Third section of specific anti army tactics. As before this is just to help you be prepared when your foe puts his army down on the table. This is Empire and Vampire Counts.
Keep an open mind and stay on your toes. Just because you know what is there doesn't mean you should get cocky.
EMPIRE
I always enjoy fighting Empire. They work with tactics and have a very unique
play style. It can either force you to
become inventive or to just power right through. They are similar to our own army in some
respects. Average stat lines almost
across the board, like us. Use of
several key tactics, like us. Ability to
play every part of the game, like us.
Where the differences come is how they do it. We compensate for the average stat lines by
armor and valor while they compensate with numbers. We shoot with bowmen and Trebuchets, they
shoot with cannons and handguns. We use
the lance formation, they have detachments.
They have access to every lore, while we have magic resistance. Their army works because of how it fights
together.
Types of units.
At the end of the day these guys are human, toughness 3 with
the occasional 4. Surprisingly they do
create better armor than us but since they are seldom mounted our save is on
average better. Their biggest change
comes from the detachment system. Many
core units can be used as detachments and I will list effective uses for each
as they come. You can usually tell which
ones are the detachments since must be half the size of the original, are usually
deployed on the sides of the parent unit and cannot have a command. As the difference between detachments and
parent units is rather great I will take a bit of time to explain the how they
play differently.
Halberdier. WS 3 and
at best a 6+ save, these guys die in droves but they only cost as much as a
peasant. They are the hardest hitting in
combat of the detachment units and he most common. They are usually used as support since
placing your faith for steadfast in a unit that die quickly is generally not a
good idea, this also applies to it running on its own. If you do see a unit of them without support
consider them all but free points since they only put out 10 S 4 attacks which
our knights usually laugh off. While a
poor parent unit it is a fine support unit because of the damage potential and
lack of counter attacks to the side. It
can provide some much needed attacks with some armor penetration. The ploy is to lure the charging unit into
attacking the more defensive unit while they counter charge into the vulnerable
flanks. They can bring 10-28 attacks
into the combat depending on if there are two units and the frontage that they
have. This can be quite deadly due to
the strength. If only one small unit is
threatening the flanks then attack is basically safe and just direct as many
attacks to the side as possible to gain kills and remove their rank bonus. If handled correctly the kills gained by
attacking the flank will overshadow the
ones he gains by the flank attack. If in
larger units consider either multi charging to hit the flank units or whittling
them down a bit, do NOT trade a knight unit for a halberdier unit. They can be used in horde formation and can
be taken out in the same fashion. They
have a low leadership so if the general and BSB are gone then steadfast is less
useful.
Spearmen. With the same stat line and price as halberdiers,
the only difference is in equipment.
This simple change in equipment changes a bit of the units use
though. The extra attacks mean that it is
more likely to be used as the parent unit or solo. However the extra attacks lack the strength
to punch through our armor. This means
that while they may be more effective against our peasants our knights are
harder to kill. The typical unit is at
least 25-30 strong meaning it will take some whittling before steadfast is
lost. Without serious defense, wounds
are easy to get and they drop quickly. They are the unit that is best running solo
but are easy to blow away if they try it.
They do not fare well as the
detachment. You need a parent unit of at
least 30 to take a detachment of 15 to get the full effect of the spears which
don't even come into effect until the 2nd turn of combat. That's a whole lot of blah that other units
do better. Expect these units to try and
engage your support units and not your combat units. If you can safely destroy this unit without
exposing a unit to counter attack do it.
Take the free points. If in
multiple units you will have to maneuver around and collapse their flanks and
go down the line. Again a trade for a
knight unit should not be done.
Swordsmen. With a
boost in WS and Initiative as well only costing as much as the other units with
shields, these guys tend to be the anvil that we are supposed to break on. They are most often used as a parent unit to
take a charge using their 5+/6+ save to try and resist the attacks while the
detachments deal damage and flank. Since
they lack the damage potential they do not fare well in any sort of engagement
on their own or as a detachment. On
their own you can blow straight through them.
