Here is the battle report of my first game with Tombs Kings against my friend's Dwarves.
We played a simple "Annihilation" scenario, with our regular table setup (4 hills, 2 mystical forests and 1 tower).
Tomb King army:
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W1 30 Skeleton Warriors, Warriors 1
Full Command
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W2 25 Skeleton Warriors, Warriors 2
Full Command
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KW Khemrian Warsphinx, Khemrian Warsphinx
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C 6 Skeleton Chariots, Chariots
With Tomb Prince and Tomb Herald, Banner of Eternal Undead
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CoS 10 Casket of Souls, Casket of Souls
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NK 3 Necro Knights, Necro Knights
no upgrades
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LHP Liche High Priest, Liche High Priest
lvl4 with 4+ ward save
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SRA 5 Skeleton Rider Archers, Skeleton Rider Archers
muso
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TG 10 Tomb Guards, Tomb Guards
Full Command
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Total: 2250 points
Dwarves Army:
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W1 30 Dwarf Warriors, Warriors 1
Great Weapons, Full Command
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W2 30 Dwarf Warriors, Warriors 2
Great Weapons, Full Command
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H1 29 Hammerers, Hammerers 1
Full Command
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H2 29 Hammerers, Hammerers 2
Full Command
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R Runelord, Runelord
3+ AS, 4 Dispel Dice Swing, Dispel Scroll
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T Thane, Thane
BSB
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C Cannon, Cannon
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GT Grudge Thrower, Grudge Thrower
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BT Bolt Thrower, Bolt Thrower
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Total: 2250 points
I win the roll for deployment and let the Dwarf army deploy first.
Deployment was the key to this game for the TK army as I needed to get my Casket of Souls to reach both the Cannon and the Grudge Thrower. The Dwarf army having deployed their warmachines first I already know that I have a decisive position to take on the hill South-East. Since there's no chance I'll have first turn so I also have to send a unit to screen the Casket for a turn. The Necropolis Knights are deployed to flank the Grudge thrower and push the Dwarf army to split one of its core unit. The Dwarves respond according to plan and protect the Grudge Thrower's flank with a unit of warriors.
The rest of deployment is uneventful, with both armies deploying a big core of units facing each other. The Chariots unit has a Full Command thus the characters are on the second rank - offering them additional protection from shooting and close combat.
Scouting:
My Skeleton Archer Riders move to flank the Bolt Thrower and charge it on second turn.
Turn 1 - Tomb Kings:
We roll off and I get first turn! I move the sphinx behind the tower in case the cannon doesn't blow up. Everything else moves forward. Being my first game with Tomb Kings, I had overestimated the effect of not being able to march. Yes you don't march but it just means you'll delay any charges by one turn, that's all. On the other hand their Chariots and the sphinx get to lead the assault.
Winds of Magic give me enough dice but as always Egor's Dwarf army has as many dice as I do... kinda problematic for me. My only chance to activate the casket is to get an Irresistible Force so I throw 6 dice and get... 2 sixes! Spirits come gushing out of it and terrorise the Cannon's crew that is sent to the other world. They bounce to both units in reach and inflict a few casualties thanks to Leadership rolls of 12-14 on 3d6. It can't really be worse for the Dwarves so far. Now we were trying to resolve the Casket's IF and find out that nothing happens at all, the casket is fine and ready to fire again next turn... Argh! This is a bit much IMO but thanks GW.
Turn 1 - Dwarves:
The Dwarve's first turn sees some shooting directed at my Chariots, taking down the only rank and file.
Turn 2 - Tomb Kings:
The Archer Riders charge the Bolt Thrower and destroy it, reform to face the oncoming dwarf assault. The Sphinx moves and breathes on the Warriors unit, causing a few wounds (good thing breath weapons are once a game only). Everything else moves forward.
Winds of Magic get me another 8 dice... and 8 for the Dwarves again! I blow through and a dispel scroll with augment spells that need to be removed or I'll regen wounds on my units. And the Casket of Souls gets to fire again on 2 dice, blowing up the Grudge Thrower this time.
Turn 2 - Dwarves:
The Dwarves charge my Sphinx, hoping to kill it with S5 Great Weapons and a lot of ranks. The Skeleton Archers Riders get blown away by the large unit of Hammerers with Rune Lord and Thane, who reform after combat.
The Sphinx looses combat by one due to the sheer volume of ranks, but doesn't receive any wounds. Thundercrush attack fails to hit.
Turn 3 - Tomb Kings:
This is the key to the game IMO... The Dwarves have offered me a unit of Hammers to charge, with a counter-charge ready on the right flank from the second unit of Hammerers. So I charge the unit of Hammers on the flank instead of the center. On 3d6+8 I make it and my unit is now safe from any flank charges. I flank the Warriors unit on the left flank with my Necropolis Knights charging out of the woods. I loose a model and the unit reforms to face me next turn... ouch.
Magic sees one spell go off and I get Killing Blow on the Chariots unit.
During combat I forget to make any challenges to kill his characters on the right flank (runelord blocking my magic phase and BSB Thane). The Khemrian Warsphinx fails his Thundercrush attack again and looses combat by one again, which is negated by the Animated Construct ability.
Turn 3 - Dwarves:
On the Dwarves turn his unit of Hammers in the center charge my warriors for lack of a better target and fall into the final step of my trap as there's a unit of skeleton warriors ready to flank them.
During combat I challenge the right flank and kill his BSB Thane. 2 chariots direct their attacks on the Rune Lord in base-to-base contact and kill him. Killing Blow ftw! My unit of Warriors get slaughtered and loose combat by 5, which makes me take another 5 wounds from the Unstable rule. The Sphinx's Thundercrush attack finally hits, woot! It's a slaughter and well worth the wait... he wins combat thanks to that but the Dwarves hold as they always do.
Turn 4:
We make this our final turn as the Hammers in the center get flanked and there's no more RuneLord to stop my magic... I get to boost my warriors with an additional attack and Killing Blow. The Sphinx gets another Thundercrush and blows the unit of Dwarf Warriors, there's pretty much nothing left on the board and my units regenerate wounds thanks to Nekehara Magic.
Crushing victory for the Tomb Kings!
What I liked:
-Nekehara magic is made to win combats, providing amazing buffs identical to the Dark Elves's Cauldron of Blood (5+ ward save, Killing Blow, +1 Attack). I'll always take a lvl4 due to that and getting one spell off each turn is enough.
-Liche Priest providing 6+ regeneration to its unit
-Tomb Prince providing WS5 to chariots... absolutely insane!
-Casket of Souls, essentialy a warmachine that doesn't blow up but eats up 2 Power Dice each turn. Since it generates 1+ PD itself it's not much of a problem.
-Sphinx providing a reliable roadblock
What I disliked:
-Necropolis Knights are meh, I just got lucky with my saves and Egor's fumbled attacks... but they look amazing!
-the army is like a castle made of cards: remove one of the pieces and the whole thing crumbles... which might very well have happened in this game. Removing the Hierophant (Liche Priest) is the key to this, triggering a lot of Unstable wounds.
-Arrows of Asaph is useless, TK's shooting is horrible either way as they can not stand and shoot against a charge... only hold.
-Thundercrush is not reliable
So how was my first game with the new Tomb Kings? Great, it's a fun army to play and I'll play it again for sure.
As always it was a very nice game played against a pleasant opponent whom I laugh with all the time. Good times indeed!
