Vampire Counts - Unit Overview Part 1

Hey guys, I'm Learn2Eel and today I am going to be taking a quick look at the Vampire Counts army book. I've wanted to do a Tactica series for my primary Warhammer Fantasy army for a while, but logistical - for lack of a better term - reasons have deterred any progress there. I think the Tyranid Initial Unit Review article was pretty well received, and this will also give me a good kick-starter for a future Tactica series. I hope you enjoy this article! This is Part 1 of the Unit Overview series.


Vampire Counts

I'll put up my hand and declare that I am still a relative Warhammer Fantasy newbie, even with about a hundred games of it under my belt. However, I feel my research and personal experience are sufficient enough to give you guys a good idea of how each unit in the Vampire Counts army performs. These are general impressions of how these units have performed for me and what I feel to be their strengths and weaknesses. This article won't really be useful to veterans of the army, but I think new-comers or those interested in the army can use this as a nice little guide to choosing their next units. Generally speaking though, one of the key aspects of any Undead army is the General; keeping them alive is your absolute top priority. Don't be afraid of spending lots of points on defending the General, as losing him or her can see a victory snatched away against all odds.


Lords

Vlad Von Carstein - Identical to a Vampire Lord in terms of stats that is a Level 3 Wizard only using spells from the Lore of the Vampires - this is likely because he will probably be your General anyway. He has three Vampiric Powers with a -1 Leadership penalty to units in base contact with him, causing enemies to take Leadership tests with a further -3 penalty to see if they strike normally or are forced to re-roll successful hits against Vlad, and even causing Terror. When combined with Isabella, Vlad gets a few special rules depending on whether she lives or dies (again), while the Master Vampire himself strikes at Strength 6 and restores lost wounds on a 4+ per the Hunger special rule instead of the usual 6+. Vlad has the near mandatory 4+ ward save for a Vampire Lord and gets to come back to life on the roll of a 2+ the first (second) time he dies in game, with the only restriction being that he has to be placed in a friendly unit within 12" of his "death spot". For a model that can easily regain wounds through the Lore of the Vampires lore attribute and his magic sword, having a huge chance to come back to life with a single wound remaining when he first dies is pretty massive.

Unfortunately, his equipment and Vampiric Powers really aren't that great otherwise with only a 5+ armour save, Strength 6 instead of the usual Strength 7, no Always Strikes First and no Red Fury for generating extra attacks. Before you even work out that his build isn't a great one as far as Vampire Lords go, especially as Vlad is only a Level 3, he costs roughly 100 points more than a Vampire Lord equipped similarly to him minus only the "Beloved in Death" special rule that requires Isabella, the 4+ to regain a wound per the Hunger and the 2+ coming back to life shtick. Are those abilities worth all those extra points? The answer is a vague "maybe" as coming back to life on something like a Vampire Lord is pretty ridiculous, but the fact stands that Vlad's kit isn't that good anyway as far as Vampire Lords go. He is far too expensive for what he does and just an ineffective use of the points compared to a generic character.
Competitive? No.

Count Mannfred - Where Vlad is more combat oriented, Mannfred is definitely designed with magic in mind and is probably a superior choice based on that fact alone. Mannfred has a mostly standard Vampire Lord profile, albeit his magic armour grants him two extra wounds for a total of five. While this is obviously fantastic on a model that can easily regain wounds through the Lore of the Vampires lore attribute, Mannfred lacks ward saves and Regeneration saves of any kind - if you want to give him some of the latter, he needs to be supported by Mortis Engines. He has only a 5+ armour save stock, but can get up to a 3+ through available mounts - another boon he has over Vlad is that Mannfred can actually select one of three mount options. On the combat front Mannfred really isn't that great in terms of actual damage output, but his magic weapon does have great synergy with his strong magic potential. All unsaved wounds caused by Mannfred with his Sword of Unholy Power get converted into bonus power or dispel dice in the subsequent magic phase, boosting his significant powers.