Their low leadership again means that steadfast is not a terrible
problem if engaged outside of the generals range. As with the other units swordsman are not
exceptional except for their cheapness.
A unit of 50 costs about as much as a unit of knights. This does not bode well for breaking the unit
except for the LD 7. Obviously either
pick apart these units one at a time or try to break through panic and their
low leadership doesn't help against steadfast.
As a detachment they will likely be in small numbers so simply direct
attacks towards the flanks until their ranks are gone. As well as when you charge you should win
combat which forces the detachment to take a leadership test, so they should
break since they certainly will not have steadfast in their favor. In the best circumstances the flanking
detachments will bounce off our armor and then will break due to the power of
our charge. If we remove the steadfast
from the charged unit all units may break and be run down. All in all if we have a decent amount of
static resolution then these units provide little threat. Without it we bounce off and will eventually
break to their static resolution.
Free Company. No armor and two hand weapons. It can never be taken as a parent unit,
though it can be taken as an independent unit.
Basically this is the empire horde unit control. However spearmen perform this job better in
large units due to the supporting attacks rule.
This delegates the free company to smaller roles of about 10-15
strong. Which also delegates them quite
nicely to detachments. In such small
numbers our knights can basically ignore them.
Otherwise you can treat them as spearmen in essence.
Handgunners. There are
two purposes for this unit. The first is
the 10 strong unit as a detachment. It
provides support fire and can stand and shoot against an unit charging the
parent. This is really the same as any
other fire support unit except that it must remain close to the parent
unit. This forces the parent unit to be
stationary since if it moves the handgunners must move and handguns are move or
fire. So they are basically a potent shooting
force that can't move, has little armor, and a low leadership. Being able to panic this unit so easily is
often the best way to deal with them.
Even the bowmen will thin their ranks quite quickly and possibly force
them to flee. Pegasus knights are very
effective of course. Shooting is the
easiest way to deal with the handgunner detachment once they start losing some
serious models then they become totally ineffective. The 2nd use is an unit 20+ strong as the
parent unit with two support units. The
main reason to do this as opposed to 2 units of 10 is so a command group can be
taken. The unit champion can be given
the fearsome long rifle capable of sniper fire to kill characters, champions
and other things. I'm sure that you can
see how power this weapon is, and if you don't you may very quickly lose your
damsels. This formation has the benefit
of putting out a lot of fire and being able to flank with the detachments if
you charge the gunners. In this case
shooting is not worth it, though it does help thin the ranks, as it would take
too much fire to down this unit. An all
out charge while staying outside of 12" is the quickest way to remove one
of the biggest threats to our army.
Crossbowmen. Since
this unit is the same price as the handgunners it is rarely seen. In fact the only reason you would take it
would be for a range of 30" and not 24". In the immortal words of Chris Farley
"Well La DE FRICKIN DA!" You
will very rarely see these units. If it
is taken treat it similar to the handgunners.
Archers. They suffer
the same point cost as the handgunners.
Unlike the crossbows however they do have a niche. They can't be a parent unit and are not
effective as detachments. So that leaves
us with an independent unit. Their chief
virtue is the skirmish formation and the ability to take a scout rule. They make an excellent screen unit when
deployed in front of the army. They
protect the rest of the army though they deal little damage themselves. This is most often used to protect artillery
trains. In the end they are a simply
screen unit. Easy to sweep away in combat
and more nuisance to us. As a scout they
are alone and unsupported making them easy points for the taking.
Greatswords. The last
unit capable of taking part in the detachment game even though it can only be a
parent unit. It is often that parent too,
as well as the general/BSB bodyguard.
With the best save 4+ and highest counter attack ability as well as
being stubborn it is arguably the best at its job . This unit is most likely to be the center
unit that you are supposed to break on.
This unit is a pain to deal with.
10 S 5 attacks per turn will whittle down even our knights and with the
decent LD they may be in combat for quite time.
