Vampire Counts

From Lexicanum

Vampire Counts are one of the forces playable in Warhammer Fantasy. They are heavily influenced by stories of vampires from popular culture. The Vampire Counts generally hail from the area of Sylvania, though their presence is felt across the Old World and beyond.

History

Some two thousand years before the birth of Sigmar, the ancient civilisation of Nehekhara dwelt along the banks of the great river in Araby. Like the ancient Egyptians, the Nehekhara were concerned with death and the afterlife building many huge temples and monuments to the dead. These huge tombs became so frequent and huge that the rulers blocked them all into the giant cities of the dead called Necropoli.

The ruler of the city of Lahmia, Queen Nefereta, came across a copy of the Book of Nagash. Fascinated by the power promised within, she began to practice the magic of necromancy. However. necromancers, like Nagash before, found that their flesh wore away through time, where as Nefereta sought true youthful immortality. Making a pact with the Great Necromancer Nagash, she drank from the elixir of Nagash. Her heart stopped beating forever, she shunned sunlight, and craved only human blood. She gathered before her eleven worthy individuals, and gave to them each a portion of the elixir. In Lahmia were born the Master Vampires, from whom all vampires in Warhammer descend.

Each of the twelve masters (Nefereta included) bore particular traits, and they could expand their lineage by creating vampire servants, but through each successive generation, the powers of the vampire weakened. The tale of five of these vampire masters can be read elsewhere, but suffice to say that, for the most part, the vampires in Lahmia terrorized the populace and defiled the ancient gods of Nehekhara. The ruler of Nehekhara, King Alcadizaar the Great, feared the wrath of the gods, and gathering to him the his armies made war on Lahmia. The vampires defended their homeland through the long war, but were ultimately pushed back to Lahmia itself. Alcadizaar's armies then broke through the gates of Lahmia, and set about the city. The library of Lahmia, where all lore and knowledge on necromancy and other arts lay, was defended stoically by some vampires, who were slain and died in the flames. Accepting Lahmia as lost, the vampires fled. Of the twelve masters, only seven survived the sacking of Lahmia.

Heading north, they encountered Nagash, who was secretly pleased with the havoc they had wreaked. Making them his captains, he had Arkham the Black lead the Undead into Nehekhara. The might of Nagash combined with the power of the vampires was awesome to behold, but they faced one of the greatest leaders of all time, Alcadizaar the Great. Through a brilliant campaign, he personally smashed the Undead armies, and setting the vampires fleeing from Nehekhara. Nagash, furious at their defeat, set about destroying them. Having had enough of being led by others, the vampire masters split up.

Of the seven, one left for far east Cathay, another headed for the Chaos Wastes, while the other four remained in the Old World. The tragic story of the seventh, Ushoran of Strigos, can be told elsewhere.

In Gaming

The game represents only five of the vampire bloodlines: Lahmians, Von Carsteins, Blood Dragons, Strigoi, and Necrarchs.

The armies of the Vampire Counts feature some similar units to the Tomb Kings, another undead army, but the two operate very differently. Vampire Count armies are primarily hordes of low-quality infantry, made up of classic undead creatures like skeletons, zombies, ghosts and ghouls, alongside elite units of Black Knights, Grave Guard, and various other creatures typically depicted as being in league with vampires, such as wolf or bats. These hordes are led by powerful Vampires, Necromancers, Wights (a form of undead warrior), or other undead. When comparing the armies it is easiest to use the appearance of the army and a general rule of thumb: if the army is 95% bone (skeleton, bone giants, bone scorpions, etc.)with an 'Egyptian' theme, it is Khemri. If there are anywhere from 20-40% fleshed units in the army, it is the Vampire Counts (vampires, ghouls, zombies, zombie dragons etc.) The only 'war machine' for the Vampire Counts is a Black Coach, driven by a wraith bearing a scythe

A big difference has come since the Undead were separated into the Tomb Kings and Vampire Counts. Vampire Counts have access to strong heroes and much of the troops from the old Undead, making it more of a successor to the formerly united army. They also are able to raise undead in the game. Tomb King have the larger number of troops, tougher/bigger troops and never miscast spells.

