How to deal with Vlad?

[Kae]

I keep trying my hand at an Elspeth campaign(Normal, Normal, I suck at this game so I'm trying to improve as is.) and every time Vlad starts coming after me, usually before turn 20, he has multiple(Think, 3-4) full stack armies that just outnumber me and I can never seem to get an ambush on him, even with 80+% in forests, and he always seems to fully revive all his armies, with seemingly full movement, if I even do manage to wipe out an army.

What am I doing wrong? Is my approach wrong? Is using mostly guns as the mostly-gun Lord not correct? As of writing, I've done multiple recommended strategies, between building units, what passives to take on my Lords and Heroes, and what places to push to and what cities to take, where to ambush and where to retreat, multistacking armies with varying unit comps, and I'm just utterly at a loss. I do not know what I'm doing wrong, but he just can't seem to be beaten in my eyes, even though everyone I see claims to handle him with ease.

Is there anything I can do to improve, or should I just give up on Elspeth?

[Dr. Uncredible]

Man, gotta respect the guy, what other early TWW1 character has this many "HOW DO I DEAL WITH THIS A-HOLE"-threads dedicated to them?
Even among game 3 characters only Tamurkhand and Valkia cause this many threads!
Vlad the Everdad.

[Garatgh Deloi]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Dr. Uncredible:

Man, gotta respect the guy, what other early TWW1 character has this many "HOW DO I DEAL WITH THIS A-HOLE"-threads dedicated to them?
Even among game 3 characters only Tamurkhand and Valkia cause this many threads!
Vlad the Everdad.

Its because most people play the Empire and he is the only LL around there that is like that (at least early game).

Should be noted that he has already been nerfed in game 3 (and he was perfectly kill'able before that nerf).

In my opinion its mainly a matter off knowing how to deal with heroes/lords like that (Melee with some sort of life regen and general tankiness).

(Don't surround them with normal melee troops, all you are doing is shielding him from ranged fire and healing him. Use mass focused ranged fire (preferable armor piercing), nets/slows, single target damage spells, kite him, use hard hitting heroes/monsters, etc, combo a few of these and he is dead).

[󠀡󠀡MɨxɇđǤȺmɨnǥ]

every time i play her myself i am always on VH VH, and what i do is just simply use spear/shield as a front row unit since shields and good defence stats, along with that i always use a stack of 6 hand-gunner units and the starting ironguns. i also rush to get the arty gun school up and build me either 2 morts or cannons depends on how i feel for that part rely but either will work. and ofc i upgrade in the school gunners and the rocket arty focus. from there i go for battles with good terrain areas i don't get flanked and can pure focus fire into units. don't be scared to shoot your own guys aha. aim for lords first then heroes and after the units with flanking them will melt there moral to the void. easy win rely. this always works for me and it's both early or late game tbh. so on normal and normal i would say it's more a skill issue or base battles your taking and alot of auto resolve and taking bad losses.

[Obamenau]

You can get a steam tank very early as Elspeth with state troops. Its insanely good against VC, i ran into issues aswel but the tank came in clutch and got 1000 kills at the end of the battle. It can kill near infinite infantry, you just have to keep it safe from lords an cav.

Also outriders with grenade launchers and artillery + engineers. Big stuff you kill with guns.

[StrangestEcho]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Obamenau:

You can get a steam tank very early as Elspeth with state troops. Its insanely good against VC, i ran into issues aswel but the tank came in clutch and got 1000 kills at the end of the battle. It can kill near infinite infantry, you just have to keep it safe from lords an cav.

Also outriders with grenade launchers and artillery + engineers. Big stuff you kill with guns.

Ideally you want to wipe out Vlad well before any of those come online. Like turn 20 at the latest. Pistolier spam is a good option for a second stack, with a few outriders (Repeaters) for armored units.

[Obamenau]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von StrangestEcho:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Obamenau:

You can get a steam tank very early as Elspeth with state troops. Its insanely good against VC, i ran into issues aswel but the tank came in clutch and got 1000 kills at the end of the battle. It can kill near infinite infantry, you just have to keep it safe from lords an cav.

Also outriders with grenade launchers and artillery + engineers. Big stuff you kill with guns.

