The Host with the Ghosts: A Warhammer: The Old World Army of Infamy AND rules for Lord Virion the Grim, Mortarch of Plague
Played a game of ToW the other day for the first time in probably nine months or so. I brought a VC list almost entirely comprised of Ethereal creatures and then crumbled turn 2 when my general got shot by a magic-ized cannon. Yay :) (relevant tumblr post)
But I couldn't get over one critical thing: I can't field an entire army of ethereal creatures. This is an injustice. I must correct it.
Thanks to Row for help brainstorming the initial idea for this article after surgically murdering me in what still has to be one of the more interesting games I've ever played.
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| Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts 8th edition. GW never credited their artists well and has only gotten worse at this; if you know who did any specific piece of art, lmk and I'll credit them. Otherwise, I'm listing the book it's from. No challenge to Geedubs' rights to slowly strip everything worthwhile out of this hobby to appease the daemon-god Capital, etc. etc. |
Thoughts on Balance
Obviously 'oops, all ethereal' is a design with the opportunity to be deeply unfun if your opponent is fielding no magic and just has to hope they can grind you down on combat res without being able to hurt you! Thankfully, I think this is pretty rare in ToW. Casting is quite easy (and boring! If only somebody had fixed that!), weird magical creatures and powerful lords are pretty common. Your opponent will probably have some or other way to hurt you.
Meanwhile, your list is fragile, with no saving throws to be seen. It's expensive. It caps out at S5. It has all the usual VC vulnerability to crumbling as soon as you start to lose. It doesn't get terrorgheists, so no building into screams. it doesn't get magic items (following on the way GW treats ghosts in this regard) or a BSB. And this is a homebrew list, so it's unlikely anybody will have it sprung on them without an opportunity to tailor... and if they did they'd be entitled to call bullshit. So I think we're pretty safe so long as we're careful.
The design is kind of a kludge, because I'm working out from the stuff we already have and trying to make a list with some new upgrades rather than a new army, but M_l_l-dammit we're doing our best here!
Haunting Host
This Army of Infamy composition list is designed to be used with the Vampire Counts Legacy Army List, though should be compatible with others, and alongside the Forming Units and Warhammer Armies sections of the Warhammer: the Old World rulebook.
Army of Infamy Composition List
CharactersUp to 50% of your army's points value may be spent on:
0-1 Banshee Queen* or Cairn Master* per 2000 points
0-1 Hell's Huntmaster* per 2000 points
Tomb Banshees and Cairn Wraiths
Core
At least 25% of your army's points value must be spent on:
Wisps*
0-1 unit of Spirit Hosts may be taken as a core choice
Special
Up to 50% of your army's points value may be spent on:
Spirit Hosts
0-2 Haints per 1000 points
If you have a Hell's Huntmaster,* 0-1 unit of Hexwraiths may be taken as a special choice.
If you have a Banshee Queen*, 0-1 Banshee Choir* may be taken as a special choice
If you have a Cairn Master, 0-1 Wraithly Coven or Black Coach may be taken as a special choice
Rare
Up to 25% of your army's points value may be spent on:
0-1 Mourngul* per 2000 points
0-1 Haunting Presence* or Lurking Presence* per 1000 points
Black Coaches, Wraithly Coverns*, Banshee Choirs* and Hexwraiths
Special Rules
Every unit in this list gains the following rules:
Old Haunts
Units with this special rule may be deployed as ancient inhabitants of a particular terrain feature. After terrain is set up and sides are picked but before deployment, determine whether each unit will deploy normally or as a haunter. Secretly write down which piece of terrain each of the latter will haunt. Then, mark each piece of terrain haunted by at least one unit with a counter, but do not reveal what the units are. They do not deploy during deployment.
If, at the start of any of your Movement Phases, an enemy unit is within 6" of a haunted piece of terrain, you may reveal all units haunting that piece of terrain. They all deploy entirely within 6" of that piece of terrain. If this is not possible, as many units as possible deploy within this range and the remainder deploy entirely as close as possible to the piece of terrain. The unit may move and charge normally this Movement Phase, except that it may only declare charges against units within 6" of the piece of terrain it was haunting. Subsequently it acts normally.
