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AIdenNicol444

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  2. 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.
     



  3. 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.


     
  4. 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.
     
  5. 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.
  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
    Here's the 2018 Matchups list as i see it, I'll be updating as the year unfolds.
     
    Idoneth Deepkin - Neutral
    Look man I dunno. This army is just weird. We wreck their infantry with sickening ease but the eels are annoying. Their magic is good and the Ishraan Rites are pretty non interactive. The big turtle thing goes down like a sack of cheap seafood but they never take it so it's irrelevant. Stay away from the shipwrecks, kill the support heroes. And on the High Tide they'll wreck us so retreat away or prepare for it with buffs like Rabid Fever.
    Daughters of Khaine - Neutral
    You know that image of the two spidermen pointing at each other? This is gonna feel a lot like that. A prayer based army that uses cheap, low survivability infantry taken in large numbers with hero support to charge across the table and try and sweep the opponent away while being supported by close range war machines, low reliability shooting and a single large hero character who forms the lynchpin of the force. Was I describing us or them? Doesn't matter. Target blobs of infantry with Plagueclaws and dump the Plague Spell on them. Form a line of Plague Monks to catch the Witch Aelves and buff em up with Rabid Fever and Bless with Filth.
    Maggotkin of Nurgle - Major Advantage to Clan Pestilens
    LOL this one almost feels unfair. Half of their spells and AOE damage effects can't even affect you due to Pestilens also having the NURGLE keyword. Their vulnerability is massive amounts of attacks to combat their saves, and that's our whole thing. These two things are enough to tilt the balance towards us, but there is one last itsy bitsy detail. That buff wheel they get to work through each turn? All nurgle units. Not THEIR nurgle units. ALL nurgle units. Laugh at them and drink their tears.
    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.
  8. AIdenNicol444
    Most armies have their dedicated elite infantry, and from the Freeguild Greatswords to the Kharadron Grundstock Thunderers they bear an infamous reputation on the battlefield.  Each of the Skaven Clans have their own as well, and those fielded by the Clans Pestilens are known as Plague Censer Bearers.
    Swinging High
    The standout strengths of the Censer Bearers are evident. Unlike Plague Monks their weapon range is 2 inches, meaning they can actually swing over the top of themselves when taken in large groups. Their base rend on their weapons is -1, above the Plague Monks who need wound rolls of 6 to compete with that. Topping this off, in the hero phase each unit near them has a chance to take a mortal wound on the side.  They also reroll all failed hits and battleshock outcomes as long as they hang close to a unit of Plague Monks, which in any smart list they'll have at least 2 or 3 units nearby.
    Falling Short
    No save, and unlike Plague Monks, no way of acquiring one. Furthermore, they're 60pts for 5 models, and that's 60pts that can be erased by merely average shooting. This is an elite unit that cannot withstand ANY level of pressure, so they need a stack of buffs to hit their full potential.
    Plaguelord's Verdict
    With the Verminlord Corruptor's command ability, the Plague Furnace's Rabid Fever and Bless with Filth, and maybe an enemy debuffed with Wither for good measure, these guys will literally EAT anything they go up against. A unit of 10 swinging for 40 attacks rerolling all of it's failed hit and wound rolls is going to blitz ANYTHING short of a 2+ save rerolling fails. Taken in the Plaguesmog Congregation they will be -1 to hit with shooting and putting out far more proximity mortal wounds in the hero phase. However without these buffs, they'll get swatted turn 1 or 2 and you'll lose your high cost point sink. Take them in a group of 10 and a group of 5 as part of a Plaguesmog for the extra artifact and command point or don't take them at all.
  9. AIdenNicol444
    The North Island Convention, or NICon, was held this year in Napier, New Zealand. For many players NICon was the last tournament they would play in using the General's Handbook 2017 edition, and with the tournament organizer looking for a good narrative theme with unconventional battleplans most players took lists very different to what they would normally run. The battleplans were constructed by using the Open War cards Games Workshop produced earlier in the year, and they made for some very interesting matches with armies usually not favorable in the matchup prevailing over their opponents.
    Results
    1st Place - Fraser, Maggotkin of Nurgle 2nd Place - Matt B, Legion of Blood 3rd Place - Jesse, Clan Skryre Best Painted - Matt W, Destruction Grand Alliance Most Kill Points - Matt B, Legion of Blood Best Sportsmanship - Lee, Sylvaneth Fraser came out ahead with his Maggotkin of Nurgle list, winning 5 out of 5 games. Matt came in close behind with his extremely elite death army (only 19 models) after killing almost every enemy army he faced completely, and Jesse following up in third with Clan Skryre and the iconic Gautfyre Skorch list. Best Painted was won by Matt W, recieving every single available vote except his own, a class act. Lee topped the Sportsmanship votes, while still managing to finish in the top half of the field defying the best sports pattern.
    The tournament was considered an overwhelming success for the community, particularly because while it was situated in Napier (3 hours drive from the capital city) and not a single Age of Sigmar player was based there, we still had a solid field with everyone that could making the trip. Everyone put in and got a place to say in nearby Havelock North so we had the whole field of players drinking till around 2am on the Saturday night of the weekend which made for an awesome tournament. The majrity of the players who competed in this event will be attending the Call to Arms tournament in the first weekend of August so it will be interesting to see how things go and where everyone finishes up.
    Full Tournament Results
    1st - Fraser, Maggotkin of Nurgle 2nd - Matt B, Legion of Blood 3rd - Jesse, Clan Skryre 4th - Lee, Sylvaneth 5th - Aiden, Clan Pestilens 6th - Shaun T - Khorne 7th - Brendan, Sylvaneth 8th - Cameron, Seraphon 9th - Shaun B, Stormcast Eternals 10th - Nick, Ironjawz 11th - Matt W, Destruction Grand Alliance 12th - Seth, Destruction Grand Alliance  
     
