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Phoenix · May 20th, 2008, 00:22

Here in the TK forum we get a lot of posts which run along the lines of ''New to TK / have the battleforce / first 1000pts / help me get started''. And so i've finally decided to get around to writing a basic introductory guide to playing Tomb Kings.

This first post will contain all essential information and summaries for new players, but please feel free to post replies containing opinions and thoughts etc, and from those i can add to this.

So, lets get started!

First off, your Essentials. You are going to be needing the Tomb king Army Book. First and foremost, take a good read through. This is your bible, know it well. You will soon see that, unlike most other Fantasy armies, you must include 2 Characters in your army. A General, and a Hierophant.

Key Characters
Ill start with the General. In lower points games (less than 2000pts), this will have to be a Tomb Prince. Expensive, but you really do get what you pay for. He is a fantastic Hero, with a superb statline (I don't know of any other heroes offhand that have 3 Wounds, that's a normal Lord equivalent!)
An effective and cheap setup for a Prince at low points is to give him a Great Weapon (GW) and the Collar of Shapesh (CoS). This ensure fantastic strength and a good save (which will result in the loss of skeletons, but they are expendable anyway) on top of the 3 Wounds and Toughness 5 he has already.

So, onto the Hierophant. This will have to be a Liche Priest for now. The (generally) compulsory item for any Hierophant is the Cloak of the Dunes (CoD). This will ensure that you are able to keep your Hiero away from harm (a vital part to any TK strategy, do not let the Hiero die) as well as making it easier to get key spells where you need them, when you need them. The short range of your spells may be difficult to get to grips with at first, but remember, none of them need Line of Sight, except the Magic Missile. Use this to your advantage if you need to.

Skeleton Warriors
Ok, so back to the army book. You'll see that, like every other army, you will require at least two core units, and at least one of these should be a large unit of Skeleton Warriors. Its your choice between Bowmen or Skellies with hand Weapon + Shield + Light Armour (HW/S/LA)
Whichever you choose, 19 is a good number to start with as it means then when the Prince joins the unit, it will create a nice unit 5 wide, with 4 ranks (5x4)
You'll note that the Princes Spell, or Incantation, an only be cast in the unit he has joined. This gives Bowmen an advantage in earlier turns, as the spell will be usable on the bowmen in shooting at the enemy, but its likely the opponant wont care about the Skeletons moving so much if you go with HW/S/LA.
However later on, you will likely find yourself in combat, and this is where the save of the HW/SLA skellies will come in handy, in keeping them alive just that little longer, and meaning you need to use less incantations on healing the unit.
Oh, and finally, never make or use Spear Skellies.

Again back to the army book. Its a good idea to have a second good read through. See what appeals to you, see what units you like the look of. Personally i always think its best to create an army around models and tactics that you like and that appeal to you.

Getting Started
So, to get going, youll be needing your first models. A Tomb Prince and Liche Priest are a must, so go with the Tomb Prince Blister (Same as the tomb King blister, just choose your favourite of the models) and then the Liche Priest blister, which contains a Foot Priest and a Mounted Priest. Use the one on foot for now, though the Mounted one will come in very useful later on.
On top of this, you'll be wanting the Battleforce. Its fantastic value. You get 32 skellies, 3 Chariots and 8 Cavalry, all with full options. I recommend to make the following:
19 Skeleton Warriors with HW/S/LA
3 Skeleton Command (for the HW/S/LA unit as optional command)
10 Skeleton Bowmen
3 Chariots (No command yet)
6 Light Cavalry (leave the other two cav in bits, not so useful to make them now, leave them for possible future use)

In addition to this, there are a few ''essentials'' which come highly recommended for use by myself and many players.
- Screaming Skull Catapult
- Tomb Scorpion
- Tomb Swarm (Cheap, and a cheap Scorp sub when points/choices are limited)

Id advise getting yourself one of each of the above to begin with (two Swarms, as they come in a blister pair).

