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Hello all, I'm currently starting up Vampire Counts as my 3rd army. At the moment, my army book is on its way so I currently do not know any of their units special rules so please bear with me

I am already fully expecting a lot of skeletons and zombies (which I have no issue with, I love painting blocks of core). I really love the Grave guard models, they are easily my favorite models in the VC army. So I guess my main question is are they viable and if so, what is the best way to field them.

I also plan on using fell bats, a white king, necromancers, vampires, and terrorgheists.

Oh and 1 more question, I want to use a Varghoulf but it's expensive cost wise and I wanted to know if they are viable as well before I spend the money on one.

Best way to field Grave Guard is a unit of 30-40, with Great Weapons and the Banner of Barrows. Optionally, you can run two Wight Kings (one kitted out to kill in challenges, and one with the armor that gives enemies in base contact Always Strikes Last. Idea is to challenge the enemy hero/champion and slaughter him as the chilly aura slows his attacks)

I've heard that Varghulf isn't worth it in most armies. I'd probably avoid it until you're more comfortable with the army (and can compensate for it's weaknesses)

That's fantastic to hear! I planned on doing a block of 40 grave guard with a wight king. I'm delighted to hear that 2 are even better. Thanks a lot for the advice

Oh, are Varghiests fine in units of 3? Or do I need more?

(Oh and I meant Varghiests in my top post, not terrorgheists)

Um, honestly not too sure with Vargheists. I've never seen them used and haven't read too much about them being used. I do know that 2 terrorgheists is common (and then a bunch of banshees as heroes, this is called a scream list and pretty much the only way to bring shooting to a counts army)

A word of advice from another VC player.

Buy undead from Mantic.

Their range is better than the core units you'll need from GW.

Cheaper too.

Grave Guard are good, and excel in a large unit with great weapons and the banner of the barrows. What isn't good, however, is a Wight King. They're one of the worst units in the book as there's pretty much nothing valuable they can bring to the army - you're much better off putting a Vampire or two in the Grave Guard unit.

As for Varghiests, I've never used them personally, but they're alright. Perhaps not the best choice in the book (certainly not as good as Terrorgeists ). That said though, due to their Vampiric rule, they excel at being able to race up one flank, away from the bulk of your army and take the opponent in the side. I have to say, the ability to do such a thing is something I wished I'd had in many of my VC games, particularly against Dwarves.

As for Varghulfs. Again, they're ok but I'd argue they're overcosted for what you get, that they compete for Rare allowance with the superior Terrorgeists and Mortis Engines and that Vargheists may do their job better.

Hope this helps!

I will probably still try out Wight King in a friendly battle just because I already have the model. I do plan on getting vampires anyway. As for Terrorgheists, they are on my list but for now Grave guard are my main focus. I was also thinking about about using Black knights with a mounted Vamp lord as I've read that this can very deadly . Right now I have 5 Black knights. I assume 10 is a good number?

10 is good, 20 is better on black knights.

Hexwraiths are kind of fun too, especially if you can use them to terrorize units that don't have magic weapons.

For Black Knights, the usual thing to do is to go for a "bus" formation which is 13-14 Black Knights with 1-2 Vampire Characters. You wouldn't be able to fit this in a normal sized game alongside a suitable sized unit of Grave Guard though and, if you want to prioritise Grave Guard, I wouldn't just stick in a unit of 5 Black Knights either as that won't work - use Hexwraiths instead.

So if I use hex wraiths instead, would I just put a Vampire lord on foot in my Grave guard unit?

 Throwdown55 wrote:
So if I use hex wraiths instead, would I just put a Vampire lord on foot in my Grave guard unit?

Exactly!