D.R.A.I.C.H. - Tomb Kings (8th ed)
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 7:49 pm
D.R.A.I.C.H. - TOMB KINGS (TKs).
1· Introduction.
2· TKs: Magic Phase.
3· TKs: Magic items and combos.
4· TKs: Chariots, Tomb Scorpions, Screaming Skull Catapults and quick review on other troop choices.
5· Example of a TK power list.
6· Magic against TKs.
1· Introduction.
Hi there,
First of all, I'd like to point out something: this is a compilation of several conclusions and thoughts on playing against Tomb Kings that I've collected through more than 30 games against a TK player (a close friend of mine). This guy has played with this army for more than 6 years, lots of games, more than 30 games in 8ed and more than 10 8ed tourneys getting top 5 (20+ people). This are all the guarantees we can offer. We are not tactical geniuses, nor unbeatable players, all we can offer is to share our experiences so far. Hope it helps. Also, please forgive my bad english. And without further ado, let's begin:
I play a lot against TKs with my regular oponent and I must say that TKs have become much better with 8ed rules. IMHO, TKs can easily counter pretty much any of our troop choices and are just "hard mode" for us druchii.
Speaking of a certain TK character or a certain TK troop involves speaking of a variety of other troops. This should give us a clue. TKs need a high grade of coordination to win games. Fortunately for them, they have a super-reliable magic phase, the most reliable magic phase of the game, to help them. They can actually counter pretty much anything we throw at them with their defensive playstile: sittin back and heavy shooting at threats and then charging into favourable combats via incantation spam. We must try to pose several threats at a time to make them divide incantations, aim at killing Priests...whatever reduces their capability to focus/spam incantations.
The fact is that the TK army has two big flaws: expensive troops and poor stats (with a few exceptions). For example, they have to pay 9 points for a skelleton that hast the same profile as an ordinary Goblin. Only thanks to their incantations can they reach success.
2· TKs: Magic Phase.
TKs need their magic to win games. I can't stress how important magic is to a TK player. Playing against the druchii, a TK player will use magic to:
1st: Kill the Hydras. He will do it, only bad luck will prevent a TK from getting rid of them before they even have a chance to breath on something. And he will do this by firing each Skulthrower twice in a turn, and there's very little you can do about that.
2nd: Focusing fire on our elite troops or immediate threats such as harasser/warmachine hunters.
3rd: Getting key charges.
So, let me explain how TK magic phase works. First, let's remember the different incantations:
-There is a D6 S4 missile.
-Another one for an extra shooting round
-Another one for an extra combat round (only 1 attack per model)
-Finally, there's the wounds regeneration incantation: will heal D3 wounds to characters, D6 to Grave Guard and the best D6 out of a 2D6 roll to Skellies.
Incantations can't cause Miscast/IF and will be successful even with a natural 1 or 2 in the roll (and of course won't cause the caster to loos concentration). Also, there's a certain order they must follow to throw incantations, but it's not very important: first bound spells, then Kings, then Princes, then lord level Priests, then Priests and then the Hierophant.
So, let's suppose TK list includes 2 Kings (2 incantations each, 1 PD per incantation) and 3 Priests (1 incantation each, 2PD per incantation) at 2.5k points. This means, a total of 10 PD in incantations. We are likely to get 3-5 DD from WoM. Pretty uneven actually.
How does a TK succede at killing Hydras:
-Incantations are aimed at Screaming Skull Catapults (SSC from now on). 7 incantations: 1PD, 1PD, 1PD, 1PD, 2PD, 2PD, 2PD. Even if we have a lvl4 SSorc, with 5 DD we won't be able to stop that: attempts at 1DD are risky and attempts at 2DD are useless. So both SSCs fire at our Hydra(s) (SSCs=flamming catapults that cause panic).
Most usually, the TK player will still have incantations left to throw some missiles or get the Archers to fire too. Once the TK player kills the Hydras or injures them badly, he may start focusing fire on our elite troops.
Conclusion: most of the times, the SSCs will fire 4 times in a turn against Hydras. You'd better not rely on them to win the game. But magic does not only enhance their fire power. It also helps them move.
