Book of the Dead-Tomb kings The Basics

So you have awakened from death to find that you are not in a paradise as promised by your priests, but rather a despoiled city. Do not worry rise from your tomb, shake the dust from your wrappings as marshal your armies, yours is the power to conquer, yours is the power to reshape this world into your vision of paradise

1) introduction

2) Characters

3) Core units

4) Special units

5) Rare units

6) Incantations

7) Magic items

8) Closing

1) Introduction

Tomb kings have strengths and weaknesses like all armies, lets start by having a look at these.

Strengths:

Tomb kings have many advantages these are;

Reliability; Tomb kings may not have the best troops but they certainly have the most reliable, as all troops are undead they will never run or panic or fail a fear test when you least need them to. The enemy will have to wipe the unit out to the last model to finish them off and this can be incredibly annoying, especially if a lich priest is nearby casting djera's summoning on them.

Psychology; The other main advantage of the tomb kings army, everything causes fear or terror which means if you outnumber an enemy that is not immune to psychology or causes fear themselves they’ll run automatically if you win the combat, units wishing to charge will have to pass a leadership test to do so and if you charge a unit and they fail there fear test they’ll need sixes to hit you, psychology is a wonderful thing. The important thing is to make sure you make the enemy take all its fear tests.

Tomb kings core troops are really quite weak but this is offset by the fact that they are undead and have arrows of the asp. This means you’ll always hit on a 5+ , this is better than it sounds and can be quite unnerving to the enemy as you can move and fire, fire at models in cover ,anything you like and always hit on a 5+, they also have access to two different types of fast Calvary including the awesomely effective chariots and above all they have Tomb Scorpion.

Weaknesses:

Tomb kings weakness are obvious they begin to crumble if they lose a round of combat if the hierophant is killed the entire army will begin to fall apart, there core units are not the best fighters in the game and they are unable to take heavy Armour for any unit.

a less obvious weakness is the hieratic order this means all incantations, bound items are cast in a particular order this means two things one if you use a incantation before a bound item you cant use that item this turn and two your opponent knows what’s coming for example the casket of souls light of death is going to be last and can save his dispel dice for it ect. This can be used to your advantage by a shrewd player but is still more of a disadvantage than an advantage

despite this there advantages easily out weigh there weaknesses as an entire army that will never break and causes fear is rather a daunting prospect to face and though requiring a high level of strategy to use to there full potential they are one of the most rewarding armies to play if you can play with them well

2) Characters

The important thing to remember when choosing characters is that a tomb king army has to have one priest or high priest to be the hierophant and one tomb king or tomb prince to be general

Lords

Tomb King

Tomb Kings one of the best characters in the game high toughness, strength and wounds as well as a decent ws means that your tomb king can go toe-to-toe with almost any other character in your opponents army. But wait there’s more not only do you get a great close combat fighter but you also get to take core units as core and cast two incantations a turn at power level of d6 as well as allowing skeletons access to magic banners, remember he is flammable so stay away from warpfire throwers and the like . And if he is killed (not likely) make sure he uses his curse. All in all the best character to take for a tomb kings army

High Lich Priest

The wizard of the army these guys can give excellent magic support for your army. If taken he will be your hierophant, as your hierophant it is very important to protect them as if he dies your army will probably follow suit. Casting automatically with a power level of 3d6 up to two incantations a turn he is one of the most efficient wizards in the game, they also have access to the casket of souls An excellent addition to the army though I would only suggest taking him in a magic heavy army as otherwise a tomb king is a much better choice

Heroes

Tomb Prince

Tomb Prince's a powerful additions to an army at toughness 5 and three wounds they can take a lot of punishment, not as good as a tomb kings of course but if you take a high lich priest or have a spare character slot he'll do you proud. Remember he is flammable and can cast one incantation a turn. if he is killed don't forget his curse

Icon bearer

The only reason to take this character is to gain access to the high point cost magic banners, if you don’t plan on taking one of those then don't bother with him. If you do remember he has the t killing blow special ability, as long as you don't take a different weapon from the list

Liche Priest

Lich priest's are an integral part of ant tomb king army, You have to take at least one to be your hierophant (or a high lich priest) but I suggest taking at least two if not more in your army, as there incantations to replenish lost models or make another model move are very important to your army, they can also cause a unit to have another shooting or combat phase. As your hierophant it is very important to protect them as if he dies your army will probably follow suit. They also have access to the casket of souls.

