Skaven for Eur'Open

[goldbaek]

So... I've never played Skaven before but my rat boys are currently in the hands of a relatively skilled painter so I might give them a go at the Eur'Open.

From what I've read in this forum, the first thing to consider is whether to include the Rat Ogre or not. I've played a lot of Chaos Dwarf and he reminds me of the Mino on that team but with no access to Block I'm leaning towards letting him stay at home in the sewers. Oh, and btw - the rules are tv110 and 3+3 normal skills for Skaven teams.

So I'm thinking...:

2 Blitzer
4 Gutter Runner
1 Thrower
6 Linerat
3 Re-Rolls
1 Apo

As for skills on day 1 I'm thinking Guard (Blitzer #1), Guard / MB / Tackle (Blitzer #2) and Wrestle (GR #1).
For day 2 I'm thinking Block (GR #2), Block (GR #3) and Sure Hands / Sprint / Catch (GR #4).

Any thoughts are appreciated.

[daloonieshaman]

day one go for the ball handling upgrade on your GR
why go a whole day shorting yourself of ball handling
you seem like you want to hit based on the skills you chose
drop a runner and apoth and take the RO

[JaM]

The RO opens possibillities (sp?) for a 1TTD, because of frenzy.
You could skip the thrower, an AG4 GR is good enough, most of the time (short passes and hand-offs).
Skaven really like kick, maybe something to consider.

I've played with and without RO, it all depends on style. Without you REALLY want to play 'on speed', so getting TZs on the ball and whatnot.
With, you have to consider what to do with your rather blunt scalpel (RO), you dont want him 'out'. Most of the time a Skavencoach who loses his RO is trying sme kind of damage-preventing game i.e. the opponent wins (well, not always but you get the picture).

Btw, I really like the mino on CDs, I've played some tournaments with them (mino, no bulls, loads of RRs and an apo) and had some succes with them. I enjoyed the games, anyway.

Go for speed? Leave the RO home. Gives you more 'team' to play with (more players, less worries about your 1 really expensive player). Go for a mix (not always a good idea)? take the RO and cry when it spends the whole match in the KO box after a thrown rock on turn 1 .

Again: depends on playstyle, opponents, weatherconditions, the amount of beer you want to consume during the tournament, form of the day, whatever. Roll a dice if you cant decide .

Hope this helps!

Jan (the clueless )

[Aino]

13 players + Apo is slight overkill I think.
4 Gutters AND a thrower is too in my book.

I'd be tempted to go:
3 Gutters
1 Thrower
2 Blitzers
Rat Ogre
5 Linerats
Apo
2RRoll
2 Fans
1 Assistant coach + 1 Cheerleader

12 players and apo should still be ok. Your thrower has sure hands, giving you a free re-roll picking up. He also could take leader to get that 3rd reroll cheap. And with fans and coach and cheerleader you might well get a Reroll here and there also.

W

[babass]

So... I've never played Skaven before but my rat boys are currently in the hands of a relatively skilled painter so I might give them a go at the Eur'Open.

From what I've read in this forum, the first thing to consider is whether to include the Rat Ogre or not. I've played a lot of Chaos Dwarf and he reminds me of the Mino on that team but with no access to Block I'm leaning towards letting him stay at home in the sewers. Oh, and btw - the rules are tv110 and 3+3 normal skills for Skaven teams.

So I'm thinking...:

2 Blitzer
4 Gutter Runner
1 Thrower
6 Linerat
3 Re-Rolls
1 Apo

As for skills on day 1 I'm thinking Guard (Blitzer #1), Guard / MB / Tackle (Blitzer #2) and Wrestle (GR #1).
For day 2 I'm thinking Block (GR #2), Block (GR #3) and Sure Hands / Sprint / Catch (GR #4).

Any thoughts are appreciated.

my 2 cents:
Please no thrower in a Skaven Roster for a tourney : never

Gutter runners are a much better ball carrier.

[Joemanji]

You need a Thrower for a) Leader or b) the Wood Elf match-up.

[Aino]

You need a Thrower for a) Leader or b) the Wood Elf match-up.

Sure hands against strip ball and Leader skill if you take it make the thrower worthwhile I feel.
3 Gutters surely are enough, no ?

W

[babass]

You need a Thrower for a) Leader or b) the Wood Elf match-up.

So you need this thrower not that much times...
with only 3 skills on day, you will have your leader only the 2nd day...

[Joemanji]

Or you could take Leader day one and have an extra reserve. Also an option.

[Rolex]

4 gutter runners. Always 4 gutter runners.
3 may be enough, but 2 are not. If you take 3 and lose 1... you are almost done.

And the thrower is very good, not only for the leader, not only for the woodies, but also to hold the ball at your end of the pitch stalling while gutters do more interesting things (7 squares away from a conveniantly placed gutter runner).

13 players IMO is better than 12 because skaven are a fouling team. If you don't exploit fouls you lose a lot of their potential.
Playing against skaven should be painful.

[Loki]

Given that I'm going to EurOpen: take 11 linerats and just skip taking any skills

I just took Skaven to NAFC with 4 Gutters, RO and Thrower, I would say that you can get away without the thrower but it then ties up one of the Gutters. The additional Sure Hands and Leader option are good but if he starts with Leader you will have to protect him more than if he is 'a bonus', which means you are tactically more constrained.

Gutters are the life blood of the team I would not start without 4 on the team unless I had a very good reason.

One of the things I found was that the Kick Off is hard on the rats, generally you end up with at least one Linerat KO'd or worse. Against Str3 without Mighty Blow teams you could consider the RO on the line to soak up a hit and/or make the opponant commit more players to getting hits on your front line. The RO also means the other guy has to consider the Frenzy at the sideline which will leave gaps down the sides for your Gutters.

[Joemanji]

Rolex talked a whole lot of sense (up to the fouling part - no team is a fouling team IMO apart from 16 Norse Linemen ).

Rat Ogre is plan A on defence with Skaven (put him next to the ball, high pressure elsewhere), so I'm not sure putting him on the LoS where (at best) he will be pinned or prone all drive is prime use of him. He only has one more point of AV after all. General rule - do not put anyone you like on the LoS (even Mummies). A free hit followed by a lucky 10 and you are in a pickle for the whole half / game.

[Rolex]

Rolex talked a whole lot of sense (up to the fouling part - no team is a fouling team IMO apart from 16 Norse Linemen ).

I would love if Farina shared your opinion instead of raping my teams.

[Milo]

I took the following roster to my last tournament and tournament practice:

2 Storm Vermin
4 Gutter Runners
1 Thrower (Leader)
6 Linemen
3 RR
1 Apothecary

In the tournament, I regularly had 6+ players off the field, so I think the extra bodies are crucial. I never failed to burn my leader re-roll by turn 2-3, so if he left the game after that it wasn't a big deal (as long as he could come back for the second half!)

I gave one of my Gutter Runners Strip Ball, and it was essential. Even with two die blocks against me, I was able to knock the ball free on a regular basis. It never failed to pay for itself in any of my games.

I gave another GR Sidestep, and found it not as useful. Would have preferred two GRs with Strip Ball. Also went with Claw on a Storm Vermin for day two and was underwhelmed (but I had a great mini I wanted to use, so there's that.)

[goldbaek]

Thanks so far, guys! Not really made up my mind yet but luckily there's still a few months until mayhem breaks loose in Belgium!