends instead (or jezzails). - for a long time I have been playing clanrats in 20s to focus on other things. But they again won me objectives... Just one alive is enough to capture points left unattended behind. Having 40 clanrats makes it more likely to have survivors. I'm going to up clanrats to 40. All in all, my list is becoming similar to the one posted by @Gwendar

@Skreech Verminking Cool lists For list #2, I like the vortex but where on earth are you going to place it, given the whole board will be full of your rats? Perhaps it could be replaced by a Master Moulder or a Clawlord. I think the list could like some buffs. For list #1 I'm not so sure about stormfiends in 3s. Instead of the 3 stormfiends, 2 throwers and doombell, what about 2 warp cannons and a warp grinder team to deepstrike the stormvermins and keep them safe meanwhile? List #3 I think at least one unit of clanrats deserve to be in to take some hits for the stormvermins. E.g. replace 40vermins with 40 clanrats, a screaming bell and an extra command point? What do you think?

One always need to collect more Skaven. Ask @Skreech Verminking

Hello all, I don't know much about the factions that make Free Cities, although I collected some Free People once, but I wonder: Do you think Free Cities could be a way to field some Middle Earth minis (humans, dwarves and elves)? I've always been attracted to the Middle Earth minis because I love the LOTR setting, but I don't know anybody who plays this boardgame and my GW shop doesn't support it either. But I thought it could be a way to play these miniatures as proxys for some Free Cities units. I don't think the GW shop would mind, as they could still sell me the Middle Earth minis. What do you think? Edit: nevermind, I found many answers there: Cheers

Thanks a lot for the tips! The problem I had was that the arch-warlock was nowhere near enough to cast a worthwhile WLV, hence the need for skitterleap. But I failed my skitterleap twice. The 13'' range on the WLV makes casting complicated I feel... I agree with the maths. The arch-warlock is better to cast WLV. What saved me with the shooting was again the stormfiends. Unlike the WLC, they always shoot to kill. So I unleashed them to the unit that blocked by WLC. Wiping the unit then freed my WLC shooting. I own neither Gutter Runners nor Doomwheels, but I think I may go with the Doomwheel then because the model looks awesome Also I do have 30 acolytes in total. I could also try pumping up the Acolytes instead.

I really want to try a unit of 30 or 40 stormvermins with a Clawlord, and possibly a battalion then to reduce the drop count and get an extra artifact. On paper they look brutal... Also I have 9 stormfiends and a warp-grinder so I think I will definitely try them out some day too. As I say in my battle report, 6 was already overkill though. 9 is going to be more-more-more overkill then! I like it

