The Tactica – Skaven Part III – Magic & Magic Items

by | Jun 18, 2012


So this week, let's talk about Skaven Magic and Magic Items.  Skaven have access to two unique lores and a plethora of magic devices since their book was released at the tail end of 7th edition.  These lores compliment the Skaven quite well by either making up for deficiencies inherent to the army or enhancing attributes where the Skaven excel.  They also possess some extremely useful magic items that are unique in execution and devastating on the tabletop.  So let's take a look at these two lores of magic and some of the better items found in the Skaven army book.


Skaven generals should be aware that Skaven spells do not follow many of the 8th edition standards.  Skaven Lores do not have lore attributes, nor do we have signature spells (i.e. 7 spells per lore).  Most of our spells are not clearly stated as having followed the rules for augments, hexes, direct damage, or remains in play type spells either.  This can make for some murky waters when playing games as one might think a particular spell acts like an augment when it really doesn't because the description and FAQs make no mention of it.  In addition, none of the spells are boostable for greater range or effect.

Now before I delve into the details of each lore, spell, and magic item, I do use a scale  to give a sense of casting costs without GW breathing down my neck.  So my scale is simply as follows;

Casting Cost     Category
1-6                         Cheap
7-10                     Average
11-15                     Costly
16-20                   Expensive
21+               Extremely Expensive

Got that?  Alright, let's get started!


