Vampire counts

so vampire counts are coming out

Finally saw the advanced orders up on the GW site. The monsterous infantry kit looks cool. The throne centerpiece is canon fodder. Silly how the new rules are counter productive to using the big, cool, new models.

I don't understand the rewrite of VC now. Their book is still pretty new and, with cheap infantry bricks, they function well enough in 8Ed.

GW must hate Brettonians, who sit with an old 6Ed codex. GW must really hate Wood Elves, who (without ranks) clearly can't function in the current edition rule set..... yet they are foced to endure while the VC (who dominated in 7Ed) get shiny new toys.

And the VCs will prb get all the good stuff from being undead, but once again none of the bad stuff. I heard that if the General dies they dont crumble, somoene else takes over or something like that.

I'm going searching for the update threads..... BRB

What we know now:

Army Book written by Phil Kelly

Release in January. On sale from the 14th January (advanced orders for the 7th January)

Release includes:
New army book (96 pages)
Magic cards

New minis will be:
Plastic Kits:
Coven Throne/Mortis engine (Dual kit)
Black Knights/Hex Wraiths (Dual kit)
Vargheists/Crypt Horrors (Dual kit)
Plastic characters
Wight King
Finecast Characters:
Krell
Isabella von Carstein
Re-release of the old Khemlar in Finecast.

Prices will be:

£36 for the Coven Throne/Mortis Engine,
£18.50 for five Black Knights/Hex Wraiths
£3.25 for the magic cards
£25 for the army book
£25-27? (37 Euros) for the big ghouls/ flying things.
£8 for Wight King
£10.50 (15 Euros) for Krell in Finecast
£9? (12.5 Euros) for Isabella von Carstein

lbecks did the maths for US prices it looks like it will be:

Engine/Throne $57.75
Cavalry $29.00
Big Ghouls/Mini Vargs ~$45?
Wight King $13.25
Krell $18.25
Isabella $15

Some rules picked up from White Dwarf. (Thanks again to ZAlpha)

Rules tidbits:

All Vampire has rule called "Hunger" - You get to roll a D6 when the vampire kills one or more models in combat, on a 6 you recovers one wound. (Vlad with Blood Drinker pass the roll on 4+)

Also Vampire, including vampiric creatures "such as" Varghulf and Vargheist, can march. So Vargheist will be able to move 20" per turn almost all the time. (not sure if Varghulf can also fly)

Vampiric Powers: (not all of them, just those mentioned in WD)
Flying Horror - give the vampire ability to fly (unsure)
Dread Knight - ability to boost WS (don't know how - but a Vampire Llord with Dread Knight has WS of 9)
Quickblood - gains ASF
Master of the Black Arts - get to re-roll one D6 for the Winds of Magic.
Dark Acolyte - add D3 to the total number of models raised by Nehek.
Red Fury - should be about the same. (unsure)

New units:

Coven Throne
- Basically a chariot mount for your Lord.
- Is a Large target with S5 T5 5W and 5+ save.
- has Spectral Steed rules (can move 8"), Undead, Vampiric, ASF (only for Handmaiden who has 2 S5 Attacks)
- has Random Attacks (2D6) at S3 from the spirit horde.
- Has Ward Save of 4+
- Battle of Wills (before the first enemy rolls to hit against the character or the Throne, both player roll a D6 and add their LD value. Has effects based on the difference of the score)
* no effect (0 or less)
* suffer -1WS/BS
* the enemy must re-roll successful To Hits
* each model in the enemy unit strike each other (only 1 attack per model)
- Has Bound Spell (lvl3) allowing the Throne (and all of its crew) to re-roll either To Hit or To Wound rolls.

