If you’re a bit of a speed freak, don’t mind that your players are awful to look at, have paper-mache armour and you as a coach have some sort of weird rattish twitch…. then oh boy do I have a team for you, the Skaven!

For me, Skaven have always been this weird in-between team, where they’re not strong enough to stand up in a fight, but don’t have the agility or skills needed to quickly reposition and outmanoeuvre their opponents. What they do have though, are cheap, dispensable linerats, some very solid Blitzers and what quite a few people believe are one of the best pieces in the whole game, the Gutter Runner.

Their Throwers as well, have been added to the PA2+ group which combined with the Gutters AG2+ and insane MV value, means it’ll always be hard work for your opponent to stop you from scoring. Plus GR’s are absurdly cheap for what they’re capable of, even in Blood Bowl 2020 and you can get 4 of them! Combined with the fact that this team are capable of getting Mutations as Secondary, they make for a very rewarding team that scores as hard as it dies but unlike expensive elves can easily replace their losses game after game. So let’s look at the Skaven Starting Rosters at TV1000 shall we, yes-yes?

Run Gutter, Run!, 3 ReRolls | TV1000 Skaven Starting Rosters:

Throwers went up 15k…. just thought I’d mention that, yes-yes.

Back in the days of old (as in, before 2020), you used to be able to take 4 GR’s, 4 Rats, 2 Blitzers, 1 Thrower, 3 RR’s and an Apo, all for that sweet, sweet price of 990k. However, with the Throwers and Runners now much more expensive, you can’t do that anymore! So what have we done about it?

Well, basically we’ve had to drop a Gutter Runner and replace him with a Clanrat. With 3 Runners you’ve still got some massive scoring potential and they’re still as fast as ever. They have been given PA4+ which isn’t too much of a surprise, but, for the most part, you should only be handing off with them anyway, leave the passing to the Thrower!

As an alternative, you could drop both the Apothecary and 5th Clanrat for the 4th Runner, which would leave you with at TV of 955k. This does mean you’re guaranteed to have enough to afford the Apo after your first game, but personally, I’d keep it as a safety for your far more valuable Blitzers. Who, speaking of, you absolutely take both in all circumstances as they’re your workhorses… or…. work-rats I suppose.

No Rat Ogre on this team and you should probably consider him a next purchase. Starting with one can be risky but often worth it, see the build further down for more info!

Ratty Horde, 3 ReRolls | TV1000 Skaven Starting Rosters:

Fancy overrunning your opponents with HORDES OF TEEMING RATS?! Well, try this Skaven Starting Roster for size!

Despite the increase to the players, this build stays the same as the old version thanks to the cheaper ReRolls (50k instead of 60k), so this one actually ends up 5k cheaper than that from the previous edition. For this, you now get 12 players, with 7 of that fast-moving yet relatively disposable Clanrats. It’s not a massively deep bench but against most teams, you’ll have the player advantage, which considering how much AV8+ you have on the team is probably a good thing. Plus if you feel the need, you can stick the boot into a downed player as well!

2 Runners should be enough to both react to threats and provide enough of a constant scoring threat, plus with it being only 2 of them they’ll be getting more SPP themselves instead of it being shared out as much. When looking to buy the other two, consider how you’ve developed the originals and build them accordingly (I like to for Horns + Wrestle for a dedicated, super-fast sacker!)

This is a pretty safe build, all things considered, you’ve got a decent stack of players with a few key members to get stuff done, plus with 3 ReRolls you should able to pull off a few risks here and there.

Team Killing F*cktard, 3 ReRolls | TV1000 Skaven Team Build:

If you *really* want the Rat Ogre… here you go…. and honestly you probably should these days.

Over the course of this edtition I’ve changed my mind on the Rat Ogre. Animal Savagery is dangerous to your own team, but unless you knock down your own ball carrier, you’re still getting to hit your opponent. This means giving him of the cheap ratment to keep him company isn’t a bad idea and overall the R-Ogre is a great peice at creating space in the centre of the board for the rest of your team, while also providing some removal threat. Prehesile tail is going to help you against those nasty dodgy teams too and considering his speed he’ll actually catch up to most threats. The changes to Break Tackle help him here immensely too, making him a very mobile Big Guy once he gets a few level ups and you’ll have a much easier time getting the skills you want as opposed to hoping for Doubles to eventually get Block.

Skaven Starting Rosters, Conclusion:

So that’s the Skaven! Tricky little buggers aren’t they!?

If you want a fast-moving team that isn’t expensive like the Elves, it’s hard to go wrong by choosing then rat-men. Mutations can make these guys absolute monsters if you manage to get them, meaning that you can punch pretty hard with your Blitzers while your Throwers and Runners score time and time again. You might not end up with many Clanrats left by the end of the game, but their job is to distract and be in the way while your better plays cause the real problems.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this look at the Skaven Starting Rosters, we’re slowly getting there with our 2020 guides, so check them out, if you haven’t already.

Also a quick note, these new prices are seriously doing my head in… I just want an even TV 1000 !!!!