ContributorRight this lore in my opinion is one of the nastiest in the whole game not just against us Dawi. Before I go into the reasons for this I need to cover a few of the bases with the uses of this lore.
First off they have 7 spells with 6 they roll from and a 7th one they know as standard.
Secondly 3 of the spells they can cast over and over again. These 3 spells are the only ones that necromancers know (the first 3 in the list below) but they get to pick rather than roll for them, vampires have to roll but have access to all the spells.
It is for these two reasons that the lore is so hard. The basic spell is the one that returns and increases unit sizes and it can be cast multiple times means it is very hard to stop it all. But enough about that lets look at what they can do:
Invocation of Nehek – 2-5 beers
This is the main spell of the vampires and they will cast this A LOT!!! Easy to cast on a D6 and they have access to a number of magic items and blood line abilities that make it even easier. All other armies you can blast a unit so that it is no longer effective in the game and you can move on, due to this no unit can be thought of like that for as long as one still walks the unit can come back. Lords and Thanes can be stuck fighting over the same challenge again and again as the champion is brought back. What and how many that can come back by this spell depends, characters, ethereal and cavalry can only bring a single wound back per spell, infantry are D6 ( fell bat are classed as infantry in the summary section at the back of the army book, so remember that one) and zombies get D6+4
The undead’s main weapon in winning battles is to win and outnumber and cause fear. Due to this spell and the blood line powers they can out number anyone. This is the power of this spell, respect it.
Your average vampire army will have about 9PD and can go up to 15 easily, so you will not be able to stop every go of this spell so the best you can do is limit where the raises are and how often. Learn to let a few of these slip through but stop what you can. I can’t go over how important this spell is to the Vamps so do what you can to keep it in check.
Best thing to do with this spell is not waste a spellbreaker as they will cast it again but a MRoSpelleating and hoping for the 4+ when the Vampire Lord has cast the spell is a good gamble and can really handicap the blood suckers
Raise Dead – 3 Beer
This one raises new units of zombies ready to speed bump, missile screen, flank/rear charge, set up cross fires, contest table quarters, occupy missile troops/war machines etc. Once raised it can be grown using Invocation so it may start small but again can grow fast if ignored. It is harder to cast than Invocation so expect 2PD for it to make it happen. Learn when to stop it and when to just take it and then try and stop it getting bigger and then counter attack.
Vanhal’s Dance Macabre – 3 ½ beers
This is the movement spell of the lore and it opens up a lot of options for flank charges with newly raised units and long range counter attacks. The unit can only move 8” so flyers and Cav can’t cover a table width in one move but it means they can get to your war machines fast. On top of that once in combat it allows the unit to strike first and reroll failed rolls to hit, not a major issue for most Dwarves against the skeletons and zombies but Wights and Vampire can hurt us hard and improving their odds is never good. Also even if the vamp doesn’t roll the spell remember there is the book with this spell in it so odds are you will see it on the table. Be ready with an odd DD and hope it runs out of power early.
Gaze of Nagash – 1 ½ beers
Well now we get to your standard 2D6 magic missile. Since its hard to get and the power dice will be going into raising this wont see much use and on its own the spell wont do much. Also since the vamps doesn’t have much other shooting it wont add up in the grand scheme of things. Odds are this is being used to draw out DD ready for the main magic phase.
Curse of Years – 2 Beers
Well this is now easier to cast than in its past version but it has its draw backs. If it gets through it will slowly kill the unit with each turn its in place it gets harder and harder. On the other hand while it’s out the vamp cant cast other spells which means less Invocations. It’s a nasty spell and worth a Spellbreaker if it goes through but be aware of what else is going on.
Wind of Undeath – 2 ½ beers
Well this is the first of the two big spells the vamps have. Both are hard to cast but nasty if they do. This one can potentially cause a wound on e each unit you have on the table and for each four or part of four wounds it causes a spirit host base is formed. Not only does this spell hurt multiple units but it makes ethereal units that can then fight us. Its just another way the vamps can swarm the table and tie up our support units. Due to high cost of the spell it’s worth a spellbreaker if it goes off.
Summon Undead Horde – 2 Beers
Well this is the second big spell and can help boost undead units over the whole table or raise a large unit of zombies from new in one go. Its OK but I have seen multiple uses of Raise Dead and Invocation work better for the same number of power dice. If they do cast it then a spellbreaker is worth the effort but overall thank them for using this than the others.
There you go the Lord of the Vampires. Nasty and relentless. If is a pain to face and can seem like the battle is never ending but keep you rhea and chose your targets well and may your axe find the vampire’s heart
LF