    Aiden - Clan Pestilens.pdf
    Brendan - Sylvaneth.pdf
    Cameron - Seraphon.pdf
    Fraser - Nurgle.pdf
    Jesse - Clan Skryre.pdf
    Lee - Sylvaneth.pdf
    Shaun T - Khorne.pdf
    Shaun B - Stormcast Eternals.pdf
    Matt W - Destruction.pdf
    Nick - Ironjawz.pdf
    Seth - Destruction.pdf
    Matt B - Legion of Blood.pdf
  10. AIdenNicol444
    When I first started playing tournaments I would usually finish on a comfortable 4 or 5 Major Defeats. This was happening to me because I wasn't just a new player, I was a bad player. Losing doesn't make you bad, but losing consistently and not taking steps to improve does. My first step to improving was to read my warscrolls. Not just read, but really dig in and memorize them (Clan Pestilens has about 6 warscrolls, so no excuse not to really). From there I constructed a small phase by phase flow chart to remind me of all the small rules that I would sometimes forget that culd have shifted the balance of a game, and as soon as i made this chart i went from an average of 1 Major Victory to 3 Major Victories almost overnight. This can be applied to any army, but I've posted below the flowchart I was following for the NZ Masters tournament last year (Adapted for AoS2) where until Round 4, i was one of the favorites to win the event (Fate is fickle, ****** you Tzeentch).
     
    Pestilens Turn Progression
     
    Hero Phase
     
    ·        Choose whether to spend command abilities (not advised in the first battle round, save them for turn 2 charges).
    ·        Use all prayers of all priests (If first battle round things won’t be in range of Pestilent Breath, however you can still do it targeting nowhere to potentially get The Neverplgaue great plague).
    ·        Cast spells with the Verminlord Corruptor.
    ·        Choose whether or not to use one-use only effects in the Plague Monk and Plague Priest warscrolls, ideally the Plague Monk tome that deals mortal wounds or the enemy debuffs from the scroll.
    ·        Check if any enemies are within range of proximity-based damage (Plague Furnace, Plague Censer Bearers).
    Movement
     
    ·        Plagueclaw Catapults can move without a penalty to its shooting.
    ·        Move Plague Monks and Censer Bearers forward, however if they cannot possibly make a successful charge stay out of enemy charge range or bubblewrap with Plague Monks that have the Rabid Fever prayer active.
    Shooting
     
    ·        Prioritise infantry blocks with good saves as the Plagueclaw target, or soften up targets about to be charged by your Plague Monks.
    ·        Verminlord has a shooting attack, it isn’t awful against low save units.
    Charge/Combat
     
    ·        Command points can be spent to reroll failed charges, so roll charges before spending the points.
    ·        Charge in groups of 2 or 3 units, avoid sending you entire army in in a single phase.
    Battleshock
     
    ·        Remember that Pestilens allegiance gives you 2 bravery for every 10 monks in a unit, not 1.
    ·        If you wish to use Inspiring Presence it has to be done before any battleshock rolls are made.
     
