Return To Glory, an army log of deserts and destruction

+1 ever so much this.

2 backbreaking NecroKnight units and 5 units of do-anything-swiss-army-knives making sure the Knights deliver the pain is brilliant. If I had enough Horse Archers I would give this a shot and lose my Chariots for a few battles.

It's something I'll certainly try after the weekend because I see a lot of merit in the idea. Having 5 scouting units as well to disrupt the opponents, tackle support units, warmachines and even force some march blocks is great.

Wait and see!

Had another game against VC on the weekend and I must say I don't think having chariots would have made a difference however in saying that I think I would have just been feeding units horse archers for the sake of it. Need another few games before working out if to switch or not!



Still happy with the list though however just need to work on me not allowing my opponent great overrun opportunities.

2500 TK vs VC

Another two games coming up this week against the new Empire no doubt using the same list so that will be a nice change from what I'm normally use to.

I think I'll post the batte report here and link it in the battle report forum to generate some more tactical chatter in this log as well as capturing all my battles in one place.

So a bit of insight into the empire list I'll be facing has me against 2 units of 10 knights, fast cav, stank, level 4 shadow, general, bsb, knight lord,2 x witch hunters, engineer, horde of halberdiers, block of sword, 2 cannons.

Any suggestions on how to work out this puzzle? Bow fire will only be effective against the infantry, no doubt the artillery will either be way out of range of the general or all the characters could be bunkered in the swordsmen.

The blocks of knights are what concerns me the most, the only things that can really cause them nightmares are the Necroknights and even they'll drop if they get charged and the knight lord will be sporting a rune fang so more or less guaranteed wounds and of course immune to psyche.

Can't say I'm really looking forward to this game.

The one saving grace I have is hopefully getting the casket through onto the stank.

Any tips?

seems like 2x 3 stalkers are in order here. it's all warmachines and heavy armor! gaze his ass to dust!
further, TG blocks will not care about knight charges (few attacks, then you KB back [consider cursed blades]) or cannon hits, so if you make your 'bodies on the field' tomb guard, you negate the effectiveness of those units.
2 SSC's could put a hole in the infantry blocks I guess.

so for special I suggest:
2x3 stalkers
2x 27 TG with HW/SH (you aim for KB vs the knights, and will kill the infantry anyway, so why take halberds), deployed 7 or 10 wide with a tect and the command you like. (add prince to taste, I don't think he's unmissable)

Rare, casket and 2 cata's are not something you'll ever regret, I think.
Bringing monsters would be asking for trouble, so as long as we are tayloring anyway, you could leave those at home. maybe bring another casket if you think It'll be that usefull (could be!)

as for spells, Don't forget vengeance (to scare knights) and cursed blades (super TG KB)
cannons will autofail net of amyntoyk, the steamtank might as well if it's a warmachine?

that's it, I got nothing more, good luck and nice knowing ya

Krael, unfortunately I'm sticking with my list I'm currently using:

Level 4 - Earthing Rod
Level 4 - Scroll (lore of light)
Necrotect - dragon bane gem, iron curse
20 Archers - Std
20 Archers
2 x 5 Horse Archers
4 chariots - Std, Mus
2 x 6 Necro Knights - FC
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC

well, that will be horrible. you're going to fix it with magic though!
good that you have the light lich though. speed of light+timewarp+knights will deal with the enemy knights, if you're lucky.
still consider cursed blades, and vengeance as well, and net of amyntoyk too. Pha's protection will be worth it too, as knights won't be steadfast, and they have very few, but high quality attacks. reduce their hits, and you'll probably break them.
smiting+dessication would decimate infantry.
spirrit leech might be a longshot (from close range ), but the casket could be good.

timewarped or lightspeed horsearchers might provide an unexpected assault on the enemy mage!

Thanks Krael, solid advice. Let's just hope to hell I roll up cursed blades because taking out those knights on a 5+ with my knights would be nice. Even if I have to bite the bullet and cast it on archers and get them into a flank might be worthwhile if it means I'm dropping another 1-2 knights.

I know it's going to be an uphill battle as I don't really have the complete tool set to deal with such a build so I just hope I can get my deployment right and that will make my options a lot easier.

Hopefully get Birona's as well so I can really increase the threat range of the snakes and hopefully catch the knights off guard but we'll wait and see how quickly I can dismantle all the support elements of the Empire first. I'll really have to try and use my Horse archers efficiently to nail warmachines and/or hold up the knights for a turn.

Wait and see!

Well got two games in against beastmen today with the current list. Will post reports up soon!

