Vampire Team

The team's actually been painted for like a week now, but I was lazy in getting pictures. The starting lineup for Kublacon is: 5 Vamps, 10 Thralls, 4 rerolls, FF 2, and an Apothecary.

I found after playing a couple of games that 5 Vamps on the field is the sweet spot. Any less and you run out of Thralls late in a drive. However, I painted 6 Vamps and 12 Thralls for expansion & casualties. Provided I have the money & enough Thralls, I'll add the 6th Vamp after game 1. Obviously the Vamps get targeted, so you want a spare when one get injured or KO'd.

Also another thing I've discovered is that this team has a weird weakness: stunty teams. Against bashy teams and passing teams I do well because the Vamps have the natural stats to compete with both. Plus their hypnotic gaze is tailored to bust up a cage or negate tweaky powers like Dump Off.

So between the fact that there's only 5 of them, they can negate tackle zones, and they can bash or throw/catch the ball the vamps are flying around the field. I've had possessions were Vamp #1 runs up and hypnotizes a guy on the cage (taking away his tackle zones). Then Vamp #2 runs in and blitzes, knocking the ball out. Vamp #3 picks the ball up and passes it to Vamp #4, who breaks for the end zone.

The problem with stunty guys like Goblins, Halflings, & Snotlings is that they have Dodge. Normally, you can knock guys down 55% of the time: higher strength means two dice & 2 of 6 block results are the other guy down. Against stunty guys with dodge, you lose one of those block results. So you only get about a 31% chance with your two dice.

So ironically, the best thing a stunty player can do is just cage up and then force you to use your once-a-turn blitz on something that is a 1 in 3 chance of working. The cage isn't there to protect the stunties, but actually it's extra hands to catch/pick up the ball after its been popped out.

Now, since we play using the BBCS rules as standard, we started with 30 SPPs. So I can give those 5 Vamps skills. I've debated and tried several variations of what to give them.

Block is the most obvious and I'm trying to avoid it. Yeah it's good, but that's kind of dull. It's like putting Guard on 5 of my Chaos Dwarves: effective, but kinda boring. Also, I don't think its so necessary with Vampires. +1 Strength over an average guy is on par with block. Giving all 5 Vamps block would make them reeeeally bashy, as in 75% chance against a Str 3 lineman.

I read on some forums that dodge was the way to go. Personally, I didn't see it. Since my Thralls didn't have it, all the Vamps tended to do was outrun their happy meals. I keep Thralls nearby and usually don't waste rerolls on Blood Lust, so between the Agi 4 of Vamps and the team rerolls I can usually dodge pretty well. And if I don't feel comfortable dodging him because of tackle zones, then there's no way the Thrall will make it and so you have this situation of outrunning your happy meal.

I tried Jump Up, because my vamps spend a lot of time getting beat up. I tried it and it in fact was very nice. However, I don't think it'll work because of the "Stunty Problem." It's a good second advancement.

So I think Strip Ball is the way to go. In terms of the above "hypnotize a guy, knock the ball out, scoop it up, and pass it downfield" it's the best. Now 4 of 6 die rolls result in the ball coming out. If I have a higher strength, that's knocking the ball out 88% of the time. It also is hilarious because it means the ball is coming out or my vamp is eating the dirt (rolling 'skull' or 'pow-skull').

The question is how many times do I take Strip Ball, with 3 or 4 Vamps? Usually I've been lucky and gotten at least one Vamp with +1 Agi. That I take because he becomes my passer and since Hypnotic Gaze is an unmodified Agi roll, he also serves as a defender. +1 Strength I'd probably also take to fight the big guys. But +1 AV or Move, or even doubles, I'd probably just take Strip Ball.

But I usually give Kick to one Vamp. I sort of wonder if I shouldn't. Kick is nice, but I don't really feel the need to pin the enemy back when my Vamps can threaten the whole field. In fact, I've found I want him to bring the ball up because if I send 1 Vamp into the backfield, they can gang tackle him with lots of assists. But if he comes up, that means if I get a breakaway, then he can't get enough guys back to get a two-die block.

So I'm currently thinking 4 Vamps with Strip Ball and 1 with Pass (if I roll doubles), or +1 Agi/Str if I get them. Otherwise, maybe 5 guys with Strip Ball.

Really enjoying this team...