Editing Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Vampire Counts (section)

===Vampiric Powers===
Upgrades Vampire Lords and Vampires can take. The former can take 100 points, the latter 50. Vampire hero BSBs taking a magic banner can still take this, so there's also that.

*''Master of the Black Arts:'' Not terrible, but not great either- it's ''extremely'' expensive, taking it prevents you from taking some other really good skills, and it doesn't guarantee you anything despite the high cost.  It's nice when you turn a 1 into a 6, but so very annoying when you turn a 2 or 3 into a 1.  Taking it on two vampires is a complete waste, since at that point, you're spending almost the points cost as a varghulf.  That said, if you're going with a fully wizard-focused vampire lord, you'll probably want to take this on him. 75 pts.
*''Curse of the Revenant:'' Add one Wound. If you've got one killy Vamp then it's not bad. Still probably not one of the better options.  55 pts.
*''Red Fury:'' This is THE power to make a blender lord Vamp.  Your Vamp essentially becomes a whirlwind of killing, capable of decimating multiple ranks of troops. This is the number one ability killy lords will wind up taking. Each unsaved wound equals another attack. Attacks caused by Red Fury cannot create more attacks due to Red Fury. 50 pts.
*''Flying Horror:'' Not terrible, but Hellsteed gives you that and actual combat bonus for exactly same points, and too expensive on Strigoi. 30 pts.
*''Quickblood:'' ASF. The OTHER most taken killy ability.  If you are going to be in combat, you want this.
*''Aura of Dark Majesty:'' When you're gambling on Fear/Terror, abilities like Beguile or the effects of the Coven Throne, and similar abilities can all be amped up with Aura. One of the better non-blender lord abilities. Combine with the Coven Throne, Banshees, Terrorgheists, or Screaming Banner to really fuck with your opponents. 30 pts.
*''Dark Acolyte:'' This adds D3 to your vampire's casting value after successfully casting the lore of vampires' signature spell, Invocation of Nehek. Unfortunately, because it comes into effect only after successfully casting the spell, it does not help you cast the spell with less dice. However, that extra D3 may force the enemy to spend an additional dispel die to stop that spell which may prevent them from being able to dispel another spell later in the same magic phase. It is situational as it only affects one spell and may or may not make the enemy spend one extra die to stop that spell. However, a vampire with Dark Acolyte and a Mortis Engine with Blasphemous Tome nearby can make that Invocation very difficult to dispel. 25 pts.
*''Forbidden Lore:'' Allows you to use any lore from the BRB other than Life. See the below evaluation of the spell lores for usefulness. 25 pts.
*''Supernatural Horror:'' Terror. Good to still get the edge on armies who take the Wailing Banner, Shrieking Blade, or pesky options like Phoenix Guard. 25 pts.
*''Fear Incarnate:'' Enemies reroll passed fear checks. Cancels out with BSB. This is never NOT a useful thing, you will want this on killy Lords. 20 pts.
*''Beguile:'' Useful in one on one challenges, which you normally don't want to be doing, but if you're up against Chaos Warriors it can be very useful. Can be very useful on a vampire supporting your killy lord to accept and survive challenges while your blender does what he does best. Always combine with Glittering Scales if you can. Works great with Aura of Dark Majesty. Insane if enemy fails fear check. 15 pts.
*''Master Strike:'' While this looks like it can be worth it if you go through the percentages, in almost all cases this is shit. Killing Blow and Heroic Killing Blow are generally only good when you have a lot of things with them all taking a chance at killing. 15 pts. 
*''Dread Knight:'' Not bad really, a Vampire Lord can benefit from this as they'll probably be doing that anyway but it's when you have better Vamps (like a Vampire Lord to keep your Dread Knight Vamp heroes in check) in the same unit then it can backfire on you. Taking this on your intended General is particularly risky. This will make WS 3 need 5s to hit a hero vamp, and WS 4 need 5s to hit a Vamp Lord. 10 pts.
*''Summon Creatures of the Night:'' If you plan on using Dire Wolves, Bat Swarms, and Fell Bats then this is good as those are expensive options point-wise, so increasing their numbers on the field is a good choice. 10 pts.