My list:

Level 4 - Earthing Rod
Level 4 - Scroll (lore of light)
Necrotect - dragon bane gem, iron curse
20 Archers - Std
20 Archers
2 x 5 Horse Archers
4 chariots - Std, Mus
2 x 6 Necro Knights - FC
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC

Opponents List (from memory)

Doombull - Ram Horn Helm, 1+ re-rollable
Level 4 Shadow - Scroll
2 x level 1 beasts - Herdstone
BSB - +1 Leadership

5 dogs
40 Gors - FC, XHW
3 tuskgor chariots
5 Ungor Raiders
25 Bestigor - FC
Razorgor Chariot
3 x Razorgor
4 Minotaurs - XHW

Scenario - Meeting engagement

Not deployed

TK - Necrotect, Hierotitan, SSC
Beastmen - Bestigor, Ungor, Dogs

Spell selection

Hierophant - Smiting, Vengeance, Dessication, Wind
Level 4 - Speed of Light, Birona's, Net, Gaze

Great Bray-Shaman - Miasma, Withering, Enfeebling Foe, Mindrazor
2 x Shaman - Wissans Wildform

Deployment:



TK win the roll off and opt to take first turn.

TK1

Units enter play. Light Priest enters building.

Magic - 9 vs 7

Light of Death on doombull - scrolled
Speed of light on NK

Shooting on Doombull does nil



Beastmen 1

doombull and minotaurs charge the horse archers but fail to make the distance!

Bestigor, 5 hounds and Ungor arrive to the battle.

Magic - 9 vs 6

Wissans is cast twice on the bestigor with one IF causing 7 dead bestigor and the remainind power dice being lost.



TK 2

Chariots charge into the Razorgor.

Magic - 10 vs 5

Desert wind is cast on the Hierotitan
Light of Death fails.
Dessication reduces the S & T of the doombull.

Shooting - nil

Combat - chariot unit loses a single model and kills the pig.



Beastmen 2

Razorgor chariot charges into the chariots but fails the distance!

The doombull and minotaurs repeat their charges from last turn making it easily.

(please excuse me as I didn't put the dogs in the right place, they deployed near the Northern knights)

Magic - 2 vs 1

Wissans goes through on the Gor

Shooting sees an arrow hit and wound the Level 4 light wizard in the building.

Combat

Horse archers are deleted, minos overrun 4" whilst doombull overruns 6".



TK 3

Chariots charge into the Razorgor chariot making the distance easily. The Necroknights slam into the dogs.

Magic - 4 vs 3

Spirit Leech onto Doombull is dispelled.

Birona's Timewarp is cast on the Necroknights not in combat.

Shooting

A SSC puts 2 wounds onto the Doombull. The second scatters. Archers pour fire into a pig (R3 - forgive my map, wasn't taking many photos this game) killing it and panicking the nearby other.

Combat

The Chariots put 3 wounds on the pig causing it to break however I fail to catch it but do slam into the flank of the Gor.

Necroknights kill the dogs and overrun into the Minotaurs.



Beastmen 3

Charges

Doombull charges into the Necroknights front supported by a single chariot as a second fails to make the distance. The northern chariot charges into the

Necropolis Knights.

West razorgor chariot rallies, north pig flees further.

Magic - 11 vs 6

Withering on the combat NK fails to cast.

2 attempts at Wissans on Gor are both dispelled.

Combat

The Necropolis knights take 3 wounds from the chariot and kill it in return, the champion challenges out the doombull taking 2 wounds in return however

the combat still holds.

The Northern Necropolis knights put 8 wounds onto the Minotaurs and 2 onto the chariot before taking only 2 wounds in return breaking the enemy. The

Knights pursue and cut down both the chariot and the Minotaurs.

Chariots cause 5 wounds with impact hits and take no damage in return. Gors reform to face them.



TK 4

Northern Knight swift reform to push past terrain.

Magic - 12 vs 7

Smiting and Bironas are cast on the Necropolis Knights, followed by Dessication onto the doombull.

Shooting

SSC lands a shot on the chariot killing it outright. Archers kill 2 ungor.

Combat

Chariots vs Gor (fail fear). Chariots take too much damage and crumble.

Necropolis Knight champion falls in combat, 3 wounds are crumbled.



Beastmen 4

Gor block declares a charge into the Necro Knights however fails to make the distance (Reform from last combat not shown).

Magic - 11 vs 4

Miasma is cast on the archers dropping their BS to 1.

Withering is cast onto the Necroknights however I scroll this.

