SKAVEN ARMY PROFILE

ABRIDGED
To face a Skaven army is to behold swarms like a living ocean of tainted fur, filled with skittering ratmen
moving faster than a man’s run. The massed chaos is supported by lurking groups of greenish mechanical
weapons carried by two-man teams, with larger hulking war machines all built by the fickle genius of
Clan Skryre. Chanting, squealing mobs of Clan Pestilens revel in their rotting, yellow-gnawed buboes,
gifting the enemy with all manner of magic-powered disease. Lurking in the shadows, Clan Eshin
sabotage and assassinate leaders, emerging upon doomed prey from tunnels carved behind enemy lines.
Clan Moulder drags and prods monstrous creations, bizarre mutations of rat ogres and multi-limbed rats
and giant rats the size of dogs, up to the many-storied Hell Pit Abominations. At the beckoning of war
leaders, legions of heavy armored Stormvermin march confidently as the Grey Seer wizards poison
friends and foe to taint whole battlefields and wrack the skies with unbearable storms.

The origins of the ratmen lie deep in mystery, for mere record-keeping and story-telling is almost always
exaggerated or outright churning with lies (as if they aren’t vile enough!). They seek much Warpstone to
fuel their mastermind of underhanded creations, from disease and mutation to technology and energizing
their magical prowess.

Overall, Skaven are species of twitchy, quick, often slumped man-sized rats with little hygiene and a
swarming mentality with access to a broad variety of arcane, twisted technology, units, and battle tactics,
mostly living underground.

= PRIMARY UNITS =
Skavenslaves – An overwhelming number of the Skaven forces are made up of Skavenslaves. Barely
equipped with weapons, sometimes rotten shields (if any), sometimes with slings for range. They are
relatively cowardly, only surging forward when their fellow slaves far outnumber the foe (which is, most
of the time at the onset of battle). On rare occasion, there can be other races found amongst the
Skavenslaves, but they rarely last more than a few days. Skavenslaves are used as cannon fodder.

Clanrats – Second most numerous Skaven, the actual common soldier-worker of the Skaven Clans. They
are often formally equipped with swords and spears, maybe the odd bit of poor armor, and frequently
(though not always) a rotten, shabby shield. They are in all other regards similar to Skavenslaves except
braver, and they won’t flee when they see Skaven “useless slave meat” running in battle.

Plague Monks – The general “clan rats” of Clan Pestilens and their vassal, like-minded clans. Disease-
ridden, tougher, foaming at the mouth, mad, often ignoring battle wounds, and equipped with iron-tipped
staves and ferocity unlike most other Skaven. They’re like the Viking berserkers of the Skaven.
 = LINE BREAKERS =
Stormvermin – Elite rats armored in plate and equipped with swords, spears, and giant halberds,
sometimes with a shield as combo. Typically, these serve as the elite guard of the clan leader and, as such,
are usually considered the only valuable asset by the clan leader.

Rat Ogres- Combine rats with ogres and you get this. These things are both powerful and speedy,
possessing the twitchy reflexes of the skaven and being able to rip a horse in twain. They are sometimes
subject to experimentation such as affixing swords to limbs, grafting on additional limbs and other
horrific ideas. Usually, however, they are uncontrollable once deployed on the battlefield.

Census Bearer – Fanatical Pestilens Skaven that wield giant, warpstone enhanced flails. When swung
about, a great fog encircles the Plague Monk; exposure to it instantly fills lungs with virulent fluid and
vital organs putrefy. However, these problems do apply to n non-Pestilens Skaven (or Chaos) nearby and
sometimes even Pestilens.

Plague Furnace – Take a Plague Censor. Magnify the size a hundred-fold. Increase the potency of the
burning fumes. Mount it on a giant, wheeled platform and swing it like church-bell battering ram. This is
the Plague Furnace. A very potent Line Breaker, though sometimes the wheeled device collapses or is too
potent for even the hundreds of Pestilens monks pushing it.

