The Nehekros Imperishables: An Unofficial AoS Faction

[Aesir Doomaxe]

Hello there one and all!

Though I haven't actually made the full leap into Age of Sigmar yet, one thing I have been doing is a lot of theoryhammering with the game. A big part of that theoryhammering has been writing army lists for homebrew factions (especially since the lockdowns started here in Great Britain). I first displayed most of my work on Lustria Online as it has a vibrant AoS community and I had been a member there for a long time, but now I've become a member here I thought I might as well treat you all to it too. This is (what I believe to be at least) my best work so far, the Nehekros Imperishables!

I like many other people was, quite frankly, pissed off when GW killed off Tomb Kings in the AoS era (especially as they had the gall to keep the inferior undead faction, the Vampire Counts). Unimpressed at GW's attempts to write rules for them, I had followed several attempts to give them unofficial rules, including Tyler Mengel's version, but to me those attempts, especially Mr. Mengel's work, felt too much like simply copying Tomb Kings directly out of Warhammer Fantasy and pasting them into Age of Sigmar, and that treating them as a Death faction just because they are Undead just didn't fit, because they hated Nagash's guts as he was the scumbag that turned them into rotting undead in the first place - why should they be forced into his Grand Alliance?

Therefore, I have decided to create my own interpretation of them, complete with AoS-style name, that gives them a full-on AoS treatment while retaining faith to the original army (including borrowing rules and names from both Warhammer Fantasy Tomb Kings books and Tomb King lore on the Warhammer Fantasy wiki), and changes them from being a Death faction enslaved by Nagash to an Order faction dedicated to stopping Nagash's little game once and for all. I will attach all the warscrolls I have made for them through the great Runebrush Warscroll Maker either in this post or subsequent posts, . Currently the only thing I haven't yet developed are Battalions, because I wish to playtest the units as they are before they are buffed further by Battalions to ensure they are not overpowered or underpowered. I'd also love it if you have a go at playtesting these rules too, as, being the creator, I may have some unconscious bias towards my Undead Nehekharan children 😉. I don't wish to give too much of a spoiler, but we also witness the return in a big way of a certain Nehekharan king that refused to serve...

 

Lore: Once the king of the lost land of Nehekhara, Settra has since returned to rebuild his lost empire. Originally imprisoned inside one of Sigmar's Stormvaults for daring to challenge the God-King for his crown, little did Nagash know that when he freed his most loyal servant, Katakros, from one of these Stormvaults, the Great Necromancer had also unwittingly unleashed his most hated enemy. Freed after having to spend centuries imprisoned alongside the upstart Katakros, Settra's immortal soul drifted from one Realm to the next, searching for the perfect place to found his new Khemri. He found it in the sweeping Desert of Bones in Ghur's Heartlands, a place that imbued him with memories of his homeland, yet was also filled with new potential. It was within the small town of Lybalma that Settra first began his new reign - with the assistance of a young sorcerer easily manipulated by his infinite wisdom, the great king's soul was bound to a great golden statue of Sigmar that stood at the centre of the town's plaza, the etched features of the God-King gradually morphing into Settra's own and Ghal-Maraz changing into the Blessed Blade of Ptra. Finally achieving the dreams he sought for centuries, Settra slew all those in the town that opposed him, and adopted those who bowed to him as the beginnings of his new civilisation. Upon the remains of Lybalma, Settra commissioned the construction of his new capital of Khepra, and he taught his new subjects everything he knew about the culture and beliefs of ancient Nehekhara, and they became the Nehekrae, the scions of Nehekros, Settra’s new dominion.

Allegiance Abilities:

Battle Traits:
Unmatched Discipline: The legions of former citizens of Settra's new empire, bound to their animated mummified remains, obey their king's every command without question, putting the decades of training they perfected in life to such use that they can outfight any other soldier their size, living or dead.
Enemy units that do not have the Hero or Monster keywords must re-roll all hit rolls of 6 when fighting a unit with the Legionnaire keyword.

Ancient Incantations: The rituals performed by the Mortuary Priests to bind a lost Nehekharan soul to its new stone body are no simple Necromancer's tricks. They have been perfected over millennia, since the time of the World-that-Was, and render these constructs extremely difficult to destroy.
Halve the damage characteristic (rounding up) of weapons that target units with the Construct keyword, and halve the number of mortal wounds these units suffer from spells and abilities (rounding up).

Relentless Terror: For those who have earned the enmity of the King of Kings, his legions represent fear incarnate as they advance slowly but tirelessly towards them, as it is only now that the interlopers truly realise just who they have angered.
Units with the Nehekros Imperishables keyword cannot Run in the movement phase. However, these units do not need to take battleshock tests. In addition, enemy units must subtract 1 from their Bravery score for every Nehekros Imperishables unit within 12” of them.

Command Traits:
Dynastic Traits (Embalmed Kings and Embalmed Kings on Warsphinxes only):
1. Indomitable Will: Even when all seems lost, this king will refuse to surrender, reasoning that it is better to die by a barbarian's hand than live with the shame of letting him pass willingly.
Whenever this model suffers a wound or mortal wound, roll a dice. On a 5 or more the wound is ignored. If this model already has such a save, add 1 to the roll.
2. Ancient Strategist: The king is a tactical genius, continually one step ahead of his foes.
Once per turn, while this model is still alive, if an enemy unit within 18" of him moves, shoots or charges during your opponent's turn, you may perform an identical action with a friendly unit anywhere on the battlefield.
3. Ruthless Conqueror: This king has long believed in the principle of 'Conqueror's Rights', and is rightly confident that nothing will stand in his way for long.
Whenever an enemy unit on the battlefield is destroyed, you gain a command point.
4. Paranoid Usurper: After having his predecessor murdered, this king continually keeps one eye resting upon his most trusted advisors, in case they plan the same fate for him.
No friendly Mortuary Priest or Necrotect in the army may ever move to a location more than 12" away from this model. However, while there are one or more friendly Mortuary Priests or Necrotects alive, this model may re-roll all failed wound rolls in close combat.
5. Gifted with the Khopesh: A skilled swordsman, this king is a duellist without compare - woe betide any enemy commander who even contemplates crossing blades with him.
This model may may perform its close combat attacks at the beginning of the close combat phase, before any other units are picked to fight in that combat phase. This does not apply to any mount this model has.
6. Terrifying Visage: Even for a walking mummified corpse, this king is particularly repulsive to look upon.
All enemy units within 3" of this model suffer an additional -1 penalty to their Bravery characteristics.

