Subject:  [WHFB] Undead Analysis and Tactics (By Gerd Hug)
   Date:  Sat, 18 Oct 1997 21:30:34 +0200 (CEST)
   From:  Gerd Hug 
"Note" is added by Tony Ko and is not of author's opinion ...

Hubba

Well after some careful considerations I decided to present you my analysis of the Warhammer Undead Race. I have written that stuff 2 years ago and just fit it into 5th Edition and tranlated it into some rough English. So i apologize if it doesn't sound like poetry to you native english speakers. I simply do not have the time to check and recheck my translations :)

This Analysis comes in three parts.

I Undead Troop types, Special Characters and Magic.
II Commonly used Magic Items and typical Regiments
III Undead tactics

Now here comes part I:

UNDEAD - "The" way to go....

1.0 General things....

Warhammer Fantasy Battle is now in its 5th Edition and therefore many rules have changed , especially rules of magic. These changes do have a huge effect on the way the Undead Race works for Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The following is an attempt of mine to try to analyze the new strengths and weaknesses of Undeath and to give some hints on how to exploit/avoid them. Please note that everything i write here is based on my experiences of 1 decade of Warhammer warfare and i may of course misinterpret some of the rules, which is simply not avoidable.

1.1 Undead in general....

The Undead race still is one of the most powerful races of the Warhammer world. They rely on some very powerful characters, be it generals or heroes, and psychology , as is fear , terror etc, and magic. If you manage to cut down the magical avalanche of an Undead player you will win for sure. On the other hand if you manage to get the upper hand in the way of magics an Undead player can beat every other existing race in the Warhammer world. On the other hand if you lose your General you are in deep trouble as this means that the animating source of your army is gone and therefore it grumbles to dust (see the Undead Armybook for details)

2.0 Undead Troop Types.....

2.1 Generals

Be aware that you can only have one General Type character. And this will always be some kind of Wizard. You can devide between hth Vampire Lord powerhorses or the magical Necromancer Lord Powerhorses. This means you will never have more than one 4th level Wizard on the field as long as you exclude special characters or more than one Vampire Lord. This is quite different to the "newer" race of Lizardmen and imho should be changed accordingly. Also keep in mind that all Undead Generals are very expensive pointwise.

2.1.1 Necromancer Lords

This is the magical Powerhorse of any Undead army and the most commonly fielded . It basically is a 4th level Wizard with WS7 S5 A5 and can therefore beat most other warhammer World character types. Most important it has 4 slots for magic items. This one slot more compared to other General character types is very important. It gives you an advantage! Also be aware that a Necromancer can march move and is NOT immune to pschology. On the other hand it can flee and therefore avoid affects like the Orcs Banner of Mork as the Orc Unit will crash into the not fleeing Unit and will therefore not be able to catch the fleeing Necromancer.

2.1.2 Liches

A Liche is quite like a Necromancer Lord with one spell less and immune to psychology. This means he cannot march move or stand and fire or flee. On the other hands a Liche costs 60 pts less than a Necromancer. Being immune to psychology certainly is an advantage as is not being able to flee voluntarily a disadvantage sometimes.

2.1.3 Vampire Lord

A Vampire Lord basically is a hth Powerhorse with M6 WS8 BS6 S7 T6 W4 I9 A4 LD10. He is a level 3 Wizard with 2 spells. Unfortunately he does not recover spells easily (which is a Liche/Necromancer advantage). More on this later. A Vampire also has 4 magic item slots and this can turn a Vampire into a monster capable of beating even boosted Rune Smith Lords and such. Give him the Carstein Ring and your opponent has to kill this Vampire twice.

2.2 Heroes

2.2.1 Mummy Tomb King

As stated by the name this is a mummy. Mummies in general are very powerful with high T5 and W4. It also only costs 100pts. This gives you a rather long living hero (as long as you can avoid fire based attacks) capable of dealing with most other hero and even general character types if you equip it well.

2.2.2 Vampire Count

Now this probably is the best hero type character you can have in the Warhammer World. For 200pts (which is expensive) you get a hero with WS7 BS5 S7 T6 W3 I8 A3 LD9. In addition a Vampire Count is a level 2 mage with 1 spell. Although it rarely recovers its spell after casting it. Needless to say a Vampire Count is a hth monster and even though it only has two magic item slots it is still enough to turn the hero into a character capable of dealing with everything the Warhammer World has to offer. Note that Vampire can march move and flee and are NOT immune to psychology. This has the same advantages and disadvantages as the Necromancers have. Given the stats of this hero you can even risk to field him with no magic items at all.

2.2.3 Wight Lord

A Wight Lord is the weakest type of Hero character an Undead Army can have. On the other hand it is the cheapest. For only 68pts you get a character with WS4 BS0 S4 T4 W3 I4 A2 LD9 wielding a magical wight blade capable of dealing D3 wounds. Even though the Wight Lord has a low weapon skill it can still be turned into something that can deal with many a character types available. But you have to choose the two items it can carry well. This one additional wound a Wight Lord has over other typical hero character types certainly gives him an advantage. In my eyes a Wight Lord is the cheap magic item carrier to boost Units.

2.3 Champions

Be aware that with 4th Edition (and therefore 5th Edition as well) there are no real Champion type characters anymore. In addition only certain troop types can have a Champion at all. And the way it works right now it is too limiting imho. Only Zombies , Skeleton Units and Ghouls can have Champions and these Champions are do not even have champion lie improved stats.

Note: Skeleton units can field champion are warrior, horsemen, and chariot (ride with chariot.)

2.3.1 Wight Champion

A Wight Champion is just a normal Wight trooper which turns into a Champion if you put it into a Unit of Skeletons, Zombies etc. It has a magic Wight Blade WS3 BS0 S3 T4 W3 I3 A1 LD8. Even though it is rather cheap and has 3 Wounds you have to carefully consider if a Wight Champion is worth it. As it doesn't have the stats to help you win the combat for your Unit. And always remember that if you fail a break test for your Wight it will grumble to dust. Even though that this contradicts to the rules about champions and units in the rule book of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. We here do follow this rule and therefore a Wight playing champion follows the Rules of the Unit and therefore is only destroyed if you put him into a Ghoul or Zombie Unit.

2.3.2 Wraith champion

A Wraith Champion is rather expensive for 75pts. On the other hand you get a terror causing creature which can only be hamred by magic weapons and spells and which will cause you to make a breaktest every round as long as it lives. Even though it only has a LD5 and will be destroyed if it fails a breaktest. This doesn't hurt you much as long as you put it into a Skeleton unit and follow the rules ffor champions in the Basic Rule Book. IF you do not follow this rule then you are in deep trouble because unless you have some real nasty hth winners in this unit as well you will lose the combat and your Wraith will most certainly not make the break test and grumble to dust. A very expensive way of wasting points. Generally you can say that putting a Champion into an Undead unit and playing the "breaktest failed - destroyed" Rule that Champion is wasted points. The only way to help about that is giving this Champion the crown of command. And this item is wasted if you put that champion into a unit of Skeletons as Skeletons follow their own rules when they lose a round of hth combat.

2.4 Battle Standard Bearer

A Battle Standard Bearer (BSB) gives your army a nice chance to reroll any break test as long as you are within 12 inch from it. Apart from this useful function a BSB works as an independent Champion who can bear a magical banner. Independent in so far that he can move freely as any Hero level troop type. This is not different with the Undead army. Being a champion unfortunately means that your BSB only has one wound. The Undead BSB however is a Wight and therefore has 3 wounds. This is a very important feature as this makes your BSB much more survivable. Another useful function is that you can place a BSB into a unit that already has a banner and it gives you an additional +1 to any combat result (re: Basic Rules). For Undead a BSB is the only chance to get a magical banner into one of its "elite" regiments (Wraiths, Wights, Mummies). This can sometimes be very useful given the 3 wounds of the bearer. Unfortunately your enemy will do his utmost to kill this BSB and given the Wights stats even his 3 wounds do not help. Given the fact on how you have to "secure" your elite units (re: Crown of Command for Wights or Wraiths) it is far better to give such a BSB a good magical armour. Here however you have to consider the fact that a BSB is not that important compared to other undead characters and therefore giving a BSB a special save is a waste. Armour of meteoric iron could be a good one. This means in most cases it is best to field the Undead BSB with a non magical Banner and protect him. Also it is must that your BSB is within 12inch of any Undead troop type that must take a break test (which means just ebout every "elite" undead troops). If it has to be a magical banner a BSB is the ideal bearer of the Banner of Sorcery (which frees a most important magic banner slot in one of your main units) when put on a horse or into a small regiment that lurks behind your main units with the sole purpose to protect the BSB. Keep in mind that even though he has three wounds an Undead BSB is a prime target. Imho it doesn't weaken your army if you do not field a BSB. Although if you want to then consider what i have written here.

