Towards the end of last year I was wasn’t sure what faction I’d be taking to tournaments in 2024 and then Clash of Kings (the book) landed and I was once again back on the rats. The changes included in the most recent refresh brought the Night Terror back into the fold and I think the swarm crier is an absolute must take if you’re including the obligatory tunnel runner regiment with the brew of sharpness (spoiler alert… I am).
Amazingly the changes impressed me so much that I have for the first time ever taken a tournament list that doesn’t include Skud. This is truly massive!
The list that I’ve put together really leans into the Ratkin strength that is to be found in loads of rally. I’m hoping that a decent amount of chaff, careful usage of hammers and doing my best not to self-sabotage (the eternal battle that I tend to be on the losing end of) will give me a not unreasonable start to the season. In preparation I have managed to get a couple of games in with this list, and overall, I would say it’s been okay. This year though I’ve decided to commit to playing only rats all year, so that does mean a few opportunities to tweak the list as I go (or just dump it and start over again).
The list consists of:
Warrior regiments (2)
Shock Troop horde with Plague Pot
Nightmare horde
Vermintide regiments (2)
Tunnel Runner regiment with Brew of Sharpness
Weapons Teams (2)
Hackpaw regiment
Mutant Rat Fiend
Night Terror
Brute Enforcer
Swarm Cryer on mount
The Tangle
Game 1 – Invade vs Nightstalkers
Having added some shooting to my list following a recent tournament where I struggled against Trident Realms, you can imagine my delight at finding out that my first game of the day would be against Nightstalkers!
Looking at my opponent’s list I was worried that underperforming shooting and mobs of angry reapers would create absolute havoc in my lines. With that in mind I decided to put one warrior regiment on its own on the far left of the table and everything else huddled together on my right.
The hope was that my opponent would send one of his nasty reaper units off to deal with the warriors and that would effectively keep it out of the game for a few turns. As it worked out my opponent spread out across his deployment zone giving me hope that I would be able to deal with his army one unit at a time and get a good chunk of my units across the table.
On my right the void lurker, Esenyshra and the needle fangs pushed forward. I didn’t want to hang around, so my hackpaws and brute enforcer removed the needle fangs, forcing the fliers to make some decisions. Naturally enough they jumped into my deployment zone where some careful positioning of Esenyshra prevented a vermintide regiment from grounding the void lurker, but did result in Esenyshra being grounded. Fortunately, the void lurker wasn’t able to find any sufficiently juicy targets and ended up getting cornered by the brute enforcer and night terror for the rest of the game.
In the centre, or least ways the centre of the right flank, the portal of despair moved ahead of the butchers, a troop of reapers and a planar apparition. Combined shooting from the war engine teams and the Tangle removed it from the table and damaged the butcher horde whilst the mutant rat fiend and the shock troops removed the butcher regiment. The fiend hurtled forward following the combat and the shock troops moved back and dropped their pots. Scarecrows and reapers pulled the fiend apart whilst the damaged butchers charged the shock troops. Even with the brew of sharpness, being hindered and the pots blunted their charge, the shock troops finished them off in the next turn.
Things were starting to come undone on the right flank for the nightstalkers as the war engine team reduced the reaper troop to embers and the tunnel runners destroyed the planar apparition, but they still had the reaper regiments and shadow hounds. The shadow hounds and one of the regiments had been distracted by the warrior regiment (the plan had worked) but were now making their way to the centre. Not surprisingly the shock troops gave way to a double charge from reapers and shadow hounds, however these units were in turn picked off by hackpaws and the weapons team. The nightmares finished off Esenyshra before, in what I think was my one easily recognisable moment of self-sabotage during the day, reforming to give a flank to the remaining reapers. The ensuing massacre did little to change the course of the game though. The remaining reaper regiment and the embattled void lurker were on my side of the table, however much of the rat army still remained on the table and had crossed the halfway line. Victory went to the rats.
Game 2 – Pillage vs. Basileans
I was quite excited to be playing this list as it’s a version of an army I’ve contemplated trying many times, so it was going to be interesting to see how in played.
My main concern with this army was that if the shooting managed to wear down a couple of my hammer units I wouldn’t have enough in the tank to chew through the nerve on the table, and with almost every unit having headstone it meant these units have to be killed to stop them fighting and moving to grab objectives.
