Maltese ETC Vampire List

Here is the list that scored 119/120 points at the ETC last weekend.

Daniel Degiorgio, Vampire Counts

Vampire Lord: General, Level 4, Vampires, Red Fury, Flying Horror, Book of Arkhan, Dragonhelm, Potion of Foolhardiness, Talisman of Preservation, Great weapon, Heavy Armour, 506

Necromancer: Level 2, Vampires, Dispell Scroll, Ironcurse Icon 130

21 Zombies: 63
20 Zombies: 60
2x 7 Dire Wolves: 56
36 Crypt Ghouls: Ghast, 370

2x 10 HexWraiths: Hellwraith, 310
8 Crypt Horrors: Crypt Haunter, 315

1 Terrorgheist: 225

Total: 2400

What is key is to see which matchups he was given. Certainly whatever he received he dealt with it.

Vampire Counts Army Book Review

The Bad Dice Podcast (www.baddice.co.uk) has done a very nice review of the Vampire Counts. You can download via iTunes or via their website.

It is a comprehensive runthrough of the book with Chris Legg, a UK ETC player. Nothing earthshattering in the way of new insights but it should reinforce what a lot of people already know about VCs.

Of course I'm sure that some people will now say Chris invented a VC Lord with Quickblood, Red Fury, Talisman of Preservation, Ogre Blade and the Other Trickster Shard because they heard it mentioned on this podcast. Similarly they'll also credit "invention" of Baby Vamp with Sword of Anti-Heroes and Quickblood to this podcast. Unfortunately for that theory sweeties, anyone who can read worked that out within an hour of picking up the book.

It includes a very good discussion of merits of Necromancer Lords vis a vis a Lvl 4 VC caster.

Well worth a listen.

Best Magic Item - Vampire Counts

This is the second in an occasional series looking at the 8th Edition Army Books and the race specific magic items they contain.

Generally I think you find that the Common Magic Items found in the rulebook offer better utility but the race specific items can offer something you otherwise would get.

In the Vampire book there are 3-4 items that I could potentially see myself using. However in most cases these direct you towards an extreme build to achieve maximum benefit. Two items that fall into this category are Skabscrath and Banner of the Barrows. Skabscrath is best in a list that maximises the number of Death Shrieks but at 75 points is expensive and leaves little in the way of protection for your Lord. The Banner of the Barrows gives wights +1 to hit but requires a significant points investment in the base unit to best utilise. It is further affected by the low number of attacks wights have.

So for me the best Vampire Counts Magic Item is the Book of Arkhan. At 25 points it is relatively cheap although it does take up an Arcane Item slot. What do you get with the Book? A Bound Level 3 casting of Vanhel's Danse Macabre. The spell moves one unit in the Magic Phase and gives re-rolls to hit in the combat phase until caster's next turn.

This is a great item to drag out Dispel Dice. You can throw one die at it and get it off 67% of the time. However once you've got it off your opponent is torn between using one or two dice to stop it. If he only rolls one then it goes off a third of the time. On an important combat your opponent can't take that risk and so will throw 2 dice to stop it.

Alternatively you can keep it until last knowing you'll only need one die to get it off and that will impact your opponent's defense throughout the Magic Phase. Especially if you make it known that you have the option.

So a relatively cheap item but one that acts to enhance your other strengths. Well worth 25 points if you have them available.

Vampire Counts List

Here is the Vampire Counts list I've been using over the last couple of months:

Lords:

Vampire Lord - Level 3 (Vamps), Barded Nightmare, Heavy Armour, Shield, Ogre Blade, Talisman of Preservation, Other Trickster's Shard, Quickblood, Red Fury - 503

Heroes:

Vampire - Level 1 (Vamps), Barded Nightmare, Heavy Armour, Sword of Anti-Heroes, Enchanted Shield, Opal Amulet, Quickblood - 205

Wight King - BSB, Barded Steed, Lance, Heavy Armour, Obsidian Amulet, Dragonhelm - 179

Necromancer - Level 1 (Vamps), Scroll - 90

Core:

35 Ghouls - Ghast - 360

40 Zombies - 120

3x 5 Dire Wolves - 120

Special:

10 Black Knights - Full Command, Barding, Lances -290

2x 3 Vargheists - 276

2 Fellbats - 40

Rare:

Terrorgheist - 225

An Extremely Angry Vampire (Red Fury?) Who Appears To Have Missed His Bus

The army seems to synergise well, the characters in particular supporting each other. I've found that typically 10 Black Knights is enough - against all but the strongest Magic Defence - and that they act as a suitable delivery system for the two Vampires.