Note: Undead Battle Standard Bearer, a Wight, costs 87 points
It has exactly the same stats as the Wight Champion but cost 50 more points. It will give all units a chance to reroll a failed break test within 12". The break tests can combine and use general's LD rating if the general is also within 12". The bearer is a wight and thus comes with a free wight blade and a magic item slot which can be anything a Wight champion can carry or a magical banner. It can also ride a monster. And if the unit it's in fail the break test twice it crumble too.

3.0 Troop Types

Being dead means that all your available troop types at least cause fear , if not terror. This gives you an advantage you should make sure to exploit because if you outnumber an enemy that fears you and you manage to win a round of hth combat this enemy breaks automatically! On the other hand some troop types do grumble to dust if they lose a round of hth and fail their "break test".

3.1 Skeleton Warriors

Skeleton Warriors are the most commonly fielded Undead troop type. They can be equipped with a wide variety of weapons from simply swords over halberds to double handed weapons. In addition they can have heavy armour and shields. Even though this slows your Skeletons down by 1 inch this shouldn't worry you given the fact that they cannot march move anyways. A main strength of your Skeletons is the fact that they are the only rnf troops which have a BS. This BS is only 2 but thats still enough to be exploited in some ways. Your Skeletons can also have Bows or Crossbows which turns them into a great screening unit that can even deal out some damage at range. And given the fact that they can shoot twice with Van Halen's Dance Macabre they can hit more than the average BS3 trooper. Imho you should always equip Skeletons with Crossbows rather than bows if you want to be shooty at all. Very important is the fact that Skeletons cannot break from combat. Instead they lose as many additional wounds as they have lost the combat for. This means that big Skeleton units can block and tie up other enemy troops rather indefinetly. Also note that Skeletons added to an already existing Unit with one of the three Raise the Dead spells come with the same equipment this unit has. This means you can have some small very expensive Skeleton Units and boost them with your magic. Be aware that this only works in huge games where your opponents arent as close as 16 inches away.

Note:lvl 2 and 3 summon spells range are 24" and 36"

3.1.1 Skeleton Horsemen

Almost everything stated for Skeletons applies to the Skeleton Horsemen as well with some exceptions. Skeleton Horsemen cannot have Crossbows and cannot have heavy armour or double handed weapons. Although they can have lances. Most important is the ability of Skeleton Horsemen to discorporate and therefore pass any non living terrain feature without penalty in movement (Just think of such a Unit riding in the woods not being seen and additionally moved wit Van Halen). This combined with a low save of 5+ turns them into a deadly fast cavalry as they can change ranks freely. Note that you should not expect your cavalry to last long after the initial charge as long as you put not some of the "killer" characters into such a Unit. Therefore the Doomrider Banner comes in very handy. More about Skeleton Horsemen tactics later.

3.1.2 Zombies

Zombies are the weakest and cheapest rnf Undead troop type. For a mere 4pts you get a Zombie which means its equipment is half the normal costs. You can equip them with light armour and shields and you can even give them double handed weapons. The biggest drawback however is that if Zombies fail their breaktest they are destroyed which is very likely as their LD is only 5. This means in order to get something other than just screening troops , where the "fail break test and you are destroyed" rule comes in very handy you have to put some hth winning characters into the unit and possibly the crown of command. And keep in mind that the crown wearing character needs some additional protection as a cunning opponent will target this character as soon as possible.

3.1.3 Ghosts

For 35pts you get a Ghost. A ghost has M4 WS2 BS0 S3 T3 W3 I3 A1 LD5 and is immune to all but magical attacks. Unfortunately Ghosts also are destroyed if they fail a breaktest and looking at their LD it is quite obvious that they hardly pass any. This means that Ghosts need Characters to lead them and they will protect those Characters from non magical missile attacks. But thats about it. In my eyes Ghosts aren't worth much especially as you cannot equip them with any weapon. The 3 Wounds do not count much for the above stated reasons.

3.1.4 Ghouls

Ghouls cost 8 point and are the only Undead rnf troops that can march move. As they are living creatures it is obvious why. You can't give them any additional equipment but for a mere 8pts each and with 2 attacks and T4 they are quite a bargain in some circumstances. Unfortunately if Ghouls lose a round of hth they are automataically broken. This means it is not wise to put a character into a Unit of ghouls. If it is a Champion the Unit will lose its ability to march move etc. Be very careful if Ghouls break because of their low LD of 5 they will hardly ever rally unless the General is around.

4.1.5 Wights

For a mere 37pts you get a troop type that has 3 wounds T4 and LD8 which can also be mounted for just 2 pts and wear heavy armour. In addition a Wight carries a magical weapon that doed D3 Wounds. Unfortunately a Wight only has 1 attack and a strength of 3. The biggest drawback however is the fact that they will also grumble to dust when they fail a break test! This makes things like the Crown of Command rather important for a Wight unit. In addition given their low strength they cannot hope to defeat heavily armored knights or huge units with lotsa rank bonus (Skaven). I.e. Wight Units aren't worth their salt. It is far better to use Wights as Chamnpions (if used at all).

3.1.6 Mummies

Mummies are probably the most powerful rnf Undea troop type. For just 45pts you get M3 WS3 BS0 S4 T5 W4 I3 A2 LD8. You can also equip them with double handed weapons which is , given their high T and W values quite a bargain. In addition mummies aren't destroyed if they fail a break test. Note that it is rather strange that Mummies do flee as it contradicts the general rules for undead. I hope someone will sometimes find a better solution. (GW listen up :)) . Still Mummies can stand their own and do not really need expensive "Killer" characters or magic items. Avoid fire attacks at all costs as Mummies take double damage from such attacks.

3.1.7 Carrion

Carrion are the Undead airforce. With 45pts for M4 WS3 BS0 S3 T3 W2 I4 A3+ LD7 you get an expensive troop type that is very important for taking out enemy artillery. In addition they suffer from the same instabilities as Skeleton warriors should they lose a round of hth. In my eyes the minimum Carrion number should be 5. With 15+ attacks you should be very certain to wipe out any possible artillery crew , be it Dwarfs or Empire. Apart from taking out enemy artillery pieces Carrion are the perfect flanking unit should the possibility arise.

3.1.8 Wraith

Wraiths are the most expensive and would probably be the most dangerous rnf Undead troop type would they not grumble to dust if they lose a round of hth and fail their break test which is quite common with a low LD of 5. on the other hand a Wraith causes terror and as long as they live and pass their own possible break tests the units fighting Wraithes MUST do a break test by themselves. For 75pts you get M4 WS3 BS0 S3 T4 W3 I3 A2 LD5 which cannot be harmed by non magical attacks. In addition Wraiths have double handed weapons , which is quite a good idea for this type of troops, and do a chill attack. Imho the chill attack is overrated as Wraiths rarely fight multiple wound units.

3.1.9 Chariots

Now Chariots are some of the most important and most dangerous troop types for Undead. The fact that their Strength and Toughness values are only 5 doesn't change that. Always equip chariots with scythes! In addition always remember that you can repair Undead chariots which means they are a constant threat even to shooty armies like Wood Elves. Generally you can do wonderful things with chariots, especially if you screen them. More on this later.

3.1.10 Skull Catapults

These Catapults form the Artillery of your Undead forces. They are generally small catapults which can be repaired, cause enemy troops which have suffered casualities from it to make a panic test and cause fear, which can be very useful if charged by low LD flying creatures (Harpies). Generally they are only of very limited use as you can blow yourself up very easily. Note: It takes 74 point to field a catapult and just 9 pips to summon it and the crews will come with swords and shields, I would field chariot and summon catapult.

