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AIdenNicol444

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  1. AIdenNicol444

    A New Beginning

    By AIdenNicol444,

    Hello and welcome to the first entry in my Pestilens blog. Everyone who knows me knows I more or less exclusively play skaven armies, predominantly Pestilens and have played the Clan Pestilens since I started playing Age of Sigmar, right after the release of their battletome way back at the start of the game. I've played them in numerous tournaments, first at Wellington Warhost 2016, where i came a dazzling last place out of 16 or so contenders (got Best Sports however, being a good loser and all) and since then have earned a reputation as a back of the pack player who just doesn't know when to give up and start playing a top tier army.  Since the Generals Handbook 2017 I've seen a stark improvement, winning over half of my games at each tournament since (NICon, Inepticon and the NZ 2017 Masters) and after the kind words of some of the best in the NZ scene I've decided to keep at it with my beloved rats.
    This blog will follow the repainting of my Skaven Pestilens (I started playing on them, they are less than impressive currently), all results from games I play, interesting happenings in the NZ scene and of course, a place for skaven players to hide from the roving gangs on Tzeentch players crushing our hordes and stealing our warpstone.
    For the Horned Rat, and the Withered Word!
    Aiden Nicol
  2. AIdenNicol444
    Thought on the Maggotkin of Nurgle
    As a preface, this blog post isn't how I feel about Maggotkin as a whole, that's been done god knows hw many times already by smarter men than me. Want i want to talk about is how Maggotkin of Nurgle relates to Skaven Pestilens, as both armies entirely share the Nurgle keyword.
    Initially, I was quite excited. My faith was low with the Corruptor, and like all wargamers the allure of new shinys was indeed a potent lure. I weighed up dusting off my 30 Plaguebearers and using them as a generic battleline while stuffing the rest of the list with Pestilens under the Maggotkin alleigance. I liked the idea of the terrain, being able to run and charge, and having the benefits of the random effect clock thing they get.
    However time eroded my concerns and restored my faith. Alleigance abilities often exist to shore up the weaknesses armies have, and there's no denying Maggotkin helps Nurgle with theirs. However, Pestilens absolutely do not share the Nurgle weaknesses, and have their own to deal with. Pestilens are much more mobile than nurgle, they'll easily engage the eney army turn 1/2 circumstance depending, not 2/3 like Nurgle. The cycle heals all Nurgle models and that's cool because the army is jam packed with multi-wound models like blightkings etc, again something Pestilens lacks mostly. Finally, if you've read my Pestilens Battle Traits overview you'll know I am very fond of Strength in Numbers. Can I live without the Great Plagues? Probably. Can I live with my army getting sneezed on by a Dracoth and deciding to abandon the ship? Absolutely not. If Strength in Numbers was an inate effect shared across all Pestilens warscrolls I'd probably be cutting the cover off my battletome and pasting the Maggotkin one inside. But the battleshock phase is a thing and I play skaven so no can do.
    Interestingly however, there is a point of interest that people haven't noticed. You know all those Maggotkin spells that do horrible amounts of mortal wounds but if the victim is nurgle it does nothing or straight up heals them, desiged as a multipurpose spell for them to heal themselves or smack the enemy? Pestilens has army wide Nurgle keyword, so not happening Maggotkin. You know the Maggotkin wheel of fortune they have for a battle trait? Doesn't specify allied nurgle, just nurgle in general. Pestilens has army wide Nurgle keyword. If you, a hardworking, blue collar Pestilens player gets matched against one of these high and mighty, has-an-actual-battletome Maggotkin preeners, they're in for a smacking. Their strengths are our strengths too, and their multipurpose utility spells are worse than useless against us. That lovely terrain feature that let's Nurgle models run and charge? Those blightkings just took a turn 1, fully buffed Plague Monk charge and exploded.
    In the end if asked whether Maggotkin changes Pestilens, not at all. They might take the odd Pestilens unit as a damage bomb, but as we all know a single bit of damage splashed on that will see it cut and run. Maggotkin has a lot of strengths, but all Pestilens need to succeed is grit, a dice bucket and some good old fashioned strength in numbers.
     
     
  3. AIdenNicol444
    So i guess by the 60 notifications and 13 (a good omen) missed messages I woke up to on here it finally happened. 
    Pestilens review of the book to come, I plan to leave the rest of the content to more educated minds than me.
     
    See you all then
  4. AIdenNicol444
    Skaventide Warscroll Changes

    All Clans Covered


     
    Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. Presented here for you, by popular demand, is a total recap of the changed to all the Skaven scrolls laid out by Games Workshop. To the regular readers you will notice the Pestilens scrolls are in here despite already having been covered in a separate article. This is so anyone seeking a total guide doesn’t have to jump between the two. If you’re Pestilens supremacist or an enterprising Nurgle Maggotkin player perusing new options, go check out the separate article if you like. Now on to the meat of things.


     
    Masterclan

    Seeing a few significant changes to the head honchos, and most if not all of them good. Let’s get stuck in with the rulers of the Rat-Race.

    Grey Seer – increased to 120pts from 100

    ·       Unique spell replaced with Wither, a powerful short range debuff.
    ·       Warpstone mechanic reworked to be more risk/reward.
    ·       Can cast 2 spells now.
    ·       Command ability has been removed.
    Finally the Grey Seer actually behaves like the erratic uber-caster he is meant to be. 2 spells is a great buff considering the Lore specifically for Grey Seers and the Warpstone mechanic is neat and thematic.

    Screaming Bell – Remained at 200pts

    ·       Confers battleshock immunity to nearby units.
    ·       Can’t move without being pushed now.
    ·       Same 2 spell buff as the Grey Seer on foot.
    ·       Peal of Doom reworked slightly.
    ·       Cracks Call range shortened.
    ·       Now has a 5+ ward save
     I was sold from the first point and this thing just gets better as you go down. Everything about the bell is neat and it’s thematic and most importantly, powerful.

    Verminlord Warpseer – Remained at 260pts

    ·       Doom Glaive damage is d3 instead of 3 but attacks 6 times instead of 4.
    ·       Now has a 5+ ward save.
    ·       Has the ability to accrue extra Command Points.
    ·       Command Ability now confers Battleshock Immunity.
    ·       Unique spell does d6 damage to target, rather than d3 or 3 to a flyer.
    ·       Received the new Verminlord bravery debuff effect.
    Another big winner, the Warpseer will find himself in a similar position to the Fungoid Cave Shaman, a powerful utility character that can farm command points and therefore get allied to everything that can take him ideally.

    Lord Skreech Vermining – Remained at 300pts

    ·       Same Doom Glaive change as Warpseer.
    ·       Thirteen Headed One mechanic reworked so all options are viable.
    ·       Now can cast 2 spells instead of one.
    ·       Verminlord bravery debuff effect added.
    ·       Thirteenth Dreaded Spell unchanged.
    My favorite Skaven character, Verminking received only a handful of changes specific to himself but they’re highly impactful. His access to 2 spells instead of 1 works well with his Knowledge of the Arcane rule to let him really lay the magical pain. Otherwise Skreech remains a reasonable option for Mixed Skaven, and a bit outclassed by the Warpseer for ally potential.

    Thanquol and Boneripper – Remained at 400pts

    ·       Warpflame mechanic changed to anti-horde focus.
    ·       Can mix and match whichever weapon options he wants per arm.
    ·       Command ability changed.
    ·       Received the Monster keyword.
    ·       Unique spell changed to anti-hero spell.
    ·       Arkhan the Black level casting buff from Staff of the Horned Rat.
    The cockroach of the Skaven clans, no amount of stepping on this little monster will ever keep him down. Thanquol emerges in the new book as one of the strongest named characters in the game with a swathe of devastating abilities that keep him strong in all phases of the game. Looking good, Prophet of the Horned One.

    Masterclan Verdict

    The Masterclan are looking fantastic after their changes. Im definitely convinced these guys are the undisputed masters of Blight City. There are two big Skaven players in NZ, myself and Mr Mitch Harty (twitter handle is bitch_party), and he’s always been a Thanquol man while I’ve been an adherent of Skreech Verminking. We both came out well from this but Mitch is definitely laughing his way to the bank.


     
    The Clans Verminus

    The soldiery of the rat clans, Verminus bring cheap chaff infantry and heavy hitting elites supported by small affordable leaders and the dread Verminlord Warbringer. Let’s dig in.

    Verminlord Warbringer – Decreased from 280pts to 260pts

    ·       Standard Doom Glaive change.
    ·       Verminlord bravery debuff added.
    ·       5+ ward save added.
    ·       Punch Dagger has the chance to massively increase damage on a 6 to wound.
    ·       Receives combat bonuses for nearby rats rather than for charging.
    ·       Command ability is now wholly within.
    ·       Can now cast 2 spells.
    ·       Death Frenzy spell upgraded to target d3 units instead of just one.
    This guy saunters in and single-handedly makes Verminus Allegiance viable. We don’t even have the full picture and I can safely, SAFELY say this is a thing and this guy will lead it. Fantastic changes across the board that turn this lad from a brutal close combat sledgehammer to a powerful leader and support character… and a brutal close combat sledgehammer.

    Clawlord – Remains at 100pts (Renamed from Skaven Warlord)

    ·       Scurry Away mechanic replaces original retreat after fighting ability.
    ·       May only take the Warpforged weapon option now.
    ·       Command ability unchanged.
    Losing the other weapon options isn’t exactly a big deal as no one ran them anyway. Scurry Away isn’t as good as the old ability where he would fight then have a chance to run immediately after, but at least Scurry Away isn’t on a dice roll. In Verminus armies this guy can take a command trait along with every other Clawlord, so that should be quite interesting.

    Clanrats – Remains at 120/200pts

    ·       No longer receives combat buffs for being a large unit.
    ·       Shields now work against any damage rather than turning off against damage higher than 1.
    Changes to these guys are more in the Allegiance Abilities for the army than on their scroll. They still retreat and charge which is all anyone ever wanted from them anyway. Stay golden pony boy.

    Stormvermin – Remains at 140/500pts

    ·       Exact same shield change as Clanrats.
    ·       No longer get buffs for outnumbering their opponents.
    The changes to these are more in line with the fact that they are receiving so much else from the rest of the army with battleshock immunity, buffs to hit and wound and rerolls being thrown around hard and fast. Stormvermin are an expensive unit that require support to be good, but when they are supported there won’t be much this deadly utility unit can’t do.

    Clan Verminus Verdict

    A solid, well rounded series of warscrolls that are now believable as their own real, tactical force rather than just that time I took 1600pts of Clanrats and Warlords with 2 Screaming Bells allied to cheese a local store event. I look forward to seeing people crying on twitter as they realize how much detail their 89th Stormvermin actually has on the model.


     
    The Clans Pestilens

    My once and future army. My hard-cover Pestilens battletome was bought a week after their release, and it’s no secret my desire to play and win the army borders on the fanatical and unhealthy. I’ve annoyed many a person with constant deranged rants about why its fair the Plague Monk warscroll has more words than the Old Testament and I feel not just qualified but entitled to review and break down this section of the clans.

    Verminlord Corruptor – Increased to 260pts from 220pts

    ·       Unique Spell changed so that it does more damage, but no longer spreads.
    ·       Plaguereapers don’t reroll all their hits anymore but inflict mortal wounds on unmodified 6s to hit.
    ·       Plaguemaster now does AoE mortals around the Verminlord rather than tick off creatures that have already been hurt by it.
    ·       Received a 5+ ward save.
    ·       Received a passive bravery debuff to nearby enemies.
    ·       Command ability now grants rerolls rather than additional attacks.
    Big Cheese himself came out looking pretty good. Can’t help but feel that Plaguereaper change will have an FAQ saying he can’t take the Sword of Judgement on top of that ability so goodbye to that. His prior weaknesses (no rend, terrible survivability) have been fixed, and his strengths (two casts, high attack volume) made it through unscathed. Good changes, though I will miss his old unique spell even if it wasn’t exactly good.

    Plague Furnace – Remained at 180pts

    ·       Altar of the Horned Rat now just makes anything wholly within 13 inches ignore Battleshock.
    ·       The wrecking ball does far more damage but is a single target instead of AoE now.
    ·       The Plague Monk crew actually have attacks now.
    ·       It has the same ward save as the Verminlord Corruptor.
    ·       It has keywords that prevent it from receiving Look Out Sir now.
    Good lord GW the Plague Furnace didn’t actually need to be stronger. Yeah it can’t benefit from look out sir anymore, but they give it mini Crown of Conquest and a ward save? Like what? This thing only got better. Thank the Horned Rat I have 4.

    Plague Priest (Both Variants) – Remained at 80pts

    ·       Tumbled into one warscroll.
    ·       Gained the attack profiles of both original priests.
    ·       The Plague Tome once per game activation is gone.
    ·       Pestilent Prayers are all reworked (addressed at the bottom of the post)
    This was always going to happen. Plague Tome + Wither was one of the strongest combos in the Chaos grand alliance, and people were starting to wake up to it. A shame that they had to change him, but it makes sense why they did. A small price to pay for the rest of the changes, as Iskandar Khayon said in Black Legion, a sacrifice is only a sacrifice if it diminishes the giver.

    Plague Monks – Remained at 70/240pts

    ·       All once per game effects removed from command options.
    ·       Improved Rend on 6s and rats doing damage when they die left untouched.
    ·       Banner now causes 6s to wound to do double damage.
    ·       Doom Gong now boosts running and charge rolls.
    ·       Rerolls for two swords is still here, as is +1 attack for charging.
    The meat and bones of the army. This one was always going to get changed due to it being a troop unit with more rules than Kairos Fateweaver. But the changes are for the good… or so it seems. All the changes are really strong and benefit the unit. HOWEVER the warscroll specifies 1 in 20 for it’s command options, which likely means the minimum unit size has been upped to 20. Squashes a few of my tactics and will mean some changes. I will however roll with these changes and no doubt actually be better off with them (ideally).

