Help against Tomb kings.

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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Rommel44
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Help against Tomb kings.

Post by Rommel44 »

Hey mates. Currently at the moment i am in the middle of a Mighty Empires tournament being held at my store and after scoring a Massacure against the Empire in the first round, i find myself in an unfamiliar position as I found out i am going to be playing against Tomb Kings next week. Now long story short, I am looking for some tactical advice and help from anyone who has played against these guys and what they found effective against them and I would really appreciate the help.
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Tethlis
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Post by Tethlis »

There are a few different flavors of Tomb Kings, but here are units you're likely to encounter:

-Hierophant: The highest level Tomb King caster in an army is the Hierophant, meaning that if that model dies, the rest of the Tomb King army begins to crumble in the same manner as Vampire Counts. Note that this isn't as big a deal as it sounds, because the best Tomb King units have stellar Leadership anyway. Treat hunting the Hierophant like any other Level 4.

-Skeleton Archers: A bunker of ~20 or so, probably containing the Hierophant. The danger here is that these archers always ignore modifiers when they shoot, so they always hit on a 5+ (unless you lower their Ballistic Skill via magic, such as using Miasma or Word of Pain.) They're great for taking out Shades and Harpies, and can weaken our elite infantry as well. However, they fold quickly in combat, and are vulnerable to shooting and direct damage magic.

-Chariots: Expect these in squadrons of 3-6 models. They're quite fragile, but watch out for the storm of impact hits they'll do when they charge. If you can get the charge on them, great. If you see multiple ranks of them, then try to eliminate some models off the back rank; just like Ogres, their impact hits are +1 Strength per rank they have, so fewer ranks means weaker hits.

-Tomb Guard w/ a Tomb Prince or King: These are identical in most respects to Grave Guard, but feature halberds or hand weapon/light armor so they're not as hard hitting or durable. However, Princes and Kings pass off their Weapon Skill to any unit they accompany, so expect them to be WS5 or better. If you see a second character with them, it's probably a Necrotect, which confers Hatred on the unit. Don't underestimate these guys; hit them with a massive combined charge to try and kill as many as possible before they can retaliate, and watch out for Augments. The Tomb King may have a magic item which makes him cause Terror, and prevents nearby enemy units from using BSB re-rolls or General's Leadership. Be careful, since that can wreak havor with units that aren't Immune to Psych or are going to be testing to Break.

-Warsphynx: A great all around-choice, since it functions similarly to our Hydra. Including its crew, it can have 9 Strength 5 Attacks when it charges, as well as a breath weapon and Thunderstomp. It can also forgo its attacks to make a close combat hit similar to a stonethrower. It has very high Toughness, but poor armor. Poison, massed attacks (such as Corsair or crossbow fire) or an Initiative nuke (such as Pit of Shades or Purple Sun) will help remove it. Be aware that it can use the crew's Initiative of 3 for Pit of Shades/Purple Sun.

-Necropolis Knights: Durable, well armored, and with strong hitting power. They have a mix of Poison and Killing Blow attacks, so be careful with your monsters and characters around them. Executioners or Banner of Murder-equipped Black Guard can destroy them with a strong Cauldron-enhanced combat phase, but don't underestimate these Knights because they're quick (by Tomb King standards) and durable.

-Casket of Souls: This unit boosts the dice for a Tomb King player's magic phase, and can unleash a bound spell which hurts units if they fail a Leadership test on 3D6. Try to keep most of your valuable units close to the general and within range of your Battle Standard to mitigate the effects. Be very careful using units with few wounds, such as Knights, Chariots, Shades or monsters, because they suffer most from losing a few wounds.

-Screaming Skull Catapults: Reasonable destructive, as all template weapons are for Elves, but only Strength 3 and not very accurate. They do force Panic when they inflict wounds, however, and also have Flaming Attacks. This makes them great for scattering isolated units off the table or for sniping War Hydras.

Good luck. As with all Undead, try to make your combats brutal and very decisive. Avoid combined charges from their combat regiments and monsters.
Last edited by Tethlis on Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Rommel44
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Post by Rommel44 »

Thanks for the help mate, however I stil could use some pointers on what I can do to beat this guy. I know he runs some of the Sphynxs that have a breath weapon, as well as a big block of Tomb Guard and some Necropolis knights. Besides that, here are some other questions:

*Whats a good Lore of Magic to take against them? I'm right now considering Shadow but would Dark or Death be a good choice?

*Is the Guiding Eye worth its points? Because I'm considering running it on my lvl. 4 Sorceress who is w/my 19x repeater crossbows regiment when shooting at one of his Sphynx's.
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Post by Swab »

I would say Shadow is a good bet.

Miasma would be helpful for either lowering I even lower for a more deadly Pit of Shades. Or lowering their BS down to 1 so they hit on 6s instead of 5s.

Steed of shadows is still pretty much situational and useless unless you want to fly a character to threaten their Casket or their stone thrower.

Enfeebling will reduce the amount of return wounds in combat or lower the sphynx to a less threatening monster.

Withering on the sphynx or anything else will allow your shooting to eat through them much quicker than they can replenish them. This is the second most useful spell against TK IMHO.

(Can't remember the name but the 4th one) is alright. You can try to hit their warmachines or the monsters with it.

Pit of shades is golden against them. With their low initiative you should be forcing him to remove them by the handlefuls! ALWAYS choose this spell if you can.

Mind razor is always amazing. No real explanation is necessary other than you get to murder everything in your path.


I've rarely seen the guiding eye be useful. It can have an effect, but for 30 points there are better options. Personally, I would go with the seal of ghrond for the extra dispel dice to stop the casket. There is an article in the D.R.A.I.C.H. about how to effectively use it though so go check that out.

Just my two cents.
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van Awful
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Post by van Awful »

Miasma would be helpful for either lowering I even lower for a more deadly Pit of Shades. Or lowering their BS down to 1 so they hit on 6s instead of 5s.


I thought they alway's hit on a 5, no matter what?

I've played against them a while ago, and lost.
a lot of units can come from beneath, really annoying
nec. Knights, scorpions, swarms etc.
but its from turn2 an they cant charge the first round.

apart from skeletons pretty high toughnes army.
like said low I so lore of shadow is a good choice.
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Tethlis
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Post by Tethlis »

dh'akor wrote:

I thought they alway's hit on a 5, no matter what?


Their rules say that they ignore To Hit modifiers when shooting, so since they never count penalties like Long Range, Hard Cover, Skirmishers, etc. it means they effectively hit on a 5+ always because they're only Ballistic Skill 2.

However, if you drop their Ballistic Skill down to 1 (like with Miasma, or Word of Pain) or boost their Ballistic Skill (for example, by adding Queen Khalida who can pass her Ballistic Skill off to the rest of the unit) then you can still change the base value that they need to roll in order to hit a target.
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