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Literally just finished reading the WFB8 Rulebook for the first time, and wanted to try and create a Tomb Kings army list. I'd like it to be competitive but am not so hot at optimizing lists, particularly as I'm not overly familiar with what the current meta-game is in respect to WFB, so I'd like you dakkanauts to help me out. Looking around it seems like tournament size is 2500pts, so that's becoming the standard game size by default. Here's what I have in mind, but I'm more than willing to adapt it.

LORDS
Tomb King Akhmen-hotep (General)
Blade of Setep
Collar of Shapesh
Shield
---
258

This guy hangs out with the Tomb Guard unit.

HEROES
Liche Priest Memnet (Hierophant)
Golden Ankhra
Skeletal Steed
---
168

This guy hangs out in the only cavalry unit.

Liche Priest Guseb
Dispel Scroll
Dispel Scroll
---
165

This guy hangs out with the large Skeleton infantry unit.

CORE UNITS

3 Chariots
---
120

3 Chariots
---
120

These units will trundle forward on the flanks of the army, acting as arrow magnets as well as an initial early threat to opposing units flanks as maneuverable support units.

20 Skeleton Warriors
Bows & Hand Weapons
Full Command
---
185

20 Skeleton Warriors
Bows & Hand Weapons
Full Command
---
185

I intend to deploy these guys in 2 ranks of 10 to anchor my line and pelt the foe with arrows. The Full command is so that they can hold their own n combat resolution if I need to advance them. In that case I'd also try and reform them into 4 ranks of 5 wide.

9 Skeleton Heavy Horsemen
Full Command
---
179

This unit is more of a Hierophant delivery system, making sure that he's in range of whichever units need incantations. They'll deploy as 2 ranks of 5, and can certainly take the fight to the foe when needed, usually in combination with either the chariot units, Tomb Guard, or Skeleton infantry

39 Skeleton Warriors
Hand Weapons & Shields
Full Command
War Banner
---
362

A unit that's likely to be deployed in 4 ranks of 10 to take advantage of the Horde rules. This is something of a massive tar pit unit, as it's very hard to make flee, and will likely be a high priority for Summoning Incantations. The scroll caddy Priest will be in here, just so he has some Look Out, Sir protection. This will be one of two units to anchor the center of the force along with...

SPECIAL UNITS
19 Tomb Guard
Full Command
Banner of the Undying Legion
---
283

...these guys, who'll also have the Tomb King along to up their combat prowess (his will be done, after all)

3 Ushabti
---
195

I'll admit, these guys don't have a real purpose, but these models are the reason I got into collecting Tomb Kings in the first place, so I'd like at least some in every force I field. Also, of course, it means I get to try out the Stomp mechanic.

1 Tomb Scorpion
---
85

1 Tomb Scorpion
---
85

War Machine hunters. Also, can use their tunneling abilities to harass opposing infantry blocks if there are no war machines present, acting as kind of a vanguard for the chariots

RARE UNITS
1 Screaming Skull Catapult.
Skulls of the Foe
---
110

Stands back, flings burning skulls at any threatening looking enemy units.

Breakdown
LORDS: 1 Units, 258points, 10.32%
HEROES 2 Units, 333points, 13.32%
CORE 6 Units, 1151points, 46.04%
SPECIAL 4 Units, 648points, 25.92%
RARE 1 Unit, 11points, 4.40%

TOTAL: 14 Units, 2,500 points (exactly!)

Now, rip it to shreds, I'm open to any and all suggestions about redoing just about every single character and unit with only one exception. I'm not losing the Ushabti

Have at it, ye Dakkanauts!

Id drop the smaller unit of skeletons and beef up the tomb guard unit. Other than that looks good.

Also one of your lich priests is illegal, only one dispell scroll per army and only one arcane item per caster.

chaplaingrabthar wrote:Literally just finished reading the WFB8 Rulebook for the first time, and wanted to try and create a Tomb Kings army list. I'd like it to be competitive but am not so hot at optimizing lists, particularly as I'm not overly familiar with what the current meta-game is in respect to WFB, so I'd like you dakkanauts to help me out. Looking around it seems like tournament size is 2500pts, so that's becoming the standard game size by default. Here's what I have in mind, but I'm more than willing to adapt it.

LORDS
Tomb King Akhmen-hotep (General)
Blade of Setep
Collar of Shapesh
Shield
---
258

This guy hangs out with the Tomb Guard unit.
drop him and get a high liche with cloak of dunes and a ward save
HEROES
Liche Priest Memnet (Hierophant)
Golden Ankhra
Skeletal Steed
this guy is pointless if hes on a skeletal steed the only thing to give him is staff of ravening
---
168
This guy hangs out in the only cavalry unit.

