Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Old/Warscrolls Compendium/Skaven

Everyone's favourite rat-men, here to kill man-things and stab eachother in the back in the Age of Sigmar.

Skaven summary

Want to win easy? Play a Chaos army with Fateweaver and a Screaming Bell. Use Fateweaver's ability to change rolls in order to make 13 on the 2d6 roll for the Bell. You won. (Needs an UNMODIFIED roll of 13 on 2d6.. doesn't work.) But what does work is take two regular dice and change them, 1 with 6 pips and one with 7 all around cause it only says 2 dice, but doesn't say 2d6. After all, a true Skaven player is a low down cheat, it even encourages it in the warscroll.

Btw, Clan Pestilens units now count as Nurgle followers too. have fun with that.

Standard Bearer: The unit can retreat in Movement phase and still charge in the same turn.

Bell chimer/Pack drummer: The unit always adds 2 to retreat and run.

Clanshield: +1 save against attacks dealing a single wound.

Skaven Warscrolls

Forenote: The following section will be arranged with similar units and formations being grouped together for easier reading.

This is by no means a complete guide. Also due to the relatively recent release of Age of Sigmar, most of this is based on theory. Take everything with a grain of salt.

Masterclan

Named Characters

• Thanquol and Boneripper: The duo is still here. Boneripper's Warpfire Projectors (alwasy give him these instead of the Warpfire Braziers) deal 2d6 mortal wounds to a unit within 8", which, in case you don't know, is insanely powerful. The pair regenerates a single wound each turn, and Thanquol is the only Seer that doesn't suffer wounds if the Warpstone Token roll fails. His exclusive spell is Scorch, which deals d3 mortal wounds (d6 if he's attacking other Skavens) at an enormous 26" range, and his Command ability gives to a Skaven unit within 18" a second 6+ save roll (5+ if the unit haves 13+ models) after the regular one that can also save mortal wounds. He also knows the spells of all Skaven Wizards within 13", just great. All of the above makes him a really really good model for any Skaven army: he does everything, and he does it well.
• Lord Skreech Verminking: The other big guy. His main ability is that at the beginning of each turn can choose a different power between giving -1 to hit rolls against him, regenerating d3 wounds, getting +1 to his wound, hit or cast/unbind rolls, or just having him inflict d3 extra wounds with his Doomglaive. He is the only one with the Dreaded Thirteenth Spell, that not only does obscene amounts of mortal wounds, but now also transforms the killed models into any Verminus unit, meaning that now you can also turn your opponents in Stormvermins. Combine him with Thanquol, and you can use two times a turn one of the most powerful spells of the game. He also allows every Skaven unit within 13" to reroll any 1 to wound.

Heroes

• Verminlord Warpseer: Owns the Scry-Orb, a one use weapon that deals d6 mortal wounds to a unit within 13" (If that unit's move value is 5 or less it's automatically 6 mortal wounds) but also allows the Verminlord to reroll Saves as long as he keeps it, making him very survivable. His unique spell is great to deny some fast strong enemy unit their charge and damage them on the way and works particularly well against flyers. His Command Ability on the other hand is very situational, summoning 3D6 Giant Rats. However, Giant Rats only get good at well over 30 models, so the best this ability does is summon some chaff. If you don't have a hundred of these rats lying around, just make someone else your general.
• Grey Seer: Warpstone Tokens allow him to reroll any casting roll if he rolls a 2+ before rolling the spell, but he gets a wound if the roll fails. His exclusive spell is Vermintide, which targets an unit within 26" and makes you roll a number of dices equal to the number of models in that unit, dealing a mortal wound for each 6 rolled. His Command ability allows to negate on a 4+ the escape of any Skaven within 26". That command ability first sounds rather meh, but gets better the bigger the game is since it's a huge bubble and in bigger games, Skaven run away by the truckload.
• Screaming Bell: It went from "It can't move of his own" to "It can do it but it's very slow so it would be very nice if someone pushed it". Its move value is 4" (decreasing as it takes wounds), plus an extra inch for every three Skaven models within 1" from the Bell. If it charges with 10 Skavens pushing it, the Rusty Wheels and Spikes deal 2d6 attacks. The bell also gives -1 to casting rolls for every non-Chaotic wizard within 6", and once per turn you can play the bell, with effects including damaging itself, getting additional 6" to the Bell's movement during that turn, mortal wounds to every unit in the bell's range (which starts from 13" and decreases as the bell takes damage), boosting every Skaven wizard in the bell's range, giving extra attacks to every Skaven within 13" (even if the bell's range is lower than that) and Summoning a freakin' Verminlord. You can also get an instant win if you somehow cheated and got 13 on the roll. The Seer on the bell lacks the Warpstone Tokens, but his exclusive spell, Cracks Call, targets a non-flying unit within 18" and inflicts it 2d6 minus their move mortal wounds (Sigmarine Paladins hate that spell), and gets a Command ability that gives +1 Movement and Bravery to every Skaven unit that have line of sight to the bell. All in all, you don't want to get this thing too close to damage, but it isn't defenseless and it can dish out some great buffs. Do not use unless you have a Verminlord on the side to take advantage of its rule though.

