Coven Throne vs. Mortis Engine, and a bite of Vampire hobby

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Okay, so first off, the Coven Throne is completely bonkers. As far as miniatures go, it's an amalgam of many different looks, from the ghostly riders and skeletons bearing the throne into battle, to the bone frame of the throne itself and the luxurious clothes and finery of the Vampires. One of my favourite parts of the model has to be the cushions behind the Lahmian Vampire, which seem to be filled with internal organs judging by one of the pictures in White Dwarf - that's truly disgusting (though potentially quite comfy). Overall, a fantastic centrepiece for an army and an exciting painting challenge for any hobbyist.

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  So what does it do? Well the Coven Throne itself is a mount for a Vampire Lord or a Vampire Hero and comes as part of their cost from the army list. This means that even in smaller games you can (just!) fit a Vampire Hero on a Coven Throne into your army list. Between the Vampire, the Pallid Handmaidens, and the Spirit Horde carrying it into battle, the whole spectral contraption can churn out a minimum of 10 Attacks and a maximum (not including magic items) of 20. Certainly not to be sniffed at. With appropriate upgrades like the Quickblood Vampiric power, you can ensure that your Vampire and her Handmaidens also get to strike first in combat. All in all, it should be a very messy experience for your foes.

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  The Coven Throne is most commonly used by Lahmian Vampires, who enjoy the luxury and majestic appearance that it gives them. Lahmians are well renowned for their powers of persuasion and misdirection, and with three of them in unison, the Coven Throne becomes a magical monstrosity. The Vampire can cast spells as normal, while the Handmaidens can use the Scrying Pool - a Bound Spell - to boost the power of the throne in combat. Then you have the Battle of Wills - which will almost certainly leave your foes beguiled and enchanted by the deadly coven of Vampires, which can then chop them up at their leisure while they mill around in confusion.

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Then there's the Mortis Engine. What I really like about this version of the kit is the unity of colours and themes, from the spirits at the bottom, to the ghostly banshees flying around the throne and the burning braziers made from left-over bits of Skeleton. The 'Eavy Metal shots feature a fair amount of object source lighting, which can be seen around the reliquary on the back of the engine. It's an effect that really lends itself to the Vampire Counts army, and one that looks fantastic on such a large ghostly model. Nothing screams Undead Necromantic nastiness like a glowing box of doom.

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  The spirits surrounding the Mortis Engine were once warriors bound to a great Necromancer and now forced to carry his remains into battle for all eternity. Yes, his remains. The guy on the front is a Corpsemaster, not a Necromancer, he just there to make sure the spirits keep the Mortis Engine going in the right direction. The real Necromancer, the one with all the power, is now long dead (properly, irretrievably dead), and his remains are bound within the reliquary at the back of the Mortis Engine. So great is his influence over the living that even in his powdered state he can sap the life from nearby foes, leaving them as desiccated, lifeless husks. The real problem is, the longer the battle goes on, the more violent the Necromancer becomes, and consequently, the more dangerous the Mortis Engine becomes too. The moral of the story (if you're playing against it, of course), is to kill it quickly before it gets started.

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  Which is easier said than done. Like all Undead units, it can regenerate Wounds using Invocation of Nehek, and it comes complete with its own Regeneration save to boot. It also causes Terror, so unless you're troops are supremely brave, then they may not want to get too close to it to chop it up. The other good news is that it's a Rare choice for the army, which means unlike the Coven Throne, it doesn't take up points in your Lords and Heroes slot. It means that, should you feel really evil, you could field both of these devastating war machines in a 2000-point army. Admittedly you would then need a large number of Core units to bulk out the army, but it's certainly doable (especially now that Skeleton Warriors are only 5 points per model).

Having had a look at these great new models, I decided to see what Vampire Count hobby was already out there in the real world. After all, they do have a huge range of miniatures already - these new kits are merely the icing on an already very tasty cake. A quick trip to the Flickr Pool dredged up these superb Undead goodies. Check out the gore on this lot:

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  Karyagin Svyatoslav painted up this awesome Corpse Cart, complete with plenty of blood and filth. The Corpse Cart is now a Special choice for a Vampire Counts army, but can still be chosen as a mount for a Necromancer or Master Necromancer. It's a very useful support unit for nearby regiments, who will definitely benefit from its Vigour Mortis special rule.

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  Tom Markham has been painting up more Undead units, including this regiment of Crypt Ghouls. Ghouls (and their larger Crypt Horror kin) all have poisoned attacks and a large number of attacks, making them a great shock unit to chew through an enemy's flank.

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  This Tomb Banshee and the Cairn Wraith in the next picture were painted by Onei, a prolific painter that regularly uploads new images to Flickr.

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  For those of you that didn't see the Vampire Counts army update last summer, the Tomb Banshee and the Cairn Wraith can now be taken as Heroes in a Vampire Counts army.