The Tomb Kings Return in Force

Nehekhara is waking up, and it is bringing more than another royal centerpiece.

The next Warhammer preorder wave puts the Tomb Kings’ regiments front and center, with newly sculpted Skeleton Warriors, Archers, and Chariots arriving together in the Host of Nehekhara Army Reinforcement Set. A new Arcane Journal, supporting accessories, Da Red Gobbo, and a substantial Black Library lineup round out the announcement.

For Tomb Kings collectors, this is the release that makes the army beneath the banners just as interesting as the characters carrying them.

An Army’s Worth of Bones

The Host of Nehekhara contains 36 Skeleton Warriors, 36 Skeleton Archers, and six Skeleton Chariots. These are new plastic miniatures, not another box of the older sculpts.

The Warriors offer spears or khopesh-style swords, interchangeable shields, and command options. The Archers bring their own selection of heads, quivers, and decorative details, including scattered arrows and scarabs.

What we like most is that the refresh has not sacrificed the army’s identity.

The tall shields, bronze ornamentation, elaborate standards, and unnaturally disciplined formations are all still there. The blue-and-gold studio scheme makes those shapes particularly easy to appreciate, with the shields providing strong blocks of color against the pale skeletal bodies.

They look like soldiers who belonged to the same civilization without looking like every individual came out of the same mold.

That matters when you are painting this many of them. A large regiment should look coherent from across the table while still offering something interesting when you pick up an individual model.

The Chariots Steal the Show

The six Skeleton Chariots are our favorite part of the box.

The new designs retain the combination of skeletal horses, open platforms, tall standards, and heavily ornamented crews. They look unmistakably Nehekharan, but the individual details give each vehicle more personality.

Champion, musician, and standard-bearer options are included, alongside cosmetic choices for the crews and chariots.

As a painting project, they provide a welcome change of pace between infantry units. There is more room to work on decorative panels and equipment, while the horses and crew keep the finished models tied visually to the rest of the army.

The overall box is a substantial commitment, though. Seventy-two infantry and six chariots are a proper collection-building project, not a small weekend diversion. This is an army reinforcement set rather than an all-in-one game starter, and the boxed collection is available while stocks last.

The River of Bones

Arcane Journal: The River of Bones follows the consequences of Settra’s campaign as his forces provoke the Wood Elves of Athel Loren.

The supplement adds Armies of Infamy for both factions, Gargantuan Treemen rules, and expanded magic-item options.

That makes this worth a look for more than Tomb Kings players.

We like supplements that give both sides of a conflict something to work with. A campaign feels more useful when it inspires two different army projects rather than simply presenting one faction with a new collection of opponents.

There is not enough here yet to judge the strength of the army lists. For now, the interesting part is the opportunity to build around the conflict itself.

Dice and Reference Cards

The accompanying accessories are a 20-dice set and a 54-card reference pack. Both are while-stocks-last releases. Please Note: Reference cards tend to be direct-only items and will not be available at third party retailers. 

The bone-colored dice fit the army nicely, but the cards would be our practical pick. Having frequently used information beside the battlefield is generally more appealing than interrupting a game to find the same passage in a book again.

Da Red Gobbo Hits the Road

Da Red Gobbo on Squigmobile provides a considerably less dignified alternative to ancient undead royalty.

The mechanical vehicle has a huge toothy front, while an assistant rides in a bomb-shaped sidecar. Between the snowy base, festive details, and questionable engineering, it looks like a holiday decoration that has become a public-safety problem.

That is exactly the appeal.

This is the sort of miniature we would choose for a self-contained painting project between larger army commitments. The exaggerated expression and mechanical details give it plenty of personality without requiring an entire collection around it.

The forthcoming Festive Activities Guide will provide support for Warhammer 40,000 Legends, Kill Team, and Blood Bowl. Those are festive additions, so the 40K rules should not be confused with a standard competitive army release.

Black Library’s Next Wave

Three hardbacks accompany the miniature releases.

Raptors: War and Shadow by William Crowe sends the Raptors against Hive Fleet Leviathan with no prospect of fresh supplies or reinforcements. That is a promising setup for a Chapter whose methods should reward patience and careful decisions rather than endless frontal assaults.

Crucible of Fire by Tom R Pike follows a Valhallan officer trying to defend a manufactorum with surviving tank crews, workers, and wounded soldiers as Orks close in. Of the new premises, this is the one that most immediately grabs us. A defense assembled from whoever is still standing gives the story room to explore more than battlefield spectacle.

Da Red Gobbo’s Reckoning by Callum Davis takes a different approach. Ratlings are sent into the snow to capture the notorious revolutionary, with their treatment at the hands of their Catachan employers complicating matters. It sounds like an appropriately questionable assignment to accompany an equally questionable festive miniature.

These are impressions of the announced stories, not reviews of books we have already read.

Four Paperbacks Return

The paperback selection includes Armageddon: Season of Fire by Jude Reid and Death Rider by Rhuairidh James. The latter gives its commissar an unusual problem: convincing Death Korps troops to survive rather than commit themselves to a doomed attack.

Mike Brooks’ Ghost Legion joins them, following Solomon Akurra’s troubled Alpha Legion warband, alongside the multi-author anthology Treachery Unbound.

These are new paperback editions of existing titles, rather than four newly announced stories.

Grey Knights: Direct Only

Ben Counter’s Grey Knights also returns in a Special Edition, with an ornate cover, red page edges, and an additional short story.

This Special Edition is a Games Workshop direct-only release and will not be available through Wargame Portal.

It also has a separate ordering window: Wednesday, October 28, at 3 p.m. UK time, while stocks last. It is not part of the main weekend preorder opening.

For existing fans, this is a collector’s presentation of the original novel, not a newly written Grey Knights adventure.

Our Take

The Tomb Kings are the standout because this release concentrates on the models that make an army look like an army.

A spectacular character can anchor a collection, but the regiments around it establish the overall impression. These new skeletons and chariots look like a refresh that respects what made Nehekhara distinctive in the first place.

The Chariots would be our first painting project. The infantry would be the longer-term commitment, with The River of Bones providing a reason to think about the campaign those finished regiments might fight.

Da Red Gobbo is there for anyone who would rather paint something ridiculous before committing to another seventy-two skeletons.