Any units not revealed at the end of the game do not count as destroyed.
Design note: Possibly some shenanigans available with hiding units forever, but not as many as your opponent simply choosing never to go within 6" of any piece of terrain and auto-winning. Yes, you can win the horror story by not engaging with it and that is funny, but you're not really winning in warhammer terms where you presumably want the enemy gone. Not being able to bring out your units if the enemy acts like a coward should be risk enough for trying this strategy.
Alternative rule option if you dislike this: Units still Haunting are destroyed at game's end but you can also reveal them if the general is within Command Range of the terrain as they rouse their minions from their slumbers.
This whole rule is substantially based on a scene in End Times: Nagash, Vol. I where Araloth's Wood Elf army ventures into Ghoul Wood only to find the whole place is so haunted it's almost impossible to progress. (pgs. 103-4) I really like the idea that, without a vampire or Necromancer to rouse them, a lot of ghosts are lying latent in the land, and that an army of the purely spectral rouses them more incidentally - or is perhaps drawn to them, thus explaining the choice of battleground.
This whole rule is substantially based on a scene in End Times: Nagash, Vol. I where Araloth's Wood Elf army ventures into Ghoul Wood only to find the whole place is so haunted it's almost impossible to progress. (pgs. 103-4) I really like the idea that, without a vampire or Necromancer to rouse them, a lot of ghosts are lying latent in the land, and that an army of the purely spectral rouses them more incidentally - or is perhaps drawn to them, thus explaining the choice of battleground.
Manifestations
Any Spirit Hosts, Hexwraiths, Banshee Choirs, and Wraithly Covens in this list may purchase a Poltergeist, Possessor, Misty Shape, or Lurker as an upgrade. These units are detailed below.
Deploying Manifestations: A Manifestation must be deployed at the same time as its 'parent' unit (the unit it was bought as an upbrage for), and must be deployed within 3" of that unit, or in the same piece of terrain if deploying with the Old Haunts rule.
Connected: If it is within 3" of its parent unit, a Manifestation cannot be targeted by enemy shooting or enemy spells unless it's the closest target. In addition, whilst within 3" the Manifestation does not need to make a separate Leadership check due to the Death of a General rules; instead, any wounds lost may be removed either from the Manifestation or the back rank of the unit.
Connected: If it is within 3" of its parent unit, a Manifestation cannot be targeted by enemy shooting or enemy spells unless it's the closest target. In addition, whilst within 3" the Manifestation does not need to make a separate Leadership check due to the Death of a General rules; instead, any wounds lost may be removed either from the Manifestation or the back rank of the unit.
Design notes: having these as 'weapon teams' has the effect of not actually adding too many new units outside of characters, which feels in-line with Armies of Renown design thus far. Originally the Haint was going to be one too, but it's just too different from the others I fear.
New Units
Banshee Queen
The grief of the Tomb Banshee for what she lost in her mortal life is legendary. The intrinsic entropic force of Dhar makes it a chain for many. But just as mortals can use grief as a building-block for a new self, some Banshees embrace its emptiness as a space for the creation of a new dark power wholly unlike what they wielded before. Others then swarm to her side, hoping to learn these nihilistic secrets and drown what they were in stygian rivers of terrible new grandeur.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
6 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 7 170
Troop Type: Regular Infantry, Character
Base Size: 25x25 mm
Unit Size: 1
Equipment: Hand Weapon
Magic: The Banshee Queen is a Level 2 Wizard who uses spells from Dark Magic, Illusion, or Necromancy
Special Rules: Dark Vitality, Ethereal, Indomitable (1), Necromantic Undead, Regeneration (6+), Magical Attacks, Terror, Wailing Dirge, Lore of Undeath
Nihil's Voice: The Banshee Queen's followers strive to imitate her, while her foes cower in awe. When the Banshee Queen targets a unit with her Wailing Dirge and it suffers at least one wound, the Leadership modifier for all subsequent Wailing Dirge rolls triggered by or targeting units within her Command Range is increased by the number of wounds she dealt. The minimum modified Leadership remains 2.
