Now, among all the races of Warhammer: Total War, none are quite as focussed on close quarters as the Undead (which is surprising, considering they also boast the forces of Chaos and the Greenskins, both notorious for their love of melee). They're powerful, numerous, destructive and very dangerous. No matter the enemy you're facing, they will rarely want to engage the Vampire Counts in melee!

Undead units never rout! No matter how great the odds are that they are facing, they always fight to the last man. This is a major advantage over other races, who when faced with great adversity will turn and flee, exposing their fleshy backs to their enemies and losing many men in the process. This means that the units available to the Vampire Counts typically go just a bit further than their opponents, causing more casualties and making the enemy lose more vigour before they are wiped out.

There's a grim flipside to this effect, however. The undead may never rout, but if their leadership drops so low that they would otherwise break, they instead start taking damage! This means that an undead unit in a bad position will typically start taking casualties very fast, which can be utterly destructive! In spite of the fact that undead never rout, keeping their leadership up is even more important with them than it is with any other faction.

Every single undead unit has the Fear ability, which passively reduces the leadership of any nearby units, making them much easier to break, whilst also making all of their own units immune to Fear. A lot of their units also cause Terror, which is even more potent than Fear. This is one of the big reasons why the undead are so terrifying (no pun intended) in melee!

Outside of spellcasters, the Vampire Counts have no ranged weapons whats-o-ever. Instead, they focus entirely on melee units, and have an enormous diversity available to them. There's a melee unit for every job, no matter what needs to be done. Still, the fact that you lack any and all ranged weapons means that your enemy typically forces you to come to them, since other races will relentlessly harass you with ranged units.

While the other races make small paces at aerial combat, none rule the sky as much as the Vampire counts! With Dire Bats, Zombie Dragons, and the unforgettable Terrorgheist, the undead are capable of launching aerial assaults the likes of which no one else can hope to match.

Now that we've covered the basics, let's look into our units and see what we get!

**Update: Added Blood Knights

The big cheese of the Vampire Count's roster, Mannfred is their strongest Lord, and also their most expensive at 1600 gold! You get quite a large package in return however. Unlike the other spellcasters in your army, who must use either Death magic or Vampire magic, Mannfred gets both, giving him an unparalled variety of spells to draw from!
Being a vampire, he also gets heavy armor and is pretty darn good at close quarters for a spellcaster. While he won't beat Grimgore or Archeon, he can hold his own if something gets up in his face.
Abilities:
Red Fury
Target one friendly squad and give it more armor piercing damage, a bigger charge bonus and more vigour. A good ability to use on your linebreakers, like Crypt Horrors or Terrorgheists. Units that already have high piercing damage and a high charge bonus benefit more from this than other units!
Undeath Resurgent
Mannfred heals his units near him whenever he casts a spell. Not very strong, but it does keep your units fighting a little longer and gives you some incentive to keep him near your soldiers at all times.
Master of the Black Arts
An ability unique to Mannfred, this ability reduces his spell cooldowns and increases his power reserves. You can use more spells, and use them more often! Use it immediately upon casting a spell so your power regeneration gets increased and your spell comes off of cooldown faster.
The Hunger
As this unit fights, he gains health!
Spells
Mannfred gets all the spells from the lore of Death and the lore of Vampires!
Mounts
Barded Nightmare
Hellsteed
Zombie Dragon

It's also important to note that Mannfred gets access to both the benefit of the passive effect of the Death spell tree (which is the Curse of Undeath, granting health regen to nearby undead units) and the Vampire tree (increasing his spell reserves and power recharge rate!).

Mannfred also gets three choices of mount. Note that all choices of mount make him significantly more vulnerable to anti-large units.You have been warned. Also keep in mind the added cost for mounting him on something.
The Barded Nightmare turns Mannfred into a cavalry unit, making him a lot faster whilst also making it much easier for him to run around with a squad (or even several) of Black Knights. It's a decent choice if you really don't want him to get caught and if you're planning on keeping him out of combat anyway, just avoid spears, halberds or slayers at all cost.
The Hellsteed turns him into a flying cavalry unit instead! While putting him entirely out of reach of any potential melee attackers and also giving him some of the highest speeds seen on any unit, putting him on a Hellsteed does make it a lot easier for enemies to focus him down with ranged attacks! While he will be too small to hit effectively with the likes of a cannon or trebuchet, Thunderers or Archers will definitely not have any issues hitting him, since he can't hide behind his army if he's in the air!
The Zombie Dragon instead turns Mannfred into a monsterous unit. A Zombie Dragon-riding Mannfred is almost as destructive as a Terrorgheist, but has spells and abilities to back himself up with too! However, the big issue with the Zombie Dragon is that it turns Mannfred into a huge target. He might get the benefit of the Scaly Skin ability with a Zombie Dragon (thus reducing all ranged damage by 25%) but he's going to get focussed really hard, since he's now a huge threat to everything and killing him will make most of his army crumble.

So why pick Mannfred over any other Lord? One reason alone, his huge number of spells! Mannfred can use all the spells available to the Vampire Counts and with his Master of the Black Arts ability, he uses them better than anyone else! The fact that he can hold his own in melee is just icing on the cake. Be exceedingly careful if you decide to mount him on anything, Mannfred represents a huge investment to you, and losing him early on will likely lose you the battle!



