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Hello, I am new to Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

I have started collecting Tomb Kings. (Admitting I am starting Tomb Kings is sorta like an AA meeting isen't it?)

So far I think I have learned the basics of the rules, however I am a bit baffeled by the army list. Tomb King army list seem to be very narrow: They all want to cast incarnations on upgraded catapults and groups of archers.

We are playing at 2250 so that leaves 562 for heroes and for lords.

I was thinking 2 Lich High Priests, getting them on horses and placing them in a group of 40 archers, next to 2 screaming skull catapults with skulls of the foe. That way I can shoot 4 catapult shots and 30 arrow shots two times each round. I got 1 incatation to spare witch I can use on a ressurect. The Incartations from the LHP are also harder to dispell then the king/priests to get the moast out of the magic fac e..

What do I do with the next of the army? I should get a prince, obviusly, and get him in a big strong unit (getting the unit a banner of the undying legion) like a hammer unit (tomb guard, ushabti, skeleton heavy horsemen, or chariot.) If that works out I can get the hammer unit to move/attack twice in the same round. I should probably also get two tomb scorpions to pop up and take out rivaling war machines. The slim remaining points would go to archers or chariots to haras/flank attack anything that walks over the table.

What do you think, and do you have any advice?

- Niiai

PS: Sorry for bad spelling but I am a dysletic.

First of all I would take a LHP and a Tomb King. That makes Chariots core and you can still load up on another 1-2 LP to get those SSC shooting 4 times Getting a Tomb King and putting it in a tomb guard unit makes that a threat for the opponent to deal with too. Tomb Scorpions are one of our best and most cost effective units right now, get like 2 of those.

Remember to get at least the Banner of the Undying Legion and Ruby Ring of Ruin to use up some of the power dices you will roll.

As for equipment for the Liche High Priest... I would go for Cloak of Dunes (because flying 10" is just awesome) and Neferras Plaques of Mighty Incantations.

OKey. I am not so shure about the point costs, but Ushabti/chariots or Tomb Guard seems like my best bet for some real nasty hammer force.

Spearmen skeletan warriors to could be cool, but they do not seem so strong, although getting all 40 attacks in seems cool.

If eather the units gets 1 banner of the undying legion from itself, 1 from the standar bearer and the prince/king has a spear of antarhak they can REALLY heal up. A king would perhaps be best, since he can first cast urgency, and the rightus smighting, getting twice the amount of attacks.

Remember, skeletons in melee suck. Arm them with bows. They can hit +5 all the time for good reason

Spearmens are next to worthless, the only I could see a melee skeleton unit work is if you get a tomb king with spear of antarhak and scorpion armour (half of the wounds from unstable goes to TK and he ignores all except 1) and then the Banner of the Undying Legion. This really can't kill anything but should be able to hold up things for another killy unit to arrive.
These need the HW/Shield combo, don't really know if light armour is worth it.

Anyway, everything this unit can do a unit of Tomb Guards can do better.

So stick to bowmens, chariots and tomb swarms for core!

Liche Priests ON horses IN your units of skeletons is a bad idea. They benefit from no look out sir rolls, and can be picked out. A smart opponent will pick out your heirophant, first and work down from there.

Shooting lots of arrows and skulls is not the only thing they do, but it is one of the most effective first builds a Khemerian comes up while mulling over the book trying to figure out how to crush their opponents mercilessly.

Last edition any problem with the percieved weakness of your army was that you only ever engaged on your own terms and that you were simply the fastest army in the game.

These days a well played Khemri army is still balls out fast, but the speed isn't A) nearly as oppressive, B) nearly as reliable, and C) Nearly as worthwhile.

Khemri magic is still insanely good, but less because it always goes off, and more because small ball attrition (throwing TONS of 1 dice casts) will destroy your opponents mana pool too quickly to be able to deal with your back end stuff. If they save their dice for the back end stuff, you'll be able to really wreak havoc early.

Ragnar4 wrote:Liche Priests ON horses IN your units of skeletons is a bad idea. They benefit from no look out sir rolls, and can be picked out. A smart opponent will pick out your heirophant, first and work down from there.

Shooting lots of arrows and skulls is not the only thing they do, but it is one of the most effective first builds a Khemerian comes up while mulling over the book trying to figure out how to crush their opponents mercilessly.

Last edition any problem with the percieved weakness of your army was that you only ever engaged on your own terms and that you were simply the fastest army in the game.

These days a well played Khemri army is still balls out fast, but the speed isn't A) nearly as oppressive, B) nearly as reliable, and C) Nearly as worthwhile.

Khemri magic is still insanely good, but less because it always goes off, and more because small ball attrition (throwing TONS of 1 dice casts) will destroy your opponents mana pool too quickly to be able to deal with your back end stuff. If they save their dice for the back end stuff, you'll be able to really wreak havoc early.

I am not shure I follow you. Are you talking about that I use my front line incatations first, so by the time he comes to the horphant he cant dispell the 3d6's?

I dont se how speed is gonne save me eather. Mind you I am new to the game. It just seems to me that very few of ouer units can a) stand up to ranged shooting or b) do anything in close combat. So far I have only dabbeled in the rule reading but was far as I can see all the other armies can take forced marches, wheras the T. King has to cast a spell to get the same miladge out of the same engine.

It is not that I don't belive you, or that a group of 40 skeletons with spears and in a horde rank (getting 40 attacks) is bad, it is just that I don't have any comparison. Ouer units have mediocer stats, a loucy inisiative and a little, if no armour. And a base skeleton for 8 points do not seem so cheap. (Mind you I have played 40 k where armours is very common.)

It seems that the way to build the army is a) arrow/catapult spam or b) a small elite unit benefitting from a lott of incatations. Respectivly having 2 go of on each unit each round to get the move action for the charge, and the ekstra attack (only 1 attack mind you.)

Your opponent will on average have 3-4 dispel dices each round. They can get more from various items and effects but those tend to cost extra points or be unreliable (channeling). A fairly character-heavy tomb kings army gets on average 20 offensive dice in total if they make good use of bound spells. So your opponent will have to let a lot of those spells past.


Tomb Kings has trouble marching, yes. They will with magic go about as fast as the rest of the movement 4 armies. They do however excell in two areas.

- Chariots can't march, but can be moved twice if you use magic.

- TK units can first do a normal move, then do a charge with magic. This means that with for example chariots, the average move+charge distance is 25" while for most armies chariots only reach 16-17".


But you are correct in that many of the basic skeleton units are a bit overpriced now. The army book is from 2002 after all, and a lot has changed since then. It is no longer as important to be unbreakable and cause fear.


I would go for characters and plastic models first, to be honest. If there's an unit you really like the current look of, feel free to paint it. TK will most likely get a bunch of new models with their new army book, and it's hard to predict just what is going to work well.

I personally think chariots will be okay, since they are such an iconic unit for Tomb Kings. Characters will probably remain strong, and it's likely that they'll buff the icon bearer to be more inline with the general bsb in 8th.

Well thank you for the reply.

It seems to me that the tomb king should be played as a small elite army. Harrasing and smoke screening the oponent, shooting at him with screaming skull catapults (anything not close to a standar bearer or the general) and then when the time is right, its time to punce, preferably on just one flank. Getting a move and a charge, attacking him more time then he can attack you, and try to heal up and then wind down his army one unit at a time, preferably on moral breaks (with catapults and loosing combats.)

What do you think?