New Skaven player who needs tips on just about everything

[Pritchard]

hello all bowlers out there,
This is Pritchard, a first time poster but long time fan of blood bowl (my brother had the board when i was a kid and he bought me the computer game in the early 90's). now that BB has returned, me and a couple of my friends have started our own league in metro-detroit area. some of us are new to the games-workshop world all together and some of us have been involved for years (that'd be me). Now enough story, now to me questions.
i fell in love with the Skaven the first time i saw them and knew they had to be my team. now after reading some of the things in these posts, i've gotten the idea that being a skaven coach can sometimes be a scary thing. me and a friend used my 40k minis and played a couple games makeing them whatever teams we wanted them to be. i won all 4 games as skaven against his dark elf, wood elf, orc and dwarf teams. this pretty much made me firm in my plans to buy a skaven team, which i did. now i want to kick ass with these furry little devils. what are the best things to do when starting from the ve ground up? rat ogres look pretty to me, though these forums have kinda scared me away from them. on top of that, i'd like to think i'm a pretty good painter but would be very glad to hear of some cool colour ideas for my rats. a friend suggested a gray seer team would be pretty interesting. o, and one more thing, i also bought a mordheim skaven gang and would love to hear any suggestions of cool conversions (or any other cool conversions, for that matter). i'm up to hear anything and everything from you pros out there. thanx for helping out the newbies!

Pritchard

[Pritchard]

i forgot one thing sorry
the other teams in our league are Dark Elf, Orc, Norse, Dwarf, Human, and a potential chaos team . so if that helps in strategy.
thanx again
Pritchard

[Asmodan]

Have you checked out the tactic and team development section?
There is a lot of tips there on how to play the different teams.


Asmodan

[Blacktooth]

I'm a Skaven player too. The conversions i made with my mordheim sprue is that I made a few cheerleaders and two Skaven with a stretcher (ie my first aid team, or beter my last aid team). As for the colors I used the colors and the names of the San Fransico 49'ers. Red and gold-yellow.
My coach is a grey-seer pointing his finger. and this is the team I usually play with : 6 lineman, 1 thrower, 2 gutter runners, 2 storm vermin and a rat ogre, 2 re-rolls and fan factor 4, that will give you a price label of 1000000 gk.
good luck with the League
Blacktooth

[Marcus]

Assassins make great gutter runner models. I've often meant to mod up one of the guys with the claws up to have him leaping over the body of a skink in full Matrix-style pounce mode.

As for Skaven tactics, there is a wealth of info in the tactics section, I suggest you make use of the search function.

In brief:

Be aggressive on defence - use your Gutter Runners to harrass in the backfield off the kickoff. Suggested skills: Block, Sidestep, Shadowing, Dauntless, Horns.

Develop your linerats. Use them as second string recievers and score them touchdowns. Kick, Block, Tackle, Foul Appearance, Claw, Dirty Player.

Storm Vermin are just as fast and agile as linerats but get ST skills and an extra point of armour. Use them whereever players are likely to get hit and get them guard early. Dont' be tempted to think of them as blitzers - any Skaven with block is a blitzer. Use them to soak up the hits you're going to get.

A good bomb thrower will add depth to your game. Make sure you build one up with Accurate, Strong Arm, Safe Throw as soon as you can. The ability to throw long cutout passes at bomb range will make it very difficult for your opponent to stop you on offence.

In your league you can get by without a Ratogre. Get guard on a couple of Linerats and your Storm Vermin and you'll have more than enough hitting power. If the orc &/or chaos teams start giving you trouble then think about it, but make sure you force feed that guy TDs and completions to get him block as soon as you possibly can. You'll lose games until he gets it.

Good luck.

[kaboom]

for the colour, try black and yellow.*
my team is componnen by:
2STORM VERMIN
1TRHOWER
2GUTTER RUNNER
6LINEMAN
3REROLL
1FF
have a good time!!

[Fondu77]

prefer 4 gutta runna.... well protected they can diffuse your team in the pit as only rats can do.... A rat ogre just to have 2 or three adrversaries occupied.... strom vermin (choose veskit from mordheim.... big rat...hum)
good luck with ur team

[BoB]

I've always loved gutter runners, as many as you can
If you have at least three you can practically guarauntee victory since noone can keep all three down all the time.
Only one thrower, just protect him.
If you can afford a rat-ogre they are handy to keep the opponent occupied while the runners move into the clear.
Storm vermin are handy but, as has been pointed out, any linerat with block is just as good.

best skaven character i ever had:

Rakeech One-eye:
7, 4, 3, 8 Block, Claw, Razor sharp fangs, dodge, strip ball.