How does a TK succede at getting the key charges:
A typical mistake against TKs is to think that it's a slow army and that, therefore, you will get the charges. Well, in fact, their infantry can charge further than any infantry in the game and as much as most cavalries in the game. This is because they will use incantations to get the charges, which means they will charge twice their M stat + 2/3D6. Furthermore, TK troops may go for a swift reform, then move and then charge: this is, they may charge whichever unit gets in range, despite this unit not being initially in their LoS. And this range is large. Infantry will charge 15 inches on an average roll, chariots will charge 24.
Remembering this is important. It makes Shades/Harpies/DR's life a lot harder. A TK common tactic to protect Skullthrowers is to have small Chariot units near them, so that they can reform and charge harasser units thay try to get anywhere near the Skullthrowers. And those units won't survive the light chariots charge. This tactic can also be applied to Archers.
Also, remember about this when you try to redirect a TK's units. Maybe you used a DR unit to avoid a flank charge into your Warriors, but the "redirected" unit will take a swift reform to avoid it and charge in the magic phase. And having 10-15 PD in incantations will help the TK achieve this. There's another way a TK unit can avoid being redirected: the redirecting unit will be blasted away by D6 missiles, then the unit moves, then it charges. This will take only 3 incantations to work.
As you can see, Magic is key for a TK player. A very successful general tactic for a TK player consists on using the first 2 turns to focus fire on main threats, and then charging into favourable combats in turns 3-4.
Winds of Magic:
Many people see the Wizard Hat as a good item for a TK list. I personally don't think so, but i can see where this idea comes from: WoM provide TKs with PD that they wont use, so why not taking the Wizard Hat to use them?.
As I said, I don't think this item is actually good. It leaves characters unprotected and is completely random. TKs depend on their incantations, so the more characters they field, the better the list becomes, tactically speaking. On the other hand, they need to keep their characters "alive", so they need to somehow protect them and this may mean taking less but better protected characters. It's the TKs challenge to choose the right number of characters and the appropiate protection for them. So far, at 2.5k games, 2 hitty Tomb Kings with Wards and 3 Priests with a few interesting magic items seem to work wonders.
Back to the idea of making use of the WoM roll, IMHO the way to go is by including 1-3 bound spell items such as the Ruby Ring of Ruin or the Banner that casts incantation of Djedra (the one that regenerates wounds on the unit). The advantage of these items is that they're cheap or are carried by units, not characters. This allows to keep a high number of characters and to make use of those PDs, resulting in overwhelming magic phases of 10-17 PD.
By including a few bound spells, TKs can get overwhelming magic phases.
Casket of Souls:
This is a gear option for High Priests and Priests. It works as an ordinary incantation with power level = 2D6. As incantations, it can't get IF nor fail with a natural 2. It will cause any model/unit that can see it to take a 2D6-L test. The result is wounds taken, no AS. Of course, these are magical wounds. Also, the Casket will apply a -1 modifier to any casting attempts our Sorceresses (this is not part of the bound spell, so it will affect us however we dispell it or not).
The Casket's buffs are actually good, but it's points cost (165 points) is just very high, IMHO. For those points, the TK player can field another Priest (115 points) and pay half the cost of a Tomb Scorpion (85 points) or get some extra Bound Spells (such as a 2d6 S2 missile, cool for taking down harasser units).
Also, the Casket cannot move and has no I stat, so the Priest will be stuck in the rear lines, vulnerable to possible warmachine hunters, Pits of Shades, Purple Sun, Pendulums and cannon balls and the likes. Also, it won't be able tosupport main melee troops when combat starts due to being stuck in the rear lines. I'd be glad to face a Casket of Souls when playing against TKs, very easy VPs and not a great effect on a L10 army like mine.
As a final note, the psychological effect of the Casket is very strong. Most opponents will fear a bad roll on their PoK bearer, etc. Don't get too obsesed with it and pay attention to other incantations. If you fear it so much, just have your unkillable lords stick to units, so it doesn't have to take the test.
So, now we know what to expect from TKs magic phases.
3· TKs: Magic items and combos.
Magic items are also important for TKs. As we know, they have access to some bound spells to enhance their magic phase, but there are some other important items to know about. I don't know the exact english names, sorry:
-Flail of Skulls:
It's a flail that will cause non saved wound to double. This is a very useful weapon against us druchii (in fact, it is a very useful weapon in general) because of the following:
-It will take down any injuried Hydra that comes near the Tomb King. This means that the TK player no longer needs to kill 2 Hydras. Killing one and damaging the other is ok now.
-Also, the Flail significantly shortens any Khaeleth bearer's life expectancy, for obvious reasons.
