Mousekiller's Vampire Counts

[mousekiller]

VAMPIRE COUNTS



PIETER VON CARSTEIN = 194 points
THE SHAMBLING HORDE - 20 Zombies = 70 points
THE RISEN SPEARS - 20 Skeletal Spearmen = 130 points
THE CRYPT BATS - 3 Vargheists = 148



Lords: 0% Heroes: 35.79% Core: 36.9% Special: 27.31% Rare: 0%



TOTAL = 542 points



THE CURRENT ARMY:



THE BACKGROUND:

In an instance, his mind was awake. Darkness all around him, but he could feel the presence of new and old dead, some with the mindless need to serve but others with malicious intent. Trying to move his body, he found that none of his muscles would respond. How long had it been? Without even trying, he could feel his presence waking the newly dead around him, and with a simple thought they were off to find sustenance to help bring his decrepit body back to vitality. In the meantime he began channeling his thoughts to the older bones in and around the crypt, stationing skeletal soldiers around him to ensure no one bothered him while he replenished. But in the back of his head, so faint that he could barely make it out, the same phrase kept repeating... "he is coming!"

OTHER WIPS:
Cavalry
COMMISSIONS
DRAGONS
HEROES AND CHAMPIONS
MONSTROUS UNITS
TROOP UNITS
WAR MACHINES

ARMY LINKS:
BEAST HERD
BRETONNIA
Cathay
CHAOS DWARVES
DAEMONS OF CHAOS
DWARVEN ARMY
EMPIRE
HALFLINGS
HIGH ELVES
Kislev
Lizardmen
MORTALS OF CHAOS ARMY
OGRE KINGDOMS ARMY
ORC AND GOBLIN ARMY
Pirates
SKAVEN ARMY
TOMB KINGS ARMY
WOOD ELVES
VAMPIRE COUNTS ARMY

[Loki Ragnarok]

You're just doing everything, aren't you, Mousekiller?

Very nice, "traditional" Vampire Counts feel to this, and I mean that in the best possible way.

[mousekiller]

@Loki: That is the plan mate, so much plastic and pewter sitting in bins

PIETER VON CARSTEIN:

Pieter Von Carstein was once a minor noble of Sylvania, one of the few Von Carsteins to be able to claim that lineage. That was the only thing of remark of the noble, as everything else about him was less than remarkable. Pieter was short in stature and his looks were extremely plain. Even as the master of his estate he could do nothing of note; many of his people starved, his farms withered, and his cattle and other animals were malnourished. What Pieter did have was a tendency to sulk, and was quick to throw temper tantrums. He also enjoyed torturing small animals, the sorts of animals that could do nothing to defend themselves. His father was rumored to have fallen ill when Pieter was young, and it was during this time that Pieter first realized his true calling, to bring pain to those who cannot defend themselves. As his father lay sick with disease, Pieter took great pleasure in cutting small strips of skin from his father's body, just a little every day and would even practice breaking different bones during the forty-six days that his father lasted until finally passing away. Pieter also found that he enjoyed the taste of the flesh, and so after his father died villagers of his estate began to disappear. Only the weak or sick would go missing, and no one ever suspected that the puny lord of the estate would be the culprit.

It was a chance encounter that brought Vlad Von Carstein to his estate. On an evening that danced with lightening and reverberated the sounds of thunder and rain through even the most interior of buildings, Vlad banged upon the manner door. Pieter at first tried to wave the traveler away, but something about this man seemed to draw him in. Inviting him into the house, it was not long for Vlad to realize the true character of this unremarkable lord, and delivered him the blood kiss and name Von Carstein.

