Official Rumour Thread: New Vampire Counts Book

[Zhatan]

Yeah I didn't mean that every wizard suffers the results of all miscasts but that any wizard in range would have to re-roll if he were to miscast, even your enemies. Sorry for being unclear.

Also thanks masterspark.
The engine seems really good to me sure you can have fatal miscasts but have a lvl 4 wizard close to it and he will get +6 to any casting. We won't have to roll that many dice anyway so the risk of miscast will be quite low.

 

[Solomon Kane]

Mortis engine has a 5+ save and no ward? Perhaps I'll just model a cannonball on the front as soon as it's out of the box

On a lighter note rumours at my local GW suggested bloodlines could perhaps be as an upgrade to vampire lord for example

Ghoul King: Vampire lord has hatred and poison attacks special rules 30pts etc

Haven't heard anything regarding the other bloodlines so far so possibly just a standalone ghoul king. Vargheists will be nice for kitbashing with those wings and those giant ghouls are crying out to be made into the flesh golems we were hoping for! I noticed someone posted about Vlad passing his hunger test on 4+ with the blood drinker, does this mean he won't be sharing the weapon with other vampires now?

 

[Zhatan]

Mortis engine has a 5+ save and no ward? Perhaps I'll just model a cannonball on the front as soon as it's out of the box

On a lighter note rumours at my local GW suggested bloodlines could perhaps be as an upgrade to vampire lord for example

Ghoul King: Vampire lord has hatred and poison attacks special rules 30pts etc

Haven't heard anything regarding the other bloodlines so far so possibly just a standalone ghoul king. Vargheists will be nice for kitbashing with those wings and those giant ghouls are crying out to be made into the flesh golems we were hoping for! I noticed someone posted about Vlad passing his hunger test on 4+ with the blood drinker, does this mean he won't be sharing the weapon with other vampires now?

Well it does get a regeneration save... it's not as good as a ward but at least it's something and if our zombies are etting cheaper you could get some zombies to put infront of it as a screen.

 

[Raizi]

I noticed someone posted about Vlad passing his hunger test on 4+ with the blood drinker, does this mean he won't be sharing the weapon with other vampires now?

I'd safely assume so, now that vampires will have the 'hunger' -special rule. I wonder if it will so that any model with the rule 'Vampiric' (Varghulfs, Vargheists and the Coven Throne...) will have the hunger special?

If so, that would be totally sweet.

 

[logan054]

Another batch of input... (from reading through the WD at the store today)

Where should we start ?

Quote
Lore of the Vampires

Signature Spell is definitely Invocation of Nehek - on the most fundamental level it can restore "D6 + caster's Wizard level" of Wounds to friendly Undead unit within 6". Boosted version has 12" range, as well as 18" ones.

Other spells includes Raise Dead, Vanhel's Danse Macabre, Curse of Years, Gaze of Nagash, and Wind of Death

Lore attribute: When the spell from the Lore of the Vampires is succefully casted, the wizard or any undead models within 12" restores 1 wound.
Rules tidbits:

All Vampire has rule called "Hunger" - You get to roll a D6 when the vampire kills one or more models in combat, on a 6 you recovers one wound. (Vlad with Blood Drinker pass the roll on 4+)

Also Vampire, including vampiric creatures "such as" Varghulf and Vargheist, can march. So Vargheist will be able to move 20" per turn almost all the time. (not sure if Varghulf can also fly)

Vampiric Powers: (not all of them, just those mentioned in WD)
Flying Horror - give the vampire ability to fly (unsure)
Dread Knight - ability to boost WS (don't know how - but a Vampire Llord with Dread Knight has WS of 9)
Quickblood - gains ASF
Master of the Black Arts - get to re-roll one D6 for the Winds of Magic.
Dark Acolyte - add D3 to the total number of models raised by Nehek.
Red Fury - should be about the same. (unsure)

New units:

Quote
Coven Throne
- Basically a chariot mount for your Lord.
- Is a Large target with S5 T5 5W and 5+ save.
- has Spectral Steed rules (can move 8"), Undead, Vampiric, ASF (only for Handmaiden who has 2 S5 Attacks)
- has Random Attacks (2D6) at S3 from the spirit horde.
- Has Ward Save of 4+
- Battle of Wills (before the first enemy rolls to hit against the character or the Throne, both player roll a D6 and add their LD value. Has effects based on the difference of the score)
* no effect (0 or less)
* suffer -1WS/BS
* the enemy must re-roll successful To Hits
* each model in the enemy unit strike each other (only 1 attack per model)
- Has Bound Spell (lvl3) allowing the Throne (and all of its crew) to re-roll either To Hit or To Wound rolls.

