Riff_Raff_Rascal

Yup Gnawholes can be place anywhere on the board edge. The 9'' away from enemies part I don't get or can't remember was part of the rule because I don't know what in the game causes enemy models to be on the table pre-deployment. If you really wanted to you could put all 3 on your opponents side just for giggles. I wouldn't bother. All of those armies you're playing are going to close the distance so fast you're better off just adding more speed bumps for them. The other skaven players have tons of opinions on those catapults but for now I would wait to put them in a list until you're playing 2K points.

There's a lesson to be learned here, for the game in general. Skaven, above most armies, teaches a player that any models put on your game table are meant to die, no matter how elite they may feel. As much as we want to play with our toys, you have to learn to let them go when it moves you forward. Take Thanquol for instance, you absolutely can choose him for some beat stick power (which by the way was my first ever centerpiece). You will learn quickly as well as I did that even models with imposing silhouettes don't last long on a +4 save. You might then think its not worth taking. But the next lesson I learned comes down to the fundamentals of the game which is battlefield roles and when to make engagements. Playing skaven makes this easy to see: we are glass cannons in every sense of the word. We die in droves if we don't get the first hit. And so yes, you are going to get trampled over by those armies you mentioned, if you get hit first. The role of your big block of monks is to be that glass cannon. The role of the smaller units is to be a speed bump. They will be obliterated to dust but that is their role. Then on your turn you can charge in with "hammer" monks at full power and obliterate your enemies unit. Again, its all about timing. For larger games as you scale up, the trick will be to copy this strategy many times over across the battlefield. Remember Thanquol? Well you can treat him as a hammer in the same manner, using a screen unit to take the initial charge. In the list I sent you could take out the greyseer and verminlord to fit him in. A word on timing your engagements: sometimes its best not to engage at all. If its your turn, and you see you can make that first charge with your screen, don't be tempted. Just run them up 3'' away and sit. If you can make your opponents next turn super awkward by having only the screen be the target of their next charge, you've won. If you attacked on your turn, the small unit of monks most certainly would have died and thus your opponent is free to charge where ever they want on their next turn. Its also a cheeky way to steal objectives. If your opponent is sitting on an objective, on purpose or accidentally, you can just run up and take it without engaging (assuming they didn't screen you out of it altogether). My final advice: Let your mentality be knowing "when" to let models die and NOT wondering "if" they'll die.

@SoSoCho Absolutely will help. Here's a sample list I made with what you have now. I added an Umbral Spellportal in the list but I'm sure you can proxy that for now. I didn't catch if you've played a lot with Pestilens but I would recommend the following strategy for any Pestilens allegience army at any point level: Use plague monks as both chaff AND your "hammer". For smaller games that you're about to play, run a 10 block ahead of your 40 block and another 10 in front of your verminlord so they can take the initial engagements. With this particular list, I was cheeky and gave you the capability to umbral spellportal the Dreaded Plague spell from the Verminlord for a round 1 suprise. If you go first you can attempt to bombard your opponents objective capturing blobs of units (if any). Scenario pending, this is a possibility. If that doesn't work you can always place the spellportal ahead of your army, move your wizards up, and set up a round 2 bombardment.

@Coyote so many bells. reminds me of an old General chaos soup list with that many bells and a fateweaver for a near certain verminlord summon.

@SoSoCho Welcome to the rat-tastic community! I have so many things to say but I don’t want to overwhelm you. So you’re dipping your toes into Pestilens huh? Well firstly, the corruptor is a fine centerpiece. Frankly it has dodged a great many point increases compared to its brothers which makes it friendly to list builders. It has my personal favorite spell as well. As for optimization, it’s sad about the SOJ but count it as a blessing. Anything that paints a target on your models back sometimes pigeon holes you into a play style. Without knowing too much else about how you want to play, just try stuff. Blistivus the Pestilens artifact is already fun, or eshin’s gnawbomb can be a cheeky way to drop his plague spell at the top of the first round. Just some ideas.

Also added most of my models to the Member Albums in the Gallery. I haven't figured out how to make my own album, perhaps thats just an administrator thing. Anywho, heres just a taste.

Alrighty, I'm playing around with the Gnawhole artifact and doing the wrong thing by adding way too much eshin. Here's a list. Furnace_Eshin_Ambush.pdf Its not an alpha strike per se, but the intention is to tie up your opponent so you capture all the midboard objectives and quite possibly overwhelm objectives in enemy territory. Goal is to score high round 1 and see if opponent can catch up. In tandem with the Cube of Mists artifact, I'll try to mitigate losing some ambush units through clever conservative charging. Keep in mind that I intend to have multiple combats happening during turn one (hopefully) so the counter attack is a thing.