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Written by: Nephthysis

Treasures of the Necropolis
Talismans - Heirlooms of the Dead

Overview:
The Tomb Kings' Talisman selection is extremely important for our army, as they are what make up for one of our army's biggest weaknesses: low armor saves. It is rare to see an army take nothing at all from this list as it generally provides cheaper and more effective survivability options than magical armour, and is the only source of protection for the Liche Priests (aside from keeping them out of harms way in the first place).

Golden Ankhra:
This is our most complete, and most expensive, protection option for characters. Although it is priced exactly where it should be for a 4+ ward save, that price makes it rather restrictive for hero-level characters to take. Although the Cloak of Dunes is a more common choice for a Liche Priest Hierophant, the Golden Ankhra is still a viable choice provided the Priest has a skeletal steed for maneuverability. A Liche High Priest of course has the option to take both, although there is debate on whether or not the combination is "overkill". If you are running a Liche High Priest (and therefore super magic-heavy) army though, it's hard to call any amount of protection for the source of half your casting power overkill. Only if you can guarantee that your opponent is not going to have access to Forked Lightning, the Lore of Life, war machines, the Hochland Long Rifle, favorable terrain, etc can it safely be said that the combination is overkill. Remember that forcing a priest to hide in a forest out of casting range because of a cannon on a hill is 90% as good as killing him.

The Ankhra can of course also be taken on Tomb Kings and Princes to provide some protection. It is probably too expensive of an option to be taken on a Prince most of the time, but Kings can take the ward save and still have the points for a decent magical weapon. Doing so also frees up the Collar of Shapesh to be taken on a Prince and is a common choice in tournament lists that use both.

Crown of Kings:
This is a puzzlingly expensive piece of equipment whose uses are limited at best. It can be taken on Tomb Kings only, who already get two shots at casting their spells if they roll low on the first attempt, and whose major role is to provide the close combat hitting power that our army so sorely lacks. If it were available to the other characters, and/or didn't cost more than Neferra's Plaques, it might be worth considering, but how it currently stands, it is not.

Amulet of Pha-Stah:
Here we have another expensive trinket with a narrow scope of use. It only works in base to base contact, which is a situation you want to avoid with your Liche Priests at all costs, and prevents you from taking any other magical items on that character, which is a situation you want to avoid with your Tomb Kings/Princes at all costs. Furthermore, it has no effect on magical weapons, armour, Slann Plaques, or non-equipment character upgrades (such as High Elf Honors), which are the things you would most commonly want nullified. Perhaps if you know ahead of time that your opponent likes to run around with an important character whose only protection is a ward save you could make a decent character-killing Tomb Prince using this, but in an "all-comers" list this talisman has little place.

Collar of Shapesh:
Commonly referred to as the "ghetto ward save", this is one of the jewels of the Tomb Kings magical item list. It effectively provides a 4+ ward save for half the price, with the only drawback being that we have to sacrifice one of our (resurrectable and expendable) troops in place of any wound it saves. It is extremely rare to see a list that doesn't take advantage of the Collar. It provides the only real protection that a King wielding the Destroyer of Eternities can take, and an effective option for Princes that can open up other points options. Normally it is not a good idea to restrict the mobility of your Liche Priests with the Collar, and never a good idea to do so on your Hierophant, but it can be used effectively on a Liche Priest on the Casket of Souls if you are afraid of him being shot off it while leaving points free for a dispel scroll. You cannot assign the wounds to the invincible Casket, but there should be models close by such as his Casket Guard, the SSC and crew, and perhaps a screening Tomb Swarm or two. Just remember to weigh the price vs the feact that any shooting hits only have an 11% chance to hit the Liche Priest in the first place (and that's after having to roll to hit to start with) and nothing is going to save the Priest in close combat.

Golden Eye of Rah-Nutt:
The last of our protection choices is actually not for the character taking it at all, but his chariot mount. Given that it is so rare for an enemy to actually target a character's chariot in close combat, the use of this item really comes down to whether or not you want this for missile protection or the Mirage Banner, which costs more but affects the entire unit. The Eye's protection from Strength 7 hits is questionable, as cannons and stone throwers still get to roll for multiple wounds and it is likely they will destroy the chariot anyway. Overall, the Eye is quite useful for some specific opponents but there are better options in an all-comers list.