Fighting with the Transsylvanians

[Master Vampire]

Greetings,

This topic is dedicated to each and every one of you. I hope this place is going to be a great library of knowledge.

As a community and von Carstein players (the legal army list; not SoC nor back-of-the-book), we can share a number of items for all to read and use:

• thoughts
• losses
• victories
• ideas
• tactics
• unit choosing
• kitting our characters
• army set ups

These are all individual points that a new von Carstein player is going to discover. But seasoned players can help a little, somewhat like a teacher in the arts of war (don't tell me that isn't your dreamjob :P). A seasoned player is well aware of advantages and disadvantages of playing as a von Carstein, and would be more than capable of giving pointers, showing examples of when things would work and when not, etc.

This topic is thus not an usual topic. This topic is not directed to the discussion of using von Carsteins, but rather directed at summing up players experiences in regards to fighting with the von Carsteins. So please keep that in mind when you post.

Different people think differently, to say it plainly. This is entirely correct. Hence feel free to ask that person in a PM (or even get a discussion going in a separate topic) to show you how, perhaps even to be more precise (eg, against which army did he use this tactic/idea/set up/etc?).

Having written all that, I took this iniative for you all to add to this library of knowledge, as to it becoming a great beginning place for new von Carstein players to find tactics and useful pointers.

Basically, write anything down you can remember fighting with von Carsteins! Let's get this going. :D

 

[FatOlaf]

Well Lets start the ball rolling with how we Von C's kit out our heros.
With the Count IMO never go out of your cave without the VC ring, yes it's 100 points but I have only ever lost my Count once in battle and that was down to crumble. With a 4+ WS plus Regeneration, you will infuriate your opponent. Plus the ability to be healed with ION and you have one of the toughest Generals around.
With my Thralls, It just does not get much better than Wolf form and the Flayed Hauberk. A potential 18 inch Charge with a 1+ AS, equip with either GW or 2 H/W and put him in a unit of wolves and cause carnage. Great for Mage hunting, Flank attacks, War machines and baiting...

 

[Lord Fear]

I think you can afford to go to battle without the von Carstein Ring sometimes, but if I was using von Carsteins in a properly competitive environment like a GT I'd certainly be more likely to take it. There's so many neat abilities a von Carstein can have that it's a shame not to use them! But at 3000 points I'll always take the Ring on my Vampire Lord.

 

[kebabi]

I don't never, ever take the Von Carstein ring. If you want an indestructable killingmachine and, to be frank, no-brainer lord then go for a Strigory with regen (you lose one point of your Ward Save, but get the 50 points to spend on actual stuff).
Of course, you can't combine that with a horsie, but 5/6 Str 6 attacks and Hatred kinda makes up for that. Naw, it seems like a waste of a perfectly good Carstein to give him that.

However, Ward Save in nessecery. It's very bold to go into combat without any protection.
However, depending a bit on what you face, keeping your lord all locked up and cuddly with a inpenetrable armour ain't all that nessecery.
For one thing your general might not see combat that much. You rarely wanna put him against the opposing Chaos Lord of Khorne or use him to take out Gorgers (I did that once...biiig misstake). IMHO, keeping your lord out of reach from the enemies hitties killing machines is a good idea.
So that leaves us with a great all around killer, bar the heaviest of the lot. And as he usually stands for most of the dishing out of attacks he won't require a save all the time (as there's not much left standing next to him).
Secondly, your opponent, if he has some wits, will hopefully generalize and think "hmm...a Vampire Count, one of the hardest Lords in the game and if he dies the entire enemy army dies, so therefor ought to be protected.". What I'm getting at is that if you don't use your general carelessly, you could try out having no save whatsoever. However, if you're playing at a tournament or similiar a Ward Save is kinda of a must. I always take the Ring of the Night, as it's a decent save that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

As for Carsteiny stuff, I always, always take Aura of Dark Majesty. Having the ability to march in a great radious provides your entire army with mobility, making it a helluva lot more flexibel tactically. This means that the already fast Dire Wolves and Black Knights aren't slowed down and the sluggish Zombies and Skeletons can keep plodding their way towards the enemy line even if the general isn't baby-sitting them.
My vote to the best Bloodline Power (arguably not better than Regeneration, that stuff's just sick. But it's clearly in the top), kinda what seperates us from the rest of the lot.
As for gearing the Count (a matter of taste, but I find that 3xlvl2 mages are the way to go in 2000-2250p. - you can then add a freelancing punch in form of wraith/thrall/wight) I usually go with what's not already carried by the Necromancers, usually Black Periapt or Book of Arkhan. Summon Wolves is also very, very handy and should you find the point then Wolf Form can prove a nice suprise when the enemy thinks he has your General trapped or out of range.
I usually go for great weapon, mainly for chariot busting and eating through armour (still have the option of a I-based Hand Weapon, should he have to deal with lowly rank-n-file)

For thralls, the "racer-thrall" Olaf mentioned are pretty standard. Mage-hunting, warmachines, chariot-busting, smaller units, knights, fast cav - this cat does it all. And should he end up in the open then most magic missiles and non-warmachine-shooting are fairly futile against him.
Using the same way of thinking for a unshieled Count, you could take Summon Wolves + Wolf Form, and be careful not to get him killed. Squeezing the most out of your points.