Vampire Counts army- your opinions?

[eastern barbarian]

I never ever played against them, but really kind of fancy getting them
What are your opinions about that army? It looks to me like it is very slow actually, especially with lack of initiative charges. Is it at all competitive? I am not massive fan of super-competitive armies, but I do like them to be able to win, thats why I got rid of my orcs.

[captPiett]

You can definitely win with VC. Their main drawback is a lack of shooting, but their strengths are 1) a ridiculously high breakpoint with all those skeletons and zombies; and 2) large numbers of cavalry. They also have a lot of units that cause terror.

Being undead, command can be a problem. However, in general much of the army should avoid contact with the enemy anyway (those same skeletons and zombies melt away pretty quickly). If you concentrate on getting the heavy infantry (grave guard, ethereal host) and cav (knights) into contact, command becomes much simpler. Dire wolves are good on the attack, but fragile.

[BlackEd]

Plus they look so frickin' cool!

I picked up a VC army this spring.  Now I just have to finish painting it!

[eastern barbarian]

ok, thanks for the info guys

[Bel]

You would make the following:
- maximise the number of characters, so command will not be an issue (your units ignore the enemy in 20cm modifier)
- don't forget the 'raise dead' spell - use it to overlap the enemy and/or to add support to your own units
- use bloodlines (I prefer von Carstein or Lamia but this depends of your army) - this can bring you a lot of fan

[azrael71]

Yeah, use raise dead for the win.
I also like the bloodlines rule, from the original ruleset.
I always take some dogs to cover my heavy cav on approach and then once their main function is done I just use them to harass the enemy.

[eastern barbarian]

bloodlines rule??? I am not sure I noticed it in the book i downloaded..

[eastern barbarian]

apart from that- anybody knows good alternatives to GW from other companies?

[Bel]

bloodlines rule??? I am not sure I noticed it in the book i downloaded..

From an old version of the list:

1. VAMPIRE COUNTS BLOODLINE RULES
Each Vampire Lord is the direct descendent of one
of the great vampire families (Von Carstein, Necrarch,
Blood Dragon, Lahmia or Strigoi) of ancient times,
sharing the same blood and characteristics of the family.
When choosing a Vampire Counts army you may choose
a bloodline for the Vampire Lord at the points cost
indicated below. Each bloodline has a different effect
on the Vampire Lord, giving him a special ability, as
noted below.
VON CARSTEIN
Von Carstein (20 pts) – Once per battle the Vampire
Lord may add +1 to his Command value. You must say
that you are using this ability before the roll is made.
LAHMIA
Lahmia (30 pts) – Once per battle the Vampire Lord
may force one enemy character to re-roll a successful
Command Roll.
NECRARCH
Necrarch (20 pts) – Once per battle the Vampire
Lord may re-roll one failed attempt to cast a spell.
BLOOD DRAGON
Blood Dragon (10 pts) – Once per battle, for one
Combat phase (including pursuits but not advances), any
missed attacks made by the Vampire Lord may be re-rolled.
This is including bonuses for magic items, but not
for being mounted on a monstrous or chariot mount.
STRIGOI
Strigoi (15 pts)– Once per battle the Vampire Lord
may double his Attacks characteristic from +2 to +4 for
one Combat phase (including pursuits but not advances).

[eastern barbarian]

thanks a lot, interesting

[BlackEd]

I loved those bloodline rules!  They make the list more interesting.  The friend I used to play again would regularly kick my butt with the VC.

[eastern barbarian]

are they "officially" (as far as official is the word that can be used with Warmaster; ) approved?

[Bel]

they are balanced and don't cause strong influence on the gameplay. if u mean tournaments for 'officially approved' then this depends of judges only. Just ask the organisers.

[graymatterblues]

They are no more or less game influencing than say magic items are normally and they do come at a price. VON CARSTEIN's being the most useful I think. Over all I think they are neat and add a lot of extra character to the characters.

[Brutalrage]

me being not the uber knowledgable person here to ask, as i havent seen em in action, however lookin through the list, id say this is a well rounded army, with cheap troops for high BP, plenty cav, some hard to shift troops (defending a vp) and strong magic with the raise dead spell... a good army id say