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I am new to warhammer fantasy
( so new I don't have any models or an army book)
I want to play vampire counts and I read a little bit about the red duke, who is he and how could I represent him in my games?
Any answers are welcome
thank you

The Red Duke was a Brettonian noble who got turned into a vampire, took over some stuff, got beaten by the king, was sealed away, was released, wants revenge, and took up as ruler of Mousillon. There's the book from BL if you want to know more.

Vampiric Powers from the Martialle section are the best bet for representing him, alongside the Walach's Bloody Hauberk armour. Not sure how to model him, but Konrad's body could be a starting point.

Vampirate of Sartosa wrote:Not sure how to model him, but Konrad's body could be a starting point.

Or hunt around for the original model on ebay...

Or direct from GW

Mounted Vampire Lord. $20

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat500022a&prodId=prod1140295

Ah, yes. You might want to give him some hair, though.

The problem I have with that old model, is that he doesn't look suitably Brettonian. He's the Red DUKE, not the Red COUNT, but he looks too Sylvanian (with a touch of Warrior of Chaos thrown in) for my tastes. His barded steel is great for conversion fodder, though. I used it on my mounted Wight Lord a while back, and it definately has a more impressive look than the basic bland skeleton steed.

I would try a kitbash/conversion.


You could take a Brettonian mounted model of your choice and use Greenstuff to make it a little more tattered. Zombify the horse...etc

If you leave the model completely armored you will save yourself the pain of altering the actual rider, its easier to change inanimate objects.

I use the Red Duke in my army, the following is the best way I have found to do so:
-vampire lord
-level 3 necromancer
-vampire power - dreadknight to give him heavy armour, a shield and horse
-vampire power - Infinate hatred to give him re-rolls to hit every turn
-vampire power - Red fury to give him a potential 10 attacks if he wounds with his 1st 5
-Magic items - The giant blade to give him strength 8
-Magic items - the dragonhelm to give him a 2+ ward vs fire and a total save of 1+
-Magic items - the dawnstone to allow him to re-roll failed saves.
this comes to a total of 450 points.

I also combine him with a killer unit featuring
-a weight king with the sword of strife giving him 5 heroic killing blow attacks.
-a battle standard with the drakenhof banner giving the whole regiment a regeneration save.
-a vampire with the blood drinker sword to restore lost wounds during the battle.
10 blood knights with the banner of stirgos to give the unit hatred.

This unit comes to about 2000 points but I have seen it take out armies alone with the core and special choices just watching. The only match I have seen to date is Archaon and a unit of Chaos knights - and that was a fair fight that left both sides severely mauled

thank you everyone.
I will now try to save up enough to actually get my army and hopefully with the help you have given me it will be led by the red duke.

 lord kryz wrote:
I use the Red Duke in my army, the following is the best way I have found to do so:
-vampire lord
-level 3 necromancer
-vampire power - dreadknight to give him heavy armour, a shield and horse
-vampire power - Infinate hatred to give him re-rolls to hit every turn
-vampire power - Red fury to give him a potential 10 attacks if he wounds with his 1st 5
-Magic items - The giant blade to give him strength 8
-Magic items - the dragonhelm to give him a 2+ ward vs fire and a total save of 1+
-Magic items - the dawnstone to allow him to re-roll failed saves.
this comes to a total of 450 points.

I also combine him with a killer unit featuring
-a weight king with the sword of strife giving him 5 heroic killing blow attacks.
-a battle standard with the drakenhof banner giving the whole regiment a regeneration save.
-a vampire with the blood drinker sword to restore lost wounds during the battle.
10 blood knights with the banner of stirgos to give the unit hatred.

This unit comes to about 2000 points but I have seen it take out armies alone with the core and special choices just watching. The only match I have seen to date is Archaon and a unit of Chaos knights - and that was a fair fight that left both sides severely mauled

This is obsolete now but with the new army book the same character can be used but a slight variation:
Red Duke - Vampire Lord
-lvl 3 upgrade
-HvyArmor
-Shield

Magic items:
-The Giant Blade to give him strength 8
-The Dragonhelm to give him a 2+ ward vs fire
-The Dawnstone to allow him to re-roll failed armor saves.

Vampire Power:
-Beguile So Challenger rolls Ld-3 or Re-rolls successful To Hit's
-Dread Knight To give him +2WS / Challenges
-Dark Acolyte To raise +d3 more dead
(Alternatively: Aura of dark Majesty: -1Ld so Beguile gets -4Ld)
-Red fury to give him a potential 10 attacks if he wounds with his 1st 5

Mount - Barded Nightmare

this comes to a total of 483 points.

[/spoiler]
I continue to keep to the story;

Sir Corbinian - Weight King
-Sword of Strife giving him 5 heroic killing blow attacks.
-Shield
-Skeletal Steed w/ Barding

Sir Marauf - Vampire
-Great Weapon
-Hvy Armor

Magic Item:
- Talisman of Preservation 4+WSv

Vampire Power:
-Dread knight +2WS

Mount - Barded Nightmare

(Add into a unit of 5 Black Knights w/ Lances, Barding & Hell Knight)

Renar - Necromancer
-master of the dead
-lvl 2 upgrade
-Dispel scroll
[spoiler]

Add to this:
Ghouls,
Skeletons,
Skeletons w/ Spears,
Bat Swarm,
Fell Bats,
Grave Guard,
and Zombies of course
but you can always spawn these on the field mid-battle
unless you prefer to use them in massive block[s]

Good for 2000pt list or more...

Here to Serve... (or Sever!)