I've thought of various things since my review (but can't alternate it due to Blogger issue) and as such, the various tactics associated with units. So here are a few of my own personal thoughts for tactics (note these are not indepth and a just a passing opinion):
The Rules:
Resurrecting - The way units a resurrected means characters and their mounts never gain wounds from their magic lore, so as such, a little caution with characters is advised (can they even drink a healing potion?)
Fear - never rely on it to win you the battle. You'd be surprised at how some Ld 5 units keep passing such tests.
Arrows of the Asaph means they ignore negative modifiers to shoot. So as such, walk and shoot when you can as you can shift to the battle and never need to worry about those -1 to long range or -1 for moving and shooting.
Magic:
With the Lore of Nehekhara, if you can do the 'all units' versions at the higher casting (without too much risk) then try it as the Lore attribute of D3+1 (just 1 for Constructs) can affect all those units and can help when battles rage across the board.
Characters:
Special mention for the Necrotect. This guy has hatred and any animated construct within 12" of him gets the Regeneration(6+) rule. Give this guy some bodyguards (like a unit of basic skeleton warriors if you want to save points) and keep him (and the BSB guy) within range of them for maximum effect.
Units:
Skeleton Archers - Unless you plan to use them as a bodyguard for your priests, a small unit of 10-12 should do it. Add a Master of Arrows if you feel you need it.
Skeleton Warriors - With a shield as basic, their cheaper price means you can now field them in Hordes more effectively. Light armour is there as an option, but it is to spears that is highly recommended for larger units. An extra rank of attacks can really help the old bones as the risk of destruction from combat resolution can really hamper them after the enemy has already thrashed them. Even better, attach a Tomb Prince to them. Not only can he dish out some real damage, but his 'My will be done' rule means the unit he joins (so longs as he's in it and not dead) will be WS 5, instead of their normal WS 2. A horde unit of Skels with spears lead by a prince is nothing to be sneezed at (not that they can sneeze anyway).
Skeleton Horsemen - They get in fast to deliver first blows, counter charges and are generally good for disruption. A unit of 10 with light armour and full command I recommended if using.
Skeleton Horse Archers - Ok, I'm holding back on these only cause the Fast Cavalry rules 'Feigned Flight' clashes with the Nehekhanan Undead's 'may only ever choose hold as a charge reaction', thus reducing their effectiveness.
Skeleton Chariots - Harder hitting then horsemen, good if you attach a King/Prince to them. To be truthful, I've never really used Chariots as I never felt they matched the fluff of my army.
Carrion - Again, never used them due to my armies fluff. That said, they fly and have decent combat stats. Use them vs war machines or wizards or even to prevent enemy marches.
Tomb Scorpion/Tomb Swarm - As was in the previous edition of Tomb Kings, the main use for these guys is their 'Entombed beneath the sands' rule, which lets them pop-up from reserve almost anywhere (the only drawback is if you misfire when arriving). Mostly used to jump war machines & enemy wizards, they are also good for flank & rear charging and even just holding back annoying units.
Ushabti - their rule changes mean that they now count as having great weapons (and thus, the 'always strike last' rule attached to them) is substituted with more weapon options such as exchanging of the great weapon for an extra hand weapon or a great bow (a sort of Str 6 bow). A command unit will help in combat. That said, they are not invincible and against some units (like the High Elves Swordmasters or white lions) I'd avoid them. Leave such units for the skellies to waste attacks on.
Necropolis Knights - With 3 poisoned attacks and 2 killing blow attacks (and then a stomp), these guys are best kept in combat, so get them in quick and get the job done. A 3+ armour save, full command and being contruct means they have some nice survivability too.
Sepulchral Stalkers - They are best used to clean up only what hasn't been turned to sand by their 'Transmogrifying gaze'. They need to weaken the unit before assaulting as they have an average combat stats. They can 'Entombed beneath the sands', so can use it to your advantage if you feel it is needed.