    Plague Censer Bearers – Remained at 60pts

    ·       Aura of damage effect is slightly better.
    ·       They receive bonuses for being near monks at a slightly larger range now.
    I expected nothing and wasn’t disappointed. I was terrified these guys would be the recipient of random buffing that meant I would need to convert another 20 ****** Stormvermin into these, thanks for actually having my back there GW.

    Plagueclaw Catapult – Remains at 160pts

    ·       Receives artillery bonuses if there is 10 or more models in the unit, instead of more than 10.
    ·       Does a bravery debuff to victims.
    I was afraid this thing would get worse not because I use it (I have 3 fully panted to a high standard and they sit in a drawer somewhere) but because I’ve already ragged on it so hard, I wasn’t sure how I would somehow step that up. Pleased to say… that won’t be necessary. It’s slightly better.

    Changes to Pestilent Prayers and Noxious Prayers

    The original prayers on the warscrolls of the Plague Priest and Plague Furnace are now gone. They’ve been replaced with new effects that are fundamentally different with bizarre names.

    ·       Disease-Disease! (Formerly Wither): So instead of making it easier to wound the victim ala Wither, this is ow the Gaunt Summoner unique spell on a 6. Boo hiss.
    ·       Pestilence-Pestilence! (Formerly Plague Breath): It’s the same as before but the bubble is 3” not 2”. It also doesn’t affect Pestilens units, rather than Nurgle units. Neat.
    ·       Filth-Filth (Formerly Bless with Filth): Thank Christ it’s still the same. No changes here, and what a boon that is.
    ·       Rabid-Rabid! (Formerly Rabid Fever): Add 1 to the attacks of something nearby. So this is where they shoved the Verminlord command ability. I’ll forever miss the old one of this, my monks fighting after death is a MASSIVE part of my army’s reputation in NZ due to me taking 2 Furnaces and making sure it was always active. Pouring one out for you my lad.
    Clan Pestilens Verdict

    With widespread buffs to everything in the army and very few points increases, none of which could be called unjustified, Clan Pestilens is shaping up as the big winner of the clans so far. Saddle up lads, I will be your captain for this journey and the destination is, indeed, the podium.


     
    The Clans Skryre

    Blegh, really wanted to not do this one because of the sheer amount of reading and writing involved. I’ll save you some reading if you’re just here for Stormfiends: Yes, they got nerfed and no, nobody has any sympathy.

    Arch Warlock – Increased to 160pts from 140pts

    ·       Warpflame Gauntlet hits on a 2+ rather than being auto hit.
    ·       Can increase the damage of his melee weapon and spell at a risk.
    This could have gone a lot worse for Skryre players given the popularity of this lad. He’s still an excellent caster and his ability to take risk death to churn more damage is purely optional so really he plays the same as he did before. Also Skryre have their own whole table of spells for this guy to reap. 20pts isn’t much of an increase considering that.

    Warlock Engineer – Remained at 100pts

    ·       Slight rework to risk/reward spell mechanic.
    Almost entirely the same guy. As ever the devil is in the details and the devil here is Skryre’s new warp lore table. It will be interesting to see if other clans take him purely for that given his affordability.

    Stormfiends – Decreased from 290pts to 260pts

    ·       Can now only take squads of mixed weapons, what the box provides.
    ·       Warpflame reworked, see Thanquol and Boneripper.
    ·       6+ triggers are now Unmodified 6 triggers.
    Damn Games Workshop, I’m not even sure if this was necessary. You could have just changed how warpflame works so a unit of only warpflame wouldn’t be hilariously devastating but sadly, new warpflame on a whole unit of these would be blatantly unfair. I’m hoping this leads to greater variety and interaction with Clan Skryre, but it will be a shame if people hang up their fiends for other options.

    Skryre Acolytes

    ·       Can run and shoot now.
    ·       Can’t shoot things they can’t see anymore.
    You were worthless cheap Skryre battleline before Acolytes and that is EXACTLY where you will remain unless the Skryre Battalion brings you fresh spice. No one would take these in mixed Skaven over Gutter Runners, and no one would play Skryre just to have these as battleline. Hopefully you catch this hard pass better than you throw globes.

    The Weapon Teams (Doomflayer 60pts, Warpgrinder 80pts, Warpflame 70pts, Ratling Gun 80pts)

    ·       All overload mechanics guarantee the death of the unit after its attacks are resolved now.
    ·       The drill comes up whenever you want but can inflict mortal wounds on the units tunnelling up.
    ·       Warpflamer changed to be in line with other warpflame weapons.
    The only one of these that will see any use outside of being mandatory for battalions is the drill, which now is a lot better given the risk of my 500pt unit of Stormvermin simply never surfacing isn’t a thing anymore.

    Warp Lightning Cannon – Remains at 180pts

    ·       Can double the dice for shooting at the risk of blowing the weapon up.
    ·       Now has 8 wounds instead of 6.
    Being able to choose to double the dice to fire the cannon is pretty awesome, even with the risk it entails. Just remember you have to choose to do it before rolling the power dice… pray you don’t roll a 6.

    Doomwheel – Increased from 120pts to 160pts

    ·       Can double it’s shooting attack at a risk.
    ·       Hurts every unit it roams over rather than just one.
    ·       Still a chance the enemy can move it instead of you.
    Look GW you made it better but you didn’t make it 40pts better. I was sold till I saw it can still run over and kill my own things on a bad dice roll and no matter how Skaven that may be, it gets a pass.

    Warplock Jezzails – Remained at 140pts

    ·       6+ is now Unmodified 6 to hit.
    No real changes. Convert some up and drop them out a Gnawhole into shooting range. Not much else to say, they’re still good and they will see use.

    Clans Skryre Verdict

    Wow Skryre, you are tonight’s biggest loser. All I see here is a faction better suited to being allied than ran by itself. Acolytes are trash, Stormfiends require (shudder) actual skill now rather than just a silly battalion and some dice rolls and the weapon teams will just straight up disappear with one turn of bad luck. The only thing that can salvage this is a solid Allegiance ability and their spell lore to be really good. It’s thematic, but don’t expect pure Skryre on the top tables anymore.


     
    The Clans Moulder

    Ah Moulder, I’ve been looking forward to this. Every Skaven player (and every Skaven player reading this knows this to be true) wants Moulder to be good. And wit an Allegiance ability of their own and a new Battalion, this may not be far from the truth. Let’s see how they fare.

    Master Moulder – 100pts (New Warscroll)

    ·       Whole new unit.
    ·       Has the Packmaster whip ability.
    ·       Has a command ability that summons destroyed Moulder units to the table.
    ·       Powerful range of attacks.
    Games Workshop you magnificent ******. This with the Packmaster change is exactly what Moulder needed. A powerful support hero that can hold his own with a command ability tailored the clan he belongs to. 10/10, great work.

    Packmasters – Remained at 60pts, now per Packmaster due to being a unit.

    ·       Can now be taken in groups of up to 3.
    ·       Same whip effect as the Master Moulder.
    ·       Lost a few weapon options.
    Packmasters now come in… packs? Neat and fun, I like it. A neat and expendable option to roam the table following Ogors and Abominations while the Master Moulder does Master Moulder things.

    Rat Ogors – Remained at 100pts

    ·       6+ changed to unmodified 6 to hit.
    ·       Attacks generate additional hits rather than additional attacks.
    Nothing significant changed, just rules tweaks for consistency. Hopefully see more use with buffs and their own allegiance rules. If I catch anyone taking these because they have a shooting attack their house is getting shot with a Plagueclaw.

    Giant Rats – Remained at 60/200pts

    ·       Horde bonus now increases weapon range rather than attack bonus.
    This change makes sense and it’s thematic, and I suppose it’s a good thing that we won’t be seeing Moulder armies with nothing but Giant Rats. That being said, they were always a quiet favourite of mine though I rarely if ever ran them. I see them still seeing a lot of use as an annoying battleshock immune objective camper.

    Rat Swarms – Decreased to 60pts from 110pts

    ·       Rules updated to be similar to restoring dead models to a unit.
    Was cutting the cost of this unit so dramatically potentially a disaster that will see Moulder players catapulting to the top tables as they drown us in 40mm bases covered in plastic rats they bought from their local Pestilens player? God I hope so.

    Hell-Pit Abomination – Remained at 220pts

    ·       Avalanche of Flesh attack similar to Slaanesh Chariots impact but has a 3” range over their 1”
    ·       Warpstone Spikes enable the model to have a chance to straight up ignore magic.
    Solid changes to a severely underutilized unit. A powerful centrepiece of any Moulder army, I will be shocked if there isn’t at least one in all the Moulder lists to come.

    Clans Moudler Verdict

    Damn Moudler, they tweak a few of your scrolls and give you one character and suddenly you’re a real army that poses a real threat. We haven’t even seen their allegiance abilities yet. We will watch your career with great interest, Moulder players.


     
    The Clans Eshin

    The sneakiest come last as ever, but no one will call them the least of the lot once they’ve read these changes.

    Verminlord Deceiver – Remained at 300pts

    ·       5+ ward save added.
    ·       Verminlord bravery debuff added.
    ·       Can cast 2 spells instead of 1.
    ·       Skitterleap is no longer a global teleport and can’t target models with more than 12 wounds.
    Necessary changes. Deceiver enthusiasts should just be grateful they came out without a point increase. Further increased survivability ensures that this master assassin continues to do what he does best, assassinate.

    Deathmaster – Remained at 100pts (Renamed from Skaven Assassin)

    ·       Throwing stars pop into multiple hits on 6s.
    ·       Has a LOT more attacks with Fighting Claws.
    Largely the same old boy by a different name. He does his job a little better now and with so many attacks with his Fighting Claws, the smart Eshin player will close this guide and start digging through the Realm Artefacts. I recommend starting with Ulgu…

    Gutter Runners – Remained at 60/200pts

    ·       Throwing stars pop into multiple hits on 6s.

    They remain the once and future premium ally choice as far as Skaven units go. No changes made, no changes necessary. Stay awesome.

    Night Runners – Decreased from 100pts to 80/280pts

    ·       Throwing stars pop into multiple hits on 6s.
    ·       They make a 2d6 move now after deployment rather than just a free move.
    Same as Gutter Runners, the only change necessary was to stop them moving 20+ inches turn one. Otherwise they’re still what they were before, a niche option but a good one.

    Clans Eshin Verdict

    Without knowing the Allegiance Abilities of Clan Eshin I’d call these the least stand-alone army with no specific spell lore. They’re niche, but I may yet be proven wrong when the rules are shown.


     
    Jesus that was a lot of typing. Tell me your thoughts, yell at me, whine that Acolytes aren’t that bad (they are that bad, shut up). All feedback is welcome as always.
  5. AIdenNicol444
    Opening up this blog of unconventional picks and tactics, we're going to talk about the allegiance abilities released with the Firestorm Campaign. There's something for each of the Grand Alliances, though the vast majority of them are centred on the ORDER alliance (it was an expansion based on the new free cities, so that's just a given).
    What are the requirements?
    For a start, the Firestorm Allegiances recieved an errata where you can only take them as a supplement to being Grand Alliance allegiance. This was changed to prevent armies like Stormcast Eternals abusing the Anvilgard rules and armies like Sylvaneth abusing the Living City rules. As the Firestorm allegiance abilities don't replace your existing ones, and instead add on to them, this was a necessary change to prevent giving existing allegiances a considerable leg-up. Secondly, each allegiance has a list of factions it can include, it doesn't have to include all of them but it can only include choices from these factions. As an example, we'll take the Tempest's Eye free city.

    So to start, it's important to remember that if for example the army is a Swifthawk Agent's army and you'd like to take the Tempest's Eye allegiance to give yourself a bit of an edge, you still get to use your Shadow Warriors and Spireguard as battleline, because your army is still built entirely of units with the SWIFTHAWK AGENTS keyword. The tricky part is if you want to ally units. You may still ally in as usual, however you can only use the ally choices that are also in the Tempest's Eye requirements (in this case, only the Stormcast Eternals and Eldritch Council). This limits you somewhat, but both contribute well to what a Swifthawk army lacks anyway so it works out relatively well.
    Allegiance: Order (Tempest's Eye)
    Mortal Realm: Hysh

    Leaders
    High Warden (220)
    - General
    - Trait: Inspiring
    - Artefact: Lens of Refraction
    Skywarden (160)
    - Zephyr Trident
    Skywarden (160)
    - Zephyr Trident
    Loremaster (140)
    - Allies
    Knight-Azyros (100)
    - Allies

    Battleline
    5 x Reavers (140)
    5 x Reavers (140)
    5 x Reavers (140)
    5 x Reavers (140)

    Units
    30 x Spireguard (300)
    10 x Shadow Warriors (180)
    10 x Shadow Warriors (180)

    Total: 2000 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 0
    Allies: 240 / 400
    Wounds: 126
    So here's a list I've bashed up that I would enjoy playing with the Tempest's Eye allegiance. Straight away we can see it's an extremely mobile army. The army's deadly shooting is accentuated by the allied Knight-Azyros swooping down and providing rerolls, and the Loremaster is pretty much good in any army because he can turn any hero into a godly beatstick with the rerolls he hands out. The army utilizes it's extreme mobility to compete against armies it ordinarily wouldn't be able to deal with, using the small speedbost from Tempest's Eye to reach key positions before the enemy does, and gets the enemy into it's shooting range a turn ahead of when it normally would.
    When should I take Firestorm Allegiances?
    It almost feels like these armies were designed to give the old Fantasy Battle line that hasn't recieved a battletome a bit of a boost. For example, you'd be a fool to take this over the allegiance abilities provided by being Stormcast or Kharadron Overlords allegiant, but if you have a Dispossessed army and aren't a fan of the Grudge system they were given, or feel like starting a Swifthawk Agents army after going halves with a friend on the Spire of Dawn / Island of Blood kit, these are the rules for you.
     
