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So, after numerous instances of heading down to the local GW for a 40K game and 90% of people having fantasy armies there I've decided with the nearing completion of my Dark Eldar force, instead of starting an Eldar Army like I initially planned, I figure it's time to pick up WHFB and I figured - what better option for a Haemonculi player than their Old World counterparts - the crazy ass skaven.

So - bearing in mind I have little to no idea on how WHFB works yet as it'll be another month or so (about the point I've finished my DE and have money free for this) before I get IoB I want advice on fleshing out my 'shopping list' of what I'll be aqquiring as a starting point and in the following months ( see - feasable list to play ) before moving on to giggles type stuff.

At the moment after a little research and a bit of time talking to the blueshirt at my local store my plan is to buy the following in this order:

Island of Blood box
Skaven 'Codex'
Skaven Battalion box
Screaming Bell box
Hellpit Abomination
Hellpit Abomination
Storm of Magic book + battle magic cards ( + skaven battle magic cards? )

Basically - Any advice on if I should by different things, if I should change the order I get things in, and why, and just any general information on the game / army / race etc folk think is interesting / useful

Thanks in advance.

Island of Blood box
Skaven 'Codex'
More Rats until you have about 160 of them
Extra Poison Wind Mortar and Warp Fire Thrower, 2 of each total works for your army.
2 Warp Lightening Cannons
Hell Pit or 2, but gonna need a lot of points to have 2 HPAs and 2 WLCs.

Screaming Bell or Plague Furnace, either or, if plague furnace is chosen grab 2 boxes of plague monks to push it.

I suggest you drop your plans to get the Skaven Battalion box. Unless you have a burning need for Plague Monks, it really isn't worth it. For the same price you can get three IoB skaven sets on eBay which will give you many more rats and more units for about the same price in total.

Also, instead of getting two HPAs, get just one for now and then get two Warp Lightning Cannons. You'll have a more effective army to start out with. You can always get a second HPA later.

You won't really need the regular battle magic cards. Skaven only have access to their own two lores without using the Wizarding hat. The Skaven cards aren't available from GW anymore, and would need to be purchased from eBay most likely. Unfortunately they average about 15-20 bucks (sometimes plus shipping). :-\

I'm going to second the suggestions of getting Warp Lightning Cannons. They're extremely good, very cost effective (some would say too cheap which I wouldn't entirely disagree with) and good at dealing with just about anything.

As nice as I find the IoB figures (I have two sets), getting the battalion box for some variety isn't an entirely terrible plan. In addition to the Clan Rats you get some new poses for your Rat Ogres, a Rat Dart, and some Plague Monks. You can also assemble the models without command models (i.e., the Standard Bearer, Musician and Champ) so you can flesh out your units beyond 20 models a bit easier. That might be just me though.

If you're a fan of magnetizing, I believe there's a tutorial on Dakka on how to magnetize the kit so you can use it as both the Bell and the Furnace. My own time using the Bell was less than amazing, but I wasn't exactly on a run of good luck that game either. I've heard good things about the Plague Furnace though, which would make the Monks in the battalion box useful. I've purchased that thing 3 times. XD By the time you pay for 2 boxes of Clan Rats and the Rat Ogre/Giant Rat box, you're already at the cost of the battalion; might as well get some free Plague Monks!

Further to the magic cards advice, as fun as they are, there is not a more unnecessary purchase for playing the game.

EDIT - I sold mine and made a profit, though not an excessive one. If you do buy them off ebay, avoid the stupidly priced buy it now options and wait for a proper auction.

The cards look fun, and if I can fin them for under say.. £4-5 I'll pick them up.

I do actually want the Plague Monks out of the set. 1: I need another 30-40 Plague monks to finish off my Dark Eldar force (I convert them into Wracks ) so that's beneficial anyway, plus the variety is good. Hell, I might be buying 2 battleforces just to get the plaguemonks for my DE, plus Plaguemonks seem fun but I havent actually looked at the skaven book yet so I may get more battallions whoknows thinking about it I might ammend it to 2 battallions as is...

so as is -

Island of Blood box
Skaven 'Codex'
Skaven Battalion box
Screaming Bell box
IoB Skaven set from ebay.
Hellpit Abomination
Warp Lightning Cannon
Hellpit Abomination
Warp Lightning Cannon
1-2 more battallions (how many rat-ogres can you generally take?)
Storm of Magic book + skaven battle magic cards?

I want 2 hellpits cos you know... they look freaking awesome.

Your list looks great may I add you might want to try stormvermin. They look really cool as well.