Mortis Engine
- Is a Rare Choice
- Same stats as for the Throne (S5 T5 W5 Sv5+)
- has 2D6 attacks at S3 from the spirit horde
- Undead, Terror, Spectral Steed, and Regeneration
- can make Ghostly Howl attack.
- can take upgrade, allowing any wizards casting spell from the Lore of the Vampires to get +2 to their casting attempt. (ANY) miscast wizards rolls twice on the table and have the opponent choose the result)
- The Reliquary (at the start of your turn, roll 2D6 and add the current turn number - until the start of its next turn, all friendly Undead units within this number of range gains +1 bonus to their Regeneration, 6+ if they don't have any, to a maximum of 4+. Also, all enemy units within this range suffers D6 hits at the strength equal to the turn number.

- Also has some penalties if removed from play - by damaging every units within a random range at the strength equal to the current turn number)


Master Necromancer
- New Lord choice (ie. better Necromancer)

- Banshees and Cairn Wraith are now Hero

Hexwraiths (special)
- Fast Cavalry with Ethereal (yes!) that can inflict automatic S5 hits on unit that it moved through.

Vargheist (special)
- Flying Monstrous Infantry that has Fly, Frenzy, and 3A.

Crypt Horrors (special)
- Monstrous Infantry unit with M6 S4 T5 I2 W3 A3, has Poisoned Attacks, Regeneration 5+, and Undead

I think that's all I've seen in the WD...

BTW, Heinrich Kemmler is back in finecast (and in the book) for sure. But on the original sculpt, no new miniature for him. (at least for now)

Seeing lots of people wondering if the Bloodline is back in the book.
Honestly, I'm not sure as it's not specifically mentioned rule-wise.

Round up from YoungOlo

The Hunger is character only thing, WD explicitly states this.

Vlad and Isabella both get ASF if they are part of the same unit. My guess is this is the "Beloved in Death" rule. Also, Isabella can heal Vlad with her Blood Chalice of Bathori (but I guess this will be in her rules)

Once again, summary of informations we extracted from GW site, to get them all in one place:

- Zombies: S3 T3
- Dire Wolves: Slavering charge (+1S in charge), Vanguard
- Corpse Cart: W4, Chariot-style characteristics, Vigour Mortis (ASF in 6" if CC is LoV spell target)
- Grave Guard: Wight Blades (magical attacks) gone
- Blood Knights: I5
- Varghulf: I4, Vampiric (marching outside general's 12" march bubble) gone, Undead gone
- Zombie Dragon: WS4, T6, W6
- Vampire Lord: Lvl1, A5, The Hunger (wounds recovery in combat on 6+ once/round)

- Vlad: A5, The Hunger, heavy armour, Beloved in Death (ASF if Isabella is in the same unit)
- Mannfred: A5, The Hunger, Dark Acolyte, Lord of the Dead gone, Loremaster(Death) gone
- Konrad: A4, The Hunger, Hatred, Infinite Hatred gone

Another great summary post from YoungOlo

Summary of the Army List as we know it. Red is confirmed information, normal font is uncertain:

LORDS
- Vlad Von Carstein
- Mannfred Von Carstein
- Heinrich Kemmler 175 slaves

- Vampire Lord ~110 slaves
- Ghoul King (Strigoi Vampire: built-in Infinite Hatred and Regeneration (5+) ) ~115 slaves
- Master Necromancer 82,5 slaves (Level3)

HEROES
- Isabela Von Carstein
- Konrad Von Carstein
- Mannfred the Acolyte
- Krell 102,5 slaves

- Vampire 47,5 slaves
- Necromancer 32,5 slaves (Level1) / 50 slaves (Level2) / 60 slaves (Level2 + Master of the Dead)
- Wight King 42,5 slaves / 55 slaves (with BSB upgrade)
- Cairn Wraith 30 slaves
- Tomb Banshee 47,5 slaves

mounts:
- Zombie Dragon (Vampire Lords only) ~125 slaves
- Terrorgheist (Ghoul Kings only)
- Abyssal Terror
- Nightmare
- Skeletal Steed
- Hellsteed
- Coven Throne (Vampire Lords only) ~100 slaves
- Corpse cart (Necromancers only) ~40 slaves
- Mortis Engine (Necromancers only)