Either overwhelm the unit with sheer weight of knights but since that is
unlikely consider them prime targets for a trebuchet and magic. Simply avoid them until they are
manageable. If it is an aggressive unit
you may have to sacrifice some of your back line until you are ready to deal
with them. Panic works well too if
possible. Make no mistake, this unit can
be one tough nut to crack. Keep a cool
head and if you must kill everything else, and certainly deal with the
detachments before the unit itself.
Knightly orders. Well
guess what? They're knights with the
same stat line as ours. The biggest
difference is in the save. They are
either 1+ save with a lance for S 5 on the charge or 2+ save with
greatweapons. The last trick is that
they can gain a strength boost and become special and S4 base. This puts them on questing knight level. Basically treat them as any other sort of
heavy cav. We get an inch farther base
charge. They are tough but they lack our
ward save and our lance formation! There
is no army that plays the knight game as well as we do. It shows off how much a difference the ranks
and ward save make in our favor. Again
treat them as the typical heavy cav, charge and don't be charged.
Pistoliers. These are
some serious fast cav, but they are still fast cav and same anti fast cav
tactics work. Unlike most cav however
these might not be aiming for your back lines.
They do a bunch of damage with a brace of pistols and charging with
anything other than pegasus knights with not be effective. Fortunately they are usually small units and
bowmen pick them off quite easily.
Outriders. Fast cav
again. These are not a unit that fires
on the move but if you allow it to set up it will devastate you. If you charge
it you must be able to withstand the full complement of shots. Pegasus knights have a good chance of
surviving and as with most fast cav will utterly devastate them in close
combat. Again bowmen work but be certain
to place a very high priority on them.
Leave them no peace and if you can't kill them take cover. Other than their firepower and the fact that
they must be stationary they are typical fast cav for killing purposes and
since they cost a good amount of points they are well worth it. Even a couple knights making it into combat
are enough so if you must take a shot to do the charge make sure you're out of
12" otherwise circle round.
Flagellants. The
tarpit. After the first turn they pose
little threat to knights and will start to kill themselves out. Expect to grind them down... Eventually. They are the tarpit and they win by other
units supporting them. They are
unbreakable and kill off their own guys.
A unit of 9 KOTR should have no serious difficulty in killing them
all... Eventually. As with all tarpits
if you can kill them before the end of the game and without being flanked
(often by knightly order units) go ahead.
Otherwise you are only engaging them to delay them from reaching your
back lines. Do so only if it is safe
because they have no support you can't intercept and take it for granted that
you are not getting those points, just make sure he isn't getting any points
either.
SteamTank. Not nearly
as scary as it once was it still is a potent force. Without armor piercing weapons of S 5 at
least, expect to be ground down. It is
fast and powerful but it all relies on the steam points. If you start to inflict damage it then it
loses power very quickly as most players will generate less points each turn
due to the risk. What this tells me is
to hit it hard and fast. Trebuchets are
your best bet. Barring that you have to
bring your heroes with the high strength weapons. Our best bet by far though is the virtue of
heroism. Keep some distance, or charge
if you've got the cutting power. Without
the proper equipment your best bet is to charge with everything you've
got. Hope on the charge you roll a bunch
of 6's to wound and that he fails a bunch of saves. Really unless you have heroes that deal with
him, just avoid it if possible. Course
you could always kill it with one hit from the virtue of heroism.
Cannon/mortar.
Classic artillery. They deserve
little attention to individual tactics.
Other than they are nasty and should be killed by our advance line. A special award goes to the master engineers
that can join the units. Hero level
characters that make the weaponry more accurate, more on that on the hero section.
Hellblaster/Helstorm.
Unusual artillery. The
hellblaster can put out a lot of shots but since they have to roll to hit
skirmish pegasus knight will probably live.
