Warcry/Tactics/Skaven

Praise the Great Horned Rat. Rules writers allowed Skaven to descend upon the Eightpoints with lots of options for cheap chaff ready to die for your under-costed big hitters. Yes yes.

Faction Overview

Pros

• Extra Fast: While most qucik warbands have 5" movement, Skaven have a extra 1" over them.
• Veritility: has cheap rats to big bruts to brute with machineguns.

Abilities Overview

• [Double] Scurry Away: (Agile Units: Clan rats, Plague Rats, Gutter Runners, Pack Master, Giant Rats). A fighter can use this ability only if they are within 3" of an enemy fighter. Roll a dice. On a 4+, this fighter makes a bonus disengage action.
  • Fighter Commentary -

• [Double] Crack the Whip: Pack Master only on: Giant Rats and Rat Ogors. Pick a visible friendly fighter with the Beast runemark within 4" of this fighter. That fighter makes a bonus attack action that has a Range characteristic of 3 or less.
  • Fighter Commentary -
• [Double] Hired Bodyguard: non-leader Stormvermin only. Until the end of the battle round, friendly fighters with the Leader runemark cannot be targeted while they are within 1" of this fighter.
  • Fighter Commentary -

• [Triple] Crushing Charge: Rat Ogors and Stormfiends only. Until the end of this fighter's activation, the next time this fighter finishes a move action within 1" of an enemy fighter, pick a visible enemy fighter within 1" of this fighter. Allocate a number of damage points to that fighter equal to the value of this ability.
  • Fighter Commentary -

• [Triple] Lead from the Back: Leader only. Until the end of the battle round, add half the value of this ability (rounding up) to the Attacks characteristic of attack actions that have a Range characteristic of 3 or less made by other friendly fighters while they are within 3" of this fighter.
  • Fighter Commentary -

• [Quad] Recite from the Book of Woes: Bringer-of-the-Word only. Until the end of the battle round, enemy fighters cannot use abilities while they are within 3" of this fighter.
  • Fighter Commentary -

Fighter's Overview

Leader

Clanrat Clawleader

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 4; Wounds 16; 145 Pts.
  • Rule: Leader, Agile
  • Weapons:
    • Dagger-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 3; Damage 2/4
• Ability Commentary- For -5 points you loose the Quad Ability Recite from the Book of Woes.

Bringer-of-the-Word

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 4; Wounds 16; 150 Pts.
  • Rule: Leader, Agile, Priest
  • Weapons:
    • Dagger-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 3; Damage 2/4
• Ability Commentary- Stand out leader.

Stormvermin Fangleader

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 4; Wounds 20; 170 Pts.
  • Rule: Leader
  • Weapons:
    • Dagger-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 4; Damage 2/4
• Ability Commentary- For +20 points you loose the Quad Ability Recite from the Book of Woes, loose the Double Ability Scurry Away, gain 4w and 1 strength

Fighter

Clan Rats

A defining of Skaven, a base of 6" on a grunt is fast an even for other speed factions. 4 Toughness will let you hold objectives for a while but 8 Wounds get used up quickly.

Clanrat with Rusty Spear and Clanshield

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 4; Wounds 8; 75 Pts.
  • Rule: Agile
  • Weapons:
    • Spear-Range 2"; Attacks 2; Strength 3; Damage 1/4
• Ability Commentary- your standard 2" attack.

Clanrat with Rusty Blade and Clanshield

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 4; Wounds 8; 75 Pts.
  • Rule: Agile
  • Weapons:
    • Sword-Range 1"; Attacks 3; Strength 3; Damage 1/3
• Ability Commentary- Your standard 1" attack.

Plague Rats

For -5 Points you gain a 1 attack, gain 1 Damage on Crits and loose 1 Toughness compared to the equivalent clanrat. they are some of your cheapest offensive power, mix one in for every clanrat if not going Beast spam.

Plague Monk with Woe-Stave and Foetid Blade

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 3; Wounds 8; 70 Pts.
  • Rule: Agile
  • Weapons:
    • club-Range 2"; Attacks 3; Strength 3; Damage 1/5
• Ability Commentary-

Plague Monk with Pair of Foetid Blades

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 3; Wounds 8; 70 Pts.
  • Rule: Agile
  • Weapons:
    • Dagger-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 3; Damage 1/4
• Ability Commentary-

Stormvermin

Elite rats, They could be good to protect any leader with [Double] Hired Bodyguard. They do inflict more damage then clan rats, but 2 more wounds is not that much more durable.

Stormvermin with Halberd

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 4; Wounds 10; 105 Pts.
  • Rule: Elite
  • Weapons:
    • Spear-Range 2"; Attacks 3; Strength 3; Damage 2/4
• Ability Commentary-

Stormvermin with Halberd and Clanshield

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 5; Wounds 10; 115 Pts.
  • Rule: Elite
  • Weapons:
    • Spear-Range 2"; Attacks 2; Strength 3; Damage 2/4
• Ability Commentary-

Gutter Runners

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 3; Wounds 8; 75 Pts.
  • Rule: Agile
  • Weapons:
    • Sword-Range 1"; Attacks 3; Strength 3; Damage 1/3
    • Ranged-Range 8"; Attacks 2; Strength 3; Damage 1/2
• Ability Commentary- For the same points as a clan rat you gain a ranged 8" attack but loose 1 Toughness.

