Hi all,

New to VCs, am thinking of collecting them as my next army. I like to plan my purchases and wondered if you could rate this as a potential tournament army?

All comments appreciated,

Cheers,

ESO

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Necrarch Count (Level 3) (Noble Blood, Dark Acolyte, Forbidden Lore, Black Periapt) = 340

Necrarch Thrall (Level 1) (Noble Blood) = 125

Necrarch Thrall (Level 1) (Noble Blood) = 125

Necrarch Thrall (Book of Arkhan, Dark Acolyte) = 130

20 Zombies (Standard, Musician) = 135 (Lvl 1 Thrall with this unit)
20 Zombies (Standard, Musician) = 135 (Lvl 1 Thrall with this unit)
20 Skeletons (Full Command) = 185 (Count and remaining Thrall with this unit)

5 Dire Wolves = 50
5 Dire Wolves = 50
5 Dire Wolves = 50
5 Dire Wolves = 50

8 Ghouls = 64
8 Ghouls = 64
8 Ghouls = 64
8 Ghouls = 64

10 Grave Guard (Full Command, Shields, War Banner) = 185

Banshee = 90
Banshee = 90


H= (4) 720
C= 11 911
S= 1 185
R= 2 180

T= 14(18) 1996

Ditch the mage thralls and get a pair of lv2 necromancers instead, bive one a pair of scrols and the other the book of arkhan and a scroll.

Switch the other thrall for a wight lord on a barded nightmare with sword of the kings and enchanted shield.

Drop the grave guard - they're too small to do anything. Likewise, drop the banshees - there's too much ItP stuff around for them to be of any use. With the spare points get either 9 or 11 barded black knights with full command and banner of the barrows.

Drop one zomie regiment to 10 models and use it as a necro bunker, and drop the lord's unit to 19 models, and give them light armour.

Consider units of 7 or 9 for ghouls - they're more effective as they can take more casualties before panicking (9) or the same amount for less points (7)

I agree with some of Mortis\'s points.

Drop some ghouls, you don\'t need that many. Your wolves will be doing most of the work anyway. I say only take 3 squads of 5-6 ghouls. Drop your GG and Banshees too.

As for the Necrarch thralls, I like them and think they are fluffy. Besides, unlike a necro, they can actually defend themselves. I\'d say take this:

Count:
w/ Level 2, Noble Blood, Dark Acolyte, Cynosure, biting Blade

or

Count:
w/ Level 2, Noble Blood, Dark Acolyte, Spell Familiar, Forbidden Lore

Keep a Thrall, give him Noble blood

Take a Necro
w/ level 2, Book of Arkhan, Dispel Scroll

Wight Lord
w/ Barded Steed, Lance, Shield, Heavy Armour, HW, Cursed Book

Try to fit in a squad of Black Knights, I have always found these guys to be great no matter who you are fighting. They are tough, fast and lethal.

Hope that helped.

regards,
Lord Crosis

The only thing I agree on is that you should drop the GG due to their size, they will nothing. I also would drop one of the banshees, 2 is risky but 1 is fun.
For these points I´d get Black knights with the barrow banner.

One necro instead one of the thralls might be healthy for your list but your setup is more fun ^_^

Consider taking the following character setup:
Count, NNB, +1 spell, Cynosure, Sword of Might
Thrall, +1Pd, BoA
Thrall, +1Pd, scroll
Necro, lvl2, Staff of Damnation

And, the following units to support your characters:
20 Grave guard, shield, FC, War Banner
20 Skellies, LA, FC
25 Zombies, FC
25 Zombies, FC
10 Zombies
4 Bats
4 Bats
5 Wolves
5 Wolves
5 Wolves
9 Ghouls
9 Ghouls
5 Ghouls

So, here you have a different kind of horde army; both thralls can go in skellies, count in grave guards, and necro in necro bunker. At the first sign of trouble, you can take your characters to visit the necro, so he's not all alone. ;)
Your count has 7Pd at his disposal, which means he casts 2 spells, necro castas one (usually IoN), and you have 2 bound items to finish your magic phase; both will cause havoc for your opponenet (especially if the staff goes off; and your feable Thralls turn into A3 S5 killers! :wub: )

Also, consider taking a BSB, but then you'll have to give him the Gem of Blood. -_-

Cheers for all the feedback so far, it's really appreciated.

Just a few things:

1) I prefer thralls to necromancers as they're a) more fluffy (*Vampire* Counts) and B) can fight

2) All those ghouls - idea was to have 2 units as a missile screen up front and two units at the back to charge or block any fliers/scouts

3) Fast cavalry rocks! I'm a Wood Elf player normally, and I've yet to find a down side to rear/flank charges and negating rank bonuses!

4) Why is the 10 strong unit of Grave Guard a waste? The idea is that combat only lasts a round - crumbling is too horrific at that point cost! They wade in, kill their stuff and break the opponent, or die trying, without being too much of a points-sink, hence making sure that they're not shot at with ghouls and dire wolves?

5) Finally, what's wrong with Banshees? I always thought two would be more effective than one, and I need *something* to deal with high toughness stuff, right?

Mind you, I like the above suggested lists, except for the bats (I *hate* the models :( )

Cheers again for all the help so far,

ESO

But you need the magic, which they really cannot provide. And a Wight lord, in reality can do much more for you. A WL with heavy armour, SoK and Enchanted Shield on a barded nightmare, in knights, will be much more powerful than any thrall and give your army a devastating hammer unit.

And you can do that with less. Many less, and you can use the spare to buy other stuff

True

You're right. Combat will only last one round. Most of the game they'll simply be avoided, and then at the end, they'll get flanked by cav and smashed. GG are only really feasible in units of 20 or 25. And I will maintain - you're better off with knights.

High toughness, as I suggested, is what you use knights for. THething is, most high toughess stuff is either high Ld - (dragons, giants) or ItP. And they're incredibly vulnerable. One magic missile and your banshee's gone, forcing you to wast valuable dispel dice. Which you really need as you have no scrolls. At least one should be included in any army.

The models may not be great, but they are in game. They are the ultimate support unit, and are the best thing we have for warmachine hunting.