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Protecting the expensive choices; help in stopping expensive skaven deaths
Topic Started: 18th January 2011 - 04:37 PM (394 Views)
pierre10
Clanrat
Recently in the battles ive been playing, ive noticed a problem in my army. In most battles, all my big, flashy, expensive killing machines of doom, such as hell pit aboms, screaming bells and doomwheels die before they even reach combat, or in case of the screaming bell, get into combat to frequently! Any help about protecting these points costy death dealers from being blown to bits by repeater bolt throwers or purple suns of xereus appreciated
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Mathusala0
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The Evil Underlord

not much you can do against purple suns except try to dispel and if that fails dodge with your initiative.

Why wouldn't you want the bell in combat? That's where it's unbreakableness comes best into play! Tie up your opponents big heavy hitters with something that will never go away ever.
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The Glossary of Common Underempire Lingo
The Skaven Guide to competitive list building (8th Edition)
The Skaven Castle Formation
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Rakashani
Warlord
Without more information all I can suggest is the common tools at first. If you're already running these, then more information is required to be of any help.

First, Gutter Runners make wonderful warmachine hunters. Poison and Slings and a unit of 6 can take out a war machine a turn against most armies. You can also fire your own war machines at them but this is much less effective for anything not doing d3 or better d6 wounds on a hit (meaning mostly your WLCs early on). And finally, there is the Storm Banner to buy you a turn.

Second... Slaves, SLAVES, SLAVES! I can't imagine running less than 3 slave units and if I can I run even more. They serve as excellent screens and redirectors even in small numbers. Other people make them huge units and tarpit with them giving themselves the option to charge in once the enemy unit is stuck in against the slaves. Either way, you have access to something as cheap as 40 points which is going to get a chance to kick the enemy in the shins, can hold them in place while you blaze away at them and can keep the enemy from charging straight into you at his earliest opportunity.

Purple Sun is just nastiness. You can take your own Seer and hold dice to dispell it specifically if your opponent has it. You could take a scroll. Not much of an answer if your opponent is getting IF (or worse, Power Scrolling it) though.
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Nicodemus
Clanrat
Good advice so far. I think using many of the Skaven special and rare choices is a challenge. Most often, Slaves and Clanrats in large numbers will be more reliable, but then we must use other means to kill the enemy like magic and shooting.

Units of 20 or so Giant Rats can be handy to attempt re-directing or hunting small units like Fast Cav or skirmishers.

As mentioned, 6 Gutter Runners are like gold in most Skaven lists (I don't mean like turned to gold from Final Transmutation, I mean they're very effective at what they do!).

Either Slaves to tarpit, or an unbreakable unit like the Bell with Clanrats, or the Furnace with Monks can make your enemy focus on this while your other units move into favorable positions to retaliate.

Weapon teams are hit or miss in my experience, but when they work, they do wonders. A Warp-Lightning Cannon is a must. It gives you a chance to reduce the numbers of a death star unit, or take out a nasty monster.

Finally, use the Grey Seer as a weapon, not just for magic defence. Using Skitterleap, Wither, Plague, can be devastating, especially to well armored units.

Finally, deployment is a key factor, as it is with most armies. Skaven armies must use the general's Inspiring Presence and the BSB's re-roll to their advantage. Keep these characters safe in a bunker of Clanrats, preferrably away from the line (behind your Slaves, or less effectively, behind the bell/Furnace). Our characters are not very good in comparison with other armies Lords/Heroes, but the best thing they offer is the chance to outlast your opponent, which in most cases, is how a Skaven player will win most of the time.
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pierre10
Clanrat
I added in some gutter runners into my armylist, complete with a warp grinder, deathrunner, poison attacks, slings, smoke bombs and 2 snare nets. Thats gonna turn a repeater bolt thrower into dust quickly! Also, with the doomwheel and hell pit, they have a problem of just going berserk and killing all the screening slaves.
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