Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Skaven

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Grand Alliance Chaos

Skaven

DIE DIE SOLDIER MANTHINGS DIE!!!!

Lore
Tactics
General Tactics

The vermin horde is back with a bang! And a confusing battleline selection system!

Why Play Skaven

Pros

  • Hordes of vicious rats and rat monsters too.
  • All the Skaven clans reunited under one faction.
  • Gnawholes
  • Basically it's own mini Grand-Alliance with 40+ Warscrolls to choose from.
  • Your access to the various clans give you extreme versatility. Need highly mobile infantry to harass the backline or nab objectives? Eshin. Want monsters or inexpensive monstrous infantry? Moulder. Do you need hordes and hordes of chaff? Verminus. Maybe you want to claim ranged superiority at all costs. In that case, better grab some Skryre. Are you looking to play a highly offensive army that can dish out tons of mortal wounds? Pestilens are your guys. And if you ever need any magic, Masterclan are always there to help you out.
  • Most units are viable in casual games
  • SKAVEN SCIENCE IS THE BEST-BEST OF THE MORTAL REALMS!!!
  • Your models are ancient and that is both a blessing and curse. As a blessing it means the sculpts on your basic troops (Clan rats, Plague Monks and Night Runners) are old, but cheap.At 42 dollar's per 20 bodies you have one of the better dollar per model count ratios of the GW hoard armies, Imperial guard for example have to pay 60$ for 10, albiet with newer sculpts. Which is good since it's tottally in the realm of reason to bring 100 clan rats and still have over a thousand and a half points for other more killy toys.
  • Do you want unrestricted industrial total war with absolutely no redeeming qualities capable to put to shame even the other Chaos aligned forces? Then look no further! Thematically speaking the Skaven use every single piece of grotesque nastiness developed by a WW12 tech level society including radioactive, chemical and biological warfare, flamethrowers, snipers, gatling guns, human, eh, I mean (slave)rat-wave tactics as well as mechanized cavalry, all further powered by scifi-level technological stuff like tesla weaponry, dimensional portals and genetically engineered and cybernetically enhaced monstrosities as well as daemon-powered black magic and honest-to-Great-Horned-Rat ninjas! You can enjoy playing the villain seeing all the inferior silly fantasy/renaissance tech level "things" with their swords and bows die against the superior master race while you twirl your evil whiskers, yes-yes!

Cons

  • Infantry as durable as wet paper.
  • Nothing with better than a 4+ save (besides the Arch-Warlock) and good luck getting those 30 stormvermin in cover.
  • Characters are key to most Skaven armies and will need constant protection - They die, the army crumbles.
  • Most Skaven units rely on other units for something, making the contesting of multiple objectives difficult.
  • Spell lores are exclusive to Grey Seers or Clan Skryre; other mages limited to general and personal spells, often with high cast value. (Which is okay since the Grey Seer spell lore is terrible outside of Death Frenzy)
  • Skyre Overcharges come with a high chance of blowing the unit up.
  • In terms of allies, you only have one, Nurgle.
  • Finding ways to successfully pass or outright skip battle shock tests is important, since nothing in your army has bravery higher than 7 (With only exception being Verminlords)
  • This also means that any army who can debuff your bravery (like undeath in general) will probably be your worst enemies.
  • If you play Eshin, Pestilens or Verminus as core army's units, accept an endless move phase and the hate of your adversary. (That's what movement trays are for)
  • A huge chunk of the elite skaven units and weapon teams are stuck with 20+ year old sculpts that are either failcast or metal, and both aren't readily available so you'll have to order directly off the GW store. A few exceptions of plastic kits exist, but all are only available on second hand markets. So get used to either scouting online markets for good deals or learn to kitbash your own.

Rulebooks

Faction rules and abilities: Battletome Skaven

Forgeworld warscrolls: Monstrous Arcanum

Latest Matched play points: Skaven Errata

Core rules: here

Matched play rules, battleplans and expansions: General's Handbook 2022-23 Season 2, plus the battleplans from the Core Book.

Supplement all the above with any Errata and Designers' Commentary from the FAQs.

Additional: Broken Realms: Kragnos

Allegiance Abilities

Allegiance Traits

  • Lead From the Back: Enemies take -1 to hit non-monster Skaven Heroes when they're within 3" of any units with 3+ models. After all, those hordes of clanrats are made to die in place of your clawlord.
  • Scurry Away: During combat phase, an unmounted hero may always retreat instead of fighting. Again, your hero is more valuable than your hordes.
  • Strength in Numbers: For every ten models in a Skaven unit, you improve the range of their melee weapons by 1". This can be quite vicious on larger blobs of Plague Monks and Stormvermin. Or ocassionally on Clanrats if buffed.

Battle Traits

  • Masterclan
    • Skilled Manipulators: Whenever a non-monster Masterclan hero takes a wound or rolls a Ward save, roll a d6 for one Skaven unit of 3+ models within 3". On a 3+, you instead allocate that wound to the nearby unit, preserving your Grey Seer's life at the expense of the rats he commands. Everything becomes a Grey Seer's bodyguard now.
    • Always Three Clawsteps Ahead: Only usable if you field 3+ Masterclan heroes. After you have one unit charge/run on that turn, you can use that same roll for the run/charge actions of other units in that phase while letting one unit pile in during the fight phase lets other units within 3" of their enemies pile in as well.
      • NOTE: This works extremely well with Clan Moulder's "Crack The Whip" ability which adds 3" to a Pack unit's charge roll - Which you can in turn apply to all your other units. Can make for some really aggressive moves. No longer works as per the latest FAQ.
  • Clan Moulder
    • Prized Creations: At the start of the game, you can assign a Hellpit Abomination (or several if you field 3+ Master Moulders) with a special mutation, barring any duplicates. Note, that you don't need a Master Moulder for the first buff.
      • Toughened Sinews: The Abomination now gets 16 wounds and a 4+ save, buffering their peak effectiveness a little. Probably the best all-comers pick.
      • Lumbering Behemoth: The Abomination gets a 7" movement and all run rolls are automatically 7.
      • Quivering Bulk: +1 to rolls for Avalanche of Flesh
      • Accelerated Regeneration: The Abomination's regeneration rolls are now activated on any hero phase, including your enemy's. What a way to piss off any limited-use kamikazes.
      • Best-Best Warpstone Spikes: Re-roll when using the Warpstone Spikes ability.
      • Backup Organs: The Abomination has so many redundant organs that you can re-roll for the Too Horrible to Die ability.
  • Clan Eshin
    • Masters of Murder: Pick an enemy hero, all Eshin units can add 1 to hit and to wound rolls against them. If you pick up 3+ Eshin heroes, this benefit extends to anyone attacking any heroes, not just the designated target, but only for melee attacks.
  • Clan Verminus
    • Mighty Warlords: A new Heroic Action that lets a Clawlord pick out a second faction Command Trait to use on top of their existing one until the end of the turn, providing momentary perks for key situations. If you pick up 3+ Clawlords then you can use this action on all Clawlords, letting each one pick up a unique Command Trait.
  • Clans Skryre
    • Warpstone Sparks: At the start of the game, you gain 3+d3 Warpstone Sparks so long as you take a Skyre hero (upped to d6+3 if you take 3+ Skyre heroes). A Spark can be spent once per phase on your Skryre units to:
      1. Reroll a wizards' casting, dispelling and unbinding rolls for that phase.
      2. Reroll a Hero's to Hit rolls for that phase.
      3. Pick a hero and choose up to 3 SKRYRE units wholly within 13" of them. Add +1 to the Damage characteristic of missile weapons used by these units for that shooting phase.
      • Along with the theme of instability, at the end of the appropriate phase, roll a die, on a 1 the wizard or hero chosen suffers D3 Mortal Wounds. Magical Uranium, everyone!
  • Clan Pestilens
    • Echoes of the Great Plagues: Pestilens priests add +1 to their prayer rolls for each fellow Pestilens priest wholly within 13". Once per turn, when a Pestilens Priest makes a successful prayer roll of a 6+, you can manifest one of six Great plagues, each of which can only be used once per battle. 4/5 of the plague's effects the nearest eligible unit so have placement in mind and bring a lot of Priests to more reliably get a six once per turn.
      1. Bubonic Blightplague: The nearest enemy unit within 13" suffers 2d6 mortal wounds. If the unit is then destroyed, pick another enemy unit 6" of the last model removed and inflict D6 mortal wounds. If this too destroys an enemy unit, pick another enemy unit within 6" of the last model removed and deal d3 mortal wounds. Repeat this process until no unit gets wiped out or there are no other units in range.
      2. Crimsonweal Curse: The nearest enemy unit within 13" suffers 1 mortal wound, and it and other enemy units within 1" of that infected unit suffer a 1 mortal wound during your future hero phases. Forever.
      3. Redmaw Plague: The nearest enemy Hero within 13" becomes infected. If within 3" of friends but no enemies at the start of the combat phase, gain ownership of that hero for the rest of the phase.
      4. The Neverplague: Pestilens Priests may reroll prayer rolls for the rest of battle. Should always be the first you set off unless something horrible went wrong.
      5. Undulant Scourge: The nearest enemy unit within 13" rolls 1D6 for each member of the unit; the unit takes a mortal wound for every 4+ rolled.

