Julian on Fighting Khemri

I've never played against Khemri with Woodelves, but I have played against them with my other armies. I'm also designing one myself, (just lazy not to have got more then 12 models assembled yet). So I'll try and help what I can.

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Chariots
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Yes, if you are not careful about these guys they will tear you apart. They are not vulnerable like other chariots in that you cannot slow them down, they have a single profile, Tough 4, 3 wounds, and can have a 1+ save, (light armour, shields, standard of shielding ontop of the sacred crocodile skins). However, they are large targets, so massed missile fire will get to them in the end... it'll just have to be very massed! If they hit, they cause d3 S4 impact hits each, +2 per chariot if they take scythes. Then the crew will attack with 3 S5 attacks each if they have spears. A champion/tomb lord/tomb king added into the unit makes them devestating in hth combat, avoid them at all costs.

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Scorpion Swarms
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Infiltrating Swarms, need more be said....? Well yes, because unlike your infiltrators, these guys can be deployed ANYWHERE on the table tob, just not within 8" of you. This means that yes, they may be charging your main unit on turn 1 if the Bones get the drop. 5 S4 attacks for each base.... be wary!

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Carrion and Skullchuckas
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These stay the same as they were with the old Undead army book, the problem is though that Carrion help this Undead army be very fast. The Chariots, Skeleton Cavalry, and Carrion mean that you have to be respectful of the Tomb Kings movement capabilities, especially if they have a few of those movement scrolls on Liche Priests. Just when you think you've avoided them....

Carrion will also dominate the skies against your Warhawks and Eagles, so don't fly high. However, you will need to have a few of these guys handy to prevent the Carrion from taking to the heights and avoiding your missile troops. If you have nothing to stop their high fliers, they will pick the worst opportunity to come down, and Carrion will shred your vunerable units of skirmishes etc.

Skullchuckas aren't much of a problem, as you don't have the big block units that lobbers like firing against, however, any unit that takes a wound must make an immediate panic test. Your skirmishes are probably the prime target of these machine, so if the opponent has one, stay at the maximum 2" spread, make it as hard as possible for him to cause wounds.

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Skeleton Cavalry
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Spears and Doomrider banner make this unit quite nasty in hand to hand combat. Not only that, but if they have bows and Asp Arrows, then he effectively has BS 4 to target you back with. Try and take out these guys as quickly as possible with your own shooters, as unlike the chariots, they are vulnerable, and unlike the skeleton soldiers, they will usually be in small units.

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Skeleton Soldiers
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Your stock standard skeltons. If they have bows, they will probably have Asp arrows, taking them to a BS of 3. They cannot be underestimated, as it is possible for them to get 2 rounds of shooting in a single turn.

Skeletons with Spears will also be quite a problem as not only will both ranks attack, but if a scroll of rigtheous smiting is read, then they will all receive double attacks...16 attacks back from a 4 wide skeleton unit? Respect them, they can be nasty!

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Tomb Guard
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Strong Skeletons, (S4), skillful skeletons (WS3), with Halberds for a S5.... the problem that the Khemri player will have though is that they are expensive for what they do. Still a small unit of these can really hurt, especially if they use a scroll of smiting...

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Liche Priests
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These guys are very soft, so if you can get to them, by all means do it. These guys hold all the scrolls so important to the Khemri army, so if you can kill them, you're on your way to a victory. The problem... they are armed with Serpent Staffs. These staves strike first in combat, hit automatically and are S4... so unless you have good armour saves, treemen, dryads or characters, don't engage them in combat to kill them, (your elves will simply fall over dead).

The other problem that you'll find is that they don't cast spells, so they can simply horde all their Winds of Magic Cards to stop you from casting. There is absolutely no requirement to play a defensive magic phase against these guys, it is simply wasted points. If they take incantation scrolls, they are one use only, and can still be dispelled without having to go about getting heaps of anti-magic stuff. Play offensive against them, it is the only reason for taking mages. If you want, possibly even leave them at home and take more hth and shooting characters/troops.

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Tomb King
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The Tomb Kings Curse is deadly. You get absolutely no save, (not even for wards/special saves) against it. If you are going to kill him in hand to hand combat, do it with something that is expendable, or that has lots of wounds. When he dies in hth the model killing him suffers d3 wounds...

If he dies from shooting/magic, then the closest character suffers the curse. Have a cheap character ready to move towards the Tomb King to interpose himself in the line of the Curse to protect your General/Mage/BSB whatever... a lowly champion is good for this.

Troops that are fast/cause fear/have a high WS are a must against this army. Pick your fights very carefully, use your shooters wisely, and be prepared to take some casualties along the way.