Mounts

Skeleton steed

Only lich priests or high lich priests can be mounted on these and its usually better to leave your hierophant on foot. If you have an extra one take a cloak of dunes instead unless your low on points or a going for an entirely mounted army.

Chariots

Tomb kings, Tomb princes and icon Bearers favored mode of transport. Tomb kings army chariots are different from other armies as they only do d3 impact hits and only increase the Armour save of the model by 1 rather than 2. They are however fast Calvary and can form units. A mounted tomb king/prince is deadly if however you get hit by st 7 hit bye a chariot, in my opinion this is worth the risk and if you are having a unit of chariots in your army(and you should) they should always be accompanied by either a tomb king or prince .

Casket of Souls

Technically not a mount but this is the best place for it. available to high lich priests and lich priests the casket of souls is a very effective addition too your army. it causes all wizards to have minus one on there casting rolls, causes terror and casts the ever popular light of death. This is cast like a spell at the very end of the magic phase and causes all enemy models with a line of sight to the casket who are not in combat to suffer 2d6 +2 minus the units leadership wounds. this is deadly against some armies and while less effective against others (dwarfs) its still worth having. Never put your hierophant on top of a casket of souls and remember the priest can still cast his one incantation.

3) Core units

Skeletons

Whets to say about skeletons they always hit on a 5 + with there bows and can be armed with spears and light armor for +2 pts a model. A skeleton is there to shoot its arrows and cause fear. Don't expect them to stand up to other more effective close combat troops but you can always rely on them to hold other units up and if you take the maximum of 40 armed with spears they can break a lot of the smaller elite units other armies might field

Swarms

there swarms but there slightly worst as they take wounds from combat resolution as opposed to just being unbreakable. Poison attacks are good though and they can be used to screen your archers or casket of souls from charges as they are small and can be seen over. they also benefit from the came from below rule which allows them to come up somewhere else on the battlefield

Skeleton Light Horsemen

These are excellent they fill the usual roll of fast Calvary but thanks to there magic bows they will always hit on 5+ even after moving or shooting at single characters, if you take them just remember to use them as there intended

Skeleton Heavy Horsemen

These are more medium than heavy in my opinion there alright but they are only light Armour and spears rather than the full lance heavy Armour ect. If you plan on having an all mounted army then a couple of these are good. Otherwise chariots are much better though if you prefer to have a rankable unit or can't afford the chariots these are the next best thing

Chariots

If you take a tomb king that makes these core rather than special. The second best unit in the game after tomb scorpions, chariots no army should be without them fast Calvary, impact hits are an absolute must have. Put a tomb king or prince in there to really deal out the damage and you've got yourself a solid unit capable of killing lots of the enemy. If your feeling adventurous you can take a unit of twelve while not really effective they do increase the survivability of the unit and really are quite a sight on the field(and looking cool is as good a reason as any)

4) Special Units

Tomb Guard

If you choose not to have your prince or king mounted then this unit is the next best thing, toughness 4, killing blow, ability to take a magic banner unlike most of your army this unit can stand up to most other armies units and win though you shouldn’t get carried away.

Carrion

The worst unit in the entire army bar none. they sound alright for taking down war machines or lone characters but they really are not any good, especially when you realize what special unit you cant take to fit them in, anything they can do a tomb scorpion can do better Take them if you like but don’t say I didn't warn you

Ushabti

Expensive at 65 points each but very effective. st 6 3 wounds 3 attacks these guys can cleave through other units like butter, just be sure to support them and try and get the charge because though they are not fragile they are certainly better off charging. They are undead constructs so they have a 5+ save and take one less wound from combat resolution than normal.

