Mustering a force for my second battle with VC

[The Red Scourge]

So I'm getting ready to try out my VC for the second time. 2500 points to fight a High Elf and a skaven/empire/dark elf player this weekend in a small tournament with two good friends. It is going to be the second time for me to try out the army (first time I had a draw vs. the empire player in a good and fun fight).

So this is what I've come up with, so feel free to comment

Lord 475
Lvl 4, Hellsteed
Master of the Black Arts, Dark Acolyte, Lord of the Dead
Helm of Commandment, Wristbands of Black Gold, Book of Arkhan

Wight King 245
Barded skeletal steed, BSB
Drakenhof Banner

Vampire 185
Lord of the Dead, Dark Acolyte
Flayed Hauberk, Black Periapt

Necromancer 220
Corpse Cart, Extra Spell, Unholy Lodestone
Hand of Dust


Character Total 1125


15 Skeletons Full command 165
Warbanner

14 Skeletons Full command 132

20 Zombies 80

6 x Black Knights + FC + Barding 233
Banner of the Dead Legion

1 x 20 Grave Guard + FC 315
Banner of the Barrows

5 x Cairn Wraiths 250

1 x Black Coach 200

Troop Total 1375


Army Total 2500

11 PD 6 DD

The rare choices are fixed. These are what appeals me the most in the game along with the image of the skeletal horde (I find the ghoul models hideous and not in a good way). I also find the variety of characters to be cool, so I want one of each.

So any ideas of how to tweak the individual units/characters? And is the Drakenhof banner too "cheesy", and where would you put it, the grave guard or the black knights?

 

[Crone]

First of all, I'd drop the hand of dust since it rarely seems to do much for me and use those points for a couple of power stones. The extra casting dice always seem to be a lifesaver when you need them most (espicially if used in conjuction with Vanhel's).
Secondly, I don't think the Drakenhoff banner is too cheesy but its placement is somewhat dependent on your playstyle. The Graveguard benefit more from IoN than the BK (making them more expendable), so I'd place the banner with the BKs. If, however, you restrain your BKs somewhat in the first couple of turns (versus sticking them out there), you might find your opponenet singling out the Graveguard more and decide to place the banner therein. By giving the banner to a mounted WK, you have maximised the number of potential units for the banner's placement and can use that as an advantage based on what army you are playing.

 

[Bigpig]

Not a fan of the HoD on the necro. I have had mixed luck using it on my Wight King with a similar unit of BKs to the one you have. Overal I think it goes in the "fun but not best choice" bin and you should use the 50pts for something else. A scroll might be nice. Even when I have a good number of DDs I like to take one to get me out of the "can't afford to roll double 1s situation". ( If your metagame is a magic weak environment you could forgoe this option )

I say put the banner in the GG unit. They make a better anvil and will usually be where the action is. BKs have a tendency to sometimes be operating on the flanks and get undesirable positioning. I don't think the banner is "cheesy" since it isn't obscene like some of the other combos out there ( /cough Dark Elf ) but it certainly is expected.

 

[The Red Scourge]

I got thoroughly beaten – but thats a good thing, and I learned a lot. Also my opponent has played his army for quite some time, so he had quite an edge.

Turn 1 was the most horrible of all. One cannon sniped my hero vamp – despite a unit of 22 skeletons – and another cannon blew my black coach apart.
Turn 2 brought about the death of my general (I gambled and failed spectacularly).
But I fought on, and it took until turn 6 before my army had finally crumbled all away, and those six turns learned me a lot about units fighting on static CR and moving big regiments

 

[Ricw]

1) turn 1: I take it you failed the "look out sir?" roll for your hero vamp?
2) Turn 2: Gambling with the gneral is risky at best but you only live once