Librarium Online - View Single Post - Arise and Reclaim Your Empires: A LO Tomb King Tactica

Spector · October 24th, 2007, 16:33

Written by: Carnifexus

Tomb Scorpion
Take out double its points or your money back!

Few single units can strike terror into the hearts of opponents quite like the Tomb Scorpion. Whether it’s killing of the enemies scroll caddies, destroying his new fandangled (400 year old) organ gun. Or assassinating his unbeatable Blood Dragon General and then watching his army crumble, the simple Tomb Scorpion is one of the most potent morale destroyers in the entire Warhammer Game.

Strengths
• ICFB
• Killing Blow
• Poison
• Fast Movement
• Stat Line
• Magic resistance
• Construct (Anti Crumble)
Weaknesses
• No Static CR
• Weak Armour Save
• Unit Strength 4 (Can’t get better than that)

Basic Tactics

Warmachine Annihilator

I say Warmachine Annihilator because unlike other units which are called to this task there is a 99% chance that the scorpion will succeed against any and all Warmachines including the Dwarven anvil with the accompanying Rune Lord.

Simply use ICFB and place your coin as close to the war machine as possible (including directly on top of it) while aiming for 8” away from any board edge to limit the chances of a failed appearance. Then on turn two or three you should be charging said Warmachine what will follow will be a brutal combat where even if you fail to kill anything you will still outnumber (90% of the time) and cause fear and therefore auto break Warmachine crews.

For Maximum effectiveness try and line up your scorpion with another Warmachine behind it so that you can overrun from this Warmachine to the next Warmachine. This tactic is great against Dwarves and Empire who have lots of heavy hitting Warmachines.

Mage Hunter

Tomb Kings love to dominate the magic phase when we do it makes it very hard for any army to win against us as we charge who we want, our Warmachines shoot twice with unerring accuracy and all the dead skele’s come back to fight again. In order to really dominate a magic phase you need to eliminate the enemies Mages.

The Scorpion is the perfect Mage Hunter. Its Fast movement allows it to charge into blocks of infantry with the Mage in the front. Its high strength, poison and killing blow mean that he has an excellent chance of causing the 2 wounds required to kill most scroll caddy mages and his low points cost mean that its not the end of the world when the scorpion dies after the mage has been killed.

Generally when using the scorpion as a mage killer you won’t need to use ICFB. However some shooty armies like Wood Elves, Dwarves, and Empire will try and hide the Mage at the back with the bowmen. This probably is the best situation for a scorpion as often he will not only kill the mage but will take out the archer unit, all be it slowly. In this situation use ICFB and place the coin in a position so that you will be able to charge the front of the unit so that you can get into base to base with the Mage. Generally 6” in front of the Mage will give you the best odds of being able to charge said Mage.

Remember to always direct all attacks at killing the mage that is your primary focus and you don’t really care if the scorpion lives or dies if he kills the enemy mage!

The Anti-Flee, Counter Charge Blocker

One of my favourite uses. The grass is always greener on the otherside! I really miss not being able to flee and leave a unit stranded in the middle of no where about to take my counter charge. What annoys me most is when I have my Chariots lined up for the charge on a unit knowing that I’m about to crush them and then having them flee just far enough so I fail my charge. By having a scorpion also charge from the back or from a close proximity side it negates the flee reaction as you will wipe out the unit because it can’t flee far enough. This allows you to trap that nasty unit in a sandwich of doom. Even better the scorpion will most likely add +2 to the CR (in kills) and 4 unit strength, increasing the chances of the unit breaking!

The other use the counter charge block is particularly effective against small Elite units which are strong and tough but have low static CR. Think Dryads or a spear of Cold One Knights. Often your enemies will try and use there weak units as bait and then charge your flank with these small but effective units. A scorpion is more than effective against these types of units. With its high strength and toughness most elite troops struggle against it and cavalry get annihilated quickly if they don’t get the charge. It may not win the combat however it will severely hold those troops up allowing your other unit to escape the trap!

Character Assassination

The most risky of all the tactics this always ends in a spectacular fashion. Either you get a killing blow on the character or roll really well and remove 3 of his wounds thus killing him or you fail to hurt him and you crumble through CR and of course the retaliatory attacks!!

This tactic is very good up against armies which use the eggs in one basket tactic and have the 500 point 1 man killing machine. Be aware that some of these characters will be immune to killing blow and thus use two scorpions against them in fact two scorpions is generally the way to go. This tactic should be primarily used against Vampire Counts. But is also good against Characters in mounted Monsters (you can get 3 scorpions in!). Generally no need to use ICFB when using this tactic.

Using ICFB

This comes down to the role the scorpion is involved in. You have to remember that everytime you use ICFB theres a chance that your scorpion may not come up. There is a much greater chance that your scorpion won't come up in exactly the place you want.

