"Warhammer Fantasy Battle" - Skaven Multiple Choice Quiz | Hobbies

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Unlike many of the races in the Warhammer World there is not a clear historical or mythical culture upon which the Skaven are based. Instead - much like the followers of Chaos - the Skaven represent an all-pervading threat to the entire Warhammer World. What is the name of the capital city of the Under-Empire, from where the Skaven tunnels spread across the continents?

Answer: Skavenblight

Skavenblight was once a great city where men and dwarfs lived together, above and below ground. The inhabitants decided to build a temple in honour of the gods which would eclipse all other constructions ever attempted in the known world. As decades went by, the project slowed to a crawl until one night when a hooded stranger arrived at the gates and offered to complete the temple in a single night, with the only proviso being that he be allowed to add a dedication to his own god to the temple.
The next day, the people of the city returned to find the temple complete and, at the top of the spire, a huge horned bell which struck thirteen.
Famine and plague struck the city and giant rats began stalking the streets. The men went to doors that led below ground to the dwarfs - doors which were now bolted - and beat them down. In the darkness below they found the skeletons of the dwarfs picked clean, and as they searched the chambers the trap was sprung. The skaven leapt from the shadows and, slaughtering the inhabitants, took the city for themselves.

Skavenblight now lies at the centre of the Blighted Marshes and is a place were no-one other than the vile ratmen dare go.

2. The Council of Thirteen are the ultimate authority (as far as authority exists) in the Skaven Under-Empire. Which of these is not one of the Skaven Clans represented on the Council of Thirteen?

Answer: Rassiter

Clan Pestilens is the disease-ridden clan which releases virulent plagues on the Old World and the southern continent of Lustria.
Clan Mors is a warlord clan which bases itself at the City of Pillars in the World's Edge Mountains.
Clan Moulder are the beastmasters who lead hordes of mutated rat creatures into battle.
Rassiter is actually the name of the Wererat leader in one of my favourite Forgotten Realms novels - 'The Halfling's Gem' by R.A.Salvatore

3. The Grey Seers are the prophets of the Horned Rat and the most powerful magic-users in the Skaven Army. What substance do the Grey Seers ingest to increase their powers, sometimes with amusingly fatal results?

Answer: Warpstone

Warpstone is meteoric rock with incredible mutating powers and is harnessed by the Skaven for many of their weird and wonderful weapons, as well as by the beastmasters of Clan Moulder to create their mutated rat creatures.

4. Clan Skryre are the crazed engineers of the Skaven army responsible for the destructive war machines (normally more destructive to the Skaven forces than to their enemies). Which of the following is not one of the diabolical Skaven weapons?

Answer: Pump Wagon

Jezzails and Warpfire Throwers are the mainstay war machines of the classic 'mixed' Skaven force (added to in the most recent incarnation of the army by the entertainingly titled Ratling Gun!). Poisoned Wind Globes are a nasty little trick to use on heavily armoured enemies - essentially a little glass ball filled with poison gas that bypasses all armour.

The Pump Wagon is a classic war machine from the Orc and Goblin army. A rickety cart covered in spikes and powered by maniacal little creatures called snotlings. The Pump Wagon would careen into enemy formations almost at random causing horrendous damage (now thankfully much weaker in later versions of the rules).

5. Believe it or not, the Skaven have actually saved the entire Old World before during a time of crisis (though mainly for their own preservation). Which great enemy's plan did the Skaven thwart?

Answer: Nagash

Although all four of these characters have represented great threats to various parts of the Old World during their careers of evil, it was the summoning of the Great Necromancer Nagash which was thwarted by the Skaven.

Nagash cast a great spell which raised the plague dead of an entire nation in the south to be his undead army. This army would have wiped out the countries of the Old World (and the Skaven along with them) so the Council of Thirteen engineered the downfall of the Necromancer through a combination of assassination and a huge psyhic assault, thus saving the world. A very bizarre period of history for such a destructive and evil race.

6. A particularly famous skaven duo featured in Warhammer novels as the enemies of the legendary heroes - Gotrek and Felix. One of these Skaven was the Grey Seer Thanquol, what was the name of his sidekick/bodyguard?

