Practicality of (non-Zombie Dragon) Vampire Lord as General

[Vipoid]

I've never been a fan of special characters, nor of using huge, centrepiece models as my general (plus I've spent ages modelling/painting unmounted Vampires).

Hence, I'm curious as to how practical it would be to have a (non-mounted) Vampire Lord as my general.

Is this reasonable or will he just end up sniped to death in a heartbeat? 

(I ask because near enough every list I've seen here uses either a VLoZD or one of the special characters as its General)

Also, would any particular Legion work best for this? I was going to ask about Legion of Sacrament (for Wristbands of Black Gold or the Shroud of Darkness), but since the discussion thread for that Legion has apparently died, I'll go ahead and assume that it's no longer viable even wit a more competitive general. 

if it matters, I'm ideally looking to play something akin to the old VC armies (with hordes of skeletons and maybe Grave Guard), but I'll listen to other options.

Thanks for reading.

[Honk]

Well, it is a „carefully“ weighted risk.

having a lord on dragon as your general, gives him access to the trait. (s)he might be a pretty brutal melee option to have.

but taking a vlozd with an ethereal amulet as a distraction suicide piece, while your necromancer general summons back wiped units from within his skelli mob might be more defensive option.

life is the time where tough decisions are made...

[Vipoid]

I'll go ahead and take that as a 'no'. 😝

[ZLee Syn]

9 hours ago, Vipoid said:

I'll go ahead and take that as a 'no'. 😝

Vampire without dragon is very vurnable. If you want character on foot to be your general,  Necromancer will be better

Edited March 9, 2020 by ZLee Syn

[Vipoid]

3 hours ago, ZLee Syn said:

Vampire without dragon is very vurnable. If you want character on foot to be your general,  Necromancer will be better

If you don't mind me asking, what is it that makes the Necromancer so much less vulnerable?

I get that he can pass wounds onto nearby units on a 4+, but he's only got a 6+ save against the wounds that get through and no way of healing himself. A Vampire Lord has a 4+ save and can potentially heal from 1 wound back to full with his Blood Chalice (plus stuff like Vile Transference).

[ZLee Syn]

Just now, Vipoid said:

If you don't mind me asking, what is it that makes the Necromancer so much less vulnerable?

I get that he can pass wounds onto nearby units on a 4+, but he's only got a 6+ save against the wounds that get through and no way of healing himself. A Vampire Lord has a 4+ save and can potentially heal from 1 wound back to full with his Blood Chalice (plus stuff like Vile Transference).

Because he will most likely die to mortal wounds. And because he will die in one turn so no healing.

[Vipoid]

13 minutes ago, ZLee Syn said:

Because he will most likely die to mortal wounds. And because he will die in one turn so no healing.

Ah, I see.

Oh well, maybe I'll come back if there's ever an AoS v3.

Thanks for the reply.

[El Syf]

So long as your not planning on winning any tournaments, I've found it helps to have a normal vamp as the general purely so he can hang back and bring units back. This list is guilty of using 2 characters which I take it you'd prefer not to. But they do act as a great distraction from your actual general.

Again this list probably won't win any tournaments but I like Morghasts and Vhordrai and got Manfred as an xmas present so been running him a bit recently.

 

Allegiance: Grand Host of Nagash

Leaders
Vampire Lord (140)
- General
- Command Trait: Master of Death
- Artefact: Ethereal Amulet
- Lore of the Vampires: Soulpike
Vampire Lord (140)
- Mount: Nightmare
- Lore of the Vampires: Vile Transference
Mannfred Mortarch of Night (340)
- Lore of the Dead: Overwhelming Dread
Prince Vhordrai (480)
- Lore of the Vampires: Amaranthine Orb

Battleline
20 x Chainrasp Horde (160)
5 x Dire Wolves (70)
5 x Dire Wolves (70)

Units
5 x Black Knights (120)
4 x Morghast Archai (420)
- Spirit Halberds

Endless Spells / Terrain / CPs
Extra Command Point (50)

Total: 1990 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 1
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 109

 

[BoneHeart]

We are playing our slow grow campaign since december (750,1000,1500,2000pts) and my general is always a vamp lord. Personally I think it is expensive for what it does and dies to a mean stare, however: It can fly which should be always taken - in this way it can fly away from danger and into the center of 'donought' shaped units. It should stay away from combat, unless he is overpowering someone or you have no other choice. His spells are a bit counter-intuitive since he has to hang back otherwise it will die, so you won't have range most of the time with 12" spells. But on the bright side, from the points not paid for the vlozd, you can bring more units.  His CA is also useful. Also, retreat from combat 90% of the time with him.