Verminus

Named Characters

Queek Headtaker: Rerolls wounds against heroes, inflicts double damage against Dorfs, inflicts mortal wounds any time he rolls a 6 on his save, and allows any Verminus unit within 13" to reroll 1 to hit. Throw a Mystic Shield on him, and enjoy a 2+ Save Hero that returns, in the form of mortal wounds, 1/3 of the attacks that he receives.

Warlord Spinetail: Remember that guy mentioned in the backstory of the Island of Blood boxset who also got his model for a campaign thing back then? 5 years later he gets his own profile. Can strangle people with his tail (represented as a dice roll fight: if you get the highest roll enemy takes a mortal wound, d3 wounds if your roll is double than the opponent one), his sword deals an extra mortal wound if he rolls a 6 after attacking (except against Nurgle stuff), and his Command ability... it's the exact same as Queek's.

Tretch Craventail: Even funnier than before. Rerolls saves, his running away was improved so he can never run away from the battlefield (he just retreats) and his command ability not only gives a +1 to the rend value of melee weapons from a single Verminus unit within 13", but that unit also deals double damage for each 6 to wound.

Heroes

• Verminlord Warbringer: The close combat monster among the Verminlords, the Warbringer swings two very strong weapons and can reroll To Hit when he charges. He can also cast a spell a turn, with his unique spell basically giving the Blood Warriors' No Respite rule to a Skaven unit (can pile in and attack if killed in melee). His command ability is also pretty great, but really grows with the game size as his Command targets all Verminus around him. The Warlord's Command is a stronger buff, but only targets one unit, so it's quality versus quantity here.

• Skaven Warlord: Can choose between a Warpforged Blade, two Barbed Blades or a Barbed Blade and a Halberd, with the Warpforged BladeFELLBLADE being by far the best option, and every option still allows to take the shield. Can always retreat from fight if he rolls a 4+ after he attacked, keeping him safe much longer. His command ability gives an extra attack to every model in a Verminus unit wihin 13". Use that on your big centerpiece unit of Stormvermin.

• Skaven Warlord on Brood Horror (Forge World): It's a Brood Horror, but now with Verminus instead of Moulder curiously enough, +1 Bravery, and now stuck with a warpforged blade. He still recovers d3 wounds if he wounds something the turn before, and all Verminus models within 13" get +1 Bravery because that thing's fucking cool. His command ability is the same as on foot.

• Skaven Chieftain with Battle Standard: If he plants the Standard, everyone within 13" skips Battleshock rolls and rerolls every 1 to hit. If the General haves only one wound left, the Chieftain can actually backstab him and inherit his command ability.

Troops

• Clanrats: Get +1 to wound rolls if the unit haves 20 or more models, and also +1 to hit rolls if they're at least 30. Decent in great numbers, but their awful 4 Bravery will let you down. Only use them if you have some way of offsetting that.
• Stormvermin: Now surprisingly badass, fitting for models as cool as them. 2 attack each at 2" range, with -1 Rend. Get +1 to hit against units with less models than them. And they get 4+ Save against Damage 1 attacks (like, 90% of them)! Their only problem is their low Bravery of 5, but find some way of ignoring that (Skaven has miriads of thing just for that) and they're equal, if not better, that any elite infantry of any army.
• Skavenslaves: When running away you roll a dice: on a 6 the model deals a mortal wound to the closest unit within 6" before actually running away, even if it's an allied unit. Sadly underpowered and out of character, compared with what they were, but they have their uses.

