Skaven 8th Edition: Heros

In this edition I will go over heroes. Heroes seem to have gotten quite a nice boost since its last edition. Before it was all pretty much the same idea, with your warlock engineers having the same magic items, and only a few at best. And there really wasn't much change. Now there is a slew of options, and I like it alot. Lets begin:

DeathMaster Snikch (1/10)

Yes I have taken him, yes he is that bad. For the points he is not nearly any good, and compared to his Dark elven cousins, he sucks the big one. And with all the stories of how good he was suppose to be, he really is a disappointment to all Eshin kind. He does have some cool items, but he still isn't worth having on your list except when you are just having fun, and your taking themed list. But as far as trying to be competitive, there is no real reason why to take him. Pass.

Trech Craventail (3/10)

This guy is pretty fun to play with. For friendly play, definitely take this guy. For just being a hero, he can do some good damage, but you will never see him in a competitive match. Just be warned. But you gotta atleast try this guy out once. I did, and like it.

He is all about hitting the opponents ranks, and when things gets ruff, he has a descent chance to switch to another unit. He also has a descent ward save sitting at 4+

Assassin (5/10)

Again, not as good as the dark elven counter parts, but they are fun to have, and if not anything else, fun to mess with the opponents head, reminding them that there might be one in there. They are also decsent at going at your opponents Heros (not Lords).

I have run a couple different setups with them. First one that i like is with the blade of corruption. Simple, easy to get 2 wounds on that hero, not much defense. Just hope your opponent doesn't have that great of an armor save. If you are concerned about armor saves, then go with the warpforged blades. Even against Lords, this might be interesting choice.

With this first setup, basically hide in unit and have unit charge away.

Another setup I like to use is one I like to have with Gutter Runners which I call the Giant Killer. Assassin with warpstone Stars. Great against war machines and other large targets that gutter runners love to go after. Another favorite weapon is the anti-hero weapon. Giving you added str and attacks for each hero.

Warlock Engineer (10/10)

Probably the 2nd most underrated model in the Skaven army. With only being 15 points, they can caddy for Lords all the items that a lord would normally take. I usually will give them any item that effects the whole unit, such as the Shadow Magnet Trinket and the Iron Curse Icon.

Also with such being a cheap price to start out with, you can also bring your Brass orbs, Doom orbs, and any other weapons you like.

Probably my most used Warlock engineer setup is a Level 1 Wizard using the Warp-Energy condenser and the doom rocket. I also have been known to wear the ring of ruin, so that I can use the fireball spell for relatively cheap but you do not need to be a wizard to do that. The only thing with that is it takes away from the power pool, so it depends on how much power dice you roll up for the turn. Another strategy I have seen is that use can use warlock engineers to block units from attacking the rank and file of a unit. if you have a block of 25 clan rats, and put in the front rank 5 different warlocks, you enemy must attack the warlocks individually instead of the unit. There are lots of things you can do with the warlock, even if its just putting a 15 model out there, distracting the enemy because it could have a weapon or not, and the enemy will have to decide wither or not to attack it, and if not you could use them to help march block.

The rarest setup is the sniper outfit. I dont think I have seen anyone try this, nor have I. Stick with the Caddy/Warp lightning Wizard.

Chieftain (10/10)

Being the only Battle standard Bearer choice in the army, its pretty important to have one in the Skaven army especially since our Leadership isn't always top notch. It really helps out those Hellpits who only benefit from a Stubborn LD of 8.

A descent setup for the chieftain is any magic banner normally I get the storm banner if not taken elsewhere, the Shield, Poison, optional Pistol and Tail Weapon.
BSB's are always good no matter what banner they take, I advise you always to take at least a shield to get you to a 3+ save in combat while the other equipment just makes sure that while he is there he can hurt something. Keep him in the unit where you lord is, and your good to go.

Plague Priest (8/10)

The plague priest is a very popular choice, but not a definite need in your army. The plague priest is your combat wizard, who can have a few options at his feet. One of the more popular options is using the all powerful furnace. Along with the furnace I will give him the flail and make him lvl 2 so that he has a greater chance of getting a spell like wither or bless with filth. Even though the furnace is vulnerable to Catapults and other template war machines, they should on average last till turn two or three if you you deploy some gutter runners and have the storm banner in hand.

The other options is to run in in a unit of either plague monks or your censer bearers.

If I am not taking him in with the furnace I usually will set him up with the following: Make him a lvl 2 wizard with plague censer and a warp scroll. Run this guy in a pack of censer bearers, and watch him beat down some units. The warp scroll is especially effective if you can get wither off on a unit. A very nice combination against lower toughness opponents.