Clan Eshin


 * Playing as Clan Eshin and Deathmaster Sniktch requires owning The Shadow and the Blade.

Clan Eshin is a Skaven faction introduced in Total War: Warhammer II, led by Deathmaster Snikch. The faction was made playable in the Shadow and the Blade DLC.

Background
"All Clans fear the assassins. They envy-hate them for their power-strength. Assassins kill-kill Skaven and many Man Things. To the Lords of Decay, the assassins are valuable tools that should not be squandered like hapless Clanrats."


 * —Skreelin Thurntik, Grey Seer.

Clan Eshin is one of the Four Great Skaven Clans which specialises in the deadly and secretive arts of stealth, murder, poison and assassination learned from the exotic Far East. Of all the clans which populates the Under-Empire, Clan Eshin is by far the most secretive and hidden. This mysterious Clan has eyes and ears everywhere and its deadly operatives are scattered throughout the Under-Empire as well as secreted about within the cities and settlements of the surface dwellers. For the right price, the black-clad agents of Clan Eshin will steal any information, commit any act of ruthless sabotage or assassinate any rival with ruthless efficiency.

Faction Effects

 * Has access to Clan Eshin Shadowy Dealings: Eshin Actions and Clan Contracts
 * Recruitment cost: +200% for all non-Eshin units (all armies). Clan Eshin units that are not subject to the +200% recruitment cost are as follows:
 * Skavenslaves, Skavenslave Spears, Skavenslave Slingers
 * Night Runners, Night Runners (Slings)
 * Gutter Runners, Gutter Runners (Poison)
 * Gutter Runner Slingers, Gutter Runner Slingers (Poison)
 * Death Runners
 * Eshin Triads
 * Clan Loyalty: Eshin Lords never defect (the Loyalty mechanic does not apply to Clan Eshin).
 * Night Runners and Gutter Runners units use armour-piercing Warp-infused projectiles

Vortex Victory

 * Complete 3 of the Nightlord’s Say-So rituals.
 * Destroy Malus Darkblade’s faction (Hag Graef).
 * Win the Rise of Darkness final battle.

Eshin Actions
Activities that can be performed by Snikch, any Master Assassin, Assassin or Eshin sorcerer have various effects on the campaign. Each action costs a varying amount of Food or Schemes to perform, and the agent must meet the level requirement and will need to rest for a number of turns afterward. A performed action will have a turn cooldown before it can be performed again.

Clan Contracts
Occasionally, the four great clans, Clan Mors, Clan Pestilens, Clan Skyre and Clan Moulder will give out contracts to Clan Eshin and when completed, they provide great buffs and give food and money. These contracts can only be completed by Snikch, any Master Assassin, Assassin or Eshin sorcerer. The contracts are issued 'against' one of the other four clans; completing them gives benefits with the issuing clan (such as improved diplomatic relations and lowered recruitment costs for that clan's units) whilst imposing similar (but slightly lesser) penalties on targeted clan. Each clan has a progress bar, so you can choose between significantly improving your status with one clan or balance your choices to benefit from minor improvements with all four clans.

Starting locations

 * Eye of the Vortex
 * Land of the Dervishes
 * Mortal Empires
 * Gnoblar Country

Diplomatic traits

 * Spineless - Typical verminous valour - easly dominated and prone to flee.
 * Ruin-Dweller - This one often sends troops to capture the ruins left behind by destructive forces.

Strategy
General: the shadowy dealings allow you to upgrade Deathmaster Snikch (and any other "assassin type" hero or lord) really quickly and also earn a good amount of money. This combo let you recruit regiments of renown very early, creating a powerful army that can deal with initial threats or targets easily. Your armies will rely on hit-and-run tactics much more than the other clans, especially in the early to mid game. Remember that your Night Runners and Gutter Runners have armor-piercing projectiles that those of the other clans do not have, and will thus be part of armies through the mid and late game until other options become more affordable with improved reputation with the other clans.

Vortex: This faction is initially at war with Sudenburg and they should be the first target. After that, you are surrounded by foes. Greybeard's Prospectors, Arkhan the Black, and Repanse de Lyonesse. To the east, Tomb Kings. South is the Lizardmen of Tlaqua and Zlatlan. Further south is your only potential ally in Clan Mors. In summary, you are surrounded by foes and have one tenuous ally. On top of that, non-Eshin units are much more expensive than normal. This means you have to play to the strengths of Clan Eshin and employ peak Skaven tactics. B underhanded and assassinate high value targets using Clan Eshin mechanics. The fact that Night Runners and Gutter Runners get armour piercing projectiles does a great deal to making them competitive in the mid game. It also allows you to take on the Dwarfs much earlier on as your units can kite and harass them until they run out of ammo. Honestly, you can chose to go in whichever direction and make it work, but going north and securing the mountains is a good first step, before heading south to deal with the Lizardmen.

Mortal Empires: The Mortal Empires starts is significantly easier than the Vortex start. You currently (4/17/20) start with your back to the edge of the map and a bunch of minor factions for you to swiftly gobble up. Rictus Clan-Nest is a nearby ally that should be taken over through force or diplomacy to secure their unique Landmark. Your biggest threat is Malus Darkblade to the south. Your mid game threat is the wider Greenskin-Dwarfs conflict that you must fight on one side (or against both) to break out of the bottom right corner of the map. Get lightning strike ASAP as you will be definitely be overwhelmed a few times when fighting Kroq Gar or Settra who will declare war on you later in the game. Use your greater clan contracts to improve relations with Clan Skyre, Clan Pestilens, and Clan Mors to get their legendary lords.

Trivia

 * This faction used to be led by Ulcess and could be found in eastern Lustria in the Mortal Empires campaign and in the middle of the Southlands in the Eye of the Vortex campaign.
 * The pre-DLC minor faction of Clan Eshin was moved from Lustria to the Southlands in the Eye of the Vortex campaign presumably in the Empire Undivided Update.


 * They provided an early opponent for the Order of Loremasters led by Teclis while also being a potential ally of the ratmen of Clan Pestilens.


 * Although they are one of the most powerful and influential Skaven clans in the lore, they were initially a minor faction in Total War: Warhammer II. They were based in Eastern Lustria, away from their usual home in Nippon, a piece of land on the other side of the Warhammer world. In the same update which made them playable, the Mortal Empires map was expanded and they were moved directly above the new Dragon Isles territory.