    Comment your thoughts below guys, and if there's anything specific you want me to cover be it a Firestorm Allegiance or anything else, let me know.
  6. AIdenNicol444
    Coming in HOT after a small points reduction to some key units it's Destruction's finest multi-wound, semi elite force. This faction is packed with solid, durable units and very few of them deal less than 2 damage with each swing of their weapon and some brutal syngergies.
    Where to start?
    Well obviously we need to get a hero and at least two battleline choices. Starting with the Hero choice, the Gutbusters have two of these. The Tyrant is a melee bruiser who can smack most other heroes into line, with a randomly generated bonus trait not unlike a command trait and a toasty command ability that lets him inflict D3 mortal wounds on a friendly Gutbuster unit to make it totally immune to battleshock. The Butcher is the wizard choice, usually taken with the optional Great Cauldron option that gives him a random ability that can heal or harm. Obviously with only two hero choices, we'll probably end up having some of each of these two. As battleline goes, you've got Ogors (generic battleline), and Leadbelchers and Ironguts (Gutbusters battleline). The Ogors are your rank and file, packing 4 wounds and decent damage. The Leadbelchers are more of the same but packing decent firearms as well. The Ironguts are your elite infantry, horrifyingly brutal in close combat and capable of taking down basically anything.
    Where to next?
    Now we have the foundation, we need to tack on some utility. Often overlooked in this allegiance are the Grots, these cheap little gobbos can net objectives and form decent screens to prevent your valuable troops being closed on by enemy assets. Furthermore, the Tyrant can make them permanently immune to battleshock, which is exceptionally useful. For shooting, Leadbelchers are already passable but to mix some artillery in we have the Grot Scraplauncher (good at dicing hordes) and the Ironblaster (high rend that does ok against numbers but is better served shooting at high wound single models. Also weirdly good at close combat). There's also Gorgers, a flanking option that's also relatively cheap. They are made from finecast however, so consider converting some out of Flesh Eater Crypt Haunters.
    Adding in Allies
    Keeping with the Ogor theme, both the Stonehorn and Thundertusk Beastriders can be allied in at 2k points, and the Frostlord on either mount can tag along at 2.5k. For less extravegant options consider the Maneaters, an elite Ogor unit which is both flexible and fun to convert up, and various trolls from the Troggoths units for some seriously durable units.
    The Finished Product
    Allegiance: Gutbusters

    Leaders
    Tyrant (160)
    - Massive Ogor Club
    Butcher (140)
    Butcher (140)

    Battleline
    6 x Ogors (240)
    - Ogor Clubs or Blades with Iron Fists
    6 x Ogors (240)
    - Ogor Clubs or Blades with Iron Fists
    3 x Leadbelchers (140)
    3 x Leadbelchers (140)
    6 x Ironguts (360)

    Units
    60 x Grots (270)
    1 x Ironblaster (120)

    Total: 1950 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 1
    Allies: 0 / 400
    Wounds: 187
     
    In this list I opted out of any allies and doubled down hard on the powerful options already available to the faction. I left 50 points out to get an extra command point for a turn one Tyrant hits the grots and makes them immune to battleshock, then burn another command point if I dont roll a 6 on the grot run to get them right out in front of the army spread out. The slow moving Ogors can move up behind this grot phalanx (which will inevtiably die once sneezed on) until the enemy is within firing range. Their durability will allow the Ogors to hold the objecctives easily against the enemy.
    Any Gutbusters players reading, definitely comment if I've missed anything. You guys are the real heroes.
  7. AIdenNicol444
    Ever wondered how cool the Saurus Knights would look if their mounts weren't goofy as hell? Step this way. The Order Serpentis represents a portion of the old Dark Elf line that has been bundled together to form a small elite army that's heavily themed on it's love for drakespawn and dark dragons. They're fast, mobile and very durable, and the low model count and awesome centrepiece model means it's easy to get started.
    Where do I start?
    As per the usual, we need a hero and two battleline choices at least before we look at anything else. Picking a hero is easy, after all you've only got one. The Dreadlord on Black Dragon is no joke however, the dragon's already deadly combat profile is accenuated by the character riding it, unlike the sorceress version this guy packs a mean punch. Your battleline options are both things we'll be taking anyway, the Drakespawn Knights and the Drakespawn Chariots, both charge focused, durable melee bruisers.
    Where to next?
    More chariots and knights, more more more. And to spice up the mix, lets throw in a War Hydra or two. These nasty behemoths are melee focused beasts with a decent shooting attack and a monster stat profile that doesn't get dramaticaly weaker as it takes wounds. But here's the kicker, the hydra heals itself for THREE wounds in each of your hero phase. Three wounds, not d3. This means it's frustratingly difficult to chip down and any enemy trying to whittle it down and tie it up with chaff will quickly discover it's not locked up with them, they're locked up with it. I would reccomend building around the Ebondrake Warhost batalliob, for the cost of a Dreadlord on Dragon, 2 - 3 Drakespawn, 1 - 2 Chariots and 1 - 3 Hydras you get to reroll all wound rolls of one, and once per game everything within 8 inches of the Dreadlord can charge in the hero phase.
    What to ally?
    In this, the age of magic, we need some spellcasters. The Order Serpentis can ally from any of the old dark elf model lines, as well as Stormcast Eternals and Idoneth Deepkin. We're going to stick with the cheaper stuff because Stormcast and Deepkin casters tend to be focused more towards their army's playstyle, a style we don't fit. The Sorceress is always a nice choice, and you can always take a Scourge Privateer Fleetmaster for 40 points to fill out your hero slots for certain scenarios. In that vein of thinking, a few cheap Black Ark Corsairs to hold objectives is rarely a bad thing.
    But wait, there's more
    I swear to god I plug the Firestorm Allegiance abilities so much Games Workshop should be paying me by the post, but seeing as you won't be allying Stormcast or Deepkin your army will fit the requirements for the fre city Anvilgard.

    Now this free city is my favorite (I'm building around it curently, post to come). With a highly mobile army you can rope around the enemy and cause the to just straight up die because they can't get far enough away from you. Better yet, this allows your Drakespawn Chariots to charge again and again, constantly refreshing their charge based bonuses. Let's take a look at what we can hammer out from this.
    Allegiance: Order Serpentis
    Mortal Realm: Ulgu

    Leaders
    Dreadlord On Black Dragon (320)
    - General
    - Lance of Spite & Shield
    - Trait: Inspiring
    Sorceress (100)
    - Allies
    Sorceress (100)
    - Allies
    Black Ark Fleetmaster (40)
    - Allies

    Battleline
    5 x Drakespawn Knights (140)
    5 x Drakespawn Knights (140)
    5 x Drakespawn Knights (140)
    2 x Drakespawn Chariots (160)
    2 x Drakespawn Chariots (160)

    Units
    10 x Black Ark Corsairs (80)
    - Vicious Blade & Repeater Handbow
    - Allies
    10 x Black Ark Corsairs (80)
    - Vicious Blade & Repeater Handbow
    - Allies

    Behemoths
    War Hydra (180)
    War Hydra (180)

    Battalions
    Ebondrake Warhost (150)

    Total: 1970 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 1
    Allies: 400 / 400
    Wounds: 127   The plan here is simple, set up for a turn two charge into the enemy, and then from there hopefully get a few Anvilgard rolls off at the start of your hero phase before promptly using the batallion to charge into the enemies that just ran away from you. While this is going on, the corsairs make a break for the objectives while providing Look Out Sir protection to the Sorceresses, who focus on dispelling spells and using Word of Pain on big enemy units. The Fleetmaster is here purely for an extra hero to hold objectives, he's only 40pts so might as well pick him up.   This list is a fun elite army to run with, I myself have a lot of the models to make it and plan to get started once I've finished my existing projects.
     
  8. AIdenNicol444
    When Byron Orde gallivanted his way to immortality when he won the Grand Tournament with a mixed Order list that heavily featured a focus on phoenixes, I was curious. Would it be possible to build a list around these majestic, obnoxiously invincible and gorgeous models? Clearly. Could it be done while remaining in the Phoenix Temple allegiance? Probably harder but lets take a swing.
    Where to start?
    As ever, we need at least a single hero and two battleline. The heroes available to the Phoenix Temple are the two phoenix variants being ridden by Annoited, and the Annoited on foot. Now oddly, there's no price difference in points for mounting an Annoited on a phoenix, so there's no point magnetizing them. Both phoenixes have the ability to enhance their saves if a spell is cast near them, and the fire phoenix gets to deal mortal wounds if it glides over someone while the ice phoenix is harder to hit. I would start with the Frostheart, and add the Flamespire as the list develops. The only available battleline are the super elite Phoenix Guard. They get two saves and are immune to battleshock if hanging out near a hero from their allegiance. They're very expensive so stick with using them wisely, hold objectives and behave sensibly.
    Where to next?
    Phoenix Temple has one of those big batallions some armies were assigned in the opening days of the game. The Spyreheart Warhost is built from an Annoited on foot, 2 units of Phoenix Guard and between 2 and 4 of the Phoenixes with or without Annoited riding them. The benefit of this is the Phoenixes get to band together and shoot fire at a nearby enemy, growing stronger for every phoenix within 9 inches of said enemy unit. At 130 points, this batallion is cheap enough to justify taking two of for the extra relics and command points.
    What do we ally?
    Easiest question all day. Cheap, mobile spellcasters. If they have good spells, neat. But their real purpose is making the phoenixes imposible to harm with their save buff. The top picks here are the Loremaster (Hand of Glory is a great spell on a phoenix), the Wanderers Spellweaver (Auto-Unbind scroll for the win), anything from the recently open Sacrosanct Chamber for the Stormcast, and if you truly want to go balls to the wall, an Archmage mounted on a dragon. Being able to ally in cheap units to spam for objectives would be desirable, but we need the spellcasters so its hard to justify. Lets see what I managed to whip up.
       
    Allegiance: Phoenix Temple

    Leaders
    Anointed (80)
    Anointed Of Asuryan On Flamespyre Phoenix (380)
    - General
    - Trait: Tenacious
    Anointed Of Asuryan On Frostheart Phoenix (280)
    Anointed Of Asuryan On Frostheart Phoenix (280)
    Archmage (100)
    Loremaster (140)

    Battleline
    10 x Phoenix Guard (140)
    10 x Phoenix Guard (140)
    10 x Phoenix Guard (140)
    10 x Phoenix Guard (140)

    Battalions
    Spyreheart Warhost (130)

    Total: 1950 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 2
    Allies: 0 / 400
    Wounds: 91 Already we can see this list's weakness, it's lack of bodies. We knew that going in, this is NOT a horde army. With every unit being super durable, it's at least a bit more forgiving in that regard. The goal here is to get the 3 Phoenixes up in the enemy's face while the mages keep them saved up and dangerous. The Phoenix Guard make use of those command points to roll 6s to run and take objectives quickly before the enemy can reach them.
    But wait, there's more!
    One last thing. If you've bothered to read my previous posts, I've talked about the Firestorm Allegiances. It just so happens this little list I've built happens to fit the requirements for one of said Free Cities...

    Yeah, take your magic and shove it where Sigmar's holy light doth not shine you wretched Maggotkin/Arcanite/Lord of Sacrement. Magic is going to be HUGE this edition. Quote me on that. Screenshot it if you must. Magic is going to be LETHAL. And this right here is what we might call an insurance policy. Better yet, it's just a free allegiance ability. This costs you nothing, you still get to keep the Grand Alliance Order rules and traits. Mix in the fact your temple is from Hysh (Hallowheart isn't in Hysh but just roll with it) and take that Lens of Refraction and your oponent just won't get a word in.
    Take it for a spin. As always, I am not responsible for your actions and don't tag me in your YouTube video where you barbecue your army.
  9. AIdenNicol444
    This blog by request, we'll be covering Stoneklaw's Gutstompas, an allegiance ability available in the Firestorm book. This isn't too undercover of a choice, it's popped up in the AOS 6 Nations tournament and it's gaining traction, so now would be the perfect time to hammer out a write up.
    Why Gutstompa's?
    So this allegiance's requirements are a lot less stringent than all the others. It basically allows all of the old warhammer fantasy Orks and Goblins, as well as the new Ironjawz and the Giant mixed in. So if you happened to build a Spiderfang army when the skirmish box came out, bought a lot of the Greenskinz Start Collecting or are jumping on the Moonclan HYPETRAIN and need something to transtition into once they nerf you into the floor, here is the place to be. Let's see what it offers.

    Confusion. What on earth are these strategems? What do they mean? Well think of these as two randomized allegiance abilities for your army (You had none beforehand and this costs nothing, so random is hardly a downside) that you roll for before each game. Here's a list of the stratagems.

    Some of these aren't amazing, and that's fair. Some of these are completely insane. ESPECIALLY considering the one that gives you a free unit back doesn't cost reinforcement points like it did when this was written. But how best to make a list that makes adequate use of these traits while not being directly tailored to them to compensate for randomosity? Let's take a swing.
       