= RAPID RELIEF =
Rat Swarms – Imagine giant swarms of dozens or hundreds of small rats coming at you, biting your
ankles. They also probably have diseases.

Giant Rats – Rats the size of great hounds, which are used as guard dogs or cheap fodder.

Wolf Rats – Mix a rat and a wolf. These are almost always used to quickly assault in combat, sent out to
maul enemy formations, for they are too aggressive to do much else.

Poisoned Wind Globadiers – Skryre rats armed with gas masks that throw poisonous globes into enemy
ranks at short ranges. Breathing it in causes bubbling pus to grow inside the lungs traumatic and near
instant death follows as vital organs bubble away from the inside out. Sometimes they use mortars to lob
it at even greater distances. That said, there is a fair amount of friendly causalities when these individuals
are deployed.

Doomwheel – A giant, single-story hamster wheel, with spiked spools, and a tide of rats moving to a
shock prod (or stolen Dwarf ale). With a thick wooden frame of planks, it looks rather odd and clumsy, if
not vulnerable. To those armies that know better, such as the Dwarves, every available heavy weapon and
doomsday device is utilized to stop and destroy it before it hits their lines. At a pace sometimes faster than
a galloping horse, a Doomwheel will roll over and crush all manner of troops, even cavalry and heavy
infantry! It comes with Warp Lightning rod with enough built-up energy used to kill larger targets (and
once killed a 60-foot giant with ease!). Like any Skaven device, it’s prone to failures and accidental
explosions.
Skryre Weapon Teams – These weapons, all powered by warpstone (thus counting as magical attacks)
are the most common of Skryre appearances on the battlefield, being found in the single or even low
double digits in every Skaven army (save maybe Pestilens). These weapons include:
Warpfire Flamethrowers – A giant flamethrower spouting Chaos-tainted, mystical fire
Rattling Guns – Hand-cranked Gatling Gun spitting poisonous Warp-lead bullets
Warp Grinders – Used to tunnel quickly through the earth to allow teams of
Skaven access to the surface, but extremely potent oversized drill-spear

Jezzail Team – Skaven long range snipers up to a range of a kilometer (but sometimes greater) armed
with warpstone-enhanced jezzails. Known to out-range Dwarven guns. Jezzail teams are boosted in
defense by having a large, pavise shield so that return fire from arrows, and even muskets, pitter-patter
against their position.

Due to Warp tech, each of these weapon teams can kill ghosts and deliver ghastly, toxic wounds. That
said, there is a not insignificant chance of these failing to active or blowing up inside Skaven lines.

= SHOCK AND AWE =

Monsters of Hell Pit – Various creatures designed by the terrible lords of Hell Pit, the main Moulder
stronghold. The first is an enormous giant rat, car sized, and enhanced with all manner of warpstone
mutations. This thing is known as the Brood Horror and is often ridden by leaders when available. The
second is the Chimerat which is basically a Skaven hydra. The Burrowing Behemoth is a creature
designed specifically to further the spread of the Skaven Underempire. It’s an immense creature, capable
of drilling massive tunnels through the earth. Imagine a giant naked mole rat with the capacity for being
directed to the enemy.

Hell Pit Abomination – The Hell Pit Abomination is a shambling mountain of Rat Ogres sewn to a large
worm standing 3-4 stories tall. It is so large it must be pinned to a large cart to remain stable, it is a
roaring, rampaging, uncontrollable monster impervious to massive amounts of damage with delayed
reaction to realizing what “pain” is. It also has incredible regenerative powers and able to tank a handful
of cannonballs. It has so much flesh and is treated with so much Warpstone that even killing it the first
time is no guarantee it will stay down, giving it the ability to resurrect after dying. Dozens of elite Dwarf
warriors with heavy hammers and axes barely phase it, the uncontrollable beast sporting 7-12 Rat Ogre
heads!

Plagueclaw Catapult – Massive catapult that fires barrels of extremely infectious, toxic, acidic, magical
diseases. Contact will instantly sizzle through thick armor and flesh, and the gas can kill with a single
whiff. As Plagueclaw Catapults attack, the putrid muck left behind can continue to be a biohazard for
minutes, or hours, after impact on an area. It is crewed and protected by Rat Ogres and Plague Monks.

