Vampire Count Team

[Frozen Yakman]

I want to make a Vampire team that fits more in the middle of the pack rather than one of the 3-4 worst teams.

The criteria I want to follow are:

• A Vampire Count position filling the Big Guy roll. It should be slightly better than a traditional Vampire, still suffering from Bloodlust though, but be limited to 0-1.
• I'm not opposed to a 0-2 (Strigoi) Vampire Blocker position, but I want to avoid having too many Vampires (maybe Slyvanian would be a better name?).
• Thrall's should form the bulk of the positionals and be more than just linemen
• The thralls should favor a passing style over a bash or running style (AG3 max on thralls though). The Vampires don't have this restriction.

0-16 Thrall Linemen 6 3 3 7 40K G-ASP
0-2 Thrall Throwers 6 3 3 7 Strong Arm 70K GP-AS
0-4 Thrall Catchers 7 3 3 7 Diving Catch, Dodge 90K GP-AS
0-2 Strigoi 4 4 3 8 Block, Blood Lust, Claws 100K GS-AP
0-1 Vampire Count 6 4 4 8 Loner, Blood Lust, Hypnotic Gaze, Leap, Regeneration 120K GAS-P

The Thrall Linemen, Thrall Throwers, and Thrall Catchers all count as Thralls for the purpose of the Blood Lust skill.

Rerolls 60K.

For now Star Players are as Vampire.

I'm not entirely satisified with either of the Vampire positionals with this team and I'm pretty sure I got the prices wrong but lets use this as a starting point.

[Ullis]

I'm pretty sure that this team would be worse than the original vampire team. My reasons are as follows:

- The vampire count won't get too much mileage from leap. Additionally, having just one hypno gazer on the team on a move 6 player lessens the usefulness of the skill. Loner is really bad on this piece as it means that neither AG4 nor hypno gaze can be relied on
- The strigoi will get destroyed with Blood lust due to AG3. AG3 means that they won't be able to dodge away to bite someone. This means that every time you want to block with them you need to move someone next to them and needing assists (in case the Blood lust check fails) defeats the purpose of having ST4. Having Block and Claws at start is nice but doesn't overweigh the problems
- Only having access to 3 vamps is not enough. The positional thralls, especially the thrower, suck at first and will continue to suck until they get 1 or 2 skills

I think tweaking the current roster should be the way to go. Either give all vamps Block as a starting skill or +MV or make a new positional as a vampire count (ST5 for instance).

[Joemanji]

Agreed. This would be worse.

If you want a better Vampire team, make Thralls 50K and AV8.

[Glowworm]

Agreed. This would be worse.

If you want a better Vampire team, make Thralls 50K and AV8.

+1.

this has been discussed at length and thats the most viable easy fix for vamps (give them human linemen as thralls is the easy way of putting it)

[bjorn9486]

I know some guys up in Canada are trying 50K thralls with Thick Skull. I don't know how well it works, but it maybe worth a shot.

[SillySod]

The thrower positional is way too expensive and lacks any real bonuses. Adding passing access on thrall stat-lines is a bit of a no too since it adds a very cheap leader option.

0-1 Vampire Count 6 4 4 8 Loner, Blood Lust, Hypnotic Gaze, Leap, Regeneration 120K GAS-P

This guy is a waste of space. I'd be slightly hesitant to hire it if it was free.

If you want to boost vampires then give them av8 thralls for 50k and/or ma7 vampires for free.

If you are feeling adventurous then try adding bloodlines. All thralls are av8 for 50k and each vampire team can select one bloodline bonus from the following list:
- all hypnotic gaze rolls get a +1 modifier (Lahmia)
- ma7 vampires (Von Carstein)
- may hire and raise zombies (Necrach)
- vampires have claws (Strigoi)
- vampires have sidestep (Blood Dragon)

You could give away the vampire bonuses for free or for a 10k premium per vampire depending on how you want to balance it.