Khemrian Warsphinx - While toughness 8 may seem awsome, remember that in this edition even a Str 1 model can still wound it on a 6+ (and anything of Str 5 or highter ignores it's armour) and as such, it will be a magnet for all manner of war machines. On the other hand, you have a melee monster. Giving it poisoned attacks can help vs higher toughness models and even the flame template upgrade can help vs low toughness hordes. Also, remember that if you mound a Tomb King/Prince on it, it maybe subjected to the character flaw when it comes to restoring wounds though Tomb King magic (see Resurrecting at the start).
Necrosphinx - Monster killer/killing machine, call it what you like but when it hits, it hits hard. It still suffers the same flaws as a Warsphinx and yes, WS 4 doesn't seem like much, but against the right unit, it is a nightmare. Just don't let it get caught up fighting unnecessary battles (like a large horde of unbreakable models).
Screaming Skull catapult - My only advice is perhaps target low Ld units or atleast units out of the Generals 'inspiring presence' range
Necrolith Colossus - Bone giant without the heavy armour. With options of two hand weapons, great weapon or Bow of the desert (think walking bolt thrower), you'll have to think how you'll use him on the battlefield. Best bets are he'll be melee as his 'Unstoppable assault' rule is melee focused, though it's still useful if he does get attacked while using the bow. So really, will he be offensive or defensive?
Hierotitan - Colossus stats (minus 1A and no BS), this guy is more magic focused, with 2 bound spells and grants a bonus D3 to casting attempts by nearby priests. If you plan to have lots of priests, then you may want to consider this guy as a sort of backup.
Casket of Souls - Good news, no priest needed to use it. Bad news, if the keeper dies it goes boom. The spell is weaker to it's previous version (though no less deadlier) and the bonus D3 power dice is useful (though the pool can never exceed 12 dice). Again, good for priests and even if you lack them, the bonus dice combined with the bound spell can prove useful (especially against low Ld armies).
Again, this is just my view on things and as such, my tactics may differ from others so look around for more information if you are still unsure on units. As for me, I base mine more on my armies fluff and my tactics around that (though I admit, the Warspinx/Necrosphinx is extremely awsome).
Tuesday 10 May 2011
WTF Blogger?
It seems this so called new blogger is filled with glitchs (curse you endless swirly thing). Anyway, have had to revert to the old one until this issue is fixed. This will probably cause errors when uploading pics so hopefully it'll be fixed soon.
Monday 9 May 2011
Project update time
An update, kick ass. Last year I put up a pic on my DeviantART account of a WiP chaos sorcerer of Tzeentch (Here). Well......they're still WiP (at least, the Sorcerer still is) but here are a few quick update pics:
In the meantime, I have also added a quick peak at one of my more recent projects I'm working on, a Clan Skryre Warlord (who will be carried by a war-litter):
Sunday 8 May 2011
Tomb Kings Armybook Review Part 2
With the lore and art over and done with in part 1, we now get down to the rules. I'll try to limit it as best I can so here we go:
Rules:
No real changes to the overall rules of the army. The only real difference is the Hierophant/General rule as your army now only needs a Hierophant to lead it and the 'must have' Tomb Prince/King to be General doesn't appear in it, though it would be wise to add one in anyway (as you still need a general).
Magic:
The Liche Priests now follow the rules for casting like everyone else. The reasoning is a slip-up in the casting of the incantation has angered the gods and thus an irresistible force/miscast occurs (Makes sense, their gods do displease so easily). They can choose between the Lore of Death (they are obsessed with death, so it's sort of the Lore of Djaf, the god of death), the Lore of Light (so the Lore of Ptra, the first amoungst the gods and the sun god, though I guess Neru the moon goddess and Ptra's wife could also be it) and finally the Lore of Nehekhara, which focuses purely on the Tomb King armies and Lore attribute can restore wounds to units (though constructs only ever restore a single wound).
As for magic items, there are only 8. Some have been upgraded both in ability and cost, while the Arcane ones have had there rules changed to match the new way of magic. Alas the Standard of the Undying Legion is now double it's points and is a bound spell.
Characters:
Settra (lord) has had some stat changes, gear changes and points reduced.
