The Skaven

A number of years ago I kind of inherited an army of old Skaven. Among them are a LOT of old metal ones - like almost enough for an army of their own. Mixed in were plastic ones of various vintages (including some of the original plastic Skaven!) and a pile of metal Ral Partha Ratlings. 

Most of the painted plastics and Ral Partha ratlings were rebased to form a Horde-based Hordes of the Things army of rat-peoples. They are still based as such. 

The old metal GW Skaven all got stripped and rebased and I've been slowly plucking away at them from time to time. I got a bunch done a few years back to play Warcry with them. 

I've been thinking about working on them again and contemplating a few possibilities. 

First, I've got it in my head that I want to host a weekend Warcry campaign/tournament - The Under-Carngard Championship (?) where all players select a warband of Skaven supplied by me to vie for control of the Under-Carngard. 

(it's a city in the Bloodwind Spoil at the Eightpoints - above ground the city is ruled by a bunch Chaos Warlords, but below the surface of the streets there is a massive Skaven infestation!) 

Second, I've wondered if, when all painted, I'd be able to make some sort of Dragon Rampant Army out of them. 

Third... there are a lot of them... I wondered if I might be able to cobble together an AGE of SIGMAR army out of them. I don't actually HAVE the Skaven Battletome (and am in no rush to run out and buy one!? I was just curious to see if it was a possiblitity and use the online Warscroll Builder to see how much I could cobble together!?) 

Of course they could also be used for any number of other skirmish wargames of role-playing games, including (but not limited to) Soulbound (Age of Sigmar RPG), Song of Blades and Heroes, Frostgrave (maybe? Two of the Grey Seers could be Wizards and the other soldiers - or they could be used as monsters), Rangers of Shadowdeep (? - maybe? haven't read the rules yet... I'm hoping just about anything could be used)

So What do I HAVE....?

PAINTED

All of the painted stuff so far... 

I recently touched up the bases - blackening the sides, for a bit more contrast (they had been grey, previously, and it was a bit much with most of the top being grey!) - and picking out a few stones on each base to make into Warpstone - just to break up the monotonous grey a bit more. 

Two Grey Seers and a Plague Priest. All three are Leaders/Heroes in Warcry and Independent, Leader-Character models in Age of Sigmar. 

Clawlord and a Scryre Acolyte. 

The Clawlord is a leader/Hero model in Warcry and an Independant Character Model in Age of Sigmar. 

Perhaps it could be fielded as Elite infantry in Dragon Rampant - along with a few other similar minis (I have a few I'm calling Clawlords!?) 

The Scryre Acolyte is not a leader - I just have the one and it somehow ended up in the picture with the Clawlord... there are four more to paint which would make a unit. 

Not sure what to call this one... Warlock Bombadier? They're the only hero/character model with a longer range weapon (though in Warcry it's range is 6-15" - suggesting it's an indirect weapon - like a mortar or grenade launcher... I guess I could say it's too long and unwieldy to aim at anything close?

In Dragon Rampant, it could be added to the Elite Foot unit with the other Clawlords. Use it as an excuse to give them missile attacks. (I guess Grey Seers could be added to the unit as well, adding to the argument for a ranged attack) 

Six Stormvermin. I'm not sure if any of these were ever called Stormvermin... they may just supposed to be Clan Rats. I decided to differentiate them by saying any of them that are wearing helmets are Stormvermin, those without helmets are Clanrants. 

Probably call them Heavy Foot in Dragon Rampant? Realistically, these would be at best, light foot and the Clanrats would all be Ravenous Hordes... but I just don't think I have nearly enough models to call all the Clanrats Ravenous Hordes!? 

Six Clanrats! 

Five Gutter Runners and one Night Runner. 

Conveniently, Gutter Runners are fielded in units of five for Age of Sigmar.

For Dragon Rampant, I could add in the Night Runner and call them a unit of Scouts! 

TWELVE Giant Rats and a Pack Master! 

Fielded individually in Warcry or in units of 6 or 12 in Age of Sigmar. Teh Packmaster is a separate character, I guess...? 

Not sure what I'd call it in Dragon Rampant... How effective are giant rats!? Maybe just call them Ravenous Hordes? 

Two Plague Monks. Unfortunately, the one on the right of the picture, is the same model I used as a Plague Priest above. It seemed silly and unnecessary to have TWO plague Priests... though I may yet rebase it and call it such. I could also call it a "Bringer of the Word" - which is the leader of a unit of Plague Monks - which is still on a 25mm base, but is a Leader/Hero model in Warry. 