Answer: Boneripper

Thanquol and Boneripper featured in a great many adventures and the first Boneripper (a huge three armed rat ogre) met his end on the business end of Gotrek's axe. Thanquol however used dark arts to resurrect a virtually undead version of his loyal bodyguard (the version now available).

The other three options are all prominent skaven the main great clans - Warlord Queek of Clan Mors, Plague Lord Skrolk of Clan Pestilens and Throt is one of the master mutators of Clan Moulder.

7. Clan Eshin disappeared from the knowledge of the Council of Thirteen after a great disaster almost wiped out the Skaven race. This enforced diaspora produced the peculiarities and differences in the various clans of the Skaven. Clan Eshin returned from the far east as a clan of deadly assassins and now hire their services to the highest bidder in the internecine warfare of the Skaven Under-Empire. What is the name of the chief assassin of Clan Eshin and one of the most feared creatures in the Old World?

Answer: Deathmaster Snikch

Deathmaster Snikch is a fearsome character on the tabletop with a cloak that renders him virtually invisible and carrying a poisoned weeping blade in each hand and one in his tail!

Ikit Klaw and Nurglitch are characters associated with other Skaven great clans (Clan Skryre and Clan Pestilens respectively).

Shadowblade is the other great assassin of the Old World along with Deathmaster Snikch. He is a dark elf master of disguise who can conceal himself in a unit of enemy troops and strike at the most opportune moment of the battle.

8. In earlier incarnations of the Skaven army, an option in the army list was an immensely powerful greater daemon of the Horned Rat. What was this creature known as?

Answer: Vermin Lord

The Vermin Lord was a fantastic addition to the army for many avid Skaven fans, as not only was it a close combat monster but also a level 4 spell caster (as well as being a fantastic model). It was axed from the latest incarnation of the army list as it was deemed to be too 'chaos-ey'. This is a fair accusation and probably overall the Vermin Lord never really fitted the tone of the Skaven 'horde' army.

The other three options are all from the Chaos army. The plaguebearer is the lesser daemon associated with Nurgle - god of pestilence, whilst the Great Unclean One is the immensely tough greater daemon of Nurgle. Lothar Bubonicus was originally a Chaos champion of Nurgle featured in a 'White Dwarf' magazine article many moons ago. The Chaos champions Lothar Bubonicus and Werner Thunderfist were the 'guinea pigs' for the fledgling Chaos warband campaign system which has been consistently popular for well over a decade with veteran Warhammer players.

9. During the upheaval of the fourth edition of 'Warhammer Fantasy Battle', all the various races got a thorough overhaul and many new troop types were added. For the Skaven, one of these was the war machine known as the 'Screaming Bell'. Pushed by a horde of Skaven and ridden by a Grey Seer the bell could be rung each turn to the detriment of the enemy (and more often that not your own army). Which of the following was NOT one of the possible effects of ringing the 'Screaming Bell'?

Answer: Enemy wizards heads explode

Although there are some substances and spells in the Warhammer World which cause wizards' heads to explode (most commonly an overdose of Waaaaaagh! power to Orc or Goblin shamans) this was not one of the specific effects of ringing the 'Screaming Bell'.

The eardrum explosion thankfully only happened when the bell broke in half, normally after the Skaven player got carried away and rung it too much.

10. Finally, which of these descriptions would best suit a player who enjoys using a Skaven Army?

Answer: Doesn't mind watching the army destroy itself in a series of catastrophic mishaps

Indeed, the Skaven have always been my favourite army and this is mainly due to the sheer unpredictability of the army. There's nothing more fun than slapping a huge horde of rat men on the tabletop and then watch them blow themselves up - its worth it for the one game in every ten or so when they actually manage to do more damage to the enemy.

Thanks for playing the quiz - if you want to know more about the Skaven or any other army in the Warhammer World then your first port of call should be the Games Workshop Website at:
http://www.games-workshop.com

Source: Author angelus1981

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

"Warhammer Fantasy Battle" - Skaven Quiz

Having started my Warhammer Fantasy Battle series of quizzes by looking at the Empire, I'm now moving on to my personal favourite of all the races - the disgustingly evil little ratmen known as Skaven.

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