-Spear of Antharhak:
It's a lance (+1S when charging if mounted) that will heal a wound on the bearer or the bearer's unit whenever the bearer inflicts a non saved wound.
-Armor of the Scorpion:
When losing a combat, half of the CR can be ignored and the bearer will suffer 1 wound that cannot be saved. For example: Tomb King in skellies loose a combat by 10, the Tomb King takes 1 wound and 5 skellies crumble.
-Pectoral of Shapesh (?):
This will transfer a non saved wound to a friendly model within 4 inches with 4+ in a D6 roll.
-Amulet of Pha-stah (?):
Will cause any Talisman, arcane item or enchanted item not to work, but the bearer can't take any other magic items. This will cause PoK/Ward Saves and Crown of Command to be useless against the bearer. This is an easy way, though risky, of taking down an "unkillable" lord/BSB. Don't expect to see it very often, only in big games (over 3k points).
-Brochure of the desert:
An extra Dispel Scroll.
-Hieratic vessel (?):
One use only. Arcane item (only on Priests). Will allow the bearer to throw an extra incantation. This item can be game breaking when played correctly.
So this are the most noticeable TK items. Now, let's see some interesting magic item combos, paired with incantations that my TK opponent uses:
-The D6-Star:
With 3 Priests. One of the Priests (never the Hierophant) has the Ruby Ring of Ruin, the Hierophant has the "extra-incantation-item". All three Priests target an enemy unit and throw: Ruby Ring of Ruin, D6 missile, D6 missile, D6 missile and another D6 missile for a total of 5D6 S4 missiles with only 3 incantations. In subsequent turns this can be performed but will only throw 4D6 S4 missiles. Range for the missiles is 18 inches.
This missile spam seeks to blast away our elite infantry. Pairing this with light shooting, the TK player can destroy 20 man BG/WEs in a turn.
What can you do about this?. This "performance" needs only 3 incantations (with 2 PD each) so we can try an dispel them if we have enough DD, but that will mean letting all incantations thrown at SSCs through...it's up to us.
-"Sponge Bob" and friends:
This is the best anvil unit available for a TK player. And a pretty good anvil if you ask me. This can be played as part of a points-denial list, but will also perform great in tournament environment.
"Sponge Bob" is a Tomb King with the Spear of Antharhak, Armor of the Scorpion and Pectoral of Shapesh (this one is only optional) in a unit of approximately 40+ skellies. The idea here is that you may win a combat against them, they loose by 20, only 10 skellies die with the Armor, the Tomb King takes a wound and then heals himself back with the Spear. Then, the unit can be healed back to 40 models and in the process our units take casualties.
This unit has won my TK opponent lots of games. It will sit in front of the opponent's hardest hitting unit and tie it forever. It works thanks to the Tomb King's natural resilience (T5, W4 and a "4+ WS" from the pectoral), so that he can inflict himself 1 wound with little risk. The unit may include the banner of the undead legion, which is a bound spell that will cast the reraise incantation on the unit, to further help the unit recover from combat.
So far, this unit has engaged and survived all of my hammer units, including a combat against a non injured Hydra in the rear, 14 WEs in the flank and 6 CoKs in the front. The combat lasted for 4-5 rounds of combat, CoKs and Hydra eventually fled and WEs died.
How do I counter this unit? This unit will be seeking to tarpit my hammer units, so I'll just try to tarpit it so that my hammers con go earn VP somewhere else. In order to tarpit it, I'll use big Warrior units or any Steadfast/Stubborn big unit.
-Tomb King with Flail of Skulls:
This is one of the TK's hammer unit. Tomb King with Flail of Skulls and 4+ Ward Save in a unit of Tomb Guard with the banner that gives +1 to hit in HtH. With WS 6, the Tomb King is expected to hit on 2+ with 4 S7 attacks. This is very good against monstruous infantry and Monsters, but just doesn't cut it agains rank&file units. This unit will also have great success against characters because of loads of S4 KB attacks and the Flail.
It's big flaw is that Tomb Guard can only be 25 man strong: kill half the models and the unit crumbles.
How do I counter this unit? Don't send injured Hydras, don't send the unkillable Lord. Instead, I send big units of WEs/BG that will just beat this unit with ease. I'll be careful about placing my injuried Hydras or key characters any near of this unit because they can get to charge them and earn easy VPs.
