Over the last month or two, I have made a few changes to my 2000 point Ratkin list. This is partly driven by performance and partly by wanting some variety.
This has seen the Mutant Rat-Fiend drop out, along with the Hackpaws and a Weapons Team. None of them were "under-performers" as such but I've been looking to adapt to the local scene as well as try out different units.
I found that the MRF was insufficient as a hammer by himself and I was therefore having to commit other units in support. More and more this was my Daemonspawn and it was taking him away from other roles I wanted him to perform. The Hackpaws are a good unit but their low Nerve makes them vulnerable. Generally I was finding them underemployed as I needed to hold them back. In the end a Slave Regiment was better use of points when points got tight. The Weapons Team? Well it was just dropped for points reasons.
Here is my current list:
- Slave Regiment x3
- Slave Horde
- Blight Horde
- Shock Troops Horde with Fire Oil
- Brute Horde
- Weapons Team with Storm of Lead x2
- Death Engine with Vile Sorcery x2
- Swarm Crier
- Warlock with Bane Chant and Inspiring Talisman
- Daemonspawn with Fly
So you can see that I spend little on Magic Artifacts, trying to squeeze as much into the list as possible. I need three non-irregular Hordes to give me the necessary unlocks I require.
I'm finding that the Death Engines can fill a dual role that I wasn't getting from the MRF. As well as being better defensively and being able to hold their own in Melee, they can also contribute to the cause with shooting attacks. At present I remain unconvinced by the Brutes and as per my previous blog post, I'm considering subbing in another non-irregular Horde option such as Spear Warriors or Warriors. If it was the Warrior option that would also free up 30 points (the Spear Warriors being a straight swap). That 30 points could potentially pay for an item like the Scrying Gem.
I'm finding the list very flexible and well suited to the Rulebook scenarios. Part of this is the mutual support provided by units as well as the fact that it moves as a battleline.
Any thoughts appreciated
Posted with Blogsy
With the number of drops you already have I think the scrying gem would be a waste.
ReplyDeleteI would drop the Brutes -185
DeleteDowngrade the horde of slaves to a regiment -40
Delete the fire oil -5
Add a horde of shock troops +230
And I certainly wouldn't want to face it.
Neil
Well-rounded rat list is well-rounded ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen I started running my Skaven as Ratkin I was using 2x MRF, generally punching them both into the same unit, doing some damage, losing one of them in reprisal, and having the other rampage around once the rat blocks arrived. Which was cool ... but then I discovered the sorcery DE O_O So I ran 2x MRF + 1x DE, then 2x DE + 1x MRF, and very recently dropped the MRF entirely. I feel a little bad about it, but I agree that the DE is just so much more versatile, and frankly the MRF rarely was performing, being mostly used for area denial with that small base + 14" charge. Part of me is a little bummed that double Engines seems to be a thing for rat lists ... but part of me doesn't care too much.
On the Daemonspawn, I still haven't run one, despite having the VL to do it, mostly because I'm enjoying having all those points to put into other things. Once we all creep up to 2500 I'm sure I'll add him in, but for now I've been doing fairly well without the big flying hammer.
Final aside, I just *added* a weapon team in because I had the points free XD