    If you play Pestilens, I recommend taking this and adapting it to the list you run. If you don't play Pestilens (Normies leave reeee) I recommend constructing one for your own army regardless of how good a player you are. It only takes one lapse of memory to lose a game.
     
  11. AIdenNicol444
    In this blog entry I'd like to explain the best options we have for ally choices when running the Clan Pestilens alleigance. As a Skaven army, we can ally with all the other Skaven factions (Clans Verminus, Eshin, Skryre, Moulder and the Masterclan) as well as Nurgle Daemons. Obviously covering every single model we can ally in is a bit fruitless, so I'll just be talking the best options for matched play.
    Clanrats (Clan Verminus)
    Oh Clanrats, don't you ever go changing on me. These guys really just pull their weight in any list they're in. 200pts for 40 bodies with a buffable armor save. Sit these blokes on an objective, screen your army with them, or just run them forward and let the plague monks flank and smack the enemy from the side. Clanrats retreat and charge, and add 2 to their run and charge rules, making them shockingly mobile for getting in the way of the enemy. I will never not recommend these, and every pestilens player should have at least 40 painted and ready to go.
    Arch Warlock (Clan Skryre)
    140pts for a caster that knows 2 spells, I still feel a little dirty taking this guy because surely his costing is a typo. Factor in his unique spell is 3 Arcane Bolts to fire at your leisue, and you've got a sneaky, durable and brutal hero skulking around the back line obliterating any enemy that dares to come at you and forcing battleshock tests on 3-4 enemy infantry blocks every damn turn.
    Screaming Bell (The Masterclan)
    The bell tolls for FREE SUMMONING. I mean sure, it's on the roll of a 12, but imagine spending 200pts on a versatile mobile buff/debuff/damage output machine and accidentally summoning the Lord Skreech Verminking 100% free of charge and him dropping the Thirteenth Dreaded Spell on some poor unsuspecting elite infantry block. But I digress, even without the free Verminlord gimmick this is the bell for you, random damage output, a unique spell that puts stormcast in the oven and sets it to fanbake, and a command ability that can pretty much always be at least slightly useful.
    Lord Skreech Verminking (The Masterclan)
    Getting your ass royally beat? Reach for the king. Verminking does everything you'd expect from the lord of all Verminlords, he'll duel any character in the game and shred them (if he fights first, but that's just the Verminlord deal), he'll move across the board with incredible speed to lock down objectives, he'll heal himself if he has to and if anyone even DARES to come at him without a reliable dispell, the Dreaded Thirteenth Spell will blast a hole in anything it hits and then replace the casualties with FREE clanrats.  His command ability will always be useful in any skaven army (Skaven units reroll wound rolls when near Verminking) so that's nice.
    Gutter Runners (Clan Eshin)
    These guys weigh in at 60 for 5, or 200 for 20. Cheeky backfield bombers that pop in from a board edge in your movement phase and get to run and shot where necessary. Essentially what Gutter Runners are is the only reliable backfield mobility skaven has, given everything else has a dice roll or too many conditions. They're a niche, meta dependent pick but having a full strength unit of 20 in your list is basically never a waste. They're average when they're not needed, and amazing when they are.
    Verminlord Warpseer (The Masterclan)
    This lad wouldn't have made the list during General's Handbook 2017, but free summonig made his command ability at least not pointless, and being the Verminlord dedicated to being a wizard he's going to come in handy during the hype phase of Endless Spells. Also, watching his unique spell burn holes in the unique named characters that can fly (Pro Tip, all of them except ours) is always satisfying. He can rip through infantry with his Warp-Glaive, and he's surprisingly survivable getting to reroll all his failed save. A niche pick, but not a bad one.
    Warpgrinder Weapon Team (Clan Skryre)
    Fresh off the assembly line with a points drop for Generals Hanbook 2018, this beast can put 40 plague monks directly behind the enemy and essentially force the opponent to adjust their plans or get rammed by 240 points of absolutely balanced, totally fair and family friendly foetid blades. Which for reference will wind up being around 120 attacks.
    And lucky last...
    THANQUOL AND THE BONERIPPER
    You read that right, Mr Chosen of the Horned Rat himself just got yet another point reduction, 400pts for the greatest and most clever seer to ever live and his walking, chittering battering ram. Thanquol is an absolute unit, he does everything and he does it well. His unique spell is Arcane Bolt at greater range (before it got gimped), he heals himself every turn with no condition, he knows the spells of every skaven wizard near him (oh hey Arch Warlock) and casts those spells better, because he has the warpstone token rule the Grey Seer model has but with absolutely no negative consequences should it fail. His command ability is the AOS equivilent of an invulnerable save on any unit of skaven that gets better if there's more than 13 models in the unit, absolutely insane. And all these benefits are just the bloke on the top, lets talk about the four armed gentleman down bottom. Boneripper is one HELL of a beatstick, he comes with two weapon loadouts, one is a melee attack that outshines any weapon in the entire Skaven line. The other option is a ranged attack that does 2D6 mortal wounds to anything within 8inches. No aiming, no hit rolls, no mercy. Whichever you choose, he has a second melee attack that's respectable as hell. These two will consume your entire ally choice points at 2k, but ****** he will do work.
  12. 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).
  13. 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.


