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Hi im a noob to fantasy and i have no idea how to work skaven or whats essential in any list. btw i have just got gotten the iob set.

Slaves. Lots of them preferably bare naked or maybe shields. If you have no bell or weapon teams, theres little incentive for clanrats or stormvermin unless you want some reliable character bunker. Always take a BSB, just too good for their ld. Naked Warlocks are also used to buff leadership. Ogres, Gutter Runners, Monks, and Globadiers are decent specials. Lightning cannons and doomwheels are great rares. HPA if you have the space. Use them in conjunction with the slaves to smash enemies.

you want an equal slave to clanrat ratio. You can shoot into slave combats, and rats can bring weapon teams.

Warp Fire throwers and Poison Wind Mortars are your best weapon team choices.

warp lightning cannons own face, don't think of NOT bringing them.

alot of our specials are meh. Rat Ogres are the best, but I would not put any faith in them.

and doomwheels...are freaken awesome!

ok thanks so now i should invest in more slaves a couple of warp lightings and doom wheels.

How many doom wheels should be used in most list and what models can be used as slaves? just the clan rats packs?

And can slaves have spears or just hand weapons?

sry i havent even gotten my codex yet just been painting them lol

Doom Wheels and Warp Lightning Cannons are both rare choices, so you're limited to 2 of each in any game under 3,000 points, and only 4 of each in anything 3,000+.

There are no current models specific to Skaven slaves; most people use the clan rat packs although some mix in models from other armies depending on their mood.

Slaves can be armed with spears, shields and / or slings, although the more common opinion is to just run them naked and pile in as many bodies as you can. I tend to run 2 blocks of 50 with musicians in a 2,000 point game. They tend to bog enemy units down for awhile, giving me ample time to hit them with the WLC, Doom Wheel, Warpfire Throwers or what have you.

thanks dragon so in a 1000-1500 point list how many doom wheels or lighting cannons should i bring?

Since im going to bring at least 50 slaves in one block (or two blocks of 100)

1 BSB

1warlock

and probably ogres

and maybe some packs of clan rats

I'd say 1 doomwheel and 1-2 lightning cannons

streamdragon wrote:
There are no current models specific to Skaven slaves; most people use the clan rat packs although some mix in models from other armies depending on their mood.

That's not true there are stupidly expensive metal skavenslaves available from the website.

But yeah, just go with the clanrats that don't have armor or whatever as slaves.

thanks kenshin

that will help most definitively

and blak thank you for pointing out those models i saw them but they seem too expensive and looking for an alternative

so i guess clan rat packs win


But whats the major difference between clan rat packs and hordes of slaves? like what makes slaves more effective then clan rats?

They are dirt cheap, and not that much worse off. Plus, instead of running, the unit sort of detonates, after a fashion.

Clanrats however...they can push the Bell, and have attached Weapons Teams giving you more options, should you wish to go for a more combined arms approach.

Major difference between the 2 is that 2 slaves =1 clanrat point wise, clans as said take the bell and weapon teams. Slaves are very expendable and can even get shot at in CC. Slaves tarpit, clans bring out the goodies to use on the tarbit!

hmm ok so in 40k terms conscripts and guardsmen... perhaps


thanks mates


If clan rats can push a bell can stormvermins also or no and are they any good?

i guess maybe a body guard type but i wasnt so sure my self.

Looks Infected wrote:hmm ok so in 40k terms conscripts and guardsmen... perhaps

Sort of except that they can have a lot better ld without having to stick an IC!

Looks Infected wrote:If clan rats can push a bell can stormvermins also or no and are they any good?

i guess maybe a body guard type but i wasnt so sure my self.

Storms can also push the bell. Probably a bit better but they cost a lot more than clans so if you are planning on belling via storms, its going to be quite a bit of points sunk in. Also unless you really want to get a shooting save, skip the shields on them. Since they must use the halberd, its not worth using in CC

Looks Infected wrote:thanks dragon so in a 1000-1500 point list how many doom wheels or lighting cannons should i bring?

Since im going to bring at least 50 slaves in one block (or two blocks of 100)

1 BSB

1warlock

and probably ogres

and maybe some packs of clan rats

I believe in my first 1,500 list I ran one of each, although in retrospect a second WLC would have been useful. It's hard to say since I had the absolute worst luck ever that game and was tabled by turn 4

I want to like Rat Ogres, I really do. I have 6 of them, but haven't been able to try them out because 240 points for 6 models seems so high for skaven, especially when you then add in the points for pack masters. Their Ld will tend to be low (because there are less of them to use with "Strength in Numbers") and they have no armor saves ...

Still, I'll probably field them in the near future, just to try em out.

blak43 wrote:That's not true there are stupidly expensive metal skavenslaves available from the website.

But yeah, just go with the clanrats that don't have armor or whatever as slaves.

Ack, you are correct, I forgot about those! Yeah, they're stupid expensive and generally not worth it.

I actually differentiate between slaves and clanrats based on old models vs. new. The older clan rat boxes had smaller, multipart models that came entirely separated (i.e., head, torso, legs, both arms and even the tail was its own piece), while the newer boxes have whole bodies with arms to be glued similar to Island of Blood. The older models are smaller than the newer ones, so they definitely look the part of slaves.

Looks Infected wrote:hmm ok so in 40k terms conscripts and guardsmen... perhaps


thanks mates


If clan rats can push a bell can stormvermins also or no and are they any good?

i guess maybe a body guard type but i wasnt so sure my self.

Good comparison to Conscripts, yes. The skavenslaves aren't quite as skilled as Clan Rats, and have slightly different options. Clan Rats come with Light Armor, while Slaves don't. Slaves also have poorer base leadership, but at 2 points per model you can get a bunch of them for not a lot of points. They ability to fire into a close combat that your Slaves (and only your slaves) are involved in makes it easier to target your WLC or Weapons Teams. Clan Rats bring Weapon Teams and are generally a good solid "anchor" unit, as opposed to the "tar pit" unit of slaves. Point for point, Clan Rats can dish with some of the basic troops from other armies fairly well.

Stormvermin are generally considered "not worth it" at lower point games. For each Stormvermin, you could get a clan rat AND a slave with a point to spare (or 3 slaves!). However, the ability to take a magic standard is very handy, and their WS4 attacks with Halberds (so S4) is very worth it. Give them the Razor Standard (which gives the unit the Armor Piercing special rule) and you have a decent "dish it out" unit. I haven't tried them out yet, but I still don't see them being the front line fighter. I'd think they'd be better used rushing into the flank where they'll be on the receiving end of less attacks, but still able to dish out some nice damage.

I've picked up a unit to run with a Warlord on a War-Litter, more for the cool factor than actual effectiveness I think.

ok thanks kenshin and dragon

i was just wondering about orges cause ive heard yes and no about them

so an ideal list should pretty consist of


1-2 blocks of slaves

1 BSB

1 warlock naked

2 lighting cannons

1 or 2 doomwheels

and another warlock with what on him? and can you tell me what they do lol i still havent gotten my dex yet sadly

but its all good im getting hopefully in a month

Ogres should not be taken too lightly. For 1000 I wouldnt recommend but they can be used with 3. For higher point levels I'd say a min of 6 ogres and 2-3 packmasters

thanks again kenshin

but if i use orges should i use the master bred or is it not worth it?

and if i would use one should i use them in a unit of 6 or 3?