59 replies to this topic

[mousekiller]

VAMPIRE COUNTS

20 Zombies (w/ musician and std bearer) = 70 points
20 Skeletal Spearmen (w/ shield, light armour, spears, and full command) = 130 points

Lords: 0% Heroes: 0% Core: 100% Special: 0% Rare: 0%

TOTAL = 200 points

THE CURRENT ARMY:



And, to start us off, I will begin a bit of background for this army. As I complete the units they will get there own piece of history right here.

THE BACKGROUND:
In an instance, his mind was awake. Darkness all around him, but he could feel the presence of new and old dead, some with the mindless need to serve but others with malicious intent. Trying to move his body, he found that none of his muscles would respond. How long had it been? Without even trying, he could feel his presence waking the newly dead around him, and with a simple thought they were off to find sustenance to help bring his decrepit body back to vitality. In the meantime he began channeling his thoughts to the older bones in and around the crypt, stationing skeletal soldiers around him to ensure no one bothered him while he replenished. But in the back of his head, so faint that he could barely make it out, the same phrase kept repeating... "he is coming!"

THE SHAMBLING HORDE:
These recently deceased members of Stirland's countryside shamble to do Pieter's bidding. Comprising of farmers and outlying soldiers, Pieter has successfully raised them as guardians to his tomb while he regains his strength.

THE RISEN SPEARS:
Risen from the long dead graves around the tomb encasing Pieter, this silent horde awaits is masters bidding in quiet sentry.

OTHER ARMIES:
Empire
Vampire Counts
Orcs and Goblins
Ogre Kingdoms
Dwarves
Mortals of Chaos
Skaven
Daemons of Chaos

[Forlorn Hope]

Mannfred Von Carstein (w/ a barded nightmare and the Book of Arkhan) = 240 points
10 Skeleton Warriors (w/ shield, light armour, spears, and full command) = 110 points
10 Crypt Ghouls (w/ Crypt Ghast) = 88 points
3 Crypt Bats (will count as Fell Bats) = 60 points

TOTAL = 498 points

Any suggestions? Once we finalize the picks I will get a preshot of the army (before painting)... and then I guess we can get to work.

I think I might have missed why you are putting together a five hundred point list with a lord - is this just a start, or this is for a lunch league game or something like that?

At any rate, I don't have that much experience, except with my small group of 4-8 players, but in that group my Vampire Counts didn't loose all that much - I actually think that the VPs are probably the toughest army. The reason for this, I think, is that the units are sticky - if your enemy contacts a big enough undead unit then they will be stuck there for at least a few rounds - with spells sometimes longer. The tactic that this lead me to, then, was to avoid skeletons at all costs, and to build big (30-36 minis) units of zombies as cheaply as possible. If I could have three or so of these in a 2k game, I would usually have enough for some really tough flankers - the new death cart (or whatever it is called - I haven't played with the new book) or esp. wight cav including a Vampire lord. The tactic would then be to rush to contact with the battle line of zombies with the flankers hanging back and to the side, with Vampire bats covering and engaging any units trying to get around behind. Once contact was made, the flankers would sweep and then try to roll the flank. While this doesn't work against all enemies (like wood elves), against most rank&file troops I have had some luck with it.

For this reason, I would recommend investing in zombies before skellies, some wight cav., and equip. your Vampire Lord so that when he hits that flank everything in a radius turns to a pink mist (i.e. mag weapons). I have found that he is a pretty safe basket in which to put your eggs

[mousekiller]

THE SHAMBLING HORDE - Zombie Regiment

The Shambling Horde:
These recently deceased members of Stirland's countryside shamble to do Pieter's bidding. Comprising of farmers and outlying soldiers, Pieter has successfully raised them as guardians to his tomb while he regains his strength.

20 Zombies (w/ musician and std bearer) = 92 points VOTE AT CMON

[Forlorn Hope]

I see now about Mannfred. About the Ghouls, I just don't know. I haven't played with the new book (or read it much, actually) and so I have no idea what the Ghouls do or are capable of (still bitter that they no longer skirmish - can't figure out a choice like this one). I like every unit to have as few jobs as possible, and to be built to accomplish that job (not that I am always successful). For this reason, I think that skellies and Zombies would check the same box twice, when what you need are the large groups of minis. Because the Zombies are meant to have come out of the gorund, though, I have found them fairly easy to paint in the past. Cost, of course, is another issue, but for my zombies I got out the bits box and my units have some undead from other makers (like Reaper) mixed in, along with a number of bases with hands, heads, and even a foot emerging from a hole in the ground/base.

[mousekiller]

THE SHAMBLING HORDE - Zombie Regiment - continued

The Shambling Horde:
These recently deceased members of Stirland's countryside shamble to do Pieter's bidding. Comprising of farmers and outlying soldiers, Pieter has successfully raised them as guardians to his tomb while he regains his strength.

20 Zombies (w/ musician and std bearer) = 92 points VOTE AT CMON

[Forlorn Hope]

Forlorn Hope: I notice a lot of GW fans frown on using other miniature lines, so I am glad to see another like myself. I love using mini's from other lines in my warhammer armies. For this army I am going to use the Crypt Bats from Reaper Warlord as Fell Bats and a few other Reaper minis... as well as one piece from Grim Reaper Miniatures.

Yeah, it's a tricky thing, I think, and I have to admit that I have felt some considerable pangs when I have proxied too many models. I am not proud of the pangs -- the draconian control over the game is one of the things that I don't like about GW, but it is strong enough that I do sometimes find myself wanting the "real" model.

