A quick look at the Black Coach

The black coach can be an impressive sight on the field of battle. The original model is not that impressive, but it lends itself to lots of good modeling possibilities.

I've seen coaches that looked like a prince lived in them, all the way to my own creation of Van Helsing driving the black coach over the collapsed bridge.

The black coach was rarely seen, as 200 points seemed a bit excessive for what it could bring to the table. But at 175 for a Sylvania list, it was all the rage for the past couple years.
But the black coach, I fear, is heading into a lull period as it was also screwed over by the new 7th edition rules, and with more and more GT's disallowing SoC lists.

But in case you run into one between now and when they run out a new and imporved Vampire Counts army book, its best if you know the rules on how it works.

1. It is first and foremost a chariot. The easiest way to kill it is a strength 7 hit that wounds.

2. It is a large target, so it can see and be seen over other units. When I would declare a double charge with the unit in front of me and the BC behind, people were often shocked that this was possible. Beware of it.

3. The BC causes Terror. Something most chariots do not do, so be careful with low leadership troops near it.

4. The BC has a 4+ armor save (about average for a chairot) and a 5+ ward save. I don't know how many times I was saved from a strength 7 hit with that 5+ ward. So plan on 2-3 Strength 7 hits to kill it, not just 1.

5. The BC has a Unit Strength of 5. So it can break your ranks and gain +1 for a flank in combat.

6. The BC starts at 5 wounds and gains wounds for every wound it actually does in combat. It also crumbles when it loses combat like other undead. I don't know how many times I would just stick around in combat because I'd do a couple wounds, and lose by 2 and crumble. So we end up staying the same. The often gave me time to get more units into combat where needed and save the coach.

7. The BC does 1d6 impact hits until it gets to 10 wounds. Then it gets d6+1. This is when it gets nasty. I've had my BC up to 20+ wounds on more than one occasion. But the drawback is, if you get a single str 7 hit through, it loses them all. I've seen the BC up to 20 wounds, get whacked in close combat. I lose combat by 17 and my other unit, crumbles completely because my coach had so many wounds.

8. Its biggest weakness is now its combat prowess. After the strength 5 impact hits, it now really sucks in close combat. The 2 nightmares are Weapons skill 2 and strength 3. The wraith has 2 WS 3 and now strength 4 (down from strength 5) attacks.
And all of them are at Initiative 2. The wraight has a great weapon.

I could always count on 1 wound from the wraith, but now with only strength 4, that is iffy at best.

That should get you through your next meeting with the Black coach.

Until next time...