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.

Just bought the vampire counts codex and am looking for advice on some ideas for a good 2500-3000 point list. I would like to be competitive but at the same time play narrative games and like variety. I am fairly new to fanatasy well anyway let her rip suggestions please.

Well congrats on the choice in army for Fantasy

ok the first thing i'd decide is do you want to have a necro leading your army or a vampire lord/ stigori ghoul king?

second is do you want zombies or skellies or both as core ?

the third thing is Crypt horrors or Vargieshts (or how ever you spell it ) ?

the fourth thing is do you want to have GG or BK in it?

5. eretherals you mast have a few wraithing in there or a banshee or two makes your opponents a little worried when there unit cant hurt them.

ask away for more tips tho

Well congrats on the choice in army for Fantasy

ok the first thing i'd decide is do you want to have a necro leading your army or a vampire lord/ stigori ghoul king?
Well being new I would guess asssume a necromancer would give me more magic. correct?

second is do you want zombies or skellies or both as core ?
Definatly both like variety

the third thing is Crypt horrors or Vargieshts (or how ever you spell it ) ?
Crypt horrors sound cool

the fourth thing is do you want to have GG or BK in it?
What are GG and BK?

5. eretherals you mast have a few wraithing in there or a banshee or two makes your opponents a little worried when there unit cant hurt them.
Banshees are a must they look cool to :}
May not be much help but reading the codex now just getting through the fluff still love the back story.

ask away for more tips tho


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok GG are Grave Guard and BK are black knights can you take both? I am an old school wargamer and thinking Grave guard are like the French Guard and the cavalry on the flanks?

warhammernut wrote:
Well being new I would guess asssume a necromancer would give me more magic. correct?

Vampires can be, and usually are, better casters than Necromancers. Not to mention dead killy in combat when they inevitably get there. Necromancers are cheaper though - far cheaper.

warhammernut wrote:
Definatly both like variety

You're usually better off focusing on one. Something to remember is you can raise either during the game if you get the Raise Dead spell (though Skeletons can only be raised beyond the initial spell by a Necromancer with the Master od the Dead upgrade).

Most people tend to bring Skeletons or Ghouls, and leave Zombies to be raised during gameplay, as it frees up points and Zombies are dead easy to raise.

warhammernut wrote:
Crypt horrors sound cool

Crypt horrors are a great anvil unit (something you use to tie up enemy units with the intention of another unit finishing them off). Coupled with something like a Grave Guard flank charge, they're great.

warhammernut wrote:
Ok GG are Grave Guard and BK are black knights can you take both? I am an old school wargamer and thinking Grave guard are like the French Guard and the cavalry on the flanks?

You can have both, but they both eat up Special allocation. It'll be a fairly large game where you'll be able to fit Crypt Horrors, Grave Guard and Black Knights. But yes, you can.

So zombies can be raised during the game interesting I havnt gotten to that part in the codex yet. I was wondering would anyone post a sample list say 1000 pts, 1500 etc. I really like the idea of going with skeletons. Then raising zombies :}

So reading the codex the newest one of course just to be clear. It says zombies can be raised above normal level for a unit so I assume you have to have one unit? Or does it allow you to start a game with no zombies and raise them? That would follow the fluff of the codex slaying units that rise again to turn on there former army.

If you start with zombies your invocation of nahek (spelling?) spell will make them bigger, then you have the raise dead spell with makes new units of them.

As for sample lists my 2400 one is;
A lvl 4 vampie lord with red fury, quickblood and usually a +2S sword
Two vampires and a necromancer or 1 vampire and 2 necromancers
40 zombies (sometomes 2 units of 20)
40 skeletons with the screaming banner
4 units of 5 dire wolves
1 unit of 5 hexwraiths
30-40 grave guard with great weapons and the banner of the burrows
2 single spirit hosts

I like it because it has the grave guard hammer and then plenty of chaff to ensure I control the movement phase and the hammer hits what it wants to hit while I keep things that want to hit it well away from it. Having said that there are lots of different ways to play VCs and that is just my way of doing things.