Mortuary Traits (Mortuary Priests and Necrotects only):
1. Grand Hierophant: As the wisest and most powerful of his caste, this priest is revered by the soldiers who serve him and trusted by his king absolutely.
If the hero with this trait is a Mortuary Priest, he may cast and unbind two spells instead of one. If the hero is a Necrotect, he may cast and unbind one spell every magic phase, and knows the spells Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield. In addition, whenever this model suffers a wound or mortal wound, pick a friendly Nehekros Imperishables unit within 12" of this model and roll a dice. On a 4 or more that unit suffers the wound instead.
2. Student of Nehekharan Lore: Especially fascinated by the writings and beliefs of Ancient Nehekhara passed down to the Mortuary Cult by Settra, this priest is continually eager to find out more about his ancestry.
This model may know two Incantations from the Prayers list instead of one. However, he may still only chant one of those prayers every hero phase.
3. Supreme Artisan: Learned in the arts of the Necrotects, this priest has a natural affinity with the stone constructs around him.
If this model moves into base contact with a friendly unit with the Construct keyword, he may perform enchantments to repair it. If he does so, at the end of the combat phase this unit recovers D3 wounds.
4. Court Physician: Gifted with the art of brewing healing drafts, the priest has become synonymous with being able to heal their sovereign's most grievous wounds.
If this model moves into base contact with a friendly Hero, he may prescribe the Hero a healing draft. If he does so, at the end of the combat phase that Hero recovers D3 wounds.
5. Master of Curses: Death and malady seem to follow this priest wherever he goes. Some suspect that he is really a servant of the Arch-Traitor, but many of those have not lived long since voicing their suspicions.
At the end of every combat phase, roll a dice for every enemy model within 2" of this model. On every roll of a 6 that model suffers a mortal wound.
6. Wheedling Sycophant: This priest is a constant thorn in the sides of others, continually following and mimicking his superiors in a futile attempt to become as skilled as they are. Sometimes this level of annoyance is so great that even the enemy are driven to distraction by him.
This model and all friendly heroes within 8" of it may not activate Command Abilities. However, at the start of every hero phase, roll a dice for every enemy unit and hero within 8" of this model. On every roll of a 6, your opponent loses a command point and you gain a command point.

Artefacts of Power:
Artefacts of Royalty (Embalmed Kings and Embalmed Kings on Warsphinxes only):
1. Amulet of the Hidden Dead: This charm has been bound with the souls of a whole regiment of Nehekrae troops. When rubbed with suitable pressure, it will release these souls back to their bodies lying beneath the desert sands.
At the start of the battle, before deployment, you may pick one unit in your army without the Monster keyword to be sleeping beneath the sands. In your hero phase, you may deploy this unit anywhere on the battlefield more than 3” away from any board edge and more than 9” away from enemy models. This unit must deploy in this way before the fourth battle round, or it is destroyed.
2. Khalidan Serpentstave: This staff can, at the bearer's command, transform into a hissing cobra that strikes enemies with fierce vigour. It displays an especial loathing of any creation of the Great Traitor.
At the end of each combat phase, if the bearer is alive and engaged in combat with one or more enemy units, pick an enemy unit the bearer is fighting. This unit suffers D3 mortal wounds (or D6 if it has the Death keyword).
3. Armour of Ages: This golden armour powers its wearer on through horrendous injuries with the force of untold aeons.
The wearer may add 1 wound to his profile, and may add 1 to his save rolls.
4. The Crown of Phakth: This diadem depicts Phakth, the ancient Nehekharan falcon god of the sky and justice, and grants the king a degree of this mighty god's valour and practicality in the heat of battle.
While the wearer is alive, at the beginning of your hero phase, roll a dice. On a 5 or more you receive 1 additional command point.
5. Sceptre of Royal Decree: This staff radiates the king's authority so that even the most stoic foe quails in his presence.
Whenever an enemy unit successfully charges the bearer or any unit within 3" of him, your opponent must re-roll the dice used.
6. Apophan Scarab Cloak: The king is constantly surrounded by a swarm of scarabs that can bewilder and terrify the enemy and carry the bearer aloft upon a tide of clicking wings.
If the bearer is not mounted, their Move characteristic is doubled and they may Fly. In addition, enemy units attacking the bearer in close combat must subtract 1 from their hit rolls.

Artefacts of Priesthood (Mortuary Priests only):
1. Golden Ankhra: Shaped to resemble the Ancient Nehekharan symbol of eternity, this pendant surrounds the wearer with protective energies.
While the bearer of this artefact is alive, discount the first wound this model suffers in each phase of each turn.
2. Khatepian Liche Staff: Made of the wood from one of the few deceased trees that loiter in the desert, this staff is a facsimile of that which belonged to Khatep, the Heirophant to Settra during the days of old Nehekhara, and has inherited a portion of his immeasurable power.
Once per turn, if this hero fails to successfully cast a spell or chant a prayer, you may re-roll all the dice used.
3. Sorcerous Kanopi: When this jar is opened, all magical energy is sucked into it, draining the magicks of the foe.
Once per battle, you may declare that the model this artefact belongs to is going to open the kanopi. If it does so, all Endless Spells currently in play are dispelled.
4. Staff of Mastery: This copper staff draws energy from the Winds of Magic, allowing the Priest to empower his enchantments further.
When this model casts a spell, you may add 2 to the casting result.
5. Hieratic Jar: This container, sealed and bound with glyphs of power, contain the remains of a deceased Mortuary Priest, which have preserved some of the magical energy he once possessed.
Once per battle, in your hero phase, you may declare that the model this artefact belongs to is going to open the jar. If it does so, the model may cast an additional spell this turn.
6. Staff of Ravening: This staff summons a swarm of flesh-eating locusts to tear nearby enemies to shreds.
The bearer knows the spell LOCUST PLAGUE in addition to any other spells they know.
LOCUST PLAGUE
Locust Plague has a casting value of 7. If successfully cast, roll a dice for each enemy unit within 12" of the bearer. Add 1 to each roll for every enemy unit other than the unit rolled for within 12" of the bearer. For every roll of a 6 or more, the unit rolled for suffers D3 mortal wounds. In addition, all enemy units within 12" of the bearer may not perform shooting attacks until your next hero phase.

Artefacts of Craftsmanship (Necrotects only):
1. Icon of Dominion: Through this amulet, the Necrotect has supplemented the anima of nearby constructs with his own soul, allowing him to will these stone behemoths further onwards.
All Nehekros Imperishables units with the Construct keyword within 12" of the bearer may run in the movement phase.
2. Ramhotepian Lash: With every crack of this jaded whip, the souls of the slain are drawn into the bodies of constructs to keep them animated.
Whenever an enemy unit suffers an unsaved wound from attacks made by this model, pick a friendly Nehekros Imperishables Construct unit. That unit may recover a wound lost earlier in the battle.
3. Golden Eye of Ra-Nutt: This sigil, when carved into the body of an animated statue, imbues it with such power that missiles of all descriptions patter harmlessly off its stone hide.
At the start of the battle, pick a friendly Nehekros Imperishables Construct unit that will have the symbol of the Eye carved into it. That unit may worsen the rend of all shooting attacks that target it by 1, so long as the Necrotect this artefact belongs to is alive and on the battlefield.