Mounted yeoman will not. If you treat it much like a powerful bolt
thrower you won't be far wrong. It is
very likely to blow itself up due to misfires but it is highly likely to cause
plenty of damage. The helstorm is
similar to a stone thrower just more damaging and more inaccurate. These are basically artillery but they should
be a higher threat than the average cannon.
Master Engineers.
Capable of joining artillery and improving the accuracy of cannons and
mortars. Also capable of taking the
dangerous hochland long rifle. I must
mention the pigeon bomb simply because I think it's very funny to watch
pidgeons blow up in midair. Other than
that consider this guy points are yours if you can get into combat.
Warrior priests. A
combat hero that relies on magic spells to boost his combat power. If you can prevent the spells he just has
average abilities. Careful though
because he can take magic items. Often
used to boost nearby units. Keep a
decent magic defense and all should be well.
Just be warned about their hatred ability being granted to the enemy
unit. If they're killed before the units
strikes then the unit should have lost the hatred by the time they attack.
Wizards. Typical
wizards, capable of casting from any lore.
be careful of the magic that switches profiles with a model in base
contact it can truly end your day.
Combat characters. Consider
that they have many combat items similar to our own. Re-roll armor saves for
example. However they are surprisingly
subpar when compared with our characters with fewer attacks, lower initiative
and weapon skill. Nothing special except
the fact that they can have black powder weapons to fire with. In combat with our characters they should
drop easily if you brought something to punch through armor. If not expect a rather long drawn out
fight. As it is important to drop the
BSB and general in the Empire army expect them to be rather well defended.
Army builds.
Infantry horde. They
can spam effective infantry horde units better than almost everyone. This list takes advantage of the numbers
empire can field by fielding 2+ horde units with detachments of 20+ The key to defeating this list is to focus
your fire on one horde at a time and eliminate them one at a time. If you can manage to avoid being bogged down,
this list should be able to be overcome quite easily.
Artillery train gun line.
Empire has a lot of guns. When
you see that he has a lot of artillery, it will be more than your pegasus
knights can deal with. It is often
supported by the core units being handgunners to eliminate fast cav. However we often can get into combat on turn
2. Even if they have greatswords as
combat units then a full out rush to drop as much artillery as possible is a
valid option. When the artillery is gone
simply avoid combat with the units that have few numbers left. If this is all of them then simply keep out
of combat because you know that the damage you cause to the artillery is most
likely greater than any units you lost.
Fake Brets. They also
have knights as core and some armies try to play Bretonnia with them by having
a fast moving and tough to kill army.
This devolves into a knight fight and guess who plays that game
better? The biggest threat comes from
the fast cav that our bowmen should drop ASAP.
Mix. The average army and I would say the most deadly. It has a little bit of everything. However since it has split its points around
that leaves your units less likely to be overwhelmed by any single thing. You must engage on your terms and eliminate
the most pressing threats.
Things to expect.
Deadly fast cav. The
empire has the most deadly, to us, fast cav in the game.
Large Infantry blocks.
Empire troops are cheap and need to be taken in reasonable numbers.
Black Powder. Quite
possibly the most devastating weapon to use against Bretonnia and the Empire
gets it cheap.
Getting flanked. With
the detachment system take it for granted that if you charge you will be
getting flanked charged, it's not serious as long as you drop their ranks.
Crazy warmachines.
They have some wacky equipment over in the Empire.
Greatsword bodyguard.
Really other than a Cav unit this is the only viable bodyguard unit.
Wimpy characters. The
average Empire lord is no combat monster and only his magic equipment may
rectify that.
VAMPIRE COUNTS
They were one of the most powerful armies at one time but
they no longer rule the roost though they are still dangerous. Perhaps the most dangerous part is that many
players switched to the potent vampire counts last edition and retain a lot of
the experience of playing with them. A
beginning vampire count player will fall into several traps that the more
experienced player would avoid. At the
heart of the army is the general. Drop
him and things will go much better for you, in fact it will often win you the
game. As such he should be your first
and primary target. As another thing to
watch for, everything causes fear and is unbreakable so stay near the general.
