Swissdictator:
Just wondering what people might think of this. This kind of has occurred to me as I build my Tomb Kings (probably the last fantasy I army I build… as I’m running out of armies to build… and cash is tight)
If multiple miscasts stop casters, more dangerous miscasts, etc… as well as character limitations (aside from %'s) perhaps being obsolete (sounds like a Lord in 1k is possible… so perhaps you can take as many characters as points allow). I also see less “full kit of magic items” being true for every character (although one and two still will I suspect).
I think people will have a little less magic defense, as I suspect armies will try to be less reliant on magic. So Tomb Kings, who always cast and never miscast… could they potentially have a very powerful magic phase? With less magic defenses, they could probably handle being predictable. With the exception of the general and the heirophant, they could probably go equipment light.
Also: Shooting. Shooting in two ranks. If I have skeletal archers, they can fire full ranks… and fire in the magic phase. Give the unit full command, 24 strong. Give them the free reform banner on top of it. They might be hitting on 5’s… but all those shots add up. Plus, since we might see larger units, who knows how crazy that could get.
Fear, albeit not causing autobreak it sounds like, now gives a CR bonus. There are a lot of things immune to psych, so perhaps this will help fear a little? Not certain.
They might have a low initiative, but with the ability to attack in the magic phase, they might get that extra edge that way.
Multiple ranks fighting, and horde rules, might allow a big block of skeletal spearmen to be quite the intimidating force. Especially if saves are harder to reduce. So I’m not sure how good undead with spears will be with these changes.
The really large blocks that might be coming might benefit the undead. As while the enemy might outkill by a few (I’m not deluding myself here)… the large units can survive longer until you can heal them up.
Ushapti might be useful again. While they’re not cheap, they are swift and hit hard. Granted, they don’t have the best initiative in the world (3)… but with being able to get some attacks in the magic phase… they can deal some pain. Plus with the access to rank bonuses, a unit of 6-8 with a rank might be quite the flanking unit.
I’m not sure how they’ll handle the casket since it currently is bought by a character and uses up a rare slot (will it use rare slot points or character?). That could be quite interesting, as if it uses up rare points… that could really allow a very nasty magic phase for the TK.
Just wondering what you folks think…
Baggronor:
I think they will be good, but then I thought they were always good. The loss of Str 7 autokill on chariots is also good news for them.
The always-cast thing is one of their best qualities and should aid them a lot by keeping them immune to a low roll for the magic phase, although the opposite is also true in that they never benefit from a high roll either, unlike VCs.
Multiple ranks fighting, and horde rules, might allow a big block of skeletal spearmen to be quite the intimidating force. Especially if saves are harder to reduce. So I’m not sure how good undead with spears will be with these changes.
Hopefully Skelly horde will be the way forward
I’m thinking the days of Ghoul-spam for VCs are thankfully over too.
Ushapti might be useful again. While they’re not cheap, they are swift and hit hard. Granted, they don’t have the best initiative in the world (3)… but with being able to get some attacks in the magic phase… they can deal some pain. Plus with the access to rank bonuses, a unit of 6-8 with a rank might be quite the flanking unit.
I imagine they will get a points reduction, as they are overpriced atm. I rather like them though, Str 6 WS 4 not striking last is nice. This Crush Attack that keeps popping up in rumours for large creatures sounds promising for them, and Scorpions too.
I’m not sure how they’ll handle the casket since it currently is bought by a character and uses up a rare slot (will it use rare slot points or character?). That could be quite interesting, as if it uses up rare points… that could really allow a very nasty magic phase for the TK.
Hmmm interesting. It could be brought into Rare points, in a similar way that Corpse Carts are bought from Core (another unit I expect to see a lot more of in 8th).
Also: Shooting. Shooting in two ranks. If I have skeletal archers, they can fire full ranks… and fire in the magic phase. Give the unit full command, 24 strong. Give them the free reform banner on top of it. They might be hitting on 5’s… but all those shots add up. Plus, since we might see larger units, who knows how crazy that could get.
A mate of mine is already planning the ‘Khalida’s Hail of Doom’ army…
Grimstonefire:
Something that may be worth mentioning about TK, I was told is that either undead crumbling would be part of the rulebook (and be changed a little), or they would change it by errata. Either way, there is apparently going to be a change to it.
I’m not saying it will be a change for the worst, but obviously if it is it could have a big impact on them in the short term. Until their book is redone next year.
People on warseer seem to think the character % is a mega nerf for TK? Your understanding is correct though I think, that a lord can lead a 1k force if he wants to. They are also changing the magic items limit I believe, possibly allowing it to be more generous.
Thorne:
I got a whole bunch of elves to make before the next edition myself but I got to say it looks like a step backwards if the rummors persist about percentages and infantry that tomb kings will be a vouge way to go. Good luck and have fun.
cornixt:
I dislike any army rules to be in the main rulebook, they should be in the individual army books. The Undead crumbling only affects two armies - if there were four or more than I could certainly see it in there, but it is just taking up space otherwise.
Swissdictator:
Cornixt: Unless it applies to all unbreakable units and not just undead…
Bolg:
My 8th edition Vanilla Dwarf army composed of loads of units of 20 Quarrelers (10x2 reform if enemy gets near) will deal wit anything TK willl bring to the table (:
or we’ll just have to wait and see what will really happen (;
cornixt:
Even if TK became supertough with the 8th ed rules, their book isn’t that far off anyway. You can speculate until the bulls come home, I doubt we’d get any confirmation of anything until very shortly before it is released.
Swissdictator:
Meh… I’m still building up my TK anyways… Skeletons are just cool that way. I’ve always thought so… 
Firehammer:
Apart from the new rules, you might also want to wait until the next TK release which seems to be within a year, maybe this year. Or just keep this in mind.
And Wargods of Aegyptus has some nice alternative miniatures, including bits.
phierlihy:
From the rumors I’ve seen (and who knows what’s true anymore…) there are only a few missile weapons that fire in two ranks and they are all regular kinds of bows. So Crossbows, Repeater Crossbows, Handbows, black-powder weapons, etc are uneffected.