# A Vampire Counts Review



## jigplums (Dec 15, 2006)

I know with the release of the new vampire counts army book many of your will be dying [oh yes I did] to find out what’s hot and what’s not when it counts to the dark aristocracy of the old world. As a long-time fan of the vampire counts as well as a passionate modeller and many would say competitive gamer then I thought some of you may appreciate my take on our pale friends. Im not going to go into absolutely everything, as if any of you are going to be doing the army im sure you’ll revel in discovering the more subtle synergies yourself, but I will give my first impressions of the main changes to the book and the new cool stuff that’s been released. Hopefully this will give you an insight into the things to come, and im particular a glance through the looking glass at the meta to come for vampires on the competitive scene.

*Vampire Counts Review - The Book*

So let’s start with the book itself. The book is written by Phil Kelly and Workshop have once against produced a beautiful hardback book filled with fantastic artwork and has a nice mix of old and new renditions, a healthy background and bestiary section plus spells, army list and all the other things you’d expect to find from a games workshop product. No surprises here, but good to see that they are carrying on the trend of excellence we have seen over the last few years.
When it comes to the army list itself at first glance there seems a lot of similarities with its previous incarnation with lots of new bells and whistles to add some flavour and variety. However when you delve deeper you find there’s a lot of little differences that mean it plays very differently and will need a subtle hand at the tiller to make the most of the army.

*Vampire Counts Review - The Characters*

The stars of the show, the vampires themselves are still powerhouses when it comes to character choices in the warhammer world. Great stats, great magic items options and the vampire powers are still very much available to them, on top of whatever other options you fancy giving them. A very interesting change is that the vampires start as lvl 1 spell casters and may add up to 3 levels without dipping into those precious powers, so it’s now more than possible to make a combat character that also has a significant presence in the magic phase without including a special character. Not only magic levels but also mounts, weapons and armour are all options that come under the army list, rather than the points taking away from vampire powers/magic items etc.. this may seem pretty basic, but anyone who played vamps under the previous book will probably remember having to spend vamp powers in order to ride a horse weild a great weapon etc. The hunger is a nice little buff to the vampire characters. Basically if you kill an enemy in combat on a roll of a 6 regain a wound. Nice and in keeping with the vampire counts without being overpowering. The strigoi ghoul king is a combat beast boasting 5+ regen, poison attacks and infinite hatred, plus the option of a terrorgeist mount people will be looking at him for dps style characters with a little inbuilt sustain. The drawbacks can’t take armour and only lvl 1 magic user, although there are some nasty combos for him with the vampire powers and magic items.

A big change to the vampire counts is that only the general allows you to march now, so any non vampric unit is going to be shuffling about if they don’t stay close to the general. This is going to make deployment key for doing well with vamps and I fear that a few of the non-vampric units that usually live out on the flanks and hunting down small units etc will not see as much table time. However the changes to Vanhals dance macabre should compensate as well talk about later. Another big change is that the army doesn’t continue to crumble the turn after the general dies if you have another model with the lore of vampires in the army. This makes it much less all eggs in one basket and definitely worth every vamp player having a backup wizard or two

*Vampire Counts Review - Magic*

The vampire magic is where things get interesting, as the first thing that stands out is no more “necromantic” spells allowing for spammable raising. This coupled with the fact that most units can’t be raise above starting size means that the magic phase is going to look different for a lot of player that used to like the minimum unit start, then add to with magic. That said a lot of the vampire spells can now target multiple friendly units at the cost of a little extra difficulty in casting. Plus invocation of nehek adds the casters magic level to the number of models raised [and zombies add +d6] so you can end up with a significant increase each turn plus I can easy see the vampire castling in the middle of 3 units + giving a single spell a possible output of 16 zombies or 10 skelies or ghouls in one go. If you want to make the raising army, your going to have to make more decisions at the army creation stage as zombies can be made bigger and necromancers can take an upgrade to raise skeletons above starting size, or vampire powers could give you the option of boosting your “creatures of the night”. Heimrich kemmler is the master summoner [being a lvl 4 necromancer] and I predict to be one of the most used characters on the competitive scene due to his range of very useful abilities. The other spells have had similar changes, where on the one hand something has been taken away, yet on the other they’ve gained significantly. As an example vanhals dance macabre no longer allows you to change, but can be used to move all friendly units within 12”. Overall I feel there magic is a great set of spells that really complements the army and rewards smart play rather than having obvious applications. I’m looking forward to seeing how people utilise this and also what counter measure people will be taking against the lore of vampires.

