Vampire Counts Magic Items

Skabscrath (YELLOW): Honestly, Skabscrath is expensive and difficult to use.

Only a Lord can carry it and its cost leaves few points for any defensive items.
Skabscrath grants Devastating Charge, Frenzy and its attacks count as Flaming and
though those things are useful, you risk its bearer making unwanted charges and its
automatic overrun could cause problems. To top that, if the swords bearer hasnt
killed an enemy by the end of the game, they become a casualty themselves. But
all that said, when using Skabscrath its really for one thing only, its Death Shriek.
Used properly, Skabscrath screams nearly as good as a Terrorgiest. Placed
strategically and combined with the right vampire powers, and Skabscrath becomes
a nasty surprise for your opponent. The trick is building that character right. Aura of
Dark Majesty and Curse of the Revenant both improve its scream, while Red Fury
synergizes with its extra attacks well. Skabscrath is best used on a Strigoi Ghoul
King, who doesnt need to use points on defensive items like a Vampire Lord or
Master Necromancer. In the right army, Skabscraths bonuses and surprise Death
Shriek can be very effective when used properly, making Skabscrath a (GREEN).
Nightshroud (BLUE): Nightshroud causes enemy in base contact to lose strength
bonuses from their weapons and gain Always Strike Last (thus losing Always Strike
First). This wrecks characters and units dependent on these rules (like all elves) and
Nightshroud has many places it can be utilized. The obvious choice is on a Wight
King bodyguard. Keep him next to your blender Vampires, and they essentially gain
the protection of the item without having to wear it themselves, allowing them to
put points into items that boost their damage. But give it to a Vampire, and he can
bring his damage capabilities along with the protection Nightshroud offers. This
allows Vampires to take on enemy units and survive in challenges that would
otherwise put them at risk and likely be deadly.
Banner of the Barrows (BLUE): If you have either Grave Guard or Black Knights
in your army, then this banner is an auto include. Its most effective in a four-rank
horde of Grave Guard with a couple of Wight Kings all wielding Great Weapons. Give
a Wight King the Battle Standard with Screaming Banner, and when enemy fail their
fear test, they will face 35 S6 attacks that hit on a 2+ and have Killing Blow.
Frightening indeed! Unfortunately, this Banner only works on those units, so its
useless in armies without them.
Screaming Banner (GREEN): For a cheap, simple way to boost fear in your army,
the Screaming Banner is your best option. Though it cant compete with the Banner
of the Barrows, its cheap, Skeleton Warriors can carry it (which means it comes out
of your core points) and it synergizes with Doom & Darkness, Aura of Dark Majesty,
Fear Incarnate and Iceshard Blizzard. Screaming Banner is worth considering if you
want fear to be more reliable in your army.
Black Periapt (BLUE): For generals who want to control the magic phase, this
Arcane Item is the most effective and powerful way to do so. It price means you
have to sacrifice to use it, as it must go on a Lord. But when used correctly, Black
Periapt is game changing! Its effect is simple, store up to two of your unused dice

from the current Magic phase for use in the next Magic phase. But the tactical
options this provides you are very potent.

Magic Defense: Purposefully save two power dice to boost your dispel pool.
If you are using Lore of Vampires and A Mortis Engine with Blasphemous
Tome, this is easy to do.
Magic Offense: Purposefully save two dispel dice every turn and boost your
magic phase.
Dispel Remains in Play: When a Remains in Play spell is cast with a casting
value you cant easily dispel, dont waste dispel dice. Suffer the effect, then
store two dice and use them to dispel that spell during your turn instead.
Salvaging: Whenever your opponent rolls really well or really bad, you often
have left over dispel dice. Likewise, you may have a casting roll go bad and
leave you with a couple power dice and your opponent with all his dispel dice.
In these cases where dice would be wasted or a turn the Winds of Magic is
poor, just throw a couple dice into the Periapt and carry them into the next
phase.
Carry Over: You can actually carry dice through two phases and gain some
strength in your casting or dispels. With this variant to Salvaging, if a future
dispel or power pool needs a boost, or if you have extra dice and no spells
(yes, it happens), just carry them through two turns and use them boost the
next similar phase.

Black Periapt seems simple at first and maybe to some even mediocre. But its real
power is in using it properly, with the right timing and taking advantage of
opportunities with it. You can choose to purposely play magic offensive all game,
only stopping spells that hinder your tactics all the while gaining two dice to your
power pool. Or you might play a magic defensive game, stop your opponents spells
until you can kill their Wizard and then switch to an magic offensive style. Likewise,
when things go wrong, the Black Periapt allows you to salvage dice that would
otherwise just be lost. The Black Periapt is subtle, and its not for everyone. But it is
powerful and works very well with Lore of Vampires (due to the low casting values
and Blasphemous Tome bonus) and Lore of Death (because of the Life Leeching),
giving control over the Magic Phase to an army dependent on it.
Staff of Damnation (YELLOW): Though the possibilities of devastation granted by
this item seem endless, Staff of Damnation has two major disadvantages. First it
costs the character carrying it too much. With it being an Arcane Item and its high
point value, there is just better use of that slot and points. Second, its not very
effective. Only your front rank troops really benefit from it, which means you either
need wide frontages or multiple units within range and engaged when its used. Its
short range also means its best carried on a Vampire or Vampire Lord who is
carrying it into battle, or used by a Necromancer or Master Necromancer behind the
engaged units. In every case, there is likely a better combination of items those
characters could be using. Staff of Damnation sounds good, and using it to buff
multiple hordes of Grave Guard at once would be awesome, but honestly its not
worth what it costs and its rarely going to turn the tide.

The Cursed Book (BLUE): Every hex this Arcane Item can cast is good and it
automatically casts its spells at the cost of D3 power dice, which youd be throwing
2-3 dice at them to cast any ways. The Cursed Book can be very effective (though
unpredictable) and works well in low magic armies or armies that arent using Lore
of Death or Shadow but want to sprinkle the hexes in from them. The item is
affordable for what it does, so the best reason not to take it is if you need the
Arcane Item slot for something better or your Wizards have so many spells that you
cant spare the power dice it requires you to feed it.
Book of Arkhan (PURPLE): In a game where movement is more important than
nearly anything else, having a bound spell version of Van Hels Danse Macabre can
be the ace up your sleeve. With a power level of 3, its easy to cast on a single dice,
you can cast with more dice if needed and its threating enough to draw out dispel
dice. It provides all the benefits of the non-boosted version of the spell and it gives
you a second casting or a back-up of Van Hels for when you really need it. This
item deserves a place in most Vampire Counts armies, especially if you run low
magic or have few Lore of Vampires Wizards. Put it on a Vampire or nearby bunker
Necromancer and keep it close to the frontline where it has the biggest impact.
Rod of Flaming Death (GREEN): Though a bit pricey, Rod of Flaming Death is a
useful item that provides some range and chaff clearing to an army lacking it. But
its real value comes from its secondary effect. An enemy unit wounded by it that
moves in its following turn (for any reason) suffers a S4 hit to every model in that
unit. This effect works best to hold off large units or to control fast moving, low
Toughness hit and run units (like those in the armies of our pointy eared friends).
Used well, Rod of Flaming Death is a valuable addition to an army needing its
unique features and wants to slow their enemy down.