Skaven
Skaven are neither rats nor human but a vile combination of
the two races. The origins of the Skaven are not known for
certain. It is likely they were mutated at the dawn of the Age
of Chaos when powerful waves of magic swamped the world.
Millions of tons of magically energised material were hurled
over the planet in the form of meteorites. Some of these were
huge boulders as big as a house but most were much smaller
down to the finest particles of dust that fell to earth and polluted
the ground with magical energy. Creatures that breathed the
dust or strayed within the radiating power of the larger stones
became mutated into the most horrible monsters. The Skaven
may well have mutated from ordinary vermin as a result of
consuming this corrupting material - or ‘warpstone‘ as they call
it. Even today the Skaven crave warpstone. Even minute traces
of warpstone would kill most creatures but for Skaven it is a
potent stimulant and one that confers great powers upon their
sorcerers. It also destroys and mutates Skaven and drives them
insane - but such is its hold over the whole race that they delve
for it beneath the earth wherever it may be found.
Like ordinary rats Skaven abhor the daylight and avoid open places. They dig tunnels beneath the earth, often taking over old Dwarf mines and Goblin burrows. Though few suspect their presence they live below the cities of men in the sewers and cellars and amongst ruins, emerging only at night to prey upon vagrants and other unfortunates. Over the centuries the Skaven have constructed thousands of miles of tunnels and huge city-sized nests so that the whole planet is riddled with their workings. Even the mines of the Dwarfs are undermined by the underworld of the Skaven and the two races have fought many battles beneath the earth.
The Skaven thrive upon decay and corruption but their society is highly stratified from the highest Lords of Decay to the most lowly Skaven slaves. They live as large extended groups called Clans of which there are a great many. The most powerful Clans rule the rest and they in turn are ruled over by the Council of Thirteen whose members are the dreaded Lords of Decay. It is this council that directs the Skaven‘s attempts to overthrow the races of the Overworld. The ordinary Clans are made up of many thousands of Skaven warriors and slaves and very little else but some Clans have developed special skills. These include Clan Pestilens whose rulers have developed a form of germ warfare, spreading pestilence and corruption by means of noxious vapours and poisons.
Clan Eshin is the master of subterfuge whose agents scuttle over the rooftops of human cities on their secret missions of sabotage and intelligence gathering. Clan Moulder‘s sorcerers have become the masters of mutating magic and have created many vile monsters by feeding them warpstone - their most successful creations are the Rat Ogres - gigantic Skaven monstrosities many times the size of an ordinary Skaven. Clan Skryre is famed for its machineries that blend sorcery and an advanced science far beyond the understanding of mere humans. Most powerful of all are the Grey Seers the supreme sorcerers of the Skaven Race.
Skaven army selector
| Troop | Type | Attacks | Hits | Armour | Command | Unit size | Points per unit | Min/max | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clanrats |
Infantry |
3 |
3 |
6+ |
- |
3 |
40 |
2/- |
- |
Stormvermin |
Infantry |
3 |
3 |
5+ |
- |
3 |
55 |
-/2 |
- |
Jezzails |
Infantry |
3/1 |
3 |
6+ |
- |
3 |
70 |
-/2 |
*1 |
Plague Monks |
Infantry |
5 |
3 |
- |
- |
3 |
70 |
-/2 |
*2 |
Rat Swarms |
Infantry |
2 |
3 |
- |
- |
3 |
25 |
2/- |
*3 |
Gutter Runners |
Infantry |
3/1 |
3 |
6+ |
- |
3 |
60 |
-/2 |
*4 |
Rat Ogres |
Infantry |
4 |
4 |
5+ |
- |
3 |
110 |
-/2 |
- |
Warp Lightning Cannon |
Artillery |
1/3 |
2 |
- |
- |
2 |
60 |
-/1 |
*5 |
Doom Wheel |
Machine |
5 |
4 |
4+ |
- |
1 |
125 |
-/1 |
*6 |
Screaming Bell |
Machine |
- |
4 |
4+ |
- |
1 |
125 |
0–1 |
*8 |
|
|||||||||
Grey Seer |
General |
+1 |
- |
- |
9 |
1 |
130 |
1 |
*7 |
Hero |
Hero |
+1 |
- |
- |
8 |
1 |
70 |
-/2 |
- |
Warlock |
Wizard |
+0 |
- |
- |
6 |
1 |
30 |
-/1 |
- |
Special rules
Army rules
- Strength in Numbers
-
Brigades may be of any size and are not restricted to the normal four unit maximum.
