Grave Guard (Great Weapons)

Grave Guard (Great Weapons) is a Vampire Counts melee infantry unit in Total War: Warhammer. Stalwart defenders of the crypts, Grave Guards possess a fighting skill beyond that of the usual wights.

Description
Upon the walls of Drakenhof Castle, and the other Vampire-haunted keeps of Sylvania, patrol tireless warriors clad in rust-gnawed armour. These dread sentries are the Grave Guard - Wights drawn from their ancient tombs to act as guardians for the Vampire rulers of Sylvania. Although their bodies have decayed, leaving only bones and tattered flesh, Grave Guard are held together by evil magic so strong that it has endured for centuries. They wear ancient battle gear of primitive alloy, corroded by time and dusty with the years. These eerie, silent sentinels stand constant vigil on the crumbling battlements and at the iron-bound gates, never resting, eternally ready to defend their Vampire masters. When a Vampire marches forth, his Grave Guard advance at the head of the Undead host. They form a formidable corps of warriors, their enchanted blades cutting down the toughest of enemies with strike after pitiless strike.

Strategy
The great weapon version of Grave Guards sacrifices the missile protection of a shield and some melee defense for more AP damage at notably higher cost. Still they are the most practical option for fielding an infantry line that is capable of dealing damage to heavily armored infantry on its own. They aren't cheap though and this tactic runs counter to the VC doctrine of fielding a tarpit front line and doing the killing with monsters and cavalry. They can make sense to use en masse when fighting the Warriors of Chaos who have almost no ranged units and are almost all heavily armored. Dwarfs have excellent ranged units and their lack of shield and higher cost make them less appealing than regular Grave Guards when fighting them despite of the value of the AP damage.