Skaven

Grade: 1a
Source: Mordheim Rulebook (PDF)
Setting: Mordheim

Lore

Unbeknownst to man, for thousands of years he has shared his world with another and altogether different race. There have always been signs for those who cared to see them: a scurrying black shadow, an inhuman scream from the sewer, scuttling shapes at the back of the cellar. All these years these creatures have worked away in secret, burrowing beneath the world of man, undermining his great cities, infiltrating his sewers and cellars, and joining all up into a vast worldspanning labyrinth of tunnels and nests. These creatures call themselves Skaven and they are ratmen, the mutant spawn of an older age of chaos and mutation.

Doubtless one day the Skaven will be ready to emerge from their tunnels and wage open war upon mankind. For centuries they have been content to feed upon his ruins, to seed plague in his cities, and spread contagion amongst his lands. At least they were content to wait and watch, for now everything has suddenly changed. Now the destruction of Mordheim has created new opportunities in the secret war against mankind.

Since ancient times the Skaven have searched the world for the stones of power that men in their ignorance call wyrdstone but which Skaven have long since known as warpstone, blackstone, or seerstone. It was as a result of gnawing upon this magic stone in ages past that commonplace rats began the slow process of mutation that spawned the Skaven race. Wyrdstone is quite literally in their blood, for they feed upon it and make use of it in their foul sorceries. Until now the ratmen’s search for wyrdstone has been difficult and time-consuming as the stone has grown increasingly rare, but now a new and abundant source has appeared – a dark blessing from the skies!

For the Skaven of Clan Eshin, this is an especially opportune time for such a thing to happen, for, just as the Empire is divided, so the Skaven race is divided amongst itself. Clan fights clan the world over, each struggling for domination of the Council of Thirteen whose masters rule the Skaven race. Mordheim’s secret is not yet revealed to all the clans, or else the City of the Damned would already be overrun with ratmen. The Nightmaster of Clan Eshin is keen to guard this secret, and for this reason has not sent his multitudinous armies into Mordheim. Instead, he has sent small warbands of Skaven skittering through secret tunnels into the city to gather up the shining stones and bring them back to the clan nests.

The Skaven of Clan Eshin are supremely adapted to their task. Masters of the art of bringing silent death to their foes, they are skilled in the use of poison and trained in the thousand secrets of the assassin. Since birth Skaven warriors practise martial crafts in the ruinous temples of the Horned Rat, their everhungering and hideous god. There are none better amongst their verminous kind to gather up the treasure of Mordheim, but they must be silent, swift and efficient. Were rival Skaven clans to discover the secret of Mordheim there would come not hundreds, not thousands, but millions upon millions to contend for the wyrdstone in the City of the Damned.

Choice of warriors

A Skaven warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 gold crowns available to spend. The maximum number of warriors in the warband may never exceed 20.

• Assassin Adepts: Each warband must have 1 Assassin Adept: no more, no less!
• Black Skaven: Your warband may include up to 2 Black Skaven.
• Eshin Sorcerers: Your warband may include up to 1 Eshin Sorcerer.
• Night Runners: Your warband may include up to 2 Night Runners.
• Verminkin: Your warband may include any number of Verminkin.
• Giant Rats: Your warband may include any number of Giant Rats.
• Rat Ogres: Your warband may include up to 1 Rat Ogre.

Starting experience

• The Assassin Adept starts with 20 experience.
• Black Skaven start with 8 experience.
• The Eshin Sorcerer starts with 8 experience.
• Night Runners start with 0 experience.
• Henchmen start with 0 experience.

