Direwolf Vampire Counts FAQ v6.06 Format Q = Question A = Answer S = Source Q. Are Undead immune to poison, since it does not say this anywhere? A. Undead are no longer immune to poison. The reference to unliving targets in the poison description means chariots, war engines, buildings, etc. S. Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 117 ***** Q. Can the Gem of Blood save against a Killing Blow? If so, is the Killing Blow rebounded back onto the attacker? A. In cases like these, items should be treated just like a Ward save. So, if the save is passed, then the character takes no damage, and the wound rebounded. However, just a single wound is rebounded, not the killing blow itself. S. Anthony Reynolds - Warhammer Design Team (Online Q&A on the Games Workshop Warhammer Forum) ***** Q. For purposes of determining if fear causing units outnumber their foes to force an auto-break situation, do you determine it by the largest fear causing unit engaged in the combat or do you use the total Unit Strength of the fear causing units and compare it to the defender’s combined Unit Strength? A. Neither. If a unit is outnumbered by fear-causing enemies, then it automatically breaks. Operative word is unit, not side, so it is worked out on its Unit Strength versus total Unit Strength of fear- causing enemies it is actually fighting (i.e. in base to base contact with), in the same way that break test are rolled for individually rather than per side. S. Gav Thorpe - Warhammer Design Team / Rulebook page 81 ***** Q. In the rules for removing rank bonus it states that "This bonus is lost if the unit is charged in the flank or rear by an enemy with a US of 5 or more." This leads to the following question: Will an Undead unit that is currently less than US5 at the time it charges the enemy and is subsequently raised to US5+ remove the enemy's rank bonus at the start of the first round of close combat at which the US5+ status has been reached? A. With a strict interpretation of the rule (and therefore the one that keeps it closest to the basic rules), the unit has not been 'charged' by an enemy with US 5 or more, and therefore has not been disrupted enough to lose its rank bonus. However, you will still get flank and rear bonuses as normal. S. Gav Thorpe - Warhammer Design Team / Rulebook - page 73 ***** Q. Do ‘wounds caused by the black coach’ include wounds caused by the wraith and nightmares, or is it only impact hits that restore (or add) wounds? A. Any wounds caused by the Black Coach model (including wraith and nightmares) count towards this total. S. Anthony Reynolds - Warhammer Design Team (Online Q&A on the Games Workshop Warhammer Forum) ***** Q. If you have more then one Vampire that can summon Wolves/ Ghouls can they all be put into one unit? A. No. Each summoned unit is a separate unit. S. Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 116 ***** Q. Can Von Carstein Vampires with Wolf Form join a unit of Dire Wolves? This would seem to really fit in with the background and army, however, the Fast Cavalry rules appear to prevent such units from being joined by a character on foot. A. Yes. Check the Errata for Fast Cavalry. S. Warhammer Chronicles 2004 pages 117 and 125 ***** Q. When two (or more) Blood Dragon Vampires are in a combat, how do you determine who must issue / accept a challenge? A. The Blood Dragon with the highest Leadership in a combat must always issue challenges and must always accept enemy challenges if possible. If two (or more) Blood Dragon Vampires with the same Leadership value are in a combat, the Vampire Counts player may choose between them. S. Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 128 ***** Q. Do ethereal units suffer from attacking over a defended obstacle? A. They only ignore movement penalties, that’s all. This includes marching in difficult terrain. S. Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 116 ***** Q. Do ethereal units block line of sight? A. Yes. The ethereal special rules specifically state "ethereal creatures block line of sight normally". S. Vampire Counts Army Book page 28 ***** Q. Can a Banshee shout into close combat she isn’t participating in? A. She can target any one unit in range; no exceptions are listed. S. Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 116 ***** Q. Can a Banshee always move up to 12 inches? A. Yes. The answer is based on the following: 1) The Banshee has a special rule called "Single Model" which indicates that she is treated as a character on foot for movement and when targeted by missiles. 