Let me begin by quoting Sun Tzu's Art of War, for even though this is a game, it is a game

about warfare and certain things in war are always true.  Know your enemy:

"So it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a

hundred battles; if you do not know others but know yourself, you win one and lose one;

if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."

Read your enemy's army book.  Know his weaknesses.  Know your own strengths and weaknesses.  

I cannot do this for you and if you do not take this step on your own, there is little I can teach you.  

The next step of course is to develop a strategy and plan an army list based on it. Again, quoting Sun Tzu,

"it is said that victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to

war first and then seek to win."

Or as my fencing coach used to say (and I'm sure we've all heard this before) "failing to plan is

planning to fail."  With this in mind, lets look at our army book.

Ratskateer Role-call!

With average troops across the board you may be wondering how you can actually win

with a Skaven army.  Most beginners assume that the answer lies in using Rat Ogres and

Stormvermin.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Rat Ogres, with their lack of armour save

and inability to boost their strength by using double handed weapons are really little better that basic

Rank and File ("RnF").  Their toughness of 5 will not save them from the pounding that war

machines will give them and will not permit them to stand toe to toe with real monsters.  And they

cost an amazing number of points to field in an army that must have large numbers of troops to win.  

Stormvermin present a similar problem.  They can be boosted to Strength 5 with Halberds

(you don't want to strike last with toughness 3 and only one wound), but their expense makes it

difficult to field a reasonably large unit to take advantage of the rank bonus rules.  I do use both

Rat Ogres and Stormvermin, but not as main units.  A few Rat Ogres makes a good diversion

or can protect a flank, while a unit of stormvermin can sometimes be justified for their magic standard alone.

However, for main units, nine times out of ten I fall back on the old reliable Clanrat.  This is as it

was meant to be.  At 4.5 points they are dirt cheap (and since they cost under 5 points can get

their equipment for half price, so you get light armour and a shield for a total of only 6 points).  

This makes it easy to field them in big units (by Skaven standards this means 30 or more miniatures

in at least 6 ranks), gaining the full rank bonus.  A standard bearer and musician will only cost

12 points each, so you shouldn't even be thinking about not having these guys along.

Clanrat units can contain up to 2 assassins, so to the extent that RnF are in base to base (BtB)

contact they can be swapped out for assassins who fight well against anything (Assassins,

at 30 points each, carry weeping blades which are technically worth 50 points in the hands of

a character).  The rest of the actual fighting rank will most likely be characters anyway, so don't

mourn the pathetic stats of the clanrats.  Finally, every clanrat unit can have 2 poison wind

globodiers (PWG) and a warpfire thrower (WFT) attached to the unit.  The PWGs, with a 2"

diameter template and no armour save and the ability to wound on a 4+ are incredibly effective,

while a WFT is just plain nasty when it doesn't misfire.  Give the main clanrat unit a Warlord,

Grey Seer, Army Battle Standard, Chieftain and Champion and the right magic items tailored to

whatever foe you are facing (the above list has an unparalleled eleven magic item slots!) and

you can take on anything.

Plague Monks may seem like a better choice due to their toughness of 4 and frenzy ability,

but I would caution you against an over reliance on them.  Under the 5th edition rules of WHFB

it is all to easy to distract this frenzied unit into a series of fruitless charges while the rest of your

army is disrupted and exposed.  You must be in control of where your main unit is going and

when and where it is charging.  Thus, as attractive as frenzy might seem, I prefer getting hatred

for my Clanrats with Skavenbrew (and a warpstone charm re-roll if necessary).

Your army's main disadvantage is pathetic leadership.  Unless you field special characters

(and I rarely do), the best you can do is Ld 9 for your Warlord.  Luckily you get a +1 to leadership

for every point of rank bonus in your unit.  This is nice, but be familiar with the circumstances

under which this bonus can be lost!  If you are charged by a unit of 5 models on the side or rear

you will loose this all important bonus.  This loss of this +3 modifier will not only make it difficult

for your unit to win hand to hand (HtH) combat, but will knock its leadership down by 3 points as

well!  A break test will surely follow, and your defeat may not be far behind.  Also, the rank bonus

is lost if you loose HtH combat and your unit is lapped around by enemy models.  Therefore, to protect

yourself you need to do two things: 1) protect your flanks and 2) win combats!  Protecting your flanks

is an acquired skill, and I will present some ideas below.  Winning individual combats, while self evident,

is an imperative for your forces, since if they fail there is a very high probability that they will break.  

I will discuss this further on.

It is often said when discussing Skaven that due to the lack of ranged weapons the only real tactic

is to charge the whole mass forward.  This is only partly true.  Perhaps Chaos or Brettonia can

get by with a full on assault, but given the fragility of the Skaven army, I like to think of my Skaven

attack as coordinated, deliberate and mutually dependent advance.  Only my main unit (and perhaps

one other) will have any real offensive punch.   For these units I pick targets which I think I can

break and gain victory points, and I advance towards them.  The rest of the army is a redundant

system of flank protectors, missile screens and response units designed to smooth the flow of the

main fighting force in its quest for victory.