Wissans is cast twice on the Bestigor.

Combat

Necroknights vs Doombull - Doombull does damage, I do none, crumble, 2 snakes remaining.



TK 5

NecroKnights charge into Ungor

Magic - 10 vs 6

Powered up Dessication goes off on the Gor dropping their S/T by -3.

In the shooting phase a SSC hits and drops 16 of the Gor panicking them but leaving them in range of the archers who drop another 14. That is art my

friends.

Combat

Necroknight die to the Doombull.

Ungor die to knights and overrun.



Beastmen 5

Gor rally on double 1's.

Doombull charges into the Hierophant (stupid placement on my part just not paying attention)

Razorgor chariot charges into the Knights.

Magic - 9 vs 6

Withering is once again attempted on the Knights but I dispel it. Miasma is cast on the knights dropping everything by 2. Lastly Enfeebling goes off

dropping their strength by 2.

Combat

Hiero dies, NK lose 1 to crumble.

Chariot does 5 wounds on the Necro Knights, 3 wounds crumble.



TK 6

Both SSC crumble.

Magic - 9 vs 5

Light of death is dispelled. Spirit leech does 2 wounds on the Doombull.

Shooting kills the remaining 2 Gor.

Combat

Necroknights kill the chariot.



Beast 6

Nothing to do.

Result

Draw

Interesting game.

As soon as we placed terrain and rolled the scenario I went into the game with a losing attitude. Facing off against the 1+ re-rollable doombull who

hits me back for every successful armour save he makes was frustrating. The only things I had to kill him with besides magic was a SSC shot on the head

so as soon as he hit my lines it was going to be an up hill battle all the way so I was pretty happy with a draw.

Some stupid mistakes on my part, firstly (and by means in no order!) casting all the buffs on the Knights whilst the champion was still in the challenge.

I could have spent those power dice elsewhere. Another huge stupid moment was leaving the Hierophant out in the open like that. Amatuer stuff indeed.

Unit rundowns:

Hierophant - Silly me, read above.
Level 4 - Not much to say.
Necrotect - The Regen certainly helped save at least 5-6 wounds so well worth it I feel.
40 Archers - Slotting that amount of Gor in a single turn with the assistance of magic was fantastic.
2 x 5 Horse Archers - Starting to love these guys as it forces your opponent to react to them.
4 chariots - Std, Mus - I literally through them away this game with a ######ty deployment.
2 x 6 Necro Knights - FC - They were never going to kill the Doombull one on one so the best I could do was hold him up. Mission accomplished I guess.
Great for points denial as well.
Casket - Never leave home without it.
Hierotitan - As above, 2 dice most spells and they all get through. Spam magic phase FTW. If only I could get spirit leech in more often to get a few
more dice by my opponent is fairly wary of this.
2 x SSC - Lastly the ability to rain death on my opponent whilst sitting back. I don't think I'll drop these in a hurry.

Thanks for the report! I never understood how frighteningly good the super-doombull build is until I read this report. Regular troops can't do anything about it, and regular KB does nothing. Maybe a necrosphinx can deal with it if it relies on S5 attacks.

Looked like a great game!

You would of won if you watched your Hierophant like you said.
Still Draws are the best outcome for both players

I don't think he has to rely on S5 attacks though. I'm not entirely sure as my brief foray into BM saw me field Beastlords with this set up, but never Doombulls, so I could be wrong.

The one thing you could try should you play this opponent again is run a L4 Death Priest instead of Light. Having access to Soulblight and Desiccation is awesome when dealing with high S/T armies. Everything else you get (D&D, Bjuna, Laniph, Purple Sun) is just gravy.

Thanks guys.

@OWC - I'd never seen it until this game (and the next) either, certainly a tough nut and I had very few tools to deal with it. Magic (Light of death/spirit leech), Shooting (SSC, Gaze would be great from Stalkers), and High Strength attacks to negate the armour save is what is required to take it down. I didn't have any of option C so it was tough going!

@Nabu - The Doombull is a real tough nut, I'm not sure if you're aware but for every successful armour save he makes you take more base strength hits so in this case S5. Having his toughness reduced only results in more wounds and more than likely more saves with his re-roll which would equal my unit taking more damage! It's a nasty setup and one I've never come across before.

I don't like to tailor lists so I probably would not run a death priest and light + knights is a strongish build for the Tomb Kings, I don't think Death synergises as well with the Knights who are the 'workers' of the list. I do however like the Lore of Death and it does have a special place with me and I do plan on running it and experimenting a bit. I think in a mass shooting list Death would be fantastic for reducing toughness and leadership for the panic checks. Through in a few terror bombs as well for insurance and then hopefully you're only in combat with a few of his units whilst the others are rallying and/or fleeing.