2) The Laws of Undeath for the Vampire Counts army indicate that a character on foot may always make march moves. 3) The Unit Strength and Single Model's Movement chart in Warhammer Chronicles 2003 indicates that single roughly man sized models on foot move "As Skirmishers". Regarding movement, units which move "As Skirmishers" have no need to turn or wheel, can pivot on the spot with no penalty, and have a 360 degree arc of sight for charges, etc. They do not incur penalties for difficult terrain/obstacles, and can march even if within 8" of enemies at the beginning of the turn. S. Vampire Counts Army Book pages 25, 28 / Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 114 ***** Q. Do spells, abilities, magic items, etc. which negate or otherwise affect magic items have an impact on Bloodline powers? A. No. While they count against the magic item allowance for characters, Bloodline Powers are NOT defined as magic items. S. Direwolf FAQ Council Interpretation / Vampire Counts Army Book page 52 ***** Q. Can Ghouls flee from a charge? A. Yes. Ghouls are not classified as Undead. They have their own special rule called "Alive!" which does not prohibit them from fleeing from a charge. S. Vampire Counts Army Book page 27 ***** Q. In a Vampire Counts army that includes Dogs of War or Regiments of Renown units, do the DoW / RoR units have to take panic checks for the destruction of nearby Undead units? A. Yes. No exemption to taking panic checks for DoW / RoR units has been granted in the Vampire Counts Army Book. While the units may be "Undead" they are still considered "friendly" units for purposes of Panic. S. Rulebook page 80 ***** Q. Is it legal for a living character, such as a Dark Emissary, to join an Undead unit? Likewise, is it legal for an Undead character to join a living unit, such as Dogs of War pikemen? A. The intention of the rules is that no, Undead units cannot be joined by non-Undead characters and vice versa. This is the reason that everything in the Vampire Counts book is Undead (why Necromancers are Undead in his edition, for instance) - the only exception (and i'm talking mainn list here, not the appendix variant lists) being Ghouls - where it is explicitly stated that they cannot be joined by Characters for just this reason. S. Anthony Reynolds - Warhammer Design Team ***** Q. Where can I find the rules for the Vampire characters, Vlad & Isabella Von Carstein? A. In the Warhammer Annual 2002 S. Warhammer Annual 2002 page 61 ***** THE BLACK ART Q. Can a unit be affected by Vanhel's Danse Macabre more than once in a magic phase? A. Yes it can. S. July 2002 Q&A Update on the Warhammer Chronicles website ***** Q. How does the spell Hand of Dust work? The text mentions a hit roll at first, but speaks of a 'wound' later, so is a wound roll needed or just the hit roll? A. Only a roll to hit is needed. S. Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 116 ***** Q. When summoning a new unit of undead with the Invocation of Nehek do you have to nominate the location where you will be placing them before rolling to cast/opponent tries to dispel? A. No. It specifically states in the spell ‘once the spell is cast, choose any point within 18” and place one model on it’. S. Anthony Reynolds - Warhammer Design Team (Online Q&A on the Games Workshop Warhammer Forum) ***** Q. Can the Invocation of Nehek be used to add width to the formation of the target unit? A. This question is not specifically answered in the Vampire Counts Army book, but has been answered in the Tomb Kings Army Book under Djedra's Incantation of Summoning (which we recommend adopting for use with the Invocation of Nehek) as follows: "Rank and file models are added to the front rank until the front rank reaches at least four models. Then additional models may be added to either the front rank or they can be added to create rear ranks. If the unit already has more than one rank, new models can only be added to rear ranks." S. Direwolf FAQ Council Interpretation / Tomb Kings Army Book page 35 ***** Q. A Necromancer cast Invocation of Nehek and raised a new unit consisting of 7 Skeletons. Later in that same magic phase, a Master Necromancer cast Invocation of Nehek at the newly raised unit and added 11 additional models to the unit bringing it to a total of 18 skeletons. Is