A friend of mine was over this past weekend. As we are both avid painters, but lacking as gamers recently, we decided to document a Skaven battle of "minimal" proportions! Yes, thats right, we both needed a small point total to accomadate our small but growing armies. As I don’t have near enough points to field an entire army painted as of yet, my friend Seb and I played a fantastic match at 1600 points. I learned several important lessons during the match, and had a great time throughout. It was pure Skaven mayhem! Enjoy.
Turn 1 (A)
Clan Green begins moving forward.
a) The doom-wheel moves 10” forward.
b) Rat ogres move/reform to face bard’s furnace.
c) Slaves move 5”.
d) All the clan rat units move forward.
Magic: 6 rolled on winds of magic.
Scorch is cast and hits Bards clan rats, destroying the weapon team and 3 clan rats!!! The valiant Skaven pass their leadership test, as the flames evaporated most of the sprayed musk before it affected the troops.
Warp-lightning cast and dispelled.
The mortar weapon attachment fires and misses at the large unit of clan-rats with spears, while the doom-wheel passes its leadership test and does not fire.
Turn 1 (B)
Clan Red begins moving forward.
a) The wheel bounds forward a full 8” (wow!) (grrr)
b) All the infantry blocks move forward about 8” to keep a solid front.
Magic: 7 on winds of magic.
Scorch is cast, and from a whopping 20 hits 8 rats burn into ashes! Take that Green general’s unit!
Plague is dispelled.
Engineer Rik-Rak uses his doom rocket and fires at the General’s unit, killing a further 8 models.
The catapult fires and causes 4 casualties, again at the generals unit. And finally after everything is accounted for, the Green general’s unit that includes an engineer and a standard bearer FLEE! The scorch wasn’t strong enough to burn off the musk being sprayed here!!
My Doom-wheel fires as it cannot pass its leadership test and fries 2 monks. (fried friar!)
*This was a great start for Clan Red! They had done some excellent damage to the Green forces before combat was even a possibility. And already, we were both cringing and hollering at the pure Skaven craziness that was happening on just the first turn! My favorite part had to be the success of my scorch spell in comparison to Seb’s less than stellar 3 kills!
Turn 2 (A)
Clan Green
a) The Lord’s unit is unable to rally and flees 8”.
b) The Rat Ogres in their frenzied state charge into the Monks and the plague furnace.
c) The wheel seeing a veritable mountain of skaven ahead and knowing it will be charged if it goes forward; turns 90 degrees and moves towards the center of the table.
d) Every other unit continues to move, headed for the center.
Magic: 14 on the winds of magic.
7 dice are used to cast scorch, and a 1 is rolled for damage.
The Death Globe is used, and it is thrown with devastating results. 7 skaven die!
The poisoned wind mortar fires blindly at Red’s spear rats, and misses. Because of the blind fire, the shot deviates double the roll. It hits an air current and floats majestically back…into the last Green character’s unit!! It wounds the engineer and kills 3 skaven clan rats!
The Rat Ogres Kill a massive number of monks on their charge (around 16)! The master moulder challenge is accepted by the priest, and the combat is on (The priest destroys the pack-master inflicting 2 wounds). The pestilence banner is used and this turns the combat on its head as on the return hit, the monks and the plague wrecking ball manage to decimate the rat ogres in return, killing 7 of the 8 rat ogres. As the smoke clears, the Rat Ogres begin running away only to be run down by the crazed Monks. The monks end their pursuit crashing into a unit of slaves.
Turn 2 (B)
Clan Red
a) Large spear unit charges
b) Smaller unit reforms to begin the long trip to the center
c) Doomwheel moves 10” forward
Magic: 8 rolled for winds of magic
Priest tries to cast plague, which is dispelled
Priest tries to cast Pestilent Breath on 2 dice (to be safe) I roll double six’s. An explosion occurs, killing 4 slaves and 4 monks, while also damaging the Priest.
The Doomwheel does not fire.
The catapult fires, its shot veers, and it lands on the Green clan mortar. It does no damage!
The two combats that are happening are quick and violent. The monks win decisively against the slave unit, forcing them to flee. There are 5 of them left, but the monks fail their pursuit, and end 1” away from the slaves.
The clan-rats with spears manage to win combat by 2, and pursue the green unit, missing by 2”.
As Rik-Rak stood panting with the unit he was with, he noticed the precarious position he now held. Ahead of him stood two units of clan rats that could rally at any moment, and to his right marched two untouched units and a Doomwheel.
Turn 3 (B)
Clan Red
The rats and Bard are getting a bit musky. Things have begun to look dire. Having gone from glee to gloom in the space of two turns! Hoe Skaven like of the reds!
Turn 4(B)
Clan Red
a) Clan rats reform to face the units in the center.
b) The plague Furnace is unable to move.