Skaven Skill Table

	Combat	Shooting	Academic	Strength	Speed	Special
Assassin Adept	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Black Skaven	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Eshin Sorcerer			✓		✓	✓
Night Runners	✓	✓				✓

Skaven Special Skills

Skaven Heroes may use the following Skill table instead of any of the standard Skill tables available to them.

black hunger

The Skaven can draw upon the dreaded Black Hunger, the fighting frenzy which gives him unnatural strength and speed but can ravage him from inside. The Skaven Hero may declare at the beginning of his turn that he is using this skill. The Hero may add +1 attack and +D3" to the total move to his profile for the duration of his own turn but will suffer D3 S3 hits with no armour save possible at the end of the turn.

tail fighting

The Skaven may wield a shield^❓, knife or a sword with its tail. The model gains an extra attack with the appropriate weapon or a +1 bonus to its armour save.

wall runner

The Skaven does not need to take an Initiative test when climbing up walls and other sheer surfaces.

art of silent death

The Skaven has patiently mastered the deadly art of open-hand fighting, as taught by the mystics of Cathay in the temples of the far East. In hand-to-hand combat, the Skaven can fight with his bare paws without any penalties and counts as having two weapons (ie, +1 attack). In addition, a Skaven Hero with this skill will cause a critical hit on a To Wound roll of 5-6 instead of just 6^❓. This skill may be used in conjunction with the Eshin Fighting Claws (+2 Attacks instead of +1).

Infiltration

A warrior with this skill is always placed on the battlefield after the opposing warband and can be placed anywhere on the table as long as it is out of sight of the opposing warband and more than 12" away from any enemy model. If both players have models which infiltrate, roll a D6 for each, and the lowest roll sets up first.

Skaven equipment lists

Pricing:

Skaven Hero Equipment List

The following lists are used by the Skaven to pick their equipment.

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Sword	10 gc
Flail	15 gc
Spear	10 gc
Halberd	10 gc
Weeping Blades	50 gc
Fighting Claws	35 gc

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Sling	2 gc
Throwing Knives/Stars	15 gc
Blowpipe	25 gc ✏️
Warplock pistol	35 gc (70 gc for a brace)

Armour

Item	Cost
Light Armour	20 gc
Buckler	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc

Skaven Henchmen Equipment List

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Club, Mace or Hammer	3 gc
Sword	10 gc
Spear	10 gc

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Sling	2 gc

Armour

Item	Cost
Light Armour	20 gc
Shield	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc

Heroes

1 Assassin Adept

60 gold crowns to hire

The Nightmaster of Clan Eshin has sent the Assassin to collect precious wyrdstone. Success means many breeders, wealth and a better position amongst the clan. Failure, on the other hand, is best not contemplated…

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	6	4	4	4	3	1	5	1	7

Weapons/Armour: Assassin Adept may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Skaven Hero Equipment List.

Special Rules

Leader: Any warrior within 6" of the Assassin Adept may use his Leadership instead of his own.

Perfect Killer: An Assassin Adept always has an extra -1 modifier to any armour save the enemy has to take against wounds they inflicted (both with shooting and close combat weapons).

0 – 2 Black Skaven

40 gold crowns to hire

Black Skaven are the most powerful fighters of Clan Eshin: blackfurred killers trained in the martial arts of their clan. In Mordheim they excel at ambushing and assassinating man-things.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	6	4	3	4	3	1	5	1	6

Weapons/Armour: Black Skaven may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Skaven Hero Equipment List.

0 – 1 Eshin Sorcerer

45 gold crowns to hire

The Sorcerers of Clan Eshin are black magicians who manufacture the enchanted weapons of the Assassins. Though their power is slight compared to the Warlocks of Clan Skryre or the mighty Grey Seer, their black sorcery is still potent.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	5	3	3	3	3	1	4	1	6

Weapons/Armour: Eshin Sorcerer may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Skaven Hero Equipment List.

Special Rules

Magic User: The Eshin Sorcerer has the ability to use magic and casts spells like any other magicians, and the Eshin Sorcerer starts with one spells generated at random from the Magic of the Horned Rat. In addition the Eshin Sorcerer may learn a new Spell instead of a new skill.

0 – 2 Night Runners

20 gold crowns to hire

Night Runners are the young apprentices of Clan Eshin. Recently initiated into the secrets of the clan, they make up for their lack of knowledge with their ambition and energy.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	6	2	3	3	3	1	4	1	4

Weapons/Armour: Night Runners may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Skaven Henchmen Equipment List.