Surrounding the sides and rear of your main units with units of slaves, giant rats, rat swarms and the

like can foil your opponents attempts at attacking your flanks from the ground.  By presenting the

enemy with multiple layers of protection on your flanks, it will be difficult for him, during the span

of a 4 to 6 turn game, to make it all the way to your main units before they are engaged with his

main units.  Your deployment should be based around the following: 

A - Main units.  Clanrats and/or Plague Monks. These are your main attack force.  They get

maximum rank bonus, with ranks to spare.  They get a Standard bearer and Battle Banner

bonuses.  2 Assassins if possible.  Full character allotment with offensive magic weapons and

devices of protection.  A WFT may tag along, as well as attached PWGs.  Choose a Magic

Standard to boost HtH ability (Battle Banner, Banner of Defiance, Banner of Might, etc.).

B - Flank protection/supporting units.  More Clanrats, Slaves, Giant Rats or Plague Monks.  

Again, maximum rank bonus.  These units are your last line of defense.  They should have the ability

to withstand damage and not break, or at the very least deal out as much damage as they themselves

take so that the main units do not bear the full brunt of an enemy flank assault.  They should be

within 12" of general to take advantage of his leadership and within 12" of army standard for

that all important re-roll.  Consider the Black Gem of Gnar, Heart of Woe, Warpstone Amulet

or Crown of Command to make them more effective in combat.  A plague monk unit here is

often a good place for an extra magic banner, and its associated Censer Bearers can both provide

a missile screen and a powerful first strike.   If you use the Banner of Defiance in the main unit,

one of these supporting units will have to do the job of chasing down fleeing enemy units.

C- Defensive Flank support.  Rat Swarms, other types of swarms (note: insects ignore armour,

bats can fly), impassable terrain or allies if you must.  These units must be unbreakable and large

enough to withstand being charged for at least one turn.  Their main purpose is to hold up the

enemy.  They do not have to have much offensive capability.  3 or 4 rat swarms fill this need

perfectly, as they never break, are reasonable fast, are immune to psychology, are cheap, and

do not need to be within 12" of the general to work.  If you are moving your units tactically, these

are the first units that enemy attempting to outflank you will come into contact with.  Several layers of

defensive flank support is best.

d - Rapid response teams. Rat Ogres, Stormvermin, Harpies, PWGs, Doomwheels or, in a

pinch, Gutterrunners.  These guys attack any units engaged by your flank support, hopefully

tilting the balance into your favor in these secondary combats.   These units should pack a punch,

but not tie up valuable character points - hence your elite RnF fill this role nicely.

The chief threats to your army are as follows: 1)  ground based flankers 2) flyers and

3) magically moved troops.  I'll deal with each in turn.  

Ground Based Flankers:  This include such things as Kislev Horse Archers, Pistoliers, Outriders,

Wood Elf Glade Guard, Brettonian Squires, Chaos Centaurs and Flesh hounds, and Skeleton

Cavalry.  It also may include skirmishing infiltrators who, while not fast, can get behind your lines

to prevent you from march moving (troops within 8 inches at the start of your turn), and charge

your troops from the back or sides.  Generally these enemy units are not your main threat in HtH,

but rather strike you as you are entering combat in order to strip you of your rank and leadership

bonuses.  You must prevent this by attacking them first whenever possible and at the very least

maneuvering your flank defenders to meet them head on.

Flyers:  These represent another means by which your opponent may try to disrupt the advance

of your troops. Small units of flyers such as carrion, harpies and warhawks or a nasty character

on a monster can avoid your carefully planned defenses and either hold you up, making you a 

target for an enemy charge, or charge at the same time as you engage.  If you loose your rank

bonus in an assault by flyers, your chances of being successful with your main unit in HtH are

not good.  Consider Flyers of your own.  A unit or two of Harpies can engage enemy flyers

who Fly High, or can tip the balance once they engage you.  Better still, the Skaven Warpstorm

Scroll can kill off entire units of these annoyances if they are foolish enough to fly high.  If you

prefer to keep them on the ground, the Storm banner is just the thing.  This will force enemy

flyers to attack as ground units, where your multi-layered flank defense (as described above

should protect you in the usual way.

Magically Moved Troops:  While the appearance of Grey and Ice Wizards instantly moving units

into HtH will become rarer with the release of the 5th edition magic rules, magically moved troops

are still one of the main dangers for your units.  Hand of Gork is a particularly annoying spell.  I

suggest the following: 1) get you opponent to agree that a magically moved unit must charge in a

straight line towards its enemy (it is highly dubious under the rules to move a unit from in front of a

target unit into HtH with its rear - don't play with people who do this!). 2) Bring about 3 dispel

magic scrolls to every game (or at worst two and a Skull Staff). 3) Consider boosting dispels

with power cards from the Banner of Sorcery.  4) Consider that under 5th edition rules, to the

extent that a spell is used to effect a unit ina hostile manner, it may be dispelled by means of a

natural dispell roll (thus "Assault of Stone" may be stopped by an "Amulet of Fire" for example).

