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Vampire Counts are one of the forces of the Undead playable in the tabletop wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle. 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.

Contents 1 History 2 Game 3 Bloodlines 4 See also

Some two thousand years before the birth of Sigmar, the ancient civilisation of Nehekhara dwelt along the banks of the great river in Araby. (Nehekhara is mostly based on Ancient Egypt) Like the ancient Egyptians, the Nehekhara were preocuppied 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 Neferata, 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 an unnamed entity, she created a special elixir to give her eternal youth, however after drinking it 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, those from whom all vampires in Warhammer are descended.

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 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 Arkhan 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 set 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 the game only five of the vampire bloodlines are treated: 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 wolves 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 the "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. In short, Vampire Counts rely more on combat and attrition tactics more than Tomb Kings, whereas the latter rely more on the spells of the liche priests and strong blocks of elite undead (tomb kings can field entire armies of heavy skeletal horseman and light chariots without a single footsoldier in sight).

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.

There are five distinct families of vampires, each descending from one of the 12 "first vampires" or original ones created by Nagash or Neferata (more recent lore stating vampirism was formulated by Nagash and first atained by 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 particular 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. The armies of the Von Carstein are often seen with living peasants marching alongside their undead masters, forced into slavery over the penalty of death.

• Blood Dragons

Blood Dragons are fallen Knights, frequently from the realm of Bretonnia and may have had some inspiration from the vampire archetypes of Anne Rice. They are portrayed as souls in suffering, neither good nor evil. The game system emphasises their combat skill at the expense of spellcasting abilities.

Their leader is the sole Vampire to defeat the curse, by drinking the blood of a dragon. To emphasis their ties with Bretonnia the armies of the Blood Dragons will sometimes fight in Lance Formation, the famous tactic of Bretonnia.

• Lahmians

This bloodline is (almost) entirely female, and no male models have been released, descended from Neferata the original vampire. They emphasise the seductive nature of vampires and many of their bloodline powers center around influencing the behaviour of enemy heroes. In the game they are given greater speed at the expense of their combat potential. Interestingly they are the source of the other bloodlines, the other "Masters" being relatives or nobility of the city-state of Lamia, of which she was queen. Although she brought vampires into the world it was ultimately Nagash's research into immortality which lead to their creation and for a period they almost universaly served him.

The armies of the Lahmians are sometimes fielded with living heroes from other armies, seduced by the Lahmian's spells.

• 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 weaker in combat but have much greater magical potential than the other vampire bloodlines. However it should be noted their physical strength is still on a similar level to other vampires, their disadvantage being lesser dexterity a skill with blades. Overall they are still vastly more dangerous than an equivelant level wizard in close combat, and on par with the more dangerous of melee fighters. They are described as solitary researchers, working on ever more terrible spells as they live out their undying centuries. Because of their studies the Necrarch armies field large numbers of necromantic constructs, spellcasters, and zombie dragons. It is implied they are still in the servitude of Nagash, or are attempting to conduct a spell similar to the one he used to decimate Nehekhara and awaken the dead theirin. Their founder and previous master Melkhior was known to have served Nagash closely, so this may prove to be a theme in future lore.

• 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. An interesting note is that Strigoi are a type of Romanian vampire - based on the greek word "strix", meaning screech owl, which came to mean demon or witch^{[citation needed]}; but there is little resemblance between the myth and the bloodline in Warhammer Fantasy.

Strigoi armies contain little to no undead. They are bolstered by large amounts of Ghouls and their champions. Strigoi are also lacking in armour and magic.

• Tomb Kings
• Nagash
• Liber Necris

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