The New Vampire Counts 8th Edition Tactica

[Askari]

All this talk of Varghulfs and terrorgheists and coaches...am I the only one who has great success with Blood Knights?

I mean I get that they have to pursue/overrun meaning they can be stranded, but for the 3rd consecutive game they've more or less kicked aside everything and anything..

Last game they took out 50 plague monks with furnace and priest, 50 clanrats, 20 nightrunners, HPA. Only the plague monks managed to stick around for 2 rounds of combat even though their furnace was propelled into orbit on the charge....).

I'd say in an overall manner Blood Knights are below the Varghulf and Terrorgheist, but that doesn't make them bad at all. They do excel at killing things like Hydras and Abominations with the flaming banner, if you do the math they should on average kill both the aforementioned monsters on the charge, before they even strike.

I think the largest problem with Blood Knights is the temptation to spend lots on them, whereas units of 4-5 do plenty enough damage and cost as much as any other cavalry unit.

[Symrivven]

I'll second that, 4 to 5 knights (possibly with flaming banner) are a serious thread to many units, while still not big enough to make them the no-brainer target for your enemy. Put your blender lord if you have one in an other unit, take another Rare slot unit and run enough wolves and spirits, and you'll quickly oversaturate your enemy with targets.

[Gondorian]

All this talk of Varghulfs and terrorgheists and coaches...am I the only one who has great success with Blood Knights?

I mean I get that they have to pursue/overrun meaning they can be stranded, but for the 3rd consecutive game they've more or less kicked aside everything and anything..

Last game they took out 50 plague monks with furnace and priest, 50 clanrats, 20 nightrunners, HPA. Only the plague monks managed to stick around for 2 rounds of combat even though their furnace was propelled into orbit on the charge....).

Can I ask how you've been using them? I've run blood knights in three games now and have only managed to get them to do well once. This isn't because bloodknights are bad its mostly just me getting used to using cavalry in fantasy. How many do you take and what formation are they in?

[Wesser]

Can I ask how you've been using them? I've run blood knights in three games now and have only managed to get them to do well once. This isn't because bloodknights are bad its mostly just me getting used to using cavalry in fantasy. How many do you take and what formation are they in?

So far I've been playing fairly large games of 3k and I've been using 6 of them with Flag of Blood Keep and with vampire on hellsteed with 2 MR trinket. Sure the unit like that is close to Deathstar price, but the unit is nearly indestructible as long as you're careful around high elf elites and very big greatweapon units. Also the hellsteed vampire is a useful troubleshooter, who can be detached later in the game.


So far the unit has atomized evrything it has touched... when you ride through that annoying Plague Furnace/Plague Monk Horde as if it werent there you just get a warm glow in your belly. Ofc I've been fairly zeulous about get Vanhel's cast on them (book of Arkhan ftw). As expensive as it is, I'm always sure to have some flying chaff around it to counter redictors.

[Frankly]

.... and with vampire on hellsteed with 2 MR trinket.

As expensive as it is, I'm always sure to have some flying chaff around it to counter redictors.

I like that H.Steed idea inside the unit ... I'm going to borrow it.

I think a Blood knight unit is as good as the list its in, any list willing to spend the points a delivery system for the Knight unit will likely to see a good return on them.

[Noblesse oblige]

Hi all!

Had anybody tried the coven throne or strigoi ghoul king? If, yes please share the expression. Especially interested in throne, very beautiful model and I Hope it's very good in game terms.

[Jagosaja]

I've tried the Ghoul King and I've had mixed experiences with him. He is usually taken in such way that he maximises his output (red fury + sword of bloodshed) and in that role he is ace, but he is fragile. He is quite capable of taking 10-15 man on his own in one turn, but with T5 and regeneration 5+ he will not so often survive what comes back.

The downside is that you cannot have a decent caster alongside him in 2500 points or below games. Here is what I take on 2500:

Strigoi Ghoul King, Red Fury, Dreadknight (many would disagree on this one, but I like it), Sword of Bloodshed, Dragonbane Gen, Potion of Strength.
Master Necromancer, Black Periapt.

Effectively I take my two casting dice to improve my magic defenses. I also place him in fear bomb unit, just to minimize the losses.

As for the Coven Throne, I have not used it yet, but I would take it on hero Vampire, protect him with Ward Save and give him Aura of Dark Majesty. If you could provide enough other heavy missile fire targets for it to survive until it gets into combat, I believe it could cause some serious damage. Otherwise I wouldn't risk taking it on a lord, it is too big of a target then, so you should be taking Coven Throne not for the rider but for the throne itself, and it is not such a waste to lose a hero if the Throne can turn the tides of battle on its own.

Hope this helps!

[Fruhauf]

Grave Guard; are they only worth taking with GW or is the HW/Shield a viable option?

also, how many Hexwraiths are people taking? I normally take a single unit of 5 and as a result they NORMALLY end up dying turn 1/2 as the enemy focuses magic attack on them.