Lore of Ruin

Lore of Ruin serves a primary purpose of dealing damage in any one of several manners and is the domain of Warlock Engineers and Grey Seers.  Ruin consists primarily of spells cast directly at an opponent's units to cause hits, wounds, or outright deaths.  Many of the spells are very effective at this task.  The lore does offer some utility through Death Frenxy, Skitterleap, and Howling Warpgale, however, these spells can be situational at times. The primary benefit of Lore of Ruin lies in the cheap casting cost of the spells.  Only a single spell goes above a 10+ casting cost making this one of the easier lores to cast and many early spells can be attempted with 1 or 2 dice with little fear of failure.
  • Skitterleap
    • Summary - Skitterleap allows for one INFANTRY CHARACTER model to be teleported anywhere on the board.
    • Casting Cost - Cheap
    • Uses - Skitterleap proves very flexible as a canny general can use this spell for either offensive manuevers or defensive manuevers.  Offensively, Skitterleap is best used to position Warlock Engineers or other casters in a suitable position to rain warp-ridden death upon the foes.  Skitterleap a Warlock Engineer to have them blast a warmachine with Warp Lightning, or a plague priest to unload a cloud of corruption in the middle of an enemy's line of battle.  Additionally, it can be used to place suicide warlocks to line up easy shots with a doomrocket, death globe, etc.  Defensively, Skaven generals can teleport their squishy casters (or even the all-important BSB) out of combat.  Another of my favorite tactics involves teleporting suicide warlocks in front of enemy units as redirect units.
    • Defenses - Due to the low casting cost of skitterleap it can be incredibly difficult to defend against, particularly if the Skaven player waits to cast the spell last.  The best bet is to ask yourself at the start of the magic phase, "Can my opponent meaningfully use skitterleap this turn?"  If the answer is yes, try and hold a couple of dice back for skitterleap.  If the answer is a no, or even a maybe, then use the dice to make sure other spells don't go off.  Regardless, if the Skaven player is trying to cast Curse of the Horned Rat, that should always take priority over waiting for Skitterleap.
  • Warp Lightning
    • Summary - Warp Lightning inflicts d6 S5 hits but has a chance to backlash onto the caster.
    • Casting Cost - Cheap
    • Uses - Warp Lightning really only has one use and that is to kill things and it offers a good amount of hits at a high strength and with a good range of 24" to boot.  That being said, I find it best to target skirmishers and scouts over large blocks of infantry.  I would even prioritize cavalry and chariots over infantry blocks since it will likely take a wound or two off.  Since this is the default spell for Warlock Engineers one common tactic consists of a skaven force loading up on cheap warlocks, grabbing the default warp lightning spell, and using them as ranged batteries.  Often times these engineers will camp out in the front rank of a bunker unit and throw their warp lightning out in bulk.
    • Defenses - The best defense is to keep scouts, skirmishers, and cavalry out of LOS from any warlock engineers.  Barring that, try and keep out of range or at very least, that they can close the gap very quickly.  Otherwise the standard defenses of dispel dice, magic resistance, and/or ward saves work well. 
  • Howling Warpgale
    • Summary - This spell makes it impossible to use flying movement and gives all missile weapon attacks a -1 penalty.  This spell doesn't affect Skaven models.
    • Casting Cost - Average
    • Uses - This spell is situational in that a skaven army must be facing an army with ranged attacks or flyers in order to be useful.  Most armies will possess one or the other though, so Howling Warpgale will usually be useful in  games.  Keep in mind that this penalty stacks with others of the same kind.  So enemies firing at skaven skirmishers in hard cover would receive a cumulative -4 penalty.  Also, this bonus combines with that of the Stormbanner and really makes armies that rely on ranged combat twinge in such circumstances.  Lastly, do remember the effect on flyers.  I've seen chaos warrior wizards on disks fly in front of units thinking they can easily flee by flying and they forget this spell negates flying and suddenly that caster is in a whole world of pain.
    • Defenses - The best defense to this spell is to build a balanced list.  Don't rely too much on any single aspect such as shooting or flanking flyers and this spell won't have a huge impact.  Lastly, don't forget the details of this spell.  As mentioned above in uses, remember that this spell negates flying movement in addition to the penalty to missile weapons.  Lastly, if the enemy uses their stormbanner, don't even bother trying to dispel this spell, if cast, until the banner's effects wear off.  There is no point wasting the dice to remove a -1 penalty when a -2 is still in effect and flyers will be shut down by both.  Otherwise the best magic defense is dispel dice and scrolls if it would really hamper you.
  • Death Frenzy
    • Summary - Cast on a friendly unit, this spells gives them the Death Frenzy state which mimics Frenzy except it grants +2 attacks.  In return a handful of models (d6) from that unit die while in this state (so until the unit loses combat).
    • Casting Cost - Average
    • Uses - Death Frenzy has an offensive use and a defensive use.  Offensively this spell is used to give a unit more attacks in the hopes of causing more damage.  This spell is best cast on slaves and clanrats to avoid undue point loss due to the attrition effect inherant to the spell.  This makes even clanrats suddenly beastly opponents in combat.  Defensively, cast this spell on a skaven unit when casualties have brought the unit to below a decent threshold for Strength in Numbers to meaningfully boost leadership.  Remember that when this spell affects a unit, that unit can no longer choose to flee and still has to test for frenzy.
    • Defenses - The best defense for this spell is to let it through in early in the game and then bait the affected unit around like any other frenzied unit.  This works exceptionally well at times since the skaven unit will lose d6 models per game turn.  Late in the game always try and dispel Death Frenzy.  The last thing any general wants to see is a unit of slaves he thought he could slowly grind down start to fight back and actually win combat.
  • Scorch
    • Summary - Scorch is a damage spell that places the small blast template and anything under that template suffers a S4 flaming attack.  If a unit suffers wounds it must make a panic check.
    • Casting Cost - Average
    • Uses - Scorch is pretty much another direct damage spell.  This spell offers an easy method for skaven to bring some flaming attacks to the table and is primarily useful against large blocks of infantry and flammable characters/units.  Remember that the template doesn't scatter!
    • Defenses - To defend against scorch first check and see what units you have on the table.  Are any of them flammable or single wound models with regeneration saves?  Do you possess a number of large infantry units on the board that do not have good armor saves (3+ or better)?  If either of those is yes than determine if any of those units are in range of the caster and if they are, whip out the dispel dice or scroll if the target is especially critical.
  • Crack's Call
    • Summary - When cast the skaven player will draw a line in the direction indicated before casting equal in length to 4d6.  Anything under the line must pass an initiative test or die. Warmachines and chariots must roll a 5+ or be destroyed.  This spell can also destroy buildings, something very unique and useful for Skaven players (who often times have problems holding buildings).
    • Casting Cost - Costly
    • Uses - Crack's call is best used against warmachines, chariots, and units with low initiative scores.  Additionally, this spell should not be cast against skirmishers since they stay in a dispersed formation at all times.  The best trick with crack's call is to use it in conjunction with Skitterleap and zip a warlock engineer over by the enemy war machines and then cast Crack's Call.  This method is a quick and easy way to remove war machines.
    • Defenses - Don't group up warmachines.  Keep them a minimum of 8" - 10" apart as this will mean any skitterleaping warlocks will have to jump right next to the warmachines if they want a decent shot at hitting both.  Don't occupy buildings within 12" of a caster of this spell either as the unit will suffer as Skaven rarely contest buildings since they have a difficult time holding onto them.  Finally, don't be afraid to let this spell go if there are not juicy targets in range.  If it will only kill 8-10 state troops and there is a potential for another more damaging spell later, let this one go and hope for a unproductive 4d6 roll for range.