Command Traits

Your General, depending on its type, gets to choose one trait from the appropriate list.

<tabs> <tab name="Shared">

  • Devious Adversary: if your general fights in melee against a unit that hasn't fought yet add 2 to the attacks characteristic of each of their weapons.

</tab> <tab name="Masterclan">

  • Supreme Manipulator: When you take a heroic action you can Re-roll the heroic leadership roll. Hard skip.
  • Master of Magic: Re-roll all casting, dispelling, and unbinding. Insane pickup for ensuring you get to cast key Endless spells and especially for shutting down key enemy spells.
  • Diabolical Schemer: Roll a D6 each time your opponent issues a Command within 13" on a 5 the command isn't recieved, they lose that command point and you receive it instead. This can be nerve-wracking for armies that rely on key command abilities for buffs/bravery mitigation. You're likely to steal a CP each game, which, depending on when it happens, can really throw a wrench in certain game plans. Probably not worth it over the trait above though.

</tab> <tab name="Skryre">

  • Masterful Scavenger: Receive 2 extra warpstone sparks. Not the best trait, but still generally preferable to the shared ones if you're taking a large Skryre army.
  • Deranged Inventor: 1 friendly Skryre unit wholly within 13" can add 1 to hit rolls for missile attacks this phase. Take along a Bombardier with this, pop some warp-crack, and watch those Jezzails start pulling off 360 no-scopes with the precision of a mountain-dew infused CoD enthusiast. 2+ to hit against protected characters is nothing scoff at. It seems this is specifically aimed towards buffing Stormfiends and Acolytes.
  • Overseer of Destuction: If a unit within 13" is hiding a weapon team and they're destroyed, you can save the weapon team and set it back up wholly within 3" of your general and 3" away from enemies.
    • Might be useful but at initial glance seems like a trait only useful for when you make a mistake.

</tab> <tab name="Pestilens">

  • Master of Rot and Ruin: +1 to chanting rolls for this general. Prayers being re-rollable is pretty solid and will help you get those Great Plagues faster than ever. Kind of redundant with The Neverplague, but also makes it to where you don't need to activate it immediately and can chuck some mortal wounds at a nearby enemy instead.
  • Architect of Death: +1 to plagueclaw missile attacks damage characteristic wholly within 18”. Only affects Plagueclaws. If you're spamming catapults, may as well throw this in. Not that you should spam catapults though.
  • Ridden with Poxes: At end of combat phase, roll a dice if within 3” of an enemy, on a 4+ inflict D3 mortal wounds on one of those units. Meh.

</tab> <tab name="Verminus">

  • Verminous Valour: The Masterclan Skilled Manipulators ability, but it gets passed to any Skaven unit regardless of size. If you choose a Verminus army this and Savage Overlord is your bread and butter.
  • Savage overlord: If a Skaven unit within 3" fails Battleshock you can make them take d3 mortals instead. One of the 4 Battleshock prevention methods at our disposal.
  • Powerful Alpha: First 2 wounds, regular or mortal, EACH PHASE are negated.

</tab> <tab name="Moulder">

  • Cunning Mutator: the Masterclan skilled manipulators ability, but it gets passed to any Moulder unit regardless of size.
  • Hordemaster: Once per battle when a pack unit is destroyed you roll a die and on a 3+ an identical unit replaces it and it's set up wholly withing 13" of the general and 9" away from enemies. Only once, you can't replace a unit you already replaced, but you CAN roll to replace a unit twice. Roll using the Master Moulder first and if that doesn't work, roll again with Hordemaster.
  • Moulder Supreme: +1 to hit and wound rolls for friendly fighting beasts wholly within 13". Essential if you're running a bunch of Moulder. Can be replaced with the Rabid Crown and Crack the Whip to give +1/+1 when not going full monstrosity.

</tab> <tab name="Eshin">

  • Unrivalled Killer: Counts as 2 eshin heroes for Eshin battle traits.
  • Incredible Agillity: Can fly and can finest hour twice instead of once. Lets you charge over units and reach key targets after you set up your Deathmaster.
  • Shadowmaster: Whilst within 1” of terrain unit is invisible and can't be shot with missile weapons. Great way to keep your Deceiver from being sniped early in the game.

</tab> </tabs>

Artefacts Of Power

One Hero (plus an additional hero for each battalion), gets to choose an artefact from the appropriate list.

<tabs> <tab name="Masterclan">

  • The Gnawshard: Pick a melee weapon, if this weapon inflicts a wound it continues to inflict 1 mortal wound at the end of each battle round. (What's that sticking out of your neck?)
  • Skavenbrew: A favorite returning from WHFB. Once per battle turn, in your hero phase, 1 friendly unit within 3" suffers D3 mortal wounds but adds 1 to its attacks characteristic until your next hero phase. Combine with death frenzy and the warlords gnaw gnaw to turn clanrats into soft target blenders. Next general book has a spell that potentially gives a unit rend -3, so keep your eyes on that to make a extra tanky, numerous horde of land sharks.
  • Staff of Rightful Supremacy: -1 from enemy wizards casting rolls within 13". Once per battle it can automatically dispel an endless spell. With all the other good artifacts around, this is a skip.

</tab> <tab name="Skryre">

  • The Brass Orb: Once per battle, at the start of your hero phase, the pick an enemy unit within 6" and roll a die on a 3+ they get teleported away. Remove them from the battlefield, then at the end of the turn they have to be set up wholly within their territory more than 9" away from enemies. Kinda neat if you're rocking a full-on ranged army. Really clunky though, as it is during your hero phase and has a range of 8.
  • Esoteric Warp Resonator: At the start of each battle round, gain a Warpstone Spark if the bearer is on the battlefield, only to be used for the bearer and only for this battle round. Neat for larger Skryre armies. Essential for running a skyre hero in other armies as it gives you access to skrye army ability.
  • Vial of the Fulminator: At the start of the Movement phase, a Skryre Warmachine within 3" can move twice as fast. At the end of the phase, roll a dice, on a 1 the unit takes D3 mortal wounds. Literally +3" movement to specifically a Warp-lightning Cannon. And it takes damage. Hard Pass flesh-thing.

</tab> <tab name="Pestilens">

  • Blade of Corruption: Pick a melee weapon. If it's unmodified wound roll is 6 it's rend is -3 and its damage is a flat 6. Only useful on a Verminlord Corruptor, but in that case can be thought of as +0.83 damage to its Plaguereapers in addition to a rend-buff for that damage. Which is overall quite solid.
  • The Fumigatous: Start of each combat phase, pick 1 enemy unit within 3”, roll a D6, on a 1-2 nothing happens, on a 3-4 that unit suffers d3 mortal wounds, on a 5+ it suffers D6 mortal wounds. Looks unimpressive on paper, but we're talking a lot of mortal wounds over time. Also notably at the start of the combat phase as opposed to the end. Also that plague priests are made of wet tissues so give to the alter or verminlord.
  • Blistrevous the Living Cyst: Strikes first if the bearer charged. Starting at the second battle round you must transfer to another Pestilens hero each of your hero phases. You want this on a Corruptor and Plague Furnace. If you have 2+ of either of them, this is a solid option - especially when combined with the Blade of Corruption for a really disgusting Corruptor.