Skryre

Named Characters

• Ikit Claw/Arch-Warlock: His Warpfire Gauntlet deals d3 mortal wounds. Gets Warpstorm as his exclusive spell, allowing him to deal d3 mortal wounds to up to 3 units within 18" if he rolls a 2+ for that unit. An awesome Wizard (2 spells/unbinds a turn) with an awesome spell, in very tough armor and with decent melee, why aren't you using him? And he´s not even a named character, not many armies get that.

Heroes

• Warlock Engineer: Gets Warp Lightining as his exclusive spell, dealing d3 mortal wounds to a unit within 18". Can overpower his generator before casting it: if it's correctly casted it deals d6 mortal wounds, but if it fails the Engineer suffers d6 mortal wounds. A great Wizard, use him if you want power at any cost, if you want stability, use the Grey Seer.

Troops

• Doom-Flayer Weapon Team: Can overpower before attacking. You roll a dice: on a 2+ you attack but dealing d6 wounds instead of d3, but if you get a 1 the Weapon Team suffers d3 mortal wounds. Also gets +1 to hit rolls when charging. Not very good: too slow for using him like a Chariot, and will probably die if it doesn't attack first. Still, you can use him and his -2 Rend to support your basic infantry against highly armoured units.
• Ratling Gun Weapon Team: Same, but this time the wouds it inflicts if the overpower is successful are 4d6 rather than the regular 2d6. Also gets +1 to hit when shooting to units within 9". Very good; his relatively low range makes it risky, but it spouts a lot of good shoots. By the way, note that each "misfire" of each Skyre Weapon Team is different (read them all!), but all of them hilarious: for the Ratling Gun, the crew trap themselves in the mechanisms and get mincemeated.
• Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team: Like Ikit's Gauntlet, but with the usual overpower mechanic that allows it to deal d6 mortal wounds. Slow and fragile (everyone will shoot at them), but if you put them in your center, leaving a gap between you infantry units, you can support them when they enter close combat with the enemy; just position yourself and incinerate the enemy units already in combat with yours.
• Warp-Ginder Weapon Team: As before, it starts underground with a whole other unit. In any Movement phase, you can roll a dice and on a 3+ the unit and the Warp-Grinder are placed anywhere on the field within 9" from any enemy unit. Very strategic and useful, if you use it well, though it's still kind of random.
• Poisoned Wind Mortar Weapon Team: Instead of overpowering, they try to throw the orb more far away increasing the maximum shooting range from 22" to 30", but the mechanic is the same. You also get +1 to hit against units with 10+ models and it always deals 6 wounds against units with 20+ models and shoot against units that the mortar can't see but are in the range. Put them behind your lines and massacre big hordes; sometimes they're meh, sometimes they're great.
• Poisoned Wind Globadiers/Skryre Acolyts: Get +1 to hit when shooting against units with 10+ models. Can also shoot against stuff they can't see like the Poisoned Wind Mortar dudes. So, put them behind your combat units to mantain them safe and get in range (9"), and throw crystal balls of death to highly armored units (they got -2 Rend). Do that and you´re golden.
• Warplock Jezzails: If they don't move they get 4+ saves against enemy shooting attacks and also +1 to hit as long as there are no enemies within 3". A 6 to hit deals mortal wounds. Can be good against armor, but they're (again) pretty random. If nothing else, they got great range.
• Doomwheel: Moves 2d6" and deals d3 mortal wounds on trampled enemies. You can overpower it to double the movement roll, but if you get a double your opponent decides the direction. Pretty good shooting and move: each turn, fry something, trample over it, then charge it, and your DOOMWHEEL will pay for itself in one turn.
• Warp Lightning Cannon: Can deal up to 6 mortal wounds when shooting. You actually have to roll a dice in order to calculate the minimum roll you need for the wounds to score. Also gets +1 save against missile weapons. Decent, but too random and low Range; other armies get much better artillery.
• Stormfiends: This unit haves a ton of different equipments to choose from. The melee weapon options include the Doomflayer Gauntlets (hitting on a 2+ in the turn they've charged), Shock Gauntlets (every attack becomes d6 attacks if you rolled a 6 to hit) and Grinderfists (basically they're their own Warpgrinders), and the former two also come with an extra wound for each model. Missile weapons instead offer stuff like Ratling Cannons, Windlaunchers (same +1 to hit and "can shoot at units they can't see" as Globadiers) or Warpfire Gauntlets (take a guess). Powerful and versatile, think deeply what role you want them to play in your army.