Plague Priest in Progress

Lore of Plague

Lore of Plague involves spells that primarily seek to deal damage to an opponent through low strength hits/wounds that ignore armor saves.  Additionally it offers a few spells to cast on units as buffs/debuffs.  This lore is fantastic against high armor save armies as most spells in this lore will ignore armor.  This lore is the providence of Plague Priests and Grey Seers.
  • Pestilent Breath
    • Summary - Essentially a breath weapon that causes S2 hits with no armor saves.  May be used in close combat to cause d6 hits instead of the template.
    • Casting Cost - Cheap
    • Uses - This is a pretty basic plague spell and also the default spell for plague monks.  This spell is best used on skirmishers and low toughness flanking units such as dragon princes, but, as with all template attacks, it can prove useful against large blocks of infantry.  In combat this spell suffers from 7th edition syndrome but can still prove useful by removing a few additional models.  Skitterleap works great with this spell, although plague priests are a little too pricey to be flung around the field on suicide missions.
    • Defenses - The best defense is to stay outside of template reach with vulnerable units.  Also, be on the lookout for Skitterleap and try and shut that spell down as that is key to positioning some really damaging shots with pestilent breath.
  • Bless With Filth
    • Summary - Grants Poison Attacks to a friendly unit.  May be cast on a unit that already possess Poison Attacks to make it easier (5+) to automatically wound.
    • Casting Cost - Average
    • Uses - Bless with filth makes any Skaven unit a danger to monsters and other high toughness units, particularly if they do not have a great armor save to protect them.  Additionally, cast this spell on a unit affected by Death Frenzy and you have a unit that can deal a stupendous amount of damage.  Lastly, this spell should be used on plague monks the turn they use their plague banner.  All of the re-rolls will ensure that the unit maximizes their wound tally on an enemy unit and I've seen a number of times where they have completely eliminated units using tactics like this.
    • Defenses - Anything that forces a unit to re-roll successful hits will greatly decrease the efficiency of this spell.  Otherwise, the best defense to bless with filth is to dispel it via dice or scrolls.
  • Wither
    • Summary - Permanently reduces the toughness (T) characteristic of an enemy unit by 1.  If the unit is reduced to Toughness of 0 then the unit is removed as casualties.
    • Casting Cost - Average
    • Uses - Wither is one of those spells that really harmonizes with the other plague spells.  Cast this spell early and often and, if successful, many of the plague spells will seem much more deadly later in the game.  This spell is hampered by it's short range (12") but since it makes all of the plague spells more useful and dangerous, it is well worth the wait and the difficulty trying to get this spell off.
    • Defenses - Dispel this spell at all costs.  The Skaven only possess two spells that I consider more dangerous than this spell (Plague and Curse of the Horned Rat) and Wither has a really affordable casting cost considering the effect.  Wither also makes one of those two spells, plague, more powerful by lowering the toughness of the unit. Prioritize this spell very high on the dispel list and be wary if Grey Seers roll this spell as they possess warpstone tokens which they can use to assist with casting beyond the usual power dice.
  • Vermintide
    • Summary - A small template starts at the caster and moves out in a straight line 4d6".  Any units hit suffer 3d6 S2 hits (these allow armor saves).  May be used in close combat but only targets a single enemy unit.
    • Casting Cost - Average
    • Uses - Vermintide is best used against small units with little to no armor save.  Also, use it  on tightly clustered units to force your opponent to reconsider dense deployments 3d6 S2 attacks that allow armor saves really sin't that deadly, but when it hits 3 or 4 units a turn, it quickly adds up.
    • Defenses - Look at your army.  If it consists of high toughness (T4 or better) or high armor save (3+ or better) or if it only hits a single unit, let this spell through.  Again, Skaven have much more dangerous spells than this one.  Chaos Warriors should almost never dispel this spell unless they have been afflicted with several withers.
  • Cloud of Corruption
    • Summary - Targets all units, friend and foe, within 12".  Targeted units must roll a d6.  Enemy units are affected on a 2+, Skaven units on a 4+, Skaven clan Pestilens on a 5+.  Each unit affected suffers d6 strength 5 hits.
    • Casting Cost - Costly
    • Uses - The best use for this spell is to skitterleap a plague priest into the middle of the enemy formation and cast Cloud of Corruption.  That way no Skaven units are affected and the maximum enemy units suffer the effects of the spell.  Alternatively this spell can be used in a heavy Pestilens army and take only marginal friendly casualties.
    • Defenses - Keep units either so close together than there is no space for a lone model to sneak in-between your units, or dispersed enough that a skitterleaped plague priest will only affect a single unit.
    • Plague
      • Summary - Any unit affected by this spell must make a toughness test for each model.  If this test is failed then  the model is removed as a casualty with no armor saves allowed.  After the affect has been resolved on the unit, roll a d6 and it has a chance to pass onto a nearby unit (friend or foe determined by dice roll).
      • Casting Cost - Costly
      • Uses - Plague is an extremely devastating spell against all armies.  High toughness armies tend to rely on armor or multiple wounds and this spell removes models without regard to wounds or armor saves.  Low toughness armies obviously will take more casualties but often have more bodies on the table to soak up the wounds.
      • Defenses - If you have access to Lore of Life, try casting Flesh to Stone on as many units as possible.  Otherwise use items to boost character toughness to prevent losing the general or BSB.  Also, spread units out so that once a unit is affected the chances another unit will succumb is slim to none.  Finally, this spell should be prioritized above everything else with the reasoning that Curse of the Horned Rat is very likely to cast with a miscast or not at all.

