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Hi everyone. I've got a new Vampire list up for testing and I'm not sure whether to go ahead with it or not. I've got all but 1 of the models. It has much less magic and I'm curious to know what you think of it, whether it'll work or not, whatever.

Lords:
Vampire Lord 205
Infinite Hatred, Red Fury, Summon Ghouls 90
Balefire Spike, Flayed Hauberk, Crown of the Damned 70
Extra magic Level 50
Zombie Dragon 275
690

Vampire 100
Dark Acolyte, Summon Ghouls 45
145

Vampire 100
Flying Horror, Avatar of Death 50
Book of Arkhan
185

Core:
14 Ghouls
Ghast
120

15 Ghouls
Ghast
128

20 Zombies
80

20 Zombies
80

5 Dire Wolves
40

Special:
10 Black Knights 240
Barding 40
Full Command 40
Banner of Strigos 35
355

Rare:
Varghulf
175

Total: 1998

I'm playing a defensive game. So my strategy is to protect one of my flanks with the two Zombie blocks, and have the Black Knights on the other flank with the Varghulf for marching. The Ghouls are in the centre with my Level 2 Vampire to Summon Ghouls. The Vamp Lord is in between the Ghouls and the Knights to help Invocating everything that needs it. My Flying Vampire flies around Book of Arkhaning whatever needs to be. Dire Wolves are just there to quickly run to whatever unit (Dragon, Varghulf or Knights) needs a quick screen (eg. they're open to gunfire that turn.)

So I'm playing the game waiting for him to come to me, and as soon as I can my Lord, the Knights and the Varghulf charge, smashing open whatever they want. Constructive criticism is welcome and tactics are greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Ooh, and don't forget that because the Lord is subject to Hatred then my Dragon is too!

Your playing a defensive game with a Zombie Dragon? Let alone your General on a Zombie Dragon? You do realize that you can't screen him with anything from shooting or magic right? He's a large target which means anything able to draw LOS to him can shoot him (excepting a forest of course). To top that off you gave him the I'm Stupid hat, which means at the perfectly worst time in the game he'll fail his leadership walk out in front 8 bolt throwers and if he doesn't die he'll at least be walking the rest of the game. Oh and once walking that 10 pt lance you bought gets dropped on the ground cause you can't use it without a mount.

My advice, if you want to play the defensive/stalewart game put him in a unit of Grave Guard with HW and Shield, add the banner for flavoring if you want. Becomes a really hard unit to take out and they can't single out your general for death. General dies you've pretty much lost the game.

Wow, so much criticism on my Lord. Well, it's just as easy to play offensively, I'm just not used to that style. In that case, here's a new strategy.

I advance as quickly as I can, the zombies protecting my flank and the Black Knights and Varghulf pressuring the other flank. The Ghouls hold the centre and are Summon Ghouled until they're a decent size. My General goes out to kill whatever he likes save for the ridiculously powerful units. I'm gonna try to keep him in the 18" range for my Invocating. On a charge he should be able to cause a bit of damage. My Black Knights and Varghulf assault as soon as they can. The Knights can hold their own on a charge, and the Varghulf can get rid of small annoying units. My Flying Vampire can fly around and Book of Arkhan the Knights or the Zombie Dragon.

Note: I'm not that worried about Stupidity, he's got Leadership 10. I know that I shouldn't say that stuff, but I'm really not that worried.

yes you can´t really play defensive with nothing to draw the opponent to you (i.e. stone throwers/bolt throwers).

as you are going to play more offensively you should put stronger units in (i.e. grave guard). you can always make a unit of zombies but a unit of grave guard is a harder to do.

I think Baneon's comments about your General being on a Zombie Dragon are pretty valid concerns. Once a VC army loses it's General it's usually game over. Putting your General on a Dragon ensures you won't be able to hide him. Therefore, armies that include a lot of shooting will almost always defeat you by killing your General very early in the game. Dragons are just very offensive models, while a VC General has to be played defensively, because of the enormous disadvantage for the VC army when the General dies. For this very reason, taking a VC General on a Dragon is almost always a bad idea.

In a 2000 point game I just don't think the zombie dragon is worth it. Mind you this is entirely undead centric, due to their disadvantages. I've done the Abyssal Horror/Zombie Dragon idea at low points and it never works out. The smart opponent will limit the damage you can cause or throw a unit at you that you can't break and then pile on to where static CR makes your vampire lord pop. Now if it wasn't for the fact that your army would Crumble when he dies then the zombie dragon might be worth it but it's to dang risky.

What I tend to do lately is kit out my vampire lord for support. Give him Master of the Arcane and Dark Acolyte so he's generating 5-6 dice, summon ghouls and then Helm of Command and other goodies. He sits back in a unit of ghouls behind the lines and supports everyone nice a safe. 3000 points though you can have a fighty lord and a support lord, for 'Ard Boyz I had a lord on steed with dread lance, accursed armor, red fury, infinite hatred and beguile. You don't get more combat oriented then that.

