Editing Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Tomb Kings (section)

====Faction Counterplay====
A list of all the other factions in the game, alongside their various strengths, weaknesses, and best strategies you have to combat them.

*'''Beastmen''' - Leave the Tomb Guard at home; most likely the Beastmen will bring lots of Ungors and your skeletons can handle them just fine. They'll also bring Centigors with throwing axes and possibly Ghorgons to fight your constructs, so invest in some Skeleton Horsemen who can whittle down their low-armor hides with arrows as they try to get into position. If any big monsters or cavalry do threaten your ranged units, Sepulchral Stalkers can provide a nasty surprise for them.

*'''Bretonnia''' - Poor Bretonnia, having to fight a faction full of cheap AP anti-large undead blocks with monsters that will easily chew up their glorious knights. The Tomb Kings are positively terrifying in this matchup as you have plenty of tools to make those Bretonnian knights regret looting your tombs. The only real problems are their cheap flaming Longbowmen and hard-hitting Trebuchets, but even then it's not like they can threaten your constructs that badly. Your opponent may attempt to push home a charge on a weak flank or cycle-charge your infantry into oblivion - don't let them get away with it! Pin them down with Net of Amyntok or your Ushabti summon and punish them suitably.

*'''[[Total_War_Warhammer/Tactics/Chaos_Dwarves| Chaos Dwarfs]]''': Just give up. Chaos Dwarfs will destroy your lines with their superior artillery, and good luck relying on your constructs to get anything done if the chorf player knows how to screen their blunderbusses. Also all your heals will be be worth jack shit with the absurd amount of fire damage they have. Probably better to just hope your opponent doesn't know how to play the game. If you're intent on playing this out, maybe get a Bone Giant to snipe their artillery, Settra on his chariot, and try a mass chariot rush? Tomb Scorpion might also be mobile enough to break into the ranged stuff without getting eviscerated, and Ushabti Greatbow RoR could put pressure on Ironsworn or Fireglaives if they don't get melted by Lore of Hashut. In campaign try cowardly cheese tactics with your Liche Priests and Necropolis Knights. In multiplayer, just try to get in a little trolling before you die horribly.

*'''Grand Cathay''' -

*'''Dark Elves''' - Like the High Elves, the Dark Elves have easy access to the Lore of Fire, which is going to be a problem for you. Their ranged units almost all have AP crossbows, which is a big threat to your constructs. Unlike the High Elves, the Druchii have middling range on those crossbows, which means you can outzone them. They frequently bring Dark Riders with crossbows instead of ranged infantry, so invest in some Skeleton Horsemen Archers who will outrange them and have basically no armor to pierce so all that AP gets wasted on them. Otherwise go wide and cheap with your skeletons, same as with HE. Dark Elves rely a lot on overwhelming the enemy with their Murderous Prowess army ability, and aren't as good in a war of attrition, which is exactly what you want to give them. Thankfully their only big monster with fire damage is the Hydra. Your Necrosphinx, Stalkers, or Necropolis Knights with Halberds will trade well against all Dark Elf monsters except maybe the Kharibdyss, but the Khemrian Warsphinx will definitely hold its own. Caskets and Bone Giants are still your friends here; your Bowshabti have the same vulnerabilities to the Druchii Bolt Thrower that they do to the HE Bolt Thrower, so maybe consider leaving them at home. Just shut down those AP missiles and for the love of Ptra watch out for Burning Heads.

*'''Dwarfs''' - Despite the wall of armor and artillery rape that daunts the lightly-armored skeletons of the Tomb Kings army, you have plentiful AP to deal with them. Your artillery is top-notch for dealing with Longbeard/Hammerer lines with their big splash radius projectiles while Tomb Scorpions again can quite easily deal with the lower model count regiments. Just be extremely careful of Giant Slayers and the Dwarfs' own AP artillery because they can be quite damaging against a construct-heavy comp. Don't ever bring Tomb Guard to this matchup, your infantry are mostly there to get killed so that your real heavy hitters like Necropolis Knights or Tomb Scorpions close in. Chariots will also have a hard time here with the general mass of Dwarf units making it hard to disengage after charges.

*'''Empire''' - In many ways, you are similar to the Empire in strategy but while you can send massive constructs their way to massacre at will, they will host a plentiful number of AP missile infantry and artillery to get rid of them. Your cavalry comps are about equal but the Empire's is more flexible while you still have the sheer threat of a chariot flank charge on their infantry to royally mess up their day. You will have to be more aggressive than usual to ensure the Empire doesn't exploit their artillery advantage to the fullest - bring Tomb Scorpions to attack from unexpected angles and Skeleton Horse Archers or chariots to mess with their threat assessment. Khemrian Warsphinxes (with proper micro) are fantastic for crushing the Halberdier line the Empire will most certainly throw at you and don't be afraid to employ your own excellent artillery options to either snipe out their artillery or soften up their infantry for maximum rape.
 
