ok i have played a few lower points battles against this vampire player and won most of them. The problem i have is it seems vampire counts get tougher the higher the points are. And this player has just found out about gravestar units. Will list what models i have availible and what ones he is likly to play. my models Slann oldblood on carnosaur 2 saurus lords on foot (either oldbloods or scar vets) 1 stegadon (can be any type) 1 skink priest a tenhuain model tettoeko model (self made) 2 salamanders 10 chameleons about 35 skinks 41 saurus 20 temple guard 5 COR 1 kroxigor 1 terradon rider vampires likly units 30-40 graveguard with banner of barrows 2 x 40 zombies 20 ghouls (maybe 40 depending on points) 30 skeletons varghulf 5 blood knights dire wolves black coach or 2 corpse cart or 2 manfred with 2 arcane items that give him +2 to casting and dispelling a vamp with helm of command and possibly a wightking with BSB wraiths and spirit hosts via winds of undeath. with the models ive got whats a good army to counteract some of these combos
I'm a VC player so I'll go ahead and give you some tips. Slanns can match or outdo a caster VC any day of the week. Cupped hands and becalming also hurt a lot. You also need the other lores to take VC out. Lore of Light, Death and shadow hurt a lot. Doing I tests will render most units ineffective. Even dwellers on GG will only take out 1/3, but thats more dice your opponent will use on them instead of casting other nasty spells. GG. Take a flamming banner. Use salamanders to shoot first. One death means regen is gone, then open up with all the rest of the shooting you have. Nothing else matters except widdeling these guys down. In CC use a flamming banner on your TG and either debuff the GG or bugg your TG. Once I even charged chamelion skinks into the vamps bunker to stop the helm from working. Remember the helm only works if the vamp is NOT in CC. Pretty much magic them, shoot salamaners, shoot your poison shots then go into CC as last resort, but even then with a flamming banner, should be fine. Vamp bunker, most of us like to use 10 skellies. Hit them in the flank with Stegadon or salamanders and they will crumble. Black Coach, my fav VC unit, people always fear the worst and try and target it. I win many games because it just sits there looking menacing and it never really does much. My suggestion: Ignore it. Yes it steals your dice but it also steals your opponents. If possible charge it with a block of troops and it will turn to dust very quick. However it will tear up small units so be aware. Also I notice many many VC players misuse the coach. It can NOT march EVER. That means it can move 8 inches normally, or 10 when it can fly. Chariots can not march ever. Even when flying, movement is only 10 inches, they move 20 with a march. Ghouls: They are every bit as formidable as out saurus warriors. However they are only S3. That means we get an armor save and they do not. Ignore them with your skinks, take some shots on them with Salamanders if you can but otherwise your saurus should be able to win. Buffing your saurus will help even more. Skellis: LOL, nuff said. Varghulf: flamming does wonders but mostly used to take out weak troops. Flamming banner does wonders. He normally can't outdo damage vs CR so you should be fine, mostly ignore. Blood Knights: Major point sink in 8th, however they still hold a fond place in my thoughts. CR kills em too quick. Try to taunt your opponent to charge a block or your saurus warriors and watch em die. Dire Wolves: Keep your skinks away and you'll be fine. Heck even a skink charge should win. Corpse cart. Keep up the magic and shooting on the troops and ignore these. Manfred: Any Saurus lord/hero should be able to kill him in a turn or two, huge huge point sink. Beware of course his 14 spells he knows, just get him into combat and you should be fine. Wraiths, kill em with CR. The above tips will not win you the game, they are tools to doing so. Knowing what I just put out will help a lot if you use it. VC in 8th ed took a huge hit and by the looks of it your opponent hasn't adjusted his thinking to 8th. Keep in mind CR wins the game vs VC so make every flank charge you can. There are only so many power dice your opponent can get and those can only bring so many models back.
thanks for the tips. With my saurus are 2 units of 20 enough. The major thing i was worried about was his gg unit. I think hes planning buffing them with the HOC and with banner of barrows = hitting on 2+ wounding anything strength 4 and below on 2+ . also giving them always strike first.