Advice on playing Skaven

Ello,

I am thinking of playing a Skaven warband, and can field most options (except a rat ogre and giant rats).. any advice?

okay, since posting the above I am either playing skaven or a Mannerheim warband loosely based on being Norse, I am aware that Skaven don't seem to have a great rep but then my mannerheimers would be lightly armoured and low on missile troops which loses a few 'tips' but nevermind... any idea here might sway which team I decide to use...

Welcome to the forum!
I don't know what a Mannerheim warband is so I can't speak to that.

Skaven--load up on heroes. Take them all. Start them with clubs and slings and you are set.

Clanrats--take a bunch, give them daggers and slings or clubs and slings and you are set.

Giant rats--find a way to acquire some. They are great for march blocking (keeping the enemy from running) and drawing the enemy into traps.

Stick to cover. Get close and sling them to death. Beat with clubs until tender.

A Mannerheim warband is one of the 3 basic human mercenary warbands, Marienburg, Mannerheim or Reikslander.. they are meant to be tough northerners and Captains and champs get +1 strength. I've got a bunch of mixed fantasy and viking figures that would do very well for them, suitable armed they could be a Norse warband.

Otherwise I will follow your advice about the slings and clubs and try to gang up on any drifters.

Rhandolph wrote:

A Mannerheim warband is one of the 3 basic human mercenary warbands, Marienburg, Mannerheim or Reikslander

Middenheimers is what you mean then.

- Don't take the Sorcerer.

- Pay 5gc per Sling.

- Don't take Art of Silent Death-skill.

Asp wrote:

- Don't take the Sorcerer.

- Pay 5gc per Sling.

- Don't take Art of Silent Death-skill.

- Take the sorc. As many heroes as you can is good.
- Slings are cheapassery. But take em anyways
- Art of Silent Death is totally worth it. TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Fallen wrote:

Asp wrote:

- Don't take the Sorcerer.

- Pay 5gc per Sling.

- Don't take Art of Silent Death-skill.

- Take the sorc. As many heroes as you can is good.
- Slings are cheapassery. But take em anyways
- Art of Silent Death is totally worth it. TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Yeah. WTF, Asp?

Lol, sorry, I was in an idiosyncratic mood yesternight :/

Asp wrote:

Lol, sorry, I was in an idiosyncratic mood yesternight :/

Then please try to keep your idiosyncratic moments out of threads where people new to the game are looking for advice.

Middenheimers! Hey I actually play that warband.

So for Middenheim--Hammers are the City's signature weapon. Take them. Use the rules for the Wolf Priest and take his friend the wolf. Town Cryer #8
Fill all your hero slots. Take the swordsmen and hope one becomes a hero.

You will have less shooting than other bands. Use cover, hide and close as soon as possible. Gang up on enemies to ensure that they go OOA.

For Ulric!

shall i newspaper him mr Cianty?

Duce wrote:

shall i newspaper him mr Cianty?

Yessirplease!

Another tip for Skaven is how ridiculously expendable yet effective giant rats are.

Good movement, cheap, and easily replaced as they do not gain experience. AND due to their low cost you can have your max warband quantity filled whilst you wait to earn more expensive and more effective replacements.

AND should you happen to get the Sorc spell for geting 1-3 Giant Rats for free, they are suicidal expendable. Use them literally as fodder.
__________

Blowpipes are ignorable
Weeping blades are great for taking out bigger opponents (ogres etc.)
Fighting claws with Art of Silent Death is a must have for my adept and/or Black Skaven. Their high movement and WS4 combined with their number of attacks, higher crit chances and usually striking first makes them formidable. Plus, parries and re-rolls are good for defense at times.
Slings are so good for their cost I recommend all henchmen that can to get them. Assassin Adept/Black Skaven are better off close-quarters.

Lastly, I'd like to wholeheartedly state that Strength in numbers is a brilliant move. With low leadership the more guys you have to lose before routing the better, and with a warband cap of 20 models Skaven numbers can be higher than most other warbands.

AND you can get these LOVELY GIANT RATS [ ] from http://www.missminiatures.com for a mere $5 a pack [blister that is ]. Catalog #FCV101

My warband ended up with an Adept, 2 black skaven, 2 Nightrunners, a sorcorer and 4 Verminkind, with quite a few double weapons and slings between them.

First game 'treasure hunt' was over very quickly as one of the other guys found the treasure in turn 1 and was only briefly held up by a sneaky slingshot killing the guy carrying it, but still got off with it next tuen but I got 3 kills for no loses.

Second game vs Reiklanders and dwarfs.. I slaughtered both enemy warbands (much to my surprise) pretty much with a few flurries of slingstone and overrunning the enemy with greater numbers... and a bit of luck in passing 3 LD tests after I'd lost 4 models (now out of 11) .

I will be getting some giant rats (Ral partha pack of 8 and my sorceror (Vormaus) gained children of the horned rat so will summon them for free.

High initiative and movement really helped, you have the luxury of choosing when and where to strike with a 12 charge and gain initiative to attack first (which skaven usually do anyway especially against the dwarfs) to make those multiple attacks and overwhelm the enemy. Hurrah, Adept Grimsnitch and his Skaven band will strike again!

CONGRATULATIONS on your Victories.

I had forgotten about Ral Partha/Iron Wind's Giant Rats; thanks for jarring my memory...it needs a quick kick now & again .