Rerolls are handy, but hey trust in the luck of the horned rat.

[martynq]

Ignore Kaboom's suggestion of starting a team with FF1. He seems to do this a lot, but it is actually madness to do so. If you are playing in a league setting, you must start with a high Fan Factor as it is needed for income. I'd say that you should never start a team with FF less than 6 and should strive for 9 if at all possible.

(Sorry Kaboom, conventional wisdom is correct in this view!)

Cheers,
Martyn

[Mojoshenpo]

My team, the Damned Varmints, is painted Dragon Black and Blood Red. Excellent color scheme IMHO....

As I've pointed out on another thread, there is a great difference in painting between second and third edition skaven.... If nothing else, the 3rd ed linerats have almost no clothing on which to show team colors....

So, you may want to consider a flashier color for the 3d models in regards their bandolier straps... or not....

Fur color has been debated before, but I eschew black and white in favor of various shades, and shadings, of brown....
=========
Early tactics are gonna be semi-dictated by the luck of your opponents injury rolls....

You've got speed, so play keep away (only give 'em one blitz to hit you with) per turn if you can.... On offense you can afford to use that speed to move side to side (reversing field) till your opponent makes a mistake that let's you go for the score... think tennis volleys.... On defense... hmmmm... I don't play the best defense but you can slow him down by keeping one square away from all blocks or let him score and harass him from the rear, making him turn around and stall or letting you pick on his stragglers....

I would start with:

6 linerats
2 throwers (I like having the capacity to pick up the ball anywhere and pass)
1 gutter runner (buy the others later)
2 storm vermin (to protect the gutter runner)
3 re-rolls
7 fan factor
1 apothecary

As much as I love the passing game, I feel you have to develop the safer running part... and it's much easier to defend one gutter runner with two storm vermin than 2, or more, GRs with one SV....

The Damned Varmints are 0-3, but have the highest rating of the three teams I run (skaven, amazon, undead)....

[BadMrMojo]

You've got speed, so play keep away (only give 'em one blitz to hit you with) per turn if you can.... On offense you can afford to use that speed to move side to side (reversing field) till your opponent makes a mistake that let's you go for the score... think tennis volleys.... On defense... hmmmm... I don't play the best defense but you can slow him down by keeping one square away from all blocks or let him score and harass him from the rear, making him turn around and stall or letting you pick on his stragglers....

I don't really have anything to add, I just had to quote the other Mojo.

He's right about the keep-away and reversing the field, they really do work wonders. I also agree that a second thrower is a good thing. A lot of people argue that you only need one, but I like to think of it as a slight upgrade to a linerat that makes your opponent worry about him and gives you 2 free skills for a mere 20k. Also, 2 Stormvermin are a very good idea, and you really don't need to start with all 4 GRs. Certainly collect 'em all down the road.

The last thing to remember is to spread your SPPs around. They're easy to get with your GRs, but give the ball to your SV occasionally. Everyone on your team is a reasonable scoring threat. Before you start your second game, look at who could get their magic 6th SPP with a single completion or TD and try to get them in position for one.

[Skummy]

Two throwers are a must, if you want to have a reliable passing game. You should be fine starting out with a pair of Gutter Runners, at least at the beginning. They begin with dodge, and this makes them difficult to knock down for any starting team other than Dwarves. The Storm Vermin are essential, becasue block is the best skill in the game, and they have slightly better armor than the rest of the team.

It sounds like you're going into a bash-heavy environment, so get that apothecary as soon as you can. After my 26th game in a similar environment the final member of my original team just died. It's a good thing rats are cheap, becasue they sure break easily.

[sean newboy]

Personally i would skip starting with the ro and add to your ff and possible another linerat or apoth, with skaven i always start out with either an extra linerat or the apoth. Starting with 11 and no apoth with skaven screams "Please beat me senseless some more and kill one or both of my gutter runners". With teams like orcs and chaos that 12th player or apoth is optional but never with a team with cheap players and av 7. Its nice with Elves but usually not possible, due to the high price of lineman.

[Kundschafter]

Do not start with only one Gutterrunner!!!

He will be death before first game ended!!! Also it´s a must to get that Apothecary ASAP (as soon as possible). Best is to start with him. A Rat Oger is only that good for experienced trainer. When you are playing against intelligent opposites, he can cause real big problems.

Starting with two throwers is not bad. My first died in one of my first games . Having a third gutterrunner means, that you have one more player who is able to throw the ball at all.

Give your linemen block at first. You need it on offense and defense.