</tab> <tab name="Verminus">

  • Shield of Distraction: Can't be fought by more than 1 unit per phase. Funky item on a Warbringer. Looks mighty silly when it charges an enemy army alone. Even sillier when it starts tearing said army apart.
  • Rustcursed Armour: +1 to saves. At start of combat, pick an enemy hero with an artefact of power within 3" and roll 2D6. if it's higher than their bravery destroy the artefact (a 9.72% chance each turn(EDIT: Where does this number come from??? Depends on the enemy bravery)).
  • Warpstone Charm: -1 to enemy saves within 3" At the beginning of your hero phase roll a dice. On a 1 take d3 mortal wound. Personally, I'd skip this one.
    • Alternate Take: Take on a Clawlord with Verminous Valor in conjunction with a Bell w/ Skavenbrew and a big unit of Clanrats. When the Clanrats don't need the extra attack, pop the brew on the Clawlord who can then redirect those mortal wounds right back to the bell - bringing you ever closer to that sweet sweet Verminlord. Same thing if you roll a 1 on the charm. Any mortal wounds not redirected only serves to power up the Clawlord himself through "Cornered Fury". The Charm comes in handy in this comp since none of the involved units have good Rend values - but very respectable damage outputs.

</tab> <tab name="Moulder">

  • Lash of Fangs: Pick 1 melee weapon, if unmodified hit roll is a 6 inflict d3 mortal wounds in addition to normal damage. Hard skip.
  • Foulhide: Heal up to 1 wound each of your hero phases, and sets their base wounds characteristic to 10. This one's probably tied with the Crown for the best of the lot, as keeping your Master Moulder alive is top priority if Moulder units make up an important chunk of your army. Can be replaced with Cunning Mutator if you want the Rabid Crown. NOTE: Having a base wounds characteristic of 10 disallows the use of the "Look Out, Sir" rule, meaning you'll be much better protected against melee units, but pretty much the same against ranged.
  • Rabid Crown: +1 to hit for Fighting Beast & Pack units within 13”. This is very VERY useful for turning Giant Rats into piranhas on legs. If running more fighting beasts, consider the Foulhide combined with Moulder Supreme.

</tab> <tab name="Eshin">

  • Shadow Magnet Trinket: Once per battle the bearer can fight first in combat phase. When deep striking your Deathmasters, they should never need to fight first since they should be getting hit that turn. And after that it'll probably situational. Skip.
  • Farskitter Cloak: Once per battle remove the bearer and set them up anywhere on the battlefield more than 9” from the enemy. It takes a relic for Eshin to deep strike decently. And that ability sure isn't worth an artifact slot.
  • Gnawbomb: Once per battle 1 terrain feature within 6” becomes a Gnawhole until your next hero phase. Maybe useful? If you're mad enough to take it with a plan, let the rest of us rat-friends know how it goes.

</tab> </tabs>

Spell Lore

Any Some Wizard Heroes, depending on their type, get to choose one spell from the appropriate list. Clans Pestilens Priests get one Noxious Prayer. Note, that the Verminlord Warpseer and Lord Skreech Verminking are Masterclan Wizards but not Grey Seers. Hence they do not gain a spell from the Lore of Ruin.

<tabs> <tab name="Lore of Ruin"> Grey Seers Only

  1. Scorch: casting 5, roll number of dice equal to casting roll, for each 6 an enemy unit within 13" suffers 1 mortal wound. If you're a big boy on a Bell or your name is Thanquol this on average deals a glorious 1.5/2 mortal wounds. Insert Owen Wilson Wauw.
  2. Skitterleap: casting 6, 1 friendly hero with wounds characteristic of 13 or less (i.e. any hero except the bell, the furnace, and Thanquol) can be placed anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" from enemy units. Teleporting: no longer for the Deceivers alone. Use this to nab objectives, send a Warbringer to crush the enemy backline, or even as a panic button to get your Warpseer/Seer out of whatever bullshit you've gotten them into. Combos well with the gnawholes allowing you to skitterleap a Verminlord/Seer next to a Gnawhole deep in enemy territory, let off a couple of spells and then jump back in your movement phase.
    • Alternate Take: Most targets can't reliably charge the turn they leap and can't take the incoming charge when they fuck up their own. Also, remember how Skaven units rely on each other? Your rats will be very sad when you send your Bravery 10 bubble into the enemy backline.
  1. Death Frenzy: casting 7, pick 1 Skaventide unit that is not a hero and wholly within 13", any model slain until the next hero phase can pile-in and attack.
    • It's worth noting that this applies to death from any source, so if your models are in combat then you may use this in reaction to shooting, spell damage, etc.
    • Anyone know if this pairs well with the Various suicide juices that skaven get (Skavenbrew, Vigourdust Injector, etc.)? Yes, rules state "When slain" with no indication on which source slayed the model. So, models slain from your Verminous Valor warlord trait will "death frenzy". It won't work with the Vigourdust Injector though, since those MWs are taken at the beginning of your NEXT Hero Phase in the window between the spell ending and being able to cast it again.

</tab> <tab name="Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism"> Clan Skryre Only

  1. More-more-more Warp Power!: casting 7, 1 SKRYRE unit within 13" +1 to hit and wound rolls until next hero phase. Then suffers D3 mortal wounds. Good with Stormfiends and Ratling Guns who (on average) can take the hit and survive.
  2. Chain Warp Lightning: casting 7, each enemy unit within 13" suffers 1 mortal wound. Yes, it affects your own units and is therefore absolutely not worth it.
  3. Warp Lightning Shield: casting 6, first 3 wounds allocated to the caster are negated (in each phase!). On a 4th wound the caster suffers 3 mortal wounds and the spell is unbound. Brilliant. Chow down on those Sparks without fear!

</tab> <tab name="Noxious Prayers"> Clans Pestilens Priests only

  1. Disease-Disease!: answer on 3, 13" range. 5+ deal MW for every model in enemy unit. No effect on Nurgle. Eh, would kick ass against a giant horde unit, might be alright against a large 20 man 3+ armor save regiment.
  2. Filth-filth: answer on 3, 13" range. +1 toWound to one friendly Clans Pestilens unit until your hero phase. What you Caste on your alter or vermin Lord to make their attacks stick. For your monks it's better to go with...
  3. Rabid-rabid: answer on 3, 13" range. +1 to melee attack to one friendly Clans Pestilens unit until your hero phase. Best option for monk hordes.

</tab> <tab name="Endless Spells">

  • Vermintide: (60pts) useful as a Predatory damage dealer, when a unit is ends a move near it, roll 13 dice and they take mortal wounds for each 6. Can also do this to one nearby unit when it moves, chosen by the moving player. In the latest FAQ this now also affects any Skaven units. The base for this one is monster huge and now it's 40 pts is perfect for blocking and ruining charges.
  • Warp Lightning Vortex: (90pts) An Area Denial Spell, that creates a 7" equilateral Triangle( hard to set up on uneven Terrain) with any unit that is within 6" of it takes D3 mortal wounds on 4+ (D6 on an unmodified 6) with bonuses to the roll based on how many of the pylons they are in range of. If they happen to start their turn within 6" of it they can't run or fly. Combo with shackles and the warp gale spell from the grey seer. If all that gets cast the effect is brutal. Only went down by 10 pts recently so compared to the other spells it's a little fiddley for its price.
  • Bell of Doom: (85pts) Its a flying screaming bell! It has a janky "auto dispel itself and do damage" effect when moved with a low probability of happening. Otherwise it is a 13" no battleshock bubble which also reduces enemy bravery by 1. However, it must roll 3d6 whenever it finishes a move, and on a 13 it explodes and does d3 mortal wounds to everything (this includes your poor rats) within 13". Decent, but likely to be outshone by the vortex due to its risk factor and the ready availability of other, less temporary (and volatile) methods of negating battleshock.

Scratch that, went down to 40 pts. Insanely good now, a must take with any army besides Moulder. </tab> </tabs>

Warscrolls

  • The following True Skaven, Verminlord Daemons, and Moulder pack animals and Fighting beasts are all united by the Skaventide Keyword.

