Posted by Purplegoo on 2012-01-22 11:14:15

I'd stop at 4. Say no to Pro.

My record with my current team is lower than I'd like it to be / think it should be; I think it's a few unlucky games, could just be that my way is crap? :)

Posted by harvestmouse on 2012-01-22 11:40:52

I agree with purplegoo, I like 4. You could push it to 5. I'd also say no to pro, but as it's box, l don't know.

Redfish seems to have box vamps sussed, check his team out.

lmo getting as much dodge as you can is vital.

Posted by Nekran on 2012-01-22 12:03:49

I'm no vamp expert, but they're my favourite race and I do play 'em a lot. My best vamp team is in the WO qualifiers now. I always go with 6 vamps asap... though I've been in doubt about only fielding 5 of the 6 and I'm still not sure on what's better. I tend to field all 6 though and experiment with 5 when one is out only. Having one less st4 ag 4 base player in your team than you can just isn't an option imo though.

I don't do pro myself, with all the skills you can select from, there's just always better options.

Posted by SvenS on 2012-01-22 12:17:18

I'd say 5 is enough. Get plenty of thrall fodder.

Posted by spinball on 2012-01-22 12:19:00

Personally I would say 5 vampires and 10 thralls is where you want to be when you have a full team. Keeping a 2-1 ratio of thralls to vampires is normally a good thing, besides the vamps can only bh the thralls now making more vamps easier to carry. Also pro is a great skill to have on 1 or 2 vampires. This makes them better at resisting the urge to feed true, but the real value now is in making others loose tackle zones due to hypnotic gaze.

Posted by bghandras on 2012-01-22 18:04:25

I have a vampire team, that i started with 5 rerolls, and 2 vamps. After the first vampire got pro did i buy a 3rd one. I think it is pretty important to have a pro vampire asap, because at some point during your turn you really need to move a vampire, and dont want to use reroll. So those cases i start with the PRO vampire, and keep options open. I beleive the optimal number of vampires also depend on the number of team rerolls you have. Vampire is the only team where i can see the advantage of 7-8 rerolls!

It is up to preferences. But if you want to play it safe (like me), then you still can go up to 4 vamps quickly if you have a pro, and 3 others supposed you are loaded with team rerolls. With that said i will probably develop a 2nd PRO before purchasing that 4th vampire.

As a last thing: Always have a substitute. Those thralls can leave the pitch in many ways! (Including opponents block, own vampire, or spotted fouling attempt.)

Posted by Mattius on 2012-01-23 01:04:55

Would have to disagree with bghandras. First thing i think is key to remember is that Vamps don't need that many rerolls. I think in Box 4 would be optimal, 5 for tournaments. You should only reroll a bloodlust if it is critical to the play or you are sitting comfty in the game.

I personally prefer having 5 vamps, i feel with 6 you are asking for trouble. Only use vamps when you need to, is often the case on defense that you don't have to move a vamp. Also don't be afraid to put vamps on the LOS, st4, av8 and able to dodge away, allows you to keep your thrall free at the back to give you mobility.

Regarding skills, depends what you want your vamp to be?
Killer? (block,mb,po,Ju...)
Thrower(dodge,sure hands,block, strong arm...)
Scorer?(dodge,block,ss,pro...) Probs the only Vamp that could benefit a lot from pro. (t8 touch downs with no rr spring to mind)
LOS Fodder?(dodge, fend, wrestle)
Defender(wrestle,tackle,dodge,strip ball)

Hope that helps and may i say you are brave to play them in Box :D

Posted by dsavillian on 2012-01-23 01:21:42

I really like a 5 vampires to 6 thrall ratio on the pitch. I also run with a couple of Pros to cut the blood lust odds (goes from 1/6 to about 1/10) and for help with the odd hypno-gaze. I don't think every vampire should have Pro, but two or three is reasonable IMO.

I currently don't have a 6th vampire on my table top team because I'm trying to keep my TV in a reasonable range. If I did have the 6th one, he would likely be a bench warmer most of the time.

Posted by Garion on 2012-01-23 19:40:33

I agree with both Purplegoo and HM about pro there is no need. There are too many other skills that are better. Maybe if you get a vamp to their 6th skill though. 5 vamps for me i think.

dodge early is key. before they have dodge they are just too unreliable. I also liek Guard on two of them as second skill.