{"id":809554,"date":"2026-10-21T10:08:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/809554\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T10:08:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:08:23","slug":"designers-notes-creating-the-new-tomb-kings-of-khemri-miniatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/809554\/","title":{"rendered":"Designers\u2019 notes: creating the new Tomb Kings of Khemri miniatures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keith: Much of the original Tomb Kings range was made a long time ago, using very different technology to what we have today. The original Skeleton Warriors, for example, combined the basic Warhammer skeletons of the time with a Tomb Kings upgrade sprue. This worked very well, but when we knew we were going to revisit the range, we wanted to really lean into the unique look of the faction established in the incredible art created for the old Warhammer Fantasy Battle army books.<\/p>\n

Ethan: We were all familiar with the Tomb Kings armies, not only from the miniatures, but also from the classic art, of which there was a lot, and all done by some very talented artists. They really captured the look and feel of the undead armies of Nehekhara, bringing them to life on the page in a way Nagash himself would surely be envious of! Much like the recent Royal Heralds<\/a> and Liche Priests<\/a> kits, we wanted to update the classic models and capture the true character of the Tomb Kings.<\/p>\n

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Dan: We were also mindful that Tomb Kings of Khemri armies can include lots of models, with units like Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Archers, for example, often being fairly large. So we wanted to make the models easier to assemble and, if possible, reduce the amount of separate parts compared to the old kits. The new Skeleton Archers in particular feature as few as three or four parts per model, but there are a lot of models on each sprue, 18 in both of the infantry kits, and still with room for lots of basing details in the form of scarabs, scorpions, and the remnants of statues toppled long ago.<\/p>\n

Christian: The obvious starting point for an army of Tomb Kings warriors is with human and horse skeletons, both of which we\u2019ve endeavoured to make more detailed and anatomically correct. Throughout the range we added touches of individuality as well. Some have missing teeth or jaws, cracked or fractured skulls, and so on. But what they all have in common is a sense of purpose. The armies of the Tomb Kings aren\u2019t mindless, shambling undead. They are possessed of a spark of intelligence, haunted by the memories of lives long ago in which they were professional soldiers. Although they now serve their masters in undeath, we wanted the discipline of the soldiers they once were to be apparent in the models.<\/p>\n

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Despite being no more than lightly armoured skeletons, the skeletal warriors of the Tomb Kings stand tall and proud, holding their shields and weapons with purpose; they don\u2019t slouch or drag their weapons. There\u2019s a sense of order and readiness for battle to them.<\/p>\n

Dan: Speaking of armour, this was one of the areas in which we were able to make the most improvements. Apart from their headgear, the old models lacked armour. Inspired by their battlefield roles we wanted to correct this. The Skeleton Warriors wear similar armoured headdresses and carry the familiar tall, tower shields of the past, but also feature more in the way of Nehekharan armour upon their chests and around their waists. The Skeleton Archers, by contrast, are more lightly armoured, with scarfs hanging over their faces and time-worn cloth hanging from their torsos and waists.<\/p>\n

Ethan: We kept that time-worn look throughout. With the chariots, for example, we were inspired by real-world examples of chariots from antiquity, the better to understand how they were built and, from surviving examples, how they decayed over time. To give the idea that the armies of the Tomb Kings have often lain dormant under the arid sands for centuries, there\u2019s lots of wear and tear on the models, visible in their crumbling clothing and armour, or on the slowly decaying edges of their shields.<\/p>\n

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The chariots also feature lots of options to make them more individual, from different armoured plates that mount on their front to alternative decorations for the yokes, weapon options for the crew, and full command, allowing you to build a distinct champion, standard bearer, and musician.<\/p>\n

Keith: One thing that really sets Old World units apart is their distinctive command groups. Standing in the centre of the front rank, standard bearers, musicians, and champions really add character, and the Tomb Kings have always featured very distinctive standards in particular, alongside some suitably archaic instruments. For the standards, we kept the iconic designs and explored the iconography of the many gods of ancient Nehekhara and how their worship could be portrayed. There are lots of skulls and scarabs, for example, as well as asps and scorpions. Combined with flat areas that create space for transfers, it\u2019s easy to add lots of unique character to your units, representing the ancient city they originate from, or the gods they once worshipped.<\/p>\n

Speaking of transfers, the new kits are the first Tomb Kings of Khemri units to include transfer sheets, which depict the Gods Ptra, Djaf, Sokth, Asaph, and Geheb, along with a wide range of hieroglyphs.<\/p>\n

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Christian: Alongside the archaic bronze weapons \u2013 the ornate spears and khopeshes, the recurved bows, or the axes and maces of unit champions \u2013 the overall effect is of an army from a different age, yet one that still looks like it belongs on the battlefields of the Old World thanks to its legacy. We look forward to seeing the implacable hosts of the Tomb Kings advancing across the battlefield soon, a classic Warhammer army risen from the dead to make war on the living once more!<\/p>\n

Thanks, folks! Now, you\u2019ve learnt the dark magics behind the new miniatures, you\u2019ll be able to pre-order the Host of Nehekhara Army Reinforcement Set from Saturday. Join us later in the week when we\u2019ll be delving into the rules from Arcane Journal \u2013 The River of Bones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keith: Much of the original Tomb Kings range was made a long time ago, using very different technology…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":809555,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-809554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-gb","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}