Speaking of significant, Mannfred is a Level 4 Wizard that is crazily a Loremaster of both the Lore of Death and the Lore of the Vampires. Yep, Mannfred always knows a whopping fourteen spells, seven from arguably the best spell lore in the game and the other half from a spell lore intrinsic to the Vampire Counts army and their success. His Vampiric Powers further his magic dominance arc with Mannfred able to re-roll one of the dice when determining how many power dice he gets in his own magic phase, while giving him a +D3 bonus to casting Invocation of Nehek - the core Vampire spell - as well as being able to raise Dire Wolves, Bat Swarms and Fell Bats above their starting size through that particular spell. If you aren't fond of a combat lord (remembering though that Vampire "Blender" Lords are arguably the best in the game of that type) and want to just dominate the magic phase for both players, then Mannfred is the one choice you have. If you try to compare him to what a Vampire Lord would cost kitted out in such a way, by using Curse of the Revenant as an example we can see that before accounting for his sword or his Loremaster of two lores, the Vampire Lord would come out to about 445 points. Is generating extra power or dispel dice through five Weapon Skill and Initiative 7 Strength 5 attacks as well as Loremaster of two of the best spell lores in the games worth nearly 100 extra points? My vote is yes, and the fact that Mannfred can take cavalry or monstrous mount options only furthers his value in variant army lists. I'm not exactly sold on his defensive and offensive output, but his power and dispel dice advantage plus knowing fourteen spells as a Level four wizard is downright crazy. Is he worth the exorbitant points cost? I would say yes, yes he is.
Competitive? Yes.

Heinrich Kemmler - A Master Necromancer with a +1 bonus to Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Strength, Initiative and Leadership as well as +2 Attacks from his magic weapon, the unwitting servant of Nagash is designed more as an all rounder and less as a magic-centric character. He is a Level four wizard that can (disappointingly) only use the Lore of the Vampires, though he does combine both Loremaster and the Master of the Dead upgrade (raising Skeletons above their starting size) to give him an edge over regular Master Necromancers. When combined with Grave Guard or Skeleton Warriors, any wounds he causes resurrect models for the unit that allow it to exceed the starting size. I find this rarely comes into use as Heinrich probably wants to be in a bunker and not in a combat unit, especially as his actual combat stats are still mediocre at best. Heinrich gives you some extra security by forcing enemies within 12" to declare their magic items to him at the start each of his magic phases, allowing you to sniff out enemy plans before they can be put into fruition. Kemmler handily counts as a Level 5 Wizard for dispelling purposes, making him a nice choice for magic defence if you combine him with a cheap Necromancer equipped with a dispel scroll.

What really distinguishes him from a Master Necromancer is that Heinrich gets to choose either Fly or Ethereal as a "free" special rule at the start of each of his turns, applying until the next time he has to make a choice. Making him Ethereal makes him hard to deal with for chaff units and forces opponents to use magic dice to kill him, while Fly allows him to keep up with units such as Vargheists or Bat Swarms and retreat from opposing chaff. Kemmler is quite expensive when compared to a Master Necromancer and quite a lot of his upgrades are focused around combat, an area where a wizard usually doesn't want to be in anyway. With no saves at all unless you count Ethereal, I'm not that sold on Kemmler outside of Storm of Magic games - an arena where combining Ethereal or Fly with a 3+ ward save on arcane fulcrums actually makes him pretty ridiculous. He's decent for sure, but you might be better served with both a Level 4 and Level 2 for a lower cost before upgrades. However, this doesn't necessarily make him a bad choice; combining Ethereal with decent combat stats make him a chaff killer and re-director of his own accord, and he can handily Fly into friendly units if he needs to hide from magic missile spells.
Competitive? Yes.

Vampire Lord - One of the most versatile Lord choices in the game, a Vampire Lord can be almost anything you want. A Level 4 Wizard with bonuses to casting the crucial Lore of the Vampires signature spell? Yep. A combat character that can smash entire units or enemy lords in combat with ease? Yep. What about a combined role character that is both a Level 4 Wizard and a combat monster? In higher points games, this is entirely possible - and that is the beauty of the Vampire Lord. Almost no other generic character in the game comes even close to the raw power and combination of both magic and melee potential that a Vampire Lord does, with only Daemon Princes and Greater Daemons capable of competing. A Vampire Lord works best when given lots of upgrades to really maximise their potential; they are a "go big or go home" unit if there ever was one. A 500+ point Vampire Lord can singly annihilate entire units of monstrous cavalry, something few other models in the game can lay claim to. The hero level Vampire is a great stand in for lower points games where the investment in a Lord is either impossible or inefficient. You can practically never go wrong with a Vampire Lord, especially the age-old "Blender Lord" configuration; consisting of an Ogre Blade, Quickblood and Red Fury at its most basic, this build annihilates anything and everything you can think of.
Competitive? Yes.

