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how are the special characters. Namely deathmaster snikch and warlord Queek headtaker. But other opinions of others are more than welcome.

To me, Deathmaster is not worth his point investment. His gains over a typical Assassin are... questionable, at best. Add in his point cost, and what he really can do (hit four times at S4 w/ a D3 wound weapon), he is best used against either:

1) Ironguts. His Armor Piercing means no standard saves, so only buffs (which, hopefully, you'll shut out T5 or Regeneration). Two wounds / round, multiplied, kills 1.3 Ogres at a time. Come attacks back, they're looking at 5's and 2's, but with you ignoring 50% of the hits (so 18-20ish attacks are necessary from Ironguts to drop him). This is about the only unit you can reliably make points up directly via Snikch, and there's other characters who can come somewhat close without quite the point cost.

2) Picking out some other special character without "Ignores D3 / D6 Wounds" or whatever, and having Snikch wail on 'em. Average of 4 hits against even many combat lords (WS8 w/ high initiative and ASF), if they aren't a durable Lord (ex: Dwarf Lord) they can get at least d3 wounds multiplied against them before Snikch is pummeled.

He... doesn't do much overall. If he were S5 (See: Weeping Blades were still +1S instead of Armor Piercing), he'd be much more terrifying (or even if he kept the bands of power). As he is now, Snikch is somewhat limited in use.

If you are looking to run an 'elite' Skaven army with lots of Stormvermin, then Queek and his special unit might be worth it. Otherwise, I think you'd be better off with more bodies on the field.

Ikit Klaw, He is a a level 4 (i think) lore of ruin wizard with 3+ armour and a once-per-game warpfire thrower, as well as the storm daemon which can (IIRC) add more powerdice to the pool, put him in a unit of slaves to soak up the wounds and so you're not worried about the miscasts.

I think Ikit is a level 3 plus his model is uggly, though he could be a good conversion cause the idea of how he's supposed to look is really cool.

Queek is ok but I would prefer a Lord on a mount, Ikit is pretty good, but if you take anything away from this thread it should be that Sniktch is really bad, you can build a better Assassin with the regular loadout and save quite a few points.

huh that is kind of a bummer. The models for snikch and queek are awesome looking. might just use them for their common counter parts.

Yeah I use the Snikch model for my assassin. Personally I think Queek is really good, you don't *have* to buy super expensive stormvermin just because you are taking him (and to be honest with the 1A per stormvermin I don't think it's really worth it for the points) but he's pretty powerful in his own right.

I second that Queek is really good (just don't fight anyone with higher initiative) and his beefed up stormvermin kinda suck. You can just buy more regular stormvermin and get a lot more mileage out of them.

Snikch is best used as a wizard hunter. His deployment rules means he can get close to spell casters hiding behind enemy lines (skitterleap also helps here) and he will quickly dispose of a wizard lord in a single round of combat (thus usually earning back his points) before amusing himself with other prey such as war machine crews. I always include him because the model is so damn sexy (you know, for a rat).

As for the others...

Lord Skrolk - Can potentially kill anything that he touches, BUT no survivability i.e. no armour, no talismans, just T5 to protect his mouldy hide. Essentially a very expensive Lvl 3 wizard.

Grey Seer Thanquol - A pretty good Grey Seer who is almost a Loremaster (5 spells out of 6). Access to lots of Warpstone meaning he is potentially a very strong spellcaster. Not sure he is worth the points (even with a psycopathic, undead rat ogre bodyguard), but a lot of fun to play.

Ikit Klaw - Lvl 3 Lore of Ruin Wizard with fairly good survivability (basically a Skaven in power armour). Storm Daemon like all bound items is now a bit rubbish, but can't sniff at the bonus warpfire thrower. Not great in combat though (only 2 attacks). New model on the way (probably) for those who don't like the current effort.

Throt the Unclean - Not a great pick unless you're desperate to buy rat ogres as core troops instead of using your special points allowance. No survivability and worse he willl eat anything in btb contact if he fails a Ld test (required every turn). Suggest not deploying him alongside your Abomination!

Queek - Cuts through most rank and file fairly happily. Will usually get first crack in a fight against another character, but lacks the punch to kill them straight out. Not convinced his super stormvermin are worth the price either.

Tretch Craventail

Forgot Skweel Gnawtooth - Seems a bit pricey for what he is, until you apply those upgrades to Rat Ogres...

Ikit and Queek are the only worthwhile ones. The rest are either not really worth the extra points, or flat-out worse. Thanquol and Snikch are substantially worse versions of their mundane counterparts that cost far more points.

Queek is funy against characters as a challenge hero.... just dont get carried away and fight a nobel on a dragon