Faction Focus: Skaven

Part of my Choosing An Army series for new players.
/ heywoah - stop by and chat AoS!
/ heywoah

[@MrGeneralHeavy]

"Their stuff will die, your stuff will die, and if the great horned rat wills it, your last few surviving units can scurry over and get the cheese." LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@MikeSpicyWinner]

Honestly I’m sold lol

[@Jerm-ct5jf]

Don't be ridiculous. There is no such thing as ratmen.

[@haowenjason]

Dude shush that’s exactly how to die by some dumb plot twist involving a ratman ...

[@Kyla-Stormhazard]

@@haowenjason There's no plot-scheme by any ratmen. After all, we don't exist, yes-yes.

[@theunicornwar7589]

The empire supports this message ~emperor Karl franz giving thumbs up~

[@carsonperry6443]

B-but what about the ROUS’s?

[@theunicornwar7589]

@@carsonperry6443 may I suggest you go to the nearest witch hunter and hand yourself in as a heretic, before I decide that you can live in the forest with the beastmen

[@blurghthebuilder8793]

My poor Ikit claw who survived the end times but still got replaced with the “arch warlock”

[@yourlocalpunkposer8107]

:(

[@OrionTheAussie]

Ikit was/is a arch warlock?

[@blurghthebuilder8793]

@@OrionTheAussie thats what they renamed ikits model to

[@blurghthebuilder8793]

@@OrionTheAussie no ikits model got renamed to arch warlock

[@OrionTheAussie]

@@blurghthebuilder8793 it's still Ikit claw tho

[@fumarc4501]

Skaven have been a greater help to the forces of order than to that of Chaos

[@milesgreenaway6008]

I’m super new to the hobby, have never played a “real” game of warhammer (have played with my friends units against said friend) and fell in love with Skaven!! Now I have 2360 points worth of rats to paint xd I don’t have a clue on what I’m doing so I’m definitely a great Skaven general!!

[@HeyWoah]

Sometimes you push all the red buttons, and if you win, claim it was on purpose - the skaven way.

[@Milenos]

And if you loose, blame it on your superior, the skaven way.

[@Siathuan]

@@Milenos no, you blame your subordinates. Blaming your superiors is only done when gloating over their recently accidentally brutally dismembered corpse.

[@ElderGod4]

Hobby?

[@cryptococcusneoformans2389]

Enemy cant disrupt your plan if dont have a plan. Best discribe of skaven way. Lmao

[@HypnoKraken]

You forgot to mention annoying your firends with constant rat speak

[@HeyWoah]

I don't want new players to even find out about that. The fewer people doing that cringe the better lol

[@brosephstalin4217]

We-us confuse man-thing with word speak, yes yes!

[@robv.johnson6360]

It's called Queekish! And it's a beautiful and elegant language! (Well not really but can be hilarious.)

[@Kalron9]

I dread playing my Death Guard when the quarantine ends... I'm going to get so fucking tired of the covid jokes.

[@nestor5780]

@@Kalron9 Skrolk wants-needs to know-have your location.

[@briancline7349]

That “Arch Warlock” looks a lot like Ikit Claw... a whole lot like him. 🤨🤔

[@Ortoreus]

Ya same for the Warden King for Cities straight being the old Belagar sculpt. But I mean welcome back in a way though.

[@absolutelyloyalspacemarine1684]

Maybe because the tww unit are based on the existing tabletob one?

[@John-rb8gb]

Ikin’t

[@XTeam49]

Likewise with Warlord, who looks a lot of Queek Headtaker.

[@reiteration6273]

@@absolutelyloyalspacemarine1684 They're not just "based on" them, they are them. The Legendary Lords in TWW are actual characters from Warhammer Fantasy. It's just that after the End Times, many of those named character models were repurposed to be generic heroes instead, since (unlike Thanquol, Alarielle, Morathi, Mannfred, etc.) most of the Warhammer Fantasy heroes didn't survive the apocalypse.

[@briancline7349]

So I see the Skaven once again foiled Nagash’s schemes and ironically saved the world in AoS just as they did in Fantasy lol. (Side note I can’t say I like hearing they are “almost immune to battle shock”, as Skaven’s cowardlyness has always been a key racial trait)

[@HeyWoah]

They are very cowardly with horrendous bravery scores, so that carries through, but their leaders have strong ways of keeping them in line provided the leaders are alive.

[@briancline7349]

HeyWoah oh I see, I guess that’s cool then since it at least gives the opponent the opportunity to go after the leaders to start a classic Skaven route.