    Allegiance: Stoneklaw's Gutstompas

    Leaders
    Orruk Warboss (140)
    - Great Waaagh Banner
    Grot Warboss (100)
    - Git Cuttas
    Arachnarok Spider With Grot Shaman (280)
    - General
    - Trait: Bellowing Tyrant

    Battleline
    40 x Orruks (280)
    - Pair of Choppas
    40 x Orruks (280)
    - Pair of Choppas
    60 x Moonclan Grots (360)
    - Stabbas & Moon Shields

    Units
    5 x Grot Spider Riders (100)
    5 x Grot Spider Riders (100)
    5 x Grot Spider Riders (100)

    War Machines
    Grot Spear Chukka (120)
    Grot Spear Chukka (120)

    Total: 1980 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 0
    Allies: 0 / 400
    Wounds: 208   Ok so I definitely went in with the Moonclan combo where you double the damage of a Moonclan unit, because it's good and I'd be a fool not to. Backing that up are two max size units of Orruks to form a decent shield wall while the spider riders and their Arachnarok swarm objectives and push elite infantry off them with their mortal wound output. The three characters synergize well with the unit options taken, and the two artillery choices are great at taking out enemy heroes (great for Duality of Death). Let me know what you think and what you'd like to see next.  
     
  10. AIdenNicol444
    I've been tinkering with the idea of using Censer Bearers in my lists (I never really have due to finecast model / no real place in the army) and I think I've figured out how to make good use of them.

    Allegiance: Skaven Pestilens

    Leaders
    Verminlord Corruptor (220)
    - General
    - Trait: Master of Rot and Ruin
    - Artefact: Blistrevous the Living Cyst
    Plague Furnace (200)
    - Artefact: Vexler's Shroud
    Plague Furnace (200)
    - Artefact: Liber Bubonicus

    Battleline
    20 x Plague Monks (140)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    20 x Plague Monks (140)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    20 x Plague Monks (140)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    20 x Plague Monks (140)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
    - Pestilens Battleline
    5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
    - Pestilens Battleline
    5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
    - Pestilens Battleline
    5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
    - Pestilens Battleline

    Battalions
    Congregation of Filth (140)
    Plaguesmog Congregation (160)

    Total: 2000 / 2000
    Allies: 0 / 400
    Wounds: 176
     
    Nothing super fancy or complicated on display here. This army sacrifices a few bodies for being a 3 drop list, which is important as having the power to decide who moves first is super important when playing pestilens. The Verminlord is the general, an obvious choice as he is the only model in the battletome with a command ability.  He takes The Living Cist to enhance his mobility and combat ability slightly as the other artifacts aren't very useful, and his trait lets him pray like a priest. All around a solid if forgettable loudout. One of the furnaces takes Liber Bubonicus for extra prayer power., and this is the furnace part of the Congrgation of Filth, so he'll be deep in a nest of rats at all times. The most interesting choice here is the Furnace part of the Plaguesmog Congregation. He already recieves -1 to hit in the shooting phase beacuse of his batallion, and the Vexler's Shroud enhances that to -2. This should keep him nice and healthy at the front of my army.
    Eight groups in total of plague monks mean eight groups using their Book of Woes to shoot a mortal wound at the enemy once per game. Sounds neglible right? Imagine on average about 6 of those mortal wounds hit everything in a 13 inch bubble. You just halved on average all their character's health and chunked a section of troops off each unit, guaranteeing a battleshock test all BEFORE they get hit by the monk avalanche, tasty.
    The censer bearers are here for one reason, their enhanced Nocious Fumes from the batallion (instead of 4+ chance to deal 1 mortal wound to all enemies within 3" it's not a 2+ chance to deal d3 mortals, nice) and their ability to swing over the top of a line of plague monks. Coupled with the -1 chance to hit them with shooting they should do respecatably.
     
    I will be testing the list next week and will follow up with a report of the battle and any changes I plan to make (for there will always be ways to improve a list).
  11. AIdenNicol444
    Building a Skaven List

    Clan Moulder


     
    Rats on rats. Moudler is the Skaven clan characterised by two things; the massive weight of monsters and numbers it can bring to the table, and the staple reliance it’s players have on Forgeworld. A cursory look at the Moulder GW line will give you an entire Online Order Only army, most of which has lacklustre rules. Fortunately, daddy Forgeworld has our back. Brood Horrors and Wolf Rats are massively underutilized Skaven units but are both absolutely fantastic units, and very strong in the current meta.


     
    Building a Better Rat

    Moulder have no battalions since the gutting of the clawpacks, and no allegiance abilities either. This means we’re going high drop counts, and we’re going in with one artefact. A Moulder list hinges on it’s Packmasters, a specialized hero who provides a swathe of buffs to nearby Moulder monsters. He can whip a nearby unit to make it charge further and hit harder, and Moulder units near him double their bravery during the battleshock phase. Their battleline options are the cheap swarms of Giant Rats that get better the more there are, and the hard hitting Rat Ogors.


     
    Go Big or Go Home

    You have 4 behemoth slots at 2k games, and we need to fill all 4. The best unit for the job is the Brood Horror, a Forgeworld warscroll who boasts an impressive combat profile and the ability to heal itself for d3 wounds every turn. The Hellpit Abomination is also a contender for this slot, but their higher points cost, lack of durability and random modifiers tend to make them subpar compared to the Brood Horror. You’ll need speedy units for objectives, and again Forgeworld provides with the Wolf Rats. These fast moving units hit hard on the charge and are great targets for Packmaster buffs. The final piece of the puzzle is something that can tie the enemy up and keep them from counter-charging your Horrors and Wolves, and what better for this than massive units of Giant Rats. Their stats decline horrifically as they lose models, but at their best these things will slam hard into enemy infantry.


     
    Imperfect Monsters

    The army’s weaknesses lie in it’s vulnerability to battleshock and bravery shenanigans, it’s lack of wizards and absence of reliable shooting. Strong units to ally can be the Verminlord Corruptor, who’s command ability will aid your army while also providing a valuable wizard, and the Gutter Runners of Eshin who flank behind your horde and harass support heroes. Pestilens Plague Priests can buff the army’s wound rolls and allow rerolls to wound, making Giant Rats and Wolf Rats even more lethal on impact.


     
    The Horde Unleashed

    Here I’ve constructed a list designed to capitalize on the impact of the army. Given the enemy will be deciding who goes first more than likely, the best case scenario is going second and setting up a double turn. Praying for Wither on the enemy and then hitting them with the Giant Rats, as well as flashing the same enemy with the Plague Tome, will ensure the Giant Rats annihilate the front row. This leaves the Brood Horrors free to advance and take hit buffs from the Packmasters.


     
    Allegiance: Moulder

    Leaders
    Packmaster (60)
    - General
    - Herding Whip & Blade
    - Trait: Malicious Conqueror
    - Artefact: Crown of Conquest
    Packmaster (60)
    - Herding Whip & Blade
    Packmaster (60)
    - Herding Whip & Blade
    Verminlord Corruptor (220)
    - Allies
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)
    - Allies
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)
    - Allies

    Battleline
    40 x Giant Rats (200)
    40 x Giant Rats (200)
    10 x Giant Rats (60)
    10 x Giant Rats (60)

    Units
    10 x Wolf Rats (200)
    10 x Wolf Rats (200)

    Behemoths
    Brood Horror (160)
    Brood Horror (160)
    Brood Horror (160)

    Total: 1960 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 0
    Allies: 380 / 400
    Wounds: 195




    This is one hell of a lot of bodies. Hit up your local Pestilens player for their spare decorative rats to get a lot of Giant Rats quickly. Purchase a can of Mournfang Brown and a small bucket of Agrax Earthshade. And finally, develop both an intimate understanding of the British Pound exchange rate and the virtue of patience as you deal with our Forgeworld Overlords.
  12. AIdenNicol444
    Building a Skaven List

    Clan Pestilens


     
    The only Skaven clan with a “battletome” (it doesn’t feature any of the stuff modern tomes do, only warscrolls and a small handful of battalions, you need the General’s Handbook for the rest), Clan Pestilens were one of the first armies in the game to receive a book and their line repackaged into the new boxes with round bases and so on. Pestilens takes the existing theme of Skaven being mostly high damage, low durability and escalates it severely. Everything in the book is a melee powerhouse but lacks any form of self-defence.


     
    What Makes the Perfect Virus

    Plague Monks. Everything about this army hinges on and builds around it’s most numerous battleline option. The army features a whole SEVEN warscrolls (people with other armies will think this is a joke, but only Clan Skryre has more options than Pestilens), and all of these bar one are either Plague Monks, or something that makes Plague Monks more useful. It’s unsurprising that the exception, the Plagueclaw, is awful and almost never sees use. Plague Furnace and Plague Priests have access to prayers that buff Pestilens units, or debuff the enemy to make your army more effective at harming them. These prayers are also integrated into the army’s allegiance abilities in a key way.


     
    Allegiance to the Great Corruptor

    Pestilens have 2 allegiance abilities, one is extraordinarily simple and the other is somewhat more complex. Strength in Numbers gives 2 bravery for every 10 models in a unit instead of 1, which makes I far more viable to take 40 stacks of Plague Monks. Echoes of the Great Plagues is where the thinking comes in. Every natural roll of a 6 when praying allows a once per turn use of one of a selection of super plagues. Bar one, all of the Great Plagues hit the nearest target within 13 inches and have devastating effects like body blows of mortal wounds or even making enemies pile into each other. As your army will usually feature a stack of priests who will all be praying their maximum amount every turn, the odds of receiving these are good.


     
    MC Corruptor, Straight outta Ulgu

    Malign Sorcery gave us new artefact tables to draw from, and these come in handy as only 2 of the Pestilens artefacts (Liber Bubonicus and Vexler’s Shroud) are useful. My personal favourite is the Sword of Judgement from Ulgu, which causes d6 mortal wounds on every hit roll of a 6 or more, which single-handedly makes the Verminlord Corruptor the best Hero/Behemoth hunter in the game. Play around with these tables and find what suits you best. Ghur and Ghyran have some gems as well.


     
    Unfurling the Plague Scroll

    Given I’ve actually played well over 100 games with Clan Pestilens and started playing AoS with them, I feel somewhat confident in writing an example list. Over the course of my time in the NZ scene, I meant from 5 Major Defeats with this army to maintaining a win-rate of 3/5 games or better. While most wouldn’t consider this an impressive brag by any stretch, I feel it’s pretty good in a meta that mostly only features the battletome armies.


     
    Allegiance: Pestilens
    Mortal Realm: Ulgu

    Leaders
    Verminlord Corruptor (220)
    - General
    - Trait: Master of Rot and Ruin
    - Artefact: Sword of Judgement
    Plaguesmog Furnace (180)
    Plague Furnace
    - Artefact: Liber Bubonicus
    Congregation Furnace (180)
    Plague Furnace
    - Artefact: Doppelganger Cloak
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)

    Battleline
    5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
    5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
    40 x Plague Monks (240)
    - Foetid Blades
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades

    Units
    10 x Gutter Runners (120)
    - Allies
    10 x Gutter Runners (120)
    - Allies

    Battalions
    Congregation of Filth (170)
    Plaguesmog Congregation (140)

    Total: 2000 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 2
    Allies: 240 / 400
    Wounds: 166




    Plan here is simple. Charge the enemy with the 40-man unit of Plague Monks with both the Bless with Filth and Rabid Fever buffs active. This unit will likely die to counter charges, but the active buffs will ensure it takes well over its own point cost with it. This is followed up in the next turn by both Furnaces hitting the enemy. Both will get full chance to fight as the one activated second has Doppelganger’s Cloak and so can’t be fought till it’s activated. The small units of Plague Monks and the Censer Bearers are there to follow up aggression and take objectives, and the Gutter Runners coming on behind the enemy force them to split their deployment, so they can’t present 100% of their defence against the front charge.



    I myself have ran this list several times and can confirm it will have no trouble taking down combat armies, but has trouble against heavy magic lists. To counteract this, utilize Gutter Runners to harass backfield mages and split the enemy’s focus. Don’t forget to remember the Plague Monk’s once per game activations and the radiant mortal wounds on the censers and furnaces. Go forth, and embrace the 3/2 glory that only an army getting absolutely murdered by Tzeentch can know.
  13. AIdenNicol444
    Building a Skaven List

    Clan Skryre


     

     
    Gautfyre Skorch. Done. Go away.

    Ok fine, I’ll do this properly. First up in my series on building Skaven armies to a specific allegiance will be Clan Skryre. I chose Skryre because so far, they’re the most popular Skaven clan and actually see a lot of exposure in the percentages of tournaments. They’re also a relatively easy army to build, given most of the thinking is done for you with the Clan Skryre Enginecoven system.


     
    Allegiance to the Skryre Clans

    The Skryre ability gives you a bunch of tokens you can use to either reroll casting rolls, reroll hit and wound rolls, or add 1 to the damage characteristic of an attack. Essentially, they let you reroll casting rolls. The other two options are almost entirely pointless. As for traits and artefacts, the Cunning Creature trait will keep the Arch Warlock alive and Vigordust Injector will let you buff the Stormfiends, who by now you will understand are the army’s poster child.


     
    Start Your Enginecovens

    Clan Skryre features a battalion that is unique amongst the battalions of the game. It’s composed of one battalion, Clan Skryre, and 2 “Enginecovens”, which are sub battalions. A Clan Skryre battalion must be composed of at least 2 of these.


     



    As we can see from the image, the battalion requires at the very least an Arch Warlock and two Warlock Engineers. You’ll also need some Stormfiends and probably a Warp Lightning Cannon. From there you decide what kind of army you want to go with.


