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

===Core Units===

*'''Zombies:''' 
Zombies are pathetic. The lore goes to silly lengths to tell you how living opponents fear engaging zombies and being torn apart, and on the game they are a bloody joke. They couldn't kill a sickly blind crippled mentally disabled orphaned Skaven Slave in a fair fight. 
It has M4, WS1, S3, T3, 1I, and fucking 2 LD. It is literally so bad, that decreasing its stats would only worsen it in the abstract. 

So why ever take them?  Because they are only three points.  In addition, the Vampire Counts magic phase is full of buffs, so get yourself some rerolls and that Zombie unit can hold a bit longer. Thanks to the The Newly Dead rule, they recover an extra D6 Wounds worth of models per casting of Invocation (meaning 2D6 Zombies) and can increase their unit size beyond what you started the game with; this means you can, with luck, turn a 20-strong horde into a 60-strong horde in just 2 turns of magic.  They can also make excellent caster bunkers for your Necromancers to hide in so they never get shot to death or challenged. Can be taken in units of 20+.

*'''Skeleton Warriors:''' 
More durable than Zombies, a pinch better at killing and less likely to crumble, they cost five points a model, and should only be taken in large units to maximize the usefulness of Invocation of Nehek.  Skellies are good but the Zombie tar pit works way better than any unit in the army for the role, since the Invocation of Nehek only heals back D6 Wounds+caster level (compared to the 2D6+caster level that Zombies get) and unless it's a Master Necromancer they cannot be pushed past their starting size. Can be taken in units of 10+.

That being said, Skeleton Warriors are by no means bad.  They have an option for a full command unit, a Champion that can take challenges your Vampire Lord doesn't want, a musicican for swift reforms and a standard bearer for a +1 combat res score for extra survivability, and they come with shields, light armour and a hand weapon giving them a neat 6+ parry save in close combat. You can exchange their hand weapons for spears, sacrificing the 6+ parry save, but it lets you attack in 3 ranks. Since skeletons still suck, they aren't going to hit much, not with weapon skill 2.  Generally Skeletons are a better carrier unit for your foot slogging killy Vampire Lord. 

*'''Crypt Ghouls:''' 
The most expensive core option available at 10 points. 3 WS, compared to the 2 WS of Skellies and 1 WS of Zombies. Toughness of 4, exceeding both other options by one point. Highest (still terrible) Initiative of 3. Two Attacks per Ghoul, and the highest Leadership score of the core options at 5 (meaning Ghouls have a low chance to crumble in comparison to Zombies which can all vanish off the board with their 2 LD). Poison Attacks are default, but Ghouls cannot have a musician or standard bearer.  Less likely to die like the skeletons, but much harder to get more of, and still a good bunker for a footslogging Vampire Lord. Can be taken in units of 10+.

*'''Dire Wolves:''' 
A very fast moving alternative to the other core choices. They ring in at 8 points per model, with a cavalry-speed Movement of 9 (compared to the M4 of the rest of the core). They have a LD of only 3, meaning they'll crumble as fast as Skeleton Warriors. They have one point higher WS and I so combat will have more kills, but otherwise share a stat line with Skeleton Warriors. They have the Slavering Charge (+1S on the charge) and Vanguard (after both armies deploy everything, but before the first turn, they may make one normal move). As a unit of the War Beast type, they also come with Swiftstride which allows them to roll a 3D6 and discard the lowest number than add the resulting sum to their M score while on the charge, while fleeing, or while pursuing. Can be taken in units of 5 to 20.