[@Siathuan]

Like Tyranids, they're dependent on aura buffs to render them immune to battle shock, and the moment they lose those they scatter like... well, rats fleeing a sinking ship.

[@nichtsicher424]

I just noticed the subtle "Cuties of Sigmar" in the footnote. Well played :D

[@HeyWoah]

**GHB2020 Update: A bunch of points changed slighty, some up and some down, but the big story is stormvermin are sweet now! However, no realm artefacts any longer :(

[@minerva9104]

Name a more iconic duo than Skaven and foiling Nagash's world domination/destruction plans almost maybe definitely by accident.

[@grimdarklive]

Skaven is that army that I have always played against. An absolutely best opponent in the game.

[@derekzimmermann2551]

Right? I love playing against the Gloomspite Gitz/Trogz for a similar reason.... that reason being its always a totally chaotic, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-tatters comedy... tragic comedy

[@grimdarklive]

@@derekzimmermann2551 Ha! That is a great way you put that. For me, Skaven was also my first opponent (former High Elf player), and for that reason they have a bit of a nostalgic piece as well. Not to mention that with Skaven (like Gloomspite) anything, and I mean anything can happen! Great times.

[@MatthewMalis]

"Those rats were probably listed in a manifest somewhere as ammunition"

[@patrickdusk3030]

Funny and easy to digest AOS content for new players? This needs more-more likes yes-yes. Eager to see the rest of them, maybe an extremely over the top laughing-fit inducing one for the Lumineth after the book comes out(given the intial reaction).

[@derekzimmermann2551]

Really glad you're doing this. Through thick and thin, the skaven have always been the army of my heart because I once laid eyes upon the doomwheel. Such a fantastic range. Fantastic lore. So full of character. More MORE youtube strategies, yes!

[@keithrimer8415]

As a new player to AOS and a fledgling Skaven player, I’ve been waiting for this video and the list video. You always give great information and insight into each faction.

[@derekzimmermann2551]

You picked fantastic army brother.... don't be discouraged because it is a harder force to master, but the rewards are boundless. Play with retreat and charge with your clanrats and stormvermin a bit.... notice how much flexibility it can give you in the middle of the game. Swap targets, obfuscate with rat bodies, yes yes. Then murder-kill with WARP weapons!

[@derekzimmermann2551]

Even before the battletome came out its such a fun and wild army to play you always have a fun game. Now they very much have the sharp teeth to bite hard with.

[@robv.johnson6360]

As a long time player and an owner of close to 11,000 points of Skaven this video is really quite good. I do think the verminlord's are way overrated and the doomwheel isn't as bad as he says but overall, a great introduction and very astute considering I don't think he plays the army. If you want a top level analysis of Skaven I'd watch AoS Coach's last video with Dan Brewer. I find myself agreeing with everything Dan says except that Stormvermin were good at the time -- they still hadn't had their points lowered at that point. ^^ Best of luck and a fond welcome and (get to work fool-meat!) from your friendly neighborhood grey seer. (Also if you want to get into the lore there are a ton of great novels set in the Old World featuring Skaven that are hilarious, great reads.

[@gunsmokingjah]

Yeah pls list video 👍🏻 thank you for the nice content.

[@8ACCraftworks]

Remember the power of the Screaming Bell: if you roll a thirteen on two dice you automatically win. The rules don't specify that it has to be two fair dice.

[@smoothitalianleathereater6045]

I *adore* skaven, they're so fun to play as a DM for Warhammer role-playing

[@darrylparks4806]

"But really, do Skaven have allies? Those rats were probably listed on the manifest as ammunition" is such a beautiful summation of Skryre.

[@steelrexer1062]

I will like this video and subscribe because the first letters of each word in the title are F-F-S, and that describes the skaven very well.

[@acrylicchemist1432]

HeyWoah makes another great video, yes yes. All praise the Great Horned Rat!

[@Grumdy]

You know it's a good day when we get a new HeyWoah vid

[@jordanmoscone6297]

Finally, you cover an army worth its whiskers. Ps. Awesome language truely poetic

[@CalebHastings]

I secretly LOVE Clan Pestilens... but don't tell my Seraphon channel!

[@luuidz1966]

Ho shit, I was just checking your channel a few hours ago to see if I missed a video and here it is, informative stuff!

[@cinema_roll6296]

Just jelked to this vid on repeat for 5 hours. Thanks.

[@attemptedunkindness3632]

It's never the Skaven armies that scare me, it's the players who choose Skaven that I fear.

