TW: Warhammer - More Skaven

So the two named characters in the campaign clip are in fact in-game. They are Queek Headtaker and Lord Skrolk, which makes sense. Given the location of Lustria, Lord Skrolk of Clan Pestilens was an easy option for them as Clan Pestilens are the enemies of the Lizardmen. Queek Headtaker, while making little sense as to why he would be in Lustria, does make sense in his inclusion as given they have already added Skarsnik and King Belegar Ironhammer in their war to control Karak Eight Peaks, adding the third faction Warlord in that war would help bridge the two games for the Skaven well.

As for the army list, they do have some Skryre themed options with:

• Warlock Engineer
• Warpfire Thrower
• Poisoned Wing Globadiers
• Death Globe Bombardiers
• Warp Lightning Cannon
• Doomwheel

They also have Skavenslaves which is also very much in line with the theme. I guess overall, I can be happy with the initial starting units, though I do hope we get things like Ikit Claw, Warplock Jezzails, Stormfiends and maybe a Doom-flayer.  Although, I must admit complete surprise that Grey Seer Thanquol was not added in as he is essentially the most iconic character for the Skaven.

As for my starting lord in the beginning, I will stick with Queek (I'll even talk to the heads on the trophy rack just to keep in character of Queek). That said, I will stick with my Skaven loyalty rules and will not have a single Clan Pestilens character or unit as part of my army. I have always hated Clan Pestilens and I will continue that, even if it takes place in Lustria.

As for the Food mechanic, I really do like it. Skaven metabolism means they always need to consume and feeding a large number of rodents (given how quickly they breed) means that being on the move would risk starvation and thus, the consequences would be disastrous to their campaign. The Corruption mechanic has the negative effects for your enemies similar to the effects from Vampire and Chaos corruption, but it can also have negative effects for your own side as the growing Skaven consumes your own resources. Given both of the negative effects have on public order, the chance of Skaven uprising sounds just right.

The 'hidden' settlements is another thing that I feel makes sense to the Skaven, who tend to build their settlements under those of the surface dwellers. The fact that enemy heroes have to search ruins to see if the Skaven have a base there seems find (though I would expect that Dwarfs and Night Goblins should have a much better chance of finding them as they tend to be regular enemies). The menace below ability allowing you to summon Clanrats to aide you during combat is very nice and can help in keep invasions. Sure, Clanrats ain't the best, but you throw your numbers against the enemy while your real power units get into position. Besides, casualties are just a common thing among the Skaven.

My only complaint would be that I can't enjoy loosing in the campaign. Normally when my Skaven loose, I claim my plan was brilliant and lost because of treachery from my underlings. Probably a better attitude for single battles. Still, given from what I've seen so far, this looks to be very interesting and I'm looking forward to play it (at some point at least).