Hello, good morning/afternoon/evening (delete as appropriate), and welcome to my second bash at a 'getting to grips' guide.

For those who missed my first installment, about Orcs and Goblins, this is not intended as some tactical masterplan or a guide on how to build your army. Instead, this is intended as an overview, exploring the various units and special rules, hopefully without drawing conclusions about them on your behalf.

So without further ado, it's time to kick off with the army special rules.

Decent number here, so this section might be serious reading.

First up, Nehekharan Undead. Units and models with this rule come with Unbreakable, Unstable, and Cause Fear. Which is a useful combination. Downsideis that you can't march move, and as far as charge reactions go, you can only ever elect to hold. So this gives you ultimately dependable units which will never, ever flee, but at the price of being horribly punished if caught out of position, as you'll just have to grab your ankles and think of your country of origin (or if you don't like your country of origin, somewhere you don't like. Chances are your opponent won't be too fussy). Everything in the army has this rule, and there's now way around it. If this doesn't sound like your bag, best pick another army at this point

Next, would be The Hierophant. This rule means you must include at least one Nehekharan Undead Wizard. If you have multiple, it's always the one with the highest wizard level, and in the event of a tie, your choice. This gives the model, and any unit it joins, a 6+ Regeneration save. Which is nice, but not exactly game breaking. But there is a downside. If the Heirophant should be destroyed, your army very literally starts falling apart. End of the phase where he's bumped off, and at the start of each friendly turn thereafter, all friendly Nehekharan Undead unit must take a Ld test. If it's failed, it suffers wounds equivalent to the amount the test was failed by, with absolutely no saves of any kind ever allowed. No way past this one either....

Tomb Kings Battle Standard Bearer (or BSB). Normally, a BSB gives you a re-roll on break tests. But the TKBSB means you lose one less wound due to the Unstable rule (see your rulebook) if the unit is within 12". Not as universally useful as your standard BSB, but useful nonetheless (especially when you consider you won't ever be failing psychology test. Happens it's not really possible to scare the dead).

Animated Construct. This rule grants a 5+ Armour Save (which stacks with other armour). They also lose one less wound due to Unstable. And yes, this stacks with the TKBSB.

Arrows of Asaph (almost there!). Units with this rule ignore all modifiers when shooting, positive and negative. Surprisingly useful, as it's a standard 5+ to hit, whether you've moved, shooting at long range, or have a weasel stuffed in each eye socket.

Entombed Beneath The Sands. Grants the Ambushers special rule, but doesn't require the unit to be snickering behind a bush all game. Instead, when a unit with this special rule becomes available to deploy, you mark a point on the table with a counter of some kind, and scatter it. If you misfire, there's a chart, which can kill off the unit, or make it come on from a table edge. Overall, a superior ambush in every respect, as your opponent can't avoid it.


And that finishes the army wide special rules, and quite a selection we have!

Second section, as ever....Characters.

More so than other armies, these will define your army.

Tomb Kings and Princes are, in short, combat monsters. Decently tough, decently strong. But Flammable. Best Ld available too. Additional special rule of The Curse. If your King/Prince gets nobbled, the unit doing it gets cursed, and some stuff might die. Not game breaking stuff dying, but useful nonetheless! Best bit? My Will Be Done. The unit he's deployed into (or she, if you want Queens/Princesses) uses their WS instead of their own. At 6 for a King, and 5 for a Prince, that's a welcome little boost.

Liche Priests. The unbeating heart of the army. You need at least one (Heirophant) and you'll likely want multiple. Pretty standard caster, with access to Lore of Nehekhara, Light and Death. Keeps your army going, and buffs things up with spells. Fairly essential, and I don't think I've seen an army with less than two.

Tomb Heralds. Backup hero choices. Markedly cheaper than Tomb Princes, and a solid little killer. Has a bodyguard special rule which applies when deployed in the same unit as a Prince/King (you have to nominate the protectee upon deployment though). Comes with Killing Blow as standard, which is added to any Magic Weapon they might be toting (bonus attack ones can be a giggle!). Is also your sole choice for a BSB.

Necrotect. Pure buff character, but squishy as a wizard. Wrath of the Creator, which confers Hatred to any unit he joins. If he leaves the unit or someone chops him into little dusty bits, Hatred is instantly lost. Stone Shaper. Any unit of Animated Constructs (see special rules) within 12" get Regeneration 6+. Definitely has a role in the army, as giving Hatred to low WS troops is a massive, massive bonus. Same points as a Tomb Herald as well.

