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Hello! I was wondering if any TK players can share their experience with what units they like
or what kind of set ups do they prefer with their units.

For example:

Character heavy build , vs troop spam.
Archers? skeleton w weapon + shield? light calvary? light charriots?

What works and what doesnt o_o?

I like a large block of tomb guard with rakaph icon accompanied by the king with destroyer & collar. 2 priests who try to hide somewhere and a prince with scorpion armor who hangs out in a big unit of skeletons with the undying banner. A couple scorps, carrion, catapult & giant or second catapult. Then I cram in whatever archers fit. One important thing is that you need 4 magic slinging characters and a couple bound items because that's how the army works. I don't play them much anymore because I hate to lose to players that suck just because my army's outdated, but they are my favorite looking fantasy army.

I really don't like either of the horsemen units(fast cav that can't run & slightly faster skeletons), ushabti(hardly ever get the charge) or swarms. Chariots are horrible because against any characters with strength 7 they usually lose combat by at least 7.

First off if you want specific tactics (i.e. taking out hydras, warmachines, characters or a specific army) you should specify but here is some things about the army list.

there is a good TK tactics here - http://www.dysartes.com/tactics/whfb/tacticatombkings.php. bit out of date but still very good.

in 2000pts never take less than 3 characters and usually take 4.

i prefer the tomb king to the high priest. i feel he isn´t that much worse off in the magic phase (yes he is no where near as good but still decent) and the big plus is he makes chariots core. I put him on foot with the cloak of the dunes

i think chariots are awesome. probably the reason i like the army. i generally take 2 units of 3 (no command) and use them to wipe out weak stuff such as dark riders and flank the enemy.

i think also never leave home without a catapult (or 2). can potentially shoot twice a turn and are very accurate (as you get to test the range with shot 1 and know what it is for shot 2). another reason why the king has the cloak is he can sit back and incantate these and then fly up to get into combat. they are cheap (90pts) and effective.

long live the scorpions as well. as good as many characters in combat and great at killing them as well (with killing blow) plus can take out warmachines with ease by coming from below.

my list in a snapshot below though
tomb king
3 priests on horses (gives more mobility)
2*20+ skellies
2*3 chariots
20 tomb guard (banner of the undying legion)
2 tomb scorpions
1 tomb swarm (can take out warmachines by burrying and one is enough to do the job
4 carrions (can take out warmachines on turn 1 with incantations)
2 catapults

I think that list is 2250 but for 2000 i think i just drop the skellies down to 20, drop a priest and maybe a catapult

oh and at bat´s comment about chariots sucking simply don´t put them into combat with characters with S7.

think also never leave home without a catapult (or 2). can potentially shoot twice a turn and are very accurate (as you get to test the range with shot 1 and know what it is for shot 2).

You have to declare all guesse first, so no you cant do that without cheating - unless TK have a special rule that I've missed?
After some practice you should be able to guess to within 2" anyway.

TG are great, good place for a king with DE - one of the best magfic weapons ever created.

realise 2 things about TK magic: it ALWAYS goes off (even if cast is -1, -2 etc) so your opponent has to try to stop it. Secondly power levels suck for it. Good vs Bad - best bet is to get your Hieratic order correctly ordered so the right spells appear to draw DD and scrolls out, and also take as many bound items as fit - plus items like Hieratic jar to let you recast. Your magic is absolutely key as otherwise you will get outmanouvered.

Trouble is agsint VC and daemons that is what will often happen anyway - both armies can shut your magic phase down, have fast flankers OR can magically propel their troops. A TK army takes a lot of finesse to play however, and in the hands of a skilled general is a wonderful sight!

Oh yes, Scorpions are great - only US4 but that KB can be useful.

leighr3029 wrote:oh and at bat´s comment about chariots sucking simply don´t put them into combat with characters with S7.

Some people swear by chariots but I find they aren't all that fast (7"), don't hit very hard and can't flee from charges so it's kind of hard to keep enemies away from them. And archers take out fast cav easier because they can't flee from arrows

You should buy all mine...that is my advice!

Bat Manuel wrote:

leighr3029 wrote:oh and at bat´s comment about chariots sucking simply don´t put them into combat with characters with S7.

Some people swear by chariots but I find they aren't all that fast (7"), don't hit very hard and can't flee from charges so it's kind of hard to keep enemies away from them. And archers take out fast cav easier because they can't flee from arrows

No, they're not that fast on their own.

But, if you magic them to move in the Magic Phase, you're looking at a 21" threat range.

Right, but at the cost of having to use an Incantation on them, when it could be used for either raising dead or getting more attacks in combat. (Incantation of smiting or somesuch)

Tomb Scorpions rule. No more questions.

I personally field a Troop Spam, but that's just me.

Chariots are good as fast cavalry. in combat, they aren't that great, doing less damage than a chariot unless bought in groups.

Cryonicleech wrote:Right, but at the cost of having to use an Incantation on them, when it could be used for either raising dead or getting more attacks in combat. (Incantation of smiting or somesuch)

In what situation? This comment is hardly an "all cases" response. You may not want to use the extra move on the chariots in certain, but having the ability to have that much of a threat range is nothing to completely pass over.