Mannfred's kin can also lead armies! They do lack many of the tools in his kit, not having Master of the Black Arts and only having access to spells from the lore of Vampires, but in return, Vampire Lords are slightly cheaper, have slightly better combat stats than Mannfred and are Shielded, making them much more resistant to ranged fire. Beyond that, they get the same options Mannfred does.
Abilities:
Red Fury
(see Mannfred)
Undeath Resurgent
(See Mannfred)
Spells
Access to the Lore of Vampires
Mounts
See Mannfred

Why would you pick a Vampire Lord? Well, the main reason would be the combination of his deadliness in close quarters while still being a spellcaster. Mannfred has the same advantages, but Vampire Lords are somewhat more durable than he is, and if you find yourself having trouble making use of all the tools in Mannfred's kit, you may want to try a regular vampire lord first. Saving that extra 100 gold might also buy you an extra zombie squad!


The other big name in the Vampire Count's roster, Heinrich is a more conventional spellcaster and is best kept out of combat. While Heinrich doesn't have the sheer number of abilities that Mannfred has, he does have access to the necromancer passive, Master of the Dead, and he's a lot cheaper at only 1100 gold!
Abilities:
Undeath Resurgent
(See Mannfred)
Master of the Dead
This is a passive effect that increases the health regen of all nearby allied units. It's pretty handy and really helps Heinrich keep his soldiers up and running.Therefore, while Heinrich doesn't want to get into a fight, he does want to stay close enough to make his passive auras effect his forces.
Spells
Access to the Lore of Vampires

It's important to note that unlike Vampire Lords, Heinrich cannot purchase mounts, so make sure you always protect him well. Unfortunately for Heinrich, one of the big reasons you'll never really see him picked is because he only has a few tiny stat upgrades over regular Master Necromancers.


The lord for those of you on a tight budget. At 1000 gold he's the cheapest Lord you can buy, leaving you more room to purchase more undead! Master Necromancers are almost identical to Heinrich Kemmler, with the only difference being that Heinrich is marginally better in combat... But if you're buying either Heinrich or a Master Necromancer, you're not buying them to send them to fight things, you're buying them for their auras and spells! As a result, in my opinion, the Master Necromancer is the superior choice between the two, except for the rare moment when you have 100gold leftover that you literally cannot spend on anything else. Unlike Heinrich, you can also mount the Master Necromancer, giving him a bit of added safety for some extra gold.
Abilities: See Heinrich Kemmler
Mounts
Barded Nightmare (see Mannfred)
Hellsteed (see Manfred)

The vampire counts get a variety of different heroes, each with their own specialty. However, the biggest reason the Vampire Counts get heroes is to have more leadership auras to throw around! Remember, undead work best when near a commander, so buying an extra hero can mean the difference between winning a fight and having all your units crumble!
Remember, heroes don't cause a morale shock to your units if they die, making it a little easier to use them in risky moves than your Lord.

(750g)

Regular Necromancers are extremely similar to the Master Necromancer, except they do not get access to Undeath Resurgent and their stats are even lower. Despite that, they also have Master of the Dead, which regenerates the health of your units, making them last far longer than they otherwise would. This means that a Necromancer is a decent choice for a budget buffer. He'll keep your units in line if your Lord is busy elsewhere, and if you lose your Lord, you can still cast spells from the Lore of Vampires!
Abilities: (See Master Necromancer, but without Undead Resurgent)
Mounts
Nightmare, Hellsteed


(800g)

My personal favorite, the Wight King is the melee specialist hero. He's tough, heavily armored, highly skilled and and a danger to pretty much anything he gets close too. His high health and high armor, as well as his excellent melee power makes him a great choice not just to make sure your undead get leadership bonusses, but also to get stuck in! He'll kill plenty before anything gets close to dropping him, and i've seen plenty of situations wherein my Wight King was the last man standing in a swarm of skeletons.
Abilities:
Heroic Killing Blow
Increases both weapon damage and armor piercing damage. Try to keep it active while the Wight King fights as much as you can, or save it for when he has to duel something mean.
Deadly Onslaught
Increases vigour, armor piercing damage and charge bonus. Activate it when the Wight King charges and just keep it active after that.
Foe-Seeker
Increases speed, charge bonus and vigor. Activate it when the Wight King charges, then save it after that until he has to charge again or has to flee.
Mounts
Skeletal Steed
Barded Skeletal Steed


Banshees are somewhat of an oddball. They mainly serve two roles due to their special abilities and stats, which is a hero/lord hunter or that of a morale breaker. For the first, Banshees have access to damage resistance, which reduces all damage they take that is not magical by 75%, essentially meaning that their healthbar is four times as big (rising from a flimsy 1800 to a massive 7200 hp) against anything that isn't using magical attacks! Their attacks are also both magical and armor piercing, making them a great choice to kill units that have resistance to physical damage and/or heavy armor. These combine to make the banshee pretty good at killing enemy heroes or even lords, who will get gradually worn down by the Banshee's attacks while getting almost no damage off on her.
Secondly, Banshees also cause terror, which might make any unit that the Banshee targets rout briefly. This is really powerful at breaking up enemy formations, but it's not very reliable. Enemies with high leadership don't seem to be as effected by this (i think, don't quote me on it) as those with low leadership.