At first Pieter felt empowered by his new life, was drunk on the strength that undeath gave him. That is, until Vlad was defeated in Altdorf and the remnants of his army fled. Scouring the Drakwald Forest in hiding for nearly two years, Pieter became much more wild, forced to feed on deer and rats, and occasionally he would come across a small herd of Beastmen. Emerging from the forest Pieter soon found what remained of the Von Carsteins, with Konrad seeming to take the lead. As Konrad prepared to march against the Empire again, he dispatched Pieter and Jarek to the city of Nuln, with a massive army easily capable of overrunning the city. But Pieter once again proved his inadequacy by leading the army into a prolonged siege, against the counsel of the onetime Grand Master of the White Wolves, Jarek. Jarek could see the folly in allowing Pieter to continue to lead, and so one night led the Witch Hunter Helmut Van Hal to the coffin where his brother resided, with a promise to deliver either Pieter’s heart or Jarek would consume the heart of the Witch Hunter himself. Van Hal lifted the lid of the coffin and drove a stake into the heart of the sleeping Vampire. Pieter thought he had prepared well enough, with lesser vampires perched in the rafters above in the event of something like this. When Pieter screamed, these vampires awoke and swarmed the Witch Hunter. In the melee, Van Hal managed to kill three of the beasts, while three more were able to obtain their master and flee with him. Van Hal cut out the heart of one of these lesser vampires and delivered it to Jarek, who held it aloft to the amassed army and declared "My brother Pieter is dead. You will obey my orders from this day forward!" and promptly ate the heart.

In an instance, his mind was awake. Darkness all around him, but he could feel the presence of new and old dead, some with the mindless need to serve but others with malicious intent. Trying to move his body, he found that none of his muscles would respond. How long had it been? Without even trying, he could feel his presence waking the newly dead around him, and with a simple thought they were off to find sustenance to help bring his decrepit body back to vitality. In the meantime he began channeling his thoughts to the older bones in and around the crypt, stationing skeletal soldiers around him to ensure no one bothered him while he replenished. But in the back of his head, so faint that he could barely make it out, the same phrase kept repeating... "he is coming!"

AT CMON: PIETER VON CARSTEIN

[mousekiller]

THE SHAMBLING HORDE - Zombie Regiment



The Shambling Horde:

These recently deceased members of Stirland's countryside shamble to do Pieter's bidding. Comprising of farmers and outlying soldiers, Pieter has successfully raised them as guardians to his tomb while he regains his strength.

Manufacturer: Games Workshop, Reaper Miniatures, and Grim Reaper

AT CMON: THE SHAMBLING HORDE

[mousekiller]

THE RISEN SPEARS:

Risen from the long dead graves around the tomb encasing Pieter, this silent horde awaits is masters bidding in quiet sentry.

Manufacturer: Games Workshop

AT CMON: THE RISEN SPEARS

[mousekiller]

THE CRYPT BATS

Once nobles of minor houses of the empire, the Crypt Bats proved to be the most loyal followers of Pieter Von Carstein. During the time that the Von Carsteins began to turn against one another, these three came upon the final assault on Pieter by the Witch Hunter Van Hal and the ultimate betrayal by Jarek Von Carstein. When all was done, they recovered what remained of their master and hid him away in the crypt they now reside. Over the years, cowering in the crypt for fear of being discovered, they slowly began to succumb to the more bestial side of their vampirism, feeding less and less on the scarce population around the crypt and more and more on the rats and bats that infested their home. After many years, with memories of their former selves faded to near extinction, a voice awakens them... "he is coming!". Slithering thru the crypt, they find their master sitting up in his coffin, and though their memories had faded their urge to serve their master remains as strong as ever.

Manufacturer: Reaper Miniatures

CRYPT BATS

[Abraham Danglebreech]

These are lovely! I always had a soft spot for VC but only picked up a few models for dungeon encounters. Your painting really complements the feel of the army. Did you get hold of Cursed City?

[mousekiller]

@Abraham Danglebreech: I haven't gotten a hold of Cursed City! I will have to go look that up now! And thank you for the kind words!

