Vampire Thrall builds?

[Blutsauger]

I know they're not called thralls anymore, but I can't seem to shake the habit...

Anyway. I was contemplating including a Vampire on foot in some of my lists. In fact, I have been including a Vampire on foot in some of my lists. But I feel like by the time I have adequately equipped them with Vampiric powers and magic items that they clock in at nearly (or more than) 200 points.

For a model with T4 and two wounds.

Surely there's got to be a cheaper or better way? How do you guys kit out a Vampire on foot in your lists? Or is a Wight King simply a better all-round choice? How do you protect your Vamp from the 6+ enemy models that will be attacking him? How do you stop yourself from spending hundreds of points?

 

[Bloody Maria]

I don't generally stop my points from going over 200 points, but when I do, I either field a Wight King if I need a combat hero, or a Necromancer if I want a caster.
Though, I find that, as a support character, a Vampire works better as a Battle Standard Bearer that a Wight King, as I usually kit the Vampire out with lore of Beasts to add a little more weight to a unit.

A vampire like this will most likely sit somewhere in between 210 and 270 points.

 

[Gokamok]

There's really no way to spend less than 200+ points on a Vampire on foot, since there's not much point in taking one if you're not maxing out on bloodline powers and gear.

Generally, I find that Vampires on foot are simply too soft to be a good investment; you'll need to be extremely careful at picking the right fights, and there are just SO many things that can kill a 2-wound model in a single combat round.

 

[Hanblack Nagash]

I find krell is alot better for price comparrison.

Especially if you field dual mortis engines.

4 wounds on a t5 hero. Insane weapon.

 

[Bloody Maria]

Konrad von Carstein also works pretty well, he's a bit quicker than Krell and unlike Krell's 1D3 wounds, Konrad alwars hurts for 2 wounds.
No killing blow, though, but Konrad as a pure combat hero has wrecked so many faces against monstrous infantry lists before that it makes anything with multiple wounds die a little inside.
He's not bad in a challenge either~

Then again, I love them both, they're both absolutely worth their points.

 

[sn33r]

I'm pretty new to whfb but all I see is his heavy armour and paired weapons so he gets a parry. How do you keep him alive.

 

[Hanblack Nagash]

I'm pretty new to whfb but all I see is his heavy armour and paired weapons so he gets a parry. How do you keep him alive.

He doesnt get a parry.
Mortis engine regen saves stack so multiples of them help

 

[sn33r]

Sorry my mistake.

 

[Bloody Maria]

Same goes for krell, though, he has a 4+ armour save instead of Konrad's 5+, thing is, Konrad's I being much higher, he can do more damage before getting hit than Krell can, whereas using Krell you're running the risk of being slain before combat even starts for him.

Then again, Krell's toughness and wounds are significantly higher than Konrad's, which makes him much more survivable.

Thing is, I feel both characters need to supported either way, either with another character carrying a magic resistance item or a champion/character that can do challenges for them in case they're facing an enemy they possibly wouldn't want to go against.

I feel Konrad is best suited to be fielded against monstrous infantry or chaff units, preferably in a ghoul unit supported with a Corpse Cart, whereas I feel Krell works best in a unit of grave guard with a battle standard bearer with Banner of the Barrows and the unit standard taking a Razor Standard in order to be extra nasty versus cavalry or anything with a 3+ armour save, or just to work their magic on anything they come across.

That didn't answer your question though, as to how I keep Konrad Alive;
Thing is, I don't, I try to charge him into combat as fast as I can to negate shooting (except skaven, maybe) and no opponent so far has ever felt they needed to pop a template spell across their unit of expensive elites to disable an under 200 points hero.
Though, like any other hero, he profits immensely from a Mortis Engine's Regeneration.
Also, I prefer Konrad because he's generally much cheaper to support in order to be effective and in range of inspiring presence, he won't be a liability when it comes down to his leadership tests for stupidity.

I generally keep him in range of at least one lore attribute wound regain, which, so far, out of the few times I've fielded him, kept him alive for at least 2 rounds of combat, earning himself a pretty nice victory points number. (He earns his cost back so easily, I love him.)

EDIT:
Missed the last two posts.

 

[El Syf]

All of my thralls are over that and they still die in most games, I would rather go with wight kings or wraiths depending on how many magic weapons your enemy has. The T5 of wight kings can come in handy.