Bloodlines | Spells | Choosing Your Army
Characters | Core Units | Special Units | Rare Units
Creatures of the Night | Formations and Tactics

The Vampire Counts are the immortal rulers of the evil Undead. Powerful and cruel beyond the comprehension of the living, they command armies of decaying Zombies, Skeletons, Wights and Ghouls to destroy the Old World. When a Vampire Counts army goes to war, entire graveyards give up their dead as the spirits of the fallen take up arms once more to fight under their unliving masters.

The tactics and composition of your army will depend upon the Bloodline of your Vampires.  Your general must choose at least one power from one of the four Bloodlines and all other Vampires in your army must be of the same Bloodline.  Each Bloodline has its own distinct powers that will effect how your army should be composed and the tactics you should use with it.

As in any Undead army the Vampire Counts army is dependent on its leaders.  You can be rampaging through your opponent's army one moment, watching his units fail fear and terror tests, and the next moment watching your army decomposing and dropping to the ground as piles of bone and goo, due to the loss of key leaders.

 

Bloodlines

Von Carstein: This Bloodline's powers are those of the traditional Vampire, with shapeshifting, transfix, and summoning wolves and bats.  Call Winds can be a savior of your army when fighting armies with a lot of missile troops.  The Carstein Ring can also increase the survivability of your General.

Necrarch:  This Bloodline produces the most powerful Necromancers of all the Bloodlines.  Even their Thralls can use Dispel Scrolls and retain a Magic card.  Their powers are ones that increse their abilities with Necromancer spells, raising the dead, reducing wounds taken by a unit they are with or wounds they have taken.   The Supernatural Horror power makes the Vampire cause terror which increases the chance that one or more enemy units will break and/or flee.  They can also increase their Wounds by +1 through use of the Curse of the Revenant power, which also help the survivability of units they are with, and the army if it is given to the General.

Blood Dragon:  The members of this Bloodline strive for martial excellence, and it is reflected in their powers.  They have powers that increase their WS, lower their opponents' Attacks, remove armour movement penalties when mounted on a Nightmare, allow casting spells while wearing armour, increase Wounds, and/or allow a reroll of missed attacks in the first round of every combat.  These are the strongest fighters of all the Vampire Bloodlines.

Lahmia:  This Bloodline depends on seduction, misdirection, and speed for victory.  Their powers increase their ability to strike first, move further and faster, transfix an enemy, dodge their enemy's attacks, seduce enemies to change sides, and/or make themselves harder to see, shoot at, charge, or cast a spell at.   This Bloodline's powers are centered on the Vampire characters, improving their abilities on the battlefield.

Strigoi:  'Ghoul Kings' - Embittered outcasts who plague the southern provinces of the Empire

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Spells

Vanhel's Danse Macabre is essential to a Vampire Counts army.With it you can increase your movement and overcome your inability to make march moves, allowing you to choose when and where to strike, seizing the initiative from your opponent.

Invocation of Nehek will all you to add extra troops to your army and to replace those you have lost.   You can actually end a battle with more troops than you started with.

The other Necromancer spells are also very useful to individual Vampire Counts and Necromancers, depending upon their Bloodline they may be more useful to some than to others.

Hand of Dust is very useful to Blood Dragons, as it can add to the strength of his mounted Wights while killing one of his opponents.

These are the spells that I have found to be most useful with a Vampire Counts army.   One other spell that I find to be of use is the Curse of Years, it can cut down an enemy unit with any luck at all.

Hand of Dust and Curse of Years can also be used to kill important enemy characters, weakening your enemy's army and improving your chances for a win.

Gaze of Nash is very useful to Blood Dragons, as it can add to the strength of his mounted Wights while killing one of his opponents.

Hellish Vigor is very useful to Blood Dragons, as it can add to the strength of his mounted Wights while killing one of his opponents.

Magic is more important to a Vampire Counts army than any other army.  Always remember this when designing your army, and always remember to tailor your spell choices to the Bloodline you have chosen, and the troops in your army.

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Choosing Your Army

Characters

You must have a General, either a Vampire Lord or Vampire Count.  My Choice would be the Vampire Count as they are still very powerful but cost much less than the Vampire Lord.  You could have two Vampire Counts well equipped for not much more than one well equipped Vampire Lord.  Unless you are playing Necrarch, I believe it is best to rely on Necromancers for most spell casting.

