Vampire Counts Tactica (Sixth)

There’s not a lot I know about, but I know a lot about Vampire Counts. The first Vampire Counts book was the first thing I ever pre-ordered: I’ve played the army for as long as it’s existed, through fair winds and foul weather, and in particular through sixth edition, which I played and read and argued about week in week out throughout my time at sixth form and university (which is to say when I had more free time and brain power than I’ve ever had before or since). I mostly played Von Carsteins, but I've dabbled in Necrarchs and Blood Dragons and I've played against all of them.

What follows is my crude attempt to turn all that into the LIBER ELDRITCH, a more or less comprehensive guide to Vampire Counts in sixth edition Warhammer.

I haven't done the Army of the Cairns or the Vampire Coast (they're their own things, and also I never played them). I won't be talking about Dogs of War because, down our way, they were seen as the refuge of beardy cheesers who didn't respect the flavour of their army and weak players who needed a crutch and basically nobody liked them except as their own self contained thing.

Armies of Darkness (broad tactics)

The Laws of Undeath (army special rules)

Bloodlines (the army-defining choice)

The Black Art (spellcasting)

Unholy Artefacts (magic items)

The Living Dead (units in context)

Aristocracy of the Night (special characters)

Legions of the Dead (appendix army lists and the Army of Sylvania)

Comments

Twenty Years Ago | Varney (Vampire Thrall & Undead Warband)

Christmas 2003 was where it all started, really. I'd had Warhammer Fantasy Battle bits and bobs before, playing a handful of games with starter set materials or the Chaos Warriors I'd collected because a 3000 point army could be had for a hundred quid (if you spent a quarter of it on a Greater Daemon, and you didn't mind losing a lot). Then the vast majority of it had been car-booted under the auspice of grandparental authority and concern about examinations. 1 This, though: this was the year that I had beer money . I'd just turned eighteen, started my first job as a weekend bartender, and didn't have many vices other than goth girls and Jaffa Cakes. And on a beer money budget, in 2004, things were possible. Like, say, slow-growing a Warhammer Fantasy Battle army. I've been trying to work out why I made the choices I did. I thought it was the White Dwarf article on the Army of Sylvania that influenced me, but a quick fact check shows that came out in March of th

Carmilla's Masque | Vampire, Dire Wolves, Banshee

With the Skeleton Warriors assembled I was almost in position to start actually playing games . All I needed was some fast stuff, and ideally some cheap fast stuff, which is where the plastic Wolves came in. One box of Goblin Wolf Riders, pass the Goblins on, ten Dire Wolves, done. Originally, I had twenty of these, but I've no idea where half of them have got to.* I did stretch to a metal Doom Wolf for one unit, for slightly more efficient wizard hunting and posing dramatically on nearby crags. To sit alongside these and complete my 500 point Border Patrol army, I added some ladies. I've ended up painting all three metal Banshees for this army, but this was my first and my favourite, the one who's not even pretending to be a combatant. In a moment of synchronicity, my decision to claim her as the ghost of Emmanuelle von Carstein (the former lady mistress of Castle Templehof) was mirrored in the Night's Dark Masters supplement for WFRP, and thus Whispering Nell was b

Every Old World is New Again | Lord Ruthven (Vampire Lord)

It's no bad thing that Warhammer Fantasy Battles is back, in congealed and collated post-facto final form, a sort of "best of" the rules for the original game that so far seems to draw on third, seventh and a little bit of eighth edition (you can have a little bit of eighth, as a treat). It's also no bad thing that the Tomb Kings (and Bretonnians, I suppose) are back in production. Eighth edition Warhammer had the misfortune to appear during a time of murderous austerity, and a public servant like what I was at the time couldn't spring for a shiny new Necrosphinx no matter how pretty the figure was. But my very favourite thing about The Old World is that I don't have to come along on Mister Workshop's Wild Ride if I don't want to. The studio has decided that the Vampire Counts are a done deal, with Mannfred left for dead at Hel Fenn... and that's when my own personal Vampire Lord's unlife starts to get interesting. There's a convenient inte

Swords, Boards and Square Bases

Search This Blog