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I thought I had posted this a while back but maybe not.
SKAVEN
Is there another way or better place to post this?
I was given this a good time back.
I hope it was ok to post this. I have the doc file if anyone is interested.
Gary
Report of Dal-Nrakthan, Imperial Inquisitor 37th Degree, Ordo Malleus Imperial Observation Outpost, Planet Riga, Segmentum Pacificus
Subject: Arrival of a new race, the ?Skaven?
Numerous reports on the loss of planets, particularly among the Knight worlds, as well as rumors of a similar pattern occurring among the Orcoid races (primarily gathered from among Orc captives), suggested that the Imperium was beset by a new and malign race. The Orcs interrogated by the Ordo Malleus included one of the so-called ?weirdboyz,? who possessed an unnaturally high intelligence for an ork, possibly even IQ 92. While under psychic interrogation by a member of the Order, the ?weirdboy? unexpectedly revealed traces of a racial memory regarding a hitherto unknown race called the ?Skaven.? Strangely, a number of the interrogated Orcs had also recently encountered a similar race. One Orc even referred to several ferocious gashes on his arm as being from a ?Skaven.?
This race appears to have strong similarities with certain Terran mammalian species variously referred to in non-scientific terminology as rats or rodents-however, they are nearly human in size and possess rudimentary technology. Convinced of the seriousness posed by the threat of another fast-breeding and hostile race, the Ordo Malleus formed a special mission to investigate the ?Skaven.? A dangerous journey was made to the Black Library, which is protected by the Harlequins of the Eldar, in order to gather more information.
It has been established that the ?Skaven? are not, as was proposed by an earlier Imperial Commission, a mutation of the large rodents found on Ceti Prime. Additionally, there are absolutely no earlier records of the ?Skaven,? or even the slightest reference to such a race of near-humanoid sized rats, in the data libraries of the Ordo Malleus or the Imperial Library on Mars II, which contains all remaining information concerning the period before the Horus Heresy. Information from the Black Library, however, suggests that there may be some truth to the Orcoid legends. The oldest annals of the Eldar race describe the destruction of an ancient and evil race called the ?Skaven.? The eradication of the ?Skaven? capitol (called Skavenblight in the annals) was brought about by an unlikely union of the massed armies of the Elves, Humans, and Dwarves (perhaps these were related to the Squats?). Further, the Eldar themselves claim to have recently lost three Exodite planets to the depredations of the ?Skaven.?
Two separate military missions (Imperial and Eldar) were dispatched by my command, in agreement with Farseer El-taunath, to capture examples of the ?Skaven? for psychic interrogation and dissection. The Imperial mission was composed of units of the Ordo Malleus and the Grey Knights. The Grey Knights were included (over my strong objection), since yet another Imperial Commission had incorrectly determined that the ?Skaven? were a foul mutation of the forces of Chaos. The Imperial Expedition secured 19 captives, including a ?warlord? and several ?stormvermin.? The Eldar mission succeeded in capturing a religious leader (a Grey Seer), as well as several members of a religious sect called ?Clan Pestilens.? The Eldar report that during the evacuation, their Harlequins were nearly destroyed by a ?Skaven? group known as ?Clan Eshin.?
In clear vindication of my earlier views, it should now be noted that the Skaven are not directly controlled by the powers of Chaos and that they are not a mutation spawned by Chaos during the Horus Heresy. Although the first rumors of the Skaven circulated towards the end of the Conspiracy, it would appear that the Skaven took advantage of this time of upheaval to quietly expand their holdings. While a certain Skaven religious sect (Clan Pestilens) has crude links to the Chaos Power of Nurgle, Skaven religion is primarily devoted to the worship of something called ?The Horned Rat.? The psychic interrogation of the Grey Seer (who was nearly crazed by the use of a psychotropic substance called warpstone) was conducted by myself and Farseer El-taunath. Amazingly, the Grey Seer confirmed the earlier information gathered from the Orcs and Eldar. It is now known that some-time in the far past, the Skaven on old Terra had established themselves in their capitol of Skavenblight. A vast complex of tunnels radiated outwards from the city and connected with huge caverns. From these underground fortresses, the Skaven had attempted to control the entire world. Several of the worst attacks of the Skaven took the form of hideous plagues released by the devotees of Clan Pestilens. Towards the end of the First Imperial Period (c. 2750 of the old Imperial calendar), a coalition of Elves, Humans, and Dwarves did in fact march to destroy the last stronghold of the Skaven.