*Vampire Counts Review - Core Choices

* There are more subtle changes when it comes to core choices and I think this is where the armies will see will diversify significantly. Zombies have been buffed!!! With str and T 3 and a very reasonable points value, I for one am reconsidering my “I’ll never pay points for zombies” policy, especially when you take into account the fact you can raise them beyond starting size without any upgrades or powers. Skeletons are 3 points cheaper plus raise dead can bring new units onto the battlefield [another improved spell IMO]. This is a welcome change as I feel they are iconic undead, and would field them out of a sense of loyalty to the humble skeleton. That and you kinda need some banners in your army to stop from embarrassing defeats in death of glory. Already im seeing an increase in the number of skellies on the battlefields of the old world and would think this trend is only going to continue in the coming months. Next we have ghouls and I think an area of controversy. They’ve gone up in points, and yet have stayed the same, which considering how much better than skellies and zombies is no real surprise. Even with the increased points I think with T4 and two poisoned attacks each there a really attractive choice, and give a nice bit of damage output to the army that’s not found anywhere else in the troop’s choices. 21 deployed 7 by 3 dishes out a healthy 22 attacks that’s not to be ignored, and can be used to go after any nasty monsters that the enemy are fielding. With all the extra ghoulish goodies theming the army with a strigoi feel will be quite appealing for many and despite the extra cost I think we’ll still see ghouls used albeit in not quite the numbers as before. Dire wolves are the final troop choice, who in mind mind have become a really useful addition to an army list. They no longer live in this strange play outside the force organisation chart and therefore count as proper troop choices, and they have the slavering charge rule, giving them str 4 charge. Plus another vanguard unit, great for disrupting flanks, nice big charge threat against small units and ideal warmachine hunters. Plus there cheap so can fit them in rather nicely around a few blocks of undead. I see these being a popular choice.

*Vampire Counts Review - Specials

* Specials see many more choices than before not only have some useful things had a slight shift [ie the corpse cart] but also they’ve got the new additions. On first sight the hex wraiths seem appealing as ethereal vanguard can get themselves into some useful positions and the str5 hits with no armour saves threatens any elite units out there. The real potential is in there special attack that happens if they move through an enemy unit. Any enemy unit moved through takes a str 5 hit for each hex wraith. This is just waiting to be abused, and I can picture many people trying to spam units of these and really get the most from this ability. In fact ive witnessed a few games with them so far. My feeling is that most will give up on this initially as they are actually very fragile. No armour mean a single magic missile or character swinging a magical sword will end them very quickly indead, and combat res is just as viable for tackling ethereal units as ever. I still think they have some applications for tactical play, but the cookie cutters will soon find they don’t quite work as well as they thought they would on the gaming table. Varghiests and varghouls are interesting choices as monsterous infantry are some of the best heavy hitters around, and these guys don’t disappoint. Varghouls are the best choice if you want something that supports the main line and is a bit more survivable and there regen and extra toughness should keep them around longer, whilst they combo well with the mortis engines regen buff. Vargheists however fly, have an extra attack from frenzy and are vampires meaning they are ideally hard hitters that can leave the line to go engage enemies away from your battle line and smash the enemy flanks and rear later in the game. There a few more points, which adds up but 6 of these are going to ruin people’s plans.

Black knights have gained some awesome models and a slight points drop, which is nice and I see them being added to peoples collections for that alone, however im not sure people will be rushing to add these to their armies as it seems there are better hitters in the army and the fact they wont be able to march away from the general will limit the manoeuvrability the gain from being able to pass through terrain.

Grave guard were always a popular choice, a tough, solid unit with killing blow that can go toe to toe with the enemies’ finest troops and get any casualties raised back. Not much has changed, but at a point less there even more appealing and fit nicely into the armies as the classic anvil of the vampire list.

There are then the usual suspects such as corpse carts bat swarms, fell bats and spirit hosts which I think all have their uses and there are some nice special rules and combos for each of these. Corpse carts will likely be a 1+ choice for anyone with the very reasonable points spare, as it gives always strikes first to all undead units within 6” if its targeted by a successful augment spell, of which the vampire lore has many.

*Vampire Counts Review - The Rares*

Rare choices will define the army people use and probably be the most varied selection between different armies. Bloodknights have had a small points reduction and are still the best cavalry to charge across the old world, and again being vampires certainly takes them easier to take then some other choices. Wraiths and banshees are a great unit in the right army, and if you can use the ethereal properly can be a nightmare for certain armies. My dark elves that won me the fantasy GT have difficulty with these as I only had 2 magic weapons, both on manticore riders that would likely lose their mount in combat if they tried tackling them along and no offensive magic to speak of. This meant I had to be really careful of my positioning, and couldn’t always rush the turn 2 charge for the win that was easy to get vs non wraith totting vampire armies. I also had a hydra killed with the first banshee scream of the game which was most disappointing. Like hex wraiths the right tool for the job and they will crumble. Now you can take banshees and wraiths as heroes I think we might see more of these positioned in units meaning you still get the benefits, without as much vulnerability.

