Every codex and army book presents the players of that army with a vast amount of background and history involving that race. When the old Tomb King book came out special characters were a way to take those over the top characters and put them on the battlefield purely for fun. Most characters required the consent of your opponents and all of them were horribly powerful in their own right. Times change.
These days special characters, while representing historically important leaders and warriors, usually open up new avenues for army building and encourage a specific style of play within the army. Nowhere is that more true then the new Tomb King army book. The lords in particular will dictate how a player constructs the army and this usually means these armies will focus on a particular element of the army. So, I'm going to skip the usual quick change segment and just go all typographical on everyone.
Settra The Imperishable
Overall Settra really didn't change much. In all honesty he actually grew in power. First and foremost he increases the combat effectiveness of his army quite effectively. His "My Will Be Done" ability affects all units within 6" which proves an even greater boon than usual considering he parades around with a weapon skill of 7. He also spreads his Inspiring Presence out to 18" which is something usually reserved only for generals on large mounts (Screaming Bells, dragons, etc). Lastly, Settra counts as a level 1 wizard who uses the Lore of Nehekhara, which as I've explained here centers very soundly around boosting the lackluster abilities of the Tomb King's units.
In combat Settra took a little hit in the survivability department but comes up strong otherwise. He lost the old 2+ armor save in favor of just the chariot's 4+ armor (although he keeps the 4+ ward). He did gain a very modest amount of magic resistance. Both Settra and his chariot dish out magic attacks, something sorely missing throughout the Tomb king book and Settra sports a hefty strength of 7 as well. The blade of Ptra no longer lets Settra strike first, but it now ignores armor. It also trades the complicated effect that reduced opponents to Weapon Skill 1 for a combat round with a nastier effect that causes wounded characters and monsters to suffer a -1 to hit for the remainder of the game.
So couple the changes above with the fact that the new Settra sports a point cost roughly 150 points cheaper and Tomb King generals everywhere will be scrambling to find a place for him in their higher point games. He works equally well alone or in a unit, keep him near several units and players will find a very hard to crack bubble in the army where even lowly skeletons will hit Chaos Warriors and Chosen on 3+! Given his excellent combat stats he lends himself quite well to fighting all types of opponents from units to monsters and even some of the middle tier of special characters. Overall a great addition to any army if the points can be found. He boosts the army's effectiveness and can dish out some serious punishment.
So what kind of army works best for Settra? Well, since he is mounted in a chariot the best army is a mobile one. Now, this does not mean he performs well with all chariot or all cavalry. He does throw out his Inspiring Presence to 18" so the skeletons only need to keep within that bubble, but any army with Settra should seek to include the fast moving heavy hitters like Sepulchral Stalkers, Necrosphinx, Necroplis Knights, Chariots, and Carrion. Keep large blocks of infantry, but remember to move them and concentrate on getting their movement spells off as well.
High Queen Khalida
Khalida took a huge hit in combat effectiveness and survivability with the release of the new Tomb King's book. She lost Terror, Regeneration, the ability to make all archers in the army have poison attacks, and the ability to do d3 wounds when her poison affects her victims. What did she gain in return? Not a whole lot honestly. She gained Hatred (Vampire Counts), Always Strikes First, and the ability to give a unit of skeletal bowmen (that she deploys with) her ballistic skill and poison attacks. What is her price point you ask? Well, her points only dropped 50ish.
So at this point Khalida really isn't worth her points. She buffs only a single ranged unit with her Ballistic Skill (an unimpressive 3) and she really doesn't offer anything spectacular on any other front. Compared to a normal Tomb King she actually lost a point of strength which diminishes her combat effectiveness. I'm not sure what GW was thinking when they came out with the new Khalida rules. She's fairly fragile with only a 6+ armor save and no ward save (she's still T5), requires being deployed with a cheap throwaway unit to gain the most benefit of her abilities, and doesn't add much to the army. I'd consider her a pretty poor choice for a general and a Lord level character to boot.
If a player does choose to run Khalida then they need to make the most of her strengths. Ranged attacks still rule supreme for her and players would do well to invest in a number of liche priests as well. This list also makes a strong candidate for Catapults and the Casket of Skulls.
