Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
New Skaven player - advice, guys?
Topic Started: 14th July 2012 - 08:15 AM (925 Views)
adadrian
Member Avatar


hi guys, well after carefull consideration after realising how boring the dwarfs are i've decided to go with my heart and start collecting a skaven army, now i've just bought the "island of blood" box set and also deathmaster snikch, and a army book. also a old skaven stormvermin command group because it was very cheap...but old metal models,

not i admit i dont know 2 much about where to go from here, any advices guys? what i must get? what i shouldnt get? whats a waste of time?

any direction from here would be appreciated
thank you
adrian
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Bloodpuke
Clanrat
Generally with skaven you want numbers. A battalion box (or two) is a good place to start. Aswell as just more clanrats. If you don't know, you can use the clanrat models as slaves which are a staple of every Skaven army. You could jump over to the skaven army list section on the forum and see what people are playing with.

Hellpits are amazing fun, Warp Lightning Cannons are good aswell.

I'd suggest getting a grey seer pretty early on. No other army can get a level 4 wizard in a 1000pts.

It's up to you though, there are many different ways to play Skaven, there is no right or wrong. Try stuff out see what you like :)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Reasaur
Member Avatar
13th Creator of the UnderEmpire Achievements
Firstly, welcome to our sweet underempire, where you will find Lists, Tactics and diaries so that you know what you want in your army

Secondly, as above, numbers. A general skaven army contains one model for each 10 pts (So 200 models for a 2000pt army) as a basline. This is achieved via lots of clanrats and slaves.

So, get a lot of clanrats and slaves! You also need a hammer unit, which is either a Hell Pit or two, a large unit of Plague monks with furnace, or a large unit of Stormvermin. Personally, i like Hell Pits because they are nigh on unstopable.

You also need a BSB, and either Lots of Warlock Engineers, or a grey seer. Why? Because Skaven have lots of good magic which is cheapm to get.

If you still need any other advice, i'd consider reading A guide to Competitive List Building as it helps everyone :P

And finally, I hope you enjoy your stay :P

*bsb* *bsb*
Rat Dat Trophy Kills - Warplightning Cannon, Lv4 Wizard Lord, Mangler Squig

ALL HAIL THE NIGHTMARE OF THE EMPIRE!

My Army Diary (With pictures!!!!)
Skaven Achievements
Reasaur's Scenarios - Fun for every wargamer
My YouTube Channel - Total War, Oblivion and Crusader Kings II
Started 30/3/2012
Victories and Losses - 6
Wizards - 7
Morale/psychology - 4
Characters - 1
Infantry - 7
Monsters/Monstrous infantry - 2
Warmachines - 4
Painting/hobby - 10

41/113
Now it's getting serious

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Mathusala0
Member Avatar
The Evil Underlord

Quote:
 
No other army can get a level 4 wizard in a 1000pts.


not at all true

Empire can as well, so can bretonnia.
Posted Image
The Glossary of Common Underempire Lingo
The Skaven Guide to competitive list building (8th Edition)
The Skaven Castle Formation
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
HarleyXJGuy
Grey Seer
Mathusala0
14th July 2012 - 05:35 PM
Quote:
 
No other army can get a level 4 wizard in a 1000pts.


not at all true

Empire can as well, so can bretonnia.
They can afford one. It is not the best way to go for them imo.

As to the OPs question. Slaves are your bread and butter. Dont let there worst stats in the game fool you. They are awesome.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ftayl5
Member Avatar
Chieftain
Mathusala0
14th July 2012 - 05:35 PM
Quote:
 
No other army can get a level 4 wizard in a 1000pts.


not at all true

Empire can as well, so can bretonnia.
And Orcs and Goblins, Wood Elves, Tomb Kings and Beastmen....

Quote:
 
Dont let there worst stats in the game fool you.


Worst stats? They have amazing stats for their points value. Compare them to skinks who have an unfortunate toughness of 2, or zombies who have ws 1 and initiative 1. Slaves are T3, S3, I4 killing machines!

@ adadrian, 2 battalions is a brilliant addition to the IoB. This will leave you with enough clanrats for up to 2500pt games and a good foundation of slaves (I'd be modelling all (or at least half) of the clanrats in the battalion as slaves). This also give you some giant rats to use as rat darts (5 rats, 1 packmaster acting as a deployment drop and general annoyance in game) and a good good plague monk hammer unit.

I wouldn't get a grey seer until about 1500-2000pts as at 1000pts they're just too good and you'll lose all of your friends before too long.