And that's a rundown of your characters, without delving into Special Characters. As per opening to this section, these guys will largely dictate how your army will fight.


Core Units.

Well. So far it's been all sunshine and rainbows. Pokey characters, beneficial special rules. But here comes a thundercloud, in the shape of your somewhat rubbishy (on their own) units.

Skeleton Warriors. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Struggle to fight their way out of a paper bag when left on their own. But did I mention they're cheap? Bit of a bread and butter unit. Can have Spears as an upgrade, and Light Armour. Given all the various special rules and that, usually seen in big units. Can be horrifyingly effective with a Prince and a Necrotect dropped in..... Really good at receiving a charge and bogging down all but the killiest of units.

Skeleton Archers. Fairly cheap, and always use their BS2 to hit. Not as bad as it might seem, as a great many shots taken in Warhammer will be at BS2 after modifiers anyway (unless you're High Elves or Wood Elves, essentially). Can have Light Armour as well as an upgrade. Skeleton Horsemen. Come with Vanguard, which offsets the lack of marching to a degree. Other than that...fairly cheap Cavalry overall, but not really up to much in a fight on their own. However, they can prove a fairly decent flanking force (for instance, to counter charge a unit currently mired in combat with your Skeleton Warriors...)

Skeleton Horse Archer. Fast Cavalry. And always hit on a 5+ with their bows.

Skeleton Chariots. Oh yes. Quite probably the best Core Choice. Units. Of. Chariots. Not the toughest hombres in the Chariot world, but think about it. Units. Of. Chariots. Can be joined by characters mounted in Chariots. Also, if you have ranks, the units current rank bonus is added to the strength of the impact hits. Pretty useful unit, and again if memory serves, the only Chariot unit in core (others can have single chariots from their Core).


So yeah. Core is predominantly, on it's own, a bit lack lustre. But hey, they are dead already!

Special Units. Yeah....there's 8 of them. Brace yourself, this is likely to be another lengthy section.

Tomb Guard. A heavy infantry unit. Good strength, good toughness, reasonable armour. Oh. And Killing Blow. Can be upgraded to Halberds to make them extra hitty. Given all their perks, and lack of serious drawbacks, a competent combat unit. Pretty well pointed as well, at 11 basic.

Necropolis Knights. Seriously heavy cavalry. Monstrous mounts (yay stomps!), killing blow riders, and some poisoned attacks chucked in for good measure. Should be capable of engaging and trouncing enemy cavalry quite nicely, and even threaten monsters. Just beware of static combat res, as they're points intensive, and if you get bogged down, those points are surrendered depressingly quickly.

Tomb Scorpion. Sneaky burrowy snippy poisony death. It's rare you'll see a Tomb Kings force without at least one. Very, very good at hunting artillery, and if your opponent is a bit dopey, lone characters.

Ushabti. Say hello to serious muscle. Monstrous Infantry that can have a variety of upgrades, including Great Bows, which are S6 long bows. As with most Tomb Kings units, best off in decent sized units to get the most out of them (6 is a nice number!). Even with Great Bows, they can prove a competent supporting unit, as their basic strength of 4 is always welcome. Arguably one of the most flexible units, depending on how you want to use them.

Tomb Swarm. Small, Entombed Beneath The Sands, and poisoned. Overall, a pretty decent swarm, but not for everyone!

Carrion. Another competent flanking unit. Flying Warbeasts, with multiple wounds and attacks. Not especially deadly against most things, but given the right target (for my monet, artillery, lone characters and small units of skirmishers) can definitely punch their weight. Pretty well pointed as well.

Khemrian Warsphinx. It's big. It's ridiculously tough, and it's got crew with Killing Blow. This is a solid counter to big monsters, and other high strength enemy units, as it's toughness of 8 means even a mighty Dragon needs a 6 to wound. Can be upgraded to have a flaming breath attack, and/or a poisoned tail. Can also literally sit on enemy infantry, causing lot of damage, as well as it's Thunder Stomp. But again, best off supporting another unit, as being a lone, Nehekharan Undead leaves you horribly vulnerable to high static res and a fluffed round of attacks!

Finally.....Sepulchral Stalkers. Bit of a weird unit to be honest. Fairly decent ranged attack, which can turn enemy units to sand (S1, rolls against enemy I to wound, artillery die shots for each model, and no armour saves allowed. Can be devastating (try it on a Dragon!) or utterly pants (sodding High Elves). Can also fight, but not well enough on it's own. Once more, best off supporting another unit, or being supported.