The following is the legend as reported by the captured Grey Seer (and recorded, with some stylistic embellishments, by my assistant Rys-Koriakin, Ordo Malleus 29th Degree):
As the massive armies approached Skavenblight, the Seerlord Iknat decided to consume a massive quantity of warpstone in order to foresee the best possible defense for the Skaven. In his trance, Iknat was increasingly disturbed-he saw not only the destruction of Skavenblight, but the end of the Skaven entirely. As Iknat searched further into the future he saw no traces of the Skaven. In growing consternation, Iknat?s acolytes summoned the other powerful Grey Seers. They watched in horror as Iknat searched even further into the future for a glimpse of the Skaven race, but with no success. Iknat?s psychic body traveled both in time and space to search for hints of the Skaven. Several of the Grey Seers were themselves consumed by psychic dread as they witnessed Iknat?s corporeal form reflect the suffering of his psychic body as it was buffeted by huge warpstorms in space. (I suspect that this was during the turmoil caused by erratic disturbances in the warp during the Time of Strife.) After thousands of shrieks and screams, Iknat at last grew quieter and then began to frown. For a long time he muttered about the accursed Imperium. (Undoubtedly referring to the ten thousand years of the Imperium). Finally, a strange smile appeared on Iknat?s face. The surviving Grey Seers now felt safe enough to join more fully in Iknat?s vision.
Although the future which they beheld contained no scent of the Skaven, they could see that powerful forces were wreaking destruction on the humans and other races. (Clearly indicating the Horus Heresy.) The seers, like Iknat, longed to avenge themselves on their enemies. Suddenly, Iknat?s psychic body moved away from the beautiful scenes of destruction and towards a green planet. The planet was filled with huge forests and large stupid beasts; great caverns lay concealed beneath the undergrowth. For a while, Iknat raved on about revenge and paradise. Then Iknat formed a slender warptunnel which led back through time and space towards his rat body in doomed Skavenblight. The mouth of tunnel formed near the sacred black-warpstone pillar of thirteen sides. As the seers watched, the tunnel became larger and Iknat?s body rose and walked towards its glowing entrance.
The other Grey Seers were horrified that the warp tunnel might close without them. They consumed prodigious amounts of warpstone as they sought to stabilize and enlarge the warptunnel. Convinced of the truth of Iknat?s vision, they ordered the acolytes to spread word among all the Skaven. The most powerful Skaven lords gathered around the Grey Seers, but few would believe and none would enter the warptunnel. At last, Warlord Nrish (called the Skull-Taker) of the Merkit Clan, believing that he felt the paw of the ?Horned Rat? upon his shoulder, announced that he and all of his followers would enter the warptunnel before two hours had passed. With great trepidation many Skaven followed Warlord Nrish through the warptunnel, but as many more were either too afraid or too overwhelmed by battle-lust as the enemy armies approached Skavenblight. For twelve days, even as the defenses of the city were crumbling, Skaven marched through the warptunnel. But the Grey Seers were nearly exhausted by their efforts. As the warptunnel began to fray about its edges, the Grey Seers themselves walked one-by-one through the tunnel, even as the others struggled to keep it from collapsing. On the thirteenth day, as the last of the Grey Seers passed to the new world, the tunnel sparked and began to increasingly grow smaller. Skaven legend states that the ?Horned Rat? himself was the last to pass through the tunnel before it disappeared-and that at the last moment he turned his gaze upon the sacred runic pillar, which was surrounded by black fire and reappeared in the new world.
So much for the Skaven legend. However, I am inclined to at least believe the major details, since they fit all of the known facts. Apparently, the Skaven took some time to increase their numbers and knowledge of current technology before attempting to begin expansion in the final stages of the Horus Heresy. By my count, at least 16 planets have been completely overtaken by the Skaven-of these, all but the most recent 4 were mistakenly believed to have been taken by minions of Chaos. Thus, the incursion of Chaos cloaked the early expansion of the Skaven. My information reveals that another 43 planets (31 Orcoid, 4 Eldar Exodite, and 8 Imperial) have significant infestations of Skaven.
