Age of Fantasy/Tactics/Ossified Undead
Why play Ossified Undead?
The Ossified Undead are an unrelenting tide of deathless iron.
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Pros
- Universal Regeneration
- Some pretty strong quality values for your army
Cons
- Very narrow unit selection
- (Almost) Your entire army is Slow
- Shooting is near-nonexistent
Special Rules
- Undead: Your models all auto-pass morale checks, which is great. Instead, you need to roll a d6 for each remaining model/Tough wound in the unit; any time you roll a 1, they suffer a wound that bypasses Regeneration.
Wizard Spells
- Enslave (4+): Enemy unit within 12" takes -1 to hit in melee. No better way to keep your bony boys unharmed than making them unable to get hurt.
- Undermine (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes 2 AP 2 hits.
- Command (5+): One friendly unit within 12" can immediately move 6". The fact that your army is Slow just proves how invaluable this spell is.
- Deadly Contract (5+): One enemy model within 12" takes 4 hits. While they lack AP, it's a good way to at least dent a hero or brute.
- Drain (6+): Enemy unit within 18" takes -2 to hit in shooting. Considering how easily your army can get caught in the open, that -2 is incredibly powerful.
- Deception (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take 6 AP 1 hits each. Way stronger than most spells like this and still able to flatten mobs.
Unit Analysis
Heroes
- Greater Lord of Bones: Your absurdly strong grand poo-bah. Melee is an unprecedented nightmare, as not only does this guy have a frenzy of powerful AP 2 Rending strikes with his halberd, but he also has some bodyguards to back him up and Fear to tip the scales. The fact that this is your tankiest hero with Tough 9, Regeneration and a 2+ defense means that he's a sturdy one. The issue is that he's absolutely SOL at range, as he lacks any spells or shooting. If you intend to use him, you'll need protection like nobody's business.
- Lord of Bones: Your most combat-ready hero, gifted with both a 3+ in quality and defense. This along with his versatility in loadout make him a pretty good contender, but he lacks any manner of shooting. His special rule is Eternal Duty, which adds +1 to hit for his attached unit.
- Melee: The lord of bones starts with a basic hand weapon and all the other options are pretty generic: dual wielding (for another three attacks), halberd (Rending), great weapon (AP 2), spear (Phalanx), and lance (Impact 1, bunt only available while mounted).
- Mounts: Note that whatever you do, you get Swift, which counteracts the lord's crippling slowness. The skeletal steed is your budget choice, granting Impact to make charges appealing. The great steed is the 'roided up version, with extra attacks, Impact 3 and adds +3 to the lord's Tough value, but more than doubles the price.
- Bone Master: A very feeble wizard. This guy's not so cut out for combat, and its only other non-casting upgrade is Fear - a joke unless you throw this guy to the front lines.
- Bone Wizard: On the outset, you'll notice that this and the bone master are nigh-identical. This is fairly apt except this guy sucks even harder in combat. That said, it has ways to improve, the easiest being a bone scythe for A3 Rending to close that gap. You can also buy Bone Shaper, which improves Regeneration and is thus incredibly useful. The bone wizard also has its own mount, an arcane throne that offers its own attacks as well as a +d3 bonus when blocking spells. Simply put, this guy can make their unit an anvil.
Infantry
- Guardians: Your basic troops are quite powerful, with a 4+ to quality and defense on top of everything else. They also have a pretty diverse list of armaments, with two special ones included: The soul blade (which gives a model an AP 2 Rending attack, pretty strong for the price) and the harpoon (giving an unlucky hero a very unpleasant surprise).
- Horsemen: Guardians on horseback, meaning that they're moving at normal speed with Impact. This comes at a rather drastic price hike, especially since you only get five of them. If you plan on riding hard into the Impact life, then the lances are your only option.
- Stalkers: Even crazier melee nuts, each one dual wielding and gaining another boost with Combat Stance (each turn you pick between either +1 to hit in melee, +1 AP, or +1 to defense). This makes them more potent in melee (especially if you give one of them falchions for a default AP 2), but they remain just as vulnerable, if not more so, than the mere guardian.
- Elite Stalkers: Unlike the base ones, these are very no-nonsense. All they need to get things done are halberds and a better statline. This makes them more exposed to focus fire, but you can't ask for a stronger hero bunker.
Vehicles
- Harvester Beast: A literal flurry of attacks with an incredibly vital purpose: These guys can resurrect and heal for two units each activation. This alone pretty much makes them an auto-include, as they can start mowing down fools while supporting your troops. If you plan on fighting other monsters, then the maces can make its attacks way more impactful at the cost of quantity. You can also buy shriek, which gives the harvester some short-ranged shooting.