Ideally you want to wipe out Vlad well before any of those come online. Like turn 20 at the latest. Pistolier spam is a good option for a second stack, with a few outriders (Repeaters) for armored units.

Yeah vlad really is the biggest danger at the start and should be prioritized. The empire does have a good roster for dealing with him at any stage though

[Fendelphi]

A Lore of Fire Wizard with the Burning Head spell can take care of hordes of Zombies, Skeletons and Crypt Ghouls with ease. Just wait until they are clumped up on your frontline, and you can hit 6+ units with a single cast and take 2/3 of their health, which usually leads to crumbling, if not disintegration.
Fireballs can be used against cavalry, fliers or heroes as they approach.
Flaming Sword of Rhuin spell can be used to provide magic and fire damage to your units (great for dealing with high physical resistance, like Cairn Wraiths) and works with ranged attacks.

As Elspeth, your first priority is to get Monstrous Impact on your Great Cannons as soon as possible.
A single Great Cannon can slow down main threats, like Vlad, Isabella Vargheists, Crypt Horrors or cavarly. If a cannon ball hits multiple units(as it punches through formations), you get multiple slows.
This means that the enemy army will arrive staggered rather than all at once, which makes it easier to focus on units with your other ranged units.
For her own skills, I would prioritize getting her Spirit Leech fully upgraded, along with Life Leeching passive. Then go for fully upgraded Lightning Strike in the bottom line.

Have 2 units of Pistoliers, or if possible, regular Outriders. They are great for moving ahead and poke a bit. Either at some cavalry or fliers. Just be observant so they are not caught. If something chases them, run them back to your lines, then force the enemy to move the length of your gun line.
Once the fast elements are dealt with, you can target units like Graveguards or various heroes, or run around the flank and shoot units in the back.
Outriders have much better AP damage and have better range, but Pistoliers are cheaper, have a slightly better charge and can shoot backwards while running away.


Focus on taking out Isabella before Vlad. She is easier to kill overall, and she is more mobile and have various support abilities. Once she is gone, Vlad is a bit weaker as well(as they both get a combat bonus if they are together in the same battle).
If you have to pin Vlad down in melee while dealing with other things, a unit of Halberdiers or Greatswords can do well. They both hit him fairly hard and are not that easy to kill quickly. If those units are not available, Flagellants are Unbreakable, so they will keep fighting until they die. The RoR unit Sigmar's Sons can also do ok.
If none of that is available, a unit of basic Knights or Spearmen with shields will have to do.
Do not try to duel Vlad with a character. He will typically dominate duels.

[Hellrazer - wvx]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kae:

I tried that. I watched Vlad eat at least 4 handgunners worth of ammo before he died, and by that point Isabella and the other vampire hero wiped out the rest of my army. Vlad alone seems to just never die, I imagine I'd get better results if I killed off the other two, but he just tanks through everything I throw at him, spirit leeches included. When I turn all of my guns on him, his army would wipe them out before he died.

He's easy once you get the feel to it. You need 1 full army + 1 bait army (not full), put that army into recruitment stance and act as a bait, just close enough for them to launch their attach, but farther away for them to actually pursue you. Also have Elsbeth close enough to ambush/reinforce. Have 2-3 stacks of grenade launcher outriders in total, have 2-4 mortars in your army and watch them evaporate.

[Yannir]

When dealing with VC, there's a certain common order you want to kill things in. First you kill their mobility, the bats and hounds, because they're easy to kill and can cause a lot of disruption. Then you focus down their dangerous units like Vargulfs, heroes and Lords. Then you kill off their support like Corpse Carts. Leave their infantry last because your own infantry can hold them back, and do not waste ammo on them until everything more dangerous is dead.

When you shoot Vlad with your Handgunners, you can cast an Aspect of the Dread Knight on them. The imbued magic damage will let them bypass any Physical Resistance he might have. Check if he has any first though.

And remember that positioning on the map is absolutely key. Having one of your flanks covered can be a deciding factor on whether you win or lose a battle. Or how well you win it atleast. Even experienced players can forget this sometimes if they play too many rush factions where it's not as essential, or if they get too used to having an easy-ish early game.