Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I am starting a Vampire Counts army, after SW and have ABSOLUTLEY NO IDEA what kind of list I should have. I am looking for help with a list under 1000, maybe 650 to decide where my prescious pennys will go. Anyone have a ready army list? I know it goes something like: A Vampire, 2 units of Skeletons and some special/rare units.

No-one here play Vampire Counts?

Get the army book first, the rulebook if you haven't already, and then write one on your own, we'll tweak it 'till its acceptable and able to win.

Well, most players would probably advise Ghouls as your Core units. The higher Thoughness, Attacks and Poison are considered better than the 5+ (or 4+ when in combat to the front) Armour Save and the ability to take a Standard Bearer that the Skeleton Warriors have.

Vampires cost a lot of points, which is why playing such a small game is usually a terrible idea for a Vampire Counts player. Playing these small games to learn the game is fine, but you will need to play bigger games if you want your Vampire Counts to be a decent army.

So, all following advise will be given with the thought that you are going to expand your army further.

There are multiple ways to play a Vampire Counts army:

-You can play an 'all anvil' army, which relies on the fact that Undead units cannot be broken. This army is going to need a lot of summoning to keep the units alive. The army will almost never win big, but losing big doesn't happen very often either.

-You can play a deathstar (all eggs in one basket) style army. This usually involves either a big unit of Black Knights or a big unit of Grave Guard, including a BSB with The Drakenhof Banner. If the opponent decides to try and destroy your deathstar, the whole game will depend on his succes or failure at doing so.

-The pincer (or dual flanks) strategy. This army relies on solid block units (usually Ghouls) to hold the centre while your faster units (like Black Knights) try to flank your opponent. The centre units are strong enough to destroy the enemy on a flank charge if the enemy does decide to turn towards your flanking units.

Units you are going to purchase are going to depend on your chosen strategy. The better units of the army are:

-Vampires
-Wight King
-Zombies (only summon them, never take them in your army list)
-Ghouls
-Grave Guard
-Black Knights
-Varghulf
-Cairn Wraiths

The better Magic Item selections (which also depend on the type of army) are:

-Dreadlance (only on a Vampire Lord with Red Fury)
-Sword of Kings (only on a Wight King)
-Helm of Commandment
-The Book of Arkhan
-Black Periapt
-The Drakenhof Banner (only in a deathstar unit)
-Banner of the Barrows

The better Vampiric Power selections (which depend on the type of army as well) are:

-Ghoulkin
-Master of the Black Arts
-Forbidden Lore (only on a Vampire Lord)
-Dark Acolyte
-Red Fury (only in combination with a Dreadlance on a Vampire Lord)
-Dread Knight
-Walking Death (only on combat Vampires)
-Summon Ghouls

Hope this helps!

Thanks Airmaniac! That's helped. I do have the Army Book and Rulebook, I was just overwhelmed by the choices available for my vampires with the powers, items and unit selections. From there i've come up with a simple 650 point force:

Heroes:

Vampire
Dread Knight
Ghoulkin

Core:

10x Crypt Ghoul
Ghast

10x Crypt Ghoul
Ghast

5x Dire Wolves
Doom Wolf

5x Dire Wolves
Doom Wolf

Special:

10x Grave Guard
Full Command

With that, I have 54 points left. What should I spend that on?

Posting individual points costs is a nono! Please edit your post so that it does not display individual upgrade costs.

I'm confused about your plans for the army. You have 3 small infantry units (of which one is pretty strong in combat). The Dire Wolves won't accomplish anything other then March blocking and hunting the softest targets (like Warmachine crew). They definately don't need Doom Wolves to do that.

Ghoulkin seems a bit overpriced in such a small army, as you are spending 25 points to give 176 points a pre-game move. Seems a bit expensive to me.

It's difficult to make a decent 650 point army for Vampire Counts, as you can only field a single Vampire (two would take up way too much points), meaning at least part of your army won't be able to March.

If you want a 650 point army, I'd go for something like this:

Vampire (Dread Knight, Summon Ghouls, The Book of Arkhan) - 175

Crypt Ghouls (10) - 80
Crypt Ghouls (10) - 80

Black Knights (5) (Barding) - 140

Varghulf - 175


This gives you two Vampires (the Varghulf and the Vampire), while still having 2 units (the Black Knights and the Varghulf) that are able to kill stuff.

I'm making this list for school league, which only allows 1 special or 1 rare, so Varghulf and Black Knights would be illegal

Only 1 Special or Rare unit in a 650 points army? That is like restricting a 2000 points army to only 2 Special slots and a single Rare slot.

You are going to want more then a single Vampire, so I'd suggest you pick up the Varghulf as your Rare slot. I don't really know what else to say, 650 points is just terribly low for VC and the league restrictions don't really make it easier for a VC army to be viable.

I agree with you, it is too low, but theres nothing I can do about that. What about exchanging the black knights for a large unit of Zombies and a small one of Skeletons

Never ever EVER take zombies. If you can summon them for FREE, you dont pay points for them.

I like skeletons. I have ghouls, but skeleis seems like a better choice with two rows attacking instead of one (spears).

Just take a large unit of skeletons, and summon the zombies as needed. They are a wast of points, but can be brought in to tar pit for FREE!

Happygrunt wrote:I like skeletons. I have ghouls, but skeleis seems like a better choice with two rows attacking instead of one (spears).

Yes, Skeleton Warriors with Spears can attack in two ranks, but Ghouls get 2 Attacks each, so that makes the amount of Attacks even. Ghouls have a higher WS and Poisoned Attacks though!