Well, since the lists are due tonight, I thought I would give you all a quick look and possible feedback.
The plan is to use fear to my advantage. (Making it a focus of the army should help me remember it as well!) The red fury vamp will be in the ghouls, the fear vamp in the skellies, and Kemmler in the Wights. Since I am afraid of warmachines targeting the mortise engine, the vargeists and vargulf are to provide a serious threat to the machines. The fear vamp in the skellies means opponents will have ld -1, roll leadership on 3 dice, and reroll passes. The mortise engine in same combat can scream more effectively as well. Cursed book gives me options outside of vampire lore (though random) and blasphemous tome on mortise engine will enable 3 lore of vampires casters to push through a variety of spells and more consistently bring back models.
With my play style (read – overwhelmed easily) fewer/larger units should be easier to manage. Deployment has mortise engine flanked by skellies and wights with ghouls holding flank.
Thoughts beyond this?
2500 Pts – Vampire Counts Roster
Total Roster Cost: 2499
Heinrich Kemmler (1#, 350 pts)
1 Heinrich Kemmler, 350 pts
Necromancer (1#, 100 pts)
1 Necromancer, 65 pts
1 The Cursed Book, 35 pts
Vampire (1#, 206 pts)
1 Vampire, 111 pts = (base cost 105 + Heavy Armour 4 + Shield 2)
1 Sword of Might, 20 pts
1 Talisman of Endurance, 30 pts
1 Aura of Dark Majesty, 25 pts
1 Fear Incarnate , 20 pts
Vampire (1#, 207 pts)
1 Vampire, 107 pts = (base cost 105 + Shield 2)
1 Sword of Striking, 15 pts
1 Armour of Fortune, 35 pts
1 Red Fury, 50 pts
Crypt Ghouls (39#, 400 pts)
38 Crypt Ghouls, 380 pts = 38 * 10
1 Crypt Ghast, 20 pts
Skeleton Warriors (36#, 235 pts)
35 Skeleton Warriors, 200 pts = 35 * 5 (base cost 5) + Skeleton Champion Sarge 15 + Musician Mus
10 + Standard Bearer Std 10
1 Skeleton Champion, 10 pts
1 Screaming Banner, 25 pts
Grave Guard (28#, 416 pts)
27 Grave Guard, 344 pts = 27 * 12 (base cost 11 + Great Weapon 1) + Musician Mus 10 + Standard
Bearer Std 10
1 The Banner of the Barrows, 50 pts
1 Seneschal, 22 pts = (base cost 21 + Great Weapon 1)
Fell Bats (2#, 32 pts)
2 Fell Bats, 32 pts = 2 * 16
Vargheist (3#, 138 pts)
3 Vargheists, 138 pts = 3 * 46
Mortis Engine (2#, 240 pts)
1 Mortis Engine, 240 pts = (base cost 220 + Blasphemous Tome 20)
Varghulf (1#, 175 pts)
1 Varghulf, 175 pts
Nice list, Mike!
My only concern is that your Vampire Heroes are worth a lot of Victory Points and are relatively easy to kill in close combat.
Do you have a Heinrich Kemmler model? If so, I can't wait to see it!
Yeah, a lot of points in characters. And they are expected to be in the thick of things… Hard to protect hero level characters though and didn't want to try a lord level vamp. Though I see you managed it.
No Kemmler model. I proxy it with a great looking necromancer model that looks just as good (I think).
Nice list! Kemmler seems fun. Fell bats have a lot of utlity, won't be a magic missile target like the host. You could always tie up something with an ethereal Kemmler if it came to it.
Are you commiting to swapping for invocations on the lvl 1s, or would you keep a second copy of vanhels or hellish if you roll it? Those vampires have nice hardware, so good luck casting near the engine (2 dice max?). I do my most headscratching in the magic phase, but looks like you will have the full arsenal of spells with loremaster. Lastly, remember to use lore attribute to heal that engine:)
I think I am going to go with two invocations in the army and choose who gets it (besides Kemmler) after seeing what everyone gets. I would love two of a few spells to try to spam them through when I need them. Going to try to focus on buffing units more than I have in the past. They really need it.
Thanks for the lore reminder. I need to make a cheat sheet as I also need to remember hunger for the vamps.
Oh, I love the idea of kemmler tying up something by himself. Never thought of that before. Will see if an opportunity arises. Its a bit advanced for me and usually I can get to that level as I'm trying to remember basic stuff like lore and vamp attributes.
I like the list Mike, although I do think that the spirit hosts might be a better choice. Can't wait to see it in action!
Yeah, perhaps. Didn't have a chance to change the list so going with the bats. For most redirects they will perform the same as crumble will kill a lone spirit host I expect in one turn against large units. Saying that, the spirit host would be great against monsters.. Hmm.. Next time.
Kemmler rules! I'm super excited you're using him and i'm interested to see how he does, but you didnt take his buddy Krell! Shock-upset!
Your blocks are solid, that skeleton/vamp combo is cool but you'd probably still want to plug a supporting unit into combat with them even with the vampire. The vamps are kind of fragile, hopefully they kill enough of what their fighting that they can't swing back with too many attacks!
Also, no single spirit host bases? I'd have figured they'd be all the rage since you can tie up so many things with them (*cough Steam Tank cough*).
Looks like a competetive list, get it done! Disirregardlessly you'll be winning favorite opponent again I'm sure!
Cheers
Peyton
No Krell as I don't have a model for him painted. Did get it though so someday.
Interesting thought on the spirit host. I have models for them. Perhaps a better choice than the fell bats?
I agree on the skellies needing help. Man they die in droves. Probably should keep vargulf near them for help if he doesn't need to support the vargheists. Thanks for the thoughts.
Yeah, single spirit hosts are sexy and a pain in the butt. I think this list looks like it will go well with your playstyle as well! Let's get PUMPED UP!