Abhorash

Abhorash is fucking awesome. One of the most badass of Vampire Counts characters, he is everything awesome about the faction distilled into one guy. Read on.

You wish you were this badass.

The Legend

Abhorash was once the greatest warrior of Lahmia, and a man who held honor above all.

He was noble to the point that he had to be tricked into drinking the Elixir of Damnation by Queen Neferata, and he initially refused to feed upon his own people - instead choosing to violently fight his own fury, until his thirst grew so great that he slaughtered a dozen people in a single-night orgy of violence .

Upon regaining his composure, he shed manly tears for the fallen he had killed to save himself, and vowed only to prey upon bandits, raiders and other criminals - not the people of his homeland, nor the people of the homelands of Lahmia's neighbors. He attempted to convince his fellow vampires to do the same, since he worried that if they did not, it would turn the citizenry and the neighboring kingdoms against them.

Turned out, the man was fucking prophetic, because they didn't listen and guess what the fuck happened.

The Lahmia Court's excesses done pissed off the Kings of the Desert Kingdoms, and the Vampires came under attack. Abhorash, despite his opposition to what the court had caused, remained at the forefront of Lahmia's defense, kicking massive amounts of ass and cutting down foes by the hundreds - even a legendary warrior like Abhorash could not oppose that many. As the Vampires fled Lahmia, Abhorash cursed their arrogance, and set off for himself, accompanied only by his closest Vampire retainers and imposing exile upon himself. Like the other vampires, he was cursed by Nagash for the failure of the vampires to defend him to be weak to the sun, be unable to swim across running water, having no reflection, and whatever other random shit came to mind. He taught his followers that skill-at-arms and honor in combat were the only measures of greatness, and that they would feed, from this point on, only on the blood of skilled fighters, as only the unworthy fed upon the weak. They then traveled, seeking worthy foes to vanquish.

At one point or another, Abhorash came upon the lair of a great dragon, and, against all advice, entered it, engaging the beast in battle by himself, as Abhorash was seeking a worthy foe. When the battle ended, Abhorash was triumphant, and drank deeply from the dragon's blood. To his surprise, it cured his constant thirst - he maintained his Vampiric form, and had no need to drink blood any further. At that point, Abhorash told his followers that his search had ended: He found his answer. He commanded his followers to go into the world and master the arts of combat, and seek the blood of the strongest of foes, so they too, might overcome their thirst. When they had all succeeded, then, and only then, would Abhorash call them back to him - and only then would their real war begin. This gentlemen, is how you Lawful Evil.

On the Tabletop

It is notable that the Blood Dragons, who are Vampiric Knights, field-able as a Rare option for the Vampire Counts, are arguably the fucking strongest CQC unit in Warhammer Fantasy. This is a universe where Daemons exist. Be afraid. Be very fucking afraid. With high initiative, S7 on the charge standard, frenzy, 2+ armor and good weapon skill these guys are a big-ass hammer waiting to be used.

Sadly the very complex and badass Blood Knight models are $99 for a mere five models. Chances are good if you're using them, you're using as many as possible so you'll need 5+ models. Solution? Either nut up and slay the strongest motherfucker on your street to feast upon his blood so you can throw your food money at Games Workshop, or buy Bretonnian Knights at $35 for 8 and use up your leftover bitz from the rest of your Vampire Counts on them. A good compromise you can buy 5 Dragon Princes for $35, which look very similar to the Blood Knights.