Skabbik’s PlaguePack
Welcome to our rundown of Skabbik’s Plaguepack. Make sure you catch our podcast coverage of the release!
Thanks go to GW for providing a review copy to make this content possible.
First Impressions
[D]AVY, [P]HIL, [B]RIAN, [J]osh, & [S]KYLER
S: These fellas aren’t rocking much in their base stats to keep them tethered to this mortal coil. That disease-ridden frailty feels a tad thematic here, but likely also means this will be a difficult warband to pilot to success. You’ll need a little luck, a little time to get online, and some clever positioning. In fact, positioning is the name of the game for this warband. It’s how they Inspire, score, and flirt with death. And that is an interesting focus to see.
I'm talkin' pestilence on our foes-foes
Tryin' on all our woes-woes
Crits blowin' up their bones-bones
-Skabbik rallying his pack
J: I'm hoping a lot of scoring spikes in the 1st and 2nd rounds, because these fighter cards aren't here for a long time, they're here for a good time.
P: The timing on this mechanic is a bit rough. Meeting the conditions to corrupt is not hard, but since it only triggers at the end of the phase it has a big delay with lots of time to deny. I'm not sure why it only lasts for one round too, that feels a bit punishing since you will be losing fighters in this band.
P: Very average leader stats and the one dodge scares me a bit. Befouler feels fun. Need some pushes to set it up, but could really make for some scary roll offs.
J: Inspires from 1 Dodge to 1 Shield, and from 2 hammers to 3 swords. About as minimal as Inspires can get.
P: Agreed. This inspire doesn't get you much. Three dice is much better for grievous but not much more accurate. Pretty meh overall I think.
J: As someone who's used Flamespooler as bait and died during round 1 a lot, this guy has an expiration date of about Activation 3.
P: I like that this guy is starting with scything or three damage. People will likely need to watch out for some early dives from this guy.
J: Accuracy upgrades are nice with those profiles too. Might be worth holding him in reserves until inspired/upgraded, then sending him in to make a mess of things in Round 2+
P: If this guy lasts until he inspires he will be a menace for sure, not sure that actually happens all that often though.
J: 1 Dodge, 3 Wounds, Action ability on dice results that wants him to hug high occupancy territories? (AKA high rick of death territories) Pass.
P: An odd fighter. The action here can ping some decent damage against swarm bands but is very inefficient against elites. I think you know when you want this guy to do some heavy lifting and when you hold him back to be an objective grabber/corrupter.
D: Book of woah, or book of no? That's a 50/50 to ping each enemy in the same territory. I'm not sure how actually good that is... but... it's unique.
P: Yeah, slight boost to the book will feel great when you have the right set up but otherwise this guy still isn't doing much.
P: Yuck. Two wounds and one damage. Looks like a dangle bro if I ever saw one.
J: Another hold back/inspire fighter, this one gaining a Wound & Shield defence... holding judgement until seeing objectives. If corrupt & advance is the name of the game maybe there's something here.
P: Another wound is nice but still only one damage base hurts.
P: Dangle bro two, but even less accurate.
J: Another 2-3 wound... Ok. Waiting to see if that pays off.
P: Yup, still not a good fighter on Inspired side. This seems like a warm body to go stand on stuff.
J: Yay. Another fighter that doesn't give up Glory.
P: Helpful for corrupting I would guess, but at one wound in this world of pings it is pretty low investment to squish this rat.
J: Can't hold, has solid movement, and dies to a single ping card. I dig it.
P: Two dodge is nice for a fighter that is just there to take up space, people likely won't want to attack into this much.
Objectives
J: 1 glory end phase for a leader in a vulnerable position. Pass. Off to a rough start.
P: This feels like a lot of work for one glory. Pushes might make it work out but my guess is you can do better more often than not.
J: Kill surge with limitations. Pass.
P: Fine for nemesis since the befouler will likely be doing most of the work but I'm generally not a fan of kill surges.
J: Easy to accomplish, vibes with some of the Beastbound assault cards - I take this one.
P: Decent. I think your opponent might be able to deny this a bit too easily but if you can give them multiple bad choices this feels like a sneaky easy score.
