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Skavenslaves; A beginner's plea for help
Topic Started: 28th November 2010 - 12:36 AM (798 Views)
Clan_Viskiss


Hi there!

As mentioned , I'm very new to warhammer. I know the Skaven Codex like the back of my hand, but not played my first game yet (its next week) and still unfamillira with many rules

My question is this. Now I'm painting my clanrats, I've some set aside for skavenslaves...but should I?

I wondered how important the denizens of the Under-empire consider Skavenslaves? I can see why they are used, but (for example, this game is 1000 points) even at their low cost I just seem them eating into my points.

So, from you players with experience, roughly how much of your points value gets given over to your meatshields?
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Scarr, Reincarnated
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11th creator of the Skaven Achievements. Binder of IceAc.
...

SLAVES!!!

Slaves is the most experienced, deadliest, cruel and hairy catfood EVER!!!

Slaves are one of the best units in the whole book and (you should get much more advice on them) they reserve the meat-shield and roadblock roles, which are crucial in the skaven army.

As for points, it all hails from your list. Iv'e seen 240 slaves in a 2250 point game and you can go as low as too 40 slaves if you want. And at 1000 points 40 or 30 slaves is good.

:bow: :bow: :bow: (keep this as a reminder)

scarr
The Pox on you, AND your kind!

Player of games, watcher of games, gamer of plays.


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Atropos
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Warpstone Addict
You won't know how awesome are Slaves until you play them.

They're very cheap, they will be steadfast the vast majority of times, plus with the bubble of your general and BSB nearby they will be able to reroll leadership tests with steadfast LD10. Now how incredible is that? 2 points and they can receive a lot of punishment whilst remaining in their place. You can shoot them whilst in combat. That's a huge advantage and a very nice thing if we field Weapon Teams, PCC, WLC and so on.

When they break (if they do break) they cause some juicy S3 hits.

I never leave home with at least 2 units of 50. Others will say you won't need so many slaves per unit. You should really try yourself. But, trust me, and trust others, they're cheap, they're dirty and they're golden.
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KorruptingInfluence


They are definitely a must have. I rocked 4 units of 20 in a game, equipping them with slings. I decimated a unit of Dragon Princes, Shadow Warriors, whittled down Spearmen, and just plain annoyed my opponent. He almost quit on the first turn when I destroyed his Dragon Princes. I will never play without them now. The points are almost a non-issue, as stated, plus if you use them in the roadblock role they are near perfect, also as stated.
Commission Sculpting/Conversion Work: jasonmsantiago@gmail.com
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reddogfish77
Grey Seer
slaves are fantastic... in 6th edition my 40 pt unit of 20 slaves flanked a unit of 20 ironbreakers... beat them in combat and ran them down for 350+ worth of points.

they are the most value for money unit in the game prob just in front of night goblins...

however our rules mean slaves are more important to us...

u need to use them in big units 40+ and you need to keep them near the general otherwise dont worry too much about them.
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Scurrilous
Warlord
As a recent newbie myself, I was in the same position as you right now. I'm in an escalation league and I have a bunch of clanrats I wish were slaves. My advice, make them all, or mostly, slaves and then with the points you saved, add some stormvermin for your weapon teams/hitty infantry. Clanrats are really middleground between the two. Nice and cheap but not especially competant.

Though clanrats are not worthless by any stretch, I would rather have a split of slaves and storm. That's what experience has taught me. A block of 35/40 slaves will hold up and grind down enemy units allowing you to outmanoeuvre them. For 70/80 points (or 100 for 40 with shields, well worth taking in my opinion) it's a damn steal.
Tournemant results to date:
vs Vampire Counts: 1 victory
vs Dwarves: 1 victory
vs Daemons: 1 Draw
vs Brettonians: 1 draw, 1 loss
vs Skaven: 1 victory
vs Lizardmen: 1 victory
vs Dark Elves: 1 loss
vs High Elves: 1 loss
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Scarecrow
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Egggggggssssssss!!!!!!!
Just watch out for the Phenox Fire spell when fighting elves as it will make crispy critters out of your unit in a couple turns if left to burn.
TRADE
I'm looking for Dark Eldar to convert into DE. Also looking for bretonnia lances and halberds. If anyone has any they would be interested in trading PM me and we can work something out.


