Here is the list.
Total Roster Cost: 2500
1 Master Necromancer , 200 pts = (base cost 165 + Level 4 Upgrade 35)
1 Earthing Rod , 25 pts
1 Talisman of Preservation , 45 pts
1 Vampire , 142 pts = (base cost 105 + Level 2 Upgrade 35 + Shield 2)
1 Sword of Striking , 15 pts
1 Glittering Scales , 25 pts
1 Beguile , 15 pts
1 Dread Knight , 10 pts
1 Aura of Dark Majesty , 25 pts
1 Vampire , 144 pts = (base cost 105 + Level 2 Upgrade 35 + Heavy Armour 4)
1 Sword of Swift Slaying , 25 pts
1 Enchanted Shield , 5 pts
1 Dragonbane Gem , 5 pts
1 Red Fury , 50 pts
1 Wight King (Battle Standard Bearer) , 114 pts = (base cost 85 + Shield 4 + Battle Standard Bearer 25)
1 Biting Blade , 10 pts
1 Armour of Fortune , 35 pts
16 Skeleton Warriors , 105 pts = 16 * 5 (base cost 5) + Skeleton Champion Sarge 15 + Musician Mus 10 + Standard Bearer Std 10
1 Skeleton Champion , 10 pts
39 Crypt Ghouls , 390 pts = 39 * 10
1 Crypt Ghast , 20 pts
60 Zombies , 185 pts = 60 * 3 (base cost 3) + Standard Bearer Std 5
60 Zombies , 180 pts = 60 * 3
9 Crypt Horrors , 342 pts = 9 * 38
1 Crypt Haunter , 48 pts
1 Spirit Host , 45 pts
1 Spirit Host , 45 pts
1 Mortis Engine , 240 pts = (base cost 220 + Blasphemous Tome 20)
Thoughts: I didn’t want to take two lord choices and so put character points into fighty vamps and Wight. The dread knight is intended to be survivable through challenges. Opponents need ld check at -4 or reroll to hit vs WS 8 and -1 to hit to boot. Should do fine against heroes (most needing rerolled 6′s to hit hopefully) for a few turns but not sure about lords. The other vamp is the standard red fury with rerolls for striking first. *Note: Dreadknight kit I picked up off a forum so can’t take credit for it.*
I thought about Greg’s suggestion for lore master but with the Mortise Engine, but I figure I will be using it to cast VC spells and won’t want to dedicate to a light caster. Arguments against this are welcome as I don’t feel confident here. If I have three VC casters, I should get double of a few spells and should be able to push through some if first attempt is scrolled or dispelled. Still I find having enough dice for three casters doesn’t always work well so only upgraded one vamp to lv2 as a result. Mortise engine tome bonus however tends to stretch the dice. Plus lore attribute of VC will be helpful to keep the horrors, heroes and engine alive. (Saying that, all of these things tend to die in a single turn so perhaps that is wishful thinking.)
Toying with idea of putting all heroes in a zombie unit to give it some real punch. With only two zombies in front (5 wide and 12 rows deep) it will reduce easy combat res. Saying that, none of the heroes are super survivable so I will have to chose my combats carefully. No st5 troops I imagine. Or do you think dump them in the ghouls, or split them between the two? (Dreadknight in ghouls buys him a turn in an unfavorable challenge from the ghast, perhaps longer if I can bring him back) I like the idea of people afraid of a zombie unit. *grin* A deep zombie unit may be hard to move/wheel however and stay in range of general and mortise engine so that is something to consider also.
With two hosts, and another big zombie unit, I should be able to control movement for a few turns and I wanted to fit a pair of bats, but points were getting thin.
Anything scary comes my way and they eat crypt ghouls backed by the engine. Skellies are the obvious bunker for the necromancer.
After all of that, I would be most amenable to dropping the BSB as I find his role is limited. His high toughness tends to keep him around though. Wanted to give him a fair save (5+ ward) to help that (thinking the zombie unit of death again) rather than a magic banner. Really not sure about that at all however.
Well, that’s the thinking at least. Feed back appreciated.
