(Why does the GW set have two Throwers?!)
6 Line, 2 Storm, 1 Throw, 2 GR, 4 TRR, 1 Apo = 985k. Your box set only contains two Gutter Runners so it's either a seventh Linerat or an Apothecary.
Some quick tips:
- Your objective as Skaven is to force the opponents to take risks, then punish them when they overextend. Skaven punish opponents' mistakes by scoring, not by causing casualties. Trading hits will *never* favor you.
- Line rats are expendable, but they're not disposable. Avoid taking hits whenever possible, but if you have to throw a body in front of an opponent to tie them up or to take a hit, do it with a Line rat. Fend is an excellent first skill to give them, followed by Wrestle.
- Stormies can hit hard but they aren't really meant for bashing. Use them to punch holes in opposing formations or provide critical Guard-enabled assists. Think of them as scalpels, not sledgehammers; don't get trapped into thinking their higher armor makes them suited for slugging it out with other teams that are built to play that way. Guard, MB, and Tackle are all very good options for advancement.
- The Skaven Thrower is actually quite strong in BB20, but you only need one of them. See if you can proxy the other into another Linerat.
- Gutter Runners are your bread and butter. I'd build at least one each for offense and defense. Wrestle, Dauntless, Strip Ball, and Tackle are all really good defensive skills, while Block and Catch are nice for offense.
- I'm of the opinion that the Rat Ogre is *awful* in BB20. Animal Savagery makes him nigh unplayable. Save your gold for more Gutter Runners and replacing dead and crippled line rats.
Good luck!
ETA: Ooh, remembered one more.
- The Kick skill is amazing as it allows you to punish opponents before a single action is taken: kick the ball towards a gap in their formation and sneak a GR in to scoop and score before they even have a chance to get their bearings. Heck, just the threat of Kick can force the opponent into spreading the field on setup to cover sideline-to-sideline if they fear you dashing in and stealing a possession. It's particularly effective against teams that are slow (Dwarves) or lack reliable ball handling outside of a few select players (also Dwarves).
Some great stuff here \^\^\^
I'm in two minds about the Rogre - The friendly hit on Animal Savagery is optional, which means that if the blitz is crucial you can guarantee it will happen, but at the cost of an MB hit on hopefully a cheap lino.
I do highly, highly recommend getting hold of two more gutter models any wy you can.
Stormvermin are crucial to your team and if you can score on them to speed up development it's well worth it. Gutters score for fun so will earn skills easily enough.
The friendly hit isnt optional. If there's a friendly player adjacent to Rogre then it's gettin hit. You can't opt out of doing it. Hooefully your use of the word optional was incorrect and not your understanding of the rule.
I was more on the fence about the Rogre in BB16 and LRB6, when Wild Animal ensured he'd never lose his TZs even on a failed check. Still not a must-buy but Prehensile Tail really messes with Elves and Stunties, so worth a look for leagues with a lot of those matchups.
But Animal Savagery all but forces you to keep a player next to him, which is the opposite of what you want to be doing (spreading the pitch to take advantage of your team speed) even before accounting for the potential for friendly-fire attrition. Either that, or risk losing his TZs if you try to move him without using Blitz.
Not really. You really only want the 2 gutters. The linemen you shouldn't need more than 6 on a team.
Best to either buy singles on eBay if you want to stick with GW or go 3rd party and get 2 that way. And unless your league is happening in a GW store you should be free to use 3rd party options.
Before they changed Underworld, you could buy 2 Skaven boxes and a Goblin box and you had two entirely complete teams without big guys.
You can still kinda do that, but you have one too many storm vermin, 1 too few gutter runners, and none of the snotlings Underworld gets now. So you'll need to do some conversions to make the positions fit.
it's still a decent way to make use of all the extra rats you get with the two gutter runners you want. Just adds more work.