[Noblesse oblige]

Thanks for reply.
I had nearly the same thoughts about the throne, take it by little vampire not lord.
Ghoul king looks like a fighter but I also thought about the fly ability with scabscrath, aura of dark majesty and maybe red fury, just in case if he'll fail frenzy test. And nearly with him terrorgheist. Sounds like fun.

[Wesser]

Grave Guard; are they only worth taking with GW or is the HW/Shield a viable option?

also, how many Hexwraiths are people taking? I normally take a single unit of 5 and as a result they NORMALLY end up dying turn 1/2 as the enemy focuses magic attack on them.

I tend to take them with HW&Shield. Str 4 and Killing Blow is usually more than enough against most foes and since I refuse to use Crypt Horrors (Blood Dragon army and I hate the models) they are the only other option for a rock-hard unit

[Noblesse oblige]

Grave Guard; are they only worth taking with GW or is the HW/Shield a viable option?

also, how many Hexwraiths are people taking? I normally take a single unit of 5 and as a result they NORMALLY end up dying turn 1/2 as the enemy focuses magic attack on them.

I tried 20 and 30 (2 different rosters) hexwraiths and I must say they are quite powerful, many armies cannot do anything against them. But it's until you met somebody with magic attacks or with 2+ ward against fire.

[Fruhauf]

I tend to take them with HW&Shield. Str 4 and Killing Blow is usually more than enough against most foes and since I refuse to use Crypt Horrors (Blood Dragon army and I hate the models) they are the only other option for a rock-hard unit

How successful do you find the HW/Shield combo though? do you use them as your main killing block or do you support them with Black Knights/Blood Knights etc?

[Fruhauf]

I tried 20 and 30 (2 different rosters) hexwraiths and I must say they are quite powerful, many armies cannot do anything against them. But it's until you met somebody with magic attacks or with 2+ ward against fire.

What do you think the optimal unit size is though? or army size?

[Noblesse oblige]

I think the optimal is one unit of 10 hex wraiths IMHO.

[Askari]

Hexwraiths are far too vulnerable for me. 5 on a flank to counter Chaos Knights is fine, 10 is a rather large investment that can easily go poof! to a single Fireball or Lore of Light spell.

Grave Guard should have Great Weapons. There isn't much high strength attacks around, and you need a unit that can open up Chaos Warriors, Empire Knights and Saurus. The extra killing power almost always offsets the extra damage you take (exceptions being fighting Skinks, Ethereals, and Sphinxes. Probably one or two more)

[Jagosaja]

Thanks for reply.
I had nearly the same thoughts about the throne, take it by little vampire not lord.
Ghoul king looks like a fighter but I also thought about the fly ability with scabscrath, aura of dark majesty and maybe red fury, just in case if he'll fail frenzy test. And nearly with him terrorgheist. Sounds like fun.

Well, Skabscrath with Red Fury will on charge and with the scream combined with aura of dark majesty probably score more than sword of bloodshed with red fury. But in the next round or if an enemy charges you, you will perform immensely better with sword of bloodshed. Plus, if you fly solo, you will get challenged and will waste your charge abilities on one model, and in the next turn there will be no scream. Also, if you fight cavalry of higher toughness opponents, you are still S5, while with Potion of Strength you will cut through anything.

That said, it can be fun, but then bring also Vargheists and a vampire hero on hellsteed to complete the picture.

[Noblesse oblige]

Yup, looks so, but anyway I guess it's worth a try so I guess just for fun I'll try it, after that will be sword of bloodshed and potion

[Jagosaja]

Of course, fun is what the game is all about. Anyway, sight of a flying Strigoi Ghoul King with Skabscrath charging a unit carries a huge psychological momentum and I can only see an opponents face when Strigoi starts hacking his troops with ease. That is why I love this army, in so many ways you can make your army do a short work of enemies.

[madival]

Does anyone use cairn wraiths in a protective manner? For instance, challenging a bsb or champion without a magic weapon so they don't swing at the squad. Have killed a bsb and 3 champions in 2 games so far doing this. Has anyone else tried this ?

[Ville]

Does anyone use cairn wraiths in a protective manner? For instance, challenging a bsb or champion without a magic weapon so they don't swing at the squad. Have killed a bsb and 3 champions in 2 games so far doing this. Has anyone else tried this ?

Lately I've been using a Cairn Wraith to lead both of my Zombie units, 50 strong and 5 wide. They can help a lot by decreasing the CR for the enemy and improving mine by causing a few wounds. Basically they are making the Zombie tarpits even more survivable, while the Zombies also act as a bunker for the Cairn Wraith, from which he can charge a suitable opponent, like a Steam Tank that strays too close. I do adore my Carn Wraith heroes, even though they can be a bit situational.