The resurrected dead are bound to the service of Vampires by foul Necromantic magic. The bulk of their armies consists of skeletons and zombies, with small units of Ghouls - living cannibals, driven insane by the flesh of humans. Bats are naturally drawn towards the power of Vampires. Elite units of Grave Guard, heavily armoured skeleton champions, often mounted on skeletal horses, march to war alongside the immortal vampires, and the dread Black Coaches thunder into battle, able to move even if the skeleton horses pulling it have been shot down. Necromancers are living wizards who have turned to darkness, and provide magical support. Vampires are almost indomitable in combat, able to cut down even a feared Lord of Khorne. Vampires also possess magical abilities which they use to destroy foes, and cover the sunny skies with clouds while marching to war. Wraiths lead units of skeletons - wizards who failed to become immortal, only their soul is left, wrapped in a cloak of darkness.

Bloodlines

There are five distinct families of vampires, each descending from one of the 12 "first vampires" or original ones created by Nagash or Neferata, these families are called "Bloodlines," each with different characteristics that affect the way the armies of each operate, although it must be noted that the more powerful members of any vampire bloodline can cast spells, and that all vampires are formidable in combat. The vampire bloodlines are as follows:

• Von Carstein

These vampires are somewhat stereotypical vampires, modelled very much in the manner of Dracula. They are seen as having close bonds with animals such as Wolves and Bats. In game terms, these vampires have no stat modifications and several of their bloodline powers emphasise their tie with animals.

In the Warhammer game world the Von Carstein vampires are the rulers of Sylvania, a cursed stretch of land to the east of the Empire.

• Blood Dragons

Blood Dragons are fallen Knights, frequently from the realm of Bretonnia. They are portrayed as souls in suffering, neither good nor evil. The game system emphasises their combat skill at the expense of spellcasting abilities.

Many players of the game believe that Blood Dragons are so powerful in combat that they unbalance the game - they are certainly a very popular choice of bloodline amongst Vampire Count players. Others see their ambiguous morality as out of place in the dark Warhammer game world.

• Lahmians

This bloodline is entirely female, descended from Neferata the original vampire queen. They emphasise the seductive nature of vampires and many of their bloodline powers centre around influencing the behaviour of enemy heroes. In the game they are given greater speed at the expense of their combat potential.

Lahmians are widely recognised by players of Warhammer as the weakest of the five bloodlines. Lahmian armies are rarely seen on the tabletop.

• Necrarch

Necrarch vampires appear monstrous and wizened, very much on the mould of the vampire shown in the classic film Nosferatu. In Warhammer terms they are weak in combat but have much greater magical potential than the other vampire bloodlines. They are described as solitary researchers, working on ever more terrible spells as they live out their undying centuries.

• Strigoi

Strigoi were first introduced in the sixth edition of the game as a new bloodline. In appearance they are even more monstrous than the Necrachs and are huge and heavily built. The Strigoi are animalistic, half-mad and barely intelligent. In game terms they have similar combat potential to the Blood Dragons, but in terms of strength and bestial fury rather than skill-at-arms. The tradeoff is an inability to use steeds, weapons or armour.

• Harkon

There is only one Harkon and that is Luthor Harkon, a mad vampire who is not in the Vampire Counts army book but is issued in White Dwarf 305 June 2005. Luthor Harkon is the only vampire who does not use magic and cannot change or manipulate anything. He has a brace of pistols, a cutlass, he has a magic resistance of three and generates four dispel dice. He has the power to regenerate on the last wound, and has a split personality. Luthor Harkon is used in a Zombie pirates army so he has an army made up of all zombies. His army has one of the most powerful cannons in the game "Queen Bess". Zombie pirates have the ability to carry firearms all thanks to Luthor Harkon, for he stole slann gold enabling the zombies to do so, but by doing this he was cursed by the gold, driving him insane. Harkon came to reside in Lustria after the ship carrying his coffin was attacked and looted by Norse pirates. By the time their ship crashed on the coastline, they had all been made zombies in Harkon's service. Shortly after, he headed inland, to find a Lizardman temple he could loot. He did, and uncovered an sealed vault. He ordered his zombie minions to break it open, but each time they did, a set of glowing glyphs drained the magic reanimating them and destroying them. In fury, he attacked the vault with dark magic, but the glyphs were designed to stop Chaos sorcerers more powerful than him, in they retaliated: they drained Harkon's magical essence and destroyed his mind, leaving him devoid of magical ability and with a legion of multiple personalities. Since that day, he has strived to find a way to heal the damage done to him. He is the only Vampire who uses black powder making him a fun unique character in the warhammer world.