Types of Units
The average unit in the vampire army has a poor weapon skill
and are noteworthy for one thing only... the ability to get back up. No unit exemplifies this better than the
zombie. It's stats are pathetic, very
much so, they make the M@A look like crack troops. They die in droves but are there to hold up
your units for an indefinite period of time while more powerful units move in
to finish you off. The key thing about
this unit is that a vampire can resurrect more zombies per spell than any other
unit. In combat they will kill a single
knight every 6 turns of combat without the charge, while we kill on average 4
zombies a turn, you can almost double that due to crumbling. You can also expect this unit to grow beyond
it's starting size so if a small unit is taken a quick death may do good
things. Without support this unit will
be plowed straight through and if there are no supporting spell casters nearby
this unit is basically free points. The
biggest threat is that brand new units of this type can be created to charge
block and similar reasons. Even fleeing
from these units won't spell your death.
Just a number of hits that you get armor saves against.
Slightly higher up on the undead totem pole are the
skeletons. These guys are in essence M@A statwise. Again they can be raised beyond their
starting size so that a small unit can quickly become a large unit. Quickly engaging small units when you have
the chance is certainly a valid idea.
Sometimes a 2nd turn charge can save you a lot of trouble later. Again without magic support our knights will
go through them killing about 3 or so a turn and then basically doubling that. Again not a true threat by themselves but are
designed to hold you up until combat units arrive.
Crypt ghouls are the next step up on the threat list but
they are, again, not terribly effective against knights. M@A on the other hand will die in droves and
should avoid combat against this threat.
They have a higher toughness which hampers our ability in subsequent
turns and they have the same WS and a knight errant so those knights should
consider looking elsewhere for valor. On
the charge we can inflict some serious damage on this unit and it is the best
opportunity you get for wiping the unit.
They also seem to be the way that most players field their base
infantry, due to the higher toughness.
Not terribly effective in horde formation since the supporting attacks
are limited to one each.
Grave guard are the only legitimate threat in ranked infantry
that the vampire counts have. As such
many armies make grave guard the core of their armies or even their deathstar
unit. The main problems arise from great
weapons and killing blow. Good strength
and the ability to negate our armor and threaten our characters means that this
unit is certainly a threat. It is used
as the bodyguard unit for the main general fairly often which means you will
have to engage it at some time. Since it
is often paired with the regeneration banner the easiest way to cause
casualties to it is in the shooting phase.
Flaming bowmen to cause a wound then follow it up with trebuchet
shots. Without the regeneration they do
die rather nicely to the flying rocks.
In combat direct any attacks you can at the inevitable battle standard
bearer or character in the unit. Since
the targets of most charges will not be the unit proper but what is contained
in the unit allow me to address that. If
a charge will bring about the end of a powerful wizard and/or the general than the
sacrifice is worth it, especially since if you flee you are likely to get away. If you have characters then direct their
attacks (especially flaming and killing blow) on the enemy characters, though
the flaming may wish to attack the unit as well. If there are no characters in this unit then
there is no need to engage it directly.
As a side note a similar point amount of M@A will very likely sit in
combat against this unit for a long period of time and without support may well
grind a good chunk down. Stay in a
formation larger than your foe if possible, horde is ideal.
The last infantry choice are the Cairn wraiths are one of my
least favorite units in the game to deal with.
They lack ranks, but more than make up for it with hitting power. With 3 attacks at S5 each they can rack up
some damage quickly. The banshee also is a royal pain with the only shooting in
the vampire army and should be considered a good target to kill. Since they are ethereal, shooting is useless
as are normal attacks, leaving only the magic phase, characters, resolution and
grail knights. In the magic phase keep
in mind that if there are less than 5 wraiths then wounds can start to overflow
to the banshee a couple of magic missiles and that may be dead before you know
it. The easiest way to deal with these
units is to have the mighty grail knights charge and show that magic attacks on
such a powerful unit are well worth it.
