[Shaso Wanax]

These are the axioms by which I play Tomb Kings:

1. The tomb King is worth the points, as his abilities far exceed the prince in everything from "thy will.." to CC. He is the only CC monster in this army because he can get himself in a chariot with a unit and into CC in turn 2. With a flail he goes first always, he has 4 excellent S attacks, and he can't be killed off with scorpion armor very easily.

2. The more lieche priest you have the better. I run 3 all mounted with H jar and Dispell scrolls for a reason. At 173pt each, three are half again as expensive as a single High Priest, and they bring more to the table. I can in effect for one turn cast 6 incantations if need be. This is what gets the army across the board and into CC.

3. Skeletons are never going to win combats, but they will hold an enemy up for a long time. I use large blocks of spear/sheild armed to charge into combat and hold the enemy there for the chariots or ushabti to hit in the next turn. Skeletons die alot, but that's why you get the "undying legion banner" (only available with TK rather than prince) so they can regenerate themselves and you get 3 lieche to keep them standing up with 2d6 regeneration.

4. light armor is a waste on skeletons. since most weapons are are higher strength they are going to detract from your saving throw by 2, and since you can't roll a 7, the armor is wasted points.

5. Skeleton bowmen are the bomb! Massive firepower allows for creating weakness in the enemy line that the chariots can exploit. I now run 3 units of 10 archers each, but I'm considering even more. Oh yeah, the bowmen are just as good as spear armed sheletons in the charge and CC.

6. Heavy cavalry are weak and need to be used carefully. They have very little impact, they have no save worth note, and they are easily shot to peices in units smaller than 20. Light cavalry have the same effect, but can shoot, so I'm considering changing over.

7. chariot units and cavarly units need to remain small in order to be effective as a manuver unit. I've found that chariot units larger than 4 are unable to manuver into a possition to charge enemy units. cavalry units larger than 10 (2 ranks) have the same issue. Terrain and the relative distance enemy units are from each other make getting onto flanks difficult at best.

8. TK armies need to attack asap. Your army will be loosing the entire game, but will win the game on points if you let them get into contact first and fast. Find a weak point and exploit it. Don't allow your bowmen to face grail knights, or other such matchups because the high impact will blow them away. The key is to get a charge in on the knights, thus the lieche priest and TK cracking the whip to move the entire army forward. By charging the enemy's high value targets with a CC charge, you tie them up allowing your own impact units (scorpions, B giants, ushabti, chariots) to slam into his archers and such. routing a single unit of bowmen can cause as many as 4 or 5 other enemy units to turn tail and run. This is the key to victory.

9. Your troops will not run, remember this. It doesn't matter how badly you are matched up with enemy units as long as you charged into CC rather than he. You can always regeenrate, you will never take a break test, and the point value of your average unit is 1/3 of that of the enemy. Loosing a unit of 20 spearmen is like loosing 4 knights. But keeping those 4,5 or 6 knights from charging something will save you 600 pts over the life of the game.

10. When in doubt about the outcome, charge. You never know how fear will effect the living until your opponant throws the dice...

My experience thus far with TK:

x2 orks 2/0
x5 empire 3/0/2
x1 wood elf 0/1
x1 bretonians 1/0
x2 Vampire Counts 2/0

What makes Tomb Kings army work? First let me say that if you are looking for a hard hitting, super magical powerhouse army, Tomb Kings is not for you. The average troop has a S3, T3, and WS2, which translates into a fairly mediocre troop. And though Tomb Kings are all about magic, you won't find any powerful offensive spells to crush enemies by the score or render them immobile, etc. What you will find is that Tomb Kings is a sum of second rate troops and equipment that far exceeds it's parts. I will examin, step by step, the process for troop selection, set up, and tactical manuver.

Troop Selection:

I subscribe to a very simple method of selecting troops. Satisfy the core, then buy whatever you like best. No sense in running a bone giant if you don't like the model, because you won't care how it fits into your game plan. Is this a simpleton way of doing things? Yes. However, any troop selection can be made to work, and more than likely if you like your army components you will also think about their tactical employment more.

I tend to like things neat and orderly (probably why I won't play chaos), and as such I immediately saw the merits of Tomb Kings. They may be undead, but you get to toss out about 1/3 of the rules from the start. This means you concentrate on the two areas in which Tomb Kings are most effective: Moving and not dieing very fast.