Henchmen

(Bought in groups of 1-5)

Verminkin

20 gold crowns to hire

Verminkin are the Clanrats of Clan Eshin. The strongest amongst them are initiated into the secrets of the clans and begin their training to become Assassins, the most feared warriors of the Skaven warbands. All the Clanrats of Clan Eshin dream of rising to the status of an Assassin one day.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	5	3	3	3	3	1	4	1	5

Weapons/Armour: Verminkin may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Skaven Henchmen Equipment List.

Giant Rats

15 gold crowns to hire

Giant Rats are the creation of the Clan Moulder trainees. They are mutated monstrosities the size of dogs. They fight alongside the Skaven, overpowering their opponents by sheer weight of numbers.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	6	2	0	3	3	1	4	1	4

Special Rules

Weapons/Armour: None. Giant Rats never use any armour or weapons.

Pack Size: You can recruit as many Giant Rats as you wish.^❓

Experience: Giant Rats are animals and do not gain experience.

0 – 1 Rat Ogre

210 gold crowns to hire

These horrible monsters are much in demand as bodyguards to important Skaven.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	6	3	3	5	5	3	4	3	4

Weapons/Armour: Jaws, claws and brute force! Rat Ogres can never use weapons or armour.

Special Rules

Fear: Rat Ogres are so frightening they cause fear.

Stupidity: A Rat Ogre is subject to stupidity unless a Skaven Hero is within 6" of it.

Experience: Rat Ogres do not gain experience.

Large Target: Rat Ogres are Large Targets as defined in the shooting rules.^✏️

Magic of the Horned Rat

This brand of sorcery is used by the Skaven. It is a sinister form of magic which calls upon the Skaven deity, a loathsome daemonic god known as the Horned Rat.

Magic of the Horned Rat are used by Skaven Sorcerer, Skaven of Clan Pestilens Sorcerer

D6	Result
1	Warpfire
2	Children of the Horned Rat
3	Gnawdoom
4	Black Fury
5	Eye of the Warp
6	Sorcerer’s Curse

Warpfire

Difficulty: 8

A green flame leaps from the outstretched paw of the Sorcerer and burns its victims with indescribable agony.

The spell has a range of 8", hitting the first model in its path. The spell causes D3 Strength 4 hits on its target, and one Strength 3 hit on each model within 2" of the target.

Children of the Horned Rat

Difficulty: —

The Sorcerer raises his paws and calls upon the Father of the Skaven to send forth his servants.

This spell must be used before the game, and may only be used once. When cast, the spell summons D3 Giant Rats, which are placed within 6" of the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer may cast this spell successfully only once per battle, and the rats disappear after the battle. They do not count towards the maximum size of the Skaven warband.

Gnawdoom

Difficulty: 7

The target is attacked by rats and soon is covered from head to foot in small, bleeding wounds.

The Gnawdoom causes 2D6 Strength 1 hits on a single model within 8" of the caster.

Black Fury

Difficulty: 8

With a chittering incantation the Sorcerer turns into a monstrous rat-like creature, which attacks with an insane fury.

The Sorcerer may immediately charge any enemy model within 12" (ignoring any terrain and interposing models) and gains 2 extra Attacks and +1 Strength during this turn’s hand-to-hand combat phase only.

Eye of the Warp

Difficulty: 8

Gaze into the eye of the warp and despair!

All standing models in base contact with the Sorcerer must take an immediate Leadership test. If they fail, they each suffer a Strength 3 hit and must run 2D6" directly away from the Sorcerer, exactly as if they had lost their nerve when fighting against more than one opponent.

Sorcerer’s Curse

Difficulty: 6

The Sorcerer points a claw towards one of his enemies and curses him in the name of the Horned One.

The spell has a range of 12" and affects a single model within range. The target must re-roll any successful armour saves and to hit rolls during the Skaven hand-to-hand phase and his own next shooting and hand-to-hand combat phases.