Two Warp-lock Jezzail teams. Fielded individually in Warcry, in Age of Sigmar they are fielded as units of three teams. I would likely field them similarly in Dragon Rampant (as a reduced model unit of Heavy Shooters) 

So, in total, that was...

• 1x Clawlord
• 2x Grey Seer
• 1x Plague Priest
• 1x Warlock Bombardier?
• 1x Scryre Acolyte
• 2x Warplock Jezzail Teams
• 12x Giant Rats
• 1x Packmaster
• 6x Stormvermin
• 6x Clanrats
• 5x Gutter Runners
• 1x Night Runner
• 2x Plage Monks

STILL TO PAINT

All of the minis still to do. 

Arch-Warlock and Thanoquol (a named character in Age of Sigmar, though the current iteration of the character is riding atop a giant, four-armed mutant Rat Ogor named Boneripper... and must be fielded as such... So, I guess I could just call him anohter, fancier, Grey Seer)

In Dragon Rampant I am fond of fielding Wizards as Light Missile, Single Model Units (the shooting representing a ranger attack of sorts, and all the strength points representing magical defences. Though, perhaps, since I have them, they could be fielded as Reduced Model Units along with a few of the Grey Seers...?

If I were to field these as a Frostgrave warband, either of these could be the Wizard and the other Grey Seers would be their apprentices. 

Two Clawlords. Independant Character models in Age of Sigmar and Leader/Hero figures in Warcry. 

Two more of these minis... but on smaller bases. I could rebase and call them MORE... Or they could be Clawleaders or Fangleaders (leaders of Clanrats and Stormvermin, repectively) they are just part of units in Age of Sigmar, but are considered Leader/Hero figures in Warcry. 

Not sure what I'm going to call these two Skaven with warp-lock pistols...? Warlock Engineers? They have a short 8" range attack in Age of Sigmar...? 

Nineteen more Clanrats!  The one up front, with two had weapons held aloft, could probably be a Clawleader (the leader of a unit of Clanrats in Age of Sigmar and a Leader model in Warcry) 

Five More Stormvermin... I think two of them are supposed to be Fangleaders (leaders of units of Stormvermin in Age of Sigmar and a Leader model in Warcry... but I think I'll just use them as regular Stormvermin and use one of the pointing rats as a Fangleader) 

These are two more Beast Masters. I was tempted to take the larger one and put it on a 32mm base and call it a Master Moulder...

Packmasters are fielded in units of three, however... and three is what I'd have here, if they all got painted... so maybe I'll keep them as such. 

Two Rat Ogors

The Dragons Den has a bunch more of the more recent metal Rat Ogors... I am tempted to pick a few of them up... 

Four more Scryre Acolytes. 

Adding these to the one I have painted makes five - and these just happen to be fielded in units of five in Age of Sigmar! 

I forgot to take pictures... but I have another FIVE of these... but don't have the backpacks for them... Not sure what to do with those. 

I made another into a sci-fi mini by giving it a spare space marine backpack and swapping out the globe in it's hand for a bolter... 

This is also an old, OLD Poison Wind Globadier (so, now a Scryre Acolyte) - it's a bit smaller than the others. 

A sixth, then... not much use for Age of Sigmar... but perhaps it could be added to the unit for Dragon Rampant! Maybe a Reduced Model unit of... something with short ranged weapons (Light Foot, perhaps, with mixed light missiles) 

One more Plague Monk with Foetid Blade and Woe Staff. 

Not enough Plague Monks to make any units in Age of Sigmar or Dragon Rampant - unless I thought of a use for the Plague Priest in DRagon rampant and these ended up being attendants (to make it a reduced-model, rather than single-model unit?) 

ONE Plague Censer Bearer

Two more of these guys I was calling Grey Seers - but on smaller bases... I'm not sure what to do with them. I guess I could put them on larger bases and call them MORE Grey Seers - just in case EVERYONE Really wants one for their Warcry Warband - eiher as a leader or a champion/hero

Four Warp Fire thrower Teams. One of the later models, the other three are the original warp fire throwers. 

Unlike the Jezzails below, it looks like the teams are individual units on their own in Age of Sigmar. 

For Dragon Rampant these could all be glommed together into a single, reduced-model unit of either Heavy or Light Missiles? I'm not sure - but with reduced range, but maybe something that makes them a little more BRUTAL. 

I do have four more Jezzail teams as well - currently based for Hordes of the Things (not sure if they were used as "Artillery" or "Shooters"). These could, at some point, be removed, stripped, rebased and repainted... 