In this same way, I believe that a good case can be made that magically moved troops can be

prevented from charging a unit with a natural dispell if the 4+ roll is a success.  You should discuss

this with your local gaming group until such time as a ruling from GW is obtained.  5) Finally, place

your units close enough together so that a magically moved unit will contact one of your supporting flank

units before it gets engaged with your main unit.

Other things that can stop your advance: massed arrow fire and war machines.  For these,

I highly recommend screening troops (plague censer bearers work very well!) and extra ranks.  

The Ruby Chalice is nice if you can afford it, but the same 65 points will buy you an extra

10 clanrats or 26 slaves.  These can soak up the losses without dipping into charater points.  

As long as you have a full rank bonus you should survive a barrage of missiles or war machines,

even if you have to take a panic test.  Don't be afraid to knock his war machines out of action either.  

Gutterrunners, when properly equipped and in sufficient numbers, can take several war

machines out of action.  Harpies can also quickly engage enemy war machines or archers and

keep them from firing.  Finally, a skitterleaped assassin is more than a match for most war machine crew.

As the military strategist Clausewitz said "When absolute superiority is not attainable, you must

produce a relative one at the decisive point by making use of what you have."  He also said

"Keep the forces concentrated in an overpowering mass."  No doubt this guy was a rat at heart,

for nothing could be more true about Skaven strategy and tactics.

For your main unit, you should consider investing in weapons that wound automatically or

confer high strength bonuses.  These do not have to be magical.  Just giving every character

in the front rank of your main unit a flail and halberd will cost only between 12 and 15 points,

but will vastly improve their combat potential.  Remember also that while your troops are weak

you also will have plenty of points left over for magic items that other armies often must pass

up.  A mere Skaven Chieftain with a Deamon Slayer and Van Horstmann's Speculum, heavy

armour and a pistol costs a little over 2 hundred points, but can kill a 7 or 8 hundred point

Greater Deamon under the right circumstances.  By contrast, armies with 7 or 8 hundred point

greater deamons have a great deal of difficultly coming up with the points to properly equip

their characters.  Another killing machine is the Plague Priest - steal at 73 points.  Give him a

potion of Strength and a Blade of Leaping Gold.  If he is in a Plague Monk unit with a Banner

of Might so much the better. With Frenzy he will have WS 5, be +1 to hit with a Strength of 7

and 9 attacks!  His toughness of 5 should keep him alive for a while as well.

You may notice that the above example of a Skaven killing machine uses a Chieftain or Plague

Priest and not the Warlord.  This is because, in my humble option, the Skaven cannot risk using

their general offensively.  The survivability of the Skaven army should the general die is questionable.  

Therefore, I recommend a combination of protective devices for him. Since he is likely to be

challenged I have grown fond of the Black Amulet, Warpstone Armour combination with a

Crown of Command. This gives me two chances to rebound attacks (a 4+ for rebounding

wounds and another 4+ to rebound a Str 3 hit).  The Crown of Command's unmodified Ld of

10 was made to order for a Skaven Warlord, and with a flail I can hit back with Str 6.  This

character has killed more than his share of guys who were, on paper, much nastier and more

expensive.  Take my advice and let your assassins, chieftains, plauge priests and champions

do the dirty work of killing enemy RnF.  Don't forget that your Grey Seers also have great fighting

stats - just be careful how you risk their lives, as you need them to keep on top of the magic phase!

Attack in waves if possible. A first wave of Plague Censer Bearers for example can inflict massive

damage and ensure that your main unit gets to charge and strike first.   While your first wave is holding

up the enemy's main units and keeping them at bay, a few PWGs or a stream of Warpfire can

quickly reduce his rank bonus.  

Skaven magic is particularly offensive in nature and can do wonders to even up the odds in

HtH.  Again, I must stress learning your enemy's weaknesses.  Be well schooled in his troop

types, rules and stats to use your weapons with maximum effect.  Those Black Orcs or Dragon

Ogres may seem frightening, but if you know that they have pathetic initiative you will know that

the Skaven spell "Cracks Call" will really mess them up.  Wardancers or Chaos Armour may be

hard to deal with in HtH, but with toughness of 3 a Plague spell can be just the thing to wipe them

off the board.  And as tough and strong as a Monster or Giant may be, low leadership makes

these models juicy targets for "Madness".  

On a more cautionary note, never, ever, ever eat more than one piece of warpstone with your

main Grey Seer, and even then, only if he as an unused warpstone charm or his name happens

to be Thanquol.  You can take my word on this, or be prepared to scratch your own eyes out.

Finally, remember:  The grass always seems greener over your opponent's deployment zone!  

Never get discouraged.  I have learned far more from the battles that I have lost than from

those that I have won.  

Well, in the immortal words of Miracle Max  "bye, bye - have fun storming the castle!"

Copyright © Bob Lippman 1996