how many characters?

[kyussinchains]

So, I just got my first wm army today (dwarfs, yay!) and I'm already planning 3 more..... Orcs, vamps, and brets, just looking for general advice on characters/wizards..... I have funds to buy some packs, and wondering how much to devote to character packs, I have 1 bret pack, tbline do nice hero.models, but will I need many sorceresses? I imagine vamps need lots of magic users?

Looking to build 2k forces in the medium term, how should I plan it for the above armies?

[wellspring]

For orcs, one pack will do. For Vamps and Brets, you get fewer heroes per pack, so either get more packs or proxies. I actually recommend that you use proxies from other minis lines. Creatively painted, they should look fantastic and stand out anyway.

The good news is that characters come many to a pack, and you get a wide variety of types, so don't worry about buying "magic-users" vs other types. Especially with the original six armies, you'll have more characters than you can use.

[Stormwind]

At a pinch for Vampires, I imagine you could use the standard Undead characters.  Remember that though the warmaster rulebook is steeped in Khemri undead imagery, the GW range was really torn between that aesthetic and the "traditional" vampire counts type undead.  That means the gravestone shield chaps will look right at home in a VC army. =-P

[kyussinchains]

Yeah I noticed that...... Wondering if people would let.me use a zombie dragon as a winged nightmare too....

Thinking I'll grab a pack of whats left (skellies, grave guard,.black knights, bats, black coach) then proxy the zombies.... How essential are ghouls to the vc army?

[Haranin]

Dwarves are fine with a general and a runepriest. Two runepriests if you really want coverage for antimagic.

LD 10 and brigades means you can get away with less characters. Two is still a good idea so you can maneuver.

[wmchaos2000]

Would never go below 3 characters.
Once combat starts, mostly on different spaces, you will need a character nearby every combat for the follow-up charges and to get flank charges.
Never played with Dwarfs, only against, but several times with HE.