Unsurprisingly, sombre is correct. This is of course very frustrating as sanguinian vampires with, say, lead shields would be completely awesome. But aren't quite as awesome without the lifedrain. So it's a bit of a mixed bag.
By the way... try making sabbaths using the counts to buff reeves with stone/ironskin or invulnerability. You can add soul vortex with summoned vampires also