Short Summary:

As you may have seen all "good" Undead rnf troop types are destroyed if they fail a break test. On the other hand not a single one does not cause at least fear. All this leads to the conclusion that an army usually consists of some large core Skeleton units and one or two elite regiments which are carefully boosted with magic weapons and assorted characters (Wraithes for example). Chariots are a must and Catapults a bonus. The trick to win with undead is to find the right balance between core troops (Skeletons) elite troops (Mummies, Wraiths, Chariots) Characters and assorted magic items.

4 The Spells

4.1 General

Being an army built with magic it is quite obvious that magic is one of the major parts for an undead army. Luckily you have some very dangous spells at your disposal that can (and are) be match winners. With 5th Edition's ban of colour magic this applies even more. The only spell you are missing is some kind of magical movement spell (read bridge of shadow like) to transport units around your battlefield. The most important advantage Undead got with 5th Edition is the fact that you can now pick your necromantic spells for your spell casters so you have not depend on luck or other weird tactics to get the right spell for the right character. Also keep in mind your casters ability to recast necromantic spells (check the Undead Army book for the rules) which makes your casters a lot more dangerous than any other wizard.

4.2 The Dark Mist

This is the most useless spell in the Necromancy spell deck. If possible drop this spell first and even take battle magic before. You need your characters to fight in hth as they are your powerhorses.

4.2.1 Gaze of Nagash

Now with colour magic officially gone this spell is quite important as it gives you a ranged attack spell that will kill any heavily armored knight unit in no time. For just 2 powercards and the ability to recast it should it be dispelled it is a must have.

4.2.2 Wind of Death

This spell can be very devastating for closely packed enemy troops and its war machines near table edges. Imho it is a very costly spell and , though quite dangerous, one you can easily dare not to field.

4.2.3 The Curse of Years

This is another must have spell as it is a killer spell with 24inch range. It has the power to kill everything but daemons on 33 percent. Also keep in mind that your opponent will probably know about this and try to destroy it.

4.2.4-6 The three different Summone Undead spells

These three spells are the soul of your army as they allow you to summon ever additional skeletons or zombies or chariots or catapults. It is a pity that you cannot summon other troop types. Although this would make this spells a bit too powerful then :). A must have are the 1 and 2 Powerpoint summoning spells. The 3 powerpoint spell only comes in handy if you have the total domination of magic phase as it costs you too much powerpoints if your opponent dispells this one. On the other hand you need the 3 powerpoint spell if you want to make sure you can successfully summon whole catapults and chariots.

Note: With 5th edition, you can cast first then assign the creatures to an existing unit or create a new unit if you have enough pips. horsemen unit need 6 pip to create a unit of 3 rider/mount. Catapult is 9 pips. Chariot is 10 pips. All new units of skeleton equip with sword and shield. Catapult's crews cannot have shields.

4.2.7 Vanhel's danse Macabre

Imho this is the most important spell in your necromancy arsenal. I do not comment on that but with just 1 powerpoint and the ability to either march or fight an additional round of hth or charge this turns even mediocre Skeletons into a dangous opponent and makes Wraithes real killers.

Note: Don't forget with xbow unit you can shoot twice once in shooting phasse and once in magic phase if you don't move.

4.2.8 Drain Life

This is another "tank" busting spell with the ability to heal the caster. Useful but not really a must have.

4.2.9 Hand of Dust

A really dangous close combat spell perfectly suited for a Vampire.

5 Spell Casting Tactics.

Generally being an army thae lives by magic you cannot have enough powercards. Therefore the more D6 you roll for the winds of magic the better. The more items you have to store powercards (see Nagash or Banner of Sorcery) the better . In general try to cast Van Halen as much as possible and protect this spell by any means, even if it means you have to reinforce an attempted destruction with all available powercards. If your opponent just dispells it let him. You cast it again. Given an average round of magic you should carefully plan your moves. First come either some 1pp/2pp Raise spells or Van Halen. All other interesting spells are secondary and should only be seen as a bonus. Even though if one of those "killer" spells should become a "must be cast" you must prepare it by trying to draw as many dispells from your opponent as possible (or reinforce that spell). You see i prefer the more subtle ways of using your spells for your own benefit and not to cast killer spells at enemy units. This also reduces the efficiency of item bound countermagic. Always be careful - try to estimate what cards your opponent has, try to remember what cards have been played already etc. I.e. plan your magic phase carefully. This also means you have to plan which wizards to give what spells very carefully. It mostly is not a good idea to give a Vampire Van Halen as he either needs a 6 (if count) or a 5 (if lord) to recast it. Give such characters spells like Wind of Death or the 3pp summone undead horde spell. More on that later.

6 Special Characters

Well the following is just some short addons to the described Undead special characters. The most important fact is that apart from Nagash all described special characters do not have to be the Army's General. This gives youthe possibility to get 2 Vampire Lords into your army for example.

- Nagash
Not much to say. A real powerhorse and dangerous to no end. Nagash became even more powerful with 5th Edition as his staff is now useful. Nagash's only drawback is him being a large target and you as an Undead player not being able to really hide him from enemy fire.

- Vlad von Carstein
Just a basic Vampire Lord which does not have all of his item slots filled which means you can improve him drastically with two additional items. The sword of unholy power is imho wasted on this Vampire. Though on the other hand it is very difficult to give a Vampire a magic weapon of 75pts and not turning him into an all killing machine. The special rule of frenzy when Vlad should be fielded with Isabella is nice but nothing you should base your army tactics on.

- Isabella von Carstein
Well Isabell is a weak Vampire Count and not really worth the points.

- Manfred von Carstein
A nifty - though very expensive Character - almsot too expensive if you ask me. He has the same stats as Isabella , casts like a Necromancer Lord and has all 4 magic item slots free. Quite a character one can use sometimes.

- Heinrich Kemmler
An interesting Character and very cheap. He even has one slot of magic items free. The Chaos Tomb Blade is a nice weapon , although NOT a character killer so it is not a good idea to use Heinrich as such. The Skull stuff is a good item but the Cload of Mists and Shadows turned into useless crap with the 5th Edition.

- Arkhan the Black
An interesting Liche who has a nice flying and more dangous chariot. He can only carry 3 magic items though and all items he has are good items but not suited for him. He only has the chariot to protect him as all available magic item slots are filled already. Still Arkhan is an interesting character but certainly not a good army general.

Note: he is the only Liche that causes Terror.

- Krell
Well Krell is interesting but not really good enough to be fielded. I would rather take a Tomb King which costs less and has comparable stats. At least Krell has one magic item slot free. Unfortunately GW screwed his black axe withthe 5th edition. As it is now unclear whether the axe is double handed or not. If not its price of 125pts is way too expensive.

- Settra
Settra is a nifty character. Although he is expensive and to use his Tomb Crown you have to keep him out of combat and this is very difficult and risky for undead characters. Remember they have to fight in order to win combats for your units. On the other hand if you manage to hold him out of combat all Undead units within 12 inch of Settra have a WS of 5.

- Dieter Helsnicht
Interesting special character as long as your opponent allows you to field him without his Manticore. I feel , even though Manticoes are "THE" Monsters to get there are way too many ways to shoot such combos down. Dieter still has 2 magic item slots free and the two already filled are filled with stuff Dieter can even use in his role of an Undead Lord character. This is something that rarely applies to 4th Edition special characters.

UNDEAD - "The" way to go....Part II

7 Magic Items

This here is a summary on useful magic items for the Undead Race. Why and how useful they are will become obvious later. In addition i do not comment on items worn by special characters only.

7.1 Undead "only" Magic Items

- Black Axe of Krell
Well this is a fun item and not really worth the 125pts - especially as it is totally unclear whether the axe is still double handed or not.

- Chaos Tomb Blade
This blade can be very useful in large games to bolster your magic phase. in small tournament like games it can useful as well but then it should be a Vampire blade (i.e. a Vampire should wield it). This is because of the Vampires stats and the Blade doesn't give you any real fighting benefit.

- Chaos Runesword of Grungni Ironheart
This is Diter Helsnicht standard weapon. Not a bad one for necromancers which are not your general, well suited for a vampire, not bad suited for a tomb king.

- The Sword Skabskrath
Completely useless. Your complete army already causes fear and terror causing creatures are always at hand. Only small use is to make a necromancer immune to fear/terror - though his LD is a better weapon on that.

- Carstein Ring
Extremly useful for your Vampire(s) and as long as you field a Vampire it is a must have item.