Clan Prepnik marched out of its aqshian farm to raid and plunder Idoneth Deepkin fishes... Was defeated and fled back to its farm quick-quick! I did a 2000-point battle against Idoneth Deepkin today. This was my army (one WLC missing in the picture): The list was: Including fresh recruits from Clan Skryre A warlock bombardier converted from a Spire of Dawn warpfire thrower kit: SPELLS, ALL THE SPELLS FOR BOULDRAK YES-YES And of course some humble farming rats devoted to Clan Prepnik The opponent was Idoneth Deepkin. His list was more of less the following: The Skaven troops are boxed in a metal box and the spells in a small shoe box. All 2000points in a backpack! THE BATTLE BEGINS The scenario is Shifting Objectives, the first main objective lands on the far right of the picture, and Idoneth gets the first turn Turn 1 - Fish The whole army runs for the objectives. They do some shooting and kill 2 clanrats on the far left, and 6 on the far right. End of turn, Idoneth controls all 3 objectifs and scores 5 points Turn 1 - The Mighty Skaven Horde of the Magnificient Grey Seer Bouldrak Grey Seer Bouldrak is ready to unleash some cunning tricks on the clueless fishes. The plan is to Skitterleap the Arch-Warlock against his will in the middle of a Akhelian Corps to dump a Balewind Vortex and Soulsnare Shackles before scurrying away through a Gnawhole. Grey Seer Bouldrak rolls a double 1 on Skitterleap. He manages to get on top of a Balewind Vortes though, which is next to useless. Shooting phase: An overcharged WLC deals 4 damage to the Eidolon (down to 12 life), but 4 damage to itself too. The other WLC damages an Allopex. Oh boy that Idoneth rule that only the closest unit can be targetted is complicating placement! The Stormfiends get boosted with Vigourdust Injector, Deranged Inventor and a Warpstone Spark and wipe an Allopex. Movement phase: Bouldrak can't let the objectives go away! He sends two units of clanrats to a certain death to claim some points! 20 clanrats charge the main objective to score 3 points, and 20 other clanrats charge the Eidolon to score 1 more point: End of turn: 4 points for me and 5 for the Idoneth. I get to start turn 2!!! The main objective remains the same (far right) --- Turn 2 - The Mighty Skaven Horde of the Magnificient Grey Seer Bouldrak Grey Seer Bouldrak is now ready to unleash the cunning combo of skitterleaping the Arch-Warlock on top of the main objective to lock the Akhelian Corp. Grey Seer Bouldrak fails miserably with a 1 and 2. Note to self: Consume warpstone tokens to make the combo work, even if it means dying! There is absolutely no spell to range. I can't cast anything besides a shield on the bombardier and a mystic shield. Shooting phase: Stormfiends receive vigordust, deranged inventor and a spark again. They send the Eidolon back to the very bottom of the abyss with 17 damage despite the save, the ward save, and the boat wreckage ward save. Sidenote: The Eidolon was named Alain Deleau (translation: Alain From the Water) due to his ressemblance to French actor Alain Delon A cannon cleans the other Allopex, making the left flank totally empty and the objective secure. On the far right, clanrats get wiped so the main objective goes back to the Idoneth. 1 more point for me. Total of 5 for me and 5 for Idoneth. Turn 2 - Fish The Idoneth leaves the central and right objectives (secured already) and rush Grey Seer Bouldrak on his vortex, the 20 clanrats in the center and the 15 Acolytes (who did not do anything since the beginning) Note to self: Use the acolytes! But the Stormfiends were better positioned so they received all the buffs. The Acolytes movement is cool (run and shoot) but it was not enough to threaten the Idoneth. Grey Seer Bouldrak dies escapes through a Gnawhole back to his farm 19 clanrats die! Not 20 but 19!!!! 3 Acolytes die. I decide to use the arch-warlock CP (left on the picture) to save the single clanrat instead of the Acolytes for some cunning plan!!! Wait-see! 4 points more for Idoneth, for a total of 9. I get to start the third turn! The objective again stays on the far right... --- Turn 3 - The Mighty Skaven Horde of the Magnificient Grey Seer Bouldrak The Arch-Warlock casts Warp Lightning Vortex on top of the Akhelian Corps, but it is too late in the game to make a large impact... Here comes the cunning plan! Which I realized later on that in fact it was not supposed to work... The single rat that was saved Turn 2 is 6'' from the gnawhole. The Arch-Warlock is 11'' from the Gnawhole. I spend another command point to run to the gnawhole, and teleports the single rat on top of the unattended main objective to score 3 points. But later on I realized this was not supposed to work because of the Gnawhole teleporting is for the beginning of the movement phase... My mistake Shooting phase: The stormfiends wipe the 20 thralls and the Souldrender. The WLC wipe 3 Ishlaen Guards. Looking good! I score 4 points for a total of 9. Turn 3 - Fish Idoneth has a Leviadon, a Tidecaster and 3 Ishlaen Guards left. The boosted Leviadon rushes the Stormfiends and kills 4 of them! Misery! With no hero nearby, the 2 other run away... The arch-warlock dies. The Tidecaster charges and kills the single clanrat that was securing the main objective. End of turn, 4 more points for the Idoneth, for a total of 13. I am left with 2 WLC, a warlock bombardier, and 6 Acolytes. We decide to stop there. The WLC don't have enough movement to secure objectives. The Acolytes are locked into combat with an Ishlaen Guard. There was no way I could win on points, even if I somehow got a triple turn and wiped the Idoneth player. Summary The battle was very close and tense. Each turn saw some big and important units being wiped on each side. Despite the double turn, Idoneth getting the first turn and the first 5 points really got me in a bad position. I had to do several suicide moves to catch up on points. My army lacks mobility. I don't feel the Acolytes and Gnawholes are enough. Gnawholes were locked by the Idoneth player anyway. On the other hand, Idoneth had plenty of mobility. I need to get either a Doomwheel or a Warp Grinder team. Stormfiends were absolute beasts! What really did the difference was their huge survivability. They managed to wipe an Eidolon, 2 Allopexes, 20 thralls and a Soulrender before losing a single model! As a consequence, I babysitted them heavily instead of the Acolytes, thereby making the Acolytes quite subpar. The problem with the Acolytes is that they cannot survive a charge. They can wipe a single unit but then have to pray for not being charged back by another unit nearby. On the other hand, the stormfiends can stay in the center and absorb the hits (as long as they can be immuned to battleshock). I'm considering adding 3 more stormfiends for a total of 9 and a warp grinder instead of the 15 acolytes. But I'm still hesitating... I need to take more risks with magic. Failing Skitterleap twice made my endless spells useless. Next time I will make the grey seer consume warp tokens to make sure the spell gets through. I feel it is crucial to at least have a chance to land a WLV or shackles early. I think I will have the opportunity to take revenge next week. Any idea about what to change in terms of units or strategy? Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the battle report. I don't get much opportunities to play unfortunately, as I live very far from any player group or GW shop. I spend much time theorycrafting and painting but not much actually playing. My strategy and placement still need improving... Cheers