However, Banshees do suffer from a number of weaknesses that stop her from truly excelling. First and foremost, anything that has magic attacks will tear a Banshee apart, no contest. Their base stats are just not good enough for them to stand up to anything with magic attacks. The Banshee also lacks the large splash attacks used by other heroes, making it really difficult for her to contribute in fights against regular infantry. The Banshee is also not cheap for what she does, which is why Wight Kings are usually far more popular. Lastly, her base stats are quite bad (save for her speed, which is really high) which makes it difficult for her to duel enemies that have really high stats, like say, Grimgor Ironhide or Ungrim Ironfist, even if neither of the two has magic attacks. As a result, she's typically restricted to fighting weaker lords or heroes, like Spellcasters. She's really fast which makes her pretty good at hunting these targets down, but remember, spellcasters typically have one or more spells they can use against the Banshee, and she might not survive that.
Abilities:
Slippery
Increased movement speed and accelleration. If an enemy tries to run from the Banshee activate this, otherwise there's no point using it since it gives no combat bonusses.

1200g

Not enough vampires in your Vampire Count army? You can buy vampires as heroes too! After playing around with Vampires I've become a huge fan of them, partly because of their use of Death Magic and partly because they're exceedingly versatile. Just be careful, they're stronger than most spellcaster lords or heroes in melee, but melee specialists will definitely kill them! For the last time, I mean.
Abilities:
Dark Benediction
Gives a small extra leadership bonus to all nearby allies.It's a passive buff centered on the Vampire that adds a little bit extra leadership to your units, on top of the leadership buff their aura already gives. This makes it a little easier to stave off crumbling a little while longer, and hey, crumbling sucks, so despite the small amount of leadership it gives it's still quite good.
Immortal Will
Regenerates your Vampire's health. Quite helpful in keeping your hero standing even if she is actively fighting, but don't overdo it, because while the healing effect from this ability is quite powerful it takes time to fully replemish the Vampire's health.
The Hunger
As this unit fights, it restores health to itself! This is part of the reason why I fearlessly throw the Vampire into the fold, cause they will heal up small amounts of damage that they take anyway, which combines with Immortal Will makes it impossible to kill a Vampire without concentrated effort.
Spells
Access to the Lore of Death (See Magic section)
Mounts
Barded Nightmare
Hellsteed

It's important to note that Vampire heroes are the only way to get access to Lore of Death spells in your army without taking Mannfred as your Lord.


Heroes and Lords in the Vampire Counts get a choice of different mounts. These can make a hero/Lord significantly faster, but be warned. All mount options effectively turn your hero "large," which makes anti-large units very effective against them. Flying units, on the other hand, put your hero/Lord out of reach of melee infantry, but make him a really easy target for enemy ranged units.
Nightmare/Skeletal Steed: These are undead horses. They turn your hero/Lord into cavalry units, which increases their speed and charge bonus. However, be careful with enemy spearmen. Also note that with some heroes/lords, buying a horse will lower their armor slightly. However, the "barded" version of these mounts will always increase your hero's/lord's armor.
Hellsteed: A flying undead horse. It makes your hero extremely fast and puts him out of reach of melee combat, unless he chooses the dive in. However, it also turns them into a huge target for enemy ranged units.
Zombie Dragon: Only Vampire Lords or Mannfred can have a Zombie Dragon as their mount. It turns them into monsterous units and gives them a pretty dramatic stat upgrade, even giving them "Scaly Skin" which reduces all ranged damage they take automatically. However, this mount also turns your hero into a huge target! So much so that he becomes an easy target for enemy gunners, archers or even cannons! The damage from Scaly Skin does little to prevent damage from cannons, and if your lord falls, your army will soon follow.

As with most armies, infantry is where the Vampire Counts will form the bulk of their forces. You get a huge selection of both cheap disposable units and elite hard hitters, which is one of this faction's main appeals!

150g

Cheap, numerous... Did I mention cheap? Zombies come in big squads and have some of the highest health of any single unit in this entire faction! They are the cheap meat to throw into the grinder and they do their job exceptionally well. They're great at absorbing enemy missile and artillery fire, tying up enemy units for long periods of time and wearing them out and can block the line of fire for certain units (like Thunderers or Handgunners) to stop them from killing your more expensive infantry.
The issue with Zombies is just that they're probably not gonna win any fights on their own. While they are great at tying up enemies, their exceptionally low stats (not counting their health) makes it really hard for them to kill anything. Their low speed also makes them terrible at respositioning and if you're moving your units in formation they will slow your whole army down.
There's nothing Zombies do better than waste your enemy's time and resources. Watching a Giant spend several agonizing minutes trying to stomp all the Zombies clawing at its legs is hilarious in its own right, if only because the enemy's super expensive unit is getting tired fighting your dirt cheap unit. However, if you need a solid backbone (again, no pun intended) for your army, Zombies are probably not a great choice due to their lack of killing power.


300g

Costing the same, if not less, than the militia of other factions, Skeleton warriors are a great choice to form the bulk of your army. They're superior in every way to zombies except raw health and cost, and the Shielded effect makes them dramatically harder to kill with ranged fire. Most undead generals will use Skeleton Warriors as the bulk of their forces. They're hardy, they can actually kill things (unlike Zombies) and they're very numerous!
However, never let Skeleton Warriors fight alone. Their Leadership is really low, they need a general nearby to last as long as possible. Also remember that while Skeleton Warriors are a significant improvement over Zombies, they're not nearly on par with the elite units, or even professional soldiers, of many other armies. If Skeleton Warriors form the bulk of your force, rely on either swarm tactics or use other more powerful units to break the enemy's line, while Skeleton Warriors hold your line.