- Tomb Kings Crown
Tomb King only item which is quite useful sometimes. though it takes some complicated battle plans to make use of it (re you have to keep the bearer out of hth). the tomb king crown - blessed sword combo of course works but you should consider whether it is worth it or not. Combined with Banner of might - cursed book (ruby chalice) combinations the crown can turn average skellies into elite fighters.

- Cursed Book
No doubt this is a very useful item. Almost a must have and for 25pts a good bargain.

- Book of Nagash
Now this is a lovely item raising your necromancer by one level up to level 5. This means that undead and HE are the only races to field level 5 mages. If you can afford it use it as it will help you to gain domination in the magic phases. Combine it with the skull staff and you won't waste many precious powercards in boosting your dispells (re: against non high magic users you start your dispell on a 2 and against high magic users - regardless if they wear the war crown of saphery or not you start at a 4). Even though it can be quite useful it is not a must have item but certainly worth its 100pts.

- Talon of Death
Just another 100pts item that can have a devastating effect. Remember every enemy model touching your base takes a wound at the beginning of every H2H combat phase with no armour save possible. and these wounds inflicted do count towards the combat results. now give that a necromancer or vampire and put him onto a chariot. you cannot get a larger base to base contact line. this item is extremly well suited to wipe out heavily armored units for a not so big risk of losing the bearer (remember your opponent cannot strike back if you kill the opposing models). It is even good if you have an opposing character in front of you as he takes that wound as well and his chances for saving it with a special save are at 66 and worse percent (not counting that one use only jade amulet). Although it is a useful item i do not consider it a must have.

- Sword of Unholy Power
For 75pts way too expensive even though it has its use if worn by a vampire (again it is because of his stats why he can afford to wield it) in a tournament like game where you try to draw dispell scrolls and then cast that one devastating curse of the years using that sword. do not hope to use the sword for long as it burns out fast. The weapon is certainly not one your necromancer/liche general should have.

- Staff of Damnation
A very useful item and in large games a must have item. Though use it wisely as it will burn out with a 33percent chance. Very useful to back up Van Halen. It certainly is a tournament item if you can afford the slot on one of your characters.

- Hell Banner
Now this banner can have a devastating effect and even the 75pts seem ok. Now take a skellie unit - equip a vampire with the skull wand of kaloth and let him beat on some opposing heads telling them that the appropriate LD test is now at -2. Even the most ironhearted Dwarf general will tremble with fear.

- Banner of Doom
The little brother of the Hell Banner. Not as useful but for 50pts it could be useful sometimes. Even though i never ever fielded it so far.

7.2 Other useful Items

As far as useful items go you have to carefully consider which type of character you are going to give the wanted item. As the hero/champion/generals from the Undead Race are so different in abilities and stats it is the more important.

7.2.1 Weapons 7.2.1.1 Vampires

Given the stats of any Vampire it is quite obvious that he stays a killing machine regardless of the weapon he wields. I usually give my Vampires an additional Hand Weapon and an XBow. Even this makes them hard enough to crack the most heavily armored knights.As a Rule of thumb : against Vampires the only help is special saves.This gives you the freedom to give the Vampire any weapon you like and create a single purpose killing machine that still has a broad range of other uses.

 - Sword of Defiance: The living Tank - Toughness 9 should say enough
 - Daemon/Dragon Slayer: The Empire Steam Tank Killer - S10 should say enough 
   and D3 wounds as well
 - Frost Blade: combined with the Vampire stats one single wound is statistical
   ly asured.
 - Sword of Destruction: If any character can bear the Sword of Destruction and
   still hope to survive it is the Vampire. You can do wonderful things 
   with such a character.
 - Sword of Unyielding: Toughness 8 is not bad though not really worth it me 
   thinks
 - Blade of Darting Steel: Bad Mama - figure 3-4 automatic S7 hits , combine 
   it with the Talon of Death for example and you have a nice unit killer.
 - Blade of Leaping Gold: More useful than the Blade of Darting Steel, even 
   though if you are facing an opponent that gives you some -X (x1-3) to
   hit the Darting Steel Blade is more Handy.
 - Hydra Sword: A killer weapon in the hands of a Vampire. Even though it could
    turn into a Boomerang when facing a black amulett.
 - Venom Sword: What to say against S7 and D6 wounds ?
 - Sword of Heroes: The Vampire weapon when you face Dwarfs or an Empire Steam 
   Tank or other highest toughness enemies.
 - Sword of Leaping Bronze: +2 Attacks always come handy with S7
 - Dragon Blade: s.o.
 - Heart Seeker: s.o.
 - Sword of resilience: The cheap answer to WE shooting armies
 - Tormentor Sword: Nifty little cheap blade with fun effect in the hands of a 
   Vampire.
 - Bone Blade: For 35pts it is enough to kill most enemy characters given the 
   Vampire stats.
 - Rending Sword: Even this is nice and almost as good as the Bone Blade.
 - Sword of Swift Slaying: Given the Vampire stats this sword is a must have 
   in tournaments with very limited magic item allowance.
 - Blade of Slicing: a -6 armour save for 20 pts is nice and guarantees no 
   armour save regardless your opponent.

As i said you can find some use for almost any sword in the hands of a Vampire.

7.2.1.2 Necromancers/Liche

A Necromancer is the caster in your army. Even though his stats are above human average you should never forget that. A Vampire is more a fighter with his casting ability being a bonus. You should consider the Necromancer just vice versa. The level of the Necromancer doesn't matter here. It goes protection and aide spell casting/dispell abilities before fighting abilities. This means protect him first and give him a weapon later. Given the stats the Necromancer is a good fighter and can wield many a weapons and have some use from them. Therefore it applies more o rless the same to the Necromancer as it applies to the Vampire. Just don't forget that a Necroamncer has S5 T4 and A5. Therefore his success with magic weapons is not as great as it is with a Vampire. Even though in games against human or elven opponents this already is enough. As a non magic weapon the Halberd is very handy for your necromancer. The +1S is more important than the +1A when giving him an additional hand weapon. In addition you can always give your Necromancer an XBow which can be nice.

7.2.1.3 Tomb King

Giving his T5 and S5 A3 and W4 a Tomb King is a bargain. As far as weapons go here applies the same as for the Necromancer compared to the Vampire. Even though his low WS of 4 can be quite a factor sometimes. On the other hand you can equip the Tomb King with Armour and this will make him stay in the midst of hth fighting for quite some time. He is a nice candidate for Armour of Protection for example. Generally a Tomb King is a "supporting items" carrier with fighting abilities who can even hope to survive with only one magic item working either to protect him or boosting his hth abilities. Remember that it is sometimes better to boost the toughness than to protect with armour.

7.2.1.4 Wight Lord/Wight

Given his profile you cannot expect much from a Wight Lord in hth. This applies even more to a Wight Champion. On the other hand he already has a magical weapon which is enough. This compared to his rather low points costs turn the Wight Lord into a cheap magic item carrier which is usually split into one unit supporting item and one selfprotecting item. More on this later.

7.2.1.5 Wraith

A Wraith Champion , even though expensive is a nice add on to any skellie unit. Remember his special rules. Given the fact that he is immune to non magical attacks gives him some surviving abilities. A double handed weapon is the way to go for a Wraith given his low strength of 3. I would only rarely equip the Wraith with a magic item because given the fact that your oponent knows about him he will target it and then the wraith usually dies fast. On the other hand the wraith is a good guard against challenges. Summing all said up it is quite obvious that a magical weapon is not the way to go for a wraith.

7.2.2 Magic Armour

7.2.2.1 Vampires

As a Vampire is a spell caster it is not a good idea to equip him with any sort of armour. Although sometimes it could be useful.

7.2.2.2 NecromancerS/Liche

You must be nuts to even consider that :)

7.2.2.3 Mummy Tomb King

As stated already some sort of magic armour is always a good idea for your Tomb King as he is good enough to slay many opponents just with an additional hand weapon or halberd (S5 or S6). Just remember to give your Tomb King one army supporting item like the Tomb Kings Crown or cursed book etc.

7.2.2.4 Wight Lord/Wight

What i said about the Tomb King applies to the Wight Lord as well.. A Wight Champion needs a selfprotecting item to survive and has no additional slot free. This reduces his usefulness drastically. A Wight really does not need a magical weapon other than his wight blade.