Master Necromancer - One of the cheaper Level 4 Wizard options in the game, especially considering how easily they can heal themselves alongside Toughness 4, the Master Necromancer is your staple wizard lord. One of the few wizards able to take armour through the magical Nightshroud, Master Necromancers are very cost effective wizards that only really have a downside of lacking in lore choices with only two available as opposed to the usual eight for an Empire equivalent. A particular magic item does circumvent this restriction and allow a Necromancer to take the Lore of Life, however, while there are other upgrades that boost the potency of their Lore of the Vampire spells. There are also methods of magic dominance that Vampires can employ such as using the Mortis Engine with a Blasphemous Tome to give them a +2 bonus to their casting rolls for the Lore of the Vampires. With how strong magic is, particularly the three native lores a Master Necromancer can take, adding in the strong stats and low cost of this unit serve to make it a fantastic choice.
Competitive? Yes.

Strigoi Ghoul King - Essentially a particular kind of Vampire Lord with a few unique traits, the Strigoi Ghoul King is a bit more of a niche choice compared to its more regal counter-part. It loses a point of Weapon Skill and Leadership but gains a point of Initiative, and gains all of re-rolls to hit in all rounds of combat against any opponent due to Infinite Hatred, Poisoned Attacks and a 5+ Regeneration save. The Ghoul King can only be a Level 1 Wizard with the in ability to be upgraded further, while his mount options are restricted to the Terrorgheist alone - however, the Ghoul King is the only one that can ride that awesome beast. Unlike a Black Ark Fleetmaster, the Ghoul King still gets the full magic item allowance of a Lord, as well as the same 100 point Vampiric Powers limit for a Vampire Lord.

While a Regeneration save is never as good as a ward save, the Ghoul King need not pay for it and thus can focus more on things like arcane items or weapons - though the inclusion of Poisoned Attacks does make taking the latter rather annoying. The constant re-rolls to hit also mean the Ghoul King doesn't have to worry as much about Quickblood which, combined with the native Regeneration rule, save the Ghoul king about 60 points worth of equipment to be spent elsewhere. This does mostly make up for the 40 point increase in base cost, but it does somewhat narrow the Ghoul King in the sense that he comes with abilities that could be considered less effective versions of those that can be given to a Vampire Lord. Lacking any form of armour options outside of the 6+ provided by being mounted on a Terrorgheist does lead to him being far easier to kill, and the only mount being monstrous does limit where he can be placed. I think the Ghoul King overall, while certainly not a bad choice, just doesn't stack up next to a Vampire Lord when you consider being limited to Level 1 and their restriction on mounts. The inability to take magic armour is a rather massive hindrance and having an innate Regeneration save could be considered a down-side; it reduces the value of paying full price for a ward save, but it will also mean the Ghoul King is a sitting duck against increasingly common Killing Blow.
Competitive? No.

Summary!
While Vlad and the Ghoul King aren't really that bad, they certainly don't compare to the other choices available here and can be considered points inefficient. Heinrich Kemmler and Count Mannfred are good choices, though the real stand-outs are the Vampire Lord and Master Necromancer.


Heroes

Mannfred the Acolyte - Like his Lord level version, Mannfred the Acolyte is a magic-oriented Vampire that some could be forgiven for confusing with a Necromancer. First off he compares very well to a Vampire kitted out in the same way, with Mannfred effectively paying 30 points for his magic sword (identical to the one he wields as a Lord) and Loremaster of Lore of the Vampires. He is definitely worth it in that sense, especially as even a regular Vampire has good combat stats and thus Mannfred should be able to clean up some weaker characters or fodder infantry. Of course though he doesn't compare in terms of combat to a properly kitted out melee character, so make sure to avoid those wherever possible. The question then becomes this; is this a good kit out for a hero Vampire? I would say yes; a Level 2 that adds +D3 to his casting attempts for Invocation of Nehek is pretty good for resurrection purposes, while Loremaster on a Level 2 will allow you to feasibly take a Level 1 Vampire Lord with the signature as your general and not worry about investing too many points into the one character. The problem here is that Mannfred is relatively easy to kill with only a 5+ armour save and only two wounds at Toughness 4, and he is quite expensive with no really significant damage output. However, this can be alleviated by putting him on a Barded Nightmare to give him a combined 3+ armour save. I think hero Mannfred works fine as a main caster hiding in a bunker unit of Zombies or Skeletons, but he is a bit too fragile and "weak" (if you can say that about a Strength 5 model) to be on the front lines.
Competitive? Yes.