375g

While inferior in raw combat stats to Skeleton Warriors, Skeleton Spearmen have two abilities that make them invaluable when fighting enemy armies that are also full of monsters or cavalry. They're resistant to the charges of any unit that is "large" and they deal bonus damage against "large" units. Unfortunately, Skeleton Spearmen aren't that strong, and typically take heavy casualties even when fighting cavalry or monsters, but their main advantage is that they'll absorb cavalry/monster charges very effectively and deal good damage to them while tying them up for as long as possible.
If you're fighting dwarves, don't even bother taking these. There's no point.


500g

I'm personally a big fan of Crypt Ghouls, even if I rarely use them. They're a lot faster than Skeletons and dramatically deadlier. They also apply poison when they attack, which reduces a units entire effectiveness, defensively and offensively, which can tip the odds in their favor quite dramatically.
However, it must be said that Crypt Ghouls have a few weaknesses that make them a lot harder to use properly than Skeleton Warriors. First off, their armor piercing damage is really bad. Anything that's armored is gonna shrug off their attacks with ease, despite their otherwise high damage. Their armor is also really low, and they don't have shields, rendering them very vulnerable to ranged weapons.
If used correctly, Crypt Ghouls can tear holes in the enemy lines, but always be careful about where you apply them. Send them crashing into chaos Marauders or Empire swordsmen and they will reap a heavy toll on the enemy, but if you let them get shot at first by Thunderers or Goblin Archers, or if you send them head first into a line of Dwarven Warriors, they're gonna get wiped out.
Needless to say, don't use these guys against dwarves. Dwarves are almost all heavily armored and will laugh off Crypt Ghoul attacks.


750g

Now we're talking! These guys are excellent infantry, with excellent stats and a combination of armored and shielded making them extremely difficult to take down. Their attacks also deal bonus damage to infantry, making them even more dangerous. While certainly not cheap, Crypt Guard will hold the line unlike any other infantry unit you can field.
However, they do have two main weaknesses. Anything that is not infantry will not suffer from their bonus damage, so beware enemy monsters or cavalry. Secondly, anything that's armor piercing will pretty much ignore their high armor values.
Still, if you're looking to build your army more elite than numerous, these guys are the best choice for the bulk of your force. Just mind their speed, they're quite slow.


850g

Very speedy for infantry, and quite lethal as well, Cairn Wraiths are designed to both counter enemy armored units as well as break the enemy lines by forcing enemies to rout with Terror. Cairn Wraiths have magical attacks and deal armor piercing damage, which lets them rip bloody holes in the enemy force, regardless of whether they're heavily armored or are using other forms of physical resistance (like Ork Tatoos). They also induce Terror, which means that anything they target might rout briefly, giving the Cairn Wraiths a chance to rip through the enemy unopposed.
However, their low numbers, high speed and low defensive stats (in spite of their 75% physical damage reduction) makes Cairn Wraiths mainly work well as a flanking unit. Their numbers, armor and melee defense are just too low to let them hold the line, and if the enemy force has units that have magic attacks they won't last long at all.


900g
If you need something durable enough to take a hit, with enough armor piercing damage to tear bloody swathes through the enemy lines regardless of armor, Grave Guard with great weapons are a great choice. Their heavy armor combined with their high damage against infantry ensures they'll cause heavy casualties among anything they're fighting long before they crumble.
However, these guys are not shielded, so they're a lot more vulnerable to ranged weapons than normal grave guard. They're also not as effective against monsters or cavalry as they are against infantry, and they're not cheap, so don't use them as throwaway units.

700g

The heavy cavalry of the undead, these guys are actually quite cheap for what they do. Whilst not equal to the heavy cavalry used by other factions, their cheaper cost makes them a lot easier to include in bulk. They're both armoured and shielded, so they'll take quite a lot of ranged fire to take down, and they're easily the equal of lighter infantry or ranged units in close quarters.
Note that regular Black Knights are not shock cavalry, their charge bonus, while not small, is not nearly the equal of shock cavalry. Use these guys to flank the enemy, take out vulnerable infantry squads and for taking out enemy ranged units or counter charge light cavalry, but don't have them fight enemy cavalry alone. In most cases they won't win.


1200g

If you're looking for cavalry that hits much harder on the charge, and is more capable of surviving, these guys will likely be the tip to your spear. Their charge bonus is huge so anything they hit will take heavy casualties, provided it's not halberds or spearmen, while their increased armor will makes them much more survivable.
However, while the damage their lances will deal on the charge is potentially enormous, Black Knights with lances have worse melee attack and melee defense compared to normal Black Knights, do try to keep them out of extended fights.

1500g

Really pricey, these guys are the cavalry variant of Cairn Wraiths. They share all the Cairn Wraith's powers, having magic attacks, dealing high armor piercing damage, they're ethereal and they cause terror, but they can also use Vanguard Deployment, letting you set them up in a larger zone than your other infantry, while the fact that Hexwraiths are cavalry makes their charge especially likely to break an enemy's morale.
However, compared to Black Knights, their stats are actually quite low. While they're certainly better at dealing with heavily armored units, and are better at breaking enemy morale, their ability to inflict casualties is much lower, which makes it harder to get the full value out of Hexwraiths due to their high cost. If they can't break the enemy's morale, Hexwraiths tend to falter.

