# Wow do Tomb Kings SUCK!!!



## The Wraithlord (Jan 1, 2007)

Ok, I knew that the Kings blew chunks but I did not realize just how badly until tonight. My 13 year old son wanted to learn how to play Fantasy so we had our first game tonight. I used the Kings, he got to use my new Chaos Warriors as I was reasonably certain that the Kings would fold and didn't want that to be his first experience. We both like big games so we used the 2000pt armies I already had set up and made an evening of it. And boy did I find out how badly the Tomb Kings armybook needs an update.

Managed to take out the knights (Ushabti do NOT suck lol), an exalted hero (again Ushabti) and 6-7 Warriors. That is it. My Kings lost everything by turn 4. Once those Warriors got into CC it was game over. 4 Chariots, dead in a turn. 4 Chariots including the King, dead in a turn. 20 Tomb Guard, dead in a turn (vs full warrior unit and a rear charge from the jugger lord). It was un-freaking real. I will admit to some terrible dice rolls but it was not nearly enough to justify the beating the Kings took, especially from someone as new as the morning dew at the game. We also took the game super slow in order to make sure of every rule as we went along so I don't think I got too much wrong, rulewise, that would justify it that way.

In short, Tomb Kings are a fantastic looking army but as it stands, in my honest and humble opinion, they really, REALLY, suck.


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## Pertoleum (Jul 18, 2008)

what was in your list? Because my experiences with tomb kings showed they're not half bad, just you need to know how to play them, not saying that you dont, plus Warriors of Chaos are kinda amazing, so the tomb kings are fighting an uphill fight


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

That's the point though-- in an even points match in WHFB, the game should come down to player skill more than balance (or lack thereof) in the army. Tomb Kings are a great looking army, but the problem is that all of their spells, which make the army function, are -so- easy to dispel, and the units tend to be rather fragile. Skeleton cavalry, even of the Heavy Skeleton Horsemen persuasion, just aren't good enough for the points you pay per model, and you can't possibly bring enough Skeleton Bowmen to shoot the other army down before they get stuck in. Tomb Guard and Ushabti can win fights, but again, there aren't enough of them. Chariots suffer from the same problem-- they really need to be in units, but they're too fragile and are again rather overpriced. 

Then, on the other hand, you've got Warriors of Chaos, who have a balanced mix of weedy and beater units, plentiful anti-magic and powerful magic, and Warrior unit champions can go toe to toe with enemy independent characters of the Hero level and come out on top. It also doesn't help that a lot of the Warriors of Chaos army can be made to not care about fear-causing enemies, or cause fear themselves.


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## Ancient Tiel' a fier (May 5, 2008)

Im afraid they do bud. The problem is units that die from combat res cant take mass killers on easy (khorne jugger tarts) as they lack the bodies. For counts the answer is simple, summon more and use zombies they are cheap. No tomb king is cheap, not one.

They need a new book....... bad.


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## Vaul (Dec 29, 2008)

I'm a new tomb kings player, and I lost my first 5 games. But after that, I figured them out and i'm actually quite confident with them now. They stand out from other armies because they reward perseverance, player skill, experience, and meticulous army list planning. Down here in the southern hemisphere, a player won a major tournament with a balanced Tomb Kings list, not dropping even a single game. 

Fact is, they take understanding and good tactical thinking to use. I recommend stick with them but put your learning skills to good use. 

Read up on strategy here: http://z4.invisionfree.com/Khemri/index.php?act=idx

You might also like some of my Tomb Kings battle reports to be found here: 



 - this is from a tourney where I play Tomb Kings and take 3 wins, 2 losses and a draw.


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## Eugene (Oct 27, 2008)

I interested in playing as Tomb Kings too as my first Fantasy army, but I don't even know how Fantasy plays like, is it like 40K? Will it be expensier?!


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## Apoca6 (Feb 25, 2009)

tomb kings took my ogres to pieces, good magic from what i remember.


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## newsun (Oct 6, 2008)

They definitely need a new book, they are not total weak sauce though. It's just that the last few books are really strong. Maybe they should change the book to Tomb Priests because to be strong in the magic phase, which TK need a High Lich Priest and 2x supporting priests is almost manditory. Then you are tossing 11 dice, possibly 14 to get your spells off not even counting any bound items you have.


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## neilbatte (Jan 2, 2008)

Tomb kings are always going to struggle against any high armour army as all the stuff that can modify the saves enough to have a realistic chance of killing them is overpriced.
Against less armoured opposision it generally has an even chance.


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## Dafistofmork (Jan 9, 2009)

take as many priests as possible with a CoS-ripped apart my dwarfs utterly-i only had 6DD. his chriots side raped me, his archers shot everything and due to cany deployment all my units became unsorported of each other.

esential TK are one of the hardest armysto pick up, but in the hands of a pro are devastating.


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## asianavatar (Aug 20, 2007)

Any army that is good in close combat and do not break become a huge problem for Tomb Kings. They aren't an easy army to use, but they are not totally crap either, you just have to know how to play them and what to take. Their units require a lot of support from each other.


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## The Wraithlord (Jan 1, 2007)

Oh yeah I realize all of this. Played the Kings quite a few times before, had some wins and losses. They are definitely a finesse army and require care to use. That said however, my game against my son, a learning game for him, really showed off their weaknesses to me. Watching my units bounce off the Warriors again and again without fail was very eye opening to say the least. Only unit that really did anything was the Ushabti, who are admittedly very good. The rest died even on the charge and that included flank charges. 