Prayers:
1. Khsar’s Incantation of the Desert Wind: Beseeching the blessings of the Nehekharan god of the desert, the Priest summons a howling desert storm to shift his allies forward upon a surf of sand.
At the start of your Hero Phase, one model that knows this prayer can chant it. If they do so, make a prayer roll by rolling a dice. On a 3+ the prayer is answered. If this prayer is answered, pick 1 friendly unit that cannot fly wholly within 18" of this Priest. This unit may move double its normal Move value in the movement phase.
2. Tahoth's Incantation of Wisdom: Imbuing his allies with the knowledge of the ibis-headed scholar god, the Priest grants his peers superior tactical judgement.
At the start of your Hero Phase, one model that knows this prayer can chant it. If they do so, make a prayer roll by rolling a dice. On a 3+ the prayer is answered. If this prayer is answered, pick 1 friendly Hero wholly within 12" of this Priest. Until your next hero phase, the first time this hero uses a Command Ability, do not spend a Command Point.
3. Ptra’s Incantation of Restoration: Invoking the glorious name of the ancient Nehekharan sun god, the Priest summons a healing light that repairs stone and reanimates bones.
At the start of your Hero Phase, one model that knows this prayer can chant it. If they do so, make a prayer roll by rolling a dice. On a 4+ the prayer is answered. If this prayer is answered, pick 1 friendly unit wholly within 12" of this Priest. Heal D6 wounds to this unit. This cannot take the unit beyond its starting size.
4. Djaf's Incantation of Cursed Blades: Calling upon the jackal-headed god of the underworld, the Priest imbues his allies' weapons with the very essence of death.
At the start of your Hero Phase, one model that knows this prayer can chant it. If they do so, make a prayer roll by rolling a dice. On a 4+ the prayer is answered. If this prayer is answered, pick 1 friendly unit wholly within 18" of this Priest. Whenever this unit rolls a 6 or more when attacking with one of its melee weapons, the target enemy unit suffers 1 mortal wound in addition to the damage normally caused by this attack.
5. Usirian's Incantation of Vengeance: Commanding the ire of the Nehekharan death god, the Priest banishes the soldiers of the foe to the underworld.
At the start of your Hero Phase, one model that knows this prayer can chant it. If they do so, make a prayer roll by rolling a dice. On a 5+ the prayer is answered. If this prayer is answered, pick 1 enemy unit wholly within 16" of this Priest. The unit suffers D3 mortal wounds, or D6 if it has the Death keyword. In addition, the enemy unit subtracts D3 from its movement value and must re-roll all successful charges until your next hero phase.
6. Neru’s Incantation of Protection: Appealing to the love of the wife of Ptra and goddess of the moon, the Priest bathes his allies in shimmering moonlight, rendering them near-impossible to hit from afar.
At the start of your Hero Phase, one model that knows this prayer can chant it. If they do so, make a prayer roll by rolling a dice. On a 5+ the prayer is answered. If it is answered, pick a friendly unit within 18” of this Priest. Until your next hero phase, worsen the rend and damage of all missile weapons that target this unit by 1.

 

Royal Cities:
Khepra: The seat of the King of Kings, Khepra, in the heart of Ghur, is the largest and strongest of the Nehekrae cities, continually patrolled by Legionnaires and Animated Constructs who answer directly to Settra himself.

Abilities:
Unyielding Phalanxes: Trained upon the orders of Settra himself, the Legionnaires of Khepra fight in ultra-disciplined phalanxes that work in concert to repulse the foe.
Each unit of Khepra Settran Legionnaires within 3” of another unit of Khepra Settran Legionnaires may add 1 to their save rolls.

Command Ability:
Serve the King well: The general commands his followers to fight all the harder to earn the commendation of the King of Kings.
A model with this command ability may use it in the combat phase. If it does so, pick 1 friendly Khepra Nehekros Imperishables unit that is in combat and is wholly within 18” of this model. That unit may re-roll all hit and wound rolls of 1.

Command Trait: 
Hand of the King: Settra, if it is not he himself who leads this host, has personally blessed the commander of this army, and has absolute trust in him to do his royal bidding.
A Khepra army led by a general with this trait starts the battle with an additional Command Point.

Artefact of Power:
The Destroyer of Eternities: A weapon from Settra's personal armoury, the Destroyer of Eternities need only nick the foe to send them crumbling into dust forever.
The model equipped with this artefact must choose one of its melee weapons to be the Destroyer of Eternities (Mount weapons cannot be chosen). If an enemy model suffers one or more wounds from this weapon, but is not slain by it, the opposing player must roll a dice at the beginning of every hero phase in which the enemy model is still alive. On a 1, the model is instantly removed as a casualty.

 

Anhak: Built in a clearing in the Realm of Ghyran, the city of Anhak is the newest territory to have shown support for the King of Kings. Due to the life magic prevalent in this realm, the Legionnaires here undergo a constant state of regeneration, their mummified organs healing themselves back to their living state. This, however, does nothing to alter their fearlessness and loyalty to Settra, which is constantly put to the test as Alarielle, the self-proclaimed queen of this realm, regularly leads armies to attack Anhak with the intention of eliminating the foothold in this land accrued by the True King.

Abilities:
Living Legionnaires: Unlike its fellow Royal Cities, the city of Anhak commands rank upon rank of living Nehekrae, whose devotion to their homes, families and their King knows no bounds. Though these men are of flesh and blood, the Realm of Life does much to grant them similar resilience to their undead comrades from other cities.
All units with the Legionnaire keyword in an Anhak army must subtract 2 from their Bravery characteristic and must take Battleshock tests if they suffer one or more casualties. However, these units may run in the movement phase and whenever one of these units suffers a wound or mortal wound, roll a dice. On a 5 or more the wound is ignored.

Command Ability:
Repulse the Barbarians: At the commander’s word, the Legions of Anhak make a concerted effort to push the enemy back.
You can use this command ability in the combat phase before a friendly Anhak unit within 16” of a hero with this command ability makes its attacks. If you do so, any enemy units that failed a Battleshock test while fighting this unit must immediately retreat after models have been removed as a result of Battleshock. This counts as the unit’s move for its next turn turn, and it may not shoot or charge in its next turn.

Command Trait:
Entropic Weaponry: Originally intended to fare better against the tree spirits that blight Ghyran, the general’s weapons are enchanted to cause any armour it touches to degrade and destruct.
Improve the rend of all the melee weapons wielded by an Anhak general by 1 (Mount weapons are unaffected).

Artefact of Power:
The Sacred Blade of Anhak: Imbued with the magic of Ghyran, the Sacred Blade of Anhak allows the wielder to steal the souls of those he slays to repair his own withered body.
Whenever a model wielding the Blade of Anhak inflicts a wound upon an enemy model, they may immediately recover a wound lost during the battle.

 

Monqatar: Built in the Realm of Metal, Monqatar has had to contend with this land's less hospitable air and climate for centuries, and as a result its living population struggles to survive. However this has not stopped the city's forward-thinking monarchs, who have used the Realm's live and non-living resources to fully outweigh this disadvantage.

Abilities:
Statues of Shifting Gold: Monqatar in Chamon is devoid of any naturally-occurring stone. However, the ingenuity of its inhabitants has led to the creation of animated statues fashioned entirely from metal.
You may re-roll all failed save rolls for any Construct units in a Monqatar army.

Command Ability:
Topple Their Crude Shrines: The commander orders the metallic statues he leads to tear asunder the buildings in which his enemies cower.
You can use this command ability when a unit with the Monqatar Construct keywords within 18” of a hero with this command ability charges into an enemy unit that is in cover. If you do so, roll a dice. On a 1 or 2 nothing happens. On a 3 or 4 the scenery piece acting as cover is destroyed. On a 5 or 6 the scenery is destroyed and every unit (friendly and enemy) within 1” of the scenery piece suffers D3 mortal wounds.

Command Trait:
Exalted Construct: Encased in golden armour from head to foot, the general of this army has more in common with the animated statues he commands than with the people he rules.
This hero gains +2 Wounds, and is given the Construct keyword if he does not already have it.

Artefact of Power:
The Breastplate of Khutep III: The paranoid king Khutep III constantly feared for his life amidst what he perceived as a sea of potential traitors, so he bade a group of Kharadron metalsmiths to fashion an ingenious golden breastplate embedded with runic magic that could keep the wearer's soul alive even if his body was destroyed. It worked, for even as his ruthless Grand Vizier slew the king in his sleep and took the breastplate and other treasures from him, the spirit of Khutep remained to drive the usurper mad.
In every one of your hero phases, you must roll a dice for the Hero wearing the Breastplate. On the roll of a 1 or 2, he is locked in a mental battle with Khutep and may do nothing this turn except fight in close combat. On a 3 or more the hero may act as normal. Regardless of the result of the roll, whenever the hero suffers a wound or mortal wound, roll a dice. On a 4 or more the wound is ignored.

 

Lybaros: The Nehekrae and Imperishables of Lybaros worship the Nehekharan sun god Ptra above all others, for they live in the Realm of Light, and feel they are continually touched by his presence.

Abilities:
Chosen of Ptra: Denizens of Hysh, the cohorts of Lybaros shimmer with the light of great Ptra himself.
Enemies shooting at units in a Lybaros army must subtract 1 from their hit rolls.

Civilised Allies: The Lumineth Realmlords are one of the few peoples the kings of Lybaros see as equals, for they share their desire to preserve and encourage civilisation.
A Lybaros army may take allies from the Lumineth Realmlords faction.

Command Ability:
Tremble before the Righteous: The Commander threatens the enemy with the promise of eternal damnation in the underworld if they do not rescind their violence against the legions of Ptra.
You can use this command ability in the move phase if an enemy unit moves within 12” of a hero with this command ability. If you do so, that enemy unit must immediately take a Battleshock test.

Command Trait:
Enlightened Champion: Believing he has been blessed by the speed of Ptra’s eternal light, the commander seems to preternaturally sense where enemy attacks are coming from, deflecting them away before they can do him harm.
Whenever an enemy unit makes a shooting or melee attack against the general of this army, they must reroll all successful hit rolls.

Artefact of Power:
Ptra’s Burning Gaze: Imbued with the holy light of the Nehekharan Sun God, the hero’s eyes produce burning rays of energy that turn nearby foes to ashes.
In your shooting phase, pick an enemy unit within 16” of this hero and roll a dice. On a 4 or more, that unit suffers 2D3 mortal wounds.

 

Memphara: The kings of this city in the heart of Aqshy are violent, treacherous and bad-tempered, even by Nehekrae standards. They possess a desire to exterminate and subjugate that rivals that of Settra himself, and though they remain loyal to the King of Kings for now, it is these monarchs who are the most likely to be planning a scheme to overthrow him.

Abilities:
Burning Blades: The weapons of the Legions of Memphara are eternally aflame, and sear and burn any foe who dares to survive their initial blows.
At the end of every combat phase, roll a dice for every enemy model that has suffered one or more wounds from melee attacks made by a Memphara unit, but has not yet been slain. On a 6, that model suffers an additional mortal wound.

Command Ability:
Wipe them out... all of them: The general of the army gives an executive order for his servants to leave none alive, as befits the rules of war against the inferior races.
You may use this command ability in the movement phase on all units within 12” of a model with this command ability. If you do so, whenever one of these units completely destroys an enemy unit in close combat, you receive a Command Point and the unit gets to make a free move. This does not count as their full move in the next friendly move phase.

Command Trait:
Conqueror’s Avarice: The commander is eternally driven to lead his legions into new lands and subjugate any of their inhabitants who dare challenge the rule of Settra.
Whenever the general of a Memphara army destroys an enemy unit, he gets to make a free move. This does not count as his full move in the next friendly move phase.

Artefact of Power:
Poisons of Sokth: No less experienced in the art of subtle assassination than in outright warfare, the hero has coated his weapons in lethal Mortuary Scorpion venom.
Whenever the model with this artefact rolls a 6 or more when determining if they hit the enemy in the combat phase, add 2 to the Damage characteristic of this attack.

Allies
A Nehekros Imperishables army make take Allies from the following factions: Cities of Sigmar, Fyreslayers, Kharadron Overlords.

 

Units:

Heroes:

Settra, King of Kings: Settra, Great King of the old land of Nehekhara, has achieved what nobody except the Arch-Traitor Nagash has been able to do - transcend death, and achieve true immortality. His new golden body, now morphed into the image of his original body of flesh and blood, evokes the epitome of kingship. Though his armies are but a fraction of those amassed during the Golden Age of his first kingdom, they are every bit as grand and flawless as those from the World-that-Was. With these forces under his command, Settra now plots to depose all who have ever wanted him dead or enslaved to their will, so that he can truly become the King of all Kings.

Nekaph, Emissary of the King: Settra deemed it fitting that the first Nehekharan soul to be bound to an Onyxite body would be Nekaph, his loyal herald and bodyguard and the first of the original Nehekharan souls saved by the Mortuary Priests. Equipped with a new Flail of Skulls and a golden suit of armour said to have formerly been worn by Geheb, unyielding god of the earth, Nekaph continues to serve the King of Kings as he has always done, slaying enemy commanders in fights to the death, and bringing the word of the True King to all.

Embalmed King on Warsphinx:

Embalmed King:

Mortuary Priest:

Necrotect:

 

Battleline:

Settran Legionnaires: Whenever a living Nehekrae citizen perishes, their soul begins its journey to the afterlife and to Usirian. However, in this state they are vulnerable to the all-seeing eyes of Nagash, the Great Traitor, who would enslave them into his armies of merciless undead. Mindful of the heightened danger that he poses as, Settra commissioned the reborn Mortuary Cult to construct portals to Shyish, from which they could continually filter these souls to save them from Nagash's clutches. Each of these souls is then bound to their own mummified corpse to serve their king once more, not in labour, but in war. Clad in ornate golden armour, these remorseless legions form the bulk of Settra’s new armies.

Necrolith Onyxites: To assist the living in their toil and protect them from the myriad savage creatures that dwelled across Ghur, Settra comissioned the reborn Mortuary Cult to siphon souls that once belonged to ancient Nehekharans from Shyish and bind them into carved stone statues that obeyed Settra's every command. Each a full head taller than a man, these are the Necrolith Onyxites. In war these silent stone automata fight in serried ranks alongside the Legionnaires, and are every bit as unrelenting and cold in their grim work, but have an increased strength and prolonged durability that can only come from being an animated construct.

 

Others:

Necrolith Ushabti:

Mortuary Scorpions:

Legionnaire Duneriders:

Sepulchral Stalkers:

Behemoths:

Legionnaire Warsphinx:

Necrosphinx:

Necrolith Colossus:

Necrolith Hierotitan:

 

Scenery:

Settran Pyramid:

Abilities:

Tomb of Ancient Kings:  At the start of the battle, after deployment and before rolling to see who chooses to take the first turn, secretly nominate a single Hero in your army that is not a Monster or a unique character. If the hero is slain during the game, in your subsequent Hero Phase you may automatically return this hero to the battlefield anywhere within 6” of this scenery piece, with their full complement of wounds and all their Artefacts and Traits intact. This ability may only be used once per battle.

Nexus of Forgotten Curses: All friendly Wizards within 16" of this model know the WRATH OF THE DESERT spell in addition to any other spells they know.
WRATH OF THE DESERT
Wrath of the Desert has a casting value of 6. If successfully cast, pick an enemy unit within 12" of the caster, roll a dice and consult the following chart:
1-2: Blinding Sandstorm: The unit must subtract 1 from all hit rolls until your next hero phase.
3-5: Tomb Swarm: The unit suffers D6 mortal wounds.
6: Awoken Guardian: Place a Mortuary Scorpion anywhere more than 9" away from this unit. It may move and charge as normal.