1700g

These guys are your only non-hero non-lord vampires, and boy are they a blast to use. They're shock cavalry so they hit really hard on the charge and their stats are almost the equal of Brettonian knights, and that's saying something! On top of that, these guys are one of your rare anti-large units, making them a great choice to use against enemy cavalry who they will destroy 9/10 times. These guys also retain their expected power against infantry due to their devastating charge and they're quite durable thanks to their high armor. However, be aware that these guys are a huge investment on your part and the enemy knows it. Do not throw them away against a wall of halberds casually. Make them earn their keep by targetting vulnerable enemy units and delivering devastating charges into the enemy's midst.

350g

Expendable flying units. You'll either hate them or love them. While definitely not as numerous as zombies, Fell Bats have one big advantage and that's in mobility. They're easily one of the fastest units in the game and that combined with their relatively low price makes them a wonderful choice as a distraction. Imagine if you will, you're fighting an Empire player, and he has three, maybe even more mortars to wear your army down before you can get there. As you set your army into a full sprint towards the enemy lines, you send your Fell Bats ahead of your forces to attack the enemy artillery. The enemy can't stop them, because there's too many of them to shoot down before they reach the lines, and once they touch down their melee defense is actually quite good. They'll tie up the enemy artillery, and by the time the enemy is done killing all your bats, your army is already in charge range and your opponent wasted a lot of his precious time killing about 1000 gold worth of crap.
Fell Bats aren't even that bad if you look at their statline. A swarm can definitely take on specialised ranged units (as long as they aren't dwarves) and come out on top, so the enemy has to deal with them. Again, they're a great distraction unit, and if you know the enemy is going to spam ranged units they're a great way to ensure your forces will reach the lines of battle mostly unscathed.
Just remember that Fell Bats, like zombies, are pretty terrible at actually fighting any other melee units. They don't have the numbers or the damage to inflict significant casualties to Ork Boyz or Swordsmen and their armor piercing damage is laughably low.
In a way, Fell Bats are fire and forget units. You don't expect them to survive, you just expect them to buy time.


550g

Honestly I'm not a fan of these things. They're like budget cavalry, except any cavalry is a lot better than Dire Wolves. That doesn't mean that they don't have their advantages. For a land unit their speed is unparalleled, making them great for rapid flanking manouvers or for running down skirmishers, like Goblin Archers or even horsebound Pistoleers. Their charge bonus isn't too shabby either and their offensive stats are better than those of Skeleton Warriors.
This issue is just that Dire Wolves lack any sort of durability. Their health isn't that high, their melee defense is really low, they have no armor at all, and while they'll outnumber a cavalry squad they can only really take out skirmishers, not any other sort of cavalry.
While you can accomplish quite a lot with properly microed Dire Wolves, simply due to their sheer speed, they take casualties if something so much as sneezes in their general direction and they can't take on any kind of melee orientated unit. The fact that their armor piercing damage also sucks just drives home how far and in between their potential victims are. For just a little bit more gold you can take a squad of Black Knights, which might not be as fast, but are definitely much much stronger.


800g

Oh ho ho, now these are some of my favorite units in this faction. Towering above your other units and with 9 of them per squad, these guys are pure linebreakers. They go in, tear up everything within reach and then head over to the next target. Their damage is high and thanks to their high health and the Regeneration ability they're quite durable. I love how they'll heal little bits of damage in between fights, it means that any enemy that doesn't deal with them immediately is not gonna be able to stop them at all!
Most of the damage they deal is armor piercing, so they're great at taking on armored units. Their area-of-effect splash attacks also makes them quite disruptive and makes it hard for the enemy infantry to fight back effectively, especially if the Horror's backs are covered by allied units. Each of their attacks also applies poison, reducing the enemy's offensive and defensive capabilities, which makes it even harder for the enemy to fight back against them! And as I said before, Regeneration makes Crypt Horrors really hard to deal with, since you can't expect to wear them down over time. You have to kill them as quickly as possible, otherwise they just won't go down.
That is not to say that they're without their weaknesses. Their Regeneration ability makes them vulnerable to any source of fire damage, like Iron Drakes or Bright Wizards, and any anti-large unit, such as Spearmen or Slayers will resist Crypt Horror charges effectively and then strike back for high damage. To top it off, Crypt Horrors are easily surrounded if not properly supported, and if they're surrounded, even their Regeneration ability won't keep them going for long.


1000g

Nasty flying monsters with extraordinary high damage, Vargheists are whirlwinds of death that drop amidst your units from above. They're really dangerous and if not dealth with quickly can very rapidly murder whole squads. They're fast too, have a great charge bonus and as long as their leadership is high are immune to the effects of both Fear and Terror.
While Vargheists are really high on damage, they regrettibly lack durability. While their health isn't that bad, they have no armor value and their melee defense isn't that high either. The most dangerous situation Vargheists can find themselves in is getting surrounded. At that point, their leadership will plummet, which will cost them the benefit of their Frenzy ability, and they won't be able to flee to the skies anymore.
Most generals will use Vargheists either to flank the enemy's forces or to fly over the battle lines and tear apart the enemy's missile infantry. Their incredibly high damage makes them well suited for either task, but remember, they're not cheap and if they get surrounded they're probably going to die. Avoid spearmen and halberds like the plague.


