This article is based on a discussion between the above mentioned persons on the Direwolf mailing list on what a Skaven Castle should look like and how the Skaven would Defend it.

The nature of the Skaven castle makes some of the options for the besieged Skaven player awkward. These rules try to add a reason for the options, additional rules or clarifications.

Scenarios
"Send for help" isn't really necessary if you can send messengers through tunnels. You can assume that the tunnels are not connected with the other tunnels and therefore you need to send messengers above ground or assume that the tunnels are blocked and the messengers must move around the block above ground. The Skaven are not favoured above ground with no cavalry and they have very cheap infantry so allow the Skaven force an escort of up to 60 models. You can also assume that there are no reinforcements within reach, or rather no Warlord within reach that is willing to send troops to aid a rival, so you are prohibited from chosing a "send for help" action. If the attacker is a Skaven then assume that the fight is fought in the tunnels themselves, maybe using Warhammer Quest floorplans to lay out a small tunnel system.

There is not that much difference between an Empire castle and a Dark Elven one, they both have walls, courtyards and sewers. However a Skaven castle can best be described as a sewer with the courtyard in the middle of that sewer. An attacker is not likely to know his way around the mazelike tunnels or in fact know anything about how the Skaven live and store supplies. This cause problems for the "Infiltrate" scenario so either assume that the attacker is prohibited to chose that action or use Warhammer Quest floorplans to create a tunnel system for the attacker to move through with the Skaven player being allowed to setup a few sentry posts. You might even want to play a full Warhammer Quest dungeon to locate the ammunition questroom. However if the attacker is a Skaven then infiltration is a favoured action. Use the Warhammer Quest floorplans to let the attacker move around. However each time the meet a sentry roll a D6 on the roll of 4+ the sentries assume the Skaven are friends or they have been bribed to let them pass.

Again with the presence of tunnels with the "Starve out" action why move above ground and use a gate? If the tunnels are too narrow just take your time moving through them. You can assume that no tunnels extend under the castle and that they therefore are forced to move up to the castle. The gate could in fact mean a tunnel entrance, maybe the only tunnel that is not blocked or the only one that is large enough for the slaves carrying supplies. If you decide to use a tunnel entrance it will be more fun to let the last 1' of the tableedge be represented by a single 4" wide tunnel. The slaveunit must exit the tableedge at the end of the tunnel for the besieged player to win.

The Skaven suffer from having no cavalry so the "Sally out" scenarios objective can proove to be a bit too far away. You should allow the Skaven 6 turns to destroy the objective. Another idea is to allow a sallying force of Doomwheels!

Besieged Players Options
When you chose "Counter Bombardment" resolve "bowfire" with Jezzails. The number of Jezzails used in the "Final Assault" doesn't matter. It's assumed that a small number of Jezzail teams are sniping the enemy throughout the siege to account for the 2D6 hits.

The Skaven do not repair structures, only very important and holy structures such as temples are given some attention. Thus the "Repair Defenses" option will not repair any damages done to walls, towers or gates. However you may throw up a barricade to block a destroyed section. This barricade count as a defended obstacle and the barricaded section do not count as having breached the castle.