Named Leaders

  • Lord Skreech Verminking: (Masterclan, Behemoth, 400pts) combining weapons from several of the vermin lord options and the same 5+ ward versus all damage, the king of the rats also brings a "choose each turn" multi-option buff that has six different effects. He can choose from +1 to spell casting, d3 wounds self-heal, exploding sixes mortal wounds off his plague reaper, - 1 to be hit by enemies or increased rend of the glaive from -1 to -3. In addition, he has the warpseer two spell cast and a really good spell that rolls 13d6 and does mortal wounds on a 4+ per dice. It then summons a unit of clan rats equal to wounds caused, making it go from good to amazing due to the potential swing on an objective being 14 on average (seven mortal wounds, seven new rats). He rounds off with a command ability that's a bubble of reroll 1s to hit within 13". A great character, although possibly outshone by the next guy...
  • Thanquol on Boneripper: (Masterclan, Behemoth, 415pts) oh lordy it's 415 points but you get a lot of bang for your buck here! The great grey seer and his custom ride are better than ever, combining solid spell casting and impressive ranged and melee damage with good resilience and a strong command ability in an all-round excellent package. Firstly, he's a 14 wound slab of health with the same 5+ ward after save on top of a 4+ normal save. This is supported by a d3 self heal every turn. The behemoth drop off isn't too bad either and bone ripper will be useful as long as it is alive. The good stuff is with Thanquol and his magic, boasting Arkhan the Black levels of casting buff, double cast and dispel, and a fantastic spell which forces enemy heroes to fight either their allies or even themselves. Hit the five times waagh buffed Warboss with this and he will literally beat himself to death! Thanquol also access the excellent lore of ruin as a grey seer. Bone ripper is no slouch either and can be equipped with any combination of up to four weapons chosen from warpfire projectors or braziers. The damage output can get crazy high and he has clubbing blows to back up whichever option suits you best. Four warpfire throwers are possibly one of the most rage-inducing answers to horde lists ever created...(Actually, that seems like huge overkill, two will on average hit every model in the unit that is in range for a mortal wound). Finally, Thanquol has a command ability which, whilst situational, will be amazing when needed. He spends one cp and grants, three other heroes, the ability to use the rules book standard command abilities for no cost. Combine this with the masterclan CP regain and you could harvest 3cp back for spending one...can anyone else say "faq"?
  • Skritch Spiteclaw: (Verminus, 165pts) Quite similar to the Clawlord, with a few key differences. He returns models to his Swarm. But, he lacks the +1 attack per suffered wound ability of the standard Clawlord. Else, the stats are all the same. Overall, a pretty good pick, take alongside his Swarm for obvious reasons.
    • Alternate Take: A Clawlord ticks in at 110pts. Swarm's 55 points. If you're gonna take a swarm with your Clawlord, take a Rat Swarm and keep Cornered Fury.
  • Slynk Skittershank: (Eshin, 225pts) A Deathmaster who, instead of hiding in units, hides in terrain with his mandatory goons. When he strikes while within 3" of 'em he strikes first and can retreat afterwards. Not too impressive over a standard Deathmaster but his goons are cheap and nothing to scoff at. Also one of the few units that can Alpha strike since he comes in within 6".