*'''Greenskins''' - In contrast to the dorfs, the Greenskins are relatively light on armor which means your regular archers can actually make a dent in them. Tarpit heavily with basic Skeletons and counterattack with any manner of construct you see fit - regular Ushabti work magnificently against many Greenskin infantry and a single Khemrian Warsphinx can be a massive headache for your opponent since the Greenskins lack a viable Anti-Large option. A duo of Ushabti Greatbows with one being the RoR version with shrapnel shot arrows can be a gigantic threat here since the regular one will be able to make mincemeat of any monsters the Greenskins dare field and the RoR one can be reliably used to snipe out elite infantry, and both can also serve as regular Ushabti murder machines if needed.

*'''High Elves''' - This is not a good matchup for you, primarily because the High Elves have a lot of easy access to fire damage, including the Lore of Fire. Burning Head can annihilate a front line of even Tomb Guard, as all your infantry have relatively low armor values. As a result you'll want to go super wide with skeletons and rely on quantity over quality for the infantry fight. Bolt Throwers, dragons, Sisters of Avelorn, all will threaten your constructs and lords with plentiful AP and fire damage. You do however have a lot more artillery options, so you may want to consider outranging them. Ushabti Greatbows are very vulnerable to Bolt Throwers so Caskets and Bone Giants might be better options. You'll want one or two anti-large constructs like the Necrosphinx or the Stalkers to deal with dragons and phoenixes going after your back line, but don't over-invest in them. Your best bet is to overwhelm the relatively fewer numbers of the Elves while shooting them to pieces.

*'''Kislev''' -

*'''Khorne''' - You're fucked. With flaming attacks out the arse and numerous high-AP anti-large units, You're the easiest picking of skulls to offer to the Blood God. Your skeletons are just food for Bloodletters and dual axe Khorne warriors, and your constructs will be shattered by Halberdiers, Minotaurs, Skullcrushers, and Bloodthirsters. You have nothing that can outrun their hounds and you'll lose the melee fight, so your only remaining advantage is range. Skeleton Archers, unless supported by the Blessed Legion of Phakth will accomplish nothing, it's all about your artillery, Ushabti greatbows, and Bone Giants. A Lore of Light mage with Net of Amyntok will ensure your Ushabti and Bone Giants will shoot down any Bloodthirsters, and they can reliably pick off cavalry before they charge you to death. Skeletons on their own won't hold the line long, so the best supporting construct is by far Tomb Skorpions, whose animations help them stay alive in combat; any larger construct will just be an easy target for the numerous anti-large options Khorne brings to the table. Of all the contenders in the Southlands Thunderdome, Skarbrand is by far the biggest threat to Settra, so try and get rid of him as soon as possible.

*'''Lizardmen''' - Lizardmen have access to a fair few tools that can make combating them a bit of a challenging prospect, but you do have a few select units that can and will ruin their game-plan if positioned carefully. Skeleton Spear won't win any fights against the Saurus or even Skink front lines, but they'll hold the line until the bitter end. Considering all the Fear/Terror the bigger monsters toss around, their ability to tarpit things cannot be undersold. Whilst they do so, this is where your key players will come in; Ushabti Greatbows, Sepulchral Stalkers and Necrosphinx Colossi. Ushabti Greatbows are the ideal and go-to choice for your monster-hunting needs and will safely outrange a majority of anything the Lizardmen will typically have on tap to retaliate with and aren't totally helpless in a fist fight. If you're feeling like setting up a good ol' fashioned Monster-Mash, Necroshinx Colossi can generally wreck the bigger beasties in a straight duel, just ensure no (Ancient) Salamanders are getting free shots on it while it does so. Speaking of, Salamanders, Solar Engine Bastilodons and Fireleach Bolas Terradons will be some priority targets.

*'''Norsca''' - Like the Beastmen, Norsca will try to flank you with lots of speedy warhounds and monsters. Unlike the Beastmen, Norsca has no artillery and pretty weak range overall. Punish them from a distance with Greatbows then soak up their infantry charge with cheap skeleton hordes. Unfortunately this is another army with Lore of Fire so watch out for Burning Heads on your front line and Fireballs aimed at your characters. Despite their limited range Norsca has a lot of ways to dish out anti-large damage, so leave the big melee constructs at home in most cases and focus on ranged units. Thankfully most of your ranged constructs can at least defend themselves a bit in melee. Double Bone Giants is a solid option, they'll kick the crap out of Throgg, Mammoths, Fimir, and most other Norscan monsters. If you're having trouble with Skin Wolves getting into your back lines a unit of Sepulchral Stalkers might help a bit, if you have the funds for them.

