My Skaven Army – Assassin
Well, this is a big pose for a small figure. My Skaven army includes a Skaven Assassin. 4Ed defines an Assasin as:
The black-clad Assassins of Clan Eshin are rightly feared by those who know of them. They are trained from birth as quick, murderous fighters adept in the use of poisons, garrottes, throwing stars and all manner of exotic weapons. Most Clan Eshin weapons are forged with warpstone so that they constantly weep a potent corrosive venom.
The Skaven of Clan Eshin act as secret police and enforcers for the Council of Thirteen. If the Lords of Decay decide a Warlord or a Grey Seer is no longer loyal, Assassins of Clan Eshin are set on their trail, maintaining the Council’s rule through murder and terror.
In 3ed, Assassins weren’t much different but defined more as per the Hero ranking system, you could have 2 Assassin Stranglers (level 5 Hero), 2 Assassin Cullers (level 10 hero) and 2 Assassin Garrotters (Level 15 Hero) and their weapons were were said to just be poisoned, more then weeping blades, though pretty much the same.
Assassins work in the same way as some other army’s figures like the Goblin Fanatics in that they start the game hidden in a unit until it’s time for them to appear. For some reason, 4ed loves to show them as a western view of Ninja’s. Not quite sure why but oh well. The Assassins are placed within a normal unit, with up to two Assassins per unit. Of course, the Assassin isn’t known about until it reveals itself, which happens when the regiment start hand-to-hand attack. Problem is.. mm.. Assassins aren’t really something you have as a separate figure. In 4ed they always stay as part of the unit but can decide where in the unit to fight from. If the unit is broken, flees or takes some psychology or leadership test which is failed, they can either remain and take the same consequences OR the can move to another unit within 6″. Other then for transferring unit, they never use their own leadership value. Meanwhile, in 3ed, they CAN lead a unit once they have been revealed.
So really, an Assassin is more of a .. theory based character as there is no need for a figure of one and they can’t move on their own or anything. you just make a note that one is in the unit and when it’s revealed, it can give some unit bonuses. makes alot of there stats a bit useless too. Hell, in 4ed, they wear light armour and carry weeping blades.. so if they are in a unit (can be Stormvermin, Clanrat or Gutter Runners) which have no armour or throwing stars, you .. erm.. need to deal with remembering to take that into account.. Lets look at the 4ed stat line
| Name | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | PV |
| Clan Eshin Assassin | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 30 |
Most of this is.. of course, pointless. If they are in a unit of Clanrats, which move 5″.. they either have to slow down, or stick out? they aren’t allowed to sperate from the unit.. they are really a bit half-though out I think and really, I think when they are revealed, an Assassin should have the choice to stay as part of the unit OR become it’s own figure. Like the said before Fanatics. Despite me saying they are more of a Theory, in that there is no need for a figure (when they reveal, would you remove one of your clan rats to add them, or are they just ‘unseen’ in the unit.. so you half a unit of 30, and thy would make 31 but you don’t see an extra one until the assassin is revealed… I can’t remember if, when playing all them years ago, I ever did use an assassin so I have soo many questions.. well.. mostly they one about how they are defined.. Do I only paid for 29 figures in a unit of 30 and then the price of the Assassin? Do I have for the 30 paid for, and he is the extra 31st? sigh.. not sure.. Do I add a figure when he is revealed, or do I swap a figure?…
Either way, I did up a figure.
This is, in fact, a Colin Dixon Gutter Runner (4455/88) from about 1993-ish.. Atleast I think it’s Dixon.. on the Catalog pages he appears they credit Jes Goodwin, Colin Dixon and Trish Morrison. That pages does show the Giant Rats, which I think are Trish Morrison, 4 older gutter runners which are Jes Goodwin, and some others. If you look at the 4 which include these, they have clear signs of Dixon’s work over Goodwin (smoother, slighty more muscled arms, slighty bulkier head), But I haven’t seen anything which 100% confirms this is a Dixon sculpt.. I’m just 90% sure it is.
You might also notice, in the paint scheme, the lack of Black. Despite being said they are Black-Clad. well.. anyone with any sense or knowledge should be aware of how Black clothing is the WORSE thing to really wear if you want to hide in shadow or anything. It’s unnatural. what you want, is dark colours but more on the dark grey side then black. But as they are mostly hidden, dressed up as a member of whatever unit they are in, it doesn’t matter too much. I went for more of a dark purple and blue scheme.
For his cloak, now that is a different matter. It’s various shade of green in a pattern based on things like gilly suits and old medieval hunter parties. Depending on what you were hunting, you wanted clothing which would allow you to blend in with the surroundings more. This rat is clearly gonna be able to lay down with most of his body hidden by his cloak, with bits like his face with a wrapping to hid it where he peeks out of the grass or other greenery. Far more likely to be able to hunt and assassinate then wearing all black (oh, for a bit of random interest, Assassins were originally a Muslim fanatic group who would dress as whatever common people were around, so they didn’t stick out, and sometimes claimed they would often drug themselves up before a mission but that is… debated alot. It wasn’t until after the crusades that the term was used for many types of hired killers. Most of them didn’t use much stealth really you are just dressing up as part of the very day people wherever your target is, so when they go past, you can just kill them and then go back to hiding in the group without being noticed).
Boy, the dirt is visual more on these images.. and a couple of bits I need to repaint due to tiny bit of paint rub.
anyway, the Assassin is 30 pts in 4ed, which is cheaper then in 3ed for even the lowest rank, but they did lose the ability to lead a unit after being revealed. And they come out of the Regiments cost, more then the character costs.. I would have thought they would be characters like Champions but nope.
Running Total:
Characters: 33pts
War Machines: 0pts
Monsters: 0pts
Regiments: 341pts
Total Army Points painted up: 374pts