I’m a huge fan of Ushoran, he’s probably my favourite VC character. I just love the evolution of this layabout, good-for-nothing party boy brat to genuinely pragmatic and benevolent ruler to madman to ravening beast hell bent on revenge for all he’s suffered
The vampires have so many cool characters but Ushoran is probably my favourite despite the Strigoi not being my favourite bloodline. I love that Neferata wouldn't make him a vampire so he stole her elixir and became one anyway. I love that he came up with a way of making a vampiric empire work but his sister fucked him over because she's petty and jealous and hated that his empire was better than hers.
Honestly the thing I want most is for them to separate necromancers and vampires into seperate faction types with the vampires leaning more toward ruling the living and getting more vampire units and necromancers getting more advanced undead units.
I personally agree, though I think we'll be looking at that more with the Blood Dragons, having Blood Dragons on foot, since we already have the blood knights
I'd like more vampire units too, but at the same time I almost don't want them if they're going to be underwhelming like the Depth Guard was for the longest time.
I agree with you on that. Though I would like to see them be a tad more unique than just your typical variants. I would like the vampire units to be akin to a mix of chaos aspiring champions and Norscan skinwolves, in that they aren't super numerous, but are incredibly effective in combat, especially the Strigoi and Blood Dragons. I would like to see the Blood Dragon vampire units in particular be given that cool weapon switching ability from Troy and be able to switch between anti large halberds and anti infantry dual swords, so they can deal with all foes they come across. As for the Strigoi vampires. I would like them to be akin to a mixture of infantry and monstrous infantry, but without the drawbacks. That is, having the health, mass, and high damage output of monstrous infantry, but not being able to be taken out by all the anti large units. I would also like to see the Strigoi vampire unit have some insane regenerative abilities that only active when they're in melee, to kind of represent them just taking bites out of their enemies and regenerating from that.
Necrarchs and Strigoi are to me the most interesting subfactions, Lahmians Can go both way depending on the mechanics they give them and blood dragons i fear will be a bit generic since they are heavily focused around combat (like deamons of Khorne), but i would be happy to be proved wrong
You didn't do a legendary hero this time. Are there any interesting Strigany characters that could be LHs? Akana the Hag sounds interesting although I don't think we've ever had a character that's purely from the WFRPG before. She was Neferata's spy that fell in love with Ushoran and became a hermit/guardian of Strigoi lore. She'd be a Strigoi vampire with more of a magical lien and the ability to summon treekin or other tree spirits in battle.
I would honestly like to see the Strigoi Hag, female Strigoi, one is mentioned in 2nd Ed. RPG I can’t remember her name, but they are described similar to River Troll Hags, but obviously they are grotesque vampires.
I did some digging and found Akana the Hag, who I assume you're referring to. She unfortunately comes from the Thousand Thrones which is a NIGHTMARE to read through/deal with for a whole list of reasons. She also doesn't appear to be anything unique, simply an old hag who has some notable gift at remaining hidden and using magic. But she's not much of a warrior and isn't given any combat profile or notes about items, abilities, or anything. It's not possible for PCs to even fight her in the adventure from what I can see. She is certainly not a monstrous creature like the River Troll Hags though, just a particularly old/hideous crone who hides out in Hunger Woods and is essentially a witch on steroids. Cool character, but not appropriate for this particular role I think.
@@loremasterofsotek I didn’t mean as the Legendary Lord, I meant as a possible Hero type. Should have directly stated that, I remember reading about her being large and monstrous, but maybe I’m misremembering.
The Strigany are a pretty blatant take on the Romani. Their name is taken from Zigani, which is a common word for the Romani. You could do the Strigany without jumping right into the antiziganist stereotypes, but it wouldn't be terribly easy. I'll also note that the Romani have been subject to attempted genocide in post-WW2 Europe. But since that one picture seems to be more or less the only visual representation of the Strigany we have, it would at least be possible to give them a drastically different aesthetic, which would help separate them from the Romani.
