Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/Vampire Counts

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Why play Vampire Counts?

Because you are afraid of the sun or listen to too much Norwegian doom metal.

Vampire Counts are an army with many attractive qualities; your troops are reliable, your magic is excellent and your characters are nails. The army list is very versatile (in the author's opinion the most characterful of the books released for the faction). You can customise your general and the theme of your army. Want a massive horde? How bout a hard hitting cavalry army? Maybe a small elite force? This book has you covered.

Army Special Rules

Most of these rules are the same or highly similar to every rendition of the rules from 5th to 8th (and indeed WAP 9th and other fan continuations). They are summarised here to enable easier discussion later.

The General The army must be led by a character who can is a wizard and has the highest leadership. Interestingly this person does not need to have their spells be from the Lore of Necromancy... but they probably will. If the general dies then everything Undead (everything but Ghouls, Bat Swarms, and some niche units from the back-of-the-book lists) must take a Leadership test and a model die/wound is lost for every point you fail the test by. Also bear in mind that in 6th characters never take wounds for the general dying.

Break Tests Undead cannot be broken, but do crumble by every point that they lost combat. Characters can be chosen to take some or all of these wounds. If the enemy wipes you out in the first turn of combat because of crumble they can reform as if they had destroyed a unit in combat.

Battle Standard Undead within 12" of the BSB take one less wound than they normally would due to crumble.

Immune to Psychology Everything Undead has this. Says what it does on the tin. Note that certain magic items (the Crown of the Damned) trump this and force a stupidity test anyway.

Charge Reactions The dead cannot react apparently except to hold to charges.

Marching Undead cannot march unless within 12" of the General at the start of the Remaining Moves step of the Movement phase. Note that waving your tape measure around in a vague circle will get you a sound slap and directions to the Warmachine tables.

Cause Fear The really big one for 6th because of how important psychology is. All undead cause fear (technically nearly everything in the army does, including the living parts of it).

Bloodlines Not a special rule per say, however all vampires must belong to one of the five Old World Bloodlines, and all vampires must belong to the same bloodline in the army. Those Bloodlines being the von Carsteins (generic statistics that all vampires are based on here), Blood Dragons (martial duellists who's Lords and Counts wear PLATE!), Necrarch (magicians extraordinaire, especially in an edition where normally vampires aren't great at magic), Lahmians (mostly female who focus on mind games that don't work and speed-based gimmicks that really really do), and Strigoi (outcast beasts who can easily be the largest unit killer vampires).

Magic Items Companion

We are trying here to highlight the key and crucial magic items in the list, I'm sure there will be several good ones not mentioned.

Some species of Ward save Strigoi Vampires get one built in and can buy Regeneration on top, Lahmians can drop 30 points for one that isn't a magic item (which lets you laugh at High Elves and their futz-with-your-list shenanigans), everyone else has a choice to make. The Carstein Ring gives the best set of saves but will eat your entire magic item allowance, the Crown of the Damned has a good solid save but you WILL lose a game due to stupidity, the Ring of the Night is probably the best generic pick and the Wristbands of Black Gold are a niche option for vampires who want to stay out of combat (Necrarchs maybe?).

Book of Arkhan Lets you cast your best spell another time per magic phase. Required.

Black Periapt Stores one unused magic/dispel dice per turn for next magic phase, yours or your opponents - incredible for 15 points.

Cursed Book All enemy models within 6" get -1 to hit in combat- this can tip almost any combat in favour of your mouldier, less able warriors and their living counterparts, though coming with a hefty 50 point price tag.

Banner of the Barrows Your Wights will always hit on a 3+, really helps with rubber lance syndrome on your Black Knights or allows your Grave Guard go toe-to-toe with almost anyone without the support of a combat character.

Screaming Banner Your army relies on Fear checks. Forcing your opponent to roll an extra dice and discard the lowest is definitely an amazing combination, although at 40 points it is not a cheap option. Could have applications with Grave Guard or Black Knights, or a BSB led skeleton unit.

Units Analysis

Lords & Heroes

All Vampire types will be discussed in their own sub headings.

• Vampire Lord 0-1: Hands down one of the scariest characters in the game, making even a heavily armoured Chaos Lord pause for thought. Weighing in at 285 points and paying 50 points for a (mandatory!) extra wizard level, this fellow is not cheap. A level 3 spellcaster with an extra point of WS/BS/W/I/A over a standard Count, they will cost you an extra hero slot. In games of 3k+ they are very worth running, but can be difficult to include in a smaller game with the competition for hero slots in this army.