In Age of Sigmar, these are fielded in Units of three teams - and count as "Artillery" - so if ever I wanted to include a unit of Jezzails in an Age of Sigmar Army, I'd need at least one of these to complete one unit (and could use the other three as a second unit!) 

For Dragon Rampant, I feel like they could be Heavy Missile, Reduced Model Units (Three teams being one unit, each base being worth four strength points) 

NEEDING REPAIRS/ASSEMBLY 

I have a handful of things needing repair (or assembly) before they can be painted. 

Three more Clan Rats and four more Gutter Runners. 

Not quite enough Gutter Runners to field a second unit in either Age of Sigmar or Dragon Rampant. I see on the GW website, they still sell them (new models) as METAL miniatures...? Maybe I should order one pack - as that would be enough to make a second unit of these in both games...? 

Old Skool DOOM WHEEL!? 

Stuff needing to be painted includes... 

• 2x Clawlord
• 3x Grey Seer
• 1x Arch Warlock
• 2x Warlock Engineer? 
• 5x Scryre Acolyte
• 4x Warplock Jezzail Teams
• 4x Warp Fire Thrower Teams
• 2x Packmaster
• 6x Stormvermin
• 20x Clanrats
• 4x Gutter Runners
• 1x Plague Monks
• 2x Rat Ogors
• 1x Plague Censer Bearer

FORCES 

So what CAN I put together with ALL of this Once they are all painted!? 

I would have:

• 3x Clawlords
• 5x Grey Seers
• 1x Plague Priest
• 1x Warlock Bombardier
• 2x Warlock Engineers 
• 6x Scryre Acolytes
• 6x Warplock Jezzail Teams
• 4x Warp Fire Thrower Teams
• 12x Giant Rats
• 3x Packmasters
• 11x Stormvermin
• 26x Clanrats
• 9x Gutter Runners
• 1x Night Runner
• 3x Plage Monks
• 2x Rat Ogors
• 1x Plague Censer Bearer
• 1x DOOM WHEEL

WARCRY

I actually just picked up the new edition today... I hope there isn't ANOTHER new edition before I get around to running a tournament... 

As i understand it, the basics of warband construction is... you get 1000 points to spend on 3-15 fighters, no more than three can be heroes (unless you're starting a Narrative Campaign, then you only get ONE!?), at least one must be a hero and is your leader. 

Of the painted models I have five heroes totalling 775 points. There are 36 other fighters totalling 2890 points. I have a grand total of 3665 points and 41 miniatures. I should be able to make THREE warband out of these! 

adding in all the unpainted miniatures I would have... 

Heroes

• 3x Clawlord @175 = 525
• 5x Grey Seer @140 = 700
• 1x Plague Priest @150 = 150
• 1x Arch-Warlock @170 = 170
• 1x Warlock Bombardier @170 = 170
• 2x Warlock Engineer @130 = 260
• 2x Fangleader @150 = 300
• 1x Bringer of the Word @130 = 130

Total - 15 Heroes, 2405 Points

Other Fighters

• 6x Scryre Acolyte  @80 = 480
• 6x Warplock Jezzail Teams @150 = 900
• 4x Warp Fire Thrower Teams @110 = 440
• 12x Giant Rats @70 = 420
• 3x Packmaster @70 = 210
• 8x Stormvermin with Halberd @95 = 760
• 2x Stormvermin with Halberd and Shielf @80 = 160
• 25x Clanrats @70 = 1750
• 9x Gutter Runners @90 = 810
• 1x Night Runner @75 = 75
• 2x Plague Monks @80 = 160
• 2x Rat Ogors @225 = 450
• 1x Plague Censer Bearer @105 = 105

Total - 81 Fighters, 6720 Points

The Grand Total being... 96 fighters, 9125 points

So... it is conceivable, that I could field up to NINE warbands!? Y'know, if they were ALL painted and it kind of worked out. I think it more reasonable that I could have seven or maybe eight playable ones. At seven warbands there could be two Heroes per warband.... but that would be an uneven number and not really work out for a tournament. EIGHT would be ideal... Ehhhhh... maybe, if it actually seemed like I might get these done, I could pick up a Master Moulder (they're still apparently metal miniatures) and that would make 16 heroes - two for each warband. 

I need to finish painting another 60 miniatures or so... Doesn't seem SO hard. Mind you I only painted that many in all of last year... Of course, I've painted almost that many so far THIS year... Hard to say. If I did five a week,  I'd be done in 12 weeks. I COULD be done by the end of July... IF I stayed focused and got five miniatures done each week. 

Is this stupid? Probably. 

Do I have enough cavern terrain to make four little battlefields...? Maybe... a few of the rounds could be larger four-player mega-battles...? 