Tomb Scorpions

The best unit in the army. killing blow, poisoned attacks, it came from below magic resistance (1) undead construct these guys are just so good its not funny. They increase the versatility of your army ten fold as you can choose if you need them buried to kill of war machines or leave them setup to take charges anything you like. Just remember they are unit strength 4 not 5 so they cant get rid of ranks but there still the best. They can take no whole units and win

5) Rare choices

Bone giants

This guy is tough, If you manage to get a charge with him his special rule will destroy that unfortunate unit , the important thing is to support him as once the initial charge is over if his not helped he will be in trouble. He also causes terror which is important to remember. His an undead construct which when combined with his heavy Armour gives you a save of 3+.A very good choice for any army

Screaming Skull catapults

Screaming skull catapults these things are great against pretty much everyone. the ability to cause a panic test is great and if you upgrade to skulls of the foe the panic test is at minus one. your incantation of smiting works on these so you can use the first shot as a range tester or to get over a misfire result. In my opinion this is a better choice than the giant though both are very good choices

6) Incantations

A note on incantations. They always cast even on a double one and if your opponent has something that causes a negative to your casting value and it drops to 0 it still casts and if that opponent then tells you that because he has a +1 to his dispel rolls he doesn’t need to use any dice you tell him otherwise. Also you never miscast or cast with irresistible force and write down your hieratic order so you don’t forge to use one of your priests or items as that can be disastrous

Magic should be used in support of your troops; As most of the spell directly effect your own units. Also make sure he is in position to cast his incantations as this can make or break your entire plan .

Sekhubis incantation of vengeance

Basic magic missile. only time I've ever used it was against a skaven assassin that was skitter leaped within range of my casket of souls. it killed him, take from that what you will

Horekhahs incantation of righteous smiting

This is the most important incantation you have. It allows you to get another round of shooting or close combat attacks which can make all the difference in a close game

Mankhara's incantation of urgency

the move spell almost as important as urgency but not quite. if there is a charge you really need to get its important thing to remember is to have as many lich priests or tombkings/princes within range of the unit to increase the chance of success with this incantation

Djera's incantation of summoning

A good annoying spell not as effective as the summoning of the vampire counts as you can only ever have as many models as you started but still very good as you can use it to heal characters or even you undead constructs if needed. An all together effective spell though not as important as the big two more important than incantation of vengeance

7) Magic items

Magic weapons

Destroyer of Eternities

for 70 points you get a great weapon and killing blow, as well as the option of using its special ability, to hit any models in b2b contact with you twice these benefit from killing blow and great weapon so are very good. Your Tomb King will have to be on foot. A very good weapon, especially against Calvary

Crook and Flail of radiance

against lightly armored armies such as skaven or elves this is devastating, especially if wielded by a tomb king, 5 attacks at strength 5 that go first will destroy entire ranks if your in a chariot its even more destructive. excellent item

Blade of setep

This weapon it ignores Armour saves but if the Armour is magic it destroys it on the first successful hit. A decent item

The Blade of Mourning

This item is interesting, if you win the combat it doubles all negative modifiers for the subsequent break test. A reasonable item but certainly not one of the best

Flail of Skulls

A flail that doubles unsaved wounds its good but as the +2 strength only lasts one round so unless your reasonably sure of breaking the unit or killing the character in one round the subsequent round could be a problem if there heavily armored

Spear of Antarhak

This allows you to restore one wound on either yourself or your unit for each wound you cause. this is a good item and is very effective when combined with the scorpion Armour or Armour of ages and a collar of shapesh

serpent Staff

attacks count as poisoned and re-roll misses its a good weapon but it has three problems 1) it can only be taken by high or normal liche priests and they suck at combat

2)to use it your priest will need to be in combat and he should never be in combat

3)your priests should never be in combat

Magic Armour

Armour of Eternity

Causing all enemies to re-roll there to wound roll is very good especially when your toughness 5, but against some armies this is pointless. A good item but too expensive