Leaders

  • Verminlord Warbringer: (Verminus, Behemoth, 395pts) Clan Verminus wizard daemon. like all Verminlords, he has 13 wounds, two spells per turn, degrading stats, a 5+ ward against wounds and mortal wound. Warbringers also re-roll wounds when near friendly swarms, and their punch-knife can deal extra damage. His best stuff is his command ability that lets Verminus to add 1 to hit and wound and a buffed Death Frenzy spell that affects D3 Skaventide units instead of the 1 (models get to attack as they are slain, but before you remove them) which can stack with death frenzy.
    • Warbringer (and other Verminlords) one-up on Skreech is their access to command traits and artifacts. Which command trait you take will hugely impact your Warbringer's playstyle. Devious Adversary doubles the number of attacks with your Spike Fist and increases the chances that you will pick up that all-important 6 to wound. For a more defensive Warbringer, nab Verminous Valor and keep him close to units of Clanrats for what is essentially a 3+ Ward. If not running Valor, grab a unit of Stormvermin as stand-ins to give him a 2+ Ward in a pinch.
    • The Warbringer is unfortunately not a Clawlord and can therefore not gain additional Warlord traits. So if you're running him with Clanrats or Stormvermin make sure you have something to help mitigate battleshock.
  • Verminlord Deceiver: (Eshin, Behemoth, 405pts) Clan Eshin wizard daemon. A sneaker Verminlord, with an anti-horde shuriken, an increased ability to dodge missiles, and the ability to teleport almost any distant Skaven hero to anywhere on the board more than 6" from an enemy. Teleport your Arch-Warlock smack in the middle of your opponent's forces, add a little bath-salts, and watch as your tesla bomb deals an absurd number of mortal wounds to everything around it (or explode in a blaze of drug-laced glory). A lot of dice need to be rolled for this to work out, but hey, why not?
  • Verminlord Corruptor: (Nurgle Pestilens, Behemoth, 350pts) a Daemon of Clan Pestilens. Cast two spells and abilities to deal mortal wounds. His COMMAND ABILITY gives a Pestilens unit within range add 1 to hit and wound. Can hit hard in the first battle but brackets hard from 2d6 attacks to d3.
  • Verminlord Warpseer: (Masterclan, Behemoth, 360pts) More Wizard of the Greater daemons and has an orb that gives a +1 to saves until you feel like chucking it a hero for D6 mortal wounds at 13". Gives friendly skaven wholly within 13" 10 bravery. Also counts as 2 Masterclans heroes for always three clawsteps ahead. Its spell can also cancel a units flying and halve run and charge rolls. Weirdly, due to the keyword restriction on spell lore, it can chuck out two spells per turn but can't know any of the lore spells. Good for the endless spells I guess?
  • Warpgnaw Verminlord (Forgeworld): (Masterclan, Behemoth, 275pts) Note: This model is now in the Monstrous Arcanum which is still legal for matched play.The former Exalted Verminlord. He's generally inferior to the GW ones with only a glaive that's not as good as a doomglaive but has consistent damage (though it is subject to damage). He lacks a Command Ability, his only ability is being able to make a sudden arrival through a vanguard Gnawhole. It also can cast two spells, with a unique spell that can kill a single model if you roll a d6 and roll higher than its wounds, making it only useful on foot heroes and really weak things otherwise. The Warpgnaw Verminlord no longer brings a unit with him. Instead only the Verminlord deepstrikes in next to a Gnawhole (although this doesn't stop another unit from appearing at the same Gnawhole at the same time due to the wording of this ability). It has gained 2 wounds and Terrifying.
  • Clawlord: (Verminus, 105pts)Your standard hero with 5 wounds, a 4+ save. he has 3 3+/3+/-1/d3 attacks and gains +1 attack for each missing wound he has. Not that you actually want this guy in close combat as his true worth is his command ability which lets you pick a VERMINUS unit wholly within 13" and give it an extra attack with each of its melee weapons. This is an amazing command ability for your rat horde as it gives your clanrats 100% increased damage output and your Stormvermin 50% increased damage output. It should be noted that Clawlords can pick up the same command traits as other non-Clawlord generals. This can be particularly useful with Verminous Valor as it essentially doubles his durability at the cost of a few Clanrats. He can also pick up an Arcane Tome for counter-spelling, casting Flaming Weapon, and completing Prized Sorcery.
  • Warlock Engineer: (Skryre, 105pts) your Mad Science wizards. armed with a Wizard staff and Pistol. The staff can be overcharged for more damage. The only spells Warlocks know are Warp Lightning and one from the Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism. Warp Lightning is a 13" upgraded Arcane Bolt that has no limit to the number of times it can be cast and can be overcharged following the usual method. Now 10 points more expensive than before, meaning he's less of a no brainer choice.
  • Warlock Bombardier: (Skryre, 115pts) A Warlock with a Bazooka, which can overcharge its single shot's damage from d6 to 2d6. Otherwise, all the same stuff and engineer can do. Considering how little you'd want an engineer in combat, the ranged weapon on the bombardier seems like a straight upgrade over the melee variant. Just remember he lacks the engineer keyword, so he can't buff your Lightning cannons. Better off warpsparking some acolytes.
  • Arch-Warlock: (Skryre, 155pts) A Wizard in Power Armor. Has a Warlock staff, Powerclaw and can cast two spells. His Unique spell is a Warp Lightning that effects d3 units instead of one, but on a bad overcharge, you can kiss his furry arse goodbye. Probably not worth it for 40 points over a Bombardier, but hey if you need more magics, this is your guy.
  • Deathmaster: (Eshin, 145pts) The Skaven Ninja, able to hide in every skaven unit at once like Schrodinger's Fanatic. They throw a bunch of stars then charge in with either a dagger with rend and d3 damage or claws with 7 attacks. Always best to give this guy artifacts that improve his hero killing powers. He’s also got a nice new model courtesy of the Echoes of Doom boxset.
  • Master Moulder: (Moulder, 90pts) A heroic Packmaster with two very respectable weapon options. It can Heal a Pack model d3 wounds and also gives Pack units +1 to wond in melee. A steal for 90 points if you plan on making Moulder a pillar in your army. His Command ability can replace a destroyed Moulder Pack unit on a roll of 3+, within 12" of him. This might not sound like much initially, but it has a global range (so even if the unit dies on the other end of the table, you can attempt to bring it back). This allows Moulder units to fearlessly accept charges before respawning and counter-charging. Moulder units are priced around this guy though, with neither Giant Rats or Rat Ogres being point-efficient, so if this dude dies before them you'll be very sorry.
  • Plague Priest: (Pestilens, 100pts) Your standard Pestilens hero. Surprisingly killy since he gets an extra attack for each weapon on the charge. Fairly inexpensive for the damage they can do. If you're gonna bring this guy to the army, bring several to increase chances of chanting a GREAT PLAGUE
  • Plague Priest on Plague Furnace: (Pestilens, Behemoth 335pts) It's 3 Plague Monks with a Plague Priest on a huge censer-thing. It can't move its 6" unless within 6" of 10 or more friendly Skaventide models and it makes 6 attacks with Rusty Wheels and Spikes. At full health, the Great Plague Censer now does an impressive 1d3+4 mortal wounds on a 2+. On top of this, it stops battleshock for Skaventide. You probably want 2 to make sure one or both of these buffs goes off on your Plague Monks. It's clearly a centerpiece. It will pack a punch thanks to the Censer, but it needs Plague Monks to push it around and pushing stuff around and not charging is something Plague Monks with their awful survivability really don't like to do. with blocks of 40 monks you'll usually be able to chain 10 of them back to push the furnace. Or just charge with the furnace first and have your monks charge up along side it. With look out sir in melee, 5+ fnp and the big death ball the furnace is right at home charging into combat with it's pushing crew of 40 monks.
  • Grey Seer: (Grey Seer, 125pts) A generic spellcaster, but to be honest he's quite good at that. Can now cast and unbind 2 spells and has a unique spell, Wither, which can cause D3 damage to most units and hero's alike, and it also debuffs them for the next combat round. However, his best ability is probably the Warpstone Token; when you cast a spell you can use a token ( you have infinite, by the way ) and if you do so you roll 3D6, if the result is 13 then the spell is cast and cannot be unbound... BUT your Grey Seer is slain after the effects of the spell. On anything other than a 13 you can remove one dice and use the remaining result as your casting. Pretty good, but has a 10% chance of killing him. For what it costs the Grey Seer is pretty good, and it's not a bad idea to use him in almost every Skaven list.
  • Grey Seer on Screaming Bell: (Grey Seer, War Machine 325pts) Take a Grey Seer and put him on a GIANT BELL OF DOOM and you have the Screaming Bell, a war machine that can alternate between Priest and Wizard depending on your whims and gets hefty buffs to both. The first thing to know about the Bell is that it can't move on its own and needs to be pushed by a pack of friendly Skaven within 6". This movement reduces as the bell takes damage, which feels like a bit of a dick-kick since it makes your towing squad more vulnerable to any bombardment. This obviously means that it should stay close to the Skaven Infantry (which is where it should be in the first place). The most important ability of the Bell, however, is, of course, the bell! It peals in your Hero Phase, and to do so you have to roll 1d6 and see what effect the peal has. You only hurt yourself on a roll of 1, and that's D3 mortal wounds. The other effects are mixed, you can buff your army, damage the opponent's army. Oh, and did I mention that even if your bell takes damage the effect of the peals doesn't change? Yeah. The only thing that decreases is the boosts given to your casting and preaching, which is a bigger issue than any melee penalties. The Seer on top of the Bell knows a different spell from the dismounted one, this time it damages units with low Move. Unfortunately, the Seer loses the Warpstone Tokens. The Bell also has a 5+ ward save and has a pretty good ability that negates battleshock tests within 13". It costs 125 points more than a vanilla Seer, but I'm sure it will repay its price.
    • Echoes of Doom has changed the Verminlord summoning to its own action. If the bell takes 7+ wounds, you can roll a d6 - it simply blows up on a 1 but on any other roll, it can summon that Verminlord if the total of wounds+roll amounts to a 13+.
    • Alternate Take: The bell is the weirdest Skaven unit by far. It is RIDICULOUSLY tanky with 15 wound 4+/5+ and can allocate wounds naturally to nearby units on a 3+ should it so desire. This means you can regulate how much damage it takes in order to set yourself up for summoning that sweet sweet Verminlord. Should you manage to summon it, it is practically game over. Summon Skreech Verminking and you will have gained ~425 points of value. Not only that, but your newly summoned Verminlord, while needing to be more than 9" from enemies, is free to move and guaranteed charge in the following phases. There are some caveats however:
      • The bell is anything but cost-effective in itself. Compared to a Verminlord it isn't killy enough in combat, it requires nearby rats and it's slow as balls. Also, Crack's Call is extremely limited in its application, dealing a measly 2 mortal wounds to slow infantry. The pushing crew will probably be clanrats who can bodyguard, which are, similarly to the bell, not damage dealers. The peals of doom aren't impressive either, with occasionally impactful results.
      • With the bell being such a slow piece of shit, ridiculously tanky and non-threatening like a puppy, enemies are bound to do the one thing they should be doing: Ignore the damn thing. Don't be suprised if it by turn 3 is stranded in the middle of the table and proceeds to do nothing for the last 2 turns.
      • Your counter to this counter is to give your puppy claws. Enter Endless Spells and Master of Magic. With +2 and re-roll of casting rolls, you are almost guaranteed to get them off and wreak some Havoc Physics Engine. In addition, with Master of Magic, the Grey Seer will be much more likely to unbind enemy spells, making your big bell much more of a nuisance.
      • Did I mention that most Endless spells don't distinguish between friendly and enemy units? That's right, if you want something damaged right, the best way is to damage it yourself. Should your bell takes a solid portion of wounds, you can metaphorically push it over the edge through endless spells. Use that sweet +2 to casting rolls and watch as your Gnashrak's Ravenous Jaw takes your bell from a measly 6 damage to 11 to threaten the dreaded Verminlord summoning. Since the summoning happens at the beginning of your hero phase it's best to damage your bell when you're not in danger of being double-turned as you don't want your bell getting crumpled at the critical moment.

Battleline

Skaventide

If you run a mixed SKAVENTIDE army these are your minimum required battlelines

  • Clanrats: (Clan Verminus Min:20 100pts) The bread and butter of many Skaven armies. They are cheap fodder and can take a huge amount of punishment so long as their battleshock is taken care of. They can dish out some damage too with Skavenbrew and Gnaw-Gnaw on their bones! But nothing which should be relied on with 4+/4+/-0.

Clanrats main functions are to take charges, push the furnace or bell and freight weapon teams closer to their intended targets. For Masterclan and Verminus heroes they are also the preferred choice for bodyguards since they’re only half the price of a Stormvermin.