J: Ah. Here's that Phase 1-2 glory spike I mentioned. Withholding judgement for now, really depends on what Corruption tech is in power.
P: I think this will be doable, but a good amount of work. The nice upside is that if you manage to get the corruption there is no way to turn it off other than waiting out the corruption. I think the power cards do make this possible, if it was only doable through their plot card I'd hard pass.
J: 1 Glory endphase for 1-2 fighters existing in not-your-territory? Easy to pull, maybe, but would love something that pays off a bit more.
P: This feels like your seed glory type end phase. Very hard to deny and should set up well for future scores.
J: If this was just two or more fighters this would be an auto-include. Unfortunately 2 dead may be a big ask for this band 😬
P: I think this feels like it fits everything this band wants to be. A reckless aggressive band that corrupts as it moves. If that plays out in practice this becomes a staple.
J: Ok, ok. Here's some of that hold-back-then-punish stuff I was hoping for. Very doable.
P: Hold one in each territory is historically good but moving the score window to after an opponents activation might make this too slow of a surge or make it too easy to deny. I'd still take it until practice proves otherwise.
J: Hmmm... Group hugs are hard to pull off. Fighters punch back, and heaven forbid your Charge actually succeed and kill the fighter you wanted to hug.
P: Agreed. I don't like these objectives on end phase. Surge would be possible but this is waiting too long to score to be reasonable.
J: If this warband's scoring potential is high, I'd consider this as a 13th objective. Otherwise there are too many warbands that invalidate this card by just existing.
P: Yeah... This is rough. You are wanting this to be at most a hold three, but against the bands Josh is alluding to, it is probably straight impossible.
J: More hold-back-then-punish, but doesn't cramp Charge actions. Runs parallel with Beastbound Assault objectives.
P: I like this a lot. Since it triggers off an action not activations you could make this happen with power cards.
J: Dunno how I feel about that last part. A single kill isn't A LOT to ask for, but it can still cramp the easy-peasy first part.
D: If you can't get one kill, you're in trouble. This feels like a little bit of work in R1, silky smooth in R2, and maybe running out of steam in R3.
P: The fighter positioning criteria always seem to end up harder than they seem, but I agree, there should be some windows to make this happen without breaking with the rest of your game plan.
J: Have supports (which once again runs parallel to Beastbound Assault) OR be attacked? Auto-include.
D: Hell, you can support on offense or defense, but don't even have to roll successes? Yowza.
P: A guaranteed surge is always a good thing. Warband staple. Possibly an R card in the future if this band ends up scary.
B: American Express card, never leave home without it.
S: Useful! Not worthless! …sobs in implication
Gambits
J: More Beastbound Assault vibes.
P: Hmmm. I like innate. Having it be support means it isn't exactly automatic but shouldn't be too crazy to set up.
J: Push tech for adjacency, I dig it
D: At first glance I like this- set up supports, get a late jump towards getting befoulers in the right place.
P: A push two is often solid. Push two with some added flexibility feels very good. Needing your leader for the second mode is probably good too because it keeps this card in check a bit.
J: Leaning heavier into crit-fishing.
D: Unless you're trying to do some specific dice stuff like Branching Fate or Unequal Contest, this is a worse Determined Effort. Fine in Rivals.
P: Agree, fine in rivals/nemesis but plus dice is almost always better than rerolls.
J: Auto-corrupt on a 3+ isn't bad, but swirls happen.
D: At least it's salvageable. I'd be kinda surprised if it makes the cut in Champs or even Nemesis, but it'll help land some End Phase in Rivals
P: I get the feeling the corruption power cards will be needed for this band. I think this is a pretty risky card but the payoff is big.
J: Out of sequence moves are dope. Especially with how much these little buggers want to be in danger but also not in danger, but also in danger. But maybe not in danger right now.
D: Gotta love this one. Works on everyone but the leader, and if the leader is dead, then salvage it.
P: Very solid. Free repositioning is great. I'd always take this.
J: Oooooo, I like this. Might feel bad from across the table because of the Reaction speed, but this is a unique way to support a band full of sword-fishers.
D: Wah-wah wee wah. This is a more sanely worded version of Upper Hand and that was so good it got Forsaken. Super like.
