The Sternsmen (Grave Guard)
Melee infantry· Sword Infantry· Tier 3· 120 models at Ultra sizeRegiment of Renown
Comes with The Grim & The Grave(Warhammer I)
Duel it in the combat calculator →vs Chaos Warriors, the unit the rankings measure against; pick any other there.
The Sternsmen (Grave Guard) are Vampire Counts and Undead Legions melee infantry: 9,840 HP across 120 models, armour 90, melee attack 34, melee defence 45, weapon strength 40. It costs 1,150 in the campaign and in multiplayer. They come with The Grim & The Grave. Unit key wh_dlc04_vmp_inf_sternsmen_0. Patch 9.0.4, from the game's data tables.
Health
82 per model
9,840
Armour
shield blocks 55% of small-arms missiles from the front (not artillery)
90
Leadership
60
Speed
27
Melee attack
34
Melee defence
45
Weapon strength
28 base + 12 armour-piercing, +8 vs infantry
40
Charge bonus
8
Attributes
- Causes Fear
This unit frightens all enemy units, reducing their leadership when nearby. It is also immune to fear. Fear penalties do not stack.
- Expert Charge Defence
When bracing, this unit negates the charge bonus of any attacker.
- Hide (forest)
This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
- Undead
Undead units cannot be routed, but take damage when their Leadership is broken. Undead units also have: Fear and Terror Immunity Undead units may also have their hit points restored by special characters such as the Vampire Counts Necromancer.
Abilities
- RegenerationRegeneration · +20% Weakness to Fire Damage, Replenishes hit points of combatantspassiveRegenerationRegeneration+20% Weakness to Fire DamageReplenishes hit points of combatantsPassiveThere are beings and creatures that can mend bone and knit flesh at an incredible rate. A mighty boon, but one stunted by fire.
- CrumblingDirect Damage · Causes damage to selfpassiveCrumblingDirect DamageCauses damage to selfPassiveThe dead do not rest easily in the Old World. Those summoned by Vampires and Necromancers no longer have mortal concerns - they serve only their master's will.
- DisintegratingDirect Damage · Causes severe damage to selfpassiveDisintegratingDirect DamageCauses severe damage to selfPassiveThe Dark Magic binding has failed. Both flesh and Necromantic energy slough off the subjects, leaving naught but dust.
Counters
Vulnerable to
- Bonus vs infantry — infantry-sizede.g. Doom-Flayers, War Mammoth, Feral Mammoth · Vampire Counts: Coven Throne, Black Coach
- Heavy large units — infantry-sized, mass 100e.g. Dread Maw, Thunderbarge, Steam Tank · Vampire Counts: Zombie Dragon, Black Coach
Computed from base unit-card values (no skills, items or abilities), one rule per line; examples are units with the most of that trait. How counters are worked out · Try it in the combat calculator
Gold for gold
Beats, at a similar price: Skin Wolves (6.85× faster), Skin Wolves (Armoured) (6.31× faster), Slayers (2.99× faster)
Loses to, at a similar price: Greatswords (2.19× slower), Chosen of Nurgle (2.00× slower), Har Ganeth Executioners (1.77× slower)
Equal gold, every model fighting at its weapon's attack interval, combat calculator formulas; no charge, mass, splash, leadership or abilities. “Similar price”: within 30% of its 1,150 multiplayer gold. Vampire Counts units ranked.
Patch changes
- Custom battle: now in the Undead Legions roster
Who can field it
- Undead Legions · Host of Nagash
- Vampire Counts · The Drakenhof Conclave
Custom Battle lists factions under each race; every faction of a race fields that race's units (units_custom_battle_permissions rows of any of its factions). The name after the race is the faction the army builder uses.
Where these numbers come from
Read from the game's database tables for patch 9.0.4 (main_units, land_units, battle_entities, melee_weapons, projectiles…) as published in the WH3-Dump export (commit 099796e8). Formulas that turn table values into card values are checked against known units before they are shown — how we verify.