@Davados - Yes I'm still kicking myself about that. Such a pathetic mistake really! Live and learn however!

I've typed up the second battle report, just need to get it up in Battle Chronicler so hopefully have that done before the weekend.

I really appreciate the comments guys so thanks.

great read jimmy man! How did it go with those empire bastards, I wonder though...

Battle for the Pass

My list:

Level 4 - Earthing Rod
Level 4 - Scroll (lore of light)
Necrotect - dragon bane gem, iron curse
20 Archers - Std
20 Archers
2 x 5 Horse Archers
4 chariots - Std, Mus
2 x 6 Necro Knights - FC
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC

Opponents List (from memory)

Doombull - Ram Horn Helm, 1+ re-rollable
Level 4 Shadow - Scroll
2 x level 1 beasts - Herdstone
BSB - +1 Leadership

5 dogs
40 Gors - FC, XHW
3 tuskgor chariots
5 Ungor Raiders
25 Bestigor - FC
Razorgor Chariot
3 x Razorgor
4 Minotaurs - XHW

Spell selection

Hierophant - Smiting, Skullstorm, Protection, Wind
Level 4 - Light of Battle, Birona's, Pha's, Gaze

Great Bray-Shaman - Miasma, Withering, Steed of Shadows, Pit
2 x Shaman - Wissans Wildform

Deployment:



Opponent won the roll off and opted for the first turn.


Beastmen 1

Magic - 7 vs 3

Pit of shades is attempted onto the knights on the flank however this is dispelled. A single dice cast for steed of shadows to put the doombull into an annoying position is failed to cast thankfully. Miasma is cast on the Necroknights dropping their movement to 5.



TK 1

Magic - 12 vs 6

Light of death is cast at the doombull however after a re-roll with the BSB he takes no damage. Spirit leech is attempted on the same target however this is dispelled.

Shooting

Both SSC’s target the doombull as it’s the only chance I’ve got of taking him out. First one hits, wounds, and a single 1 only comes up for wounds.

The second shot scatters killing some Gor who fail their panic test after a re-roll and turn tail and run.

The archers combine their fire into the Razorgor killing one outright and putting a single wound on another. This causes a nearby chariot to panic.



Beastmen 2

Charges:

Razorgor Chariot, Doombull and chariot all charge into the Horse Archers. The flank chariot combines with the Razorgor to charge into the Knights.

The Gor and Chariot both rally.

Magic - 8 vs 5

Enfeebling Foe is cast on the Knights in combat which is dispelled. Once again Pit is attempted but fails to cast (thankfully!).

Shooting from the Ungor puts a single wound on a chariot.

Combat

The impact hits alone from the Razorgor Chariot turn the Horse archers into dust, this causes both chariots to overrun into the Necroknights however the

Doombull isn’t as quick.

Impact hits kill a snake and the unit takes a further 8 wounds. In retaliation the Knights drop the pig and the chariot in the flank, I do crumble a

further 2 wounds however leaving me with 3 models left.




TK 2

Chariots charge into the Ungor.

The Necropolis Knights smash into the flank of the Razorgor Chariot.

Magic – 12 vs 7

Light of death is attempted on the Doombull however this burns the opponents scroll. I then attempt Pha’s protection on the smaller unit of Knights

which fails to cast. Lastly I attempt to get a 5+ ward on them however this is easily dispelled.

Shooting

Accuracy in undeath proves itself as the SSC looses another volley at the doombull this time spilling his primitive brain matter across the battlefield into a pool of his own gore. This was the turning point for me. Now I had a chance to claw back this game.

The Archers wasted no time and killed 4 dogs panicking the other 11”. The second unit dropped 7 gor.

In combat the chariots killed the Ungor and overran 10” getting them free of a flank charge from the nearby Minotaurs.

In between all the Necroknights the chariots are destroyed and the units reform into ranks to face the oncoming threats.



Beastmen 3

No Charges

The lone dog continues to flee.

Magic – 12 vs 5

Pit is attempted on the larger unit of Necropolis Knights however I use my scroll to get rid of this. Miasma then drops their movement by 3. Lastly 2

attempted are made on Wissans wildform on the Gor one being dispelled and the other failing to cast.




