1000pts Beginner Army

[Rob Anyone]

Beginner Army
(After reading through the army book)

Heroes
Vampire 195
-Dark Acolyte
-Summon Ghouls
-Flayed Hauberk
-Sword of Kings

Core
20xGhouls 168
-Ghast
20xGhouls 168
-Ghast

Special
19xGrave Guard 240
-Standard Bearer

Rare
Varghulf

Please let me know what you think of the above as a general list to face most armies and allow me to get used to playing both warhammer and vampire counts. I do also have a few questions:
1) I have 54 points leftover (assuming the above is ok) and was wondering what people suggest I invest it in (Grave Guard)?
2) How useless are zombies, I ask only because I wanted to do a Empire state trooper/zombie kit-bash, but only if they're viable, plus Mark Latham used loads in White Dwarf?
3) How many boxes of ghouls etc is it worth getting (obviously enough for the above), but how many can you realistically raise in a game?
4) Batallion, worth the cash; yay or nay?
Sorry for the massive list of question, all suggestions welcome. Thanks for your time.
Al

 

[the underlord]

Ok, i'm no expert on list building, but I do have a few poitners.

The first is NEVER buy zombies, you can just summer units of them with spells, creating "free" units of them in leu of spending the points.

With the extra points I would say invest in a magic banner for the GG, they can really benefit from banner of the barrows (+1 to hit I believe), and given that they are going to be your hardest hitting unit, its worth investing.

Ghouls are a great option for core units, especially if you intent to win on the laurels of close combat, since they have higher WS than skellies, and poison. You can reasonably expect to raise between 10 and 15 of these boys in a game, but remember that some of them will be dying, so you probably wont go 10-15 over your initial size.

The Varghulf can be a great sh*t disturber (excuse my language), especially in low point games where you wont likely have enormous ranks to deal with.

I realize this has been a novel (sorry) but the last point I'll make is perhaps investing in more magic casting, maybe drop one of the units of ghouls to 10 (you can always raise more) and invest in another vamp, or even a necro (new model is sick)

If you're interested in saving money and willing to go off the GW track, Mantic's undead range is phenomenal, and they're ghouls and zombies I would say are the best plastics around.

Food for thought, let me know what you think

 

[Rob Anyone]

Hi Underlord,
thanks for the food for thought, don't worry about the length of your post, I need as much advice as I can get! I like the sound of the banner of barrows, or maybe the icon of vengeance, (stops casualties if general dies)?

I have to admit the new necromancer model is amazing, but what would be more effective a second vampire or a necromancer and using the spare points elsewhere?

I have looked at mantic models in passing and cannot deny that they are both beautiful and cheap, the only issue being I haven't played much (yet) and getting to grips with the game could be difficult as I'm assuming GW aren't going to let me use another companies models in-store?

Finally, to end this novel , with zombies then, is it worth getting a box to summon in the middle of a battle?
Thanks again for your help.
Al

 

[Count Lasombra]

Looks decent,the battalion is a good deal if you plan on going all GW..or you play at a GW store.You do need the zombies for raise dead..oneday they may be worth fielding on their own.The corpse cart is debatable,but it is a cool model.
I'd want to have atleast 50 ghouls in this current environment.It's good to have a variety of troops though.You will need to build/buy a few bases of spirit hosts for the wind of undeath spell.
I think the best thing to do is buy the models you like the most,and build your strategies around them.

 

[Jacques Dauger De Cavoye]

If you're interested in saving money and willing to go off the GW track, Mantic's undead range is phenomenal, and they're ghouls and zombies I would say are the best plastics around.

Just got a big box of mantic bad boys the other day. 110 models for 80 dollars US, I think 40-45 if you live in Europe. They have a fantastic undead range and you can get all the ghouls and skellies you need real cheap.

 

[hairyjeff]

The Mantic models are( mostly) really high class, and exceptional value. But you can't use them in GW stores . Which is fair enough.