These are the nastiest surprises my TK opponent can bring, from my druchii PoV. Just be aware of them when playing against TK.
1· Introduction.
2· TKs: Magic Phase.
3· TKs: Magic items and combos.
4· TKs: Chariots, Tomb Scorpions, Screaming Skull Catapults and quick review on other troop choices.
5· Example of a TK power list.
6· Magic against TKs.
1· Introduction.
Hi there,
First of all, I'd like to point out something: this is a compilation of several conclusions and thoughts on playing against Tomb Kings that I've collected through more than 30 games against a TK player (a close friend of mine). This guy has played with this army for more than 6 years, lots of games, more than 30 games in 8ed and more than 10 8ed tourneys getting top 5 (20+ people). This are all the guarantees we can offer. We are not tactical geniuses, nor unbeatable players, all we can offer is to share our experiences so far. Hope it helps. Also, please forgive my bad english. And without further ado, let's begin:
I play a lot against TKs with my regular oponent and I must say that TKs have become much better with 8ed rules. IMHO, TKs can easily counter pretty much any of our troop choices and are just "hard mode" for us druchii.
Speaking of a certain TK character or a certain TK troop involves speaking of a variety of other troops. This should give us a clue. TKs need a high grade of coordination to win games. Fortunately for them, they have a super-reliable magic phase, the most reliable magic phase of the game, to help them. They can actually counter pretty much anything we throw at them with their defensive playstile: sittin back and heavy shooting at threats and then charging into favourable combats via incantation spam. We must try to pose several threats at a time to make them divide incantations, aim at killing Priests...whatever reduces their capability to focus/spam incantations.
The fact is that the TK army has two big flaws: expensive troops and poor stats (with a few exceptions). For example, they have to pay 9 points for a skelleton that hast the same profile as an ordinary Goblin. Only thanks to their incantations can they reach success.
2· TKs: Magic Phase.
TKs need their magic to win games. I can't stress how important magic is to a TK player. Playing against the druchii, a TK player will use magic to:
1st: Kill the Hydras. He will do it, only bad luck will prevent a TK from getting rid of them before they even have a chance to breath on something. And he will do this by firing each Skulthrower twice in a turn, and there's very little you can do about that.
2nd: Focusing fire on our elite troops or immediate threats such as harasser/warmachine hunters.
3rd: Getting key charges.
So, let me explain how TK magic phase works. First, let's remember the different incantations:
-There is a D6 S4 missile.
-Another one for an extra shooting round
-Another one for an extra combat round (only 1 attack per model)
-Finally, there's the wounds regeneration incantation: will heal D3 wounds to characters, D6 to Grave Guard and the best D6 out of a 2D6 roll to Skellies.
Incantations can't cause Miscast/IF and will be successful even with a natural 1 or 2 in the roll (and of course won't cause the caster to loos concentration). Also, there's a certain order they must follow to throw incantations, but it's not very important: first bound spells, then Kings, then Princes, then lord level Priests, then Priests and then the Hierophant.
So, let's suppose TK list includes 2 Kings (2 incantations each, 1 PD per incantation) and 3 Priests (1 incantation each, 2PD per incantation) at 2.5k points. This means, a total of 10 PD in incantations. We are likely to get 3-5 DD from WoM. Pretty uneven actually.
How does a TK succede at killing Hydras:
-Incantations are aimed at Screaming Skull Catapults (SSC from now on). 7 incantations: 1PD, 1PD, 1PD, 1PD, 2PD, 2PD, 2PD. Even if we have a lvl4 SSorc, with 5 DD we won't be able to stop that: attempts at 1DD are risky and attempts at 2DD are useless. So both SSCs fire at our Hydra(s) (SSCs=flamming catapults that cause panic).
Most usually, the TK player will still have incantations left to throw some missiles or get the Archers to fire too. Once the TK player kills the Hydras or injures them badly, he may start focusing fire on our elite troops.
Conclusion: most of the times, the SSCs will fire 4 times in a turn against Hydras. You'd better not rely on them to win the game. But magic does not only enhance their fire power. It also helps them move.
How does a TK succede at getting the key charges:
A typical mistake against TKs is to think that it's a slow army and that, therefore, you will get the charges. Well, in fact, their infantry can charge further than any infantry in the game and as much as most cavalries in the game. This is because they will use incantations to get the charges, which means they will charge twice their M stat + 2/3D6. Furthermore, TK troops may go for a swift reform, then move and then charge: this is, they may charge whichever unit gets in range, despite this unit not being initially in their LoS. And this range is large. Infantry will charge 15 inches on an average roll, chariots will charge 24.