     
    Clan Skryre

    The Arch Warlock gets to reroll any one dice for himself each turn. He can however pass on this to give it to a Warlock Engineer on the table, who can in turn use it on any model in his Enginecoven. Handy for Arkhspark and Gautfyre who can hurt themselves with bad rolls.


     
    Whyrlblade Threshik

    Pick a Doomwheel or one of the Doomflayers and roll 2 dice, it moves that distance. If it’s a double, it also takes D3 wounds. Meh.


     
    Arkhspark Voltik

    Popular because it’s the cheapest Enginecoven. You shoot the Warp Lightning Cannon in the hero phase and roll a dice, on a 4+ it hurts itself. Pretty decent as you get more uses out of the cannon and its stats don’t decline with damage. It probably won’t die the first or second time, so you can get 4 shots out of 2 turns easily.


     
    Gascloud Chokelung

    The acolytes / wind-mortar battalion. This lets you throw a warpstone nuke at the enemy each hero phase, dealing D6 mortal wounds with a chance to fail and deal D3 wounds to the thrower.


     
    Rattleguage Warplock

    The dakka battalion. Lets a unit in the battalion fire during the hero phase, then take D3 wounds which can’t be avoided. Good on the Stormfiends as they won’t die to D3 mortal wounds.


     
    Gautfyre Skorch


    Hooooh boy, it’s the big bad wolf of Skaven competitive lists. This is the battalion that takes the concept of winning or losing the game on a single cheese strategy and just runs with it. The Warp Grinder can be set up anywhere on the table and then everything else gets to come up within 8 inches, with everything within 3 inches of the enemy taking wounds. Basically, this lets you drop a full unit of Warpfire Thrower Stormfiends right in front of the enemy, hose whatever you want with 18d3 mortal wounds, and then leave whatever happens to even survive boxed in with fiends. You can use this to kill every single hero in the enemy army. You can use this to obliterate everything in the enemy army via shooting, charging then the battleshock phase. Essentially, this gives your opponent cancer.


     
    Adding Allies

    Clan Skryre is the Skaven clan that doesn’t need to ally wizards, already having the best wizards in the Skaven line-up. Usually what Skryre needs is objective holders as the most effective Skryre build is the Gautfyre + Arkhspark build. Consider Clanrats, Gutter Runners and Plague Monks. A melee focused Stormfiend army will roll around on the enemy if you ally in Packmasters (Stormfiends have both the Skryre and Moudler keywords).


     
    Assemble the Doom Machine

    Here’s my take on Clan Skryre. I’ve gone for the most meta build, but have swapped out the usual 20 Clanrats for 2 units of 5 Gutter Runners. Their mobility and the fact they appear in the movement phase means they’re deployed after the Gautfyre comes down enabling you to better position them for taking objectives. The Acolytes are only there to take backfield objectives.


     
    Allegiance: Skryre

    Leaders
    Arch Warlock (140)
    - General
    - Trait: Cunning Creature
    - Artefact: Esoteric Warp Resonator
    Warlock Engineer (100)
    - Artefact: Vigordust Injector
    Warlock Engineer (100)

    Battleline
    9 x Stormfiends (870)
    5 x Skryre Acolytes (60)
    5 x Skryre Acolytes (60)

    Units
    1 x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team (70)
    5 x Gutter Runners (60)
    5 x Gutter Runners (60)

    War Machines
    Warp Lightning Cannon (180)

    Battalions
    Clan Skryre (80)
    Arkhspark Voltik (70)
    Gautfyre Skorch (150)

    Total: 2000 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 1
    Allies: 0 / 400
    Wounds: 99




    This was a really long way of typing out Gautfyre Skorch is da best. Seriously, it’s super flexible and good in a meta where you don’t need to roll to hit with the Warpflame (get rekt look out sir). You will win or lose the game depending on how your hotdrop on top of the enemy goes. If they’re a static elite army like Stormcast or Sylvaneth, GGEZ. If they’re a bubblewrapping horde army like Moonclan or any chaos horde army with Crown of Conquest, touch luck buddy. Go with the Horned Rat and cheese in his name.


     
  14. AIdenNicol444
    Last weekend I played in New Zealand's AOS tournament Call to Arms, one of the biggest of its kind since the AOS Scene began. I had a great time, and the TO Fraser B did a fantastic job keeping things on time and running smoothly. Would happily attend another event if he was the TO. That being said, let’s do it.

    The List

    Allegiance: Chaos
    Mortal Realm: Ulgu

    Leaders
    Screaming Bell (200)
    - General
    - Trait: Malicious Conqueror
    - Artefact: Crown of Conquest
    Lord Skreech Verminking (300)
    Plague Furnace (180)
    Verminlord Corruptor (220)
    - Artefact: Sword of Judgement

    Battleline
    20 x Clanrats (120)
    - Rusty Spear
    20 x Clanrats (120)
    - Rusty Spear
    20 x Clanrats (120)
    - Rusty Spear

    Units
    5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
    5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)
    30 x Plague Monks (210)
    - Foetid Blades
    30 x Plague Monks (210)
    - Foetid Blades

    Battalions
    Plaguesmog Congregation (140)

    Endless Spells
    Chronomantic Cogs (60)

    Total: 2000 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 1
    Allies: 0 / 400
    Wounds: 178
     

    For the people that read my blogs, you'll notice this ISN'T the list I said I planned to use. After the FAQ dropped the TO allowed people to submit different lists, and I took this opportunity to take an army that uses magic with the nerf to Lens of Refraction. The list also was designed to perform strongly against Death and Nurgle, the two most popular lists in the meta. While almost half of players at the tournament ran Death or Nurgle, this didn't play in my favour. I didn't match a single one.

    Game 1: Disciples of Tzeentch

    Scenario: Duality of Death

    Outcome: Major Loss

    This was the closest game of the tournament by far. The scores were close all game and the game came down to a single victory point of difference. My opponent is a highly skilled player who played Tzeentch all through their changes and does consistently well, so I went into the game expecting some seriously tactical plays. I was not disappointed, Matt consistently pre-empted my moves and was rarely caught by surprise. He sacrificed control of half the table once he had gained a majority of points and focused on heavily protecting the initial victory point from me. His Lord of Change was running the -2 to melee against it which prevented the corruptor assassinating him off the point, as well as Verminking being unable to reach him past a line of Horrors. The game continued to turn 5, with me unable to remove the Lord of Change. Solid, close game was had.

     

    Game 2: Ironjawz

    Scenario: Better Part of Valour

    Outcome: Major Win

    Already a difficult matchup for the Ironjawz due to my high numbers and mortal wound output, my already disadvantaged opponent was not able to both hold a line and break my own simultaneously to win. My tide of rats shattered through the Ard Boyz and Brutes easily, shaving wounds off the Maw Krusha and easily tangling up the Gore Gruntas. Verminlord Corruptor ran in and kill-stealed both the Maw Krusha and the Fungoid Shaman with ease.  My board domination forced him to burn his points early or lose them to me, meaning all I had to do was keep pushing and burn my own a turn later. Game resulted in both a win and full kill points to me.

     

    Game 3: Stormcast Eternals

    Scenario: Focal Points

    Outcome: Major Loss

    Wow, heavily underestimated the new Sacrosanct Chamber. I deployed along the line, expecting the usual Stormcast tactic of spreading onto objectives and trying to hold them for as long as possible before eventually dying off to numbers and mortal wounds. Shaun promptly told me to go ****** myself, charged across the table as hard and fast as possible on turn 1 and destroyed a third of my army. I constantly got smacked with an Everblaze Comet and any attempts at spellcasting were laughingly deflected by a Knight Incantor. I went for kill points as hard as possible after realizing defeat was inevitable and ended up taking maybe a third of his force. Easy win for Shaun.

     

    Game 4: Legion of Azgorh

    Scenario: Gift from the Heavens

    Outcome: Major Win

    Always a hard game against an army that very few people play. I out deployed my opponent opted to play first, using my clanrats to screen off charges from the Taur'uk and his Bull Centaurs, as well as sending 30 Plague Monks around the side to flank Shar'tor the Executioner and block line of sight from the artillery. The Magma Cannons opened fire on the Screaming Bell, which survived with a single wound. My opponent proceeded to double turn me, easily taking out around half of my army. What remained however were Plague Monks, both the Verminlords, a Plague Furnace and my Censer Bearers. I proceeded to match my opponent's punch with a heavy counterpunch that shattered the Ironsworn's defensive line around the war machines and reached the squishy interior. I then rolled well in priority, receiving a double turn of my own and proceeded to completely table my opponent with the momentum gained in the previous turn. Mess with the Ratto, you get the stabbo.

     

    Game 5: Daughters of Khaine

    Scenario: Relocation Orb

    Outcome: Major Loss

    A much-desired match for my opponent Shaun T, a good friend of mine who I was able to beat in one of the critical games at the NZ Masters. Shaun has wanted a rematch since, and he took the opportunity and RAN with it. Easily zeroing Verminking off the tale with Morathi and a Knight Venator in turn 1, the momentum continued smoothly with him simply creating walls to prevent me taking the objectives before he could reach them, ensuring that even with me slowly marching forward and killing his troops I wasn't able to score points. Shaun knew my strengths and made sure I wasn't able to use them against him and secured himself a very clean victory.

     

    Verdict

    Should have kept my army as it was before changes. I knew the list well but opted to try a counter-list instead and paid the price for it. I made a few critical misplays, namely not walling against Sacrosanct Chamber and playing too defensively initially against Daughters of Khaine.

    Positives

    Censer Bearers severely overperformed in every game, either holding objectives or following up the Plague Furnace to deliver solid, consistent damage.
    Screaming Bell did well, the bravery immunity from Crown of Conquest enabled Plague Monks to remain in the fight for far longer than usual and Clanrats to hold the enemy off.
    The Chaos Grand Alliance ability went off WAY more than you would expect.
    Sword of Judgement is utter filth on the Verminlord Corruptor and effectively ensured the enemy had to deal with him or lose their characters.
    Plague Furnace was a super effective line breaker and the Plaguesmog Congregation battalion kept it safe from shooting allowing it to reach the front line of enemy armies with ease.
    Cons

    Clanrats could easily have been replaced with Plague Monks and had the same outcome, units of 20 died too quickly to benefit from their mobility.
    Skreech Verminking either died too early to be useful or simply didn't kill enough to warrant his cost, paling severely next to the Verminlord Corruptor.
    Chronomantic Cogs either were too risky to use for fear of causing the enemy to come back from defeat or allowed the enemy to out-position me and prevent valuable charges from the Plague Monks and characters.
    Changes for Next Time

    Revert to Pestilens allegiance, Great Plagues and Strength in Numbers are far more useful than the +1 to hit, as useful as it was on the occasion it happened.
    Instead of allying Clanrats, ally in Gutter Runners to force a fight on two fronts.
    Swap out Cogs for more bodies.
    Take Congregation of Filth for the 6+ ward save and the reroll charges as I found several times that I wished I had them to fall back on like normal.
     

    In summary, the Great Corruptor punished me for my treason against Him and I throw myself upon his mercy. Great tournament, had a great time with my friends, and was stoked to see a good friend of mine with his new Nighthaunt army he hadn't even had a chance to test podium with 2nd. Hopefully some of his skill rubs off on me when we play alongside one another at the coming Doubles Tournament in September.


     
     
     
     
  15. AIdenNicol444
    Today we're gonna talk about building a Pestilens list that can handle a standard 5 game, two day tournament event. There's a lot of considerations to take into account, and you aren't going to get it right the first time. Me personally, I had to get my ass handed to me in no less than four consecutive tournaments before I started doing well. So lets get onto it.
    Threat Management
    Can you deal with the common threats of the game? Are you ready to get turn 1 charged? Are you able to face a list that doesn't place a single model in deployment then appears all around you and within you? The good news is yes, you have access to these tools. Almost as a given you'll have a lot of bodies (If you're playing 2k games and have less than 90 models I will reach through this screen and trottle you degenerate Plague Priest) and lots of bodies are how we deal with this. Turn 1 charge? Ok, heres a line of monks the length of the table, and another line 3 inches behind it to immediately countercharge after the first line is wiped and immediately erase the enemy army. Deep Strike list? Neat, try and find an area NOT within 9 inches of a rat after leaving us turn 1 and we run our troops and spread them maximum cohesion across two thirds of the table. Deal with that Clan Skryre you heretics. Your army only has 6 different warscrolls oh faithful follower of the plague, so it's time to start learning what the wascrolls everyone else uses. Learn their strengths, their weaknesses, and exploit both.
    Being a Threat
    A good friend of mine who has won more games than I've painted monks likes to say, can you reach out and touch your opponent? Now he doesn't mean literally, though a future article will indeed cover poisons that can be ingested through the skin to be smeared on sticks. What he means is can you make your opponent feel threated at all stages of the game? Can you make them hesistate and stumble rather than charge confidently forward? Again, the answer is yes. Sadly you're at a tournament, so the opponent knows that line of dimminutive weak looking robed rats will absolutely ruin their day given half a chance ad won't underestimate them, but we can exploit this. Waste a few rats on charging forward erratically at the enemy, it will really freak them out. They won't want to come within 12 inches of them and this is exploitable. The big question however is, can you strike them in all turns and phases in some way? Only one concern jumps to mind, Turn 1 Battle Round 1. Pestilens have no reach, and no real way to guarantee a turn 1 charge. We have a catapult, but it mostly isn't great. So your choice is to take a catapult, or ally in something else. Consider Gutter Runners, an Arch Warlock or Warplock Jezzails.
    Know when to hold em, know when to fold em
    So you're matched with a hard counter. It's never fun watching the Tzeentch player deploy Skyfires or Bonesplitterz player sifting through his models with a shovel trying to find that last Arrow boy. Don't give up however, generalship is everything and when the warscrolls fail you, you have psychological plays. If you approach a game feeling already beaten your opponent will pick up on it and play all the harder (some say Tzeentch players can smell poor resistance to shooting). If they clip your wings and you can't win objectively, don't fold. Don't pack up your models prematurely. They immediately get full kill points, and you lose the chance to score more. Do your best to score a minor defeat, not a major, which are still worth something and therefore money in the bank, and failing that... Take every damn model off them you can, play to the last rat. Get every kill point you can, these can push you up the rankings in the event of ties and are not to be underestimated.
    Have Fun
    Yeah it's cheesy but ****** it, at the end of the day you're spending a small fortune and considerable time painting for fun, and you should have just as much fun playing the game. Don't play where the only way to have fun is to win, play to enjoy your army and learn to be better. Accept that you can lose and push forward anyway, because the win you didn't expect is a win more treasured.
  16. AIdenNicol444
    NZ Masters Tournament 2018

    Road to the Top


     

     
    Overview

    With the New Zealand Masters Tournament 3 weeks away, and list submissions due in 6 days, I figure it’s close enough to talk about my preparation for this tournament. Unsurprisingly, I’ll be running the Pestilens allegiance and going for the top, with the goal yet again of being the first Clan Pestilens player to win or place a major event. Over the last 2 months my list has gone through a heavy amount of changes, and I ran a version of the list at the recent Notorious Hammer tournament to test the waters as well as countless practice games with close friends to streamline the list and reach a standard of consistent performance I’m happy with.