When not to use ICFB
When aiming to assassinate a character in the front rank of a unit the Scorpion should not use ICFB but rather a shrewd tactical placement of directly opposite said character.

Scorpions are blessed with a high movement stat and therefore are able to declare charges in the front and flank of a unit relatively easily. We must remember that they still can't march so they are not as mobile as most other units and redeploying from one side of the battlefield requires a lot of effort by the way of magic casting.

When to use ICFB
When trying to get behind the enemies main battle line to prevent troops fleeing and destroy their precious war machines.

Scorpions are reasonably reliable with ICFB. Popping up and being able to charge in the same turn is a blessing. Hopefully this means that on a successful roll all the nasty war machines of the enemy will be silenced on your turn two which is far faster than what a scorpion could achieve if it was deployed normally. The only way to be more effective is a magic charge from carrion in the first turn.

When trying to prevent the flight of an enemy unit turn 3 is generally sufficient and therefore the scorpion will have arrived in time to be of service 69% of the time

Greatest Mistakes

There are really only 2 that come to mind

Taking on the world
Scorpions are a great unit and as the tactics above say they can easily take out double there points every battle you play with them. Of course they are not invincible not even close and if you charge them head/flank or from the rear into a block of infantry (even Gobbos) you will come off looking rather stupid. A Scorpion’s greatest weakness is the lack of static CR and it never manages to generate a lot of CR on the attack either. So against blocks of infantry you will crumble big time!!!

Supporting a Lost Cause
Another bad idea is to bring them into a doomed combat to try and get some CR to help out a block of skeletons etc. Scorpions do not create a significant CR by themselves you can pretty much bank on them adding +2. If you have a unit of skeleton bowmen up against a lizard temple guard unit and you rush your scorpion in there expect the temple guard to keep grinding the bowmen down maybe killing 6 and the scorpion crumbling as a result because the weak skeletons allowed the temple guard to create a huge CR.

Scorpion Law

1. Take at least one!
2. Don’t Charge into Block Infantry
3. Create and Execute the Plan, Don’t Gamble!

Conclusion

Scorpions are very good at taking out an armies strength, whether it’s Dwarven Artillery, Dark Elf Magic, Wood Elf Shooting or the VC’s General. Their amazing versatility makes them a very popular choice in tournaments as there are not many armies which they are not of great value against. Their low points cost combined with a great stat line and awesome special abilities make them the single greatest (in my honest opinion) Special unit available to any army. When used correctly they will hollow out an enemy allowing you to crush them mercilessly!

