Sunny & Najos Vampire Counts Handbook (2014)Lords Vlad von Carstein (YELLOW): Truthfully, Vlad is not that bad, especially if fielded in the same unit as his undying love, Isabella. When together, both of them gain Always Strike First and if one dies the other gets Hatred and Frenzy. But Vlads best feature is his ability to not die! The Carstein Ring grants Vlad a 4+ ward save and if he dies, he can return in a nearby unit on a D6 roll of 2+. With Blooddrinker allowing Vlads The Hunger to restore a Wound on a 4+ instead of 6+, he becomes very difficult to kill. Unfortunately, Vlad lacks synergy amongst his various powers and is only a level 3 Wizard, so he isnt as competitive as he could be. But if Vlad were built as a normal Vampire Lord, his sword and ring come in right under a 100 points, which is about right. All things considered, with how survivable Vlad is, there are some play styles that can take risks with him and make good use of his unique features.

Mannfred von Carstein (GREEN): Mannfred is simply a beast when it comes to magic. With Loremaster in both Death and Vampires, he provides everything you need for spell support. Even better, with extra Wizards, you can easily get a second copy of an essential spell. Two Soulblights or Raise Dead? Yes please! Although Mannfred lacks defensive items, he has 5 Wounds, so keeping him alive in a Black Knight or Skeleton bus is fairly easy. If you want more protection, you can back him up with two mortis engines or an Obsidian Lodestone (on a character in the same unit), though this is probably not necessary. The real trick with Mannfred is effectively using his Sword of Unholy Power. Mannfred really shines when he is killing rank and file and generating extra Power and Dispel dice. Mannfred is the most powerful Wizard the Vampire Counts have and in the right hands he is (BLUE), just be careful when you use him, because if he ends up in a combat where he cant wound or gets wounded to easily, they will make short work of him. Heinrich Kemmler (GREEN): With +1 to Dispel and Loremaster Vampires, Heinrich is a great choice for a magic heavy army. Like Mannfred, you get extra copies of Lore of Vampires spells if you bring extra Wizards. What makes Heinrich distinct is his Cloak of Mist and Shadows, allowing him to either Fly or become Ethereal until the start of his next turn. This allows for some powerful movement tactics where Heinrich hops between units, ignores terrain and takes positions to use his spells most effectively. Just dont get him caught in the middle of combat, because even though he carries a sword that spawns Grave Gard and Skeletons with ease, he lacks any kind of saves. Vampire Lord (PURPLE): Vampire lords are feared by nearly every Warhammer player, and rightfully so! Amazing stats, access to 100 points worth of magic items AND vampiric powers, effective both on foot or mounted and they are Wizards too! The vampire lord adds massive damage and casting potential to your army and the options for building them are staggering. It would take an article in itself just to go over all these options, but some of the key ideas are: 1) Use your Vampire Lords damage potential to his fullest. Red Fury, Quickblood and a good Strength bonus weapon (like Ogre Blade) is the typical combo. This is where the term blender lord comes from. Then there are variations on those three pieces to gain flexibility, magical power or reinforce your defenses but at the cost of damage output. Just changing the weapon has tradeoffs. A great weapon frees up points, and gets past Banner of the World Dragon but cancels out Always Strike First. A lance gives back points, but loses its strength bonus on following rounds. Potion of Strength is good for one turn only, but can be used with any weapon. All of these are viable substitutions, but require being built around. 2) Give your Vampire Lord decent protection. Your Vampire Lord draws a lot of threat. Sniper spells, sniper shooting, lord challenges, character hunters, artillery, killing blow plus the occasional miscast. Defense against all of these is a good ward save. Sure, you can mount and armor your lord to get a 2+ armor save or put Seed of Rebirth and Dual Mortis Engines for a 4+ regeneration save, but nothing is as reliable as the 4+ from Talisman of Preservation or Armour of Destiny. Of course, both a good armor and ward save is even better. 3) Choose your magic capability. Vampire Lords can just tack on a level or two and let a Master Necromancer handle the primary spellcasting or they can be your level 4 Wizard and do double duty as both a combat and spellcasting beast. When deciding how powerful of a spellcaster your Vampire Lord is beyond his Wizard level (through selection of Arcane Items and Vampiric Powers) be mindful you are trading off his damage potential for spellcasting power. You take Master of the Black Arts and you lose Red Fury and Quickblood or take a Black Periapt and lose everything but Talisman of Preservation. There is always a tradeoff when determining your Vampire Lords magic role. 4) Fine-tune him to your army. There are compromises to each of these points, and it comes with fine-tuning your Vampire Lord to your army. His selection of powers and items dont exist in a vacuum. Running a scream heavy list? Aura of Dark Majesty is fairly valuable. Your local meta light on character threats? Choose Dread Knight. Light on Immune to Psychology? Choose Fear Incarnate. You want a mobile Vampire Lord that can wipe out warmachines and surprise charge out of his unit? Take Flying Horror. Honestly, the possibilities are extensive, just keep his primary role of damage dealing and survivability in mind while customizing him. Once built, you need to know how to use your Vampire Lord. Vampire Lords do best in units that can be healed quickly, benefit from his march radius (since he is likely your general) and have unit champions that can accept challenges on his behalf. These units provide shelter for your Lord while benefiting from the Vampires damage output. Skeletons are ideal for Vampire Lords on foot, with Crypt Ghouls and Grave Guard also being decent choices. When mounted on a Hellsteed or Barded Nightmare, Black Knights are the optimal choice since they heal with Invocation easily. While it might be tempting to put your Vampire Lord in a unit of Blood Knights or on an Abyssal Terror or Zombie Dragon, these are poor choices. Your Vampire Lord becomes extremely vulnerable when mounted on a monster and the Blood Knights dont really benefit from his presence enough (since they are difficult to heal and can march on their own) for it to be worth putting him at risk.Regardless, there are many tricks to keeping your Vampire Lord in an optimal position where he avoids danger and is a nightmarish killing machine. Since our units usually benefit from being charged (allowing you to heal in the next magic phase), your vampire can usually use his movement or a well-timed Van Hels to get into a superior position for his next spell or the upcoming combat. Being mindful of enemy Wizards, their spells that threaten your Vampire Lord and his unit is paramount to his survival. Know when you should engage to avoid a magic missile or sniper attack, or when to stay back to avoid one of the dreaded nuke spells like Dwellers, Purple Sun or Final Transmutation and send in a Wizard hunter instead. Once in combat, his position is often best when he is killing rank and file. Let your champion and other characters accept challenges, you dont need to waste your Vampire Lords killing power. Heroic challenges are foolish and risky. Besides, the sooner the enemy breaks, the sooner you run them down and kill the enemy characters any ways. The same goes for running your Vampire Lord outside of a unit. Be cautious, stay in flanks, avoid wizards and charge into fights the vampire can easily win. Vampires are devious and cunning, and they dont live long by being foolish. Your Vampire Lord is the single most valuable part of your army, so think like a vampire and avoid putting them in unnecessary danger.Strigoi Ghoul King (GREEN): Often overlooked, the Strigoi Ghoul King offers an interesting alternative to the Vampire Lord. With Infinite Hatred, Poisonous Attacks and Regeneration (5+), the Ghoul King can usually forgo Quickblood and the standard magic items and instead focus on his offense capabilities. With Red Fury and Potion of Strength to give him a boost, the Ghoul King deals out serious damage. Add in a magic weapon (if you dont mind losing Poisonous Attacks) and hes even more formidable. Fencers Blades gives him WS 10 for added protection, Sword of Bloodshed gives him +3 Attacks to increase his onslaught even more and out of all our lords, the Strigoi Ghoul King makes the best use of Skabscrath. A Ghoul King with Skabscrath, Aura of Dark Majesty and Curse of the Revenant can scream nearly as good as a Terrorgiest! Add in some Banshees and actual Terrorgiests, and you have a very solid screamer army. You can go even further and mount the Ghoul King on a Terrorgiest, giving you way too many screams to be considered sane (or for opponents to want to play with you). Ghoul Kings also synergize well with a Mortis Engine, minimizing the need for a ward save. Just put a Dragonbane Gem on him in case he runs into flaming attacks. Because the Ghoul King has Leadership 9, you can also sneak in a Level 4 Master Necromancer with Lore of Death easily, giving Death magic support to his army and with Doom & Darkness even more potent screams. Between the Ghoul King, Terrorgiests, Mortis Engine and Lore of Death, there is a lot of interesting combinations. Adding in Crypt Ghouls and Crypt Horrors as your primary foot troops, you have even stronger themes and synergies.Master Necromancer (BLUE): Master Necromancers are an effective way to add a powerful Wizard to your army. They have access to two very strong lores (Death and Vampires) and can carry 100 points of magic items, including an Arcane Item. Their points are low enough, that in most armies you can also field a Vampire Lord. This helps spread out the risk of losing both your General and level 4 Wizard. Your choices for Arcane Items really depends on the degree of risk you want to expose him too. Earthing Rod is an optimal choice to avoid being sucked into the void or lose Wizard levels on a miscast. The Book of Ashur makes his overall casting and dispelling more powerful. The Black Periapt offers a number of tricks for manipulating your power and dispel pools during the magic phase. As for other items, Talisman of Preservation is your best choice for protecting your Master Necromancer, both from the enemy and your own miscasts. Whether he is magical support to your Vampires or as a General on his own, a Master Necromancer is a great addition in nearly any army. The only reason not to take him is if you choose to run your Vampire Lord as your Level 4 Wizard. A word of caution, if you do field a Master Necromancer without a Vampire Lord, you need to adapt your army and strategies to play more defensive due to the lack of combat damage and lower Leadership. HeroesMannfred the Acolyte (GREEN): Mannfred the Acolyte is relatively cheap and a very strong caster. However, he lacks any good saves and the extra wounds of his Lord version and unlike that version, Acolyte Manny cant easily make use of his Sword of Unholy Power. You can mount him on a Barded Nightmare for a better armor save, but with two Wounds he is too fragile to risk in combat. His best feature is having Loremaster with Lore of Vampires. Combined with other Lore of Vampire casters, Manny gives you extra copies of those valuable spells. Add in Mortis Engine with Blasphemous Tome, and he is essentially a Level 4 Wizard. His Lord version is better, but Mannfred the Acolyte is very powerful as a support caster in the right armies.Krell, Lord of Undeath (RED): Krell, Lord of Undeath is just not worth his cost. For half the points, you can take a normal Wight King that is nearly as effective. Its a shame, since Krell has such a beautiful model and interesting backstory. But even with +1 to WS, W and I, Terror, Multiple Wounds (D3) and gaining Heroic Killing Blow if Heinrich is in the same unit, Krell is still too many points. Just take a Wight King, give him a Great Weapon and Armour of Destiny and call it a day. For slightly more than Krells points, you could take two Wight Kings and a Wraith and have a more powerful and versatile frontline. Unfortunately Krell, Lord of Undeath is anything but.

