Review: New Tomb Kings Skeletons

My thoughts about the new Tomb Kings previews... 

 

 

I've been busy with work, so I haven't had time to weigh in on the preview show (or post much of anything, for that matter). I was really looking forward to whatever new Tomb King models were going to be revealed, and I wasn't disappointed. (Well, I was a little disappointed by the lackluster presentation– After sitting through a 15-minute promotion of the new Tone Pro paints, and then talking about Custodes and flipping through their book for about 10 minutes, we finally get to spend three whole minutes on the Tomb Kings. No music in the model preview video, no physical models on the desk, no look through the new Arcane Journal... Just, "hey there's new skeletons coming, now let's talk about every single new Age of Sigmar Dwarf model for 45 minutes." It's even more frustrating knowing now that they also had new skeleton horsemen coming down the pike.)

 
These Tomb Kings models are a much-needed refresh, and they look fantastic! The chariots are my favorite of the bunch. I really appreciate that the horses have full tack with harnesses and reins so they are properly connected to the chariot yoke. I was planning to convert the tack for my own chariots when I eventually built them. Now I don't have to! 

 

 

The archers are equally as impressive:

 

 

One detail that stands out is that the bows appear to be properly flexed when drawn. Look at the loose bows (left circle) and the drawn bow (right circle). Pretty cool! I'll still need to add my own bow strings, though.

 

 

I'm a ride-or-die fan of the 6th Edition plastic skeletons, I prefer proportions that are easier to paint and "readable" from across the table. That said, it always bothered me that when GW repurposed them for the Tomb Kings army, they only upgraded them with a few new heads, bows and quivers, and command bits. They were stuck with the mismatched "gothic" spears and hand weapons. For me, as long as the proportions haven't become too fine, these are a welcome change.

 

 

They even look like they will mix in with the older edition models pretty well. The shields have the same design, but with a few tweaks like the rolled edge on the metal borders. The shields might be a little taller as well. The aesthetic of the banners also matches the previous designs.

 

 

My only concern would be (as I mentioned) the proportions. The 8th Edition Vampire Counts skeletons put me off because they were too spindly, with not enough detail in the teeth. These look like they have properly sculpted faces and hands. Scaled next to one of my own models, they look like the size is good, but I'll need to see them in person. (See what I mean about the shields looking taller?)

 

 

One gripe I've heard is about the amount of clothing and accessories on the models, which eats up a lot of painting time. One thing to be said for the old "naked" skeletons is that they could be knocked out pretty quickly. I've kitbashed my entire army, using parts with extra clothes and such, and I think the new skeletons are about on par with what I've been doing so far.

 

 

After the initial preview, I was really surprised that they didn't have any new cavalry models, and expected that they would be coming in due time. Well, GW previewed them this week, and they are every bit as impressive as their infantry counterparts.

 

 

As expected (although there seem to be plenty of people online who insist otherwise) they appear to be are on 30x60mm cavalry bases, the same size that the newer character mounts came with. That's a drag because I'm really sick of this re-basing nonsense. If GW wanted Skeleton horses to be on 30x60s they should have included them with the older horses instead of the 25x50mm bases. It's especially egregious in this case because Skeleton Horse Archers are skirmishing light cavalry, not really worthy of the larger base.

 

 

I'm just glad that I hadn't yet gotten around to the cavalry and chariots in my army. So far, I only have five horse archers finished, and I was planning to convert five more, expanding them to a 10-man unit.

 

 

Now I'm not sure if I'll finish them (they don't see much play as it is). It wouldn't be too much of a hassle to re-base these five, but it's the horses themselves that I'm really concerned about. 

 

 

The new horse skeletons appear to have medical-journal-accurate anatomy. By comparison, the old ones look like a child's drawing of a horse, and having them side-by-side in the same army will really bug me. And I have sooo many old skeleton steeds that I could have built...

 

 

I thought the new chariots looked like they had wider bases, and this pretty much confirms it. Two 30mm cavalry bases comes to 60mm wide, and the chariots will definitely match that with a 60x100mm base (the same as baggage trains).

 

 

On a final note, there have been rumors of a new plastic Settra kit, and I'm now convinced that those rumors are 100% true, simply because there's no way GW would update every skeleton horse in the army but leave the centerpiece special character with the same old derpy skeleton steeds.

 
That leaves the generic Tomb King chariot up in the air. My hope is that they will make Settra a dual kit, with the option to build either Settra, or a Tomb King with a four-horse chariot. I remember, back when I was working at GW, someone at the Glen Burnie headquarters (I forget who) had said that they thought the Settra model was a mistake. Their reasoning was because, at the time, special characters were only allowed with your opponent's permission, and were therefore generally barred from tournament play, and people rarely fielded them, even casually. That doesn't mean that no one bought special characters, however– They were awesome miniatures, and could also represent a generic hero of the same type. Grimgore Ironhide was perfect for a Black Orc Warboss, Teclis could be fielded as a High Elf wizard lord, and so forth. But Settra had that giant chariot that a regular character couldn't take, so it wasn't a simple one-for-one swap to a generic Tomb King on chariot, and therefore Settra didn't sell as well as other more easily incorporated special characters.

 

 

I would love for GW to correct that oversight this time around and provide a new option for a king to be mounted on either a two-horse or four-horse chariot. I doubt it, though– GW has made a practice of selling giant centerpiece unique "special" characters, so Settra probably won't be any different. My guess is that, in addition to Settra, they will put out a box similar to the Royal Heralds character box, with a chariot-mounted Herald or Monarch, and the option for it to be a battle standard bearer. I guess we will have to wait and see...
 

'Til next time!