Upgrades:
- May be a Lv 3 Wizard - 40 pts
- May be mounted on a Spectral Steed (see Hell's Huntmaster, below) - 16 pts
Design notes: I want to find a way to mechanize the spirits of dead lovers swarming around her. Haven't quite found a way to yet, but that's a really cool/weird feature of original Warhammer banshee lore. And a weird part of its gendered metaphysics, but, uh, WHFB gendered metaphysics is a topic for another day.
Cairn Master
Some ancient dark magicians, particularly those learned in early forms of Necromancy, preserved their magical potence into death alongside their spirits. Where Cairn Wraiths haunt a singular site, these potentates of the ghostly world wander from place to place, binding their fellows to their will in the dead of night. Some are convinced they live yet, others proud of their transcendent condition; at any rate, none will consent to be ruled over by necromantic adepts still shrouded in flesh.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
6 4 0 3 4 4 2 3 7 150
Troop Type: Regular Infantry, Character
Base Size: 25x25 mm
Unit Size: 1
Equipment: Spectral Scythe (see Cairn Wraith)
Magic: The Cairn Master is a Level 2 Wizard who uses spells from Dark Magic, Illusion, or Necromancy
Special Rules: Dark Vitality, Ethereal, Indomitable (1), Necromantic Undead, Regeneration (6+), Terror, Invocation of Nehek, Lore of Undeath
Spirit King: The Cairn Master restores one additional wound to Ethereal units when it casts Invocation of Nehek.
Upgrades:
- May be a Lv 3 Wizard - 40 pts
- May be mounted on a:
- Spectral Steed (see Hell's Huntmaster, below) - 16 pts
- Black Coach (replacing Wraith driver) - 155 pts
Cairn Wraith and Tomb Banshee (addendum)
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| Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot, 'Death' |
Gain the following option:
- May be mounted on a Spectral Steed - 8 pts
Hell's Huntmaster
Through the night their steeds trample endlessly, souls cursed by the gods to hunt forever. If Hexwraiths are mindlessly committed to their eternal quest for stolen life, the Hell's Huntmasters' condition is far worse. They know the dread crimes they committed that damned them to this state. They know that what waits for them should they fall in the chase is merely another cycle of the eternal rebirth, the ride. But they do not stop, for the scent of prey is on the air, and they are spiteful.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
Huntmaster - 5 0 4 4 3 2 3 7 30
Spectral Steed 8 2 - 3 - - 2 1 -
Troop Type: Light Cavalry, Character
Base Size: 30x60mm
Unit Size: 1
Equipment:
Hell's Huntmaster: Hand weapon and great weapon
Spectral Steed: Skeletal hooves (counts as hand weapons)
Special Rules: Ethereal*, Flaming Attacks, Fly (8)*, Magical Attacks*, Necromantic Undead*, Open Order*, Regeneration (6+), Spectral Reapers, Swiftstride,* Terror
* These rules are possessed by the Spectral Steed, and are transferred to other units riding one.
The Hunt Eternal: Hexwraith units within the Hell's Huntmaster's Command Range have the Indomitable (1), Dark Vitality and Vanguard rules.
Design notes: I want a wild hunt list. This isn't that because the HHM can't actually be the general and I don't think there's a good way to do an all-hexwraiths list balanced-ly in the same way there is the army as a whole. Also this mythological archetype just isn't a wizard, contra how undead work in WHFB. But optional rule if you want to go wild with it: if you field no other spellcasters, the Hell's Huntmaster may be the general despite not being a wizard. If he is, Hexwraiths are core and everything normally core is Special.
'Why is this as to the Hellwraith as the Wight King is to the Grave Guard Seneschal when there's no Wight Lord equivalent?' The Wight Lord is a Cairn Wraith on a Spectral Steed in a Hexwraith unit. Seemples.
Should I add a ghost hounds unit? Sound off in comments.
