Rediscovering the love with the Undead

Don't worry people, I've not just become a necrophiliac, I've been one for a while!

In all serious though, for those that know me, you'll know that I've been struggling to get back in to fantasy for a while now having fallen out of love with the Warriors of Chaos and still being unsure which direction to go in with the Beastmen paint scheme. To try and fix this, I was hoping to start with my Empire Army, but due to funding issues it looks like that will have to wait.

However, I do have a large number of Vampire Counts boxed sets which are waiting to be unearthed, so have decided to start again with them. I've put together a 2,400 framework list as follows:
 

2400 Pts - Vampire Counts Roster


Vampire Lord (1#, 390 pts)
1 Vampire Lord, 390 pts (General; Vampire; Hand Weapon; Undead)
1 Sword of Battle
1 Walach's Bloody Hauberk
1 Book of Arkhan
1 Ironcurse Icon
1 Forbidden Lore
1 Master of the Black Arts
1 0. Invocation of Nehek

Vampire (1#, 200 pts)
1 Vampire, 200 pts (Vampire; Hand Weapon; Undead)
1 Armour of Fortune
1 Channeling Staff
1 Master of the Black Arts
1 0. Invocation of Nehek

Skeleton Warriors (30#, 315 pts)
29 Skeleton Warriors, 315 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield; Undead)
1 Banner of the Endless Nightmare
1 Skeleton Champion (Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield)

Crypt Ghouls (30#, 248 pts)
29 Crypt Ghouls, 248 pts (Poisoned Attacks; Undead)
1 Crypt Ghast

Dire Wolves (10#, 80 pts)
10 Dire Wolves, 80 pts (Undead)

Zombie Horde (25#, 112 pts)
25 Zombie Horde, 112 pts (Newly Dead; Shambling Horde; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Undead)

Corpse Cart (1#, 100 pts)
1 Corpse Cart, 100 pts (Balefire; Regenerate; Thunder Stomp)

Grave Guard (30#, 435 pts)
29 Grave Guard, 435 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Shield; Undead)
1 The Banner of the Barrows
1 Seneschal (Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Shield)

Black Knights (10#, 345 pts)
9 Black Knights, 345 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Barding; Hand Weapon; Lance; Heavy Armour; Shield; Undead)
1 Hell Knight (Barding; Hand Weapon; Lance; Heavy Armour; Shield)
1 Standard of Hellish Vigour
1 Skeletal Steed

Varghulf (1#, 175 pts)
1 Varghulf, 175 pts (Vampire; Causes Terror; Hatred; Regenerate; Thunder Stomp; Undead)

Validation Report:
Edition: 8th Edition; Game Type: Normal Game; Army Subtype: Vampire Counts Army
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Composition Report:
Points of Lords: 390 (0 - 600)
Points of Heroes: 200 (0 - 600)
Points of Core: 675 (600 - Unlimited)
Points of Special: 780 (0 - 1200)
Points of Rare: 175 (0 - 600)
Total Roster Cost: 2400

Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com

Now, this isn't necessarily going to be the end result but rather an initial framework to give me guidance, however, I wouldn't mind your thoughts nonetheless.

A few explanations first, I don't want this to be an all Ghoul army - I wanted to give the impression of the Lord having gathered forces to him over the centuries, so there is a bit of this and that. I don't believe that magic as it is now that i need to worry with the Lord of the Undead/Summon... powers as the starting sizes seem adequate to me, but again your thoughts.

I like the Varghulf model, that is all - I'll probably give him a trial, and see how he fares, then drop him if he is too much of a waste.

so, then, a focus in the Old World once more, lets see how we do!

As i always try to at least pretend I'm going to paint, I'll attach a picture of my ghoul unit as is.



Ignore the Strigoi, he'll be going, but I'm hoping to develop the existing paint job on the ghouls.

Thanks for reading.