Honestly, I feel like the damage is done .you can’t unfuck the turkey so to speak. Like they already made a very Romani inspired group in the Strigani, I think they should just own it. Problem is GW is British, and British people are pretty racist to Romani, like most Europeans. I can’t say much about the designers personal opinions, only that they were ok with using those tropes for profit. Either ignore them completely or play them straight with a bit more sensitivity.
I think it would be cool to portray them more as a hybrid culture between Kislev and the Southern human states, and perhaps a more traditional strigany style as well. I always imagined the border princes area to be like the Warhammer Balkans so this mixed ethnic makeup would make sense.
God this mad me love Ushoran even more. I love him. You can definitely see the Vlad Dracula influence in defining him and can see how it will eventually devolve into the Mortarch of Delusion. The story of the Strigani also very clearly references the Roma and how people view them still. Really like this. I would love to have at the very least Vorag in the game.
The Strigany are based on the real world "Travellers" in Europe, particularly the romani nomadic ethnic group. Who actually originates from India but came to Europe in the Middle Ages. _Zigani_ is a term used about them in a lot of Eastern Europe countries, which isn't too far from the word "Strigany". The more acceptable term today would be _Roma_ or simply _travellers_ , depending on the group. Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury belongs to the Irish Travellers. He calls himself The Gypsy King. Bram Stoker included the group in "Dracula" where travellers were servants to the count, which likely has reinforced the link to vampires in popular culture.
I loved your ideas for the Strigoi faction mechanic and especially the concept of the Strigani. Awesome stuff. I really hope they implement your ideas for the Strigoi.
The Strigoi are my favourite bloodline. I've always loved the more monstrous side of Vampires in fantasy settings, be they Bruja or Gangrel, Strigoi or Necrarch. Also, I really want to kick Neferata's teeth in as Ushoran.
I feel like the strengths of the Strigoi Bloodlines are threefold- they're fun monsterous vampires, their association with ghouls, crypt horrors, vargheists and other fun monsters, and their associations with the Strygos Empire and the Strigani as a humanizing element. Those are the 3 bullet points that I think a Strigoi Legendary Lord should try to hit, and I think Vorag hits the 2nd of those points better than Ushoran. They're both big monsters, and both were leaders of the Strygos Empire, but only Vorag has a reputation as an actual Ghoul King.
I think the way to explain the difference between Strigori and 'Ghouls' is to think of it like this. A "Ghoul" is a human who has degenerated into a corpse eating cannibal. A "Strigoi" is a Vampire who has degenerated into a corpse eating cannibal. Being a ghoul is a kind of like a 'lifestyle'. It would seem reasonable for Strigoi to be much much more powerful and tough than the still living Ghouls.
Awesome job breaking down why the strigori are actually interesting. I always thought they were just edgelord ghouls, but to have their story connected with historically displaced peoples really adds a lot of extra character to them.
Thank you Sotek for making abouther CV video. I can not tell you how happy I am to listen to you and your ideas about Vampire counts dlc and how to make them interesting and fin to play. Thank you again and take care!
If Vampire Counts should get a DLC, then it should be only and only one with the other four. Von Carstein only need some fixes here and there (along with a unique mechanic and in Vlad's case it would be an Elector Count Mechanic similar to what the Empire has, and which would be updated later, but more vampiric) along with an expanded roster (most of the new units being Sylvanian Mortals). Blood Dragons, Lahmians, Necrarchs, Strigoi should themselves get expanded rosters (more elite units for BDs, TK and mortal servant units for Lahmia, unique undeads like Zombie Hydras and Giants for Necrarchs or more Ghoul and Crypt Horror variants along with Strigany Mortals for Strigoi), new mechanics and finally (and that's for all bloodlines) an enhanced and expanded Bloodlines mechanic that wouldn't be like it is now but more like Teenyweenie's piramid. With tiers, unlockables and more. A bloodlines mechanic where you unlock empire bonuses, unique unit types (along with a bonus single-player unique RoR), spells akin to what Chaos Daemons get in battle maps, and additional mechanics (among them the transformation of Necromancer Lords into more powerful Litches). Could write more but it would end up as a wall of text.
