How would you spend your first £140?

[Reef 3]

Greetings undead, Im finally taking the plunge and embarking on a Vampire counts army. It will be my fourth army. I really enjoy the painting but loathe metal assembly. Fortunately ye of little flesh seem to have a nearly 100% plastic army .... makes things much simpler for me!

I wasnt so much looking for army list suggestions but help with the following;

Before I go out and buy unnecessary figures (mucho cost/time) I wondered if anyone could advise me on what core/special I should buy. I probably wont field Blood nights. Also I can spend some time assessing the heros/lords. I like the idea of "raising/reraising" troops but much prefer skeletal style figures rather than zombies. What mix of core/special will I use the most of? I can pay approx £140 on core/special.

GW recommended the battalion box. It seems like one of the few battalion boxes that are filled with useful choices.... is this so?

Reef 3

 

[Reef 3]

Example of previous mistake. Purchased 10 witch elves only to realise my error(not a terrific unit choice), then purchased 10 harpy wings to convert them totalling £41. Would prefer not to do this again!! Could have just bought 45 crossbowmen/spearmen.

 

[Onikaigo]

Hello!

The Battalion box is indeed a good deal. I myself purchased 2 of them, and got extra parts from GW since a Corpse Cart wasn't in one...so I now have three Carts, plus the 40 skeletons and 20 ghouls that came with them. Even Zombies. Sweet.

Since you already said you're going to go Skellie/Bone heavy, this is a good deal for you. If I remember correctly it doesn't come with any characters, so those are going to be your call, but price per model it's a better deal to buy a battalion or two than individual boxes.

And two battalions makes a respectable force in it's own right. All you'd need after that is Special/Rares to fill out even a 3K army, with the price of our characters being as they are.

2 Battalions would net you

40 Skeletons
20 Ghouls
40 Zombies
2 Corpse Carts

Which amounts to 760 points with no upgrades (Sans on CC's, since it's kinda pointless to even include them without an upgrade). A typical VC 2000 point list can spend 1000 points on Characters if they max out allowances, plus use all Vampires, so you're only 200 points off from having a functional (If model restricte) 2 K list.

You could buy two battalions, then a unit or two of Special (Grave Guard are a good choice here, or your call of Black Knights, Bats, etc.) to fill a slot or two, then some good rare choices that really give you that feel of Vampires are Varghulfs. The Black Coach is a bit pricey for a single model, and on a budget I wouldn't recommend it. You can convert just about anything to be wraiths or banshees, so go wild with that. They're an easy rare to get a hold of.

So, in essence, I'd recommend two battalions to give you a solid core base. After that, it's your ballpark. You'd have at least one unit of each core type, and flesh out with characters/Specials/a single rare(Maybe two if you've already got something flying around for wraiths or somesuch), and your'e golden.

Remember, 90% of the time it's cheaper to convert a model (Wraiths, to beat that horse to death) than to buy it from GW. If you really want to save money, take a look into investing in some Greenstuff/Molding epoxy and some practice will do the rest


Welcome to the Forum!

 

[Reef 3]

Thanks for your quick and full reply. Thats decisive. I will buy at least one maybe two battalion boxes. I think Ill use/abuse the zombies.. probably cut them in half and have them coming up from the ground. They are one of the least appealing models in the GW range.

I guess skeletons/zombies with a cloak (fashioned from greenstuff!) is the way. I havent checked the price yet of GW wraiths. From what you say it sounds like a no brainer. Kind of like Our Dark Elves deliberation - 8 glade riders for £18 or 8 Dark riders for £64!

When operating a "reraising" style army... what are your gaming preferences? which unit? cost v ability.

 

[Lord Reginer]

Avoid the spear head, if you already have the book, the value of it is questionable. The Battalion boxes by far win the Bang for the buck category.

 

[Reef 3]

Thanks, I think it'll be 2 x battalion boxes plujs characters to start with.

 

[ulrik]

I would recommend buying second hand units found at e-bay and other buy-sell forums. that way you'll get a lot more troops , perhaps even some old rarities and special miniatures for a lot less than what you intended to spend.

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plus you put less stress on the environment if you buy second hand instead of new.