      Grey Seer Lore
      This really isn't an actual lore, but rather a spell that exists outside of the normal Skaven lores and is only available to the mystical Grey Seers of the Skaven.  Be forewarned that any Grey Seer can choose to take this spell over one that he has generated randomly.  This spell is considered one of the most powerful spells in all of the Warhammer setting and with just cause.
      • Curse of the Horned Rat
        • Summary - This spell instantly kills 4d6 models in the affected unit with no saves of any kind allowed and regardless of wounds.  Additionally, if the number of affected models is great than the number of models in the unit than those models are transformed into Skaven clanrats.
        • Casting Cost - Extremely Expensive
        • Uses - This spell has the highest natural casting cost of any non-storm of magic spell in the entire game and rightly so.  This spell removes models just like plague but with the added bonuses of not checking against a characteristic and potentially creating another Skaven unit on the table that is worth no victory points.  To cast this spell is to risk a miscast though.  Rolling 5 dice offers a relatively low chance to succeed and 6 dice still requires slightly above average rolls.  So make sure that the grey seer is equipped with the earthing rod to mitigate the affects of the miscast table.  Also make sure he has a ward save and I highly encourage skalm if the points can be found.
        • Defenses - Two words, feedback scroll.  Skaven players will always roll at least 5 dice to attempt this spell and will usually generate a miscast when they make any attempt to cast. So dispel scrolls, while potentially useful in the off chance that no miscast occurs, are usually useless.  Feedback scrolls on the other hand don't negate the spell but can potentially remove the caster as a casualty, especially if they are already taking a wound or two from the miscast table.  Otherwise there isn't much one can do to defend against this spell given the absurd number of dice taken to cast and the fact that no armor saves or characteristic checks are taken.  So be wary if a Grey Seer chooses this spell.



