There are many pages with vampire count tactics to a science, but I have seen many posts by people on this board and I would like to hear more!

I'd like to hear any interesting, effective, or "what-if" tactics, and I'll add my own!

Thanks!

Scrappy

The Swarm Tactic

How would Vampire Counts be a swarm army? Well, heres what I've observed:

The VC core offensive is absolutely pathetic, so their power must come in numbers and vampires. The key in this strategy is the "Forced Flee" rule... if you're unfamiliar, that's the rule that says "If you win combat resolution and also outnumber your enemy, they will automatically flee (assuming they are not fear causing themselves or immune to psychology)." To summarize a very complicated tactic, your objective is to win combat resolution and still outnumber, and there are many ways to accomplish this. My favorite way is to take a strigoi into a LARGE unit of skeletons with handweapons and shields... the armor save is essential to this tactic, because the offensive ability will, more often than not, fail you.

This is an extremely loose explanation of a very intracate tactic, so please post questions!

Strengths: You can take out an elite melee unit with a relatively cheap one. For example, saurus or spearmen with skeletons or zombies!

Weaknesses: It can be countered with anything immune to fear... it can be an almost garunteed loss if you go against an elite melee unit with immunity to fear.

Comments? Questions?

Scrappy

The Cast and Flank

The prerequisite to this tactic is strong casters, the book of arkahn, and a little bit of luck! ;)

The short and sweet of this tactic: While an enemy unit is engaged with yours, you summon up some flankers/rear attackers and use the book of arkahn to get a free flank charge! This tactic is extremely well known and effective, but it's DEFINITELY not fool proof.

Strengths: If successfully done, this will put the unit you're attacking into an EXTREMELY tight spot... it's also pretty reliable from my experience.

Weaknesses: Too many victory points are created when units are summoned. Also, it's magic, so it CAN be unreliable, and it's easily countered.

Questions? Comments?

Scrappy

This will be a useful topic. I'm going to pin it. Also, with your permission, once it comes round to it I'd like to incorporate the tactics people post here into the Tactics part of the "So you want to collect a VC army?" thread.

Get posting those tactics, guys! Your name will be in lights!

Cheers,
DLJ

The Drag and Flank

Armies are often shielded by weaker units to protect their elite units from instant combat or shooting... this is where the flanking power of Vampire Counts is used. In order to properly use this tactic, some mental tricks must be used along with some manuevering. The more maneuverable your army is, the more effective this tactic will be. My personal favorites are ghouls, dire wolves, black knights, swarms and fell bats.

Basically, this tactic is used to stop elite troops with a heavy flank. The execution of this tactic can be extremely difficult for some armies, but when done properly, it can be extremely effective.

Okay, as for execution: stick with me! In order to drag away a flank protector, you need to pose an actual threat somewhere else, but not too much of a threat that it will become a liability.

Fell bats: People are afraid of most flyers, no one needs a 20'' flying charge threatening their casters and ranged units. These are extremely effective, make them out of range of their charge in order to drag them away, and when they are away, use either dire wolves (for their mobility) or black knights (for sheer power) to charge into a flank. While the flank is covered, use your core units to rush into the front or (preferably) another flank.

Dire wolves: These are extremely fast and, more importantly, cheap. They die extremely easy, but again, no one needs a flank charge from a group of fast cavalry with slavering charge. With these, it's preferable to keep them away from all missle fire as long as possible, and also keep them out of the enemy's charge range. They will have no choice but to march at you, and this is when you use the mobility to the full advantage. Run to their flank (which shouldn't be hard) and open up a whole new group of possibilities. If they choose not to go after that unit, then they'll get a flank charge from dire wolves. If they turn, they're opening their flank up to your core unit. If the flank protectors charge at you, that will tie up a flank protector and open that flank anyway, which dire wolves and/or black knights should be poised and ready to pounce on.

Swarms (my personal favorite): Bat swarms can be extremely effective: flying swarms that wont suffer from the dreaded combat resoultion wounds. I normally use a swarm of 2-3 to tie up the front of a unit... that will immobilize them for at least 2 turns (assuming they hit and wound with every attack). Tying up a unit opens up a LOT of things (like flank charges!). I've found that flank protectors can be taken out while the swarms tie them up, but this can be extremely risky, as you're setting yourself up for a flank charge if the swarms die too early. To counter this, I normally put 5 ghouls to protect that flank.