So, looking at the core, I take a selection of spear and bow armed skeleton units, 2 spear and 3 bow. The spear units are 20 man and the bow are 10 man. More on why size differences latter. I also take 2 units of chariots (4 each) as core units. This is because I also take the Tomb King, thus chariots are core units. The only additions I ad to these units are the spearmen get a shield, champion, banner, and musician. One chariot unit gets the mirage magic standard (upgrade only available if the King is on the table), and one unit of spearmen get the banner of the undieing legion. I now have 7 units of 5 defensive infantry units and 2 offensive chariot units. Now on to the leaders.

the King is key to my way of fighting this army. The prince can certainly be a bonus, but lets look at the King's advantages: First he is a high WS close combat character with 4 attacks, decent initiative, and he can motivate 2 units to move or shoot in the magic phase through his "My will be done". In a chariot with a good selection of arms and armor and this guy is the main wrecking ball of the Tomb King army. In more than one game he and his attached chariot unit have successfully charged the enemy lines on turn one. This is fast by any standard of play, and the fact he can motivate both chariot units to do this (if within range) means the enemy can be hit by a blistering 8 or 9 chariots in the first turn each doing 1d3 impact hits at S4. A perfect way to blast enemy shooters and medium infantry from the table. Oh, did I forget they cause fear? Leadership tests are your friend

I run three Lieche priests, all on horseback, all with a heratic jar, and all with a dispell scroll. Magic is key to TK! They all know the same incantations, so there is no bother with lores and such; also their heads never explode from rolling 2 on the power dice (more rules not to be bothered with). The ability to dominate the magic phase is very important, and since the number of dispell dice you have will always be far less than offensively oriented enemy magic users it is best to be ready to toss a few scrolls and pop open a jar of extra magic. This is very certainly important in the first 3 turns, since offensive action is key to victory for TK. I run these preists behind my main line divided up to help out those parts of my army as I have them set (more later).

Now that my core is complete, I need to add some special and rare units, right? Well only if you want it I say. I do run a single unit of 3 Ushabti, but otherwise most of the TK special and rare units are expensive or problematic. Lets look at some options and how they might fit in.

The Bone Giant is the obvious favorite; this guy has killing blow, insane stats, unstopable assault, he causes terror, and he's not stupid like other giants. Yet at roughly 10% the cost of my army, he is a points sink that can be shot by everyone on the table (and he will be), and he can be screened from hitting the enemy high value targets by screening. Sure he has a place, but it must be remembered that he will draw almost all magic and missiles (think cannon here) from the start. If you incorporate this into your plan for him, you won't be dissapointed when he rarely makes contact with enemy and dies a firey death every game.

the Tomb Scorpion is a very nice, very powerful tool. He is the premere surprise attack option in any army I've seen. For taking out artillery, or getting in a rear charge, nothing is as satisfying as one of these monsters emerging behind the enemy lines. He too, however, has some drawbacks. He might not ever appear, or if charged first can be tied up by fairly cheap yet fearless troops like flagulants. So to use him, it has to be a bonus to your plans and not necessarily a key componant.

Screaming Skull catapult is a beautiful weapon, but it requires a more defensive minded method of playing. Like all artillery, it is easily destroyed by flying units and the like, so it needs some nearby infantry to keep the heat off. It can turn horde armies around on a dime, but against fearless enemies like woodelves it is just another artillery peice.

Casket of Souls is on paper a monster of magic that has the potential to win the game outright. In practise, it is an immobile game peice upon which sits a lieche priest and costs more than it will ever make up in points. Against goblins, skaven, and other massed low leadership armies it will most definately mess up the enemy plans; but if virtually any enemy unit makes contact with in for combat, say goodby to 350+ points and a major segment of your magic phase.

So what to do the flesh out the army? I opted for a unit of heavy cavalry. Fast units like this on the flank are a good way to turn the enemy flank, hold up his flank efforts, and support chariot charges that get stuck by giving a second turn of combat charge in the enemy's flank. This simply fits my style of play, which is get there first and charge first to deny his far superior charge abilities.

Setting up the army:

Tomb Kings like open spaces, since the number one tactic is going to be the balls forward dash to combat. In setting up always start with your center units. For me, this means the 5 skeleton units set up from left to right: bow, spear, bow, spear, bow. I tend to set them up in front of my enemies high strength and heaviest hitting units if possible. These guys are there to do one thing: Charge the enemy strengths and tie them up for 2 or 3 turns while my chariots and ushabti slice into the solt infantry core. With the help of 2 or even all 3 priests, I can motivate these guys to shoot, move/charge in magic phase, or regenerate if the combat isn't going well. By concentrating my entire infantry line on the enemy's offensive threats, I nullify his ability to kill through charging, those things that are essential to my survival: The Heirophant and King.

