35pt Themes: Vlad1/Vlad2

Vlad is one of my favourite casters, in his MK1 version he was almost considered cheap, by all those non-patriotic Khadorans anyway!

.. ok maybe he was a little too good.

Anyway, both forms of Vlad took a small beating in the "awesomeness" department, but he is still one of the best casters in Khador!

Things to think about with Normal Vlad:

1) The feat just screams "JACKS!". SPD8 Khador jacks are just crazy, with a threat range of 11.5" without reach. This is better than pretty much any other heavy in the game, and it comes with free charges!

2) Signs and portents is an amazing army wide buff. Probably up there with the most effective in the game. Giving approximately +2 to all attack and damage rolls army wide is so good, you can take normally ineffective models and excel with them. Assault Kommandos missing? No longer! Kossite Woodsmen pinging off medium armour? Not with S+P!

3) Blood of Kings. The bane of many an army, this makes Vlad practically untouchable. Camping focus, it turns him into a DEF18 ARM22 high HP monster. In fact, theres only a few things that can reliably kill him like this. This lowers the need for defensive models, like the Wardog.

Things to think about with Epic Vlad:

1) His feat is still very important - although no longer the most important thing about him. You want some reeeeally good targets for the feat, and you want them to live to be able to use it. Uhlans, Manhunters, Demo Corp are all fantastic.

2) Without Blood of Kings he is much more at risk of getting assassinated. Some defensive measures probably wouldnt go amiss.

3) Not really a focus on Jacks. Drago would be ok, and maaaybe one other, but probably not. Might as well keep the focus on the troops.

Vlad1 35pt List:

Vladimir, The Dark Prince

>Behemoth

>Berserker

>Drago

>War dog

Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)

Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)

Vlad does bring his Wardog, giving him some very nice defensive options. I like doing this for 2 reasons - I can cast S+P instead of BoK and still be DEF17 in melee and no back arc, and with BoK hes DEF20 in melee!! Behemoth, Zerker and Drago make a good jack combo, all of them charging 11" on the feat turn, and each one of them capable (with some S+P help, and maybe a little focus) of ripping apart a heavy Warjack/Warbeast. Hell, the Behemoth can probably do two a turn! It may be worth at a later stage dropping the Wardog and the Zerker for a Juggernaut, but ill have to see how it goes. The Doomreavers can create the unstoppable wall - Vlad Windwall surrounded by Doomreavers means no magic and no ranged attacks can hit any of them. Just be careful of those deviations... The Mortars are there for "persuasion" purposes - to make the enemy come to you instead of the other way around. Also, good crowd control with S+P (about POW10 blast damage with 2 dice).

Vlad2 35pt List:

Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Champion

>Drago

>War dog

Iron Fang Uhlans (Leader and 4 Grunts)

Man-o-war Demolition Corps (Leader and 4 Grunts)

Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)

Kovnik Markov

Manhunter

Manhunter

Epic Vlad likes his powerful trooper models. Ive maxed out the Uhlans and Demo Corp to give me the largest amount of feat targets as possible. 5 Uhlans, 5 Demo Corps and the 2 Manhunters are my possible options, and it is unlikely that I will lose all of them before I want to pop my feat!! If the Uhlans get into a good position, they have an insane threat range - through small based models as well - and +3 to MAT and STR gives them a powerful blow at the end of it. My end goal would be to get the Uhlans into the right position for a feat, charge and caster kill. If this fails for whatever reason, or the Uhlans dont make it, the Demo Corp get the feat and try to do the same thing. Even Demo Corp have a 12" threat range with his feat, and hit at P+S17 when they get there!!! They could even be rolling 4 dice on a hit if they use the "Weapon Master" attack. Thats an average total damage roll of 31, or 33 with Hand of Fate up. With 5 of them and Reach you could wipe out most heavies with just half the unit!