Scorpion Armour

One of my favorite items, this Armour means your character will only ever take 1 wound from combat resolution and if your in a unit you can take up to half the wounds that would be caused and reduce them to one, a great item especially when combined with a ward save or spear of antarhak, also one of two choices to get your tomb king/prince heavy Armour

Armour of Ages

the other way to get heavy Armour this Armour give you one extra wound for the grand total of 5 for a tomb king or 4 for a prince this Armour when combined with a ward save can extend your tomb kings life exponentionally, I always take it if I’m playing an army that may have flaming weapons e.g. skaven

Shield of ptra

This shield is a normal shield except on a successful save all enemies b2b contact have there ws reduced to 1 for the remainder of that round, decent but not good

Talismans

Golden ankhra

A 4 + ward save is always nice

Crown of Kings

This allows your tomb king to roll 2d6 and choose the highest score for his incantations, ok but there a better things to spend your points on

Amulet of Pha-Stah

nullifies talismans, arcane items and enchanted item, but you can take no more magic items. Not with the trade off of having no magic items to nullify those groups of magic items

Collar of Shapesh

a 4+ ward save for 25 points the catch one friendly model within 4 inches has to take the wound, but considering the caliber of most of your troops not terribly upsetting.

Golden Eye of Rah-Nutt

Tired of your chariot being destroyed and your tomb king having to take the pedestrian route up the battlefield then this is the item for you a 5+ ward save for your chariot and it nullifies auto destruction. Great item if you plan on mounting your tomb king in a chariot

Enchanted Items

Blue Khepra

Magic resistance (2) for you and any unit you accompany is nice against magic heavy armies pointless against others

Death Mask of Kharnut

Want to strike terror into the hearts of your enemy then this is the item for you. allows you to cause terror not terribly good but not really worthless either depends on the army your playing

Brooch of the great desert

A dispel scroll by any other name will still be the same. If your taking a few dispel scrolls take one of these just for fluff reasons

chariot of Fire

Makes your chariot cause d6+1 impact hits that are flaming. Good item but I always have to wonder why something as flammable as a mummy would ride around in something on fire..

Cloak of the dunes

Lets the model wearing it fly. but you cant charge with this special move. Good for liche priests in making sure there where they have to be when they have to be there

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Icon of ruler ship

Can take this as well as another enchanted item increases unit strength by one only take this if you don’t plan on putting your Tomb King in a unit as otherwise it is not worth it

Vambraces of the sun

Causes one model in b2b contact to lose one attack you choose which if they have different types. A good item when used in combination with other items such as Armour of ages

Arcane Items

Staff of ravening

3d6 st 2 hits is about as annoying as a fly bite to most armies though it is reasonable for eating up your opponents dispel dice

Neferra's plaques of mighty incantations

re-roll dice for incantations but have to re-roll all or none. good but I prefer hieratic jar

Staff of Mastery

+1 to your power level for incantations decent but nothing to write home about

Hieratic Jar

allows you to cast another incantation in your magic phase, this is very good as you can draw out all your opponents dispel dice then when he thinks he got away with it bang out comes this item. Note this is an exception to the hieratic order as it is used after incantations

Enkhils kanopi

when activated usefully all remains in play spells are negated at power level 4 this is a good item as if your opponent wants to dispel it he need to use two dice to be safe, it is limited though.

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Magic banners

standard of the sands

Playing a defensive army, have a spare character slot for an icon bearer then this is for you it stops all marching for one turn even dwarfs cant march this is very good if your playing defensive as an extra round of shooting is always appreciated and will annoy the hell out of your opponent if you use it during a breakthrough scenario. It also causes minus one to all rally attempts made while it is active

