“Yes-yes! The Under-Empire rises! All will fall-fall before the might of the Horned Rat!”
Beneath your feet, in the shadowy depths of the world, a terrible secret festers. Not goblins, not daemons, but something worse. Something numerous. They are the Skaven, an endless tide of ratmen, driven by fear, ambition, and manic genius. To the surface world, they are myth. To those who know better, they are doom.
The Skaven are a unique army of treacherous inventors, backstabbing warlords, plague-wielding priests, and thousands upon thousands of expendable rat soldiers. They win through sheer numbers, dirty tricks, and weapons that should never, ever exist. Want chaos? Want laughs? Want total, explosive dominance? Then it’s time to praise the Horned Rat and scurry into the ranks of the Under-Empire!
The Verminous History: From Below, It Came…
The Skaven were not born, they’ve multiplied. Ages ago, deep in the earth, a strange race of ratmen emerged, driven by a hunger for power and the warp-tainted magic of Warpstone. Unified (somehow) under the mysterious god known as the Horned Rat, they dug vast tunnel empires beneath the world, gnawing at the roots of civilisations above.
Their capital, Skavenblight, is a fetid, rusting, steaming mess of insanity, invention, and disease. From there, the Council of Thirteen sends its warlords, assassins, and plague-bearers to destabilise the world above.
They bicker. They plot. They sabotage each other. And yet, like a disease, they always return, stronger and more numerous than before. There is no stopping them. Only delaying them.
Play Style: Chaos, Quantity, and Catastrophic Firepower
Skaven armies are a glorious mess and that’s exactly how they’re meant to be. They rely on swarms of weak infantry, wildly unpredictable weapons, and tricks that no other faction would dare (or survive). Their greatest strength? Numbers. Their greatest weakness? Also numbers.
• Mass Infantry: Skaven swarm the board with expendable units. Who cares if they die? You’ve got 80 more.
• Unreliable Firepower: Warp Lightning Cannons, Ratling Guns, and Warpfire Throwers. They’ll kill the enemy… or you. Sometimes both!
• Dirty Tricks: Tunneling ambushers, sabotage, and leadership bombs keep your opponent guessing… and terrified.
• Unique Magic: The Lore of Ruin and Lore of Plague bring devastating warp-magic, summoning, and disease.
• Leadership Shenanigans: Skaven don’t hold lines. They explode. But you can win even as your army melts if the enemy melts faster.
If you enjoy wild swings, comedy mixed with carnage, and watching your own troops run screaming as they set the world on fire, you’re going to love the Skaven.
Key Units: Weapons, Warpstone, and Whiskers
The Skaven don’t build armies. They breed disasters with tails.
• Clanrats: The bread-and-butter. Weak. Numerous. Easily sacrificed.
• Stormvermin: Armoured elite troops. Still cowardly, but they hit like rusty freight trains.
• Skavenslaves: Cheaper than Clanrats. Yes, really. Think meat shields… made of meat.
• Warp Lightning Cannon: Disintegrates armour and morale alike, if it doesn’t misfire and vaporise your own front line.
• Doomwheel: A giant hamster wheel of death, shooting lightning and crushing everything in its path. Often your own guys.
• Plague Monks: Frenzied zealots of filth. They don’t wear armour, but they do wear disease.
• Jezzails: Long-range sniper teams. Rare moments of calm, calculated death in an otherwise chaotic army.
• Gutter Runners & Night Runners: Stealthy saboteurs, perfect for knife-in-the-back diplomacy.
Every Skaven unit is either exploding, mutating, or screaming. Sometimes all three at the same time.
Legendary Characters of the Under-Empire
Thanquol – The Ever-Scheming Grey Seer
A master manipulator and terrible coward, Thanquol is the face of Skaven arrogance and ambition. Blessed by the Horned Rat (and somehow not yet exploded), he stumbles from disaster to disaster, always landing on his feet, and always blaming his minions. Or his rat ogre, Boneripper. Probably both.
Lord Skrolk – Plague Pope of Clan Pestilens
Diseased, devoted, and absolutely deranged, Skrolk is a holy terror wrapped in tattered robes and pustules. He spreads plague with every breath and revels in the decay of all things. To him, victory smells like rot.
Ikit Claw – Arch-Warlock of Clan Skryre
A walking fusion of genius and doom, Ikit Claw is the supreme warlock-engineer of Clan Skryre. He crafts devastating weapons, builds death machines, and frequently threatens to blow up the world. He’s probably already tried.
Queek Headtaker – Psychopathic Warlord of Clan Mors
Queek is small, angry, and very good at killing. He collects heads, hates rivals, and wields a magic sword named Dwarf Gouger. He’s brave by Skaven standards, which means he’s totally unhinged.
Why Collect the Skaven?
Because you want an army that’s equal parts hilarious, horrifying, and completely unpredictable. The Skaven are a dream for creative hobbyists with warped machinery, plague-soaked robes, crude weapons, and endless conversions. Whether you want a swarm of rusted infantry or a mad science death-cult, the Skaven deliver.
Tactically, they’re wild but rewarding. A good Skaven general thrives in chaos, turning setbacks into opportunities, distractions into wins, and explosions into strategy. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll blow up your own general turn one and still win the game.
And narratively? They’re some of Warhammer’s most entertaining villains. Backstabbing, self-sabotaging, evil geniuses with tail-twitching ambition. Every battle is a disaster movie… and you’re the director.
“All will serve-serve the Under-Empire in the end! Yesss… or die-die screaming!”
So grab your warpstone, call your warlock-engineers, and unleash the swarm. The surface world has no idea what’s coming. Neither do you. But soon everyone will find out.
(Warhammer Fantasy) Faction Guide: Skaven
