Space skavens

[Miek]

Howdy,

 

I am very tempted to start a small (500 points) army of space skavens, and I am quite tempted by chaos demons in general. I think Nurgle would work quite well - rat swarms would be perfect for nurglings - and would appreciate some guidance. I plan on using the codex as is, simply replacing each model with skaven-inspired alternatives. Perhaps undivided chaos would be better as it would allow me to represent each of the great clans.

 

I'm not sure if I what I would use to explain their invul and resilience, but perhaps warpstone, pestilence, or something similar. Clan Pestilens obviously comes to mind but I don't have to stick to an existing clan; it's just inspiration.

 

One thing I noticed on Battlescribe was that troop choices for CD really seem to be optimized for large units. For 500 points, I would instead lean towards small units. Is this incompatible with CD, or can this work well enough for casual games? I'm absolutely not looking for competitive play (probably obvious considering the title) and would like to avoid having more than 1 of any unit.

 

Here's what I currently have in mind (inspiration):

 

1x Poxbringer (I'll probably go wild here, he should look as cool as possible; perhaps a plagueish verminking)

5x Nurgling (rat swarms)

10x Plaguebearers (plague monks)

5x Furies (probably some kind of deformed giant rats)

1x Soul Grinder (oh my, cyborg rat ogre comes to mind)

 

Would very much like to pick your brains on this; thoughts?

[Syrakul]

I have a chaos concept army (animal god) that uses rat,bat,wolf and werewolf themes, and used gargoyle wings on chaos warhounds. You could swap the heads into skaven heads to be perfect winged rats (bats?)

 

And the verminking is more tall daemon prince/LoC sized. At 500 pts you should stick with one god, but the different clans idea is great!

[Ulfast]

Sounds like a very cool idea. Go for it!

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Sounds like a good idea - if you are going to multi-god, you could achieve that through your paint pallet - so long as you make the units visually distinctive in a way that makes sense for what they are depicting, that should work.

 

As for your rat ogryn soul grinder, I don't think that would work as the two are drastically different in sign - a soul grinder has a foot print as large (or larger) than a land raider - the rat ogryn could be a demon prince, though.

[dice4thedicegod]

This should be cool! Clan pestilens for nurgle, skyre for Tzeentch, rictus for khorne? Which is the assassin one? Maybe slaanesh?

[Tokugawa]

Good idea on smaller models. On monster units you may find difficulties on persuading opponent player(and yourself) "this abomination is a (non-nurgle)greater daemon".

[Miek]

Oh with the help of 3d printing, I can give anything the size/footprint I want (or soul grinder's legs to a deformed rat ogre if I feel like it). But the comments are valid; I do want to keep the same base size and approximate heigh as the models' rules I am using.

 

There are many ways this could work, and imperial guard (or R&H) would be a good alternative if I wanted hordes of slaves/clanrats, but I think I'd like the CD's playstyle more.

 

I'm not sure how close to the original great clans I want to remain. I think I'll do a few test models of a few varieties and see how it feels (and share pics, obviously).

 

The intent would be to target a viable 500 points army in 2021, then we'll see. Maybe I'll pick up knitting or something if this damn plague drags on!

[Miek]

Here's a first concept (could work fine as the warlord, i.e.: poxbringer with corruption blade). Note that I simply remixed existing stuff; credit isn't mine:

[Syrakul]

What do you think is the best start for a soul grinder,  hell-pit abomination or boneripper?

 

And yea not all the clan/god divisions work together for example, skyre machines could fit in different places. Was thinking the assassins (Eshin) could also appear quite khorne bloodletter-like, with the doomwheel fitting in as a skull cannon, but again the warp lightning cannon could as well, and even stormvermin could work well as bloodletters, so it's all open to interpretation really.

 

I don't think its a bad thing to optimize a list first then match it all up with appropriate models (we all want an army to feel potent, even when collecting it) That said, if a new codex is coming with the belakor model on the way, what is considered optimum could all change.