    • Always grab the sword. With the Strength in Numbers rule you'll usually have a reach of at least 2". Usually 3" with a blob of 40, making the spear redundant. The sword also scales better with buffs like Skavenbrew and Gnaw-Gnaw on Their Bones.
  • Stormvermin: (Clan Verminus Min:10 130pts) The closet you have to an elite troop (or in-a-pinch bodyguards), and they're actually good. Their halberds have two attacks each at a 3+/3+/-1. Which means 10 Stormvermin hit harder then 20 clan rats. Their already decent damage can then be easily buffed by a Clawlord's "Gnaw-Gnaw on Their Bones!" for even more attacks, which increases said damage output by 50%. They can take hits for heroes of all clans, weapon teams and Eshin assassins can hide in them, and they're only 30 points more than clan rats while ALSO having a better save. Other clans may have better options, but Stormvermin are a solid option.

Eshin

You can include 1 unit of this type as a Battleline unit for each CLANS ESHIN HERO you include in your army.

  • Night Runners: (Min:10 90pts) the mass vanguard slingers of Skaven. They can move 2d6” after setup and run and shoot. They have better aim than Grot Shootas and generate a mortal wound on a natural 6. Generally outclassed by the significantly cheaper clan rat, or the excessively killier plague censer bearer in mixed lists.
    • On a turn they get to shoot and charge, 10 Night Runners will do more damage then what a unit of 20 clan rats would do at a 10 point cheaper price against all target's but the data get's a little more complicated. If you compare only the shooting to the clan rat's melee (thuse presuming your skirmishing with at range) They do a lot better against 2+, 3+ units but against 4+ save units there slightly worse, and there even worse save means there pop off the board even faster. In general: they like to be pointed at more specific high value targets they can theoretical trade up against.
  • Gutter Runners: (Min:5 100pts) Elite version of Night Runners. Suffer the same fate as Night Runners too. In general they sport the same damage output at range as 100 points of clanrats do in melee since there throwing starts have 3 attacks making up for only 5 models and on paper if they shoot then charge: they can do a five wounds to a save 2+ target. All good on paper but there a hell of a lot more fragile. 5+ save on five bodies is not something to trust. In theory though they do have a game plan: Deep strike within 9 inches (and 6 of terrian) of the enemy and attempt an alpha strike with your 12 inch shurkens, then die, but at 100 points it's not that much of an investment. Range attacks alone can do a lot of damage to a 3+ save or better target thanks to 3 attacks and mortal wounds on 6. That's a lot that has to go right however. In theory it's probably better to deploy them normally, first turn run, and run on there actual move and shoot then. That's an 18 or 17 inch move on average on 12 inch range. Still they are very moderate risk given that 100 point price tag and very high reward. Not something you probably want an army of, but make a nice distraction running at the edges looking for hard target's to assassinate.

Moulder

Battleline if the army has Skaventide Allegiance and a Masterclan or Moulder general and all other non-Allies units are Moulder

  • Giant Rats: (PACK, Min:6 60pts) The sharpest teeth on the wettest of noodle bodies. They get 2 attacks per for 10 points a pop with a movement of 8 and -2 rend. They can also be revived by the master moulder to suicide, die and then take revenge. They do not come with any saves however and have a bravery of 3, making them evaporate the second someone breathes on them. This squishiness makes them terrible at anything but one-sided engagements and makes sending them to the flanks through Gnawholes a risky endeavor indeed. They combo well with a plague furnace which can negate their morale problem. A unit of Giant rats are also an acceptable charge buffer with less durability than rat swarms but a higher damage output - useful for when they are replaced through a master moulder and themselves get to charge.
  • Rat Ogors: ( FIGHTING BEAST, PACK, Min:2 140pts) Rat ogres are a below average unit, made viable through supporting units. Unsurprisingly, when you can get a second chance 66% of the time you need to be quite inefficient to be fair. Take a unit of 4, crack the whip, all-out attack and watch them do mediocre damage twice. Really solid for charging through Gnawholes since their bravery of 5 is okay when your unit only consists of 4 models, removing the need for Inspiring Presence.

Pestilens

You can include 1 unit of this type as a Battleline unit for each CLANS PESTILENS HERO you include in your army.

  • Plague Monks: (Min:10 90pts) ** Supposed to be the pestilent front-line unit. Instead it is a weird support caster unit with a solid combat statline. They have abysmal saves and bravery and their bringer of the word deals approximately 1 mortal wound each shooting phase. Oh and they have a bunch of attacks on the charge with no rend. If you are running a crap-ton of censer bearers, consider picking up 10 of these to buff them with +1 to wound. Otherwise, hard skip. Notably synergizes with the Curse prayer. Still a hard skip though.
  • Plague Censer Bearers: (Min:5 90pts) Yeeeeehaw! The best infantry on the roster and maybe the best infantry point for point in the entire game. Now with 2 wounds a piece, a -1 to wound defensive ability and 4 attacks on the charge with 3+/3+/-1/D2. That's 20 attacks on the charge. As opposed to last edition these boys are the new core for Pestilens as it's more cost-effective to take more of these bad-boys than the buff-giving Plague Monks. There one drawback, and it it's not a small one is defense: they can't take a hit. With a 6+ save even two wounds won't save them from even anti chaff attacks, -1 to wound helps in melee but these guys are a massive 'shoot me' target, and enough melee attacks means not even a -1 to wound would be enough and each lost censer hurt a lot.

Skryre

Battleline if the army has Skaventide Allegiance and a Masterclan or Skryre general and all other non-Allies units are Skryre

  • Stormfiends: (Clan Moulder, Clan Skryre, Min:3 320pts) The Unholy Collaboration Between Skryre and Moulder. Has Taken-taken a similar nerf Grundstok Thunderers suffers, the weapons are divided up between a Trio. One fiend can take either Warpthrowers or mortars, another can take rattling guns or warpgrinders that grant ability for the unit to deep strike, and finally, last one can take a pair of reliable or random fists and has 7 wounds. Skaven players who used them pre battletome will lament the loss of the triple warpfire projectors unit. In their current incarnation, stormfiends are a very unattractive ranged choice. Warpfire projectors can't be overcharged for extra range to be used after using gnawholes nor do benefit from buffs that skryre engineer can provide to the unit. Mortars are terrifying on paper, but in practice require buffs to offset cointoss chance to actually hit the target. Rattling guns can do anything from 3 to 18 attacks.
    • they are also are part Moulder, lending their array of Weaponry to but they lack the Keywords to properly interact with them.
      • This also means that they can be included in pure Moulder armies, and are those armies' only dedicated range.
  • Skryre Acolytes: (Clan Skryre, Min:5 75pts) Mass bomb-throwers, able to run and throw their globes with -2 rend and d3 damage. They look pretty bad on paper, but if you add in the buffs available to Skryre and you don't mind taking damage (hey its skaven) then this missile attack can become pretty impressive, with hit bonus and hit and wound rerolls and a damage buff all available.
    • A large unit is still quite cheap and makes a good hiding place for warpfire throwers too. Shame that you have to build them, one model, at a time for $15 USD per model. Better get ready to do some conversion (the now-defunct poison wind mortars make decent acolytes).
      • A quicker out of the box method for Acolytes would be the Skaven Bloodbowl team. Their Warpstone Footballs can be “passed off” as cluster mines that serve the same purpose as the poisoned wind globes.
        • Even better, plague monks with Arkanaut Company packs.****