CORE UNITS
- Skeletons 2,5 slaves (hand weapon/shield, light armour) / 3 slaves (spear/shield, light armour)
- Zombies 1,5 slaves (Musician +2,5 slaves, Standard bearer +2,5 slaves)
- Ghouls 5 slaves
- Dire Wolves 4 slaves
- Bat Swarms 17,5 slaves

SPECIAL UNITS
- Corpse Cart 52,5 slaves (with Balefire)
- Grave Guard 5,5 slaves (hand weapon/shield)
- Black Knights 13 slaves (lance/barding)
- Hex Wraiths 15 slaves
- Fell Bats 8 slaves
- Vargheists 23 slaves
- Crypt Horrors 19 slaves
- Spirit Hosts 22,5 slaves

RARE UNITS
- Terrorgheist 112,5 slaves
- Mortis Engine 120 slaves (with Blasphemous Tome upgrade)
- Varghulf 87,5 slaves
- Black Coach
- Blood Knights 25 slaves
- Wraiths

MAGIC ITEMS
- Blood Drinker (Vlad only): Hunger works on 4+
- The Carstein Ring (Vlad only): 4+ ward save
- Cloak of Mists and Shadows (Kemmler only): Each turn choose if wearer is Ethereal or has Fly
- Flag of the Blood Keep 37,5 slaves (Blood Knights only): 4+ ward vs ranged attacks
- Black Axe of Krell

- Banner of the Barrows 25 slaves (all wights in unit get +1hit)
- Screaming Banner 12,5 slaves (enemies test fear on 3D6, discarding lowest)
- Scabscrath 37,5 slaves (frenzy, flaming attacks, devastating charge, Deathly Shriek (Terrorgheist-like attack), If you don't cause a wound in combat, wearer is killed instantly)
- Nightshroud 20 slaves (+1 AS, all models in basecontact get ASL&no bonuses to their strength)
- Black Periapt 25 slaves (stores 2 dice)
- Staff of Flaming Death 20 slaves (Bound Spell 3+, similar to Flame Cage)
- Book of Arkhan 12,5 slaves (Bound Spell 3+, casts Vanhel's Dance Macabre, doesn't burn out)
- Cursed Book 17,5 slaves (sacrifice D3 power dice to get off a random Hex spell of six (Miasma, Withering, Soulblight, Doom and Darkness, some Heavens spell and something else) as a bound with the minimal complexity)
- Staff of Damnation 17,5 slaves (Bound Spell 4+, all models in 6 inches (inc. mounts) get +1 attack untill next magic phase)

VAMPIRIC POWERS
- Dark Acolyte 12,5 slaves (+D3 wounds healed in Invocation of Nehek)
- Quickblood 15 slaves (ASF)
- Curse of the Revenant 22,5 slaves (+1 W)
- Red Fury 25 slaves (same as before, but can be used with 2HW)
- Mortal Strike 15pkt (trade in all attacks for 1 with HKB)
- Dreadknight 5 slaves (+2 WS, must issue and accept challenges unless Krell or a Vampire with a higher LD are part of the unit)
- Summon Creatures of the Night 5 slaves (increase bats, batswarms & wolves beyond starting size)
- Forbidden Knowledge 12,5 slaves (access to rulebook lores (doesn't get to know all spells))
- Master of the Black Arts (get to re-roll one D6 for the Winds of Magic)
- Flying Horror (Fly)
- Beguile (same as now)
- Aura of Dark Majesty (-1LD to all enemies in base contact)

LORE OF VAMPIRES

The Curse of Undeath (Lore attribute): When a spell form the Lore of the Vampires is successfully cast, the Wizard (or another friendly model within 12") instantly regains a single Wound lost earlier in the battle.