7.2.2.5 Wraith

Armour for a Wraith is certainly better than a unit supporting item. This combined with his 3 wounds help him to survive in hth/challenges and can tie up an opponents character quite nicely

7.2.3 Wards

Well every character would like to have some special saves from a ward (if he cannot wear armour like the Armour of Protection this applies even more). Given the fact that there are not many wards available for Undead you have to carefully consider who you give one. Certainly one for your Army General even if he is a Vampire Lord as special save combined with carstein ring really is some great protection. Generally give all wards to your spell casters and the special saves combined with armour to your other heroes/champions. I personally favour the golden crown over the black amulet as my dice roles usually are very low. The silver seal can be useful if you combine it with the cursed book. This helps your WS7+ character types a lot in hth as most other oponents just hit you on a 6. Dawnstone is of no use. Vambraces of Lightning i have never used so far but i can see some use if you want to send a character against enemy war machines. The Jade Amulet can be very useful in tournaments.

7.2.4 Enchanted Items

7.2.4.1 Vampires

Vampires of course have some use from Enchanted Items but always remember a Vampire is a supreme fighter - use him as such.

- Crown of Command: Useful under certain circumstances to bolster a Wraith 
  Unit. It is certainly not a good idea to equip a Vampire Lord with it.
  Your General needs other items. I would also rather equip a Wight lord
  with it.

- The Carstein Ring: If you field a Vampire this is a must have item. You can 
  turn a Vampire Count into something really nasty by giving him this ring
  and a special save (ward). Sure he then can only have normal hand
  weapons but in most cases this is more than enough. A Vampire Count
  equipped with additional hand weapon and carstein Ring Black Amulett is
  a very dangerous opponen in any short magic item restricted tournament.

- Cursed book: Even though i would rather give the book to a Wight Lord 
  (Vampire Counts are too valuable) it is still a nice idea as you can be
  fairly sure that it is difficult to kill such a monster.

- Heart of Woe: Combine that with  the Carstein Ring and you have a real nuke 
  that will reappear. Way too cheesy!
- Ruby Chalice: s.o.
- Amber Amulet: Now this is a nice item and certainly of good use as the 
  vampires stats assure that he rarely dies in onew round of hth.

7.2.4.2 Necromancers/Liche

As is with weapons it is with enchanted items as well. A necromancer has the same use for enchanted items as a vampire. Just keep in mind that he is less effective as far as survival goes. On the other hand he is the supreme caster.

7.2.4.3 Mummy Tomb King

Here applies the same as with weapons. In addition keep in mind that a Mummy Tomb King really should try to bear some unit supporting items. He is therefore much better suited for item like the Ruby Chalice.

- Heart of Woe: For me way too cheesy but a Tomb King is "THE" Heart of Woe 
  bearer.
- Tomb Kings Crown: Well nt much to say but keep in mind you have to keep the 
  Tomb King out of Combat to have and use from it.

7.2.4.4 Wight Lord/Wight

As i have stated already i am not a proud supporter of a Wight Champion, at least , if you really want to be that cheesy, he is a nice Heart of Woe bearer or the perfect bearer for Van Horstman or te black gem. Though i never use these items as they are way too cheesy in my eyes. Not to mentopn Aldreds cascet of sorcery which should be banned anyways. A Wight Lord on the other hand is perfectly suited to wear one unit supporting item and one the gives him some surviving abilities (re: armour). He is THE cheap and good item bearer for the Undead race.

7.2.4.5 Wraith

Apart from armour i would only give a Wraith some unit supporting items in item restricted tournament games where the risks of running into magical fighters is rather low and where the supreme fighting abilities of your generals/heroes come into account much more. However there is no enchanted item a Wraith should be perfectly suited for, not even Black Gem of Van Horstman. He is too expensive and valuable in his supporting role.

7.2.5 Wizard Arcana

Well this only applies to Vampires and Necromancers/Liche anyways. And i am quite sure i do not have to tell you about Forbidden Rod/Amber Amulet combos which really should not exist.

7.2.5.1 Vampires

- Skull Wand of Kaloth: A Vampire is the perfect Skull Wand beaerer. This is 
  because of his high stats so even if his opponent should pass the
  required LD test he still would have to do any armour saves with a -4.

- Any of the staffs: Well, staffs are something a Vampire can have because he 
  is  much more likely to survive without protecting items.

7.2.5.2 Necromancers/Liche

- Book of Ashur: Not bad to raise a level 3 necromancer to level 4. I on my 
  behalf do not like to get access to magic which Undead do not have any access to.

- Familiars: In my eyes any form of familiars is wasted. Your necromancer 
  needs all his slots for the sole purpose to survive and keep his army going.

- Book of secrets: well not a bad item but you should be aware that you cannot 
  afford to lose too many stats on your army general. Give it to a lower
  level necromancer. Be aware that you cannot hope to cast more than one
  or two spells with it. On the other in tournament like games it is quite a 
  bargain for your army general as you can use it in your last round and
  overpower your opponent by casting spells over and over again.

- Potion of Knowledge: A much better item if you ask me as you do not lose 
  stats. Though what i wrote about the book of secrets applies to the
  potion as well. In a large games i usually have the potion for critical
  situations. Even though you must plan that before, like which spell caster 
  has it and what will be a spell i really need to cast sometimes (Curse
  of the Years for example ).

- Wand of Jet: Very useful sometimes especially in tournaments to increase 
  your magical power. On longer terms you have to use it wisely or it will
  burn out by 33percent.

- Skull Staff: Not much to say about it as i have mentioned the Skull Staffs 
  use earlier already.

- Skull Wand of Kaloth: As this is a weapon here applies the same as usual.

You may ask why no staffs. Well i think a staff is here to give some additional attacking skills but you have to wage it against the survival abilities of your army. Always remember the spell casters are the heart and the soul of your army.

7.2.6 Magic Standards

Only your skellie units can have magical standards. The only way to get a magical standard into another unit you have to use the army battle standard bearer and such bearers die fast as they have nothing to protect themselves. Even though the Wight used by Undead has 3 wounds (remember he has to make break tests and if he screws one he is destroyed). Therefore it is rather a useful banners for skellies.

- Hell Banner: Not much to say about it although it only really comes to use 
with a Skull Wand combo. Remember your complete army causes fear and therefore 
your opponent will break automatically if you outnumber it. So it should be a 
carefully calculated risk to field that banner if not used together with the 
Skull Wand combo. Like if you have to fight armies which are largely immune to 
fear or psychology.

- Banner of Doom: s.o. and not so devastating.

- Banner of Defiance: Very nifty if you have some large skellie unit. Make 
sure the unit _is_ large and you can still win hth even if your Unit is not 
bolstered with tons of killer characters. Drawback you will never pursue. If 
you bolster such a unit with killer characters you can break the toughest 
enemy. Therefore it is always worth to field it.

- Banner of Might: Very useful for undead as your low weaponskill isn't that 
effective anymore. Combined with Ruby Chalice/Cursed book and some killer 
characters in that unit you have something that can stand almost everything. 
Especially if you have a Tomb King with the crown hanging back in range 
somewhere. I usually field that banner (or the Banner of Defiance or both).

- Banner of Sorcerey: Very useful banner for an army that relies on magic. 
Give it to a secondary skellie unit. Especially useful in tournament games.

- Doomrider Banner: Well this is the banner to go with Skellie horsemen. Very 
useful as it causes X automatic S5 hits when you charge. To use it best your 
horsemen should be fast cavalry so you cna change ranks freely.

7.2.7 Bound Spells

Well there is not much use for bound spells.

Summary: Well these are the useful items for an Undead army (in my eyes) of course you can use different ones like the Healing Potion but i think that each magic item slot available is extremly precious for Undead. They cannot allow themselves to waste such a slot.