Konrad von Carstein (GREEN): Konrad is a mixed bag, as fragile as he is insane. With his hatred, 5/6 Attacks and Multiple Wound (2) sword, he tears through Ogres, Trolls and other multiple Wound models. Unfortunately, he only has heavy armour, Toughness 4 and 2 Wounds and half the time he is subject to Stupidity. Konrad requires proper management to use effectively, so keep him in range of your General and Battle Standard Bearer to get him into combat reliably and then aim him at the models he slays the best. Isabella von Carstein (YELLOW): Like other Vampire heroes, Isabella is fragile. She has two interesting perks though that easily get overlooked. Foremost, when shes in the same unit as Vlad they both get Always Strike First! This is great, giving both models re-rolls to hit. Even though neither has Red Fury, between the two of them they have enough attacks to make it hurt. Isabellas chalice is decent too, giving a steady source of healing to a character in her unit. If you can keep her safe from harm, the Vampire Lord fighting in the front line can continuously recover an automatic wound at the start of your magic phase. This works even better with Vlad, since hes so difficult to kill, allowing him to take even further risks. Necromancer (PURPLE): Necromancers may be scrawny, withered outcasts with no friends, but they are so useful! With access to both Lore of Vampires and Lore of Death, plus 50 points of magic items, Necromancers excel at supporting our units from outside of combat. Vampire Counts depend on spells and Arcane Items more than any other army, and the Necromancer gives you a cheap, easy way to get more of both. Typical Arcane Items youll see Necromancers with: Dispel Scroll, Book of Arkhan, Cursed Book, Forbidden Rod, Powerstone, and Scroll of Shielding. Even Enchanted Items like Rod of Flaming Death and Ruby Ring of Ruin go well on a Necromancer, and sometimes you can squeeze in both an Arcane and Enchanted Item. The options are nigh endless. All of that, plus another channeling attempt, a signature spell from Lore of Vampires or Death and boosting the Leadership of any undead unit he joins, or stick him in a Zombie bunker and let him make some new friends with Invocation of Nehek! Whats not to like! You can even take multiple level 1 Necromancers all with Lore of Vampires and spam Invocation of Nehek. Add a Mortis Engine with Blasphemous Tome, and they each can cast Invocation on a 3+ with a single dice! If there is a down side to Necromancers its in Vampire footslogger armies. Footslogging armies need their characters in the frontline and use their infantry units as delivery systems and tarpits, which puts the Necromancers at risk. In these armies, spending 40 points more on a Vampire is more effective and Necromancers are considered (BLUE) and some cases even (GREEN) because of the resources needed to keep them safe. Vampire (BLUE): With only Toughness 4 and 2 Wounds, Vampires are a bit delicate. But with 4 Strength 5 Attacks, 50 points of both magic items and vampiric powers plus magic levels, Vampires are a point efficient way to add damage output and Wizards into your army. The trick with Vampires is to maximize their damage while giving them enough protection to keep them safe from typical rank and file. Usually, items like Enchanted Shield, Charmed Shield, Opal Amulet, Dragonhelm, and Seed of Rebirth (with a couple Mortis Engines within range) are ideal for giving a Vampire with heavy armour (and sometimes a shield) enough protection to get through a fight or two intact. Then its all about building the Vampire for his combat role. The most obvious is the mini-blender. Give a Vampire Red Fury and Sword of Swiftslaying and he is nearly as deadly as a Vampire Lord. With Aura of Dark Majesty, Dread Knight and Beguile plus Glittering Scales and a Sword of Striking or Might you have a Vampire who makes screams stronger, is nearly impossible to hit and rarely misses with his attacks. Give a Vampire a Great Weapon and Quickblood, plus Armour of Destiny and he can deal damage while easily taking it himself. You can mount a Vampire on a Barded Nightmare, give him Enchanted Shield and Heavy Armour and have a mini-blender with a 1+ armor save. There is so many combinations. Really, for just 40 points more than a Necromancer, Vampires give you more movement and combat capability. Making use of these powerful heroes just requires some creativity and in the right armies they are considered (BLUE). Wight King (GREEN): Wight Kings are tough as nails and affordable. They offer good defense and make perfect body guards for the Vampires in your army. When equipped with a good armor save and weapon, Wight Kings are effective characters in a Vampire Counts army. Whether on foot or mounted, Wight Kings make ideal candidates for Battle Standard Bearers or wearing Nightshroud. The only downside of using a Wight King is you sacrifice both the spellcasting and the offensive qualities of a Vampire hero. Wight Kings are essential in an army reliant on Grave Guard or Black Knights with the Banner of the Barrows and they excel at keeping your Vampire Lord safe from enemy challenges. Undead Battle Standards (BLUE): Your battle standard can freely go on either a Vampire or Wight King. Most of the time you wont give it a Magic Standard, as its usually better to equip the Bearer with items instead (especially a Vampire). All in all, Battle Standards have value for our armies. Undead still need to pass marching tests, quick reforms and Slain General tests to not crumble if our general dies. Additionally, the reducing of our crumble by a point can really matter. That negated Wound could be that one keeping a model engaged and not allowing overrun. Mixed with Invocation of Nehek and prolonged, multiple combats, a Battle Standard quickly pays for its messily 25 points. Not to mention, where it is engaged gains an additional +1 to combat result too. Battle Standards, whether a Vampire or Wight King, stabilize your combats, if even a little bit and are worth using in combat focused armies.

