The 9th Age/Tactics/Old/Undying Dynasties/v1.0.0

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The Undying Dynasties army of skeletons, mummies, and living statues of The 9th Age.

Why Play The Undying Dynasties

Are you a Warhammer Fantasy player? Congratulations, these are the Tomb Kings which is finally balanced without having to trade your independence for it.

To those who are new to the game; do you want an army with a lot of cheap chaff mixed with really tough models, built on synergy of different models to both buff each other and support each other? Do you want an army covered in sand and dust, carrying shining bronze and gold, where you can practice your weathering techniques? Do you want to yell at people to get the fuck off your lawn so you can focus on your ten thousand year old war on that asshole who's garden gnomes lowered the property values in your neighborhood? Then Undying Dynasties are your army.

Army Upgrades

The biggest difference for players switching from Tomb Kings to Undying Dynasties is your ability to take a theme if you desire which fundamentally changes your models.

• The first option is Commander Of The Terracotta Army which gives your Skeletons, Skeleton Archers, Skeleton Cavalry, and Necropolis Guard an extra point of Toughness in exchange for losing a point of Initiative (which is shit anyway in this army, no significant loss) and three more points to the cost of each of those models. That last part coupled with a 20 model maximum on Necropolis Guard Units and a 3 model limit on Chariot Units means Deathstars are somewhat out of the question unless you're dedicating yourself to it. Your Constructs get the same +1 Toughness and -1 Initiative, which is still good, but THAT costs 15 more points each. You also lose access to the Underground Ambush and Light Troops rules, taking away any unique movement options. Finally, you can't take Great Vultures, Scarab Swarms, and Winged Reapers, leaving you without any tricks for getting into the enemy's side of the board other than footplodding or taking Cavalry. Finally, your Risen score for the entire army becomes no more than 1.

This option returns Tomb Kings to their age of 7e and 8e Warhammer, but gives massive buffs to the Construct models. While interesting and having more Toughness is always something to fantasize about, your army becomes incredibly limited. Despite this, CotTA is considered by many to be the current Netlist option. Chariots lose use as anything but a light hammer, forcing you to rely on a cavalry approach for your repeated charges. The gimped Risen value forces players to rely on the old fashioned tactic of spamming your resurrection on tightly packed models and praying the opponent doesn't use templates and you don't Miscast.

The only real effective use of CotTA is by taking as many high Toughness models you can in your list, since they already have a low Risen potential regardless and that Toughness can actually mean something. Take an Architect, put him on an Amuut to give Regeneration and put some Shabti into the Core. Fill the rest of the Core with either Skeleton Cavalry or Skeleton Chariots depending on preference. Keep your army together, Risen spam will save your army in attrition. Combat Resolution will likely be painful, mitigate it as much as possible.

• Lord Of The Barrow Legion is your second option. Skeletons and Skeleton Archers get 2 points more expensive and gain Heavy Armor, and Skeletons can replace the Spear and Shield with a Halberd for an additional point. Cavalry get the option for a 3 point Lance per model and/or Barding for 3 points. Chariots also get 5 points more expensive to take a mandatory Heavy Armor, and can optionally take a Halberd for 5 points while being limited to only a maximum of 4 per Unit. Necropolis Guard are required to have Heavy Armor for 2 more points each, and have a maximum Unit size of 25. Scarab Swarms are 15 points more expensive and must be taken in a Unit of 2 at least, but gain Ethereal (Ethereal models have a Risen value of only 1). All models lose Underground Ambush and Scout, you cannot take Large Target or Monstrous Cavalry, and any models that aren't Flying that have Heavy Armor lose Light Troops.

This option returns you to the 5th edition Warhammer Undead army. This upgrade is far more workable. The benefits outweight the costs if you want to take an army of far more durable models. Just pack your list full of infantry, take Halberds, and be the spooky Warriors of Chaos you always wanted to be.