And here is the battle report! I wish you a pleasant read and welcome any feedback.

On the stormfiend debate, I just fielded 6 in a 2000pts game today against Idoneth Deepkin. I'll post a battle report on my TGA blog soon, but they indeed were absolute MVP... They managed to wipe an Eidolon, two Allopexes, 20 thralls and Isharann without losing any single model! But then the Leviadon wiped them by killing 3 and making the other 3 leave to battleshock... I agree that it was their survivability that saved me. The acolytes on the other hand needs much more babysitting. My unit of 15 got charged early and with only 7 left I couldn't scale their damage enough. I'm hesitating to remove the 15 acolytes and a cannon to field 3 more stormfiends (total of 9) and a warp grinder team. But that would make a lot of Skaven eggs in a same gnawhole... It may be risky... This was my 980pts Left flank....

Hi, I have 2 rules questions regarding the Warlock Engineers/Bombardiers please: - Can we cast Warp Lightning more than once per engineer? For example if the engineer is on top of a balewind. The warscroll says any number of engineer can cast the spell. I suppose it negates the core rules on that? - Can we use multiple engineer to boost a same Warp Lightning Cannon? The warscroll says that a single engineer cannot boost more than one cannon. But what if I boost one cannon with two engineers? Do I get to roll 18 dice then? Thanks

To encourage advice, allow me to post some pictures of the army as planned (1 WLC still left to be painted) The endless spells (the balewind vortex is magnetized and can be moved from its original base to any of the gnawholes) The Skryre recruits The verminus meatshields Cheers

OK I'm going to enroll in a summer league ran by my local shop. One needs lists that can evolve from 1k to 2k. As I haven't played for a while, may I ask for some feedback on the following evolving list please? I am especially unsure about which trait/artifact to take. 1000pts Allegiance: Skaventide Arch-Warlock (160) - General - Trait: Verminous Valour - Artefact: Vigordust Injector - Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism: More-more-more Warp Power! Warlock Engineer (100) - Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism: Warp Lightning Shield 20 x Clanrats (120) - Rusty Spear 20 x Clanrats (120) - Rusty Blade 15 x Skryre Acolytes (180) Warp Lightning Cannon (180) Warp Lightning Vortex (100) Soulsnare Shackles (40) 1500pts: + Balewind Vortex (40) + 20 clanrats (120) + 1 War Lightning Cannon (180) + 1 Grey Seer (140) with Skitterleap 2000pts: + 6 stormfiends (520) (Change the arch warlock trait to deranged inventor?) The main "trick" is the skitterleap + spells + back with a gnawhole. The balewind is either for the grey seer, or for the warlock engineer. On top of a balewind, the engineer can cast its spell twice (so 2d6 if overcharged, which isn't very risky). The engineer also has time to come back through a gnawhole in time to buff a WLC in the shooting phase. What do you think? Cheers

I especially like splintered fangs, corvus cabal and Untamed beasts because of the Conan vibe they have. I'm huge fan of Howard's Conan which is why I'm sold on them. I'm definitely going to roleplay the untamed beasts trying to stop a dark ritual from the splintered fang in some ancient and forsaken temple in the middle of a desert. Or from the corvus cabal on top of a mountain, in some sort of nest-like hideout... Fun times ahead