1000 pts, newbie

[Cold]

Hej there,
This is my 1000 pts list:

Heroes:
Vampire 170pts (in grave guard)
-Lord of death, dark acolyte
-flayed hauberk

Wight king 170pts (in black knights)
barded steed
sword of kings
bsb
standard of hellisch vigour

core:
20 zombies 80pts

10 crypt ghouls 80pts

5 dire wolfs 40pts

Special:
5 black knights +barding 156pts
banner

20 Grave Guard 299pts
banner, seneschal
handweapon/shield
royalstandard of strigos +
------------------------------
996pts

I havent got any experience with the undead yet so some help is much appreciated. I realy don't know what I can expect to raise etc.. also some help on magic items and vampiric powers is very welcome.

Greetings,
Cold

 

[Fojovia]

hello cold, welcome to the forums.

i'm kinda new myself, but i've read what a lot of the other guys have put and from the limited experience i have i'll try and help you the best i can.

the first thing i would do is get hold of either 2 or 3 units of ghouls, or 2 or 3 units of skeletons and get rid of the zombies. by doing this it gives your vampire a focus for his abilities and magic items. personally i've started running with ghouls and then giive my vampire ghoulkin, this way i get a nice march move before the first turn.

also, dire wolves dont count towards your minimum core choice, so you would have to take another core choice to reach the minimum amount allowed.

the grave guard: i would give them great weapons instead of the hand/shield you have given them. VC have a lot of tarpits that can be used instead of the GG, whereas the great weapons added on to them would give your low point army a huge boost of strength. Also, i'd take your vampire out of the GG since they need to get into combat early, and you dont want to risk some unlucky dice rolls on your general and have your army crumble to death also, change the amount of GG you are using. ether use 2 ranks of 7, or 3 ranks of 6. this will free up some points and give your GG a nice number to work with.

i'd stick your vampire in with the ghouls or a unit of skeletons as this would give him a nice bunker to sit in and use spells without being killed. keep this unit out of combat and you could give him the helm of commandment (giving his WS to nearby units) and this can really help
the poor WS of the core. i like the vampiric powers you've given your vampire, but would also add a power stone or dispel scroll to it, possibly even a balck periapt if you are playing against a magic heavy army and would need the DD.

i wont comment on the wight king or the black knights as i haven't used them myself.

i hope this can help, but as i mentioned, i'm fairly new to VC myself but i know the other guys on the forum will be of big help

 

[TMS]

Hi,

Fojovia have already raised some good points but I've got another two to add. Firstly, you already have the minimum required amount of core units for a <2000 points battle so you're all set there but more importantly, your wight king BSB is only allowed to carry a magical banner if he does not have any other magic items. I'd simply give the banner over to the black knights that he'll be joining.

Oh and another thing, your general have the "lord of the dead" mastery power (that's what you meant, right?) yet you've no actual skeletons to raise with it in your army. I'd either switch to "summon ghouls" or exchange the ghouls and/or the zombies for some skeletons instead.

 

[Ergo-Sum]

Hi Cold, let me add my welcome.

I agree with the points that both Masterspark and Fojovia have made. I'd also add that in your current army you've only really got two 'proper' units that are actually going to some damage, your grave guard and your knights. THis means it could be quite easy for your foes to target your smallish knight unit with shooting and/or magic, while feeding your grave guard some cheap unit that you'll have to chase after. As Fojovia said, it might be better to try to make a few smaller units in your army and spread the combat power around a bit.

 

[Cold]

Heej,
Thanks for the replies.

I missed the no magic items + magic banner, silly

As a starting player I've got the problem of not having much models yet, I only have got the battalion box and grave guard + some wolfs. I guess it aint that much of a problem when I proxy some units in the beginning (like the knights) but what would be most usefull for me to purchase next?
I think some more skelletons? I like them more than ghouls..

When I drop the zombies and 10 graveguard that would give me 200 points to spare.. I could use those to buy 2 units of 10 and 15 skelletons.
How would that work?

 

[Ergo-Sum]

Well, you only need two units of 'true' core, so it would probably be better just to have have 2 units of 15 skeletons, with command and magic banners, and then a vampire and a wright king in each, or two vampires. Zombies are actually a pretty decent core choice instead of one of the skeleton blocks, especially if you need to save points. I'd then fill in with some support units like wolves and black knights etc around that. You could even squeeze in some min sized wraiths or a Varghulf to give you a bit of hitting power.

Make sure you are using your magic to try to increase your skeleton and, if taken, zombie units in size. Ghouls will do an equally good job, sometimes better, depending on the opponent's army. You'll need to increase them in size to have reasonable chance of beating, or with the Zombies, even holding, an enemy unit.

The problem with grave guard, is you really need to run 14 as a minimum, with at least some sort of command. They are very expensive to fit in and use in a 1000 point army.

Proxies should be fine. I don't think any one will mind you using grave guard as skeletons, as long as you make that clear to your opponent. I think nearly all of us have started out this way