Please excuse how confusing this tactic is... it's extremely complicated and extremely difficult to execute, but when mastered, this tactic can eliminate the strongest of melee troops.

If you have any specific questions, please post them, I'd love to answer!

Scrappy

Elementary Summoning

This tactic is the most simple Vampire Count tactic around. The only reason I would ever post it is because it has worked for me, and it's a GREAT back up tactic.

Short and sweet: Sit back and summon up as many skeletons as you can. It's near impossible to take out as many skeletons as you summon, so they're going to have to come to you, at which point they'll be (objectively) outnumbered.

Specifics: If you're going to go tackle this tactic specifically, you're going to need enough casting power. 2-3 Necromancers will be able to summon enough to matter, but don't ever try just 1. Two fully equipped units of skeletons are nice for this because of how many points you get for free... a supporting melee necromancer is also nice with this tactic.

Strengths: Extremely easy to execute. You can sit back and do almost nothing until they get to your huge force of skeletons and/or zombies. It's also an easy tactic to fall back on.

Weaknesses: Too many to make this tactic reliable. First of all, it's magic. Second of all, it leaves us with the question of "what do I do now?". That question is up to you: if you want to use another tactic with this one, that can be extremely effective.

Questions? Comments?

Scrappy

The last one is to be used only if your opponent is forced to come to you, I assume? Else he can just sit on his hands too and shoot stuff at you.

Fast Cavalry just absolutely rocks. Now, after playing a few more games with my armies and using my wolves more effectively, I begin to see why the guy with the all-Wolf army could actually win tournaments! And why my DE friend absolutely swears by Dark Riders. Charge diverters, fast mobile rear-flankers (it's an amazing thing, free reform and 18" movement... in a single turn, you can be actively threatening the guy's rear with a throwaway unit costing 50pts!)...

Just a minor addendum to the Drag and Flank: it sounds like Charge Diversion to me. Quite a lot of armies can do this, but the main edge we Vampire Counts have over other armies is this: we can raise new units out of thin air. We could divert a charge with our throwaway unit of Dire Wolves, taking that unit of Chaos Knights out of the game for 2 turns or so. But Marauder Horsemen, Dark Riders, Ellyrian Reavers, etc... can do the same, and possibly better, because they can flee.

But no other army can suddenly raise a screen of skeletons and place it in such a way that the opponent is immediately faced with the dilemma described above by Scrappy. Suddenly, the Black Knights are having a good chance of getting a flank charge instead of a risky frontal charge, because there's a diagonal line of skeletons in between them and the opponent's Saurus Warriors. Suddenly, the main block of Skeletons/Zombies is safe from that Chariot, because of a diagonal line of skeletons in between them.

Looking forward to the continuation of this thread from *glittering Las Vegas neon lights* Scrappy! *glittering Las Vegas neon lights*

It's great to see other people post on this threat, especially with advice! Thanks a lot Derfel ;)

He was correct with all of his points: many of these are not Vampire Count specialized, but most are. About the drag and flank: this is definitely a universal tactic, I was just trying to give some specifics of doing it with Vampire Counts, and trying to effectively flank without the overuse of the dreadfully unreliable magic.

Anyway...

Ethereal Overwhelm (Just for fun) :)

This tactic can be extremely effective... however I wouldn't suggest it for tournaments (those damn skaven, not to mention magic!).

I have only used this tactic once. If anything, it was incredibly funny! The name almost explains itself: you make as many ethereal units as possible and overwhelm them. It's impossible for ethereal units to hold off an entire army, but it's easy for them to walk to a flank and attack with no risk!

From experience, this is what I did: I had a large unit of skeletons and a small unit of zombies. As for heroes, I had an etheral necromancer (cloak of mist and shadows) in the skeletons, purposely deployed on the opposite side of any of his heroes. Along with that necromancer, I placed a blood dragon thrall on the other side to accept challenges from the opposing hero(s). As for ethereal units, I had 3 spirit hosts (as I vaguely recall), a wraith that was put in the unit of zombies (strictly for protection), and a *drum roll* banshee!

I'll quickly disregard the fact that I lost this game, but it was absolutely hillarious to watch my opponent shake in frusteration... his small unit of flank protectors being tied up and killed without causing a single wound, his hero getting instantly killed by my blood dragon (which got killed later...), my banshee running around all edges of the board, screaming at casters and skirmishers alike...