The two units of Vargheists I treat as expendable, using them to clean out chaff from around the bus. The key is not to get too greedy with them and chase points that don't necessarily impact your overall plan. I've yet to really get the most out of the Fellbats and generally they are surplus to immediate requirements which means I chuck them in and get them killed early. I believe patience here would be a virtue and I should employ them as a mobile reserve.

The Ghouls have been the hardest unit to learn to use. I've taken to using them in Horde and I think that is the way forward. Again they need to be committed to wear down the enemy to allow Vargheist to act as flat track bullies later in the game.

Mr. Terrorgheist is fun to use. He is very vulnerable to Light magic but in those situations he needs to be drawn out to the flanks or committed to pick up points as fast as possible before his inevitable death. Determining which strategy is part of the fun. Looking forward to getting him into some high value targets.

Appreciate any comment on list. In particular if you can identify any weaknesses either in build and kitout. What matches do you think are particularly tough and could points be better spent elsewhere.

Well Matched Armies

Over the past few weeks Mike King and I have had a series of battles with pretty much the same two armies. I've been using Vampire Counts and Mike has had Lizardmen. This has led to a series of close battles where the outcome is generally down to one of us making a mistake.

Mike's army is as follows:

Ethereal Slaan BSB with Lore of Light & tricks
3x Scar Vets (one on Cold One)
Skink Priest with Heavens

2x 30 Saurus
2x Skink Cohorts
2x Skink Skirmishers

2x Camo Skinks
Terradons

2 Salamanders
1 Salamander

while mine is:

Level 3 Vamp
Level 1 Vamp
Wight King BSB
Level 1 Necromancer

35 Ghouls
40 Zombies
3x 5 Wolves

10 Black Knights
2x 3 Vargheists
2 Fell Bats

Terrorgheist

The games tend to centre on a fight between my bus and one of Mike's Saurus blocks - boosted by oodles of Light spells. At one stage yesterday his block was ASF + 1A, WS10 Init 10 while my bus was -2 to hit (Iceshard and Pha's). Generally I need to hold my scroll for this important battle which means that my fragile units - Vargheists and Terrorgheists  are very vulnerable in the early game from Banishment and Shem's.

We've now fought this battle about five times and I'd say Mike is 3-1 up with one game being a draw - however the games are always tight.

Yesterday's game saw me with 800 points of characters left and Mike with 1300 points left, giving him a minor win. However this would have been less than 100 points had his Saurus block rolled 10 to escape the remnants of my bus (the two Vamps) on Turn 6. The loss was my own fault as I made a silly charge with my Terrorgheist knowing he would flee and then hoping to re-direct (Ld 5 ??!!??!!) instead of the charge I should have made.

And that's what's been good about these games. They have come down to player choices and skill.

Mike, I keen to get my revenge!

Vargheists Are Okay

Before I pulled out my Vampire army from the crypt it had been occupying since 2009, I had heard a lot of internet wisdom (as well as live gamer talk) that Vargheists were crap. The general theory was that they had nothing on their box-mates the Crypt Horrors and that I would be foolish to use them.

I've now played about ten games with the new book and my personal experience is that this view couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, they are fragile - T4, no save - and they are Frenzied but they are also Vampiric, Flyers and have four Str 5 attacks. Certainly they are situational but if you are sensible with them (and present multiple threats), I find them reasonably survivable.

I do however think they are list dependant. I use them in a "fast" list where there are eight units that can move 14+ inches a turn.In a footslogging list I think that they would be a clear target. Where they really excel is in their cost. I field two units of three, each costing 138 points. They are therefore largely expendable in the scheme of things.

For me it's been a case of trying things out for myself and see if I can get some utility where others have dismissed them. It's a salient lesson in always question the conventional wisdom.

And they are a far nicer build than the Crypt Horror too!

Vampire Counts Get A Run

On the weekend I had a game against Mike King and to have a bit of a change I got the Vampire Counts out for a bit of a run.

The last time I used them was at Guardcon in 2009 (the one in Takapuna) where they received the lowest comp score out of the 50+ attending (recurring theme for my armies :-)    ).

The list I used on the weekend was:

Mounted Vampire Lord - Level 3 (Lore of Vampires)

Mounted Vampire - Level 1 (Lore of Vampires)
Necromancer - Level 1 (Lore of Vampires)
Mounted Wight King - BSB

35 Ghouls - Ghast
39 Zombies - Muso
3 x 5 Dire Wolves

10 Black Knights - Full Command
2x 3 Varghiests
2 Fell Bats

Terrorghiest

Really enjoyed using the list and I can see me giving it a lot more games in the coming months. Not least for the reason that the army includes my favourite ever GW model - the Mordheim Witch.