Wisps
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| WFRP 1e Core Rulebook, 'Marshlight' |
When the dead drift forth on the wind, some weaker forms herald them. Minor apparitions, flickering lights, falling objects, strange winds... these 'wisps', as scholars have named them, appear in many forms, and are known to be not so much dangers as omens thereof. Under the control of powerful spirits however, these minor forces of Dhar can be put to clever use - for though they are little more than illusions possessed of a faint flicker of will, illusions are invaluable in war.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
6 1 0 1 1 1 4 1 3 30
Troop Type: Regular Infantry
Base Size: 40x40 mm
Unit Size: 1
Equipment: Wispy, grasping hands (hand weapon)
Special Rules: Fear, Evasive, Reserve Move, Skirmishers, Vanguard, Necromantic Undead, Ethereal
Lure: If., during the Declare Charges & Charge Reactions sub-phase of its turn, a unit is able to declare a charge against a unit of Wisps, roll a D6. On a 1-3, the unit must declare a charge. If a unit fails a charge against a unit of Wisps, it gains the Stupidity rule until the end of its next turn and is treated as having failed its test this turn.
Ephemeral Enemies: At the end of the Combat Phase, if a unit of Wisps is engaged in Close Combat then it is destroyed. This does not allow the enemy unit to overrun - the Follow Up and Pursuit phase is already over, and anyway the warriors are far too busy wondering where the mysterious glowing forms went!
Poltergeist
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| unknown staff artist, La Vie Mysterieuse, 55, April 1911. |
For many in the Empire, the ghosts their folklore tells of are Poltergeists. This is because an ordinary spectre silently reaps souls in the night, leaving little sign of its presence that might not be attributed to terminal imbalance of the humours, whilst sudden assault by the contents of one's crockery-drawers tends, even where fatal, to invite the attention and curiosity of the neighbours.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
6 3 3 4 3 1 4 D3 4 30
Troop Type: Regular Infantry
Base Size: 40x40 mm
Unit Size: 1
Equipment: Thrown Objects (see below)
Special Rules: Fear, Loner, Open Order, Fly (8"), Ethereal, Necromantic Undead
Thrown Objects: In Close Combat, Poltergeists may choose to fight with the profile of any non-magical weapon wielded by a model in base contact with them. In the Shooting Phase, Poltergeists may hurl nearby objects at the enemy as a shooting attack with a range of 8". They make X shots, at a strength of (7-X), where X is the roll of a single D6, with Armour Bane 1.
Possessor
Some spirits yearn so strongly for life that they can seize control of nearby bodies, puppeteering them according to their whims. Usually, they attempt to mime out a grotesque pantomime of their actions in life, but when steeped in Dhar and bound to the will of the lords of the dead they can be a much greater threat, turning the swords of the strongest foes against their brethren.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
6 3 0 1 1 1 4 * 4 50
Troop Type: Regular Infantry
Base Size: 40x40 mm
Unit Size: 1
Equipment: The enemy's (see below)
Special Rules: Fear, Loner, Open Order, Reserve Move, Ethereal, Necromantic Undead
Possession: At the start of a round of Close Combat involving the Possessor, one enemy model of your choice in base contact with it must make a Leadership test. If they pass, the Possessor does not attack this round. If they fail, the Possessor attacks using the profile of that model (but on its own Initiative and Weapon Skill) against any unit in base contact with that model, even if that unit is not in base contact with the Possessor, and that model does not attack this round.
Lurker
There are many reasons for citizens of the Old World to fear what hides in the shadows, and not to walk abroad after dark. When some of those reasons pass beyond the mortal world, they become Lurkers, fear-ghosts that feed (endlessly and without satiation) on the dread of the victims they follow. When the brave attempt to destroy them, they vanish like mist, only to reappear at the worst possible moment.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
6 3 3 4 3 2 4 2 4 50
Troop Type: Regular Infantry
Base Size: 40x40 mm
Unit Size: 1
Equipment: Hand Weapon
Special Rules: Fear, Loner, Open Order, Fly (8"), Ethereal, Necromantic Undead, Regeneration (5+)
It's Behind You: The Lurker and the unit with which it is purchased may deploy using the Ambushers special rule. The Lurker also gains an additional charge reaction ,as does the parent unit whilst the Lurker is within 3": redeploy the unit anywhere within 6", in any facing and formation, then Hold.