Moulder

Named Characters

• Throt the Unclean: Can recover up to 3 wounds each turn via inflicting them to nearby allies, allows a Moulder unit within 13" to attack twice in the same turn and haves the Packmaster ability of doubling the Bravery of every Moulder unit within 6" for Battleshock tests. He haves the other Packmaster ability too, but it gives +3 on run and charge rolls rather than +1. He also gives -1 to the enemy unit's Bravery if he killed a model in that unit with his whip, while the Creature Killer deals d6 wounds rather than d3 against monsters.

• Packmaster Skweel Gnawtooth: It allows you to take either a Rat Ogre or a Giant Rats unit and give it the ability to reroll 1 on either save or hit rolls. It haves the Packmaster abilities as seen above.

Heroes

• Packmaster: We just said everything in the above paragraphs, but here it is again: every Moulder unit within 6" from him double their Bravery for Battleshock tests, and each turn one of them also gets +1 to their run, charge and hit rolls. Can also take a Wolf Rat, dealing a mortal wound to an enemy unit within 3" on a 5+ during your Hero Phase.

Troops

• Giant Rats: They start by dealing an attack each that hits and wounds at 5+. But if they're at least 10, they hit at 4+. If they're 20, each one deals 2 attacks hitting at 3+. You've got 30+ rats? Nice, each one will deal 3 attacks and hit at 2+.
• Rat Ogres: Any 6 to wound gives you an extra attack. Also everyone can get a warpfire gun, which sadly haves a normal attack profile instead of the usual mortal wounds every other warpfire missile weapon inflicts.
• Hell Pit Abomination: Regenerates d3 wounds each turn and gives -1 to casting rolls at every non-chaotic wizard within 12". And the table for regenerating is still here, except that now the "summon Rat Swarms" point is replaced with "deals d3 mortal wounds to everyone within 3" before he's actually dead".
• Rat Swarms: Nothing to say, except that the unit gains an extra model each turn.
• Brood Horror (Forge World): This is a massive fucking rat. Fangs are decent, claws issue randomized hits, and it recovers d3 wounds as long as it hurt something in the last turn. Not much else to say.
• Wolf Rats (Forge World): They're fast, but they are flimsy. They get +1 to hit if they charge (Making it almost guaranteed to hit) and offset their disappointing 4 Bravery with the ability to resist Battleshock if they're nearby enemies.

Pestilens

Named Characters

• Lord Skrolk/Plague Priest with Plague Flail: Rather than casting spells, now Plague Priests just pray against enemy units, either by damaging them or by giving +1 to wound rolls against that unit. On Skrolk, the former prayer is stronger, always dealing d6 mortal wounds (1 against Nurgle units). Skrolk also gets an extra attack when charging and boosts a Pestilens unit within 13" by giving -1 to hit rolls against it.

Heroes

• Verminlord Corruptor: Of the Verminlords, the Corruptor is by far the worst in melee, but makes up for it by being able to cast twice like the Warpseer. His unique spell is somewhat meh, being basically the Grey Seer's Vermintide but with a chance of jumping from unit to unit. His command ability gives an extra attack to every model in a Skaven unit within 18", which makes your Plague Monks even deadlier and more importantly, targets Skaven in general, so no matter how you mix your Skaven, he helps all of them. But remember very well that he is no powerhouse, 10 attacks and rerolls To Hit notwithstanding.
• Plague Priest: Your standard issue Priest. He has the same single 4+/3+/-1/D3 melee knock that any other support hero gets, but with an extra attack on the charge because Pestilens. His prayer are great too, giving either a bonus To Wound for an enemy unit or tossing out the same Breath Attack the Sigmarine Dracoth gets.
• Plague Furnace: It's a Plague Priest on a huge censer-thing. The movement is dealt the same way as the one from the Screaming Bell seen above, while also being able to wound surrounding units in several ways. The Plague Priest on it gets different prayers, boosting Pestilens units either by giving them the same effects as the Death Frenzy spell or by allowing them to reroll wounds. It also gives +1 Bravery to every Pestilens unit within 5". It's a centerpiece. It will pack a punch thanks to the Censer, but it needs Plague Monks to push it around and pushing stuff around and not charging is something Plague Monks with their awful survivability really don't like to do. On the other hand, the Monks do very much like those tasty tasty buffs.

