The dread legion of Vladimir von Blutsauger UPDATE Tournament results and completed Nagash!

[Blutsauger]

Vladimir von Blutsauger is a reclusive creature, even by the standards of Sylvanian nobles. From the decrepit remains of the Castle von Blutsauger, hidden deep inside the Sylvanias forested north he orchestrates his agents. Motivated by revenge and fuelled by arrogance, he hunts those who have wronged him and aggressively pursues goals known only to himself.

This is a log of my Vampire Counts army. It will also serve as a place to collect and refine the background of the army and hopefully to gather inspiration, and perhaps inspire others. So without further ado:

I give you Vladimir von Blutsauger, terror of the Dark Woods and villain of Kurdesh, mounted on the horrifying zombie dragon Maleficus!

Vladimir is a potent warrior. He has both the Quickblood and Red Fury powers. While he is a competent user of Necromancy, it is not his forte nor his focus. He is only a level 1 wizard. He has collected a significant treasury of magic items, and will use whatever items he deems will be the most useful in battle, frequently bearing a ring of potent protection enchantments (Talisman of Preservation)




Vladimir's servants number many of the higher undead. When the castellans of castle von Blutsauger ride to war there are few who can stand before them.

The Blood Knights are Vladimir's thralls and minions. Selected for the loyalty and subservience, they nevertheless scheme behind his back. It is only through constant vigilance and a ruthless streak a mile wide that the Count keeps them under his control. They ride to battle under a potently enchanted banner that protects them from damage (Flag of Blood Keep).

 

[Blutsauger]

Collected from ancient cairns across the Old World, and bound to him by unspeakable rituals, the Count's Black Knights do his bidding without hesitation, no matter how terrible.

These Black Knights often make use of the Banner of the Barrows, although there are plans in the works for a horde of Grave Guard who might borrow it from time to time

 

[Blutsauger]

The Count, as with all of the night's dark masters, has a powerful affinity with the creatures of the night. Wolves and bats in untold numbers constantly prowl around the castle von Blutsauger, and accompany the Count's forces when they march to war.

These are not some of my best work, but I have a lot of them in my army (30 all up) and just wanted to get them on the table. I'm happy with them, but realistically could have done better. I run units of ten, and units of five. Units of ten usually include a Doom Wolf, which is excellent for taking out lone characters and monsters. Charge in, declare a challenge, and you are guaranteed that the unit will not pop. Next turn the character wipes them out, but misses his opportunity to march or pursue, giving you an extra turn to either hit him with another unit of wolves or line him up with something more scary

 

[Blutsauger]

The vampire Elessa von Saros is a bitter and spiteful creature, even for a vampire. She was turned more than a century ago by the Count, who had lost his first bride, as a replacement. A salve for the wound in his heart. But she was quickly discarded as the Count realised that he could not heal his grief with carnal pursuits. He retains her services as he finds her abilities useful, but she is no longer the object of his desire and this knowledge burns at her.

The Count's wife was, you see, also a vampire. But she was taken from him several centuries ago and it is this which motivates Vladimir to hunt across the Old World, desirous of tracking down his wife and returning her to Undeath, to rule at his side. Elessa, having discovered the true nature of Vladimir's goals seeks to undermine him at every turn. The Count is, of course, aware of this and keeps her on a tight leash. Currently her usefulness outweighs her nuisance, but should this change...

In battle Elessa fights on foot, and leads the infantry contingent of the Count's forces.

Elessa is a wickedly beautiful creature, and just as nimble as she is gorgeous. She has the Quickblood and Beguile vampiric powers. Not chosen for her magical abilities, she is a level one wizard.

 

[Blutsauger]

Count Vladimir, despite being a creature of sorcery, as a distrust for powerful wizards. He has ties and pacts with various necromancers that inhabit the Old World, that he can call on when needed, but their services are not without charge.

For more... mundane... use, the Count keeps the minor necromancer Ansgar at his beck and call. Ansgar was typical of his kind, seeking out a Vampire to expand his understanding of necromancy and further his own power, but he was a weak man and was quickly bound to the Count's will, where he remains a reluctant, but powerless thrall.

