Kings of War/Tactics/Ratkin

Why Play Ratkin

You like horde armies? Well that's good, that's real good. Ratkin are the horde army of Kings of War, much like their cousins in that other game. Likewise if you have a pile of Skaven models, what else are you going to do with them?

Army Special Rules

• Pack Mentality: Unless specified otherwise, all non-irregular, Hordes or Legions in this list have Rallying! (1)

• Rallying (n): Friendly non-allied units within 6" have +n to their Waver and Rout Nerve values. This is cumulative, with a maximum total of +2 if multiple units with Rallying! are in range.

Unit Analysis

Hero

• Assassin: This guy has a bunch of abilities that create something of a hodge podge combat hero. The assassin comes decked out with Crushing Strength (1), Individual, Piercing (1), Stealthy, throwing weapons, Vanguard, and Vicious. He hits on a 3+ in both melee and ranged with a reduction of 1 to defence in either mode, re-rolling 1s, with 4 attacks each. This is a pretty solid set of abilities, but doesn't really play well to Ratkin strengths. Instead of hiding in a unit, he gets Vanguard and Stealthy, which puts him way in front. His role should be hero hunting, but he doesn't have enough attacks to do that effectively. You'd need a group of Assassins for that, and for those kind of points you could just bring a Demonspawn or Mutant Rat-Fiend.

• Blight Lord: A fairly limited variation of the plague priest. It doesn't have any spells by default, but can buy Bane Chant (3). He comes with Crushing Strength (2), Ensnare, Stealthy, and Inspiring that works only for Blight. This puts him in the weird camp of the mid-range hero that's not pretty solid as a backline piece who can directly impact combat later. You could take it as a source of Inspiring if you're running lots of Blight to buff them with Bane Chant or any of the new spells from CoK 2018 or as a skirmisher in a regular list as he's cheap for his abilities and is an OK combatant.

• Demonspawn: Your giant rat demon. This is a living legend, so you can only bring one. This demon comes with Crushing Strength (3), Inspiring, Lightning Bolt (5), and Rallying (2). You can also upgrade it to gain Fly, which is nice but very expensive. This thing hits like a train and is a decent choice in many lists.

• Swarm-Crier: Your army standard bearer. You get your source of Inspiring on the cheap. You know it, you love it, you take it, just like every other army.

• War Chief: The basic combat hero who costs more than a Blight Lord or an Assassin. Despite his cost, he actually doesn't have much going for him at all. He comes with Crushing Strength (1), Individual, Inspiring by default, and can buy a two-handed weapon or a fleabag mount. Not recommended at any level as every other hero is going to be generally more useful in any given game.

• Enforcer: The Enforcer is an interesting combat hero. He's cheap, the same price as the Swarm-Crier, and only marginally effective in combat, but he does come with Crushing Strength (1), Individual, and Rallying (1). With an option for a Fleabag, the Enforcer is meant to be a harassment unit who lends out easy Rallying in the early game before charging into ranged/flying units to shut them down.

• Warlock: Your spell caster. He comes with Lightning Bolt (5), but can buy Bane-Chant (3), Heal (3), and Wind Blast (3). This hero is solid for a caster. He's cheaper than every other hero except a Swarm-Crier, and has a decent selection of spells. Like any caster, only buy the spell you want to use each one for to save points and have a specific role for each Warlock in your army.

Infantry

• Claw Shots: Long-barreled rifle teams. They can only be taken at troop strength, but they offer 5 Piercing (2) shots and, oddly enough, have the Big Shield special rule, making them surprisingly defensible. Very nice ranged unit on the cheap and well worth taking.

• Scurriers: Mobile ranged units. They have throwing weapons, which can be upgraded to crossbows, as well and both Nimble and Vicious. They don't have Piercing (2) like Claw Shots, but at the same time they don't have to stay stationary to fire. They're the same point cost as Claw Shots, so your question comes down to how important mobility is to you. This will vary by mission, but in general you're probably better served by Claw Shots.

• Shock Troops: Heavy infantry. They come stock with Crushing Strength (1), Elite, and Vicious. They can be take in a horde, if you're fiddling around with trying to run this list as a more elite army and are widely considered one of the most dangerous infantry hordes in the game. Few lists leave home without one horde of Shock Troops at least.

• Spear Warriors: For an increase of 20 to 30 points, depending on the unit size, you get the stat line of a Warrior, but the unit gains Phalanx. Better than Warriors for it, but still a bit spendy for a tar pit unit. With the CoK 2018 changes makes Thunderous Charge more viable, Phalanx does get a bit of a buff, but you're still likely better off buying Slaves or Warriors and saving the points.