Liche Priest Guseb
Dispel Scroll
Dispel Scroll
---
165

This guy hangs out with the large Skeleton infantry unit.
cant have 2 scrolls. i would drop both scrolls and give this guy a casket. aslo make room for a prince with sword of swift slaying
CORE UNITS

3 Chariots
---
120

3 Chariots
---
120

These units will trundle forward on the flanks of the army, acting as arrow magnets as well as an initial early threat to opposing units flanks as maneuverable support units.
these wont do anything they pose 0 threat as all your going to do is get your d3 impact hits in then get torn to pieces and crumble away
20 Skeleton Warriors
Bows & Hand Weapons
Full Command
---
185
drop the champ he serves no purpose
20 Skeleton Warriors
Bows & Hand Weapons
Full Command
---
185
same as above
I intend to deploy these guys in 2 ranks of 10 to anchor my line and pelt the foe with arrows. The Full command is so that they can hold their own n combat resolution if I need to advance them. In that case I'd also try and reform them into 4 ranks of 5 wide.

9 Skeleton Heavy Horsemen
Full Command
---
179
garbage get rid of them
This unit is more of a Hierophant delivery system, making sure that he's in range of whichever units need incantations. They'll deploy as 2 ranks of 5, and can certainly take the fight to the foe when needed, usually in combination with either the chariot units, Tomb Guard, or Skeleton infantry

39 Skeleton Warriors
Hand Weapons & Shields
Full Command
War Banner
---
362
make these moe bowmen
A unit that's likely to be deployed in 4 ranks of 10 to take advantage of the Horde rules. This is something of a massive tar pit unit, as it's very hard to make flee, and will likely be a high priority for Summoning Incantations. The scroll caddy Priest will be in here, just so he has some Look Out, Sir protection. This will be one of two units to anchor the center of the force along with...

SPECIAL UNITS
19 Tomb Guard
Full Command
Banner of the Undying Legion
---
283
add 6 more guys so you have a maxed out unit
...these guys, who'll also have the Tomb King along to up their combat prowess (his will be done, after all)

3 Ushabti
---
195
add 1 more if you can them along with you tomb guard are your hitters that will break the enemy
I'll admit, these guys don't have a real purpose, but these models are the reason I got into collecting Tomb Kings in the first place, so I'd like at least some in every force I field. Also, of course, it means I get to try out the Stomp mechanic.

1 Tomb Scorpion
---
85

1 Tomb Scorpion
---
85
very good
War Machine hunters. Also, can use their tunneling abilities to harass opposing infantry blocks if there are no war machines present, acting as kind of a vanguard for the chariots

RARE UNITS
1 Screaming Skull Catapult.
Skulls of the Foe
---
110
get another 1
Stands back, flings burning skulls at any threatening looking enemy units.

Breakdown
LORDS: 1 Units, 258points, 10.32%
HEROES 2 Units, 333points, 13.32%
CORE 6 Units, 1151points, 46.04%
SPECIAL 4 Units, 648points, 25.92%
RARE 1 Unit, 11points, 4.40%

TOTAL: 14 Units, 2,500 points (exactly!)

Now, rip it to shreds, I'm open to any and all suggestions about redoing just about every single character and unit with only one exception. I'm not losing the Ushabti

Have at it, ye Dakkanauts!

Hey bro.

My advice is a lot like that which was just given. Looking at your list I'm going to advise a little bit in a way that doest change TOO much. I see your theme and I like it, having just finished the first two books in the Nagash series myself.

First is Akhmen Hotep.

TK's are good, but only in certain ways. If you insist on having a TK to roam with your TG, consider the following buildout.


TK

Spear of Antarak
Scorpion Armor
Dragonbane Gem
Ironcurse Icon

If you really need it, Collar of Shapesh. It's a good item, but only if you have a lot of multi-wound models or deep ranks of skellies nearbye to absorb the wounds. In this army your TG are your only real killy thing so far, so you might not want to put another 25 points here for something redundant, especially when you can have the Dragonbane Gem to protect your flammable king from fire with a 2+ ward and an Ironcurse Icon for a ward vs Warmachines for your expensive Tomb Guard.

Anyways, point of the Scorpion Armor is for you to pretty much absorb half of your crumble casualties every combat phase. For example, say you lose combat by 8. Normally, you lose 8 more skeletons, but TK are allowed to allocate those wounds among characters as they see fit, according to their army book. Scorpion Armor says that you can allocate up to half of those wounds to your TK and only take 1 wound.

