Thugging Out Vampire Counts? (LA Ulm)

[rdonj]

I'm not actually familiar with the vampire counts, but to my knowledge no undead gains encumbrance from armor. So you can put whatever you want on them encumbrance-wise. It will just make them move slower (if they fly this doesn't matter, if you want them casting spells they still gain additional encumbrance for spellcasting from heavy armor so you want to avoid it).

Also generally speaking I don't think it would be worth it to give them a skull staff to cast soul vortex. If you want to give them the ability to cast soul vortex, you would be better off using the +d hat. But that is probably a bit too expensive for what they're worth.