Well, the army did as I wanted it too, but I can't help but want to tweak some things.
First, in both battle the Grave Guard were MUCH easier to kill and MUCH harder to replace than I wanted.
Second, the Varghulf was only half a step above worthless. That definitely has a lot to do with me, but it's also just really not that impressive. WS5 S5 T5 W4 with only Regen to save it doesn't last very long. I'm sure it would do nicely vs. small fast things, or maybe against war machines, but he's a fair number of points that I can spend elsewhere.
Third, the two Necros were overkill. In fact, I don't think the Necros did shit for me besides the Staff in both games.
Fourth, the BSB just kind of stood there in the bunker...one game dieing to miscasts, the other just standing there doing nothing but saving a magic die.
So, with some tweaking, maybe I can change those things.
I drop the Varghulf, and the Necro with the scroll (I'll miss the scroll, I'm sure!). I drop 5 Ghouls from the two big blocks (four dice from the Lord on turn 1 should have them up and running no sweat). I drop the Battle Standard off the little Vampire.
I add the 2+ Armour item, and the Talisman of Lycni to the little vampire. Now he's zippy M9 with enough armour to happily go take on small Fast Cav units, fast enough to go get War Machines, etc. Or can happily go flank something that's tied up with Ghouls or Grave Guard for a second round CR bonus!
I add a Corpse Cart with Unholy Lodestone. It's 100 points, but gives +1 body back to any unit within 6" when I cast Invocation on them. When I'm spamming 4-5 of those Invocations a turn, it will earn his points back pretty quick. He's also an extra deploy, and with his 2d6 attacks plus Thunderstomp can deal with "light" units fairly well.
And last I add a Wight King BSB with The Drakenhoff Banner...giving his unit Regeneration. Yeah, he's expensive, and yeah, he's mean...but that makes the Grave Guard unit exceptionally hard to deal with. Without some high I flaming attacks, these guys should be a lot harder to chip away at.
Making the Grave Guard harder to kill and getting more of them back from the Corpse Cart seems like a good thing. The little vampire is Faster than the Varghulf, and hits almost as hard. Should be more than capable of dealing with the things the Varghulf would go after. I'm in agreement with Jason now...the Varghulf kind of sucks
So here's the new one:
2500 Pts - Vampire Counts Roster
Vampire Lord (1#, 445 pts)
. .
1 Vampire Lord, 445 pts (General; Vampire; Level 3 Upgrade; Hand Weapon; Undead)
. . . .
1 Skull Staff. . . .
1 Helm of Commandment. . . .
1 Dark Acolyte. . . .
1 Master of the Black Arts. . . .
1 Summon Ghouls. . . .
1 0. Invocation of NehekLord of the Barrows (1#, 225 pts)
. .
1 Wight King (Battle Standard Bearer), 225 pts (Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Shield; Battle Standard Bearer; Undead)
. . . .
1 The Drakenhof BannerNecromancer (1#, 110 pts)
. .
1 Necromancer, 110 pts (Hand Weapon; Undead)
. . . .
1 Staff of Damnation. . . .
1 0. Invocation of Nehek. . . .
1 2. Vanhel's Danse MacabreVampire (1#, 200 pts)
. .
1 Vampire, 200 pts (Vampire; Hand Weapon; Undead)
. . . .
1 The Flayed Hauberk. . . .
1 Black Periapt. . . .
1 Talisman of the Lycni. . . .
1 Master of the Black Arts. . . .
1 0. Invocation of NehekCorpse Cart (1#, 100 pts)
. .
1 Corpse Cart, 100 pts (Unholy Lodestone; Regenerate; Thunder Stomp)
Crypt Ghouls (10#, 88 pts)
. .
9 Crypt Ghouls, 88 pts (Poisoned Attacks; Undead)
. . . .
1 Crypt GhastCrypt Ghouls (36#, 296 pts)
. .
35 Crypt Ghouls, 296 pts (Poisoned Attacks; Undead)
. . . .
1 Crypt GhastCrypt Ghouls (36#, 296 pts)
. .
35 Crypt Ghouls, 296 pts (Poisoned Attacks; Undead)
. . . .
1 Crypt GhastGrave Guard (30#, 465 pts)
. .
29 Grave Guard, 465 pts (Always Strikes Last; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Great Weapon; Heavy Armour; Undead)
. . . .
1 The Banner of the Barrows. . . .
1 Seneschal (Always Strikes Last; Hand Weapon; Great Weapon; Heavy Armour)
Cairn Wraith (5#, 275 pts)
. .
4 Cairn Wraiths, 275 pts (Always Strikes Last; Great Weapon; Causes Terror; Ethereal; Skirmishers; Undead)
. . . .
1 Tomb Banshee (Causes Terror; Ethereal; Undead)
Composition Report:
Points of Lords: 445 (0 - 625)
Points of Heroes: 535 (0 - 625)
Points of Core: 680 (625 - Unlimited)
Points of Special: 465 (0 - 1250)
Points of Rare: 275 (0 - 625)
Total Roster Cost: 2500