Khalida (lord) no longer regenerates but does Hate vampire counts. Less points, units can no longer buy poisoned attacks but a unit of archers she joins gets to use her BS of 3 and their attacks count as poisoned attacks.
Grand Hierophant Khatep (lord) is alright. Has a few nice magic items and has knows all spells from Lore of Nehekhara.
Arkhan the Black (lord) uses the Lore of Death and possesses a couple of Nagash's magic items. He can also get a chariot which can even be upgraded to fly.
Prince Apophas (hero) is a loner assassin who emerges from the sand and gets bonuses against a selected character. He's also made of scarabs.
The Herald Nekaph (hero) is good in combat, especially in challenges and enemies in base contact have a harder time overcoming a fear test.
Ramhotep the Visionary (hero) is a Necrotect with frenzy and at the beginning of game pics a single animated construct unit to get re-rolls on armour saves.
Lords & Heroes:
The Tomb King/Prince 'My will be done' rule is now any unit he is attached to can use his Weapon Skill so long as he is with them. The curse is also an X number of hits at Str X (X based on if Tomb King or Prince) distributed as shooting with no armour saves aloud. They can also use a Khermrian Warsphinx as a mount.
Liche High Priests/Liche Priests......not much difference really. Their main change was magic (though the high priest gets T4).
Tomb Herald replaces Icon Bearer and has more gear options. Can also take wounds for his King/Prince he chooses to serve, so long as he is in same unit. Can have many but only one can be the Battle Standard Bearer.
Necrotect is the newest hero character and gives Regen (6+) to nearby constructs (plus hated to unit he's attached to). A mummified artist really.
Core:
Skeleton warriors are now split into two groups - Warriors and Archers, both of which have had their base points dropped so more can be fielded.
Light Horsemen are now Horse Archers and are roughly the same. Heavy Horsemen are now just Horsemen with Light Armour being the option, yet still with it they are cheaper per model.
Chariots are now Core and follow the chariot rules in the warhammer rule book, though they are still in units. Points increase though crew have more attacks.
Special:
Tomb Swarms are now Special. You need a minimum of 2 bases but are slightly cheaper.
Carrion (which I hate the most) are the same in cost but have one more strength and attack.
Tomb Guard are a point cheaper, have access to helberds (and thanks to their magic system, can make better use of them then my Stormvermin can) and are the only unit that can purchase the Banner of the Undying Legion (apart from the army Battle Standard Bearer). A large force would be scary.
Tomb Scorpion are same price but one less wound (still love these guys).
Ushabti not only come with great weapons as standard, but can swap them for an additional hand weapon or a great bow. They can even have a champ, standard and musician.
Necropolis Knights seem rather good for their points cost. Average strength and toughness with a 3+ armour save and a decent number of attacks. Heck, they can even be upgraded to emerge from the sands like Tomb Scorpions.
Sepulchral Stalkers are the the more shooty version of the Knights, less combat but an effective shooting attack with artillary dice worth of hits that uses the opponents initiative instead of toughness to wound with no armour saves.
Finally a Khemrian Warsphinx which seems to have a decent combat stats with a toughness of 8. May also be upgrated to have a poison tail and breath fire.
Rare:
Screaming skull catapult is same though upgrade a slight more expensive.
Casket of souls no longer needs you to attach a priest to it. It's power is a bound spell that targets a single unit and may possibly jump to others on a 50/50 roll. It also adds power dice to your pool. If destroyed, all units nearby (frend & foe) on a 4+ take damage as the souls go on a rampage.
Necrolith Colossus is, what I assume to be, the old Bone Giant. His tough/wounds are swapped and he starts with hand weapon with options for additional hand weapon/great weapon/bow of the desert. Is cheaper but looses his heavy armour.
Hierotitan is similar to a colossus, but more focus on the priests giving a bonus to their casting when in range. He also comes with 2 bound spells, with Shem's burning gaze from Lore of Light and Spirit Leech from Lore of Death.
The Necrosphinx is a flying monster killer. Nice stats, with a single attack dedicated to Heroic Killing Blow. Can be upgraded with poisoned attacks.
