Yesterday I headed down to Wellington and purchased the new Vampire Counts army book along with the new spell cards, black knights/hexwraiths, plastic Wight Kin and Cairn Wraith and I am very happy with my purchases.
The thing that initially stands out for me in the book is the variety of builds that seem possible, while I'm sure Ghoul hordes will still be prevelant I plan on getting my dozens of skeletons back on the table as I never amassed any ghouls anyway. The humble skeleton is only 5 points now with sword and shield and access to full command makes them a very nice option for core. It is also good to see the Dire Wolves back in there taking up core points too. I will put down a unit of zombies too, even if theyre still crap they can at least be joined by a character now so could be decent cheap bunkers.
So I now I have to make some choices as I have Homecon to attend in Feb, 2400 gives me quite a bit to play with now I can plonk down some cheap big units but its the Lord Choices that stump me as I kind of like them all and while some things like the Coven Throne may not be the most effecient of choices they look damn cool so may end up being tested via proxy.
If anyone has any advice on what they've read from the actual book - not online 'rumours' please share as the undead are making a comeback for sure.
For my mind I think this edition of the army is very much about using what you can to bog your opponent down and then hit him hard with all the fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteFirstly the hardest choice has to be the Lord. Do you go with a vamp, who is a nasty killing machine but will be on the front line in harms way? Or do you go the safe option and hide your lord using him as a raising machine?
I think I would chicken out and go the Necromancer. Not being able to heal your characters with magic straight up is pretty risky. Sure your Vamp could cast spells and get the free heal that way, but a smart opponent will make sure to dispel the magic from him, so he can take out your general. Not being able to pass the free heal of the lore attribute on to other characters is a biggie. If your necro hero's could cast and pass the free healing on to your lord, then damn.
There are some awesome new units and buffed up old units, but I don't think any of these are strong enough to take out a combat on their own.
A good list in my opinion will consist of a few large blocks of Zombies/Skeletons which get thrown right in the path of your opponent's scary stuff to keep them there.
Multiple Wizards are a must, and I wouldn't bother with anything other than lore of Vamps. Every chance you get to regen these units and even increase them past their starting size for free points you should jump at.
My list would probably consist of:
Master Necromancer bunkered in a unit of 19 skellies with standard of Discipline. This sits behind the front line where it can pass out it's leadership.
In front of them I would place a good sized block of Grave Guard as the centre Rock. Chuck in a Wight King and Vamp BSB in that unit too.
Beside them making up the bulk of my front line block I would have large units of Skeletons and/or Zombies. I'm thinking 50 each.
Fellbats are a must, 2 units of 2 would be great as diverters.
Blood Knights, Vargheists or something big and scary like a Terrorgheist would be thrown in as a good hammer unit. Your zombies need to tie up that 40 strong chaos warrior unit, then one of these bad boys need to hit it hard for the combat res. Even two of these units if you have the points.
I really like the free buffs of the corpse cart. But If I was to use them, id have to run at least two. One on it's own it to easy a target to get rid of.
One of my fav new units are the Hexwraiths. These would be a must have in every army, and their main role would be just to annoy. Harrass smaller units, slide around where they cant be gotten to, get rid of those archer units etc.
Ghouls I think have gone from the last book as being the must have big blocks to maybe through a few in for easy wounds in combat. They could even be used in a smaller block as a hammer unit to get your wound sup on that unit the zombies have tar pitted.
Lots of variety now, and synergy. For me, I plan on taking 2 blocks of 50 zombies and a block of 50 skeletons, so the natural choice is a master necromancer with LotD. There are some pretty nasty combat lord builds though. If you take a Vampire Lord though, he must be the army general so you'll need some backup casters. Not keen on the covern throne myself, but that's more because I lean towards the necarch or blood dragon side.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding it easier to design core first, then special and rare, and taking heroes and lords to help those choices.
Cheers guys, good to see some comments. I agree you can play it safe with a cheap! Master Necro to buff the army but I'm so tempted by the juicy Vamp Lords and their fun builds.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem easier to approach the new book with getting core out of the way and then building upon it with units that will compliment your theme/playstyle. This may seem like a pointless statement as it is the expected way to build a list but a lot of the time you see people just putting down a collection of units which act in an individual manner. The new VC book really lends itself to strategic army design and deployment, that or I'm finally clicking onto how to build better fantasy lists!
Another option that I've been considering: A vampire lord in zombie dragon (or any killy vampire lord you choose) taking up basically all your lord allowance, then a few lvl 2 necromancer heroes and a moris engine with tome. Gives you that lvl 4 effective spellcasting and a killy lord. Dispelling can be a little hard, though a corpse cart with balefire can help you out again here.
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