[@attemptedunkindness3632]

@@TheRatsintheWalls _I would be tortured and killed if I said why, and if you do not understand you do not understand why-why_

[@Ortoreus]

This is the line I’ve always thought the lore and models are super cool but I could never get into, just something about them. These are always great videos HeyWoah

[@ingi7064]

Who would win an entire rat army or a slayer and a poet i know im betting on

[@davidblenner9082]

All your videos are great but I especially love the rats! Great job as always man

[@21526]

Would really love a sequel to this featuring some lists. I am starting Skaven and am a little daunted by the various ways it can be built.

[@Bassario]

There is an unlimited amount of reasons to play skaven but ill watch it for enjoyment anyway just discovering your channel. Ultimately... its such a fiercley thematic, unique and perfectly executed faction that it single handedly makes AoS and the fantasy settings in general objectively superior to 40k while they continue to not exist, in the future.

[@Mayhamster818]

How to tell if something was built by the Skaven: Does it have the option to overcharge and maybe explode?

[@MrWmHobbs]

I remember wanting to play The OG Warhammer in High school. Never had the funds or time. Skaven we’re always going to be my dudes. Got into painting miniatures as just a hobby. But might end up fucking around and get a box of rat boys.

[@myrfinity783]

I would love to know how often Skaven tunnels run into Gloomspite tunnels. Is that one of the reasons why the ratmen have yet to come above ground to murder everyone? they are in an eternal war against the gitz with endless fronts to defend?

[@valaquenta220]

The only reason why I don't play them is because so many of their models are old (although some are really awesome). If the models were newer I'd play them in a hearbeat

[@gunnarsoderhielm3425]

I think most of them are fine, but some just look like they're from a different tabletop game. Especially gutter runners and warplock jezzails for example. Suddenly they have completely different looking faces from the rest of the range.

[@skreechverminking2227]

Yes-yes this is-is a fantastic-great video. The Horned Rat approves! Ps: Doomwheel= best unit in the Game.

[@Siathuan]

... It's a giant monowheel with spikes powered by hell-lightning generated from evil magic plutonium and piloted by a crackheaded rat-man who's been snorting leftover magic plutonium dust and now has the munchies for _fresh roadkill_ and _more evil magic plutonium._ Of course it's the best!

[@akumaking1]

I can’t wait for the day someone paints an entire Skaven army as Mickey Mouse

[@slimjim7411]

With the die off of 40k towards the end of 8th edition and into 9th edition it seems locally at least AoS has now been declared to be much better than 40k. Which is surprising since prior to just recently AoS was non-existent locally.

[@MrMephistoMori]

Best. Patreon. Plug. Ever.

[@gangstalker47]

"Why play the skaven?" To win. Lmao.

[@haowenjason]

Boo rats boo 🤣

[@Bladius_]

Not true, we've fallen a lot since our codex release and subsequent nerf. You'd have much more success with: Fyreslayers, OBR, Tzeench, FEC and arguably DoK and Slaanesh. They're firmly mid-low A tier though, and I could see arguments either way for DoK/Slaanesh. Skaven aren't all that easy to play either, many of the above armies are much easier to pilot. Any positional errors are more heavily punished than a lot of other armies, and the units (bar Verminlord/Stormfiends, meta wise) are individually kinda weak. That and two of our worst match ups are currently S tier and very over-tuned; OBR/Tzeench. We cannot deal with Mortal spam and 3+ Mortek spam. As for "why?" I've been collecting Skaven since just before Sigmar dropped originally (and playing the entire time we were garbage until the new book :P), I was instantly drawn to them after a cursory look in fantasy lore. They're IMO the most interesting and fun race in lore, and on the tabletop they have so many options and potential playstyles (not accounting for vaiblity of said playstyles).

[@gangstalker47]

@@Bladius_ It was a joke. please don't post a book over a meme.

[@Bladius_]

@@gangstalker47 If 3 paragraphs is a "book", you don't read many books, huh? ;) I gotta defend my boys, we're still getting a lot of shit for how the Warp Lightning Vortexes (vortices?) were on release! haha.

[@gangstalker47]

@@Bladius_ I'm sure you're a riot at parties.

[@jonocasuyon4252]

Hello, I'm new to Age of Sigmar. I was just wondering what "elite" means in the context of the game as I find that it's somewhat used negatively? Thank you.

[@HeyWoah]

Elite means low model count compared to horde which means high model count. It's generally a bad thing, as capturing objectives is by number of models nearby (by default - some battleplans differ).

