Thommy H:
The great advantage of Sorcerous Pacts for Storm of Magic is that you can get a few units of Vampire Counts (or Tomb Kings or Daemons, but we’re talking bloodsuckers here) just to paint and still have it be a “justifiable” purchase. I got a Cygor on this basis.
#GWshill
ChungEssence:
Heh, yeah, i used that to justify my ‘Ghorgon’ purchase although to be honest a lot of times with my friends we mix and match anyway.
Cheers for that advance order link. That ‘360’ advance order video is a great sales tool lol. Brilliant models. Great to see the full perspective on them. Krell’s axe is even bigger than I first thought!!
Thorne:
The Isabella von Carstein model rocks I may have to buy her. The new Krell, Lord of Undeath what ever you wish to call him is a superb model too Heinrich Kemmler I would have expected to see again re done, the model is over 15 years old. Not saying that its bad just I had expected more. I gues mantic will be taking more orders for their undead range now too but the Isabella von Carstein model I actualy want to buy a failcast model
jumpingcrayfish :
got myself 2 varghulfs ordered the book and the cards!!! 
Hashut’s Blessing:
Just to let you all know:
Zombies are 3pts and have Strength and Toughness 3.
Skeletons are 5pts and can get spears for free.
Ghouls are 10pts.
The spells are pretty much the same.
If you lose your general and have another spellcaster with the Lore of Vampires, you don’t test for crumble at the start of each round (that’s only when you lose the general and if you don’t have any more Lore of Vampire casters).
ryanamandaanna:
That’s quite the boost!
Thommy H:
Although HB left out that, while spells aren’t that different, the way they do magic is now completely different and they follow the same methods of spell generation and casting as every other army! So no Invocation of Nehek spamming any more - it’s the signature spell, but recast is gone.
The consensus from the internet seems to be that overall this is a nerf, but since VC were borderline broken in late 7th and either completely useless or completely broken (Gravestar, Ghoul spam) in 8th, this is clearly no bad thing. They’ve been rebalanced like all the new 8th Edition books.
The consensus from Thommy H-H is “I don’t care about stupid things like winning games of Warhammer, I would just like some new toys please.”
ryanamandaanna:
Are you going to be changing up your Dark Crusade army as a result?
Thommy H:
I have a couple of new units ready to add to it already, and I’ll see what the new book has to offer when it lands on my doormat (tomorrow morning, fingers crossed!). Sadly, I don’t think many of the new units fit in with my theme, and the problem with using Bretonnian-style models for everything is that none of the Empire-style standard VC models are much use to me! I might make some count-as-Hexwraith spectral Questing Knights though, and I may expand my Ghoulish contingent. I have the Ghoul King from the Zombie Dragon/Terrorghiest kit that will become “Le Roi de Crypte”, the degenerate scion of Merovech, the (possibly) vampire Duke of Mousillon who managed to rule the whole of Bretonnia for a short period (or maybe even Merovech himself, turned feral after so long in hiding…). This would then open the door for some Crypt Horrors, representing the creatures from the deepest, darkest levels of the haunted tomb complex, brought into the light by the dark power rising in the city.
Thommy H:
Apologies for the double post, but just so everyone knows: the Zombie Dragon/Terrorgheist kit is amazing. I don’t even know how they went about designing this thing.
Nicodemus:
Got any pics? I've seen the ones on the GW website, but there aren't that many angles. I admit I've been curious though. GW is finally making some great looking dragons. I picked up the new DE Black Dragon recently. While I realize some may like the old style for nostalgia reasons...
Apologies for the double post, but just so everyone knows: the Zombie Dragon/Terrorgheist kit is amazing. I don't even know how they went about designing this thing.
Thommy H
Thommy H:
I’ll post pics of my 'gheist when I’ve finished painting him, from as many angles as I can get - it’s a very dynamic model though, which you don’t get from GW’s photos, actually. He’s sort of perched on the rocks on his base, sprawled out and leaning forward into a terrifying roar. It’s got a great sense of movement and power. I’ve got the Ghoul King leaping off a tombstone too, because I wanted the monster unridden. Another great little model. Really, really impressed with the set.
ChungEssence:
Looking forward to seeing your beastie.
Having looked at the sprues i’d have to agree it’s an amazing set. Only thing I don’t like is the Blood Dragon rider head.
I’m liking what GW have done with the new Vamps from a first glance. Rebalanced the core should make for much more diverse armies which is only a good thing.
New magic system means no magic charges which is a very good thing. I actually quite like that old Kemmler model. Still holds it charm… kind of like a big hat.
I want the GW kung fu dragon at some stage
Thommy H:
The Blood Dragon has a choice of two heads actually - one with the goofy helmet and one quite cool bald one. Pics of my 'gheist are in my VC blog - see the Dark Crusade link in my dog.
Thommy H:
Got the new book today - absolutely beautiful design. A real step up, even by the standards of the other 8th Edition books. I knew a lot about the rules already, but I’m just rewriting my army list and it’s amazing how out of whack the 7th Edition book was with 8th! My Skeleton horde has nearly halved in value and I may not actually have enough Core to balance out my Lords now - despite my Core units consisting of a total of 139 models…
vulcanologist:
Got the book today also and I completely agree it’s a fabulous piece of work!
Bolg:
I have That dragon without the tail is someone is interested. I flipped through the book very quickly and I think bat swarms are amazing support. the have swarm, Hover special rule and if you are fighting them you get always strike last. pretty awesome for a flanking unit for 35 points per base.
Ishkur Cinderhat:
Hey Thommy is there any way to assemble the Zombie Dragon in the same pose as the Terrorgheist? I really think the 'gheist has an awesome pose and it bugs me that the dragon is so much less dramatic…
Thommy H:
I don’t think it could be done very easily - it’s quite remarkable how the kit makes both creatures, but this is achieved by having a few unique non-interchangeable parts that somehow both fit into the same generic parts that they both share. So, like, there are two necks and two heads, but only one torso. And depending on which shoulders you use, the same wings will go in different directions. I think you’d be able to convert it, but you’d need to know exactly what you were doing, because the kit is so precisely engineered! It would certainly be beyond my skills to do anything so ambitious, but you could probably do a lot better. If your budget allows, get two - one to build as intended so you can understand how it all works, and one to convert.
ryanamandaanna:
What about just swapping out the heads? Would that create enough of a difference?