Dread Maw – You ever saw the movie tremors? This is basically that, but larger and rarely tamed. The
entire length of the Dread Maws, their bodies stretching for many yards, is coated in a disgusting layer of
vicious slime, and any warriors brave enough to assault them will have their weapons fouled and limbs
caught in the vile substance, which is almost impossible to hack through. As a creature of the Northern
Wastes, constant exposure to the taint of Chaos leaves no two Dread Maws alike, and many will sport
hooked spines or claws, some even spraying forth gouts of slime or possessing other bizarre mutation.
Screaming Bell – The mount of the Grey Seers, this enormous, mobile bell tower imbued with magical
protection is pushed into combat by dozens of Slaves or Clanrats and often directly accompanied by
hundreds or more. It starts off ringing to infuse Skaven around the battlefield to feverish battle pitch and
invigorating strength.

As the bell is rung over the course of the battle, their fearless, maddening behavior intensifies, and the
bell causes agony, pain, suffering, and even damage to enemies nearby. At its peak, it’ll even crack
structures and fill all of rat kind with unholy fervor. At strength, this once caused a large dragon flying
nearby to have its chest burst! Occasionally though the bell strikes an odd detrimental tone to the skaven
or even causing the structure to collapse. Foes be warned though, incoming ranged attacks can sometimes
cause the bell to ring!

Warp Lightning Cannon – Designs have differed, but it’s a barrel 12-feet or more in length, powered by
a giant hunk of raw Warpstone. It’s more of an energy bolt or beam weapon than anything else, ignoring
small structures, hillsides, barricades, and even fortress walls, exploding after reaching some apex or on
contact or after hitting through an obstacle, consuming as many as a hundred persons in formation. This
could severely damage, or destroy, a modern tank.

Stormfiend – Combine a Rat Ogre, a rudimentary second, smarter brain, heavy plate armor, and Skryre
technology and you get these things. Typically fielded in groups of three, the Stormfiend is the single
most destructive unit in the Skaven arsenal. They are equipped with in-built, Skryre Weapon arsenal.
Grinder-Fist – basically oversized, magical drill-spears on each hand
Shock Gauntlets – Giant, pulverizing, electrical fists
Doom Flayers – The fists are covered in huge iron balls of whirling, steely blades,
Able to turn a dinosaur’s innards into soup while cracking armor
Wind Launchers – Poisoned Wind Mortars, shooting deadly globes to shatter on the
enemy in a high arc.
3 Ratling Cannons – Larger, multi-barreled Ratling guns; 3 of such as much firepower
As a squad of Space Marines

With a range upwards to 300 meters, all of these are magical weapons capable of harming ghosts, spirits,
and inflicting severe, poisonous, toxic damage on targets that survive.

= SPECIALIST SUPPORT =
Packmasters – Lieutenant leaders of Clan Moulder, gifted and trained in leading groups of Rat
Swarms, Giant Rats, and Rat Ogres. Armed with whips and a special, electro-shock prod called a
Things-Catcher. Master Moulders are the best of them, also adept at stitching and fixing up the
rat-kind creatures and giving them implants.

Clan Leaders – The warlord clans are led by Warlords and Chieftains who are given superb
equipment, technology, the first pick of weapon and armor spoils, and magical trinkets. They are
often large, dark furred Skaven who are vicious and witty fighters.
Standard Bearers – Some Skaven maybe gifted (or cursed) with carrying anything from
mundane to magically bizarre standards and flags hailing Skavendom and the clan. A Storm
Banner for instance, when revealed on the battlefield, wracks the skies with powerful winds and
lightning, making flight and ranged attacks difficult, if not outright impossible.