• The Blight: Plague bearer type rats. These guys come with Ensnare and Stealthy. These guys are your fearless troops in that they cannot be wavered and, with the CoK 2018 changes, can be a solid answer to shooting. That said, they're not the terror that Shock Troops are in combat and are only DEF 3+ so you can't just throw them into any list.

• Tunnel Slaves: Your cheap slave unit. These guys will take wounds in droves, but you can buy a legion of them for less then some army's troop strength units. They have no special rules beyond the army special rule and Yellow-Bellied, so don't expect them to perform very well. Take them in a giant legion or horde and lock some things down while your opponent tries to make you fail your nerve tests.

• Warriors: A little bit better then slaves, but they don't get weapons teams like their GW cousins do. Instead they hit on a 5+ and have twice the defense of Slaves. This doesn't seem like it's worth the price inflation over Slaves at first, but the fact that Warriors are not Irregular and massed bows is so popular gives Warriors a place in most lists.

Large Infantry

• Brutes: Hard-hitting giant rats. Spendy, but they come with Brutal, Crushing Strength (2), Fury, and Regeneration (5+). They will devour most anything they charge, so use them to crush elite units. Their Regeneration and slightly better than normal nerve will keep them alive longer, but expect your opponent to target these units if you don't get them where they need to be quickly.

• Vermintide: Rats swarms and giant rats put together on a larger base. They fill a similar role to Hackpaws, oddly enough, just lacking Thunderous Charge (1) and 3 speed at a substantial point discount. That being said, Hackpaws are better at early game harassment and should probably be used over a Vermintide.

NOTE: Most people actually compare Vermintide with Tunnel Slaves as they're very similar in cost and, at the cost of attacks, you get +1 DEF, Nimble, and lose Yellow-Bellied. Considering you probably don't care whether your chaff do damage, this is a pretty good deal although the CoK 2018 changes taking away a unit strength from the Vermintide does hurt them quite a bit.

Cavalry

• Hackpaws: Rats riding on rats? Sure. Nimble, Thunderous Charge (1), and Vicious at a cheap price, although they have very low nerve and won't last very long at all. They are your quickest unit and should be used to harass enemy flanks early game, just know that they won't be around come late game.

Large Cavalry

None.

Monsters

• Death Engine: A Plague Furnace or Screaming Bell for your enjoyment. Comes standard with Crushing Strength (1), Rallying (1), and Thunderous Charge (1), it can then take one of two additional upgrades. For melee combat, it can gain an additional point of Crushing Strength and Vicious. Alternatively it can gain a ranged attack of 18" with Piercing (2) that hits on a 4+. Either option is decent, you just obviously need to utilize your Death Engine differently depending on how you kit it. For ranged, hold back with your allies to give them the Rallying benefit and take pop shots. For melee, charge in with your infantry for the Rallying bubble and grind away at the front lines.

• Mutant Rat Fiend: Your Brood Horror or Hell Pit Abomination for a new game. This thing costs an arm and a leg, which it then uses to beat anything it touches to death. Decent nerve and can't be wavered, this beast has Strider and Regeneration (5+) in addition to wounding almost anything on a 2+ with a reroll on 1s for good measure. Good for tearing anything to pieces, but again it is pretty expensive.

War Engines

• Artillery: A two shot ranged war engine. Blast (D3+1) is complimented with Indirect Fire, Piercing (1), and Vicious. It does suffer from the unreliability of most war engines, somewhat made up for with an extra shot. At the same points you can get a Shredder which has 3 shots and an additional point of Piercing at the cost of Indirect Fire and a reduction to Blast (D3). Usually not as useful as a Shredder unless you're expecting to need to utilize Indirect Fire.

• Shredder: A three shot war engine. This one has Blast (D3) and Piercing (2), making it harder hitting in most cases then Artillery, although not always as damaging if you roll a 1 or 2 for your Blast. Probably the best of the three war engines, the Shredder does still suffer from the general unreliability of war engines in general.

• Weapon Team: Seems to be the catch all for Skaven weapons teams. They have abysmal nerve and only shoot 12" with a Breath Attack. They do get 10 shots, which can be given Piercing (1) for 20 more points, but sadly they're just not terribly effective at surviving long enough to hurt enemy units in any substantial way.

Tactics

Tactica here.