Ominous Shadow: Enemy units with at least one Lurker in their flank or rear arc and within 8" suffer -1 Ld.
Misty Shape
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| 'Haunted' by Pauline Moss on DeviantArt, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License. Not listing this on the rest 'cause you know the deal with Wikipedia and GW are either going to sue me or not. |
Betimes a fog comes down upon a clear night on the moors and forests. This is usually attributed by those who live near the Wasteland to Marsh-Daemons, but for East Imperials, the finger is more likely to be pointed at Geistnebel. Ethnographically-inclined Amethyst mages have suggested that these are likely the same genus of the dead as the Bretonnian Fantôme de la Brume found near, but certain Grey Magisters darkly imply that the latter have a quite different origin.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
6 3 3 2 2 1 4 1 4 50
Troop Type: Regular Infantry
Base Size: 40x40 mm
Unit Size: 1
Equipment: Hand Weapon
Special Rules: Fear, Loner, Open Order, Fly (8"), Ethereal, Necromantic Undead, Regeneration (5+)
Veil of Tears: The area within 6" of the Misty Shape counts as partial cover during the enemy shooting phase only. Weapons which do not roll to hit cannot trace line of sight through the area during this time, and friendly models get a 6+ Ward save against their effects if they don't already have a better one.
Haint
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| Nastier than this. BBC, Ghosts |
Many spirits haunt their resting-places, but for some wood and stone become as flesh and bone animated by spectral muscles. Some of these are benevolent ... but the masters of the spectral dead rarely seek out this type, preferring those bound to their grave-sites in scenes of murder and butchery. Though such spirits are more vulnerable than most to material destruction, for razing their desecrated dwellings will banish them as sure as blessed arms a common shade, they are a terrible threat nevertheless - for who knows what building might be their dwelling until the walls begin to bleed and the doors slam and bar themselves?
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
6 3 3 5 7 6 4 D3 4 150
Troop Type: Monstrous Creature
Base Size: 40x40 mm
Unit Size: 1
Equipment: The environment
Special Rules: Fear, Flammable, Open Order, No Escape, Stomp Attacks (D6), Armour Bane (2), Necromantic Undead, Large Target
Bound: the Haint must deploy using the Old Haunts rule. The Haint must deploy inside the piece of terrain which it Haunts when revealed, or within 3" if the terrain cannot be occupied. It may never move further away than this for any reason. Whilst it lives, the terrain is Dangerous Terrain in addition to any other terrain type, and Dangerous Terrain tests made for it are failed on a roll of 1 or 2. If the Haint is destroyed, remove the terrain piece from the battlefield and replace it with an equivalently sized area of Difficult Terrain. Likewise, if the piece of terrain in which the Haint dwells is removed for any reason, or if the Haint would be forced to move outside it by an effect which compels movement, the Haint is destroyed.
No Escape: Enemy units which Flee or Fall Back in Good Order whilst within 6" of the Haint may not move further from its piece of terrain than it is allowed to go.
Ghostly Animus: The Haint has Regeneration (4+) against non-Magical attacks.
Banshee Choir
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| Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts 8th edition . For models that could never be fielded as units... banshees sure do have more banshees per banshee art than wraiths, huh? |
Stats as per Tomb Banshees, except the following additions and replacements.
Pts: 85/model
Troop Type: Regular Infantry, not, Character
Unit Size: 3-10
Special Rules: add Skirmishers, and
Mournful Choir: This unit makes only a single Wailing Dirge attack. If successful, it deals an additional 1 wound for every Tomb Banshee in the unit beyond the first. If unsuccessful, it deals 1 wound for every Tomb Banshee in the unit beyond the first, -1 per point by which the enemy unit passed their Leadership test (so if they passed a test at modified Ld 4 with a roll of 2 against 4 banshees, they'd suffer (2-4)+(4-1) wds, or 3 wds).
