[thejeff]

I think you mean Vampire Lords? Counts are(La?) Ulm only, right?

I can't remember how much they cost, but they're not much if at all cheaper than empowering, though you do get B2.

You can start blood with Lamia Queens or Tartarians, but they're awfully expensive to use as blood hunters. Especially now that Tartarians have Shattered Soul. And they're late game.

Starting with indy scouts and empowering takes awhile to get going, but other than the gold cost of the scouts doesn't really cut into your other strategies much.