@Adam Barrow: Hey mate, finally got some time in to reply to your post. So I think I'll run through
some of the ideas that I have regarding my own play style. First two links:
https://www.vampirecounts.net/Thread-Sunny-s-challenge?page=16 I bit down on this page I present my
league list and the general idea, I recommend you read this first.
https://www.vampirecounts.net/Thread-Facing-my-hardest-battle-in-my-league?page=2 In this thread I
have made "to do list" against my Ogre opponent, valuable stuff there as well, although it might
be a bit army specific.
Master Class
I think the best way to make a thorough walkthrough of my playstyle is looking at each unit
separately.
Ghouls: I've found that these, which is a staple of most armies, die very fast. Even with the 36 that
I field in
horde, most of them will explode in a gush of blood most games. But with Dual Engines
they do get a lot more resilience. So two tips: Get
AT LEAST 40 in a unit and RECOGNIZE when the
Regen is gone... nothing worse than doing the math wrong because you relied on having your ME's alive
and nearby. I almost always field my VL with the Ghouls which makes them a target but also scares some
things away. Just get teh VL out in time if the unit is dwindling and it's about to get charged.
Zombs: Frankly these badboys look weak on paper, but they are such a cheap investment. To be honest
they've always been worth it, except for when my whole army was slowed down by them and couldn't
catch up with the fleeing Ogres
I started bringin the zombs because of Blood and Glory and needed
banner toting cheap units so I wouldn't auto-lose. Just remember that the banner also gives +25 vps
which means that the unit actually gives away 90 vps if it gets killed in combat. I use the Zombs
for redirection, extra drops and often make heroic charges with them(where they oddly enough often
win against their enemy). For instance my skaven opponent had some gutterrunners standing on the edge
of the board and then I charged them with my Zombs: He couldn't flee because that would mean that he
would run over the board so he stood and shot. The Zombs shrugged it off won combat, the Gutterrunners
broke and got run down... that is a nice example of what the Zombs are actually capable of if you get
lucky. I guess this is a no-brainer for most veteran
VC players but it's worth saying again:
Do not send the Zombs into multiple combats, they'll bleed CR like Khorne having his period. The
Zombs are also good as bunkers for your caster characters.
Spirit Hosts: These spooks are the most terrifying units in my army, or so my enemies seem to think.
They are insanely cheap, very hard to deal with and they function as a swiss-army knife: A tool
for every task. Recently I've played a fair bit against OnG. I'm also a Bret player so I have a
healthy respect for Fanatics, but with the SH Fanatics become a waste of points at best. So you move
your SH up so that it draws the fanatic out. Okay that's good, but any
chaff can do that. But other
chaff can't walk right on top of the fanatic and kill it without getting hurt. Well this was just 1
example of the many great ways you can use a SH. So how do I play them? However nescessary. Keep
them out of range of magic missiles though, opponents will love blowing them up even though the SH
is so cheap. Yeah and the SH can hold up a unit of Mournfangs or Maneaters for a whole game...
Guess I don't have to explain the value in that. Yeah and because of their great movement you can
deploy them and your Zombs(6 drops in total) without committing to anything yet.
Vargheists: As you might know I'm not the gambling type. I like 3 vargs in a unit but they seem to
get pincushioned fairly fast so I thought up an alternative: 6 Vargs in a unit! They work wonders
if you have the patience for it. The idea is that they mostly function like a 3 man unit, but they
just don't give up their points like the smaller units do. 6 Vargs can get a flank charge on 4
Mournfangs with DHB and WIN!
Crypt Horrors: Okay so no introduction needed, these beasts are all over tournament lists. I have yet
to see my CH die to the last man. Just don't rely on them doing anything big in combat. They can grind
but grinding takes time and since my list doesn't have a level 4 LoV caster it's not like you'll
heal every wound in every magic phase. I use them as a screen for my ME's and I have them deployed
vs hardhitting matchups like Bloodletters(who melts away in CC against CH). I field them 5 wide.
ME's: I never stop loving these wagons. Like the SH they have so many uses:
1. Regen. Yeah, that's kind of the whole idea with the army build, but it's not it's only merit.
2. Screams. Sure it's not a TG but it's a scream worth around 100 points built into the unit.
3. Impact hits. Some units don't like d6 s5 hits, find out which and use it.
4. Damage Aura. Yeah, when you close in on your enemy this aura will FORCE the enemy to make some moves
if his whole army isn't going to dwindle away by the aura.
5. Explosions! This is one of the really cool things about the ME: If it dies it's often worse news
for your enemy than for yourself. This has actually become sort of a motto in my gaming group:
"kill it quick or don't kill it at all".
6. It can actually fight. Sure it's weak attacks but it's 11 attacks on average... that's not bad. A nice
addition to all the other perks.
Deploying the ME: I park the side ways 1" behind my CH, that way they are very hard to hit with cannons.
Vampire Lord: I'm not really a blender fan boy like many others. Maybe it's because I play too
conservatively. A mistake I made with this list was to not give the VL a 4++ and only Seed of Rebirth.
This is dangerous business because most games the ME's won't last and killing blows ignore regen. In
my case I guess a SGK would have been a better choice. Anyway, she's a beast in combat, but that
can't be new to anybody. 2++ against flaming attacks means that you can charge out of the unit with
the VL and obliterate anything carrying the Banner of Eternal Flame
Master Deathromancer: I LOVE THIS GUY! Death is so insane, right now I think it's by far the best lore in the
game. But that's for another time to go through the lore. Main thing is: Keep him at the frontline
but not so that he can be charged. This is very hard, but if you master it he can devastate armies
by himself. PSunning all day
Baby
Necro: I bring this guy for three reasons alone:
1. DS
2. Back-up LoV caster if my VL dies. This is gold.
3. Another IoN. I like IoNs. Oh yeah I never even roll for spells on the VL and Baby I just say I
take IoN
Hope this little guide helped you out Adam