Cairn Wraiths (BLUE): At first, Cairn Wraiths seem a bit underwhelming. But once you start exploring their many tactics, they become a terrifying weapon in your arsenal. First, they are ethereal and can hide out in units (avoiding magic missiles and their like). They can accept challenges. They can charge out and tie up targets that cant deal with them (like monsters and monstrous cavalry). They cause Terror, so charging with a Cairn Wraith in a unit could make an enemy break and run. They can move out of units and position as a redirector. Then there is the wraith-wall tactic. Take a cheap Core unit like Skeletons or Zombies, field that unit 5 wide and then have 5 Cairn Wraiths join the unit. The unit gains a rank and standard bonus, has all the benefits of Undead infantry and when the Cairn Wraiths make way, has an Ethereal front rank with 15 Strength 5 attacks. Tomb Banshees (BLUE): Tomb Banshees play a similar role to Cairn Wraiths. They can do all the ethereal character tricks (hiding in units, charging out, redirecting) with one major difference, they have Ghostly Howl in place of 3 Strength 5 Attacks. With their howl they can reduce chaff, monsters and small units of armored troops to nothing quickly and they can do it while engaged in combat. Banshees become very good when taking two or more and used with Aura of Dark Majesty, Doom & Darkness and/or Iceshard Blizzard. A word of caution though, Tomb Banshees cant grind like Cairn Wraiths and dont generate combat result with their Ghostly Howl. So use them outside of regiments carefully. CoreZombies (BLUE): Though one of the weakest fighting units in the game, youll never find a cheaper and more reliable tarpit. Considering that zombies cause fear, are unbreakable, can take cheap standard bearers (for the blood and glory scenario), are dirt cheap themselves and can be raised beyond their starting size this is as solid a core choice. Zombies raise so fast that taking units larger than 20 to start with is often overkill, and you get more out of casting Invocation of Nehek by having multiple zombie units within its range. Zombies act very well as speed bumps, wizard bunkers, redirector chaff and tarpits (when grown to a decent size). Usually the only characters you should be putting in this unit are Necromancers, but Vampires can use Zombies for unexpected shelter or as a safe way to get into combat in a pinch. Zombies are most reliable in larger units of 50 or more, so they are best taken in armies with multiple Invocations that can raising them quickly or in large units that fill out a majority of your core. As Zombies are reliant on Invocation to maintain their numbers, they do best in armies with strong magic and multiple Lore of Vampire wizards.

Skeleton Warriors (GREEN): Though they are not as cheap or easy to raise as Zombies, Skeletons have access to better options. First, skeletons can take full command. This means Skeletons are ideal for delivering our Vampires into combat, as their champion can accept or issue challenges to keep our Vampires safe (letting them cause mayhem in the enemy ranks). Second, Skeletons can take a Magical Standard which is very useful. The Banner of Swiftness, Banner of Eternal Flame and Screaming Banner are all popular choices, adding versatility to the unit depending on its role in your army. Though Skeletons do have better stats than Zombies, and are equipped with light armor and shields, its debatable which one is the better tarpit. Skeletons seem to do better as tarpits when not supported with Invocation of Nehek, while Zombies do better when Invocation is used to grow them faster than the rate they are being destroyed. Best fielded in units of 30+ models and five wide, Skeletons are usually taken with hand weapons and shields for the parry save. Sometimes there are advantages to taking spears though. When used in horde formation and supported with spells like Van Hel's Danse Macabre or Mindrazor, Skeletons with spears are deadly. Spears are also a good choice if you have a Mortis Engine since the parry save doesn't stack with regeneration. In the right hands, Skeleton Warriors are (BLUE), but they need proper support and a specific style of play to be used effectively.

Crypt Ghouls (GREEN): Being our only core choice that can fight its way out of a wet paper bag, Ghouls are a popular choice. They are often deployed 40 strong and in horde formation to maximize their attacks. You should always take a Ghast since an extra attack in the front rank is better than another body in the back and it gives you a champion to protect your Vampires. Since Ghouls have poison and two attacks each, they can cause a lot of damage against units with low or no armor saves and they become even deadlier when Van Hel's is cast on them. Unfortunately, because Ghouls are Strength 3, they are virtually useless against heavily armored targets. Also, though they are Toughness 4, their lack of a save makes them very squishy. Ghouls do become much more durable though when combined with two Mortis Engines to gain a 5+ regeneration save. Regardless, make sure your Ghouls are within range of Invocation of Nehek to keep them at fighting strength.

Dire Wolves (BLUE): Though competing with Spirit Hosts and Fell Bats (and to a lesser degree Zombies) for their role as redirectors, Dire Wolves are an excellent choice for a number of reasons. Since Dire Wolves are core, they don't compromise your more preferable special, rare and character choices. With Movement 9 and Vanguard, Dire Wolves have a mobility our other core choices lack. This gives them a potential first turn move of 30", allowing them to be in an early redirecting or flanking position. With their Strength 4 when charging and Swiftstride, they are ideal for hunting warmachines or flanking and disrupting unarmored units. Dire wolves are usually taken in multiple packs of 5, with 3 to 4 packs not being uncommon. Some players field them in larger groups and run them into enemy flanks. Dire Wolves are famous for the Wolf Dart, where 5 wolves are fielded in a 3 x 2 or a 2x3 formation (depending on enemy base sizes) designed to maximize their attacks on a single model in the enemy unit (usually a Wizard or BSB). Doom Wolves are rarely taken since Dire Wolves are often just sacrificed as chaff, but they add some nice tricks to the unit. Doom Wolves give extra punch to flanking tactics or Wolf Darts and the hilarity of tying up a Bloodthirster (or other Monsters) with a challenging Doom Wolf is often worth the points itself. SpecialCorpse Cart (YELLOW): This filthy wagon has some valuable features, especially against elven MSU lists. Its biggest merit is giving our troops Always Strike First (thus negating elves' reroll To-hit). Unfortunately, the Corpse Cart is only M4 and a chariot (thus cannot march). To properly use the Corpse Cart, we need to cast Van Hel's on it, and that's just so it can keep up with even our infantry! With that said, proper use of the Corpse Cart can be effective when your army is built around it, as undead with Always Strike First are frightening for anyone to face. Also, unlike many other undead units, the Corpse Cart does well thrown into multiple combats. Its' T4, W4 and Regeneration makes it fairly durable, so it doesn't tend to bleed much combat resolution. Corpse carts also have some interesting options that a creative general can build around. Balefire's -1 to enemy casting rolls within 24" weaken enemy magic phases and make our dispel dice go further. While Unholy Lodestone's Invocation of Nehek reroll helps grow our infantry quicker. For general's attempting to raise up an unholy and disgusting amount of zombies (and possibly break the world record for most raised in a single game), this upgrade is essential!Grave Guard (GREEN): Grave guard have two distinct roles in our army. Want to punch through enemy armor? Give them great weapons, deploy in horde formation and you got a solid hammer. With a bucket load of S6 attacks and Killing Blow, these bad boys cut through armor like a hot knife through butter! Need a solid slab to tie your enemy up and grind them down round after round? Throw hand weapons and shields on these T4 infantry and deploy them five wide. Now you've got a reliable mini-anvil that enemy characters want to avoid and is the perfect home for a tooled up Wight King or Vampire blender. In either case, Grave Guard draw a lot of heat and can die fast, so support them with Invocation of Nehek. Fortunately, they regain d6+level Wounds per casting which is amazing for an elite unit like this. Although Grave Guard come at a fair price for what they do and are good standalone fighters, they compete with many other Special options. If you field them, plan your army around their role. Keep in mind which units and characters they threaten the most with Killing Blow and that they only have M4. Grave Guard do best when controlling key positions, so staying within range of the general's march bubble and a Van Hel's Danse Macabre is important. Likewise, their Killing Blow synergizes well with Hellish Vigor, especially when equipped with hand weapons or fighting against an enemy whose Toughness is greater than their Strength. Furthermore, Grave Guard can carry a Magic Standard of up to 50 points. What you choose specializes them similar to Skeletons and their options include the Razor Standard, but most of the time Banner of the Barrows is auto-include since Grave Guard have that pesky WS3 and it adds +1 to their To-Hit Rolls in combat. Black Knights (GREEN): These are the bread and butter of a mounted Vampire Lord list, easily being a (BLUE) for those armies. In other lists, they lack some punch and mobility, hence the rating. Regardless, Black Knights are tough to kill, deal decent damage on a charge and can move as ethereals (when not accompanied by a vampire). They also have a solid armor save, allowing them to tie units up and absorb a lot of damage. Because they are not ethereal or vampiric, Invocation of Nehek raises an impressive 1+level wounds. With their armor save of 2+ (when barded), this makes them easy to keep alive. Unfortunately, they deal very little damage on subsequent rounds, though this can be improved with a Wight King or Vampire armed with a great weapon or Ogre Blade. Black knights are best fielded in units of 12-15 models and used as either a flanker that supports your general's infantry unit or as the infamous Black Knight bus to deliver your mounted Vampires and Vampire Lord. Since they can take Magic Standards, popular choices include Banner of Swiftness (with Vampires), Razor Standard (to help punch through armor) and Banner of the Barrows (when using them as support or with Wight Kings). There are some tricky formations that involve leveraging Black Knight's armor, Killing Blow and movement, putting Wight Kings and full command in the front rank to push mounted necromancers into the second rank, thus allowing Black Knights to carry Invocation of Nehek and Death sniper spells with them. Black knights can also be built into death stars housing all of your characters in an even larger unit, though this severely limits your army's flexibility.Crypt Horrors (PURPLE): Our Crypt Ghouls vampire-blood fed big brothers. With T5, W3 and Regeneration (5+), Crypt Horrors are only second to Beasts of Nurgle as the greatest anvil in the game. But unlike the Beasts, these big boys are healed 1+level wounds from Invocation of Nehek and being multi-wound models also benefit from the Curse of Undeath Lore Attribute. With 3 S4 Poison attacks they are not exceptional in combat but they play the grind game just fine. Like Crypt Ghouls, they are strongest against low armor and are twice as deadly with a Van Hel's reroll. With support from Invocation, there are few units in the game Crypt Horrors cannot take on and come out on top. Because of poison, T5 and Regeneration, Crypt Horrors can threaten high Toughness monsters and units normally outside a S4 unit's capability. Plus with M6 they are also one of our more mobile units, which is just icing on the cake really. Oh, and did I mention that they work well with Mortis Engines? Just one mortis engine pushes their Regeneration to 4+ and a second keeps it there should a Mortis Engine fail. They play well with Terrorgeists too. Let your Crypt Horrors tie something powerful up, and then have your Terrorgiest scream (and shout and let it all out) right in their face (...umm, please disregard the Britney reference). Crypt Horrors do great in 4 and 6 man units, but they really shine in 8 man units as two ranks of 4. An 8 man Crypt Horror unit has 25 poison attacks, 4 stomps and a total of 24 T5 wounds to eat through. Disgustingly good really.

