Skaven warband composition

[elkaoss]

This is My second game, I did half a campaign a while ago with the Mercenaries. But know I am trying the rats...

My doubt is about warband composition. So far (Warband level 7, all characters rank 2-4) I have:

- 2 leaders, I try to keep them both at the same level and develop them similarly, so they are interchangeable.
- 2 Black rats, for damage dealing.
- 1 Night runner, ranged.
- 1 Sorcerer, as caster/shooter and ogre rat nanny.
- 1 Ogre rat.

If I choose the Ogre rat, my choices are limited: I have to bring the sorcerer for guidance and a black rat. If I bring the night runner I fear I'll be lacking in melee. When I leave the ogre rat out I have four heroes, no substitutes.

- I definitely need someone trained with guidance. Should it be the night runner or one of the leaders? Maybe one of the henchmen?
- For additional heroes, should I get a third black rat or another night runner, maybe more melee-oriented?

I try to keep all my heroes at the same level, I don't like depending too much on a particular character.

As for the henchmen:

- I have 3 warpguards, I'm planning on going with the parry route: heavy armour, shield specialist, flash parry?...
- I also keep a verminkin. My idea is to have him as a supporting unit: warp poison + shurikens and guidance, so I have a backup nanny, should the sorcerer not be available.

For the moment I'm no playing the a full size warband, I find it easier to keep control of the fight. But sooner than later I'll have to expand. 1-2 additional warpguards, but do I need a second verminkin?

Your thoughts are wellcomed!

[Paranoia]

Sorcerer with Rat Ogre is often optimal because Sorcerer's Curse rips out enemy Armour and lowers their Dodge for Daredevil to work better.
In Vanilla Mordheim, Assassin is a tad to the weaker side, so a Sorcerer Leader is also an option.

That said, at least some Henchmen with high Initiative would do good to have Guidance for when the Sorcerer is busy elsewhere.

As long as you have at least one or two Dodge Tanks so you can hold Daemons (especially for Story Missions) and Cult Characters in place this composition of yours should work fine.

[elkaoss]

Thanks!

I had not thought of making the sorcerer a leader.... Interesting.

[Reaver79]

In vanilla that seemed to be the very popular idea for rats :)
All factions have an alternative leader, for some it is worth it.

[Bloodscape]

For Skaven, the sorcerer is the best leader, in general. It would help if the assassin wasn't so capped on the different builds due to stats.

[Harald the Heretic]

Make sure to hire atleast one poison globedir, they are the only ones who can heal. I tend to end up with two because they cant heal themselves. ^^ And making the henchman type who can wear heavy armor to a hero is nice, this way you get a good tanky hero. In general skaven are focused around mobility so spending points there allows you to outrun the enemy and determ the location of a fight.

[elkaoss]

I'm playing without dlc, so no globardier for me... :-(

[Harald the Heretic]

When you have some money to spend, the globedir and the vampire faction are totally worth it.
The globedir uses fumes not magic so the aoe healing works all the time. In normal missions it doesnt really matter but if you plan a longer campaign including the story missions i highly recommend him. ;)
Another thing unique to skaven: Due to thier high mobility it is easy to loot almost every crate/enemy and when a character inventory is full run him back to your cart, unload and repeat. Having 1 or 2 henchman dedicated just for looting is a nice way to get the good stuff back to your base. i usually use the new ones for that task because they arnt very useful for fighting anyway.

[elkaoss]

I have a personal issue with dlcs... If they bring new mechanics, additional content, ok. But when they just unlock new characters or factions I feel like I have to pay twice for the same game.

[Bloodscape]

Originally posted by elkaoss:

I have a personal issue with dlcs... If they bring new mechanics, additional content, ok. But when they just unlock new characters or factions I feel like I have to pay twice for the same game.

Except you do get to fight them. I would gladly pay for chaos dwarf, greenskins, beastmen, choas carnival, dark elf, and hired swords, etc. Seeing them as opponents would also be cool.

[elkaoss]

Now I have them as opponents, but can not use them. I take it as an extra difficulty level... ;-)

[Qurik]

Skaven warbands are my favorite. I enjoy the build below because it centers on the leader (promoted sorcerer) and if that leader falls, the warband will crumble quickly but with the sorcerer alive, the warband is a meat grinder.

_Leader_
Sorcerer with support spells and abilities such as Gaze, Wither, and Curse as well as Guidance and Hold Ground.

_Heroes_
Globadiers are my range support characters. Their range shots are deadly and they have their globes for support. They can heal, provide area denial, and are durable if caught in melee.

Rat Ogre is a beast with the right support. He /does/ slow down the warband a little bit but when he gets into the fight, he chews through whatever needs to die first.

Alternatively, 1-2 decked out black skaven can reach massive charge damage with haldberds. Also very fun but I found it leaves the sorcerer more vulnerable.

_Henchmen_
Warpguards are my go to. At max level they play just like stormvermin. I go parry with heavy armor as soon as possible. Halberds are low levels are phenomenal and at later levels I give 1-2 a sword and board setup. These tanks can keep character tied up for several turns including enemy impressives while waiting for the DPS to show up.

Verminkin can be used for fun. I have tried out range support which works well but damage is very low and a fun ambush and dodge tank build which is really neat, can do a lot of damage, but can be difficult to position well. The ambush build is best used defensively to cover your flanks to protect the sorcerer. They also make for good item/wyrdstone runners.

Overall I enjoy playing this build. Very fun, synergistic. It plays the way skaven should, balled up and ganging up on their enemies. Vulnerable if their leader falls but while the leader is alive they are a wrecking ball.

[Zzappruder]

My 2 cents:
Take 1 Verminkin with Warp Poison Basic and 1 PWG with Warp Poison Master (or a Night Runner). Give them shurikens and Quick Reload. Together they will incapacite your enemies. The Rat Ogre can be build as a glass cannon, because without red dots, nobody can hit him.
Doesn't work on Vampires, Thralls and Zombies, though.