Warlord Shield-Snatch
I liked this model, Warlord Spinetail: a named character with a model but without rules from the Isle of Blood story. But his original sword is ridiculously stupid. It's simply too big, plus he's got the other blade tucked behind his back. So I wanted to convert him up, and do something more characterful. I've been parsing down my collection lately, but I still have some pretty random bitz lying about--so I thought I'd do him as a kind of General Grievous character. Instead of stolen swords (lightsabers), I thought it would be cool to do shields. Thus, Warlord Shield-Snatch was born.
Back view. Because shields.
He's carrying a Lizardman shield (extra old style), but also has an Empire shield, a Dwarf shield, and a Knightly shield that's technically Empire but painted as if Bretonnian from Mousillon. I did the blade he's hiding as burning and blistering his tail, because from time-to-time he'll end up being the bearer of The Fellblade in my army. Not for this outing, however. While I suspected I might face a Verminlord Warpseer (my opponent recently displayed photos of his newly painted model), and The Fellblade would be good for that, I mainly wanted the Warlord to provide leadership to the force on the cheap--so he wielded only a Relic Blade for this battle.
For the battle itself, I brought a really general army. Warlord, some lower-level casting diversity in the form of Plague Priests and a Warlock Engineer, blocks of bodies in the form of Stormvermin, Clanrats, Slaves, and Plague Monks, a long line of Rat Swarms, a Gutter Runner tunnel team, two Warpfire Throwers, and two Plagueclaw Catapults. Nothing special, but a diverse infantry core with some options. Playing against other Skaven armies is really dicey, as Skaven themselves are dicey: one or two wrong throws, or lucky events, can really swing a game. When both sides are like that, prepare for mayhem.
Putting the reference here so long after we've forgotten the commercials I can still make sense of this image.
My foe, Travis, brought a rather different list: big unit of Stormvermin with a Screaming Bell, two large units of Slaves each with Warlock Engineers, Plague Monks, two Warp Lightning Cannons, and a Hell Pit Abomination. The scenario was a Dawn Attack, with both of us getting most units in the middle section of our deployment board.
Stormvermin with Warlord Shield-Snatch and Chieftan Fleshsnikt provided leadership to the center of the force. Emboldened by the success of his betrayal of Grey Seer Morspark, The Blue Rat commanded that Shield-Snatch take a force to eliminate other rival Grey Seers. This time, he targeted a rival Grey Seer who possessed a grand artifact: a Screaming Bell.
As always with forces of The Blue Rat, the Plague Priests flocked to the cause with religious fervor. This one led a unit of ordinary Clanrats, while on the other side a huge mob of Plague Monk zealots assembled under the guidance of Cardinal Fang.
As the Skaven drew near each other, magic proved to be the early and decisive force. While the rival Grey Seer summoned a veritable tide of rats which swallowed an entire Warpfire Thrower team, Warlock Engineer Gnawfire led loose with a burst of magical flame on one of the opposing Skavenslaves units, sending them--and their Warlock Engineer leader--fleeing for safety. (Photo courtesy of Travis)
However, it was the Plague spell that would prove to be most devastating in the battle. The Plague Priest on the right flank unleashed the deadly spell and halved the size of the opposing unit of Slaves. The enemy Grey Seer, however, proved to have his own ability to warp the spread of disease--sending the waves of Plague back through the forces of Warlord Shield-Snatch on numerous castings through the battle.
On the right flank, the warptokens that the rival Grey Seer spent with Hell Pit to secure one of their roiling, uncontrollable Abominations seemed well-spent. The creature dined on the Plague Priest, literally swallowing him and three other Clanrats whole. Then its flailing appendages slew even more. The unit held firm for a moment despite the odds, but were soon destroyed by the creature's avalanche of flesh.
On the left flank, Cardinal Fang led his Plague Monks against the enemy Plague Monks. The battle of faith was met with claws and blade. Each side inflicted terrible casualties on the other, but it was the destructive strikes of the Cardinal himself that turned the tide in favor of his forces--that and simply starting with a larger number of the zealots. (Photo courtesy of Travis)
Warlord Shield-Snatch meanwhile was under heavy fire. In addition to losing a number of his Stormvermin bodyguard to the ravages of the Plague spell, the Warp Lightning Cannons rained explosions of hell down upon his unit. With under ten rats left, the Warlord managed to still run down a unit of fleeing slaves. Yet they had to turn and face the onrushing attack of the Hell Pit Abomination. The Hell Pit, slightly injured from the prior fight, barreled into his unit. Warlord Shield-Snatch unsheathed a Weeping Blade, and swung it into his foe. Between that and the strikes of his units' halberds, the mighty beast groaned and fell to the ground dead.
Then suddenly, with a lurch, the great beast somehow returned to life. With a deafening roar from eight different maws, the creature regained its feet and surged forward again. This time Warlord Shield-Snatch's strikes were unable to even harm the beast, and the unit fled from the creature only to be scattered. Warlord Shield Snatch crept away, watching as the beast turned and barreled into the side of Engineer Gnawfire's Skavenslaves, destroying them as well.
Meanwhile in the center of the battle, the rival Grey Seer's unit had weathered merciless punishment. In addition to facing down swarms of rats, they survived rear and flank charges from the remaining Plague Monks and the unit of Skavenslaves on a prior turn. Much of their success was due to the Grey Seer blessing them with Death Frenzy--causing each Stormvermin to fight with absurd ferocity. Yet the wounds from that were starting to take their toll. Between the multiple combats, the relentless bombardment of the Plagueclaw Catapults, the exploding hearts of the over-frenzied Stormvermin,and even the deadly gaze of a sinister statue, the unit was dramatically winnowed. In the final phase of the battle, the last of the Stormvermin died from a heart attack. The Grey Seer had been victorious but at considerable cost. While he had taken the field, and Warlord Shield-Snatch and Cardinal Fang had fled with their few remaining forces, the Grey Seer was left having to devise a way to get his Screaming Bell back home.
The game was another close one, with my army losing by 333 points. The clash was great, with Skaven proving that luck can be with them or against them at any moment. Both sides had moments to praise and moments to laugh at. One memorable one was when my Warlock Engineer threw his Brass Orb onto the Stormvermin and the Screaming Bell, failing to kill a thing--we decided that one of Travis' Clan Skryre Warlock Engineers must have sold him nothing more than a bronze bowling ball and was sitting off the edge of battlefield having a good laugh about it. All-in-all a great game, with all the mayhem I expected. Warlord Shield-Snatch will have to plot his revenge carefully!
Fully Painted Models
Skaven: 77
Dwarfs: 41
Battles
Total 2015: 6 (Win/Loss/Tie: 2/3/1)
Total 2014: 15 (Win/Loss/Tie: 8/6/1)
Skaven:
4 Wins (Empire 1, T&T Daemons and Dwarfs, Siege Dwarfs and Bretonnians, T&T Daemons and Empire)
7 Losses (Skaven 1, Empire 1, Dwarfs 1, Daemons 1, T&T Daemons 1, T&T Dwarfs 1, Special Game Nurgle)
1 Tie (Empire 1)
Dwarfs:
4 Wins (Dwarfs 2, Wood Elves 2)
1 Loss (Dark Elves 1)
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