AGE of SIGMAR

As I said, I don't HAVE the Battletome and have no strong desire to get one at this time... but I quickly threw things into the online Warscroll Builder at the Warhammer Community website and here's what I came up with (assuming all the miniatures I have got painted)... 

LEADERS

• Arch-Warlock (150) 
• Clawlord (110) 
• Clawlord (110) 
• Grey Seer (120) 
• Grey Seer (120) 
• Plague Priest (100) 

UNITS

• 20 x Clanrats - Rusty Spear(100)
• 12 x Giant Rats (120)
• 5 x Gutter Runners (100)
• 3 x Packmasters (60)
• 2 x Rat Ogors (140)
• 5 x Skryre Acolytes (70)
• 10 x Stormvermin - Halberd (130)
• 1 x Warpfire Thrower (70) 
• 1 x Warpfire Thrower (70) 
• 1 x Warpfire Thrower (70) 
• 1 x Warpfire Thrower (70) 

ARTILLERY

• 3 x Warplock Jezzails (120) 
• 3 x Warplock Jezzails (120)

TOTAL: 1950/2000

WOUNDS: 125

LEADERS: 6/6

BATTLELINES 2 (3+)

BEHEMOTHS 0/4

ARTILLERY 2/4

ARTEFACTS: 0/1 

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS: 0/3 

ALLIES: 0/400

REINFORCED UNITS: 1/4 

DROPS: 19

I'm not sure how the Clans all work. It seems like if it's declared for a particular clan, certain other units might count as "Battleline"... but I'm not sure how that might restrict other units? Otherwise I'd have to find another unit of Stormvermin or Clanrats - trying to find old metal ones might be prohibitively expensive... Do they do "Open Play" in Age of Sigmar? 

Oh, apparently I didn't even add in the Doom Wheel!? That's another 160points. So I have MORE than I need for a 2000 point army!? 

I wonder if there is a rule in Age of Sigmar (like in 40K) where you can't take more than three of any one type of unit that isn't a core unit? This would only really affect the Warp Fire Throwers.

DRAGON RAMPANT

And then how would I field them in Dragon Rampant... I have to admit, I haven't given it a tonne of thought. But just quickly, I could potentially field something like:

Arch-Warlock and attendants (6) - Elite Foot, Missiles - 8AP

• Stormvermin (12) - Heavy Foot - 4AP
• Clanrats (12) - Light Foot - 3AP
• Clanrats (12) - Light Foot - 3AP
• Giant Rats (12 - 11 rats, 1 packmaster) -  Ravenous Hordes - 1AP
• Gutter Runners (6) - Scouts - 2AP
• Rat Ogors (2) - Offensive Heavy Foot, Reduced Model Unit - 6AP
• Skryre Acolytes (6) - Light Foot, Offensive, Short-Ranged Missiles, Reduced Model Unit  - 6AP
• Warplock Jezzails (3) - Heavy Missile, Reduced Model Unit - 4AP
• Warplock Jezzails (3) - Heavy Missile, Reduced Model Unit - 4AP 
• Warpfire Thrower (2)  - Light Foot, Short-Ranged Missiles, Fearful, Reduced Model Unit  - 2AP
• Warpfire Thrower (2)  - Light Foot, Short-Ranged Missiles, Fearful, Reduced Model Unit  - 2AP
• Doom Wheel (1) - Greater Warbeast, Single Model Unit - 6AP

That's a total of 43 Army Points - LOADS to play in a campaign with! 

So.. What to Do... What to Do... 

If I could wave a magic wand and decide what I was going to paint for the next year and stay focused on that - and wave another magic wand that would conjure up players that could commit to playing in a game... As of writing this, I'd like to start cranking through these and plan to host a Weekend Campaign, either in the fall or for a revived Winter Wargaming Weekend/Wargaming Birthday Bash next February...?

Ideally I'd like to get a few Kill Teams (and some terrain!) done and play a bit of that over the summer... but also mix in a few games of Warcry - just to get some experience playing that (I wonder if I have enough Daughters of Khaine painted for Amanda to play... I could knock off a few more to make that happen, maybe!?) 

I guess if the Under-Carngard Warcry campaign wasn't until next February, I could alternate between batches of Skaven and Kill Teams - just to mix it up, keep it fresh...?

Also I'd like to get a BUNCH more rebasing done - moving into the fall - and finish up a few more units for a few of the other Fantasy armies so they could be used for a campaign over the winter. It would be similar to the Back of Beyond campaign, but using Dragon Rampant to play out the tabletop games and using a campaign system based on the original Mighty Empires!