The list seems to cover most bases except it is lacking in ranged attacks. This is compensated to an extent by the fact that it has four 20" flying threats (2 independent of Vampires), and 3 18" dog units.

Personally I enjoyed the Varghiest units and think that they are underrated by a lot of VC generals. I'm looking forward to using them more as I develop the army.

Stirring in the Crypt

The other thing I did over the weekend was start work on my Vampire Counts list. The VC are a really interesting book as there is quite a divergence of opinion on what to include and what to leave out.


Here’s the list that I am looking at trying first:

Vampire Lord – General, Level 1 Vampires, Quickblood, Red Fury, Heavy Armour, Charmed Shield, Ogre Blade, Talisman of Preservation
Necromancer Lord – Level 4, Death

Necromancer – Level 2, Vampires, Book of Arkhan

Necromancer – Level 2, Death, Scroll
Cairn Wraith
Cairn Wraith
Cairn Wraith

40 Ghouls – Ghast
40 Zombies – Std, Muso
20 Zombies – Std, Muso

2 Fellbats
2 Fellbats
8 Crypt Horrors
4 Vargheists

This represents what I can get onto the table without two much painting.

Any thoughts on the list?

The Apocalypse Continued

Finished basing the Zombies on the weekend and made movement trays - two 5x10 models. Now have 90 finished zombiesout on the prowl.

Happy with the week's work

Zombie Apocalypse

Here are the 90 zombies I finished last weekend just waiting for their static grass and movement trays. There are a few details still to pick out but I'm happy with the outcome given it was 4-5 nights work.

The Mantic Zombies are far superior to the awful GW product. I'll get some further pictures up once I finished the 50 man movement trays. I'm thinking that they will rank up rather well.

Hobbytime

No games for me over the weekend but plenty of Hobbytime while I watched Euro 2012.

Besides deciding that England make Greece look like Barcelona, I worked out that two layers of flesh is all my 90 Zombies are going to get. I will basecoat the rags they are wearing, teeth and wounds but that will be their lot. Then the standard wash of Devlan Mud or Agrax Earthshade. My current batch of 90 will be split into three blocks of 30 to preserve my sanity.

I finished the Mortis Engine. Previously the spectral effect was far too blue. That has been toned down with 3-4 layers of grey to white. Hopefully it will look a lot more ghostly and a lot less smurfy. The five hexwraiths will get the same treatment after the Zombies are done.

Finally I sat down with my box of Ogre bits and put together seven more Ironguts and seven more Bulls. I have about 5500 points of Ogres but less than 1000 points of Core. These extras will allow me to games up to 6000 points. Previously I have used the Ogres in a 4000 point tournie but that was back in 7th Edition where it was slots rather than percentages. I'm keen to run a big game later in the year. Now I have to whisper sweetly in Charlie's ear to see whether I can convince him to paint them.

WIP - Mortis Engine

A couple of weeks ago....okay James, a month.....I said I was trying out the new GW paints by painting the Vampire Counts Mortis Engine.

I never got around to posting any photos until now but here are a couple I took tonight. I am halfway through it but it gives you an idea as to where I am up too.

It still needs some highlighting and I'm going to mute the blue to a more whitish blue-green.

Painting the Mortis Engine

Last week - and after enlisting Jack's help - I put together my Mortis Engine. Yes, like 99% of gamers I chose the Mortis over the Coven variant.

This weekend I'm going to paint the thing. In doing so I'm going to use some of the new Games Workshop paints and washes. By my reckoning it should be very straightforward and although I do have two games lined up, I'm hoping with 11+ hours of Prospero Burns on the iGramophone, I can get it finished by Sunday evening.

Check back on Monday for pictures. If I don't post any, badger me

Vargheists or Crypt Horrors?

So last night I’m sitting down at the table and I have the first of three boxes of Vargheists/Crypt Horrors unboxed in front of me. My first instinct is to make up the Vargheists as they look far the nicer models. However having once made up a unit of Sepulchral Stalkers, only to have to retro-fit them back to Necropolis Knights, I decide I should do some reading first.

A quick perusal of the net suggests that Crypt Horrors are the new hotness (Evidence: TWF thread “Are Crypt Horrors Broken?) but there is a school of thought – coming out of Europe - that Vargheists may be under-rated. So let’s look at the rules for the two units.