So in the above case, you lose by 8, but instead of losing 8 more Tomb Guard, you lose 4 and your TK takes a wound. Then with the Spear of Antarak, you can regenrate a wound on your TK or unit for every unsaved wound you cause.

Keep in mind that you want to take a champion in this unit of TG so that your TK can allocate his attacks vs Rank and File instead of another Character so you can maximize wounds recovered. Unless their champion/character is squishy and easy to wound.



LP Memnet

One thing to consider, although it's expensive, is to run either a base TK or a Liche High Priest with a Wizard Hat. It adds a ton of options and stretches enemy dispel dice.

Anyways..

LP - Casket of Souls, Golden Ankhra


For your LP Guseb

LP - Dispel Scroll, Brooch of the Great Desert. (Both of these are basically Dispel Scrolls..)
LP - Dispel Scroll, Ruby Ring of Ruin

Pick one of the above.

Icon Bearer

Magic Banner - Banner of the Undying Legion

Always take an Icon Bearer. He does well at reducing crumble wounds and gives some leadership to your units that suffer from low leadership otherwise. Plus he's a cheap bound item to use your spell dice. Put him either with your TG, or let him float to units that have taken injuries so that you can get regen on their wounds. Placing him in range of your Ushabti reduces their crumble wounds by 2.

The rest is fine for the most part.

Here's the final build as I recommend it while staying close to your original.

2500.0 Pts - Tomb Kings Roster

Tomb King (1#, 258.0 pts)
1 Tomb King @ 258.0 pts (General; Hand Weapon; Shield; Flammable; Undead)
1 Spear of Antarhak
1 Scorpion Armor
1 Dragonbane Gem
1 Ironcurse Icon

Liche Priest (1#, 325.0 pts)
1 Liche Priest @ 325.0 pts (Hierophant; Hand Weapon; Undead)
1 Casket of Souls (Causes Terror)
2 Casket Guard (Always Strikes Last; Great Weapon; Light Armour; Undead)
1 Goldon Ankhra

Liche Priest (2#, 165.0 pts)
1 Liche Priest @ 165.0 pts (Hand Weapon; Undead)
1 Dispel Scroll
1 Ruby Ring of Ruin

Icon Bearer (1#, 92.0 pts)
1 Icon Bearer (Battle Standard Bearer) @ 92.0 pts (Hand Weapon; Light Armour; Battle Standard Bearer; Undead)
1 Banner of the Undying Legion

Skeleton Warriors (34#, 287.0 pts)
34 Skeleton Warriors @ 287.0 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Bow; Undead)

Skeleton Warriors (25#, 215.0 pts)
25 Skeleton Warriors @ 215.0 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Bow; Undead)

Skeleton Warriors (25#, 215.0 pts)
25 Skeleton Warriors @ 215.0 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Bow; Undead)

Tomb Guard (25#, 330.0 pts)
24 Tomb Guard @ 330.0 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Light Armour; Shield; Undead)
1 Champion (Hand Weapon; Light Armour; Shield)

Tomb Scorpion (1#, 85.0 pts)
1 Tomb Scorpion @ 85.0 pts (Killing Blow; Magic Resistance (1); Poisoned Attacks; Undead)

Tomb Scorpion (1#, 85.0 pts)
1 Tomb Scorpion @ 85.0 pts (Killing Blow; Magic Resistance (1); Poisoned Attacks; Undead)

Ushabti (4#, 260.0 pts)
4 Ushabti @ 260.0 pts (Undead)

War Engines (4#, 90.0 pts)
1 Screaming Skull Catapult @ 90.0 pts (Stone Thrower; Undead)
3 Crew (Hand Weapon)

War Engines (4#, 90.0 pts)
1 Screaming Skull Catapult @ 90.0 pts (Stone Thrower; Undead)
3 Crew (Hand Weapon)

Validation Report:
Edition: 8th Edition; Game Type: Normal Game; Army Subtype: Tomb Kings Army
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Total Roster Cost: 2497.0

Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com


Have you read the TK FAQ? It's free at www.Games-workshop.com

Anyways.. TK's are sadly a pretty defensive army now. Your TG will be your killers. Put them between two units of archers and in front of the third. Place your catapults in a position that they can be targeted by your LP's, hidden in your furthest back archer unit. Each LP should either Invoke Righteous Smiting for your catapults or your archers, depending on circumstance. Let your king handle inovoking on your TG and your Ushabti. Consider putting the icon bearer in with the TG as well, so the king can focus on marching and smiting while your icon bearer regens the unit. The Ruby Ring might get wasted for a few turns, but your enemy WILL get in range eventually.

The big thing with TK in 8th as Ive seen it is patience. Remember that you give up no VP's to your opponent unless he kills an entire unit.