Plague Priests – The leaders and lieutenants of Clan Pestilens, they are not only much tougher
than most Skaven, they walk around with virulent and toxic diseases, bringing harm to any who
so much as smells their breath or touches them. They are often gifted with magically potent
weapons like flails clouded with flesh-eroding diseases or staves that help them summon dark
magic. Their shabby, bloated, rotten appearance seems physically impossible, as blisters explode
and ooze puss 15% their own body weight, growing over their wounds and hardening with a
feeling of vigorous enjoyment. Unlike most Skaven leaders, Plague Priests are much more
willing to take the fight to the enemy on the front lines. They are wizards of level 1-3 in the Lore
of Plague.

Warlock Engineers – Part arcane magic, part technologically gifted madness, these are the
inventors and leaders of Clan Skryre. They build and oversee construction of various Skaven
technologies and forge “alliances” with other Clans. Every time a warlord clan has a Ratling Gun
or team of Warplock Jezzails backing up his swarms of Clanrats, at some point he made a
bargain with one of these. They are often armed with an assortment of pistols, magical lightning
rods, and a container on their backs for storing and harnessing the Winds of Magic to channel
into casting magic from the Lore of Ruin.

Clan Leader Mounts – Clan leaders sometimes go into battle riding a giant pox rat the size of
bear, a war litter (a mounted platform carried by 4 of his Stormvermin bodyguards) or a Rat-
Ogre Bonebreaker, a hunchback ripping muscular thing that the leader can ride.

Night Runners – Packs of 10-30 or so Skaven working for Clan Eshin. They are little more than
shock troops for attacking enemy war machines, large scale ambushes, and “training” or testing
for those who can do more. They are often equipped with throwing weapons, slings, swords, and
daggers. They are all lean, cunning, and more agile than most Skaven.

Gutter Runners – Nearly superhuman gifted individuals of the best Night Runners, slinking
around in small groups as hit squads, saboteurs, recon, and assailing enemy backlines. They can
also be used in delivering poisons or magical diseases among enemy camps and blundering the
enemy’s heaviest units, weakening their use or speed. Their Deathrunner troupe leaders have
impossible dodging capacity and speed, and are sometimes equipped with smoke bombs,
explosives, or magical swords.
Assassin – The prime best elite of Clan Eshin, rare, but superb fighters. Assassins are able to
scale walls, bypass magical barriers and defenses, and come with magical trinkets and abilities to
keep them from harm while confusing the enemy. Even when a wizard knows that he is hunted
by an Assassin and he hires a squad of mercenaries, the Assassin will not only almost always
triumph in killing everyone in minutes, but they leave little or no evidence that they were ever
there, thwarting later investigation. All of their weapons are undoubtedly magically toxic, a
throwing star causing green bubbles to quickly ooze from a human victim.

Assassins are the main the reason that most of the upper surface world of Men don’t even know
that Skaven exist at all, despite millions of Skaven living under their cities and having fought
entire campaigns against them.

Grey Seer – The premiere spell casters of the Skaven race, they are born a very pale grey or
white, with curling horns on their heads. They live a relatively pampered life in their quest to
become powerful sorcerers. Grey Seers seek to take command of Skaven armies and are, usually,
easily able to maintain command through Skaven fear of their magical ability and capacity to
summon a Verminlord. They are laden with magical trinkets, Warpstone, and staves to help
channel their energies. Grey Seers can vary in magical ability but often on the battlefield are
Level 3-4, with several objects able to boost their magic. Grey Seers are able to cast magic from
both Skaven Lore of Ruin of the Warlocks and Lore of Plague from Clan Pestilens Plague
Priests. Grey Seers also have knowledge of the potent Dreaded Thirteenth Spell, provided there’s
enough magical energy available.

Verminlords – Skaven rat-daemons that walk the earth, they are steeped in Chaos magic. They
are 10-14 feet in height, and even the lowliest servants to the greater 12 Verminlord leaders are
supreme fighters, moving speeds and agility that should not be for something so big, and
possessing incredibly potent magical ability, able to also cast magic from the Lore of Ruin and
Plague and have knowledge of the potent Dreaded Thirteenth Spell, provided there’s enough
magical energy available. Verminlords also carry a short spear or mighty sword that can
magically cleave through anything not a sturdy, magical barrier. If that weren’t enough, their
magically laced durability allows them to shrug off a hail of bullets or even artillery, but their
reactions and speed are enough to sometimes just dodge them entirely.