Ansgar is a level two necromancer. He helps to bolster the Count's army through necromancy, and can usually be found skulking around amongst the zombies, for whom he has a certain fascination. He frequently makes use of magical items and foul enchanted tomes from the Count's collection. The zombies have a standard bearer, not pictured here, who will be completed at a later date

 

[Blutsauger]

Now for some WIP stuff. I don't usually take a lot of photos, today was a bit of an exception, so all I have left to post are some bats:

The bat swarms were made from Warmaster Fell Bats, and the Fell Bats are the older ones from the previous edition. I actually prefer the newer ones, but I got a cheap deal on the old ones from ebay, so here we are. I intend to add some more bats to the swarms, using these guys when I get the chance. Further to add to the army to round it out to 3,000 points are some Vargheists and a Black Coach, and maybe some more Blood Knights. I'm also currently working on a version of the Count mounted on a Nightmare so he can ride into battle with his Black Knights, and a baby vamp on a nightmare to keep him company.

Next up will be the army of the Necromancer, featuring Heinrich Kemmler, a big unit of Grave Guard, a Mortis Engine or two and lots of ethereals! Further down the line will be the army of the ghouls, packed with Ghouls, Crypt Horrors, Terrorgheists and Ghoul Kings!

 

[Kutslo]

Looking good! I really like the blood knights, I want some in my army (maybe converted from something else as can't afford the £60+!) and want to do them in blue to match my theme so good to see some non-red ones.

 

[TMS]

Absolutely gorgeous!

I agree with Kutslo, those Blood Knights are especially good.

 

[Blutsauger]

Thanks for the replies! If you keep an eye out, you can snag Blood Knights on ebay for a reasonable price (well, reasonable compared to the $160 price tag anyway!)

So I've managed to get two days free, and actually get some painting done Nothing new finished, but some very nearly finished stuff and some stuff in the works.

First is Count von Blutsauger himself, this time mounted on a barded steed, so that he can accompany his knights into battle.

And secondly we have his Vampiric Lieutenant Castellan, as yet un-named and undeveloped, and also only partially painted!

I've also been working on a standard bearer for my zombie unit.

And here is the work I've done so far on my level four Necromancer, a minor conversion (so far) from the corpse cart driver. He still needs to have his scenic base done up to give him a bit of extra height and to accommodate his wonky feet. And a lot of greenstuffing done. Terrible model to put together, not like the Necromancer model.

And finally I've started work on my Vargheists. There's a fair bit of conversion work going on here, and a lot of greenstuffing to be done. These models don't go together particularly well, and the wings provided only really give you the option to put two models together, since one of the models pretty much has his left wing on backwards. In essence, you get four right wings and two left wings. So I had to order some extra wings (which were as rare as hens teeth, I checked eBay and five different bits sites before I found them, and they wound up costing me another $30!) but they'll look good in the end

Thoughts? Critiques?

 

[Deathless Dreamer]

Your Blood Knights are really excellent.

 

[Blutsauger]

Thankyou! I agonised over the colours to use for quite a while, and the brass details on their armour was a last minute addition that I think really rounds them out. I'm still not entirely happy with their shields or banner, but don't really want to go back and deal with them at the moment.

So today I received my Black Coach in the mail. Unfortunately, I realised after opening it that it was incomplete. Dastardly eBay seller, I thought! So I quickly jumped online and checked my purchase history.
Sure enough, there was the model as pictured, missing the axles and wheels.'

Oh.

Probably something I should have checked before I bought it, eh? Oh well, another $20 later (and incidentally, $20 is about the amount I saved by buying from eBay in the first place ) and I've ordered some wheels and axles to finish the model. In the meantime I've just about completed my mounted Vampire, and started work on my Master Necromancer.

Incidentally, what are peoples thoughts about the horses pulling the Black Coach? I've seen it done traditionally, or with hexwraith/black knight steeds, or with chaos marauder horses. I don't currently have any marauder horses or spare nightmares, and I'm loath to spend much more money on this coach, so I'm leaning towards just using the regular steeds it comes with.

Finally, what are peoples suggestions for a Necromancer loadout? I want him to be level four, and I want him to use the lore of Vampires. Beyond that I don't really know. I'm tempted to proxy him for Heinrich Kemmler, as I really like his rules and abilities.

More pictures coming soon!

 

[Blutsauger]

I've been working on a few things lately, but not taking a whole lot of pictures. Work's been busy and so has home life, and my other armies have been asking for my attention as well.

So, to start with I give you the Dread lord von Blutsauger, now with his base nearly finished! I still want to add a few tussocks and what-not to his base, but he looks a lot better now I think.

And also we have him on horseback, for times when riding a massive cannon-ball magnet is perhaps not the most pragmatic choice.

 

[Blutsauger]

While Vladimir is not a great wizard, he has close ties with the Necromancer Cadavros, who IS a great wizard. Cadavros is an expert at summoning and binding the spirits of the dead.

Cadavros is just a corpsemaster from the corpse cart with a fancy base and a weapon swap. I haven't been able to decide if I want to put pupils on his eyes yet, I kind of like the blind, milky eyed look.