 

About the poxbringer with corruption blade... feels off having a big lightning-claw as a stand-in for a blade, though it works based on that weapon's re-roll to wound (just lose the bolter) Also little embellishments like the flat bladed part on his helmet, which usually helps indicate the clan, could be reserved for identifying the appropriate god if you do multiple gods. (eg stormvermin as bloodletters with clawlord as herald keep the head-bit which is very reminiscent of the juggernaut's head spikes, while your nurgle stand-ins lose it)

 

And I'm guessing you've seen the new WHQuest coming with perfect large-based rat swarms, piled up just like nurglings and perfectly undeadish. Time will tell if that game is priced well enough to grab those separately on ebay.

[Miek]

What do you think is the best start for a soul grinder, hell-pit abomination or boneripper?

Probably this (not mine):

And yea not all the clan/god divisions work together for example, skyre machines could fit in different places. Was thinking the assassins (Eshin) could also appear quite khorne bloodletter-like, with the doomwheel fitting in as a skull cannon, but again the warp lightning cannon could as well, and even stormvermin could work well as bloodletters, so it's all open to interpretation really.

Exactly, I don't want to restrain myself to much by strictly sticking to specify chaos gods or wfb's great clans. Afterall, skavens only worship one chaos god!

I don't think its a bad thing to optimize a list first then match it all up with appropriate models (we all want an army to feel potent, even when collecting it) That said, if a new codex is coming with the belakor model on the way, what is considered optimum could all change.

Indeed. I think it'll be easy enough to adapt, but I might magnetize weapons to make future changes easier (when the new codex comes out). I'm not looking for something optimal but I do want it to be good & enjoyable.

About the poxbringer with corruption blade... feels off having a big lightning-claw as a stand-in for a blade, though it works based on that weapon's re-roll to wound (just lose the bolter).

Oops didn't even notice the bolter! But I can remove it easily. I'm just looking for a melee weapon with a futuristic look that could explain the corruption blade profile. I found a new source of futuristic make weapon, I'll try to find one that works better (although I quite like this one).

Also little embellishments like the flat bladed part on his helmet, which usually helps indicate the clan, could be reserved for identifying the appropriate god if you do multiple gods. (eg stormvermin as bloodletters with clawlord as herald keep the head-bit which is very reminiscent of the juggernaut's head spikes, while your nurgle stand-ins lose it)

They will all worship the horned rat so no reference to the four chaos gods, although I'll use their rules to differentiate Skaven clans (inspired by but not constrained to wfb's great clans). But you're absolutely right, this spot looks like it's missing something.

And I'm guessing you've seen the new WHQuest coming with perfect large-based rat swarms, piled up just like nurglings and perfectly undeadish. Time will tell if that game is priced well enough to grab those separately on ebay.

I did not, thank you! The rat swarms surprisingly looked like they were going to be the hardest models to satisfactorily reproduce. I'll try to get my hands on those.

Thanks for the helpful feedback!

The thing I am currently slightly struggling with is the global invul save. I know it's a chaos demon thing and skavens are actual children of chaos, but I'd like to explain it with warpstone rather than the horned rat's blessing (either with warpstone embedded somewhere or powers gained through its consumption). Maybe both: shields with warpstone for basic soldiers, consumption for psychers, embedded bits for others (ex.: Eye socket filled with a shared).

[Miek]

Small update: I've decided to go for 1000 points, with 30 plaguebearers (plague monks) and a daemon prince (horned rat). It has begun:

[Miek]

Update on the plan (1000 pts):

 

+ HQ +

 

Daemon Prince of Chaos: Incorporeal Form, Malefic talon, The Impossible Robe, Warlord, Wings

. Tzeentch: A custom horned rat, probably mostly 3d printed but with some greenstuff for fur.

 

Spoilpox Scrivener: Probably the one in copper above with the modifications suggested by Syrakul.

 

+ Troops +

 

Nurglings

. 5x Nurgling Swarms: 5x Diseased claws and teeth: Might try to model my own by combining existing rat models.

 

Nurglings

. 5x Nurgling Swarms: 5x Diseased claws and teeth: Might try to model my own by combining existing rat models.

 

Plaguebearers: Plagueridden

. 29x Plaguebearer: 29x Plaguesword: Plague monks (fully printed, except reprints for those with defects).