Remembering this is important. It makes Shades/Harpies/DR's life a lot harder. A TK common tactic to protect Skullthrowers is to have small Chariot units near them, so that they can reform and charge harasser units thay try to get anywhere near the Skullthrowers. And those units won't survive the light chariots charge. This tactic can also be applied to Archers.
Also, remember about this when you try to redirect a TK's units. Maybe you used a DR unit to avoid a flank charge into your Warriors, but the "redirected" unit will take a swift reform to avoid it and charge in the magic phase. And having 10-15 PD in incantations will help the TK achieve this. There's another way a TK unit can avoid being redirected: the redirecting unit will be blasted away by D6 missiles, then the unit moves, then it charges. This will take only 3 incantations to work.
As you can see, Magic is key for a TK player. A very successful general tactic for a TK player consists on using the first 2 turns to focus fire on main threats, and then charging into favourable combats in turns 3-4.
Winds of Magic:
Many people see the Wizard Hat as a good item for a TK list. I personally don't think so, but i can see where this idea comes from: WoM provide TKs with PD that they wont use, so why not taking the Wizard Hat to use them?.
As I said, I don't think this item is actually good. It leaves characters unprotected and is completely random. TKs depend on their incantations, so the more characters they field, the better the list becomes, tactically speaking. On the other hand, they need to keep their characters "alive", so they need to somehow protect them and this may mean taking less but better protected characters. It's the TKs challenge to choose the right number of characters and the appropiate protection for them. So far, at 2.5k games, 2 hitty Tomb Kings with Wards and 3 Priests with a few interesting magic items seem to work wonders.
Back to the idea of making use of the WoM roll, IMHO the way to go is by including 1-3 bound spell items such as the Ruby Ring of Ruin or the Banner that casts incantation of Djedra (the one that regenerates wounds on the unit). The advantage of these items is that they're cheap or are carried by units, not characters. This allows to keep a high number of characters and to make use of those PDs, resulting in overwhelming magic phases of 10-17 PD.
By including a few bound spells, TKs can get overwhelming magic phases.
Casket of Souls:
This is a gear option for High Priests and Priests. It works as an ordinary incantation with power level = 2D6. As incantations, it can't get IF nor fail with a natural 2. It will cause any model/unit that can see it to take a 2D6-L test. The result is wounds taken, no AS. Of course, these are magical wounds. Also, the Casket will apply a -1 modifier to any casting attempts our Sorceresses (this is not part of the bound spell, so it will affect us however we dispell it or not).
The Casket's buffs are actually good, but it's points cost (165 points) is just very high, IMHO. For those points, the TK player can field another Priest (115 points) and pay half the cost of a Tomb Scorpion (85 points) or get some extra Bound Spells (such as a 2d6 S2 missile, cool for taking down harasser units).
Also, the Casket cannot move and has no I stat, so the Priest will be stuck in the rear lines, vulnerable to possible warmachine hunters, Pits of Shades, Purple Sun, Pendulums and cannon balls and the likes. Also, it won't be able tosupport main melee troops when combat starts due to being stuck in the rear lines. I'd be glad to face a Casket of Souls when playing against TKs, very easy VPs and not a great effect on a L10 army like mine.
As a final note, the psychological effect of the Casket is very strong. Most opponents will fear a bad roll on their PoK bearer, etc. Don't get too obsesed with it and pay attention to other incantations. If you fear it so much, just have your unkillable lords stick to units, so it doesn't have to take the test.
So, now we know what to expect from TKs magic phases.
3· TKs: Magic items and combos.
Magic items are also important for TKs. As we know, they have access to some bound spells to enhance their magic phase, but there are some other important items to know about. I don't know the exact english names, sorry:
-Flail of Skulls:
It's a flail that will cause non saved wound to double. This is a very useful weapon against us druchii (in fact, it is a very useful weapon in general) because of the following:
-It will take down any injuried Hydra that comes near the Tomb King. This means that the TK player no longer needs to kill 2 Hydras. Killing one and damaging the other is ok now.
-Also, the Flail significantly shortens any Khaeleth bearer's life expectancy, for obvious reasons.