Troops

• Plague Monks: Basic Pestilens troop, their main shtick is that they can have two different sets of equipment for the unit, two different sets of equipment for the champion, two different standards and two different musicians, giving you tons of flexibility - in theory. You can arm them with two foetid blades (an average of 0,75 damages per model or 1,12 when they charge) or with one foetid blade and a woe-stave (an average of 0,66 damages per model or 0,91 when they charge). This difference is compensated by the extra range of the woe-stave, so is basically the same when you have a big unit to cover for the second rank attacks. Another use of the Woe Stave is that it counts as a separate melee weapon, so buffs that add 1 attack to every weapon are doubly effective on units with Stave. Their leader make the unit better at wounding enemies (reroll 1 to wound) or damage the units around, though both are one use only abilities. The Standards can either inflict mortal wounds while they attack or when they die and the musicians can either give you a chance for better Rend or slow enemy charges. No matter which one you pick, they are extremely fragile with no save whatsoever (meaning even Mystic Shield can't protect them) but deal impressive damage if they make it to combat.

A nice and risky combo could be plague scroll, contagion banner and bale chime: in this way you can reroll to wound of 1, and every 6 to wound is -1 rend and it has a little chance of do 1 mortal damage.

• Plague Censer Bearer: Get an extra attack when charging, deal a mortal wound to every non-Nurgle unit within 3" on a 4+ and can reroll hits and Battleshocks if they're within 13" from a Plague Monk unit. Basically, Censer Bearers on their own are nigh useless, but with proper support, they are even deadlier wound-per-wound than Plague Monks.
• Plagueclaw Catapult: It's an indirect firing war machine. You know those. They have nice range and can stand waaay back. Just don't shoot it at other Nurgle units and they do just fine.

Eshin

Named Characters

• Deathmaster Snikch: Basically an improved assassin. His ranged weapon deal an average of 1 damage and his melee weapon deal an average of 4,4 damages at -1 rend.

Heroes

• Verminlord Deceiver: Your best choice for your Eshin general. His Doomstar deals d3 wounds that become d6 if it targets a unit with 10+ models, and opponent attacks in Shooting phase get -2 to their hit rolls against him. Gets Skitterleap as his exclusive spell, allowing him to warp any other hero within 13" in any other point on the battlefield that is not within 6" from any enemy unit. His command ability allows Eshin units within 13" to reroll wounds.
• Skaven Assassin: Here is the hero killer. His ranged weapon (almost useless at the beginning of the game, since you want it well hidden in one of your units) deal an average of 0,5 damage. As melee weapon you can choose weeping blades (average of 2,66 damages at -1 rend) or fighting claws (average of 2,58 damages).

Troops

• Night Runners: Standard Eshin troop. With an average of 0,41 damages per model (with a necessary -2 rend boost) they sit at the bottom of the Eshin food chain. Take at least 20, if you can also 30: you NEED the rend bonus.
• Gutter Runners: Exactly the double of the Night Runners. The average 1 damage per model make them your first choice against light armor numerous units.

Formations

Verminus Clawpack: A Warlord, 3 units of Clanrats, one of Stormvermin, and 3 Weapon Teams of your choice. The Warlord's command ability works on every unit in the formation at the same time, Weapon teams can pass their wounds on Clanrats on a 4+, and every unit gets +2 every 10 models rather than +1 on their Battleshock tests.

Moulder Clawpack: 6 Packmasters with 2 units of Rat Ogres, 2 of Giant Rats and a Hell Pit Abomination. Everyone in the formation gives -1 Bravery to opponent units after they wounded them, and everyone except Packmasters can reroll 1 to wound.

