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I just got into Age of Sigmar, buying the core book and Skaven Battletome at Gen Con (at a nice discount, I might add). After reading the Skaven book, I think I've got a decent 750 point list to act as a start, but I wanted to get some opinions from people who know more of the game.

I knew from the start I wanted to run a swarm army (which I've never done before in any wargame), so my mindset going into this list was to make a swarm army with decent support (fire support and skirmishers), taking the "quantity over quality" route as much as possible.

The list:
-Clawlord (110)
-20 Clanrats w/Rusty Blades (100)
-20 Clanrats w/Rusty Blades (100)
-20 Clanrats w/Rusty Blades (100)
-Warp Lightning Cannon (150)
-10 Night Runners (90)
-10 Night Runners (90)

Total: 740 Points

Warp-Lightning Cannon you'll really want to run a warlock-engineer with so you can overcharge it. But then dropping the night runners for an arch-warlock would really amp up the power of the list (if you want to) particularly because he would have 4-6 warp sparks all for himself. Having some magic in general is almost a necessity these days (unfortunately) for a number of reasons, big one being the potency of mystic shield.

Do you need a warlock to overclock the cannon? I don't remember seeing that in the 3.0 Battletome, but I might have missed it (I don't have it near me to check right now).

EDIT: Yep, I do need that. Must have missed it the first time through. Anybody know of good fire support alternatives for the Skaven? I was thinking Warplock Jezzails for a time, but it seems like they don't put out much firepower for their cost.

What are some of the other reasons magic is considered a necessity?

LoreSeeker wrote:


What are some of the other reasons magic is considered a necessity?

The main reason would be to block your opponents spells.

After that comes utility/damagw/options & thematic.

LoreSeeker wrote:
Do you need a warlock to overclock the cannon? I don't remember seeing that in the 3.0 Battletome, but I might have missed it (I don't have it near me to check right now).

EDIT: Yep, I do need that. Must have missed it the first time through. Anybody know of good fire support alternatives for the Skaven? I was thinking Warplock Jezzails for a time, but it seems like they don't put out much firepower for their cost.

What are some of the other reasons magic is considered a necessity?

Note also it's now specifically warlock engineer. Bombadier etc don't count unlike last battletome.

Another reasons would be to stop enemy spells and get rid of endless spells which have become very common these days. Yes you can use heroic willpower but maybe you want to get CP and that has drawback of being in YOUR hero phase so can't try to get rid of that purple sun/gnashing jaw etc on your opponents turn denying them chance to recast it right away. Or just have 2nd go at removing it.

Seems like an easy fix - just swap out the Clawlord for a Warlock Engineer.

The only problem I can see with that arrangement is that it would mean the general would have to hang back with the cannon, which might put the clanrats out of his leadership radius. Do you think the loss of the Engineer's Bravery will matter that much?

Clawlord is needed to get the most out of those Clanrats. WLC could be traded for 3 Jezzails, who are fantastic due to their range and self-sufficiency. Camp them next to a gnawhole and teleport away if something gets close, or park them in the middle of nowhere and force an enemy unit to run way out of position to kill them. In the meantime, snipe heroes.

Regardless I would still say to drop the night runners for an Arch-Warlock, I cannot understate how powerful that model is with use of warpstone sparks. Also extremely durable as a 3+ save hero who easily fits into cover and can retreat instead of fighting in melee (but is also a potent melee combatant, able to outfight most 120 point-or-less units if he has sparks) Just keep him away from mortal wounds and don't overcharge his spell/halberd unless its really desperate.

If there is a strong desire to run Eshin infantry, go with gutter runners. They are just better.

Regarding Night Runners vs. Gutter Runners - like I said, I'm going for quantity over quality. Plus, I worry about how quickly a five-model unit operating that far forward (the Gutter Runners) is going to die as opposed to a 10-model one.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I took another look at the Warplock Jezzails, and they might actually be a better alternative to the lightning cannon than I first thought. Numbers-wise, they can put out as much damage as a non-overcharged lightning cannon (even if it's not all mortal wounds), at slightly longer range, with no risk of damaging themselves, PLUS they're a lot more mobile (especially with that gnawhole tactic - thanks for suggesting that!).

Anyone have firsthand experience with the Jezzails? Are they any good?

Bumping this up since I never got an answer about the Jezzails. Are they any good? Are they a good substitute for a Warp Lightning Cannon?

Been going back and forth on my army choice, and lately I'm leaning more towards the Skaven for the fun factor. So I drew up a new list based more around a "glass cannon" approach, combined with sheer numbers. Am I on the right track here?

-Clawlord (110)
-Stormvermin (x10) (135)
-Stormvermin (x10) (135)
-Stormvermin (x10) (135)
-Warplock Jezzails (x3) (120)
-Gutter Runners (x5) (105)

Total: 740 points

Faction Terrain: Gnawholes (3)

Battle Traits
Lead From the Back
Scurry Away
Strength in Numbers
Great Clan Battle Trait: Mighty Warlords (Clan Verminus)

Allegiance Abilities
Command Trait: Devious Adversary
Artefact of Power: Warpstone Charm