Magic:
The one thing that is for certain the Vampire Counts is a magic dependent army. While they don’t absolutely need magic, they function much better with it. We’ll first look at the Lore of Necromancy courtesy of the Gneisinau from the Warhammer Empire forum.
The Lore of Necromancy:
The VC lore contains 7 spells. Each Vampire starts with “Invocation of Nehek” and gets another per magic level, with the default one being “Raise Dead”.
Invocation of Nehek (Range 18") – Is the standard healing spell. I can heal everything that is undead, and guess what? That’s the whole army, without exception. The spell may not be used to increase units beyond their starting size, except if the caster has the respective bloodline (which incidentally gives him a +1 to cast Invocation as well, making the spell a 3+ only). Zombies are the exception, as there is no bloodline required (and the Invocation raises more of them). This is a necromantic spell, so it can be cast again and again-and again! You get the idea. I think it won’t be too uncommon to see Vampire Lords using six PD to attempt casting this six times, succeeding four times on average, and thereby boosting two skeleton/ghoul units in the vicinity of a corpse cart with 2d6+2 models each.
Raise Dead (Range 12")– Raise dead is another primary necromantic spell that raises Zombies and Zombies only. With the changes in the rules, the old style zombie “Conga Lines” are now more. The caster needs two power dice to cast reliably. A Vampire Lord with this spell and the Scepter of Noirot (increases the number of raised models) can easily raise 40 zombies per magic phase -so watch out! The drawback is that each raised unit is worth 50 victory points, so small Zombie units may just end up as point gifts.
Vanhel’s Dance (Range 12") – The third primary necromantic spell is Vanhel’s Danse Macbre. If successfully cast it gives either an 8” movement or, in close combat, ASF and re-rolls to hit. A unit may only be moved once per magic phase, but rules as written do not prevent moving it into combat with Vanhel’s, and then casting the spell again for ASF and re-rolls. This spell is important, so expect either Necromancers with it or at the very least the Book of Arkhan. (One of Atchman’s keys to victory is controlling this spell and how it is used).
Gaze of Nagash (Range 24")–This spell is a nice magic missile. Many times the Vampire player can get it to work since usually the other caster is holding dice for movement spells or raises. Watch out for this spell, especially if your army has a lot of Pistoliers and Outriders. A magic missile of this caliber is death to light units and detachments.
Curse of the Years (Range 18") – Curse of Years is a holdover from the previous book. It still has an 18” range and is still pesky. May be cast in close combat and doesn’t require line of sight. For infantry armies with large units, this spell is far more dangerous than magic missiles. If your units get thinned by this, they might end up outnumbered. On the bright side, after the initial effect, the next casualties are taken at the end of the next magic phase, so you can dispel it before it gets really onerous.
Soulwind (battlefield) – Soulwind is a funny spell that causes a wound on every enemy unit (!) on 4+. Perhaps that army of Chaos Knights wasn’t such a good idea after all? Anyway, the stolen wounds are turned into a Spirit Host unit (raised within 12” of the caster, not into melee) that will pester you henceforth. Really, the number of ethereal models a VC army can field now is rather frightening. It has a very high casting value though, so without “Dark Acolyte”, even a Vampire Lord will have trouble casting it.
Summon Undead Horde (Range 12") – expensive spell with two alternative effects. It can be the same as Raise Dead, only with 5d6 zombies. That’s nice as it creates one big unit instead of several small ones, but even 17 Zombies (the average) are not that impressive, and I’d rather have two units of 11 for the same number of PD with the Scepter of Noirot.
Or it can be the same as Invocation of Nehek, only with 3d6 wounds healed. It is questionable whether the “summon”-bloodlines work on this one, but RAW seems to say no – so you may not add 5d6 skeletons on top of the starting size of a unit. In addition, if you use corpse carts, three Invocations are better as you get the bonus model three times.
Key to Victory-Control the Vampire Magic Phase
The way that Vampire Counts armies work is different than how the “live” armies work. They are bound by magic and hence it is an integral part of how they play on the table. Though the Empire can be a fairly heavy magic army, they don’t necessarily need to use it as part of their strategy.
Magic Defense:
Some magic defense is a key to defeating the Vampire Counts. As Vampire lists evolve, folks will tend to go with a heavy magic phase as a starting point for their lists. With almost every character a caster it is quite normal to see 9 or more casting dice in a Vampire Counts list. Add to that perhaps one to two bound spells and you can see where this is going. You simply must understand the threat and develop reliable counters.
Kill the Mages:
That is easier said than done. One of the things that evolved in the new list is that Vampires aren’t as hard to kill as they were before. By having to trade off between armor, special abilities, and magic, you’ll find some Vampires no harder to kill than an Empire or Orc hero-level character. Remember, every mage that you get rid of gets rid of a casting dice, potentially a bound spell, and for certain a dispel dice.
Always try and take out the character that is carrying the “Book of Arkhan”. This is a for certain casting of the spell, while they enemy can miscast or fail to cast Van Hels as it usually takes two or more dice to cast successfully.
You can kill an enemy mage a number of ways. The Necromancers are for certain easier to kill than the Vampires due to their lack of armor and toughness. Expendable troops such as detachments, Vanilla Knights or even mounted heroes can sometimes whack a Necromancer. If engaged in melee with a unit, make certain you put as many attacks towards the characters as possible. Think of it this way, if they have one wound, they will use their spells to heal themselves instead of building up their units, moving units, or raising up new units.