Krell, Lord of Undeath - A Wight King with +1 to Weapon Skill, Wounds and Initiative, Krell is built as a damaging combat character rather than a tank as most Wight Kings are. The inclusion of Terror as well as the Undead equivalent of the Eye of the Gods special rule (but without the rewards) make him quite distinct as far as Vampire characters are concerned, while a 4+ armour save on foot combined with Toughness 5 and 4 wounds does make him quite meaty. If he is in the same unit as Kemmler, Krell even gets to strike with Heroic Killing Blow instead of the regular killing blow while in a challenge. This unfortunately means he can't be used as a monster slayer unless it is something like a Greater Daemon or character mounted on a monster, which is disappointing but not really something to complain about. The nice thing about his 4+ armour if that a magic weapon wounds Krell but he passes his save, the magic weapon gets nullified. Now, most magic weapons tend to be on characters that strike at Strength 4 or 5, meaning Krell's save will usually be a 5+ at best. Against Strength 7 characters as are the norm for combat monsters, Krell doesn't get any save at all. It might be funny against Malekith's destroyer but otherwise I don't really see much uses for the Armour of the Barrows.

Krell's Black Axe is effectively a great weapon with Multiple Wounds (D3), which does make up for his challenge-only restriction on Heroic Killing Blow. The additional effect is also quite nice with a wounds test at the start of each enemy turn causing the model to suffer wounds with no armour saves allowed. Basically, Krell is a combat character that excels against medium to light melee characters, but will get annihilated by combat monsters. He will cleave rank and file apart and do a handy job against monsters, with good defensive stats even accounting for a mere 4+ armour save. The problem here is cost; Krell is a full 120 points more expensive than a stock Wight King with no mount options. While a Wight King can't match his offensive prowess, it can handily beat him defensively when combined with a Barded Skeletal Steed, a shield and the Nightshroud for a tanky as heck character that can hold up even nasty combat monsters solo for a few turns. Krell isn't bad at all though, I think, especially when combined with the Banner of the Barrows in a Grave Guard unit while defending Heinrich Kemmler. Having to accept challenges is a big down-side though, especially against a wily opponent that can force Krell to fight a character he can't beat or just feed on worthless champions. He is very expensive and his saves aren't that great, while his offensive potential could be better.
Competitive? No.

Konrad Von Carstein - A mostly standard Vampire with +1 Weapon Skill but -1 Leadership, Konrad is the Vampire Counts' answer to armies such as Ogre Kingdoms or monstrous Warriors of Chaos. Between Hatred and either Frenzy or Stupidity each turn, the batty Vampire is a more consistent fighter than a regular Vampire with the re-rolls to hit and a 50% chance of an extra attack. However, Frenzy or Stupidity on a Leadership 6 character isn't great and practically forces you to use a Vampire Lord to keep Konrad in line through Inspiring Presence at Leadership 10. If you do this, the downsides of Konrad should be mitigated for the most part, though it also increases the value of a generally unnecessary battle standard bearer on one of your heroes. Konrad only has a 5+ armour save for defence, but his Hatred, possible Frenzy and magic weapon that confers +1 attack for paired weapons and has the Multiple Wounds (2) special rule qualify him as a glass cannon. Throw Red Fury into this as well as natural Strength 5 and good combat stats and you have yourself a model that was puposefully built to kill Ogres above all else.