Verminlords as magical entities cannot be tricked or beguiled, and are said to know all truth from
those who speak. Their very presence instills fear and terror, even among the Grey Seers who
summon them.

There are different specialized types of Verminlords that have come to be realized in End Times.
The Warpseer is basically a Grey Seer spell caster on steroids, and able to scry and spy on
enemies and underlings alike. Warbringers are skilled and magically armored warriors, though
they are still level 4 wizards. Deceivers frequently teleport and use dark magic, combining the
horrifying skill and cunning of a Skaven Assassin, the magical prowess of a Grey Seer, into the
might of a Chaos Daemon. The Corruptor is a walking emissary for powerful toxic diseases, with
magical, mutated parasites, rot flies, and mites that makes grabbing onto one deadly even after
release, assuming the magically potent air around them is weathered; they are savage and
frenzied in battle.
 = HEROES AND LEADERSHIP =
The Council of 13 – The 12 leaders of the Skaven race (plus an honorary seat for the Horned Rat). These
rats are some of the most powerful skaven, blessed by many magical artifacts, however they are
extremely fractious, always seeking to undermine one another and they have agreed only four times in
their entire existence.

Thanquol – Easily the most infamous of the Council of the 13, Thanquol is a rat with near
weaponized luck. So long as there are Skaven around to take the blow for him, they invariably will, from
blowguns spat by expert assassins missing to hit them to boulders rolling down a hill stopping inches
from Thanquol’s face. Thanquol is infamous for frequently getting the Skaven force he leads killed down
to the rat but, on the other hand, he is an amazingly skilled mage (level 4+) in the Lore of Ruin with very
potent spell craft and a modified Rat ogre will all sorts of weapons built into it.

Nurglitch – Head of Clan Pestilens. A level 4 sorcerer in the Lore of the Plague. In battle, an
unnatural aura of vileness permeates the air around the Lord of Decay, enough to make lesser foes flee.
This is just as well, as to step close (25 meters) to Nurglitch is invite death as the unholy disease known
as the Grim Ague makes enemies weaker and may even inflict death if the enemies’ constitution is found
lacking.

Lord Skrolk – First of the Plague Priests and second in command of Clan Pestilens. Skrolk’s very aura is
so noxious that only the most extreme devotees of Pestilens can survive any extended period of time in
his presence; others simply trying to approach him will die in a minute or less just lingering nearby. His
Rod of Corruption is a magical staff that a single hit can cause all but the toughest creatures to decay and
die rapidly. In his other hand, Skrolk carries the Liber Bubonicus to use on a single enemy unit at ranges
of 300 meters, inflicting a particularly potent magical plague on them that causes rapid decay (usually;
sometimes the spell has no effect). To top it all off, Skrolk is a wizard who uses the Lore of the Plague.
He is a fanatical, but expects results, willing to promote someone of Clan Skryre who succeeded over a
devotee to Clan Pestilens.

Queek Headtaker – Chief general of Clan Mors and perhaps the only Skaven who can honestly say he is
not a coward. Queek is insane, a beserker and he loves fighting, up to the point he is the greatest mortal
duelist they have and is equipped with a pair of magical weapons. That said, he is known for warning a
enemy that he is about to attack before doing so.

Throt the Unclean – Of all the nine lords of Hell(pit), the master mutator of Clan Moulder, Throt the
Unclean is probably the most formidable and ugliest. He is the designer of the Stormfiend, augmented rat
ogres and the Hell Pit Abomination. In battle, Throt is often accompanied by legions of his beasts, many
of them likely mutated beyond the normal strain. This serves dual purposes, serving him both in battle
and sometimes (re: often) as a mid-battle snack! In terms of control, he is even better than Packmaster
Skweel in ensuring the beasts maintain loyalty to him. He comes directly equipped with a magical whip,
Things-Catcher, and blade courtesy of his three arms. His regeneration is potent enough that he once
survived being ripped in half.