Banner of the Hidden Dead

Feeling sneaky then this is a must. though it is limited as you can only fit 100points worth of core troops it can be a good surprise causing a unit to appear on the flanks of an enemy just before a charge or to block an important charge of your opponents a good item but again you need to give up one of your character slots to take it

icon of the sacred eye

+1 to hit on first round of combat is good, also if you feel sneaky give it to an icon bearer and put him in a unit with a bone giant, hitting on 3 + and wounding on 2+ on average combined with the giants unstoppable assault is very good for you and very bad for your opponent

mirage standard

I missile weapons hitting using ballistic skill must re-roll all hits and against missile weapons such as cannons and stone throwers that require no to hit roll it gives the unit a 5+ ward save. Not bad and good for a unit of chariots to increase its survivability. essential against shooty armies

icon of rakaph

Given to a unit of tomb guard or skeletons and it allows them to have one free reform at the start of there turn. this is good but not really great

standard of the cursing word

great against armies with low leadership and remember if your against skaven that its there own unmodified leadership so they don’t get any bonuses for strength on numbers

Banner of the undying Legion

bound level 3 djeras incantation on the unit is good especially if your trying to eat up dispel dice but there are better banners.

Closing

That is it I may write a more in-depth article at a later date but for now I hope this guide will help you reclaim your lands and treasures. Good luck. For the glory of nehekhara

By King Phesphestus Tomb Lord of Lybrasia

To view with colours visit the palace site.
All comments as long as they are constructive are appreciated. enjoy

*claps*

Well done, that is what many newbies will need. However theere is only one small mistake, Tomb scorpions have magic resistance (1) not (2). I thought it was 2, but its not, page 29 and page 47 make this clear.

Well done again. :D

I just want to post a few comments.With skeletons remember they get the parry bonus with HW/Sh so without the spears they are cheaper and can get a 4+save in combat.The swarms arent actually that bad if you consider the lizardman equivalent has the same stats without ICFB and costs a bit more points.Then Light horsemen, if you have a Tomb king in your army surely it would be better to use chariots for a fast cavalry role. I find archers on foot have a hard time doing real damage but at about double the cost of a foot archer they dont seem worth it to me.Also without the ability to march they may not be the best choice to attempt to get flank charges with(anyway we have much better choices for it).Heavy cavalry needs to be in a unit of 12-16 to work decently.They are better than chariots if they get a flank charge because enemy units will probably autobreak if you win combat(a warbanner is good to help get this) and they can still be dangerous or atleast hold the enemy back for a while if they get into a big combat.Also these are cavalry and after things like white wolf knights and chaos chosen knights people often get scared of them and go after them instead of a juicier unit in the right circumstances.Their speed also helps them get into combat if you need to use your incantations elsewhere.Be wary with chariots because they are good in somecases but if anyone has a cannon or dragon ogres you can see a unit disintegrate and if you happen to have a character with it when that happens you can lose a large chunk of your army in 1 round of combat.I think the chariots are much better used as expendable support units than strong fighting units.You forgot the single best thing about the Tomb Guard. They restore d6 wounds instead of d3 so when you get caught in a large fight or get the full brunt of a round of dwarf shooting ,you can get back up again pretty easily. Remember that if you kill a chaos chosen knight of khorne ,it stays down but the enemy does not have that luxury against you.Tomb guard are great for having an uber unit with a Tomb King in.Remember Ushabti are can-openers and dragon killers but they seem to be best used as a flanker than just charging forward.With carrion I admit they arent the best fighters and I havent used them much but surely you would atleast try for a 32 inch charge in the first turn? Remember scorpions hate rank bonus. There is a problem with the bone giant in my experience.What happens if you get a bad roll and 4 out of the 5 attacks miss and he gets toasted by combat resolution. The catapult is also a bit random(I have gone entire games without hitting with them). With incantations the best is the movement one.TK need it and it can give us devastating mobility on our units.In a few ways the TK incantion of summoning is better than the VC equivalent.VC cannot restore grave guard or black knights with their incantation whereas we can bring back anything.In magic items let me say now that I think you are completely wrong about the Icon of Rakaph. It can turn you nastiest unit on the board into skirmishers with rank :).This gives a unit of tomb guard the ability to get to where you want them to be fast.Other than these points I think the article is a pretty good one.

Thenk you to both of you for your replys, i have corrected the tomb scorpion.