I think this attitude in GW gamers comes from two main sources: first is the control over the product and the branding of the thing (it is not the wargaming hobby for them, it is the "Warhammer hobby." The presence of the tournaments and the magazines and all of the supporting stuff help to solidify this control, I think, such that players feel that having the GW version is having the best version, even when it is not. In addition to this, it seems (esp. in the town I am in now) that GW games often take place in game stores. I have found that store owners sometimes resent the presence of proxies, because it complicates the capitalism of having in-store games. There are probably plenty of owners who don't feel this way, but the policies of GW (in-store official events = no proxes) supports this model.

Second, I think that a lot of the people who play GW are not really into the painting and the modelling all that much, and as a result some of the proxies that I have seen have been just plain fugly. Frex I have found that some of the plastic prepaints can be modified and repainted and based and they become really nice models. I have played against people who take some of the ugliest of these and just plop them on the table with bendy wings and slopped in pink-wash mouths etc. I think this might turn a lot of people off to the idea of proxies because it just doesn't look very nice.

I think that your army looks great, though, and I would love to see the army as you complete it. The Warhammer army that I am perhaps most proud of is a wood elf army that comes in just at 2k with all of the models. There are some GW models in there, but most of them were modified from ones that I got for free or very cheap, and the main fighting force is repainted and based Tree creatures that were plastic prepaints and Chainmail centaurs who I modified to have various poses.

Maybe we should have a dedicated topic for Warhammer non-GW armies, to encourage others to strike out against the man?

[mousekiller]

THE SHAMBLING HORDE - Zombie Regiment - continued

The Shambling Horde:
These recently deceased members of Stirland's countryside shamble to do Pieter's bidding. Comprising of farmers and outlying soldiers, Pieter has successfully raised them as guardians to his tomb while he regains his strength.

20 Zombies (w/ musician and std bearer) = 92 points VOTE AT CMON

[Forlorn Hope]

Hey MK, these look like a great start. I also think that the more scenic 40mmsq. or 20X40mm the better, esp. for the middle of those large units. I have some large non-human zombies from Reaper and Chainmail on 40mm bases, as well as little scenes such as what you are doing. I find the large monsters in the middle really break up the monotony of the rank and file. Anyway nice job, I would like to see the finished unit when you are done.

[mousekiller]

Well, I went ahead and finished these three up last night, so hopefully it will give you a better idea of what the unit will look like in the end.









Forlorn Hope: Yeah, these zombies really do leave a lot of room for conversions (I can already see using the Reaper Zombie Werewolf and a bunch of other really cool pieces in the future).

[Von Carstien]

looking good, a big zombie unit can be especially nasty, especially in the new rules, its fun to give a vampire the helm of commandment and follow your zombies with him, also throw in a corpse cart and with some good rolls you've got first striking WS7 zombies, which is pure evil :D

I like the use of reaper stuff, i do the same thing, though it does mean unless you know your local GW store manager really well you wont be able to play in any of their official game as they wont allow non GW models usually, which is a shame since, I think, GW is th ebest out there for rank and file troops but their character models are severly lacking.

[Forlorn Hope]

I like the use of reaper stuff, i do the same thing, though it does mean unless you know your local GW store manager really well you wont be able to play in any of their official game as they wont allow non GW models usually, which is a shame since, I think, GW is th ebest out there for rank and file troops but their character models are severly lacking.

I agree, and my sense is that this complaint has been made a lot of time, but bears repeating. When you have an established group it doesn't seem to matter, but I have recently moved to my current location, and I can't find any warhammer gaming that happens outside of the local retailer's place. I know it is a matter of taste, but I find the GW vampires (except the Strigoi and the Necrach of 6th ed.) to especially funky. Their whole aesthetic suggests that their first response upon turning vamp is to shreik "but what will I wear?!" For my vamps I have always liked choosing DoW or others and then painting skin tone that made the vampire thing clear.

Great joib, though, Mousekiller!

[Von Carstien]

I like the use of reaper stuff, i do the same thing, though it does mean unless you know your local GW store manager really well you wont be able to play in any of their official game as they wont allow non GW models usually, which is a shame since, I think, GW is th ebest out there for rank and file troops but their character models are severly lacking.

I agree, and my sense is that this complaint has been made a lot of time, but bears repeating. When you have an established group it doesn't seem to matter, but I have recently moved to my current location, and I can't find any warhammer gaming that happens outside of the local retailer's place. I know it is a matter of taste, but I find the GW vampires (except the Strigoi and the Necrach of 6th ed.) to especially funky. Their whole aesthetic suggests that their first response upon turning vamp is to shreik "but what will I wear?!" For my vamps I have always liked choosing DoW or others and then painting skin tone that made the vampire thing clear.

Great joib, though, Mousekiller!

The Lahmian vampires were pretty nice models, and i liked the stigoi for what they are but theyre not my style of vampire, currently I'm working on a few vampires for my army, ive got Monique Denoir and Judas Bloddspire which were obvious choices, but I've also got Hyrekia the elf mage and a human paladin since potentially anyone can become a vampire, which reminds me, you never see any dwarf vampires...

[DavidVC04]

Hi there, Mousekiller. I wondered if you were on here, and sure enough...

I'm using some Reaper models for Spirit Hosts and Cairn Wraiths. I wish you were doing some ethereal units so I could see someone else tackle them before I do.

[Toad]

You work fast and well. Look forward to seeing more of your army develop...

[Jabberwocky]

Excellent work as always, MK. The conversions are very well done and add a memorable bit of humor to the piece. I like the zombies so far--some gore, but not too much. Variation on the skin tones is nice to add a bit of visual interest--a shame tends to get lost when they are packed together on a tray. Still, it is worth doing, IMO. I have been trying to do the same thing on a unit of plague marines I have been working on.