Slaves
"What do you mean our soldiers have run out of ammo!?"
- Last words of a Baekdu's commander after a successful military use of Skaven slaves
The most common (and disposable) troops that the Skaven regularly bring to the battlefield are their countless slaves. When the slaves are not used in the poisonous industries of the colonies or to build massive constructions within the Skaven Hives (or, in time of famine, as regular source of food) they are forcibly brought to the battlefield to die for their masters. Slaves are usually extremely poorly armed and devoid of any military training, before battle they receive some handguns, rarely some automatic weaponry and no armour at all. The Skaven Chieftains after all do not expect them to fight, but merely to attract enemy fire away from their real assets (and especially themselves).
Thus, Slaves are used for many things in warfare: meat-shields, frontal charges against heavy fortifications, physical and psychical exhaustion of the enemy troops, exhaustion of the enemy's ammunition, distraction of enemy artillery fire, minefield clearing, and also population control.
A Skaven Slave. Sadly enough, it is not uncommon for some of them to be sent to battle without any modern weaponry
Clan Warriors
The Clan Warriors are the most basic military troops that the Skaven Clans can field, mainly because Slaves have never been considered "real" military units. The main difference between Slaves and Warriors is that where the Slaves are just Human Shields, the Warriors are
glorified Human Shields. Warriors are levied members of the Clan who receive minimal training (if the Chieftains have time and interest in doing so), light armour and have access to several variants of automatic weapons. Technology and types of weapons and armours vary enormously as there is no standardization within Skaven armies and each Clan decides how to arm and dress their soldiers: some Clans will deploy traditional guns with penetrative and/or explosive bullets while others might resort to laser or plasma weaponry.
In battle the Warriors are usually immediately behind the Slaves and work in strict synergy with them: the latter soak up the damage during the main charges so that the former may pass through (more or less) unharmed and then bring the fight to the enemy's ranks. Warriors, as is proper in Skaven society, do not lose any occasion to remind the Slaves of their inferior status, are quick to abuse them and are naturally talented in using them as improvised living cover.
The Clan Warriors share the typical opportunistic and craven nature of their people and individually they are barely a threat to a professional soldier, being undisciplined and prone to fleeing, but when bolstered by superior numbers they can gain a collective ferociousness capable to compete with the most advanced armies of the Galaxy on almost equal terms.
Sketches of two Clan Warriors. In this case their weaponry are relatively advanced compared to Skaven standards
Stormtroopers
"Your doom is coming, Man-things!"
- Common Skaven battle-cry
But in order to compete with their neighbours hordes of undisciplined soldiers are just not enough. It's here that the elite soldiers of Skavendom arrive.
These black-furred and physically imposing ratmen are bred specifically for war: since birth they are removed from their litter and are forced to fight among themselves just to get access to food and water (something that, actually, is partially true for most Skaven), once adults they will be subjected to an intensive military training and in the end only the strongest will survive to become full-fledged "Stormvermins".
In order for the most common Skaven tactics to work these Stormtroopers have to play a fundamental role: once the waves of Slaves and Clan Warriors have crushed themselves against the enemy lines the Stormtrooper will begin the "real" attack (the first waves being considered a mere diversion), the hordes keep the enemies occupied while the few specialized elite soldiers of Skavendom will perform surprise attacks, flank maneuvers and in general will try to land the killing blow on the enemy forces. All Stormtroopers receive top-notch equipment, but the strong differences among Clans will make the actual quality of said equipment extremely varied, the Greater Clans' Stormvermins are always absolutely fearsome opponents while a minor Clan's one will definitely be less dangerous, furthermore tactics and strategies can vary dramatically, some preferring direct approaches and others more subtle tactics.
The Grey Seers personal guards, also known as the "Temple Guard", deserve their own mention being the most trained and fearsome soldiers of all Skavendom, they obey directly to the Council of Thirteen and have access to Genetic and Cybernetic treatments that increase their already unnatural performances. All Temple Guards are Albino, as it is tradition that those born with this mutation are destined to serve and protect the Seers with their own life. While Stormtroopers are recruited primarily among the stronger black-furred subrace of the Skaven, it doesn't mean that a regular Clan Warrior may not be promoted to Stormvermin after having proved his lethality on the battlefield (and after having bested another Stormvermin, with either strength or trickery), it is not a completely uncommon occurrence and these promoted Warriors will take to paint their fur black to fit better among their new comrades.
Ultimately, Stormtroopers are extremely versatile, they can muster super-heavy armours and weapons as they can make use of jetpacks and speedy tactics, and anything in between. They are the true strength behind all Skaven armies.
Sketches of two "Stormvermins", as they are called among the Skaven. These soldiers receive overall superior equipment but still of varying quality
A Skryre Stormtrooper. The Greater Clans' Stormtroopers are by far the most dangerous and well armed soldiers of Skavendom
Sniper Corps
"One shot-shot, one kill-kill!"
- Motto of the Sniper Corps
Standing between Clan Warriors and Stormtroopers are the relatively new corps of specialized Snipers of the Skaven Federation.
The Skaven, who always prefer to strike against their enemies from a position of complete safety, make natural snipers, but only the best sharpshooters are allowed to use the highly advanced Skaven sniper rifles, also known as "Jezzail Fusils", who require sufficient levels of training and competence to be used correctly (that is, without making it explode in the user's face). The Jezzail is a feared weapon on the battlefield: it shoots a massive high-velocity bullet with a highly penetrative tip and an explosive charge powerful enough to blow up arms and even torsos with little difficulty, furthermore all Jezzail bullets contain dangerous levels of Polonium, Plutonium or other highly Radioactive elements, so that even if someone were to survive a hit from a Jezzail Fusil he would most likely suffer from Radiation Poisoning. The Skaven, who believe that radioactive materials make their bullets somehow more "lucky", consider radiation poisoning as the confirmation of their superstitious beliefs.