I will take 1 as my general to our next tourney from 1500pts - he will take gryph feather charm for -1 to hit, combined with another one -1 from lookout sir, he will be 'fairly ok' surviving some shots here and there. Might also survive one round of an OBR catapult shot if im lucky, but I am not counting on that.

TL;DR - an outdated piece which is expensive for what it does, dies to a breeze and won't have range with its spells most of the time, but you can save a lot of points with it and can still fly away from danger and into gravesite range easily. Has a useful CA and can support with spells and unbind here and there.

 

[Kaime]

Can't you put him out of line of sight to protect him?

[BoneHeart]

1 hour ago, Kaime said:

Can't you put him out of line of sight to protect him?

If you are playing with lots of LOS blocking terrain maybe - but then, he won't be in range to provide his 6" aura and stuff.

[Vipoid]

2 hours ago, BoneHeart said:

We are playing our slow grow campaign since december (750,1000,1500,2000pts) and my general is always a vamp lord. Personally I think it is expensive for what it does and dies to a mean stare, however: It can fly which should be always taken - in this way it can fly away from danger and into the center of 'donought' shaped units. It should stay away from combat, unless he is overpowering someone or you have no other choice. His spells are a bit counter-intuitive since he has to hang back otherwise it will die, so you won't have range most of the time with 12" spells. But on the bright side, from the points not paid for the vlozd, you can bring more units.  His CA is also useful. Also, retreat from combat 90% of the time with him.

I will take 1 as my general to our next tourney from 1500pts - he will take gryph feather charm for -1 to hit, combined with another one -1 from lookout sir, he will be 'fairly ok' surviving some shots here and there. Might also survive one round of an OBR catapult shot if im lucky, but I am not counting on that.

TL;DR - an outdated piece which is expensive for what it does, dies to a breeze and won't have range with its spells most of the time, but you can save a lot of points with it and can still fly away from danger and into gravesite range easily. Has a useful CA and can support with spells and unbind here and there.

I'll be honest, I really despise what Vampire Lords have become in AoS.

They went from being some of the strongest characters in the game (boasting both excellent casting ability *and* incredibly combat ability) to weaksauce, single-spell mages with a bit of melee ability. 

I also really miss the days when special characters weren't outright better than regular ones.

 

[Avatar Rage]

It can work in horde armies of zombies and skeletons. Field them along side Necromancers, Wight Lords and other Vampire Lords. You can really stack up bonuses and stem the tide of losses. Just remember to take advantage of “Look out Sir!”. 
 

Oddly enough I would not field them in a legion of blood army.

[JackStreicher]

@Kaime Take 3-6 vargheists and hide the vampire behind their wings (valid way of blocking line of sight).

i quite often use a Vamp on foot or on horse and they‘ve never let me down.

Edited March 21, 2020 by JackStreicher

[Vipoid]

4 hours ago, Avatar Rage said:

It can work in horde armies of zombies and skeletons. Field them along side Necromancers, Wight Lords and other Vampire Lords. You can really stack up bonuses and stem the tide of losses. Just remember to take advantage of “Look out Sir!”. 
 

Oddly enough I would not field them in a legion of blood army.

What about something like this:

Legion of Sacrament
Vampire Lord w/ Wings, Chalice of Blood, Vile Transference (General) 
- Bound to the Master
- Shroud of Darkness
Vampire Lord w/ Wings, Chalice of Blood, Soulpike
Vampire Lord w/ Wings, Chalice of Blood, Spirit Gale
Necromancer w/ Decrepify

5 Dire Wolves
40 Skeletons w/ Ancient Blade, Hornblower, Standard Bearer
40 Skeletons w/ Ancient Blade, Hornblower, Standard Bearer

2 Bat Swarms
Corpse Cart w/ Unholy Lodestone
30 Grave Guard w/ Great Wight Blade, Hornblower, Standard Bearer

Terrorgheist

2000pts

[Chikrit]

Total noob here, but given that you bring a corpse cart, wouldn't it be better to field a horde of 60 zombies to go along it than the grave guard? It's 40 points less and fits well with the theme

[PraetorDragoon]

1 hour ago, Chikrit said:

Total noob here, but given that you bring a corpse cart, wouldn't it be better to field a horde of 60 zombies to go along it than the grave guard? It's 40 points less and fits well with the theme

Grave Guard with Great Blades have rend, making them more of a hammer unit. 

[Vipoid]

2 hours ago, Chikrit said:

Total noob here, but given that you bring a corpse cart, wouldn't it be better to field a horde of 60 zombies to go along it than the grave guard? It's 40 points less and fits well with the theme

Probably.

Unfortunately, I don't own that many zombies so I'm just trying to use what I have.