Border Patrol
Starting off small, Tomb Kings players often find victory quite difficult at low points, due to the restrictions on the army. Please don't let this put you off though. Once you've built up to 2000pts, you'll be commanding one of the best, most powerful and most reliable armies in Fantasy!
Border Patrol Rules
These rules mean that your Hierophant also acts as your General, removing the need for a Tomb Prince.

The best army that i have managed to come up with for Tomb Kings is as follows, and with it ive had pretty good success:
Liche Priest (Hiero) with Cloak of the Dunes
20 Skeleton Bowmen
1 Tomb Swarm
5 Light Cavalry
Screaming Skull Catapult

Ill mention one very important thing now, practise at range guessing, it will help so much with the SSC. And/or, you can just memorise enemy positions, and movements, and calculate ranges in game. I prefer the second method, its more accurate and I rarely miss a shot by more than 1".
Also, you'll see i say use 20 bowmen. Yet above, from the battleforce, i said just make 10. Solution? Just place the 10 Bow models at the front of the unit, and bulk out the rear ranks with HW/S/LA skellies. I do this all the time, in friendly play its totally fine, and i've done it in competitive games too.

500pts
If, for some reason, you are unable to play by the Border Patrol army construction rules, then you'll be needing a fully legal 500pt force. Again, a recommendation:

Tomb Prince (General) with Collar od Shapesh + Great Weapon
Liche Priest (Hiero) with CotD
12 Skeleton Bowmen / 6 Light Cav
1 Scarab Swarm
Screaming Skull Catapult / Tomb Scorpion

As you can see, there is a vast difference between this and the Border Patrol list. With this, you will likely really struggle to pull a victory against most enemies. But don't let it put you off, just get to 1K asap. And who knows, one good SSC shot may even win you a game alone.

Onwards to 1K
With the Batallion and your two key Characters, that should give you a decent force of around 700pts. In order to round this out well, add in the SSC and a Scorpion, as well as the second Priest. And here, i will recommend a new addition; 3 Carrion. If you can get to grips with these Flyers early then they can prove to be a great addition later on. Look for first turn (magically assisted) charges with them against warmachines, lone characters, and other key, weak targets.

Following this, your 1K list should look something like this:

Characters:
Tomb Prince w/ CoS + GW
Hierophant w/ CotD
Liche Priest w/ Steed

Core:
19 Skeleton Warriors w/ HW/S/LA + Musician
1 Tomb Swarm

Special:
3 Chariots
Tomb Scorpion
3 Carrion

Rare:
Screaming Skull Catapult

This comes to 975pts, giving you a little room for customisation. You may wish to give the Hieratic Jar to a Priest. if you do, give it to the Hiero, as its use is far more tactically advantageous at the end of a Magic Phase.
You could upgrade the SSC, that extra Ld penalty for the enemy is a killer.
Command on the Skellies maybe?
OR, have the large Skellie unit as Bowmen, possibly getting in both Swarms and then some...
There are many more options too, i havent even mentioned Light Cav! A straight out swap for something.
Just fiddle with the Core selection a bit and see what selection you prefer.

The SSC is your main source of damage in this list, able to take out lots of infantry, or a few heavily armoured Knights, with each shot. Hence, it does mean the list acts rather defensively. However the fact you have the Carrion, Scorp and Chariots do add it a great offensive, being fast and making use of special rules and magic, they can hit surprisingly hard against weaker enemy units. Just beware of Heavy Armour and fully ranked infantry. Lack of kills for you, and static resolution for the enemy will see these off quickly. Pick your fights with care.

The TK army is reliable, it will do what you want, when you want. And with that SSC staring in the face of the advancing enemy, you should be able to pretty much control any battle.

So, get out there and give it a few games. Get your tactics together, look at the army book, make sure you get the rules consistent and memorised, especially your magic.

Congratulations! You are now the proud owner a fully able Tomb Kings army, on its way to glory!

