Vampire theme from Start Collecting! Boxes

[CrimsonKing]

I am typically a Chaos Player but Ive always loved the Vampire themed Undead. Now the Death Start Collecting! boxes all covertly have Vampire minis in them: (+ vamps, - others)

Skeleton Horde Box:

+Mannfried (Deathlords)

+additional vampire riders as lords

-Hexwraiths/black knights (nighthaunt/deathrattle)

-Skeleton warriors (deathrattle)

The Flesh Eaters Court Box:

+Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (soulblight)

+Vargheists (soulblight)

-Crypt Ghouls (FE Courts)

-Crypt ghoul king (FE Courts, extra model)

And the Malignants box:

+Coven throne (soulblight)

+necromancer (deathmages, extra model)

-Hexwraiths/black knights (nighthaunt/deathrattle)

-Spirit hosts (nighthaunt)

 

I was thinking flesheaters/skeleton horde gives army starter:

1000 pts:

VL on Z dragon

VL on abyssal Terror (Mannfred basic)

Flying Vargheists OR Flying hexwraiths

Skeletons

Crypt Ghouls

Or

1000 pts:

VL on abyssal terror

Vargheists

Black Knights

Skeletons

Crypt Ghouls

Zombie dragon OR Terrorgeist

Plenty of ways to make built models swapable, with optional ways to swap in Mannfred for fun, or use all the extra kit parts for some extra vamp lords and such.

 

Lots of fast in your face combat units, but how well would this fare compared to the obvious builds of these two boxes? As in am i gimping myself and taking weaker options? I'm also drawn to the coven throne as the model looks fantastic, but has no battleline, so more kits is a must, and not sure how I feel about the other included sets like spirit hosts.

Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!

[CrimsonKing]

Not that I should be starting a new army but I'm still obsessing over this,

My thinking now is the Skeleton Horde Box and the Malignants box, plus a box of skellies for battleline requirements. cut out the ghouls entirely and bunch the Black Knights together.

1000 pts:

VL on Abyssal Terror (Mannfred basic)

Coven Throne

10 Black Knights

10 Skeletons

10 Skeletons

3 Spirit Hosts

modeling wise I can modify Neferata on a Chaos Chariot horse into a Vamp lord on steed, perhaps Arkhan on foot for Lich King.

[nelsonus]

I like the last one. Would you summon the spirit hosts in?

[CrimsonKing]

Im not really certain on the rationale for summoning in matched play, if it was to get alliegance bonuses then summon different groups in I understand, but now that we must set aside points anyways, plus a chance spellcasters all are killed before summoning, why bother otherwise?

With a deathlord, soulblight, deathrattles already Im not getting alliegance so why not a nighthaunt in there?

Anyways Im going to order in the boxes soon for last list, and already picked up the extra skellies to assemble in a few days!

[james.speller]

6 hours ago, CrimsonKing said:

Im not really certain on the rationale for summoning in matched play, if it was to get alliegance bonuses then summon different groups in I understand, but now that we must set aside points anyways, plus a chance spellcasters all are killed before summoning, why bother otherwise?

It lets you bring on units behind enemy lines, think deep striking from 40k. So you could summon Morghast Archai behind a unit of 30 clanrats and charge it in to beat up a warplightning cannon.

You could drop in a bunch of spirit hosts behind a enemy lines, and move them in to contest/slowly chip away at troops capping an objective. 

I think there are quite a few cool possibilities with leaving 1/4 or 1/5 of your army in the summoning pool just from board control and maneuvering. So it even makes sense if you're playing a straight battle line game, but can be very useful in the capture objective scenarios in the general's handbook.