Dire Wolves are great now that they have slavering Charge back and thus +1S on the charge. Points stayed the same if I recall but they are incredibly fast and have the vanguard rule.
While zombies are a great tarpit (argueably better than Skavenslaves since you can raise more every turn) you have to be real careful who you try and tarpit. Chaos Warriors, Chosen, and any of the big horde killing units (Corsairs, Plague Monks, etc) will eat through them faster than you can raise new ones.