I have not yet established a precise date for the arrival of the Skaven and it is difficult to discover this even through racial memories, particularly since most Skaven are short-lived creatures. The Grey Seer we interrogated believed himself to be hundreds of generations removed from the time of the ?crossing.? Since that time, the course of Skaven expansion appears to have been governed by two factors: first, the search for isolated planets which create good breeding grounds, such as the Knight or Exodite worlds; second, the odd compulsion to seek out places where meteoric showers have distributed what they refer to as warpstone. In connection with the latter, we have established our current base on the planet Riga, where geologic surveys indicate the presence of a substantial amount of warpstone. Since the planet occupies a natural vector for the Skaven advance, my plan is to provoke a limited military engagement in order to discover as much as possible about them.
The earlier expansion to other planets by the Skaven was accomplished by three methods. Although, the Skaven are terrified of flight, and even of heights, they have used stealth and infiltration to move along the Imperial interstellar system. Clan Eshin has employed its members to scout out warpstone and weak worlds, after which small numbers of Skaven followed to establish outposts. In time, the infestation on these sparsely populated worlds grew and eventually overran the original inhabitants. In rare cases, the Skaven have used captured Orc ships, manned by Orc crews, to make short trips. Finally, the Skaven Grey Seers seem capable of creating small and relatively unstable warptunnels between planets. However, no Grey Seer has been able to duplicate Iknat?s feat, either in size or in the utilization of time. These warptunnels tend to collapse without warning, killing the Grey Seer and whatever Skaven were making a ?crossing.? Apparently, the Skaven are satisfied if one in five manages to survive the attempt. I am convinced that the Skaven warptunnels are similar to the warp portals created by the powers of Chaos and the so-called Dark Eldar (the Druchii).
While the level of technology of the Skaven is still somewhat rudimentary, they are rapidly integrating new weapon systems into their traditional tactical practices. They have increased the power of ancient weaponry and have also created new weaponry to meet current needs. Many of these weapons systems are based on the use of warpstone, now augmented by contemporary technology. Other weapons, such as the Shriik cannon (or Shrieker) may be captured Imperial technology. The Shrieker appears to be similar to the Ordinatus Mars, although smaller, more mobile, and cheaper to produce. The Skaven used it effectively on the Knight worlds to destroy the knight households and to explode the heads of huge reptiles at a safe distance. In another case, the Termites and Moles captured by the Skaven when they overran the Imperial mining colony on Devlan III have been duplicated and are now used extensively-more recklessly, but with better tactical results than by Imperial forces. Additionally, many of the new weapons make use of captured Orc technology. Typically, a Skaven weapon has been mounted upon a chassis of Orc design. There are also reports that the Skaven are now operating Orc weapons ?factories? utilizing a slave workforce.
The Skaven do not possess large numbers of ?machines? of any type and they are careful to protect what they have. Most are used in support of infantry assaults, which are often carefully orchestrated to include the use of tunnels (often dug by slaves), forces appearing from moles and termites, and even troops transported through temporary warptunnels. These infantry assaults are further strengthened by the use of specialist troops such as globadiers and warpfire throwers (for a description of these and other weapons, refer to the appended sections on individual weapons). The Skaven make great use of indirect fire from barrage type weapons. Frequently the barrages are ?cocktails? of gases, corrosives, and even bacterial agents--because of these combinations, standard environmental suits or even Marine armour is often no protection against them.