*'''Nurgle''' - Pincushion time. While Skeleton Archers shoot wimpy arrows with little AP, they do shoot a lot of them and Nurgle has little armor.

*'''Ogre Kingdoms''' -

*'''Skaven''' - Thank God, someone who doesn't have Lore of Fire. Expect tons of Clanrats and Skavenslaves, which you should counter with tons of Skeletons. Since all of your infantry cause fear you will probably win the wet noodle front line fight. Chariots will also help mow down tons of rats. Bring a few speedy units like Carrion or Skeleton Horsemen to shut down Skaven artillery and weapon teams. If you bring Ushabti Greatbows expect them to get focused down by Jezzails, though they may do some good work before crumbling. Tomb Scorpions can sometimes be useful due to haw difficult they are to pin down with ranged fire. The AP blasts of the Casket of Souls will tear through weapon teams.

*'''Slaanesh''' -

*'''Tomb Kings''' - The good news is you have Great Bows and Sepulchral Stalkers to deal with whatever constructs they bring. The bad news is... well, ''they'' are also Tomb Kings. This may be a race of who can shut down the other's big lads before they do the same. As with a lot of undead vs undead matchups a lot will depend on who can snipe the other's lords and heroes first.

*'''Tzeentch''' - Go light on infantry and heavy on constructs, Tzeentch doesn't have much of a frontline and he will effortlessly delete your mobs with the considerable amount of fire damage he has at his disposal. Bow Ushabti will be your best friend to punish cycle charge barrier abuse and force Tzeentch to close the distance.

*'''Vampire Coast''' - Leave the big artillery and constructs at home, unless you need one as a Distraction Carnifex. The Vampirates can absolutely outshoot you in an artillery duel. The good news is their front line of zombies is basically made of wet tissue paper. This is the perfect time to break out the Tomb Guard, who will march right over the Zombie Pirates. For your ranged core you want to bring mostly archers, who will outrange handgunners or deck mobs, but keep a couple of skeleton spears in the back line to fend off hounds and bats. Chariots are excellent at running down Vampirate ranged units while Skeleton Horsemen can intercept their hounds. Consider bringing some Carrion to shut down the enemy artillery ASAP. One uncommon but dangerous counterpick the pirates might bring is Queen Bess. The Queen is expensive enough that it'll cut down their other ranged options, but if the player guesses correctly that you are bringing skeleton hordes the Queen's shots will quickly reduce them to bonemeal. If she does show up spread your front line as wide and as thin as possible to minimize the damage. This is the rare time it's useful to have one unit of Bowshabti or a Bone Giant as they can shoot Bess but her shots aren't as good against large targets. Otherwise you'll have to tie her up with horsemen and birds or focus fire her with archers. Watch out for Luthor Harkon, he's a very common lord pick and he will definitely try to assassinate your lord and characters.

*'''Vampire Counts''' - The Counts are renowned as a rush faction and you will have to weather the onslaught the best you can. Liche Priest with Banishment will be super useful here as well as your rapetastic artillery. For once your Nehekharan Warriors can reliably duel Grave Guard without fear of being shot up, but do be aware of the Winds of Death spam the enemy Vampire lord will likely throw at them. Sepulchral Stalkers (in particular the RoR version) can be amazing here with their ability to counter-charge any monster that gets close and reliably slaughter them.

*'''Daemons of Chaos''' - 

*'''Warriors of Chaos''' - Break out the Great Bows and go to town, they're equally good at shooting down big monsters and heavily armored Chaos Warriors. You'll want a few light and speedy units to fend off their Marauder Horsemen but otherwise the name of this game is crushing your opponent with heavy constructs and swarms of skeletons. The Necropshinx can take on Shaggoths, the Tomb Scorpion can tear apart Marauders, and the War Sphinx will just prance around like the big happy kitty it is. You can't bring all of these, but pick one or two plus the Ushabti and you'll be in a good place. As always Burning Heads and the Lore of Fire will be your biggest threat. That and Kholek. Bring Necrotects.

*'''Wood Elves''' - They're probably going to throw Dryads at your front line, go really wide with Glade Riders to get into your flanks, and use Waywatchers or Deepwood Scouts to avoid your artillery. Bring at least some artillery anyway to soften up their front line. They have no fire magic so Tomb Guard will easily take down the weakened Dryads and push after the archers. Skeleton Horsemen and Skeleton Horsemen Archers will help zone out their light cav and skirmishers, but if they push through eventually a unit of Stalkers can help protect your back line. Once their archers are visible concentrate your fire on them, they're usually the biggest threat. On the off hand chance they bring a dragon or other large monster (trees aren't out of the question, you don't have Lore of Fire either) having a Necrosphinx in reserve can be very useful, though you probably don't need both a sphinx and the Stalkers.