So much for part II

UNDEAD - "The" way to go.... Part III

8 Army Composition and Tactics

8.1 General

Even though the new rules of Warhammers 5th Edition weakened the Undead race they are still highly competitive against every other race. Even those which only appeared after the release of 5th Edition can be beaten. With the new magic version the Undead lost their access to colour magic. This is a bad situation as Grey magic combined with Necromantic magic was the combination to go. On the other hand Undead can now pick their spells and do not have to choose them at random. Also certain items which were uselsss with 4th Edition rules are now much more powerful (re: Staff of Nagash).Fighting with Undead has never been easy as it is difficult to find a good balance between their extremly powerful characters and their weak rnf troops. This and gaining the upper hand in your own magic phase is the key to win with an Undead army. You can even use some of the rnf weaknesses to your benefit and turn those weaknesses into your strong points (re: screening). I will now try to show you some general and typical Undead regiments and tactics. Please note that some of the stuff shown here certainly will not be able to be used in tournaments. Here are some general principles and rules you should always keep in mind when creating a hopefully successful Undead army:

- Given the choices of troops and characters an Undead army needs every 
  character point he can get and these points need to be filled wisely.
  For an Undead player you cannot afford to use less than the maximum
  allowance. 
- You need not to fill all available magic item slots, especially champions 
  mostly do not need them. An additional Wraith is mostly worth more than
  a magic item.
- Vampires rarely need magical swords. 
- Heroes (not Vampires) need to carry unit supporting items in combination 
  with items that protect themselves.
- Given the weak rnf troops you always need items that boost your rnf troops 
  in some way. Only mummies can stand on their own.
- Your General needs every protection he can get (protection before attacking 
  items)
- Never forget that everything in your army causes at least fear!

So much for some simple basic rules you should consider before building your 
own army.

8.2 Typical Undead Units

8.2.1 Ghouls

Given their special rules i cannot think of anything else but the standard 8-20 ghoul regiment. A standardbearer and musician could always be useful. If you really want to attach a character to a ghoul unit make sure you take a vampire or necromancer as any other type of character would limit them too much . Assorting a character to a ghoul unit is risky. Always remember that Ghouls autobreak when beaten in combat and your character has to run with them. Ghouls make a nice flanking unit (re: a unit that charges into an opposing units flank) and given their two attacks and toughness of 4 a flank is what they are suited for. A size of 12-16 (more 12 than 16) is probably the best for a ghoul unit. If you really want to charge an opposing units fronk rank make sure you charge a "weak" one. Ghouls wont stand any type of "elite" regiment.

8.2.2 Zombies

Given their low points cost and the fact that their equipment only costs half the usual points zombies could be quite a bargain as their stats are like those of skellies (except BS and I). Unfortunately Zombies do have to make a breaktest and their LD is 5. If they fail this test the whole unit grumbles to dust. And given that you can equip Zombies with only LA and Shield and double handed weapons it means winning a round of hth combat is a must. This results in using Zombies in huge Units and assorting some powerful characters as a must . One of these characters should ideally wear the Crown of Command. Still there always is a good chance for you to fail such a break test and one should consider whether it is worth putting killer characters in such a unit or not, as the characters will have to do all the work and the Zombies cannot even help him with a magical standartd if you do not put an army battle standard bearer into such a unit as well. And battle standard bearers die fast. Another and much better use for Zombies is to use them to screen your army - they are cheap, equipment does not really matter and you can always replenish that screen with summoning spells. More on screening later.

8.2.3 Carrions

Carrions are the Undead airforce. A very useful troop type, even though you must never forget that they are fragile. Their low toughness and strength with only 2 wounds means you have to consider each movement carefully. One of their strength is that carrion are the only type of flyers who will not break from combat automatically if they cannot win (re: basic rules about flyers), they take additional wounds like skellies instead. I feel that the minimum numbers of carrions to field is 3. Fielding less means they die too fast. The optimum number is 5-6. This means that any warmachine crew has to survive 15-18+ attacks which usually hit on a 4+ and wound on a 5+. Be aware that if you try to take out dwarfen warmachines it is the more attacks the better. Carrions do exist for two major purposes. The first and obvious one is to engage and kill warmachines. The second however is to slow down your opponents army and possibly break his attack formation. You place your carrions within 8 inch and out of charge arc of some opposing formations. What will happen is that your opponent has to either break up his armies attack formation by marching some of his units which are not affected or his complete army will slow down. Both is to your benefit as you either buy valuable time by slowing them down or you break your opponents attack formations which means you can take his units one by one (more or less). Keep in mind that such a slow down tactic is not a good idea in turn restricted games (re: tournaments). Apart from these two major purposes you can always attack certain weaker units or support main units by flanking charges (still never forget that high toughness opponents do not care about carrion flank charges). Please never ever attack missile units fother than from the flank which means you have to land and attack by foot (which takes 2 turns and may even get some opposing units to change formation in order to shoot at you in their following turn which can be to your benefit) or you flank attack an already engaged unit.

8.2.4 Skull Catapults

Screaming Skull Catapults are your armies artillery. Basically they work like small catapults and this means that your chances of actually hitting something or blowing yourself up are about the same. Although it wouldn't be Undead if those catapults would not have some specials. First of all these warmachines cause fear and this means that low LD flyers like Harpies do have a good chance to fail the required fear test when charging. Second if you actually manage to cause a wound on a target it has to pass a Panic test. Especially against low LD troops this can be quite devastating. Whether the screaming skull ammunition is fire based or not only the gods can tell. The Undead rulebook only states very little about that in the Bestiary section. Third and most important is the fact that you can repair damaged catapults and/or summon them. Summoning such catapults should only be seen as a bonus and be done if you have nothing more important to do with precious powercards. Catapults are generally only of any use if you have several of them (2+) and on large gameboards where your opponent needs more than 1 turn to reach your deployment zone. I.e. used in tournaments means you have wasted points. I usually field at least 3 of these artillery pieces - and this only against armies i expect to face masses. Against Skaven on a large Battlefield a hit from such a catapult can be devastating. Generally however you can live without these catapults as their effect on the battle , even though it can be devastating, is too little given the mechanics how a catapult works. Never base your strategy on them.

8.2.5 Undead Chariots

Undead chariots are very powerful war machines. These can win a battle for you all on their own. They cause fear and you can repair and/or summon them which makes them very survivable compared to any other non Undead chariot. On the other hand their strength and toughness of only 5 makes them much more fragile. Given the stats an Undead chariot is perfectly suited to charge any form of foottroops and lightly armored cavalry. Against heavily armored opponents or creatures with a high toughness of 6+ Undead chariots are pretty useless. For a start always equip them with scythed wheels. Chariots are some of the fastest and hardest hitting troop types Undead player can field. Therefore if you ever get the points buy at least 2 for your army. I usually use 3 of them in 3000+ battles. Having a charge range of 16inches means they are ideally suited for flanking charges and do protect your flanks perfectly. You can even give one of your chariots a magical standard, though this is pretty useless. Letting your General ride on a chariot (or a vampire) can sometimes be a very good idea - especially in tournament battles and small battlefields where your opponent has almost no chance of hitting that chariot with his missile fire and to wipe out the horses. It is also a very good idea to screen your chariots with Zombies or Skeletons. Your opponent knows about your dangerous chariots and will try to take them out of the game asap. If you screen them with cheap troops he will only hit the screen with missiles. Cannonballs and bolt throwers positioned on a hill you cannot hide from. A nasty tactic is to let some troop types charge your screen and as your screen will crumble (given they are zombies this will happen for 99percent) and your chariots will charge that unit in your own turn and mostly wreck havoc. Given their charge range chariots are also perfectly suited to take weaker enemy units out of the game before the main battle line of your opponent clashes with your Undead army. Of course this means your chariots will then get wiped out quite fast but everything you summon is cannonfodder anyways and you have just to make sure that this "sacrifice" is worth it. If you decide to charge a unit with chariots alone make sure you have at least two charging. This is because of the low S and T profile. Even better are three. One chariots counts the same as 5 fear causing models which means that if you charge with three chariots you have 15 fear causing models and as you are likey to win the first round of combat because of the automatic charge hits your opponent will autobreak as long as you do outnumber him. Dangerous high cost regiments like white lions are perfect victims of such charges, or chaos warriors who would otherwise wreck havoc among your units. I have more than once taken the frenzy out of chaos warriors wearing the banner of rage using this tactic. Chariots also work great in conjunction with your army. More on that later. All in all i would say chariots are a must have against almost all opponents , especially in tournaments, just always take more than one.

