robbobobo

One could argue that falls into list building tech rather than army tech. If you would like a great practical showcase as to why you don't put all the eggs in one basket, my MoAB battle rep explains why

I've had mixed results with him. He can be good if he follows around the right units, ie. Stormvermin, but expect him to be a high priority target, especially if he's your general and wearing a Crown of Command. Try not to get him into combat unless you can definitely wipe out the unit he charges, he's mainly there to buff your units and doesn't have an escape, like the Warlord on foot.

Hey there. I'm looking to start an Idoneth Deepkin force for the new year and I came up with this list as an initial base to get started from. I think it has a good level of offense and control that I'm looking for while being able to make it competitive enough (I think) to take to tournaments. I always look forward to any and all feedback you guys provide.

The more I lurk read the thread the more ideas I get, which leads to more lists. Currently I'm thinking of having some more ranged support in the form of Skryre Acolytes following behind the larger blocks of rats to provide some supporting fire as well as more bodies to cover objectives should the need arise. Otherwise I could consider Warp Lightning Cannons or move back to weapon teams again. Again, magic support is just in the form of a Warbringer and a Grey Seer. Unsure if I'm confident in these choices as I'm ever more tempted to take a Warpseer in addition to the Warbringer. As such I'm providing a few lists again. All this effort is going into finding what list to take to CanCon next year. Any suggestions and feedback are always appreciated. List 1 List 2

Hey everyone. I've been thinking of a new way to run a similar list to what I did last time; a lot of board presence while having more hammers to match the anvils in the list. I felt I needed more of the hard hitting power that I felt was sorely lacking. With all the lists going around I thought I'd share mine that I've been brainstorming. As always, feedback is appreciated. Allegiance: Chaos Verminlord Warbringer (280) Skaven Warlord (100) - General - Shield & Warpforged Blade Grey Seer (100) - Artefact: Crown of Conquest 40 x Clanrats (200) - Rusty Spear 40 x Clanrats (200) - Rusty Spear 20 x Clanrats (120) - Rusty Blade 20 x Clanrats (120) - Rusty Blade 30 x Stormvermin (420) - Halberd & Shield 30 x Plague Monks (210) - Foetid Blades 20 x Gutter Runners (200) Total: 1950 / 2000 Extra Command Points: 1 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 222

I return from Day 2 of MOAB finishing off the event feeling good about my performance and coming out with ways to improve my play and the list. Let's jump in. GAME 4: Skaven vs Stormcast Eternals - MAJOR LOSS - Scheme completed - THE RELOCATION ORB I have faced SCE before and this list focused on the ranged options using Castigators, Judicators, and a Celestar Ballista backed up by Vanguard-Paladors, Lord-Ordinator, Liberators, Knight-Azyros, Lord-Aquilor, Lord-Castellant and a Knight-Incantor. As has been par for the course, the Screaming Bell was sniped first turn but I was able to ensure he couldn't teleport behind my army. After making some bold charges my rats crashed into his guns, eliminating most of them. The Stormvermin later showed why they are the best-best by mincing the Vanguard-Paladors, completing my scheme for the game. The Orb kept moving towards my side of the table, locking him out from taking it. After chasing the Orb with a larger Clanrat block the Lord-Aquilor was the only thing to try to take the orb. My opponent was able to phase his Lord-Aqulilor out of combat to take the objective on his third turn, gaining 3VPs and making him the winner. The realm here was Light and the only mention of it was both of us considering making the gem for an extra spell and dispel and went no further. I think I played the match pretty well given my familiarity with SCE, just never gone up against a Lord-Aquilor. There isn't a lot I would change about the choices I made. GAME 5: Skaven vs Blades of Khorne - MAJOR LOSS - Scheme completed - FOCAL POINTS This guy loves his Khorgoraths and his Sayl and Chosen combo, brought it here too. The battle throughout was quite tense as units went back and forth charging and dying to gain control of the objectives. Not a lot to say about this, it was the most ideal game I had all tournament. The game ended in a tense hold that ended in a loss when I failed a crucial charge with the Warlord. Easily the best game of the event. The realm was Metal with only one roll made at the start of the game for Rust Plague then both of us forgot about it. I like how I did and I was satisfied with my list, but here are a few gripes I have with it along with some improvements. - The Screaming Bell was a major flunk. It got focused a lot probably due to it wearing the CoC or it looking pretty. In the times it was alive it didn't do much either, and I bank it to not having enough impact or reward for taking one in stark contrast to it's plagued alter ego. The Bell will do MW's one way or another, just not in a consistent way. It's 200pts to look cool, but not cool enough anymore. - As much as I love him and tried to make him work on the recommendations of more experienced Skaven players, the Plague Priest has just let me down every time. I would make a prayer, then get shown that I didn't need it. In the times it helped it swung fights majorly. I don't feel it's enough to take it since you're not looking for it to be a combat beast. - I have given some thought to retool the list to include a VL Warpseer, another Warlord and maybe a blob of Plague Monks. Maybe they're the spice I need to improve it along with needing to get better myself. 1 - 4 was the record for the event, as always I love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

