New to Game, looking for some helpful tips, thanks in advance

[HerSunAndStars]

Hey guys, me and a friend recently decided to pick this game up, we are doing AoS Fantasy and I decided to use the Tomb Kings army. I’ve looked around a bit but since I don’t understand the game a lot yet, I was wondering if you all would help me construct a helpful 2000 point army since that seems like the number for competitive play. I will post some armies I seen from other threads and the one that sounded the best. I have purchased a small box already from Miature Market, it’s the 16 piece starter collection. 

[HerSunAndStars]

On 8/22/2016 at 8:00 AM, Mengel Miniatures said:

Leaders
Settra The Imperishable (360)
High Queen Khalida (120)
Necrotect (100)
Liche Priest (120)
Tomb Herald (100)
Tomb King (100)

Units
Skeleton Chariots x 3 (140)
Skeleton Chariots x 3 (140)
Skeleton Warriors x 30 (240)
Tomb Guard x 10 (160)
Carrion x 3 (80)
Skeleton Archers x 20 (200)

Behemoths

War Machines
Screaming Skull Catapult (120)

Batallions

Total: 1980/2000
 

I'm thinking of switching it up to one of these two: 

Leaders
Settra The Imperishable (360)
Tomb King (100)
Tomb Herald (100)
Necrotect (100)
Liche Priest (120)

Units
Skeleton Chariots x 3 (140)
Skeleton Chariots x 3 (140)
Skeleton Warriors x 30 (240)
Tomb Guard x 10 (160)

Behemoths
Necrosphinx (400)

War Machines
Screaming Skull Catapult (120)

Batallions

Total: 1980/2000
 

or

Leaders
Settra The Imperishable (360)
Necrotect (100)
Liche Priest (120)
Tomb Herald (100)
Tomb King (100)

Units
Skeleton Chariots x 3 (140)
Skeleton Chariots x 3 (140)
Skeleton Warriors x 30 (240)
Tomb Guard x 10 (160)
Skeleton Archers x 20 (200)

Behemoths
Bone Giant (200)

War Machines
Screaming Skull Catapult (120)

Batallions

Total: 1980/2000

 

I like the archers, so I'm hesitant to switch them out for the Sphinx but there's not doubt it's a good choice. The bone giant would also be quicker for me to paint and people might underestimate it while everyone will be scared of the Sphinx.

Settra's buffs apply to all Death models, but gives an extra buff to Deathrattle as well, hence the tone skeletons.

Thoughts?

A lot of people said his second was their favorite but also asked about Necropolis Knights, so any help would be greatly appreciated, if it also helps my opponent will be using the The Chaos Army with Nurgle Deamons

[AverageBoss]

All those lists are outdated and illegal.

Settra is no longer a legal option and has been replaced by the TK on Exalted Chariot for 460 points.
Khalida has been replaced by the Tomb Queen.
Screaming Skull Catapult is now 160 points.
Necrosphinx is now 440 points.

[Tiklis]

Hi there!

My suggestion is not to play Tomb Kings. 

They are no longer supported in plastic. You will have to buy second hand or proxies. Wich is not the easiest option.

Recently Death has been updated cheack it out! Pretty sweet and simple.

My only advice for you apart from this is: keep in mind most of army builds in death involves a lot of miniatures, which means money.

Greetings!

[RuneBrush]

7 hours ago, HerSunAndStars said:

I have purchased a small box already from Miature Market, it’s the 16 piece starter collection. 

Hi!

I'm taking a guess that you've picked up the Start Collection Skeleton Horde box?  These aren't actually Tomb Kings - in fact Tomb Kings are no longer an army that Games Workshop sells.  Instead the models from this box are all available within the new Legions of Nagash Battletome, which has given many of the Death armies available a bit of an overhaul.  The big monster in that set can be made up as Arkhan (as per the box cover), Neferata or Mannfred, which might help determine which "Legion" you want to go for as each has it's own flavour and special rules.

[HerSunAndStars]

So I would have to switch to the Vampire Courts to even be close to the tomb king army? I’m a little upset that tomb kings isn’t sold anymore

[RuneBrush]

There are a few "generic" units which could be painted up to have a Tomb King feel.  Skeletons are the easiest, but Grave Guard, Black Knights, Morghasts and Arkhan work without any conversion work at all, turquoise and gold would be the colours I'd suggest.

Other units, that would work with a bit of conversion work would be Necromancers and Tomb Kings.