The casters can be killed by ranged attacks. The Hochland Long Rifle is an excellent device for picking off enemy mages. Putting a HLR in a unit of Outriders is a good counter to the VC threat. The more ranged wounds you put on their army the more they are trying to heal versus trying to do other things. Another use for the HLR is to try and take out unit champions. Many Empire Generals use VH Speculum. Having to wade through the unit champion to get to the more valuable heroes is a common occurrence. However, if you can take out the unit champion, that means that hero must either take the challenge or retire to the back.
Targeting characters with cannons isn’t a bad idea either. Be certain to use the character as your aiming point. A good cannon bounce even it if misses the character will sometimes take out 3 or more other models in a ranked unit. Characters outside of units should always be targeted.
To give you a good example of how to use cannons. Just suppose there is a unit of 5 Black Knights with full command. A character is attached to that unit. In my example the Empire player has two cannons. The Empire cannons target the enemy character as their aiming point. The first cannon ball hits the unit and assuming a passed “lookout sir” roll, a rank and file model is destroyed. This lets the next cannon ball hit the character as there are no longer 5 rank and file models to qualify for a roll.
There are a couple of spells that can target characters as well. The default metal spell, “Rule of Burning Iron” can pick out individual models and is a flaming attack to boot to help against the infamous regenerating units. Steed of Shadows can be used to propel a potential mage killing hero into combat. The Hunter’s Spear can work in the right circumstances. Several Heavens spells do not need LoS so are potential Wizard killers for those enemy magic users that have roamed outside of their unit along with any ethereal troops. Even the Lore of Death has Steal Soul to target enemy characters, but it is short ranged.
Stop the Spells:
Stopping spells is the most traditional way to keep the enemy from casting. There are a couple of items that give the Empire an excellent magic defense. The Rod of Power can be used to store dice to use as dispel dice. An Empire army with two mages or a mage and a Warrior Priest can easily have 6 dispel dice per turn (barring some bad luck).
Dispel Scrolls are the easiest way to stop an enemy spell. However they are a precious commodity. Learning how to use them is really a skill. I have some rules of thumb:
1. Stop movement spells if they
are potentially game winning. Most infantry-based Empire armies don’t
mind getting charged from the front. So it really is only important if you think
the enemy unit can break you from the front. In your turn you can countercharge
with cavalry or a detachment.
2. If a foe uses a four dice spell early in the magic phase. Stopping such a
big spell makes your dispel dice more effective to stop the other spells.
3. Hold on to your scrolls for as long as possible. Try to not use one until
turn three at the earliest unless it is potentially game changing. This is true
versus Tomb Kings as well.
My other rule of thumb is it more important to stop the first important spell that has already been cast. You never know what can happen with the next spell. They could miscast or fail to cast their spell. The worst feeling is to let a cast spell go, and then watch as the other player ends the magic phase, miscasts, or fails to cast. It is just a gamble, but I’d rather stop what I know is going to happen rather than ponder too long what might happen. If you have held your scrolls wisely, you can use one of them if the other spell is cast.
Empire armies with an Archlector and a couple of mages are ideal against the Vampire Counts. The vital two dispel dice, coupled with the mage’s dice and perhaps the Rod of Power, give the Empire a truly effective defense. The more spells that the VC player fails to cast the more effective this defense.
Diagram 2
Here the Empire player has allowed the weaker Skeleton unit to charge the Parent unit. Using the rest of his magic defense, the player keeps the remaining units from moving allowing this unit to be isolated and potentially destroyed. Since the Empire player really wants the Grave Guard unit to attack the almost invulnerable War Altar, he may charge the Skeletons in the flank to try and destroy them. The charge combined with Soulfire and Cleansing Flare, plus the impact hits, has a good chance of “powdering” the Skeletons.
Let some go:
Early in the game on turn one or two there are rarely many game changing spells that can be cast. Go ahead and stop the raise spells early in the game as the movement spells aren’t as relevant yet. Allowing a Vampire player to move one unit forward, while blocking their others is an interesting strategy. That might allow you to isolate or destroy that unit before another unit can come to its rescue. Magic missile spells are a hit or miss thing. If they are throwing it against a 30-man unit, I would probably let it go. Even Curse of Years isn’t that a bad on the first turn, just don’t let it go.
Destroy some spells!
The Empire has the Seal of Destruction, which with a little luck, can take out the Vampire Lord’s best spell. Another option is Aldred’s Casket of Sorcery to steal the Vampire’s and Necromancer’s spells. Most Necromancers only have a single spell (Van Hels). Stealing their only spell really neuters their abilities.
Check the Range:
Most of the Lore of Necromancy has a short range. Remember, Van Hels only has a 12" range which means the VC player really has to bunch up their army to take much advantage of it or the caster will need to be highly mobile, potentially making him more vulnerable to attack.
Army Selection:
Though covered later, good army selection is the building block for a good magic defense. Having the proper balance of attack, defense, mage hunters, mage shooters, is essential. Immune to psychology units really help with defense such as flagellants. Having the enemy charge into one of your tarpit units, even with magic, isn’t a tragedy.
Summary of Magic Defense:
There are a few ways to limit or stop the enemy’s magic. The only way to find what works for you is to play some games and gain experience. Ask your foe after the game for suggestions. I recall a game at a tourney once where I warned my foe not to use all of his scrolls on turn one. My Vampire Counts army almost totally destroyed him as he had nothing left late in the game. In a later tourney, one of my friends borrowed my army and faced him again-this time he didn’t make the same mistake and gave him a tough game. Learn from your games and practice, talk about it with others, and you’ll eventually get the hang of it.