P: Yeah, definitely the kind of blow out card to get the one up on someone. This will likely be a feel bad more than a few times when you get caught by it.
J: So this SOUNDS kinda bonkers until you realize it's really only useful on three fighters, and only does one thing or the other. The fighters that need Grievous are already Befoulers, and the fighters that want Befouler status already have Grievous. I think this card is ok, not sure if it makes it to great though.
J: Son of a Rat, this is me remembering that Grievous stacks now. Pretty great ploy.
P: I think this helping with corruption is the best thing about it. Grievous is not the kind of damage boost I want very often but I won't be upset about it if it just so happens to help out. Being able to salvage here is also a nice plus.
J: 33% of the time it works every time.
D: We call this an Alexx card in Madison.
P: Big ping but definitely agree this is a pass most of the time. Just not reliable enough. If it was focus or crit id probably be on board.
J: Restricted, but can be salvaged. I dig it.
D: Nice vocab word.
P: Double push is something I always like.
J: Oooooo, damage mitigation on a specific enemy fighter is new to me. I don't know if it's good, but I'm curious to try it for sure.
D: Does this work with Skritter? It's only going to reduce damage from a single successful attack, but you *will* get a chance to trigger it...
P: I don't think skritter can trigger this which is... Unfortunate. But, I think the ability to reduce damage can be nice. My guess is this doesn't make it in champs though.
Upgrades
J: Not sure how to feel about this one. On the one hand, you can put this on a fighter and run through a lethal hex for a ping. On the other hand it's not great defensively cuz they need to survive.
P: Probably not great. Most of your fighters will, I think, struggle to live to trigger this. And doing the self harm thing as Josh mentions feels more cute than good.
J: This warband needs more defense pretty badly.
P: Always a good upgrade and yes, these rats need it. Not busted like the other rats plus defense because of only have single dice stats.
J: Auto-include if running any Corruption at all.
D: Or even if you're not. Lets you lose a guy and keep pace. Does this break if it Corrupts the territory?
J: Doesn't look like it, based on the wording.
D: Yup, seems very good for this band. Gives your opponent some bad choices to make.
J: I could see some shenanigans where you get a high priority fighter into the fray late in the round, then put this on them in the final power step.
D: I mean, yeah, throw this on at the end of the round for a ping. If it gets more than one guy or works in more than one round, then bully for you.
P: I agree this is probably a ping on an upgrade. The timing makes this tough but you can likely make something happen with this.
J: Oh. This is different.
J: Objective movement in a warband who wants some control of timing their objectives. The successful attack requirement makes me uncertain but that mechanic is too fun not to at least tinker with.
D: Josh studiously not mentioning the card draw.
J: Don't worry, he noticed it. But objective deck flexibility might have more sway for this warband, methinks.
P: Probably a decent upgrade in nemesis but may not make it in champs. Draw or cycle is powerful but being tied to succeeding with a single fights attacks makes me wary.
J: Defensive buff that's conditional on location and is almost exclusively active in Rounds 2+ helpful, but limited, methinks.
D: Gotta have it. You're gonna take hits fo' sho' because the defense stats are not great in this warband.
P: I think this is one to almost always take but it is much harder to use than previous minus damage upgrades. This is probably a good thing honestly.
J: Conditional Great Strength
P: Sure, get it in there. More damage is almost always good.
J: I dig it. A walking stagger bomb is some good utility and the anti-Guard tech is just a bonus.
D: That guard prohibition can be huge against double dodge warbands!
P: Man, there is a lot to do with this. I like it.
J: MOAR CRIT-FISHING
P: Yup, basic but amazing upgrade.
J: Ah, yes. Wouldn't be a Skaven band if there wasn't a card that rewarded you for a dead friendly fighter.
P: I think having the corruption action could be strong. Making it work would require some push/teleport tech methinks. I'll definitely want to experiment with this one.
Summary
S: A lot of fresh and interesting ingredients in here, but will you survive long enough to get cooking? I for one plan to grab an apron, turn up the gas, and burn a few batches trying! For that fine Championship cuisine, I’ll be exploring a Beastbound marinade, with a pinch of Voidcursed spice, and a nice Grand Alliance red to pair.