• von Carstein The generic Dracula Lords are arguably the weakest out of the 5 Vampire Lords, having vampire powers that are mostly situational or not as immediately impressive. However he can summon on a "free" Bat Swarm/d3+1 Fell Bats for 65 points or d3 Direwolves for 25 bats that can come on from any table edge, enabling a very strong march blocking ability due to 6th ed march blocking. They also offer a very nice plus 1 combat resolution, and the ability for Undead to march within 18" instead. And most of all they alone can wield pappa Vlad's von Carstein Ring, which can make them the most unkillable out of all the Vampires at the cost of any other item or upgrade outside mounts or basic equipment. Also running around without a speck of armour (magical or otherwise). All in all the Von Carsteins do the most to support their army and control the battlefield: the thinking man's choice.

• Blood Dragon Melee Carnage on legs (or hooves, or claws, or something equally horrifying). Full Plate Armour on a Vampire Lord frame? YES! One less casting dice (Because of the armour) but unaffected Dispel Dice. WS 10 - even Chaos Lords will be struggling with that one. Must issue and accept challenges, which with their armour and WS isn't normally a problem but could get you into trouble with a canny opponent, or else waste potentially a lot of attacks curbstomping a unit champion into the void. Honour or Death can potentially get around that, but it is still a potential risk. Don't expect this guy to outmagic a truly dedicated spellcaster lord, but he will outfight near anything in the game. It is a big risk if he does actually run into a situation that he or his unit cannot handle however, so protect him accordingly.

• Lahmian The Lahmian Lady has the most potential to seriously mess with opponent's characters, especially with Seduction: however, these are so dependent on the enemy failing Leadership tests that it's honestly better to focus on the other powers. Always Strikes First for 25 points? A 5+ Ward Save that can't be stripped away at 30? Obnoxiously high Initiative built in? She can even take a neat bow that lets her snipe out unit champions or wizards for a trifling 30 points, however that necessitates leaving her out of combat and wasting the rest of the statline. Overall the Lord that must be planned for most out of all the five.

• Necrach Potentially one of the most potent casters in the game, and the closest to a truly archmage of power of the Lore of Necromancy as you'll find out of special characters. This particular vampire does not really want to be in combat, but instead in a bunker unit just behind, buffing and raising and reraising all of the models. He is by far the least combat orientated Vampire, but even so will actually stand up to a round of combat far better than a Master Necromancer and will also have the potential bonuses to magic to make things worth the extra cost. In particular, the ability Nehekhara's Noble Blood is one to watch, as it'll make your Count a level 3 wizard who only eats one character slot (useful for getting that crucial Curse of Years or big Invocation off), and allow a Vampire Lord to seize the entire Lore of Necromancy in combination with Forbidden Lore and a Spell Familiar.

• Strigoi Murder those units. 6 attacks, Hatred, 5++, and absolute power house upgrades (potentially Regeneration, 5 wounds, Fly, Infinite Hatred, and Strength 6, with also potentially more ghouls for march blocking? amazing). Sadly cannot take any mundane upgrades or normal magic items, but with the superior abilities he can be a whirlwind of destruction. By far the deadliest vampire, with the most kit built in, and if you're not going for magical dominance they're probably the winner's choice.

Vampire Count: Probably the most widely used Lord choice for VC in 2k games- this entry has superb combat stats with the option for a GW for Von Carsteins and Blood Dragons. In an army that otherwise struggles to deal with well protected threats, this guy will be the lynchpin of your army and it is well worth spending the points on magical items to amplify his impact on the game. A Crown of the Damned for a 4+ wardsave on the cheap is a good investment as are many superb bloodline powers depending on which family you pick. S/he will be able to lead their unit to victory against most opponents with their sheer damage potential.

Vampire Thrall: A great damage amplifier to any unit s/he joins with combat stats that would make an Elector Count blush. Unable to use a magic (unless a Necarch) this is a pure combat character and will preform well alongside both infantry and cavalry. VC/BD bloodlines have access to GW's which will boost their already impression St5 to high enough to instant kill chariots. Also a potential BSB, although perhaps best avoided on the bloodlines that cannot take the heavy armour that said BSB will need (namely, a consideration for von Carsteins and Blood Dragons, less so for the others (and impossible for Strigoi).

The Lahmian Bow is an interesting consideration for Lahmians as well - their BS is high enough to still get decent shots off in the early game, and the lower stats and weapon options for them makes a character not on the front line more reasonable.

• Wight Lord: 20 points cheaper than a Thrall and significantly less fighty than a thrall. If points are tight or you want to make a characterful hero-slayer they are best avoided- Gem of Blood and Sword of Kings may be combined to make a decent (if expensive) character hunter. A very good consideration for BSB if taking Bloodline that does not let their heroes wear armour, and a potentially good source of Killing Blow in a unit with the Banner of the Barrows.