Denizens of the Under Empire, I come bringing a Day 1 report of MOAB 2018. I'm feeling confident and, so far, I have been having a great time. I'm writing this now so I don't forget and after tomorrow I'll collate my final thoughts and reflection on the event and the army. A few things to note: - If something I do sounds like it was a retarded move, it probably was. - Realm Landscape rules were in effect, the realm chosen was random each round out of the five before the start by the TO (out of Life, Death, Heavens, Fire and Metal) but the spells, effects and command traits were specified a week beforehand. - There are hidden Schemes as secondary objectives to achieve as well. GAME 1: Skaven vs Maggotkin of Nurgle - MAJOR LOSS - Scheme completed - BLOOD & GLORY This game was my first game against the Maggotkin, as such I was learning how they work and what I should be doing to aim for their objectives. The list consisted of some Chaos Warriors, a blob of Plague Monks, a Bell GUO, a blob of Plaguebearers, Slaanesh Hellstriders, a Lord on Blights, Lord of Afflictions, and Pusgoyle Blightlords. Oddly enough, this scenario usually ends in Minor Wins/Losses. I had first turn. In my eagerness to move up and try to snatch the objectives I got charged by the Plaguebearers, binding up two Clanrat groups and the Screaming Bell. I deployed my Gutter Runners poorly in my eagerness to use them, who promptly got mulched by Plague Monks. A few turns of realizing how Feculant Gnarlmaws work later and I've worked myself into a mess that I could not maneuver out of. My main issue was fearing the amount of ground the Pusgoyles could cross in a turn and thus staggered my Stormvermin forward. I also charged the Plaguebearers with them to try to carve them out of the way, then learned how the wheel turns ever so lovingly against me. -3 to hit hurts everything. I lost after moving too far forward on the right, the left collapsing to the Plague Monks, and the Lord of Afflictions moved to summon a unit to take the fourth and final point behind my lines. I did achieve my scheme to leave the GUO alive, and neither of us remembered that we were playing in the Realm of Fire. This game ran out of time at the end of turn 3. So I learned many things in defeat that I was able to apply immediately in the very next game! GAME 2: Skaven vs Maggotkin of Nurgle - MAJOR WIN - Scheme completed - PLACES OF ARCANE POWER Facing a different variety of the children of our glorious Grandfather I was able to learn apply what I learned immediately. This list went deeper with the mortal kin utilizing fifteen Putrid Blightkings, Plaguebearer blob, Bell GUO, Lord of Blights, Pusgoyle Blightlords, Festus and Gutrot Spume. Did you know that Blightkings can outflank and charge the same turn? I didn't, though it wasn't of any consequence, more on this later. This game fared better for the Gutter Runners finding cause to fling stars and tie up the GUO in combat, keeping him from getting to the centre objective. The Screaming Bell fell to the Pusgoyles in the first turn, leaving the Warbringer to be the sole wizard holding another point with the Stormvermin, fending off Blightkings, Festus, LoB and Gutrot. The Clanrats kept the rest of the Maggotkin tied up away from the Warbringer. This game also went to time with me taking the win 6-1 while also completing the scheme, ensuring the Gutter Runners attacked something every turn. The realm for this round was Life which did nothing aside for giving our respective daemons another wound. GAME 3: Skaven vs Legions of Nagash - MAJOR DEFEAT - Scheme completed - STAR STRIKE This list looked intimidating but manageable. Nagash, Prince Vhordrai, Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon, ten Dire Wolves and ten Chainrasps as battleline tax. I had never faced Vhordrai or Nagash, but thought I could deal with them. After being told what Vhrodrai can do, he promptly got massacred by Stormvermin with GGotB and Tyrant of Battle. Have you ever felt the euphoria of turning a vampire into the dust he truly is with 124 attacks? This upset Nagash so much that he proceeded to massacre my whole force, doing Vhordrai's job according to my opponent. The Bell was sniped and thus left my forces susceptible to Bravery bombing. Nagash racked up 1500pts of kills on his own, with the other Vampire Lord collecting the scraps. The death was slow as it went to turn 4 before he wiped the last remaining Gutter Runners and Clanrats holding objectives. It was a great game. Bizarrely, I completed my scheme by ensuring every single one of my units had lost wounds. The realm was Death and my opponent used the bravery bomb spell to great effect, ensuring anything Nagash wanted dead had 1 Bravery. I don't believe I made many mistakes this time around but I came away from the game happy I played it and thinking I should keep the Stormvermin closer to the Screaming Bell. That was Day 1. I have two more games tomorrow. Hopefully I can win more for the Great Horned Rat. I'll be back tomorrow with those games, a reflection on the list, how it functioned and what I can improve on. After all, hindsight is 20/20. As an aside, I didn't scrub out so my personal goal has been achieved.

