Age of Sigmar – How to Play Skaven
Today we check out the basics of Age of Sigmar’s Skaven and how to play the verminous hordes.
Buried beneath the Realms, in a plane all their own called the Under-Empire, the Skaven Ratmen plot and scheme to bring about the downfall of all creatures on the surface. Here’s a quick and dirty breakdown of how to play the…well, quick and dirty ratmen.
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What Are Skaven?
The Skaven are an insidious, malevolent race of humanoid rat-men and one of the most prolific races in the Mortal Realms. They follow an irregular cycle: they fight amongst themselves, expand their Under-Empire, multiply their population, and surge to the surface to unleash sudden havoc. Eventually, the Skaven weaken, often due to the violent treachery of the clans, and skulk back to their lair. They are decay and entropy made manifest.
Why Play Skaven?
The Skaven bring a ton of creative flexibility in the form of their Great Clans. Whether you favor unstable magic, unstable Steampunk-style engineering, drowning your enemies in hordes of bodies, or condemning them to the slow death of disease, the Skaven have something for you.
Strengths
- Massive Hordes of troops
- Varied playstyles that give you tons of options- monsters, artillery, wizards, and priests!
- One of the most rewarding warmachines in the game if you’re willing to take a risk
- Rewarding and dynamic army building rules with many potential combinations
Weaknesses
- Skaven require a lot of finesse and are NOT beginner-friendly
- Your best weapons are as likely to explode as they are to work
- I hope you like batch painting- there can be a lot of models
Signature Rules
Battle Traits
- The Lurking Vermintide/ Gnawhole Ambush– Allows reserve deployment and the ability to deploy those units out of your Gnawholes.
- Splinters of the Vermindoom– If you have less then three Gnawholes at the start of the round, set one up on the battlefield.
- Too Quick to Hit-hit– Skaven suffer no damage for Retreating.
- Always Three Clawsteps Ahead– once per turn Enemy Hero phase move for any non-monsters.
Battle Formations
- Warpcog Convocation– buff three Skryre units (with the chance of hurting themselves, of course) with prototypes.
- Fleshmeld Menagerie– buff three Moulder units (with the chance of hurting themselves, of course) with prized creations.
- Virulent Procession– three Pestilens units get an end of turn pile-in and a chance to deal mortal wounds.
- Claw-Horde– three Verminus units get plus one Rend on the charge.
Heroic Traits
- Scurry Away– has a chance to Retreat in any Combat phase
- Short-tempered– an aura of run/charge buff.
- Skilled Manipulator– a 4+ Ward to pass wounds onto a friendly unit.
Artefacts
- Foulhide– Heal(D3) at the end on any turn.
- Warpstone Charm– reduce the save rolls of an enemy unit in combat
- Skavenbrew– once per battle give a unit plus one attack and deal them D3 mortal wounds.
Skaven Key Units
The Skaventide are varied, and it is hard to choose units that are key to every list. However there are at least a good starting point for a Skaven army.
Vizzik Skour
The Prophet of the Horned Rat is a massive Verminlord and new supreme gouda of the Skaven Empire. An amazing level two Priest, Vizzik can form the linchpin of a line.
Thanquol on Boneripper
The big cheese himself- this unit is everything wrapped into one. It’s a giant monster! It’s four weapon teams! It is a Wizard! What isn’t it!?
Clawlord
This rat will make your already scary rat guys even more powerful, and he’s no slouch himself. He has a bucket of damage two attacks with -1 Rend, which is already pretty good, but if he is damaged, he gets even more attacks he gets as he gets more and more frantic.
Stormvermin
The heavy infantry of the Verminus line, Stormvermin are strong for little guys. They get 3 attacks each that hit on a 3+, wound on a 4+, and deal 1 damage with -1 Rend. They also give nearby friendly Heroes a Ward save.
Clanrats
Affordable unit and a decent screen. Never expect much from Clanrats and you will never be disappointed by them.
Grey Seer on Screaming Bell
A massive holy relic ridden by a crazed rat sorcerer! It helps that this guy is a powerhouse in terms of fighting, casting, and support. They can either be catastrophic or phenomenal, ranging from the bell damaging itself to summoning a Verminlord (at the cost of its life).
Warp Lightning Cannon
This is one of the most iconic Skaven pieces, and for good reason. The Warp Lightning Cannon is one of the most powerful Warmachines available to the Skaven, and can devastate even the most heavily armored units. It spews out Mortal Wounds, but has a high chance of damaging itself for its most potent shots.
Deathmaster
The Deathmaster is one of the enigmatic, assassin heroes of Clan Eshin. The Deathmaster is able to use anti-hero specialty to actuate its namesake.
Stormfiends
The hellish fusion of creation of both Clans Moulder and Skryre, the Stormfiends strap a lot of guns and a lot of meat. The best ‘hammer’ unit you have, and a good one at that!
Brood Terror
The Brood Terror is a big Moulder monster, filling a niche between Rat Ogors and the Hellpit Abomination. Like Stormfiends or Boneripper, the Brood Terror sports a big gun.
Doom Flayers
Doom Flayers are a manic Skryre war engine, which go whirring across the battlefield on feet of blades. They excel at slamming into lines of armoured infantry.
Sample Army
Faction: Skaven
– Battle Formation: Warpcog Convocation
Regiment 1
- Warlock Bombardier- Short-tempered
- Doomwheel
- Doomwheel
- Doomwheel
- Doomwheel
Regiment 2
- Warlock Bombardier- Warpstone Charm
- Doomwheel
- Doomwheel
Regiment 3
- Warlock Bombardier
- Doomwheel
- Doomwheel
Regiment 4
- Warlock Bombardier
- Doomwheel
- Doomwheel
How to Play Skaven
Skaven reward risk and sacrifice, going for broke even with disastrous consequences. This means always overcharge your weapons, throw your units into battle, and overwhelm your enemy with your dead until they are buried in bodies. When things inevitably go wrong, laugh it off, and when they go devilishly right, laugh maniacally. Basically, play this army like the furry mad scientist you are and take every failure as just another cog in your grand plan.
For The Horned Rat!