From there get the models you like, because almost everything in our book works very well. Post an army list in the forums for some help there too.
My painting diary, Clan Skrapp.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
HarleyXJGuy
Grey Seer
Hehe you said Slaves and killing machine in the same sentence.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ftayl5
Member Avatar
Chieftain
HarleyXJGuy
14th July 2012 - 10:23 PM
Hehe you said Slaves and killing machine in the same sentence.
Your point being?
Slaves are ridiculous. They get a whole bunch of S3 attacks and they can keep pumping them out turn after turn because they just don't run away.
The amount of enemy wizards and BSB's I've killed with slaves has probably made them earn about twice their points value in actual VP, let alone saving my important units from being mauled by things I don't want them to fight.

Slaves are great with Death Frenzy or poisoned attacks too, they can quite easily be a serious combat block believe it or not. As long as their opponents don't have and great deal of armour, they can easily earn back their points.
If you can do some significant damage with your magic and shooting before combat starts then large slave units can easily clean up teh remnants. They'll lose a lot themselves yes but they'll probably win the war of attrition.
My painting diary, Clan Skrapp.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
TrueLancer
Grey Seer
The trick with slaves is they're not great at all unto themselves. They're a vicious force multiplier of sorts that on its own is pretty useless but when working in conjunction with other things becomes dangerous. They can't just run around the battlefield ruining things like expensive knights, though. They require a certain finesse that a unit called 'slaves' just doesn't seem to suggest.

Their real benefit comes from opponent's ranting about them, thinking they're the best unit in the entire game, OP, broken, etc., or that they're useless and start putting troops up against them. Expensive core troops are much better than Skaven, but they pay a bigger premium. Those attrition wars help you out when somebody misvalues what they can do. On the other hand, players are often surprised at what a bunch of trash slaves can do with somebody mean in the back threatening them to stick in terrible, terrible combats.

That's when hilarity occurs.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
adadrian
Member Avatar


Thanks for all the replies all very much appreciated, keep the advices coming, I have two questions, what is a rat dart? And more importantly explain how slaves can be useful in more detail? Do I need a huge regiment, they look kinda useless, but I know a few other players (which DON'T play skaven) who think slaves are the best thing out. So how should I use them? Just build up a hUge slave regiment?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ratboy1018
Member Avatar
Lab rat hard at work
Slaves are cheap. Bring 40 or 50 of them. 5x8 or 5x10. They will have more ranks than any other unit, so they remain steadfast. Keep the general and the battle standard within 12 inches and presto, a huge unit with rerollable leadership 10 for combat break tests. They are great for locking up the enemies best units for several turns. Also you are allowed to shoot/cast into the combat so you can destroy the expensive enemies without really losing anything expensive.
hannanibal
 
Ki Ko Ka Ko Ki (That's the sound of a transformer transforming)

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
HarleyXJGuy
Grey Seer
Just do a search for rat dart here you will find all the info you could want.

It is just a 23 point minimum sized giant rat unit used to get in the way and re direct and help you in the deployment phase.

For Slaves I like to run about 40 with no equipment and just a musician. Even tough units will take a couple of combat rounds to break steadfast.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ftayl5
Member Avatar
Chieftain
As Harley said, a Rat Dart is minimum sized giant rat unit. They give you 'drops' in the deployment phase meaning you can deploy all your darts first and then your important units, allowing you to get the match-ups with your opponents units that you want. Once the game has started the make excellent speed bumps and redirectors as well.

Slaves are best in 30+, 40 is better, 50 is great. You can also use them in super-hordes of like 60 or 80 (or 100 if you like) where they get both horde formation and an insane amount of ranks.
My painting diary, Clan Skrapp.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Mathusala0
Member Avatar
The Evil Underlord

to reiterate what has been said. these units are amazing not because of what they kill. but because they grant ENORMOUS amounts of tactical and strategic benefit for RIDICULOUSLY low point costs.
Posted Image
The Glossary of Common Underempire Lingo
The Skaven Guide to competitive list building (8th Edition)
The Skaven Castle Formation
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Nurglitch IX
Member Avatar
Avatar by count zero

Giant Rat Darts

All teh good data is there, along with a bunch of Forum arguement.

Essentially it's a unit like so:
Posted Image

This gives you a 'drop' in deployment, allowing you to stall while your opponent places bigger units.
It can stand infront of important things and act as a charge break.
It gets to attack with all 6 models, though honestly it's never going to win.
It can't be killed in a single Initative phase of combat, because you can't put a wound on the Blue Packmaster when only the Orange Giant Rats are in Base-to-Base contact.
It costs 23 points.

They are awesome Tactical units, and I personally can't use them for squat.
Attached to this post:
Attachments: RatDart.jpg (5.2 KB)
Edited by Nurglitch IX, 16th July 2012 - 10:10 PM.
-img-http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a329/underempire/PRS%20Banners/2hfhshwet.jpg[/img]
This Space for Rent
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create your own social network with a free forum.
Learn More · Register Now
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Skaven Discussion · Next Topic »
Add Reply