It is important however to make sure that you have something to take on
the powerful hits. Characters with
gromril great helm or dawnstone work well and may very well grind the whole
unit down. If you hit this unit make
sure you brought enough power to make them go away for good. Since they are skirmishers they may hang out
in the woods to remove your ranks. In
this case I would simply try to avoid them.
Bat swarms are the vampire counts answer to artillery. Sadly they are rather ineffective against
them and need larger numbers to be effective at killing things. A single base will kill on average a single
peasant. I have usually seen them used
to fly into a support line to try and hold it up for an indefinite period of
time, knights don't even notice them. As
long as you have about 4 peasant bowmen
per bat swarm you should be in little danger, even if the odds don't favor you
having a nearby unit to bail them out is simple since they are unlikely to
break the unit and will get you a few points for little effort. In reality expect to see few of these as most
players rely on the fell bat.
On the subject of the
fell bat these are much more effective than the simple bat swarms. They are in essence a flying unit designed to
face off against support units. Any legitimate
combat unit will swat them away like flies, though the M@A may take some
wounds. Since they skirmish shooting
isn't very effective and they will win combat against most bowmen/trebuchet
units. The key to facing these guys is
the exact same as facing any other support line killer. Deploy combat units far enough ahead so that
they can't charge before you get a chance to counter them. Handled well they can be stopped before they
ever reach your lines, and if they have a chance to remember that fleeing now
may allow the unit to rally later and might doom the fell bats as well.
The last of the bat critters is the Vargulf. Reliably hitting with 5 attacks at S5 it can
start to add up the damage. Fortunately
the damage isn't great and if you have static resolution he can go away
quickly. The best way to handle him is
to have a character with some flaming attacks or decent strength. By himself a character and a unit will not pose
a terrible threat. Flaming bowmen have a
decent chance of hurting him as well.
Every wound you cause will help you out later. He also must be intercepted by a legitimate
combat unit, since he can tear through peasant bowmen and trebuchet crew. Though make sure you don't get bogged down
and he can give you some nice points.
Corpse carts are an interesting unit. They get thunderstomp but our knights don't
care, and the attacks are pitiful. Any
combat unit fighting it will blow right through it easily. It can be ridden by a necromancer but he is
just target bait for our archers no matter where he hides. In a unit he can be picked out since he rides
a monster and should be dropped quickly to reduce the magic ability. Flaming arrows spell death for this
unit. Really just consider it a nuisance
unless ridden by a necromancer. Either
way easy to kill with shooting means that our archers have a target and may
earn their points back. Be warned of the
benefits they give the enemy army.
Adding more models resurrected and possibly reducing your casting value
can quickly become annoying.
Spirit hosts are another interesting unit. They are a swarm unit with ethereal. So consider sending magic attacks against
them, Grails will blow straight through them and other knights will just deal
static resolution damage plus any character attacks. Remember that they have 4 wounds and don't
engage them if there are any threats to your flanks. Archers will suffer but again keep a good
interception against them.
As the start of the faster units, there is the black
coach. A chariot with decent power to
start... Of all the things you should take out quickly... This is it. Every turn it can become more powerful and by
the end of the powering up phase it can wreck things. Drop rocks on it, magic missile it and get
the charge in as quickly as possible otherwise it can truly change the game
against you. Hit it fast and hard
otherwise... forget it.
Next are the dire wolves... Fast cav... that crumble and
can't flee. They are not terribly
threatening at all. Treat them like fast
cav with less of a threat.
Black knights are next.
If we get the charge we will blow straight through but due to the
vampire count magic movement spell they might very well get the charge on
you. Keep your static resolution with
you and let the characters beware. Also
be warned that they care little for terrain and may very well try to launch an
ambush from the terrain. Other than that
they are like any other heavy cav unit.
Lastly are the blood knights. Seldom seen due to cost both monetary and
point. These guys can wreck your
day. With 3 attacks at S 7 on the charge
they can truly wreck a unit. M@A could
perhaps take the charge with numbers.
