I’ve been ‘suffering’ from an abundance of fun ideas since Pete and Ian suggested this slow grow. Firstly, I wanted to narrow down my choices. For me, this meant ruling out a lot of the Forces of Fantasy. In my mind, most of them would probably put aside their differences with the Dawi and fight against Chaos sooner rather than later. I toyed with the idea of Wood Elves, though, who might just murder everyone, I already have a few painted but struggled a bit to make a fun (for everyone) army from the models I have.
I thought most of the Ravening Hordes factions may work and was quite drawn to Dark Elves and Chaos Dwarfs, so much so that I made lists for both.
I had pretty much committed to Chaos Dwarfs when there was a sudden betrayal……
Skaven….. I’ve got quite a few Skaven models and it’s one of the two armies I truly would have liked in my dim and distant youth, the other being my Empire project which is drawing towards its close. If you’re fairly new to Warhammer Fantasy, I do recommend a quick Google for Andy Chamber’s Skaven Army. This was what first drew me in so many generations of rat-people ago. Most importantly, though, I remembered that they’re my wife’s favourite.
So, I started rummaging in my pile of potential and seeing what I might do.
Building a 500-point list is tricky as you have so few points and so much to cover. With Skaven….. well, in a way it’s easier….. but not in a good way. You only have access to one of your character options until 1000 points, and you need these unavailable characters to unlock other options for units in your list.
So, I chose a Chieftan as my General. This verminous veteran will bring our boys victory….. or probably not, but you have to have a general.
It’s time to choose some core. Strictly I don’t have to take any clan rats as they’re 1+ per 1000 points, however, I think they’re iconic and I’ll want to start off with these and increase the unit size as we go. I’ve taken twenty and included full command and a Ratling Gun to support them. They’ll die to anything and run away at the drop of a hat, but with luck, the ratling gun will soften the enemy up.
Next, I looked at Specials…… and realised the only option I can take is Gutter Runners! This is probably the best unit I can take, and I splurged my points appropriately. They got an assassin leader, poison, and throwing weapons. With luck, they will be able to weaken some units and, using Scout and Skirmish, pick their fights. Unless their General bodges it…..
Then I looked at Rare, realised everything was locked, and went for a lie down.
After a fortifying cup of tea and a cheese sandwich, I realised this might be the time to play further into the traditional Skaven strengths and add more rats! I added a further unit of Clan Rats, again with full command and this time with a Warpfire thrower. I must confess, I think the Ratling Gun may be better, but I love the smell of Warpfire in the morning.
I added a halberd to my chieftan and have ended up with the following:
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Skaven Slow Grow [499 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Skaven
===
++ Characters [53 pts] ++
Skaven Chieftain [53 pts]
– Halberd
– Heavy armour
– Shield
– General
++ Core Units [354 pts] ++
20 Clanrats [182 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Light armour
– Shield
– Clawleader (champion)
– Standard bearer
– Musician
– 1x Weapon Team [Hand weapons + Ratling Gun + Light armour]
20 Clanrats [172 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Light armour
– Clawleader (champion)
– Standard bearer
– Musician
– 1x Weapon Team [Hand weapons + Warpfire Thrower + Light armour]
++ Special Units [92 pts] ++
5 Gutter Runners [92 pts]
– Two hand weapons
– Throwing weapons
– Poisoned Attacks
– Assassin
—
Created with “Old World Builder”
[https://old-world-builder.com]
I think a better list would probably have fewer Clanrats and more Gutter Runners. I like this list as a nice starter-for-ten, though, and think it’ll be a better base to build from than a smaller army with fewer clanrats and more specialists.
At 1k I’ll be looking to add a few characters (definitely a wizard and an Army Standard Bearer) and some more specialists, I think, but I will see how we go in the games!
In the meantime, look out for hobby updates and narrative for the army coming soon.