Vampire Thralls are a good choise to place with a unit of Wight Cavalry and/or Grave Guard, along with their own champion.

Necromancers are needed for their ability to raise and summon the dead to do your bidding.

You should always take a Battle Standard as magic standards can go a long way toward increasing the strength of your army.

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Core Units

Skeleton Warriors:  Use these in large units of 36+.  I often use over 40 figures in these units.  I never purchase armour for them, saving the points for more figures, as you can replace losses of these troops with Necromancer spells.  I do give these a magic standard to help overcome their poor fighting abilities.  They can win a war of attrition where the enemy is at a disadvantage.

Zombies:  Use these in huge units of 40+.  As Zombies always get to lap around, they will roll lots of attack dice, which will help to overcome their low stats.

Ghouls:  This is another unit that should be used in large numbers.  They never take break tests as long as they outnumber their opponents, and they cause fear.  I have been known to use as many as 50 of these in a unit.   Ghouls make a great blocking unit as long as they outnumber the enemy unit.

Dire Wolves:  These are fast, with a move of 9" and a charge of 18".  They get 2 Attacks when they charge (the Doom Wolf gets 3 Attacks when charging).  Make sure that the Dire Wolves get to charge the enemy, don't let the enemy charge them.

Bat Swarms:  These can be used to block a unit, as flankers, to attack skirmishers, or to attack the crews of war machines. You can buy one Bat Swarm at 50 points for each Vampire in the army, making them a good value.

 

Special Units

Wight Cavalry:  This unit can be used with only light armour in the role of flank attacks, or they can be equipped with heavy armour, shield, lance, and barding to act as shock cavalry.  Give them a magic standard.

Grave Guard:  These are a tough unit to stand in your line and add stability, or to use as a unit of shock infantry.  I prefer to arm them with halberds, light armour and shield.  I also equip the unit with a magic standard (which one depends on the role I am using them in).

Spirit Hosts:  These are very useful for tying up strong enemies.   Two or three hosts in a unit can hold up an elite enemy unit for several turns.   They are Ethereal and can only be affected by magic weapons, but don't use them against units with multiple rank bonuses.  This should not be a problem as most elite units do not have multiple rank bonuses.

Vampire Bats:  Being flying creatures Vampire Bats are useful for attacking war machines and skirmishers.  They also make a good mobile reaction force to reinforce other units.

 

Rare Units

Banshees:  These Ethereal beings always fight alone.  They have their ghostly howl which they use in the shooting phase.  These are most useful for the psychological effect they have on your opponent.  Many opponents will change their line of advance due to these.  They can also be used t good effect against skirmishers.

The Black Coach:  This unit should be used against small elite units.  With its special rules it can be very powerful.  Due to the Evocation of Death it can actually become more powerful as the combat continues.

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Creatures of the Night

Zombie Dragons:  These are good against small units, skirmishers, war machines, and as mounts for powerful characters.  But don't engage large units with multiple rank bonuses.  Also, don't let them become the targets of massed missile fire or war machines.

Winged Nightmares:  These make good mounts for a Vampire that you plan to use to strike deep into the enemy lines with.  It also has a powerful attack in its own right when it charges getting a +2 to its Strength.

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Tactics

The three tactical lines that I would choose for Vampire Counts are the Horns, Center Presented, and Weighted Flank.

The Horns Formation

The Horns formation is a good formation for the armies of Necrarchs or Lahmia. This formation is the classical encircling formation. Put your hard hitting fast troops on the flanks, and anchor your center with some good steady troops. Do not give your opponent time to change his deployment, move forward immediately, and keep your lines longer than your opponent's.  Make sure that you place your Vampires and Necromancers where they can do the most good.  Put the Necromancer with the infantry at the center of the line to replenish your Skeletons and Zombies.  Place a Vampire with Vanhel's Danse Macabre with your fast troops to aid their ability to make flanking attacks.   Close with your enemy as quickly as possible, and don't give him a chance to use his missile troops and/or artillery to whittle down your army before you have a chance to close.

*Note that you may only have one Spirit Host.

