Beating the Bat III: Empire tactics versus 7th edition Vampire Counts
My first game many years ago against the Vampire Counts! A raised unit of skeletons attacks the Hellblaster from out of the darkness.
Never has there been a new book that has such consequences for the beloved Empire! If you are unprepared to meet the new Vampire Counts army, your forces will suffer a defeat for the epics! Even sometimes when you prepare for them, you will get hammered, but with careful preparation the chances of that are minimized.
Keys to Victory:
· Always use large units
· Take units that are immune to fear and terror
· Try and minimize their magic superiority
· Stop magical charges
· Take a magic weapon
· Only engage when you have a chance of winning
· Killing the Vampire Lord is a key to victory
Vampire Counts: Army Overview
They Own the Darkness: Vampires Painted by Curse of Beers
(See more of his excellent work here: http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/curseofbeers/ )
With the exception of a few units,
there is almost no similarity between the old VC book and the new book. Even
the units that were the same sometimes have different roles or different special
rules.
The Vampire Lord:
:
Vampire Lord Painted by Curse of Beers
(See more of his excellent work here: http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/curseofbeers/ )
The Vampire Lord is now the center of the VC army. In the old days often times a VC army was lead by a Necromancer-that is no more. Let’s look at the Vampire Lord and some of the options he brings to the table.
Special Rules:
Now Vampires can take up to 100 points in powers AND 100 points in magic items. Most Lords now top out at around 400 pts! That means if you kill him you can garner 500 pts towards victory. Not only that, but the army will crumble like crazy due to the now even lower leadership of the undead troops.
Though the special powers are divided into categories, you can freely mix and match anything you like up to the maximum for the Vampire Lord.
Here are the powers and how likely you will see them:
Spectral Form-The Vampire is ethereal, but can have no magic items.
Comment: This allows the Vampire to join ethereal units such as Wraiths. An army with an ethereal vampire would have to be a trick army and so likely you won’t see this one very often. Remember that the Vampire can only join other ethereal units and can't take ANY magic items. However, I’d strongly recommend having a magic weapon.
Ghoulkin-Allows the Ghouls to march before the game begins almost like the Dwarf Stollaz rune.
Comment: In armies with Ghouls this will be fairly common. Don’t be surprised to see either Flying Vampire or a Vampire with 9” ground movement hiding in this unit for first turn charges. Carefully screen your artillery especially if you suspect this form of trickery. Vanilla Knights are ideal for this role.
Supernatural Horror-The Vampire causes “terror”
Comment: With so much fear and terror causing stuff in a VC army I don’t expect to see this on too often. So few armies are susceptible to terror due to army-wide special rules and not having to take psychology tests in melee.
Master of the Black Arts-plus 2 Power dice
Comment: I would expect this in any VC army that is casting intensive. The Vampire Lord by himself can easily generate 7 casting dice using this power!
Forbidden Lore-Knows all Necromatic spells or any spells of any lore except life lore.
Comment: This power guarantees that the Vampire will have an effective magic phase. Because he knows every spell, he will have the perfect one for every situation.
Dark Acolyte: plus one magic level
Comment: Due to points, a Vampire Lord cannot have all of these powers. I would expect this a lot since you already have one default spell, a great bound spell (the Book of Arkhan) and it gains you the extra spell and the extra power dice.
Flying Horror: the Vampire can fly
Comment: In the old book flying vampires were pretty common in the Strigoi army. However, now you can have flying Vampires with armor and magic weapons! An army with all flying Vampires is possible! Taking the Orb of Thunder might not be a bad idea at all. Expect this more in the combat armies that in the casting armies.
Infinite Hatred: always hate foes
Comment: This is still a powerful ability. Especially when the Vampire is up against the other army’s higher level heroes or armies, which are especially tough to kill like Dwarfs. That extra hit or two makes all the difference in the world.
Hunter in the Dark: character can scout
Comment: While I haven’t seen this used yet, I can see it working well with the Talisman of Lycni to march block an army or helping the Vampire army to move even more quickly forward. You can be assured if the character can scout he will be well protected.