 

+ Elites +

 

Beasts of Nurgle: Beast of Nurgle: Probably as Syrakul suggested at the top of the thread.

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

Soul Grinder: Mark of Nurgle, Warpsword: The huge Skaven above, modified to hold big guns.

Edited March 26, 2021 by Miek

[Miek]

Q: How do you call a group of Skavens?

A: A rave!

[Miek]

Very slow progress, but here's my first paint test (just need to do the spikes on its back). It's not exactly what I had in mind so I'll probably tweak the formula for the next test:

Suggestions welcome!

[happyslugger]

This is a really cool idea

[Miek]

Ok cute story: The other day I was telling my 4 years old daughter that chaos means disorder and than the great horned rat was a really evil chaotic dude. She continued the story by explaining how he would come into children's bedrooms, make a mess and hide their favorite toys and stuffed animals, which makes the children really sad and the horned rat really evil.

 

Of course I explained that my necrons were the good guys who wanted to bring order back to the galaxy :)

[Dr_Ruminahui]

That skaven looks great - just the right amount of slimeness, I think.  I think you are good to go!

 

My only suggestion would be to work a spot colour onto each model (say, blue ropes on one, a red pouch on another) as well as varying the fur colour to prevent the unit from looking too "samey" and adding some variety to give some added visual appeal.

 

You could then change the robe colours between units to differentiate them.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Dr_Ruminahui

[Miek]

Dr_Ruminahui that's a good suggestion. I don't think I'll ever have more than one unit, but it would be better to have them look slightly different from one another (models and units). I think I'll use the spot color (red) as the unit differenciator, and vary the rest between models. They'll all have to look slimy/dirty though.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

[Miek]

Progress update on the next 5 models! I still have to work on the fur, skin, bases and teeth/eyes, but they're starting to look like something:

The next 5 will probably have green robes. They'll always have reddish ropes, but the unit will be a dirty rainbow. I'm a bit nostalgic about this, my plague monks from 20 years ago were similarly colorful.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Miek

[Miek]

Still a WiP, but I particularly like this one. He really looks like he enjoys his work!

Edited May 11, 2021 by Miek

[Miek]

The first six are done:

[Miek]

I'm still slowly going through the plague monks and I've just finished 5 nurglings count as. I tried to include a bit more sci-fi bits on the bases while keeping it consistent with the theme:

Next I'll probably work on the soul grinder! It's basecoated and ready for more:

Edited June 17, 2021 by Miek

[Miek]

Good morning people! I played a 1k game against drukhari yesterday with the list above (from my March 25 post), and I was pretty much tabled by the end of his turn 2 (didn't play mine, it was certain to end 0-90 or 5-90 in his favor, with an unpainted army). He played the space raid with 3 raiders and MSU units. The scenario wasn't helpful and I certainly could have played it better, but it was pretty obvious that I was completely overwhelmed by his damage output, range and maneuverability. I would like to improve my list in this matchup.

I read this guide with resonates with this battle: https://warp-hammer.com/2021/02/11/excellence-in-pestilence-the-guide-to-winning-with-nurgle-daemons/

I'm thus thinking of breaking up the plaguebearers, adding beasts, replacing my HQ's with Mamon, and a few other adjustments. I really like the soul grinder for his presence, aesthetics, etc. so I'd like to keep it, but it's not mandatory.

My question for you is: If I want to be functional in this matchup at 1k, is what I described above + better play sufficient, or should I consider something like not limiting myself to Nurgle and play chaos undivided (ex.: With skull canons / warpfire), or even mix with CSM?

Thanks!

 

Edit: Started a new topic for list discussion (instead of here, in the general category): http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/371553-1k-undivided-list/?do=findComment&comment=5737510

Edited September 2, 2021 by Miek

[Miek]

The latest addition to my little force, a Lord of Change:

Looking forward to its first game!

[WarriorFish]

Is this another conversion? The wings look good, the only thing is I think you're missing an opportunity with the larger base as you could spruce this up with some additions (I keep thinking about something like a Chaos star in blood or carved into the ground for my next large base) :tu: