Kings of Magic?

Intial Impressions:

Earlier this week the images of the new Tomb Kings magic cards were leaked online.  I’ve gathered some initial impressions, and first up I asked ‘Master of the Twitter,’ blogger, and guest podcaster, @Rhellion, his thoughts on the new Nehekharan Incantations.  He figured the new lore was solid, and is greatly strengthened by the ability to synergize with light magic.  I completely agree, and love dreaming up possible combos between the two magic decks.  However, Rhellion did have some concerns, and his biggest was regarding the TK’s reliance on magic movement.  Although this is a concern I’ve also had, I tend to think the top players will be able to deploy to insure they are in good position whether they get the movement spell off or not.  Checkout Rhellion on the latest Bad Dice podcast @ http://baddice.co.uk/

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There is tons of great inspiration over at tomb-kings.net, but a stand out for me was the work of Mioumboy.  I especially enjoy his Ushabti:  http://tomb-kings.net/index.php?showtopic=7583

Shifting Sands
The most controversial change regarding the new Tomb Kings magic is that it’s lost it’s unique qualities, and seems to work just as any other armies magic phase.  Pete Dunn, a New Zealand blogger, tournament organiser, and attendee was greatly disappointed by this change.  He suggests in his blog that the unique magic phase was the one thing that really appealed to him about the Tomb Kings.  Although, part of me agrees with Pete I still think the TK army remains different from others thanks to their movement phase and the signature spell, Khsar’s Incantation of the Desert Wind.  David Witek of Garage Hammer, like Pete, was also saddened to see the old TK’s magic system go, and thought it’d be a serious blow to the Tk army if their movement spell could be dispelled.  I think truly only time will tell, but I do believe the new Tomb Kings will play more defensive because of how unreliable eighth edition magic is.  You can find more thoughts from Pete at, thefieldsofblood.blogspot.com/, and Dave at garagehammer.net

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White Dwarf Editor Andrew Kenrick had his Tomb Kings displayed this week on the GW website.  He’s been tweeting about his success with the new list @andrewkenrick

Skeletal Strength

One of my initial concerns about the Tomb Kings is magic was, will it  be enough to stop skeletons from vaporizing in combat versus some of the nasty eighth edition units, such as, the Warriors of Chaos Chris of the canhammer.com podcast loves to employ.  Chris suggests the new augments and hexes will give the skeletons the edge they need, but is also concerned with how fickle the magic phase can be.  I also asked the community over at tomb-kings.net what they thought of the new magic, and many like smithers enjoy the lore overall and are more than willing to give it a try, but others such as Sieboda suggested that core units will evaporate incredibly quickly, and just not be replaced fast enough.  It’s all theory hammer at this point, but I think a solid shooting phase combined with support from monsters like the Warsphinx will allow the rank in file Skeletons to hold up units allowing the Tomb Guard to punch through enemy lines and turn the flank.
I’d love to hear what you think of the new Tomb King magic?

You can follow me on twitter: twitter.com/FBroundup or email me at fantasybattleroundup@gmail.com

Thanks for reading, and thanks to this week contributors!

Mike Sweetman


All pictures used without permission to promote the Warhammer community.