Red Fury: Bone Giant ability
Comment: Pretty much for each unsaved wound the Vampire gets to swing again. It isn’t as good as it would be if the Vampire had a great weapon, but it can’t be combined. Where I see it being good is on a mounted Vampire with a lance of some sort. I wouldn’t expect it on a foot model as much as I would a cavalry vampire.
Avatar of Death: take armor and weapons
Comment: The Vampire must take this to get a mundane great weapon. It is also one of the only ways to get a shield so it is fairly common.
Dread Knight: Gets a Barded Nightmare, Heavy Armor, Shield and a Lance
Comment: Pretty standard kit for the fighting cavalry vampire. However, with mounted troops leading infantry it could be a good choice for a regular vampire to get a decent armor save. It can be used just like the Empire tactic to allow the enemy to charge in their turn, break them, and then use the faster mounted character to run them down.
Aura of Dark Majesty: -1 Leadership to nearby units
Comment: This is potentially a game winner against Empire especially combined with making the Vampire or nearby unit cause Terror. I can see an ethereal unit of Wraiths with an ethereal vampire with this ability causing all sorts of problems against an Empire army.
Walking Death: plus one CR
Comment: I would always expect this to be on a Vampire BSB. It is just too good to pass up. Think of the CR boost it would give to a normal unit of even skeletons. On top of that you can armor up the Vampire so that he is pretty well protected.
Beguile: allows re-rolls to wound on failed leadership test
Comment: I’m not certain how best to use this skill. There are just so many other good skills for 25 points in the VC list. A kitted out Vampire is wounding most folks on a 2+ anyway.
Lord of the Dead, Summon Creatures of the Night, Summon Ghouls
Comment: All of these are the same, just the creatures change between each spell. Most Vampires will have Lord of the Dead to add to their skeletons early in the game. A popular strategy for the VC players is to take minimal units and use several rapid fire Lord of the Dead spells to bring them up to full strength quickly. Most of the time this can be cast on a 3+ so it is possible just using the Lord’s dice to generate 3D6 skeletons by himself without using any pool dice. More if he has pumped up with the magic abilities.
Summary of Vampiric Powers:
There are truly a bewildering number of combinations of Vampiric Powers. It really depends on the playing style of the other player as to how they kit out their vampires.
For example a magic heavy Vampire Lord may have:
Extra Level: raises him up to
level 3
Master of the Black Arts: plus 2 casting dice
Forbidden Lore: Knows all of the Necromatic spells
Lord of the Dead: to pump up the skeletons
Book of Arkhan: Cast Van Hels bound on a 3
Helm of Commandment: Allows the Vampire to pass its high WS on to a nearby unit
This combination is 420 points but makes the Vampire Lord a great caster. While he is vulnerable in combat a bit, normally he can raise diverting units and bail out before something can close in on him.
For my own army I like more of a combat Vampire Lord. I face a lot of chariots and a lot of shooting so I try to make a Lord that can hit hard and fast, he looks like this:
Extra Level: raises him up to
level 3
Summon Ghouls
Avatar of Death: So I can have a S7 Great Weapon
Lord of the Dead: So I can raise skeletons too
Flying Horror: Can fly, when combined with my BSB’s Ghoulkin ability I
can march 8” before the game starts and potentially do a turn one charge
on a chariot or war machine.
Book of Arkhan: I use this in case I misjudge my flying charge. J
Flayed Hauberk: A dude needs some armor protection and a 2+ save is pretty good
and fits my points value
This is a “quick strike” Vampire designed to charge early and often either with the troops or alone.
Vampire Lord
Red fury: Wounding hits lets you swing again
Infinite hatred: Hatred that never goes away
Walking death: +1 CR
Talisman of Lycni: 9” Ground Movement
Sword of Might: +1 Strength
Dispel Scroll
Walach Bloody Hauberk: Armor save plus a 5+ Ward Save
A fine example of a “combat monster” Vampire, one that can really dish out the hits and CR.
As I’ve said the combinations are amazing. You can kit out a Vampire to do one thing really well or be a good all around character. The one thing that is true is that the Vampire Lord is the centerpiece of the army. As he goes, so goes the army.