-Spear of Antharhak:
It's a lance (+1S when charging if mounted) that will heal a wound on the bearer or the bearer's unit whenever the bearer inflicts a non saved wound.
-Armor of the Scorpion:
When losing a combat, half of the CR can be ignored and the bearer will suffer 1 wound that cannot be saved. For example: Tomb King in skellies loose a combat by 10, the Tomb King takes 1 wound and 5 skellies crumble.
-Pectoral of Shapesh (?):
This will transfer a non saved wound to a friendly model within 4 inches with 4+ in a D6 roll.
-Amulet of Pha-stah (?):
Will cause any Talisman, arcane item or enchanted item not to work, but the bearer can't take any other magic items. This will cause PoK/Ward Saves and Crown of Command to be useless against the bearer. This is an easy way, though risky, of taking down an "unkillable" lord/BSB. Don't expect to see it very often, only in big games (over 3k points).
-Brochure of the desert:
An extra Dispel Scroll.
-Hieratic vessel (?):
One use only. Arcane item (only on Priests). Will allow the bearer to throw an extra incantation. This item can be game breaking when played correctly.
So this are the most noticeable TK items. Now, let's see some interesting magic item combos, paired with incantations that my TK opponent uses:
-The D6-Star:
With 3 Priests. One of the Priests (never the Hierophant) has the Ruby Ring of Ruin, the Hierophant has the "extra-incantation-item". All three Priests target an enemy unit and throw: Ruby Ring of Ruin, D6 missile, D6 missile, D6 missile and another D6 missile for a total of 5D6 S4 missiles with only 3 incantations. In subsequent turns this can be performed but will only throw 4D6 S4 missiles. Range for the missiles is 18 inches.
This missile spam seeks to blast away our elite infantry. Pairing this with light shooting, the TK player can destroy 20 man BG/WEs in a turn.
What can you do about this?. This "performance" needs only 3 incantations (with 2 PD each) so we can try an dispel them if we have enough DD, but that will mean letting all incantations thrown at SSCs through...it's up to us.
-"Sponge Bob" and friends:
This is the best anvil unit available for a TK player. And a pretty good anvil if you ask me. This can be played as part of a points-denial list, but will also perform great in tournament environment.
"Sponge Bob" is a Tomb King with the Spear of Antharhak, Armor of the Scorpion and Pectoral of Shapesh (this one is only optional) in a unit of approximately 40+ skellies. The idea here is that you may win a combat against them, they loose by 20, only 10 skellies die with the Armor, the Tomb King takes a wound and then heals himself back with the Spear. Then, the unit can be healed back to 40 models and in the process our units take casualties.
This unit has won my TK opponent lots of games. It will sit in front of the opponent's hardest hitting unit and tie it forever. It works thanks to the Tomb King's natural resilience (T5, W4 and a "4+ WS" from the pectoral), so that he can inflict himself 1 wound with little risk. The unit may include the banner of the undead legion, which is a bound spell that will cast the reraise incantation on the unit, to further help the unit recover from combat.
So far, this unit has engaged and survived all of my hammer units, including a combat against a non injured Hydra in the rear, 14 WEs in the flank and 6 CoKs in the front. The combat lasted for 4-5 rounds of combat, CoKs and Hydra eventually fled and WEs died.
How do I counter this unit? This unit will be seeking to tarpit my hammer units, so I'll just try to tarpit it so that my hammers con go earn VP somewhere else. In order to tarpit it, I'll use big Warrior units or any Steadfast/Stubborn big unit.
-Tomb King with Flail of Skulls:
This is one of the TK's hammer unit. Tomb King with Flail of Skulls and 4+ Ward Save in a unit of Tomb Guard with the banner that gives +1 to hit in HtH. With WS 6, the Tomb King is expected to hit on 2+ with 4 S7 attacks. This is very good against monstruous infantry and Monsters, but just doesn't cut it agains rank&file units. This unit will also have great success against characters because of loads of S4 KB attacks and the Flail.
It's big flaw is that Tomb Guard can only be 25 man strong: kill half the models and the unit crumbles.
How do I counter this unit? Don't send injured Hydras, don't send the unkillable Lord. Instead, I send big units of WEs/BG that will just beat this unit with ease. I'll be careful about placing my injuried Hydras or key characters any near of this unit because they can get to charge them and earn easy VPs.
These are the nastiest surprises my TK opponent can bring, from my druchii PoV. Just be aware of them when playing against TK.