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My Vampires are in need of expansion, but I am not able to figure out where I want to go with them. To start, I'll post what I own and can get to:

1 Vlad von Carstein
1 Vampire w/ heavy armor, hand weapon, shield
2 Necromancers (have another 2 models who could be ugly Necromancers)
7 Black Knights
1 Black Knight musician
1 Black Knight standard
3 Undead Steeds w/o riders
25 Skeletons w/ hand weapons
1 Skeleton musician
1 Skeleton standard
1 Skeleton champion
New Krell
Old Krell
Nightmare Legion (24 models: 20 skeletons w/ spears, +full command, +skeleton hero)
9 random Skeletons
12 Zombies
1 Wraith
4 Giant Bats
2 Bat Swarms

I can almost get to 1,800 with:
Vampire Lord
Level 3 Wizard
Lore of Vampires
Quickblood
Dark Majesty
Beguile
Dread Knight
Talisman of Preservation
Dragonhelm
Sword of Striking
Heavy Armor
Shield

Vampire
Level 2 Wizard
Forbidden Lore
Lore of Shadows
Nightshroud
Heavy Armor
Shield
Warrior Bane

Necromancer
Level 2 Wizard
Lore of Vampires
Master of the Dead

Wight King (use old Krell)
BSB

23 Skeletons
Full Command
Spears
Screaming Banner

28 Skeletons
Full Command

10 Black Knights
Full Command
Lances
Banner of the Barrows

4 Fell Bats

2 Bat Swarms

That puts me at 1689 with 110 points shy of legal Core allocation. I was thinking of adding 10 Ghouls with a ghast for a cheap 1,800 point list, but I don't know if I will stick with them past that step as am not particularly crazy about the unit in general. 22 Skeletons would probably be a better addition. What I am looking for are ideas on how to expand to 2,500 points.

You already have a good idea of what to add: more Core.

Units of 40 skeletons are good to have around, and if you still want to add ghouls, 30ish in a unit is pretty good.
Get some Rare units to round out your list, as all of the VC's are good. Vargulfs/Terrorgiests are great on the flank, the mortis engine is great for buffing your magic phase, and blood knights are a hammer in CC.

Well, I'm finally getting my bats painted and they're all starting to look like Little Brown Bats (the species, Myotis Lucifugus). Looking at the work in progress, the bat house I'm building, and my own particular fondness for those cute little bats in general, I'm really leaning towards adding more bats.

To that end, I think adding 12 more skeletons to my 28 strong unit is in order and as much as I would like to add more to other unit, I cannot unless I run across more Nightmare Legion models. Instead, I'll just add a second 40 strong unit, maybe with spears. That leaves me with 521 points so Summon Rocky Horror, I mean Creature of the Night (Dammit, Janet!), will need to be added to the Vampire. From there, I figure the rest will be in Bat Swarms, Fell Bats, and perhaps a Terrorgheist. What would be a good size for Bat Swarms and Fell Bats?

I worry that you will be lacking things in the killing department with that list. Maybe put your vamp lord on a horse and throw him in with the black knights? and maybe beef their numbers up a little bit. And bigger units of skeletons will help you a lot! Just remember, they aren't very good at killing things lol

ps. Oh and don't forget that zombies are a cheap way to add numbers to your army! and they now make good tarpits.

I was thinking about Zombies, but at the moment I am looking to balance cost, what I want, and where I think I want to go. I figure that with the skeletons, I can make it so I have enough core for 2,500 points now and that eventually, after I add a large block of Zombies, I can take the Nightmare Legion and run them as Graveguard. Again, that is what passes for long term planning and is why I decided upon the skeletons to complete my core.

As to mounting the Lord, I only have 1 point left for 1,800 points worth of Lords so for the immediate future he stays as is, but for the 2,500 point step, I was almost thinking giving him a throne as the model is neat and I can just deposit him, base and all, where the head Vampire sits. Otherwise I'll need to find a Vampire head for the old mounted Chaos Lord body I have (the hunchback one in the same pose as the Red Duke and I have enough Chaos Knights to run a Bretonnian army so he won't be missed by my WOC). Either way will work.

The killing department is always a good thing not to neglect. I am leaning towards a Terrorgheist or Varghulf since I like bats. Past that, I was thinking on adding more Bat Swarms as two seems too few and maybe some more Fell Bats. Should I look at changing my plans to accommodate an increased presence of bats?