In battle the snipers try to hide themselves away from the heat of the battle, they will mind about their own safety and once secure they will mercilessly strike against any enemy (and also some friend) that move. Their morbid obsession for head-shots and their stealth abilities make the Skaven snipers much feared through the Galaxy, and also by countless low-ranking Skaven warriors and slaves who are regularly used as "target practice" by these malicious marksmen.
The dreaded Skaven snipers in action
Night Runners
The "Night Runners" are the skirmisher and guerrilla fighters of the Skaven Federation.
Originally an Eshin idea, Night Runners have become relatively common among many Clans who have come to appreciate the sabotage abilities and stealth of these troops. These Skaven are initially normal Clan Warriors that receive a superior specialist training (one that doesn't stop at how to do mass charges): they learn to use their weapons competently, how to hide and ambush and some basics of melee fighting. Their equipment is only slightly superior to that of the Clan Warriors, and to the Chieftains they are still largely expendable troops, but their superior competence and combat style allow them to survive far longer on the battlefield.
Their most common tactic is to disguise themselves as simple Clan Warriors and let the enemy attack them expecting a mass charge, only for the Night Runners to quickly disperse and lead the enemies into hastily prepared traps and ambushes (disguised holes for tanks, sniper killing fields, mass ambushes). Other common tactics are their well known night assaults through enemy ranks, prolonged guerrilla fighting over an enemy controlled area and the famous subterranean assaults made through the use of great drilling machines.
Night Runners are highly versatile and quite numerous troops who are also relatively competent for Skaven standards.
Night Runners sport light armours, versatile weapons and occasionally mimetic cloaks.
They owe their name to their tendency to launch ambushes and assaults in the middle of the night, spreading chaos and death equally
Support Teams
Generally overseen by the Skaven Engineers (usually from a safe distance) stand the numerous support teams that a Skaven army can use to weaken the enemy formations before and during an assault. Once again one should consider that the Skaven armies do not use standardized equipment and thus it is largely impossible to list all kinds of support teams that might be used during one of their military campaigns, that said some support teams are more common that the others.
The most widespread are: the Skaven mortars, devices dangerously attached on the back of a low-ranking servant for the sake of superior mobility, they stand just behind the charging masses of Skaven warriors to bombard the enemy from a close distance with explosive and toxic ammunitions, like all Skaven technology they have a disturbing tendency to explode upon usage; Skaven heavy machine guns, these big gatling guns use high caliber explosive ammunitions to mow down enemy infantry and light vehicles and require two operators to be used properly, there are several variants of this weapon ranging from freely moving to fixed onto a vehicle or a platform; and lastly the Skaven heavy flamethrowers, who use a weaponized plasma generator to incinerate entire platoons in few seconds, known for being particularly unstable these weapons are usually seen in frontal assaults where even in the case of a catastrophic failure the resulting explosion would likely combust some enemy units too.
Several Skaven Support Teams. From up to down: a Skaven mortar, Skaven heavy machine gun and Skaven heavy flamethrower
Rat Ogres
"And for a treaty-pledge of just 20000 slaves, 3 frigates and some commercial agreements our very-very finest Rat Ogres can be yours..."
- A Haggle-Master of Clan Moulder
These hulking, Genetic engineered monstrosities are Moulder Clan's masterwork and are used as super-heavy shock infantry and spearheads.
These genetically modified Skaven are created by taking one (or more) common Slave and injecting in him all kinds of mutagens, drugs and mind-controlling devices, then enchanting it with the DNA (or even body parts) of several others species of the Galaxy (Montadonians, or "Giant-things" as they are called, are especially sought by Moulder geneticists). Most subjects die during this usually gruesome process, others become something else entirely and are abandoned in the Underground, but those who survive become Rat Ogres: mindless, three meters high, hulking brutes with unimaginable strength and insatiable hunger.
Feared for their strength, these creatures are usually heavy armored and thrown directly into the enemy lines where they will cause all kinds of chaos and destruction until they are finally gunned down. There are downsides too though, Rat Ogres are famously not very bright and unable to act without the surveillance of their masters, without a packmaster who knows how to stimulate and control the Ogres these creatures would probably just stand upright drooling and looking at nothing or going berserk without an explanation or cause. Furthermore rat Ogres have an even faster metabolism than that of common Skaven and require huge amounts of food to sustain themselves (least they turn against their creators, a constant fear within Moulder Clan), while this has its utility in warfare it also means that the Packmasters have to constantly stop the Ogres from eating other Ogres, normal Skaven or even themselves (again, Rat Ogres are not very bright).
Sustaining a great number of Ogres can be difficult as it require great amounts of food, which is not easily found in Skavendom.
Disturbingly enough, Clan Moulder is also famous for acquiring enormous amounts of Slaves even through their slave labour never rise above that of other Clans. Where the missing Slaves go is anyone guess.
These creatures have become highly sought among the Galaxy for their fearsome abilities in battle and the Moulder Geneticists have become obscenely rich by selling their creations to the best bidder.
Armoured and unarmoured Rat Ogres. These monsters easily reach three meters of height and are the most famous Genetic creation of the Skaven Race