After setting the infantry line, I then place everything else to one side or the other depending upon terrain. Sometimes I have to split up the cavalry or the ushabti from the chariots, but I always try to keep the chariots together. Remember that in turn one, the chariots move 8", then in the magic phase they can be motivated to charge 16". that is 24", which happens to be the distance between the lines in most battles. The cavalry and ushabti are second turn follow on hitters. I usually keep one priest set up with these guys in order to motivate charges or movements if the King's will was dispelled.

Tactical Manuver:

the key, as I've said, it charging the enemy first. But what to charge? If your enemy has knights of any kind, monsterous creatures of any kind, or super combat studs that have serious impact through charging, this is where you want your skeleton infantry to charge. Bretonian Grail knights are just lanceless knights if charged first, and with 12" of movement and charge combined between the movement and magic phase it is easier to arrange than you might think. By tieing up enemy hitters, you are assured at least 2 turns of unhampered "amok running" with your chariots. Sure he kills your infantry to a man, but what matters? While your chaps will stand there and take a beating until all are splinters, your fear causing chariots that win a combat against, say an archer unit, will cause leadership tests up and down his lines.

Ok, lets say you can't get the geometry right and the charge can't happen until you dance the possitioning dance. That's fine. Even a lowly S3 arrow will, with numbers, bring down expensive knights and monsters. Unlike 40k, there are few if any units or characters that can't be hurt with a wound roll of 6.

So now he gets his charge off and you have to hold and take the charge. It is bad, but not the end of the world. He still have to roll dice, but chances are he will turn many skeletons to dust. Thus, units of 20 or more skeleton spearmen are essential. You loose more troops the higher he wins. If he charges in and kills 10, then chances are you will loose another 6 or 7 as the difference between winner and looser. That's 17 or so troops gone in a single combat charge! Never fear, priests are here. The legion of the undieing banner, and priests each can regenerate 2d6 worth of infantry per turn.

Facing other undead, or undead monsters. Not to panic (pun )! the same method of combat applies. Your slow dieing infantry against his high priced, high ability characters and monsters while your chariots against his rag tag hordes. Your best troops cannot stand up to most other army's heros and monsters, so your best option is to avoid them and tie them into worthless combats. For example, last night I faced Vampire counts and an undead dragon. It killed off both skeleton spear units in 3 turns, but in that time my chariots overran 2 skeleton units and a necromancer. Who won on points? 750 pts worth of vampire and dragon fighting 300 points of infantry for 3 turns? You see my point.

Overall, this is a weak army that excells at wrong footing the enemy through preemptive charges, magic phase domination for half the game, and fearless slow dieing cheap infantry.

Comments?

wanax

[khanaris]

Out of curiosity, Wanax, what do you do with the Heirophant? It seems like keeping your Liche Priests separate from units would make them a little too vulnerable to fast, shooty armies like Wood Elves, especially in the latest edition of the core rules.

[Shaso Wanax]

Originally Posted by Khanaris

Out of curiosity, Wanax, what do you do with the Heirophant? It seems like keeping your Liche Priests separate from units would make them a little too vulnerable to fast, shooty armies like Wood Elves, especially in the latest edition of the core rules.

The Heirophant usually runs with the manuver section of chariots, King, cavalry and ushabit. Wood elves are fast and shooty, but they are not more so than TK. The only thing that scares me is the mobile forrest. Also if you can't see them, you can't shoot them. And remaining behind my lines, it is rare that my priest get shot. I did have one get killed last night from the dragon stomping around, and I've had a priest killed by a goblin fanatic that got lucky on his direction roll (I move away from him and thus into his future path). But overall, it is difficult to get a line of sight.

Wanax

[khanaris]

Originally Posted by +:W-A-N-A-X:+

The Heirophant usually runs with the manuver section of chariots, King, cavalry and ushabit. Wood elves are fast and shooty, but they are not more so than TK. The only thing that scares me is the mobile forrest.

Bwah hah hah! The leafy green chariot strikes again! That one is a little harder to pull off in the new rules, because you can't channel all your dice through one low-level mage casting Treesinging 4-5 times per turn.