Also, be smart with your scorpions. They cant assault a horde of infantry and win. They can smash Machine Crews and most skirmishers however. It sucks you have to dedicate their placing before the first turn after scout moves. It sortve gives away your plan for them.

Anyways, hope I was some help.

BTW, shields and handweapons is sortve a waste with skellies. Just handweapons is almost as good and way way cheaper.

Ooh, I really like the look of that rebuilt list, Thunderfrog, though I've never been a big fan of the Icon Bearer (might be a 6th Edition mindset there).

Now that I'm not planning on multiple units of chariots and needing them as core to avoid the duplicate special choice restrictions, I might think about trading down to a Tomb Prince and upgrading one of the Liches to a High Priest, probably the Casket guy.

I actually disagee with the icon bearer addition. Granted in 8th you need a BSB but all its uses ae wasted on TK as we will never take LD tests.The banner idea is good but units will have to be packed tightly together in order for him to hop around like that also i run 3 priests in my army so raising is not an issue.IM not a fan of the wizard hat build either I can see its uses It just doesnt fit my play style

No dont give the high liche the casket you cant afford to have him just stitting in the back not doing anything especially if hes your heirophant people will just aim all their gun guns and spells at them and there goes an almost 500pt unit,your awsum death machines and your heirophant.your better off giving it to a normal priest.

ShivanAngel wrote:Also one of your lich priests is illegal, only one dispell scroll per army and only one arcane item per caster.

Correct, however if you call one of those dispel scrolls a brooch of the great desert, you can effectively have a liche with two dispel scrolls. Not many wizards in 8th can do that.

Thunderfrog wrote:BTW, shields and handweapons is sortve a waste with skellies. Just handweapons is almost as good and way way cheaper.

I'm actually a big fan of shields for 'combat' skeletons, as that 6+ ward really doesn't cost too much and, like you say, keeps undead bodies in units and holding their VP. I also prefer the look of shielded warriors instead of blocks of archers, just from an aesthetic stand point. Also, archer-spam kinda makes me fill icky, from a list design stand point

exodusofman wrote:I actually disagee with the icon bearer addition. Granted in 8th you need a BSB but all its uses ae wasted on TK as we will never take LD tests.

Swift reforms and combat reforms still require LD tests for ItP units, do they not? As well as restrained pursuits, redirecting charges and reforming after running units down. IF the undead are still testing in these cases (I'm thinking yes), I still don't think the BSB is really necessary in TK armies either.

- Salvage

I find myself being glad for the boosted leadership on the swift reforms.

Also, keep in mind that an Icon Bearer has the added benefit of not only increasing LD, but all skeletons units suffer 1 less crumble wound while near him. That of course stacks with other bonuses, like an addition -1 crumble for Constructs like Tomb Scorpions.


Lastly, in a list that doesnt have Wizard Hat, be brings another Power 3 bound item for pretty cheap. You can either give him the 20pt Jar that dispels RiP spells or do like I do and give him the Summoning Banner so you dont have to spend an invocation on it. (Which is also nice because you can use as many spell dice as you want, arguably increasing the scorefor a dispel.)

I just played him in a list tonight vs Lizardmen and was glad to have him, for the Crumble reduction and the 2 wounds/attacks in my TG unit.

Also..

High Liche on a Casket is a bad idea, imo. The list I used tonight didn't even have a single HLP in it at 2500 points. I used 2 Tomb Kings and 2 Liche Priests plus a wizard hat on a TK and was able to get off a lot of Magic/Invoking every phase. Sure the Liche Priest fires off 2 or 3d6 Invokes, but the affect is the same. Even using a lowly d6 per invoking w/ a TK, they still had to allocate 1 or 2 dice to every Invocation, plus save dice for the priests, plus save dice for casket, plus save dice for my lore of ??? spells. (Tonight I got metal.) Even assuming they have 6 dispel dice, I have 6 invocations a turn, + casket and lore stuff. Their dice stretch thin indeed. And TK's are good anchors for your TG. Also consider, a TK w/a a Wizard Hat is a lvl 2 caster w/ 10 Ld (Testing for stupid, sadly.) that has 4 wounds. He's no chump even naked.

I think im just stuck in 7th when it comes to certain things like with my empire whats an engineer?I only recently(last 3 games) started using one and Icon bearers having always been useless I think my mind is just stuck saying no dont do that.

How do you roll your lore for the wizard hat out of curiosity?consiering 8 sided dice dont exist. I actually might Try the wizz hat King out maaaaaaaaybe

D8's do exist actually. Ask around your gameshop for someone who plays D&D and they can hook you up. ^_^

:O i was under the impression they were a myth look into this i shall