Narkotic's Skaven Guide (long)

[JeffB]

Let me transplant my article from our local league:

Starting a skaven team

Assuming you begin in a brand new league according to standard LRB3 rules.

Live fast, die young, score lots of points. That’s skaven in a nutshell. Your advantages: tons of speed, low-cost players, access to mutations. Your disadvantage: very low armor.

2 Storm Vermin (180K gp)
Storm Vermin are the closest thing to heavy hitters on the skaven roster. Coming with block and decent (AV armor, they are the guys you want to use to knock other players down.

4 Gutter Runners (320K gp)
Gutter Runners are the reason why people play skaven. They’re the fastest players in the game, and the easiest to manufacture 1-turn scorers off of. I recommend starting with a full compliment of these guys and eschewing a thrower; the difference between picking up/passing the ball with AG 4 and Sure Hands/Pass is around 5%, and you’d rather develop these guys from day one than the redundant thrower.

5 Line Rats (250K gp)
Don’t bother naming your line rats. Don’t get too attached to them. They will die, hard and often. They’re there mainly to soak up punishment in place of your skill players and lay the occasional hit on the other team.

Apothecary (50K gp)
A necessity on any skaven team, I use this guy almost exclusively to prevent serious injury to my skill players. Many a rat coach has foolishly used his medic to heal a dead line rat, only to see himself robbed of a more important skill player later in the game.

2 Rerolls (120K gp)
This is the only weakness of this build recipe. Your first purchase, barring death or maiming of a player, should be a third reroll. After picking up a couple of extra line rats, return to buying rerolls until you feel comfortable with the number (usually 5 is sufficient). This also serves the purpose of keeping your team rating artificially low, possibly allowing you a few cheap handicaps.

8 Fan Factor (80K gp)
A high fan factor means you should get more money quicker. All other things being equal, try to seek out teams with higher FFs to play early, provided they aren’t significantly higher-ranked than your team. One mistake some people make with rats is assuming that because they’re cheap, you don’t need a high FF to replenish them. Trust me, you’ll always have plenty of ways to spend money.


Playing Skaven

Skaven play a wide-open offensive style, especially once they’ve acquired one-turn scorers. If you get into a hitting match with any team (except other skaven and possibly wood elves), you will lose. To that end, your strategies should be tailored toward getting to the ball and getting it in the end zone as soon as possible.

One of the most challenging aspects of running a skaven team is offense before you can score in one turn. My preferred offensive set is to look at your opponent’s defense and skew your run toward his weak side, like so:


IMAGE

The more desperate you are, the less you need to protect the weak side. Your goal should be to get your foremost Gutter Runner within easy running distance (9 squares or less) of the goal line, but still have him protected, like so:

IMAGE

Obviously, the actual setup will depend on the type of opponent you are playing. Against elves or another dodgy team, for example, you would rather have a rat to the top instead of tying up the player in the backfield. I call this tactic “the Funnel,” because that’s what it ideally should look like.

On defense, you should put the minimum at the line, spread out, and everyone else dispersed. Be sure to protect your Gutter Runners, since their 2 ST will make them a handy target.

Advancement

Your first purchases depend heavily on how your league unfolds. If it is bashy and/or you lose some rats, you must start purchasing replacements and backups. If not or once you are comfortable with depth, start sinking your cash into rerolls. Once you have 5 or 6 rerolls, you may want to pick up a Rat Ogre or some Throwers.

I make two of my GRs offensive and two defensive. One-turn scorers are the goal for my two offensive runners. To that end, I choose Sprint and Sure Feet with my first two skills, and hope for a movement bonus or doubles for Very Long Legs with the other. Catch and Side Step are nice to add after the fact. On defense, I try to make one of my GRs into a Dauntless/Horns monster; adding Leap also allows him to become a cage-breaker. The other becomes a pass defender.

The advancement of my Storm Vermin depend on the league. In a dodge-heavy league, Tackle is a necessity, while in more standard leagues, Mighty Blow lets you get SPPs a bit faster. Whichever you do not choose should be the third choice. Razor Sharp Claws would be my first choice for mutations for similar reasons to MB.

I’m indifferent at best toward throwers. They’re really nothing but paying 20K gp for Sure Hands and Pass on a line rat. If you have the cash to spare, by all means, purchase them, but they are most definitely a luxury. I’d advance them as a line rat, with the only differences being the possibility of adding Accurate as a skill and Strong Arm as a trait. Big Hand can also be of some use.

Line rats tend to die before they progress very far. Block and Tackle would seem to be the best choices for skills, while I’m partial to Foul Appearance, which interferes with passing games and increases the odds of them living slightly longer. As always, the first line rat to get a skill should get Kick, making it a bit easier for you to place the ball exactly where your rats can run in and snatch it up.

Rat Ogres were of limited usefulness under the old Wild Animal rules and haven’t gained much post-errata. In fact, once the Piling On change is factored in, ROs may even be weaker than before. Because of Frenzy, he’ll find himself isolated and outnumbered if you’re not very careful. If you feel a need for a RO, plunk him down in the middle of your line and have him start bashing away. Give him Block and then Tackle; if you get doubles, Stand Firm is crucial and Tentacles is nice.

[GalakStarscraper]

Bump so that I can move it.

Galak