Fell Bats (GREEN): These bloodsuckers are versatile. They are cheap (same cost per wound as Dire Wolves), have a small frontage, and they fly! Their only downside is they are competing for those ever popular Special points. That said, Fell Bats are great as redirectors. Where dire wolves are best used in the early game, Fell Bats can hang out behind the ranks and near your general. Then at an opportune moment drop in the middle of everything and ruin your opponent's plans. This allows Fell Bats to get into places Dire Wolves can't go, and its whether you need this advantage or to save your Special points for something else that determines if you should take them or the Dire Wolves instead. Bat Swarms (YELLOW): You might immediately notice the Bat Swarms & Corpse Cart combo. The cart gives your units Always Strike First, the Bat Swarms give enemy units Always Strike Last. Just like peanut butter and chocolate...how could that not be good? It looks so nice on paper, but fact of the matter is that both units are very circumstantial and managing the two properly is more effort than its usually worth. This is partly because where Bat Swarms should give you the upper hand in close combat, they all too often bleed combat resolution even worse than zombies. Bat Swarms have great movement and keep up with the units they are meant to support. However, they don't deal much damage and with their T2, die all too fast. Bat Swarms are used best flanking enemy units (where fewer models can attack them) and in a single file of two ranks. This minimizes their contact to the enemy and keeps the Bat Swarm in combat as long as possible. Like many of our Special choices, Bat Swarms require being built around and are not worth taking if you aren't going to make use of their effect. Spirit Host (PURPLE): Oh my, where to begin? Spirit Hosts are insanely cheap, have many wounds, good movement and are Ethereal! Need to harmlessly kill Night Goblin Fanatics? Done! Need to hold Monstrous Cavalry for perpetuity? Done! Need to redirect that big, scary unit? Done! But wait, there's more! Need to bait frenzied units? Kill bunkered Wizards? Target saturation? Throw out multiples of these and...Done! Done! and Done! It slices, it dices, it Juliennes! This unit is pretty much the Veg-O-Matic of the Vampire Counts, and is there anything it can't do? Well, needless to say be very cautious taking Spirit Hosts in units of 2 or more. They can act as an anvil against certain armies, but lose their target saturation role and become a big target in exchange for less risk of crumbling. Spirit Hosts also are (GREEN) against armies with high amounts of magical shooting like Wood Elves or Dwarves. It doesn't hurt to take a base or two of Spirit Hosts in most armies. If you are going to field more than that, they start to compete with the coveted Special choices and require you to build your army around them.

