A Skaven harbour as depicted in Total War: Warhammer II that serves the ratmen's often ramshackle clanfleets.
The Skaven Clanfleets are the navies of the various Skaven Warlord Clans. They can vary greatly in power and capability, depending on the clan to which they belong.[1a]
From the Skaven Under-Empire's great subterranean capital city of Skavenblight a deep trench has been dredged, reaching through the Blighted Marshes and emerging on the coast of the Tilean Sea. The ramshackle vessels of the Skaven clanfleets tirelessly trek up and down this dismal waterway, on unfathomable errands for the Skaven Warlords who dwell deep within Skavenblight.[1a]
In times of war, the Skaven Clanfleets emerge from their hidden marsh-side moorings, their great paddles splashing the fetid water as they head for the sea. The chimes of the Screaming Bells split the still air, the Warpfire-throwers roar, and the Deathburners blow gouts of hideous, disease-carrying vapours across the marshes.[1a]
A Skaven Warlord serving as a pirate captain in one of the Skaven Clanfleets.[1f]
The Skaven Clanfleets assemble in the estuary of the immense canal, their banners hanging still in the damp, salt-laden air. From the Blighted Marshes they venture the length of the Tilean Sea. When the Skaven are afloat, cities such as Tobaro, Miragliano, Remas and even Luccini never really feel secure. They do not know when the tolling of the Screaming Bell will be heard, and when the Warp-raiders will come to sear their villages and towns. When they do, the warfleets of Tilea -- and any Imperial allies who are at hand -- do battle with the Skaven Clanfleets, staining the sea and sky red with fire and blood.[1a]
The Skaven Clanfleets are not renowned for venturing much further than the Tilean Sea, but recently their clanships have been sighted off the Estalian Coast, and tales are told of Skaven vessels striking as far north as Brionne. No one can be sure if the Skaven Clanfleets venture southwards, but it seems likely that the mysterious lands of Araby and the Southlands are familiar and easy pickings for the clanfleets. It is even harder to guess at the Skaven's desires and designs on these far-flung realms.[1a]
The Skaven Clanfleets are dangerous opponents not so much because of their excellent warships or fine seamanship, but because of the sheer weight of numbers they employ. Skaven ships are crewed by hundred of Clanrats, Skavenslaves and Stormvermin, and their best ships carry Rat Ogres to add extra might. When boarding an enemy ship, a Skaven vessel is a fearsome opponent, as it is packed with a huge number of ratmen, who seek to overwhelm and slaughter their victims.[1a]
A Skaven Clanfleet typically consists of many small fireships scurrying around the Great Bell of Doom sitting at the centre of the fleet. Clan Pestilens Deathburners watch for opportunities created by the Warp-raiders, waiting for crippled ships to pick off and destroy.[1a]
Skaven vessels are usually ramshackle constructions of wood and metal created by the Warlock-Engineers of Clan Skryre.[1b]
Skaven Clanships[]
Warpstone Power[]
The verminous and conniving Skaven almost equal the Greenskin Fleet of the Orcs for the eclectic and hazardous inventions they employ on their vessels. The clanfleets of Skavenblight add to their crazed construction dark alchemical magics in order to create terrifying maritime weapons of destruction.[2a]
Skaven technology is always powered by the magical emanations of highly mutagenic warpstone. In the midst of battle on the high seas, this corrupting, noxious mineral seeps through the bulkheads of Skaven vessels with a menacing green glow.[2a]
Paddle Wheels[]
Most Skaven vessels are powered by huge slave-driven paddle wheels. While the actual movement rate of a Skaven ship may vary, depending on its size and how hard the slaves are beaten, they all turn the same way as sailing ships. They may move backwards and forwards with equal ease, and may reverse direction in the middle of a move. Skaven ships are unaffected by wind direction.[1c]
Skaven Weapons[]
Skaven ships are armed with a multitude of weapons that tend to be either very effective or go horribly wrong. This is largely due to the Skaven Warlock-Engineers' use of warpstone as fuel for weapons and engines.[1d]
Notable Skaven Vessels[]
Skaven vessels are ramshackle constructions of wood and metal created by the Warlock-Engineers of Clan Skryre. They are built in massive, flooded caves beneath the Skaven Under-Empire city of Skavenblight in the Blighted Marshes, from where they emerge to raid the coasts of the Tilean Sea.[1b]
- Doombringer - The Doombringer ship carries a huge bell mounted on its deck -- the Great Bell. The Doombringer is always the flagship of the clanfleet and the Great Bell's strident tones echo across the seascape as a rallying call to the other ships of the clanfleet. This sound is the Great Bell's attack: if it hits just the right note it can literally shake the opponent's ships to pieces.[1d]
- Clan Pestilens Deathburner - The Clan Pestilens Deathburner mounts a huge incense ball on its prow. As this ungainly vessel lurches across the waves, it wafts vapours of death over the seascape. The evil clouds sear their victims' lungs, causing them to fall the ground with bubbling green liquids issuing from their mouths and blistering their skin.[1e]
- Warp-raider - Skaven warp-raiders are crewed only by the most insane ratmen warriors. They are fairly small vessels that are propelled across the water by wildly threshing paddle wheels powered by a Warpstone Reactor.[1e]