To be clear, you need to own the Beastmen or Chaos DLCs to actually
play as that faction.
Ohh yeah, i am highly interested with the vampire faction here. Any cool stuff i need to know about them?
The main thing for VCs is that they take attrition outside of their area of vampiric corruption (IIRC, <50% corruption areas outside of their control) and their cities get hefty order penalties for low corruption (although there is no attrition). On the flip side, they receive remarkable order bonuses for high corruption, and the enemy suffers immense penalties for inhabiting or travelling through high corruption areas. This means spreading vampiric corruption can passively weaken enemies and make them much easier to conquer and those lands difficult to reclaim. So corruption is more important to the VCs than any other faction.
Now, although the VCs
can find ways to ally with most factions, they have no true allies aside from Schwartzkopf or w/e (who better serves when conquered anyways). The Dwarves and Greenskins have no immediate interest in them, but that doesn't mean they'll ignore the VCs all game. For the most part, it's about peacemaking, striking the weakest neighbour, fortifying and spreading corruption, and moving from there.
Army-wise, although they can raise large armies at whim, these armies are generally low-tier unless it's been the site of a large, bloody battle (which makes a summoning marker on the map, giving access to high-tier troops). Because VC unit deaths count here, it's a good idea to have a few phyrric victories early on to make that marker for future use.
Having no ranged units limits engagement, but because they have access to flying units and fear/terror units, they are experts at fighting morale and winning via two-pronged attacks. Casualties can be high, but the VCs will always persevere through sheer magical prowess.
Another thing, VCs don't have morale like other factions, but "binding." When it breaks, like morale, the unit will start crumbling and losing HP until it is entirely eliminated; in no way does it rout. This mostly means that you always want to fight morale while keeping yours safe.
They also have powerful magic spells for heroes and lords, but I'm pretty terrible with spells overall so I can't offer much advice here aside from "use it."
Something tells me I should have probably paid more attention to this tip. I probably have too many Lords, and too many Heroes. Especially since most of my Heroes don't really contribute to anything. I'm probably due for a corporate downsizing.
Probably don't need that third army either, although it is a pretty small one. Money is hard to make in this game, especially later on when it feels like all I'm spending it on is Hero actions to counter enemy Heroes.
Yeah, it's really tempting to over-recruit. You always feel like you need more than you have.
For money, pay special attention to the resources a city has. This doesn't apply to the Greenskins, Chaos, or Beastmen, but the others can benefit massively from trade agreements. That was something I probably should have mentioned in the other post--trade is
huge for the Empire, to sustain their huge armies; and presumably good for Dwarves too (I haven't actually played them yet). With enough trade partners, it can be the difference between a 5000 income surplus or a 1000 income deficit. It really is gamechanging.
One thing: for all resources, particularly gold which you don't need trade to benefit from, remember that you need to actually make the building to get the resource.
