Struggling to finish 2500 points

[Malleus85]

Ok so at the moment I am trying to complete a 2500 point army that I will be building towards and taking to a selection of tournaments next year.

I have sorted out the "core" of my list but at the moment I am struggling with how to finish it as I don't really know what it is I am wanting to add. I am planning on running a point denial list so will start with what I have decided upon and the tactics for my selection.

Roster Cost so far: 1749

Vampire Lord - 405 pts
Level 3, Armour of Silvered Steel, Talisman of Preservation, Dark Acolyte

Master Necromancer - 220 pts
Level 4, Master of the Dead

39 Skeleton Warriors - 215 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer

20 Zombies - 70 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer

20 Zombies - 70 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer

20 Zombies - 70 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer

10 Crypt Ghouls - 100 pts

10 Crypt Ghouls - 100 pts

39 Grave Guard - 499 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer, The Banner of the Barrows

So the deployment plan is to have the Zombies out front with the skeleton warriors acting as a second screen with the grave guard completing the line up with the small ghoul units loitering around the flanks of the grave guard.

Master Necromancer joins the skeleton warriors and the Vampire lord joins the Grave Guard, he has been build to try and survive as much as possible with a 2+/4++, the task of these two characters is to keep the screen of Zombies and Skeleton Warriors up and constantly expanding.

I was considering adding a couple of Bat Swarms bases (2 x 2 Swarm Bases) to make use of the Cloud of Horror effect.

 

[The Sun King]

Dual Engines are pretty good for point denial if you don't count on facing too many cannons(and even then they'll have a hard time picking them out).

The main problem with your list so far is too small units. The zombies should be fine with 20, especially if you add a ME with blasphemous tome and a couple of level 1 necros. But ghouls should be 40+. 10 is the opposite of points denial, it will be 100 points ripe for the picking for your enemy.

Also Dark Acolyte is not really worth it. Same goes for Bat Swarms unless you really build around them(which you shouldn't). The GG's are a good choice for points denial however.

 

[Ratvan]

I get what you're saying about the ghouls, for some reason I thought they were skirmishers. I shouldn't have many issues with keeping tham alive as they'll be behind the main screens and combat flyers/chaff.

Alternatively I could include another skeleton warrior unit to safekeep my grave guard.

How is Dark Acolyte not worth it? It looks pretty strong to me.

I'll look into the dual engines and a few more necro's

 

[The Sun King]

First off you're running a Hybrid which is not worth it. Unless your VL is with a Bus he should not be higher than level 1. The reason why Dark Acolyte isn't that good is because the extra D3 doesn't add until AFTER you've succesfully cast the spell.

Regarding your VL build consider this: Red Fury, Quick Blood, Heavy Armor, Charmed Shield, Talisman of Protection and Ogre Blade.

You can't screen your Ghouls from spells or artillery. And it's not only shooting that's a danger to your Ghouls, most of the time they will hit last, and alot of enemies will just wipe 10 ghouls off the board so they wont even be able to hit back.

 

[Malleus85]

@ Ratvan, I'm doing this build separate. Its not what we talked about at the club.

@ The Sun King. Ok so point taken, how about this?

Vampire Lord - 386 pts
Level 1, Lore of Vampires, Sword of Anti Heroes, Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Talisman of Preservation, Quick Blood, Red Fury

Necromancer - 100 pts
Level 1, Lore of Vampires, The Cursed Book

Necromancer - 145 pts
Master of the Dead, Level 2, Lore of Vampires, Dispel Scroll

20 Zombies - 70 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer

20 Zombies - 70 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer

20 Zombies - 70 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer

39 Skeleton Warriors - 215 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer

39 Skeleton Warriors - 215 pts
Musician, Standard Bearer

39 Grave Guard - 509 pts
Full Command, The Banner of the Barrows

Corpse Cart - 120 pts
Unholy Lodestone

Corpse Cart - 120 pts
Unholy Lodestone

Mortis Engine - 240 pts
Blasphemous Tome

Mortis Engine - 240 pts
Blasphemous Tome

 

[Drakhaol Von Carstein]

@ sun king, the faq for dark acolyte clarified that the d3 are added after the casting value has been met and before any dispel attempt is made (leading some to question the timing and sequencing of "successfully cast").

 

[The Sun King]

You need a level 4 Master Necromancer. Also I would drop the Carts and Master of the Dead on your Necro. And only get 1 blasphemous tome as it doesn't stack.

 

[Count Matthewzilla]

Yeah. You need a lvl 4 wizard in there somewhere. Corpse carts, althought nice, just are way too slow. Your core infantry will just march and leave them behind.

 

[Bane]

Yeah. You have to have a lvl 4 somewhere. You need the boost to dispel, if not for casting itself.

Agreed on only one BT. They sound great...until you miscast and you get sucked into the Warp. Since they don't stack, might as well not make it too risky. Also, for reference, only works on Lore of Vampires, which you are taking but still.

If they would FAQ carts to make them Unique units instead of Chariots, they would be worth taking. M4 with no marching capabilities is horrendous. Unless you are playing against a combat army that will have to come to you, they will not keep up with your force.

And I honestly prefer ghouls to skellies, but to each his/her own.