Pestilent Clawpack: A Plague Furnace, a Plague Priest and 3 units of Plague Monks. Everyone in the formation deals double wounds on a 6 to wound, and also you can take a scenery that is within 13" from at least two units from the formation as the unit's nest: units from the formation automatically pass Battleshock tests inside it, while other non-Nurgle units have to roll a dice if they begin the turn in that terrain: on a 2+ they're save, otherwise they suffer d3 mortal wounds.

Eshin Clawpack: This formation gives you 1 Assassin, 3 units of Night Runners and 1 unit of Gutter Runners. The special rules make the units faster (always good) and better at wounding smaller units. The minimum is 38 wounds, but it needs at lest 60 to be used well (2 units of 10 and 1 unit of 30 Night Runners, 1 unit of 5 Gutter Runners to chase the smaller enemy units and 1 Assassin maybe hidden in one of the smaller Night Runners units. Your general should be the Nightleader of the bigger unit). If you have 90 points a good combo could be add 1 Verminlord Deceiver and 9 Night Runners to every of the smaller units.

Clan Skryre: THE COHORT OF DOOM. Seriously, this is a formation made of smaller formations. First, you need Ikit Claw (or an Arch-Warlock, how they call it now). Then, you have to add at least two of this formations (known as Enginecovens) along:

• Whyrlblade Treshik: A Warlock Engineer, 1-3 Stormfiends, 1-3 Doomwheels and 1-5 Doomflayers. In every Hero Phase a Doomwheel or Doomflayer within 13" from the Warlock Engineer can move 2d6" before the actual Movement Phase, but if you get a double the model suffers d3 mortal wounds.
• Arkhspark Voltik: A Warlock Engineer and 1-3 Warp Lightning Cannons. In every Hero Phase a Warp Lightning Cannon within 13" from the Warlock Engineer can shoot, but after that you roll a dice: on a 4+ you're safe, otherwise the Cannon suffers d6 mortal wounds.
• Gascloud Chokelung: A Warlock Engineer, 1-3 Stormfiends, 2-5 Globadiers and 1-3 Poisoned Wind Mortar team. In every Hero Phase you choose a Poisoned Wind Mortar or a Globadier unit within 13" from the Warlock Engineer and roll a dice: on a 2+ you can deal d6 mortal wounds to an unit within its range, but if you get a 1 that unit suffers d3 mortal wounds.
• Rattlegauge Warplock: A Warlock Engineer, 1-3 Stormfiends, 1-3 Jezzails and 1-5 Ratlings. In every Hero Phase a Ratling or Jezzail unit within 13" from the Warlock Engineer can shoot, but it suffers d3 mortal wounds right after that.
• Gautfyre Scorch: A Warlock Engineer, 1-3 Stormfiends, 1-5 Warpfire Throwers and 1-5 Warp-Grinders. The Warp-Grinders bring the entire Enginecoven underground as for its usual ability, except you don't have to roll to make them emerge on the battlefield and the emerging units can be placed within 3" from enemy units, albeit they will suffer d6 mortal wounds in the process.
• Arch-Warlock: What about him? Well, he can reroll a single dice every turn, or choose a Warlock Engineer and give the reroll to any unit in his Enginecoven.

Army Building

Eshin Assault:

- 1 verminlord deceiver

- 1 skaven assassin

- 1 skaven assassin

- 29 night runners

- 9 gutter runners

The tactic here is simple. Hide the two assassins, keep everything near the verminlord and charge asap. Use the gutter runners for fast small units killing deploying them as infiltrators.

Sick-sick die-fast:

- 1 plague furnace

- 1 plague priest

- 37 plague monks armed with foetid blade and woe-stave, with plague scroll, contagion banner and bale-chime.

- 1 plagueclaw catapult

The big unit is necessary since with no save for the plague monks, they are gonna die by the dozens. Send them and the plague furnace (your general) in melee. Keep them within 13" from the plague priest to use his prayers too. Keep the priest and the catapult in the rearguard. The key to this combo is to buff the plague monks unit at max. Done in the right way (aka all the equipments in the unit, and the "wither" and "bless with filth prayers") you will have a plague monks unit with bravery of 6 that can deal per every model on charge (on the first line) an average of 1,24 damages, 0,49 damages at -1 rend and 0,08 mortal wound with a grand total of 1,81 damages per wound: basically a glass cannon and the killiest unit in game.

External links

Rules are here [1]