The mortis engine is a unit buffer and deals damage to anything nearby, which combos really well with an army designed to take punishment and hold up the enemy with blocks of relentless undead plus it will combo well with regenerating units so I can see these hiding behind the lines ready to do consistent damage every turn. The vargulf is an interesting choice, as with any monster it can be devastating, in particular its hatred and regenerate make it really reliable. However I wonder if people will think it’s impressive enough next to the other choices in the vampire army or when compare to the monsters in other armies such as the araknarok and the khemri sphinxes. The black coach is still a good choice, and when powered up will prove to be an absolute beast. You now only roll to steal power dice in your own turn, which means you can’t use it to drain enemy magic and it won’t do so quite as quickly as before in all likelihood. My personal favourite is the terrorgheist. The model is absolutely beautiful and the guys that designed the model were touched by genius as when I built mine I was genuinely impressed with the ingenuity that went into it. It is also a powerhouse. Ill be honest when the rules came out in White Dwarf I though it would get a nerf by the time the VC book hit the shelves but I was wrong. Its got a decent stat line with t6 and 6 wounds making it very survivable, especially in a vamps army capable of giving it back wounds. Also in my book flying monsters that can be included as rare choices are very nice indeed as there are a threat anywhere they are needed and don’t need to be ridden by a lord which a] makes them cheap enough to fit in your army and b] means your lord isn’t vulnerable and or away from where he’s needed most. However the death shriek is the thing that raises the terrogheist above the rest. It’s a range 8” shooting attack where you roll 2d6 and add your wounds. For every point you beat your enemy’s leadership, they take a wound with no save. This is amazing and a great way of dealing with things that are conventionally hard to kill. Steam tank, chaos knights, darkelf lord with pendant of khaleath. The thing that makes it even nastier is that you can use the ability in combat just like the banshee scream.

*Vampire Counts Review - Overview*


Overall I think the vampire army has definitely changed in how it will be played but in my opinion this is a good thing, and definitely what I like to see in any new army book release. There are a lot of builds I can see doing well competitively, and the armies different combos and the changes to the vampires and core choices I think will promote smarter play and good tactics rather than spamming certain units and abilities. Skellies are about to see the light of day again and necromancers as dedicated casters will also be featuring across alot of builds. The most devastating thing I think is the terrorgheist, so I’d make sure you have some answers to it if your preparing for a meta involving vamps and the increased options for ethereal models in the army means that even the odd biting blade should make it into your armies just in case a banshee, hex wraith or heinrich kemmler needs putting in there place. I think there’ll be a few cries of the broke my army at first as people realise what they always used to do doesn’t quite work anymore and cries of they broke the army when people discover some of the nasty combos that lie hidden in its pages. From me at least it gets a big thumbs up as it gives lots of new options for the army, not just in terms of the new units that have come out but also in the variety of useable characters and themes to the army, and nice synergies to play around with for the experienced player. If you like the look and feel of the vamps then nows a great time to be playing manhammer and you could do worse than raise yourself a force too be reckoned with. Below is a list that I think would give someone starting vamps an interesting list to start experimenting with, not nessacrily the most powerful, but one that’s quite forgiving and could hold its own non-the-less.

*Vampire Counts Review - Sample army*

Heinrich Kemmler [in graveguard, deployed centrally]
Necromancer lvl 2, staff of damnation
Banshee
Wight king bsb, dawnstone, dragonhelm
25 skeletons with full command and spears
25 skeletons with full command and spears
25 zombies with musician and standard
25 zombies with musician and standard

20 Graveguard with full command and banner of the barrows
6 vargheists
Corpse cart
Terrorgheist

Well thats it for now, post your thoughts on the vampires below and any feedback on the review is welcome


----------



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

I noticed that bloodknights do not appear in any photos in there current form which makes me think we may see them in plastic at some point later,that aside i think the artwork in the book is amazing very impressed with the new full colour army books


----------



## khrone forever (Dec 13, 2010)

bits and kits, do you you mean no pics in the army book?

if this trend is true we should expect the ghost swarm things, mannfred on foot, and some other suff coming out soon aswell


----------



## Abomination (Jul 6, 2008)

A very nice review jigplums (epic forum name btw). The VC's are certainly a 'smart' army now. I think the magic is alot more balanced now.


----------



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

khrone forever said:


> bits and kits, do you you mean no pics in the army book?
> 
> if this trend is true we should expect the ghost swarm things, mannfred on foot, and some other suff coming out soon aswell


Yes, i have noticed in all the codex and army books in recent times that if the unit appears in model form in the photos then its unlikely to change but if the models appear in the army list but no photos then its likely that models will come along eventually ,obviously there have been exceptions like the spacewolves, but considering the blood knights have some very expensivefine cast models i expected to see them included in the photos sections, but i figure GW will want to cash in on a second wave at some point.


