What is dead may never die, baby. The Tomb Kings may be discontinued, but they live on in our hearts. I actually started with Tomb Kings 15 years ago. Threw out a lot of old models when I quit. Then I came back. After I started the Death army, I had a clear theme in mind for them. But I couldn't stay away from the sandy skelletons. So I built a few, then a lot. Now I have a lot, and am building more. But that's for another time, now to get into the stuff I painted in 2016.

Starting with the guys who give the Tomb Kings some of their unique flavour, it's the skeleton archers. Every single model is converted from VC skeleton models and TK bows and quivers. I also strung each bow. The original skeletons just look terrible. Couldn't have that in my new force. So I got these guys. Loads of work, but it paid off. They also perform really well in-game for me! 30 guys give 60 shots, and an average of 10 wounds. Not amazing, but at 20 (effectively 26.5) inches, it's the sort of reach I otherwise lack.

Let's keep things Deathrattle, shall we? It's the chariots! Again, replaced the original skeleton riders. This time I also replaced the horses. The original horses aren't utterly terrible, but they are bad. And the Black Knight horses are just so good. So they had to go. Not seen on this side is teh quive for the bow, which hangs off the other side of the chariot. What you can see is the basing though. It's actually a road, 2 chariots wide! They flow into each other, with a split in the middle base. Not snowed them down yet though, but it counts as complete for my purposes. Building 9 more of these babies in 2017.

Birds! Now Carrion aren't an amazing unit, but they have their tricks. I also like their half-rotted appearance. These were speedpainted for SCGT last year, but I like the result. Two full units of objective grabbers and assorted uses. They're pure metal though, so I'm always afraid of chipping them.

You can't have a Tomb King army without at least one of these. Undead artillery! Shame they're also the worst models in history to assemble. An absolute nightmare. I bought one of them used and sprayed just with some colour spray. But because it was assembled, I was too afraid to break it up and strip it. I'm going to regret that some day...

And so it's on to the Reanimants. I love the Tomb Scorpion model, but I tired out painting it. It's in the same marble scheme as all my reanimants, but it's just so rich in texture that it was a huge amount of work. The entire underside is also painted this way. So a lot of line highlighting. The result is nice though. I also posed the guy as crawling over a fallen pillar. Not very easy to see in this picture, but it's a cool effect.

Ah, the Ushabti. Are there any more quintessential Tomb Kings models than these guys? Amazing stuff.  Loved painting them. They look great on the table as well. No converting or anything needed here. These guys just look great. But I have 4 If anyone has 2 extra they're willing to part with, hit me up! Would love to flesh these guys out to 6.

Next up is the Bone Giant! Another childhood favorite of mine. Fun fact, this is my very first "large" model. 15 years of service! And now he's the same size as Morghasts. If not scale creep, it's something. The original model is cool, but a little stiff. So I tried to pose him with the base to make him look more dynamic. Like he's smashing through a wall to get to you. Bits from the Garden of Morr set keeps on giving.

Biggest of the bunch is the Warsphinx! It's got the same marble scheme as all the others. Doing that tail took forever. When I initially put it together, I wasn a little sceptical. Now that it's done I appreciate it a lot more. I drybrushed the gold on the Warsphinx itself though... Couldn't face line highlighting all that gold. A minor point of shame. But It still looks nice. Crew are mixed original and VC skeleton/black knight bits. I wanted them to fit a little more in with the rest of my army, so I went a little bit away from the Old Dynasty aesthetic on the crew.

FIrst up of the heroes is the crafty Necrotect. Not my greatest conversion. Honestly, he was a rush job to get finished for SCGT. The original model had either gone out of print then or I was being unfair to it. I rather like the original now, but it's even harder to get than it was. So I'm stuck with this guy. It's not too bad though. The high elf pants gives him a unique look, and he's got both the whip and dagger, so he's WYSIWYG.

Now we're talking. This is, IIRC, the limited edition model. The only difference is the smaller banner. Much nicer than the frankly ludicrous ones that most models use.  I don't think this is my best job or anything, but I like it. The face turned out nice, the pose is cool, and the model in general is good without being overstated. Just one of those models that make me nod my head in approval when I think about it.

Now here's a model I am pleased with! Love the skin tones on this guy. He's not got the exact same skin as the vampires, so it was a huge experiment. The rest of him isn't all that remarkable, but I like him. I have an ancient model of him around as well, painted some 13 years ago. I showed them off against one another on twitter a while back. It was quite the difference.

Most esoteric Tomb King model? I think so. I initially got this guy mostly to fill out the collection. But I like him. Had no idea how to paint the scarabs, so it ended up with some sort of green. When I did some research afterwards, I saw that they can be a lot more shiny and stuff. Still no idea  how to paint them, so green it is! Proud of the little OSL on his head though. Very simple, but it just adds a lot to his face.

Done with the princes, now it's on to the kings. The king on foot is a favorite model of mine. Classic pose, detailed without being ostantacious, and clear to read on the table. I really like his cape and shield as well, but I wasn't forward thinking enough to take pictures of that... Oh well!

And now for the final king of 2016. This guy was a lot of fun! Banners are from the Tomb Guard and some elf. Had to pick this King model. He just looks so goooood pointing forward, at the foe! And he's got the right glaive. Not used this guy yet. But he'll be my King for SCGT. Really looking forward to that! Not snowed his base yet though. Just really like this guy. Going to be great to see him charge down the field!

Last up is Queen Khalida. She's not technically a King, remember This was my first attempt at the marble effect. Not sure I did very well. Thankfully the model is so nice. So, so nice. Love it. I'm quite pleased at the staff transitioning into the snake. Tried to copy some other real life snakes for the ones on her body, but they were mostly more complex than I could manage. Now I just need a second unit of archers so I can use her to lead my forces!

That's the last of my Tomb Kings! So how much did I end up painting?

That's... A lot of points. And a lot of different models. 7 different heroes! Laying it all out like that really shows that I had some time on my hands, huh? Doesn't matter, now I got a sweet TK army. Finally. After 15 years. It's been a journey, and it's not over yet.

That's it for the round up. Next time I'll be talking about the plans for 2017!