    The NZ Masters tournament is an invitational tournament, where the top 20 players n the NZ rankings are offered places at the event and then the invites work there way up from 20 if people decline. The New Zealand tournament meta is relatively consistent and features roughly 20 consistent contenders at most tournaments with a few more players that make the odd tournament here and there, and most people are known clearly for the lists they take and change them rarely. The most popular armies currently are Stormcast Eternals, Nurgle and Legions of Nagash, with the rest of the players displaying a wide variety of forces from all Grand Alliances. This being the case, for anyone to be a contender for the top spots they have to pack tools that let their force deal with decent armor saves, long-range magic and large numbers. All the recent winners of local tournaments will be attending the Masters, and with every player being in the tier of rankings where they on average win 3 or more games in a 5-game event the competition is guaranteed to be fierce.


     
    The Event

    The tournament follows the same pattern as most tournaments, 5 games with 3 on day 1 and 2 more on the second day. Realm Artefacts are available for list building, but the Realm Spells and Realmscape effects will not be. While most NZ tournaments have relaxed painting standards, 3 color minimum at most with the incentive to paint your army being bonus hobby points for the soft scores, at the Masters a model that is not painted to a degree that demonstrates completion (based, highlighted, washed etc) will simply not be allowed to be used. The tournament is in the Kapiti Coast region of NZ, a 45 minute drive from the capital city hosted by the local wargaming club there, who hosted the event last year as well to great success.


     
    My List

    So without further ado, here is the list I’ll be taking in the tournament.

    Allegiance: Pestilens
    Mortal Realm: Aqshy

    Leaders
    Verminlord Corruptor (220)
    - General
    - Trait: Master of Rot and Ruin
    - Artefact: Magmaforged Blade
    Plague Furnace (180)
    - Artefact: Liber Bubonicus
    Plague Furnace (180)
    - Artefact: Thermalrider Cloak
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)

    Battleline
    40 x Plague Monks (240)
    - Foetid Blades
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades

    Units
    5 x Gutter Runners (60)
    - Allies
    5 x Gutter Runners (60)
    - Allies
    40 x Clanrats (200)
    - Rusty Spear
    - Allies

    Battalions
    Congregation of Filth (170)
    Congregation of Filth (170)

    Total: 2000 / 2000
    Extra Command Points: 2
    Allies: 320 / 400
    Wounds: 181

    So to start from the top. The general of the list is the Verminlord Corruptor. I chose the Verminlord because him being the general means I can give him Master of Rot and Ruin, which means he can pray in the same manner as a Plague Priest (and as of AoS2, also generate Great Plagues on a 6 to pray), as well as him being incredibly mobile so his 12” range auto-pass battleshock range can get where it needs to go. While I would rather give him Sword of Judgement over the Magmaforged Blade, I needed to pick Aqshy for another artefact in the list so I reached a compromise.


     
    The twin Plague Furnaces each fulfil a different role. One has been given Liber Bubonicus, shoring up it’s prayer capabilities so it can follow the large unit of Plague Monks around and keep them buffed up. The second has been given the Thermalrider Cloak, a devastatingly useful artefact for a Plague Furnace by giving it an extra 4” move as well as granting it the ability to FLY. By snaking 10 rats around the furnace you can fire the thing out of the deployment zone and halfway up the table, potentially into a devastating charge onto an objective.


     
    The 3 Plague Priests are here to spam their breath prayer on turn 1 to get the Neverplague Great Plague nice and early, then spend the rest of the game harassing unit clumps with their breath and stacking debuffs on vital targets. Keeping one of these lads near the two 40-man units ensures battleshock tests won’t ruin them utterly.


     
    The Plague Monks are the life of the party. One unit of 40 that can have buffs stacked on it easily and refuse to get off objectives and four units of 10 to run around and suicide into targets and harass flanks. Plague Monks really aren’t something opponents can afford to ignore, but spending time killing them is time spent not targeting the enormous 12 wound threats in the leader slots. If the 40-rat unit isn’t bled down in the early game, the opponent has to deal with an enormous footprint that will tear a hole in anything that can’t commit to destroying it in a single turn, and even then, the Rabid Fever prayer means they’ll still get to take a swing before they die.


     
    Gutter Runners are, for lack of any better description, a pain in the ass. They pop up behind the enemy ranks and throw a bunch of throwing knives into them before running in and shanking them. The shooting attack isn’t exactly Skyfire tier but their melee attacks are nasty with decent hit and wound chances and innate -1 rend. Their main strength is that the enemy needs to spend troops on zoning these bad boys out, while dealing with the massed Plague Monks hurtling towards them from the front. Caught between a rock and a very stabby place, such as it were.


     
    Clanrats, god bless them, rarely need any kind of explanation why they’re in a list. They’ll run, they’ll charge, they’ll run away and they’ll do it all again. Retreat and Charge is a crazy feature of a very cheap unit, meaning they won’t get tied up fighting other chaff and their big unit size means getting rid of them means a hefty commitment. The only weakness of Clanrats is their propensity to cut and run the moment they start taking casualties. Well, it would be, if we weren’t living in glorious AoS2 and a battleshock test is one Command Point to get out of jail free.

    The battalions in this list are 2 Congregations of Filth, each comprised of 1 Plague Furnace and 2 or more units of Plague Monks. The only reason I’m taking this is to shave the list drops down to less than 10 to out-drop other armies that don’t take battalions and for the big unit of 40 getting to reroll its charges. Also I needed a bunch of artefacts and command points. Cheers congregation.


     
    List Building Process

    The list above is actually no less than the 17th Pestilens list I’ve ran, with the goal of creating the ideal list for my meta. After every tournament and serious practice game I have gone over what works, what doesn’t, and made the necessary adjustments. The list has gone from no less than 240 wounds at the start of the year, to running multiple endless spells and allied wizards with the Malign Sorcery drop, and for about 2 weeks dropping it completely and angrily painting my Gautfyre Scorch. The end result is unlikely to be a perfect list but is the most streamlined for my current situation and hopefully will prove as much at the masters.


     
    Conclusion

    I’m hoping this will be the even where I at last bring in the big win for my Clan and the group of very scary people breathing down my neck expecting results. If I win or at least podium, I will have completed the goal I set for myself 2 years ago when I finished the second tournament I’d attended with 0 victories and risen to the top of the highly talented NZ Warhammer scene. If I lose I’ll probably nuke my army from orbit and start an Eshin army for the memes.

    Anyhoo, see you all after Masters in my new blog Clan Eshin Best Clan!

  17. AIdenNicol444
    Seeing as every man and his wolf-rat has done a breakdown of their favorite faction, I'm gonna put forward one of my own. The goal is to only make claims based on experience and playtesting here, not making claims built on untested math-hammer. This blog post will cover the battle traits of Clans Pestilens, which are called "Strength in Numbers" and "Echoes of the Great Plagues".
    Strength in Numbers
    No two ways about it, this is a solid battle trait. on average it'll net you an extra 2 bravery, and if your monks are near a furnace (they are) that's an extra 1 bravery again. Suddenly your plague monks are bravery 8. Is that braver than  a Stormcast Paladin? It sure is. This is a fantastic battle trait and I would expect to see all skaven alleigances feature this (Skryre does too already). I would play Pestilens Alleigance over Maggotkin or Chaos Grand Alliance just for this, even without Echoes of the Great Plagues. Which brings us smoothly to...
    Echoes of the Great Plagues
    Ain't this a treat.  Given you're already spamming prayers (What even is the Rule of 1 lmao) this is just icing on an already rotten and tasty cake. On an UNMODIFIED (don't even think about it Neverplague) roll of a 6 from a Plague Priest or Furnace when praying you get to pick one of 5 uberplagues to throw at your opponent. Almost all of these feature the clauses "within 13 inches" and "nearest possible" so don't go expecting to roll a 6 and win the game, you have to work for it Plague Priest. Let's take a look at the contenders.
    The Neverplague - For the rest of the game, add 1 to the prayer rolls of all PESTILENS PRIESTS in your army for the rest of the game. It's solid, non situational and best used early. The trick is to spam prayers in turn 1 with everything you have to get this. Nothing within range to debuff? Target the ground with the Pestilent Breath ability. A lucky 6 on turn one will have you praying like the pope the rest of the game. Don't be dumb however, if the enemy is nearby and you can damage them heavily with one of the other Great Plagues then TAKE THE SHOT.
    The Redmaw Plague - I want to love this one, but damn is it hard to get off. The nearest enemy hero within 3 inches of it's allies but not within 3 inches of you is yours during the combat phase. I've pulled it off one or two times, but the wording on it is super limiting. Maybe this will go off once in a while and be a game changer, but it's mostly just super situational jank.
    The Bubonic Blightplague - This one is probably my favorite. It's short sweet and to the point. The nearest enemy within 13 inches takes d6 mortal wounds, and if they die the nearest enemy to them takes d3, if they die, nearest enemy takes d3 ad infinitum. Don't expect the combo chain to happen, but that isn't what makes this good. D6 mortal wounds is a hell of a lovetap, never understimate it.
    The Undulant Scourge - I like this one. Kind of odd and very unique, the Undulent Scourge (or as i affectionately refer to it, Pestilens Nuke) is a tasty wee plague that lets you select a MODEL in the nearest unit within 13 inches. Yes, select a model, this prayer is one of less than a handful in the game that lets YOU decide where the wound goes, not the enemy. Anyway, the assigned model takes a wound. The fun doesn't stop there however, now every model in the unit within 3 inches takes a mortal wound too. Did you just blow a hole in a mystic shielded unit of Dreadspears sitting on an objective with 17 mortal wounds? Yes, yes you did. This isn't situationally good, it's situationally insane.
    The Crimsonweal Curse - Sadly GW kind of phoned it in on the last ability. The nearest unit with 13 inches takes a single mortal wound. They proceed, as well as every enemy unit within an inch of them, to take one in each of your hero phases for the rest of the game. Would be ok if the range was 3 inches, but it isn't. Use it if nothing else applies, and that's about it.
    Hope this helps out if you're just getting into Pestilens or you're just here to know thy enemy. Up next will be an analysis of the Command Traits and Artifacts of Clan Pestilens.
  18. AIdenNicol444
    Alrght up next on my overview of the Skaven Pestilens overview, we're lloking at the Command Traits available as well as Artifacts Skaven Pestilens characters have the option of taking. No need for fanfare, lets get stuck in.
    Command Traits
    Malevolent - The general gets to reroll wound rolls of 1. Not great, if you're putting your hopes on a Verminlord Corruptor to face down the enemy army and sweep it aside you're in the wrong army, Clan Verminus has it's dens further down the street. Only ever going to come into effect on a Plague Furnace, and there are better options. NEXT.
    Diseased - I like the thematic nature of this one. Basically, you roll a dice in the hero phase and on a 5+ someone within 3 inches of the general gets smacked with d3 mortal wounds. Not terrible, just remember to actually do it if you chose it.
    Master of Rot and Ruin - Hello hello, this is the one you want. If they're a Plague Priest, reroll to prayers. If not, they get to the Pestilent Prayers rule from the Plague Priest scroll. Neat ona Verminlord, and cool on a Plague Furnace too. Hard to go wrong with this one.
    Fanatical Leader- Add 1 to the attacks characteristic of all the general's melee weapons. Jesus, the Verminlord already hits 10 damn times adding 1 more isn't going to suddenly make him a Warbringer. Funny on a Furnace, useless everywhere else.
    Verminous Valor - You'd be hard pressed to find a more thematic ability in the entire game. On a dice roll of 4+, the general hands off any normal or mortal wounds suffered onto a hapless group of rats nearby. This is fantastic ona furnace because it's always surrounded by rats anyway.
    Architect of Death - Pestilens shooting missile units near the general get to reroll their wound rolls of 1. Obviously designed for the Plagueclaw Catapults, unless the Verminlord's tail has finally become a weapon to surpass Metal Gear.
    Artifacts of Clan Pestilens
    The Fumigatous - In the combat phase, someone within 6 inches of the bearer takes a mortal wound on a dice roll of 3+. Not bad on the Corruptor, his Plaguemaster ability is triggered by all damage he deals regardless of the source. Not quite an auto take, but not worthless.
    Brooding Blade - You pick one of the weapons of your general, and any model that took a wound from that weapon but didn't die takes d3 mortal wounds at the end of combat on a dice roll of 6. If you're a clever cookie who splits his attacks between multiple units this isn't half bad.
    Billious Bell - In your hero phase roll a D6 for all enemies within 12 inches of the holder, on a 4+ they subtract 1 from their bravery. Pretty cool on a Plague Furnace given they're usually in the thick of things.
    Blistervious, the Living Cyst - Jesus this one is fun. Gives a small buff, reroll 1s to hit and move 2 extra inches, not bad. If you're within 12 inches of a pestilens character in yoursecond or later hero phase however, it jumps to them. Give it to a dud character, then have it jump to the Verminlord who already is running about with his Vexler's Shroud. Godspeed you rabies infested murder monster.
    The Liber Bubonicus - Well well, the only artifact with massive lore behind it. Plaguemaster Skrolk's old book lets it's bearer be a Plague Priest if they ain't one, and pray twice if they are. This plus Master of Rot and Ruin on  a generic Plague Priest makes for a nasty little rat with a chip on his shoulder, and probably the funniest general this army can field in casual or 1k games,
    The Vexler's Shroud - Enemies subtract 1 from hit rolls when targeting the bearer in the shooting phase. Simple, clean and always useful.
     