the Victory points value of the new unit based on the initial 7 Skeletons or the total of 18 Skeletons? A. The Victory points value of the new unit is based on the initial 7 Skeletons. Invocation of Nehek indicates to immediately calculate and record the Victory points value of the new unit when it is created. S. Vampire Counts Army Book page 58 ***** UNHOLY ARTEFACTS Q. Does the Black Periapt allow you to store one of your opponent's unused magic dice? A. The Black Periapt allows you to swipe a single unused magic die (your opponent's or your own) at the end of one Magic Phase and make use of it in the next one. S. Gav Thorpe - Warhammer Design Team / US White Dwarf #281 page 38 ***** Q. In the Staff of Damnation description it states that all Undead units within 12 inches are affected by Hellish Vigour. If the enemy is Undead, does it affect them also? A. No. The staff only affects your own units. S. Anthony Reynolds - Warhammer Design Team (Online Q&A on the Games Workshop Warhammer Forum) ***** Q. Do Wristbands of Black Gold work for the wearer and his mount? A. No. Items like this only work for the mount as well if specifically stated. S. Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 117 ***** Q. What happens when you have a Vampire Counts unit with the Banner of the Barrows (Wights always hit on 3+) in a combat vs. an enemy unit which require sixes to hit it (e.g. an enemy unit defending an obstacle, Dryads, etc.)? A. This is a case of an "irresistible force" vs. an "immovable object". In other words, roll a D6 each close combat round to see whether the Wights hit on a 3+ or need sixes to hit. S. Anthony Reynolds - Warhammer Design Team ***** Q. Vampires and armour: Necrarch and Lahmian Vampires can't wear mundane armour. They shouldn't be allowed to wear magical ones either....but some magical armour specifically says that Necrarch and Lahmian Vampires can't wear them. What about the other magical armours? Can you specify which armours each Bloodline can wear? A. Oops. A Lahmian or Necrarch cannot choose any armour, mundane or Magical. S. Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 116 ***** WIGHT BLADES Q. Do Wights on foot armed with Wight Blades and mundane shields qualify for the hand weapon and shield bonus in close combat? A. Yes. "Wight Blades" is actually a special rule which applies to the various types of mundane weapons that the Wights carry. If Wights on foot choose to use their hand weapons along with mundane shields, they qualify for the bonus. S. Vampire Counts Army Book page 27 / Rulebook page 88 ***** Q. How do magic items which negate the affects of magical weapons interact with Wight Blades? A. "Wight Blades" is actually a special rule which applies to the various types of mundane weapons that the Wights carry. The Wight Blades special rule indicates that the mundane weapons carried by the Wights all have the the Killing Blow special ability attached to them. The Wight Blades special rule also makes the mundane weapons carried by Wights count as "magical" for purposes of being able to wound ethereal creatures, able to hit certain characters who are protected by magical armour, etc. but they still retain their mundane property. So a magical item which negates the affects of magical weapons would stop the attacks from Wights counting as "magical", but would not stop the Killing Blow ability attached to them. S. Direwolf FAQ Council Interpretation / Vampire Counts Army Book page 27 ***** Q. How does the High Magic spell, Vaul's Unmaking affect Wight Blades? A. It doesn't. Vaul's Unmaking only affects Magic Items. Wight Blades are not magic items. S. Direwolf FAQ Council Interpretation / Vampire Counts Army Book page 27 ***** Q. How do spells which destroy mundane weapons, such as the Lore of Metal spell, Bane of Forged Steel (as amended in Warhammer Chronicles 2004), affect Wights? A. As the "Wight Blades" special rule states that the Killing Blow and the ability of the weapons to count as magical are attached to the mundane weapons carried by the Wights, the Wights would no longer benefit from either of those special rules. In additon, as they would be striking with their fists, they would not receive any strength bonuses from weapons or be able to receive the +1 Armour Save bonus for using a hand weapon and shield. S. Direwolf FAQ Council Interpretation / Vampire Counts Army Book page 27 / Warhammer Chronicles 2004 page 122