• Necromancer: The question is not 'should I take a necromancer' but 'can I justify using my hero slots on anything else?'. Access to a fantastic lore of magic and a catalouge of strong magical items, these guys are mandatory. Aside from Gaze of Nagash none of your spells require line of sight so these grubby minions of the night are often found picknicking in lonely forests or surrounded by a summoned bunker of zombies.

• Wraith: An interesting and characterful slot, which is both ethereal and causes terror and can even be mounted to join a unit of cavalry- but already competing for hero slots with killier thralls and more useful necromancers these are rare to see on the tabletop. There is a build which makes use of the Cursed Book mounted on a horse and flank charging/combo charging with a unit like Grave Guard, which can cause a lot of potential problems for fighty characters to deal with. Definitely a niche choice.

Core Units

• Skeletons: Since before recorded history began, Vampire Counts players have debated the relative merits of Skeletons vs. Zombies and the answer in this author's opinion is simple (SKELETONS!)- do you want to build a tarpit or a medium combat threat? Skeletons have similar stats to Goblins, except for the incredibly impactful 'Fear' special rule. If you want to build a pure tarpit, zombies are for you, but skeletons with light armour and shields come in at 10 points a model and can soak up a reasonable amount of punishment while also being able to be raised from the dead. Led by a Vampire Count/Lord a good sized unit of these have been known to win combats against ironbreakers led by dwarf lords in this author's experience. You only ever need to win a combat by one as long as you run enough of these guys. 25 strong with light armour/shields/full command will cost you 275 points, but is well worth it. Also of note that the Lore of Necromancy allows skeletons to be raised beyond their initial starting value. Which does make their use even great, even if starting with a smaller unit.

• Zombies: Coming in at 6 points a model and always striking last with no save- these are your tarpit. While they may never win combats (without supporting cavalry/monstrous intervention) these guys will always fight to the last due to being undead. Many players operate blocks of 10-15 in their starting list to fill core slots with a view to raising more models into the unit to use as a spell caster bunker or a tarpit. When casting invocation of nehek they are THE CORRECT choice of new unit to raise. Using Vanhels to get these newly raised guys into position in an opponent's rear or flank is a very valid and game winning tactic.

• Ghouls: 8 points a model for a fear causing skirmisher with 2 poisoned attacks at T4 who is also alive and thus can flee from charges? With a min unit size of 5?? These are just amazing, don't leave home without 10 or 20. Great for wizard hunting, dealing with archers or war machines who will struggle to deal with them and for supporting large combats- point for point one of the best units in the game. A valid build is that of the ghouls rush - as many 10 model units as you can cram in, usually led by a Strigoi Lord. It is a fast and flexible way to get around most opponent's preconceived notions of Vampire Counts.

• Dire Wolves: 10 points a model and with M9 and S4 on the charge these are a good unit for attacking archers and war machines, with the fast cavalry rule helping their mobility and can intervene in combats at a pince to deny rank bonuses. However with T3 and no save they cannot stand up to punishment and cannot be raised with Invocation of Nehek. If you wanted to ensure that you have no friends, you can run a bus of 20 of these led by a vampire lord and 3 thralls with wolf form (giving them M9) and just hurtle around the table at light speed killing everything.

• Bat Swarm 0-1: Strictly worse than spirit hosts and in an army that doesn't have to worry about min core slots. Meh. However, they also fly at 10", meaning a 20" charge. Which can be useful a long bomb charge against artillery or lone wizards. Definitely not a first choice, but one that has applications if used right.

Special Units

• Grave Guard: An excellant and characterful unit - heavy infantry with S/T4, access to a 3+ save in combat or halberds along with the killing blow special rule. These are pretty nifty and will be difficult for your opponent to shift, they will however be outperformed by the game's true elite infantry due to their low WS- this can be mitigated by the Banner of the Barrows, though who to give this gem of an item to is worth pondering over.

• Black Knights: One of the stars of the list and one of the nastiest cavalry units going. S/T4 and with lances, these can pack a punch on the charge, especially when augmented with Banner of Barrows and/or Hellish Vigour. Larger units of these can simply plow through who armies, especially if led by a combat character- all for only 23 points per model or 25 with barding. Does struggle even more than normal cavalry with being easily led away, as the no marching can easily be used against them.

• Fell Bats: Coming in at 20 points per model and with a min unit size of 3, these are a go to choice for killing war machines or lone wizards, but will struggle against even dwarf crewed war machines. Well worth including for the low points cost, but competing with other important units in the special slots.

