ECHOES OF IMPERIUM

Time to get some villains ready, what’s the fun in a bloodthirsty hunt if there are no undead to kill?

For the three blood-born vampires I used the vampires from the classic Night Horrors line, and man did that turn out to be a mistake! I have become somewhat obsessed with the miniatures and really have to try to avoid collecting them all, damn you Asslessman (you really should read his blog)!

I have yet to get my hands on a copy of Cursed City, but I believe the three vampires function as a boss, so it will be fun to see them pitched against a group of hunters. The main colours for the villains is brown and yellow, the Sylvanian colours are actually red and black, but I already use those for the hunters. But the muted mix of yellow and brown works nicely together with the pale skin. Veracros of course broke the trend as he is transforming into a beast from over indulging on blood.

In the game it is claimed that the watch captain betrayed the city to the vampires, well that won’t do at all. He was instead a steadfast servant of Otto von Drak who loyally remained at his post, even after his eventual death. The miniature is the commander of the Nightmare Legion from 1987, he had lost his hand at some point so I gave him a halberd to match the official miniature. Having him wave a halberd and a sword seemed a bit like overkill so his sword is sheathed.

The Ulfenwatch also includes watch sergeants and a bannerman, a perfect chance to include some lovely miniatures with different weaponry. The watch sergeant is an other Night Horror, a wight to be specific, that didn’t require any changes. The bannerman has lost his banner as I liked the idea of him ringing a sinister bell to summon reinforcements. He is a bit younger than the other miniatures, I think he is from the early 90’s and probably sculpted by the talented Gary Morley. The only change is his head, I wanted a slightly smaller head, the new skull is from the plastic skeleton warriors and his jaw was broken at some point. A vampire probably backhanded him at some point.

The rank and file of the Ulfenwatch are all based upon the Nightmare Legion troopers. I got a good deal on a bunch of broken miniatures and it was easy to fix their heads, the smaller skulls work much better and it was a good chance to add some Vampire Counts imagery to the mix. Their shields are also modern plastics, again to enhance the link to the Vampire Counts of Sylvania.

In the later years the Ulfenwatch lost much of it’s former glory, the constant harassments from the vampires meant that the once noble order became populated by the dregs of Sylvania and order started to break down.

For the zombies I have used a mix of miniatures. The bannerman is a Morley zombie, I got rid of his mace and spiked helmet, he now looks somewhat less heroic and hopefully a little bit more pathetic. His comrade in arms is a really old Bretonnian, from back when they were still called Feudal men at arms, and he used to be known as Edric. But being old has never sawed anyone and to Kari’s horror he too went under the knife. He got a new sword and head, it’s actually a plastic skull on which I sculpted a suitably silly looking zombie face. Both zombies got some cheap wooden shields made from the new Snotling Pump Wagon, you might have noticed that the shield have nails in them, since zombies aren’t the smartest fighters the watch captain drove long nails through the shields and through their arms into their chests. This will keep the shields in place and offer a modicum of defense.

The nightguard are the watchers of Vlad von Carstein’s inner sanctums, vile undead that still remembers their oaths of allegiance. They are actually supposed to be undead ogres, but to my knowledge Citadel has never made any undead ogres and I didn’t have the heart to cut apart the classic C ogres. So instead I used a Gary Morley, it’s becoming a bit of a theme here, wight with a small change to his helm. I replaced the big horns with a trim of fur to give a small nod to the Cursed City versions and maybe to hint at his origin in Kislev. I need an other one to go with him as they are a pair, but I might use the a classic banshee instead.

I had to include the Vargskyr again as I just had too much fun converting and painting it. The blood starved beast is the watch dog of Castle Drakenhof, stumbling around the courtyard. Once she was a vampire but the she fell out of favour with the Thirsting Court and eventually mutated into this hideous state. She is based on the Necromundan Rat God, but with a modern giant skull as a head.

That’s all for now, I have a lot more to paint and some packages are still on the way, and of course I also need to get a copy of the game. More to follow soon!