- Skull Catapult: Your singular piece of artillery. Thankfully, it has outstanding range and gives you some much-needed crowd control with a Blast 3 Poison hit that could potentially eradicate with the right moves.
Army Building
Starter Armies
General Advice
Tactics
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Pros
- Universal Regeneration
- Some pretty strong quality values for your army
Cons
- Very narrow unit selection
- (Almost) Your entire army is Slow
- Shooting is near-nonexistent
Special Rules
- Undead: Your models all auto-pass morale checks, which is great. Instead, you need to roll a d6 for each remaining model/Tough wound in the unit; any time you roll a 1, they suffer a wound that bypasses Regeneration.
Wizard Spells
- Enslave (4+): Enemy unit within 12" takes -1 to hit in melee. No better way to keep your bony boys unharmed than making them unable to get hurt.
- Undermine (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes 2 AP 2 hits.
- Command (5+): One friendly unit within 12" can immediately move 6". The fact that your army is Slow just proves how invaluable this spell is.
- Deadly Contract (5+): One enemy model within 12" takes 4 hits. While they lack AP, it's a good way to at least dent a hero or brute.
- Drain (6+): Enemy unit within 18" takes -2 to hit in shooting. Considering how easily your army can get caught in the open, that -2 is incredibly powerful.
- Deception (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take 6 AP 1 hits each. Way stronger than most spells like this and still able to flatten mobs.
Unit Analysis
Heroes
- Lord of Bones: Your most combat-ready hero, gifted with both a 3+ in quality and defense. This along with his versatility in loadout make him a pretty good contender, but he lacks any manner of shooting. His special rule is Eternal Duty, which adds +1 to hit for his attached unit.
- Melee: The lord of bones starts with a basic hand weapon and all the other options are pretty generic: dual wielding (for another three attacks), halberd (Rending), great weapon (AP 2), spear (Phalanx), and lance (Impact 1, bunt only available while mounted).
- Mounts: Note that whatever you do, you get Swift, which counteracts the lord's crippling slowness. The skeletal steed is your budget choice, granting Impact to make charges appealing. The great steed isn't an option here considering the absurd price.
- Bone Master: A very feeble wizard. This guy's not so cut out for combat, and its only other non-casting upgrade is Fear - a joke unless you throw this guy to the front lines.
- Bone Wizard: On the outset, you'll notice that this and the bone master are nigh-identical. This is fairly apt except this guy sucks even harder in combat. That said, it has ways to improve, the easiest being a bone scythe for A3 Rending to close that gap. You can also buy Bone Shaper, which improves allied Regeneration and is thus incredibly useful. It sadly lacks a mount, which deals a blow towards its psychic blocking potential, but it's still a wizard.
Infantry
- Guardian: Your basic troops are quite powerful, with a 4+ to quality and defense on top of everything else. They also have a pretty diverse list of armaments, with a special bonus: The soul blade, which gives a model an AP 2 Rending attack, pretty strong for the price. If you're looking for something to take on most enemies, then you won't be disappointed.
- Horseman: Guardian on horseback, meaning that they're moving at normal speed with Impact. This comes at a rather drastic price hike. If you plan on riding hard into the Impact life, then the lances are your only option.
- Stalker: Even crazier melee nut, dual wielding and gaining another boost with Combat Stance (each turn you pick between either +1 to hit in melee, +1 AP, or +1 to defense). This makes them more potent in melee (especially if you give one of them falchions for a default AP 2), but they remain just as vulnerable, if not more so, than the mere guardian.
- Elite Stalker: Unlike the base ones, these are very no-nonsense. All they need to get things done are halberds and a better statline. This makes them more exposed to focus fire, but you can't ask for a stronger hero bunker.
Army Building
Starter Armies
General Advice
Tactics
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| Age of Fantasy Tactics Articles | |
|---|---|
| General: | General Tactics |
| Dwarves: | Dwarves - Sky-City Dwarves - Volcanic Dwarves |
| Elves: | Dark Elves - Deep Sea Elves - High Elves - Wood Elves |
| Greenskins: | Goblins - Orcs |
| Havoc: | Beastmen - Clans of the War Cry - Havoc Dwarves - Havoc Warriors - Rift Daemons |
| Humans: | Chivalrous Kingdoms - Duchies of Vinci - Eternal Wardens - Humans - Kingdom of Angels |
| Undead: | Ghostly Undead - Mummified Undead - Ossified Undead - Vampiric Undead |
| Other: | Giant Tribes - Halflings - Ogres - Ratmen - Saurians - Shadow Stalkers |