• Sprit Hosts 0-1: Bloody good thing they're 0-1! Armies without magical shooting/missiles and in a game where many lords pick a GW over expensive magic weapons, these are one of the most frustrating tarpits around. However you must give high priority to using your magical defences to stop them being lit up by damage spells as only T3 W4 each and coming in at a hefty 65 points per base.

Rare Units

Banshee The Screaming Lady of Screaming Irritation. Ethereal is the only defence that this lady has, but that said it is a very good defence in an edition low on magic weapons actually being used. Average statists in every other way (human average at that), with only two wounds, this lady is not really a fighter, and is easily crumbled if she is caught on her own to pure static combat res (rough maths means that if she is charged by a unit with a rank and a banner, she will die even if she does her average 1 wound). What makes this lady special is the Ghostly Howl - one of the very few shooting phase abilities that VC have. The attack is essentially a 2d6+2 leadership test, every point that you exceed their Ld by they take wound with no armour saves. Interesting, and surprisingly cheap, but definitely not something to build a list around. Potential combos with the -1 Ld from Lahmians aside, there are not a lot of good ways to reduce enemy leadership, so ultimately the Screaming Lady is more irritating for you than your opponent due to the potential for utter failure that her one gimmick can achieve.

Black Coach 0-1. An...interesting choice. In larger games with cannons and other S7 attacks, not the most amazing choice. In smaller games not a bad choice. 5++ keeps it moderately safe, as does the T6. Terror is also both defensive and useful for breaking smaller units. Evocation of Death is kind of meh this edition - essentially +1 wound (even going above starting value) for each wound caused. If it gets to 10 wounds it counts as a Scythed Chariot (Impact Hits d6+1) but only so long as the chariot has 10 or more wounds. It's an interesting choice, and thematic for von Carsteins and Lahmians, but ultimately kind of meh. Especially for its very high point cost when so many good options exist in Special and characters.

Tactics

Know your Weaknesses and know your Strengths

Vampire Counts broadly have two major strategies that most lists will rely on to be effective. Those tactics will be relying on fear and outnumbering an opponent to cause an automatic break test, and using magic combined with a high damage unit/character to roll units. More specifically, the VC can be used in approximately 6 different ways, depending on Vampire Boodline or taking only Necromancers (although Necrarchs will be similar to Necromancer only led armies).

Army compositions

• Fire and Flames: One way of winning with the high elves is pure ranged damage. The high elves cannot create a large gun line but they can mutually support repeater bolt throwers and strong magic. Key is to maximize fire and focus. Curse of arrow attraction and repeater bolt throwers and the bow of the seafarer or hunting bow are an extremely powerful combination. However, going 1 archmage, 2 mages with a combination of lore of heaven, white magic and lore of fire and 4 bolt throwers will set you back at least 1000 points so the more interesting aspect is the rest of the army. Also make sure your magic phase goes well by getting rerolls first and your lvl 4 archmage should protect himself against miscasts. How can you survive with so few points for units left? You will have to invest in redirectors and slowing enemies down by sacrificing some cheap units and high elves do not have a lot of them. Ellyrian reavers are a key unit here. Bring at least 2 units of 5 and think about investing in a noble on a giant eagle for further disturbing the enemy. Otherwise, create a big block of stubborn spearmen with your noble in them to hold the line in one spot. Offensive striking units like silver helms or chariots are probably wasted points here and be prepared to win by throwing all your melee units under the bus if the enemy is aggressively pushing you. This is the best HE army against any possible enemy. Just be aware that the first 2 turns the enemy will have scrolls to block your most important spells so if you rely on one (arrow curse for example) you might want consider to have two mages who bring it.

• Cavalry Dominance: Another good army composition is a heavy focus on cavalry. The classic approach is a bunch of silver helms and possibly dragon princes supported by reavers and mounted heroes for an all out rush. Add a lvl2 mounted scroll bearer, 1-2 eagles and 2 repeater bolt throwers against heavier stuff and you can dish out a lot of damage. A prince on a griffon might also fit the list nicely in case your knights encounter difficult to kill opposition. Such a list is effective in most cases by brute force but against some enemies you might still not be able to dominate the whole frontline and here is where cavalry and movement really shine. you can very easy use your cavalry units (especially reavers) to reposition your army and shift your attack focus while at the same time retreat in other places. Attacking your enemy weak spots while avoiding / redirecting / locking his strong units is what you have to do to win against strong enemy armies. Dont be afraid to sacrifice one or even two of your units if it takes out high priority targets that can destroy your strategy (like hellfire volleyguns...). Once your enemies shooting and quick units are neutralized, you can almost control the battlefield at will. Eagles play an important role here simply because you get 2 fast units for one rare slot and 100 points and you need a lot of small fast units. For your silver helms I would personally get three groups, 2x8 and 1x5 with the battle banner so that enemy focus fire taking out a unit will not hurt so much. Nobles on steeds or eagles are great for the list but a case for more magic power can also be done to control movement even more and dish out ranged damage once you circle around your enemy but I prefer a straight brute approach. This army is great against most enemies but be careful with the undead and unbreakable (aka braindead) units who wont run away from your charges and with Bretonnians a stand off while you shoot and fly around them is preferable to a quick joust.