October 24th, 2007, 16:33	#3 (permalink)
Spector KILL THEM ALL! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Maryland, United States Age: 22 Posts: 1,908 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 58	Written by: Carnifexus Tomb Scorpion Take out double its points or your money back! Few single units can strike terror into the hearts of opponents quite like the Tomb Scorpion. Whether it’s killing of the enemies scroll caddies, destroying his new fandangled (400 year old) organ gun. Or assassinating his unbeatable Blood Dragon General and then watching his army crumble, the simple Tomb Scorpion is one of the most potent morale destroyers in the entire Warhammer Game. Strengths • ICFB • Killing Blow • Poison • Fast Movement • Stat Line • Magic resistance • Construct (Anti Crumble) Weaknesses • No Static CR • Weak Armour Save • Unit Strength 4 (Can’t get better than that) Basic Tactics *Warmachine Annihilator* I say Warmachine Annihilator because unlike other units which are called to this task there is a 99% chance that the scorpion will succeed against any and all Warmachines including the Dwarven anvil with the accompanying Rune Lord. Simply use ICFB and place your coin as close to the war machine as possible (including directly on top of it) while aiming for 8” away from any board edge to limit the chances of a failed appearance. Then on turn two or three you should be charging said Warmachine what will follow will be a brutal combat where even if you fail to kill anything you will still outnumber (90% of the time) and cause fear and therefore auto break Warmachine crews. For Maximum effectiveness try and line up your scorpion with another Warmachine behind it so that you can overrun from this Warmachine to the next Warmachine. This tactic is great against Dwarves and Empire who have lots of heavy hitting Warmachines. *Mage Hunter* Tomb Kings love to dominate the magic phase when we do it makes it very hard for any army to win against us as we charge who we want, our Warmachines shoot twice with unerring accuracy and all the dead skele’s come back to fight again. In order to really dominate a magic phase you need to eliminate the enemies Mages. The Scorpion is the perfect Mage Hunter. Its Fast movement allows it to charge into blocks of infantry with the Mage in the front. Its high strength, poison and killing blow mean that he has an excellent chance of causing the 2 wounds required to kill most scroll caddy mages and his low points cost mean that its not the end of the world when the scorpion dies after the mage has been killed. Generally when using the scorpion as a mage killer you won’t need to use ICFB. However some shooty armies like Wood Elves, Dwarves, and Empire will try and hide the Mage at the back with the bowmen. This probably is the best situation for a scorpion as often he will not only kill the mage but will take out the archer unit, all be it slowly. In this situation use ICFB and place the coin in a position so that you will be able to charge the front of the unit so that you can get into base to base with the Mage. Generally 6” in front of the Mage will give you the best odds of being able to charge said Mage. Remember to always direct all attacks at killing the mage that is your primary focus and you don’t really care if the scorpion lives or dies if he kills the enemy mage! *The Anti-Flee, Counter Charge Blocker* One of my favourite uses. The grass is always greener on the otherside! I really miss not being able to flee and leave a unit stranded in the middle of no where about to take my counter charge. What annoys me most is when I have my Chariots lined up for the charge on a unit knowing that I’m about to crush them and then having them flee just far enough so I fail my charge. By having a scorpion also charge from the back or from a close proximity side it negates the flee reaction as you will wipe out the unit because it can’t flee far enough. This allows you to trap that nasty unit in a sandwich of doom. Even better the scorpion will most likely add +2 to the CR (in kills) and 4 unit strength, increasing the chances of the unit breaking! The other use the counter charge block is particularly effective against small Elite units which are strong and tough but have low static CR. Think Dryads or a spear of Cold One Knights. Often your enemies will try and use there weak units as bait and then charge your flank with these small but effective units. A scorpion is more than effective against these types of units. With its high strength and toughness most elite troops struggle against it and cavalry get annihilated quickly if they don’t get the charge. It may not win the combat however it will severely hold those troops up allowing your other unit to escape the trap! *Character Assassination* The most risky of all the tactics this always ends in a spectacular fashion. Either you get a killing blow on the character or roll really well and remove 3 of his wounds thus killing him or you fail to hurt him and you crumble through CR and of course the retaliatory attacks!! This tactic is very good up against armies which use the eggs in one basket tactic and have the 500 point 1 man killing machine. Be aware that some of these characters will be immune to killing blow and thus use two scorpions against them in fact two scorpions is generally the way to go. This tactic should be primarily used against Vampire Counts. But is also good against Characters in mounted Monsters (you can get 3 scorpions in!). Generally no need to use ICFB when using this tactic. Using ICFB This comes down to the role the scorpion is involved in. You have to remember that everytime you use ICFB theres a chance that your scorpion may not come up. There is a much greater chance that your scorpion won't come up in exactly the place you want. *When not to use ICFB* When aiming to assassinate a character in the front rank of a unit the Scorpion should not use ICFB but rather a shrewd tactical placement of directly opposite said character. Scorpions are blessed with a high movement stat and therefore are able to declare charges in the front and flank of a unit relatively easily. We must remember that they still can't march so they are not as mobile as most other units and redeploying from one side of the battlefield requires a lot of effort by the way of magic casting. *When to use ICFB* When trying to get behind the enemies main battle line to prevent troops fleeing and destroy their precious war machines. Scorpions are reasonably reliable with ICFB. Popping up and being able to charge in the same turn is a blessing. Hopefully this means that on a successful roll all the nasty war machines of the enemy will be silenced on your turn two which is far faster than what a scorpion could achieve if it was deployed normally. The only way to be more effective is a magic charge from carrion in the first turn. When trying to prevent the flight of an enemy unit turn 3 is generally sufficient and therefore the scorpion will have arrived in time to be of service 69% of the time Greatest Mistakes There are really only 2 that come to mind *Taking on the world* Scorpions are a great unit and as the tactics above say they can easily take out double there points every battle you play with them. Of course they are not invincible not even close and if you charge them head/flank or from the rear into a block of infantry (even Gobbos) you will come off looking rather stupid. A Scorpion’s greatest weakness is the lack of static CR and it never manages to generate a lot of CR on the attack either. So against blocks of infantry you will crumble big time!!! *Supporting a Lost Cause* Another bad idea is to bring them into a doomed combat to try and get some CR to help out a block of skeletons etc. Scorpions do not create a significant CR by themselves you can pretty much bank on them adding +2. If you have a unit of skeleton bowmen up against a lizard temple guard unit and you rush your scorpion in there expect the temple guard to keep grinding the bowmen down maybe killing 6 and the scorpion crumbling as a result because the weak skeletons allowed the temple guard to create a huge CR. Scorpion Law 1. Take at least one! 2. Don’t Charge into Block Infantry 3. Create and Execute the Plan, Don’t Gamble! Conclusion Scorpions are very good at taking out an armies strength, whether it’s Dwarven Artillery, Dark Elf Magic, Wood Elf Shooting or the VC’s General. Their amazing versatility makes them a very popular choice in tournaments as there are not many armies which they are not of great value against. Their low points cost combined with a great stat line and awesome special abilities make them the single greatest (in my honest opinion) Special unit available to any army. When used correctly they will hollow out an enemy allowing you to crush them mercilessly! __________________ Last edited by Spector; October 24th, 2007 at 16:44.