The problem is, if you send them out 21" then they aren't supported and they don't beat other units with a frontal charge. I'd rather use the incantations to fire off catapults or anything else besides helping out chariots. Which brings me to my next important tomb king point.

Expect to get one spell off a turn. If you get more than one off then that's awesome, but decide which spell you really need to go off and spam it until it does.


On a completely unrelated note here's the coolest turn 1 victory I've ever pulled off. I was playing against a mixed beast/mortal chaos army so I left a scorpion on the table. He goes first and moves his general's unit up (chosen warriors with the halve your weapon skill banner) His general was like a level 4 beast wizard. So I go and spam the crap out of the "my scorpion must charge spell" and it goes off so he charges right into the general's face. My crafty opponent tries to challenge with his champion, I say "you can't", then he says, "well you need 5's to hit me." I roll one 5 followed by a 6 for the killing blow. He's not worried 'cause "I've got a 4+ ward....oops." DEAD!!! Then my scorpion loses mad combat res and fades away into the sand. He quits then I find out he had like 700 points coming up behind my guys that only his general can signal. Soooo I must agree with Cryonicleech

Tomb Scorpions rule. No more questions.

Ahhh , sounds really nice ( but they compete with Ushabiti and Tomb Guard slot )

And i hate their legs!!!!! ( keep breaking , hard to glue )

nosferatu1001 wrote:

think also never leave home without a catapult (or 2). can potentially shoot twice a turn and are very accurate (as you get to test the range with shot 1 and know what it is for shot 2).

You have to declare all guesse first, so no you cant do that without cheating - unless TK have a special rule that I've missed?
After some practice you should be able to guess to within 2" anyway.

no it isn´t cheating.

e.g. i shoot catapult in magic phase guessing 30¨. then I measure and then randomise. most people can go right i guessed 30¨ but was 2¨ off my target so in my shooting phase i will guess 32¨. It´s not cheating just smart playing (still try to hit first time of course though)

Tomb Scorpions are the best unit in the list, hands down.

Uhh.

Chariots are light chariots and they go 24 inches per turn
if magiced correctly.

Tomb Guard are horrible. They are way too expensive for what they don't do. If they were WS 4 for the same price, then we could talk turkey

Remember, as an undeadite, you want to outnumber and cause fear, that's it. Winning by one and outnumber is almost an auto-win.

My favorite units?

5x3 Heavy Cav with a warbanner. With the rules that a BSB also counts towards combat res with a regular banner, I find myself also tossing a BSB in the unit with the banner of the living dead. These guys will have 4 or 5 standard bearers worth 100 points per every game. It's ludicris

Ushabti are disgusting. 1 unit of 4 is always a monster. Try to get them into combat with their ogre units. You should always get the charge.

I like the HW/Shield combo for my skeletons 4+ armor saves increase survivability.

Liche priest with the staff of ravening on a steed is stupid good. (unit of 5 light cav)

Same goes for your heirophant having a cloak/jar.

Chariots aren't great, but they get the job done.

The screaming skull catapult is amazing whether you use skulls of the foe, or not.

Carrion with their magically incanted 40 inch charge range almost ALWAYS get a 1st turn charge against enemy war-machines. God help your opponent if he hangs his mages outside of his units.

Tomb Scorpions are great units for skirmishers, war-machines, lone mages, light cav, or heavy combat support.

Bone Giant is also a great model. As long as he's in the flank. Try not to get into combat on the front.

Anyone have experience with using Khalida and her Asp bows archers ? and i cant find anything written to whether she replaces lord or heroes slot hmm

Ive ran a khaldia themed army once, its not too bad, but it tends to be pretty soft.

allways hitting on a 5+ is an amazing bonus to start with, you will really need massed archers to benefit from her rules though, so the odd 2 or 3 units wont do.

if you do plan on taking her and going heavy on her theme then take as many minimum sized archer units as you can (however, try not to take too many as you will bottleneck the units in a battle)

that will give you a solid base for the army, with her its allways good to go magic heavy aswell, so liche priests backing her up all the way.

screaming skull cats should allways be taken as your rares, give them skulls of the foe for extra impact.
mixed with the liches you can be doing serious damage at all times.


this will be a solid core for the army, but its still very week, so you will need some counter units to make sure things like chaos knights dont get to you that quickly.

ushabtis and overpriced, but pretty effective as a hammer unit to prevent charges on your archers.
once again, the priests come to light when the ushabtis are hurt and need some repair work.

the odd tomb scorp may help from time to time for small skirmish units and warmachine crew, however, they arent the most reliable unit, so a unit of carrion for skirmisher / crew or even lone wizard hunting go a long way.


hope some of that helps

She's a lord choice. If you make her army then max out archers 'cause that's what she does. Her main problems are that she doesn't throw any dice so she doesn't draw out any dispel dice(good & bad) she doesn't fight as well as king, she isn't a king so doesn't have his cool rules and her curse sucks compared to the regular one. Her auto-spell is great on a catapult and her magic staff is soooo good that it will probably always be dispelled.