Ikit Claw – For several centuries (possibly six or seven) Ikit Claw has been the premier weaponsmith of
the Skaven Underempire. Under his name have been such key inventions as the Warp Cannon along with
the recent Stormfiend and various (luckily failed) doomsday devices. He is a specialist commander, and it
was through his technological devices that Karak Kiadrin was poisoned and the Black temple of Nagash
was destroyed. In combat he is a Level 3 Wizard who uses spells from the Lore of Ruin. Thanks to his
suit he is physically strong enough to rip horses in half. He comes equipped with the halberd 'Storm
Daemon’, a magical weapon that can unleash a powerful burst of Dark Lightning at up to 300 meters. His
suit also has a small Warpfire projector built into it.

Tretch Craventail- Tretch is clever and devious even among the Skaven, a warlord who can be counted
on to survive even the worst such situations. He is highly opportunistic and adaptive in battle tactics, a
slippery rat that would be extremely hard to pin down and take out.

Ghoritch Castilian of Hell Pitt – A Norscan turned into a rat ogre and then made a general of Moulder.
Though biologically a Skaven, in his mind Ghoritch remains a howling, blood-mad berserker. He is one
of the few in the Skaven commanders who can be counted on to not flee unless absolutely necessary.

Klawmunkast - Klawmunkast is a brilliant if slightly unhinged Skaven commander. Widely considered

insane even by the fellow tinkerers of Clan Skryre, Klawmunkast is, to date, the only Skaven to have ever
successfully recreated an Empire Steam tank, even if he never shared his schematics or his invention. As
it is, he rides the only Skaven Steam Tank.

Skweel Gnawtooth- Gifted Moulder Packmaster and expert at ambushes.

Morbus Sanguis - A favored agent of the Plaguelords of Clan Pestilens, an agent they can trust
(relatively speaking) to get a tough job done.

= ADDITIONAL FACTORS =
X-FACTORS
Morale: 32/100
Army Intimidation: 67/100
Discipline: 37/100
Cohesion: 36/100:
Espionage: 73/100
Logistics: 75/100
Blockade: 62/100
Aggression: 74/100

RENIFORCEMENT RATE: Swarm

 MAGIC – Note that magic in the Warhammer world is a bit different from most fantasy worlds.
Magic comes from the invisible Chaos Winds of Magic, blown from the origin of the two great poles. It
waxes and wanes at random, and is so overwhelmingly powerful to be difficult to contain for long, if at
all. Wizards can have some pent up magical energy in them, but it is very minute compared to most of the
spells they would cast. Wizards are very rare and prized individuals who take a significant portion of their
lifetime learning to see and sense the Winds, catch the ones that blow in strongest favor for the type of
magic they wish to use, and then channel it properly. The bigger and more difficult the spell, the more
magical energy needed to invest in it. And the more a wizard tries to gather and summon, the greater the
risk for catastrophe. When wizards cast magic, the potency of the energy leaves them at risk ranging from
mere unconsciousness to a miscast of the spell activing on themselves, Daemonic possession, and
exploding into magical aether.

For Skaven, these spells range from vomiting toxic, acidic sprays from their mouth like a huge
flamethrower, causing magical lightning to fry dozens of individuals, opening the ground large enough to
swallow a mighty dinosaur, spread plagues and filth that infect hundreds of men in an area, make flight
impossible across an entire battlefield, and summon a swarm of rats in the thousands.

One of the worst of these is the Dreaded Thirteenth Spell, which will take several dozens, even
over a hundred enemy infantry, including undead, and convert/mutate them into Skaven Clanrats loyal to
the spell caster. However, thankfully for the enemy, less than a dozen individuals would be capable of
casting this at all, and the Winds of Magic have to be very strong, and the magic user needs to be of the
best, probably even add precious magical investments and equipment to further see to its success.

