"Such weaponry! Great muskets with barrels longer than the ratmen who used them, each fitted with a glass eye to magnify their victims and ensure a killing shot. Pouches of refined gunpowder, little ratskin bags filled with bullets crafted from shards of warpstone. Grimy little skavenslaves bearing metal crooks upon which to rest the muzzle of each jezzail and ensure the steadiness of the shot."
- —Rikkit Snapfang, Warlord of Bonestash[2a]
A Skaven Warplock Jezzail Team taking aim.
Warplock Jezzails are specialised teams of Skaven marksmen that bear warpstone-firing weaponry of the same name.[1a]
Role[]
The weapons that Jezzails are named after are long-barrelled muskets that require a team of two Skaven to fire and reload. This is because the rifle the marksmen team uses is extraordinarily long. Aided by its tremendous length, a Warplock Jezzail is capable of hitting targets at a distance greater than conventional bows or blackpowder firearms. Once the rifle is fired, the weapon unleashes a single bullet made entirely of refined toxic warpstone at such velocity that it strikes with a force capable of penetrating through even the thickest of armours.[1a]
Although moving too quickly to be seen, the bullets fired by a Warplock Jezzail leave behind a faint green vapour trail. This generally exposes the weapons team to enemy fire. For this reason, what started out as a mere aiming platform for the long-barrelled rifle has turned into a protective pavise shield designed to shield the vulnerable Jezzail team from retaliatory arrows, bolts and bullets.[1a]
Warfare[]
The Warplock Jezzail is unmistakably a specialised weapons team, but unlike the other Clan Skryre portable weaponry, the Warplock Jezzails are not generally attached to a block of infantry but rather operate as their own independent unit. This allows the Jezzail teams to become a valuable asset to any Warlord's army, who will often try to position these marksmen at high vantage points such as hills, cliffs or buildings to afford them the greatest possible line of sight. Once in position, a team of Jezzails has the ability to pick off highly valuable enemy targets from a very safe distance.[1a]
Notable Warplock Jezzails[]
- Natty Buboe - This sniper killed a Dwarf Engineer looking through a telescope at over 7,000 paces, causing a congo line of arrogant dwarfs to line up and be sniped.[1]
Notable Regiments[]
- Natty Buboe's Sharpshooters[3]
- Ssizik's Deadeyes - A unit of Clan Mors sharpshooters, infamous for their rapid fire and accuracy.
- Skullsplinters - A regiment with possibly the most corroded and ill-maintained guns in the whole of the Under-Empire.
Miniatures[]
Trivia[]
Warlock Jezzails are named after real-life jezails, long-barreled firearms once used in Central and South Asia. They were most prominently used in the Anglo-Afghan Wars, where they out-ranged the British's muskets.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Skaven (7th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 65
- 2: Thanquol and Boneripper: Thanquol's Doom (Novel) by C. L. Werner
- 2a: Chapter: "Prologue"
- 3: Total War: Warhammer II (PC Game)
Gallery[]