Anyway, onto the specifics. To properly execute this tactic, you need to protect your ethereal units from magic as long as possible. It's pretty hard to completely avoid getting shot by a few magic missles when you only have 3 dispel dice and no scrolls. Also, avoid getting your ethereal units into close combat alone: they will die from combat resolution, I've only had this happen once, but it's extremely frusterating. If you do choose to charge, make sure you'll either win combat resolution or you'll have some relatively harmless place to allocate wounds (zombies!).

In most cases, you can take most other core units with some combined tactics that I've mentioned with your skeletons/zombies. I've learned that large spirit host swarms are extremely effective at taking out monsters (kroxxigor, rat ogres, etc) because they don't outnumber and they don't have outnumber.

If you decide to use a wraith (near useless in my opinion) then make sure that you get him locked into close combat with some units with no magic weapons. And never forget his terror rules... I've found that you can take out straggling skirmishers with terror alone.

The banshee is the key here: the scream is absolutely priceless. You can easily run from magic missles, but lore of the heavens will get you! Again, this isn't a great tactic in tournaments, but if used right, it can be effective AND annoying! Imagine this: rolling a 12 with a banshee (on cavalry). I did this, but don't rely on it, I was lucky. I did take 4/8 of his cavalry, and at 23-26 points each, he was furious.

Stengths: It's extremely funny and can be really effective against low leadership armies.

Weaknesses: Too many! Again, this army is pretty much just for fun, although it could work! It's just too risky to rely on ethereals

Questions? Comments? STORIES?

:D

Scrappy

The Wonders of Dire Wolves

This strategy is completely focused on the dire wolves... they seem like an extremely weak unit until used to their full effect, which I hope to accomplish here.

(I would LOVE to hear from some more people, especially about this subject, because the usage of dire wolves is highly disputed amongst Vampire Counts!)

First of all, it needs to be understood that most VC games are won by combat resolution. For 50 points, dire wolves can threaten their combat resolution more than any unit in the VC army aside from MAYBE Black Knights (not even they are fast cavalry). I'll try to explain the annoying and useful tactics, since dire wolves completely lack brute force!

First of all, don't let your dire wolves be shot at! They have no armor and they NEED that 5 unit strength charge or they're near useless.

Second, they are decent at handling many stragglers: mostly ones with low leadership. Remember, if you charge with even a single dire wolf, they need to make a leadership test or run. So for this strategy, I suggest you take dire wolves with less than 5 unit strength (ones that have survived past battles, been shot at, etc) and throw them at the unit. DO NOT RELY ON THIS, but it can detour them for a turn or even kill the unit if you're lucky enough.

Third (and most useful, for dire wolves and all fast cavalry) is the always useful flank charge. This can take 4 points from combat resolution and forces a fear test (and a panic check... I forget if they stack). Even if one does killed, you've already taken away 3 from combat resolution or however many ranks he has. This leads me to this sub-tactic: The Sandwich
The sandwich is INCREDIBLY effective at killing units with little to no flank/rear protection. Remember that even if you can only MARCH within 12'', you can still charge the full range. So this is the short and sweet: march a large block of infantry, preferably with a hero or lord, towards the main unit that you're targeting. When in range, march one unit of dire wolves just in range of his rear, but a few on his flank (so it forces him to turn further) and another unit onto the opposite flank. So here are his options: charge your main unit and get a charge from the rear and flank, turn to a unit of your dire wolves and get charged in the flank by a huge block of infantry, a unit of dire wolves on the rear, and probably another charge on the flank from the other wolves (because it's funny to tie up units and run to their flank with fast cav). It's difficult to explain, but remember the name: try to sandwich him so he has no choice but to take a few charges.

Heres the problem: this is assuming he has no units within range to take out the wolves. This will take some manuevering, but it's almost always possible.

The second to last tactic is my personal favorite: fear and harassment. I've always found it hillarious to watch a block of something whip around to face dire wolves... it's just a bad idea in most cases. Dire wolves are a HUGE mental tactic... when there are 3-4 units of dire wolves in a 2000 point game sitting on the table, most people will feel overwhelmed and simply fall apart because they go too defensive. I've seen this happen MANY times. As for harassment, just run around their flanks and rears, just out of range of any of their attacks, and make them turn to face them a bunch. I know it's hard to do this, but they still have a 9'' move, which is enough to walk around a unit and tie them up.

In conclusion, dire wolves are not fighters... they're strictly strategic. Use your imagination, they're pretty much 9 move skirmishers (for most purposes). If you find a clever tactic or just general advice, PLEASE PLEASE post!