- Vermintide
-
Skaven units that win a round of combat can choose to pursue retreating enemy units regardless of troop type. Any Skaven units (including artillery) can pursue any enemy units (including flyers, cavalry and chariots). Although allowed to pursue regardless of enemy troop type, Skaven are still constrained by terrain and fortified status the same as other armies – e.g. they cannot pursue if fortified.
- Under the Lash
-
All Skaven characters have a Command range of 20cm whether General, Heroes or Wizards. Even Skaven Generals have a Command range of 20cm. Skaven are very good at directing their underlings - but only so long as they remain close at hand. We call it ‘under the lash‘.
Special rules
- 1. Jezzails
-
Count enemy armour values as one worse than normal when shot by a jezzail. So, for example, an armour value of 3+ counts as 4+, 5+ counts as 6+, and 6+ can‘t save against a jezzail.
- 2. Plague Monks
-
A unit of Plague Monks will always use its initiative to charge an enemy if possible and can‘t be given orders instead. They will never use their initiative to evade. They can‘t be driven back by shooting and never roll for drive backs. If victorious in combat they must pursue or advance where possible.
Plague Monks are unaffected by enemies that cause terror in combat, they do not suffer the usual -1 Attack modifier.
- 3. Rat Swarms
-
Rat Swarms cannot be driven back by shooting and do not roll for drive backs. A Rat Swarm stand cannot be supported by other kinds of infantry - only by other Ratswarm stands. Note, however, that Rat Swarms can support other kinds of infantry as normal. A Rat Swarm cannot be given magic items.
- 4. Gutter Runners
-
Gutter Runners are armed with throwing stars and darts, and are therefore allowed to shoot as if they had bows, but their range is reduced to 15cm and have 360° vision - stands in this unit can draw line of sight from all edges for the purpose of evading and shooting, including shooting at charging enemies. Note that this unit still needs Line of Sight from it‘s front edge to charge an enemy.
In addition, Gutter Runners do not have to be deployed before the game if the player does not wish to do so. Instead individual units can be infiltrated onto the battlefield once the game has begun. To infiltrate a unit, the Skaven player nominates the point where he wants the Gutter Runners to appear and issues an ‘infiltration‘ order from any character. The character does not have to be within his normal command range to issue an infiltration order - the character‘s command range is considered to extend over the entire tabletop when issuing an infiltration order. Treat the order as issued to the nominated point, and apply any modifiers for distance and proximity of enemy, but ignore penalties for dense terrain. The nominated point must lie either on the table within dense terrain or on any base edge other than the enemy player‘s own table edge. If successful, place one stand on the nominated spot and arrange the rest of the unit into formation around it. The infiltrated unit cannot be placed so that it touches an enemy unit. Once deployed, orders can be given to the unit by the same character that gave the infiltration order.
Skaven characters may ignore the Under the Lash rule when issuing orders to Gutter Runners. Treat the character as having the normal command range for their type. The infiltrating unit is considered to have used its first order to deploy. If the infiltration order is failed the unit is not deployed and cannot infiltrate that turn, it can attempt to infiltrate in a subsequent turn at the same or a different place.
Gutter Runners don‘t suffer -1 Command penalty for Dense Terrain.
- 5. Warp Lightning Cannon
-
The Warp Lightning Cannon has a range of 40cm and follows all the normal rules for artillery, but they can move up to 20cm. Half pace move is 10cm. When making a shooting attack, any roll of double 1s to hit will cause the Warp Lightning Cannon unit to become confused. This includes stand and shoot attacks.