Mortis Engine
- Is a Rare Choice
- Same stats as for the Throne (S5 T5 W5 Sv5+)
- has 2D6 attacks at S3 from the spirit horde
- Undead, Terror, Spectral Steed, and Regeneration
- can make Ghostly Howl attack.
- can take upgrade, allowing any wizards casting spell from the Lore of the Vampires to get +2 to their casting attempt. (ANY) miscast wizards rolls twice on the table and have the opponent choose the result)
- The Reliquary (at the start of your turn, roll 2D6 and add the current turn number - until the start of its next turn, all friendly Undead units within this number of range gains +1 bonus to their Regeneration, 6+ if they don't have any, to a maximum of 4+. Also, all enemy units within this range suffers D6 hits at the strength equal to the turn number.

- Also has some penalties if removed from play - by damaging every units within a random range at the strength equal to the current turn number)


Master Necromancer
- New Lord choice (ie. better Necromancer)

- Banshees and Cairn Wraith are now Hero

Hexwraiths (special)
- Fast Cavalry with Ethereal (yes!) that can inflict automatic S5 hits on unit that it moved through.

Vargheist (special)
- Flying Monstrous Infantry that has Fly, Frenzy, and 3A.

Crypt Horrors (special)
- Monstrous Infantry unit with M6 S4 T5 I2 W3 A3, has Poisoned Attacks, Regeneration 5+, and Undead.

I think that's all I've seen in the WD...

BTW, Heinrich Kemmler is back in finecast (and in the book) for sure. But on the original sculpt, no new miniature for him. (at least for now)


Seeing lots of people wondering if the Bloodline is back in the book.
Honestly, I'm not sure as it's not specifically mentioned rule-wise.


Cheers,
ZAlpha

I'm surprised no one else has posted this yet, not sure on the Mortis Engine, I think the rolling twice on the miscast table and the enemy picks makes the upgrade abit crappy (especially while puppet is still about).

 

[Scarr Reincarnated]

People have actually posted that.

I think it's in the 'news' department.

 

[old man doom]

Just read them both and the coven throne looks the beast of the two......
Oooooo!.... I so excited.

I agree. That Coven Throne is going to be as nasty as it looks.

I also love the "Battle of the Wills" power, it's characterful and reminds me of the old Lahmian bloodline rules from the 6th edition army book.

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

Ahh the same old seduction rule about 4 times which stacked, yes, it was impossible to escape them back them wasn't it.... they were the page 3 girls of the warhammer world.

I think on base rules though the Coven Throne is better unless there is allot more with regen than that meets the eye, something tells me I will get sick of flaming banners though very soon.

 

[old man doom]

they were the page 3 girls of the warhammer world.

I'm an American, but I get the "Page 3" reference.

I'm still wondering if the Coven Throne is just a mount for the lord or if it can be a rare choice as well, like the mortis engine. Not sure if I missed that info...

 

[Mioum]

All those rumors/info are great, I'm mighty pleased to have found the Engine/Throne scane here, nice find whoever found it

But something that irritate me though, is that I've read a lot of comments about people now wanting to collect a Lahmian army I have no problem with "bandwagonner" in general, but I'm kinda bugged that many jump on a theme that was probably the weakest for the last two edition. So much for originality I guess, probably the release of good looking female mini (for once) seduced many into the army Kinda fitting for the Lahmian perhaps, but I enjoyed having a more "underdog" army and not a cooky-cutter, internet-joe list

 

[Sanai]

There will be a bunch of "Lahmian" armies which will be the coven throne + whatever is most powerful, then there will be real lahmian armies, with coven thrones and an army with no ghouls/blood knights/varghulfs/etc.

 

[old man doom]

There will be a bunch of "Lahmian" armies which will be the coven throne + whatever is most powerful, then there will be real lahmian armies, with coven thrones and an army with no ghouls/blood knights/varghulfs/etc.

