Skeleton

*"BOOP!!! GOT YOUR NOSE!!!”*

a skeleton standing there…MENACINGLY…

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

## Overview

The main horde units of the Death faction alongside Zombies, Skeletons are weak little piles of bones who fold like paper and can barely hit their enemies on a good day. That being said, their first action being free combined with their low cost to field makes them great at swarming foes. And while their hit chance and number of attacks may be low, it matters a little bit less when there are nine of them attacking at once.

## Abilities

### Unending Horde

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

## Strategy

With Skeletons, the key word to remember is fragility. These guys are stupid weak and will fall to anything short of an Armsman melee. This means a couple of things. One, be very careful around units which can wield weapons that deal area damage, such as Armsman Weapon Teams, Forge Explorators, and Bulwarks. Weapons like Miniguns and Acid Mortars will destroy big groups of Skeletons really quickly, so try to keep them at least one space away from each other when facing them in order to avoid them all getting wiped out at once. Two, focus on using its first action rather than its second. Because of the Skeleton’s low melee accuracy and single attack, it’s very inconsistent up close. Luckily, due to Unending Horde, these attacks can be made totally for free up in close range if it’s done with the first action. This isn’t true with the second action, though, so it’s often honestly not worth wasting a whole point of energy for such a weak attack when you could be moving and attacking with stronger units like Vampires or Death Knights.

Generally speaking, the primary advantage that Skeletons have over their Zombie counterparts is speed and damage. Take advantage of this greater speed in order to counteract the unit’s weak health, and try and hide behind cover as much as possible during your approach. Essentially, try and get as many of these bony boys to the enemy. Focus especially on getting into the melee range of units with ranged weapons, as it’ll stop them from being able to use them. The Skeleton won’t have the health to maintain the grapple for long, but being in melee range will force the grappled unit to respond, taking up energy. If the unit decides not to respond, they’ll risk taking genuinely decent damage from the Skeleton at absolutely no cost.

Really, the goal with Skeletons is the same as with Zombies: swarm and grapple your enemies in massive waves in order to make space for stronger units to attack safely. While Skeletons may be more powerful in melee, it’s often best to treat them as supportive units rather than the actual fighting force due to how inconsistent they are. Make the most out of Unending Horde, watch out for horde clearers, and don’t be afraid to get up-close and personal. And also consider trying out Zombies. While they may only have one action and move very slowly, their higher health and Undead ability goes a very long way.

## Lore

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

*"Skeletal hordes form the backbone of the undead legions. To any foes unfortunate enough to stand in the path of the legion of death, the tidal wave of bone and steel seems almost endless."*

hehe. backBONE. hehehe.