1400g
A big meaty bullet sponge. While Varghulfs seem to serve a similar purpose to Crypt Horrors, due to both sharing armor-piercing attacks and Regeneration, Varghulfs are much better at adopting a hit-and-run approach, whereas Crypt Horrors are all about damage.
Varghulfs boast very high movement speed, letting them charge in and out of combat very easily, while their status as a big monster (rather than monsterous infantry) lets them trample over infantry that gets in their way. This makes it much easier for the Varghulf to run in and out of combat, allowing it to make the most of its Regeneration power. While Varghulf can't match Crypt Horrors for damage, they do have a much greater impact on enemy morale due to their Terror ability. If you love the idea of a monster that will rip apart an infantry squad, run off to heal itself back up and then return for more fighting, Varghulf are a great choice, and you can get a lot of value out of these things before the fighting is over.
Varghulf do have a couple of weakness, as with everything else. They're extremely pricey at 1400g, which is why the enemy will often target them with as much firepower as possible. Like Crypt Horrors they are vulnerable to all variants of fire damage and are weak to anti-large units. Because they stick out of the fight so much, enemies usually have a really easy time focussing him down with ranged weapons, despite its high speed. Lastly, it's leadership is rather low, meaning that if it gets into a bad spot it'll start crumbling quite fast, and then even its regeneration won't keep it afloat for long.

The crown jewel of any undead army, Terrorgheists are one of the coolest looking units in the game, and extremely deadly if used well. They're armored flying monsterosities and the bane of basically anything else that's airborne!
As I said, Terrorgheists boast high armor, and ranged attacks that don't deal much armor piercing damage will struggle to inflict much damage on it. Meanwhile, its attacks are both armor-piercing and poisoned and deal bonus damage to anything that is "large," making Terrorgheist the bane of cavalry and monsterous infantry everywhere. They also have a high charge bonus and are quite tanky to top it all off, it takes some very dedicated effort to pull down a Terrorgheist. As the name suggests, Terrorgheists also have access to the Terror ability, which combined with their high charge bonus makes a diving charge from a Terrorgheist a great way to break enemy morale!
However, Terrorgheists struggle to deal with monsters that are their equal in cost. The Arachnorok, the Giant, the Shaggoth, these are all creatures that will kill a Terrorgheist in direct combat. Instead, the Terrorgheist relies on other units to deal with these bigger monsters and functions more like a precision weapon. You use the Terrorgheist to break the enemy's morale at a crucial moment, to take out the enemy's flying hero, or to attack and rip apart a unit of valuable infantry.
The Terrorgheist also suffers from its low leadership. You want to use it alone, but because its leadership is so low its easy for the enemy to make it crumble, and once its health drops below a certain point its going to drop no matter what.
The Terrorgheist is also the bane of flying heroes and lords, since its bonusses to fighting large creatures lets it easily take on other flying units. However, as with any monster, beware anti-large units. Also, do not drop the Terrorgheist into a situation where it can get surrounded. While it's immune to psychology, it's very vulnerable to anything that will drop its leadership (like being surrounded or taking heavy damage) so be careful with it. The Terrorgheist represents a huge investment on your part, don't let the enemy take it down easily.



This thing is, regrettibly, a huge disappointment. It's supposed to be a single chariot that gets stronger as things die around it, but the issue is that chariots are really weak at the moment, and this thing is the weakest of the bunch. It cant hold its own in a fight, its charge isn't strong enough to make it useful because it's a single unit and if it charges into a unit mass it'll get stuck there and there are no numbers that I can find that explain exactly how strong it gets over the course of a fight. I have used it in the past, deploying it as late in the fight as possible to make sure that whatever its "Evocation of Death" does has as much time as possible to charge up, but it just doesn't work.
Avoid purchasing this thing. It's a huge waste of resources.

The Lore of Vampires is the most common lore available to the Vampire Counts (big surprise there). It's a pretty decent lore with a variety of different effects that make it applicable to many different situations. While not as strong as many other lores, its versatility is where its power lies.

As always, be careful when overcasting, a 50% chance for a miscast is nothing to scoff at and you can really hurt your Lord with it. The numbers under each spell name is the cost of the spell/cost of the overcast spell.

Passive: Curse of Undeath

This passive (which everyone that has this lore has) will heal all friendly units near the caster a small amount whenever the caster casts a spell. It's decent, definitely not the strongest effect, but it can help your units stand upright a little longer. Consider it a small bonus to your spell.

Invocation of Nehek6/11

A defensive buff that gives the targeted unit health regeneration, while ressurecting any fallen soldiers if all soldiers in the squad are at max health. It's pretty good as a defensive buff but not overtly powerful. However, if you overcast it it'll become an area-of-effect spell, which makes it a great choice to cast into the middle of a big melee if you need your units to last longer. You can also use it out of combat to repair your units, that's up to you. However, it doesn't restore vigor, which is why I usually don't use this spell, since tired units aren't gonna last long anyway.

Vanhel's Dance Macabre6/10

An offensive buff that increases movement speed and attack speed, a great choice to cast on your damage dealers to make them chop up the enemy faster. If overcast, it becomes an area of effect spell, hitting multiple units at once. If you want your army to really go berserk in the damage department, this is a great choice!