But the reason I brought it up is that when I have won against Tomb Kings in the past, it was usually because I could use either Waywatchers or a Lord on a Great Eagle to sneak over and snipe the Heirophant off.

[Shaso Wanax]

Originally Posted by Khanaris

Bwah hah hah! The leafy green chariot strikes again! That one is a little harder to pull off in the new rules, because you can't channel all your dice through one low-level mage casting Treesinging 4-5 times per turn.

But the reason I brought it up is that when I have won against Tomb Kings in the past, it was usually because I could use either Waywatchers or a Lord on a Great Eagle to sneak over and snipe the Heirophant off.

Yes it is true, but I find flyers give my archers something to do.

The heirophant tries to keep up with my heavy hitters. Most people try to avoid my strike command with lighter than knights stuff. Also he is close enough to units that he can join at will if it looks like flyers are a major issue.

Wanax

[Ta-garh]

Now that is some pretty simple tactics. What about if you want to field a Tomb Prince?

[chaplin morpheous]

Hey

Really good tactics Wanax. I'm definetly buying somemore tomb scorpions and more bowmen. I'm never gonna make my skeleton warriors win combats. I'm definetly always taking my king in a chariot with a big unit of chariots.

[Shaso Wanax]

Originally Posted by Ta-garh

Now that is some pretty simple tactics. What about if you want to field a Tomb Prince?

Simplicity is always best in war, real or with toys. I tend to shy away from the prince since he is a marginal character IMO. He is far less able to win combats outright, he can only motivate a single unit per turn, and he typically requires a larger (thus less manuverable) unit to hide in.

The king allows chariots to be taken as core units. He also allows one unit of chariots to take a magic banner. Also, the king's combat ability means that your light chariots with d3 impact hits will also get a boost with his 4 WS6 attacks. In short 4 chariots hitting a unit of enemy infantry will get between 4 and 12 impact hits, the king's 4 high strength hits, the crew's 6 WS2 hits and 8 horse kicks. All before the enemy can raise a spear to fight back. Unlike the prince, the king can cast 6" on two units. The prince can only cast on his own unit and then only 1 incantation.

If the king is on foot, you can tool him up with the destoyer of enternities (not available to the prince). This is a costly weapon, but it will dish out some damage with 2 automatic hits per model in contact.

The prince with fewer attacks and lesser stats will struggle if the dice are average to low comparatively. Both suffer from low initiative and will usually strike at the same time as regular infantry in a second round of combat. Another reason why getting off the charge first is critical.

If the prince is what you want, then consider placing him on foot with tomb guard unit of 20. Give him a great weapon like the Crook and flail of radiance, and me mindful that the enemy mounted knights, monster riders or whatever will be charging you first. Also because the prince will likely not be hitting first unless facing rabble, the sheild of Ptra is a must. If he has to make a save, the enemy WS is reduced to 1.

In both cases, it is essential that the unit they are attached to be of sufficiently hight model count to endure things like cannon fire, magic templates, and the like. While both has nice leadership which they can pass on to nearby units (a rare need), if your heirophant is killed and the king/prince are no longer alive you have just lost the game. skeleton's leadership of 3 and 5 means most of your army will vanish very quickly. Say, for example, it is turn 6; you go last. the enemy has just killed your heirophant and most of your army is within 12" of either the king or prince, they can use his leadership.

Because TK requires you to take a general AND a priest, you can't really afford to take both king and prince. While the prince is a hero rather than a lord, I strongly suggest that the value of the priests far outweigh his slightly better than average combat abilities.

I hope this rambling answered your question, since it is early morning and I've had no coffee.

Wanax

[Ta-garh]

Thanks for the information. I actually wanted to know how to field a Prince in about 750pt army.

[Shaso Wanax]

Originally Posted by Ta-garh

Thanks for the information. I actually wanted to know how to field a Prince in about 750pt army.

OK, sorry.

At 750 pts, you are looking at a prince, a single lieche priest, some skeletons, and some light cavalry. The prince and priest will run you around 350 with some magic and upgrades, 2 units of archers around 80-100 each, and some light cav at about 120.

Personally I'd run an all archer army if I could at this level. 8pt per, means you can field many. the prince and preist upgrades should be held to a minimum of need, so things like dispell scrolls and flail of skulls are probably your necessities. I'd also embed both in sheleton units, or perhaps put the prince on a steed with a unit of heavy cavarly just to have a strike arm.

Wanax