Ye Olde Inn

OK, I think everyone in here at least has heard of Warhammer.
It's not a boardgame of course, like all the other games in this section, but the section title reads "other games", so it's probably OK to post it here.
I'm not very much into it - last time i played it was in the 80's, first edition (had a handful of undead, but these included a vampire and two liches, so they could take out hundreds of orcs. Would be imposible today, I know).
But now I got a copy of an in-between edition together with the pack of figures I purchased at Ebay (mainly for the HQ ogres), and it got my attention. I got me pdfs of the newest rulebook and the Vampire counts' (who else?) army book. But there are a few questions I'd like to ask. So, any experienced players in here?

I have never played warhammer. However I do have a number of WH mini's. They fit in perfect with the HQ and Ral Partha minis I love as a general rule.
I have a squad of spear weilding goblins I absolutely love.
Whenever I am GM of any game and the goblin mini's come out, there are groans around the table as the players know the encounter is about to get tough.

Whenever I am GM of any game and the goblin mini's come out, there are groans around the table as the players know the encounter is about to get tough.

Yes, there are some pretty good WH miniatures (but also quite many I don't like).

But my questions are rather about WH rules, so you probably can't help me, can you?

I don't like wargames, I found those boring... The most exciting part of playing wargame is collecting, painting, converting miniatures (such great warhammer's miniatures !!!!!)... That's this part I keep about warhammer fantasy battle, but I use it for HEROQUEST, ADVANCED HEROQUEST & WARHAMMER QUEST. I have bought a lot of warhammer's figurines (savage orcs, night goblins, water trolls, ghouls, skeletons with armors, beastmens, demons of khorne, skavens, rat ogre, ogre, lizardmen, dwarves...etc)

It makes a really exhaustive bestiary for making more exciting quests in HQ.
I knew Warhammer since a lot of years (15 years excatly), but not the wargamme, the ROLEPLAYING GAME, which is really a great system... The new edition (3rth one) is a mix between roleplay & boardgame with a lot of special dices, cards and so much more... But for me, the real great edition, is the first (even if the second is well more balanced)...

The Warhammer roleplaying system uses D100 system wich is very great & more easy to understand (for example a hero has a CC caracteristic in % who explains the chances he had to touch a monster in combat)...

Try it, it's really a great game (and all GW miniatures are compatibles with it)

If you have any warhammer rules questions, I might be able to help. I mainly collect Lizardmen and Empire, plus some skaven, but I like to strategize more than I like to actually play, so I've gotten a pretty good grip of the rules. What do you want to know?

I played a lot back in the day. Maybe I can help, maybe I cant

Just ask away and we will do our best.

Thanks, guys.

So here are my questions:

- Weaponry
This is a general question, but for now it's about skeletons and bows. I'd like to have skeleton archers in a vampire count's army. Now, in the Army book, there are handweapons listed as standard equipment for skeletons , plus spears as alternative weapons for a small additional point cost. Does this mean I can' equip skeleton warriors with bows?
In the old versions of Warhammer, there are costs for each weapon, so when I want to equip a troup with a non-standard weapon (e.g. to fit the models i have), I can easily calculate the new point cost and include my new troup into the game. But in the new 8th edition, there is a chapter about "weapons", giving certain rules, but no point costs. Point costs are given in the Army books, but only for a small choice of "standard" or "alternative" weapons. So can I somehow equip my skeletons with the weapons I see fit, or am I just prohibited? And if skeleton warriors can't use bows, why the **** do they have a ballistic skill? And what kind of ranged weapons is left for the vampire counts? Are undead just unable to shoot?
(I know there are skeleton archers in the Khemry Army book, but I don't want exotic pseude-Egyptians, but just plain, old undead).

- can a vampire or necromancer be a 4th grade wizard?

- can a vampire or necromancer learn spells from the Warhammer basic rule book (i. e. other ones than the necromancing spells in the vampire army book)?

- I had an idea about using the black coach in an unconventional way:
As black coaches are used to collect and revive the remains of a slain vampire, a vampire army should have one or more empty black coaches in reserve. When a vampire character model dies, the black coach will hurry to the place of the incident. If it reaches the "remains" before the end of the game, and survives the rest of the battle, the vampire may come back in later games. As long as it is empty, the coach is just a chariot with nightmares and a wraith, but without the special magic. As soon as it contains a vampire's dusty remains, it may start to absorb magic energy.
You may tell me what you think about this idea, and of course I'm interested in your opinion, but foremost I'd like to get an "official" statement from GW, so that I have something in hands when using this rule in games. On the GW homepages (German and English) there are FAQs, and they write they would be glad to answer any questions, but there is no link to contibute. I sent a mail to the German mailorder (the only mailadress given on the site), but didn't receive an answer. Do you know if there are "better" adreses or another way to contact them?

All right, here we go...

A) Unfortunately you are stuck with what you got access to. If there isnt an option for bows, then you cant have any in a standard army list. If you want a vampire army with skeleton archers, I would suggest either to modefy the list yourself and ask your opponent for permission to use it...or you base the army on Tomb Kings rules, but keep the Vampire feel. The last option can be done with what we call "counts as", i.e. this model represents that option. This is perfectly legal as long as its not confusing.

B) You can have a 4th level vampire if you pay for the extra magic level AND choose the "Dark Acolye" Vampiric Power.

C) Yes, but you have to take the "Forbidden Lore" Vampiric Power. Then you can choose any lore you want except the Lore of Life. If you want this lore, you have to get the Wizarding hat migic item and hope you roll right when you randomize which lore you get

D) This would be your own rules. As soon as you want to do something outside of the actual rules you have to get permission from your opponent.

And GW has a reputation on having a low answering rate. Not much to do I'm afraid.

Hope I could help

Slowpoke reporting in!

I concur with everything Templar said.

Yes, you really helped me a lot! Thanx again!

Nr A sucks. With a capital S. And U. And C, K and S...
Not your answer, of course, but the rule itself.
Thanks for the good advise, but I don't think I want to play Mummies disguised as Vampires , there would be too much other differences. I can live without the archers, but I think it's really annoying. In older editions, skeleton archers were a common troup type.
So, as much as I see, there are no possible range fighters in the Vampire army (except perhaps for character models). How can this be? Range fighting is an important part of the game. And again, can you think of a reason why skeletons have a ballistic skill? How do other players handle this problem? Or do they just play along?

Best regards,

Ben