Warhammer: Vampires Of ‘The World That Was’
Vampires might be in hiding during the Old World era. But their clans did make a comeback in The-World-That-Was. Here’s a quick look at them.
Warhammer Fantasy had an entire undead/vampire faction. Players from that era will remember the Vampire Counts. But if you aren’t familiar with them and have only started to poke at Warhammer: The Old World this faction might be lost on you. So let’s take a look at the vampires from that era and hope that Games Workshop decides to re-introduce them into the Old World!
Blood Dragons
The Blood Dragons were an Order of Blood Knights from the Old World. Created through the lineage of the Vampire Abhorash by way of Walach. these Blood Dragons valued martial skill and mostly focused on their physical powers to dominate their opponents in combat. Twisted versions of Grail Knights, these Warriors followed a knightly code to some degree. However, it mostly boiled the humans down to one of two types: A Worthy Opponent or Target Practice. If you managed to put up a decent and honorable fight, the Blood Dragons might spare you (by turning you into a Vampire in most cases). But if you were weak or if you weren’t worth their time you became a snack.
In many cases Blood Dragons were former Knights of Bretonnia themselves. Perhaps they got lost on their Grail Quests or perhaps other Blood Dragons sought out these Knights as opponents. They were very much that dark mirror of the Bretonnians — if vampires could have a reflection. If you wanted to play an army that was basically a Vampiric Knightly Order, these bloodsuckers were for you!
Lahmians
The Lahmain Vampires were a sisterhood of vampires under the rule of Neferata. Yep, THAT Neferata. While she may have become one of Nagash’s Mortarchs there was a point in time when she had some plans of her own.
Anyhow, these Lahmian Vampires were created by her and used as spies and assassins. Lahmians are the epitome of the phrase “if looks could kill.” Because in their case, yes, they actually do. In The-World-That-Was, to underestimate one of these vampires was certain death. While they might look like lovely and fair maidens of the realm they are still very much vampires — with all the strengths and weakness you’d expect. Lahmians were also known for their ability to hypnotize the charm their victims which is just one more reason to keep your guard up around them.
Strigoi Vampires
The Strigoi Vampires were the most feral and brutal of all the vampires. Their physical appearance reflected it. They were very much the feral and brutish ghoul-type vampires from The-World-That-Was. Later, they were updated to even have more bat-like features including wings:
The Strigoi vampires were definitely more in line with something akin to the Nosferatu version of vampires with much stronger ghoulish tendencies. Obviously, post-AoS their line has basically been reinvented as the Flesh-eater Courts.
That said, there’s still nods to the old school Strigoi from Warhammer Fantasy sprinkled throughout the range. You just need to know what to look for (mostly bald, feral, and ghoulish types).
Necrarch Vampires
The Necrarchs were vampire scholars who focused more on the art of Necromancy instead of their new physically powerful aspects. They were potent wizards AND vampires – capable of blasting you with magic or with might. Sure, they might have been more into old and musty tomes of power, but they WERE still vampires and could just as easily rip your neck out as turn you into a empty husk of a corpse.
That said, Necrach Vampires also had a funny limitation in the Vampire Counts in that they were limited to level 3 wizards. Apparently, while they did like to study magic, because of their unnaturally long life they never really got around to truly mastering it like a Necromancer could. Perhaps they were just a *tad* lazy. Or maybe it was that they didn’t feel the need to study too hard. There’s always more time to do that when you live forever, right?
Von Carsteins Dynasty
The Von Carsteins have quite the history and influence during the Warhammer Fantasy era. There’s a few generations of them always fighting for power. Mannfred von Carstein managed to make it into Warhammer Age of Sigmar — but that’s another tale. But perhaps even more famous was the first of the von Carsteins — Vlad von Carstein. You’ll never guess who he was based off of…
Anyhow, the von Carsteins were sort of your typical “Transylvanian” vampires from classic movies. If you wanted to play an army led by “Count Dracula” with hordes of skeletons/zombies and other creatures of the night then the von Carsteins were certainly the army for you!
They might be inactive in the Old World…but you still don’t want to mess with a sleeping Vampire.