        Magic Items

        This section will attempt to give Skaven generals some insight into what magic items they will see the most use.  These items come in many forms and either complement the strengths of the Skaven or counteract the deficiencies inherent to the cowardly rat-men.
        This section is presented differently from the spells above since there are far too many magic items to list individually.  For the items in the Skaven army book I've grouped the magic items based on tiers.  The upper tiers consist of magic items that will be found in most Skaven armies and are useful against a wide variety of opponents.  The middle tier are items that are less common in lists but still serve a useful purpose or perhaps are a bit more limited in scope.  Finally the lower tier are items that are rarely taken and/or are so limited in scope that are relegated to friendly games only where one knows your opponent well in advance.
        Because any discussion about magic items would be incomplete without at least glossing over the plethora of generic magic items in the basic rule book, this section will attempt to group these into two categories Useful and Avoid.  Useful items are, again, those that could easily see use in any Skaven list.  Items on the Avoid list are ones that really stand no reason to be taken unless against specific opponents.  If an item doesn't appear on these lists then it is lost somewhere in-between useful and avoid.
        After the lists I will endeavor to explain some of the more popular items and why they are indeed so popular.
        • Skaven Army Book
          • Upper-Tier
            • Warlock Augmented Weapon, Weeping Blade, Shadow Magnet Trinket Warp-Energy Condenser, Skalm, Doomrocket, Plague Banner, Storm Banner, Banner of the Under-Empire.
          • Mid-Tier
            • The Fellblade, Blade of Corruption, Warpstone Armor, Rival Hide Talisman, Foul Pendant, Skavenbrew, Pipes of Piebald, Portents of Verminous Doom, Brass Orb, Death Globe, Warp Scroll, Shock-Prod, Electro-Whip, Sacred Banner of the Horned Rat, Grand Banner of Clan Superiority, Shroud of Dripping Death
          • Lower Tier
            • Warpforged Blade, Dwarfbane, Blade of Nurglitch, World's Edge Armor, Shield of Distraction, Warpstorm Scroll, Scrying Stone, Warpstone Tokens, Warpstone Stars, Infernal Bomb, Smoke Bombs, Warlock Optics, Dwarf-Hide Banner, Banner of Verminous Scurrying
          • Generic Magic Items
            • Useful
              • Fencer's Blades, Sword of Might, Shrieking Blade, Armor of Destiny, Armor of Silvered Steel, Armor of Fortune, Dragonhelm, Enchanted Shield, Talisman of Preservation, Talisman of Endurance, Dawnstone, Standard of Discipline, Banner of Eternal Flame, Feedback Scroll, Earthing Rod, Dispel Scroll, Crown of Command, Terrifying Mask of EEE!, Ironcurse Icon.
            • Avoid
              • Tormentor Sword, Warrior Bane, Sword of Anti-Heroes, Charmed Shield, Pidgeon Plucker Pendant, Scarecrow Banner, Lichebone Pennant, Fozzrik's Folding Fortress, Wizarding Hat
          Warlock Augmented Weapon - This is one of the best weapons for it's point values.  Rolled up in one weapon a Skaven character will receive +1 strength and +1 attack.  So for 5 points more than a Sword of Might & a Sword of Battle you get the bonuses for both.  Put this on a warlord on a bonebreaker or war litter and they can easily go to town with a large number of decent strength attacks.  One final note, NEVER take this on a Warlock Engineer.  They don't have the characteristics to support melee combat.

          Doomrocket - The doomrocket is the preeminent suicide weapon.  For a meager cost you can put this on a naked Warlock Engineer for very little points, then skitterleap them across the board to the perfect setup point and point and shoot.  this is one item that makes it's way into almost every Skaven army and with good reason.

          Shadow Magnet Trinket - Best used on characters that find themselves on top of a plague furnace, screaming bell, or the units that push them.  This means that while an enemy can target the units separately they will have a harder time hitting anything.  Combine this with the Storm Banner or Howling Warpgale and you really don't have to worry about that unit taking many casualties from shooting.

          Skalm - Healing is rare for Skaven and with many items, spells, and devices causing harm to our own characters, it is useful in any regards.  Skalm is always more useful than a healing potion since it restores ALL wounds and costs slightly less.  Best used on Grey Seers to soak up wounds from miscasts generated from Curse of the Horned Rat.

          Plague Banner - If you take Plague Monks, make sure they possess the plague banner.  This cost-effective item really ramps up their killing ability for a single turn and with the benefit of this item I have seen plague monks plow through an entire unit of Executioners fighting at initiative.

          Storm Banner - This one seems situational but most armies will possess ranged shooting, warmachines, or flying creatures and thus it finds a use against most foes.  The price is expensive, especially since it affects Skaven shooting as well, but for a minimum of one player turn the Skaven army will have little to fear from shooting attacks and this banner can also shut down flank assaults by flyers hanging around on the board edges.

          Earthing Rod - A must-have for Grey Seers I'm afraid.  They are too prone to taking wounds from either warpstone tokens, warp lightning, or miscasts from trying to cast Curse of the Horned Rat.

          Ironcurse Icon - Again, this is useful for characters that are placed in large units or in units that push a bell or furnace.  The furnace particularly benefits from this device since it possesses no inherent ward save of it's own.

          Shrieking Blade/Terrifying Mask of EEE! - This may seem odd.  Skaven relying on fear/terror?  But combine these items with Pipes of Piebald, Portents of Verminous Doom, and the Banner of the Horned Rat and suddenly enemies are testing fear/terror/charge/etc at -1 or -2 leadership and they are bound to fail eventually.

          On a final note, my apologies for the delayed blog post.  I was out of town for work for a week and then my wife returned from a 6-week trip to Europe with the local Rotary Club.  So I've been enjoying her company.  After that, this blog post took longer to prepare than expected, and even longer when I resolved to have my plague priest painted to a point where I could post it in this article.  No, he's not finished, but then, nothing in my Skaven army is finished as they all need basing material and freehand.

          So later this week expect another post and then next week I will have another couple posts, including the next Skaven Tactics article that will cover characters.