Scrappy

A minor correction. A lone dire wolf will not make ANYTHING other than a US 1 single model run. Units that fail their Fear check against anything that doesn't outnumber them do not run, they hit on 6s for the first round of combat. You do need to take them in blocks of at least 5, however, so US usually isn't a problem, you have 10 to start with. The only problem comes with Summon Wolves. I've rolled for 1 Wolf the last two times I used this power. Not so good. :angry:

Thanks for that correction: you are right, that's an important one.

That's definitely an important rule, so make sure to brush up on that before you try anything clever!! :)

Scrappy

Thought of a tactic though I just don't think it's right.
Ever hated it when you charge a unit and it flees (either because of fear test or just because it chooses to) and you are then charged by a supporting unit or shot up and the fleeing unit rallies? Fell bats don't march and so a failed charge they will persue 20"! seems unfair doesn't it. Of course the other way you can get out of the fleeing tactic is match up you're combats so they can't counter-charge you.

Some offensive tactics, basically describing the various ways VC units are used to actually break the opponent. I've only got a couple of ideas now, please feel free to add to this list.

Being an elaboration of the "Cast and Flank"

This is the bog-standard combo that everyone else and his mother knows how to counter, usually. Basically, summon a new unit to the flank/rear and Vanhels it into an engaged enemy unit in the same turn. Anyone experienced against VC knows that if they allow VC out-of-phase movement spells to get through, they're severely screwed.

Here are some specifics about using this combo.

1. Against large regiments with as wide a flank as they have a rear, summon to the back. This is for +2CR. In subsequent turns (if combat lasts long enough!) you may not want to summon to the flank, however... and below, I explain why...

2. Against units like Heavy Cavalry, Kroxigors, Ushabti, etc... summon to the flank. Not the rear. Why? you ask. Because sometimes this tactic backfires on you. You summon 5+ zombies and run them into the rear of some CKoK. Next thing you know, 2 of the Knights turn around and hack the zombies into pieces. You don't even get the +2CR, they have no rank bonus for you to negate in the first place, they get CR for destroying the zombies, and they get VP for the same thing.

If you summon to the flank, you get only 1 model to strike back at you. If it's a unit of CKoK, well, 1 of those may still turn the tide against you, but it's MUCH better than having 3 of them doing that. You're likely to be able to maintain the +1, and also the new unit of skellies/zombies is more likely to survive, adding to your total US at the end of combat and helping towards outnumber.

The basic thing is, the more models the enemy has in hth, the more of YOUR troops they are likely to kill. You have to judge whether the +1 or +2 CR is worth it, in certain cases.

3. This becomes even more applicable through a new ruling on a recent Q&A (not the recent controversial Anthony Reynolds one, an earlier one). The "zombie conga line" tactic has been recognized to be an abuse of the rules, and has been prohibited. New units summoned must have a minimum frontage of 4. That means up to 5/6 enemy infantry or 3 cavalry/monster models can strike back at any new unit you summon.

4. As I read the rules, the VP of a created unit does not change. Say you create a unit of 6 skeletons. The unit is worth 48VPs. If you boost up the size later on, it's STILL 48VPs, and your opponent will need to get them down to 2 Skeletons to claim VP for it at the end of the game.

5. IMHO Necrarchs are most obviously adept at the Cast-and-Flank. A Necrach Count and perhaps 3 of his Necromancer disciples can really force some spells through. For more info, check out my (forthcoming) thread below on a potentially annoying Necrarch force, with some specifics about how to use it. Comments are welcome.

Blood Dragon armies that bother to be "fluffy" (i.e. they don't go 1 Count 3 Necros) have the most problem with Cast-and-Flank, due to the lack of Power Dice.

The Black Hammer

Undead normally rely on yet another bog-standard tactic, the good old hammer-and-anvil. Our anvil is unbreakable and a real pain to get rid of (most of the time) and we can sometimes summon little mallets to pound the enemy against our anvil... but what of the hammer?

I am of the belief that VC armies really need a means of breaking the enemy. Recently I bought my Black Coach... I love the model... someday I'm gonna buy a car and "convert" it into my personal Black Coach...

A potentially devastasting combo (I think) could consist of the Coach and 5 Black Knights (Banner of the Barrows optional). If you manage to charge both into an enemy (usually both will charge the front, the Coach ends up unavoidably clipping the target) the starting US is 15. With the wounds you can cause with d6 s5 impact hits, 2 s5 hits from the Wraith, 5-6 WS 3 s6 hits (3+ to hit always, with the BotB) and 6-7 horses attacking, you could very well end up outnumbering the opponent after the charge.