As for the rest of your list there's some minor personal changes I would make but nothing major. However by point sinking into the dragon you've limited yourself to 3 characters and generate 7 power dice with 1 bound spell. That's not a ton, and factor in that your lord is porbably going to be out of range for a bit of the rest of your army and it limits you even more. Everything else is pretty standard and proven good, I'm a personal fan of Black Knights so I heartily approve of their inclusion. Take a look at the Wight Kings too they are some excellent value for their points costs.

Thanks for all of that. I've got a new list now.

Lord:
Vampire Lord 205
Master of the Black Arts, Dark Acolyte, Summon Ghouls 95
Flayed Hauberk, Helm of Commandment, Crown of the Damned 90
390

Vampire 100
Dark Acolyte, Ghoulkin 45
145

Vampire 100
Dark Acolyte, Avatar of Death 50
Talisman of the Lycni, Book of Arkhan 45
195

Necromancer 55
Vanhels and Invocation 15
2 Power Stones 40
110

Core:
14 Ghouls 112
Ghast 8
120

14 Ghouls 112
Ghast 8
120

14 Ghouls 112
Ghast 8
120

Special:
20 Grave Guard 240
Full Command 30
270

10 Black Knights 240
Barding 40
Full Command 40
Standard of Strigos 35
365

Rare:
Varghulf

Total: 2000

The tactic is now defensive, with everything slowly advancing with the Black Knights and the Varghulf attacking the flank. I'm much happier with a defensive tactic, as that's how I usually play. I know the Grave Guard don't have a banner, but I only need them to take a hit in combat, not slaughter although the manager at my store has 2 units of 15 Grave Guard with great weapons. I'm not sure of the points. I'm not sure about a Necromancer, so I want to know what you think about them. I've got 2 Power Stones which should remain as a threat and for some emergency Vanhel's.

Solid. I might do 2 scrolls instead of Stones on the Necro but that is interly based on the environment your playing in. And also, I might do the Barrow banner instead of Strigos but Strigos is still a very good banner and my number 2 on units. I've run something very similar to this and been successful, I should show you my 2500 list you might appreciate it

Vampire Lord 205
Master of the Black Arts, Dark Acolyte, Summon Ghouls 95
Flayed Hauberk, Helm of Commandment, Crown of the Damned 90

Wrong. You give him Helm of Commandment and Skull Staff and keep him out of harm's way. Bloodlines are fine, although there will be games when you won't get Vanhel's, and then a Seal of Destruction can single handedly beat you. It's a long shot, but something I sometimes worry about.

Vampire 100
Dark Acolyte, Ghoulkin 45
145

No. Necromancer with Black Periapt and Dispel Scroll for this role. If you take Ghoulkin you're in a hurry with your Ghoul units, and I don't think anything but full size Ghoul units and an aggressive army should be in a hurry. If you do still want the Ghoulkin, give it to an offensive Vampire, not a caster.

Vampire 100
Dark Acolyte, Avatar of Death 50
Talisman of the Lycni, Book of Arkhan 45

No. You give the runner Vampire Flayed Hauberk, Sword of Battle and the Talisman of Lycni and the bloodlines Infinite Hatred and Walking Death. You need to start optimising your heroes. The only real hybrid setup for a Vampire is Dark Acolyte, Avatar of Death, Flayed Hauberk, Black Periapt, Talisman of Lycni, in case you want to go that way.

Necromancer 55
Vanhels and Invocation 15
2 Power Stones 40

This guy isn't bad.

Core:
14 Ghouls 112
Ghast 8
120

14 Ghouls 112
Ghast 8
120

14 Ghouls 112
Ghast 8
120

Solid, but take two blocks of 20 Zombies in addition to these. Lose the third unit of Ghouls if you have to. You won't miss it.

Special:
20 Grave Guard 240
Full Command 30
270

10 Black Knights 240
Barding 40
Full Command 40
Standard of Strigos 35
365

Drop the barding and you'll save points and gain movement. Neither unit really needs the musicians if you need to cut back some more. I don't use Grave Guard, but the unit isn't bad if you got the caster Vampire lord for support and even more so once regenerating. Although the Standard of Strigos is excellent in its given role, I'd still consider Banner of Hellfire on the Knights and Warbanner on the Grave Guard. It's just much more flexible.

Rare:
Varghulf

Total: 2000

He's not bad. I often use two.

If you do the changes I suggested your list should be quite good, and the only thing you really lack is the Drakenhof banner. This slightly friendlier approach might win you some friends from the clueless crowd.

I wrote Ghoulkin? I meant Summon Ghouls, that's why the points look bad. Damn, I hate it when I mistake Ghoulkin for Summon Ghouls.