Hexwraiths (BLUE): Either you love them or your hate them. Truth be told, Hexwraiths are one of the trickier units for the aspiring Vampire Counts general to use properly. They are expensive, are T3 with no real protection and they strike last, plus they contend for attention in that ever popular Special choice. But Hexwraiths are a very unique unit. First, they are Ethereal, have great weapons and magical, flaming attacks (take that Hellpit!). They ignore armor (Skullcrushers? What Skullcrushers?) and they are Fast Cavalry. But the real secret to the Hexwraiths is their unique rules: Soulstrider and Spectral Hunters. Soulstrider let's Hexwraiths move through unengaged units (say what?). Yes, move .. through .. units. Mastering this is key to getting the most from them. Along with Fast Cavalry reforms, Hexwraiths can stay close to enemy, while remaining out of charge arcs and line of sight. They can hug flanks and rear arcs or move through units to take the shortest route to a piece of cover, becoming highly inconvenient for an enemy to pursue. With Vanguard, M8 and a well-timed Van Hel's Danse Macabre, Hexwraiths can move 30" on the first turn, placing them behind enemy lines with little exposure to threats. The real trick is keeping your Hexwraiths within 12" of your general so they keep marching throughout the game. Spectral Hunters makes all of this moving around and harassing your enemy worth it, as Hexwraiths automatically deal a S5 flaming, magical hit that ignores armor for each model in their unit that rides through one unengaged enemy unit. Say good bye to chaff or ride over Chaos Knights and watch them die. Hexwraiths used properly are brutally effective. Now all this awesomeness does make them magic missile magnets (which is a bonus in itself if we're going for target saturation). But there are a lot of ways to mitigate this: Good magic defense - Balefire, Black Periapt, Book of Ashur, Dispel Scroll, Scroll of Shielding, Staff of Sorcery, and level 4 Wizards. Get them into combat (though choose selectively as they are better when kept moving). Keep them out of range, charge arcs and line of sight. Bring something more terrifying for your opponent to target (Terrorgeists are good for this). Keep them in range of Invocation (difficult as Hexwraiths operate away from most of your Wizards). Hexwraiths are best fielded in multiple units of 5-7 in one rank, allowing them maximum Spectral Hunter hits while keeping opportunities for Soulstriders open to them. They can also be fielded in units of 10 in two ranks, ideal for disrupting ranks but dependent on your local meta. Hexwraiths are very adaptable, removing enemy knights, chaff, gunlines and other small units with ease. They can hunt mages, take out artillery or act as redirectors in a pinch, all the while ducking and weaving across the battlefield and (hopefully) staying just out of harm's way. Vargheists (BLUE): Highly mobile and hard hitting, few lists can do worse than picking Varghiests. On the other hand, if used poorly they die fast and become a total waste of points. But what makes Varghiests attractive is how independent they are. As a Vampiric unit, they can always march and with flying they can move very fast. They are MI, S5 and A3 with Frenzy, so these beasts have 4 attacks and a stomp against most enemies they fight. Varghiests are best when flanking, creating a threat on a second front your opponent must react to (usually by dividing his forces). Make sure they have a couple of targets, and can get into combat without facing a lot of attacks as Varghiests only have T4, I4 and W3. If used properly, Varghiests tear through an enemy unit and easily overrun into the next one. Varghiests are very flexible too. A unit of 3 can be deployed in a single file with a champion and go Wizard hunting all day long! A unit of 4 can be deployed 2x2 and get the majority of its attacks into an enemy's flank while minimizing attacks back. That same unit can go 4 wide if the enemy are little threat and maximize their own attacks and stomps. In addition to their squishy nature, Varghiest's Frenzy and Ld7 makes them a bit unruly, so move them carefully (moonwalking towards the enemy if you have too) and then choose your targets with care, ensuring you get the charge. Because of this, if you aren't proficient at moving or facing them or your opponent is effective at baiting them, Varghiests can be difficult to use. RareVarghulf (GREEN): As a Vampiric unit, the Varghulf is very mobile and can operate away from your general. Its fast, has reliable damage and takes a beating. Unfortunately, the Varghulf competes with the ever popular Mortis Engine and Terrorgiest for MVP of our Rare choices. Fact of the matter though, the Varghulf is a good flanker, he destroys MSU armies and tears through elves. He is valuable in monster mash lists or as support for a cavalry based army and he excels at hunting down Wizards and warmachines. Also, since the Varghulf has a solid T5, W4 and Regeneration, running him within 12 of a Lore of Vampires Wizard from time to time is a great way to top off the occasional Wound he loses. Many armies are going to build around the Mortis Engine or Terrorgiest. But the Varghulf fits an unconventional niche that plays an important role in unconventional armies.Blood Knights (YELLOW): So, hands down, the Blood Knights hit harder than nearly anything else in our army. For the right player, they are easily (GREEN). Just looking at their stats, its apparent these lords of blood and night can wreak havoc. A minimum sized unit has 12 S7 and 4 S4 attacks when charging. Theyre Vampiric and cavalry, so they are very mobile, have great reach and their 2+ AS is respectable. Blood Knights can get into a flank easily and excel at running their enemies down. There is a downside to all of their awesomeness however, they arent cheap, heal slow, and have 1 Wound each. Plus with Ld7, their Frenzy could get them into a bind if they get lead around by your opponent. All of this, AND they are competing with the ever coveted Rare spots.But dont listen to the naysayers. They are playable. Taken in small units of 4, Blood Knights are still affordable and can ruin someones day. Tool them up further with command and the Flag of Blood Keep, and they gain a 4+ ward save against shooting and ranged spells. Throw in MR2 and that ward vs. Spells is a 2+. Some pro-level players even use them as a deathstar, taking 6-10 Blood Knights, loading them up with blender Vampires, a Battle Standard and key Magic Items then keeping the ensuing mess of fangs, lances and hellfire-eyed horses riding down any and everything in sight. However you use Blood Knights, avoid putting your general in them. It makes both your general and the blood knights an easy target, and it wastes your generals march bubble when it should be supporting your non-vampiric troops. Cairn Wraiths (RED): Do not take these... Seriously. They arent good. Yes, they are Ethereal, yes they hit hard, but unlike their Hero version, they cannot hide in a unit and are doomed to walk around with Absolute. Zero. Protection. The best case scenario; your Cairn Wraiths get targeted by magic missiles that you will HAVE to dispel to keep them alive. Worst case scenario; your Cairn Wraiths come up against one of the many armies with an abundance of magical shooting or close combat attacks. Between Wood Elves, Warriors of Chaos, Skaven, Dwarves, Daemons and characters with magic weapons, your Cairn Wraiths will go POOF faster than you can say Oh holy shit! Now, in some metas or with some creative generals Cairn Wraiths might be a (YELLOW) and if any unit says Hey, got balls of steel? Want an insane challenge? Try me! its this one. But most armies do not need this unit, so save yourself the headaches and take Cairn Wraiths as heroes instead. As Nagash intended!Black Coach (ORANGE): The Black Coach is not an optimal choice. Though it is vampiric, it doesnt grind as well as our Varghulf or hit as hard as Blood Knights and its nowhere as fast as either of them. Where the Black Coach shines is its hard to kill and it can deal with small units. With T6 W4 AS3+ and a 4+ ward, the Black Coach can take a beating from shooting and magic. With its impact hits and Evocation of Death power, means it cleans up MSU lists. But its problem is in drawn out combats where it has difficulty producing ongoing damage. This makes the Black Coach a liability to itself and other friendly undead units as its inconsistent damage turns into poor combat results, which causes crumble. To be fair, the Black Coach is probably (YELLOW) in the hands of the right general and even (GREEN) against Wood Elves. It even combos with Master of the Black Arts to power up faster. But unless you really need its unique features, there are better choices you can make.Terrorgheist (BLUE): If any of our units reputation precedes them, its this guys. Affectionately known as the T-Bat, the Terrorgiest is known for its powerful Death Shriek. Dealing hefty damage that attacks Leadership while ignoring Toughness and Armor Saves, Death Shriek allows the Terrorgiest to live up to its name, terrifying the most harden of Chaos Champions and their followers. Because of its scream, many of you would rate the T-bat (PURPLE), but you cant believe all the hype. Yes the Terrogiest is a beautiful model, yes it can be the answer to many a Vampire Count generals problems, and yes it can scream and shout with the best of them. But against a skilled opponent, the Terrogiest is a large hulking model that is easy to wound and as it takes damage its infamous Death Shriek weakens. Even worse, there are so many efficient counters to the Terrorgiest; cannons, bolt throwers, magic missiles, poisoned shooting, decent hammer or anvil units, rival monsters, Wood Elf shooting the list goes on. Truthfully, most armies should be focusing on neutralizing the big bad T-bat on turn 1 and have him dead or useless by turn 2. But its not all Doom & Darkness, the Terrorgiest has some survival tactics that are easy to put in play. First, keep your general within 12 of the T-bat whenever it moves, until most threats to it are gone. That beast can fly and a 20 hop can get it out of trouble before trouble gets it, letting the T-bat re-position for optimum screaming. Second, keep the T-bat within 12 of your Lore of Vampire casters. Healing up on our Lore Attribute is easy and immediately repairs the scream right before using it. The same for getting it in range of Invocation, allowing it to regain 2 Wounds from casting one spell. Third, engage it in close combat tactically. If it charges the right units, the T-bat will take a little damage that can be healed, it can still scream at a target outside of combat and can no longer be targeted by shooting because its engaged. Remember though, if you engage the T-ba, you want it to kill and move on quickly so it doesnt get pinned down. Finally, field multiple threats for target saturation. For most players, this is a second Terrogiest (or a third being ridden by a Strigoi) but similar threats such as a Mortis Engine, multiple Hexwraiths units or a Black Knight bus often get similar responses and can open up your available strategies. And speaking of Doom & Darkness, the Terrorgiest synergizes very well with that spell. Aura of Dark Majesty helps too. The vampire general who makes good use of Death magic and the Cursed Book or who can keep the T-bat targeting units affected by Aura of Dark Majesty will be pleased at the results. So keep your Terrogiest moving, avoid the plethora of threats and disintegrate the most elite armored units in your way. Mortis Engine (BLUE): In the right hands, the Mortis Engine is (PURPLE). In the wrong, its (GREEN). At first glance, the Mortis Engine is quite mindboggling because it does so many incredible things. First, it grants a stacking Regeneration bonus that makes even Crypt Ghouls, Zombies and Skeletons hard to kill and gives a character with Seed of Rebirth a hefty boost. It grants +2 to your Lore of Vampires spell casting rolls (even bound ones) and makes 2 dicing them deliciously easy. The double miscast from Blasphemous Tome affects all Wizards in range, so be careful with it (especially around Ogre Kingdoms and their Hellheart) but it can also be used offensively against your opponents too. At the start of your turns, the Mortis Engine damages all enemy within range, clearing out chaff and weakening or destroying smaller units. By late game, this effect is devastating as it kills the high Toughness units too. The Engine has Ghostly Howl, allowing it to deal with armor. With Spectral Steeds, it moves as an Ethereal allowing it to use terrain to its advantage. As a chariot, the Mortis Engine hits fairly hard on a charge and since it cant march, it doesnt matter if its within the generals radius. With T5, W5 and Regeneration the Mortis Engine can take a beating and grind in combat all while damaging nearby enemy turn after turn. By keeping it within 12 of your Lore of Vampire wizards, it is easily kept at full Wounds with Curse of Undeath, thus making the Engine very difficult to kill. Cannons are its biggest threat, so the wily general will use its free pivot to present its side to cannons, granting the shallowest target and thus making it harder to hit. Crypt Horrors used as a screen not only gain a Regeneration buff, but as Monstrous Infantry can keep cannonballs from penetrating them and away from the Engine. Two Mortis Engines are especially effective, as the Regeneration bonus stacks and the double Engines creates target saturation for cannons, gunlines and magic. Still, a determined opponent can make keeping the Engine intact difficult, so your plans for when and where it eventually explodes are important. A good Vampire general maximizes its effects, charges the Mortis Engine into the right combats and then if necessary run the Mortis Engine into your enemy and let it be destroyed, exploding and taking out even more of them. This is where the Mortis Engine requires skill to use properly as poor timing can make it useless or worse, turn it against you. But with so many effects, when used right the Mortis Engine is a game defining center to your army that can end in a specular explosion rivalling even Michael Bays best attempts at blowing things up. Vampire Counts Magic ItemsSkabscrath (YELLOW): Honestly, Skabscrath is expensive and difficult to use. Only a Lord can carry it and its cost leaves few points for any defensive items. Skabscrath grants Devastating Charge, Frenzy and its attacks count as Flaming and though those things are useful, you risk its bearer making unwanted charges and its automatic overrun could cause problems. To top that, if the swords bearer hasnt killed an enemy by the end of the game, they become a casualty themselves. But all that said, when using Skabscrath its really for one thing only, its Death Shriek. Used properly, Skabscrath screams nearly as good as a Terrorgiest. Placed strategically and combined with the right vampire powers, and Skabscrath becomes a nasty surprise for your opponent. The trick is building that character right. Aura of Dark Majesty and Curse of the Revenant both improve its scream, while Red Fury synergizes with its extra attacks well. Skabscrath is best used on a Strigoi Ghoul King, who doesnt need to use points on defensive items like a Vampire Lord or Master Necromancer. In the right army, Skabscraths bonuses and surprise Death Shriek can be very effective when used properly, making Skabscrath a (GREEN). Nightshroud (BLUE): Nightshroud causes enemy in base contact to lose strength bonuses from their weapons and gain Always Strike Last (thus losing Always Strike First). This wrecks characters and units dependent on these rules (like all elves) and Nightshroud has many places it can be utilized. The obvious choice is on a Wight King bodyguard. Keep him next to your blender Vampires, and they essentially gain the protection of the item without having to wear it themselves, allowing them to put points into items that boost their damage. But give it to a Vampire, and he can bring his damage capabilities along with the protection Nightshroud offers. This allows Vampires to take on enemy units and survive in challenges that would otherwise put them at risk and likely be deadly. Banner of the Barrows (BLUE): If you have either Grave Guard or Black Knights in your army, then this banner is an auto include. Its most effective in a four-rank horde of Grave Guard with a couple of Wight Kings all wielding Great Weapons. Give a Wight King the Battle Standard with Screaming Banner, and when enemy fail their fear test, they will face 35 S6 attacks that hit on a 2+ and have Killing Blow. Frightening indeed! Unfortunately, this Banner only works on those units, so its useless in armies without them.