TK 3

Slight re-shuffling in the magic phase. I figured here I’d happily sit back and bomb the enemy and hopefully he couldn’t take out any units with the pit

to claw back points. The horse archers continue to play around with the pig.

Magic - 8 vs 3

I cast protection on the archers as the Mino’s will hit me in combat. I manage to get Pha’s protection up as well followed by Smiting to increase some damage output.

Shooting

I lobbed a shot into the Mino’s however it scattered into my archers killing 7 however the ward save kicked in and only 3 were lost.

The Horse archers manage to wound the razorgor.



Beastmen 4

Charges

Minotaurs smash into the archers. The Tuskgor chariot slams into my chariots.

Magic – 7 vs 4

Pit goes off and I’m unable to dispel it. It targets my Necropolis knights but scatters wide taking out the lone light priest. Wissans wildform sneaks

through on the Gor.

Combat

The chariot easily dishes out 7 wounds to the unit and doing none in return is crumbles into dust. He reforms to take out these pesky Horse Archers.

The Mino’s dish out the hurt and leave 4 archers standing after the carnage. I think I did at least 5-6 wounds back here?



TK 4

Charges – Hierotitan into the flank of the Minotaurs.

Magic – 10 vs 4

Smiting and protection get through onto the archers again resurrecting 7 models into the unit.

3 Bestigor drop to shattered skull fragments as a SSC drifts off target.

In Combat the Minotaurs kill 3 archers only and I do 3 wounds back leaving one standing. The Hierotitan did no wounds.



Beastmen 5

The Razorgor declares a charge into the Horse archers however fails.

Lone dog rallies with BSB/general range or insane courage!

The Gor swift reform.

Magic – 10 vs 5

Pit goes off taking out a single knight and the Necrotect. Miasma goes off on the Knights also miscasting the level 4 who promptly forgets 3 spells and ironically enough is left with Pit.

In combat the Minotaur is finally taken down by the Hierotitan.



TK 5

Magic – 7 vs 2

I through 6 dice at Skullstorm hoping to cause some damage to his blocks however it’s not to be, a huge casting roll helps but my opponent rolls boxcars.

I then attempt desert wind on the archers however this fails to cast.

In the shooting phase the last dog is cleaned up by bow fire and 4 Gor drop to a screaming skull however no panic goes through the ranks.



Beastmen 6

The chariot and the pig charge into the Horse archers.

Magic – 11 vs 5

Everything is thrown at Pit onto the snakes once again, it goes off IF however scatters into the archers behind it taking out 13 of them. 4 Bestigor are roasted as a result of the miscast.

In combat the Horse archers manage to kill the pig as the chariot takes them out.



TK 6

As a parting gift I unleash more skulls into the unit of Gor killing another 6, this causes the unit to panic and they flee 10”, not quiet enough to get

them off the board however.



Result

TK Victory

Once again even though there wasn’t a great deal of combat in the game out of the 4 major combat units my opponent had only 2 of them saw action. Once again the Knights came into play here purely for points denial and secondly area denial. There was a huge danger zone in front of the knights and I

don’t think anyone would be keen to take a dual charge from units of Necropolis Knights. It’s a shame my light priest jumped in the pit otherwise a Birona’s on the knights could have been a way to get rid of the Gor however I did mange to kill the following:

Maybe a boring game with the mexican stand off between the knights and Gor/Bestigor however I didn't want to charge in, bounce and then eat a Bestigor flank the next turn. Without the Light Priest to get off some much needed buffs it was going to be a tough up hill battle so I figured I'd let it go as it would be very unlikely he'd be able to destory both units of snakes with Pit alone.

Doombull
2 Tuskgor Chariots
Razorgor Chariots
2 Razorgor
Minotaurs
Dogs
5 x Ungor

At the end of the game I’d lost:

Light Priest
2 x 5 Horse archers
Chariots

I was worried that the Minotaurs would just cleave through the archers and make their way into the back of the army but thankfully the magic paid off and the lowly S3 archers saved the army.

Scenery was a pain in the backside in this game. Perhaps I should have deployed a unit of Knights in a line next to the chariots to put pressure on the other flank of the Beastmen army?

Anyway, I’m thoroughly enjoying this army and the Knights are a real thorn in anyone’s side and take a lot of work to overwhelm and destroy them. Oh and that was the first game where my Hierophant didn’t die!

I am contemplating about dropping a unit of Knights and replacing them with two warsphinxes however they wouldn’t have the fiery breath option. One
thing this army doesn’t deal well with is tooled up characters like the Doombull. It would be nice to have the flexibility to slap a warsphinx into a
unit/character like that to hold him up. The loss of fiery breath would be annoying however it’s still a very functional unit with out that upgrade.