Arkhan The Black
So the great servant of Nagash himself makes a return to the tabletop. He's a wizard extraordinaire and one of the only level 5 wizards in the game. As if the sheer power of simply being a level 5 caster wasn't enough, he can also store dispel dice and then use them to power his spells in the Tomb King's own magic phase. From this point though, his luster seems to fade.
At first glance, one might think Arkhan extremely survivable. He's easily hidden in a unit and sports a fantastic toughness of 5. Then you notice that he has a 6+ armor save and no ward save. So the only thing between Arkhan and going back beneath the sand is his toughness of 5.
Next, let's revisit the magic section. He's a level 5 wizard technically. That essentially means if you take Arkhan he will be your hierophant. The problem with this is that he is stuck using the Lore of Death. Now, the Lore of Death possesses a number of useful spells, however, a hierophant should exist to ensure that the army stays together. So being stuck with Lore of Death at level 5 really doesn't do much for the army. Also, the number of times a player finds himself with leftover dispel dice is rare to say the least. So don't expect the use the Staff of Nagash too frequently.
Arkhan the Black, should any player chose to use him, really is an offensive character. He possesses the stats of a Chaos Warrior hero (minus the saves) and Death magic is one of the more offensive lores out there. So definately don't build a turtle army full of archers and catapults. The best army types would seem to be either a slow moving phalanx of skeletons, Tomb Guard, and maybe some War Sphinxes, or the faster moving army similar to Settra. Lastly, make sure to include more casters. The lack of the Lore of Nehekhara means players really should include at least a level 2 caster to help beef up the undead hordes.
Grand Hierophant Khatep
Khatep offers a much more reasonable, albeit less offensively powerful, choice to Arkhan the Black. As a level 4 caster and Loremaster for the Lore of Nehekhara, Khatep offers a nice way to ensure players have the right spell at the right time. In addition, the Liche Staff means that players will rarely worry about losing their hierophant to miscasts or prematurely ending Khatep's magic phase by a single terrible casting roll.
Offensively Khatep offers very little aside from the Scroll of the Cursing Word. This little scroll offers a unique way of taking enemy casters out of the game temporarily. However, it relies on a toughness test and most models have a 50/50 chance or better to pass this characteristic test. A rather large gamble considering at least one spell is guaranteed to go off since using the scroll takes the place of a dispel attempt. Still, the Feedback Scroll still works wonders so this scroll will certainly find some victims.
Other than the abiltiies above Khatep is really just a glorified Liche High Priest. He offers a more reliable magic approach to Tomb King generals out there and for his price point (only 100is points higher than a level 4 liche priest with no magic items) he really is a steal. Be careful of using him in small games though as unwary players may quickly discover that Khatep's leadership of 9 means he might be vying for the general slot in a Tomb King army without a Tomb King or Prince.
Khatep's tactical acument really lends itself to a variety of playstyles. Overall, he should perform best with a nice balanced army. A good mixture of speed, magic, numbers, and fighting skill will serve Khatep best. For some really goofy power, try including a hierotitan. A raw casting value (before power dice) of 4+d3 means he can reliably throw two dice for most spells (even some boosted spells). Now add in a Casket of Souls and you are guaranteed to have enough dice for almost any combination of spells out there.
The Herald Nekaph
At first glance, Nekaph sports all of the abilities and stats of a Tomb Herald with only higher weapon skill of 5 to distinguish between the two. Upon closer inspection though, Nekaph proves a formidable model. Nekaph must always issue and accept challenges but doing so means he gains a 5+ ward save and his killing blow works on a 5+. In addition, he is armed with one of the best units from the previous book, the Flail of Skulls. So for double the points of a standard Tomb Herald players gain a combat monster who can easily give most mid-grade characters a run for their money, If nothing else, Nekaph will often contribute to combat resolution with overkill wounds. If that wasn't enough, players can mount Nekaph in a chariot as well. Whether you use Nekaph to bolster lackluster skeleton units or turn the Tomb Guard into an absolutely beastly combat unit, players will find Nekaph a worthwhile purchase in all but the smallest of games.
