Zombie

*"BAGS OF FLESH! BURN THEM WITH FIRE!!!” -* *Goobert the Big, renowned Iron Warrior and dwarven war historian.*

## Zombie

a zombie walking down the street. it’s hoping to beat the traffic.

## Stats

### Strength

30

**Zombies** are a unit in the Death faction.

## Overview

Shambling husks of the former living, Zombies are one of the Death faction’s primary horde units alongside Skeletons. With a truly inhuman penchant for pain and entirely free movement, they serve as literal meat shields for their allies and are extremely effective grapplers in melee range. However, their low speed, low damage, and lack of actions means that their slow march towards the enemy will be VERY slow, and they often need stronger units to back them up in actual combat.

## Abilities

### Unending Horde

The first action that this unit makes in a turn is free.

### Undead

The first time this unit is reduced to zero HP it is instead brought up to half HP. True damage negates this ability.

## Gear

None to speak of! This may in fact be the only unit without a single weapon. How cool!

## Strategy

Often overlooked by new players, the Zombie seems extremely weak at first glance. Boasting an utterly miserable two movement and single action and not wielding a single weapon to speak of, these rotting masses of flesh might get confused for being worthless. Rest assured, they’re not, and the reason why is simple. These boys are BEEFY. They’re absolute TANKS, and they’ll take damage that higher cost units simply can’t. Not only do they have a solid 100 health, but their Undead ability means that they can survive big damage sources like Big Ones and come back with a reasonable 50 health. This massive amount of effective health make Zombies very strong on the frontline as damage sponges, soaking up damage to make space for stronger units like Vampires, Death Knights, and Night Runners. The other thing Zombies are great at is grappling. While they don’t do much damage in melee, their high health pool makes them REALLY difficult to get rid of, and this makes them especially effective at stifling ranged units or restricting movement for enemies in general.

The issue with Zombies is getting in that melee range in the first place. These guys are slow. Miserably slow. Unimaginably slow. They have two movement per turn period, and no second action means that they can’t even move and attack in the same turn. The only silver lining to this comes in the form of the Unending Horde ability; while Zombies may be slow, everything they do is free. This means that they’re really good at applying constant pressure, pushing up the battlefield while letting you focus on spending your energy on stronger units. That’s really the play with Zombies. Keep moving them forward and towards your enemies, using their strong health to tank high amounts of damage as you push in to grapple. Then, once your enemies are restricted or placed in awkward position, swoop in with stronger units and tear them apart with ease. Vampires and Night Runners are especially good at this, as their high speed makes them very flexible when it comes to their positioning before rushing in to attack.

All that being said, though, are a couple situations where Zombies are genuinely extremely vulnerable, and the first is when your enemy has area damage. Specifically, area damage which attacks multiple times, such as the Armsman Weapon Team and Forge Explorator’s Minigun or the Acid Maw which can be equipped to many Formid units. These weapons are especially strong against swarms, and the low Defense stat of the Zombies makes them VERY effective against the undead. If you have two Zombies side-by-side and they get hit by a Minigun, chances are that they’ll get utterly destroyed. To combat this, SPACE THEM CAREFULLY! Keep a square of distance between your Zombies when fighting these powerful AOE weapons. The second weakness of Zombies is true damage, which negates their Undead ability entirely and reduces their effective health pool. The type to worry about most with Zombies is probably the Fire status effect, as poor movement makes it difficult to remove, but it’s good to bear in mind generally.

## Lore

We ain't got much, but here it is:

*"As the horrible legions of the undead sweep across the land, the bodies of their foes rise again to march eternally as zombies."*

Cremation is the only remedy! Burn! Burn! Burn!