Overall:
Rule wise the Tomb Kings are brought inline within this latest edition. The army is much more points effective and will certainly give Tomb Kings players more choice. Rules wise the book has it all (with a few questions that need an FAQ, but then what book doesn't) though it does seem to lack in the lore department. It'll be interesting to see how well they go against my army, the Skaven.
Rules:
No real changes to the overall rules of the army. The only real difference is the Hierophant/General rule as your army now only needs a Hierophant to lead it and the 'must have' Tomb Prince/King to be General doesn't appear in it, though it would be wise to add one in anyway (as you still need a general).
Magic:
The Liche Priests now follow the rules for casting like everyone else. The reasoning is a slip-up in the casting of the incantation has angered the gods and thus an irresistible force/miscast occurs (Makes sense, their gods do displease so easily). They can choose between the Lore of Death (they are obsessed with death, so it's sort of the Lore of Djaf, the god of death), the Lore of Light (so the Lore of Ptra, the first amoungst the gods and the sun god, though I guess Neru the moon goddess and Ptra's wife could also be it) and finally the Lore of Nehekhara, which focuses purely on the Tomb King armies and Lore attribute can restore wounds to units (though constructs only ever restore a single wound).
As for magic items, there are only 8. Some have been upgraded both in ability and cost, while the Arcane ones have had there rules changed to match the new way of magic. Alas the Standard of the Undying Legion is now double it's points and is a bound spell.
Characters:
Settra (lord) has had some stat changes, gear changes and points reduced.
Khalida (lord) no longer regenerates but does Hate vampire counts. Less points, units can no longer buy poisoned attacks but a unit of archers she joins gets to use her BS of 3 and their attacks count as poisoned attacks.
Grand Hierophant Khatep (lord) is alright. Has a few nice magic items and has knows all spells from Lore of Nehekhara.
Arkhan the Black (lord) uses the Lore of Death and possesses a couple of Nagash's magic items. He can also get a chariot which can even be upgraded to fly.
Prince Apophas (hero) is a loner assassin who emerges from the sand and gets bonuses against a selected character. He's also made of scarabs.
The Herald Nekaph (hero) is good in combat, especially in challenges and enemies in base contact have a harder time overcoming a fear test.
Ramhotep the Visionary (hero) is a Necrotect with frenzy and at the beginning of game pics a single animated construct unit to get re-rolls on armour saves.
Lords & Heroes:
The Tomb King/Prince 'My will be done' rule is now any unit he is attached to can use his Weapon Skill so long as he is with them. The curse is also an X number of hits at Str X (X based on if Tomb King or Prince) distributed as shooting with no armour saves aloud. They can also use a Khermrian Warsphinx as a mount.
Liche High Priests/Liche Priests......not much difference really. Their main change was magic (though the high priest gets T4).
Tomb Herald replaces Icon Bearer and has more gear options. Can also take wounds for his King/Prince he chooses to serve, so long as he is in same unit. Can have many but only one can be the Battle Standard Bearer.
Necrotect is the newest hero character and gives Regen (6+) to nearby constructs (plus hated to unit he's attached to). A mummified artist really.
Core:
Skeleton warriors are now split into two groups - Warriors and Archers, both of which have had their base points dropped so more can be fielded.
Light Horsemen are now Horse Archers and are roughly the same. Heavy Horsemen are now just Horsemen with Light Armour being the option, yet still with it they are cheaper per model.
Chariots are now Core and follow the chariot rules in the warhammer rule book, though they are still in units. Points increase though crew have more attacks.
Special:
Tomb Swarms are now Special. You need a minimum of 2 bases but are slightly cheaper.
Carrion (which I hate the most) are the same in cost but have one more strength and attack.
Tomb Guard are a point cheaper, have access to helberds (and thanks to their magic system, can make better use of them then my Stormvermin can) and are the only unit that can purchase the Banner of the Undying Legion (apart from the army Battle Standard Bearer). A large force would be scary.
Tomb Scorpion are same price but one less wound (still love these guys).
