Aren73

I'm really excited for the modelling potential for that base. Might have him swooping down on a pillar instead of the rock surfboard that he has.

See my and @Sception's previous posts

Mount traits are a level of customisation that some armies have so there's that. It's not wild to think that we could get vampire powers. GW just needs to pick one of those and go with it. Either give us extra levels of customisation or make the vampire lord warscroll stronger. Either is a fine path to take but staying as is would be disappointing.

Re. Vampire Lords, @Sception that's kind of my issue, GW had made them "alright" at everything. Which would be ok if we could customise them with a whole host of changes to really make a dedicated vampire. However since you can't pay points anymore for vampire powers and equipment and spells they hit about as hard as a human hero. If every vampire got to choose both a bloodline and a vampire power, on top of a trait and magical item, then I have nothing against the jack-of-all-trades baseline. But we need those two levels of customisation for that. For example, Bloodline might be: Blood Dragons - +1 to hit and +1 attack in combat Vampire Power: Quick blood - enemy units in combat with this unit can only be activated after this unit has been activated. And then raise the points cost by like 30-40 or something to balance out and make the vampire lord fair and balanced. However, if we don't get those two levels of customisation on VLs then they at least need to hit on 2+. Either way we need something other than what we have right now.

At the same time, can we please have vampires that hit like a vampire is supposed to? How does a vampire LORD hit on a 3+ with a sword? C'mon now...a freeguild general does the same with a zweihander. I am all up for stormcast having amazing armour and for elves to hit and cast well. But then can we have our own flavour too? Vampire lords are indeed a bit ridiculous. They hit well, they hit strong, they are tough and they cast spells. GW currently seems to have gone down the road of compromising on all of them while not making vampires bad at any of them and keeping the points cost reasonable. I'd be up for increasing the vampire lord's points cost but making them feel closer to how they're represented in the lore.

Hold your horses, it seems that with Broken Realms they've been bringing all the books up to speed for 3rd. I'd be very surprised if our book isn't 3rd ed proof.

I'm 3D printing tiles and rubble for all my bases for the whole army now. It's just so easy to make the army look like it's in a castle courtyard. Three years ago I was trying to do the same with milliput sculpting and it was taking forever and required a lot of focus. I'll also be putting some gothic ruins on the base of the Terrorgheist. As for dealing with shooting, I doubt we'll have anything like deepkin but I can imagine the bats having a lot of movement. Them plus Dire Wolves and perhaps some flanking rules or funky deployment?

Sounds good, I think I'll document my army progress on my instagram and I'll drop the occasional picture here and there if people are interested. I'm trying a completely different take on painting than I have before, going quite sketchy and not clean, a bit more abstract. It's working though I'm a bit slow at it for now.

That seems to line up and make sense. Stands to reason that the faction that reveres Vargheists also has an even more twisted monstrosity at its head.

I think a fight again on Vargheists would make them a bit too crazy. I think the concept of an extra attack per model killed is quite good, means they really benefit from going up against one wound hordes. It just needs to trigger on a lower roll, because currently it hardly ever happens.

I'd say that doesn't mean much for now. They had to get rid of the old coach, that's just housekeeping and they're decommissioning LoN as a whole. However, they weren't going to add the new coach into LoN a month before the LoN is basically dropped as a faction. Spirit Hosts, Morghasts and NH heroes are still there for LoN too. Until the Soulblight Gravelords section shows up we won't really know much one way or the other. Simply put, I am gagging for even just a single new article about the book. I'd have thought after the release we'd get at least one this week, they sure like teasing us...

On that topic I'd love for Vargheists to be a lil more killy than they are now. Perhaps have Feeding Frenzy trigger on wounds dealt and not models slain? It's effectively what it does now against single wound models. Or if that's what it's meant to do thematically then maybe make it a 5+ instead of a 6+? Failing that, an extra attack against damaged/below strength units just like the akhelian allopex? Nothing crazy, but a bit of a buff would be appreciated.

@Neil Arthur Hotep I just want to run the black coach alongside the the rest of my vampire counts minis as it was always intended Imagine, after years of waiting for a new black coach miniature, when it finally comes out it's not available to the Vampire Counts faction. And yeah, allies are alright but if the unit isn't baked into the book then sometimes you're sacrificing a lot of performance just to make sure that one model or unit you like makes it in.

I hope so!! I like That concept

haha well it's hard to find a good, short clip of a bloodborne enemy that isn't part of some long playthrough, the main idea is there though

While that's quite amusing I do quite like the fact that the creature isn't optimised for walking or battle. In much the same way that the Varghulf couldn't possibly fly, not with those wings. To me it bounds forward in leaps and stumbles. It moves in a jittery, awkward kind of way but with a freakish, unnatural power to its moves. Imagine something along the lines of the Bloodborne Gargoyle: The Vengorian Lord is meant to be a messed up creature, I can imagine the vampire trying to keep a semblance of nobility, decorum and honour even as its lower half warps and changes beyond recognition. If you think it looks painful then good, it's meant to.

Something just occurred to me. What's funny is that we'll likely have the coven throne in the book. Which is carried by a host of spirits. Ghosts. But we apparently won't get any ghosts in the book. Like ah yes, the vampires can afford to pay the desolate spirits for their manual labour but they're a bit too skint to pay them to fight Love it.

I agree on the sword, though I don't think the musculature is that much different. More defined for sure but that might just be the process of exaggeration from turning art to models. I don't think it was meant to be a 1:1 carryover, just an artistic hint. What would be really interesting would be if this was a Cursed City expansion which was teased, however in the meantime due to supply issues Cursed City expansions got cancelled, leaving this as a kit, designed and produced, without a release. Maybe GW has a bunch of new vampire models sitting around in a warehouse that no-one knows about...

From this BoLS article: https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2021/05/games-workshop-rumor-engines-where-are-they-now-may-2020-edition.html The sword and pose, with the vampiric arm, seem to line up a bit too well with the art on the CC map. Plus, it's totally feasible that it would be on a Blood-Born model. That said, I'm not saying that we are getting Blood-Born models in the battletome as vampire infantry (though it would be the best thing ever), but maybe this rumour engine is from a planned CC expansion?

When about does the WD come out? After all May White Dwarf and we're 6 days into May already

Agreed. Some people tend to say that you should enjoy the army and models no matter the rules. However, the rules directly correlate to how usable the unit will be, how long you'll see it on the table and how large or important of a role it will play in the game. Blood knights are cool and all but if they hit as hard as wet tissue paper then are they Blood knights really?

I have a feeling that this is a sentiment repeated on every faction reveal thread of any faction ever...

On one hand, I am excited that they're coming this month, I wasn't expecting that. On the other hand, the end of the month seems so far away right now...

I'd imagine the release will span over a few weeks. I could see : Week 1: book, cards, dice, wight king, skeletons, bats Week 2: Half of the characters, rest of the unit kits Week 3: Rest of the characters But when they say coming in May we have no idea if "it's all coming in May" or "it starts to come out in May"

Gotta say GW have once again managed to nail the "tragic antihero, fallen hero" theme and aesthetic for their vampires. "A hideous amalgamation of bat, drake, and humanoid body, Vai is nevertheless possessed with a sliver of self-control and even conscience. She remembers the pride she felt as a fierce warrior queen, and she hasn’t allowed herself to succumb completely to her instincts." Just have a read of that! That really greases my gears and bats my belfry - the idea of these horrific, twisted, blood-hungry abominations nonetheless nobly fighting against the Chaos hordes (insert other). Vampires should never be one-dimensional, it's a real shame whenever they are.