Great write up, Nizrah. I do want to ask about your thoughts on playing with Mortal Realms rules. I've never tried them or really given them that much of a look since they've never been relevant. How much did it change your approach to the match? Did the rules come up often enough or too infrequently to affect the course of the game?

Hey everyone. Sorry for the double post, but I'm here to showcase my final list for MOAB. The main changes I have made were to remove the Chronomantic Cogs and max out the Stormvermin in exchange. After playtesting I've come to either one of these thoughts as to why I'm not using the Cogs: 1) The army might look for fights and want to charge but it's not the main goal like other combat armies that need it. While a second cast of Cracks Call is funny and another Death Frenzy can be useful it doesn't feel worth it to run. 2) I'm just bad at using the Cogs and I'm completly wrong about them. The point being that I'm not confident in using them for the tournament. Things I have considered changing in the list included adding a Warpgrinder Team to tunnel the Stormvermin to go with the Gutter Runners, exchanging the Screaming Bell and Cogs for a Verminlord Warpseer and going back to 3x40 Clanrats with spears. The main constraint is money. Other than that, I hope you like the list since it's locked in and, as always, love to hear your feedback.

I've always been using the Screaming Bell whenever I play. I think running it for the +1 Movement and Bravery isn't the goal, the spell is pretty good against the slower moving armies and it can be a good home for a Crown of Conquest. A Verminlord Warpseer comes to mind to bulk up the Giant Rats and his spell is criminally underrated IMO. A Plague Priest or two won't go amiss following a rat blob because who doesn't like rerolls to wound?

I feel that I needed a smaller more mobile screen for some of the more important units while being able to grab objectives if needed. Small enough to not care if they die, small enough to maneuver around and grab objectives. While I agree looking at other artifacts is good, such as the Sword of Judgement from Ulgu, the CoC is not a wholly within ability, just within 6". Checked all the FAQ's, no such change.

Hey all. After a bit more theory crafting and a few practice games I've come up with a new list that requires your feedback. The main change is splitting a 40-rat group of Clanrats to two 20-rat groups with hand weapons in lieu of an extra command point. Allegiance: Chaos Skaven Warlord (100) - Warpforged Blade & Shield Verminlord Warbringer (280) Screaming Bell (200) - General - Trait: Cunning Deceiver - Artefact: Crown of Conquest Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80) 40 x Clanrats (200) - Rusty Spear 40 x Clanrats (200) - Rusty Spear 20 x Clanrats (120) - Rusty Blade 20 x Clanrats (120) - Rusty Blade 30 x Stormvermin (420) - Halberd & Shield 20 x Gutter Runners (200) Chronomantic Cogs (60) Total: 1980 / 2000 Extra Command Points: 0 Allies: 200 / 400 Wounds: 204 As always your thoughts and feedback are always appreciated.

Could go with a Warp Grinder Team to transport the Stormvermin, swing them in with a flanking Gutter Runner unit, keep with the paranoia and flexibility.

The Warlord on Brood Horror and Gutter Runners would round out the list to a full 2000pts, no Endless Spells but the only ones worth considering are CC and ELS I think. No extra command points but the weight of bodies makes it a worthwhile concession. Thanks for that!

Hey everyone! I am trying to write up a list to playtest and, eventually, run at an upcoming event in AUS known as the Mother of all Battles (MOAB). I have a baseline for what I want to run but I am struggling to figure out the last few kinks in the list or what to take. I know I may need some ranged options and Endless Spells are an option, so ideas and/or feedback is appreciated. Here is the list so far: Allegiance: Chaos Mortal Realm: Ulgu Verminlord Warbringer (280) Skaven Warlord (100) - General - Shield & War Halberd - Artefact: Crown of Conquest Skaven Warlord (100) - Shield & Pair of Barbed Blades Screaming Bell (200) Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80) 40 x Clanrats (200) - Rusty Spear 40 x Clanrats (200) - Rusty Spear 40 x Clanrats (200) - Rusty Spear 30 x Stormvermin (420) - Halberd Total: 1780 / 2000 Extra Command Points: 4 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 189

I do like this list, especially the VL Warbringer. If you don't manage to do a write up would you be able to go over anything notable about the list and/or things you would change for the foreseeable future?

Forgive my ignorance and/or cynicism but I may have missed this memo. Remind me in what ways they were buffed? (I'm actually genuinely interested as it will help those like myself)

I would very much be keen to see how they turn out. I saw someone convert a Blood Bowl team to look like Gutter Runners. Most of them have punch daggers or claws of some kind, even the Blitzers look deece.

Well, you've talked me into thinking that I need Gutter Runners and an Assassin, yes-yes. More of a hobby question but what do you all use for Gutter Runners? OG GW, third-party or conversion work?

I'm just happy to be able to feel good painting Stormvermin again. I'll be back to running the 30-man block in my armies, not having a heavy hitter like them really hindered any clearing power we had. Might even run the Verminlord Warbringer for extra spice; 'Tryant of Battle' with a timely 'Gnash-Gnaw on their Bones!' will turn any unit into meaty chunks with the Stormvermin.