Battalions: 

TBC

Pitched Battle Points Values and Base Sizes:
Settra, King of Kings: 700, 120 x 92mm oval
Nekaph, Emissary of the King: 250, Base Size: 50mm circle
Embalmed King on Warsphinx: 360, 170 x 105mm oval
Embalmed King: 140, Base Size: 25mm circle
Mortuary Priest: 80, Base Size: 25mm circle
Necrotect: 70, Base Size: 25mm circle
Settran Legionnaires: 140 for 10 (Max 30), Base Size: 25mm circle
Necrolith Onyxites: 160 for 5 (Max 20), Base Size: 32mm circle
Necrolith Ushabti: 170 for 3 (Max 9), Base Size: 50mm circle
Mortuary Scorpions: 75 for 1 (Max 6), Base Size: 60mm circle
Legionnaire Duneriders: 240 for 3 (Max 9), Base Size: 105 x 70mm oval
Sepulchral Stalkers: 240 for 3 (Max 9), Base Size: 105 x 70mm oval
Legionnaire Warsphinx: 300, 170 x 105mm oval
Necrosphinx: 360, Base Size: 170 x 105mm oval
Necrolith Colossus: 220, Base Size: 80mm circle
Necrolith Hierotitan: 200, Base Size: 80mm circle

These points values may change as the result of playtesting.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of these rules! 😀 

For the record, I developed them in the Spring and Summer of last year, so this army may still fall afoul of such stuff as the updated Daughters of Khaine book and the new Slaanesh and Lumineth releases, but that's why I've put it up in an online forum post on the biggest AoS forum around - if I or anyone else has any playtesting feedback, I can quickly perform some alterations to keep the army decently strong (for Narrative and Open play purposes of course).

[Takyz]

Hi,

Before commenting on any specific points, I just want to say that this is a very cool army, which fits AoS (in my opinion at least) while staying true to the feel of Tomb Kings as they were in WHFB. I find most of the rules you wrote here nice and quite balanced, although there are some points which I think may need tweaking (even though actual playtesting would probably give more insight on that than just my thoughts).

First, a couple of observations on design :

- recently, GW has been changing most abilities from "within" to "wholly within", as it prevents people from spreading too much their units just to gain abilities. I think doing the same here would help and make these rules closer to the rest of the AoS factions, and also fits the legion style of TK.

- the wording of the Souls from Ages Past rule for the Necrolith Onyxites is a bit confusing to me : does the unit gain 1 bonus out of 4, or 2, with one of them being re-rolls to hit or wound, and the other re-rolls to charge or saves?

- it feels weird that the Legionnaires on the Warsphinx don't have the Precision Strike rule.

- Destroyers of Eternities seems quite unfun to me : most of the time it will do nothing and you'll have spent an Artifact on nothing, and when it kill a 400pts monster for your opponent, it'll be frustrating to them. Maybe changing it to not working on monsters, but on 1 and 2 could be a solution?

- I didn't understand how the Sacred Blade of Anhak interacts with multi-damage attacks : does the hero heal 1 wound per damage dealt? If that is the case, it seems way too strong for me and I think should be limited to 1 wound heald per attack. Furthermore, ther is no mention for this particular weapon of it not working on mount weapons. Is this intentional?

Then, I have a few remarks on balance :

- the Embalmed King's CA feels too strong, especially on a 140 pts hero.

- the Souls from Ages Past rule seems a bit too strong if it gives 2 bonuses.

- the Scorpions may be too cheap when comparing it to similar units from other factions.

- the Ancient Strategist Command Trait seems too strong to me, especially with an 18" range. Maybe changing it to twice per battle?

- the Ruthless Conqueror Commansd trait also looks too strong, considering no dice roll is needed, and some armies play with a lot of units.

- the Locust Plague diabling all shooting seems a bit too much to me. Maybe changing it to -2 to hit could be better?

- the Enlightened Champion Command Trait may cause an annoyingly unkillable King on Warsphinx in addition to the Armour of Ages, the Royal Tomb Shield, and potential healing from Ptra's Incantation of Restoration.

Although I talked about many things, I still think that ,as a whole, this looks really fun and I'm looking forward to testing it once I'm done painting my TK army.

[Aesir Doomaxe]

On 2/25/2021 at 7:12 PM, Takyz said:

Hi,

Before commenting on any specific points, I just want to say that this is a very cool army, which fits AoS (in my opinion at least) while staying true to the feel of Tomb Kings as they were in WHFB. I find most of the rules you wrote here nice and quite balanced, although there are some points which I think may need tweaking (even though actual playtesting would probably give more insight on that than just my thoughts).

First, a couple of observations on design :

- recently, GW has been changing most abilities from "within" to "wholly within", as it prevents people from spreading too much their units just to gain abilities. I think doing the same here would help and make these rules closer to the rest of the AoS factions, and also fits the legion style of TK.

- the wording of the Souls from Ages Past rule for the Necrolith Onyxites is a bit confusing to me : does the unit gain 1 bonus out of 4, or 2, with one of them being re-rolls to hit or wound, and the other re-rolls to charge or saves?

- it feels weird that the Legionnaires on the Warsphinx don't have the Precision Strike rule.

- Destroyers of Eternities seems quite unfun to me : most of the time it will do nothing and you'll have spent an Artifact on nothing, and when it kill a 400pts monster for your opponent, it'll be frustrating to them. Maybe changing it to not working on monsters, but on 1 and 2 could be a solution?

- I didn't understand how the Sacred Blade of Anhak interacts with multi-damage attacks : does the hero heal 1 wound per damage dealt? If that is the case, it seems way too strong for me and I think should be limited to 1 wound heald per attack. Furthermore, ther is no mention for this particular weapon of it not working on mount weapons. Is this intentional?

Then, I have a few remarks on balance :

- the Embalmed King's CA feels too strong, especially on a 140 pts hero.

- the Souls from Ages Past rule seems a bit too strong if it gives 2 bonuses.

- the Scorpions may be too cheap when comparing it to similar units from other factions.

- the Ancient Strategist Command Trait seems too strong to me, especially with an 18" range. Maybe changing it to twice per battle?

- the Ruthless Conqueror Commansd trait also looks too strong, considering no dice roll is needed, and some armies play with a lot of units.

- the Locust Plague diabling all shooting seems a bit too much to me. Maybe changing it to -2 to hit could be better?

- the Enlightened Champion Command Trait may cause an annoyingly unkillable King on Warsphinx in addition to the Armour of Ages, the Royal Tomb Shield, and potential healing from Ptra's Incantation of Restoration.

Although I talked about many things, I still think that ,as a whole, this looks really fun and I'm looking forward to testing it once I'm done painting my TK army.

Thanks for your really helpful feedback!

With regards to your design observations:

1. That makes sense, I can see why GW might do that to avoid players making use of cheesy 1-wide line formations to stack buffs. I'll rework those abilities.
2. The Onyxite unit has to choose one of the four bonuses. I'll reword the ability to be structured like the Unit Descriptions where they use a colon followed by a list to describe the weapon options available to the unit in question.
3. That's fair, the reason I avoided giving Precision Strike to the Legionnaires on the Warsphinx was because I thought it would be more difficult to achieve a 'precision strike' with a long unwieldy spear from the back of a giant monster compared to wielding a Khopesh or halberd on foot, but you're right, it does look inconsistent to not give them that ability.
4. I gave the Destroyer of Eternities this ability to hark back to the Warhammer Fantasy equivalent, which gave the Heroic Killing Blow special rule to the wielder (meaning if you roll a 6 to wound the target is instantly killed, whether a model on foot, a mounted model or a monster), and to stop its AoS equivalent from killing monsters would ruin the continuity and make it look tame. If an opponent doesn't want their 400-point monster to be killed by the Destroyer, they should simply avoid fighting the wielder in melee, same as in Warhammer Fantasy.
5. Yes the Blade of Anhak heals a wound per point of damage inflicted. I thought only healing 1 wound per combat attack would be too weak, but given most Imperishables characters have at least Damage 2 you may be right in that 1 wound per damage inflicted might be too strong. I'll have a look into this.