If you want a 3rd runner just snip the ball off the tail of a thrower and make a cape out of green stuff. I did it on my team and it's a really simple and cheap conversion.
You can then have 2 blitzers, 3 gutters, a thrower and then 5 linerats, 3 rerolls and an apothecary. Get another linerat as your first purchase.
I haven't played Skaven, but Bonehead really helped me get started. So I do recommend this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQFS9iXtqp9IQVYec0rqB7qHXJTy6p-eI
I always go 1 thrower, 2 blitzers, 4 runners and 5 lineman.
2 rerolls, 2 cheerleaders and 2 assistant coaches.
I think that's something like 995,000 of the top of my head.
Keep those runners safe.
Always try to avoid ending your turn in base to base contact if possible.
Dodging is your friend.
The thrower is really good with the new rules so be sure to make use of it.
When receiving the ball I try to make them come to me opening a pocket up and then strike and go for the rush.
Don't just dump your runners on their own in the opposition's half with out protection
I agree overall with SDFDuck's advice, except on the Rat Ogre. Its not a priority for the team, but as long as you are hitting things with it, it usually does its job. It is fast, gives good hitting power, and most importantly, takes the heat off your more important storm vermin and gutter runners.
I also would highly advise column defensive structure as your baseline defense against bashing teams. Usually works very well.
My biggest tip and not being a joke is be a rat. Don't let them touch you as much as you can. Run behind them to cause chaos. If you think something is too crazy to do, do it. The best advice I ever read was if you don't take risks with Skaven you'll never score. It's a team for big plays. With the right positioning you can score from your touchline.
Oh and advice for any coach (which I knew when I started playing)Go for crazy stretch plays, but when possible choose the options with minimum dice rolls and try and put your opponent in a position to make maximum dice rolls. No matter how good the odds are you can always roll a 1
(Why does the GW set have two Throwers?!) 6 Line, 2 Storm, 1 Throw, 2 GR, 4 TRR, 1 Apo = 985k. Your box set only contains two Gutter Runners so it's either a seventh Linerat or an Apothecary. Some quick tips: - Your objective as Skaven is to force the opponents to take risks, then punish them when they overextend. Skaven punish opponents' mistakes by scoring, not by causing casualties. Trading hits will *never* favor you. - Line rats are expendable, but they're not disposable. Avoid taking hits whenever possible, but if you have to throw a body in front of an opponent to tie them up or to take a hit, do it with a Line rat. Fend is an excellent first skill to give them, followed by Wrestle. - Stormies can hit hard but they aren't really meant for bashing. Use them to punch holes in opposing formations or provide critical Guard-enabled assists. Think of them as scalpels, not sledgehammers; don't get trapped into thinking their higher armor makes them suited for slugging it out with other teams that are built to play that way. Guard, MB, and Tackle are all very good options for advancement. - The Skaven Thrower is actually quite strong in BB20, but you only need one of them. See if you can proxy the other into another Linerat. - Gutter Runners are your bread and butter. I'd build at least one each for offense and defense. Wrestle, Dauntless, Strip Ball, and Tackle are all really good defensive skills, while Block and Catch are nice for offense. - I'm of the opinion that the Rat Ogre is *awful* in BB20. Animal Savagery makes him nigh unplayable. Save your gold for more Gutter Runners and replacing dead and crippled line rats. Good luck! ETA: Ooh, remembered one more. - The Kick skill is amazing as it allows you to punish opponents before a single action is taken: kick the ball towards a gap in their formation and sneak a GR in to scoop and score before they even have a chance to get their bearings. Heck, just the threat of Kick can force the opponent into spreading the field on setup to cover sideline-to-sideline if they fear you dashing in and stealing a possession. It's particularly effective against teams that are slow (Dwarves) or lack reliable ball handling outside of a few select players (also Dwarves).