Screaming Banner (GREEN): For a cheap, simple way to boost fear in your army, the Screaming Banner is your best option. Though it cant compete with the Banner of the Barrows, its cheap, Skeleton Warriors can carry it (which means it comes out of your core points) and it synergizes with Doom & Darkness, Aura of Dark Majesty, Fear Incarnate and Iceshard Blizzard. Screaming Banner is worth considering if you want fear to be more reliable in your army. Black Periapt (BLUE): For generals who want to control the magic phase, this Arcane Item is the most effective and powerful way to do so. It price means you have to sacrifice to use it, as it must go on a Lord. But when used correctly, Black Periapt is game changing! Its effect is simple, store up to two of your unused dice from the current Magic phase for use in the next Magic phase. But the tactical options this provides you are very potent. Magic Defense: Purposefully save two power dice to boost your dispel pool. If you are using Lore of Vampires and A Mortis Engine with Blasphemous Tome, this is easy to do. Magic Offense: Purposefully save two dispel dice every turn and boost your magic phase. Dispel Remains in Play: When a Remains in Play spell is cast with a casting value you cant easily dispel, dont waste dispel dice. Suffer the effect, then store two dice and use them to dispel that spell during your turn instead. Salvaging: Whenever your opponent rolls really well or really bad, you often have left over dispel dice. Likewise, you may have a casting roll go bad and leave you with a couple power dice and your opponent with all his dispel dice. In these cases where dice would be wasted or a turn the Winds of Magic is poor, just throw a couple dice into the Periapt and carry them into the next phase. Carry Over: You can actually carry dice through two phases and gain some strength in your casting or dispels. With this variant to Salvaging, if a future dispel or power pool needs a boost, or if you have extra dice and no spells (yes, it happens), just carry them through two turns and use them boost the next similar phase. Black Periapt seems simple at first and maybe to some even mediocre. But its real power is in using it properly, with the right timing and taking advantage of opportunities with it. You can choose to purposely play magic offensive all game, only stopping spells that hinder your tactics all the while gaining two dice to your power pool. Or you might play a magic defensive game, stop your opponents spells until you can kill their Wizard and then switch to an magic offensive style. Likewise, when things go wrong, the Black Periapt allows you to salvage dice that would otherwise just be lost. The Black Periapt is subtle, and its not for everyone. But it is powerful and works very well with Lore of Vampires (due to the low casting values and Blasphemous Tome bonus) and Lore of Death (because of the Life Leeching), giving control over the Magic Phase to an army dependent on it. Staff of Damnation (YELLOW): Though the possibilities of devastation granted by this item seem endless, Staff of Damnation has two major disadvantages. First it costs the character carrying it too much. With it being an Arcane Item and its high point value, there is just better use of that slot and points. Second, its not very effective. Only your front rank troops really benefit from it, which means you either need wide frontages or multiple units within range and engaged when its used. Its short range also means its best carried on a Vampire or Vampire Lord who is carrying it into battle, or used by a Necromancer or Master Necromancer behind the engaged units. In every case, there is likely a better combination of items those characters could be using. Staff of Damnation sounds good, and using it to buff multiple hordes of Grave Guard at once would be awesome, but honestly its not worth what it costs and its rarely going to turn the tide.The Cursed Book (BLUE): Every hex this Arcane Item can cast is good and it automatically casts its spells at the cost of D3 power dice, which youd be throwing 2-3 dice at them to cast any ways. The Cursed Book can be very effective (though unpredictable) and works well in low magic armies or armies that arent using Lore of Death or Shadow but want to sprinkle the hexes in from them. The item is affordable for what it does, so the best reason not to take it is if you need the Arcane Item slot for something better or your Wizards have so many spells that you cant spare the power dice it requires you to feed it. Book of Arkhan (PURPLE): In a game where movement is more important than nearly anything else, having a bound spell version of Van Hels Danse Macabre can be the ace up your sleeve. With a power level of 3, its easy to cast on a single dice, you can cast with more dice if needed and its threating enough to draw out dispel dice. It provides all the benefits of the non-boosted version of the spell and it gives you a second casting or a back-up of Van Hels for when you really need it. This item deserves a place in most Vampire Counts armies, especially if you run low magic or have few Lore of Vampires Wizards. Put it on a Vampire or nearby bunker Necromancer and keep it close to the frontline where it has the biggest impact. Rod of Flaming Death (GREEN): Though a bit pricey, Rod of Flaming Death is a useful item that provides some range and chaff clearing to an army lacking it. But its real value comes from its secondary effect. An enemy unit wounded by it that moves in its following turn (for any reason) suffers a S4 hit to every model in that unit. This effect works best to hold off large units or to control fast moving, low Toughness hit and run units (like those in the armies of our pointy eared friends). Used well, Rod of Flaming Death is a valuable addition to an army needing its unique features and wants to slow their enemy down. Vampiric PowersMaster of the Black Arts (YELLOW): Master of the Black Arts can strengthen your magic phase, but it comes at a great cost. With its high point cost, you must sacrifice powers like Red Fury and Quickblood on your Vampire Lord. Master of the Black Arts does have synergy with the Black Coach (letting it siphon more dice), but if you want to strengthen your power pool, Black Periapt allows you to do so without sacrificing as much (or none if on a Necromancer Lord) of your Vampire Lords damage potential.

Curse of the Revenant (GREEN): Curse of the Revenant makes your Vampire Lord less vulnerable, but at the cost of losing Red Fury. Giving your Vampire Lord an extra Wound is a viable strategy and makes them more survivable. You often see this power combined with Skabscrath, since the Wound bonus also strengthens its Death Shriek. Curse of the Revenant is a nasty surprise on a Vampire Lord built for grinding.

Red Fury (PURPLE): Red Fury is the one vampiric power responsible for giving Vampire Lords the nickname Blenders. Red Fury grants a staggering number of attacks and synergizes best with Magic Items that boost the Vampires Strength and Attacks. Although normally combined with Quickblood for its re-rolls, Van Hels Danse Macabre can work as an alternative to free up options for other vampiric powers. When using Vampires to deal damage, this power is the essential component and has no substitute. When building a mini-blender Vampire, choose between this power and Quickblood.

Flying Horror (GREEN): Flying Horror is a decently good power (especially if you play with closed lists) and offers a number of tactical options for your Vampires. Although a Hellsteed is cheaper and can be a better alternative if you need other vampiric powers too, Vampires with Flying Horror can hide in infantry bunkers and fly out for surprise attacks when needed. With their improved movement and range, these Vampires can easily hop from unit to unit and move into superior positions for casting spells and threatening the enemy. Flying Horror is a very tactical choice but can easily be misused, so have a plan in mind when taking it or you could find your Vampire in a bad spot unexpectedly.

Quickblood (PURPLE): Quickblood has so many nice benefits. Always Strike First allows the Vampire to remove enemy threats before they can attack him. It gives re-rolls against enemy with the same or lower Initiative. It also negates Always Strikes First re-rolls an enemy might have. Combine Quickblood with a Great Weapon and the Vampire gains a powerful weapon that still strikes at initiative, while freeing up magic item points for other options. When building a mini-blender Vampire, choose between this power and Red Fury.

Aura of Dark Majesty (BLUE): Aura of Dark Majesty causes all enemy within 6 to suffer -1 to their Leadership. Aside from weakening all enemy break, panic, march and reform tests, it synergizes with a lot of facets of our army. Banshee and Terrorgiest screams, Coven Thrones, Fear, Terror, Death Sniping. Sadly, it doesnt stack with itself but it does with other effects like Doom & Darkness and Iceshard Blizzard. Aura of Dark Majesty also combos well with Curse of the Revenant to maximize Skabscraths Death Shriek.