From an army building perspective, either Grand Host of Nagash or Legion of Sacrament would work without having to veer into Vampire territory.

[AverageBoss]

17 minutes ago, HerSunAndStars said:

So I would have to switch to the Vampire Courts to even be close to the tomb king army? I’m a little upset that tomb kings isn’t sold anymore

They stopped selling TKs about 2 years ago. They still have rules which can be found here: https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AoS_TK_Compendium_2017.pdf But making a full army for them now is going to cost you an absolute fortune.

Vampire Counts as an army has been broken up itself. Bonerattle is all skeleton stuff. Soulblight is all the vampire units. Nighthaunt is ghosts. Flesh Eater Courts is ghouls. The last 3 have special allegiance rules for being played as such. Just a few weeks ago we got Legions of Nagash which lets you field everything except FEC and TK together in 1 of 4 new allegiances. Lastly you have the option of Grand Alliance Death, which has the weakest rules, but lets you use everything.

From the sounds of things you ordered a Skeleton Horde Start Collecting box. Nothing in there is Tomb Kings (they never got such a box). The Skeletons in that box are Bonerattle skeletons, and can be run as Bonerattle, one of the new Legions, or GA:D. The horsemen in the box can either be built as Black Knights (Bonerattle, Legions, or GA:D) or Hexwraiths (Nighthaunt, Legions, or GA:D). And the large model can be built as Arkhan (Legions or GA:D), Manfred (Soulblight, Legions, or GA:D), or Neferata (Soulblight, Legions, or GA:D).

[AverageBoss]

And I am going to take a guess that you and your friend are coming to AoS from Warhammer Total War?

[HerSunAndStars]

2 hours ago, AverageBoss said:

And I am going to take a guess that you and your friend are coming to AoS from Warhammer Total War?

He has never played it, I played it very briefly. We decided to look into it because someone we know got a set and said it was really fun, and it’s one of the few games we would be able to play just be ourselves or with larg groups later on, but we just started looking at it yesterday

[HerSunAndStars]

Is there a newer rule book I can buy to read all of these or do I have to look around some more ? What is the best way for me to use those pieces so I don’t waste them?

[xspire]

I would suggest before you spend any more money, take a look at the free warscrolls for Legion of Nagash online or on the app, read through some of the lore on warhammer-community, if you still are enthusiastic about playing Death you can then look into converting what you already have into a playable starter army - as others have suggested I wouldn't recommend investing into a tomb kings army (as a first army especially) , but a tomb kings inspired / themed legions of Nagash army would definitely be cool to see if you're willing to put in a lot more work than a typical beginner.

If you take a second look and aren't that bothered now that you can't easily get into a true 'Tomb Kings' army, the models you've already bought will retain value if you want to sell / trade them on again, or you could keep them for purely hobby purposes.

[HerSunAndStars]

Well I was upset but I didn’t do enough research and didn’t ask my local miniature store enough about it to understand, but that idea does sound really appealing. I just didn’t want to play the vampire courts. But I will definitely look into legions of Nagash 

[AverageBoss]

1 hour ago, HerSunAndStars said:

Well I was upset but I didn’t do enough research and didn’t ask my local miniature store enough about it to understand, but that idea does sound really appealing. I just didn’t want to play the vampire courts. But I will definitely look into legions of Nagash 

You can totally do a Legions of Nagash army without a single vampire in it (so sticking with skeletons, ghosts, zombies, necromancers, and some big monsters). Everything you can build out of the box you bought can be found in the Legions of Nagash book.

[HerSunAndStars]

I ordered the book, any unit tips? Or general play style? Are the more melee or ranged or magic? And do they harass a lot of straightforward combat

[Tiklis]

Depends on the list but Death IMO is a good defensive army. You have hard hitters but you could relay in your debuff magic and your army of Zombies or Skeletons. To defend the objectives.

Seek around and you would see a lot of list with different porpouses.

But your end goal probably will be something like.

Nagash

Morghast Archai

80 Skeletons

30 Grave Guards

2 or 3 Necromancers

A Montarch.

And you own flavor. The list above are the basic stuff every Death army usually have.

[RuneBrush]

I think your best bet would be to have a really good read through the Legions of Nagash book once you get it and see what appeals.  You might really love the idea of running an army centred round huge blocks of 40 skeletons, alternatively you might think Grave Guard and Morghast are more up your street

[HerSunAndStars]

Alright, thanks guys, my book should arrive on Saturday so when I get it I’ll look through it and then post some more, maybe I’ll put up a list or two for some feedback

[Richelieu]

Is this the kit that you bought?  If so, then you are in good shape.  All of those miniatures are fully supported by GW (in fact, they have the 2nd newest rules of any army).

