Skeleton Warriors (Vampire Counts)

Skeleton Warriors is a Vampire Counts melee infantry unit in Total War: Warhammer. Little more than shuffling bones with swords and spears, Skeletons perform a dutiful, if not exemplary, job in the battle lines.

Description
Beneath the mud lie the grave-stained bones of bitter, ancient warriors. Long held beneath the earth, they are clad in their corroded armour, their lifeless hands still gripping the swords, axes, spears and shields they held in life. Provided their remains have not been blessed by the rites of Morr, a Necromancer or Vampire can use the coiling energies of Dark Magic to instill a semblance of life and a flicker of spirit into these dormant warriors. As the regiments of past massacres claw their way to the surface, their empty eye sockets glow with unholy power. Silently, they gather together in a semblance of their old ranks, mutely awaiting the commands of their new lord as the remains of their tattered banners flap in the unnatural breeze of their creation. Lipless horn blowers raise their instruments and sound a spectral, mournful dirge.

Strategy
Basic Skeleton Warriors are not exactly the most skilled soldiers, but this doesn´t matter as much as you might think. The thing to keep in mind with them is that they won´t be doing much killing on their own, but they can form an expendable frontline and hold it for quite a while if supported with some healing Invocations of Nehek. While the enemy is busy killing off your Skeleton Warriors, you can send some Crypt Horrors into their ranks so the Skeletons take all the damage while the Horrors do the killing or you can flank with your Black Knights and Dire Wolves to take the enemy in the rear. Beware of elite heavy infantry like Hammerers, Chosen or Greatswords who will smash your Skeleton Warriors to pieces faster than you can heal them.

While they are sub-par melee infantry, they are far more dangerous in melee than Zombies, are more resistant to missile fire due to their shields, cause fear, and will fight till they drop. An overcast Raise Dead spell will spawn a unit of them on command and can be used for all sorts of purposes even if you can afford to build your infantry line with better infantry (ie crypt ghouls and grave guards).