- Spell0: Invocation of Nehek (6+): Augment, range 6". Each friendly Undead unit within range recovers D6+wizard's level wounds. Can be boosted to range 12" or 18".
- Spell1: Vanhel's Dance Macabre (6+): Augment, grants extra movement up to 8" (no charging probably)
- Spell2: Hellish Vigour (8+): Augment, some combat buff
- Spell3: Gaze of Nagash (9+): Magic Missile, range 24"
- Spell4: Raise Dead (9+): Creates new unit of up to 15 zombies or skeletons (2D6+3 probably)
- Spell5: Curse of Years (12+): Hex, Remains in Play
- Spell6: Wind of Death (15+): Vortex, small round template. Moves Artilleryx3 inches. Any unit beneath or passed by the template takes D6 S3 hits for each rank of the unit, with no armour save allowed. Big S4 template can be used instead on a roll of 25+.

Disclaimer on the Magic Spells: I did my best, connecting various bits of information from WD to guess spell numbers and effects, but (apart from IoN and WoD, which are pretty obvious) this is just speculation on my side!

Also, WD confirms every Vampire, Vampire Lord and Ghoul King is a Level 1 caster by default. Also, Ghoul King for sure can use Magic Items and Vampiric Powers just like "normal" Vampire Lord. Hero-level Necromancers can be Level 1 or Level 2, Master Necromancers (Lord-level) can be Level 3, if they can be Level 4 remains unknown.

ShadowMaster wrote:GW must hate Brettonians, who sit with an old 6Ed codex. GW must really hate Wood Elves, who (without ranks) clearly can't function in the current edition rule set..... yet they are foced to endure while the VC (who dominated in 7Ed) get shiny new toys.

If the rumors hold, next up is Empire followed by Dwarves

i cant wait to read the book and see how it does on the field. i know i will be look at the forums...hopefully some one builds a list with them...

Now, if we could only revive Fantasy and get people playing again ..

i have been trying for months

[quote="ShadowMaster"]

ShadowMaster wrote:GW must hate Brettonians, who sit with an old 6Ed codex. GW must really hate Wood Elves, who (without ranks) clearly can't function in the current edition rule set..... yet they are foced to endure while the VC (who dominated in 7Ed) get shiny new toys.

If the rumors hold, next up is Empire followed by Dwarves


Bretts do rather well in this edition..

Wood Elves.......meh [/ quote]

If they would only make the Dwarf book a Double Book Dwarves/Chaos Dwarves ...would be cool. I dont like the Dwarves much, but i like the Chaos dwarves the couple of times i played them. And WTF , Empire dont need a new book, they are strong as they are !

Minotaurs/Razorgors; Fiends of Slaneesh; Kroxigors are 55
Ushabti 50
Treekin are a whopping 65!

- Vargheists 23 slaves
- Crypt Horrors 19 slaves

That is a VERY low cost for monsterous infantry. You could easily field multiple monsterous hordes. Mix that in with new lower cost for all infantry and you'll see much larger VC armies on the field..... whenever that may be.

Thats the power creep for you . Wood Elves are the oldest at 65 points, Ushabti are the newest at only 50 points. Now lets throw in the newest power creep so that people will actually buy our 20 dollar models !

i have to ask are these slaves with spears, slaves with slings, slaves with spear and shield or base slaves......this 100slaves shit is driving me crazy

Chaos trolls 35
stone 45
river 45
rat ogre 40

Ovich wrote:Thats the power creep for you . Wood Elves are the oldest at 65 points, Ushabti are the newest at only 50 points. Now lets throw in the newest power creep so that people will actually buy our 20 dollar models !

what power creep?

i had a look did any one else???

Lots of peeps trying to swap out of VC right now on BTown. I guess peeps don't like finding that they suddenly only own half of an army.

lol, i havent really looked at the book or really read much about the rumors, but apparently VCs have a horrible prob with LD. In the TK forums they were saying how our Casket RAPES VC units cause of the LD problems some of the units have.
I was ready to be pissed, now , not so much.

lol why because skeles got cut but i thought every one went ghoul heavy??? lol crazy people......

Just picked up the book at Joel's. These new army books are nice. Though since I rarely played, kinda at a loss where to start. I would love to have a lot of skeletons, any ideas?

I ponyed up for the Coven Throne/ Mortis Engine.

Whenever I get to it

i am unsure when to start myself.

Ghouls and Grave Guard are still your best bet