Tomb Kings Experimental

These are experimental rules for community playtesting.

Tomb Kings Experimental Rework by Iain Standing, Jan Zapatka, Falco Schneider.

Feedback and discussion is encouraged on the Warmaster Revolution forum at Rebalancing Tomb Kings.

In ages past the land of Khemri was fertile, populous and prosperous thanks to the waters of the Great River of Life whose annual floods irrigated the fields and guaranteed a bountiful harvest. Each city was ruled by a Priest King and for many centuries these omnipotent monarchs lived and died and were buried in tombs constructed by their faithful Liche Priests. The bodies of the Priest Kings, and those of their most faithful troops and retainers, were carefully embalmed and interred with holy spells of immortality to prepare them for the far-off day of re-awakening.

Unfortunately for the Priest Kings of Khemri their dreams of eternal life were to be realised only in the most horrific way. A rebellious Liche Priest called Nagash overthrew the cities of Khemri and made himself ruler of the entire land. Consequently he was driven into exile and eventually murdered. However, this was not the end of Nagash, for he was the greatest Sorcerer of his day if not all of all time, and whilst the Black Pyramid endured Nagash’s spirit could always find refuge there. His evil was gradually absorbed into the Black Pyramid and his body reborn in the sorcerous sarcophagus that lay deep within.

Nagash’s vengeance upon his enemies was absolute. From deep within the Black Pyramid he worked upon a great spell of death that he eventually cast upon the whole land of Khemri. Consequently a pestilence fell upon the nation and all living things sickened and died so that soon there were none to bury the dead and the cities became nothing but empty tombs. What was alive was now dead, and what was dead was revivified as undead. On that terrible day the rulers of old awoke to the horror that had befallen them. The golden immortality in which they had believed had proven a false dream. The Tomb Kings were mightily angered to discover that they had been treated in this way – and there were a great many of them. Whole dynasties rose as one, ancient rivals and bitter enemies side by side. But most of all their anger was reserved for Nagash. They saw the Black Pyramid and felt the dark winds of sorcery that blew about its shining black walls and understood that they had been betrayed.

From their tombs the Tomb Kings have re-ordered their kingdoms. Their peoples, mostly interred without the benefit of royal magic, are little more than automatons. Undead armies wheel and manoeuvre with ingrained military instinct, continually re-fighting old wars or pursuing new ones amidst the dry deserts. The terrible spell that created them binds them to their land but offers no succour. Those that perish in battle rise each dawn whilst even those that are destroyed entirely, burned to smoke or vaporised by sorcery, live on as spiteful spirits that can be heard in the wailing of the wind and groaning of great stones in the mountains. If the Tomb Kings take any comfort it is only in the recreation of their ancient empires – a shadow of former existence that evokes memories of the lives that they once led.

Tomb kings experimental army selector

Troop	Type	Attacks	Hits	Armour	Command	Unit size	Points per unit	Min/max	Special
Ushabti	Infantry	4	4	5+	–	3	110	–/1	†1, †2
Tomb Guard	Infantry	3	3	5+	–	3	65	–/1	†1, †3
Skeletons	Infantry	2	3	6+	–	3	30	2/–	–
Skeleton Bowmen	Infantry	2/1	3	–	–	3	45	2/–	–
Skeleton Cavalry	Cavalry	2	3	5+	–	3	60	–/–	–
Skeleton Chariots	Chariot	3/1	3	5+	–	3	110	–/3	–
Carrion	Monster	2	3	6+	–	3	65	–/1	†4
Bone Giant	Monster	6	4	4+	–	1	110	–/1	†5
Sphinx	Monster	4	6	3+	–	1	135	–/1	†6
Skull Chukka	Artillery	1/3	3	–	–	1	85	–/1	†7
Bone Thrower	Artillery	1/2	2	–	–	2	65	–/1	†8

Tomb King	General	+2	–	–	9	1	130	1	†9
Liche Priest	Wizard	+1	–	–	8	1	90	–/2	–
Zombie Dragon	Monstrous mount	+3/3	–	–	–	–	+100	–/1	†10
Liche Chariot	Chariot mount	+1	–	–	–	–	+5	–/1	†11

Troop

Type

Attacks

Hits

Armour

Command

Unit size

Points per unit

Min/max

Special

Ushabti

Infantry

–

110

–/1

†1, †2

Tomb Guard

Infantry

–

–/1

†1, †3

Skeletons

Infantry

–

2/–

–

Skeleton Bowmen

Infantry

2/1

–

2/–

–

Skeleton Cavalry

Cavalry

–

–/–

–

Skeleton Chariots

Chariot

3/1

–

110

–/3

–

Carrion

Monster

–

–/1

†4

Bone Giant

Monster

–

110

–/1

†5

Sphinx

Monster

–

135

–/1

†6

Skull Chukka

Artillery

1/3

–

–/1

†7

Bone Thrower

Artillery

1/2

–

–/1

†8

Tomb King

General

–

130

†9

Liche Priest

Wizard

–

–/2

–

Zombie Dragon

Monstrous mount

+3/3

–

+100

–/1

†10

Liche Chariot

Chariot mount

–

–/1

†11

Special rules

Army rules

Undead: Undead units never act on initiative. An Undead unit only moves in the Command phase if given orders (except Carrion who can also home back as noted below).

Undead units are unaffected by the −1 Command penalty for enemy within 20cm.