Design Notes: I loved the old 8th ed option to field full Wraith units. Big issue was, you could only take a Banshee as their champion, which always felt odd narratively. Obviously mechanically it's so you don't have to roll loads of times for multiple Screams. Well, here's my effort at fixing that. Setting a baseline of damage kind of replicates the effects of the spread of a load of individual Screams, though probably not mathematically - if anybody wants to run the AnyDice maths on the exact curve then find a single-roll way to replicate it, they're welcome to. They're 85 points because intuitively this is a bit worse than a load of individual banshee chars, they're tied to each other, vulnerable to unstable, and not able to challenge-block. Equally,
Wraithly Coven
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| The fresco at the back wall of the Church of St. Mary of the Rocks in the Istrian town of Beram, Croatia, Vincent of Kastav, 1474 |
Stats as per Cairn Wraiths, except the following additions and replacements.
Pts: 50/model
Troop Type: Regular Infantry, not Character
Unit Size: 3-10
Special Rules: add Skirmishers
Design Notes: these stay at 50 ppm because they're much better suited to being a skirmishy combat unit than Banshee Choirs are.
Mourngul
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| Monstrous Arcanum |
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
6 5 0 5 5 5 3 4 8 270
Troop Type: Monstrous Creature
Base Size:
Unit Size: 1
Equipment: Thrown Objects (see below)
Special Rules: Terror, Unbreakable, Unstable, Ethereal*, Obstacle Strider, Stomp (D3)
Shadows and Icy Fogs: The Mourngul does not have the Large Target rule, unlike other Monsters.
Chomp Attack: The Mourngul makes 1 additional attack each round with the Killing Blow special rule. This attack has +1 to hit against Large Targets.
Carnophage: For every wound it inflicts in close combat, the Mourngul regains a wound previously lost, up to its maximum Wounds value.
Killing Cold: Enemy units in base contact with a Mourngul have Always Strikes Last. It is unaffected by effects based on cold such as a Thundertusk's Icy Breath or Yheetee's Aura of Frost.
*The old Monstrous Arcanum mourngul just gets a 5+ ward vs shooting, but the description is of an etherealness-like effect. This avoids needlessly multiplying effects, and makes it fit in the list.
**
Special Character: Lord Virion the Grim, Driver of the Plague Cart
At the eleventh hour (whilst looking for art) I discovered this guy from 1994. One of the original Mortarchs of Nagash! Mortarch of Plague, perhaps? He's statistically a wraith driving something like an early form of Corpse Cart. You'll note that later Corpse Carts are driven by weird but material drivers (necromancers or their corpsemaster apprentices), whilst wraiths drive black coaches. 'Wraith driving corpse cart' is an interesting concept! But alas Virion has sod-all else going for him, which kind of sucks for a mortarch especially now his gimmick is a Special choice. Looking at his lore, though... there's some stuff to work with:
He is one of the Dark Lords [mortarchs] of Nagash, those five [nine, this changes later] fell beings who in ancient times were the foremost of Nagash’s captains and apprentices and have become the most feared destroyers of his enemies. No-one really knows the early history of Lord Virion, but it is whispered that he was one of the rebel Priest Kings that followed Nagash’s teaching over 4,000 years ago, and that it was he that created the spells and rituals that Nagash used to unleash the plague which destroyed the ancient civilisation of Nehekhara and toppled the great king Alcadizaar.Whatever his past, now Lord Virion and the Plague Cart he drives have become the very symbol of the last journey which ends at the cemetary gate, and he is a powerful ally for any Undead army. No-one knows when or where Lord Virion will appear next. He simply arrives at the start of a battle, driving his creaking cm of death with its dark cargo of doom into the centre of the action, bolstering the power of the Undead and filling the hearts of the living with despair. Once the battle is over he vanishes as quickly and mysteriously as he appeared.