    That's it for the Pestilens Traits and Artifacts. Next I'll do a unit analysis of the HQ characters, and follow it with the rest.
  19. AIdenNicol444
    Todays post is all about matchups, and how Pestilens fares in them. Now because of the nature of the army, matchups are more important than I would like to be honest, so it helps to know them. These are based primarily off experience, I haven't faced all the armies (popular ones at least) in the game so some of these will be experience and some will be educated comparisons. I'll grade them in advantage, major and minor.
    Blades of Khorne - Minor Advantage to Blades of Khorne
    A combat based army, and a good one. Ordinarily Pestilens will blenderize anything that fancies itself a combat favoring army but these guys are a little different. They have a massive range of options, we have 6 models all up. The build paths open to them let them be MORE than a combat army, something Pestilens can't actually do. Essentially it boils down to who hits who first. This is one the few matchups were Plagueclaws are actually good due to the favoribility of Bloodletter Bombs and Bloodreaver Hordes. Overall you want to be the one who gets the first charge off and make sure your units have the Furnace prayer that lets them fight one dead, you'll need it.
    Disciples of Tzeentch - Major Advantage to Disciples of Tzeentch
    Lol don't even get me started, the weakness of Clan Pestilens is no ability to deal with long range and movement shenanigans. Run up, charge to get closer to objectives and pray you can last longer than they can throw spells. Skyfires are the devil, Horrors are just annoying and the Gaunt Summoner will quite literally light you on fire and roast marshmellows on the corpse. The best strategy when facing Tzeentch with Pestilens is to either avoid it or whine about balance in chat groups. Take an Arch Warlock with a Balewind and try play them at their own game, but ultimately this one is a little skewed.
    Sylvaneth - Minor Advantage to Clan Pestilens
    This one used to feel on par with Disciples of Tzeentch until playing them a bit more, and of course the meta no longer favoring Kurnoth with bows. The trick is to take the field before they take the field, by any means necessary. Run in the first movement phase, charge anything within reach if you went second, do anything you can to get in their face. They put wildwoods in front of you? ****** em, run straight through it. Charge through it ideally. If you think the Dangerous Terrain effect is something to be afraid of, you are a coward or too considerate of your rat's lives, and neither of these traits are found in good Pestilens players. Get on top of 2 or so objectives and refuse to leave like a disenfranchised family member on Christmas, and god willing victory shall be yours. In a perfect world they'll run lots of Revenants over dryads and you drown them in dice, asking your opponent with a smug smile if he'd like to use Martial Memories to reroll one of the failed 30 saves.
    Kharadron Overlords - Neutral
    This is a weird one. Kharadron Overlords are dwarves, but only in the sense that they're short. They aren't slow, they aren't sturdy and their beards are a solid source of iron intake. Kharadron are like life, they come at you hard and fast. This is sometimes a good thing, sometimes terrible. So basically, what it comes down to is if the Overlord player invested in weight of shots (good for you) or they invested in high damage weapons like Drill Cannons (You're screwed). With weight of shots they can't actually kill enough rats for it to matter before they're on the recieving end of a plague monk charge, and oddly despite those boats being in the sky we can still smack them back down. Surround the boat and they can't deploy it's contents, which is even better. However with the Drill Cannons and so on we lose our Plague Furnaces on turn 2, Corruptor turn 3, and the game shortly after. Their weakness is the terrible range of pretty much all shooting that isn;t on a Thunderer or Ironclad, ours is they actually have guns. Play the objectives and bait them into range.
    Flesh Eater Courts - Major Advantage to Clan Pestilens
    This one is fun. They have no shooting, and they want to be in close combat. Naysayers would say "but Aiden, they can bring back their troops and we can't!". To that i say, ever seen Ghouls put out 40 wounds + several mortal wounds before saves are made? Probably not. Yeah Ghouls can regnerate lost troops, but only when a nearby Courtier does it for them. A wee, little Courtier with a weak save and fewer wounds. Slash him down to size with prayer spam. Flesh Eater Courts are an infantry spam buff army, just like Clan Pestilens, we just happen to be WAY better at it than they are. Butcher what they throw at you and take the field, if their characters get wise deal with them by throwing a Plague Furnace their way.
    Ironjaws - Minor Advantage to Clan Pestilens
    Ironjaws are a semi-elite army that don't put out massive damage but make up for it by being relatively tricky to kill. This is the matchup where discretion is the better part of valor for Pestilens. Try and go around them to get to objectives, don't hesitate to retreat if it means snaking behind them to get where you need to go. Multiwound infantry means no half measures, if you engage them engage them with all possible force and sweep them aside. Time spent fighting them is time wasted and that's what they want. Use prayers to make sure your monks can easily wound and trigger dice roll of 6 or more effects, don't waste time trying to d3 mortal wounds them to death it takes way too long.
    Bonesplitterz - Major Advantage to Bonesplitterz
    Interestingly this is an easy game really if they don't take Kunnun Rukk. Jokes on you however, they pretty much always do. Theyre surprisinly resilient and tying them up in combat doesn't stop them shooting you. And dear god will they shoot you, again and again and again. It's like facing the easier to batch paint version of Free Peoples. Try and kill the leaders to stop the batallions workind and take a Plaguesmog with Vexlers Shroud on the Furnace so it's -2 to hit. Thats basically all the counterplay there is here.
    Stormcast Eternals - Minor Advantage to Pestilens
    The boys in gold, a very diverse force with a lot of options. If we assess Stormcast at their base weaknesses, which is having to deal with weight of numbers and mortal wounds, we have a clear and easy advantage. If they play Vanguard and keep running away and shooting us it's a bit harder. If they play Aetherstrike it's an uphill footslog through the shittiest parts of Chernobyl. Play the game to the objectives, take the table to prevent Borne by the Storm and Lightning Chariot and do your best to retain your high numbers.
    Fireslayers - Major Advantage to Fireslayers
    If they're smart and take a bucketload of Vulkites you'll drown in them. If you can get around that or maybe pepper them with Plagueclaws it will be ok and you'll pull an objective victory. Magmadroths are terrible, 20 plague monks will wipe one out easily. They can't get their axes into range (unless under runic effect) without coming into charge range so bear that in mind. They're hard to shift, and they'll outlast you ten times out of ten. Avoid getting bogged down and charge the less defensive stuff like Auric Bezerkers and Hearthguard, and for the love of god stay away from the Grimrath Bezerker.
    Seraphon - Minor Advantage to Seraphon
    Our mortal foes, the artist formerly known as Lizardmen. Their strengths are defense against rend, their weakness is mortal wounds, so you might think, where is their advantage. Lords of Space and TIme. They can retreat across the table without it even being a retreat, dump a line of Saurus Guard in our way, and abuse long range magic which we can;t really unbind, as well as unbinding any few attempts we make at casting. Also the Verminlord is a Chaos Daemon which they specifically do well against.
     
    Comment what more you'd like to see, fellow Pestilens player.
     
     
     
     
  20. AIdenNicol444
    Today we're going to talk about the strategies available to the enterprising Clan Pestilens player and the tricks and tools of the disease trade. Some of these aren't exactly unique to Pestilens, but all of them are useful to them.
    The Prayers of a Righteous Rat
    Did you know you can cast the damage prayer on the Plague Priest scroll without an actual target? It targets an area, not a unit. Interesting info, but not really useful right? Wrong. Spam this turn 1 with no valid target and go for a great plague, and select the Neverplague. The only excuse to not be spamming plague breath on empty spaces is of there's actual targets available or you already have the Neverplague.
    Weather the Storm
    So the enemy is unpacking his Beastclaw/Khorne/Daughters of Khaine. Our rats don't have a chance against such famous combat geared armies right? Wrong, they're as good as dead already. When the enemy is running an all charging minimum shooting list there is but one answer. Lines of single file plague monks across the edge of the deployment. Ideally 2 or 3 groups of 10, 6" gaps between them to stop the enemy squeezing past. Behind this line, 6" back (for safety) is a gigantic blob of plague monks. The first line will gey hit like an avalanche and they will almost certainly die. The enemy is now within range of a fully buffed, fully packed Plague Monk swarm. Chuck on some prayers of Wither on the enemy, move forward into range and charge (taking the Congregation of Filth will prevent double 1 rolls). Doesn't matter what they're running, they're dead.
    Conga Line of Death
    Never move your rats around in squares, this isn't fantasy battle. Squeeze as much use out of the rat squads as possible, form a long line and hold an objective while also screening for a priest and keeping an enemy tied up in a dud fight. Form circles around objectives, wrap monks around furnaces to prevent units with 1" range weapons bringing the furnace to battle. It's not dirty, it's alternative tactics.
    Discretion is the Better Part of Murder
    Retreat, it's the golden move no one ever uses to their advantage. Charge an enemy, then retreat around the side of them the next turn. Your enemy is likely to know he can't actually beat plague monks in a fight and won't charge them, so if you're already holding an objective don't charge off it. There isn't always a nees to fight. Know when to fight, and when to wait.
    Below are some pictures of silly rat movements that would win me the game. Doesn't matter if it looks stupid, as long as you win.


  21. AIdenNicol444
    In my first hobby post of the blog I'd like to show the origins of my longest running project, my pirate themed Anvilgard Allegiance list. I was given an unopened box of Black Ark Corsairs almost 2 years ago, and from there I was interested in the idea. The aesthetic was something I really liked, but I was disheartened by the rules available (Allies were not yet a thing and the Free City rules were but a glint in GW's eye) so I shelved them, taking them out only occasionaly as a palette cleanser. Over time I acquired more models for this army, always second hand and pre painted, old and forgotten models put aside during the rollout of Age of Sigmar. I hoarded these away an told myself I would get to it, eventually.
    I dedicated my time largely to painting my Skaven Pestilens force, and took them to every tournament. At first I got utterly steamrolled, by good players with better armies. But over time I learned how to make the force work, I started to catch people off guard, play objectively and even win games. And I thought to myself "if I can win with this goofy army, surely I can make a mixed order pirate list work".
    So I promptly filled a bucket of detol and dumped half a hundred models straight into it. Some were caked thick with paint by inexperienced painters, some were simply a scheme i didnt like or want to paint over the top of. Some made it through the stripping process in tact, others went to the surgery table to be modified with spare bits from other dark elf kits to become servicable again. Here's a look at a few being drained of their detol before some light scrubbing.

    Not pretty, but they would be eventually. Check back next time to see what they would go on to be, more pictures below.
     
