Monday Night Mordheim: The Walking Dead

Monday Night Mordheim; The Walking Dead

I must confess, I love the Undead. There's just something about a Vampire who is out there kicking ass and taking names rather wailing against his fate, wearing fancy clothes, and whining like an emo bitch.

The whole Undead mystique and look is cool. Badass vampires in armor, Necromancers in robes adorned with skulls (not that it makes them the least bit different from anything else that GW puts out), the Igor-like Dregs, the emaciated ghouls, and the shambling zombies. It's all done right. It's like a street gang from the 80's heavy metal bands crossed with some sort of sick Anne Rice wet dream. Damn, they are COOL.

While cool, they are hard to play in Mordheim. While almost every model in the bunch causes fear and is really hard to get to stay down, they are a tricky bunch to get to win. They dominate the early-mid campaign, but loose steam the longer they go one. Part of that is the lack of troops who gain experience, and another is the lack of hired swords.

Let's break it down by the Model;
The Vampire- easily one of the best beasts in the game, as I mentioned in an earlier post it is easily on par with the Big Guys, with the added benefit of not being stunned. The Vampire can also be customized since it has one of the widest array of skills for any of the Heroes. It is the soul true killer in the Undead Warband.
Necromancer- Let's face it, the Necromancer is there in case your Vampire bites the dust. While the Necromancer's spells are nice, but in an of themself are not a combat monster. They are nice to keep in the back and just add weight to the warband, and search for treasure.
Dregs- Dregs are overlooked, in my mind. They are cheap and expendable heroes. They are the standard of any other low level heroes (regardless of fluff and model looks). The dreg is there to fill in spots you might not be able fill otherwise. They advance quickily and with the right skills they can become competent killers.
Ghouls- Ghouls are the only henchmen who can gain experience. While they start out better then most other henchmen. The Ghouls tend not to stand up very well against other henchmen of equivalent experience levels.
Dire Wolves- All the benefits of zombies, and probably the fastest henchmen in the game. They are great for getting to the fight quickily. The problem is that they have a hard time finishing the deal if they don't do it in the first round.
Zombies- Wow. The zombies are bad, probably the WORST henchmen in the game, the only benefit to them is that you can take as many as you would like, but they really only act as speed bumps. Zombies aren't killers. At best they can tie up others until a real killer like the Vampire shows up.

We've reviewed the basic units, but there's more to the Undead then that. The way you set them up is crucial, especially in the campaign. Here's a list of some of the best ways to start out.
1. Zombie Spam- One Vampire, 14 zombies. Kit out your vamp as best as you can. Use the zombies to tie up your opponents models. Generally in the beginning of the game, you can tie up the models, and then use your boss Vampire to knock them out of action. This is a great way to get your Vampire tons of experience from the get-go. The main drawbacks are that you do not gain much in the exploration phase, and if that all important Vampire goes out of action, you might be out of the running.
2. The Quick and the Dead- Vampire and five dire wolves. You have the fastest overall warband in the game. Even Skaven seem slow compared to these guys. Running forward and then trying to kill quick is the name of the game here. Force the Rout check and you can walk away with the win. Allow yourself to get bogged down, and you're going to lose.
3. Ghoul Spam- this is a later in the game build, but it is probably the only one worth doing later in the campaign. After building up everything to the maximum number of warband members, you NEED to start replacing them with Ghouls. Since they are the only ones that gain experience, they are needed.
4. Hired Swords- Hire them, and hire them quick! Get the ones you can as soon as you can. The longer you have them the better they are, and the other warbands get better on you fast!

Breaking News- FUCKING FUCKS FUCK- Goddamn. 5th? Fuck you Hasbro. I'm done for the night. Rage will come later. Going to dig into a project. Might as well work off the excess energy. Nothing creative will happen tonight.