Ushabti not only come with great weapons as standard, but can swap them for an additional hand weapon or a great bow. They can even have a champ, standard and musician.
Necropolis Knights seem rather good for their points cost. Average strength and toughness with a 3+ armour save and a decent number of attacks. Heck, they can even be upgraded to emerge from the sands like Tomb Scorpions.
Sepulchral Stalkers are the the more shooty version of the Knights, less combat but an effective shooting attack with artillary dice worth of hits that uses the opponents initiative instead of toughness to wound with no armour saves.
Finally a Khemrian Warsphinx which seems to have a decent combat stats with a toughness of 8. May also be upgrated to have a poison tail and breath fire.
Rare:
Screaming skull catapult is same though upgrade a slight more expensive.
Casket of souls no longer needs you to attach a priest to it. It's power is a bound spell that targets a single unit and may possibly jump to others on a 50/50 roll. It also adds power dice to your pool. If destroyed, all units nearby (frend & foe) on a 4+ take damage as the souls go on a rampage.
Necrolith Colossus is, what I assume to be, the old Bone Giant. His tough/wounds are swapped and he starts with hand weapon with options for additional hand weapon/great weapon/bow of the desert. Is cheaper but looses his heavy armour.
Hierotitan is similar to a colossus, but more focus on the priests giving a bonus to their casting when in range. He also comes with 2 bound spells, with Shem's burning gaze from Lore of Light and Spirit Leech from Lore of Death.
The Necrosphinx is a flying monster killer. Nice stats, with a single attack dedicated to Heroic Killing Blow. Can be upgraded with poisoned attacks.
Overall:
Rule wise the Tomb Kings are brought inline within this latest edition. The army is much more points effective and will certainly give Tomb Kings players more choice. Rules wise the book has it all (with a few questions that need an FAQ, but then what book doesn't) though it does seem to lack in the lore department. It'll be interesting to see how well they go against my army, the Skaven.
Tomb Kings Armybook Review Part 1
Having spend some time comparing the newest edition to the previous, there are many changes to both the army and the lore behind it. In this first look, I shall review the lore and artwork, with the rules in part 2 or the review.
As with the changes to the newest edition, the new books are of a hard cover. Though they claim it's better for it, most recon it's just to stop people scanning the books and uploading them to the net and as such, I can hardly say it was worth it as it hasn't stopped them from doing it. With the average price jump for the switch being around the $15(AU) amount, does this book really add more to the army?
From an Artwork view, yes. Though some of the artwork in the previous was used as box art for the models, this one does contain some very colourful pieces, showing off what the new models would look like in the warhammer world. Overall, I liked many of the newer pieces as it gave that magical feel to the army. The painted model pictures were well done and it's great to see them in something better then just a sand landscape.
The lore however, is one thing I can't seem to get my head around. As it appears in many more newer editions, the lore seems to shift and change with the writers taking some pieces they liked and discarding the rest for something new. While this may seem fine in some areas, other parts ether contradict or re-write parts of their history. Not only having read the previous edition, but also the first two books of the Nagash trilogy (the third due to release in august), one cannot help but think that someone took a few bullet points from their history and re-worded the rest. Indeed, the three previous named heroes from the last book barely get a mention (King Phar got some mention, yet his stance against Settra didn't get a mention I believe). Instead we got a few new characters with background written in (why did we get Ramhotep the Visionary when we already had Sehenesmet?). Settra is the same and Khalida has had a bit more mention, but the introduction of Arkhan the Black into the Tomb Kings side of things was very interesting (having looked up much of his past, he's so-called piece with the kings proves amusing). The lore for the animated statues is given more detail and the meaning for the death look as opposed to what the deities should have looked like is understandable (somewhat).
My only real gripe is the lack of effort in explaining the Nehekharan pantheon of gods and goddesses. With the worship of such deities being of major importance, the little that they did give (which you found by reading mostly on certain units) felt disappointing, as did any real history on the many cities of Nehekharan. Overall it wasn't too bad, yet I can't help think it could have been better.
Now Part 2.
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