Thnx for the ideas definatly having fun exploring different things before I buy models. Will be ordering soon. Sois the corpse cart usefull? How about the black coach?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Thnx for the ideas definatly having fun exploring different things before I buy models. Will be ordering soon. Sois the corpse cart usefull? How about the black coach?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Thnx for the info having lots of fun exploring the different options. Does anyone use the black coach? How about the Corpse cart? Thinking of buying the battalion seems like it has some useful units?

Zombies, great big hordes of zombies and a few Necros to keep more coming.

Corpse cart: yes, defiantly useful, I don't usually have the room to fit it in but it is a good unit. Just don't mount a necromancer on it or they become cannon bait.

Black coach: I.. I've never liked the model and never liked the rules enough to try and find a better one. The only time I've seen it used it wasn't bad but I would never take one unless I were going a magic focused list to make sure it gets all the buffs quickly.

So great input again thnx so the battalion seems cost effective. Looking to put together my list to purchase a decent rounded force to get statrted. Trying to avoid the mistakes of my first fantasy army Skaven bought lots of models and no real plan. This Army I want to have a plan for. It is amazing though I have only had time to play maybe a dozen games with my Skaven over the last couple years so hope to get in more games this year. My Goals are to in order of importance to have a fun army to play, lots of options, then competitive.

I've never used the Corpse Cart but I think Jono's opinion (that it's good) is rare. I've heard more often that it's bad because it's so slow, though I recently started thinking about using it to support a unit of Grave Guard. I don't know what else it could reasonably support, though.

I've used the Black Coach in probably every game I've played, mainly because I like the model. It is usually underwhelming. Taking a "magic focused" list doesn't really help it much, to be honest, because it only charges on power dice and the VC options for getting more power dice in a given phase are not very numerous. Master of the Black Arts is the only thing that comes to mind, and the Channeling Staff from the main rulebook. MotBA is good but way too expensive, especially considering taking it will prevent you from taking Red Fury.

The one thing that the Black Coach does well is draw a lot of fire for some reason, and with a 3+/4++ and 4 wounds it's quite durable.

Well so far I have decided to go with Skeletons, Zombies ca n be raised during the game. I also am debating HQs and how to do my magic. One thing I like it seems the VC have a lot of lists that can work for fun and to be compettive.

So, some clarification on the magic and raising zombies...

There are two spells that can "raise" zombies. One, the signature spell (which means you always have the option to take it) is called Invocation of Nehek. With this spell, you can add zombies to an already-existing zombie unit.

The other spell is called Raise Dead. This spell actually creates a brand new zombie unit somewhere on the battlefield within range of the caster, where no unit previously existed. This spell is a rolled spell, meaning you have to roll it from the Lore of Vampires at the start of the game in order to be able to cast it. Essentially, this means that you're not guaranteed to get it.

Does anyone have specific reccomendations for my army General hq? At 1000 points 1500 , 2000 , 2500 point levels. I would like to know why also? Keep in mind I have decided to run Skeletons, so far wit the intent to raise zombies during the game. This is as far as I have gotten for my list building:}

At 1000 points, you can take a Vampire Lord with almost zero upgrades (normally referred to as a "naked" lord). This is a pretty good option because, even without upgrades, he's still a powerhouse and you can still take a hero vampire and upgrade him. The downside to this build is that you lack a high-level wizard (this is arguably not such a big deal because you're only playing 1000 points, which means your opponent probably won't have a stellar caster, either).

You can also take a Master Necromancer. This gives you less combat power but vastly greater casting potential, as I think you can make him a level 4 and give him Master of the Dead with 250 points. And, of course, you can still take a decked-out Vamp hero.

At 1500 points and above, you should probably almost always take a Vampire Lord, in my opinion. I know some people will probably disagree, but the hitting power of the vamp lord at this point level is hard to pass up, especially considering some of the other stuff that your opponents will be able to bring. Of course, you can still take a level 4 Master Necro and a bunch of decked Vamp heroes, as an alternative. Depends on the rest of your list.

As you go higher and higher, the vamp lord gets more and more upgrades. At 2400 and higher, you can feasibly run both a vamp lord and a master necro, but upgrades will be thin unless you play REALLY high point values.

Personally I wouldn't take a Lord until I hit 2000pts. Until then, you just don't have enough points to really have fun with his upgrades.

You can make a very capable combat lord at the 1600 mark. I've always used one and it works out fine. Arguably better, because he's almost fully kitted out with less enemy models that are a threat.