And with regards to your balance observations:

1. Personally I don't think My Will Be Done is too much to worry  about - at most the target unit is only going to get 2 extra attacks (and won't be a bonus at all for Legionnaires on a Warsphinx as they already have 8 attacks), and that's if the King has a specific weapon option that has to be part of the model. 
2. I'm going to alter the wording of this ability to make sure it gives the unit only 1 bonus, so this is fixed.
3. Are there any particular examples from other races you had in mind that correlate to Mortuary Scorpions? If you could point them out to me I'll have a look and compare the stats.
4. Twice per battle for Ancient Strategist appears too weak to me. It's once per turn so will only happen 6 times a battle, with only one unit receiving the bonus at any time. Perhaps limiting the range of which friendly unit can be picked (rather than picking any friendly unit on the battlefield) will help to balance it a bit.
5. This ability all depends how many enemy units are destroyed in every Battle Round, and in the first few turns this is going to be pretty much zero, given the Imperishables are oriented around melee and are quite slow. I think that's a sufficient trade-off for the extra CPs the player receives in the late-game as enemy units are destroyed.
6. Given that the Locust Plague only affects enemies in a tiny 12" range, any missile units are going to be within charge range and vulnerable to melee units anyway, so losing their shooting won't be that much of a loss, particularly if they decide to retreat from enemy charges.
7. I can see how it stacks to give the Embalmed King on Warsphinx a 2+ save plus potential healing, but it's worth considering how this compares to some meta builds from other factions - if it roughly parallels them, I'd say it's worth keeping in case anyone brings a power build to a casual home game to ensure there's a fair chance of either side winning. Have you any ideas on particularly strong power builds in the current meta? I don't follow the meta too closely.

I'm glad you like this army, I just wanted to do my bit for Tomb Kings fans everywhere and I hope more will get the chance to see this interpretation. I eagerly look forward to hearing how your playtesting goes!

@Sception I'm  also eagerly awaiting your feedback on my army list, I'd love to hear what you think!

Edited March 3, 2021 by Aesir Doomaxe

[Sception]

It is taking me longer than I would like to go through, because this is very much not a narrative direction I approve of, so I have to separate my gripes on that front from my thoughts otherwise.  😛

The warscroll images are a bit blurry and hard to read?  Is there any chance you could do them as pdf files?  Or at least higher res jpegs?  Or even just text write ups?

Settra:

• Light of Ptra:  should specify "target unit" rather than just "target", which can be a bit unclear.
• Crown of Nehekharos: needs wording changed.  Individual models do not spend command points in AoS as it's currently written.
• Given that "Settra does not serve", he should probably have a special rule that he must be your general and cannot be fielded otherwise.

I have other comments on settra, but there more thematic/narrative.  Like, I would have figured him riding a chariot was kind of... wait a minute,

Are there no chariots here at all?  No regular cavalry or carrion or swarms either?  And no casket of souls?  I can take or leave some of those, but I would have figured chariots and caskets are essential enough to the entire 'Tomb Kings' deal that you wouldn't try to have a revival without them.  I guess I have to start with the big picture stuff after all.

Spoiler

 

What are you going for here?  Are you trying to update rules and lore for people's existing tomb kings armies to bring them into AoS?  In that case, you're leaving out too many staple units (no chariots, no casket), and changing others in a way that prevents the old models from being used (Settra is a giant statue, not a dude on a chariot).

Alternatively, are you trying to design an entirely new faction merely inspired by Settra?  In that case, there are too many units here that probably don't have a place.  Do you really need scorpions?  heirotitans?  Stalkers?  Heck, stalkers had a sinister overtone when they were introduced, and were associated more with Arkhan and the followers of Nagash than with Settra and other loyalist factions.  Why are they here?

Why is this faction undead at all?  Settra didn't want to rule an empire of the dead, he didn't want dead soldiers, that wasn't his vision.  He wanted personal immortality, not immortality for others.  He wanted to rule forever over a civilization of living mortals.  You have his soul returned, taking immortal life in a living statue, and founding a new civilization.  That's all fine and good, that's fitting with his character, but if we're following a narrative naturally from there, wouldn't that be a civilization of the living, with living soldiers?  If you're not marrying yourself to the old models and units, then why skeletons and mummies at all?

Additionally, the idea that he could pluck souls from Shyish, especially in a post-necroquake setting, doesn't really fit.  That's not a huge problem, just change the lore so that they trap the souls on death before they go.  But dragging souls back from Shyish doesn't seem like the kind of thing he'd be capable of, certainly not by way of opening arbitrary portals between realms, portals between realms are a big deal in AoS that factions wage entire wars over, not something even the gods can create on a whim.  And getting souls specifically from ancient Nehekhara... that's not really a thing either.  For one, I never got the impression that Settra cared about the individual lives of those he ruled, just the empire as a whole, as an extension of his power and greatness.  Nehekhara fell, multiple times over, and eventually even turned to Nagash.  Even if he can remember it (which is dubious, even the gods can just about barely recall that there was an old world, not so much specific details and events of it), I doubt he'd care about trying to track down specific souls from it, and even if he wanted to that shouldn't be especially possible, not least of which because the chaos gods consumed the overwhelming majority of the old world's souls when it was destroyed.

The fact that the Tomb Kings /were/ Tomb Kings is something Settra never wanted or intended, it's not something he chose, and it doesn't feel like something he would choose to replicate, nor does it feel like something he would have the power to replicate if he wished to do so.  If you're founding this new faction's entire character on Settra specifically, it just seems like making them undead at all doesn't fit.

 

Now, I put all that in spoiler blocks, because griping about the narrative is relatively unrelated to the rules of the faction itself, and I do mean to get back to that more relevant feedback.  But even if this is just a thought experiment for its own sake, I still think you should at least envision it as something that actual players would actually use with models at a table.  And in that case, do you see them using their existing old tomb king armies - in which case staples like chariots and caskets should probably be there - or do you see them using other models, perhaps 3d printed or the like - in which case you seems to be carrying forward a lot of old units that maybe don't need to be there, and you also have to ask what is the point exactly of these guys being undead at all, instead of an egyption themed faction of living soldiers supported by animated stone constructs.

Like, heck, if you're going that way, why would there even be 'embalmed kings'?  The faction has the ability to put their souls in nigh invincible statues of stone & metal, statues far stronger than mortal bodies and not subject to decay, even decay slowed by embalming.  Their own god-king leader sports exactly such a body for all his subjects to envy and aspire to.  Any mortal king would presumably have the wealth to have such a form carved and crafted in their idealized likeness before they died.  Why wouldn't they emulate Settra?  Why wouldn't all of the Imperrishable's kings be giant statues?  Why suffer the indignity of being a rotting corpse, who merely ~rides~ an invincible enchanted behemoth carved from beautiful marble and adorned with gold and gems when you could instead ~be~ that beautiful marble behemoth instead, and in the process be ever so slightly closer to the perfection of your golden godking?

Clearly I closed the spoiler block too soon, because I'm still griping about the fluff.  instead of giving meaningful feedback about the rules, or just closing this post so I can come back to it later.

Please understand that most of that grousing comes from me just being salty about anti-nagash undead, which I'm viscerally opposed to in age of sigmar, and that's more a personal opinion thing than anything that really reflects on your project here.  I do promise to try to get back to more productive feedback in a bit.

