2500 vamp list

[JakeM]

Hay guys. Just wanted your opinions on my next army. It's going to be all zombies. The vargulf is a zombie giant. The crypt horrors are zombie ogres. Is it too cheesy? Dose it need somthing else?

Necro lord.
Lv 4
Periapt

Vampire
Red fury
Great weapon
Talisman of protection

Vampire
Red fury
Great weapon
Armor of silver steel

Vampire
Red fury
Great weapon
Dispell scroll
Seed of rebirth
Dragon helm

4 x 40 zombies, standard, musician.
3 x 5 dire wolves

Corpse cart, loadstone
Spirit host
Spirit host
4 crypt horrors

Vargulf
Mortis engine
Mortis engine

[keithb]

I think you would want to start the crypt horrors at 6.

[Rhys]

looks pretty good, i think keith may be right about 6 horrors, you're probably going to need a heavy hitter that doesn't have the footprint of 40 zombies. otherwise looks like a fun list. lot of good stuff but without grave guard i don't think the double mortis engines are too overpowered. i've only seen them on paper though so its tough to make the call.

[JakeM]

I agree.  I think I'm going to drop th corpse cart for two horrors and a spirit host.

[Khrimson Death]

I think the gw vampires are a bit dicey. only t4 and 2 doesnt stick around very long, trust me i know from experiance. even with all the defensive load outs its easy to sneak a few wounds on them especially when they are striking last more often than not and when they are costing 200+pts each. Also Invocation does not heal characters, so you would be relying on the lore attribute or the hunger ability to revive wounds.

 Personally i would condense them down to one choppy lord and take some lvl 2 necros.

crypt horrors are a 6+ in my opinion as well and quite a steal at under 230pts.

I do like the new corpse cart rules, but i think bat swarms are a must in conjunction with them, but even then i dont think I1 will give you to many re rolls

[JakeM]

Maybe the vampires are a little softer then I though. A few people have said that now. I figured that if they are on the corners of the units they could last a while with saves and their ability to gain wounds, but maybe not.  What I need
Is a way to grind down the enemy while they are stuck in combat with my zombies. I figured vampire heros could do this while helping me cast. I'm open to other ideas.

I'm not going to play a vampire lord with level 2's. I dont think he is worth 500+ points, he can only be in one place, and he can still be killed by combat armys. I think a level 4 caster is a must for the army.

I'm going to do 6 or 8 crypt horrors. I don't need more if I'm raising 5 wounds back each turn and their regen is a 4+.

After talking to josh I realised the corpse cart is not so great. I don't need the re rolls for bringing back zombies. I'll have plenty and the ASF isn't helping them at all. I would be using it just to make my vamps attack at initiative order. Not worth 120 points. It's also too slow and gets in the way because if has to be next to the casters.

What do you meen about bat swarms in conjunction with the corpse cart? That sounds pointless to me.

So how can I kill their troops while they are stuck fighting zombies?

[Khrimson Death]

 A level 4 is a must, i concur. there is no way around it. A level 4 empire wizard for the vc is the best thing to happen to vc in the new book in my opinion. I think vampires moved soley into the combat bracket with some minimul casting support. to make a vampire a level 4 wizard is an utter waste for an additional 100+ pts. Hero level vamps are just to soft for the points no matter how you cut it. Any properly equipped hero/lord should have no problem challenging him out or directing attacks and even great weapon infantry aswell. iTs also leary putting them in zombie blocks, one bad magic phase followed by a brutal charge/ combo charge could see the unit crumble quite fast..  happens.. . especially against 9 or so tomb king chariots <-personal experiance

the only reason why i said anything about bat swarms is if you are packing great weapons and get hit by the corpse carts ability and run a bat swarm into sombody.. . nice to strike first with great weapons on a rare occasion i suppose.

as it stands now, you have 4 anvil and no real hammer. I consider the crypt horrors more of an anvil aswell.  Grave gaurd with a choppy character is my personal fav and i have had some success with black knights in the past, but the banner of strigos (hatred) is gone.

[Rhys]

So how can I kill their troops while they are stuck fighting zombies?

wildformed zombies? lol, that's probably a retarded idea but maybe there is some mileage in running one of the vamps as a beast caster? might combo nicely with the augments in the vamp lore. plus it will boost your fighty vamps quite well should you roll up some of the character buffs. maybe quickblood on them with the GWs since they're quite high I anyway? i'd also consider running them with more variation. maybe a quickblood/GW guy in one unit as a can-opener, another with sword of strife and red fury to slice and dice low T hordes, and maybe a scroll caddy beast caster? and i'd drop the talisman of protection ward, it's worthless if he's fighting near a mortis engine anyway.

[JakeM]

Master Necro
Lv4, preriphet

Vampire
Heavy armor, shield, dragon helm, seed of rebirth, dispell scroll, dark majesty, forbidden lore beast

Vampire
Great weapon,dragonbane gem, silvered steel, red fury

Banshee
Banshee

3 x 53 zombies, standard, musician

3 x 5 dire wolves

8 crypt horrors

2 x spirit host

2 x mortis engine

Vargulf

[JakeM]

I like the beast idea. St and T 4 zombies are funny. St 5 T 6 crypt horrors sound nice to.

I think 4 banshee screams a turn at -1 LD should help me win the grind fest. I need to test this out.

[Hankin]

Switch some zombies with ghouls and that is ver y close to what I am looking to play.
Beast is a great compliment to the vamp army.  Redfury+ transform= lots of dead stuff

[Rhys]

Switch some zombies with ghouls and that is ver y close to what I am looking to play.
Beast is a great compliment to the vamp army.  Redfury+ transform= lots of dead stuff

quickblood too, all those re-rolls on poisoned chimera attacks are heinous (as my great bray shaman can attest).

[Hankin]

I like wildform on the mort engine as well.
Question: red fury says unsaved wounds from attacks in close combat, if you are transformed, you get thunder stomp...how do the extra thunder stomp wounds work?
I see 3 ways:
1.  Extra attacks are regular attacks there for at your standard iny.  Since that int step has past they are lost. 
2) being a special attack, no RF. But as anyone can attest from stomps in a challenge, it is a close combat attack.
3) you get more hits from the thunderstomp.

Thoughts?   

[Rhys]

i'd say that vamp powers count as special rules so no RF attacks from thunderstomp. daemonic gifts were FAQ'ed to be special rules, i expect vamp bloodline powers to be ruled the same way.

Q: Do Stomps or Thunderstomps benefit from any other special
rules, equipment or magic items? Or vice versa? (p76)
A: No to both questions.

then again, after the slaughtermaster/armor thing and the greedy fist, its impossible to guess how things will get ruled.

[Hankin]

That makes sense, for now Ill make do with a billion high STR attacks and only 1d6 tstomps....