[falcoso]

Looking at getting some Ushabti for my Tomb kings army, but really not sure which ones to go for. I have finally decided on a mainly shooting army with flanking chariots and knights and a block of tomb guard in the middle.

My gut reaction shouts Great bows, as it gives me the ability to deal with armour at range but BS 2 seems inconsistent, and at a push can weaken warmachines a bit. Obviously I would need to take at least 6 to make them matter at all but thats 300pts that may not do much, particularly as its a waste against most infantry. Though as they are at range it does make them significantly harder to give up victory points. The models with Great weapons will be much more consistent but only if the charge is right, otherwise they will be hit before they have chance to do damage.

What are your thoughts on Ushabti?

 

[Sworn Radical]

Sorry for the late reply, but the WHFB section on these (and certain other) boards seem to be rather dead in the era of AoS. A pity, since both games could co-exist quite easily, since they appeal to very different kinds of players.

As for your questions about the Ushabti:

Since they have the 'Arroes of Asaph' rule, they always hit their intended target on a 5+, ignoring all modifiers, which can be quite good when you're facing a lot of negative penalties. Thus their BS of 2 is not that big of a deal.
Personally, I'd never run them with Great Bows though, 'cause like you noticed yourself, 50 pts. for a single STR 6 shot which isn't even remotely comparable to a bolt thrower is extremely expensive. Better invest in mass shooting from Skeleton Archers if you want to customise a Tomb Kings list for shooting (possible, but has its drawbacks).
Giving them additional Hand Weapons (for +1 attack) seems redundant as well, leaving you with a model with 4 attacks at STR 4. You don't need to field monstrous infantry to dish out STR 4 attacks to be honest.
Great Weapons seem the way to go, since with their initiative score of 3 every enemy and their mothers will strike way before them anyways, leaving them to go last more often than not, so adding ASL to them doesn't change much.
So, 3 STR 6 attacks seems not so shabby for monstrous infantry, but ...

... they're extremely vulnerable for their unit type:

Only toughness 4.
Only a 5+ armour save which will be negated by most things opponents will launch their way.
Only WS 4.
No ward save or regeneration (except for the Necrotect bubble).
No monstrous infantry type characters that could be added to them.
Six of these guys will set you back 300 pts. .... and investment which they're not worth off.

IF you deliberately want to field them due to fluff reasons or army visuals, then go for the Great Weapons, but don't expect miracles from them.

 

[MidnightSun]

... they're extremely vulnerable for their unit type:

Only toughness 4.
Only a 5+ armour save which will be negated by most things opponents will launch their way.
Only WS 4.
No ward save or regeneration (except for the Necrotect bubble).
No monstrous infantry type characters that could be added to them.
Six of these guys will set you back 300 pts. .... and investment which they're not worth off.

In fairness, finding Monstrous Infantry that aren't Trolls with better than WS4 T4 5+ armour is unlikely (Ogres can get 5+ armour with a 6+ parry, but are WS3 which is a big defensive disadvantage). However, said Ogres are 32pts with an Ironfist, which makes them a hell of a lot more viable since you can get 3 with a few points change for the price of 2 Ushabti. That you can horde up Ogres is a huge plus for them - I think Monstrous Infantry aren't viable unless they're cheap (so can be brought in big units, like Ogres) or are very resilient (River Trolls being -1 to Hit and 4+ Regen, for example), and preferable with good protective buffs (Trollguts/Toothcracker, Lore of Nurgle). Ushabti are probably pretty good with Great Weapons in a unit of 8 (two ranks of 4), but they're prohibitively expensive at that point and their only defense is relying on the Incantation of Protection. They'd be a solid unit, I feel, just very pricey for it and no better than the equivalent points' worth of Necropolis Knights.