What’s the general consensus on a change to the list like this?

I love it, what a fantastic game! only 2 small things I need to ask,
1) How did the Beastman chariot manage a flank charge on your chariots? Or is that just the picture?
2) more a query, when the shaman miscast and reduce levels, does he not forget the spell he miscast and then random ones? Or is it just random? I can remember as I don't have the book with me, (and I've never rolled that when I miscast, pretty much 90% of the time I go on holiday into the warp because of my 'epic' rolling).

The Hierotitan-Archer-Minotours combat is EXACTLY what happens with me, the big monster does nothing but the archers manage to do abnormal wounds.

Your list is just lovely, I don't think it needs any edits. Although in my personal opinion I think our lore is better than light. Maybe focus the winds of magic a bit more into Nek spells?

However What you could always do If your desperate for Fiery breath, is do what you say, but drop a level on the Light priest, level 3 is still pretty good, and won't make that much difference to your casting when your Titan is still around.

And our TK's are really not good at killing buffed up characters, the only way we can deal with them is SSC, Stalkers (my fav) or throwing Tomb guard at them (On foot, on snakes or even on a sphinx).

Hey Davados1

Thanks for the comments.

On the chariot, it wasn't a flank charge. It hit the chariots in the front, crumbled them and then reformed to the North.

Secondly the Bray Shaman miscast on Miasma so that's the spell he lost along with Withering and Enfeebling Foe leaving a level 1 with Pit of Shades.

Thanks the the compliments on the list, it's certainly the most enjoyable list I've played with the Tomb Kings and I was certainly one of the snake haters purely because I wasn't using them correctly and this list very much forces me to use them right otherwise I'll lose every game.

That's an interesting opinion about Nehek lore vs Light. I can see your argument however I would rather cast Light spells any day of the week purely because the spells are better suited with making the snakes a formidable opponent into a dangerous one. Timewarp for instance is Smiting plus two other spells basically. I do love dessication though and it's hugely effective with archers + ssc + smiting to get multiple shots in and it was beautifully demonstrated in my last game.

However with the cheap spells from Light its easy to attempt a few of them and hopefully aim for one to get off. Even if it's Pha's protection and that prevents a few wounds on the snakes in a combat.

I'm very keen to eventually experiment with a lord level death priest and I'm purely at a brainstorming stage now but I'm not sure the Knights are the best choice for this build but I'm not ruling it out. I just want extra power dice is all!

Not a bad idea on dropping the magic level however the only concern I have with this is that out of the 4 spells I normally roll up, I don't use one (Burning Gaze comes to mind). If I'm reduced to 3 spells then Murphy's Law says I'll only ever roll up Light of Battle and two others. I'll look into it however. I've even been toying with dropping the earthing rod on the Hierophant as if memory serves me correctly (probably not) I haven't miscast with him since running this list. Throwing 2-3 dice at each spell really helps with that.

Thanks for taking the time to read and commenting, I really do appreciate it.

using 2 blocks of 6 snakes with lore of light seems to be the rage nowadays. And I think the trust put into them not unwarranted, it is certainly a composition that can pack a punch, and as such it does a lot more than myprevios lists could do to lesser effect... makes me think of making 6 more snakes :-) gz on the win and nice report

@rolandbu - The 2 snake units is certainly one of the stronger builds for the Tomb Kings I believe for a number of reasons, shame is so expensive both points wise and dollars for the models!

I recently just purchased another 6 off eBay and unfortunately they're not my favourite models to paint and are a real chore so I can't say I'm looking forward to it.

Just looking forward to my next game with them against someone other than Beastmen to get a variety of experience using the list.

What are people thoughts with the following changes on the list?

Dumping the earthing rod on the Hierophant for a dispel scroll and placing the trickster's shard on the Light Priest? Activate this on a big magic phase 10+ Power dice in a later turn (turn 2-3) for a powered up Bironas and other combat buffs for the snakes that the enemy 'has to stop' then he has a chance to lose a wound.

Secondly, the reading of the item is 'if the enemy wizards wants to dispel' does this cover scrolls as well as dispel dice?

Well disregard that idea, the enemy takes a wound on a 5+ if they successfully dispel a spell. Not exactly the 'defense' I was after. Back to the drawing board.

Got some games coming up on the weekend so will try the following changes for at least one game:

- Earthing Rod on Hierophant
- Ironcurse Icon on Necrotect
- Standard on Archers
- 1 unit of Necropolis Knights

+ 2 x Warsphinx with Fiery Breath upgrade.