Gaze of Nagash7/12

A single-target projectile spell. When cast the caster fires a few bolts towards the target, which explode for very high damage. Note, they're projectiles, so they can miss, or hit something in between you and your target. It's more accurate the closer you are to your target, and if you're on elevation (such as on a hill or wall) it becomes easier to hit your target as well. If overcast, it fires more projectiles, which means more damage!
Note, the spell says it has "poor penetration." After repeated testing I'm pretty sure this means the spell just gets bodyblocked easily. Always be careful to not have any obstacles (like big units or hills) in between your spellcaster and your target when you cast this. If you need to kill a single unit, like a big monster or a hero, this will be your spell of choice in this lore.

Curse of Years12

Decreases the attack speed and melee attack of all enemies in an area of effect around the target, as well as adding a few seconds to any abilities the target(s) have. While a rather expensive spell to cast, it's very powerful! Reducing the enemy's ability to hit your units and reducing their attack speed is immensely powerful and can dramatically increase the time your units will last, and during that time your units will rake up casualties. The added cooldown on enemy abilities can mess with your opponent's micromanaging too. Can't be overcast.

Raise Dead9/15

You're gonna love this one. It summons a squad of zombies anywhere relatively close to the caster. You can use this to instantly summon a squad of zombies to defend the caster, or you can summon them behind an enemy squad for an instant flank! It's free, permanent units, and that makes it awesome. If you overcast it it becomes even better, summoning a squad of skeletons instead! Unfortunately, you can only cast this spell twice per game! There's a hard limit on it to stop people from summoning endless zombie hordes, which makes me sad since this spell would be the only way for Vampire Counts to force enemy players to come to them rather than vica versa, but I understand why they designed it this way.

Wind of Death15/22

A powerful area of effect spell, this spell, after a brief delay, conjures a blast of spectral winds which instantly damage all units in the targetted zone and knock them back, before travelling away from the caster and hitting all units in its path as well! It's quite strong, both because it's quite damaging but also because it's highly disruptive.When overcast the price becomes extremely steep, but the damage is increased even more! If the enemy bunches all of his best units together in one spot however, it may be worth the risk.



Passive: Life Leeching

Increases your power reserves as well as how fast your power reserve recharges! Very helpful, as it means you can get more spells off in the same amount of time!

Doom and Darkness 10/13

Decreases a target unit's leadership by 16. Depending on circumstances it can be quite a strong effect, for instance, if you're about to flank that unit with a squad of Black Knights you can use this to help ensure that the unit will break. However, a -16 penalty won't break a unit unless there are other factors at work, so don't waste this spell! If overcast it becomes an area-of-effect spell, making it a good tool to help force mass routs.
That being said, it's an expensive spell, and you've got powerful alternatives in this lore.

Soulblight9/15

A powerful area of effect debuff that reduces leadership by 8, reduces armor and reduces weapon damage and missile damage! It's a great multifunctional debuff that makes it easier to kill and rout enemies, while reducing the damage enemy units deal. If you overcast it, it goes from lasting 12 seconds to lasting 24 seconds. It's a great way to ensure victory in a large fight.

Aspect of the Dreadknight 4/7

A unit buff that increases leadership by 8 and gives the target unit the Terror ability. If overcast, it becomes area of effect. It's... Not that great, unless you need the extra leadership to stop your units from crumbling. It's really cheap though, and the terror can force a rout if the enemy isn't immune to psychology. It's just not guaranteed to work.

The Purple Sun of Xereus15/25

A very costly vortex spell that damages all units it passes over, while also dragging them off the ground and throwing them around. The damage on this spell isn't that high (read: barely even moves a unit's healthbar when it passes over), but it's extremely disruptive and can ruin an entire well placed infantry formation. If overcast, it lasts twice as long, but with a 13 second duration (and because it moves around so much) you never really need to overcast it.

Spirit Leech 7/10

A single target damage spell that deals a high amount of damage to a single soldier. It's mainly effective for sniping single high-value units as it can deal some heavy damage to them. Don't get me wrong, it's quite good but only against single targets. If overcast, you can increase the casting range, allowing you to hit an enemy with it from relative safety (if you don't count the miscast chance that is).

The Fate of Bjuma13

A powerful single target spell that's designed to deal heavy damage to a single squad. It deals very high damage and can decimate whole squads, but it's less effective against single units. Can't be overcast, but then, it's already quite strong!

Obviously, one of the biggest questions a new player will ask is "I want to build my army, where do I begin?"

Thankfully, while the Vampire Counts get no ranged units to choose from, their choices of melee units are extremely varied. If you're struggling to choose, here are a few pointers:

• For the core of your army you're going to want plenty of melee infantry. These guys will screen your specialists and elite units from the brunt of the enemy's missile fire and attacks. You can go two ways with the Vampire Counts. Either fill up on zombies/skeletons to have a large army with plenty of cheap disposable units, or fill up on Grave Guards, which are much stronger but also a lot more expensive, so your army will be smaller.
  
• Next, decide on some specialists. Use this guide to decide on which ones you want. For instance, take Crypt Horrors if you need line breakers, take Cairn Wraiths if you need a unit that can force a rout easily, take a Varghulf if you want a fast monster for hit-and-run attacks, take Black Knights as your main flanking force. Every unit in the army has something they're good at, so build a force with your favorites and try not to leave any obvious gaps in your force's offensive capabilities (for instance, make sure you got something that can deal armor-piercing damage, and make sure you got something that can flank).
  
• Pick your Lord wisely. Each Lord type has its own advantages, and it isn't worth picking Mannfred unless you're going to make use of his main advantages (namely his ability to tap into multiple Lores).
  