With some good rolls, Konrad can throw down up to six Weapon Skill 7, Strength 5, Initiative 6 attacks that each deal two wounds rather than one to single models, with each unsaved wound caused conferring extra attacks. What is cheesy about this is how Multiple Wounds (2) and Red Fury stack together to generate absurd amounts of attacks; if Konrad gets 6 attacks and all of them cause unsaved wounds, he could potentially generate up to 12 attacks per the Red Fury Vampiric Power. Yikes! This will likely never happen, but it nonetheless illustrates just how damaging this crazy Vampire can be. While Konrad is rather unreliable, Strength 5 is good but not great and his defensive stats are rather pathetic, he is crucially rather inexpensive. Before adding in Hatred, his zany unique special rule, his stat changes or his magic sword and bonus attack(s), Konrad is almost identical in cost to a Vampire given heavy armour and Red Fury. While the build itself isn't great necessarily, Konrad is undoubtedly cost effective and a worthwhile choice just because of how many points he will rake in before dying unceremoniously. But here is the issue; Konrad isn't a Wizard, and thus also can never be your General. Is the trade off for those extra special rules and his magic weapon worth the loss of a single spell? My opinion is that it is a fine exchange, if only because it leaves you to take a super wizard in the Lord slot and have Konrad be your cheap "blender lord" equivalent. Remember, Konrad is about half the cost of the most bare bones "blender lord" build you could imagine and has his own decent traits, like Multiple Wounds (2), thrown in.
Competitive? Yes.

Isabella Von Carstein - Where Konrad has a slightly modified Vampire profile, Isabella's is identical in terms of stats. She has a 5+ armour save for defence, like Konrad, and trades Red Fury for the significantly cheaper (and weaker) Beguile. When combined with Vlad, Isabella gets Always Strikes First, but trades it for Frenzy and Hatred if her husband perishes (again). Otherwise, what does Isabella have to justify being quite a bit more expensive than Konrad? Well, she is actually a wizard - though only a mere level 1 - and she has an enchanted blood chalice that restores a single lost wound to an allied character with the Vampiric special rule in the same unit at the beginning of every friendly magic phase. That's it. No, really. In an army where the lore attribute of the absolutely necessary native spell lore restores wounds for every successful spell cast, Isabella pays a ridiculous price for an item that is best used for very expensive combat lords that may not need the help. Remember that Isabella has no extra damage output or survivability over a regular Vampire, meaning she is quite easily singled out and killed. She combines well with Vlad and his boosted Hunger rule, but otherwise she is best left alone as even in that preferred combo both characters are far too expensive for what they bring.
Competitive? No.

Necromancer - Like the Master Necromancer, the standard hero equivalent is a cost effective magic user that suffers only by having access to two spell lores rather than the eight for an Empire wizard. A cheap spell caster that has lots of potential bunker units that (s)he can easily raise back and buff, the Necromancer works as a dispel scroll carrier or as a primary spell caster in lower points games. Heck, they can be just your inexpensive standard support magic user that can be made a "level four" through the use of a Mortis Engine with the Blasphemous Tome. There are really no downsides to this hero-level wizard, and they should feature in most competitive lists to make up for any lost concentration or magic defence issues.
Competitive? Yes.

Vampire - The first thing you will notice about a Vampire is that they cost quite a bit more than a standard combat character in other army books, such as a High Elf Noble or Dark Elf Master. The Vampire has similar stats to these characters, but gets Strength 5, Toughness 4 and 4 attacks thrown in for good measure. If that wasn't enough, the Vampire is also a Wizard and thus combines the roles of, for example, an Empire Captain and Battle Wizard. Fortunately and unlike most character that try to be "diverse", the Vampire is not horrendously over-costed and is in fact quite cheap for what they bring, especially with one able to heal themselves through the Lore of the Vampires lore attribute. They can take all of the same lores as a Necromancer in addition to the powerful Lore of Shadow, with the option for being upgraded to a Level 2 Wizard. The Hunger gives the Vampire another slight chance to heal him or herself, while Vampiric Powers and Magic Items allow you to kit out a Vampire like no other Hero choice before them. They can be the Battle Standard Bearer and as Undead are Immune to Psychology and thus never have to worry about Fear or Terror. They have three mount options and lots of mundane equipment to choose from, with 2+ armour saves easily accessed through the use of armour and a barded nightmare. Vampires are very cheap for what they do and definitely some of the strongest hero choices in the game.
Competitive? Yes.