= STRENGTHS =
Plagues – Clan Pestilens is the Skaven version of Nurgle followers, who live to spread disease
and decay with a fanatical obsession. They are renowned for their plague dispersion and the crafting of
deadly diseases, however they have widely different effects depending on where they are used. After
comparing their mechanisms I will split these into two different sections.

Warpstone – Extreme diverse in its uses, it is used to boost everything from magical ability
when eaten raw, as a focusing stone for magical weaponry, and powdered into explosives. It is used in
creating regeneration, merging bits of flesh, and creating monstrosities. Skaven pioneers of Clan
Pestilens, Moulder, and Skryre will be eager to test and advance what they can captured from the enemy
and ‘improve’ on them with Warpstone.

No Honor – Backstabbing even among their own kind, Skaven are actually usually reluctant to
attack at any time except when the enemy is weakest and least on guard, with overwhelming strength.

Variety – The Skaven have a solution to nearly every problem they could come across. They
have powerful technology, they can invert and convert any tech (if there is enough of it and time to test
the first failures) they come across, they can enhance it (or force it to work) with Warpstone. Skaven can
throw quality forces from the best of the greater clans like Rat Ogres or weapon teams. They have highly
trained and skilled warriors in the form of Eshin. They have mix-and-matched these advantages in
Verminlords and Stormfiends. A large amount of their abundant special weapons and attacks and anyone
who is of slightest importance have magical attacks that give the Skaven an ability to combat a ghost
army. And if that weren’t enough, they are the most extreme in the case of swarms as a faction.
= WEAKNESSES =
Fear – Skaven break for retreat frequently and relatively easily. Once their supreme strength in
numbers wane, and/or their major leaders are killed, they are quick to turn tail and run. They will do this
multiple times however, each time regrouping into greater concentrated strength until the enemy buckles.

Dishonorable to a Fault – Skaven are prone to betray each other, from individuals of the same
litter, to seeking out ways to butcher a grand alliance between clans and allies to their own advantage.
They will lie, cheat, and backstab.

Shortsighted – Most of the Skaven do not have a very strong sense of past or distant future.
Pathological liars unable to blame themselves for any failure, they take every setback as something they
were given, the weakness of those they command, or happenstance chance from the enemy.

Underestimation – Skaven have a bad habit of seeing all other races as inferior in some way.
Every advantage any enemy might have is oversighted by comparable other advantages the Skaven have.

Unreliable – Nothing for the Skaven, by the Skaven, is a guarantee, no matter how much a
Skaven promises and lies about it. Their tech fails on more than occasionally, their diseases can backfire,
the orders given to a lieutenant become altered, and information returning to the Skaven leaders that is
good is often exaggerated to greatness, while bad information is often downsized. In some cases,
messengers with anything other than good news are killed.

= OVERALL STRATEGY =
The Skaven spend a majority of their time underground, building and digging tunnels with
multiple depths and complex systems like an anthill stretching many miles. Starting off with a small
underground city at initial starting point, they will use energized beam weapons, magically-empowered
drills, and explosives to hollow out the earth as they expand. They inevitably make their way to dig under
cities and fortresses, creating several networks, gaps, holes, and even large platform elevators to deploy
whole armies in minutes to any region within or on the outskirts of their domain. These aren’t just tunnels
for a few Skaven to crawl through. These are highways, halls, Skaven slave pits, and breeding chambers
with rooms anywhere from a secret closet to a factory the size of a fortress.

This serves as the strategic offensive and defensive nature of the Skaven who plan to overrun the
surface world in an endless tide of rat-kind. As such, for an enemy to succeed, they must be able to
resist and fight off Skaven tunnel attacks and lairs, and go down and conquer the Skaven in their own
home, hundreds of feet beneath the surface. The Skaven will launch many surface raids and attacks to
gather slaves, supplies, gain an upper hand, and strike when they think the enemy is weakest for an early
advantage. And when they surface, it is undoubtedly either with stealth and precise purpose, or
overwhelming tides of an army, and usually near or during nighttime.