[@Raven7744]

Best faction in AoS. The models, the lore and the playstyle

[@Wesson42]

Me laughing as Grimnir cares not for your "fantastic offense"

[@thomasmorris2568]

By the way mate, you should totally be consulted or at least the people at GW should watch your content when they are considering balance changes. Such a concise and measured analysis

[@CartoreAOS]

Good stuff.

[@TBWOC]

As the next video will likely be about army lists, can you please talk about budget armies and more leite (low model count) armies that do not need that many models.

[@HeyWoah]

With the GHB imminent, I simply have to skip list shows for a few weeks. The next few factions will add some model count and playstyle diversity against those done so far!

[@facepalmjesus1608]

because they are the coolest

[@RugbyLock2668]

Skaven, the last supper!! ROFLMAO!! Epic!!

[@reflexdogtraining1337]

Life is complete

[@TheDukeofOok]

With the new ghb skaven points leak, what do you think of the changes? With how you cant stack multiple damage shrugs anymore, do you think verminlords should have gone down?

[@HeyWoah]

Yes I do. I will note that double shrugs on verminlord wasn't terribly problematic balance-wise imo because they are largely just buff wagons. It's not like their immortality was enabling a ghoul king on royal terrorgeist style 'solo half an army' monster, it was just a utility wizard that was very hard to kill. As such, only a minor cost reduction to some, something like: Corruptor 270, Deceiver 280, Warbringer 270, Warpseer 300.

[@shadowscalecosplay6622]

I’m just using them for my vermintide themed story in my dnd campaign. But this actually makes me want to play aps

[@shadowolfnara4749]

Will you be doing o the rest of the factions? Im interested in seeing the rest. And maybe some old ones

[@diamonddynamo9611]

Content boys

[@ethanpaulgaard7157]

Your vocie gives me the same vibes as when I listen to ASMR on full volume

[@axo4383]

I'm the only one are Skaven kinda forgotten in Age of Sigmar? I mean when did they get new units that were notVerminlord?

[@Sherudons]

I had a 100 man seer council at one point, I understand the $15 a model rule and two squads of wraithguard, apocalipse games could take upwards of an hour to set up my army.... memories. I'm glad I quit just before the game changed for the worst to me.

[@mangohub3252]

Hey heywoah, Im really just getting into age of Sigmar and I hope you can do one of these for Orruks or beast claw raiders soon these is the best video series I’ve found

[@HeyWoah]

Plan is to do all the armies, currently working on the next 2

[@mangohub3252]

HeyWoah can’t wait to see them all, your videos have made me desperately wanna play

[@mw2freak63]

I love skaven the only problem is how many of their kits are still metal

[@Mech_rat]

Can you make an updated version of this video? 😄😄 pleeeeeease

[@bertje7113]

Question: is there a viable Clan Skryre list? I heard stuff about the Stormfiends but some people say that they're useless now since they can't specialize in 1 weapon anymore. Are they worth it compared to say Clanrats+Stormvermin for the same amount of points?

[@corbingovers7559]

Stormfiends are good (they'll never be useless at their current points value and buff potential). The specialize in one weapon was cheesy and everyone knew that it wasn't the intended loadout. IMO 40/20/20 clan rats are the best battle line (40/40/20 clan rats is still good, 40/40 clan rats plus 40 stormvermin is awesome too) for clans skryre. Gives enough bodies to prevent your opponent from murdering your soft squishy bits.

[@theunicornwar7589]

I kinda want to get some of these amazing creatures just to paint

[@RazorFox]

Good stuff, those rats look crazy to play against.

[@derekzimmermann2551]

Gotta clip their synergy pieces. Kill the heroes. When facing a screaming bell kill the rats around it and its dead in the water.

[@Ipuntmidgets1]

How accurate would you consider the total war games as a way to understand a lot of table top? I understand that the stats are different and there are some rules changes, but I think that what you're describing are exactly how they play in total war.

[@HeyWoah]

I don't know enough about total war to answer!

[@DrDunce-wj8ke]

now i want to play skaven... first i need to finish my 40k orks..

[@MaximilienBailly3]

*AMBUSH, YES YES !*

[@wotan7046]

keep keep alive live thiss one yes yes

[@Dgenz24]

Great video. Subbed!

[@gabeperras3711]

I freakin love Skaven! It's too bad alot of their models are old and didn't age well or else i'd buy a full 2000 point army!