 

[Rob Anyone]

Hi all,
thanks for the replys. I am sorely tempted by the Mantic models seeing as they look great and are a lot cheaper. Hopefully I'll be playing more games at a club rather than in GW, so maybe Mantic is the answer....
Just a quick question mentioned in passing above;
is it worth dropping some ghouls or grave guard to buy another vampire or necromancer?
Thanks for your time.
Al

 

[the underlord]

In my opinion, its worth it to get more use out of your 2D6 power dice in low-point games (where you might actually have more than you need!), but bare in mind that you really need big units of ghouls to stand up in combat and dish enough damage to make it through combat. That being said, if you're going to invest in another vamp, or maybe a necro, IoN and ghoulkin would come in handy big time (summon ghouls also). That's my two cents, anybody else have ideas?

 

[nichorn]

you could probably get away with knocking your ghouls down to 25 to give you some extra points for a necro/vamp. i'd probably go with a necro if you want magic he's a bit cheap and you can pick and pay for your spells. personaly tho i don't leave home with out a wight king for my gg for there points there awesome.

 

[Count Lasombra]

I'd avoid fielding more than one hero at 1000pts,IMHO having more troops on the field makes a bigger difference.

 

[Rob Anyone]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
I've been away so haven't checked back on here in a while. My plan is to stick with the above list primarily, but get another hero choice and experiment with it. The only decision I can't make is vampire or necromancer? (will do Wight king later). So my question is what would you take?
Cheers
Al

 

[Tim]

Only reason to bring an extra necromancer is when you want some extra magic power. So if that is what you want get one, an extra vampire will bring you more close combat power but at a greater cost.

 

[Mikael.K]

At these low points, I´d go with a necromancer with VHD. Cheap back up caster and vanhels greatly improves your troops once in combat. A second vampire is nice, but i´d rather have a lord level character than two heroes, both of which you really cant afford at this points. I really like the list, looks balanced.

 

[Rob Anyone]

Hi Guys,
thanks for all the comments. Sorry for the delayed reply, have been very busy lately and not managed to get on here . I'm considering giving me Grave Guard a magic standard and was wondering what people have discovered to be the most effective choice? Secondly, is it worth buying an extra spell for a necromancer? I'm a little confused as to how the system works. Is the first spell randomly chosen and the second chosen by choice or are both chosen by choice? I apologise if this appears a thick question and if the answer is detailed somewhere else!
Many Thanks
Al

 

[Alastor]

Hi Guys,
thanks for all the comments. Sorry for the delayed reply, have been very busy lately and not managed to get on here . I'm considering giving me Grave Guard a magic standard and was wondering what people have discovered to be the most effective choice? Secondly, is it worth buying an extra spell for a necromancer? I'm a little confused as to how the system works. Is the first spell randomly chosen and the second chosen by choice or are both chosen by choice? I apologise if this appears a thick question and if the answer is detailed somewhere else!
Many Thanks
Al

I'm only a beginner myself but as I understand it, necromancers all know one necromancy spell. They can then purchase either one or two further necromancy spells they can choose which of these they take when the army is chosen. It is only Vampires that must roll for their spells, all vampires know Invocation of Nehek and one extra spell per magic level, they can trade any one spell for Raise Dead.

So necromancers have access to IoN, VHD and Raise Dead. If you want a good support caster a basic necromancer with VHD seems pretty good as IoN and Raise Dead can already be catered for predictably by your vamp.

As I said, I'm only a beginner myself so hopefully someone will be along to clarify but that's what I get from the army book.

With the magic banner, for the points you have, banner of the barrows gives a nice +1 to hit in CC or The Royal Standard of Strigos lets your GG hate all enemies, both would have their uses.

Alastor

 

[hairyjeff]

Banner of the Barrows is more or less a default setting for GG . Necros can choose any of their spells, but pay extra to know a 2nd and 3rd. They are a relatively cheap way to access all three spells, but are not too reliable ( low level casting ).