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I have just seen the new hell pit abomination coming in feb & wanna build any army around 2 of them i don't own the skaven book yet as only just returning to fantasy but would like some suggestions on what would work & what wouldn't i'll sketch out a rough list of what i wamt within the army could you lot tell me whether am mad for it or if it'll work i wanna do it at 2,000pts

2xHell pit abominatuons
i want a big block of Rat ogres as 1 of the main block units
i know i have to have Clanrats but is there points to have like 40 of them pulling a Screaming bell

And if all tghis goes together what else should i include i would prefer it to be fairly competitive but if turns out to be fluffy then so be it any advice or pointers will be greatly accepted

Oooooooh, this is a great idea! Heavy Clan Moulder theme. I like it

I don't have too much more to say since I don't play skaven, but I have faced rat ogres and they're decent. I've love to see a unit of them in horde formation . For 2K, I think you might be able to do it.

Yeah i was talking 2 the staff in GW & they reckon it might just about go but i'll need 2 pick up the book & check 4 myself

The new A bomb is cool and I am very tempted to add one to my army.
If you want to run a Clan Moulder army with loads of rat ogres you could take Throt the Unclean as your general. This is fluffy and he allows you to take 2 units of rat ogres as core troop choices so you can leave your special unit slots free for other nasties he also allows you to use giant rats as core troop choices so you don't have to use clan rats if you don't want.

It would be handy to have some kind of magic or slave shields as well other wise you may find your ogres and aboms getting battered by magic and war machines before they get up close and personnel.

Here's a sample list. I'm not a skaven player, although I did purchase the book soon after it came out, I ended up trading it when I decided not to start them.

Grey Seer, Dispel Scroll, Healing Potion, Screaming Bell - 500

50 Clanrats, Full Command, Shields, Doomflayer - 300
50 Slaves - 100
50 Slaves - 100

13 Rat Ogres - 528

Hellpit Abomination - 235
Hellpit Abomination - 235

Total = 1998

13 is a special number to the skaven, so the 13 rat ogres seems quite appropriate . The large clanrats push the bell, the slaves provide steadfast and the HPA's and rat ogres hit like a load of bricks. I think this would be pretty fun if you could stomach painting the 150 small rats to go with the big stuff

You could also go with more clanrats instead of the slaves, as long as you get 500 points in core. This is probably the smallest level you can really take a screaming bell at, and everything gets looser for 2.5K (you could up the rat ogres to a full 18 in horde formation, for example). But I think it's pretty sweet

You really want some giant rats in the mix if you are going with that theme.

184 points gets you 33 giant rats, 6 pack masters, and a master moulder with great weapon.
Deploy 10 wide, 4 deep.
On the charge (Move 6), they toss out 39 S3 attacks, and 2 S6 attacks.

It's pretty good if you can get a bless with filth.
Giant rats are also a lot easier to paint than slaves or clan rats.

The FAQ does say to ignore the army book in the skaven book and use the comp in the basic rule book; so I think giant rats can fill your core requirement.

-Matt

Great suggestion! Although, I'm not sure if they count for core or not... need to confirm that somehow.

If so, I definitely agree... I was trying to think of something to put in there instead of the slaves, which are rather cliche at this point... Giant Rats is perfect

You could play with the points to make that fit your core requirements (at 184 points, you're only 16 shy of 500 if you keep the clanrats in there).

Sweet!!

Only count for core if you take that SC

Hes not too bad but he'll chomp on a few rats when moving. Best stick him in a large unit of giant rats so hes satisfied

Wicked thanks for all the advice i like that sample list but may go for giant rats if they do fill the core requiremnts to keep with the rat theme & to avoid a horrific amount of painting i'm well pleased that it'll all go into 2,000pts

I don't think giant rats count towards your core requirement, the same way things like chaos hounds don't.

If you ever want to put in any WLCs or PKCs I would just like to plant the idea seed of having teams of rat ogres carrying them around.

Doom drakes seem too cheap.
19 points for a 2+ save, fear causing, eternal hate knight?
I'd never take normal knights again. I'd limit them to spears, and they are then true medium cav.

Beastmasters are messy rules-wise.
Give the beast masters move 6 (like they already have).
I don't like the whole unit in general as it isn't really doing anything that the army lacks. Also seems like coldones should be stupid.

-Matt

HawaiiMatt, I think you posted in the wrong thread by mistake .

I have seen someone model jezzails as rat ogres with shoulder-guns... it was pretty sweet! However, not totally kosher, since their stats obviously aren't those of a rat ogre.

I just looked at the points cost of Throt the Unclean, who makes giant rats core, and he's 225 points in the Lords category. So there's no way to fit a grey seer with screaming bell in there and him, even at 2500 points :-/.