[@aquanaridllcl970]

Because saying yesyes whisper screaming is fun as the plague

[@ohdeasu]

great video hope you do maggotkin next

[@raymondzuniga8489]

WHOA 😳

[@seanhenry7174]

Only num-num

[@doom6226]

Thank you for this video, I was about to buy 2 plagueclaws and a doomwheel

[@HeyWoah]

Judging by your profile picture I'm sorry to be bearer of bad news.

[@minimundus1712]

Yes- Yes- Me - like-like, want more....more warpstone YES

[@a_chillbacon]

Basically know nothing about fantasy or age of sigmar I’ve only learned and painted 40K and I have already fallen in love with the skaven

[@thefallenmonk605]

The amount of elves I killed by the shier weight of dead rat bodies is is staggering.

[@Jemso999999999]

Deserve to be bigger

[@martinrossler7804]

Could you do a video with sample skaven lists?

[@HeyWoah]

No! - I stopped doing list shows because it's either that or the next entire faction focus and I want to get to all the armies. However I do sample lists and stuff on patreon and sometimes on the twitch stream, and sometimes elsewhere if it's a slow work day

[@arkanain0]

Are you going to do one for tzeentch?

[@HeyWoah]

plan is to do one for every army, they just take a long time to make

[@ChaosxSpacexMarine]

Skaven are criminally under represented and not updated nearly as often or as grandly as they deserve. I'd do Skaven if they had a new range... But, it's a moot point since 3D printing exists and GW hates Skaven, Beasts of Chaos, Dwarves in general, and that's for sure...

[@qaztim11]

1 word Nukes

[@MrTotoro08]

Did i miss something or did you completely forget about ratling guns?

[@HeyWoah]

I didn't think they were noteworthy - do you think they are?

[@MrTotoro08]

I'm pretty new to the game so Im sure you know better, but I find they quite fun, especially when you can reroll hits and double 2d6 hits

[@HeyWoah]

Finding the fun is the best part

[@teenytv5194]

Flesh eater courts video?

[@jj-wk1om]

all hail the horned rat

[@mulgra]

Queek!

[@joej2241]

Your opening sounds like a song and I can’t place it

[@Agedwarlock]

Vsauce has used it

[@Wolfphototech]

*Please cover NightHaunt .*

[@lemsdarkapprentice2535]

what about ratling guns?

[@HeyWoah]

I didn't go over them since they're not particularly great and skaven have a million warscrolls

[@Kelerod]

Unfortunately, there are no skaven miniatures available apart from clanrats and plague monks in my country

[@ryanrichards4901]

Have you heard about buying stuff online though

[@jpsoup7920]

why plays skaven : rats

[@BidnessGoose]

Triscadececatude? What!?!?

[@billhenderson3716]

what about ratling gunners?

[@corbingovers7559]

60point glass cannons that either do everything or do nothing. A buffed up ratling cannon can do something like 14-20 damage easily. A few of them plus a good screen make melee only armies lie awake at night with visions of their marauders just dying en masse like WWI trench warfare. However if an enemy even sniffs in their direction, they die. Also they're 1 model units so you buff them up individually as opposed to like a full unit of 6 jezzails getting super buffed. I like them. The ratling guns on stormfiends can do less damage (fewer shots at 3d6 rather than 2d6*2) but they're a much more resilient model. Overall, just like the rest of clan skryre, take em if you want to push the red button, but don't be salty when you roll snake eyes and your super buffed ratling gun just blows up.

[@franzsperginand113]

QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK

[@ThomasAllen90]

Settle down citizen, before the guards hear you, we all know there are no such things as these ‘rat men’. Quiet and talk mention them no more.

[@creamsalmon]

Queek... 😢

[@bolikde9389]

Life is cheap.

[@Basil_Ghothickovitch]

Just yesterday I saw a leak of the Skaven Battletome. There is new: 1 per every 10 clanrats can be a standard bearer. And one for every 10 can be a Musician. You know what? I've been thinking for a long time. This is the rule I will apply now to my Warhammer Age of Sigmar hobby forever. It doesn't matter what GW says later. Now for every 10 any models in ANY UNITS I will make a musician/standard bearer. Even at Night Grots. Because it's so cool! Try to stop me! ***Unless the rules suggest one model out of 5, of course.

[@pcuimac]

Skaven are life! Skaven don't backstab. They honorably take suicidal tasks and are always ready to scrifice themselves for thr greater g.. for the tribe. Stop the anti-Skaven propaganda!

[@MrStoltverd]

Why play skaven? Because in tabletop GW favors them, and in TW, CA favors them