He has acquired several ancient relics through the long years of his existence, and frequently makes use of a Mortis Engine to amplify their potency.

The Mortis Engine still needs some work, most obviously on the base but the etheral elements still need to be highlighted and the green flames I'm not quite happy with either.

 

[Blutsauger]

And finally some more vampiric monsters to bolster the ranks!

And a baby Vampire on horseback to accompany the Lord when he rides with his Black Knights.

A sneak peak at another vampire on foot...

And some WIP Banshees

I do have to apologise for the poor picture quality, I've been having to use my phone, and some makeshift lighting on the kitchen bench so they aren't the best.

 

[Ventra]

Loved the skin tone on those vargheists and vampires and their wings. What colours did you use on them if I may ask?

 

[Theerteen]

Yep, the Vargheist skin colour would be nice to know, they look very cool (as all of your stuff )! I'm so lazy for painting mine, cause I can't decide how to proceed after the first colour layer...
The vampire lady turned out great, keep the pics coming dude!

 

[benvoliothefirst]

I freakin' LOVE that Red Duke model. Nice work all around!

That banner on the ZD vampire lord is beautiful. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before... did you get inspired by an existing banner somewhere?

 

[Blutsauger]

Yep, the Vargheist skin colour would be nice to know, they look very cool (as all of your stuff )! I'm so lazy for painting mine, cause I can't decide how to proceed after the first colour layer...
The vampire lady turned out great, keep the pics coming dude!

Loved the skin tone on those vargheists and vampires and their wings. What colours did you use on them if I may ask?

Thanks guys! The Vargheist skin colour was Dheneb Stone (one of the old foundation paints) washed with Agrax Earthshade, then layered with Dheneb Stone again, then highlighted with 50/50 (or thereabouts) mix of Dheneb Stone and white, with a few final highlights of pure white on the faces. The wings were painted black, then drybrushed with Scorched Brown, then Bestial Brown, then a mix of Bestial Brown and Bleached Bone, with each colour working further out from the arm and closer to the edge of the wing.

For Vampire skin I just use Charadon Granite, layered with successively more white mixed in each time.

 

[Blutsauger]

I freakin' LOVE that Red Duke model. Nice work all around!

That banner on the ZD vampire lord is beautiful. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before... did you get inspired by an existing banner somewhere?

Not an existing banner, but the cover of a book:

It's a fairly common image though, a creepy castle silhouetted against the clouds, so it's entirely possible it's been done before

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

The spears look so much nicers with the rust contract on them, must admit though, the star of the show is that banner on the zombie dragon...
I can never get a banner I am happy with unfortunatly.

 

[Theerteen]

Dheneb Stone...I have this colour standing here since 2008 or so :O Dude that's just perfect. Thanks a lot man, made the first brush swing and fell in love...shame on me I didn't discover this by myself :silent:

 

[Blutsauger]

Dheneb Stone...I have this colour standing here since 2008 or so :O Dude that's just perfect. Thanks a lot man, made the first brush swing and fell in love...shame on me I didn't discover this by myself :silent:

Hahaha, I'm constantly doing this! Most recently was Pallid Flesh (or whatever it's called now) which is great for highlighting just about anything! I used it on the robes for the driver of the Mortis Engine, one of my Necromancers and the robes of my Master Necromancer Cadavros as well, and plan to use it a lot in the future!

 

[Skittelz1981]

Really nicely painted army you got there Blutsauger... im impressed
One thing i wonder though, and ive seen it alot on others too; why are the vines on the blackknights green, alive and looking all nice and fresh? ive done it myself and everytime i looked at it i was annoyed by the fact that this plant looked so healthy. So i changed it to be more suited to the whole 'dead' theme (imo) and made it brownish/autumn/rotten/potpourri-like
Then again, everyone is completely free to do what he likes but this is something that has kept me wondering. Why in a place of death and desolace would the plantlife be all healthy, it just seemed odd to me and youre definately not the only one where ive noticed this.
Just wondering what your thought (and others) are on this

 

[Juljima]

Hey Blutsauger!

Those models look really nice!

 

[Theerteen]

@skittelz I painted mine green too, maybe you can live with this explaination : I imagined the GG and BK as the same kind of troops, though the bk are mounted obviously. But given the fact (in my mind) that they are some type of grave, or crypt guards, they stand in their guarding position, not moving for years, only if there appears a thread, or they are called to war. So while they are resting, the plants grow on them, and as soon as they leave their positions, the plants are beeing ripped off their roots, but are fresh enough to remain green a while...so bk with green leafs are just "freshly raised"