Skeletons are just sword, axe, halberd and hammer practice for most other enemy units. They really are not up to much but they have some staying power (mainly because they never rout). Also, they will nearly always get a chance to fight back, if you give them spears so the second rank get a stab at the enemy. *
* spears cost just 1 more point and are well worth taking unless you plan to use your skeletons as nothing other than cannon fodder.
The Weapon Skill of 2 looks dreadful but don't be mislead. It won't make any difference against a lot of other rank and file units. A lower weapon skill typically makes it more difficult for you to strike the enemy but only elite enemies (eg Weapon Skill 5+). An elite enemy unit with a weapon skill of 5 will stand just as big a chance of hitting a weapon skill 3 or 4 opponent as they do a weapon skill 2 opponent.
Skeleton initiative is, errr... not good ! They rank alongside the cumbersome Dwarfs in that respect. That's where the comparison breaks down though because when a Dwarf does decide to strike the enemy usually knows about it whereas skeleton blows are all to easily deflected off armour or just not powerful enough in the first place. Yep, skellies have a strength of 3 and there is nothing you can do to improve it.
This is quite an important point to consider because combined with a toughness of 3 it means this unit will suffer a lot more wounds that it inflicts. What this effectively means is that your skellies are relying on you to give them a fighting chance with a good combat resolution. You should employ a minimum of 20 skeleton warriors in a unit, including a standard bearer. You may as well also take a musician for 4 pts - just in case you are lucky enough to draw a combat. (Note: your horn blower will never be using his musical talents to rally your unroutable troops so skellie musicians are probably a touch more costly than those of other races with similar profiles)
Skeletons have one major, actually it's massive benefit. They can have a magic banner for 25pts. There is no limit to the number of skeleton units that can have magic standards (although there is a limited number of
standards available and, like all magic items - except dispel scrolls and power stones - you can only use each magic item once)
Skeleton units have a whopping 7 standards to choose from which cost 25pts or less. All of the standards are useful and well worth their points, 2 of the magic standards are great !
Banner of the Dead Legion
The unit counts as having twice the unit strength it actually has. This mean you will nearly always get a +1 combat res bonus for outnumbering your opponent in the 1st turn and probably up to the 3rd turn, even against elite opposition. This will help reduce the number of casualties you take through lost combat resolutions and might, just might even win you a combat in the 1st turn if your opponent is not heavily ranked.
The other banner I really like the look of for 25 pts is...
The Banner of the Endless Nightmare.
Very aptly names as it allows you to add up to 4 ranks to your combat resolution bonus rather than 3. It does very much rely on you taking a large skeleton unit into battle, say 30 or better still 35. This will allow for some missile fire casualties and still get you through a couple of rounds of combat with your +4 combat res bonus. Given that you should take a standard in any such unit and you will outnuber the enemy you should get at least 6+ combat res bonus.
I would argue that any unit of this size should really be give a suppoting character to help in the fight (maybe a Wight King) and it should also not be left to fight alone (ie it must not be allowed to be outflanked itself. A Vampire count nearby to raise casualties would be nice to.
Now we're beginning to get into the realms of a key battle unit that you can base tactics around. Instead of going down that path I will leave that for a later post on general Vampire Counts battle winning strategies.
Oh, hang on.... Whats's that I hear ?
"urhhh...urhhh...."
Here come the Zombies !
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