Over the past 4-5 years I have been building a Skaven army without ever getting it finished. It got onto the table a couple of times in its semi-painted state but it was always down the priority list.
Well it is finally finished!!
Below is my initial list and I'll post up the results of games plus any thoughts I have on the list and how it evolves as I go.
Warlord - Great Weapon, Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield (112)
Chieftain - BSB, War Banner (95)
Warlock Engineer - Full kit less pistol, Dispel Scroll, Storm Daemon (135)
Warlock Engineer - Full kit less pistol, Dispel Scroll, Warpstone Charm (135)
28 Stormvermin - Std, Muso, Banner of the Swarm (BSB here)(287)
24 Clanrats - Full Command + Ratling Gun (Engineer here)(205)
25 Clanrats - Std, Muso + Ratling Gun (200)
24 Clanrats - Full Command (Engineer here)(145)
20 Clanrats - Std, Muso (Warlord here)(115)
4x 21 Clanrat Slaves (42 for total 168)
2x 2 Poisoned Wind Globadiers (20 for total 40)
2x 5 Gutter Runner Tunneling Team - Extra Weapon, Poison)(85 for total 170)
10 Plague Monks (60)
9 Jezzails (180)
6 Plague Censer Bearers (102)
Warp Lightning Cannon (100)
So that's my starting point. It is all painted and based and ready to go. I'll update my progress through the year
So on Sunday the army had its first run at the Warlords.
ReplyDeleteIn the morning I played Graeme Robb's Tomb Kings and managed a solid victory. The first thing that struck me was just how many units I had to play with. From memory I outnumbered him almost 2:1. This in itself provided enormous opportunities.
The key lesson I Learned was that Censer Bearers are very situational. Their gas attack means you need to maximise the models in base to base. This was something that I didn't do and due to poor play (and some bad dice) I ended up losing them. Something to work on.
My magic defense concerned me prior to the match but in the washup it was probably adequate. I wasn't able to stop every spell I wanted in later turns but that's something that I'll learn to deal with.
The second game was against James Milner's Daemons. James was using a three herald army, that only generated 6 power dice. It had a mix of unit types sans Nurgle.
In this game the Censer Bearers were far more effective. Using them as a sweeper in the backline worked a treat and they were able to work their way through a unit of screamers, a unit of furies and a small unit of daemonettes.
The key lesson I learned in another solid win was not to put your eggs in one basket. For Skaven this means not putting more than one character in a unit. I lost my Warlord and an engineer due to trying to be too cute with the Warlord.
So, the first two games were a lot of fun. I'm really enjoying using ranked units after a year of Wood Elves. I'll keep this updated as I play more games.
Yesterday I had a game against Hagen Kerr's Dwarfs. Hagen took 6 warmachines - Anvil, 2 Bolties, Organ Gun, Stone Thrower and Gyro - three infantry blocks, Thunderers, Rangers and Miners. From my POV I felt he had invested too much in "toys" and I had a massive numerical advantage in both bodies and units.
ReplyDeleteThe key moment in the game was when the WLC sniped the Dwarf BSB who failed Look Out Sir and died. This gave me a considerable advantage when it came to melee. The Tunnelers were able to effectively neutralise Hagen's warmachines either by engaging them or by blocking line of sight which meant that a lot of points were ineffective.
The two things I took away from the game were:
1. You don't always have to shoot the WLC. After two good shots I took a shot that could have given me at best 3 dwarfs and misfired, dying in the process. I'll be a little more judicious in future.
2. Teamwork is the key to Skaven success. Whether it be bait and flee then countercharge or combined charges, the Skaven army is at its best when it works together.
Looking to get in at least one further game this long weekend.
Okay two games since my last update.
ReplyDeleteThe first was against Jack's newly finished Night Goblin horde. He took a few toys but still had 170+ models on the table AND more units than the Vermhr. Jack also had the best of the terrain including a big hill in the centre of his deployment zone (new Realm of Battle). My Skaven Ninja inadvertantly dragged out a lot of his fanatics and I got lucky when all three of those launched towards them stopped an inch away. It allowed me to cause some mayhem behind his lines. The other key thing in the battle was a unit of Slaves who held up his Giant and two Snotling bases. This prevented them from getting an advantageous overrun. As a result I managed to flee a couple of units from single charges thereby redeploying my line. In the end it was a solid victory to the Skaven.
The second battle was against John Tailby's Dark Elves. I fancied my chances in this and certainly the deployment and John's first turn pointed to a Skaven victory. In the first part of my first turn I destroyed both Dark Rider units with magic and was ready to turn the screws in my shooting phase. Then it all turned wrong.
The WLC blew up with a clear shot on the Hydra. I baited John's Hydra with some Slaves and drew him into a no mans zone where I could get my Jezzails to hurt him.
My second turn was where things seriously went wrong. One unit of ninjas hit, the other misfired allowing John to place them (in front of his Hydra).
The Ninjas that hit I charged and killed a RBT. In retrospect I should have charged John's Shades and then tried to over run if I won. The Shades wiped out the unit next turn.
I had charged John's sorceress and she had fled allowing me a strong magic phase. Well it wasn't to be. Storm Daemon was stopped and ran out. I misfired both Engineers (on two dice) and one lost a level and spell, and both wounded. Bad but not the end of the world.
Next turn was the end of the world. John cast Bladewind on a unit of rats. I needed a 7 to dispell and rolled three dice for 5. John's 3D6 did 18 attacks and 11 wounds. The unit fled through my General's unit and Jezzails. I passed the first test but not the second (Ld 10) and my General ran off the board.
From here John played a cagey game while I tried to preserve points. It turned into a massacre 18-2 win for the Dark Elves.
As a result of this game I have switched my Warpstone Charm from an Engineer to my Warlord Pol Pat.
Tonight I have a rematch versus the Dwarves.
Three more games since the last update.
ReplyDeleteThe first was the rematch versus the Dwarfs. This ended up with us both scoring exactly 1295.5 VPs each. As a result you can't get much closer!!!!
I spent a lot of time shooting into combats which was less than successful. Still a very tight game where I tried to slog it out with the stunties.
The second game was a rematch versus the Tomb Kings. Here I wanted to try out some specific anti-TK tactics - shutting down one critical magic phase. This meant saving scrolls until the crucial phase and then leaving the TK player stranded. It worked but not necessarily in the way I intended. The TK player threw his Hierophant forward to ensure he had maximum incantations. This meant he got off the important charge by use of the Jar.....however the next turn I was able to charge him with some emerging tunnelers, killing him.
I weathered the charge....a rerolled Ld 5 break test, and from there rolled him up. Strangely the crumbling didn't hurt him.
The last game was against Raymond Dick's Warriors of Chaos. Again this was another draw. I was able to snipe some characters while he picked up a few points on the last turn when a unit of Clan Rats with BSB broke taking 2-3 units with them. In this game I probably suffered the most from magic (Dark Elves excepted) so far. I was having to combat Infernal Gateway and Pandemonium each turn. Pandemonium is an awful spell for Skaven to endure.
Six more games since the last update.
ReplyDeleteFour against Dark Elves - 1 Win and 3 Losses
One vs. New Lizards - Win
One vs. Daemons - Win
So what am I learning? Well a couple of things. Most importantly I need to keep my mages alive and I need to start neutralising enemy mages. I've got a few ideas for both so we'll see how they pan out.
hi umm, im a skaven player and i have a match against dwarves coming up, im fairly new to skaven and i havent won a match yet. i only have the batallion but i can use paper for any models i dont have. can you give me some tips please i really want to win a match to prove that skaven are good.ty
ReplyDelete~Frank~