Tactica Mortis
A few suggestions for the upcoming Undead Tactics article.
Credits to the Dark Lord Lee Valentine and the Dread Master Rob
Doherty, two local Undead commanders whom I chat WHFB with as
well as fight against, fight alongside of, and swap figs with so
we can use each other's races as allies.
Overall, your chararacters are expensive but extremely powerful, generally combining lord-level HtH ability with lvl-3 or 4 wizard capabilities. The good news is that you don't necessarily need to buy both a Lord and a powerful spellcaster; the bad news is that you may be torn between equipping your leaders for fighting or for magic, furthermore, you are doubly screwed if the Black Gem or Mork's War Banner gets slapped onto your character. BTW never forget that Necromancers and Vampires aren't immune to Psychology!!
Generic Generals are rare among the Undead; their Special
Characters are generally superior. Of those who see play, the
Vampire Lord is the most common, riding in a chariot or monster
(since Vlad can't) and armed with the Sword of Destruction, or
else taken in addition to Vlad for a double dose of concentrated
hand-to-hand devastation. Able to beat nearly anything in close
combat and a lvl-3 wizard to boot, the SoD-equipped Vampire lord
is also nicely protected from the Black Gem, the 'Eadbang Banner,
the Speculum and similar sneaky tricks. Placed inside a unit that
includes anti-magical protection, this combination is one of the
safest ways to field an Undead General without having to consign
him to a skulking role in the rear ranks. Since The Vampire Lord
has four magic Item slots and counts as a wizard, if you choose
not to give him the Sword of Destruction you can always fill up
unused slots with extra Dispel Scrolls.
The Necromancer Lord and Liche are seldom worth taking, since
Heinrich is a markedly better deal unless you really really want
to sit on a monster.
What can I say? A decently-priced BSB with T4, 3W and immunity to psychology. Go for it!
Vampire Counts are expensive (more than most races' Generals), but consider that they are only slightly weaker than V-Lords, cost 175 points less, and have no numbers limit (except for that imposed by high cost). A cavalry unit whose front rank boasts a trio of Counts equipped with mutually-supportive items, a Wight to answer unwelcome challenges and enough RnF to keep the Magic Standard flying is a fearsome strike force of the first magnitude.
Tomb Kings: expensive characters in an army list whose "necessary" characters already eat up a huge chunk of points. If all you need a Hero for is Ld and magic item slots, a Wight Lord does the same job for less, while those Undead players who use mummies as core units generally go for Settra instead. As an independent model on a monster, Tomb Kings are a nice intermediate option between the expensive Counts and the naff Wight Lords; plus, this frees them of the Mummy's Curse: lousy M!
Wight Lords: Cheap as Heroes go (mercifully cheap by Undead Standards), decent in HtH without any extra toys, as durable as Human, Elf or Skaven Lords. Just about every regiment that can't have a Champion (see below) should take one, if you can afford it, especially now that so many tricks exist to sack a General...
Champions: May be included in regiments of Skeletons, zombies or Ghouls (although the last will lose their marching ability if you do this). Since most people use champions as suicide challengers, the cheaper Wights are more popular. Consider, though, the benefits of a Wraith Champion challenging Dragonriders and mondo-characters while carrying a "Scythe of Destruction"...
Necromancers (Lesser): Since your primary wizard is so costly, and since Vampires can perform magical-backup duty, not many Undead commanders can justify the expense. If you really need to bring a few mire Dispel Scrolls to the battle, allied Skaven Warlock Engineers and Champions are cheaper.
SKELETONS: Horsemen with lance and shield make good fast cavalry, especially with Doomrider Banner, HtH-equipped leaders and good use of terrain. Remember, though, that although you can move at will through terrain, you cannot declare a charge unless you have LOS to our enemy. Peek around woods and hills, and learn to love streams, swamps, enemy who are on a hill so you can see them over the intervening landscape etc... On foot, they are the most commonly-fielded infantry type: they can use nearly any type of equipment, which makes them versatile: just don't go nuts and increase their price too much with loads of ill-chosen gear. Consider your enemy and arm appropriately. Also remember that just because you can give them missile weapons doesn't mean that you should: BS2 just won't cut it, not when you can use allies.
Zombies: Expensive if you didn't get the plastic Heroquest versions, but otherwise...Half-price Skellies (a nice 5-per with double-handed Heroquest Cleavers) and your cheapest infantry: form a huge block with characters for hitting power and the Banner of Might and have fun! Remember VDM for extra rounds of 2-handed swings. You are hosed if you fail a Break Test, but if this is your main foot unit you can probably afford to make that an unlikely occurence by including the usual precautions (Crown, Genneral, Standard, you know the drill by now...). Alternatively, small units make nice screens to absorb enemy charges, as they conveniently melt away to expose the "victors" to a counterattack by your best H-t-H units.
Ghosts: poor fighters, ineligible for VDM, 35 points each. They are insubstantial, and much cheaper than Wraiths, though, so consider a small unit to place a valued character in when facing lots of missiles nd artillery.
