I'll tell you what's freaky good and guys will cry foul to the lords of efficiency: undead war hero. I tangled with one last age and I was an orc warrior you may know Attero. Once they're on top of you it's hard to get back up. The war spoils let them yield elites with no ambush and I had to anon retal. So you're screwed by honor, gains, plague, wilting offense.
I've been privy to ignoring plague because curing it is a rune sink. Depends if you're in a crucial nw area, but I run hospitals religiously as non-undead. I'm running war hero myself this age but not undead. I have encountered at least one undead war hero this age. Might be the same guy; he used his war spoils.