Packmaster

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 3; Wounds 8; 65 Pts.
  • Rule: Agile, Frenzied
  • Weapons:
    • Fangs-Range 1"; Attacks 3; Strength 3; Damage 1/3
    • Ranged-Range 3"; Attacks 3; Strength 3; Damage 1/2
• Ability Commentary- For -10 Points compared to the equivalent clanrat you gain a 3" attack profile, gain the Double ability Crack the Whip and loose 1 Toughness. They pair very well with Beasts.

Giant Rat

• Stats: Movement 8"; Toughness 2; Wounds 4; 35 Pts.
  • Rule: Agile, Beast
  • Weapons:
    • Sword-Range 1"; Attacks 3; Strength 3; Damage 1/3
• Ability Commentary- They are fast-moving beasts and the cheapest fighter in the game. You can steal the action economy by just spamming but their durability could hurt you, in the long run, depending on the mission. Can get a bonus attack from [Double] Crack the Whip but you should be saving those for your Rat Orgors when posable...

Rat Ogor

Rat Ogor with Tearing Claws

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 4; Wounds 30; 225 Pts.
  • Rule: Beast, Brute
  • Weapons:
    • Unarmed-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 4; Damage 4/8
• Ability Commentary- +1 attack action within 3", when within 4" of a Packmaster on a Double...

Rat Ogor with Warpfire Gun

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 4; Wounds 30; 235 Pts.
  • Rule: Beast, Brute
  • Weapons:
    • Ranged-Range 3-8"; Attacks 2; Strength 5; Damage 3/6
    • Unarmed-Range 1"; Attacks 2; Strength 4; Damage 4/8
• Ability Commentary- +10 points for +1 attack action within 3", when within 4" of a Packmaster on a Double... sacrifices 2 Attacks per action within 3" for an 3-8" attack Profile.

Stormfiend

The biggest of Rats, Toughness 5 and 35 wounds with a lot of profiles. but the pricing of 265Pts will mean its only practical to take one. So think about your Warband's needs.

Stormfiend with Warpfire Projectors'

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 5; Wounds 35; 265 Pts.
  • Rule: Brute
  • Weapons:
    • Ranged-Range 3-8"; Attacks 2; Strength 5; Damage 3/6
    • Unarmed-Range 1"; Attacks 2; Strength 4; Damage 4/8
• Ability Commentary- Spending +20 points on a Rattling cannon is a good idea.

Stormfiend with Shock Gauntlets

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 5; Wounds 35; 265 Pts.
  • Rule: Brute
  • Weapons:
    • Unarmed-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 4; Damage 4/10
• Ability Commentary- Less attacks than the Doomflayer Gauntlets... the extra 2 Damage on a crit hit do not make up for less attacks.

Stormfiend with Ratling Cannons

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 5; Wounds 35; 285 Pts.
  • Rule: Brute
  • Weapons:
    • Ranged-Range 3-10"; Attacks 4; Strength 4; Damage 2/4
    • Unarmed-Range 1"; Attacks 2; Strength 4; Damage 4/8
• Ability Commentary- The most expensive model for good reason.

Stormfiend with Grinderfists

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 5; Wounds 35; 265 Pts.
  • Rule: Brute
  • Weapons:
    • Unarmed-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 5; Damage 4/8
• Ability Commentary- Less attacks than the Doomflayer Gauntlets... But +1 Strength.

Stormfiend with Doomflayer Gauntlest

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 5; Wounds 35; 265 Pts.
  • Rule: Brute
  • Weapons:
    • Unarmed-Range 1"; Attacks 5; Strength 4; Damage 4/8
• Ability Commentary- Statistically more attacks is better than more strength unless fighting Stormcast and even then if they have shields its all the same in the end.

Stormfiend with Windlaunchers

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 5; Wounds 35; 265 Pts.
  • Rule: Brute
  • Weapons:
    • Ranged-Range 3-20"; Attacks 2; Strength 4; Damage 2/4
    • Unarmed-Range 1"; Attacks 2; Strength 4; Damage 4/8
• Ability Commentary- If there is no terrain on the table this could be worth the points....

General Tactics

The stand out leader is the Bringer-of-the-Word, the only leader to benefit from all the abilities and is points efficient.

The stand out Fighters are the Gutter Runner due to the ranged ability and points efficiency. The Plague Monks due to points efficiency, +1 attack and -5 points compaired to clan rats are a better choice. 1 attack is more statistically valuable than 1 toughness. The Stormvermin with Halbert could be good at protecting your leader but are expensive i feel the extra attack is more useful than the extra toughness of the shield.

If you are playing with a Pack master then the Rat Ogor with gun is very points efficient It has changed to 30w in the 26/02/2020 Errata. Giant rats are very points efficient but could easily give away win conditions dependent on kills.

Stormfiend with Rattling gun statistically performs the best but it is dependent on terrain and enemy movement speed. The Doomflayer Gauntlets and Windlaunchers perform better in CQC and high visibility low movement speed scenarios respectively. Your local meta will dictate what is most useful.

Example Builds

Starting list for all comers...

• Bringer-of-the-Word
• 5x Gutter runners
• 1x Plague rats (daggers)
• 1x Packmaster
• 1x Rat Ogor (ranged)
• 3x Giant rats