So what we have here is:
- PLAGUE he does plague good. And contra the tenuous link of the Corpse Carts to the Black Plague, Virion's cart's undead-raising ability explicitly links to it's plaguiness. Which possibly suggests some kind of plague effect empowering the cart.
- Not a leadership figure, untrackable, unpredictable, just kinda rocks up (possibly why he quit being a priest king?) Probably can't be general
- Wants to be at 'the centre of the action', but what he does there is not necessarily 'fight uniquely good'
- Empowers the undead (raises them? but poss. also literally empowers)
- 'fills the hearts of the living with despair' - possibly mechanical, possibly just a side effect of being good.
- Isn't strictly ghostly-focussed, especially not for a wraith. I think for consistency we need to make his corpse cart more black-coachish but he probably still ought to interact well with 'any Undead army'
(Also I have to note that per the 3rd citaedel journal where he was printed, Virion exists entirely because Jervis Johnson forgot to write rules for the Plague Cart model. This is a great reason to have one of only 6 original Mortarchs we know of. Also... guys. Guys. This is a Mortarch still operational in the contemporary timeline of 4th, i.e. early Karl Franz times. Who does NOT join Nagash in 8th. And is not described alongside the several other beings destroyed for so doing. Either A) Virion was perma-destroyed between 2515 and 2524 after c.4000 years of existence, or B) VIRION DOES NOT SERVE )
Let's give this a go.
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| Citaedel Journal 03 |
Lord Virion the Grim, Mortarch of Plague
(I've broadly written what's below to minimally contradict Rise of Nagash but I've probably failed in details. I last read that book age 14. It also contradicts a lot about what the TK look like in the modern setting, so. Mercy.)
Even in life, Pha-Elin was an obsessive. A junior cousin to one of the Priest-Kings of old Nehekhara, he studied medicine and poisoning, and the secrets of Sokth and Usirian in the Mortuary Cult. When all of his family suddenly died of plague, he was next in line for the throne - but knowing that suspicion would fall on him and that factional scheming would disturb his work, he instead abdicated by flight. The legend of the poisoner-king made waves around Nehekhara as Pha-Elin wandered and hid, until whispers of a priest in Khemri seeking mastery of the dead drew him to Nagash's side. Though he hadn't murdered his family, long years of plying a poisoner's trade and learning the gods' mysteries had left him quite inured to suffering, and he willingly served as Nagash's master of assassins and biological warfare specialist following his ascent to kinghood, as well as studying necromancy under him in his spare time. When Nagash fell, he was almost relieved, for his duties in the late years of the war had left him quite unable to devote the time required to his studies. He wandered once more, into the lands to the North - but upon his return the Great Necromancer sought him out. He found a frayed and ancient being, the mortuary rituals that tied his flesh to his spirit already fraying, patched and repaired half-heartedly between studies on the most virulent horrors of the lands he wandered. Nagash could only persuade Pha-Elin to return to his side by providing him a great new challenge - create a plague that would bring Alcadizzar's kingdom to its knees.This the dark scientist did, and the results are known. The land died, but, aided by the Skaven, Alcadizzar slew Nagash, the final ritual of awakening failed and the dead who woke anew served none. Poisoned himself by vast quantities of warpstone used in the working, Pha-Elin saw in this only wonder. See how even the greatest plans of men are turned askew by the invisible forces of disease, of chemicals and humours, he mused. See how from the life that brings death spring forth the living dead. He evaded the risen Kings through the ratmens' warrens, feeding on the sicknesses that ran rampant amongst them, and emerged once more in the Old World. Ever since then, he has wandered, ever at his work, letting body and personality slip away until all that was left was a mind singularly focussed upon the sciences of disease - a mind that now goes by the corrupted name given him by the gravelly tongues of barbarian necromancers to whom he has deigned to speak: Lord Virion, the Grim.