Chaetor that is a well thought out post and I will reply to it here

Skeletons. I forgot that option thankyou fro reminding me

swarms. I think loseing wounds cause of combat resolution counters the icfb rule, though if you do use that rule you'll probably be attacking weak points and not really loseing combat

light horsemen are decent and can be used well as fast calvery as they are more manouverable due to smaller base size

heavy horsemen are also decent, but not better than...

Chariots better for both fast calvary and heavy calvary and much more tactical flexibility.

Carrion Will never be reccomended by me unless you are having a themed army based on king Nekhef. In my opinion they should of kept the old ghost rider rule where for every wound/hit caused by carrion rider could make one attack(dont have old undead book with so sorry if this is not exact)

Tomb guard do get back d6 and skeletons get to roll 2d6 and choose highest.

Icon of rackath is not very good in the type of army I play, As i usually take chariots for my tomb king and so dont need tomb guard.

That was a very well thought out post and I agree with some of your points but you have to remember that even though I might not of intended my bias to be in it, it is as I can only comment on how things perform in my army or other peoples armies I have seen, And I have never seen carrior do anything other than reduce grown men to tears ;)

Thank you again to both of you for your replies and comments.

With regaurds to S7 and chariots.....

I play lizzies mainly, and they have a S7 fest! Characters with great weapons and bloody Kroxigor!

Hoever it is not the end of the world. Their expetional movement means that hiding or dodging them is almost impossible. And a charge many will 1 or 2 but the surving one will destroy all your chariots.

The answere is simple! I have found this very effective:

Tomb Prince in a cahriotw tih the goldne eye, a great weapon and chariot of fire.

The added punch of this guy is enought to win combats against saurii when you attack the front! Hois chariot becomes tougher them him, making it no longer the soft option. However when that unit of Dragon ogres or Kroxies comes along, a charge from him (leaving his unit) and a single tomb scorpion is enough to break the unit.

So what im saying is, if you want a unit of chariots, but it need to shape up, then the man in the chariot is the key

:P

I would just like to mention the importance of skeleton infantry of some type in the list. If there is one thing I have learned it is that by taking to many characters, constructs and cavalry in one list (what might be considered a cheesy list in other armies) your army list suffers. Without some skeleton infantry the army is very succeptible to combat result and has a harder time using one of the armies greatest strenghts, fear+outnumbering.

So get used to skeletons I firmly belive a decent amout is nessicary for a strong tomb kings list.

Superb Guide!

You missed out the Crown Of Kings magic item

(I'm assuming you have the book so you know what it is meant to do)

Now for some probability *groan*

If you didn't have the crown then you have a 1/6 or 6/36 chance of each number 1-6

With the crown it's a little different

1 = 1/36
2 = 3/36
3 = 5/36
4 = 7/36
5 = 9/36
6 = 11/36

So you now have less chance of a 3 or less and more chance of a 4 or more. I didn't use this item unitl I played with the math, now I know what I missed, give it to your Tomb King and he has more power than a Liche Priest (hero class), that has got to be worth something.

the crown of kings is there.

As for your maths it is good I suppose but Is it really worth 40 points, In the games I play I generally have three lich priests so I don't have to worry to much about not gettin the incantation I want, Secondly I am incredibly lucky. ^_^

Also I dont see how he has more power than a lich priest he still only has a max number of 6 while a llich priest max power will be 12?

First sorry, I thought that the crown was not there, anyway, I expaned upon it so it should be okay.

Secondly, yes, my math is good isn't it, I will show you how good now. *more groans*

Liche priest's power = 2 X 1D6

The average of 1D6 = (1+2+3+4+5+6)/6
The average of 1D6 is therefore 3.5

Now I'm not so good at math that I can do this in my head but I can estimate that a Tomb King can throw out 2 X 3.5

With the crown he can now throw out 2 X 4.5 (ish)

Okay, so it is not a huge increase on paper but in game it is useful (if expensive)

You play with three liche priests? Where do you put them, I assume one goes next to the catapult, possibly on a casket.

