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Hey Guys

So the title more or less says it all. I'm thinking of starting a Vampire Counts army but I'm not 100% sure where I should start in the way of purchases.
I already have the army book so the first item is checked off I've heard good things about grave guard so Im guessing a couple boxes of them wouldn't be a bad move.
What about the batallion box, is that any good?
As a quick aside I know the general consensus is that Ghouls are better then Skellies and while I don't mind fielding some in my army (especially if I get the battalion) I'm a fan of the skellie model so they are definatly in.

Oh and to start with my games will be in the 750 - 1000pt level. If it turns out they are the army for me I will eventually be moving up to 2500pts.

Many thanks in advance guys
~Zero~

Do have your VC general if not pick one up then one or two Necromacers to keep your army in the game

At this point I only have the army book. Haven't bought anything else yet. Would I need the general and 2 necromancers for a 750 - 1000pt game or would I only need all thouse models at higher point values? Also would mounting the necros on corpse carts be a good idea or just leave them foot slogging? Any thoughts on mounts for general as well?

Again thanks for any and all information.
~Zero~

Even how big or small your army is you need a vampire as a general
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Can't go wrong with the battalion, I'd get that next, along with a Vampire.

In 8th edition, from what I've gathered, ghouls are the best core choice and grave guard are the best special choice, so investing in those is a good start.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of the vampire models that GW sells, so I'd do some googling and find one that you like.

Basic jist of the army:

Vamp General
BSB(wight or vamp)
necro on corpse cart
MAYBE 1 more vamp depending on play style

30+ ghouls
25+ grave guard
25+ skeletons
40-80 zombies(don't put them in your list just summon them)
then from there add whatever you like. Black Knights, Blood Knights, Varghulf, Black Coach or some bats.

I don't think necro on a corpse cart would be good for a 750-1000pt army I try to take it out with a warmachine give him a nightmare and the nightshroud

My apologies, I should have stated that my format is for 2500 point games. I don't really offer advice on smaller lists as (solely in my opinion) they are "partial" armies. While I write lists for smaller games, I generally don't comment on them.

no problem It kind hard to come up with a army list for a 1000Pt

Like I said I write low points lists, I just don't critique them.

If you want I could write 2 1000 point lists for VC that would work well.

List Building is the secret 4th aspect of the hobby.

The Battalion box is a good purchase, and it'll be roughly half your army at 750-1000pt. At 1000 you can squeeze in a Vampire and a Necromancer or just give the Vampire more toys. I personally like having the Necromancer in case the Vampire rolls bad on casting and to garuntee that I get Vanhel's Danse Macabre.

I'm also a huge fan of the skeletons and use them heavily in my lists. Ghouls are great and all but they have no command or armor... although T4 helps with that a bit, I still tend to prefer skeletons. It feels more like an Undead army, ya know?

Grave Guard are pretty awesome too, but a tad expensive, as you really shouldn't run them in small units. I usually don't use them in 1000pt and just go for more numbers.

One fun loadout for the Vampire is giving him Dreadknight and using one of the Blood Knight models to represent him. He can add a nasty punch to a Skeleton block and the Blood Knight models don't look like they walked out of a Michael Jackson music video (like the other vampire models minus the Winged one).

Blood knights are fine and dandy if you don't mind spending $100 for a box of 5 models...

I really, really, really want Blood Knights. But now, with them going to Finecast and being even more expensive, I can't justify it. Especially when I will have to go through 10 boxes to get a perfect set of 5.

The Gamezone vampire knights are better for Blook Knights, even though Blood Knight models look far, far better.

True I guess they stopped selling them individually with Finecast. I just picked up the Blood Knight Kastellan model for $20 and use him. That's got to be the least popular box set they sell though.

Thanks you very much for the insight guys! I'd like to move up to larger games asap but time and money . I've been going through and reading as much about vampire tactics and builds as I can so between that and this thread I think I have a much better idea of where to start.

~Zero~

-Loki- wrote:I really, really, really want Blood Knights. But now, with them going to Finecast and being even more expensive, I can't justify it. Especially when I will have to go through 10 boxes to get a perfect set of 5.

The Gamezone vampire knights are better for Blook Knights, even though Blood Knight models look far, far better.

High Elf Dragon Princes and Chaos Knights are both popular and affordable choices for Blood Knight conversions. I picked up some Dragon Princes myself, but all my VC stuff is back in the States. :(

I have to say that adding a Black Coach to any VC list that can do so is a great investment. You can't run one at 750 but it will fit nicely into a 1000pt game. Being able to steal your opponent's power dice is very frustrating for them. Add a vampire caster lord with Master of the Black Arts to gain back some of the dice you lose and send that coach across the board to attach archers and other shooty stuff. Get a necromancer with a dispell scroll and now you have a very good anti magic army.

I want to like the Black Coach, but the model didn't age well. Maybe I can find a good scale model coach and vampire it up.

Corpse Cart.

Corpse. Cart.

It can give your terminally low-Initiative skeletons the Always Strike First rule. It can (for +25 points) give the enemy wizard a -1 on his casting rolls. It doesn't need a necromancer to do these things, and it's base cost is 75 points. Stick it just behind two blocks of infantry and watch the fun. In larger games, stick it behind a unit or two of great weapon armed Grave Guard and have them tear stuff up with Always Strike First.

Always Strike First may not mean much against a 100 model block of Skaven slaves, but against smaller, elite units, it can reduce the number of enemies that can strike back at you, if you roll well enough. Imagine what you can do when your Grave Guard with great weapons strike first at that 5 man unit of Chaos Knights...

squidhills wrote:Imagine what you can do when your Grave Guard with great weapons strike first at that 5 man unit of Chaos Knights...

Except you'll strike at Initiative. When you have both ASL and ASF, they cancel out and you just use your Init.
Still, I3 isn't horrible, and if you can work in a Helm of Command on a Vamp you'll be doing even better.


Now, I only have a handful of games under my belt, but I've had good results with a magic focused vamp hero at 1000. Forbidden Lore (Vamp) and Lord of the Dead or Summon Ghouls as my two powers plus some sort of Ward save in a Skeleton bunker. He's relatively safe depending on the type of Ward you have vs your opponent's build, he can increase your chosen Core, and he has access to the full Vamp Lore which I've found to be pretty good. With forbidden lore, I've found your opponent is not likely to counter your Invocation castings because he's waiting for you to try Curse of Years (which is great for thinning out hordes) or Summon Undead Horde.

I've been taking a Necro as well, but it usually seems to be wasted points.

I've wanted to try the Black Coach, but I've not had the opportunity to pick one up. I have used a Varghulf at 1000 though and he's usually worth it.