Wight King - Like the Vampire, the Wight King is mostly a combat centric character, though this skeletal creature trades magical potential and raw damage output for crazy defensive stats. Immune to Psychology, Toughness 5, 3 Wounds and stock 5+ armour that is very easily boosted to a 2+ or even 1+ makes the Wight King possibly the most cost effective character in the game in regards to survivability. With the option of a skeletal steed rather than a nightmare, a Wight King can join a unit of Black Knights and still have them keep their Spectral Steeds special rule. Leadership 9 and decent combat stats as well as Killing Blow make the Wight King a solid overall combat hero with the generic but nonetheless very handy 50 point magic item limit. The buffs provided to a more offensively built Wight King when considering their Killing Blow are very good indeed, while a more defensive build using the Nightshroud and a barded skeletal steed can hold up even a "blender" Vampire Lord for several turns. A 1+ armour save that gets rid of any Strength bonus from weapons in base contact with the wielder combined with Toughness 5 and three wounds on a cheap as chips hero choice that all said costs just under 150 points is insane, simply put. If ever there was a better choice for a battle standard bearer in an army, the Wight King pushed them aside and promptly croaked "take me instead!". Combine the Wight King with a nearby spell user with the Lore of the Vampires and you will have yourself one of the true "wound tanks" in the game.
Competitive? Yes.

Cairn Wraith - A two wound model with pitiful stats, the Cairn Wraith can be selected either as an individual hero choice or as part of a Rare unit choice. The basics of a Cairn Wraith are rather simple; it is an Ethereal, Terror causing model with three Strength 5 attacks that always strike last. The Cairn Wraith can swap out those attacks for a single strike that, if it hits, wounds automatically and ignores armour saves. Strictly speaking the damage output of this model really isn't that great especially with Weapon Skill 3; it is only so expensive because it is Ethereal and is thus immune to all mundane sources of damage. However, magic weapons or even just magical attacks aren't all that uncommon for enemy characters (or units, depending on the army) which a Cairn Wraith appears to be designed to kill; remember, the equivalent points worth of Crypt Ghouls do a better job at killing most things, especially lightly armoured units, than a Cairn Wraith. Weapon Skill 3 and Initiative 2 are really rather terrible, while the Wraith itself will drop to a stiff breeze if that wind happens to have a hint of magic in it. Aside from trying one of those funny but easily countered five-wide "Ethereal bunkers" with Zombie or Skeleton units that have all Ethereal characters in the front rank, I'm not a big fan of the Cairn Wraith and believe you should take Spirit Hosts instead if you want your Ethereal fix.
Competitive? No.

Tomb Banshee - Another Terror causing Ethereal character with a mostly similar profile, and thus many of the same problems. The Banshee trades any real damage output in close combat for a shooting attack that works regardless of most of the usual restrictions, while the cost of the model itself is quite a bit higher than the already expensive Cairn Wraith. So how does their defining special rule work? Sadly, no where near as well as the similar Terrorgheist scream does; a Banshee gets to roll 2D6+2 and compare the final score against the Leadership value of the target unit. If the total result exceeds that of the opponents' Leadership value, that unit suffers a number of wounds with no armour saves allowed equal to the number by which the score exceeds that units' Leadership value, with the side point that they are magical. The average roll of 2D6 is 7 which is brought up to 9 by the +2 modifier. To put it short and explain why the Tomb Banshee is too expensive for what she does, the vast majority of units in the game are Leadership 8 or better, particulary with Inspiring Presence to help them. For the most part, your Banshee really isn't going to be doing that much damage at all with her Ghostly Howl, and like the Cairn Wraith she dies far too easily if even one model with magical attacks is near her. The combat stats are only marginally better than that of a Skeleton Warrior, while causing Terror isn't nearly as good in a meta where Leadership 9 and 10 are the norm rather than the exception. I think the two Ethereal characters are just a tad too expensive for what they do and not really efficient as a result.
Competitive? No.

Summary!
The Ethereal pair are generally under-whelming unless taken in a match-up with almost no magic weapons present, while both Isabella and Krell are too expensive for what they bring to the table or just limited in general. Mannfred the Acolyte and Konrad von Carstein are both efficient characters however, one in magic and the other in combat, while Wight Kings are some of the tankiest characters in the game and cheap to boot. Vampires and Necromancers are fantastic for their cost and are choices that you can really never go wrong with.

 
And that's a wrap, everybody! I am intrigued to hear if you guys like these kinds of summary articles ala my original Chaos Space Marines Tactica' playing out as introductions to the full-on Tactica Series' themselves. I also would like to see how each individual unit has been performing for you in your own Vampire Count armies; have the Undead been effective servants for you, or just pathetic imitations of their living counter-parts? Thanks for the support, and I hope you have a nice day!