Prince Apophas
Every army has its black sheep, right? Well, for Tomb Kings that is Apophas. Cursed by the gods to wonder the world and bring Usirian a soul equally as vile as his own, Apophas possesses a number of neat tricks that intend to allow him to assassinate enemy characters. However, this will prove an uphill battle for him as unfortunately his game stats and abilities just do not match the fluff.
So what would one expect in a character assassin? Well, by default one would think that character killers would posses decent combat stats (Weapon Skill, Strength, and Attacks), some sort of reasonable defense (High Toughness, Armor Save, or Ward Save), and someway of ensuring they can reach a character before the end of the game. Apophas definitely lacks the combat prowess to be a threat to anything other than mages and low tier characters like master moulders, skinks, or warrior priests. His survivability hinges on a regeneration save, something easily removed. So his only bonus is that he really should be easy to get into combat with enemy characters given he flies and has Entombed Beneath the Sands, particularly lone characters outside of units.
In combat Apophas shows a pretty sturdy strength of 4, an okay weapon skill of 4, and a large number of attacks, 5. However, that's where it ends. Don't expect any fancy poison, a huge axe with Killing Blow, or anything else. Sure, if he's in combat with a single enemy model that you pick at the beginning of the game he can reroll hits and wounds, but that takes his mediocrity only so far.
Survivability is really the main enemy for Apophas. When striking at initiative 1 the assassin really needs to be able to survive to make his own strikes. Apophas is just to squishy to survive anything but those low tier character attacks. Sure, he has a 4+ regeneration save and 4 wounds. However, he's still toughness 3. Yeah, that's right, Toughness 3. On average he will live through a single round of combat against most combat oriented characters before falling.
So while I do feel Apophas can serve a role on the battlefield, he really is a niche character whose only great success is taking out lone characters, particularly casters, floating around the field. Worried about those suicide skaven warlocks with nasty gadgets? Send in Apophas. Balthazar Gelt getting on your nerves? Pop up Apophas nearby and go to town.
Ramhotep The Visionary
Ramhotep is a necrotect and really offers very little of note outside of the necrotect bubble. He possess no magic items of any sort and only two special rules that a normal necrotect does not possess. The first ability, Frantic Fervour, is the most impressive. He conveys frenzy on any unit he accompanies which means he can turn a unit of tomb guard into a bloody nightmare. This ability opens up enough synergy with other characters and units that it alone justifies paying for an otherwise lackluster hero. Imagine a unit of Tomb Guard with a Tomb King and Ramotep inside the unit. That's a huge volume of WS6, S4 attacks with a hatred reroll going out. Sadly, that's about all that Ramhotep offers a Tomb King general. His other ability, Master Artisan means that a single unit of constructs can reroll failed armor saves, not all that fantastic given that the construct armor save is 5+. Nonetheless, this can be useful when used in conjunction with Necropolis Knights and their 3+ armor save.
So there you have it. Personally, I waver back and forth on the Tomb King characters. I really like Settra, Khatep, and Nakeph with Apophas and Ramhotep forming a middle tier of characters I "might" use at some point level. I can really find no reason to include Arkhan or Khalida. Khalida is a huge point investment for little return and an awfully squishy general. Arkhan just doesn't know what he wants to do. He has melee stats but a wizard's survival skills.
Disclaimer - I wanted to avoid giving potentially false information regarding these special characters so I've left out some information when considering how certain models perform on the tabletop until the current debate is resolved through a GW FAQ. The debate centers around the Troop Type descriptors. So, a model like Queen Khalida says "Infantry (Special Character; Tomb King)". According to the basic rulebook and FAQ this would mean that Khalida has, by default, all the base abilities of a Tomb King. The flip side of the coin though, is that if this is true then why are certain abilities common to all Tomb Kings spelled out in her description and others are not (Flammable and The Curse both appear in her description but My Will Be Done does not). So until GW releases a ruling one way or another, I'm going with a worse-case assumption. Personally, I fall into this camp anyway.
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