So it really just depends on whether you want the giant rats as core more, or the bell. If the bell, I think the above list I'd made is a good bet, but more "standard". If you want to go heavy with the theme, Throg the Unclean seems like the way to go.

Edit: Also, not being a skaven player I'm not sure if that unit of rat ogres needs more packmasters... but you could always drop an ogre for 2 more packmasters if needed. Personally, I'd love for you to go heavy with the Clan Moulder theme, giant rats, rat ogres, and HPAs!! But slaves are really good, so it depends on your preference.

I definately wanna stick to the clan moulder theme i wanted a screaming bell for the magic the fact it's a rocking model & it will draw fire away from the rat ogres but it is optional i've not ever played skaven before & only know small amounts about them i'll write a couple of lists in the week & post them on here for you all to look at

Excellent! Looking forward to it . And I think you're right about the screaming bell either drawing fire away from the other stuff, or if not living to do its' thing, so it does fit well.

Rat Ogres holding the cannon from the lead belchers is a great cannon conversion.

blak43 wrote:I don't think giant rats count towards your core requirement, the same way things like chaos hounds don't.

If you ever want to put in any WLCs or PKCs I would just like to plant the idea seed of having teams of rat ogres carrying them around.

io will certainly look into the idea when the new model hits the stores not had a chance 2 write any alternate lists yet but from what i can see the only other option would be 2 drop the slaves & have a huge horde of clanrats with the rat ogres & HPA's but i'll model some giant rats into the ranks just 2 theme it up more will probably keep with the sample list provided by RiTides just 2 get things rolling thanks 4 everyones help most of my opponents are already quaking @ the propect of fighting this lol should be a hoot ALL HAIL THE 13th RAT

Sweet! I think the sample list should be pretty good, a more experienced skaven player might advise you to drop a rat ogre and add in a few more handlers; I'm not sure if they're needed or not. 13 is a nice number, but as an odd number, doesn't rank up easily (although there is the handler, who makes it strange as well with his different base size).

As I'd put above, you pretty much have to choose between giant rats as core, or having the screaming bell, since you'd need Throt the Unclean to make those rats count towards core requirements, I think. That would be a sweet and unique way to go, but just starting out with fantasy the slaves are a good, attractive option- and will scare people quite a bit, since they can tie up units for your HPAs to then maul in the flank

Looking forward to hearing about your progress when you get this going at some point!!

Edit: I forgot to add, if you do decide to chop the rat ogre unit a bit, you might consider fitting in a battle standard bearer character. They're pretty much required now, and the rat ogres can probably function just as well at size 10 (or even 8) if you want to cut into them and add another character (or a few characters, we're talking skaven here ) or a small unit. I think a BSB would be the very first thing you'd add, though!

Yeah think your right on the handlers i'd prefer if my heavy hitting horde squad actually made it 2 combat lol lucky no.s can come later maybe if there are points spare from the handlers i could add 2 more to the clanrats which would be a multiple of 13 & everyone in my local store recommends that many slaves to pin things down we were gonna sort it out today but spent all day helping them repricing after the VAT rise lol

Well, here are my suggestions as a Skaven player who runs lists similar to this:

- The Screaming Bell is cool, but it is 200pts, which could go towards a lot more monsters. In the end, it's your call, though.

- I would strong suggest a BSB, with a load of magical protection. A block or two of slaves within this and your general's range will not run. And the A-bombs are Stubborn, so you can charge into those big blocks of infantry with impunity when you have a re-rollable Ld8.

- I would also suggest one more wizard; a plague priest or engineer, to help your chances of both Bless With Filth and Death Frenzy; very Moulder-enhancing spells. And maybe a Feedback Scroll, to hopefully blow up an enemy wizard, thus protecting your precious gribblies.

- Two units of 34 giant rats with 6 packmasters (150pts each) in the Horde formation would be great fun.

- I wouldn't underestimate two rat swarms, 3 bases each. They're fast, so they can hopefully get stuck in against those flaming cannons or flaming archer units long enough for one or even both of your A-bombs to survive.

- on that note, some Gutter Runners would be useful in protecting your investments. Not really part of the theme, but strategically viable.

- I would recommend units of 6(ish) rat ogres, or, maybe, one giant unit of 18 in the Horde formation. Of course, with 9 packmasters, that's 792 points, versus two units of 6 for 528 total.

- Finally, I think this is one of the few list ideas that could pull off satisfying all its core requirements with slaves. Some people might moan about it, but you won't have the two cannons that make the slaves so deadly, so I doubt it would be an issue.

Oh, and may I suggest some white lab-rats for slaves? Moulder's got to do a lot of experiments, after all.