Once we put objectives down and had chosen sides, I decided to take a similar approach to the previous game. This time though on different sides. This was because there was an objective behind a small wood on the right in my deployment zone. I put a warrior regiment here as I knew it would force my opponent to put some resource into winning the token, or he would have to concede it. Happily, he decided to use his mounted paladins with the wine of elvenkind to liberate the objective which essentially took them out of the game.
The shooting started to target my shock troops from the off. With his crossbows on a hill there was little I could do about it, and it was exactly what I had worried would happen. Plague pots protected them for a turn, but I had to address the shooting or there were going to be problems.
I moved my left flank forward as quickly as possible. The hackpaws, mutant rat fiend and night terror headed towards a regiment of mounted paladins at the end of the table, whilst the tunnel runners and brute enforcer had their eyes on the other mounted regiment and the crossbows. To my amazement the hackpaws and night terror one-shotted the knight regiment they charged and were able to face down the line towards the crossbows. The second knight regiment charged, with a foot paladin regiment, into the shock troops and destroyed them, however the tunnel runners made short work of the knights in response whilst the war engine teams took the down foot knights. From that point on the rats dominated the table and wore the Basileans down, capturing 5 objectives and winning the day.
Game 3 – Dominate vs. Halflings
Dabbling a little with halflings myself I knew this would be a fun game. There was quite a bit of brutal in this army, so I really wanted to maximise my rallying and avoid multi-charges of any type. Thankfully our table had quite a bit of terrain in the centre which meant the hordes of stalwarts and the Iron Beast would be slowed down quite considerably.
My plan was to stay back in the centre to minimise muti-charges, knock out the fast moving right flank with my own speedy stuff and then head into the middle when I was in a position to start doing some multi-charges of my own.
The first two dice rolls I made for this game were double 6, followed by another double 6. This is amazing in itself, but when you’re mind fogging EJ Grenadiers with a nerve of 11/13 its simply euphoric. With one source of brutal gone I was off to a great start.
I went second and pushed my right flank forward reasonably aggressively but held back with my hackpaws just in case the muster captain decided to jump into my backfield. As it turned out he did and went into the fully rallied cavalry without much damage being done. A slight misalignment with my tunnel runners saw him kill the light cavalry in the following turn before the chariots could get at him.
Once the flying doggo was dealt with it left the right flank free to advance and pull apart the remaining Juggers and a Harvester. My shooting was largely uneventful with my war engine teams ending up as charge blockers and general distractions, which at 85 points a piece was absolutely fine. I managed to hold the centre in pretty much the way I had wanted, avoiding any serious combats until the closing turns. Juggers took a hindered charge at my nightmares and were swatted for their troubles, whilst a plucky warrior regiment got a flank charge on the second harvester, killed it (with some shock troop help), and then blocked up the Heroes of Hoddenburg meaning that the Iron Beast had to try and block up my shock troops on its own. With banechant failing me twice it took me longer than I had hoped to plough through all the defence 6 distractions, however a turn 7 gave me the extra turn I needed to smash through one of the stalwart hordes, and the iron beast, and flood the circle with rats for a third and final win.
Final thoughts
This is my first event in four years of tournaments with three wins in a row at a singles event (possibly even with two in a row) and it felt pretty damn amazing. Of course, I’m not packing my bags for masters, that would be pure hubris. Instead, I’ve been having a quiet reflection by the fire about my list and what I could have done better.
I have to admit I was surprised by how well the list did. Although I had put some thought into its structure, it sort of felt a little underwhelming, and my practice game before the event had given me cause for concern as to whether I could manage the shooting elements as well as I needed to. My honest answer to that question is that there is definitely room for improvement. Whilst the war engine teams did well, I was less than comfortable placing the nightmares. I think they could have contributed more in both the first and second games. By the third I had a much better idea of where they should fit in the battle line. There are a few other things I want to work on, but for now getting the most out of my shooting seems sensible.
In terms of list changes, there’s nothing that stand out as being overly problematic (other than the person in charge).
As for MVPs, well it’s really hard to decide. The tunnel runners and swarm crier smashed everything in their path, the night terror was a really handy support piece, the war engine teams were great, so who to choose?
After much deliberation MVP goes to the lone warrior unit that stood at the opposite end of the table to everyone else. In the first two games they distracted some really punchy units for far longer than they really should have, and in the third game they helped roll over a harvester and then prevented a double charge on my shock troops. Not a bad day all in all.
All that remains is for me to thank my opponents and the organisers for an absolutely fab day. This was my second Stanes of Blood and I hope it won’t be my last.
The Wizard's Bookshelf 