Take a look at what might be the strongest army in Warhammer: The Old World, Vampire Counts!
The Old World meta is an always evolving beast. This is great for the game, but can be hard to keep track of. The last few weeks have seen the greatest upheaval in the meta since the game came out. Between Cathay, the massive FAQ/Errata and the matched play book things are really in flux. Some armies have gotten worse and others have gotten better and we are still seeing how things are shaking out. However there are a couple of armies that I think have really shot up in the lists as far as power goes. And at least one already very good army got better, Vampire Counts. In fact they might just be the best army in the game now. Lets take a look at why.
Vampire Counts – Already A Strong Army
Even before all the recent changes Vampire Counts were already a strong army. This is despite them not being a supported army! Not long after the game came out I ranked them as the best of the Legends Armies. And I stand by that. What stats are avalable pretty consistantly put them in the top five armies overall, and often in the top three. The only other Legends army to place in the top armies, has been Chaos Dwarves, though they have a lot less games and a lot less event wins. So It’s fair to say that VC have always been good.
A large part of this is due to being Undead. It’s a very very powerful rule. It makes your army super reliable (Tomb Kings are after all another top-tier list). It also lets you bring models back which is obviously huge. This also makes it very hard to score points off of Undead units as you basically have to always wipe them out to have accomplished anything! On top of that they have good combat options, some fast options, good casting and interesting shooting in the form of screams. It’s a potent combo, and one that got better.
Errata Buffs
The first major buffs to VC came from the Errata/FAQ and there are a number of nice things for them here. Infantry of course got a lot better. Vampires (and TKs) were one of the few really competitive armies that regularly run good infantry. Now what they were running has only gotten better. This is a solid buff for the list. In addition getting to take Regen saves vs Unstable wounds is another strong buff for the army and not something to take lightly given their ability to heal units.
On the flip side some of the nerfs hit them less then other armies. While they have some big monsters and ridden monsters, they were far less dependent on them then a lot of other factions, including TKs. So the nerfs there just don’t affect them as much. Likewise they were less dependent on magic than some factions, and those nerfs don’t hurt them nearly as badly, though it does make Scream heavy lists a bit harder to use. These lists tend to use a combo of spells to drop the enemy LD and that’s not as reliable. Yet VC still get reliable casting bonuses and don’t NEED magic to win. They are hurt less than TKs in this regard as well. So overall, I think the Errata/FAQ was a net plus for VC, already a strong army.
Vampire Counts Are Really Good At The Objective Game
But that’s not the only buff for VC that just hit. The Matched Play Guide is a huuuuuge boon for the army. Vampire Counts just might be the best army, certianly top 3, when it comes to playing the objective game. Right off the bat they have access to lots of very cheap core units. Since several objectives are scored by core only, and all objectives are scored by largest US, being able to flood objectives with models is just amazing for VC.
But even more than that, VC troops are very hard to move off of objectives. Goblins can also swarm an objective with numbers, but they aren’t that hard to push off with a strong combat unit. Since Undead, only Give Ground, IF that, its very very hard to move them off an objective. Since they can be healed as long as they are on the objective there is a chance for them to add numbers and take it back. It’s extremely hard to shoot them off an objective, and pretty hard to move them off in combat. All of this is a potent combo. VC already had strong hard to move infantry, now those troops can score real points and got even better. That’s a pretty scary combo. This makes them extremely strong.
People Have Made Them Better
I’ll also mention that they have gotten some other buffs from non-GW sources. The Square Based Renegade Pack is a fan made project aimed at improving the Legends factions, and a lot of events have adopted. While VC don’t get a ton of changes, the pack does give them a few small buffs. (And in fairness closes a few rules loopholes. Some events had FAQ’d them not to work, but others may not have.) These aren’t huge, but they are some buffs to an army that you might argue doesn’t really need buffs. Now the folks at Square Based have put a lot of effort and love into trying to improve the game, so I’m not trying to knock them or their labor of lover here. I’m just not sure I agree with that change.
Overall All Are Vampire Counts The Best?
So are Vampire Counts the best army now? Well I think they might be. They were already a really strong army that was winning events and had a great win/loss ratio. Now a number of things have combined to make them even better, while at the same time a lot of the other top armies got some, minor in some cases, nerfs. I think this leaves VC in a very strong position as everything shakes out. A VC list won the recent Buckeye Battles GT (which admittedly used its own missions, not the Matched Play). It’s going to take a while to see how everything shakes out with the meta (Dwarves for instance also got a tooooon of buffs), but if there is an army to watch, I think it’s VC as they are in a very very good place to claim the crown of best army on the game.
Let us know what you think the best army in the game is now, down in the comments!
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Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers Warhammer: The Old World, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe mourned over loss of WFB for its entire hiatus, but has been reborn like a gaming phoenix with Warhammer: The Old World.