I wouldn't be too concerned with knowing what to do next.  I would read the book you ordered, build the miniatures you bought and get them on the table.  Then as others have suggested, think about the kind of army you want to play.  Are you super competitive? Do you want just hordes of regenerating skeletons?  Vampires on Zombie Dragons? (lovely model) Ghosts? The Supreme Lord of Death himself?

[HerSunAndStars]

I’m pretty competitive but I also like crushing victories and using the nastiest strategy available, so I was thinking something I was gonna try was to just throw fodder at my enemy and then regenerate close to all my losses, if that doesn’t work then I want a very well rounded army that’s adaptable to close to all situations except for the rare ones you can’t really do anything unless you build for it specifically 

[HerSunAndStars]

On 3/15/2018 at 1:39 PM, Richelieu said:

Is this the kit that you bought?  If so, then you are in good shape.  All of those miniatures are fully supported by GW (in fact, they have the 2nd newest rules of any army).

I wouldn't be too concerned with knowing what to do next.  I would read the book you ordered, build the miniatures you bought and get them on the table.  Then as others have suggested, think about the kind of army you want to play.  Are you super competitive? Do you want just hordes of regenerating skeletons?  Vampires on Zombie Dragons? (lovely model) Ghosts? The Supreme Lord of Death himself?

Yes, that is the kit I bought 

[HerSunAndStars]

Nagash

Arkhan the black

Morghast, not sure which one

Necromancer

Wight king, not sure which

Black knights

Grave guard 

Skeleton Warriors with the spears

That’s what I’m thinking I generally want it to look like, is this good or bad or needs a tweak. I was going for grand host of Nagash or the nagashizzar gaurd theme

[AverageBoss]

If you want competitive, Nagash is a powerhouse, and is great in a First Cohort battalion to help keep him alive.

Arkhan is great with a Lords of Sacrament build, but horrendously fragile.

For Morghasts, I think Harbingers are generally better for the long charge, though Archai are very useful in First Cohort. I am a big fan of Halberds on both (especially in Grand Host), as high rend is pretty rare for us.

Wight Kings are complete duds atm. Necromancers are cheaper, and Vampire are slightly more expensive, and both bring far more to a list than a WK (magic for starters).

Black Knights are pretty meh imo. Far better than they were before (absolute trash), but I feel Hexwraiths are so much better for the 40 extra points.

Grave Guard are too slow and fragile for their points imo, despite their decent damage output (provided they can make it to a combat that is not on your opponents terms).

Skeletons are a fantastic unit, and highly efficient in blocks of 40 with spears. They are outdone by an equal investment in Dire Wolves in smaller squads however.

[HerSunAndStars]

1 hour ago, AverageBoss said:

If you want competitive, Nagash is a powerhouse, and is great in a First Cohort battalion to help keep him alive.

Arkhan is great with a Lords of Sacrament build, but horrendously fragile.

For Morghasts, I think Harbingers are generally better for the long charge, though Archai are very useful in First Cohort. I am a big fan of Halberds on both (especially in Grand Host), as high rend is pretty rare for us.

Wight Kings are complete duds atm. Necromancers are cheaper, and Vampire are slightly more expensive, and both bring far more to a list than a WK (magic for starters).

Black Knights are pretty meh imo. Far better than they were before (absolute trash), but I feel Hexwraiths are so much better for the 40 extra points.

Grave Guard are too slow and fragile for their points imo, despite their decent damage output (provided they can make it to a combat that is not on your opponents terms).

Skeletons are a fantastic unit, and highly efficient in blocks of 40 with spears. They are outdone by an equal investment in Dire Wolves in smaller squads however.

So it would be more like

Nagash

morghasts with halberds

Necromancers

hexwraiths

spear skellies 

im trying to be as “Tomb Kings” as possible. With this, do I really need anything else or should I try and find a balance in a 2000 point army with these units?

 

[HerSunAndStars]

I’m also still researching but can I have 2 archaic and harbingers? I like the archai ebony wrought armor and would use those as like an honor guard. And I have the model for arkhan so what do I do with him? Can I use him for anything in first cohort or is he gonna be a shelved piece for awhile