• Moreso than any other faction, the Vampire Counts benefit from having a hero in addition to their Lord. The extra leadership aura really helps them keep their forces together even in the heat of combat.

Other than those rules, army building is meant to be fun! Experiment and see what works, and what doesn't.

• Never forget that all lords available to this faction are spellcasters! Use those magic points, don't leave your resevoir full too long. The prevalence of spellcasters are one of the main advantages the Vampire Counts have, don't squander it.
  
• Remember, it's really easy to mass Skeletons/Zombies, but they don't stand a chance against individual units alone. You can use swarming tactics if you like, but those are hard because it requires your line to hold and requires you to flank the enemy. Skeletons/Zombies benefit greatly from the presence of monsters, like Crypt Horrors or Varghulf, as those will kill things while the Zombies/Skeletons take the blows.
  
• Always keep your units inside the leadership aura of a Lord/hero. This will keep them from crumbling a bit longer.
  
• Unless you're messing around, or fighting Vampire Counts/Greenskins, never ever put your Lord on a flying mount. Dwarves, The Empire or even Chaos has no issues using their cannons against your Lord, and if he's flying he can't hide behind his own units. You could potentially use Fell Bats to shield your Lord, but keeping your Lord alive is absolutely neccesary if you're playing the Vampire Counts.
  
• Flying units are your best counter to skirmishers. Flying units outrun everything, so if you have trouble with units like Marauder Horsemen or Outriders, just send a swarm of Vargheists or Fell Bats after them.
  
• If one of your units has taken so much health damage and/or soldier losses that they're already crumbling, then unless that unit has Regeneration, just have that unit fight to the death. Once a unit drops below a certain amount of health, depending on how high its leadership is, it will continuously crumble no matter what. Having it fight to the death allows it to do some damage before it dies, at least.

Now, each race has its own strengths and weaknesses. Knowing how to exploit those weaknesses and strengths is a very easy way to victory.


The Empire has a number of advantages. The first is, of course, its immense power in artillery. Never ever tarry if the enemy is an Empire player, they will blast you to smithereens from miles away. They also have lots of other ranged units, like pistoleers, crossbows, handgunners. Closing the gap as fast as possible is the way to go.
Also, make sure you've got some Spearmen to back up your forces. The Empire has very solid cavalry, much stronger than yours, so having some anti-cavalry units ready is important to stop from being smashed between hammer and anvil.



Everything is heavily armored. Everything. Make sure your force has a strong presence of armor piercing units because you're going to need them, and don't even bother with units that are "weak against armor." Similar to the Empire, they also got plenty of artillery, so close the gap fast.
Unlike the Empire, the Dwarves are all about durable infantry. They got no cavalry, just gyrocoptors. Having a strong presence of flying units or cavalry can make a big difference since the dwarves can't manouver fast enough to respond to fast threats.
Just be careful with Slayers. Never let slayers surround your monsters. Instead, give them some skeletons to chew on. They hate that.



The Greenies are a varied lot, so your experience will likely vary from battle to battle. They get artillery, but it's generally not as great as that of other factions. They get melee infantry in spades, much like you, but also have access to ranged units. They also got a bunch of monster units, against which you'll want some Spearmen skeletons.
Because it's impossible to really predict what a Greenskin player will bring, it's usually best to have a varied force. Have something that can respond to every situation, and be careful with Ork Big 'Uns, they're the anti-large units of this faction, so keep your monsters away from them. If you see any Savage Orks, use your spells on them. They got no armor, just tatoos, so spells will hit them really hard.



In a mirror match, units that cause Terror are pretty effective because they can make enemy infantry crumble. However, in a mirror match the game becomes a matter of Lord-hunting. Whoever gets to kill the enemy lord first will likely win, since then their forces will crumble. Make sure you have some strong anti-infantry options in your army, because the enemy will likely be swarming with them.



Whereas you are melee focussed with an emphasis on quantity, the Warriors of Chaos are melee focussed with an emphasis on quality. All their units are really strong, but this comes at a price, as they can't really afford to lose that many men. Much like against the dwarves, this is an heavily armored force, so make sure you've got plenty of anti-armor. Also be aware that this force is full of monsters, having some Spearmen (or at least zombies) to tie up monsters with can be vital.
However, be careful with Hellcannons. They hit often and can cause enormous casualties if left unchallenged. Thankfully it's pretty easy to wreck them with a squad of Fell Bats or Vargheists, just don't let them shoot at you indefinitely.



For the love of Nagash, make Skeleton Spearmen the backbone of your force! If Brettonia is one thing, it's predictable, because the vast majority of Brettonia players are going to heavily rely on cavalry. That cavalry charge can be utterly devastating, not just in casualties but also in leadership damage, a deadly combo against the Vampire Counts.
Besides Skeleton Spearmen, you might also want to get some Vargheists or even a Terorgheist to deal with any Pegasus Knights. A Terrorgheist especially will be the end of those. Blood Knights, the most recent addition to the Vampire Counts, will destroy any Brettonian calvary even when outnumbered.
Never buy Hexwraiths, Cairn Wraiths or Banshees against Brettonia. Brettonia has Grail Knights, who have magical attacks, and they will destroy all kinds of Wraith.

The Vampire Counts is easily my most-played faction, and I hope it'll become one of your favorites too after reading this guide.

Have fun, and good luck on the battlefield!