Blood Bowl PlayBook :: Skaven

by Milo Sharp (www.blood-bowl.net)

The vicious Skaven live far beneath the Olde World in their burrows and warrens, but occasionally venture above ground to plunder, pillage, or play Blood Bowl! The Skaven Blood Bowl game revolves around their blistering speed, frequently scoring four or more touchdowns within a single game. Their fascination with the mystical warpstone leads to a greater than normal incidence of mutations within the Skaven species, and the best of these are put to use on the Blood Bowl pitch.

by Coach Blacknife, Dr Pestilance, Coach Bubonic Plaguers, with help from Nigel Buckle (Blood Bowl Home of @rnholm)

Skaven are an uneasy blend of low armour and very fast players. The Wood Elves have an advantage in that all of their players are more agile – which balances the low armour; the Skaven have to rely on their low cost to keep them supplied with plentiful replacements.(Which seems appropriate for rodents really.)

The Skaven are fast, but they break easily. Actually it’s remarkable as to just how fast these rats can run – this can infuriate your opponent if they’re not used to it. A good thing too, as it can throw them off their gameplay!

by Paul Gegg (Games Workshop)

It’s late in the match, the opposing star player is looking for a last-second game-winning touchdown and your fans are already drifting off to get drunk. But then one of your players somehow fashions a block on the ball-carrier and the ball squirms loose – another player picks it up by his fingertips and launches a hopeful pass into opposition territory – your marked catcher pulls it down, dodges out and dances into the Endzone for the winning score. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat – is there a better feeling? This end to end play is beyond most teams but with the awesome Skaven, it isn’t too uncommon. Sometimes they really can achieve the seemingly impossible.

by Aaron Thies (www.blood-bowl.net)

Get all your special (non-lineman) players first. I generally like this for any team. Emphasize acquiring both Storm Vermin ASAP to get them going. This is vital depending upon how your league uses Rat Ogres.

by Brownrob (FUMBBL)

I started playing Skaven in our league for the last season. I never played Skaven so far but was surprised by my overall success. I won 9 out 10 games and became League Champion. On the road to success I played against Dwarves, Orcs, Dark Elfs, Lizardmen, Human and Chaos. I wanted to compile my experiences in this guide which is meant for vanilla LRB coaches, though we don’t use stars. Some of my statements could sound strange to you, so constructive criticism is – as always – welcome.

by unknown (FUMBBL)

Skaven are the undoubted speed merchants of the Bloodbowl arena; their play revolved around scoring fast, and using their speed to pressure the opponent when defending; their low armour generally doesn’t allow them to get into a protracted fight.