Synergies

Just some overview on stuff that works well together. In the end you have to built your own lists and adapt them to the challenges ahead so knowing synergies is helpful.

• The difficult Terrain Squad: Cavalry + White Lions + Shadow Warrior. Your cavalry units can take the banner of ellyrion making difficult terrain passable. Be aware of the 2-inch view restriction in forests though. White lions can also go at least through forest without movement penalty and your shadow warriors can also pass through difficult terrain and even use forests to get setup out of sight of the enemy. White lions and shadow warriors are not recommended units but if you anticipate a lot of woods you can think about the synergy. Otherwise just use the banner and support the surprise attack through the woods (dont forget the 2-inch visibility - dont lose 2 turns by being in the woods) with a flyer
• Arrow Curse, Sign of Amul and Repeater Bolt Throwers: Marginalizing chance of failure is one of the best strategy to win. There are many ways too it and several reroll possibilities for strong shooting is very powerful. The Arrow cures means rerolls to hit, the Sign of Amul rerolls can be used for wounds or in case the Arrow Curse does not come through. If both hit then using regular bolts from your bolt thrower become much more feasible and will be devasting against armored targets and monsters. Watch your enemies cry over their generals on mounts and best units when 4 repeater bolt throwers focus on one target with rerolls.
• Magic Battery with a twist: A common tactic for all magic offensive armies - focus your efforts on your lvl 4 mage and make him as reliable and strong as possible. Your other mages act more as batteries but HE need to be a bit more creative here. The HE do not have a reroll magic dice item which makes them more prone to miscasts so your priority is to have the staff of strength (ignore first miscast) and casting Sign of Amul for rerolls to avoid an unfortunate end of the magic phase (or for your archmage). You can give the magic banner to one of your units to get another W3 dice each magic phase and get the staff for the +1 to cast (both staffs are arcane items so can be combined). One of your Lvl1 or Lvl2 mages should also cast the Sign of Amul and use the ring of Corin to get the enemy to commit more dispel dice. Make sure with the wise title and silver staff that you get all the spells you need for two of your mages since the elves do not have an item to enable your LVL4 to cast a spell twice so important spells need to be on two of your mages or otherwise your enemy will easily defend against them for two turns with scrolls.
• The flying Circus HE can for 520 field 4 flying nobles with 4+ save and greatweapons on giant eagles. In reality you probably want some magic items in there and maybe a mage in there is better but HE still can field a lot of flying heroes for a lot of strong striking where you need it. Add in another 2 great eagles and you will totally dominate movement with 6 flyers and enemy war machines will be gone by turn 3. To take on larger enemy units you will need support from regular troops or focus of several flyers at once but with 1400 points left at 2000 you should be able to field some blocks / cavalry. Biggest issue with this list (and why I have never even seen one) is the lack of models to portray heroes on great eagles. Lotr Great eagles might be a way out and the Griffon Lord from the 8th starter sits on such a small Griffon that I think its feasible to field it as a great eagle instead. Otherwise Wood Elf warhawks combined with High Elf mounted heroes can work.
• No Fear Playing against the undead fear and auto-break are your biggest enemies. HE have a lot of options dealing with it though and interestingly your cavalry only army might perform worse than a more traditional infantry army. The Lion Banner and Banner of Balance are your first choices but also your Lord on a Griffon will not be affected and against undead you might even consider bringing Phoenix guards due to their fear immunity and lack of enemy shooting. Additionally the banner of arcane protection will be melting undead troops on contact. In general fighting undead negates the HE weakness against shooting (Yes Tomb Kings can somewhat shoot but str.3 hits and some overpriced catapults shouldnt worry you too much if you can block their magic) and make your movement strength shine even more. Bring dispel dices (annulian crystal!) and the aforementioned banners for your infantry and you will have a good fighting chance. If your cavalry army is fighting the undead try to get as many combined and side charges in as possible.