Gashnag, the black prince is a better pick imo. While we already have Ghoul Kings, we already have the other vampires too… Zachariah would be just another necrarch, neferata is just another Lahmian… Vlad, Isabella, and Mandred are just legendary versions of existing vampires. I think that’s a bad argument. Making Zacharias the only LL that isn’t the founder of the bloodline in the dlc would feel weird too. Would make him not fit well amongst the others. All the more reason I prefer Gashnag.
How is the name supposed to be pronounced? The Polish pronunciation is something like Shtriga (singular), but that's not necessarily where GW got the idea from.
I don't think you have to be too worried about GW saying Ushoran can't be used because of AoS, as Neferata is also in AoS and most likely will be the Lahmian rep.
Correct me if I'm wrong because I haven't played Vampire Counts in a long time, but Strigoy Ghoul Kings and the Generic versions have really low to 0 armor in the game right? which makes no sense as they even describe armor as thicness/hardness of skin not just conventional armor. I assume they should have between 40 and 60 armor at least, by default instead of 0 or 15.
Ushoran sounds really good. But he'll probably get the chort treatment. Very unfortunate. I think he'd be the coolest vampire LL. Deff would be my favorite.
PAtchwork men could drag cart with flesh and play a role of active healing nearby fighting ghouls and Flesh Golem could be super strong monstrous infantry with armour piercing and after it's killed it's corpse would blow up and heal nearby units giving them also bonus to stats and mutate ghouls with extra traits..
I don’t think patchworkmen would work as unit type. From the way you described them it sounds like they’re just a worse version of crypt horrors, like zombies to crypt ghouls. Do you think a hero version would work? A meat shield hero with offensive buffs. It would give the counts a buff tool that couldn’t be easily sniped like the carts.
Honestly I heavily dislike that Ushoran became a Ghoulking proper. I prefer the tragedy that the strigoi were ones masters of their own realm, just rulers by comparision, who have lost their Golden Age and are now cursed with their legacy of it compared with their current situation. For this to work best, Ushoran should have stayed the noble example what all Strigoi want to be but cannot. And for this him staying dead would be the best thing, as a legacy character and lost paragon to his bloodline. Especially as I never understood how he became a ghoulking in the first place. For comparision imagine how the dark age of technology his this legendary past and legacy for the Imperium in 40k. There is a degree of seperation which they can never cross. Knowing that Humanity during its golden age would be appaled by what they have become. Hence I prefer Vorag, who founded the ghoulking lifestyle if I recall correctly, as the best choice for a strigoi character.
I hate the idea of Total War Warhammer missing out because of AoS. Warhammer shouldnt be held back by AoS. Warhammer Fantasy is the only reason the reveal would even be worth anything in AoS. So I really hope Total War Warhammer isnt robbed of anything just for the sake of AoS.
They should logically do Gashnag the Black Prince. From the Border Princes he would have the mechanic of recapturing Mourkain and his character would be like Malus where he transforms into his strigoi form in battle.
You said that you think that GW might prevent Ushuran from being added if it coincides with their own release of him for AoS. If GW were actually smart they would actually push CA to add Ushuran and have them be announced/released at the same time to draw hype and bait the TW fans into buying the mini.
Definitely faction buffs should be on ghouls and beast unit and perhaps give the ghoul kings the lore of beasts. Maybe give the Strigoi access to the underway because the Strigoi are often described as hide away from civilization and would give them a advantage other vampires don't have on the campaign map.
So for LL I would prefer Vorag as I think he embodies the Strigoi theme the most with how they currently are nut I would have Ushoran as a LH that he could recruit as part of his efforts to rebuild a new nation. Or if we go a more universal option other VC LL are making alliances due to pragmatism or in Neferata’s case mind control. While some have mentioned Grashnag I don’t think we will see him as he is too minor of a character and even the Border Princes have more important people to add first.
Whilst I'd personally prefer Gashnag to be the Strigoi legendary lord, I would say that Ushoran would be the better of him and Vorag in my opinion. Maybe give him a unique trait for defeating the heads of the other bloodlines that sort of either mirrors or counters something they get.