"And, most vivid of all, there was the dramatic epic of the rats––the scampering army of obscene vermin which had burst forth from the castle three months after the tragedy that doomed it to desertion––the lean, filthy, ravenous army which had swept all before it and devoured fowl, cats, dogs, hogs, sheep and even two hapless human beings before its fury was spent. Around that unforgettable rodent army a whole separate cycle of myths revolves, for it scattered among the village homes and brought curses and horrors in its train."

– The Rats In The Walls, H.P. Lovecraft
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Captaintf


you dont have to use clan rats as slaves, you can use pretty much anything thats on the 20mm bases. I have a friend who bought a ton of the battle for skull pass goblins on ebay for dirt cheap, he easily got up to 200+ in no time.
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Nicodemus
Clanrat
Atropos
Nov 27 2010, 08:10 PM
. . . But, trust me, and trust others, they're cheap, they're dirty and they're golden.

Yes, yes, and yes. I usually paint my models in order of importance to the list I make. My 80 slaves were painted first. I use 2 units of 40, and they are so valuable. I mainly use them to get in the way of the enemy's most deadly ranked units (against monters and heavy Cav they are not as good but still will hold for a few turns). Then I shoot into the combat with weapon teams.

A word of caution, never charge an enemy that is already in combat with slaves, as their casualties may be so great that your other unit will have to take a break test. If this unit is Rat Ogres or PSB's that you know will dish out the pain, then it may be worth a try. Otherwise, just let the slaves die, as they should, and continue to get better match-ups elsewhere on the board.
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Trulseren
Clanrat
KorruptingInfluence
Nov 27 2010, 10:12 PM
He almost quit on the first turn when I destroyed his Dragon Princes.

How the hell did you manage that?

mutate: I mean, I know its not impossible, I've flank charged units of chosen knights of khorne, beat them on combat res and run them down. I just don't see how a non-frenzied cav unit will ever end up in that situation if the player isn't a moron.
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Kiickman


i agree atm Now, as slaves is Far Superior too Clan Rats just that yuo can shoot in too CC whit them.

as for Now i am Using 1 Big Unit for Clan Rats Like 40 and then Rest of the army is Slaves
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King Rat
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Grey Seer
My slaves consist of Gnoblars, Skinks as well as old Clan Rats with no shields.

I have been running 2 x 25 and 2 x 50 at 3k sized games and they are awesome.

Firstly I screen my good troops with them to reduce incoming Magic and shooting.

Secondly the 50 blocks are nice Tarpits.
I managed to Tarpit Grimgor's unit for 4 combat rounds (with 50 slaves) then finished his unit with the Dreaded 13th. poor Grimgor

3. The smaller slave units are suicide bombs hoping to explode them in enemy lines to do maximum damage.

4. The slaves draw fire and soak up enemy shooting very nicely as well.
8th Ed Win /Draw/ Loss
Skaven 24/ 10/ 13

Runner up Club Championships 2014, 2012
2nd Place Blood on the Reich 2011, 3rd Place Devilcon 2011
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Scurrilous
Warlord
King Rat
Dec 7 2010, 08:28 PM
3. The smaller slave units are suicide bombs hoping to explode them in enemy lines to do maximum damage.

How does that work out for you? I've seen the slaves explode and their damaging anything is actually incredibly rare for me. It's not a huge number of attacks and they're low strength. The cost of the slaves versus the number of wounds they might do. Maybe I'm just exploding on tougher enemies?

Also running small units at them means that shooting is likely to take 25% from the slaves and a leadership of <5 isn't likely to roll, so their range is somewhat limited in my experience. Any tips on making them suicide bomb better?
Tournemant results to date:
vs Vampire Counts: 1 victory
vs Dwarves: 1 victory
vs Daemons: 1 Draw
vs Brettonians: 1 draw, 1 loss
vs Skaven: 1 victory
vs Lizardmen: 1 victory
vs Dark Elves: 1 loss
vs High Elves: 1 loss
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