From opulent castles atop the shadowy crags of the Realm of Death, the vampires of the Soulblight Gravelords are
of the Mortal Realms. At their command is a menagerie of nightmarish horrors and legions of mindless thralls – and with the upcoming
Battletome: Soulblight Gravelords, this aristocracy of the night is better poised than ever to extend their deathly domains.
Vampires are afflicted with the curse of the blood kiss, transcending mortality in exchange for a ghastly liquid diet. A vampire can even re-knit terrible wounds by partaking in a sanguine feast, but the eternal gnawing need for fresh blood is enough to drive even the most iron-willed individuals quite mad.
Every vampire now benefits from a revamped version of The Hunger. Each time they fight, these lordly leeches get to heal the same number of wounds they caused. You can heal up to a maximum of six wounds on bigger models – and now even bestial Vargheists and loping Vargskyrs get to partake in the blood buffet.*
The five major dynasties each have their preferred form of combat, now exemplified by unique heroic actions and monstrous rampages in addition to their battle traits and enhancements. The twisted Vengorian Lords of the Avengorii can surrender to a Maddening Hunger, allowing them to swallow up to D3 enemy models whole.
Neferata’s cunning vampiric agents prepare deathly hexes to confound their foes. Such Premeditated Bloodshed can even bypass the impenetrable armours and divine blessings that grant a ward.
Even truly ferocious vampires tend to be versed in the more delicate arcane arts – as you’d expect, given the many years of immortality they’ve had to brush up on spell casting. The old Locus of Shyish trait has been replaced, and now every spell in the Lore of Vampires and Lore of Deathmages gets a unique extra effect on an unmodified casting roll of 9+, proof that centuries of study really pays off.**
Take the revamped Prison of Grief, for example. This sinister spell now applies the strike-last effect to a unit within 12” – but its range doubles to 24” if the caster rolls an unmodified 9+, allowing you to manipulate fights from across the battlefield.
What of Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead? Despite being banished by the Light-engines of Settler’s Gain in his last duel with Teclis, the Great Necromancer’s spellcasting prowess remains somehow undiminished. In fact, his black armour Morikhane now channels morbid power directly into his servants, granting all friendly DEATH units wholly within 12” a 5+ ward.***
To find out what else awaits these blood-sucking patricians, have your most devoted thrall remind you to check back on the Games Workshop webstore this Saturday – or if you’re fresh out of thralls, sign up to the newsletter – so you can pre-order Battletome: Soulblight Gravelords.
* They’ve been good little abominations and so they deserve a treat.
** A reminder to always do your homework.
*** Nagash isn’t usually one for charity, but he’s got a few other tricks up his spectral sleeves...
