Kings of War/Tactics/Undead Armies

Why Play Undead Armies

Why indeed?

Army Special Rules

• Evil Dead: All units in this army have Lifeleech (1) unless otherwise noted.

• Undead Giant Rats (or are they Dogs?): Units with this upgrade increase their Lifeleech ability to Lifeleech (2).

Unit Analysis

Hero

• Cursed Pharaoh:

• Lady Ilona:

• Liche King: An upgraded Necromancer, costing nearly twice as many points. He comes with Surge (12), 4 points better than the Necromancer, and can buy Bane-Chant (3), Heal (6), and Lightning Bolt (5). You can also mount him on a horse if you so desire. You're not really getting much better for the points and are better off just buying two Necromancers instead of a single Liche King.

• Lykanis:

• Mhorgoth the Faceless:

• Necromancer: Your budget hero. Like a lot of undead heroes, he comes standard with Surge (8). You can buy three spell upgrades or mount him on a horse. The spell upgrades are pretty weak, being Bane-Chant (2), Heal (3), and Lightning Bolt (3). He's better as a cheap source of Surge instead of as a general offensive caster.

• Revenant King: A hero somewhere between a Necromancer and a Vampire Lord. Comes with Surge (6) and Inspiring. These guys are kind of in a weird spot points-wise. For 15 points more you could take both a Necromancer and an Undead Army Standard Bearer, so you're saving a few points to take a hero that fills both roles. It also lacks Shambling, meaning you won't have as much trouble keeping up with your hordes with the king. A solid choice if you're planning to use it as a dual Necromancer/Standard Bearer that walks behind an infantry block and casts Surge while providing an Inspiring bubble.

• Revenant King on Undead Wyrm:

• Undead Army Standard Bearer: Your cheap Inspiring hero. This walking corpse has Shambling itself, which you need to remember when moving it around the field, but otherwise it's your cheap source of Inspiring. Love it and take it, hell, take two of three.

• Vampire Lord: Your basic infantry combat hero. This hero is kind of all over the place. Comes standard with Crushing Strength (2), 8 attacks, and a 3+ on melee, but it also has a small selection of spells. Vampire Lords on foot suffer from the same issues as all combat infantry lords: lords cost way too much for what you get. If you want a budget caster, take a Necromancer. If you want a combat hero, take one on a giant monster.

• Vampire on Undead Dragon:

• Vampire on Undead Pegasus:

Infantry

• Ghouls:

• Mummies:

• Revenants:

• Skeleton Archers:

• Skeleton Spearmen:

• Skeleton Warriors:

• Soul Reaver Infantry:

• Wraiths:

• Zombies:

Large Infantry

• Werewolves:

• Wights:

• Zombie Trolls:

Cavalry

• Revenant Cavalry: Your cheap skeleton cavalry. These are your screener cavalry, although they cannot march with their Shambling holding them back. Thankfully you're playing an army loaded with heroes who can Surge them into your foes. Set them up on the flank and Surge them into your opponent's lines while they cry that your spells are too cheesy.

• Soul Reaver Cavalry: Vampires mounted on cavalry. They are significantly more expensive then Revenant Cavalry, but gain more attacks and point each in Crushing Strength and Lifeleech while losing Shambling. Unfortunately they can be wavered at the standard cavalry values, meaning you're likely not going to get much use from them if your opponent targets them specifically. They're much too expensive to be used as screeners, so if you use them deploy them as elite heavy hitters.

Large Cavalry

None.

Monsters

None.

War Engines

• Balefire Catapult: The undead war engine and your only non-hero choice for those extra regiment slots since undead don't have any monsters. It hits on a 5+, like your standard war engines, and cannot move and shoot. It does have Shambling though, so you can Surge it around and still fire with the damn thing. If it does hit, you get Blast (D6+2) and Piercing (2), so with some luck it might pay for itself. It does make a good DISTRACTION CARNIFEX even if it doesn't hit anything since a movable shooting platform seems to scare the shit out of most players.

Tactics

Use necromancers to surge shambling hordes into the enemy. Stab them in the face* and eat their brains.

*Face optional.  Location and results may vary.