Going Beyond
With your 1000pt army completed, playtested and hopefully winning, you'll want to start looking at moving towards larger games. You have played with a good range of the TK units, and should understand how the army works, that all units need to work together successfully, that your Characters are key models, so, what to do...
Well, where you go from now on, really is completely up to you!

Like the chariots? Perhaps you want more, a whole army of them maybe. Then at 2K a King is for you. Get ready to build yourself a Chariot legion.
Like the Skellie Warriors, but would love them so much more if they were just a little better? Turn your eyes to Tomb Guard.
Has that SSC impressed you will its ability to defeat a while army before they have even got close to you? Maybe you want another...
What about magic? Fancy something a little more destructive? Casket of Souls maybe. Or do you just love being able to make your army do exactly want it wants and just a little more would be perfect? Then a High Liche Priest is your Lord of choice, really power up the magic phase.
Perhaps you've found that your army is lacking something, hitting power in combat perhaps. Ushabti are expensive, but a unit of 4 is points well spent. Not to mention they are some of the most beautiful models ever created by GW (Games Workshop, not Great Weapon lol).
The Bone Giant is another option for a hard hitter, although it is pretty expensive. Depending on how lucky your SSC is, the Giant also tends to do less damage in the average game. The model is nice, so if you really have your heart set on one, go for it. If you decide on a fast offensive Chariot army, then definitely get one in, your Rare choices will be empty otherwise.

So, there we go. Hopefully this guide will be of great help to many TK players new to the army, or new to warhammer, or even if you are a bit of a veteran and just had a read to widen your knowledge. Thanks for reading

This guide will be updated and modified as necessary, and as i think of new things to add or change.

If anyone has any comments or questions lease feel free to leave a reply and ill do my best to answer them. Don't be afraid to ask about anything TK related, ill happily share more opinions and information with you if you wish, and answer any questions you may have.