The Spirit Hammer

Another combo used by certain VC armies is 2x Spirit Hosts and Black Knights, 8-10 of them (Vampire/Wight Lord optional). Cheap alternative would be 5 BK instead of the full complement. The same concept applies: with such expensive units, you would be poorly served if you do not outnumber the opponent right from the start (a US of up to 26!). You get 8 Spirit Host attacks in exchange for the Coach, and probably fewer Knights can attack (due to frontage issues and the Spirits taking up more space than the Coach), but the Knights can generate 1 extra CR with the extra rank. Sometimes it can be helpful. Moreover, the Spirit Host serves to absorb most attacks from enemy models that somehow survive to strike back, although the Coach can do that pretty well too (T6, 4+ AS, 5+ Ward).

So where to put your hammer?

Obvious and simple answer is "on the flank", where after they charge, they can "roll up the line" and "deal some ass-kicking". Exactly where this "flank" is depends on your formation. Here is a sample diagram of a defensive "phalanx" formation. Note the placement of the Spirit Hammer.

SSSS SSSS SSSS SPRIT BLACK
SSSS SSSS SSSS HOSTS KNIGHTS
SSSS SSSS SSSS
SSSS SSSS SSSS
SSSS SSSS SSSS

The Spirit Hammer is in a supportive role, put near the main tarpit infantry blocks. This is a very defensive formation. You will probably need to do something to make sure your knights don't get flanked on the right, but with some charge diverters and summoned tarpits it can be done.

The Black Hammer can be placed a bit more flexibly, in a "break a flank and roll up the line" position. It sometimes operates outside the General's Ld range, which is actually alright, since the Coach can't march anyway, so the Knights and the Coach end up moving together at the not-very-slow pace of 7".

The placement of these two hammers can, however, be interchanged, depending on the situation. Specifically, if there's a unit you want to tie up with Spirit Hosts on the enemy's flank. Do so, break them with the Knights, then turn around and start your run. If there's a unit your Coach cannot handle on the enemy's flank (s7 monsters or characters, etc). Keep the Coach away from such things and put the Hammer in a supporting role for your infantry blocks.

Im not sure how many of you have seen this but it is called the
Wraith Train, someone tried to use it on me, didn't get very far though he forgot my tomb guards Tomb blades count as magic weapons :D , but the idea is sound and I have seen it posted on a lot of other sites.

basically you get a wraith on a barded etheral nightmar put in front of a unit of dire wolves and go for a flank char eg

eeee
eeee
eeeeWDDDDD
eeee


e = enemy
d= dire wolf
w= wraith

typically they try for a frontal charge as well, the theory is the unit removes rank bonus while being basically immune to damage from the unit it has charged, of course there are weakness to it, but against some things iy would be just plain nasty.

You've been reading the thread on the Blood Keep, haven't you, King P? The Wraith Train tactic is very big over there right now ^_^

Obviously, there are a few things wrong with the Wraith Train.

1. You have a huge, huge flank (six cavalry bases wide), which the enemy will undoutably be able to hit if you don't break in the first round of combat.

2. The Wraith is not the hardest hitting combat character we have. There are those who think a Thrall or Wight Lord would actually do more damage to the enemy on the charge than the Wraith would, and this would have the same effect of them not being able to strike back.

3. It's a bit of a cheap, sneaky tactic that really works the rules. You'd probably be described as a "complete git" if you ever tried it on one of your opponents!

Cheers,
DLJ

The Wraith Train has been repeatedly condemned on the WPS forums. That's enough for me.

Seriously speaking, they do have very sound arguments against it. Let me repeat some of them here.

1. As mentioned by DLJ, very large flank for enemy to hit.

2. This also implies that it requires an insane amount of space. You will likely only be able to flank isolated units.

3. The unit will be small, and Wolves are not tough. Shooting and magic will whittle down the unit until you don't have enough to get flank/rear bonuses with.

4. It's a pants tactic. C'mon. It's as bad as the zombie conga line, in that it bends the boundaries of in-game "realism". If the conga line is considered "bad form" (so much that the rules were changed to make it illegal!) then what more for the Wraith Train?

Actually, the zombie conga line tactic is now against the rules. You have to raise your units in formations at least four models wide now, meaning it requires the use of two Vanhel's Danse Macabres to get a summoned unit into the conga line formation and then into the enemy unit.