Thoughts?

Main thinking behind this is so I've got the ability to tie up High strength units and tarpit them and grind them down and/or wait for some magic support.

Weakens me a little in the blood and glory department but I'll just have to be careful with placement of the chariots and keep them buffed hopefully.

Look forward to peoples comments.

Battleline

My list:

Level 4 - Hierophant
Level 4 - Scroll (lore of light), General
Necrotect - dragon bane gem,
20 Archers - Std
20 Archers
2 x 5 Horse Archers
4 chariots - Std, Mus
6 Necro Knights - FC
2 x Warsphinx - FB
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC

Opponents List (from memory)

Elector - Griffon
Level 4- Fire
Warrior Priest - Steed, Biting Blade, Dragonhelm
BSB - Strider banner, 1+, steed
Peg Captain - 2+, charmed shield
10 IC Knights - FC, Steel Standard, lances
2 x 5 Knights - Muso, Lances
1 x 7 Knights - FC, Lances
2 x cannons
Engineer
Helblaster
6 x Pistoliers - Outrider, repeating handgun
4 x Demigryph Knights - Std, Mus
Hurricanum

Spell selection

Hierophant - Wind, Cursed Blades, Smiting, Protection
Level 4 - Bironas, Gaze, Speed, Phas
Fire - Fireball, Flaming Sword, Flamecage, Flamestorm

Deployment:



I knew it was going to be an uphill slog all the way. Against all these highly armoured targets and very little in the army with a save worse than 1+ the key to winning was going to be in cutting off elements of his army and dealing with them piecemeal. Once again, an extremely tough ask seeing as the

Empire troops have a significant movement advantage (well every other army in the game but TK!). I was hoping the Eastern Warsphinx could tie up the knights long enough for the Necropolis Knights to do some damage in the centre and then have them reinforced with the Warsphinx. Hopefully I could deal with the enemy cannons in time. If I could take out the pistoliers with archer fire and then merely delay the western flank then that would be the best I could hope for. On the flyers all I could hope for between magic and shooting was sloppy positioning from my opponent which I didn't think would happen.

I won the roll off and decided to take the first turn.

TK 1

Everything advances in the movement phase however the Necrotect is just out from Regen range on the Eastern Warsphinx.

Magic - 9 vs 5

I throw 2 dice at light of death targetting the knights housing the fire wizard is dispelled. I think throw 3 dice at a powered up Pha's which is a big

roll and goes through. I then throw 2 dice at Birona's on the Knights to increase their threat range a little and keep the IC Knights in check. The

last 2 dice I throw at the 5+ ward on the knights and this is successfully cast. Not a bad phase.

Shame the shooting phase didn't follow suite! Combined archer fire drops a single pistolier. I target a SSC on the wizard which scatters and wounds a

Demigrpyh Knight and the second SSC targetting the General promptly misfires.



Empire 1

Everything advances cautiously taking note of the higher movement Necropolis Knights. The Demi knights take a wound from a difficult terrain test.

Magic is 12 power dice versus my 6 dispel dice. I let a 2D6 fireball go through onto the archer killing 3. Secondly flame cage is cast and I let this through on my chariots who lose one of their number. Flaming sword is attempted on the Pistoliers however I dispel this. Lastly flamestorm is cast onto the archers however I throw my remaining dice at this dispelling it.

Luckily enough in the shooting phase both cannons fail to bounce into the Eastern warsphinx who is just outside of Pha's protection. The Helblaster unleashes into the Necropolis Knights causing 3 wounds however I regen 2. The Pistoliers unload into the western Horse archers completely wiping the unit out.



TK 2

The Necropolis knights charge into the knights who elect to hold. I was hoping just to be able to roll high enough if I destroyed them to overrun into the Inner Circle knights. The Horse archers charge into the Pistoliers who kill 1 on a stand and shoot reaction. Lastly the chariots charge into the Pegasus Captain.

I reform the archers into a block in case the Peg captain breaks through my lines and move the Hierophant into the other unit of archers. The West Warsphinx moves up to support the combat in the following turn.

The magic phase pulls up a 5 vs 3. Once again I throw 2D6 at Light of death onto the knights, the basic idea here is to kill a single knight then I can target the Fire wizard with bow fire. The opponent dispels this however. I then throw 2D6 at spirit leech onto the general and this causes a single wound (no dice generation). Lastly a single dice Pha's protection goes through on the Necropolis Knights.