I actually think the Coven Throne is very Von Carstein-esque, with the style of the handmaidens and Baroness. Just my opinion.

 

[Sanai]

Its rules that turn enemies against each other and its all female cast is very lahmian, but you could use it fairly easily in a von carstein army yes.

 

[Solomon Kane]

The vampire lord sat at the top could easily be removed and replaced with a male vampire to create a more von carstein look with his two handmaidens, or just get rid of all three and have a really imposing looking male vamp, I guess that could almost work for all the bloodlines. Plenty of cav parts on that spirit host base to match in with blood dragons and with a little converting a ghoul king wouldn't look out of place. Anyone know if the Red Duke is in there as a char? With his recent book release and the way the last few army books have been I was hoping for him at least at hero level

 

[Teodo]

Well, been looking around this thread (and the one at warseer) for some time now.. I get hyped by the new VC really :S
Being a old undead lover (But never got an army together, other then my TK) I might toss myself a Barrows army, with necros, skeletons, zombies, mortis engine and different kind of spectrals. Could be a cool army to both build, paint and at some point try to play with ^^ Always wanted to do that, I just didn't think the last army book gave me that thing.

But I must say. With the things slipping out about how everything works for VC, I think they will have an easier time then TK in the end. But we will see I collect them for the looks and fluff, not for the power.

 

[Vege Zombie]

Im not sure have these posted before, but here we go.Sounds awsome!:|:|

BTW first post

From -Loki- (warseer)

Completely true. Local newsagent had the white dwarf, and I've been having a good read. Invocation of Nehek affects all friendly units in its radius of 6"/12"/18", depending on the power level.

The Corpse Cart gives all units within 6" ASF until your next magic phase if it is the target of a Vampire spell - including the AoE of Invocation. This is specifically stated. Imaging say, 3 units of Skeletons or even Grave Guard, with 2 Corpse Carts between them, and a Necromancer or two in there throwing out Invocation every turn. Skeletons/Grave Guard with permanent ASF.

Raise Dead can raise either Zombies or Skeletons.

A few other tidbits.

Necromancers can take an upgrade called Master of the Dead. The only way to add models to a Skeleton unit raised with Raise Dead is with a Necromancer with Master of the Dead.

Ghouls are 10 points. A unit of 40 with a Ghast in one of the sample lists was 410 points.

Banner of the Blood Keep is one of the returning banners, and grants a 4+ ward save to shooting attacks.

There appear to be 3 different vampire types. Vampire lord, Vampire, Strigoi Ghoul King. This is mentioned in the new rules for Vampire Counts pacts for Storm of magic, they specifically name the lord choices you can take, and it is those 3 and Master Necromancer. They don't mention at all what makes a Strigoi Ghoul King different, though it might have something to do with Hatred and Poison, as Phil Kelly pointed out in the GW website Terrorgeist designers notes.

I also may be reading too much into it, but there's some hints towards Ghouls not being able to be reinforced through Invocation of Nehek. Don't quote me on this, it's not outright stated, just whenever they talk about raising models, Ghouls are the only unit not mentioned, as well as in the Lahmian sample list they say 'with 40 models, it ensures there will be enough left when they reach the enemy' or sometihng to that effect.

A Vampire Lord with death knight is WS 9. Looks like Vampire Lords are getting ridiculous stats again.

Master Necromancers can be the general. They specifically state this. It's possible to make an army completely lacking vampires.

They make a subtle mention about 'when the general dies, the army starts to crumble until another powerful character can regain control.' Seems like you can replace the general with a powerful Necromancer or other Vampire caster somehow if the general dies.

 

[Wolfrahm]

Im not sure have these posted before, but here we go.Sounds awsome!:|:|

BTW first post

From -Loki- (warseer)

Completely true. Local newsagent had the white dwarf, and I've been having a good read. Invocation of Nehek affects all friendly units in its radius of 6"/12"/18", depending on the power level.

The Corpse Cart gives all units within 6" ASF until your next magic phase if it is the target of a Vampire spell - including the AoE of Invocation. This is specifically stated. Imaging say, 3 units of Skeletons or even Grave Guard, with 2 Corpse Carts between them, and a Necromancer or two in there throwing out Invocation every turn. Skeletons/Grave Guard with permanent ASF.

Raise Dead can raise either Zombies or Skeletons.

