‘Warhammer: The Old World’ – Three Tomb Kings Armies To Rule The Sands

6 Minute Read

Jun 25 2026

Take a look at a trio of lean and mean army lists for Warhammer: the Old World’s Tomb Kings of Khemri .

The Old World has been out for over two years now. A lot of us have a lot of fun building armies and playing the game. Many others are just now getting into the game and feeling things out. It’s an exciting time to be a Warhammer fan. One of my favorite parts of playing the game is building armies and designing lists. There is a lot of fun to be had here and it can help translate to fun on the table top.

So I wanted to start taking a look at the various armies and playing around with some lists. I did this when Renegade Crowns first came out, and a few others. Today I wanted to look at Tomb Kings. Each of these lists has some real power and a place in the meta right now.

Tomb Kings – The Balanced Force

200 – High Priest, Wizard Level 4, Elementalism, Lore Familiar

55 – Mortuary Priest, Wizard Level 1, Illusion

409 – Tomb King, General, Necrolith Bone Dragon, Great Weapon, Armour of Meteoric Iron, Talisman Of Protection

55 – Necrotect

115 – Royal Herald, Battle Standard Bearer, Banner Of The Desert Winds

110 – Tomb Prince, Sword of Might

60 – 11 Skeleton Archers, Master of Arrows

52 – Skeleton Chariots, Master Charioteer, Burning Blade

40 – 10 Skeleton Skirmishers

378 – 25 Tomb Guard, Halberd, Tomb Captain, Obsidian Lodestone, Standard Bearer, Icon of Rakaph, Musician, Drilled

81 – 3 Carrion

195 – Necrosphinx

How The Balanced Force Works

This list represents a bit more of a balanced Tomb Kings force these days. It leans into, but isn’t quite a full monster mash list. Still it does do the mash. The pair of Sphinxes and the King on the Dragon represent a fast and hard hitting part of the army that can really tear up enemy forces that aren’t prepared to face them. They are also great for threatening flanks.

They are backed up by the pretty deadly force of Tomb Guards. This is a very mobile, thanks to the dual banners of the Desert Wind and Rakaph and drilled, unit. It’s also quite tank-y and has good character support. If it needs to be more defensive The High Priest can drop Earthen Ramparts to greatly limit that damage they take. The lvl 1 can also cast Glittering Robes to help with this. If they need to get into combat the pair of Necrotects can soup up the units damage output a ton also. It’s a very flexibly unit. Rounding out the army you have a little bit of chaff for objective control and screening.

Tomb Kings – The Royal Host

55 – Mortuary Priest, Wizard Level 1, Illusion

135 – Royal Herald, Destroyer of Eternities

149 – Royal Herald, Skeleton Chariot, Great Weapon, Armour of Meteoric Iron, Talisman Of Protection

139 – Royal Herald, Battle Standard Bearer, Banner Of The Desert Winds, Great Weapon, Obsidian Lodestone

215 – Tomb King, The Conqueror’s Blade

250 – Tomb King, The Language Of The Priest, Dragon Slaying Sword, Charmed Shield

41 – Skeleton Chariots

430 – 69 Skeleton Infantry Cohort • 1x Royal Host Archer, Master of Arms, Death Mask of Kharnutt • 1x Royal Host Archer, Standard Bearer, Icon of Rakaph • 1x Royal Host Archer, Musician • 56x Royal Host Archer • 10x Royal Host Warrior, Nehekharan Phalanx

450 – 69 Skeleton Infantry Cohort • 1x Royal Host Archer, Master of Arms, Amulet of the Serpent • 1x Royal Host Archer, Standard Bearer, Icon of the Sacred Eye • 1x Royal Host Archer, Musician • 56x Royal Host Archer • 10x Royal Host Warrior, Nehekharan Phalanx

40 – 10 Skeleton Skirmishers, Ambushers (Lay in Wait)

How The Royal Host Fights

Going for a more extreme list we have a Royal Host list like this. This gets rid of all the big monsters to instead focus on real infantry hordes. Now there are a few light chaff/annoyance units in the list, but the real heart here is the two massive blocks of skeletons and the characters to support them. This is a list that’s designed to grind down the enemy. It can put out a lot of shooting (even if its pretty weak) while advancing across the table. The blocks are hard to kill due to their size and each has a wizard to provide Glittering Robes.

Often one block with have the bulk of characters in it to deal the major combat blow, while the 2nd block provides support and controls objectives. The combined characters can put out a lot of damage, and there are three heralds to take hits for the Tomb Kings, meaning that attacks can really be spread around (and then hopefully healed). This list can pack a punch. It’s also very hard to score against as unless you can crack a block and the characters in it you basically can’t kill anything worth real points.

Tomb Kings – Bow Before The Bows

465 – High Priest, General, Necrolith Bone Dragon, Wizard Level 4, Illusion, Serpent Staff, Power Scroll, Lore Familiar, Talisman Of Protection

155 – Mortuary Priest, Battle Standard Bearer, Wizard Level 2, Elementalism, Scroll of Righteous Smiting, Ruby Ring of Ruin

125 – 23 Skeleton Archers, Master of Arrows, Standard Bearer

77 – 7 Skeleton Horse Archers

399 – 8 Ushabti, Greatbow, Ancient

77 – Tomb Scorpion, Ambushers, The Terrors Below

203 – 4 Ushabti, Greatbow, Ancient

135 – Casket of Souls

105 – Screaming Skull Catapult

How It Works

Lastly we’ve got a Mortuary Cult build that skews in another direction. This is much more of a shooting list, with a little counter punch. The core of this kind of list is the Ubshabti with bows. We’ve got 12 in this list, but you might see even more in some builds. These guys are really brutal with very damaging shots that are pretty accurate. They can also switch up and fight a lot of weaker foes in combat. A pair of Screaming Skull catapults buff the ranged threat and can make the enemy run away. A Casket of Souls also provides support, thought it’s Light of Protection is likely going to be used more than the ranged attack vs a lot of foes. It can really help buff the Unshabti in combat.

Tomb Scorpions are a very cost effective unit that can cause havoc in the enemy backline and we’ve got two here. You’ve also got some light units to score objectives and let the wizard hide in them (recall that the big Unshabti are also core and scoring). This particular list is a little character light. You’ve got a wizard on foot for some support and a little extra ranged attack. You’ve so got a lvl 4 on a dragon, that’s not super common, but its got it uses.

This is mostly going to be used a counter punch unit and held back, but it can do some major hits. Between Glittering Robes and Light of Protection you can give the dragon a -2 to be hit. Or you can use it to pop off reserve move in a huge radius. It can also stop enemy charges with it’s major, making it a very flexible unit to have around. This is a list that shoots you up and then punches you in the face if you make it to them.

Let us know what you think of these lists, down in the comments!

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Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers Warhammer: The Old World, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe mourned over loss of WFB for its entire hiatus, but has been reborn like a gaming phoenix with Warhammer: The Old World.

Armylists Tactics Tomb Kings Wargames Warhammer Fantasy Warhammer The Old World