[Spector]

Written by: willadams33

Liche Priest - the Puppet Master

Overview.

A Tomb Kings army must take at least one Liche Priest, but this is no bad thing as without them, our army would not exist at all. A Tomb Kings army is only animated by the incantations of the Liche Priests, making Liche Priests, and particularly the chief Liche Priest or Hierophant, the most model in your army.


Strengths.

Know four incantations - This is more for the Incantation section of the Tactica, but the knowledge of four spells is pretty good in the Warhammer world, especially when a normal Liche Priest is essentially a Level 2 wizard.

Incantations always cast on 2D6 - This is the big one, the thing that makes Tomb Kings brilliant to play with. Your incantations always cast, regardless of modifiers and miscasts etc. This means that an average army of say a Tomb King, a Tomb Prince and two Liche Priests and two bound items have the equivalent of seven spells from nine power dice, when the spells are always successfully being cast! Which is quite frankly amazing! A fully magicked up Tomb Kings army has the potential to churn our 5 incantations with eleven power dice from its Liche Priests alone! More than this though, it means that it is a lot of spells for your opponents to dispel, meaning that soon they are going to have to let some/or all, of them go through!

-Never Miscast.

This is another great thing. With the rather more horrible looking miscast table, the knowledge that your wizards are safe from the dreaded double-one is one less thing to worry about.

-Have access to the Casket of Souls. Read my Casket tactica for more on the item, but the Liche Priests ability to take this monstrosity into battle is reason enough to take that extra Liche Priest!


Weaknesses

-Stat Line. Liche Priests are brilliant magic workers, but they are in danger of anything stronger than a stiff breeze. This means that protecting them is key (more about this later).

The Hieratic Hierarchy Tomb Kings magic must be performed in a strict order: Non Character Bound items, Icon Bearer, Prince, King, Liche Priest(s), Hierophant, Casket of Souls. This means that your opponent knows whats coming and when within the magic phase, meaning you don't have the element of surprise.

-Don't generate normal power dice. Liche Priests don't need to generate power dice as their incantations always cast, (the dice you role simply determine how powerfully the incantation is cast). However this means that in your magic phase, you only have two dispel dice to dispel Remains in Play spells etc.

Can Never suffer positive effects from miscasts - This is an odd one. If you opponent suffers a miscast which says, for instance, that his opponent may cast a spell freely, a Khemrian army will not be able to take advantage of this. Its a shame, but not really a massive disappointment. This doesn't mean that your opponent doesn't suffer miscasts, you jjust don't get the effet if it is positive towards your (i.e. the enemy wizard can still kill himself!)

-Range of Incantations. Liche Priest Incantations only have a 12" range for their incantations. This can be a problem until you learn how to deploy and move your Liche Priests effectively. However, it normally means that the priests will have to be deployed in units which means that once the said unit is in combat then the Liche Priest will probably be slaughtered.

-Hierophant protection. If your Hierophant dies, then you are in trouble; not as much trouble if you play Vampire Counts and your Vampire dies, but trouble none the less. If the Hierophant dies then your army starts to crumble away. This means that keeping your Hierophant safe and well is paramount to any successful battle plan.


Deployment.

-With a big unit. If you have a big unit you need to get in combat, putting a Liche Priest in with them will help them get into combat quicker as you can urgency them on (however, I would recommend a King for this role).

In a protective Horsemen unit. Mounting your Liche Priest and putting him with say 5 or 6 Horsemen will both increase his maneuverability and protect him from missile fire.

With a Catapult. The doesn't make the Priest safe from Cannon Balls, but it means that he is much safer from normal missile fire and can be on Smiting duty for the catapult.

Hidding. Always a good idea. If you have a wood or any terrain to hide you Liche Priests (especially you Hierophant in) the use it. Another option is to put the priest behind your lines and away from enemy LOS.


Basic Tactics.

Movement. Use your priests to magically charge your key units in. A favorite tactic of mine is to send a mounted Priest forward (in his protective unit) with a unit of Carrion and try to get a first turn charge off. Magical charging also potentially gives all your units 360 degree LOS as you can turn them to face whichever way you please in the movement phase and then attempt to charge them in the magic phase.

Catapult Duty If you have deployed a Liche Priest with or within range of a Catapult, then try to smite it in the magic phase so if nothing else, you can get the range measured to get a perfect hit in the shooing phase.

Magic Missile Our magic missile is often overlooked as mostly useless, but against ethereal creatures or to give those extra couple of hits to make sure an enemy unit is destroyed, it is extremely useful. If you use it with a mounted Priest with the Staff of Ravening, he churns out d6 s4 hits and 3d6 s2 hits per magic phase, not bad! Also with this combination the first of the two magic missiles you cast will tell you if the second will be in range as they have the same range of 18", meaning that if it isn't, you know to pick a closer target.


Equipment

- Mounted with Staff of Ravening. Put this guy in a horsemen unit and they can take care of fliers, skirmishers, war machines etc with relative ease! It is also another spell that your opponent will have to stop.

-The Scroll Caddy. Liche Priests are not great at magical defense, so a few dispel scrolls always come in handy. Another option here is Enkhil's Kanopi, which is especially useful against Ogre Gut Magic.

-Cloak of the Dunes. The mandatory piece of equipment for your Hierophant, giving him unparalleled maneuverability, meaning that you should, with a little practice, always be able to keep him out of harms way.

-Magical boost. The Hieratic Jar or the Neffera's Plaque are both good to give you even more magical edge.

Collar of Shappesh If you want to protect your Hierophant further, the Collar is good. However it limits the movement of you Hierophant as he will need to be within four inches of a friendly model for it to have an effect.


Big No No's.

-Out all Alone. Never leave your Priests and especially your Hierophant, in a position where they can be freely shot at unless you have no choice.

-Rushing your magic phase. The Hieratic Hierarchy is very strict. Once you move on, you cannot go back. I have lost count of the number of times I have steamed on through and forgotten a bound item etc. Take your time and work through your magic phase methodically, literally ticking off each magical model as you move through your magic phase.


Conclusion.

Liche priests, with their incantations that always cast, are up there with the best wizards in the game. I would always recommend taking at least two, because without magical movement, Tomb Kings are a slow army. Like all wizards, Liche Priests are frail and need protecting, but if all goes to plan, by about turn three, there will be little your opponent can do to stop your priests asserting total magical dominance in the battle!