Turn 5(A)
Clan Green
a) Doomwheel plows into the back of the Plague-furnace.
b) Clan rats reform again.
Magic:
Scorch is cast, killing 5 clan rats.
Warp Lightning is cast killing the doomflayer.
Mortar misses as does the engineer’s musket shot.
Lastly the engineer uses his Doom-Rocket and hits causing 18 casualties.
Turn 5(B)
Clan Red
With no rats left to contest the green victory, the unit champion calls a retreat in order to announce the glorious near victory against the hated greenies
Looking back:
a) Characters: I need more of them. Period. Especially a battle standard bearer. My Engineer used Scorch to great effect, destroying close to his points worth. The general (priest) was highly effective, but I would not take the 16 point weapon again, as I managed to kill many of my own monks in the process of owning it.
b) My magic achieved a great deal for me. Plague and scorch were game savers. Without those two spells I did not really do a lot of damage.
c) The plague Banner: WOW! That thing let me take it to 8 rat ogres! It may be a one turn item, but even my opponent was awed by the effectiveness of this moldy piece of cloth.
I really enjoyed this battle, and hope to field a few more painted models in another match in the near future!
Bard
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| The glorious forces of Clan Red |
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| The evil rats of Clan Green |
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| A look from the side |
Turn 1 (A)
Clan Green begins moving forward.
a) The doom-wheel moves 10” forward.
b) Rat ogres move/reform to face bard’s furnace.
c) Slaves move 5”.
d) All the clan rat units move forward.
Magic: 6 rolled on winds of magic.
Scorch is cast and hits Bards clan rats, destroying the weapon team and 3 clan rats!!! The valiant Skaven pass their leadership test, as the flames evaporated most of the sprayed musk before it affected the troops.
Warp-lightning cast and dispelled.
The mortar weapon attachment fires and misses at the large unit of clan-rats with spears, while the doom-wheel passes its leadership test and does not fire.
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| Clan Green moves into position |
Turn 1 (B)
Clan Red begins moving forward.
a) The wheel bounds forward a full 8” (wow!) (grrr)
b) All the infantry blocks move forward about 8” to keep a solid front.
Magic: 7 on winds of magic.
Scorch is cast, and from a whopping 20 hits 8 rats burn into ashes! Take that Green general’s unit!
Plague is dispelled.
Engineer Rik-Rak uses his doom rocket and fires at the General’s unit, killing a further 8 models.
The catapult fires and causes 4 casualties, again at the generals unit. And finally after everything is accounted for, the Green general’s unit that includes an engineer and a standard bearer FLEE! The scorch wasn’t strong enough to burn off the musk being sprayed here!!
My Doom-wheel fires as it cannot pass its leadership test and fries 2 monks. (fried friar!)
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| Clan Red rolls forward in a massive wave |
*This was a great start for Clan Red! They had done some excellent damage to the Green forces before combat was even a possibility. And already, we were both cringing and hollering at the pure Skaven craziness that was happening on just the first turn! My favorite part had to be the success of my scorch spell in comparison to Seb’s less than stellar 3 kills!
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| The General's Unit fless to the EDGE of the table. |
Turn 2 (A)
Clan Green
a) The Lord’s unit is unable to rally and flees 8”.
b) The Rat Ogres in their frenzied state charge into the Monks and the plague furnace.
c) The wheel seeing a veritable mountain of skaven ahead and knowing it will be charged if it goes forward; turns 90 degrees and moves towards the center of the table.
d) Every other unit continues to move, headed for the center.
Magic: 14 on the winds of magic.
7 dice are used to cast scorch, and a 1 is rolled for damage.
The Death Globe is used, and it is thrown with devastating results. 7 skaven die!
The poisoned wind mortar fires blindly at Red’s spear rats, and misses. Because of the blind fire, the shot deviates double the roll. It hits an air current and floats majestically back…into the last Green character’s unit!! It wounds the engineer and kills 3 skaven clan rats!
The Rat Ogres Kill a massive number of monks on their charge (around 16)! The master moulder challenge is accepted by the priest, and the combat is on (The priest destroys the pack-master inflicting 2 wounds). The pestilence banner is used and this turns the combat on its head as on the return hit, the monks and the plague wrecking ball manage to decimate the rat ogres in return, killing 7 of the 8 rat ogres. As the smoke clears, the Rat Ogres begin running away only to be run down by the crazed Monks. The monks end their pursuit crashing into a unit of slaves.
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| The Frenzied Charge! |
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| The Frenzied Aftermath! |
Turn 2 (B)
Clan Red
a) Large spear unit charges
b) Smaller unit reforms to begin the long trip to the center
c) Doomwheel moves 10” forward
Magic: 8 rolled for winds of magic
Priest tries to cast plague, which is dispelled
Priest tries to cast Pestilent Breath on 2 dice (to be safe) I roll double six’s. An explosion occurs, killing 4 slaves and 4 monks, while also damaging the Priest.