Other Units

  • Ratling Gun: (Clan Skryre weapons team 65pts). Weapon teams are always a cheap way to increase your damage output, though lacks protection against retaliation. With 2d6 attacks with a 12" range and a 25% chance to hit, it does shockingly low damage, even when overcharged, and is liable to get shot off the board before getting into range. However, 3 of them buffed up with a skryre spark and overseer of destruction do massive amounts of damage, assuming you can get them into position.
  • Warpfire Thrower: (Clan Skryre weapons team 70pts). Close range anti-blobs that rolls for each model and deals mortal wounds on a 4+. When you overcharge, you roll 2 dice for each model but the Thrower dies on a roll of 1 or 2 made after dealing damage. Statistically, when used against single-wound infantry this will kill every model in the unit.
  • Warp-Grinder: (Clan Skryre weapons team 65pts). Allow you to deepstrike them and another unit. Similar to the Stormfiend Warp Grinder. Don't expect anything of it in combat, it's basically a points tax to get a more reliable deep strike for stormfiends.
  • Doom-Flayer: (Clan Skryre weapons team 65pts). A melee sports unit. Really not worth it, they have 3 wounds, a 5+ save, and d6 attacks, so they will do no damage in melee, and then immediately die. They can boost their attacks from a d6 to 2d6s but will die after attacking on a roll of doubles or a 7.
  • Rat Swarms: (Clan Moulder, PACK, Min:2 55pts). A unit which many will overlook. They are pathetic in all aspects. 5 attacks on 5+/5+ won’t hurt a fly. They’re squishy, with no saves and 8 wounds for 55 points but it’s all good because they’re Pack units. Stick 2 of them in front of your blobs to absorb charges. Put them on side-objectives. Heck, send them in for fun and res them because you can. Compared to the chaff of other armies, Skaven are blessed with these little critters. Also the best unit to take wounds as bodyguard.
  • Packmasters: (Clan Moulder Min:3 65pts). No longer heroes. 1 in 3 may take a Things-Catcher. +1 to Melee Hit Rolls and double Bravery of friendly Clans Moulder Pack units wholly within 12". At 60 points, they should be considered. Just remember their buffs don't stack with each other, or a Master Moulder. Can't buff Stormfiends any more.
  • Skaven Wolf Rats (Forgeworld): (Clan Moulder, PACK, Min:5 100pts).Note: This model has been removed from the Forgeworld site and is now in the Legends: Monstrous Arcanum which is no longer legal for matched play. Giant Rats on steroids. With a Save to boot. Gets +1 to wounds the turn the charge. When normally hitting on 3s and wounding on 3s, have them charge, and keep them all in range of a pack of Packmasters or a Master Moulder, they're hitting and wounding on 2s. Overall, a very solid and relatively cheap cavalry option that'll rip into any soft target you launch them at.
    • The cheapest way to convert them (and still look good) is Chaos Warhounds with Stormvermin heads (add gasmasks and beads and you also have 10 Skryre Acolytes)
  • Spiteclaw's Swarm: These guys can be nasty little buggers. 4 models, each with a different weapon. All are hitting on 4's, wounding on 4's, most with 2 attacks, one with 1, most with 1" range, one with 2", a 6+ save, they're a mixed bunch. Ideally, you're keeping these guys within 13" of Skritch, so he can give them back D3 models per turn. Just don't let Krrk die, he can't come back. If Skritch kicks it, Krrk gets 2 extra attacks. Should the unit take a Wound, or a Mortal Wound, on all successive Wounds and Mortal Wounds in that turn roll a dice, on a 5+ you ignore it. Sit these guys in cover, cast Mystic Shield, they've got a 5+ save, re-rolling 1s, ignoring all past the first Wound on a 5+, D3 coming back in your Hero Phase. All in all, they're alright. Can be a nuisance.
  • Skittershank's Clawpack: Tougher than gutter runners and with the ability to deploy within 6" of an enemy unit in the first movement phase. Like Skittershank they dish out mortals on a natural 6. With Skittershank and his clawpack shooting and melee phases, that's 23 chanches of rolling a 6! That's 6-8 mortal wounds right there. Pick your enemy's general for the Masters of Murder battle trait and you've got a half decent chance of taking down some medium sized heroes turn 1 (assuming they left you space to get within 6")

Behemoths

  • Hell Pit Abomination: (Clan Moulder 245pts). With a 2d6 move, it can keep pace with a Doomwheel, or lag behind your entire army. Has a melee weapon that deals mortal wounds for every 2+ (degrading) rolled (one dice per model from target unit that is within 3"). Heals d3 wounds in the Hero Phase, all enemies in 3" subtract 1 from their Bravery, it can flat out ignore spells that target it on a 4+, and it has a 1/3 chance to heal d6 wounds the first time it's killed. It won't be dying quickly based on this. But with a 5+ save, and 12 wounds, it could just as easily die with good enough rend and some poor dice rolls.
    • If you want something that looks less like a centipede, the Beastman Ghorgon offers a good base for a Ratzilla.
      • Assuming you took a Master Moulder, this is where you'll be using Prized Creation since it is a Fighting Beast (albeit not a Pack model) and is the best place to add d3 wounds - or even d6 if you take the Moulder Supreme wralord trait and gamble. Even starting with 13-15 wounds puts its durability a lot better than the warscroll by itself would indicate, which is something of a Skaven theme all around. Just remember that the damage chart is based on wounds taken, not wounds remaining, so you'll get to stay alive longer on your last bracket, not your first. Good thing you regen d3 a round.
  • Doomwheel: (Clan Skryre 165pts). A Chariot with an overchargeable Gun and can run over and Mortal wound almost everything that was near it during the movement phase. You can also reroll its 4d6 move but any rolls of a 1 the second time, your opponent can run over your lines if you roll a 1 on a dice. It has a gnarly gun (1d6/3+/3+/-1/d3) that can potentially evaporate anything with decent rolls. Like most of the Skryre things, it can overcharge its Warp Bolts, but on a double, you take 2d6 mortal wounds. This is definitely a go big or go home type of unit and you'll be overcharging it every chance you get. Its speed will ensure you get in range of key targets (elite infantry/behemoths/heroes) and even with lower-end rolls (4-6 shots), you'll be doing a decent amount of damage. All in all, this is somewhat random and a little risky. It can win you the game or lose it for you. Fun times all around though.

Artillery

  • Warplock Jezzails: (Clan Skryre, Min:3 120pts). your Rat Snipers. Park on the backfield and pick off the support units. They get +1 to hit and +1 to save against misile attacks if they don't move and every hit roll that ends on 6 is automatic 2 mortal wounds. Slap on mystic Shield, and it's a potent 3+ save right there. Another unit that gets a little crazy good with the skryre buffs in for small-low price of the engineer, that provides the buffs, to drop dead at the end of the shooting phase. As the game has very few long-range attacks, jezzails will mess with your opponent as they are a great medium wound hero killer.
    • Without any buffs, one unit of 3 is causing an average of 1.5 saves at -2 and 2 damage. A reliable way to deal 2-4 damage at a long-range, but not all that impressive given their point cost. Like most skaven, they really start to shine when you take them in large quantities and stack a couple of buffs. Take 2-3 units with an accompanying skryre hero to increase their missile damage. Keep them stationary, apply warpstone spark buff, and now you have a 30" volley that averages around 3.5 saves at -2 and 3 damage. That's 9 damage against anything with a 4+ save (not even accounting for the potential mortal wounds on 6s). Even with Look Out Sir! taken into consideration, you're averaging 7 damage, which is enough to take out a large number of heroes in the game.
    • If you want a little extra, you can cast "More-more-more warp power" on them too, resulting in their missile attack only requiring +2 to hit and wound. By far, the most unnecessary buff, given that they get +1 to hit if they didn't move in previous phase and the d3 mortal wounds that they'll have to suffer next hero phase.
  • Warp Lightning Cannon: (Clan Skryre 150pts). Skryre's most potentially deadly artillery, both to the enemy and itself. To fire, roll a dice and then roll 6 more against the first one. Any dice that are equal or higher than the first roll result in a mortal wound, meaning that if you rolled 1 on the first dice you deal 6 mortal wounds automatically. Can be overcharged but requires a Warlock Engineer within 3" of the model. When overcharged, you roll 12 dice instead of 6, but for every roll of 1 results it takes D3 mortal wounds after it's done shooting.

