Bone Giant

It's a bad day when a fucking statue ruins your Calvary charge.

Bones Giants, also known as Necrolith Colossi for the trademarking, are statues made of the varied discarded bones of megafauna found in the Nehkharan Deserts. Made to resemble Ancient Heroes and Venerated figures in Nehekharan Mythology, often being covered in smaller skulls, bones, fetishes, and metal.

Overview

In Ancient Times, before The Great Catastrophe and long before the birth of Settra or the coming of Nagash, Giant, technologically advanced beings used to roam the lands, destroying the wicked and barbaric. It was believed the Gods of Nehekhara created these figures as sentinels, to crush the Daemons and to stand watch over the lands. Gee, doesn't that sound familiar?

It was this belief that lead to the most ancient Necrolith Colossi as being literal creations of the Gods themselves, and the Mortuary Cult began to erect greater and bigger monuments to seek favor of the Gods. Upon ever grander monuments from mountain tops, to the tops of pillars, to even the sides of Pyramids as guardians unto themselves. Outside of large cities, many could be seen guarded on all sides by Ushabti as the stalwart defenders against the barbarian hordes that seek to bring ruination, and to demonstrate the piety of the people who live in the city.

As time grew and the Priesthood of Nehekhara grew more skilled and the Necrotects grew more ambitious, they began to grow bolder. As society began to become more obsessed with death, so did the Bone Giants, who began to be constructed by the corpses of the carrion corpses of megafauna, using metal and wood to wire the bone in place and decorated in the bronze and golden armor of Ancient Nehekhara. Soon the Priests bound the souls of the most heroic and disciplined of the Nehekharan Warriors, in hopes no foe could dare destroy them in battle-which is ironic, as the Necrosphinxes are designed to counter large monsters such as Bones Giants.

Once aroused, the Bone Giant will never need additional incantations of awakening. Instead, as soon as anyone from an Orc WAAAGH to an unfortunate Imperial explore enters their range, the Bone Giant will stir and strike down their foes. However, due to their ancient nature and their role as venerated figures, the Tomb Kings will prefer to repair existing Bone Giants once they have been destroyed as opposed to having construct new ones. Though they can make new statues, the curse of Nagash means that raising new men is hard, especially ones with millennia of training and experience.

As an old model made of pewter, it's likely that this model is one of the contenders for a visual update when The Old World drops, along with Ushabti, Tomb Scorpions, Carrion, Screaming Skull Catapults and the Casket of Souls

On Tabletop

In 6th, it was the Rare choice for smaller games, as it allowed armies to stay mobile and hit harer, as well as providing an armor piercing missile. Unfortunately, like all Tomb Kings, it has terrible aim and numbers won't make it much better as you're likely to only bring one.

8th had him be substantially buffed as your dedicated monster-hunter aside from the Necrosphinx, being incredibly cheap at 170 points, he could, after the giant charges and engages in combat, get an additional attack for every unsaved wound roll, which could potentially do serious damage to several monsters if done outright. This thing is nasty, and it can be nastier with the lore of light to further modify it in combat.

In Total War, it's your armies dedicated bolt-thrower equivalent, and so is best served targeting monsters and calvary, though its lack of lateral movement can be an annoyance.

Gallery

• 

  Art for the Bone Giant with Halberd, for when you need to kill the REALLY big shit

• 

  Bone giant with dual weapons, for when you need to kill shit with both hands

• 

  Bone Giant in Warhammer II with Great Bow, for when you need to kill shit from a distance