Verminlord

YOU MESS-MESS WITH THE WRONG-BAD NEIGHBORHOOD FUCKER-THING!

Verminlords (or Vermin Lords, the spelling has gone back and forth) are a Greater Daemon variant from Warhammer Fantasy and later Age of Sigmar. Unlike most Greater Daemons, Verminlords do not belong to the Daemon armies but rather the Skaven and represent the Horned Rat (later Great Horned Rat once he took Slaanesh's place in the Big Four), and so far comprise the only shown daemons of that god.

Lore

Unlike the other Chaos Gods, either because he is weaker or because Games Workshop never bothered with expanding on the idea, the Horned Rat has only a single breed of Daemon, the Greater Daemon/Daemon Prince-like entities known as Verminlords.

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  The first Verminlord model.

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  The "Exalted Verminlord" Forgeworld variant, later known as the Warpgnaw Verminlord.

These guys were first introduced in 4th edition, where it was stated they are believed to be the reincarnated spirits of deceased Lords of Decay. Verminlords are feared even by the backstabbiest Skaven, to the point that even the most insane and egocentric of Grey Seers will not consider summoning one lightly (they tend to immediately impose their will on the surrounding ratfolk, killing and consuming a great deal and fucking up the local plotting). They are the embodiment of all the unpleasant qualities of the Skaven all rolled up into one, although most will embody one aspect over the others. Some of them are true Daemons brought into existence by their "father's" thoughts. Others are Skaven heroes who made such on impression on the horned rat that he decided to raise them to Daemonhood. Note to those wanting to buy something other than a Corruptor; they use the exact same kit.

Until End Times there was only one variant of Verminlord, but the death of Fantasy gave them a revamp by splitting them into four variants in White Dwarf #49. Oddly, three of the four are shitty rat-themed imitations of the themes of other of Chaos Gods. The resemblance is so strong that we're not even going to tell you which is which, because we trust you to be able to figure it out. Only the backstabby Verminlord Deceivers are not obviously themed the same flavor as one of the original Chaos Gods, and seem to be most strongly aligned with the Skaven themselves, leaving Slaanesh without a pathetic Skaven greater daemon impostor. This is very strange brilliant as Slaanesh becomes an elf sex toy in Age of Sigmar and is replaced by the Rat.

They also have a named character called Skreech Verminking. Now followed by Kratterklaw and Skewerax in AoS.

Verminlord Corruptors

Also known as Pestilent Reapers and the Cullers of Civilization. The least sneaky and impressive, representing the disease portfolio and representing the Pestilent Brotherhood Skaven Clans. Like the Plague Monks they are fearless and painless spreaders of misery. They cause plagues with a thought, are surrounded by parasites, and when they encounter an enemy not already dead from their presence they use weapons called Plaguereapers to cut them to pieces and leave to rot. They also use a spear, and have spellcasting ability. In Age of Sigmar, they actively seek to destroy all aspects of the Horned Rat that isn't the disease god worshipped by Pestilens, and thus hate every other Verminlord type for embodying different aspects of their god. The named Corruptor is Vermalanx the Poxlord- Verminlord of Clan Pestilen. Nurgle does approve of these toxic muthafuckas.

A Corruptor.

Verminlord Deceivers

Called Lords of Assassins and The Shadows That Kill. Representing the sneaky Skaven Clans, they use trickery and madness to cause complex schemes. When they intend to assassinate they teleport within the frame of a second to throw throwing stars that entirely behead their enemies, teleporting in to redirect them until one long motion leaves a headless army (which is likely exaggeration because otherwise that would happen fucking constantly and there'd be no need for anything else in the GHR's armies). When they get into melee they use the Warpstiletto, a dagger the size of a human which delivers a venom so powerful it can kill anything regardless of its size (which, again, is a bit ridiculous). The named Deceiver is Lurklox - Master of Deception and Verminlord of Clan Eshin.

A Deceiver.

Verminlord Warbringers

Also called Tyrants of Battle and the Great Stabber-slicers. Representing the warlord Clans, they are pompous and act as if they are gods despite being the most common form of Verminlord. When they appear they do so theatrically, using light and smoke while striking poses and speaking in booming voices to announce their intent. Not surprisingly the warrior Skaven types idolize them, each seeking to emulate them. Predictably they are more blustery than actually delivering on threats, preferring to lead from behind while surrounded by the common Stormvermin like a lone warlord surrounded by ordinary rats. For a weapon they simply carry a spear and a simple Spike-fist. The named Warbringer is Kreeskuttle- Verminlord of the Warlord Clans.

A Warbringer.

Verminlord Warpseers

Called Lords Of Black Lightning and Great Manipulators. Basically just mini-Tzeentches, with the same ALLACCORDINGTOPLAN multitrack plotting that every similar character has. Representing the Grey Seers, they are the most powerful wizards among the Verminlords and carry a spear along with their Scry-orbs, magical spheres which show them all potential futures. They can throw these as a weapon, giving every vision to those who breathe in the fumes it releases and causing madness as a result. The named Warpseer is Soothgnawer- Verminlord of Clan Scruten. Warpseers are in turn wielded by gloating Bloodthirsters who grab them by their ridiculous horns and drag them around while these magic rats cry magic rat tears.

A Warpseer.

Warpgnaw Verminlord

A Verminlord type exclusive to Age of Sigmar, the Warpgnaw Verminlord is able to create Gnawholes, interdimensional tunnels through which the Skaven travel the realms, and they claim they were the first to teach the Skaven how to use them. They have spent so much time inside these gnawholes that they have gone out of sync with reality, giving them a chance to have enemy weapons phase through them. When the servants of the Horned Rat swarm, it is often these abominations that take the lead. They wield polearms called gnaw-glaives. They resemble the closest to the classical Verminlord model.