A partial description of the battle tactics of the Skaven was gained from one of the Orcs that we interrogated:
a) the Skaven had reconnoitered the area and had started construction of several small tunnels capable of moving infantry forward without being discovered;
b) at the time chosen for attack, a horde of clanslave infantry was driven forward, interspersed with groups of Rat-ogres and large packs of huge rats-many of these suddenly appeared well forward of the Skaven positions as they emerged from hidden tunnels;
c) closely behind the clanslaves, groups of globadiers and warpfire thrower teams were arrayed, with the clanrat warriors following in their wake;
d) small vehicles called warpraiders moved quickly through the formations to attack the enemy?s advancing bikes or warbuggies with flame (and more often to simply explode in their midst);
e) heavy supporting fire (both direct and indirect) was directed over the heads of this mass-apparently with little regard for shots that fell short-and many of the defensive weapons were cloaked in a warpstone field for protection;
f) following behind the infantry was a massive vehicle carrying a giant bell, which made sounds that excited the Skaven;
g) as the clanslaves drew fire and became enmeshed in combat, the specialist troops (globadiers, etc.) would use their weapons, often hitting clanslaves and enemy alike;
h) as the enemy?s attention was drawn by the infantry assault, groups of elite troops (stormvermin, clanrats, and groups of suicide monks) emerged at critical points and objectives from termites or moles;
i) the sounds from the bell vehicle became louder and began to cause massive destruction to buildings and other structures, as well as spreading panic among the enemy troops;
j) as the enemy units threatened to break, they were attacked by elite troops riding huge armored rats, which either broke or routed them (it should be noted that ancient accounts of the Skaven detail a deficiency in ?cavalry,? which they seem to have belatedly remedied).
Two general observations can be made about the Skaven method of battle:
a) they do not worry about losses, particularly among clanslaves or clanrats;
b) the typical battlefield with Skaven is a horrible mixture of erratic warpstorms (similar to vortexes--created by both the fire of warp weapons and the same weapons exploding by accident) and moving clouds of plague or noxious gases.
Tactical suggestions for Imperial and Space Marine troops are as follows:
a) gunships and airpower must be used carefully, since the Skaven (dreading flying things as they do) have developed cheap and plentiful numbers of anti-aircraft weapons;
b) large targets employing void shields, titans included, may be placed in jeopardy when deployed against Skaven because of their warpstorm weapons;
c) develop methods to concentrate on destroying poor Skaven morale and fragmenting their primitive command structure;
d) do not waste firepower on clanslaves;
e) attempt to.......
****Unfortunately, the above report is fragmentary. The transmission (by standard use of an Imperial Astropath) from the observation outpost on Riga was suddenly interrupted, apparently while the Astropath was attempting to hurriedly forward the Inquisitor?s report. The last transmitted image was of the Inquisitor Dal-Nrakthan locked in combat with a huge horned beast now identified as a Verminlord. The heads of both Astropaths were shattered by the booming sound of a great bell.
Skaven Army Organization for Classic Epic:
The Skaven army is organized much like other armies using the Classic Epic rules (those published through Titan Legions, including various Q/A columns, and all Citadel Journal articles). Wargroup or Regiment cards function in the same manner as Company or Clan cards. These will either be from Clan Skryre or Clan Pestilens, since Clan Moulder and Clan Eshin never field units that are larger than support card strength. Support cards may be attached to the Wargroup/Regiment cards within the restrictions listed on each card. For example, a Clan Skryre Jezzail support card may only be added to a Clan Skryre Wargroup or Regiment. The Skaven tend to field large formations (the Wargroups or Regiments) and do not provide as much support as might be used in other armies. The Skaven player may purchase up to 4 support cards for each Wargroup or Regiment. These may include certain Free support cards, such as tunnelslaves. For example, a Skaven Clan wargroup might take as support one Free clanslave card, two Free tunnelslave cards, and one clanrat card. In addition, for each Wargroup or Regiment the Skaven player may also take a Special Card. In some cases (such as the Verminlord, Januzary Veterans, Master Assassins, and Blessed Suicide Monks), these Special Cards are listed as either Free/or a designated number of points. For every increment of 6,000 points (6,001 to 12,000 equals two, etc.) in a Skaven army, the Skaven Player may take one Free Special Card at no cost-however, these Special Cards may always be taken as a Special Card per the normal rule simply by paying the points cost. The Free Special Card is in addition to the number of Special Cards allowed per regiment/wargroup; therefore, a Skaven player who has taken six regiments/wargroups receives one Free Special Card and six Special Cards, but all of the latter must be purchased. The Skaven Player is also restricted in the number of Doombringer Bell company cards that may be purchased. For every increment of 4,000 points, the Skaven player may have one Doombringer Bell card.
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Wolf1
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