The Doomwheel does not fire.
The catapult fires, its shot veers, and it lands on the Green clan mortar. It does no damage!
The two combats that are happening are quick and violent. The monks win decisively against the slave unit, forcing them to flee. There are 5 of them left, but the monks fail their pursuit, and end 1” away from the slaves.
The clan-rats with spears manage to win combat by 2, and pursue the green unit, missing by 2”.
As Rik-Rak stood panting with the unit he was with, he noticed the precarious position he now held. Ahead of him stood two units of clan rats that could rally at any moment, and to his right marched two untouched units and a Doomwheel.
Turn 3 (A)
Clan Green
A great cheer erupts from Seb and his green garbed rats. Both his units had passed their leadership and rallied!
a) Two units of clan rats rally
b) Clan-rats charge the red spear unit.
c) Doomwheel charges the red spear unit from behind.
Magic: The winds blow a meager 4.
Scorch manages to be cast and kills 2 monks. (They are now down to under 10 monks, and the furnace is having difficulty moving)
In the combat round, the large unit of red spears is punctured from all angles, needing snake eyes to stay in the fight. Sadly this is not to be and they flee the large unit of clan rats directly through the Doomwheel, killing the unit instantly.
This was the TSN turning point looking back. If neither of his units had rallied…If the other red unit was not off in the boonies and out of the fight. If the Red Doomwheel had had the chance to charge…IF IF IF.
Turn 3 (B)
Clan Red
The rats and Bard are getting a bit musky. Things have begun to look dire. Having gone from glee to gloom in the space of two turns! Hoe Skaven like of the reds!
a) Monks charge slaves (why won’t they just die?!?)
b) Clan rats move forward towards the middle of the table.
c) Doomwheel moves a stupendous 7” (All the green rats are laughing! Move damnit!)
Magic: Winds blow a mediocre 7.
The Priest looks to the sky and mutters a silent prayer to the horned rat, and casts Plague. It successfully goes off! But a buildup of magic has occurred, as two 6’s have been rolled. Plague hits the first green unit targeted, and does eleven damage. It then jumps to a second unit causing nine damage, and finally the priest explodes in a shower of green ichor.
In the shooting phase the Catapult fires, and rolls a direct hit on the targeted unit, and then as the second dice stops spinning, the catapult FALLS APART! A misfire!
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| MISFIRE! |
There is no combat, as the slaves are destroyed and the last clan rat unit is just getting to the center of the board.
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| Dead rats and a dead beer |
Turn 4(A)
Clan Green
a) Doomwheel charges Red’s Doomwheel.
b) Clan rats reposition and characters move to the other clan rat unit that has more Skaven.
Magic: Winds blow 7.
Warp Lightning is cast and hits the plague monks, killing a further 3.
The Doomwheel rolls its way through Red’s Doomwheel in a single turn.
Turn 4(B)
Clan Red
a) Clan rats reform to face the units in the center.
b) The plague Furnace is unable to move.
Turn 5(A)
Clan Green
a) Doomwheel plows into the back of the Plague-furnace.
b) Clan rats reform again.
Magic:
Scorch is cast, killing 5 clan rats.
Warp Lightning is cast killing the doomflayer.
Mortar misses as does the engineer’s musket shot.
Lastly the engineer uses his Doom-Rocket and hits causing 18 casualties.
Turn 5(B)
Clan Red
With no rats left to contest the green victory, the unit champion calls a retreat in order to announce the glorious near victory against the hated greenies
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| Clan Green Mortar Crew. Wanted dead by Clan Green |
Looking back:
a) Characters: I need more of them. Period. Especially a battle standard bearer. My Engineer used Scorch to great effect, destroying close to his points worth. The general (priest) was highly effective, but I would not take the 16 point weapon again, as I managed to kill many of my own monks in the process of owning it.
b) My magic achieved a great deal for me. Plague and scorch were game savers. Without those two spells I did not really do a lot of damage.
c) The plague Banner: WOW! That thing let me take it to 8 rat ogres! It may be a one turn item, but even my opponent was awed by the effectiveness of this moldy piece of cloth.
I really enjoyed this battle, and hope to field a few more painted models in another match in the near future!
Bard
Hey! How come there's like, NO COMMENTS!? This isn't exciting to anyone or something? At least Brad and I had fun, but we (that is, mostly Brad) spent a few hours into making a Battle Report so others could enjoy some Skaven madness. Anyhow, we're digging tunnels to each of your houses as I write, so don't be surprised if a Plague Monk suddenly shows up beside your bed! Muhahaha!
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