[Aesir Doomaxe]

On 3/3/2021 at 3:13 PM, Sception said:

It is taking me longer than I would like to go through, because this is very much not a narrative direction I approve of, so I have to separate my gripes on that front from my thoughts otherwise.  😛

The warscroll images are a bit blurry and hard to read?  Is there any chance you could do them as pdf files?  Or at least higher res jpegs?  Or even just text write ups?

Settra:

• Light of Ptra:  should specify "target unit" rather than just "target", which can be a bit unclear.
• Crown of Nehekharos: needs wording changed.  Individual models do not spend command points in AoS as it's currently written.
• Given that "Settra does not serve", he should probably have a special rule that he must be your general and cannot be fielded otherwise.

I have other comments on settra, but there more thematic/narrative.  Like, I would have figured him riding a chariot was kind of... wait a minute,

Are there no chariots here at all?  No regular cavalry or carrion or swarms either?  And no casket of souls?  I can take or leave some of those, but I would have figured chariots and caskets are essential enough to the entire 'Tomb Kings' deal that you wouldn't try to have a revival without them.  I guess I have to start with the big picture stuff after all.

  Hide contents

 

What are you going for here?  Are you trying to update rules and lore for people's existing tomb kings armies to bring them into AoS?  In that case, you're leaving out too many staple units (no chariots, no casket), and changing others in a way that prevents the old models from being used (Settra is a giant statue, not a dude on a chariot).

Alternatively, are you trying to design an entirely new faction merely inspired by Settra?  In that case, there are too many units here that probably don't have a place.  Do you really need scorpions?  heirotitans?  Stalkers?  Heck, stalkers had a sinister overtone when they were introduced, and were associated more with Arkhan and the followers of Nagash than with Settra and other loyalist factions.  Why are they here?

Why is this faction undead at all?  Settra didn't want to rule an empire of the dead, he didn't want dead soldiers, that wasn't his vision.  He wanted personal immortality, not immortality for others.  He wanted to rule forever over a civilization of living mortals.  You have his soul returned, taking immortal life in a living statue, and founding a new civilization.  That's all fine and good, that's fitting with his character, but if we're following a narrative naturally from there, wouldn't that be a civilization of the living, with living soldiers?  If you're not marrying yourself to the old models and units, then why skeletons and mummies at all?

Additionally, the idea that he could pluck souls from Shyish, especially in a post-necroquake setting, doesn't really fit.  That's not a huge problem, just change the lore so that they trap the souls on death before they go.  But dragging souls back from Shyish doesn't seem like the kind of thing he'd be capable of, certainly not by way of opening arbitrary portals between realms, portals between realms are a big deal in AoS that factions wage entire wars over, not something even the gods can create on a whim.  And getting souls specifically from ancient Nehekhara... that's not really a thing either.  For one, I never got the impression that Settra cared about the individual lives of those he ruled, just the empire as a whole, as an extension of his power and greatness.  Nehekhara fell, multiple times over, and eventually even turned to Nagash.  Even if he can remember it (which is dubious, even the gods can just about barely recall that there was an old world, not so much specific details and events of it), I doubt he'd care about trying to track down specific souls from it, and even if he wanted to that shouldn't be especially possible, not least of which because the chaos gods consumed the overwhelming majority of the old world's souls when it was destroyed.

The fact that the Tomb Kings /were/ Tomb Kings is something Settra never wanted or intended, it's not something he chose, and it doesn't feel like something he would choose to replicate, nor does it feel like something he would have the power to replicate if he wished to do so.  If you're founding this new faction's entire character on Settra specifically, it just seems like making them undead at all doesn't fit.

 

Now, I put all that in spoiler blocks, because griping about the narrative is relatively unrelated to the rules of the faction itself, and I do mean to get back to that more relevant feedback.  But even if this is just a thought experiment for its own sake, I still think you should at least envision it as something that actual players would actually use with models at a table.  And in that case, do you see them using their existing old tomb king armies - in which case staples like chariots and caskets should probably be there - or do you see them using other models, perhaps 3d printed or the like - in which case you seems to be carrying forward a lot of old units that maybe don't need to be there, and you also have to ask what is the point exactly of these guys being undead at all, instead of an egyption themed faction of living soldiers supported by animated stone constructs.

Like, heck, if you're going that way, why would there even be 'embalmed kings'?  The faction has the ability to put their souls in nigh invincible statues of stone & metal, statues far stronger than mortal bodies and not subject to decay, even decay slowed by embalming.  Their own god-king leader sports exactly such a body for all his subjects to envy and aspire to.  Any mortal king would presumably have the wealth to have such a form carved and crafted in their idealized likeness before they died.  Why wouldn't they emulate Settra?  Why wouldn't all of the Imperrishable's kings be giant statues?  Why suffer the indignity of being a rotting corpse, who merely ~rides~ an invincible enchanted behemoth carved from beautiful marble and adorned with gold and gems when you could instead ~be~ that beautiful marble behemoth instead, and in the process be ever so slightly closer to the perfection of your golden godking?

Clearly I closed the spoiler block too soon, because I'm still griping about the fluff.  instead of giving meaningful feedback about the rules, or just closing this post so I can come back to it later.

Please understand that most of that grousing comes from me just being salty about anti-nagash undead, which I'm viscerally opposed to in age of sigmar, and that's more a personal opinion thing than anything that really reflects on your project here.  I do promise to try to get back to more productive feedback in a bit.

I have no problem with your gripes. Personally with regards to AoS I have always been salty about GW getting rid of Tomb Kings in the first place while having the gall to keep Vampire Counts in full support and even giving them new models (I just can't stand the Vampire Counts theme and aesthetic, especially as pretty much every wargames company under the sun makes Hammer horror Undead while Tomb Kings were so unique in the fantasy gaming genre), so we all have our own opinions which I respect.

Anyway, with regards to the structure of the Nehekros Imperishables, on one hand I did want to largely keep the army roster of Tomb Kings because they're awesome, but the reason I ditched Warriors, Archers, Chariots and Horsemen was because they were all outdated 6th Edition models that were as thick and bulky as a full flesh-and-blood human (if GW had had the respect to give Tomb Kings new Chariots and Skeletons in 8th Edition I might have been inclined to keep them, but there was no such luck there, though I've at least given the option to convert Tomb Guard to have bows to give Asaphian Bow Legionnaires, which you could also use your Archer models for), while Carrion and the Casket simply didn't fit with my lore and Swarms have been deleted from AoS completely. Essentially I wanted to capture the feel of if GW had actually had the guts and intelligence to keep Tomb Kings going, with only the really old and ugly models removed and most of the army kept pretty much as-is, with new lore that isn't just a copy-paste of Warhammer Fantasy Tomb Kings (Tyler Mengel has already done that - if anyone wants to simply play Fantasy Tomb Kings in AoS they can use his fan-made book). 
I wanted Settra to be given a giant golden statue body for two reasons:

1. That's what Settra always wanted in the first place - to become a great immortal golden god to rule all for evermore
2. Simply bringing him back in his chariot would make him far too puny to be able to take on Skelepope Nagash. I want a battle between the two characters' AoS selves to be suitably titanic and spectacular.

 

Additionally, while the faction is undead, I did mention in my lore piece that the civilian population Settra rules over are living - it's only the soldiers that are Undead. Perhaps I should have made that more clear. Basically I'm going for the idea of the Nehekrae civilians having a largely peaceful life tending their farms and so on and so forth, in return for serving their King as soldiers once they have died in order to protect their living descendants. Concerning keeping faith to Settra's lore, having a living Nehekharan army would be fun and look great, but that would then prevent a Tomb Kings player from being able to reuse a lot of their models, and also I wasn't sure if living Nehekharan-style army would be as well received from the general unofficial army community as a return and reinvention of Tomb Kings. 