- 6. Doom Wheel
-
When the Doom Wheel charges against targets in the open it receives D6 bonus Attacks in addition to the normal +1 Attack for charging. Note that this bonus applies only when charging - not during pursuits, advances and not when the Doom Wheel is charged itself. Doom Wheel has a move of 20cm and causes terror.
- 7. Grey Seer
-
The Grey Seer is the army‘s General and can use Skaven magic in the same manner as a Warlock and can be given a magic item restricted to either a General or a Wizard.
- 8. Screaming Bell
-
A Screaming Bell is a gargantuan device and therefore it uses a 40 x 60mm base, with the short edge being the front. It cannot move of its own accord - but relies upon the great mass of Skaven to push it forward. The Screaming Bell can therefore only move in the Command phase if it forms a brigade with one or more infantry units. It can then move 20cm at infantry pace. It cannot move using initiative and cannot be driven back by shooting and does not roll for drive backs. In combat it is automatically destroyed if forced to retreat but will pursue, advance and fall back so long as it is touching a Skaven infantry unit at the start and end of its move: otherwise it cannot pursue, advance or fall back as it is unable to move of its own accord. All Skaven units touching the Screaming Bell are unaffected by the usual penalty for Terror whilst they remain so. In addition, any Skaven Hero or Warlock within 30cm of the Screaming Bell adds +1 to their Command value. Any enemy character within 30cm of the Screaming Bell deducts -1 from their Command value. A Skaven army can only ever include a maximum of 1 Screaming Bell no matter how large.
- 9. Rat Ogre Bodyguard
-
The Grey Seer, Heroes and Warlocks can have a Rat Ogre Bodyguard.A character with a bodyguard adds +1 to his Attacks.
Skaven spells
Wither
4+ to cast Range 30cm
Chanting a vile curse, the caster inflicts a wasting, shrinking sickness on the enemy.
This spell can be cast upon an enemy unit that is engaged in combat and which is within range. The Wizard does not have to be able to see the target to cast the spell. The spell lasts for the duration of the following Combat phase. Every stand in the unit, including characters that have joined the unit, deducts -1 from its Attacks value.
Warp Lightning
5+ to cast Range 30cm
An arc of pure warp energy strikes the foe wreaking strange changes, melting flesh and twisting bone into monstrous forms.
This spell can be cast on an enemy unit. The Wizard must be able to see his target to use this spell. The spell cannot be directed at a unit engaged in combat.
Warp Lightning is treated like three ordinary shooting attacks except that armour has no effect (all targets count as having no armour). A unit can be driven back by Warp Lightning as with ordinary shooting.
Death Frenzy
5+ to cast Range 30cm
The Skaven screams a blasphemous litany to the Horned Rat driving the Skaven masses into a frenzy of warpdust fuelled destruction.
This spell can be cast upon a friendly unit that is engaged in combat and which is within range. The Wizard does not have to be able to see the target to cast the spell.
The effect lasts for the duration of the following combat phase and the indicated bonus attacks are added to the unit‘s total attacks each round.
The unit gains bonus Death Frenzy attacks for the following combat phase. To determine the number of bonus attacks roll one D6 at a time and add the results together. The player can roll as many D6 as he wishes up to a maximum of 1 per stand in the unit. The player always rolls one dice at a time and can decide to stop at any point. However - if the player rolls a second or subsequent dice and scores the same value as any previously rolled dice, then the total Death Frenzy attacks are directed against the targeted unit instead of its enemy. Death Frenzy attacks that rebound in this way are struck only once in the first round of combat: they are not struck each round.
Example, 1 + 4 + 6 = 11 extra attacks for the Skaven unit each round. 1+4+1 = 6 Attacks upon the Skaven unit in the first round.
Plague
6+ to cast Range 30cm
A swirling could of virulence envelopes the enemy troops causing their bodies to erupt in pustules, their skins to split apart with running sores, their joints to swell with buboes and their hair to crawl with lice and fleas.
This spell can be cast on any unengaged enemy unit within range regardless of whether the Wizard can see it or not. The spell cannot be cast on a unit engaged in combat.
The unit suffers six attacks worked out in the usual way. A unit cannot be driven back by Plague (the vile Plague erupts from within!).
