Ossified Undead Skirmish Tactics

Ossified Undead

Setting:	Age of Fantasy
Games:	Age of Fantasy, Age of Fantasy: Skirmish, Age of Fantasy: Regiments
Species:	Undead
Version:	v2.50

Note: as v2.50 is in constant development the following might not be accurate.

Why Play Ossified Undead

The Ossified Undead are an unrelenting tide of deathless iron.

Pros:

Cons:

Ossified: Attacks targeting this model reduce their AP value by 1, to a minimum of AP(0). While ineffective against hordes of basic Hand Weapons, it will make things like Great Weapons less powerful.
Swift: This model may ignore the Slow rule.
Undead: Whenever this unit takes a morale test, it is passed automatically. Then, roll as many dice as remaining models/tough in the unit, and for each result of 1-2 the unit takes one wound, which can’t be regenerated.
War Aspect: When this model fights in melee, they randomly get either Rending or AP(+1)

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.
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.
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.

Herald of Death: Your premier hero, gifted with Poison as well as War Aspect to guarantee some measure of AP. That said, it is merely a 4+ for quality and defense, which might see it suffer a bit against dedicated hero-killers, and the loss of buffs means that the herald will only be useful as a beatstick. If you need mobility, then you'll need to buy a Skeletal Steed.
- Melee: As mentioned above, every weapon the Herald uses has Poison, including its default Hand Weapon. If you are looking for something more, you can go for a Lance for Impact on the charge, a halberd for Rending, a Spear for Phalanx support, a Great Weapon for a guaranteed AP(2) or Dual Hand Weapons for more attacks.*Bone Master: A budget hero, costing only 25 points over the Herald of Death's 40. While capable of buying all the same weapons sans Poison, their upgrades are vastly different.
- Buffs: Taking a Trophy Banner is a simple addition for Fear. Soul Master grants them access to Wizard and the spells available to the army.
- Mounts: Like the Herald of Death, you can also buy a Skeletal Steed for the Bone Master, boosting its speed to normal with Swift. However, you could instead buy a Bone Throne, improving its Tough rating and granting Arcane Power so you can shut down enemy wizards.

Guardian: Your basic troop is quite powerful, with a 4+ to quality and defense on top of everything else. Poison gives them a decent amount of offensive power, but you can also provide either a Halberd or Spear depending on how you want to position them and the Great Weapon can help rip through armored foes.

Death Rider: A Guardian on horseback, meaning that they're moving at normal speed with Impact. This comes at a rather sizeable price hike though. If you plan on riding hard into the Impact life, then the Lance is your only option.

Stalker: An even crazier melee nut, carrying AP(1) Quad Blades and War Aspect to improve their AP game. This makes them more potent in melee (especially if you give Dual Falchions for a default AP(2) before factoring in War Aspect), but they remain just as vulnerable, if not more so, than the mere Guardians. That said, there are no fiercer beatsticks than these.

Immortal: The elite of the elite, carrying a 3+ to quality and defense as well as a Halberd for a powerful melee weapon out the box. Though they're still Slow, they have a very powerful combination of a 3+ defense, Tough(3), Regeneration and Ossified to make them very difficult to remove.