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I am brand new to Fantasy. I have been playing 40K for years now as the Eldar. I decided on Skaven because they seemed very different from the armies I am used to. Right now my army is made up of two sets of the Island of Blood Skaven box sets. I will be running 2 units of 40 clanrats each with poison wind mortar team, 4 Ogres with a master moulder, 2 warlock engineers, a warlord. I am trying to decide between a doomwheel or a screaming bell. Also what magic is best for this. One warlock will be a level 2 and the other a level 1. My tactic is to send in the clanrats up the middle in bulk and havethe warlock support them. One warlock I am thinking will have protection magic and one will be built for damage. I will put the ogres on one flank and the doomwheel or screaming bell on the other. Any advice would be helpful.

Well, the Screaming Bell is only allowed as a mount for a Grey Seer, so unless you plan on adding one to your list you'll be unable to take the Bell anyway.

Either way I would say Doomwheel first. The Screaming Bell + Seer weighs in at a hefty 440 points minimum, so with the 25% max for Lords category you're looking at a game of at least 1760 points. The Doomwheel is considerably cheaper and doesn't contest points with your warlord or any of your other units thusfar.

As for skaven magic, we don't really get protection magic. We have our own lores in the army book: Plague and Ruin As I'm sure you can surmise from their names, they're both fairly offensive with only one defensive spell that I can think of. Fortunately, the offense provided by skaven magic is pretty darn good.

So yeah... doomwheel, Lvl2 and Lvl 1 warlocks are fine, although as you expand your force I definitely recommend a Grey Seer (they're Lvl4 casters). Then you can think about adding a Bell later. I've played a few games, and have yet to field a bell myself.

Thanks for the reply. Skaven are very different from what I am used to so every bit of advice helps. Can anyonethink of something that might be better than the wheel? I am not dead set on that, it just seemed like a good thing to take in a sub 1500 army.

Hellpits are awesome, and have a brand spanking new kit! I would take a hellpit over a doomwheel every single time.

Doomwheels *are* good though, so pick which ever one you think would be more fun to paint and play with.

Also if you do take the Hellpit (I just picked up the kit myself!) be warned that the Banner of Eternal Flame has become a popular banner (it's cheap!) and will just about ruin your Hellpit's day.

That said, I look forward to the first time an opponent kills it and it just gets back up with 6 wounds in the next turn...

streamdragon wrote:That said, I look forward to the first time an opponent kills it and it just gets back up with 6 wounds in the next turn...

Not an option against flames

I'll just have to make sure the guy with the Banner of Eternal Flame meets with an unfortunate "accident".

Or the unit meets a dude with a dragonhelm

I'd also say go with the Doomwheel. Also, consider using one of your warlord models from IoB as a BSB.