 

Weighted Flank Formation

This is a good formation when you have some very hard hitting troops mixed with some good steady infantry.  This is a good formation for Blood Dragons or Von Carsteins.   You have a powerful flank made up of Wight Cavalry and Grave Guard, a steady line of Skeletons and Zombies, and a fast flank made up of Vampire Bats and Dire Wolves.   Use the Spirit Host and Swarms to tie up dangerous enemy units while you destroy other units with your Wight Cavalry and Grave Guard.  Go after his missile troops and artillery with Vampire Bats and Dire Wolves.  Use Bat Swarms to take out his skirmishers.  Fight a war of attrition with your center.

 

Center Presented

This is a formation used to break the center of your enemy's line, it is not one of my favorites.  This formation works well with a Blood Dragon army, with the Vampires equipped and armed for close combat.  This is a hard-hitting, all-mounted army.   You might even think of taking a Vampire Count on a Nightmare to harass your opponent's artillery and magic-users.  Magic will be very important to this army also though.  I would take a Necromancer with summoning spells and place him behind the barded Wight Cavalry, and I would also place a Vampire with Vanhel's Danse Macabre in the same area.  Even though you do not have any infantry to start, your Necromancer can summons Skeletons and Zombies.  This can create strange looks on your opponent's face, looks of shock and horror when an Undead regiment just rises out of the ground.

 

General Tactics

You'll notice I did not place any characters on the illustrations above, as this will be a matter for deployment after you have seen what your opponent brings to the table.   The following guidelines, though, should keep you in good order:

• Always place Vampire Counts with your heavy units when playing a Blood Dragon army.
• When playing the other Bloodlines, it is best to have your main Lord behind units where he can use his spells to supplement them, but not be in danger himself.
• Always keep your spell-users within 2" of a unit, so they cannot be targeted individually.  Your spell-users are extremely important to your army!
• Always take Vanhel's Danse Macabre, and all three summoning spells!
• If you are playing Blood Dragons, always give one of your Vampires the Hand of Dust, preferrably a mounted one that's with Wight Cavalry.
• The Black Coach is either devastating, or it is a total loss.  I have not found it to be worth its points.  I would much rather have more troops, or more spell casting ability.
• It isn't worth the points to buy armour for Skeletons.  The points are best used for more important troops that you can't summon or replenish with magic.
• Always remember that Wight Cavalry can be used in both the shock role and in a fast cavalry role, depending on how you armour them.
• Always remember that Spirit Hosts are great for tying down dangerous enemy units.   Swarms are also good for this job.
• Do not give your opponent time to use his missile troops to any effect!   Close, and close fast!
• Take out artillery and missile troops early.
• Dominate magic!  Take at least three magic-users.  They do not all have to be high-level.  Remember, even the lowliest Necromancer can dispel and hold a magic card  If you play Necrarchs even your Thralls will be able to use Dispel Scrolls and hold magic cards if you give them Dark Acolyte.
• Two Vampire Counts are better than one Vampire Lord!  Use a Necromancer as your main magic-user.
• Wight Lords are better than Wraiths in most instances as champions for units.
• Know your army and your opponent's army!  Emphasize your strengths, and your opponent's weaknesses.
• If you play an army dependent on hordes of Skeletons, Zombies and Ghouls, take lots of characters!  You will need them to reinforce your units, especially with magic.   You should also take at least a couple of fast units with these, like Vampire Bats.   A Spirit Host can also be very useful for one of these armies.
• The Banshee is most useful for its psychological effect.  Do not try to fight large units with them!

Cheesy Tricks

• Use a Blood Dragon Vampire Thrall, give it the Strength of Steel power and the Crown of Sorcery (the wearer has the spellcasting abilities of a Level 3 Necromancer), mount him on a barded Nightmare, and give him heavy armour, a shield and a lance.   For only 217 points, you will have a Vampire with the spellcasting abilities of a Level 3 Necromancer, and an armour save of 2+.
• Another use for the Crown of Sorcery would be a Wight Lord.  He will not be able to wear armour, but his cost is only 161 points.
• Or a Wraith with the Crown of Sorcery, for 195 points!  Ethereal, and casts spells as a 3rd level Necromancer!

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