May 20th, 2008, 00:22	#1 (permalink)
Phoenix Not a mod, still a King! Award-Showcase Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lancaster / Warwick, UK Age: 21 Posts: 7,066 Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Rep Power: 100 Total Awards: 1	A Beginners Guide to Tomb Kings Here in the TK forum we get a lot of posts which run along the lines of ''New to TK / have the battleforce / first 1000pts / help me get started''. And so i've finally decided to get around to writing a basic introductory guide to playing Tomb Kings. This first post will contain all essential information and summaries for new players, but please feel free to post replies containing opinions and thoughts etc, and from those i can add to this. So, lets get started! First off, your Essentials. You are going to be needing the Tomb king Army Book. First and foremost, take a good read through. This is your bible, know it well. You will soon see that, unlike most other Fantasy armies, you must include 2 Characters in your army. A General, and a Hierophant. Key Characters Ill start with the General. In lower points games (less than 2000pts), this will have to be a Tomb Prince. Expensive, but you really do get what you pay for. He is a fantastic Hero, with a superb statline (I don't know of any other heroes offhand that have 3 Wounds, that's a normal Lord equivalent!) An effective and cheap setup for a Prince at low points is to give him a Great Weapon (GW) and the Collar of Shapesh (CoS). This ensure fantastic strength and a good save (which will result in the loss of skeletons, but they are expendable anyway) on top of the 3 Wounds and Toughness 5 he has already. So, onto the Hierophant. This will have to be a Liche Priest for now. The (generally) compulsory item for any Hierophant is the Cloak of the Dunes (CoD). This will ensure that you are able to keep your Hiero away from harm (a vital part to any TK strategy, do not let the Hiero die) as well as making it easier to get key spells where you need them, when you need them. The short range of your spells may be difficult to get to grips with at first, but remember, none of them need Line of Sight, except the Magic Missile. Use this to your advantage if you need to. Skeleton Warriors Ok, so back to the army book. You'll see that, like every other army, you will require at least two core units, and at least one of these should be a large unit of Skeleton Warriors. Its your choice between Bowmen or Skellies with hand Weapon + Shield + Light Armour (HW/S/LA) Whichever you choose, 19 is a good number to start with as it means then when the Prince joins the unit, it will create a nice unit 5 wide, with 4 ranks (5x4) You'll note that the Princes Spell, or Incantation, an only be cast in the unit he has joined. This gives Bowmen an advantage in earlier turns, as the spell will be usable on the bowmen in shooting at the enemy, but its likely the opponant wont care about the Skeletons moving so much if you go with HW/S/LA. However later on, you will likely find yourself in combat, and this is where the save of the HW/SLA skellies will come in handy, in keeping them alive just that little longer, and meaning you need to use less incantations on healing the unit. Oh, and finally, never make or use Spear Skellies. Again back to the army book. Its a good idea to have a second good read through. See what appeals to you, see what units you like the look of. Personally i always think its best to create an army around models and tactics that you like and that appeal to you. Getting Started So, to get going, youll be needing your first models. A Tomb Prince and Liche Priest are a must, so go with the Tomb Prince Blister (Same as the tomb King blister, just choose your favourite of the models) and then the Liche Priest blister, which contains a Foot Priest and a Mounted Priest. Use the one on foot for now, though the Mounted one will come in very useful later on. On top of this, you'll be wanting the Battleforce. Its fantastic value. You get 32 skellies, 3 Chariots and 8 Cavalry, all with full options. I recommend to make the following: 19 Skeleton Warriors with HW/S/LA 3 Skeleton Command (for the HW/S/LA unit as optional command) 10 Skeleton Bowmen 3 Chariots (No command yet) 6 Light Cavalry (leave the other two cav in bits, not so useful to make them now, leave them for possible future use) In addition to this, there are a few ''essentials'' which come highly recommended for use by myself and many players. - Screaming Skull Catapult - Tomb Scorpion - Tomb Swarm (Cheap, and a cheap Scorp sub when points/choices are limited) Id advise getting yourself one of each of the above to begin with (two Swarms, as they come in a blister pair). Border Patrol Starting off small, Tomb Kings players often find victory quite difficult at low points, due to the restrictions on the army. Please don't let this put you off though. Once you've built up to 2000pts, you'll be commanding one of the best, most powerful and most reliable armies in Fantasy! Border Patrol Rules These rules mean that your Hierophant also acts as your General, removing the need for a Tomb Prince. The best army that i have managed to come up with for Tomb Kings is as follows, and with it ive had pretty good success: Liche Priest (Hiero) with Cloak of the Dunes 20 Skeleton Bowmen 1 Tomb Swarm 5 Light Cavalry Screaming Skull Catapult Ill mention one very important thing now, practise at range guessing, it will help so much with the SSC. And/or, you can just memorise enemy positions, and movements, and calculate ranges in game. I prefer the second method, its more accurate and I rarely miss a shot by more than 1". Also, you'll