Dark Acolyte (YELLOW): Dark Acolyte is limited in use but when used in builds that maximize Invocation of Nehek this power increases casting results enough to usually warrant an additional dice from your opponent if they hope to successfully dispel it. This means your opponent has to commit more resources to stop your Invocations of Nehek, and thus allows fewer resources to stop other spells. Most of the time you will want to focus on other vampiric powers, but when used effectively, Dark Acolyte can noticeably boost your Magic phase.

Forbidden Lore (GREEN): Forbidden Lore opens up possibilities but at a hidden cost. This power cant go on your Vampire Lord (who has to take Lore of Vampires), so it can only go on your Vampires. Taking Forbidden Lore means they give up powers like Quickblood or Red Fury and since they can only be level 2, you get little access to the new Lore. If you want reliability with the Lore, you have to take multiple Vampires with this power or plan around the Lores Signature Spell. That said, spells like Iceshard Blizzard (Lore of Heavens), Wyssans Wildform (Lore of Beasts) and Searing Doom (Lore of Metal) are all spells that can be built around or remove weak points in our army. Vampire Counts armies still gain better control over magic by focusing on Lore of Vampires or Death, but in the right hands Forbidden Lore offers powerful tools that can surprise your opponent.

Supernatural Horror (RED): Since there is so many ways to get Terror into your army, this power is often a poor choice. Usually you can just take a Wraith or Banshee and put them in to your Vampires unit. This will have the same effect with much broader tactical options. If your Vampire is mounted or using Flying Horror and you want him to cause Terror then this power is (YELLOW), but its still not the most effective use of your vampiric powers.Fear Incarnate (YELLOW): Fear Incarnate is really only useful in fear-bombing armies. However, fear-bombing rarely works. You can combine Fear Incarnate with Screaming Banner, Aura of Dark Majesty and Doom & Darkness but unless you are also running a screamer list to take advantage of the Leadership debuffs, the investment in making fear-bombing more reliable is not worth it. There simple is too many units in the game that are Immune to Psychology or can reliably pass Leadership tests for Fear to make a difference. Beguile (GREEN): Beguile is a useful (and cheap) way to protect your Vampire (and those next to him) by causing a single enemy in base contact to make a Leadership test at -3 or re-roll their successful hits. Combined with Aura of Dark Majesty, Dread Knight and Glittering Scales, and your Vampire becomes nearly untouchable. Careful though, dont lose sight of your Vampires primary purpose (to kill rank and file and generate combat result). But add in a Strength boosting weapon, Red Fury and Other Tricksters Shard, and a Vampire Lord with this combination of powers could easily go challenging enemy characters with very little exposure to risk.

Master Strike (RED):Its a trap! Why would you trade your high strength Red Fury attacks for one Heroic Killing Blow? Almost everything in our army is useful, but this sadly falls way short. Its a terrible power and there is no reason to take it.

Dread Knight (GREEN): This is a great power that grants a Vampire +2 WS, but theres a catch, you must always issue a challenge if youre the highest Leadership Vampire in the unit. Challenges are a bad place for your Vampires as they either get tied up fighting a unit Champion or facing off against a powerful lord who actually threatens them. If you can keep your Vampires away from challenges, then this power is useful. This power works best on hero Vampires that are in the same unit as your Vampire Lord, since their Leadership is lower and can benefit from this power without any downside.

Summon Creatures of the Night (YELLOW): This power is cheap and allows you to raise Fell Bats, Bat Swarms and Dire Wolves beyond their starting size. Unfortunately, all three of those units are usually used as chaff and work best in small numbers. So there really is no reason to raise them beyond their starting size. Some army builds make use of large units of dire wolves as tarpits. In these few cases, this power has some limited value.Spell Lores of the Vampire CountsThe Lore of Vampires, Shadow and Death are innate to Vampire Counts Wizards. These lores play an important role in the Vampire Counts and thus their use and strategic interactions with our units are key to successfully playing the army. Lore of VampiresOur general is required to take this lore. This likely means a Vampire Lord, Master Necromancer or a Strigoi Ghoul King is going to use it. Since Lore of Vampires synergizes with our army so seamlessly, it works well on its own, with Lore of Death or Lore of Shadows. The lore is so integral to a Vampire Counts army that having a decent grasp of it is good before delving into Death or Shadow. Understanding the Lore of Vampires lets you know what you can and cant sacrifice from it and how big of a role it should play in your tactics. Overall, the Lores casting values are low. The spells essentially support the armys fighting, giving rerolls on To-Hit and Wound, healing and moving your troops, raising the dead to bog down your enemy and make up for the lack of range attacks a Vampire Counts army has. Even the worst spells in the lore still have application and the lore attribute is always useful. A Level 4 and Level 2 Wizard is necessary to fully access the lore. Common strategies with Lore of Vampires is to overwhelm your opponent with Invocations of Nehek or use Van Hels Danse Macabre to move your units into place to intercept the enemy with re-rolls on their to-hits. The Curse of Undeath (Lore Attribute) (PURPLE): Curse of Undeath mimics Life Bloom, but in a markedly darker context. It is brilliant for keeping our multiple wound models alive and mitigates many of our weaknesses. Varghiests, Spirit Hosts and Terrorgiests are easier to heal (which keeps the big bad bats Death Shriek at full power too). It easily heals Wizards that take a Wound from miscasting or the Vampire Lord that gets in over his head. Just keep your Wizards positions to what needs healing in mind before you start casting so you dont waste the healing form this Lore Attribute. Invocation of Nehek (Signature Spell) (PURPLE): Be honest, this spell is likely the reason you play Vampire Counts. Bringing your forces back from the dead is awesome! The fact Invocation is a bubble effect and some units can be raised beyond their starting size is even more awesome!! And since its our signature spell, it can be taken multiple times and is spammable, which is epically awesome!!! This spell works best with our infantry, Black Knights and Crypt Horrors and because it heals our units, some aggressive armies can forgo a dispel scroll (freeing up an Arcane Item slot) and let weaker spells through. With all these great features, you need a good reason to not take this spell on every Lore of Vampires Wizard in your army. Vanhels Danse Macabre (PURPLE): In a game where deployment and movement is key to winning, Van Hels Danse Macabre is game changing. So much so, your opponent will do anything to stop it getting cast. Your unengaged units get to move 8, allowing even your infantry to cross the board (and be getting charged) as early as the end of turn 1 or charging the start of turn 2. The movement from this spell has so many applications. Solidify that redirector, inch in to get that scream in range or reform units to block movement, and by casting it in a bubble you can do all of that at once! This movement even works with Hexwraiths, triggering their Spectral Hunters power. But Van Hels doesnt stop there, it allows all friendly units within range to re-roll their close combat To-hits. Aside from being good with our army, it really synergizes with the blender Vampires (especially those who cant use Always Strike First) and our poisonous units (like Crypt Ghouls and Horrors). Van Hels is so powerful, the bound item Book of Arkhan is nearly auto-include just so you can have two copies of the spell. Van Hels is second to only Raise Dead and when you have both, those two spells win games. Hellish Vigour (YELLOW): This spell is our least useful. Sure, rerolls to Wound are nice, but pales in comparison when considering the rest of the lore. If you use Grave Guard and Black Knights (i.e. Killing Blow), or your Blender Vampires lack weapons with strength bonuses, then Hellish Vigor is worth it and considered (GREEN), otherwise swap this spell for Invocation of Nehek. Gaze of Nagash (BLUE): Gaze of Nagash is a solid magic missile capable of dealing decent damage to most targets. As Vampire Counts lack ranged attacks, Gaze of Nagash gives our armies a way to destroy chaff, concentrate hits on single models or remove a rank or two from a regiment. Gaze of Nagash is most valuable in armies that thin down units before engaging them, usually on a Necromancer or Necromancer Lord. Gaze of Nagash is less valuable for aggressive blender based armies that close ground and engaged quickly. In those armies Gaze of Nagash is a (GREEN).Raise Dead (PURPLE): Raise Dead is hands down the most powerful spell in the Lore of Vampires. It is useful in every army and style of play. It seems simple at first, raise a small unit of Zombies or Skeletons. But the key is where you summon that unit and how you position it. Raise Dead is the ultimate redirector and using it well requires skill and a solid tactical understanding of the game. This single spell can tie up key units every turn, giving your army time to grind through combats, move into position or gain some other advantage. There is always something to redirect, and in the off chance youre in such a strong position that there isnt, then summon a new unit of Zombies and grow them to a sickening number with Invocation of Nehek just for kicks. Raise Dead has some other nonconventional tricks too, like triggering your opponents Night Goblin Fanatics to wreck his army or summoning behind a combat with Frenzied troops that are going to overrun. Beginners will struggle with this spell, the subtleties in redirecting can be elusive. But dont worry, with time and experience anyone can learn to make use of this spell. Curse of Years (BLUE): Curse of Years plays a crucial role in the Vampire Counts army. It typically doesnt deal much damage at first, allowing it to get cast. But then it becomes a threat that cant be ignored. Because it singles out models individually and effects everyone in the unit, Curse of Years can kill off champions and wounded characters easily. Its extremely effective against large blocks of models and any armored units (since it ignores armor). Because it triggers at the end of both magic phases and quickly increases its to Wound roll each turn, at some point your opponent is going to have to throw a hefty number of dispel or power dice to stop it before it triggers again. Its at this point the spell either deals a massive amount of damage or cripples your opponents pool for that magic phase. If you are using Black Periapt, Curse of Years usually creates an opening for you to take your extra dice without suffering losses from a spell. As a hex spell, Curse of Years synergizes well with aggressive armies, thinning out enemy units engaged with your own or as a deterrent to keep them at bay. Wind of Death (GREEN): Wind of Death provides some interesting weapons to your arsenal. As a vortex spell, it provides some ranged damage and blocks movement. Like Curse of Years, it ignores armor saves. But its most interesting feature is it deals D6 Strength 3 hits (if boosted Strength 4) to a unit for each rank it has. Better yet, it only needs to clip a unit to affect it, allowing you to aim it through as many units as possible. This allows Wind of Death to quickly thin down ranked units and remove their likelihood of having steadfast. The rest of Lore of Vampires is so good, you wont often need Wind of Death, but it is a welcomed spell when you do.