The strygani could be a really cool thing to add, but the lore would need to change, because they are at least as problematic as the old GW depiction of Araby. Wich is a bummer because when I started wharammer fantasy, the strigoi and the people around them where fascinating to me and I wanted to see minis of them.
I would definitely give the patchworkmen a leadership aura. Maybe encourage, or maybe something else depending on how powerful it ought to be. Additionally, I think you could also give it a conditional rampage ability which is active as long as the owner's magic pool is low (think High Elf Phoenix units) to represent the unit having a will of its own if not properly controlled.
I would love to see Ushoran or Vashnag. For Ushoran I've always imagined a feature like Malus, where you get events and your decisions can either throw you more into madness or benevolence. And Vashnag is just a perfect vessel to re-create Strygos. Very much second coming of Ushoran.
Would be nice for Desolation of Nagash has to have a unique structure to boost Ghoul units. Say +3 Recruit Rank formally 3 types (assuming we get thr elite ones) and maybe a 10% Physical Resistance and -5% Upkeep faction wide Be a very nice buff for them Hoping this DLC comes to pass
Ghoully Molly Mama Maglione! Strigoi... if i would play in WH3:TW as VC then it would bo only Strigoi. Somehow I always prefered more beastly undeads in fantasy with multiple zombiebased (but some with freaking personality and intelligence) like types (that part is not possbile for Warhammer :P).
I must say, when you said Ushuran isn't Ghoul focused I was skeptical if I wanted him as the LL (I love Ghouls), but the way you described him sold me! Still, if he is the LL, I would still want him to have a Ghoul focus to represent his status as the ancestor of the Ghoul Kings (and because we are very unlikely to get Vorag in the future, if we get Ushuran).
It would be fun to have two start providences, the one is the desolation of Strig and the other is nearby. As you conquer key providences and build landmarks along with killing the rivals then you can upgrade the special providence. Or have it similar to C Dwarfs gov system
My biggest question. How would you deal with the current blood kiss mechanic, with the ability to get bonuses from each bloodline and their unique Lords.
minor edits. I said vargulf when I meant varghiest. Would the strig start where they start now? Next to britonia in the Southland?. Same question for the other blood lines, you already talked about. and that you're going to talk about. Outside of nefa faction. we know where she's going to start. Do you think there's a chance, that the strig could find allies in khalida? Or tomb kings in general. they kinda have the same views, towards vampires. (The whole, enemy of my enemy thing.) Also. it would look more themed, if they removed strig & Ghoul units, from the voncarstine. and replaced them with actual vampires. The varghiest could be replaced by flying cairn wraths. And the terroghiest replaced, by an actual black zombie dragon.
Ushoran was an extremely interesting character at one point he was actually the strongest vampire in existence, in terms of his military, his power and his influence he was the strongest, but Neferata screwed him over, and the art there is on Ushoran is extremely cool, I really want to see him in the game :D And as you mentioned, he wasnt necessarily a bad guy... In theory xD In theory, Ushoran and Neferata could be a dlc pack by itself...
Gashnag the Black Prince could make for a decent Legendaryt Hero, but he's a bit of a small fry to be a Legendary Lord. Certainly a POSSIBLE option, as at least he's currently alive, but would almost feel more appropriate as a Border Prince related content character than Vampire Counts
Amazing how he didn't talk for 5 minutes about how he's sorry for not posting and that he'll be posting more regularly lol 😅. Always does that and then stops a week later lmaooooo 😂
An update/expansion to the bloodline mechanic is a thing I've been championing for a while on various forums, so how about this: Per bloodline, we get a faction lead by its own Legendary Lord. Then we get a generic Hero, at least one RoR, a Legendary Hero and a second Legendary Lord, all recruitable by any VC faction for reaching certain milestones in the Bloodlines menu. Using the Blood Dragons as an example, this could allow CA to implement characters like Abhorash and Walach Harkon alongside the Red Duke, one would be the faction leader, one would be the max bloodline recruitment lord and one would be the hero. As a bonus, they could add Konrad as the Von Carstein's Legendary Hero