Putting ghouls into the team could work too to give them an early boost. When you're re-writing it I'd stick to two basic principles:
1 - everything except the vampires should be alive and probably biteable, a few filler zombies are ok but you dont want a copy and paste of the other undead teams.
2 - keep the number of vampires high. The current list is well written because it forces the player to choose how many vampires they want. More vampires also means more hypnogaze which is important for the joy and character of the team.

[Glowworm]

like the blood line idea, would Mighty blow or even frenzy on the blood dragon be more in flavour..?

[SillySod]

like the blood line idea, would Mighty blow or even frenzy on the blood dragon be more in flavour..?

Frenzy is cool but might be a little crippling. Mighty blow just felt a little too much like claw although it could work nicely.

[Frozen Yakman]

The point of the team wasn't really to replace the Vampire team, but to make a Vampire themed team with a different play-style (a pass-oriented team to be exact).

0-16 Thrall Linemen 6 3 3 7 40K G-ASP
0-2 Thrall Throwers 6 3 3 7 Strong Arm, Sure Hands 70K GP-AS
0-4 Thrall Catchers 8 3 3 7 Diving Catch, Dodge 90K GP-AS
0-2 Strigoi 4 4 4 8 Block, Blood Lust, Claws, Regeneration 100K GS-AP
0-1 Vampire Count 7 4 4 8 Blood Lust, Hypnotic Gaze, Leader, Regeneration 120 K GAS-P

The team will have a rough start but I imagine it will have an easier time advancing into a competive team.

[Carnis]

How about:

140k Vampire Count 5529 Mighty Blow, Bone Head, Thick Skull, Throw Team Mate
90k Thrall blitzer 7338 Block, GS
70k Thrall thrower 6338 Sure Hands, Pass GP
70k Thrall catcher 8237 Catch, Dodge GA
50k Thrall lineman 6338 G

[Frozen Yakman]

I see what you did there.

[Jural]

This forum can be so negative...

So, let's imagine we can make the Vampire team better by giving it more offense and a better Vampire... and let's consider Vampire positionals. Because it looks like the original poster isn't interested in a Vampire team with AV 8 or Thick Skull, even though others may like it...

So, your linemen are set as:

0-16 6 3 3 7 40k G/SAP

And you should probably still have some Vampires

0-2 6 4 4 8 Bloodlust, Hypnotic Gaze, Regeneration 110k GSA/P

And a requested Vampire Lord, which you can go a lot of ways with, but which I prefer:

0-1 6 5 4 9 Loner, Bloodlust, Hypnotic Gaze, Fend, Regeneration 160k AS/GP

So now let's add in a few positionals. I think 4 total positional players would be a good aim, so maybe a Thrall thrower and a Vampire Blocker?

Thrall Thrower:
0-2 6 3 3 7 Sure Hands, Pass 60k GA/SP

Vampire Blocker
0-2 5 4 4 8 Bloodlust, Hypnotic Gaze, Stand Firm, Regenerate 100k GS/AP

So you end up with:

0-16 Thrall 6 3 3 7 40k G/SAP
0-2 Thrall Thrower 6 3 3 7 Sure Hands, Pass 60k GA/SP
0-2 Vampire 6 4 4 8 BL, HG, Regeneration 110k GSA/P
0-2 Blocker 5 4 4 8 BL, HG, Stand Firm, Regenerate 100k GS/AP
0-1 Vampire Lord 6 5 4 9 Loner, BL, HG, Fend, Regeneration 160k AS/GP

Honestly, that team is probably pretty good... it probably makes it into Tier 1 easily.

[SillySod]

I disagree. That team would definately underperform the current roster.

Those blocker positionals lose speed and skill access in return for stand firm and 10k. Theres no way that thats a good deal because vampire teams need the speed and agility access of their vampires, SF doesnt come close to replacing that loss.

The throwers are a very useful addition but wont make or break the team.

The lord is....

Loner, Bloodlust, AS/GP..... 160k

[Jural]

Yeah, the original roster I typed didn't have Bloodlust on the Lord, so I figure you get a free Vamp who doesn't kill hurt you that with BL... but once BL is added in, I am not sure how good the team is.