Tomb Kings
After a few days looking at other great Warhammer goodness it's time to get back on the army trail with a look at the Tomb Kings. I headed over to the Studio this morning to see who had the most sand on their desk and I noticed a whole heap close to the White Dwarf area. Upon closer inspection I found both Andrew Kenrick and Adam Troke building Tomb King armies and eager to get some games in with the new rules. Here is what they had to say on owning a Tomb Kings collection:
Adam: The Studio announced a battalion challenge and I wasn't going to ignore the call when it was made but as the days rolled by I realised I'd left things rather late. I opted for a Tomb Kings Battalion and I approached them in a production-line style, assembling the whole battalion over two frenzied lunch breaks. For the next two lunch breaks I painted like a maniac over a Skull White undercoat. For the dark areas I used Charadon Granite, the red areas are Mechrite Red and the metal is Chainmail. I then based all the models with Modelling Sand.
The final lunch break in my week of painting was to wash all the models in the entire Battalion: Gryphonne Sepia for bone, Devlan Mud for everything else (including the sand)! That was a very messy lunch break, I assure you.
All that was left then was to drybrush the tops of the bases with Bubonic Brown and do the rims with Graveyard Earth (the grass is a 50/50 mix of Scorched Grass and Dead Grass). All in all the entire Battalion took just over five hours of painting and assembly. I'd finished so quickly, I decided to add a Tomb King, Tomb Scorpion and Tomb Swarms and still finished with plenty of time to spare. Huzzah!
Now all I need is to add a Liche Priest and I'm ready to go. Of course, if I can find another five hours, I plan to add a second Battalion, bringing the Spearmen to forty and giving myself a small regiment of archers too.
Adam: The Skeleton Warriors will form the core of the army when it's finished. Skeletal spearmen might not be the best warriors in the game, but they're hard to get rid of and Tomb King magic lets me bring them back time and again. Presently in the practice games I've had with them, I fight eight wide and four deep but my goal is to form up as a forty where all the models can fight (ten by four). Click on the image to take a look at my happy little vignette too - there's a bunch of Skeletons dragging a statuette into battle. I like the idea they're trying to reclaim the battlefield and rebuild some long-lost Nehekharan outpost.
Adam: Chariots are the key to the Tomb Kings army, in my opinion. They're cheap, fast and very dangerous. What I love is that they can deal damage out of sequence. For an army that doesn't have much skill in combat, that's very handy. When this unit hits it does 3D3 Strength 4 Impact Hits before anyone else gets a look in. High Elves don't like it when you've run them over before they can Always Strike First.
Andrew: As well as adding to my Warriors of Chaos (which Andy has talked about here), I wanted to start a new Warhammer army for the new edition, plumping for Tomb Kings. As I was building the army with 8th edition in mind, I made sure I included all the things that make Tomb Kings great in the new edition - ranked-up cavalry, an Unbreakable Skeleton horde, plenty of chariots (which aren't killed automatically by S7 hits any more) and monsters and wizards aplenty.
Infantry are great and really benefit from being fielded in large units. I like to field a large block of 40 Skeleton Warriors with spears (all of which can fight) along with smaller blocks of Skeletons with hand weapons and shields, Skeleton archers and Tomb Guard in a supporting role. The Skeleton horde holds the enemy army in place long enough for my other units to get into the sides or my Tomb Scorpion and Tomb Swarms to charge in the rear.
Fast, hard-hitting and tough, chariots are a great addition to any army. And, as Tomb Kings can field units of chariots as Core choices (if they have a Tomb King), they can really take advantage of them. I like to use my chariots to burn up the flanks and hit the enemy in the side, preferably whilst they're bogged down with my horde of Skeletons.
If you roll lucky, Tomb Kings magic is nigh-on unstoppable. I like to field at least two or three Liche Priests in my army, along with a High Liche Priest and a Tomb Prince. The first couple of incantations a turn can be dispelled if the enemy gets lucky, but the sheer volume of incantations cast by my magical cadre quickly overwhelms all but the doughtiest Dwarf, giving me extra charges or attacks all over the place
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Andrew: Nick Bayton converted this Bone Giant (the oversized shield is simply a section of a crisp tube) and I painted it to match my own army. With their stomp attack, monsters of all shapes and sizes are great in Warhammer - I regularly go to war with a unit of Ushabti, a couple of Tomb Scorpions and a Bone Giant, all of which get to trample away. The Bone Giant in particular is nasty as it has both an Unstoppable Assault and a Thunderstomp.
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Andrew: Tomb Kings might not have the best infantry in Warhammer, but they're certainly amongst the most dependable. They're Unbreakable, so won't be going anywhere in a hurry - especially if they're fielded in a unit this size. Because this unit is a horde, every model gets to fight when charged. The Tomb Prince makes them extra hitty - he can cast the Incantation of Righteous Smiting on the unit to give them an extra attack in the Magic phase, and with 3 Wounds and a Toughness of 5 is as hard as most Lords to boot.
If you are inspired by Adam and Andrew's advice on the Tomb Kings army then we've added the Battalion and army book below and for good measure a Bone Giant as a bit of stomping never hurt anyone. If you're already a Tomb Kings player and want to add some more Chariots or Skeleton Warriors to your collection then you can view the complete range here.
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Once you've got the basics of your army together, adding a Bone Gaint will give you a nice centre piece for your collection as well as being devastating on the battlefield.
