New Skaven Book Read!

[Munkey]

Hi guys,

Finally got my hands on the new skaven army book last night. Was able to have a read of it. Looks like they have done a nice job with the book with lots of good looking fluff and background material.

The rumours weren't 100% accurate. No hidden weapons teams leaping out when charged. They simply set up within 3" of the parent unit and get a 4+ ward save + parent units leadership bonus. There is also no unbreakable rule for large units of clanrats.

There are a possible 4 weapon teams, yes 4. There is also a weapon team that allows units to tunnel! There are 4 rare choices, inc a plague catapult!

The magic list are very interesting. Be wary of Pestilence themed lists, Lord Skolk allows Plague monks to be core, as they are based around reducing your toughness with magic. Alot of the pesticlence weaponry forces you to make toughness tested or die! no armour! SO if your toughness has been reduced = you die easier. Lord Skolk seems to be able to point at a unit each turn and make them each take a toughness test or die.

It looks like all the Skaven weapons using template affect all models toughed by the template, no more partial hits!

Oh and at a certain number points Headtaker is going to be a popular choice, with his 7 strength 4 attacks giving no armour save! look out units of knights!

 

[The Dark Sheep]

It is great that you want to share the news with us Munkey. It does indeed look like it's going to be a great book and I'm damned tempted to pick up this new army. This might belong in one of the other Skaven rumour threads on the page though.

Now on to something serious: GW considers posting points on the internet a violation of their IP, and the last thing we want is them coming after us (and in a worst case scenario, sue us), so would you please edit the post and replace the exact points cost with something appropriate?

Thanks - TDS

 

[Sibbechai]

Pestilence seems to have a lot of nice options for sure, such a shame I never liked them..
I'm pretty certain I'll start a small army (some 500-700pts should be plenty of paintwork already). Something Clan Mors based probably, red colourscheme (as most of my armies have, or at least partially) and based around clanrats and a bunch of stormvermin.
That template stuff is very interesting, seeing how that could very well become a new 8th ed rule.

 

[doombunny666]

How many books left before 8th ed anyone keeping track

I count

Bretts
Woodies
Khemri
Ogres

 

[Nepenthe]

and Beasts of Chaos

 

[Shadowsmage]

I heard that Ogres and Brets were going to be left alone, as their armies are fine. I read someplace that beasts of Chaos are next.

 

[SantiagoX]

Headtaker is going to be a popular choice, with his 7 strength 4 attacks giving no armour save!

Wow Queek has 7 attacks?
And is it true that Skrolk's Staff of Corruption ignores even ward save?

Anyway, almost confirmed rumors said that Beast of Chaos is definitely next and Tomb Kings is the most likely to follow.

 

[Gaz Taylor]

Anyway, almost confirmed rumors said that Beast of Chaos is definitely next and Tomb Kings is the most likely to follow.

Beasts are out around Feb and I don't have a clue what is next.

I had a look at the Skaven book last night and I was a little disapointed as the book 'felt' very simular to the last book. I have no doubt that they have some nasty tricks but as a release I'm not finding them that exciting apart from the new plastics and character sets.

 

[Reincus]

The feel of the skaven will be the same. Their shooting is toned down, so they need to take more of it to get the same effectiveness, but they have more shooting options so keep variety. You'll see more rat ogres on the table, they don't suck nearly as bad with frenzy at a small points decrease.

The rat ogre mount for the warlord gives the otherwise lackluster Warlord some really nice combat potential.

The model that will be the talk of the town is the Hellpit Abomination. That thing is crazy. It has random movement like a spawn, pick a direction and roll 3D6. That means it can charge 360 degress. It does impact hits at str 6, and has a random attack table that range from 1D6 or 2D6 attacks, or 2D6 auto hits and some initiative checks that if failed cause more hits. Stubborn at leadership 8 and with regen, this will be quite a brute.

A skaven friend of mine was playtesting some of the new rules against dwarves, they work pretty well. Lots of options for a variety of effective lists. Their characters (not including special characters) are pretty tame and boring, and we didn't see any crazy item combos from our quick glance of the book.

 

[doombunny666]

Bretts fine ha!

doombunny 666, posting points values and statlines of models are in violation of GW intellectual property rights and are not allowed on Carpe Noctem. The offending material has been removed, so please refrain from violating the rules again.
~Vekky

 

[wuffingas saxon]

Yup doombunny. I have played brets and play OKs to say these do not need an update is absurd but - hohum, roll on 8th ed!

 

[Azakael]

I heard that Ogres and Brets were going to be left alone, as their armies are fine. I read someplace that beasts of Chaos are next.

Beasts of Chaos is next, I've heard as well.

Brets being fine? Sure, if you consider that their army still has completely useless magic items left over from 6th edition. (Sacrament of the Lady anyone?) Granted, aside from that they can still win battles. Just the newer books have some really sick things that the Bretts don't.

As for OK... not really sure. I haven't really looked at their army too much. No one in my area even plays them. Still, I don't want to see them 40K Fantasy by going one or more editions before some armies see their book.

 

[Onikaigo]

Ogres really need an update. Their army is the most limited out of Core choices in the game, forcing you to build either a Horde 'O Bulls, or a smaller Horde 'O Ironguts. Their Bruiser is useless, and the Slaughtermaster I have -never- seen fielded is underpowered. The Tyrant is a beast, yes, but the general mainstay of the Ogres is the Charge.

how many hits do you get with WS 3? Not enough to break half of the enemies out there.

OK's really, -really- need a new book.

 

[Zephyr]

This Skaven books is seriously terrible! I still have to paint two units of Skeletons and a big block of Grave Guard before my VC are all done but the new Skaven are drawing me in as well...must...finish...VC...first. I always played pure clan Skryre and with all the new added goodies (Poison Wind Mortar hell yeah!) my list will just become more exciting (and more prone to exploding).
I don't care if it's a list that's not that powerful compared to those that mix Moulder/Pestilens, I play Skaven for complete lulz.
The only gripe I have is the loss of the Lead from the Back rule and the fact that Life is Cheap no longer applies to all units but only slaves. Apart from that it is an excellent book and the fluff is also very welcome; I already knew all the background but for new players to Skaven it's really nice as the last book really lacked good background.

As for coming updates I heard Beats and Brettonia but geez how about Ogre Kingdoms and Tomb Kings?! They are seriously in need of an update.

 

[Trevy the Great]

Beasts of Chaos are being released in March, after the revamp of the Tyranid book (argh!) in February. After that nothing is certain, but rumors indicate that it will either be Necrons or Blood Angels. I haven't heard anything about Brettonians, but I think Ogre Kingdoms and Tomb Kings really need a leg up.

Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to play against the new Skaven list yet. There is a guy in my club who plays Skaven but he is slow to build up his army. I'm hoping I'll get a few games in nevertheless.