I'm thinking about starting TK, but dunno what to buy. So i'm asking you how many models should I put into each of these units?

Skeletons w. Bows
Skeletons w. Hand Weapons
Skeletons w. Spears
Tomb Guards
Lt. Calvary
Chariots
Bone Giants
etc... etc...

It would be helpful if you told me how many of each should I put into a unit to optmize it's performance. I'm think right now, huge blocks of skeles, (30-40? per units) backed by groups of elies and chariots.

i think with the skele with spears/handweapons and the tomb guard should have 25 in each.

bowmen just have 10

chariots 3-6

bone giants 1-2

horsemen 10

Skelly warriors are best in units of 25, or 24 in a 4x6 formation to get maximum use of rank and a narrower frontage meaning fewer enemies can attack. Sometimes you may be short on points, then units of 20 are ok too. Larger units arent really worth it because 20-25 are usually enough to hold charges and besides, you can revive the skellies that are killed.
By the way, unless you have a good reason I would never use spears. Skellies dont kill anything anyway and it is not their job. Their job is to provide as much CR as possible and this is increased by enhances survivability. Therefore fighting with a hand weapon and shield and having a 4+ AS (and saving points for the spears) is the better option.

As for bowmen, unlike most other armies, its good to have larger units. The smiting incantation allows the targetted unit to have a free shot in the magic phase and the more models in the unit, the better the effect will be. Besides, larger units can also act as sponges if it should becone necessary. Units of 16 are perfect IMO, even 20 are considerable, if you're short on points units of 12 or 14 will have to do.

Light Cav. In other armies usually they appear in units of 5. I prefer to make the units a bit bigger with Tomb King cavalry, because they are even more vulnerable than other light cav with their puny 6+ save. Besides, more models can shoot if the smiting incantation is cast on the unit. Id say take units with 6-8 models.

Heavy Cav. Tomb King heavy cav is interesting, because unlike other heavy cav units, it doesnt rely on its charge punch. The skellies are much too weak and poorly armoured. Therefore using a 4-wide frontage and going for ranks makes more sense. So the possible unit sizes are 8, 12 and 16. 8 is too weak IMO, because you only have to lose one (and you will lose more than one) and wont have any rank bonus. Units of twelve seem most reasonable. An interesting option is to take a unit of 16 with the warbanner and have a total of +6 to CR before any hits are made, and, probably outnumbering the enemy, enforcing an auto-break.

Chariots. Three usually. With a standard only, champ and musician are too expensive. If you have the points take four in a unit. Two units of three are perfect for an offensive 2.000 point army.

Tomb Swarms. The most you can have in an army is five. Usually a single base will be enough though, or maybe two. Units of four or five are considerable, to not only attack warmachine crew but missile units as well, but are also very expensive pointwise.

Tomb Guard. A unit of 20 or 25 is wonderful. A unit this size is very expensive though and will risk a lot of attention. Tomb Guards dont revive as fast as normal skellies so a big unit risks being shot to bits. Id rather not have all eggs in one basket and go for a unit of 12, 15 or 18, depending on the points I have. If you want to have a hard unit you can put a Tomb King in the unit, in which case the unit size isnt so decisive anyway.

Ushabti. Like with chariots, units of three or four are best. Two units of three are optimal in regular battles.

Carrions. Four is the perfect number for these chaps. They will survive the shooting till they reach the enemy (which three might fail to do) and will do their job, kill warmachine crew, which four can do just as well as more.

Tomb Scorpions are real cool and you'll want to have some in your army. They do take up a special slot each, so usually having more than two wont be possible. That said, two are usually enough to do what they are supposed to do, which is digging themself out under warmachines and going hero hunting.

Screaming Skull Catapults. Get two. You might not always use both, but due to their lower cost they are often more viable than bonegiants as rare choices.

Bone Giants. These fellows are cute. One should be enough to start with though.

Casket of Souls. You can only have one of these little boxes ^_^


To start out with Id get basic skeleton warriors and bowmen, some cav and a few chariots. And a few characters. Thats enough to start out with. Next step will be to get catapults, ushabti and scorpions. The other units are good too of course and they have their role in the army, but they are not as essential as the mentioned units.


Hope I could help and hope you decide on starting up with the Tombies! :)

wow, this is a very effective essay. 9 out of 10! very informative. Thank you, i'll do my best collecting those models.

You'll find that the battalion box set will be the best buy to start off your army. You get lots of core units and a free boxed set.