However, if a player really wants to be more faithful to Settra's old lore and have an army of living Nehekrae supported by constructs, the Anhak allegiance covers that in depth with the Living Legionnaires rule, where Legionnaires have human-level Bravery and have to take Battleshock tests where necessary, but can run and also get a Ward Save from the regenerative magic of Ghyran. Similarly, if you want to have a Tomb King that's a golden animated statue rather than a rotting mummy, the Monqatar allegiance gives your General the Exalted Construct Command Trait, which gives him an extra two wounds and the Construct keyword (which opens him up to a load of additional bonuses from the army Allegiance Abilites and the Monqatar allegiance).

Thanks for the three points about Settra's rules, those are all valid, especially the idea of Settra having to be the general as he has this rule in Warhammer Fantasy too. I look forward to hearing anymore rules feedback you may have.

Concerning the Warscrolls themselves, I made them with the Runebrush Warscroll Maker. The JPEGs are in the best resolution I can get them, though I can try making them as PDFs if it would make them easier for people to read.

[Sception]

I just don't see why Settra would want undead soldiers, either, or why he would care about the lives of his civillions being peaceful.  He's not Sigmar.

Nagash isn't a skeleton pope in AoS, he's skeleton god, probably the strongest of the non-chaos deities in AoS.  A golden statue version of settra might defeat Nagash's physical avatar, but is still screaming into a hurricane when it come to opposing Nagash himself.  You might want to find a narrative way to put settra on par with Teclis, Sigmar, etc, or at least give him the ambition to get there.

As per models, the 8e TK plastic skeletons are just as overbulky as the older models.  The plastic grave guard & sphinx riders are in the same scale & style as the old skeletons, just with extra armor on.  they're far larger than grave guard, and don't look like they'd fit inside any of GW's 'human' models.  I'm personally convinced that this is the reason the TK line got dropped entirelt instead of at least partially merged.  Every single plastic model in the entire TK line had the same oversized skeletons.  If ur gonna keep any of them, you might as well keep them all - even the settra model could be demoted to generic hero while still keeping the statue settra thing.

Alternatively, if you're going to envision conversions, VC skittles with TK shields or on TK chariots are a thing.  Alternatively, one could imagine putting tomb guard on chariots.

[Aesir Doomaxe]

On 3/10/2021 at 12:43 PM, Sception said:

I just don't see why Settra would want undead soldiers, either, or why he would care about the lives of his civillions being peaceful.  He's not Sigmar.

Nagash isn't a skeleton pope in AoS, he's skeleton god, probably the strongest of the non-chaos deities in AoS.  A golden statue version of settra might defeat Nagash's physical avatar, but is still screaming into a hurricane when it come to opposing Nagash himself.  You might want to find a narrative way to put settra on par with Teclis, Sigmar, etc, or at least give him the ambition to get there.

As per models, the 8e TK plastic skeletons are just as overbulky as the older models.  The plastic grave guard & sphinx riders are in the same scale & style as the old skeletons, just with extra armor on.  they're far larger than grave guard, and don't look like they'd fit inside any of GW's 'human' models.  I'm personally convinced that this is the reason the TK line got dropped entirelt instead of at least partially merged.  Every single plastic model in the entire TK line had the same oversized skeletons.  If ur gonna keep any of them, you might as well keep them all - even the settra model could be demoted to generic hero while still keeping the statue settra thing.

Alternatively, if you're going to envision conversions, VC skittles with TK shields or on TK chariots are a thing.  Alternatively, one could imagine putting tomb guard on chariots.

On the contrary, while Settra didn't care about his people as openly as Sigmar, he still wanted his people to respect and admire him, as he knew that was the measure of being a strong king, and he did things that all his predecessors avoided doing in order to win that respect and admiration - bowing down and making sacrifices to the Gods, restoring temples, building statues and even commending ordinary people that had done things that particularly pleased him, all to encourage the people to adore him. In that way he was vastly different to Nagash, who really absolutely only cared about himself and wanted to enslave everyone as undead automatons because he felt nobody would accept him as king otherwise, after he had murdered his brother who had been made king instead of him. Essentially Settra is the Alpha to Nagash's Beta.

Also given Nagash is so powerful and has so many legions of unbreakable Undead, from Settra's point of view using his own unbreakable Undead may be the only way to defeat Nagash once and for all - Settra was a tactical genius and he would employ any means to beat his enemies, and if that meant employing the dead ancestors of his subjects to counter Nagash's legions, so be it.

I called Nagash Skelepope as a joke, because his hat looks like the Pope's mitre 😉

I was always intending for Golden Statue Settra to be a god figure like Teclis, Sigmar, Nagash himself e.t.c, with regards to his profile and his lore.

There were no 8th Edition plastic Tomb King Skeletons - the ordinary Skeletons that lasted right up to 8th Edition were the old 6th Ed models, that's why I said that if GW had made some actual 8th Edition Skeletons alongside the Tomb Guard, Necropolis Knights e.t.c, that looked more like the Tomb Guard and the Vampire Counts Skeletons, I'd have considered keeping them.

From what I've seen the Tomb Guard look a lot thinner and more fragile than the old 6th Ed skeletons, more like the Vampire Counts Skeletons, though I don't have any of either myself. Do you have both? If so you may enlighten me with a comparison.

I sadly don't have any Tomb Kings/Nehekros models yet because I have so many other Warhammer Fantasy/AoS projects on the go, though if I were going to start I would use Mantic's Empire of Dust Skeletons, as not only are they more accurately proportioned to the old Skeletons but are also really ornate with full Egyptian suits of armour and cloaks on. Unfortunately Mantic's Empire of Dust range is only a half-hearted attempt to bring Tomb Kings back and they are currently obsessed with the stupid idea of competing with GW to sell Skaven, but what they've done so far is OK and I hope at some point they'll reboot the range and make models for everything in the Tomb King roster.

[Sception]

I meant 'skeletons' in the general sense, not the specific unit sense.  the 8e plastic tomb guard and warsphinx crew and necropolis knight riders are all still skeletons, and are in the same style and scale as the old plastic skeleton models that the TK line was still using for basic warriors and chariots.  They don't look right next to the VC plastic skeleton warriors and grave guard that came out around then.  If you're rejecting basic skeleton warriors and chariots for 'not looking like they could hever have fit inside a regular human person', the same objection would apply to the rest of the TK line, at which point you might as well start from scratch.

As for anti-nagash undead, it's a subjective thing, and I don't think we're going to come to agreement on it, but to me the very concept undermines nagash, one of the most important setting antagonists, almost completely, in a way that just isn't salvageable.  Even Sigmar's attempt at his own undead, the stormcast, an undertaking of colossal, millenia long difficulty requiring not just the overwhelming bulk of his personal power such that he no longer even leads his armies directly, but also the active participation of multiple other gods - even they are still fundamentally and seemingly unfixably flawed due to Nagash's inescapable claim on the souls of the dead.  The idea that Settra could so easily and casually usurp that control in a way that sigmar using all of his power and yet more borrowed from other gods could not feels... off to me, as, again, does the idea that he would even want to do so if he could.

But again, I think this is an irreconcilable difference.  I'm not going to be convinced that anti-Nagash undead have a place in AoS, and that's *the* founding premise of this faction as presented.  "I fundamentally disagree with the entire premise here" isn't exactly constructive feedback, so I need to just get over it

 

I would still ask if there's any way you could post pdf versions of the scrolls, or higher res images, or just text versions.  My eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be.