Vargheists


WS 4 Str 5 To 4 I 4

Special Rules: Fly, Frenzy, Vampiric

Crypt Horrors

WS 3 Str 4 To 5 I 2

Special Rules: Poison, Regen (5+)

On the face of it, Vargheists appear more “hitty” with 4 Str 5 attacks at WS 4 and higher initiative. The higher WS won’t make them any more resilient so the To 4 with no save is worrying. The inclusion of Frenzy creates a further problem as it makes them very unreliable unless you deploy them close to your command – General and BSB – so they aren’t led a merry dance around the board. The Fly rule is good in potentially getting them in to the right target however after the first hit they are really off the leash, forced to pursue etc.

Crypt Horrors appear to be the opposite, an anvil unit that due to WS3 and Str 4 fails to hand out much damage. This may be misleading – because as I found at the weekend – the Vampiric Lore has two spells that act as force multipliers. These are “Vanhels” which gives you the ability to re-roll misses and “Unholy Vigour” which allows you to re-roll “to wound” rolls. It is likely that you will get one of these through which changes the dynamics considerably. A second chance to roll a poison hit in part gets around both the lower WS and the lower Str, while the re-roll to wound greatly enhances damage output.

Given this – and a 8 point cost differential in favour of the Horrors – it is hard to see why you would take Vargheists over Horrors. The extra points will likely pay for a Spirit Host or an ethereal character, both of which should prove very useful. In both cases, current gaming wisdom has both units at between 6-8 models. This seems sensible as it maximises the efficiency of any buffs you look to use.

I’d be keen to better understand how the Europeans are getting increased utility out of a Vargheist unit over the Horrors as I am clearly missing something. As it currently stands, all three boxes will be made up as Crypt Horrors.

The Undead Will Rise Again, Again.

Thanks to the efforts of UK exile Dave Meachen a box of plastic turned up at my place yesterday afternoon. All nicely removed from the sprue and in bags.

This is the expansion of my Vampire Counts army - used throughout 2009 - and includes:

• Tomb Banshee
• Cairn Wraith
• Master Necromancer
• Wight King
• Mortis Engine/Coven Throne
• 3 Boxes of Black Knights/Hexwraiths
• Box of Crypt Horrors/Varghiests
• Terrorghiest/Zombie Dragon

I ordered when the book was released and in hindsight suspect a single box of Crypt Horrors/Vargiests is unworkable. They will therefore likely find a role as unit fillers unless I can source others more cheaply - $108 per box locally is a joke.

In addition to this I have ordered 90 Mantic Zombies to complement the list.

Wanted - Last Edition Metal Grave Guard

I'm after 10-20 metal Grave Guard from last edition (before they were released in plastic). Happy to take them in singles, small groups, full units...

LMK on pete@thefieldsofblood.com and we can work out price or trades.

New VC Book for Natcon

Just a heads-up for anyone going to NatCon at Easter.


After initially putting a new army cut-off date at 1 January 2012, the Umpire has now shifted that to 1 February 2012. This means that the Vampire Counts will be using the 8th Edition book rather than the 7th .

So no Helm, Drakkenhof or spam casting. But you do get better crumble protection, new units and cheaper skeletons. Your Vampires also get an extra attack.

Weather Warning - The Ethereal Cloud

With the release of the new Vampire Counts book there has been the inevitable discussion of how the meta game will change. Certainly the previous release, Ogres, changed the meta by significantly improving the viability of a Monstrous Infantry build. Up until then infantry had been the dominant troop type and the tools for dealing with infantry, didn’t necessarily work on Monstrous Infantry.


Along lurches the Vampire Counts and suddenly the new hotness is the “Ethereal Cloud”, an army of Core backed up by as many ethereal models you can fit in. Of course you get the “Sky is Falling Crowd” led by the Warhammer Henny Pennys who populate the internet and tell you how overpowered the build is.

And of course like the story of Henny Penny, it isn’t.

The easiest way to deal with Ethereal units is to have a ready supply of magic attacks. Daemons, Wood Elves and parts of the Warriors of Chaos and Skaven army have this in spades. Remember also that Page 7 of the BRB FAQ tells you that all attacks made by magical items are considered to be magical attacks. This includes attacks made by weapons, armour and banners unless it specifically is excluded in its description.

There are five magic weapons in the Common Magic Items that are 10 points or less so there is considerable opportunity to cheaply outfit a character for the role.

Magic missiles are a great way to deal with an ethereal unit and virtually every army has access to one in its arsenal. The most obvious is the signature Fireball spell that gives you the opportunity to generate up to 3D6 hits. For the points conscious the common Ruby Ring with its bound fireball is also an option.