Undead units are unaffected by the −1 Combat penalty for fighting terrifying troops.

Undead units are unaffected by the Confusion rule – they cannot become confused for any reason.

Special rules

1. Ushabti & Tomb Guard: Each unit of Tomb Guard and Ushabti you include in your army counts for the min/max value of Skeleton Chariots and their own min/max values. For example, if you take one unit of Ushabti and one unit of Tomb Guards at 1000 points, they take up two Chariot slots, so you can only take one unit of Skeleton Chariots.
2. Ushabti: When a Tomb King gives an order to Ushabti or a brigade that contains Ushabti there is a −1 Command penalty. There is no penalty when a Liche-Priest gives an order.
3. Tomb Guard: Tomb Guards received necromantic blessings before they were buried alive alongside their king. These preparations allow those former veterans to keep a semblance of their utter devotion to their king, even beyond death.

Tomb Guards will obey the first order given to them each turn on a Command roll of 10 or less so long as the order comes from the General himself. No penalties are applied to this order. Further orders are given using the General’s normal command value and penalties. This applies only to Guards and not to brigades that include Tomb Guards and other units.
4. Carrion: Carrion can fly. Note that Carrion can always return to a character by homing back at the start of the Command phase.
5. Bone Giant: Bone Giants cause terror. When a Tomb King gives an order to a Bone Giant or a brigade that contains a Bone Giant there is a −1 Command penalty. There is no penalty when a Liche Priest gives an order.
6. Sphinx: Because the Sphinx has so many hits (6) we must consider the possibility of hurting the Sphinx and reducing its effectiveness in subsequent turns. Therefore, if a Sphinx has accumulated 4–5 hits by the end of the Shooting phase or Combat phase and is no longer engaged in combat it is deemed to have been badly hurt. Once a Sphinx is badly hurt all accumulated hits are discounted and its maximum Hits and Attacks are halved for the rest of the battle (to 3 Hits and 2 Attacks). The Sphinx causes terror.
7. Skull Chukka: The Skull Chukka is a Stone Thrower but with the following additional rule. When a unit is driven back as a result of hits scored by a Skull Chukka, then any dice rolled in respect to those hits will cause Confusion on the roll of 4, 5 or 6 (rather than 6 as normal). Note that if a unit has taken other hits as well it will be necessary to roll the Skull Chukka dice separately. See the Artillery and Machines section of the rulebook for the Stone Thrower rules.
8. Bone Thrower: The Bone Thrower is a Bolt Thrower as described in the Rulebook.
9. Tomb King: The Tomb King is empowered by the spells cast upon him when buried. He can use this power to increase the Combat Attacks value of all the stands in one unit within 20cm by +1 for the duration of one Combat phase. This ability can only be used once per battle.
10. Zombie Dragon: A Tomb King or Liche Priest may ride a Zombie Dragon.

A Zombie Dragon can fly, increasing its rider’s move to 100cm, and it adds +3/3 Attacks to those of its rider.

The Zombie Dragon can breath fire if the character has joined a unit that isn’t engaged in combat. This is a shooting attack with a range of 20cm, which can be directed against one target as normal. The breath has 3 Attacks, which are worked out in the usual way.

Any unit joined by a character riding a Zombie Dragon causes terror in its enemies
11. Liche Chariot: A Tomb King or Liche Priest can ride a chariot. A character riding a chariot adds +1 to his Attacks.

Tomb King spells

Eternal Servitude

4+ to cast Range 60cm

This spell can be cast on any friendly Skeleton, Skeleton Bowmen or Skeleton Cavalry unit originally of three stands that has lost one or two stands as casualties. It does not matter whether the Liche Priest can see the unit or not.

The unit regains one stand. The regained stand is placed directly behind, in front or beside another stand from the same unit, and facing the same direction. If the unit is already in combat the additional stand can be placed so that it touches the enemy and will count as charging if the unit charged. If it is impossible to position the stand in this manner, the spell cannot be cast and will not work.

Touch of Death

4+ to cast Range N/A

The Liche Priest’s enemies crumble to dust as he smites them with the corrupting Touch of Death.

The Liche Priest can cast this spell if he has joined a unit in combat. The spell can be cast on any single enemy unit that it is touching the unit the Liche Priest has joined.

The target unit takes three attacks worked out in the usual way. Any hits scored are carried over into the first round of combat and count as having been struck in the first round for purposes of working out combat results.

Doom and Despair

4+ to cast Range 30cm

A dark cloud of doom and despair settles over the enemy, sapping their courage and dampening their warlike spirit.

This spell can be cast on any enemy unit within range regardless of whether the Liche Prist can see it or not.

The spell takes effect until the end of the opposing player’s next turn.

Whilst the spell lasts the unit cannot charge and if engaged in combat will not pursue or advance. Even units that are otherwise obliged to charge, pursue, or advance will not do so if affected by Doom and Despair. Note that even other Undead are not immune – they are overcome by the ennui of the tomb!

Death Bolt

5+ to cast Range 30cm

A fearsome bolt of sorcerous lightning flies from the Liche Priest’s outstretched fingertips and strikes an enemy unit.

This spell can be cast on an enemy unit. The Liche Priest must be able to see his target to use this spell. The spell cannot be directed at a unit engaged in combat.

The Death Bolt is treated like three ordinary shooting attacks except that armour has no effect (all targets count as having no armour). A unit can be driven back by a Death Bolt as with ordinary shooting.