In the shooting phase the archers put a single wound on the Hurricanum and both SSC's misfire. At least they're consistent!

In combat the Pistoliers obliterate the Horse archers before they even get to swing. Wasn't expecting that to be honest! However another unexpected turn of events comes in the form of the chariots impact hits destroying the Pegasus Captain, this allows me to overrun into the Demi knights. Lastly the Necropolis knights smash through the knights however I don't roll high enough to crash into another unit. Perhaps I should have waited another turn before charging?



Empire 2

The Elector count charges into the Hierotitan, the Knights + IC Knights + Hurricanum charge into the Necropolis Knights.

The Pistoliers get closer to the SSC, whilst the nearby knights reform to sneak through a gap.

The magic phase blows in favour of the empire player giving him 5 power dice and me 2 dispel dice. The priest casts the re-roll wounds prayer successfully had I dispelled this then flaming sword would have been cast on them granting them auto wounds. Flaming sword is then cast on the Demi knights and lastly the 5+ ward is attempted on the knights and I throw everything at this.

Shooting - one cannon misfires and the second fails to bounce into the Warsphinx. The Helblaster unloads into the Warsphinx and hits 8 times but fails to inflict damage. The Pistoliers manage a single wound on the SSC with small arms fire.

In combat the impact hits from the chariot dispatch a single knight and once the knights swing back there is a single chariot left vs 2 knights.

The Necropolis knights get absolutely smashed, with the hatred, re-rolls to wound it was never going to be pretty. Secondly with the Hurricanum granting +1 to hit to nearby units I was really outclassed and didn't take this into consideration at all. Big mistake. I ended up killing the Hurricanum and then crumbled into dust as both units of knights overran. This was the beginning of the end.

The Hierotitan took a single wound and kills the general in return however the Griffon doesn't shift.



TK 3

The Warsphinx charges into the Demi Knights flank and the second Warsphinx can just see the rear of the knights however they flee in reaction to the charge.

I didn't move the archer block here hoping to get some advantage in the magic phase so I could pick off the level 4. Regardless of them getting charged in the front of the flank by a knight bus they simply weren't going to survive anyway.

The magic phase blew a 9 vs 6. once again I started the phase with a 2 dice light of death on the knights but this was dispelled. I then power up the Hierotitan with Pha's and Speed of light and throwing my remaining dice as a powered up Burning Gaze onto the knights however this is dispelled.

The shooting phase kills a single Pistolier and of course the SSc remaining true to form do nothing.

In combat the Demi knights are broken and the Warsphinx holds and the chariot pursues. The Hierotitan takes a single wound and replies with 2 into the Griffon however the beast still holds.



Empire 3

The Pistoliers charge into the West SSC. The Knight bus charge into the archers.

The fleeing knights fail to rally and flee some more.

Magic is 7 vs 6. Flaming sword is attempted on the Helblaster with 6 dice and a I scroll this. Secondly the re-roll to wounds is cast on the priests unut and I dispel this.

In the shooting phase between the cannons and Helblaster the Warsphinx is destroyed.

The Pistoliers destroy the SSC in combat and reform to face the East. The archers are destroyed and the Knights overrun into the casket of souls.



TK 4

I move the archers into the building. Warsphinx turns around, chariot moves to face Helblaster.

Magic is 12 vs 7. I cast speed of light on the casket hoping to score a kill at least on a character however this is dispelled. Next I throw a powered up burning gaze on the unit of Knights containing the wizard and this kills 2 and puts a wound on the wizard. Smiting goes through onto the Hierotitan and a final attempt at Birona's is cast onto the casket which succeeds.

Shooting does nothing.

Combat is quick. Casket does nothing, fails to explode. The Hierotitan finally kills the Griffon.



At this stage I shake my opponents hand and concede the game. With combat/shooting superiority it was only a numbers game of him whittling down my unit in the building and/or destroying the building.

Result - Empire Massacre

Conclusion:

Where to begin.....1+ saves. I have nothing to tackle them with. I didn't help either by not analysing the situation with the Knight bus either, I should have waiting a turn and attempted to take out the Hurricanum at least to give me some shot at survival. The Hierotitan really surprised me when it finally toppled the Griffon as did the chariots running over the Pegasus on their first charge.

What have I learnt from this? Well all knight armies are damn tough. Besides the points mentioned above I don't believe I could have played much differently. Burning gaze is possibly something I should have been casting from turn 1 to try and damage the wizards unit to gain some magic superiority.

Anyway, thoughts and critique always welcome.