see i say use 20 bowmen. Yet above, from the battleforce, i said just make 10. Solution? Just place the 10 Bow models at the front of the unit, and bulk out the rear ranks with HW/S/LA skellies. I do this all the time, in friendly play its totally fine, and i've done it in competitive games too. 500pts If, for some reason, you are unable to play by the Border Patrol army construction rules, then you'll be needing a fully legal 500pt force. Again, a recommendation: Tomb Prince (General) with Collar od Shapesh + Great Weapon Liche Priest (Hiero) with CotD 12 Skeleton Bowmen / 6 Light Cav 1 Scarab Swarm Screaming Skull Catapult / Tomb Scorpion As you can see, there is a vast difference between this and the Border Patrol list. With this, you will likely really struggle to pull a victory against most enemies. But don't let it put you off, just get to 1K asap. And who knows, one good SSC shot may even win you a game alone. Onwards to 1K With the Batallion and your two key Characters, that should give you a decent force of around 700pts. In order to round this out well, add in the SSC and a Scorpion, as well as the second Priest. And here, i will recommend a new addition; 3 Carrion. If you can get to grips with these Flyers early then they can prove to be a great addition later on. Look for first turn (magically assisted) charges with them against warmachines, lone characters, and other key, weak targets. Following this, your 1K list should look something like this: Characters: Tomb Prince w/ CoS + GW Hierophant w/ CotD Liche Priest w/ Steed Core: 19 Skeleton Warriors w/ HW/S/LA + Musician 1 Tomb Swarm Special: 3 Chariots Tomb Scorpion 3 Carrion Rare: Screaming Skull Catapult This comes to 975pts, giving you a little room for customisation. You may wish to give the Hieratic Jar to a Priest. if you do, give it to the Hiero, as its use is far more tactically advantageous at the end of a Magic Phase. You could upgrade the SSC, that extra Ld penalty for the enemy is a killer. Command on the Skellies maybe? OR, have the large Skellie unit as Bowmen, possibly getting in both Swarms and then some... There are many more options too, i havent even mentioned Light Cav! A straight out swap for something. Just fiddle with the Core selection a bit and see what selection you prefer. The SSC is your main source of damage in this list, able to take out lots of infantry, or a few heavily armoured Knights, with each shot. Hence, it does mean the list acts rather defensively. However the fact you have the Carrion, Scorp and Chariots do add it a great offensive, being fast and making use of special rules and magic, they can hit surprisingly hard against weaker enemy units. Just beware of Heavy Armour and fully ranked infantry. Lack of kills for you, and static resolution for the enemy will see these off quickly. Pick your fights with care. The TK army is reliable, it will do what you want, when you want. And with that SSC staring in the face of the advancing enemy, you should be able to pretty much control any battle. So, get out there and give it a few games. Get your tactics together, look at the army book, make sure you get the rules consistent and memorised, especially your magic. Congratulations! You are now the proud owner a fully able Tomb Kings army, on its way to glory! Going Beyond With your 1000pt army completed, playtested and hopefully winning, you'll want to start looking at moving towards larger games. You have played with a good range of the TK units, and should understand how the army works, that all units need to work together successfully, that your Characters are key models, so, what to do... Well, where you go from now on, really is completely up to you! Like the chariots? Perhaps you want more, a whole army of them maybe. Then at 2K a King is for you. Get ready to build yourself a Chariot legion. Like the Skellie Warriors, but would love them so much more if they were just a little better? Turn your eyes to Tomb Guard. Has that SSC impressed you will its ability to defeat a while army before they have even got close to you? Maybe you want another... What about magic? Fancy something a little more destructive? Casket of Souls maybe. Or do you just love being able to make your army do exactly want it wants and just a little more would be perfect? Then a High Liche Priest is your Lord of choice, really power up the magic phase. Perhaps you've found that your army is lacking something, hitting power in combat perhaps. Ushabti are expensive, but a unit of 4 is points well spent. Not to mention they are some of the most beautiful models ever created by GW (Games Workshop, not Great Weapon lol). The Bone Giant is another option for a hard hitter, although it is pretty expensive. Depending on how lucky your SSC is, the Giant also tends to do less damage in the average game. The model is nice, so if you really have your heart set on one, go for it. If you decide on a fast offensive Chariot army, then definitely get one in, your Rare choices will be empty otherwise. So, there we go. Hopefully this guide will be of great help to many TK players new to the army, or new to warhammer, or even if you are a bit of a veteran and just had a read to widen your knowledge. Thanks for reading This guide will be updated and modified as necessary, and as i think of new things to add or change. If anyone has any comments or questions lease feel free to leave a reply and ill do my best to answer them. Don't be afraid to ask about anything TK related, ill happily share more opinions and information with you if you wish, and answer any questions you may have. __________________ Last edited by Phoenix; July 5th, 2009 at 11:26.