A Warpgnaw.

Crunch

Warhammer Fantasy

My horns-horns are absolutely fabulous-fabulous!

When they debuted in the 4th edition Skaven army book, having not been present in the 3e Warhammer Armies splatbook where the Skaven debuted, Vermin Lords were simple creatures; costing 600 points, they had Movement 8, Weapon Skill 8, Ballistic Skill 8, Strength 8, Toughness 7, Wounds 7, Initiative 10, Attacks 8 and Leadership 10. They couldn't, however, take any gear apart from their signature Doom Glaive, a magic weapon that causes D3 Wounds on a hit. They had the special rules Greater Daemon (4+ daemonic aura save) and Cause Terror, and were level 4 Magic Users who could use all spells from the Skaven spell deck, including those normally restricted to Grey Seers. They were considered "Characters" under the rules of this edition.

Like the Skaven themselves, Vermin Lords technically didn't appear in 5th edition, as there was no Skaven army book released for that edition. Instead, they were stuck waiting for Ravening Hordes, the "get you by" book that sat on the cusp of 5th and 6th edition. In this iteration, their stats were Movement 8, Weapon Skill 8, Ballistic Skill 0, Strength 6, Toughness 6, Wounds 6, Initiative 10, Attacks 6 and Leadership 10. They were Large Targets, Caused Terror, and were Daemons. They had the spellcasting abilities of Level 4 Wizards, had a 4+ Armor Save, and wielded Doom Glaves, which were magic weapons that caused D3 Wounds on a hit. They couldn't take extra magic items, join the unit, or be the army's general. This iteration cost 475 points and used up a Lord slot and a Hero slot.

As with most of the Skaven "characters", Vermin Lords didn't make it into the 6th edition Skaven army book - instead, you had to either wait for them to make it into Citadel Journal, or look them up on GW's website of the edition. This iteration of the Vermin Lord is almost identical to its Ravening Hordes counterpart, save for dropping 1 Leadership (so from Ld 10 to Ld 9). It's a 0-1 character that takes up a Lord, Hero and Rare army slot, costs 650 points, and has the following special rules:

Daemonic (Instability, 5+ Daemonic Aura)

Immune to Psychology

Cause Terror

Stands Alone: A Vermin Lord can't join units.

Horned Rat Incarnate: A Vermin Lord must be your Army's General if taken, and all friendly Skaven units with a model within 6" of a Vermin Lord are Immune to Psychology.

Doom Glaive: A Vermin Lord's attacks ignore armor saves.

Spellcaster: A Vermin Lord is a Level 4 Wizard who uses the Skaven Magic spell list, though it has no Warpstone Tokens.

After this, Vermin Lords disappeared from all subsequent Skaven Army Books, only returning as part of The End Times.

8.5 Verminlords all cost 500 points and have Movement 8, Weapon Skill 8, Ballistic Skill 8, Strength 6, Toughness 6, Wounds 6, Initiative 10, Attacks 5 and Leadership 8. The exception is the Warbringer, who costs 550 points and has Attacks 6. They share the following special rules:

• Immune to Psychology
• Large Target
• Scurry Away!
• Terror
• "Horned Rat's Blessing": This unnamed rule means that all Verminlords are 4th level Wizards who can generate any combination of three spells from either or both of the Skaven Spells of Ruin and Plague. Their fourth spell is chosen automatically for them based on what kind of Verminlord they are.
• Daemonic Attacks: All attacks this model makes, including Stomp, count as magical.
• Protection of the Horned Rat: 5+ Ward Save.
• Rat-Daemon: Verminlords count as daemons for any special rules, abilities, weapons, spells and so on that affect Daemons. They may never be the army's General.

Verminlord Corruptors have the special rules Frenzy and Plaguemaster (Plague is automatic spell, can re-roll failed casting rolls when casting Plague), and wields the Plaguereapers (Magic Paired Melee Weapons, Always Strikes First).

Verminlord Deceivers have the special rules Shrouded in Darkness (enemy units suffer an additional -1 penalty when making shooting attacks against the Verminlord) and Shadowstrider (Skitterleap is automatic spell, can re-roll failed casting rolls of Skitterleap, can cast Skitterleap on itself). It has the magic weapons Warp Stiletto (Magic Melee Weapon, Armor Piercing and Poisoned Attacks) and Doomstar (Magic Ranged Weapon, Range 12", Strength User, Arcing Death [may make as many shots as the number of models in the front rank of the target unit that are in range], Poisoned Attacks, Quick to Fire).

Verminlord Warbringers have the Verminous Fury (Death Frenzy is automatic spell, can re-roll failed casting rolls when trying to cast Death Frenzy) special rule and wields the Doom Glaive and Punch-dagger (Magic Paired Melee Weapons, Killing Blow, Multiple Wounds D3).

Verminlord Warpseers have the Master of Lightning (Warp Lightning is automatic spell, can re-roll failed casting rolls of Warp Lightning, always counts as rolling a 6 for number of hits inflicted with Warp Lightning) special rule. It wields a Doom Glaive (Magic Melee Weapon, Multiple Wounds D3). It carries the Scry-orb (Enchanted Item, +1 to Ward Save, can sacrifice the item and thus the ward bonus to make a once-per-game attack that forces D6 models under the small round template within 12" + scatter to pass Initiative or be destroyed automatically).

Age of Sigmar

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