So you still have two left, where do they go?

first I wasn't crtisising your maths, sorry if it sounded that way.

where do they go , well that depends on the rest of my army, in my semi regular one I have
one on a casket
one just in front of him but close enough to most of My other units to cast spells, such smiting on my catapult or on my archers, and the other I have with the cloak of dunes follow up behind the Tomb king and his chariots, love laughing at people as we usuallt start 24 inch apart, people just dont expect a 24 inch range charge, they should by now but don't, anywho he either hides just behind them casting healing spells or he dlies past and casts spells on my tomb scorpion when he comes up or magic missles to disrupt the enemies formation.

No, I didn't take the critisim seriously, If I'm wrong I'm wrong and that's my fault and problem.

I will keep in mind your strategy with three Liche Priests, it may come in useful.

As a new TK army user i would like to thank Kingphesphestus for this exceptional page of advice. It has helped to form my army.
Thanks again.

Ya Thanks alot

*claps and bows*

You've helped me with this list

http://www.thegreatuncleanone.com/viewShort.asp?ArmyID=37500

bravo bravo

sorry, i made a new one with FLUFF

http://www.thegreatuncleanone.com/viewShort.asp?ArmyID=37762

that should work

My comments on what to pick and not to pick in a TK army...

First note:

Light Cavalry.. DON'T DO IT! The only thing fast cavalry is good for is to lure the enemy to attack and then run off.. but seeing as skeletons has to hold as a charge response it's not worth it...

Chariots.. a very nice addition... though i wouldn't want to put my Tomb King in one as i use them for flanking attacks and not in the middle of everything where a Tomb King is most effective.

Carion birds... Generally i don't take them.. but if you ever fear for enemy war machines they are a very nice addition... On a side note.. they are very good at dealing with enemy spellcasters on their own (outnumbered by fear causing enemy) as they seldom have enough punch to see of 4-5 birds..

Swarms... Anoying fact that they take wounds due to combat resolution... but as it is, they are good to hold up larger units while you maneuvor into a better position or within range with the rest of your army...

Icon Bearer... As i generally always take the banner of the hidden dead i need this one... 12 skeletons without extra equipment cost 96 pts and will do just nice at harrying enemy formations or getting that nice rear charge.. As a note... They make goblin fanatics burst out in random directions if the appear within 8" of a unit... certainly 96 pts worth...

Skeleton/Archers... As i've stated another place, skeleton archers in a large unit with the banner of the undying legion works marvels as a (un)living regenerating shield, and even if the entire unit should fall due to combat resolutions (no way anyone could eat 32 skeletons in an attack alone) they will leave the enemy standing in a very tight spot glaring down the length of you units of tomb guards (with my tomb king) and whatever else you feel like throwin at him...

Ushabti... Haven't taken them in a game so far... i think they are to costly seeing what they do.. but against a beastmen army or chaos, they might hold of nicely... (something i'm going to try out soon)

That's my advices for now... if i remember more i'll write 'em in here...

Oh yeah one last thing.. I don't see why everyone fears Vampires so much.. They give you extra points by summoning extra units... in a tournament i played where the max-limit of points you could gain normaly (through killing enemy general, capturing banners etc.) was 3750 pts.. i scored the very flattering amount of 4031 pts... i just love summoned units and generally give the vampires the chance each time (also saves my dispel dices for some nastier stuff as Vanhells dance macabre etc.)

Scharras the Unyeilding, victor of countless battles...

I don't know if someones already told you this but. the mirage standard causes any hits to be rerolled not -1 to shooting

Wrong (I think) all shooting that requires a roll to hit has -2 to it's roll, anything that guesses (cannons) give you a temp 5+ ward save (not sure about the second bit as it hardly ever happens to me)

I never said it was minus 1 to hit, at least not that I can see, though you are right it is re-roll hits, as for brooch of the great desert it isnt better than a disple scroll it is just a dispel scroll that can be taken by non-wizards, When I wrote this it was assumed that basic rules were know so I don't have to spell out all the minutae.

