Why are the skaven rated so highly?

[estyles]

If this was already mentioned, then I missed it, but here's why I came back around to thinking Skaven were great... Put together a starting Wood Elf build. What do you get? 9 Linemen, 2 Wardancers, 2 Rerolls. Or 10 Linemen, 1 Wardancer, 3 Rerolls. If you want to go crazy, 6 Linemen, 2 Wardancers, 2 Catchers, 1 Thrower, 1 Apothecary, 0 Rerolls. If you want 3 Rerolls, you're playing with almost all Linemen. (The first time I played Wood Elf (against AI), I took no Wardancers because they were too expensive and kept me from getting Throwers and Catchers... I now know that was a mistake, but hell, I didn't know anything then.) Now, Elf Linemen are good, but having 11 4AG pieces on the field at a time gives diminishing returns. 4 4AG pieces at a time is awesome. 6 to 8 might be better, but there's no option for that. 11 4AG pieces on the field is great, but it's not 3 times as good as having 4 of them.

Now build a Skaven team. 4 Linemen, 1 Thrower, 4 Gutter Runners, 2 Blitzers, 3 Rerolls, 1 Apothecary. That build gives you all of your skill pieces except 1 Thrower (and a lot of people would never take the Rat Ogre anyway - Wild Animal is a really rough negtrait...). The build I usually use is 4 Linemen, 2 Throwers, 3 Gutter Runners, 2 Blitzers, 4 Rerolls. The idea being to get the Apothecary first, then the last Gutter Runner, then think about if I need the Rat Ogre. Losing the 4th Gutter Runner for a reroll can be annoying, but I'd rather start with the 4th Reroll before it doubles in cost. And personally, having 4 2ST guys out on the field before I have an Apo or any defensive skills is a little painful.

Either way, the main point I'm trying to make is that you can buy almost the entire Skaven team right off the bat, and STILL have room for 3 to 4 rerolls, and possibly an Apothecary. That's crazy when you come from playing an elf team and can only buy 1 or 2 positionals to start with. Yes, a highly developed Wood Elf team has the potential to be way better than a developed Skaven team, but the Skaven team should have much lower TV and thus get some inducements to make up the difference. But being able to actually start with those good Blitzers and awesome Gutter Runners is priceless.

(edit: yeah, I think it was mentioned that "they're cheaper", but that doesn't begin to tell the whole story. *Because* they are so much cheaper, you can actually start with the positionals and start skilling them up earlier.)