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Hi, I've been into 40k for a while, and have decided to move into fantasy too with Vampire Counts.
I've made up an army list of 1500 pts to buy as my first fantasy army, and I wanted to hear opinions about it.
So, what should I keep, what should I remove, what should I change?
The list is:
Heroes: 25-% = 375-
Vampire w/ Avatar of Death, Dark Acolyte, Hellsteed, Burning Lance, Biting Blade - 180
Necromancer: Raise Dead, Vanhel's Danse Macabre, Biting Blade, Corpse Cart, Balefire - 185
- 365
Core: 25+% = 375+
25 Ghouls w/ Ghast - 208
30 Skeletons w/ Full Command, Banner of Hellfire - 270
Corpse Cart w/ Balefire - 100
- 560
Special: 50-% = 750-
20 Grave guard w/ Great Weapons, Full Command, Banner of the Barrows - 345
- 345
Rare: 25-% = 375-
Black Coach - 200
- 200

I think that it is the beginning of a solid list. For this point value I would drop the corpse cart on the necromancer and have him tag along with a group of ghouls or skellys. The most important thing for a vampire general is to make sure that he is kept alive. The best way to do this is to give a good armor + ward save and stick him inside a unit. With him riding on a mount in the open he will not live very fast and once he is gone the game is all but over.

Hope this helps.

Okay, so I should dismount both of the heroes for greater survivability?
Should I drop the second Corpse Cart altogether, or move it into the Core-section instead?

Bumping up the Grave Guard with those extra points would be nice.

Also, unless Vampires have some weird rule, they can't have two magic weapons.
A 4 or 5+ Ward would be good on him, but I think the Blood Drinker is another good way to keep him alive and buff his unit. Maybe not at this low a point-value, though.

Finally, unless you're looking for more Fortitude points, Ghouls are always better than skeletons. Always.

I would suggest possibly dropping some stuff (Upto you what), maybe the necromancer and a couple of other little bits and investing in a wight king bsb with the regen banner to give the grave guard a bit more survivability. It's up to you. Try anything and if it works for you then don't change it.

The Wight King with the regen banner is a pretty gigantic investment, and it makes your guys a lot tougher (twice as tough, in fact).

At this point level though I'd think that more bodies with some Invocation would be enough to get the job done.