Skeletons OR Zombies for Undead in (assumed) LRB 6?

[Digger Goreman]

Assuming that they will cost the same, which is better on the field?:

Skeleton 40,000 5 3 2 7 Regeneration, Thick Skull G ASP

or

Zombie 40,000 4 3 2 8 Regeneration G ASP

Vote and feel free to elaborate....

I may be swayed but, currently for my money, Armor outweighs the point of movement AND Thick Skull (though it IS an intriguing combination on the Skeleton).... For straight-up Undead, I'd rather have a more durable line... or am I missing some synergy? Perhaps a 2x Mummy, 1 Zombie line with skellies behind...? Just speculating at the moment....

[mattgslater]

With 30k Skellies, I say the Skel is categorically better, except maybe for the first guy to play nose tackle. At equal price (40k), I say the first three Zombies are better and after that it's about equal. Thick Skull is worth almost nothing, but not quite zero. So I'd take three Zombies and after that go for Skels.

MA4 sucks, but MA5 isn't much better if you're AG2.

[Joemanji]

Zombie wins every time. The addition of Thick Skull simply doesn't make Skeletons worth 40K IMO. Both players are linemen, and the role of a lineman is that of the tackle dummy. Stand there. Get hit, don't die, have a TZ. Maybe hit back, but often in a tournament don't bother. The important stats for this role are ST and AV... so the Zombie is better suited to it. The extra MA is useful for certain roles. Skeletons make better foulers IMO, but that isn't as powerful in LRB5&6. You might want the extra MV to allow him to keep up with a surge from your Wights and Ghouls. But these are marginal compared to just staying on the pitch.

Code: Select all

For a given Armour roll:

          Zom   Ske   Old Ske
Prone     72%   58%     58%
Stunned   16%   30%     24%
KO'd       7%    5%     10%
CAS        5%    7%      7%

As you can see, both players stay on the pitch after 88% of Armour rolls. However, the Skeleton will be Stunned twice as often as the Zombie. The increased chance of the Skeleton being injured rather than KO'd is interesting too.

[DoubleSkulls]

Often with undead you don't want the mummies stuck on the LOS - that means 3 lineman on the LOS who should to be zombies thanks to superior Av.

Occasionally a skeleton is nice since he's a bit quicker to keep up with the cage or for fouling, but you'd not want more than one or two.

[mattgslater]

As you can see, both players stay on the pitch after 88% of Armour rolls. However, the Skeleton will be Stunned twice as often as the Zombie. The increased chance of the Skeleton being injured rather than KO'd is interesting too.

Yeah, but once you've got your line taken care of, the MA ain't chopped liver. It means that you can put them in at Cornerback, way out in the wide zones where you don't dare put a Zombie, in a blitz-target spot where you wouldn't like to risk a Ghoul, and you can save your Wights to sit in the outside LB spot and use Guard to protect the Skelly.

I wouldn't go so far as to say Thick Skull makes up for the 10k price increase in overall effect (it doesn't give you more money for positionals), but it does something kind of similar on the ground to what the lower price did: it compensates for reduced AV. Except it does it better: it reduces the chance you lose your speed-bump entirely, instead of reducing your investment by 10k.

[Marlow]

I would go for the three Zombies on the Line, but the rest of my reserves would probably be Skeletons for the extra versatility.

Since a skill roll of 10 is AV or MV Skeletons have better potential since they have the extra skill.

[PubBowler]

I can see LRB6 shifting me back to a mainly zombie Undead line up.

[Darkson]

Agreed. Under the proposed LRB6 list, I wouldn't have more than 2 skellies on the team.


(Well, ok, that's a bit of a lie, as we won't be using the LRB6 undead or khemri lists, but you get the drift.)

[DoubleSkulls]

I would go for the three Zombies on the Line, but the rest of my reserves would probably be Skeletons for the extra versatility.

I'd probably want a fourth zombie since they ain't that tough - more just disposable

[The Ref]

a mix of the two are best imo....

would use skelli as a safety/blitzer, zombies as linemen(in adition to the mummies...) Then maybe one of each in i both widezones..

[mattgslater]

I think we're not terribly far off here. Zombies are a tad better at what's important, but Skellies are a bit more versatile. Neither is a big difference (the Skels merely suck at what the Zombies really really suck at, while Skels are mediocre at what Zombies are fair at). So it might be optimal to take three Zombies and two Skels to field and be ready to take at least one more of each for depth, but frankly it doesn't make a huge difference if you mix that up a bit for aesthetics.