  14. AIdenNicol444
    Striding above the lesser rats as they charge screaming into battle is a monster the skaven fear more than any other. Verminlords are the truest incarnation of the Horned Rat, be they ascended champions rewarded for excellence, shards of the Horned Rat given form and function, or the hideous Lord Skreech Verminking, an abomination formed from the essence of the entire original Council of Thirteen. These entities lead the skaven, from the front and from the shadows, and of their number none are fouler than the Verminlord Corruptor.
    A Nurgle Daemon Unlike Any Other 
    The Verminlord Corruptor is the centrepiece model of a Clan Pestilens army. As the only unit in the book with a command ability, if they're in the list they'll be the general. Before Pestilens recoeved alleigance abilities this guy didn't see much use, he was an awkward out of place model that simply cost too much. Now, with a point reduction and command traits and artifacts that bring him into line with the rest of the army this chittering monstrosity makes for a formidable leader indeed.
    Disease Strides the Battlefield
    The Corruptor is best played thematically. He stalks behind a line of plague monks, casting his command ability on them while casting mystic shield to preserve nearby Plague Furnaces and unleashes his unique Plague spell on anything close, or anything close to his nearby expendable and targetable swarm. He only fights in close combat when victory is assured, and given his game changing command ability is willing to expend every last rat to preserve his own well-being. Equipped with the Blistervious, the Living Cyst and bearing the Master of Rot and Ruin trait this potent support general will stay alive on the back field, casting prayers and spells to support his minions and dealing with any enterprising assassins foolish enough to come close.
    Points to Remember
    12 wounds and a 4+ save is not that durable. If the Corruptor tries to trade blows with anything bigger than a support hero, he will lose. The idea of this mighty creature cutting down hated Allariele the Everqueen is pleasant, until her beetle takes him out in literally one round of combat.
    Prayers used by a Corruptor who has Master of Rot and Ruin or the Liber Bubonicus cannot trigger Great Plagues. Can't fathom why, but rules as written he doesn't. Don't try it. We might be scum skaven players, but we aren't cheats.
    His unique spell can be chained through your own troops to reach the enemy. Not always smart, but always funny when it goes off and causes the enemy even more casualties.
    Parting Shots (With a Prehensile Tail)
    I've begun the hard task of repainting my corruptor, shown here in his original, if somewhat rough glory, and halfway through his new paint job with lovely crystalline horns.


  16. 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.
  17. 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.
     
     
     
     
  18. 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.





  19. AIdenNicol444
    decided to touch up my rats after a year of neglect. The rat on the left is from when I had a spurt of inspiration months ago, and the other one is from when I first started playing. These lads are in need of a little tender loving care to get them up to the standard the New Zealand scene often displays.

  20. 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.
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