“Aah, but what if they put 5 ethereal characters in a block of zombies so they can’t be targeted”. Well besides it being a pretty expensive way of generating a limited number of attacks, the unit is very susceptible to warmachines/impact hits. It also provides a very large drag on your Hero allowance reducing the number of casters you can include.

Of all the armies out there, Orcs & Goblins are probably the least suited to dealing with ethereal units. However they still have access to the tools. It probably means they just need to spend less on the toys and commit a part of their points allowance to dealing with ethereals. It doesn’t need to be large but it probably needs to be included in the mix.

So is the sky falling? I personally don’t think it’s even cloudy.

Vampire Counts - 2012 Vintage

My White Dwarf arrived yesterday and I managed to have my first good look at the new Vampire Counts. The following comments are based on this cursory investigation but you know what they say about first impressions.

Some Vampire Counts Info

Taken from Hero's Gaming Blog, here is some info from latest White Dwarf:


Lore of the Vampires

Signature Spell is definitely Invocation of Nehek - on the most fundamental level it can restore "D6 + caster's Wizard level" of Wounds to friendly Undead unit within 6". Boosted version has 12" range, as well as 18" ones.

Other spells includes Raise Dead, Vanhel's Danse Macabre, Curse of Years, Gaze of Nagash, and Wind of Death

Lore attribute: When the spell from the Lore of the Vampires is succefully casted, the wizard or any undead models within 12" restores 1 wound.


Rules tidbits:

All Vampire has rule called "Hunger" - You get to roll a D6 when the vampire kills one or more models in combat, on a 6 you recovers one wound. (Vlad with Blood Drinker pass the roll on 4+)

Also Vampire, including vampiric creatures "such as" Varghulf and Vargheist, can march. So Vargheist will be able to move 20" per turn almost all the time. (not sure if Varghulf can also fly)

Vampiric Powers: (not all of them, just those mentioned in WD)

Flying Horror - give the vampire ability to fly (unsure)
Dread Knight - ability to boost WS (don't know how - but a Vampire Llord with Dread Knight has WS of 9)
Quickblood - gains ASF
Master of the Black Arts - get to re-roll one D6 for the Winds of Magic.
Dark Acolyte - add D3 to the total number of models raised by Nehek.
Red Fury - should be about the same. (unsure)

New units:

Coven Throne

• Basically a chariot mount for your Lord.
• Is a Large target with S5 T5 5W and 5+ save.
• has Spectral Steed rules (can move 8"), Undead, Vampiric, ASF (only for Handmaiden who has 2 S5 Attacks)
• has Random Attacks (2D6) at S3 from the spirit horde.
• Has Ward Save of 4+
• Battle of Wills (before the first enemy rolls to hit against the character or the Throne, both player roll a D6 and add their LD value. Has effects based on the difference of the score) * no effect (0 or less)
  * suffer -1WS/BS
  * the enemy must re-roll successful To Hits
  * each model in the enemy unit strike each other (only 1 attack per model)
• Has Bound Spell (lvl3) allowing the Throne (and all of its crew) to re-roll either To Hit or To Wound rolls.

Mortis Engine

• Is a Rare Choice
• Same stats as for the Throne (S5 T5 W5 Sv5+)
• has 2D6 attacks at S3 from the spirit horde
• Undead, Terror, Spectral Steed, and Regeneration
• can make Ghostly Howl attack.
• can take upgrade, allowing any wizards casting spell from the Lore of the Vampires to get +2 to their casting attempt. (ANY) miscast wizards rolls twice on the table and have the opponent choose the result)
• The Reliquary (at the start of your turn, roll 2D6 and add the current turn number - until the start of its next turn, all friendly Undead units within this number of range gains +1 bonus to their Regeneration, 6+ if they don't have any, to a maximum of 4+. Also, all enemy units within this range suffers D6 hits at the strength equal to the turn number.
• • Also has some penalties if removed from play - by damaging every units within a random range at the strength equal to the current turn number)

Master Necromancer - New Lord choice (ie. better Necromancer)

Banshees and Cairn Wraith are now Hero

Hexwraiths (Special) - Fast Cavalry with Ethereal (yes!) that can inflict automatic S5 hits on unit that it moved through.

Vargheist (Special) - Flying Monstrous Infantry that has Fly, Frenzy, and 3A.

Crypt Horrors (Special) - Monstrous Infantry unit with M6 S4 T5 I2 W3 A3, has Poisoned Attacks, Regeneration 5+, and Undead.