Tomb it may concern (Tomb Kings army list)

Now I've started making definite progress on the Tomb Kings I thought it was about time I put together an army list. The battalion I'm working on will form the core of the force, as to the rest I already have some random character models to paint and the rest of the army will comprise whatever else I think looks pretty (yep, that sort of hobbyist).

Lords

King Amanhotep the Intolerant Tomb King armed with great weapon and wearing the Armour of Silvered Steel. Army General. 221 points

Heroes

Liche Priest, Level 2 Wizard riding a Skeletal Steed. Army Hierophant using the Lore of Nehelhara. 115 points

Liche Priest, Level 1 Wizard using the Lore of Nehekhara. 70 points

Liche Priest, Level 1 Wizard using the Lore of Death. 70 points

Tomb Herald armed with hand weapon, wearing light armour and riding a Skeletal Steed. Battle Standard Bearer carrying the Razor Standard. 140 points

Core

30 Skeleton Warriors armed with spears and shields and wearing light armour with full command. 210 points

30 Skeleton Warriors armed with spears and shields and wearing light armour with full command. 210 points

10 Skeleton Horsemen armed with hand weapons, spears and shields and wearing light armour with full command. 160 points

5 Skeleton Horse Archers armed with hand weapons and bows with Master of Scouts. 80 points

3 Skeleton Chariots armed with spears and bows with full command. 195 points

Special

20 Tomb Guard armed with halberds and shields and wearing light armour including full command. 290 points

3 Sepulchral Stalkers armed with halberds. 165 points

3 Ushabti armed with hand weapons and great weapons with Ushabti Ancient. 160 points

Tomb Scorpion. 85 points

Rare

Necrosphinx. 225 points

Total: 2396 points

If there's one guiding principle I can take from my Vampire Counts it's that Undead can never have too many wizards. Three wizards with four spells between them should be enough and I'll use the third to experiment with some of the other Lores available to the army.

One of my bedrock principles is to have lots of core choices (of which this list has five) and plenty of infantry, especially if the infantry is fragile like Skeleton Warriors. Two large blocks of thirty,in five ranks of six fits the bill nicely alongside a nice twenty-man Tomb Guard unit for Amanhotep to hide in.

The thing I like most about the army are the Animated Constructs so I've gone for a spread of my favourites: Tomb Scorpion, Sepulchral Stalkers, Ushabti and a Necrosphinx stomping to war alongside the massed infantry and cavalry.

On that subject I have gone for a cavalry-heavy core. I'm not sure how a cavalry force that can't match will work out but I can always swap out for something else if it doesn't work (of expand into an all-cavalry force if it does).

Warhammer Projects 1: The Zandri Blackshields

I mostly “retired” from playing Warhammer a few years ago. I kept up to date, played a few games with old armies (my ever-trusty Vampire Counts in the main) but I fell out of love with the local gaming club scene. There were too many gits, quite frankly. I met lovely people through those clubs but for each fun, friendly game there were many more against overly-competitive, foul tempered rules lawyers.

A few months ago the local GW (and, I'm lead to believe, many more across the country) stopped running games nights. I have to say I approved, mainly because I just wasn't enjoying them anymore. At the same time my friend Dave moved into a larger flat and decided he had room for a gaming table. It started out as a gaming group of three: me, Dave and my best friend Matt and others have joined since.

Playing against friends is so much more fun than trusting random strangers not to be annoying. However, the Vampire Counts have started to get a bit samey and predictable and I don't feel like expanding the army so I've decided to start a new one. Back when the new Tomb Kings book came out in 2010 I splurged on some of the newer box sets and a battalion, they've been sitting in a cupboard ever since. Just one of those impulse buys gamers make and then never get around to.

Its time to get around to it now and the inspiration for this is a little box out on page 36 of the Tomb Kings army book about Amanhotep the Intolerant:

“During the time of the Desertblood Crusades, a regiment of Bretonnian Knights returned fro Nekehara with the remains of what they believed to be Duke Cheldric, a hero whose daring quest into the Land of the Dead was the sstuff of legend. However, the Knights had actually returned to the Old World with the mumified body of King Amanhotep the Intolerant, who awakened after unknowingly being paraded up and down the length of Bretonnia and carried across a score of battlefields by zealous Battle Pilgrims. Amanhotep's wrath was great indeed, and he singlehandedly slaughtered the inhabitants of dozens of towns before returning to his sarcophagus in Zandri.”

I love a good villain, me. I also have this image in my head of an undead, embalmed Victor Meldrew. He's also from Zandri. There's also a mention on page 17 under the heading “Legions of Legend” to “the Zandri Blackshields” which seems a simple enough colour scheme to give the army a nice, unified look.

I also have to do some work to get my painting skills back up to scratch so a simple palate of bone and black seems a good place to start.