Vampire Thralls:
Vampire Thrall BSB Painted by Curse of Beers
(See more of his excellent work here: http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/curseofbeers/ )
Vampire Thralls are also an integral part of the VC army. They have a many roles as the Vampire Lord but with their lower limit on points. They have a limit on their points so it is less likely that they will be as good of an all around character as the Lord.
The best use of the Thrall for the VC player is to enhance the abilities of the Lord. For example a Thrall may be a Battle Standard Bearer. He may have an important ability such as summoning the things that the Vampire Lord doesn’t. Perhaps he has the Ghoulkin ability to allow the Ghouls to march before the game even starts.
Thralls are also leaders of important units. They may be leading a unit of Black Knights, Blood Knights or Grave Guard. Kitting them out as combat heroes is a possibility especially if the Lord is more of a caster. The Avatar of Death, Walking Death plus magic armor or a ward save will help with survival, as well as, giving the unit some valuable CR and hitting power. Just like with Empire troops, it takes a character to really put the rank and file units in a position to break other units. While a unit of Skeletons isn’t that fearsome, with a magic banner and a Vampire Thrall in the front rank all of the sudden it becomes a formidable foe.
A couple of examples of support thralls:
Vampire Thrall
BSB Upgrade
Ghoulkin
Talisman of Lycni: 9” Ground Movement
Enchanted Shield: to give the Vampire some armor save
Dispel Scroll: Gotta stop the enemy’s magic too!
This one is more of an all around thrall. He has some abilities to help the Vampire Lord in this case the Ghoulkin power.
Vampire Thrall
BSB Upgrade
Walking Death: +1 CR
Flayed Hauberk: 2+ AS
Talisman of Lycni: 9” Ground Movement
Sword of Might: +1 Strength
Excellent supporting Vampire Thrall with a great kit
Vampire Thrall
Enchanted Shield: to give the Vampire some armor save
Dark Acolyte: Extra Level
Lord of the Dead: Summon units beyond their normal size with +1 to cast
This Thrall is more of a spell support Vampire.
Vampire Thrall
Avatar of Death
Flying Horror
2 x Dispel Scrolls
Here is an example of a good support Thrall. He can mage hunt, pop chariots, and provide magic protection in the same kit.
Summary of Thralls:
Thralls are usually put in the list to make the Vampire Lord even better. Whether it is providing abilities the Lord doesn’t have, enhancing the magic phase or leadership of important units, Vampire Thralls are an essential part of the list. In the past it was Necromancers that made the list-now it is the Vampires turn to shine.
Necromancers:
Necromancer Painted by Curse of Beers
(See more of his excellent work here: http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/curseofbeers/ )
Necromancers have changed roles a lot since the last edition of the game. No longer are they the engine that powers the VC army but are support mages. While they can still summon units, add to them, and move them, it is more difficult than before with the evolution of the Vampire characters.
Necromancers are now just level one mages. While they only get one spell, they can pick the spell from the following spells: Invocation of Nehek, Raise Dead, and Van Hels Danse Macabre. They also have the option for 15 pts each to get purchase more spells so they could have all three of them.
They have the option to ride a Corpse Cart, or a Nightmare. Both of these have advantages, whether to add to the protection and magic abilities of the army with the Corpse Cart or to make the Necromancer more mobile to support a fast moving Vampire or unit of Black Knights.
Some common kits are as follows:
Necromancer
2 x Dispel Scrolls
Classic scroll caddy role
Necromancer, +2 spells
Corpse Cart
2 x Power Stones
This Necromancer is there to help with the magic phase. The power stones could allow him to cast several Danse spells per turn!
Necromancer with Van Hels
Book of Arkan
I think I can call this one a “Van Hels” caddy! Its only role is to cast two movement spells per turn.
Necromancer Summary:
Necromancers are great support characters. They help by casting lots of small spells per turn making them all difficult to stop. Just like in the past, while killing a Necromancer won’t win you the game, it will help you by diminishing the VC magic phase and getting a few easy to get points.
On to the Vampire Counts Magic Phase and How to Stop it