I have been working on a Necro book for a few weeks now. It started as a Zombie book, but I got tired of running away from my own creatures when I was hurt. Once I started to look at Skeletons, I was pretty happy with what I eventually came up with, so I thought that I'd share.
The name is just a working title, and is similar to at least one other posted book... so I would be happy to entertain ideas on that. Thanks in advance for any constructive criticism!
[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]Army of the Dead[/spellbookname]
[mage]Necromancer[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKA01]1 x Surging Wave[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNA01]1 x Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a09]1 x Jet Stream[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1j18]1 x Poison Gas Cloud[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j22]2 x Tanglevine[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ04]1 x Armory[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j11]1 x Idol of Pestilence[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j19]1 x Deathlock[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNW02]3 x Wall of Bones[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNC07]1 x Mort[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC14]1 x Skeletal Knight[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC13]2 x Skeletal Archer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c32]4 x Skeletal Sentry[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC15]4 x Skeletal Minion[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1e22]1 x Hellfire Trap[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE06]1 x Fortified Position[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e31]1 x Poisoned Blood[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e19]2 x Ghoul Rot[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e04]1 x Chains of Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e09]1 x Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e27]1 x Marked for Death[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE03]1 x Arcane Corruption[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e14]1 x Enfeeble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE04]1 x Enchantment Transfusion[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e29]1 x Nullify[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNQ02]1 x Death Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ05]1 x Libro Mortuos[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ10]1 x Storm Drake Hide[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ01]1 x Cloak of Shadows[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ10]1 x Meditation Amulet[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ03]1 x Deathshroud Staff[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q08]1 x Elemental Wand[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ06]1 x Eagleclaw Boots[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKI01]1 x Drain Soul[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i08]1 x Drain Life[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]2 x Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]1 x Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFI03]1 x Disarm[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i12]1 x Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i28]1 x Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i25]1 x Shift Enchantment[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i24]1 x Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI05]1 x Unholy Resurgence[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI03]3 x Reassemble[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]
Notes on some of the spells selected that don't seem terribly obvious:
Attack spells: Selected on the basis of range (range = 2, usable while Obscured defensively) and low mana cost. Jet Stream is especially useful against flyers, Acid Ball against highly armored targets, and Surging Wave to attack which trying to push creatures away. The Surging Wave theoretically could be used for use against a Battle Forge, but unless it is far forward (NC or closer), I don't see using it against the BF. The most important of these would be attached to the Elemental Wand for reusability.
Conjurations: Poison Gas Cloud is nice for use in a defensive position / major combat location, or for placing in the same zone as an opponent's Renewing Spring / Druid's Treebond location, or a Creature Spawnpoint. The Tanglevines are mostly to tie down guards. Since every Creature is a soldier, they all benefit from an Armory (which hopefully gets placed around the time that the opponent gets involved with my skeletons, providing a distraction).
Creatures: Mort is in there to reconstruct damaged creatures and to apply Taints (so the Necro can use his extra damage ability from Plague Master). I thought about adding Acolytes of the Bog Queen for additional reconstruct support, but decided to put in Reassembles and the UR incantations instead since the Acolytes can't be brought out by the Libro. All Creatures in the book can be Reconstructed and all benefit from the Armory as noted before.
Enchantments: Fortified Position is amazing with skeletons... I wish I could fit in a second one, but settled on a Shift Enchantment for repositioning it (and other purposes). I put in the trap to have a second face down enchant to keep the opponent guessing... at least until I reveal the FP... in addition to doing a little damage to a closing creature. The Enchantment Transfusion has a few purposes. It can move the Nullify to a creature in an emergency (for example if Mort is about to get Teleported [I do not have Astral Anchor]), or dump 2+ curses onto the enemy Mage at once (especially the Warlord with Harshforge Plate). It also can be used to move a curse from one enemy creature to another in a pinch. If Blur comes out as currently printed, I probably will swap one in for the Cloak.
Equipment: On armor selection, I decided to go with only one piece since I am hoping that it won't get dissolved too quickly... I am hoping that my multiple creatures will be too much trouble for him before he can attack my Necro effectively. I went with the Storm Drake Hide because I have had much more trouble with Lightning spell effects than burns. I like the Staff for two reasons, the ability to add another poison condition for the direct poison damage, and the zone-wide Melee +1 ability.
Incantations: These are only bare-bones quantities of what I consider essential. The only spell that might require a comment is the Seeking Dispel. I have that in there for trap removal and possibly to get rid of FD Astral Anchors. (I've found that to be an especially annoying spell.)
The general idea is to bring out as many creatures as possible, with Mort coming out around turn 4-6 for his reconstruction ability. The Minions would be saved for last, when I could cast four of them in two turns to add to battle quickly (to be treated as attack spells).
Opening idea 1 / Opponent not overly aggressive:
Turn 1 = 20: Death Ring (-5), Libro (-9*)
Turn 2 = 16/1: deploy Skeletal Knight [Eternal Servant] (-11*/-1), Meditation Amulet (-4), MEDITATE (+3)
Turn 3 = 14/1: deploy Skeletal Archer (-9*/-1), MEDITATE (+3), Cloak of Shadows (-6)
Opening idea 2 / Opponent brings out one or more flying creatures by turn 2:
Turn 1 = 20: Death Ring (-5), Libro (-9*)
Turn 2 = 16/1: deploy Skeletal Knight [Eternal Servant] (-11*/-1), Meditation Amulet (-4), MEDITATE (+3)
Turn 3 = 14/1: deploy Skeletal Archer (-9*/-1), MEDITATE (+3), Elemental Wand [Jet Stream] (-5)
Guard with Knight on Turn 3 in this opening
Opening idea 3 / Aggressive opponent:
Turn 1 = 20: Death Ring (-5), Libro (-9*)
Turn 2 = 16/1: deploy Skeletal Knight [Eternal Servant] (-11*/-1), Meditation Amulet (-4), MEDITATE (+3)
Turn 3 = 14/1: deploy Skeletal Sentry (-6*/-1), MEDITATE (+3), Armor (-6)
Guard with Knight on Turn 3 in this opening
* = Discount from Ring