Ghouls: Nobody seems to like these guys. T4, A2 and Fear are nice, as is the ability to march move, but Ld 5 demands a leader, and only necromancers and vampires won't slow you down. Crown of Command and characters' Ld bonuses are no good for break Tests, since they always fail. Honestly, their only real strengths lie in not being technically Undead, and you can get up to 25% allies to cover that angle for you.
Wights (as units): As enduring as Minotaurs but weak on offense, they aren't very efficient infantry, especially since they cost too much to field in deep regiments, but blow up if they fail a break test. They make highly efficient Fast Cavalry since you don't double their cost when mounting them; include Crown of Command (or use your terrain-ignoring properties and Fast Cav status to go after equal-sized enemy cav), and your have only slightly pricey support cavalry with tremendous ability to absorb missile fire.
Mummies: tough as hell, loads o' wounds, two attacks, slow, expensive. So... against aggressive armies (Chaos, Greenskins & Skaven, Dark Elves to a lesser extent), do consider a big honkin' unit of Mummies, with double-handed weapons since you'll be striking last anyway. Banner of Might is welcome, and anti-magic for the unit is a must to keep away those fiery spells. once they are in HtH, an extra 2 swings apiece with double-handed weapons will probably represent a highly efficient expenditure of that 1 power card...
Carrion: Frankly, allied harpies or a cheap flying character are probably a better deal. Nice models, but WS3, S3 means not much help from the Ghost Rider power, and they aren't hard to kill.
Wraiths: The cost...Yikes! On the other hand, you get Terror, immunity from *most* missiles and war machines (hence good protection for characters), 2A with double-handed mandatory scythes.
Screaming Skull Catapults: The Panic test is a nice plus, and D3 hits per wound with no save, while not sterling, will suffice against most foes. Your crew cannot flee from charging flyers, but at least nearby crew won't be panicked by what happens to them, and the Fear the crew cause does nicely when keeping Harpies away. The ability to restore destroyed crew with a small spell is nice, also.
Chariots: a few things to remember: one gets a magic standard, you can repair damage and lost steeds/crew with magic, you can organize in units, your generic generals, heroes and Army Standard can ride in one, and lack of a march move is nothing to be ashamed of in this army list. This makes for some real possibilities. Using units makes repair more efficient: I once saw the lowly "Summon Skeletons" cast to produce a pretty-average 4 "skeletons or the equivalent"; the caster nominated his Chariot unit, and restored one crewman to a chariot that had gone riderless, plus both steeds to a machine that was steedless and finally one steed to a machine that had been reduced to half speed. The large Dwarf Crossbow unit that had been congratulating themselves were most surprised to be in the charge range of 5 functional chariots instead of 2! Most players are used to ignoring chariots that have no horses left, but they'll have to keep glancing nervously at your "stranded" machines lest they suddenly pop back to life!
The Zombie Dragon is problematic: it really needs the protection offered by a rider with good items, but cany you really handle a 500-point addition to your already-strapped character allowance? Scaly Skin is not much help since any attack serious enough to cause you trouble will generally be strong enough to ignore a 5+ save. The breath weapon is poor against most troops compared to other breath types, but can be alright against very high-T opponents. Overall, not too impressive.
Nagash: Expensive as a Greater Daemon and generally much nastier; arguably the baddest special character in the game. Mandatory but well chosen items. Wise opponents will ignore or Gnar him. I personally dislike gambling so much on one model, but some swear by him.
Vlad & Isabella: too many use Isabella as a throwawy to get Vlad Frenzied. please remember that she is 175 points of quite capable character herself: used judiciously, she can cause more harm as a very nasty fighter whom your opponent is terribly afraid of killing than as a mere kamikaze.
Mannfred: a slightly understrength Count with the powers of a Nec Lord. A very popular option, but be sure to make up your mind whether to equip him for fighting or for enhanced spellcasting, since trying to do both generally produces inefficient results.
Heinrich Kemmler: By far the most popular General, since he's a Nec Lord with a 60-points-off-just-for-being-so-cool coupon. Can't ride a monster, but otherwise, why not bring him along? Nice model, too.
Arkhan the Black: Great model. A Liche in a recycled-Manticore chariot. Remember that the chariot flies magically and so cannot get stranded! Also remember that this means you can get driven off!
Krell: Sort of a Wight General. A cheap alternative leader in small games (although Heinrich is probably better), and one of your few characters who remains efficient in the face of all those High Magic wizards whom everyone drags along to drain magic every turn.
Settra: a mummy Lord who can take wizard-only items (see Arcane Magic). Expensive as a sidekick, but cheap for a general if you've given up on spells after getting sunk in High Magic.
Dieter: not very "Special", but he lets you bring another Nec Lord who doesn't have to lead the army. Generally, Heinrich is a better deal.
Dark Elves for missile power, infiltrators and Shadowblade to kill whoever is draining magic every turn. Allies are a good idea overall to deal with enemies who buy up lots of expensive anti-undead items. Go for mobility/infiltration and ranged attacks to cover your sluggish attacks.
Folks are free, of course, to comment.
Cheers,
- Tox