CALUS DARKLORE, Wizard of the Amethyst Order, Practitioner of Necromancy

Calus Darklore tipped the spout of the watering can to the side, allowing the water to slowly drip its way into the pot on the shelf. In the pot grew a large green stem, with beautiful budding yellow flowers, each petal striped with a small purple line. This particular flower gave off a very sweet scent, of which Calus took the time to enjoy. Growing up, he had always been surrounded by flowers, plants, and fruit trees, and so felt very relaxed and invigorated when around them. The nostalgia of thinking about his youth, the days spent in care free abandonment, without a worry in the world scampering about the vast gardens and groves at the imperial palace. His father, Hermus Grinsgar, was an expert botanist and held employment as the Chief Royal Gardener. Those happy days.

Walking to the center of the large room, Calus picked up the small, razor sharp, knife that was soaking in a clear liquid. The young man that was tied to the table saw this, and began squirming about with the very little room the ropes allowed. Calus started humming a tranquil tune as he leaned over the man and began an incision down the center of the body. "Mannfred, Mannfred, where have you been?" The tune went. "Where have you been Mannfred? I've been fighting in the woods, and fighting in the rocks, fighting in the swamps again!". Calus gave a low chuckle. The children's song that he heard so many times had become his mantra when he did this type of work, it helped to keep him calm and allow him to concentrate. Just as he did conducting similar work on the animals of the palace, in the happy days.

Reaching into a bowl to grab a handful of the beautifully scented flowers, Callus carefully placed them inside the crevice he had created down the mans body. Nearly as quickly, he produced a needle from his robes and started the process of sewing the incision back up. Even after spending over ten years studying at the secretive Amethyst College in Altdorf and learning the arts of Shyish from some of the greatest magisters to rise in the college, Calus found that he had to work with living specimens. Of course, none of the magisters had taught him this specific type of magic, as it was strictly outlawed in the Empire, and so, to be fair, he was trying to work it out on his own. Reaching back to the sterile cup he grabbed a very skinny, pointed dagger and placed it directly over the mans heart. With an adept motion the blade sank deeply, and as it did Calus muttered a few dark words. The man stopped whimpering. It made him remember visiting his father before this trip, for the first time since first enrolling in the college. Such a strange thing, this day, so many memories. Initially, his father was so happy to see him, until he learned that Calus had studied the arts of Shyish. His father may have been a great botanist, but he still held many of the silly superstitions the were rampant across the low people. Some of the details that day were still a bit muddied, but looking at the life drain out of this young man's eyes brought back that memory, of the last time seeing his father in a similar state, on the floor of their spacious home in the palace. His home, in the happy place.

The difference now after a few moments, was that life, maybe better described as un-life, came back to the eyes of the body on the table, as well as a low, deep growl of hunger. Calus quickly untied the ropes, and with a simple command from him, the zombie lifted itself off the table to exit the dwelling. It shambled into the small garden outside, where a small group of other zombies aimlessly shambled around. While observing his work, a black crow landed on the small fence beside him and looked at him quizzically. With squawk, it delivered it's now daily message. "He is coming!"

Manufacturer: Reaper Miniatures
Sculptor: Jim Johson
Completed: 2016

At CMON: CALUS DARKLORE

[Loki Ragnarok]

Man, that Hamlet- Uuuh, Calus Darklore is great. The paint job is of course excellent, very stark, a nice contrast to the grubby look of the dead, and despite being Reaper, it feels like a variation on the classic warhammer necromancers, a merging of the topknot one and the warhammer quest necromancer holding out a skull.

The crypt bats are a good way to get something interesting out of a unit with quite boring models.

And the shambling horde is a wonderfully messy zombie unit. I wish I had had some ideas for some interesting unit fillers for my zombie hordes, but nothing came to mind that I wanted to make and I didn't want them lugging around trees or grave stones. Speaking of unit fillers, do you think it made the unit easier or harder to rank up than if you had had just normal based models?

Your skellies are of course also nice, probably something close to the best one can do with those lovely old hulking bones, when just taking them straight out of the box. Interesting choice of the stripe over their shields, any deeper significance to that or did you just like the look?

Lastly, Pieter is a lovely take on that model. It is a great model and you did it justice. Lovely veins, also, on the wings.