Other than that... Flee. Don't
take the charge it will kill you. Our
only chance is to focus fire with multiple units and get the charge. They are frenzied and with leadership 7 there
is a good chance they will fail. Baiting
with Mounted yeoman might really pay off.
This unit is a major investment for the enemy and killing it without
loss can very easily win you the game.
On to the characters!
The first is the hero level necromancer.
Pitiful by any account except for the cost. They get to choose their spell. The can provide some serious chance to
channel for cheap. Not really a threat
compared to the other characters. If one
is there feel free to wipe him out. But
unless in large numbers don't consider them worth going after.
The wight character is tough as nails but lacks magic. As such he makes a fantastic BSB. be warned of his killing blow ability and
consider him a target for your own killing blow ability. Unless you have some powerful attacks going
into this character he is best avoided.
Sadly he makes his home as a great bodyguard for the more squishy
vampires. Again unless you can drop him
quickly, as in a turn of combat, don't fight him with a character. Keep him fighting a champion if possible
while you wipe out the character he is protecting.
The vampires themselves come in two different flavors...
Combat and magic. Combat ones are quite
dangerous and should be handled with extreme caution and several killing blow
attacks. They may very well negate all
of your armor so be careful. They are
also better fighters than our characters so make sure that if possible bring
the force of everything you can to kill these nasties. Fortunately if they are damage specced they
lack the magic to keep the rest of the army going. They can be avoided while you wreck the army
that won't regenerate very quickly. If
they are combat wipe out the spell casters first. The magic users lack the combat power and
though they are still dangerous our characters have a legitimate chance of
killing them. Magic generals you can
bring the full force of the Bretonnian army against him without little
worry. In fact I recommend doing so.
Kudos must be given to the accursed magic item called the
helm of command. If you suspect this
item of being on a character attack him with a throwaway unit if you are
engaging a separate unit. Since it
allows the vampire to give his weapon skill to a unit unless he is in combat
and since it is generally on a magic caster since he avoids combat it is a
dangerous combo. WS 7 graveguard is no
joke. Expect to lose the unit that
fights the general but it will save the likely more pricey unit that is fighting
the other unit. If you lack throwaway
units consider a full fledged charge to simply remove this lone item. He can't give his WS to a unit if he is
fighting and without that support his unit might very well be blown apart.
Army builds.
Magic multiplying.
They tend to start with fewer units but use their magic power to create
more units and boost the size of their army before you get there. Throw in some respectable damage spells and
they can bring you to your knees by sheer numbers. The best way to deal with this army is to
close fast and hit the wizards hard. Due
to our speed this army suffers a bit against ours.
Combat. This army
throws most magic out the window and focuses on bringing the hurt with knights,
vargulfs and similar powerful units.
Here you need to focus on priority targets and pick apart the army bit
by bit. Take out the general if possible
but really you need to put tactics into play to take out the dangerous parts
while suffering little damage.
Deathstar. Giant unit
of graveguard, with regeneration banner.
Houses the BSB and any other characters.
It can be treated like most other deathstar armies. Dwellers below, and trebuchets are your
friend. Again almost any sacrifice to
kill the general and other valuable characters is worth it. Drop the characters and don't be afraid about
fleeing.
Things to expect.
Magic. Vampire counts
live and die by their magic. Cut it off
at the source. It allows them to move
again, and raise units being their most important spells.
Regenerating units.
Vampires can raise more dead models than anyone else.
Created units.
Vampires can create brand new units on the table. Watch out for that.
Death of general= victory.
I can't stress this enough. Kill
the head and the snake dies.
Tarpits. They don't
go away! Their whole goal is to stop you
long enough for dangerous things to end you.
Spear and Magic helmet!
I haven't come across a vampire army that DIDN'T have that blasted helm
of command.
Killing blow. There
are a legitimate number of units with killing blow so be careful with the
characters.
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