8.2.6 Mummies

Mummies are some of the toughest Undead rnf troops available. Unfortunately they do flee which is quite a contradiction to the whole Undead idea, especially as it i snot clearly stated (and this should be so). Lets hope that some mighty GW gods will revise that sometimes, as Mummies still crumbleto dust if the Undead general dies. With two attacks, double handed weapons, their high toughness and 4 wounds Mummies can stand in the front line without any supporting character and still hope to win a round of hth combat against most other rnf troop types. Never ever forget that Mummies take double damage from fire based attacks! With some assorted Vampire characters every Mummie unit of 8+ turns into a killer unit. Thie slow movement of 3 inch doesn't matter much as your whole army is slow. Giving them a standard (not a magical one as they cannot field one) and a musician is always worth it in large battles. Mummies also make great flanking units. More on that later. You can even do a Wight Lord (remember what i said about WIght Lords and magic items) ,Vampire Count, Mummy setup which is dangerous to no end.

Possible equipment:

Wight Lord : - Armor of Protection, Crown of Command: Nice but given the combat
                stats the Crown of Command is not really necessary.
             - Armour of Protection, Cursed book: Gives your opponent a -1 to 
               hit. If you want to increase that give the vampire the
               ruby chalice and this adds to a -2 to hit in hth and this
               is certainly enough to break almost every unit.

Vampire Count: - Any magic weapon (not really necessary - maybe an additional hw is 
                 better in most occasion except when you have to take on some killer 
                 characters like dwarfen heroes and more), Carstein Ring (obvious), 
                 or if you want to go nuts Ruby Chalice.

You might of course exchange the wight lord for a mummy tomb king. You see every combination comes down to maximize the opponents difficulty to hit you. The Vampire will take care of the rest. You can of course also make a center unit out of Mummies. Even though their lack to have a magical banner is a disadvantage and it is far better to take the brunt of any charge with skeletons (which will not break) and take such a unit into the opponents flank. More on that later.

8.2.7 Ghosts

Well Ghosts seem to be semi effective. In fact they are not. Sure their 3 wounds and invulnerabilities are fine but their strangth of 3 and the lack of available equipment, not to mention they cannot have a magical banner and the fact that they crumble if they fail a breaktest (D 5) makes them worth nothing. In my eyes putting a character into such a unit is a bad idea and if you evaluate all the possibilities you will agree. Some think that ghosts would be nice screening troops as they are invulnerable to non magical attacks. In fact they are not. A screen only has 1 rank. The only purpose of a screen is to take a charge - crumble and let your own units charge. Ok this can be achieved with ghosts but consider the price. A ghost is 35pts each and thats costy. Since you cannot summon ghosts it is even more costy (always remember there is magic :)). So what to do with Ghosts ? Well leave them at home.

8.2.8 Wraiths

Wraiths would be the toughest and most dangerous Undead unit if they wouldn't have such a low LD (5) and would not crumble if they fail a break test. On the other hand they have double handed weapons which raises their strength to 5 and 2 attacks. Their chill attacks do not have any effect on games. In addition they cause terror. Now the only question is how one can turn Wraiths into a combat worthy unit. First of all giving them a standard bearer and/or musician is a waste, i.e. for additional 150pts (or 75) the effect is not high enough. So what they need first is a high LD for breaktests. Ideally you take the Crown of command. Now an opponent will assume that so the crown bearer should have some protection as well. This can easily be done by taking a Wight Lord and giving him a protecting item (re: remember Heroes other than Vampire Counts should have at least one unit supporting item). Now your unit is very difficult to break and your Wight Lord is even invulnerable to missile fire. A cunning opponent will know about that as soon as he sees such a unit. Therefore he will do his utmost to crack that character. The only thing you can do here is adding a Vampire Count. Now this turns a Wraith Unit into a killer combo which can easily take on a whole WE army on its own. The equipment of this Vampire is similar to that listed under 8.2.7. You could even make this unit harder by giving this Vampire the Sword of Destruction, though you have to place a Wraith between him and the Wight Lord. The Vampire takes any challengers and even if not he cancels all magic items in base contact and you mostly see no unist with more than two killer characters who could wipe a Wight Lord in one round. Ideally the Vampire can stand on his own because of his killing stats. Now figure you would even have a cursed book in range from a different unit. YOu see where this gets you. Wraiths are THE supporting Unit for Undead and their effect always is devastating. Note that a Unit fighting Wraith must take a breaktest as long as the Wraiths do exist regardless of combat result. In low pts games you can take the risk and just place the Vampire Count into this unit and if you use it carefully in a supporting role the LD 9 of the Vampire Count should be enough to keep it alive (especia lly if you give the Vampre a Sword of Swift Slaying). If you want to you can exchange the Wight Lord for an even more survivable Mummy Tomb King but this will slow the unit down. Apart from such a setup i cannot think of a combat worthy Wraith unit.

8.2.10 Wights

On the first look Wights seems to be a nice rnf troop type. They have three wounds, can wear heavy armor, bear a magical wight blade and can even be mounted for a mere 2 pts with an armor save of 3+. unfortunately they crumble if they fail a breaktest and they are not at all immune to normal attacks. This wouldnt be that dangerous if they would have a higher strength than just 3. Their LD of 8 is acceptable. With such a low strength the Wight Blade is just ineffective as most creatures with more than one wound an Undead army can face has a higher toughness. Additionally they cannot have a magical banner. Now you could do the same with a Wight unit you do with a Wraith unit but given their stats and their high pts costs of 37+ pts a model just makes any Wight regiment wasted points. YOu bind too many points in a regiment which cannot make up for that. Even mounted and equipped with spears and their high mobility (re: skeleton steeds discorporate) they are not effective enough and you bind even more points into a regiment which you cannot risk to lose because of the costs and which cannot inflict enough damage to make up for that. You cannot even give them a magical banner which is a crux for the Undead as all their "Elite" fighter cannot have magical banners which is quite opposite compared to other races. You better use Wights for Champions (if really necessary and for very limited purpose) and Heroes.

8.2.11 Skeleton Horsemen

Skeleton Horsemen are weak for a cavalry. Although you can strengthen them with assorted characters , they can have a magical banner and they are highly mobil compared to all other Undead units. Though one should ask himself whether it is a good idea to have such a highly mobile Unit with low armor save as highly mobile units are usually used to fight ahead of the remaining army and or on their own. And fighting on their own is an ability a Skeleton Horsemen unit does not really have. They will not last for long. You may use such a unit for flanking purposes. Imho the ideal Skeleton unit has no armor save better than 5+ which turns them into fast cavalry (read the rules for that ), have , if ever, just a Wraith Champion bearing no items for characters and uses the Doomrider Banner which lets the Lances equipped Skeletons hit automatically for a S5. Being fast cavalry even means you can widen your front rank by any number. Such a unit is ideally suited to play the role a chariot plays. You can even summon more on them. Equipping such a unit with bows is a waste. Remember such a unit can move through just about any terrain freely and it will hit hard. You can even use such a unit as a spearhead on a wide flanking move (using VanHalen) ot protect other units flanks.

8.2.12 Skeletons

Skeletons are the way to go for an Undead player. They should be your core troops. YOu can equip skeletons with just about everything and keep in mind if you add to an existing unit with summoning the new models come with the same equipment the unit has. It is always a good idea to have a large block of skeletons. In large games (3000+) it is even better to have 2. A Necromancer in a Skeleton Unit can always flee (if he deems necessary) without having to fear to get caught as the skeletons will stand. This is because Skeletons never break, they just take additional wounds. An Undead General should possibly always be placed into a Skeleton Unit together with at least one supporting character for additional protection. The key of such units and so called support units (Wraiths Mummies Chariots Skeleton Horsemen etc.) is to work together which means they should not be far apart. More on that later. Typically you take one of the banners and/combos i have already mentioned above. My ideal Skeleton Unit has heavy armour and halberds with either banner of might (+1 to hit) or Banner of Defiance. Remember you cause fear and if you are huge and your main unit should certainly be able to inflict massive damage to win the combat result it means your opponent auto breaks. Skeletons also form a formidable screen (more on how a screen works later) especially if you equip them with heavy armor and crossbows.