That Virion has not fallen to Nurgle can be attributed to two factors. Firstly, true undeath, especially that which transcends the body, is always somewhat repulsive to the forces of Chaos. Secondly, he does not revel in eternal stagnation, despair, or cycles of life. For him, plague and undeath are part of one singular process: a synthesis of death with life that produces true immortality, freeing Mankind from the shackles of time and emotion that they may commit themselves truly to knowledge. The work of all the generations of the Hieratic Cults were merely a prelude to this knowledge, the gods merely its faint symbol traced upon history. He combines and recombines vaporous ailments at will and with a precision that would dazzle any servant of Chaos, for his aim is not mere destruction - but genesis.
In service of this aim, Virion often appears to aid hosts of the dead in battle, asking no recompense and taking little heed of orders. His goal is new subjects for study, in small and relatively controlled environments, and he is sure he needs neither assistants nor any other purpose. Masters of the night have long since learned not to question the Wraith's generosity, for when he rides into battle atop a flickering cart of blighted bodies drawn by pallid steeds, the enemy blanch and wither and the dead rise as though they had called them themselves. He has even at times fought alongside the more unscrupulous of the Tomb Kings, for he is proud of and interested in what is, in his mind at least, his greatest work so far.
Some have suggested a similarity between Virion and the Black Coaches that bear the bodies of dead vampires endlessly through the night. This is not so, for whilst those spectral hearses drag the past behind them, he bears only the future.
You may field 0-1 Lord Virion the Grim in any Vampire Counts or Tomb Kings list unless said list includes Settra the Imperishable.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Points
Lord Virion - 4 0 3 4 8 2 3 8 425
Plague Cart - - - 5 5 - 2 - -
Plague Steed 6 2 0 3 3 1 2 1 5
Troop Type: Heavy Chariot (steeds x2)
Base Size: 50x100 mm
Unit Size: 1
Armour Value: 4+
Armour Value: 4+
Equipment: Virion: Spectral Scythe (see Cairn Wraith); Plague Steeds: Hand Weapons
Magic: Lord Virion is a Level 3 Wizard who uses spells from Dark Magic.
Special Rules: Close Order, Loner, Dark Vitality, Ethereal, Indomitable (1), Necromantic Undead, Regeneration (6+), Terror, Invocation of Nehek, Magical Attacks, Spectral Coach, Impact Hits (D6+2), Poisoned Attacks
Phantasmic Poisoner: All friendly units with the Necromantic Undead or Nehekharan Undead special rule within Virion's Command Range have the Poisoned Attacks special rule. If they already have the Poisoned Attacks special rule, it instead triggers on a natural roll of 5 or 6 to hit.
Plague of Death: Enemy units within 18" of Virion have the Unstable special rule. Any wounds lost due to this rule may be used to Resurrect the Fallen, distributed as you choose amongst friendly non-Character units with the Necromantic Undead or Nehekharan Undead special rule within Virion's Command Range.
Design notes: it's a cairn master on a black coach, but with better Leadership, worse move and toughness, and it can't be your general despite being a caster and it isn't extra-good at buffing wraiths - rather, it makes all enemy units nearby worse and all your units better. Super nasty, but at least modestly vulnerable especially if you're playing off ethereal mode. The Plague Cart, FWIW, is statwise more like a Black Coach than a Corpse Cart in the original Virion too. I like the 'give enemies unstable thing' - not too terrifyingly powerful, reinforces that what he's going for is something that makes mortals into undead. In terms of design philosophy, if you have Unstable you're already a bit undead. He's not got Mortarch powers because he's not being empowered by Nagash rn, but hangs onto the title because never officially stripped of it. Loosely, chariot mounts do just stack value, so it's a Corpse Cart + Cairn Master lv 3 + (poisoned attacks for ~60 models at say 1 pt each) + (say -2 wds to 3 enemy units and +6 in turn to you every 2 turns but you probably get killed after it goes off 2 times, at basic Empire troop values ~180 pts) 635. But then knock off about a third because the odds that you're living to the end of the game when you can't go in a unit and are less tough and manoeuvrable than a BC are dropping dramatically. 423.333, round up to nearest 5. I think this strikes approximately the right balance, but ultimately I'm going by the old philosophy of special characters: If you don't like it, don't let your opponent bring it! Fun should always be the aim.
Is it any good? IDK, try it and let me know!
Jago
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