Found this: http://retired.beyondlogic.org/solutions/shutdown/shutdown.htm
Using the shutdown.exe utility and this command line:
shutdown -s poweroff -m "Shutting Down..." -l 2 -c
Called from a shutdown script configured via VMTools... the server now shuts down and powers off when called from the VMWare "Shut Down Guest" Power menu option.
Now the only problem left is why the NIC doesn't initialise properly when the VM is autostarted.
Inoperable network for Autostarted Shared VMs - Workstation Pro 12
If I can get this to work it will be a miracle!