Vampire counts. How to beat them?

[Japzzi]

Now this might be a noob question but I am really struggling.

Playing as the Empire and I have started to go to war against the Vampire Counts but I just feel that it is a endless grind that I am bound to loose. Since they just raise armies faster than a starving squid eats a gobbo at lunch time.

What is hardest for me is the fear and terror penalties. Damn heard to counter the big monsters when your units haul ass at the sight of them. And if you break the morale of the enemy they only crumble, still fighting and still causing morale drops. I keep my lords and heroes close by but I can't cover my entire army.

Any tips? Rush lord? Kit out lords to be morale boosters? Really needs some advice here!

[Malaficus Shaikan]

Depending on difficulty.
1: starve there economy.
On normal the ai can still be starved out of money causes troops to suffer attrition.
On higher levels dont bother.

2: ligh wizards are amazing vs undead, so is attilery and cavalry.
You want to have your leader provide leadership buff's to counter terror and fear.
You want to have your cavalry more around and attack the undead in the back.
There breaking apart is far more devesating then routing.

3: assasinate(in combat or on the stratagy map) there lords.
Without high level lords the vampire counts armies will be easy to kill(leadership is twice as important for them then it is for you)

4: Battlefields allow them to raise good armies, otherwise they will have to do with subpar armies.
Try to avoid creating battlefields for them.

5: use agents to remove vampire corruption.
Vampire corruption is what makes and breaks the vampire counts.
If they cant leave there towns without losing half there manpower....

6: if all else failse exploit auto resolve.
Get three to four stacks of expandable units.
Auto resolve your way to victory.

From my experiance auto resolve is extreemly in favor of the guy with the biggest numbers more then anything else.

[Panfilo]

Believe it or not, you can use their morale immunity against them.

Unlike other factions, who will rout but possibly come back (goblin archers are incredibly annoying in this way) once undead 'morale' has tanked, they simply start to crumble apart. The key is to trigger this. This can happen several ways:

-Killing their lords early on is very useful. It creates a big morale hit which can cause a cascade of crumbling enemy units

-Avoid having your strong units get stuck in with zombies and other chaff units. Focus on destroying their more dangerous attackers.

-Vampire Counts lack ranged, use this to your advantage. Always try to position your troops to force them to cross bogs, tie them up with your own troops and use ranged and artillery units to cull them down.

-Spectral units (Cairn Wraiths, Hexwraiths, possibly Banshees) are particularly vulnerbale to magical damage, which most Legendary Lords and a few unique units have. Your caster will do a lot of damage to these units as well.

-Upgrade your lords' leadership and keep them close to your infantry to help prevent them from breaking easily.

[PINGVIN]

A good and solid artillery battery helps tons and tons initially and you need to pick off any bats and wolves to keep your flanks secure. Put the hurt on Crypt Horrors and Vargheists with your big guns.

Handgunners on flanks can be moved up into firing position when the enemy has engaged your front lines. Your lines will hold, even on Legendary, if you keep your flanks solid and keep cav around to support faltering units.

[ChildishKarambino]

just let chaos ♥♥♥♥ them

[Sovietkotek]

Almost as ridiculous as WE. Starving their economy sounds like one of the few non-battle strategies, tho that's gonna make for a lot less fun battles. Not too surprised for CA.

[StarofTanuki]

almost Vampire count's large unit lack of lack armour

you can use 2 Crossbow men 2 gunner 2-4 Helberd take down them easy

or easier way rush to Demigyrph knight <helbard> . only 2 / army is enough .

but seriously , how you war with them . me 200 hour only Empire never war with them until late game and they almost die by Chaos .

[Snakebearer]

I've never found an issue with beating VCs with any faction..
Pretty good tips from the other players here.
But tell us, what is the particular issue? I'm just having a hard time imagining what it is you find hard. What kind of unit combo is it you're having an issue with?
Especially since you're playing empire, this is even more frustrating for me to understand XD

[Shad]

VC are quite weak when played by the AI. No ranged units and few armored unit means you can use your artillery and even base crossbows to heart's content.

One thing you do need is a snipe unit to kill the heroes fast. Lots of ways, from outriders, to great cannons, to melee heroes, to magic, to the ouright vampire slaying "accusastion" ability on the witch hunter.

[TVMAN]

I tend to focus on taking out their Lords and Necromancers ASAP, since their units are heavily reliant on leadership. If you take out their lords early, the entire army tends to crumble.