9 Army tactics

9.1 General

Now lets talk about Undead army tactics using the analysis about unit composition and equipment we have done so far. Fist some general principles. An Undead army is an army for which the factor of time is most important. Generally the more time you have the better for you as you will grow stronger. One of your basic tactis is to try to buy time . This can be achieved by placing carrions and other units (VanHalened Skeleton Horsemen) within 8 inch of enemy units and out of their charge ranges. In turn restricted games you cannot count on time of course. On large battlefields time is_the_ factor for an Undead army as your summoning spells (correctly used) give you the possibilty to make you stronger and even place new units in the way of your opponents army to either slow it down and/or break it apart. In turn restricted games you have to use different tactics.Another important factor is which caster you give what spells. This is because that each caster has a different recovery roll ranging from automatically - Nacromancer Lords/Liches to a 6 (Vampire Counts) on a 1D6 roll. The caster with the lowest recovery roll should always have VanHalen and at least one summoning spell, either the 1pp or 2pp. Gaze of Nagash is always a good options for a low recovering spell caster. 3PP Spells are better suited for spell caster with a high recovering roll as you rarely have enough power left to cast such a spell twice. Sometimes you even have to prepare the use of such spells (Wind of Death etc.) by trying to draw all dispells with other low pp spells. Here sometimes Items like the Wand of Jet can be useful. Always keep in mind that there are spells you need to cast more than once and some spells which you rarely cast more than once. A third important factor is the battlefield you are on - the larger it is the less filled your Skeleton regiments can be as you have more time to enlarge them. This gives you more points for supporting units you cannot summon (Wraiths, Mummies etc.). In my eyes there are two major factors which can win Undead a battle. These are domination in the magic phases and the working together of your units.

I have already given you some ideas on how to achieve domination in the magic phase. Undead have some really powerful character types and some of the weakest rnf troop types at their disposal. This means that you have to find a way to improve your weak rnf troops as characters cannot achieve all and everything. Especially as you have to make sure that your general survives. One way to improve your rnf troops are carefully selected magic items (re: remember what i have told you about heroes and magic items). The other way is to hold your army together and let all your units support each other. This is a more tricky task but in combination with the right items and your magical abilities this turns the Undead army into an almost unstoppable Behemoth. Generally you can devide your rnf troops into so called main units and supporting units. A main unit is a unit you put your general and one or more supporting characters in. A supporting unit is a unit that protects the flanks of a main unit. It usually lurks one or two inchs set behind the main units front rank on its left or right side. Of course there is also a special supporting unit called a screen. The ideal main unit is a bunch of Skeletons with various equipment. This is because of the stats and way Skeletons work, their equipment possibilities and of course their possible magic banner. Skeletons do not break from combat , which means they last much longer than any other undead troop type. The best way to equip them is with heavy armour and halberd. This gives them strength 4 and a save of 5+. Of course you have to put some characters and possibly the general into at least one of these main units. All other Undead troop types are best suited in a supporting role. This means they protect flanks and if equipped right they can even kill weaker enemy troops all on their own. Chariots, Skeleton Horsemen and Carrion are supporting troops as well. Even though they can be send out on their own for various tactical purposes. This is because they are the speedy part of an Undead army. Some tactical ways how to send these troops out on their own have already been discussed. A screen usually is a line of cheap troops placed two or three inch in front of your main battle line. This has two purposes. First it shields your main units (and the valuable supporting units as well of course) from missile fire (not from cannons and bolt throwers standing on a hill of course) and second they take the initial charge from any enemy units, ideally crumble to dust and the way is free for your main units and supporting units to whack these enemy units with your own charges. A nice bonus is that if the enemy charges your screen you usually get to know what magic items he has in that unit(s). This can be very important because it is a warning and gives you a chance to possibly get wizards away from banner of morks or nasty characters. If played right you could even decide to charge with your supporting unit only which will inevitably charge the enemy units flank (such a setup will produce the needed charge arc and if not you have to move the supporting unit(s) in an appropriate way. This has the advantage that enemy characters placed in the front rank cannot fight back in the turn when you have charged the flank because they do not touch their own flank. In addition they cannot issue a challenge (re: basic rules) as they are not already engaged in combat. As a bonus the enemy has then to decide to either move his characters in his following turn to fight your flanking unit which gives you an ideal way to charge with your main unit with only little risks of losing a General or other such characters. This is a very nice way to get the frenzy out of chaos warriors with a Wraith unit and assorted Vampire Wight Lord combo.Now lets do some possible army setups and see how they work in general using the stuff we have discussed so far.

9.3.1 Basic 3000pts army

Take a main skeleton unit with halberd and heavy armour. give that unit the banner of might. Attach your Necromancer General with assorted (already discussed how to equip such a guy) magic items and a Vampire (or a Wight Lord, Mummy Tomb King, Wraith Champion) Count andif possible a Wraith. The Vampire should have some of the cheaper equipment and possibly wear the Cursed Book (or other characters should do that, depending on your character setup)

Take another Skeleton Unit with a Wight or Mummy character possibly equipped with heavy armour and halberds (or speers if you wantr to). The Banner could well be Banner of defiance (which could also be in the general unit) or the Banner of Sorcery (not a good idea in long time large battles).

For supporting Units do a basic Wraith Unit setup (as disussed under Wraith units) and put and if you still have points add some mummies and two/three chariots. How many points you have free depends on how strong you start your main summonable unist with. As a rule of thumb the larger the board , the more time you have, the smaller such main units can be to start with. Maybe some Carrions and/or Skeleton Horsemen equipped with Doomrider Banner and being fast cavalry is a nice idea too. Of course you can also use Zombies for screening purposes but you will lose your long range fighting capabilities.

Then take two units of 5 Skeletons equipped with XBows and heavy armor (or no armor at all) for screening purposes. The deployment should look as follows

         xxxxx      xxxxx
 
         HGVHH      HHWHH
    C  C       WVWW      MMMMM C   

You can also add some horsemen on the extreme left flank and generally put the carrions behind the wraiths. The main units should not be more than 2 inchs behind of the screening xbow units and the supporting units should not be more than 1 or 2 inch (depending on their speed) behind the main units. In time your main units will grow, your screen will grow and with van halen that screen can even shoot once (if you decide to move) or twice (if you do not move). Please note the actual sizes of the units depends on your own taste and points costs. Now what wil happen. In time your screening units will be large enough to even cover your supporting units. If the enemy charges you will usually lose enough screening troops that they will either crumble (never make them bigger than 10 models) or give you holes for your charge. This setup in some variation you can easily figure out by yourself is good enough to wipe out almsot every army as long as your magic comes at least on average. YOu see that the closed packing of your units give them a good chance to work together with their magic items. And Wraiths in a flank of an enemy regiment is devastating. Do not hesitate to send chariots or carrion or skeleton horsemen on wide flank attacks or precharge tasks as already discussed to break the enemy armies battle line or weaker units. And don't be afraid if you lose those units as they are expendable. In such a setup and given you have the points you can even have a mummy tomb king lurking behind your battle formations on steed for example or in a small unit wearing the Tomb Kings Crown. Figure out possible ways to move your units and you will easily see how flexible such a setup is. As an added bonus you also have the chance to move your general between units which comes very handy in small battles. A good supporting tactic for such moving and for Undead in general is to create a so called bag formation. Or the turkish falf moon :) Lets take the basic setup from above and within one or two turns it could look as follows.

c                             c
  c                     MMMMM
     xxxxxxx    xxxxxx
     HGVHH       HHWHH
           WWVW

Such a formation should ideally be wide enough to overlap the enemy army. In addition you can also move your screen up a bit just that your main units can still charge when the screen crumbles. Now what will happen is that as soon as he charges your screen he gets sacked by several combined charges by your side. Additionally if you want to move your general away from a nasty character you can easily change a unit and charge the enemy in the flank. Such a bag formation works perfect against expensive armies like chaos who do not have that many regiments. Such a tactic is also a good solution for tournaments. YOur flanks are fast enough to charge first and your main body is well protected and you can decide where to put the strong point of the hth combat. All other Undead deployment is basically just a variation of those two i have discussed above. If you now take all the ideas and tactics and equipment and such stuff together and vary it in some point and if you let your army work together there will be not much that can stand you. You could for example only screen chariots to counter a cavalry charge. No matter what you do it will always come to the basic principles i have discussed.

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Ok that was it. You now know a lot about Undead their strength their weaknesses and how to use them. Of course if you have own cool ideas which i have not discussed here feel free to contact me. Keep in mind that i could still fill many many pages with additional stuff but i neither have the time nor do i have the will to do so. Especially as everything "new" can be seen as a variation of the stuff i have disussed. I wish you luck in your life of Undeath!
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