----------



## boreas (Dec 4, 2007)

I must say... Despite all my gripes with GW ROW prices/etc, they've once again put out an awesome product. The armybook is very nice. I love the hardcover. I can browse that book time and again without fear of it falling apart like my SM codex. The fluff is nice although codex/armybook fluff always seem "thin" to me. At least, there's nothing ridiculous. 

The rules are great. Unlike with my lizardmen, I feel I could keep using that army for year by changing a few models. It's really 3 armies in a book (Vampires/Necromancers/Ghouls) with many subvariants (vampire-wizard/Vampire-knight/etc).

Phil


----------



## olderplayer (Dec 11, 2009)

It is a very well written book. A couple of points to add:

Vampires can now take equipment and mounts and armour as extras without vampiric powers. This balances for the loss of many vampiric powers and the changes in others that prevent abuse (no longer can a vamp general 2 magic dice). I think you will see a vamp with the aura that lowers LD by -1 and beguile and may see the re-roll fear tests power with the screaming banner. 

Making a master necro and necros essentially dedicated casters is huge. On can hide a master necro lvl 3 in a unit of skellies with full command and some hero wraiths and grow the skellies and adjacent units up with master of the dead. Also, with the miscast risks absorbed mostly by the necro, the vamps can remain at lvl 1 and just cast Nehek and be dedicated to fighting. One master necro at lvl 3 with a vamp lord at lvl 1 or 2 and another vamp BSB at lvl 1or 2 thus becomes sufficient for the army with three shots at Nehek and two shots at Danse with the Book of Arkan being reasonably priced. The master of the dead upgrade allows a necro to raise skelly units in range above their starting size and another vampiric power allows a vamp to raise dire wolves, bat swarms, and fell bats above their starting sizes. 

Nehek has a nice addition in that non-infantry units that are not ethereal, not large targets and not vampiric can be regrown at the rate of 1+ level. Thus, a black knight unit with a lvl 1 vamp can regrow 2 black knights, instead of one, and have similar effects on units of crypt horrors, dire wolves, fell bats and bat swarms. A lvl 3 can regrow up to 4 black knights. This makes black knights, with the benefits of mounts and greater armour than grave guard, and movement with vamp characters in the unit mounted for the armour save and mobility benefits a very viable unit that can be also run with crypt horrors and dire wolves and bats. In the old spell, one could only target one unit and generate D6 wounds. In the new spell, all units in range can regrow previously lost wounds. Furthermore, a master of the dead necro can regrow wounds of skellies above their starting value, a huge benefit. 

What GW has done is fairly point cost models, units and upgrades and added enough flexbility and viable options to allow for a wide variety of distinct army builds that are potentially competitive, if not top tier armies. I'm not as impressed with mortis engines and coven thrones (too big and vulnerable to shooting and magic). I am impressed with the options vamps now have (in powers, equipment, and magic items), the new necros as dedicated casters, the addition of vargheists, the addition of crypt horrors, changes to zombies (makes them tougher to kill and better able to kill), the additional of ethereal characters, points cost revisions to skellies, and changes to the magic lore (toned down some over-the-top spell abilities and effects but gave a great lore attribute for vamps with a solid signature spell and great first and second spells to augment units). If this and the Ogre book are what we can expect going forward, then I think 8th edition army books will be the best yet in terms of design and balance issues and flexibility within a given army to have multiple winning builds.


----------



## HiveMinder (Feb 8, 2010)

bitsandkits said:


> Yes, i have noticed in all the codex and army books in recent times that if the unit appears in model form in the photos then its unlikely to change but if the models appear in the army list but no photos then its likely that models will come along eventually ,obviously there have been exceptions like the spacewolves, but considering the blood knights have some very expensivefine cast models i expected to see them included in the photos sections, but i figure GW will want to cash in on a second wave at some point.


While the Blood Knights don't have a page dedicated to them in the Gallery section, they do show up in army spreads on pgs. 83 and 85. Still, that won't stop me hoping for some plastic (cheaper) blood knights.


----------



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

i would like to withdraw my comment, i have found them on page 83 hiding under the wing of a zombie dragon.

on another note, i have been running my beady eyes over the 2 and a quarter (dont ask me) sprues of the Mortis engine and all i can say is WOW, these big kits keep knocking it out of the park, the detail on the vampires and such is amazing !!


----------



## jigplums (Dec 15, 2006)

A very good point regarding mounts and weapon options. before you needed to take a vampire power if you wanted to ride a horse or take a great weapon for example.


----------



## jigplums (Dec 15, 2006)

played another game with vamps this week, seeming very dirty so far.....didnt lose more than a dozen models at 2000pts to wipe out warriors of chaos are dark elf alliance


----------