Scenery

  • Gnawholes: They might not seem like much, but the Skaventide terrain piece has a couple of nifty abilities that most Skaventide lists should try and take advantage of. Their only downside is that you are limited to 3 and they all have to be setup along the board edges more than 18" away from each other and more than 3" from objectives and scenery.
    • As long as there is a Skaventide Hero within 6" of a gnawhole, you can transport any Skaventide unit that finished a move within 6" of that gnawhole to another gnawhole (wholly within 6" but 9" from enemies). This can let you play whack-a-mole(rat?) with weapons teams or artillery pieces that might have become compromised. Or you can set one up in your opponents backfield and force them to baby sit it or risk an unpleasant surprise later in the game. It's a welcome mobility option and something to consider when scheming you army lists.
    • In addition, Skaventide Wizards and Priests get +1 to Casting, Unbinding, and Prayer rolls when within 1" of a gnawhole. Great for making sure you get that Warpgale or Warplightning Storm off, or getting that yummy prayer buff on your flanking Plague Monks. The +1 to unbinding is a juicy cherry on top. Synergizes well with your wizards' various drug addictions, giving Skaven a strong presence in the hero phase that many factions can't compete with.
    • Lastly, each gnawhole inflicts D3 mortal wounds on a 6+ for any enemy that ends a move/charge within (a rather pitiful) 1".
    • A fun trick with gnawholes is to set them one or two of them up in your opponent's back line. This forces them to waste units on babysitting them so you can't teleport behind them, which in turn means two units that could otherwise be fighting you are instead sitting around doing fuck all.

Battalions

No longer valid in Matched Play games. Now battalions are universal. Please refer to the Age of Sigmar Tactics page (when it finally gets updated).

Virulent Procession

One Verminlord Corruptor, 2+ Congregations of Filth, 0-1 Foulrain Congregation, 0-1 Plaguesmog Congregation

At the start of your hero phase pick 1 terrain feature within 13" of the Verminlord Corruptor. Roll a D6 for each enemy unit within 3" of that terrain feature. On a 4+ they suffer D3 mortal wounds. Not a bad super battalion in a Pestilens list since you're likely running all these units anyways. 420 points for 3 CP, 3 Artefacts and some okay buffs - it's gonna depend on how much you value the CP/artefacts.

Congregation of Filth

One Plague Priest on Plague Furnace, 2+ units of Plague Monks

Roll a dice each time you allocate wounds to the Plague Monks whilst within 18" of the battalion's Plague Furnace. On a 6 that wound is negated.

  • Under "ideal" circumstances, this probably saves 5 out of 30 monks that would have been killed before you fight back. Maybe it happens twice in a match, but that's still only worth 80 points and super situational. You are usually better off with more monks. Taking this is contingent on how much you value CP/Artefact/First Turn.

Foulrain Congregation

One Plague Priest, 3 Plagueclaws

Add 1 to wound rolls for missile attacks whilst within 13" of the battalion's Plague Priest. Bumps each Plagueclaws success rate from 55% to 69% (when targeting units of 10 or more). You may as well go all in and give the Plague Priest Architect of Death to bump it up to a respectable 80%.

Plaguesmog Congregation

One Plague Priest on Plague Furnace, 2+ units of Plague Censer Bearers

Re-roll the dice that determines if any enemy units suffer mortal wounds when using the Poisonous Fumes ability.

Warpcog Convocation

One Arch-Warlock, 2-5 Enginecovens chosen from the list below

Weird sort of miniature Super Battalion which consists of an Arch-Warlock and some smaller Battalions that can only ever be included via this battalion. All of them convey buffs to certain units, so long as they're within 13" of either the Warlock you took with the coven, or the Arch-Warlock leading the whole Convocation.

If you're taking this, you'll want to lean into the buffs you get and take large amounts of the units that benefit from them. This would probably make for a fun 1-drop army that has a lot of pretty efficient ranged weapons.

Arkhspark Voltik

One Warlock Engineer or Warlock Bombardier, 1-3 Warp Lightning Cannon

In your shooting phase, pick one of the included Warp Lightning Cannons and lower the result of dice roll to determine that cannon's power by 1.

  • You can apply the buff to one Warp Lightning Cannon per phase, even if you take more than one with the coven.
  • The only Enginecoven that doesn't have a Stormfiend tax. This makes it the cheapest of all the Enginecovens.

Gautfyre Skorch

One Warlock Engineer or Warlock Bombardier, 1-4 units of Stormfiends, 1-5 units of Warp-Grinders, 1-5 Warpfire Throwers

2 units can travel with the coven's Warp-Grinders instead of 1, as long as they're all part of the same enginecoven. Now that the FAQ made it actually cheaper than just buying a second Warp-Grinder, this is a solid enginecoven to take if you were already planning on using them. You don't get the extra body to warp-shank people with, but it helps fill out your Warp Convocation and get those battalion benefits.

Gascloud Chokelung

One Warlock Engineer or Warlock Bombardier, 1-3 units of Stormfiends, 2-5 units of Skryre Acolytes

Reroll hit rolls of 1 with missile attacks from the coven's Acolytes or Stormfiend's Wind Launchers.

Rattlegauge Warplock

One Warlock Engineer or Warlock Bombardier, 1-3 units of Stormfiends, 1-3 units of Warplock Jezzails, 1-5 Ratling Guns

Reroll 1s for missile attacks from the coven's Jezzails and Ratling Guns. This sounds like a promising enginecoven at first, but unfortunately it doesn't affect the Stormfiends' Ratling Cannons and the Jezzails are already usually getting rerolls to hit.

Whyrlblade Threshik

One Warlock Engineer or Warlock Bombardier, 1-3 units of Stormfiends, 1-3 Doomwheels, 1-5 Doom-Flayers

Add 3" to moves for any units from the coven as long as they started in range of the buff.

Skratchnik's Warpcoven

One Warlock Bombardier, 1 units of Stormfiends, 1 Doomwheels, 1 Warp Lighting Cannon

The exclusive battalion comes with the Carrion Empire box, separate from the stock Warpcovens. In the first battle round, roll a dice each time a wound or mortal wound is allocated to a model from this battalion. On a 5+ that wound or mortal wound is negated.

Rattachak's Doomcoven

One Warlock Bombardier(Rattachak), 1 units of Stormfiends, 1 Warp Lighting Cannon

Re-roll hits and +1 damage for Rattachak's doom rocket and +1 damage to the Stormfiends Shock Gauntlets

Claw-Horde

One Clawlord, 1-3 units of Stormvermin and 2-9 units of Clanrats

When the Clawlord uses their Gnash-gnaw ability, instead of picking 1 unit within 13", pick all battalion units within 13". Conveniently contains 3 battleline units. The buff itself is pretty situational since it can be tricky/clunky trying to keep two or more units wholly within range.

Fleshmeld Menagerie

One Master Moulder, 0-3 Hell Pit Abominations, 1-3 units of Packmasters, 1-4 units of Rat Swarms or Giant Rats and 1-4 units of Rat Ogres

When the Master Moulder uses Unleash More-More Beasts ability, a new unit is added on a 4+ instead of a 5+.

Slinktalon

One Deathmaster, 1-4 units of Gutter Runners and 2-8 units of Night Runners

During the combat phase in which the Deathmaster is deployed, re-roll all hit rolls for units in the battalion. Arguably a must have for any Eshin-heavy lists. The main reason to take this battalion is for that extra relic to make your Deathmaster more killy.

Allied Armies

If you devote yourself to a particular clan it's been FAQ'ed that you can’t take another skaventide clan as allies. FAQ explicitly states that models with the SKAVEN keyword (which is pretty much everything Skaven) cannot be taken as allies in a Skaventide army.

  • One-Eyed Grunnok: A Warstomper Mega-Gargant available to all Chaos factions. Recruit a your own monstrous centerpiece at the cost of your entire allied points allowance. He’s a best used right in the heat of combat where he can throw enemies at each other and disrupt enemy formations. Re-rolls jump attacks of 1, plus enemies get -1 to hits on previous jump attacks of 6.


Nurgle

Our one and only ally option. Only permitted if you take a Pestilens Warlord. There are a lot of options here (over 30 leaders!) so it's recommended you look through the Maggotkin of Nurgle Tactics page if you're considering them as an ally.

  • Horticulous Slimux can spawn a single Feculent Gnarlmaw that allows your Nurgle units to advance and charge when near it. This can make spacing your forces a lot easier and help ensure you get to initiate fights on your terms.

A quick note here - you, unfortunately, can't use any of the Nurgle spells like Blades of Putrefaction when allying with Nurgle, since you will only get access to these spells if your army is NURGLE allegiance (as "the Lores of Nurgle" is an Allegiance Ability).


Age of Sigmar Tactics Articles
General Tactics
Order
Chaos
Death
Destruction
Others
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