A few other tidbits.

Necromancers can take an upgrade called Master of the Dead. The only way to add models to a Skeleton unit raised with Raise Dead is with a Necromancer with Master of the Dead.

Ghouls are 10 points. A unit of 40 with a Ghast in one of the sample lists was 410 points.

Banner of the Blood Keep is one of the returning banners, and grants a 4+ ward save to shooting attacks.

There appear to be 3 different vampire types. Vampire lord, Vampire, Strigoi Ghoul King. This is mentioned in the new rules for Vampire Counts pacts for Storm of magic, they specifically name the lord choices you can take, and it is those 3 and Master Necromancer. They don't mention at all what makes a Strigoi Ghoul King different, though it might have something to do with Hatred and Poison, as Phil Kelly pointed out in the GW website Terrorgeist designers notes.

I also may be reading too much into it, but there's some hints towards Ghouls not being able to be reinforced through Invocation of Nehek. Don't quote me on this, it's not outright stated, just whenever they talk about raising models, Ghouls are the only unit not mentioned, as well as in the Lahmian sample list they say 'with 40 models, it ensures there will be enough left when they reach the enemy' or sometihng to that effect.

A Vampire Lord with death knight is WS 9. Looks like Vampire Lords are getting ridiculous stats again.

Master Necromancers can be the general. They specifically state this. It's possible to make an army completely lacking vampires.

They make a subtle mention about 'when the general dies, the army starts to crumble until another powerful character can regain control.' Seems like you can replace the general with a powerful Necromancer or other Vampire caster somehow if the general dies.

Replacing the General will be most accepted by everyone. To not have to crumble, now that is a great notion.

 

[Sanai]

So I was right about the Ghoul King, like I knew I was.
Ghouls are 10 pts... are skellies cheaper than 8 pts now?

 

[Zhatan]

So I was right about the Ghoul King, like I knew I was.
Ghouls are 10 pts... are skellies cheaper than 8 pts now?

Haha arrogance.. good stuff.

Anyway skeletons are supposedly 5p now and can still carry magical baners.

Seeing that ghouls are taken in blocks of 40 it's unlikely that they again made them skirmish like I was hoping but they might have been made alive again as that would fit with vege says about them not being raiseable.

The stuff about the general seems nice but I am worried about invocation. If it's true it affects everyone in a radius I would say it's likely they removed our spam casting and maybe even the ability for our wizards to have the same spell. If they didn't that would be very overpowered imo.

 

[Sanai]

Hey, its not arrogance, I just am better than everyone else and am a realist.
5 pt skellies? MWWUHAHAHAHAHAHA. (Im glad I bought hordes of skellies and not ghouls like everyone else)

 

[Maldorien]

Seeing that ghouls are taken in blocks of 40 it's unlikely that they again made them skirmish like I was hoping but they might have been made alive again as that would fit with vege says about them not being raiseable.

If IoN is the signature spell, we can still have as many as we like, otherwise we can spam raise dead .

 

[Sanai]

Skirmish in the current edition is... difficult to run in any numbers. It requires a unit to all move in ranks but with even spacing between them, and reform into normal formation before any charge against them.... doing that with 40 ghouls would be tricky. Theyve switched from "ghouls as skirmishers" to "ghouls as a ravenous horde"

 

[Muaddib81]

Oooh, and the Coven Throne's Battle of Wills works against ranged attacks as well (except Cannons and rock throwers, obviously)!
Sounds like attacking massed DE crossbows / dwarf thunderers became a bit more viable (them shorties still have a bit too powerful Ld, after all). Still, nice!

 

[Mioum]

With Skeletons at 5pts (probably with default shield and light armour) it's gonna be great.

With TK they aren't a great choice due to the competition with Chariots in core, but with the VC you don't have a vaslty better choice like that. So having 3 units of 40 Skeletons for like 200pts each as your core in a 2500pts game is gonna be great. It will finally looks as a horde of undead like it should be!

Or just fill your core with like, 2 units of 100 zombies (now 3pts)

 

[hairyjeff]

Though I still have reservations ( I know, I'm a sceptical old git ), I'm starting to think I could enjoy this. With over 300 Skeleton models and no Ghouls, it's beginning to look ok for me. Evil cackles may be added at this point if you feel appropriate!