  22. AIdenNicol444
    The last tournament I attended in 2017 was the NZ Masters. Attended by just under 20 people (suck it 9th Age), it was a massive event attended by a host of extremely skilled players. I was there too. This is the list I ran for the event.
    Allegiance: Skaven Pestilens

    Leaders
    Verminlord Corruptor (220)
    Plague Furnace (200)
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)
    Screaming Bell (200)

    Battleline
    30 x Plague Monks (210)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    20 x Plague Monks (140)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    20 x Plague Monks (140)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    20 x Plague Monks (140)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline

    War Machines
    Plagueclaw (180)
    Plagueclaw (180)

    Battalions
    Congregation of Filth (140)

    Total: 1990 / 2000
    Allies: 200 / 400
    Wounds: 153
     
    With this list I managed to go 3/5 Major WIns, a huge achievment for me as all 3 of the players I defeated are in my eyes leaps and bounds ahead of me in skill and all people I would aspire to be as good as at the game. Frankly looking back I'm honestly not sure how i beat them.
    Game 1 was VS Lee and his tree people, in the GHB16 scenario "Border War". Lee took the Dreadwood Wargrove, which for those unfamiliar is the spooky sylvaneth batllion that makes use of Spite Revenants and let's the army gain d3 starting abilities, which all affect the first turn of the game. He teleported a bunch of dryads directly in front of my forces to prevent me from leaving my deployment, then shuffled his troops around the table taking 3 of the 4 available obectives, shooting up to 5 Victory Points.  As my turn begun I let loose all my firepower on the line of dryads (The Screaming Bell rung up a bonus to casting rolls, handy) and mortal wounded them into oblivion, washing away 18 of the 30 dryads. This gave my plague monks room to leave deployment, and I had my eyes on revenge. I immediately moved them in the direction of the eastern midfield objective and charged 20 rats through a wyldwood. I lost 2 rats to the trees and they immediately shoved the Revenants they reached via charge into a meatgrinder, taking the objective for the Horned Rat. I also managed to take the western midfield objective by swarming 30 rats at some Revenants over there, taking it over by weight of numbers. Once i secured these two points I essentially spent the rest of the game keeping my rats smack on the two midfield objectives and shaved down any threats at distance with my catapults and magic. In the end Pestilens won the day, dribing back the hated trees.
    Game 2 was VS Tim and his Skeletal Legion, playing "Starstrike".  Never been keen on facing TIm, anyone hard enough to play Death through the long winter of it's discontent and still come out on top against armies with updates and battletomes is not someone you want to take lightly. However, fortunately for me the matchup was favorable in my direction and even the dreaded 40 man skeleton bubble crumpled before the buff stacked 30 man plague monks. I got off a Great Plague every single turn, which was a massive boost. At one stage Arkhan the Black erratically turned his Dread Abyssal onto a group of Morghast Archai floating next to him, which was disturbing. I held all objectives for the majority of the game, despite losing 80% of my army by the end. Major Victory to Pestilens.
    Game 3 was VS Shaun and his Murderhost, playing the GHB16 scenario "Escalation". Man, this game was horrific. Shaun is a deadly player who brings actual strategy to Khorne, never good for his oponents. Shaun actually handed me my frst major defeat in a tournament,  in my very first tournament game. Being seasoned AOS players and both being aware the game is nothing more than a brawl in the middle, we did the gentlemanly thing and lined up our bloodletters and plague monks as close to each other as we could in deployment, and proceeded to throw buckets of dice at each other for the next hour and a half. Pestilens' ability to fight after being killed however assured that my troops were getting at least a chance to fight, and at best two chances to fight. Also the fact that bloodletters' mortal wound ability is what makes them lethal isn't as useful against an army with no saves anyway was quite the boon. In the end after an hour of 2 lines of troops fighting one another I pushed out my half of the table and took the field, winning objectively.
    Game 4 was VS Matt and his Aetherstrike Force playing "Three Places of Power". You know when looking back at life you can spot one particular moment where it all went bad? Good god it was here in this game. I didn't even leave my deployment mostly, I lost 5/6 of my heroes before my second turn, scored a single point to his 14 or something and barely even moved my army before taking it off the table. Shooting is a terrible matchup for Pestilens, and Aetherstrike is the premier shooting list. Feedback from this game? Matt should have at least taken me to dinner first. Major Defeat to Pestilens.
    Game 5 was VS James and his Changehost playing "Scorched Earth". I've always wanted to beat James Page, when I first started playing he was the top of the scene, and took out the first tournament I played in with 5 Major Victories handily. However today wasn't fated to be the day. He used the Changeling and the Changehost ability to swap a big unit into my army on turn 1, and destroyed 2 of the 3 objectives on my side. This effectively ended the game for me, but not knowing when to give up is one of my issues. I pulled back a respectable amount of points, bringing the table to 8/12 to him, but couldn't cope with the Tzeentch mortal wounds and went down in the end. Major Defeat to Pestilens (I'll get you one day Jim).
     
    Overall a great day of gaming, I caused a lot of unexpected upsets and played to the best of my ability. Next year I'm going for podium at the masters, so look forward to that.
  23. AIdenNicol444
    Last weekend I took the rats to the North Island Convention (NICon) tournament in Napier, New Zealand. The event was a competitive matched play tournament utilizing scenarios made out of the Games Workshop Open War cards, so they were not like anything most competitive players were used to and made for interesting list building.  I myself took the usual list of Verminlord Corruptor, 2 Plague Furnaces, 3 Plague Priests, 2 units of 40 allied clanrats and filled the rest of my list with as many Plague Monks as I could (8 groups of 10, 1 group of 20).
    I finished on 3 Major Victories,  2 Major Defeats. My victories were against Mixed Destruction, Blades of Khorne and Seraphon (remove the lizards). My defeats were against the Sylvaneth and Clan Skryre.
    I finished 5th out of 12 people, keeping up with my goal to always be in at least the top 5 no matter how many players, but regrettably fell short of my goal to stand on a podium once again.
    Lessons Learned
    While we are reaching the end of AoS in it's current iteration as we know it, and therefore any tactics I explain may be short lived, there were definitely a few takeaways from this tournament.
    Clanrats remain without a doubt a vital ally choice to any Skaven clan, being able to squat on objectives or conga line around the table to prevent the opponent teleporting or using alternative deployment abilities is phenomenal, and at 200pts for 40 of the wretches why wouldn't you?
    Minimum size unit spam with Plague Monks is the superior way to utilize them, they are fine without having buffs stacked on them and they can easily mobilize around the board. Also abusing the plague scroll by having one each in 10 units mean potentially pinging every enemy model within 13 inches with 10 mortal wounds is pure cheese.
    Speed is not this force's forte, and any scenario that sees you having to walk across a table for several turns probably isnt going to favor you. Consider deploying as close to the enemy as possible and running your units wherever possible if they won't arrive ag comfortable charging distance.
     



  24. AIdenNicol444
    An important part of improving play is constantly working and innoavting your list, changing it as you learn new things about your army. This post is taking a look at the force I personally ran for the majority of the NZ AOS 2017 tournaments, and an overview of how it went. Here's the list.
    Allegiance: Skaven Pestilens

    Leaders
    Plague Furnace (200)
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)
    Plague Priest with Plague Censer (80)

    Battleline
    30 x Plague Monks (210)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    30 x Plague Monks (210)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    10 x Plague Monks (70)
    - Foetid Blades
    - Pestilens Battleline
    30 x Plaguebearers Of Nurgle (270)

    War Machines
    Plagueclaw (180)
    Plagueclaw (180)
    Plagueclaw (180)

    Battalions
    Congregation of Filth (140)
    Foulrain Congregation (200)

    Total: 2000 / 2000
    Allies: 0 / 400
    Wounds: 140
     
    Not a terrible list, but looking back with a bit more experience this list needs a lot of improvement to be competitive. Two big errors that are immediately apparent to me now are clear, the first is the fact that Clan Pestilens is a horde army but I only have 70 rats here, and the second is the fact that I'm spending 720pts on a catapult formation that over the course of the tournament would on average only ever kill cheap battleline chaff. Furthermore, the prayers on the Plague Furnace are absolutely vital if you want to run Plague Monks in units of 30 or more, so you shoul take at least one Plague Furnace per unit of 30+, something I haven't done here. The plaguebearers are nice, but this is an agressive army and any point spent towards defensive takes away from the overall army strategy. 
    The last tournament this list was used was NZ Inpeticon in October last year. I went 3 Major Voctories 2 Major Defeats, which isn't a bad result at all. However to learn we look to our defeats, not our victories.  I faced a moderately elite, multi wound destruction army that I absolutely should have run over the top of, but lost due to persuing character kills and not reaching objectives fast enough. While hindsight is 20/20, i recognize the mistakes I made here and won't be making them again. My second loss however was against Sylvaneth, a good friend of mine called Lee who I regularly practise against. I went into this game fresh with a jumble of different skaven strats tumbling about in my head raring to go but Lee manipulated the table extremely well, locking me off from sections and forcing me to funnel my rats into a killbox where his Kurnoth Scythes were waiting.  This game was straight up murder, I don't think there was any stage where I had a viable method of pulling it back into my favor. Sylvaneth are often a problem for rats, especially when the Sylvaneth player is experienced. I'll get ya next time Lee.
    Soon I'll post my list for the NZ Masters tournament last month, and go over the results had there.





  25. AIdenNicol444
    Acolytes of the Withered Word

    The Fecund Hordes of the Ashen Wastes


     

     
    The Skaven Clans, and most particularly the teeming hordes of Clan Pestilens, are infamous for their Gnawholes, unstable tunnel-gates that run between the realms chiselled into being by the twisted claws and sorcery of the rat-men and guided by their insidious Verminlords. They can be seen dotting the realms, particularly great sites of battle during the Realmgate War, leaving warping and twisted effects upon the nearby landscape. However despite their repeated attempts to achieve such, the clans have yet to successfully penetrate the dark and mysterious realm of Ulgu, the infamous realm of shadow.


     
    The Roiling Basin

    Deep within the twisting ash-storms of Aspiria in the fiery realm of Aqshy lies the realmgate known as the Shadowhame. One of the few stable realmgates that runs to the realm of Ulgu, it sits deep in the centre of a shattered volcano in what appears to be ancient azyrite ruins. The crater, known as the Roiling Basin due to the ash storms that whip around it’s interior walls as they blow in from the eastern plains before churning out over the western seas, has been settled by an enormous contingent of Skaven Great Clans hailing directly from the Blight City itself. Towering and haphazard Skaven constructions are piled atop ancient Azyrite heritage sites as the industrious Skaven claw the skies with their fell machinery, their destructive and corrupting presence going so far as to warp the nearby landscape and even the weather. Wealthier members of the clans have their residences and bases of operations in the high towers, with Skryre and Pestilens holding dominion over their respective supporters from on high. Moulder Clan members prefer to practise their disgusting bio-science in the depths of the crater and Clan Eshin’s base naturally remains a mystery as to its location. The lowest members of the system such as Skavenslaves and lowly Clanrats eek out an existence in the Depths, killing one another for scraps that fall from above and mysteriously disappearing into the Moulder surgery-labs. The Shadowhame realmgate itself lies in the Pestilent Knave known as the Prior Vermalanx, deep in the structure and well-guarded by acolytes and the Plague Guard.


     
    The Church of Contagion

    Skaven city-warrens are usually inhabited by clans belonging to a single Great Clan or an uneasy alliance of multiple clans present for their own interests. While the Roiling Basin is inhabited by representatives of all the Great Clans, Clan Pestilens is currently ascendant amongst the group due to the overwhelming ranks they currently count in their faithful throng. No mere no-name virulent procession, Clan Morbidus of the Pestilens are an ancient and wealthy clan that proudly boast of heritage that dates back to the World-That-Was. Faithful to their god and mindless in their devotion to his ascension, Morbidus offers it’s prayers up to the Verminlord known as Vermalanx, a legend among the pestilent clans who lead the Pestilens Clans during the Realmgate Wars and dared to scheme against the Glott Brothers and Nurgle himself, all while seeming to aid them in their goals. Allegedly defeated by the Stormcast Eternals at Rotwater Swill, Vermalanx has since arisen once more by the Corruptor’s claw to lead his most faithful of children. Bearing twin Plaguereapers forged from raw warpstone dipped in the filth of the Horned One itself, plague monks gladly throw themselves to a gory death at the orders of the dark servant of The Great Witherer itself. The dominance of Morbidus has forced the other Great Clans to toe the line against them feebly for now, with them offering up gifts of arcane ingenuity, shadow operatives and hordes of lowly rats to break against the ranks of the enemy before the Plague Monks destroy all opposition.


     
    Ruler of the Rat-Race

    Ruling over the Church of Contagion and by extension the Roiling Basin itself, Archdeacon Skirik Vileclaw presides over his “beloved” flock with sharp claws and a tendency to hurl those who oppose him from the high points down into the Depths. Quite unlike most rulers of his race, Skirik has little in the way of cunning or subtlety. Prone to fits of deranged madness due to the fever in his brain and the poison in his veins, Skirik’s temperament veers wildly between the faithful servant of the Great Corruptor and behaving like a rabid animal. Riding an enormous Plague Furnace into battle known as the Altar of the Redmaw, named for the Great Plague Skirik so famously brought back to the faithful long decades ago. His lifetime long enhanced by the righteous fury in his body and the ministrations of the absolute pinnacle of Skryre and Moulder sciences, Skirik has plagued Aqshy for as long as many in Aspiria can recall.


     
    The Shadowhame Gate

    The focal point of the entire settlement, deep within the Pestilent Knave lies the Shadowhame Gate. One of only a mere handful of stable gateways to Ulgu, and one of the scant few held by the forces of Chaos, this gateway represents an incredible potential advantage to the chaos forces as Malerion and Morathi’s machinations are kept secret beyond the twisting fold of the realm they rule over. Forces from the Roiling Basin have established a foothold on the other side of the gate, a continuous supply of troops marching through to man the defences and fortify the location further. Known as the Rotted Claw warren, Malerion has been forced to drop his façade of bored contempt for the Skaven to actively destroy the gateaway, knowing that while he faces Plague Monks and baying Clanrats today, tomorrow it could well be the Varangard riding through the mists.


     
    Schemes Within Schemes

    With Malerion and Morathi throwing their forces into the fortification of the Rotted Claw bastion and increasing aggression from the resurgent forces of Order in Aqshy, the Roiling Basin’s constant threat may yet be dealt with by the allied forces of Order. However, while the fighting forces of the rats hold back their aggressors Clan Skryre has begun a grand undertaking in the Warpstorm Tower, the only tower to rise higher than the Prior Vermalanx (a fact that Skirik has hurled many a warlock engineer to their doom over when reminded), with their research into the construction of a stable Gnawhole built using the arcane secrets gleaned from the Shadowhame Gate that will lead directly to the Blight City, enabling an enormous horde of Skaven without number to storm through. The completion of this gate will see all of Aspiria brought to it’s knees by the Skaven, and Ulgu flooded with resurgent forces to bring an end to the God of Shadow’s dominion.


     
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