I'm going to agree with the WPS, seeing as I am a member of the Society ^_^

Cheers,
DLJ

something with as many weakness as the wraith trai isn't really that dodgy, I mean its not near the level of rule bending as conga lines and goblin slingshots

Make a separate thread for this please. This thread is for discussion of tactics, not for others to rate your list.

However, the decision is up to DLJ of course...

sorry Derfel i didn't know i have just started,
any way i reckon a bashee is great for bring out fanatics when versing ors and gobbos, they can't hurt you and you can kill them, problem is the night goblin will charge the banshee and it will die because of CR

A Gentle Balance

As far as tactics go, you have to take all the lists into consideration. It's great to have an all "tarpit" list or and all "cast and flank" list, but that will fail you more than not to an experienced player. This is why it's important to mix tactics. I personally play strigoi, mostly because the only thing that can kill my count is a BD and they are absolutely PRICELESS in taking out rank and file units.

I'm not claiming to be an expert on tactical advice, but I play a lot of warhammer. I've learned that if you take a specialized list to a tournament, you will most likely lose. Theres a counter to everything, but it's extremely difficult to counter several.

I feel like this may be unclear, but take this as an example.

You take an all tarpit army... masses of ghouls, rank and file killers, dire wolves, heavy casting, etc. Then you play a slaanesh army. What I'm getting at, is you can still take a tarpit army and have backup plans (like me!). To compensate for the unreliability of a tarpit army, I toss in black knights and ghouls.

Now this would be extremely unhelpful if I didn't toss in some random tactics, wouldn't it?

"How to kill cavalry with zombies" is what I call this irritating little tactic.
In most cavalry lists, it's easy to swarm... ESPECIALLY WITH THE CAST AND FLANK!!!! It's absolutely hillarious to watch a swarm of zombies sit and tie up the flank of cavalry, then watching them squirm as the banshee sits 2 inches away from their nose, taunting them and screaming at them. I'm not sure how effective this really is, because in the game I played with it, I killed 6 chosen knights of khorne in one scream (I made them lose their frenzy already). That player will no longer play me.

Ah, now Scrappy is a man after my own heart! I agree with the sentiment that reliance on a single factor to win you the game is generally not a good thing. Plenty of options, however, gives you tactical flexibility and is more fun to boot!

I think its worth mentioning that if you are going to base your army around something, base it around combat instead of magic. The latter is far, far too random to base anything on. It's better to have it as one of these "back ups" that Scrappy mentioned: it's easier to capatalise on magic when it goes right, rather than relying on it from the start to win the game for you.

Cheers,
DLJ

I agree with the "if you must specialize, do so in hth" part. Now that I've made the switch to the Sylvanian list, I suddenly find that my magic phase is now my greatest liability. I have very weak magic defence, and a relentless but predictable magic phase that's ridiculously easy to shut down at sub-2k (or if you're a Dwarf. Damn stunties).

I wish I could contribute more to strategies, but nowadays I'm still figuring out the ins and outs of the Sylvanian list. So far I've only played sub-2k, and I've had great difficulty generally speaking. I've managed a minor victory at best, and my worst was a minor defeat. I feel lucky that I've not been massacred, because I'm not in fact a very good player, and compounding that with my inexperience with the Sylvanians, and the experience my opponents have had with their lists, it's a wonder I haven't been massacred.

I can tell you this: I've had to adapt my sub-2k lists to minimize my perceived weaknesses and build on my strengths, instead of attempting too much to compensate. I take either no skeletons (the mobile, quick-response Sylvanian Defence Force) or 2 blocks of 16. With only 2 grave markers and no bound spells, I cannot rely on a robust magic phase. I can rely on eventually raising stuff, but I cannot build my game around it. Not anymore, anyway.

I choose to have hard-hitting units. It's a good thing our Black Knights are deliberately underpriced. 5 is a decent, scary unit, and it's really cost-efficient. The Coach is now priced lower, and is Special instead of rare.

I focus on mobility. MSU of wolves are missile fodder against most armies, but sometimes they can play really annoying roles, threatening the flanks like no one's business. Against war-machines, Summoned Wolves, Scouting Wolves and Bats work in concord, presenting the war-machines with target saturation, and almost certainly the war-machine will fall.

Scrappy: did you kill the knights with the banshee while they were in combat with the zombies? It's a bit unclear... :)