Lore of ShadowsA powerful lore that includes the infamous Okkams Mindrazor. In standard games, Lore of Shadows can only really be used by our Vampires. Lore of Shadows is solid for combat armies with three great hexes, and a powerful augment spell. The other spells are decent but the lores casting values are high enough that our Level 2 Vampires are risking miscasting. Maximizing the lore requires taking 2-3 Vampire heroes which can be difficult to build around. The lore works very well with Skeleton units supported by your Vampires and lead by a Vampire Lord. Smoke and Mirrors (Lore Attribute) (YELLOW): Smoke and Mirrors is gimmicky but has a number of tricks with your Wizards and other characters. You can swap the position of your Vampires to get a spell in range or get a character out of trouble. You can bait enemies towards your Necromancers and then swap in your Vampire, or swap a Vampire with a Wraith or Banshee. You can use Smoke and Mirrors to get a necromancer out of combat and use his sniping spells again or use it to get a wounded character back into range of your Lore of Vampire Wizard for a quick heal. Smoke and Mirrors takes a tactical mind and a lot of characters to make the most of it, but it certainly has some interesting applications.Melkoths Mystifying Miasma (Signature Spell) (PURPLE): A brilliant hex! Its a signature spell, cheap, versatile and it debuffs the enemy stat that you need! Unless youre aiming for The Withering or Okkams Mindrazor, you should always take this spell. Steed of Shadows (YELLOW): This spell is circumstantial but has a few tricks. Use it to move the Wizard or your Vampire Lord into a unit before its charged next round. You can also move your Wizard and then trigger the Lore Attribute, rescuing a character with Smoke and Mirrors. Unless you have specific plans for Steed of Shadows, the other spells in the lore are better. The Enfeebling Foe (BLUE): This spell singlehandedly turns a combat to your advantage. By reducing the enemys Strength, it protects units engaged with the target and when playing the grinding game, allows you to draw out the combat as long as possible. A good spell for controlling your enemys damage potential and to boost your combat result. The Withering (PURPLE): The Withering is a frightening Hex that reduces an enemys Toughness, causing them to die like flies. Good with both ranged and close combat attacks, just make sure to attack once a unit is hexed so you get the most from this spell. The Withering can be used as a deterrent to keep the enemy out of combat with you too. The Penumbral Pendulum (GREEN): This spell is circumstantial but can be a nightmare for enemy units if you position your caster well and they have a low initiative. The Penumbral Pendulum combines well with Melkoths Mystifying Miasma and if lucky, can even snipe characters who fail their look out sir rolls. This spell is very effective against Monstrous Infantry and Cavalry when cast through their flanks. Pit of Shades (GREEN): This spell is difficult to target but very effective against low initiatives and since our Vampires have good initiatives, they are hardly at risk in case it misfires. Pit of Shades synergizes well with the Melkoths Mystifying Miasma and is best used against armies with large units in either bus or horde formation. Okkams Mindrazor (BLUE): The benefit of having Strength 10 Skeletons or Zombies is obvious, and that is exactly what Okkams Mindrazor does. This spell is difficult to manage though, as you can only put it on your level 2 Vampires, making it easy to dispel unless youve six-diced it. Reliably getting the spell is tricky too as you need at least 3 Vampires. Still, with a Vampire Lords Leadership 10 and plenty of Lore of Shadow Vampires, this spell absolutely ruins your enemy when it, your Vampires and Skeletons are all used together properly. Lore of DeathLore of Death is best used on Master Necromancers and Necromancers. It is occasionally used on a Vampire hero in order to get snipping spells in to close range. This lore has a mix of very powerful and weaker spells. About half of the spells are situational and one is essentially useless. The remaining spells are solid, with two valuable hexes, the most powerful vortex in the game and a key sniping spell. Life Leeching (Lore Attribute) (BLUE): Unfortunately Lore of Deaths best spells are hexes, so this attribute won't trigger often. Nor is it as reliable as Curse of Undeath or as tricky as Smoke and Mirrors. But when Purple Sun is successfully cast, you will absolutely love how Life Leeching effectively restarts your magic phase. Dont plan around needing Life Leeching, but exploit it when you get Purple Sun. Spirit Leech (Signature Spell) (BLUE): Spirit Leech is the most reliable of the sniping spells, often worth fielding a Necromancer just for him to take it. Spirit Leech has a low casting value, decent range when boosted and can single out characters in units! When you kill your enemys general, their level 4 Wizard or their Battle Standard Bearer with this one spell it is game changing! Spirit Leech synergizes well with Doom & Darkness and Aura of Dark Majesty. When casting, make sure your Wizard is within range of your Vampire Lords Inspiring Presence and that the target suffers from both debuff effects to get the most from this spell.Aspect of the Dreadknight (RED): There is really no reason for a Vampire Counts army to take this spell. Its essentially wasted and should be swapped out with Spirit Leech. Even if you want a unit to cause Terror, psychology effects like Terror (and Fear) arent reliable enough to justify it. Just use a Banshee or Wraith instead. The Caress of Laniph (GREEN): The Caress of Laniph is the weakest of the sniping spells. It is a bit random and can fail its To-Wound rolls even if cast successfully. It works best when combined with Soulblight and used on armored, multiple Wound targets with low Strength and high Toughness or enemy Wizards, since most Wizards lack high Strength. The Caress of Laniph is easy to cast and has a good range when boosted, so it has great value in defensive armies.Soulblight (PURPLE): Soulblight is a hex that reduces the two most important stats in the game, Strength and Toughness. This makes even your Zombies and Skeletons fearsome opponents or can be used as a deterrent to keep enemy units out of combat. Boosted, Soulblight affects all enemy units within range making it helpful when youre outmaneuvered and need to regain a tactical advantage. Overall it is a great spell for any style of play, whether your army is defensive or aggressive.Doom and Darkness (PURPLE): If ever there was a spell with synergy to the Vampire Counts it is Doom and Darkness. This hex makes our Fear, Terror and screams much more deadly. With a -3 to Leadership, enemy units will fail march tests, Steadfast units will break and Fear (and Terror) will actually have an effect! This spell is essential to any screamer army and useful to all others. Even if youre not focused on Death magic, this spell might be worth running a couple of Necromancers in hopes of getting it. The Fate of Bjuna (GREEN): A decent sniping spell. Its short range makes it difficult to use without getting engaged in combat. Where it is strong is it Wounds on a 2+. The Fate of Bjuna is a nice back up to the other two sniping spells, but its not as reliable as Spirit Leech (if you also have Doom & Darkness) or as good at sniping Wizards as The Caress of Laniph.The Purple Sun of Xereus (PURPLE): The dreaded Purple Sun of Xereus! A spell that makes armies tremble at its mere mention and with good reason too! This vortex causes any model it passes over to make an Initiative check or die with no save of any kind allowed. Infamous for being six-diced (usually to get the larger template cast with Irresistible Force), Purple Sun absolutely devours regiments. But if that wasnt painful enough, Life Leeching can turn those Wounds into even more power dice, completely rebooting your Magic phase. As a vortex, Purple Sun remains in play, blocking movement and causing total chaos! Cast it through your opponents flank and you will decimate his battleline. Be warned though, if your Wizard has this spell, a fairly large target is on his head. So protect him and use it well.