# Fluffy skaven armies... worth it?



## Drannith (Sep 18, 2010)

Trying to figure out where to take my Skaven army and I am really juggeling the idea of going really heavy on one of the "sides" of Skaven.

Pestilence was looking good with all the T tests and higher T stat lines but the lack of armor means I need to flood the battlefield with tons of these guys to have a chance of having the unit live (though that is true for just about all Skaven), though frenzy is a nice bonus and really makes me want to field them.

Moulder is another hugely viable option since I love the steam punky look. Having huge blocks of Rat Ogres seems fun but with only one unit being able to have Skweel's ability and the other unit or units not having any armor or regen with only T4 really hurts especially against other high S units. Also I may be missing the point but why is everyone fielding giant rats? Is there some tactic or way of using them that isn't too apparent from their rules?

Anyone have any luck fielding a heavy pestilence/moulder list or would going really heavy on just one of them be the way to go?

Also huge blocks of just Clan Rats with weapon teams are a great core choice but taking a unit or two of Storm Vermin seems helpful with a magic banner, halbeards, and higher WS and I, besides the higher point cost are Storm Vermin worth taking or should you just maximize the Clan Rats? Anyone try just using Storm Vermin as the only Core choice?

Thanks in advance for any help on this, I really don't have the money to make multiple lists.


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## NoPoet (Apr 18, 2011)

Everyone's fielding giant rats because they are fast and very cheap per model, so you can have a huge unit guarding your flanks for almost no points.

I'd rather play a fluff-based army than a competitive army any day. Look at my Nurgle Daemons army list, heavy on Plaguebearers and Beasts because I like them. I used to play 40K against someone who just went for the win all the time and it was really frustrating when my swarms of Tyranid Warriors (which I chose for love of the rules and models, not just for their combat scariness) were simply being annihilated by assault cannons from the far end of the table. 

Whichever army you choose, you'd score more brownie points for being fun to play against than someone with a stripped-down army of death.


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## Jolly Puggles (Aug 4, 2009)

Armies (Skaven or otherwise) almost always gain something for being "fluffy" to my mind. The only reason to sacrifice "fluff" for efficacy is if you're going to a tournament in which the only goal is to win.

I always prefer to theme my armies fairly specifically. Even my Tyranids (a force notable for it's lack of specific individuals) had a theme of being an advance wave with a large number of Genestealers, Gaunts and Lictors instead of Warriors and Carnifex.

For Skaven, one thing to bear in mind is that even for the Greater Clans the overwhelming majority of troops should be Clanrats and Skavenslaves. Even Clan Pestilens Plague Monks are an "elite" infantry on par with Gutter Runners...most of Clan Pestilens is still Clanrat Warriors (albeit scummy diseased Clanrats!). As such, if you are going for a themed Skaven army, even if you want to focus on a single Clan (Greater or otherwise), you should still be fielding large numbers of the Core Troop Types. Just because you have the option of taking Weapon Teams on Clanrats and Stormvermin, it does not mean you have to take it if you're not fielding a Skyre-influenced army!

My advice is this; choose your General, decide who he's going to be and what Clan he's a member of (if Grey Seer then where do his allegiances lie?). Is he a Warlord Clan that's hired the services of one or more of the Greater Clans or is he a Warlord in direct service to one of the Greater Clans? Once you have that in place, the composition of the rest of the army should flow from this.


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## The Meddler (Sep 25, 2010)

For me, I'm trying out a Clan Skyre/Eshin force, with a grey seer being the driving force behind the alliance. So far I have only got some clan skyre (i'm building a BA army at the same time), but it seems to work quite well. Remember, you can get a WLC in 500pts, or a Plagueclaw catapult if you are doing Pestilens.


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## Drannith (Sep 18, 2010)

Right now I have a 2000 pt list trying out Pestilence but one thing I am finding that I don't like about Skaven is it's hard to proxy that many models for an unit. I like to try before I buy... thanks for all the replies.


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## NoPoet (Apr 18, 2011)

I managed to build a huge Skaven army almost overnight thanks to swapping my Isle of Blood High Elves for another buyer's Skaven. I then went on eBay and managed to buy a Grey Seer, Chieftain, Warlock Engineer, dozens of Island of Blood Clanrats and half a dozen Island of Blood Rat Ogres, all for next to nothing (relatively speaking). The Rat Ogres were a steal at £7 for two. Who cares if I now own eight Rat Ogres who all look the same, that's what Green Stuff and a sharp modelling knife is for 

I bought a load of Plague Monks without bases for £12 as well, got 24 giant rat stand-ins at a couple of quid for 5 bases, three rat swarm stand-ins for a fiver, then bought my all-time dream model of a Great Unclean One fully modelled and painted for £15!

I had the insane idea of combining an alliance of Nurgle Daemons with Clan Pestilens, not to be "gamey" in any way but because the fluff practically screams out for a Nurgle incursion among the Skaven ranks... imagine Lord Skrolk leading two regiments of Plague Monks, a few regiments of ragged Clanrats and Slaves, with a Herald of Nurgle and a block of Plaguebearers marching alongside them?


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## Drannith (Sep 18, 2010)

I really am considering the battalion box set for the skaven now as it has some monks and more clan rats and just about everything else I kinda want to add in to the army.

I like the idea of mixing nurgle with pestilens... might try and convince my for fun players to let that happen.


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## Squeeking up on people (Jul 24, 2010)

Since our troops are rats aren't all of our armies fluffy? Lol, all joking aside I think there's so much character in this army it's a shame not to tap into it. Besides what other army could you blame defeats on being sabotaged?


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## HiveMinder (Feb 8, 2010)

Squeeking up on people said:


> Since our troops are rats aren't all of our armies fluffy? Lol, all joking aside I think there's so much character in this army it's a shame not to tap into it. Besides what other army could you blame defeats on being sabotaged?


Indeed, I had such a game this weekend. My warpfire thrower was smote by a river in turn one, my WLC and plague mortar both exploded turn 2. In turn 3, my Hellpit failed miserably in combat (rolled a 4 for my 3D6 attacks, and including thunderstomp, only managed to kill a single spider rider, and my plague priest miscast on the first spell of the phase, slaying half a unit of Plague Monks and draining 9 power dice from my pool.

If that's not sabotage by the Counsil of Thirteen, I don't know what is!

But more on topic, it's really hard to NOT play a fluffy Skaven army. While it's all well and good to play a clan specific army, there is nothing uncharacteristic about fielding a bit of everything. After all, most Skaven armies are bought by the generals that lead them, or commissioned by the Council, so really the sky is the limit. Although I have to say I do miss the single clan army options that the previous Skaven book had.

Another nice thing is that Skaven are known for their devious tactics, so Skitterleaping a Grey Seer to the enemies flank and then Vermintiding down their battle line is totally in character with the army. 

I personally lean toward Skyre in my army lists, I regularly field a WLC, jezzails, and a healthy supply of weapon teams.


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## Drannith (Sep 18, 2010)

Sadly I haven't been able to get a Fantasy game in for a long while but I really am hoping to develop it into a decent mix now.


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