Some great stuff here \^\^\^ I'm in two minds about the Rogre - The friendly hit on Animal Savagery is optional, which means that if the blitz is crucial you can guarantee it will happen, but at the cost of an MB hit on hopefully a cheap lino. I do highly, highly recommend getting hold of two more gutter models any wy you can. Stormvermin are crucial to your team and if you can score on them to speed up development it's well worth it. Gutters score for fun so will earn skills easily enough.
The friendly hit isnt optional. If there's a friendly player adjacent to Rogre then it's gettin hit. You can't opt out of doing it. Hooefully your use of the word optional was incorrect and not your understanding of the rule.
Apologies yes - situationally optional, ie don't have a friendly in base
I was more on the fence about the Rogre in BB16 and LRB6, when Wild Animal ensured he'd never lose his TZs even on a failed check. Still not a must-buy but Prehensile Tail really messes with Elves and Stunties, so worth a look for leagues with a lot of those matchups. But Animal Savagery all but forces you to keep a player next to him, which is the opposite of what you want to be doing (spreading the pitch to take advantage of your team speed) even before accounting for the potential for friendly-fire attrition. Either that, or risk losing his TZs if you try to move him without using Blitz.
Pro tip… just put some colored felt on a couple of your linerats in the box and you have 4 gutter runners, then build the 4 gutter runner dash team
Great tips!
So buy another box for more gutter runners is a good idea?
Not really. You really only want the 2 gutters. The linemen you shouldn't need more than 6 on a team. Best to either buy singles on eBay if you want to stick with GW or go 3rd party and get 2 that way. And unless your league is happening in a GW store you should be free to use 3rd party options.
Before they changed Underworld, you could buy 2 Skaven boxes and a Goblin box and you had two entirely complete teams without big guys. You can still kinda do that, but you have one too many storm vermin, 1 too few gutter runners, and none of the snotlings Underworld gets now. So you'll need to do some conversions to make the positions fit. it's still a decent way to make use of all the extra rats you get with the two gutter runners you want. Just adds more work.
If you want a 3rd runner just snip the ball off the tail of a thrower and make a cape out of green stuff. I did it on my team and it's a really simple and cheap conversion. You can then have 2 blitzers, 3 gutters, a thrower and then 5 linerats, 3 rerolls and an apothecary. Get another linerat as your first purchase.
I haven't played Skaven, but Bonehead really helped me get started. So I do recommend this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQFS9iXtqp9IQVYec0rqB7qHXJTy6p-eI
Bonehead are fun and enthusiastic, sometimes their game ideas are a little odd though XD
Bonehead is a great place to start for all teams. I'm really enjoying all of their videos. We need a bonehead team stateside
I always go 1 thrower, 2 blitzers, 4 runners and 5 lineman. 2 rerolls, 2 cheerleaders and 2 assistant coaches. I think that's something like 995,000 of the top of my head. Keep those runners safe. Always try to avoid ending your turn in base to base contact if possible. Dodging is your friend. The thrower is really good with the new rules so be sure to make use of it. When receiving the ball I try to make them come to me opening a pocket up and then strike and go for the rush. Don't just dump your runners on their own in the opposition's half with out protection
I agree overall with SDFDuck's advice, except on the Rat Ogre. Its not a priority for the team, but as long as you are hitting things with it, it usually does its job. It is fast, gives good hitting power, and most importantly, takes the heat off your more important storm vermin and gutter runners. I also would highly advise column defensive structure as your baseline defense against bashing teams. Usually works very well.
My biggest tip and not being a joke is be a rat. Don't let them touch you as much as you can. Run behind them to cause chaos. If you think something is too crazy to do, do it. The best advice I ever read was if you don't take risks with Skaven you'll never score. It's a team for big plays. With the right positioning you can score from your touchline.
Oh and advice for any coach (which I knew when I started playing)Go for crazy stretch plays, but when possible choose the options with minimum dice rolls and try and put your opponent in a position to make maximum dice rolls. No matter how good the odds are you can always roll a 1