Great looking army, awesome awesome theme, dire need of an updated armybook.


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## Erie Ed (Feb 21, 2009)

If you think that's bad try playing skaven  I've been playing them against my buddies high elves. Talk about demoralizing


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## Dafistofmork (Jan 9, 2009)

you want demorlising, try this-no wins under 4th ed 40k at all, dwarfs get (repetadly) roundhouse kicked by anything, including ogers, goblins and probaly hobgoblins as well.


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## Ancient Tiel' a fier (May 5, 2008)

Skaven are awesome still, i crushed a High elf army quite recently with them. Sure you doomed in combat but pointy ears dont like ratling guns and warp lighting at all :laugh:. Dwarfs rock too so i dont know what your doing there :laugh:.


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## Erie Ed (Feb 21, 2009)

ouch......


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## fasthippy (Oct 29, 2008)

I heavily disagree. There are plenty of report of tomb kings beating some of the best armies out there. Here for example is a game where the kings absolutely stomp vampire counts, one of the best armies out there:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/222672.page

Just like I pointed out with ogres; a good understanding of your role as well as solid play can allow even the "weak" armies to great success.

On top of that there are many a GT where the tomb kings placed on the top 10 or even the top 5.

Don't be so rash considering the success others have had with this army.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Tomb Kings aren't meant to fight in Close Combat - your warriors are speed bumps to the Archers 

Archers just wipe the board with (admittedly) Low Armour Troops, and I've lost a couple of times, thanks to the CoS/Ushabti Combo's with my Marauders.

One of these games was a Siege Game - Khalida, with her 40 Archers (in one unit) on a Wall, resulting in 40 Poisoned attacks hitting me at 30" as I marchwith my ladders into range... Not good at all, especially when I lose 60 Marauders before I even hit the walls.

Tomb Kings are excellent at range, and if ever playing a siege game, Never, ever let them take a Casket of Souls and put it in a Tower. Absolute Cunts to shift with anything other than Dwarves.


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## Dafistofmork (Jan 9, 2009)

Ancient Tiel' a fier said:


> Dwarfs rock too so i dont know what your doing there :laugh:.


poor deployment manily-it is the only phase i cannot do well in, and many would say it is the most vital phase. after 5 years, i have just started to learn that just plonking units down any where is not good. rubbish luck also helps(failing 7 2+ AS in one combat phase is not good).


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## Vaul (Dec 29, 2008)

Here's a battle report (with pictures and audio commentary) on a game between Tomb Kings and warriors of chaos - the very race that smashed the thread starter. I didn't use any Ushabti. Still, my list was probably stronger than his and it was a very convincing victory in the end. I suspect that the OP didn't employ some of the main TK strengths in his game. Stick at it, I say!

part 1 - 



part 2 -


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## slaaneshy (Feb 20, 2008)

Man, i hope they are not that bad, just blowing my pay on a TK army as we speak! 
My personal view is that big infantry formations supported by usabti and chariots to hit from the flanks would be a good tactic, and lobbing skulls and arrows as they advance.
Guess we shall see how they fare!


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## solitaire (Mar 24, 2008)

Hmm I do like the Tomb King models, does anyone happen to know when their new army book is coming out. . ?


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## newsun (Oct 6, 2008)

probably early next year. thought it could sneak in novemberish too.


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## jaren (Jul 7, 2008)

i have had good success myself with my kings, though i don't fight to many chaos i just go against dwarf elfs and vamires.


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## Vorag of Strigos (Feb 25, 2009)

a tomb king army decmated my W


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## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

TK are even more then VC an army that requires "teamwork" against harder units. Unlike the VC you lack the standard tarpitting cheap-ass zombie units so you will have to do with concentrated killing only. Its also even less forgiving then VC since TK generally lack cheap sacrificial units so you must make everything count!

Against WoC it'll be a hard time stopping Warriors head-on so start from one flank and hope to break the unit there and get the steam-roller going. This should be done "overkill style"(there is no such kill as overkill) so toss in all you deem needed to break the chosen victim, just make damn sure that the opponent flee from the unit in the flank and not the eventual unit attacking the front. Good example would be 3 Ushabtis in the front and 4+ charriots in the flank. This should do enough CR to break almost anything, just watch out for stubborn things

It will require micro-management and trial and error prefections but you should get a hang of it after a few tries.
Tomb Scorpions can handle Chaos Knights quite well alone, just keep running around to their flank-arcs with it and threaten a flank-charge and it'll hold there quite some time. If you roll good you might even win combat now and then thanks to Killing Blow:wink:

The Bone Giant looks kind a weak on paper but try to combine-charge Ushabtis to the front and a Giant to the side of a unit once and you'll fall in love:laugh:

If you want a working army I'd never go under max number of non caster characters. This might lead to a quite booring game tho and fail in "educating" your son to the game Wraith, so maybe one of the shitty BSBs might be an option anyways. In a construction heavy army they makes wonders, specially for flanking Scorps holding of Cav

As long as you pick your fights carefully you can stand a chance against any army. If you engage in a slug-fest you're bound to lose against almost anything so play the game on your terms with TK, not the way the opponent wants you too:wink:


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