Thankyou for your comments though as new opinions are always welcome as where all here to help new players learn ^_^

First thanx for the guide, it helped me to realize some units' potential more realistic.

However I just can't withstand the seduction to post my personal thoughts on some of the units:

Skeletons: I always give them spears & shields (if not archers), because, they still keep their handweapons, so you can choose: if charged, strike from +1 rank or if charging +1 to your save.

IMO swarms are too expensive if compared to the ones from other armies...

Light Horsemen: They're funny to disturb your enemy, if you take 1-2 units of 5. Charge in the flanks of units already in close combat to take away their rank bonus, or just keep them from marching. Also useful to kill small and/or light armoured units (i.e. scirmishers) and units with low morale (boo!)

Heavy Horsemen: I don't use them, just too weak, can't stand up against vampire black knights or chaos horsemen...

Carrions are not the worst unit for sure: As flyers they are good in taking out catapults and hunting wizards, remember to take 4, so you can scare off a crew of 3. You also can deploy them behind enemy lines in the right turn, so that scared enemy units are fleeing into their lines...

Bone giants IMO suck, because they just cannot kill anything with more than 15 men, especially if they fail their charge rolls early. For their price you can take two skull catapults with enemy's skulls!

Tomb Guards are killers, especially with a tomb king or prince among them. With a Blue Kephra and the Mirage Banner, they are resistant to enemy fire and magic!!!

@ High Lord Axus: You are wrong, Flamephoenix is right, hits have to be rerolled, against guess weapons you get a 5+ ward save though...

There is a difference between a dispel scroll and the brooch,except the name .The brooch is not an arcane item and can be taken by anyone ;)

i would hate to change the subject but High Lord Anux's maths is wrong.
heres the probabilities;
tomb king with crown;
dice role - probability
1-1/36
2-3/36
3-5/36
4-7/36
5-9/36
6-11/36

Liche Priest;
dice role - probability

1-0/36
2-1/36
3-2/36
4-3/36
5-4/36
6-5/36
7-6/36
8-5/36
9-4/36
10-3/36
11-2/36
12-1/36

so the liche priest roles higher numbers on adverage roles low numbers less frequently.

Tomb king Averages
Mean=4+425/900
{(1*1)+(3*2)+(5*3)+(7*4)+(9*5)+(11*6)}/36=4+47/100+2/900=4+425/900
Median=5
Mode=6
Lowest Possable Roll-1
Highest Possable Roll-6

Liche Priest Averages
Mean=7
(2+6+12+20+30+42+40+36+30+22+12)/36=7
Medean=7
Mode=7
Lowest Possable Roll=2
Highest Possable Roll=12

as you can see a liche Priest casts them with more power. admitidly a tomb king can cast two but each one is much less likley to get of. Plus a tomb king has less choise, a much much smaller range and cant take archane items.

now a high lich priest thats my baby, average cast value of..........







......p.s. sorry if i went on a bit, but i like maths and it is rarelly usefull outside school.

King Phesphestus:

I don't want to be picky or anything but there are 3 different words

There
Their
They're

You don't seem to know about the last two but could you please try to avoid using only "there".

My first language isn't english so I make some mistakes, Prehaps next time you post you could post something more constructive.

I don't see what is un-constructive about my post

I'm sorry I didn't know that english was your second language(or third).

It is unconstructive because it doesn't really add any help, it merely states a problem without trying to help it. Even if there is three different spellings and meanings we still know what hes on about so it doesn't really matter, close enough is good enough.

If you like though... There is used when pointing something out, such as 'over there' and I suppose it is the one you use if none of the others make sense.

Their is used when talking about ownership 'it is their site', remember this because it has an 'i' in it, ownership (I own something).

They're is merely the shortened version of they are.

I admire those who know two languages and can fit into an area predominantly on their second language, it must take a lot of effort to learn a whole new language and a lot of people on the net who only know english don't seem to type it well. :P Good work on the article.

Thats enough on the subject now, where starting to get a little off topic.