Blood Dragons
Vampire Counts vs. Legion of Everblight is a What-If Death Battle by Pygmy Hippo 2 and his first army battle.
Description[]
Warhammer vs. Hordes! Which army of the fantasy undead will add the other to their ranks as Mannfred and Thagrosh clash with their legions and war beasts?
Interlude[]
Pygmy:We've covered many different individual undead combatants but we've never gone over entire armies of them.
Rose:Or even did an army battle and you're starting off with a bunch of walking corpses? Despicable but every fantasy setting uses at least some of the living dead and with tabletop games, there's several entire factions.
Zuggsy:Only two can claim to be perhaps the most powerful and iconic of them all however with leaders who ae distinguished from lesser undead by a rarer ressurection, fondness for war beasts, and a tendency to plot when not attacking the living.
Pygmy:Wow, the janitor went on for quite a bit but it's time to introduce the opposing armies we'll be looking at today. The Vampire Counts, Mannfred von Carstein's unliving horde risen in Sylvania to take over the Empire of Man!
Rose:And the Legion of Everblight, Thagrosh Hellborne's blighted minions that fulfill the will of their master to consume all other dragons and whatever still lives!
Zuggsy:We'll be looking at their infantry, monsters, and commanders to see who would win an Army Un-Death Battle! What?!
Rose:That was worse than Pygmy's fight ideas.
Pygmy:I won't even comment.
Vampire Counts[]
Background
-Homeland:Sylvania
-Ruler:Mannfred von Carstein
-Age:At Least Hundreds of Years
-Mortal Enemy:The Empire
-Magic Type:Necromancy
-Vampires and Necromancers Serve as Heroes
-Yes, They Have Bats A Plenty
Rose:Quick, we need a name for this place ruled by vampires that isn't Transylvania!
Pygmy:Alright, Sylvania might not be the most original title and the Vampire Counts aren't that unique in most areas but they're still quite the interesting force especially when looking at their history.
Rose:I guess when you came from one Egypt-Nehekharan vampire survivor called Vlad von Carstein who showed up when an old dying asshole didn't want his brother to become heir decided to marry his daughter and kill the poor basted who just lost rulership to a guy almost as ugly as Crypt Ghouls.
Zuggsy:That look was only for combat buy anyways, Vlad quickly got an entire bloodline started in the province which included many different nobles who would all be in charge of their own territories.
Pygmy:The main von Carstein weren't only interested in ruling like a regular king however, he saw the Empire of Man nearby and saw how they were essentially a series of kingdoms ultimately ruled by an Emperor, and you know what happens next with an undead schemer.
Rose:Three different Vampire Wars, first you get rid of Vlad and his unholy horde of zombies, skeletons, and bats, then it's Konrad the absolute bufoon, and finally Mannfred who's actually a bit of a problem again and who can actually use magic for himself unlike the previous mook.
Zuggsy:He had the toughest battles ahead of him as well as the Empire was fully prepared for countering the undead at that point and the Dwarfs allied with them but he still managed to kill countless living foes.
Pygmy:At the end of it all, he did get killed once by a Runefang but Elector Counts can't come back from the dead whereas a vampire can especially with help from necromancers.
Rose:Mannfred used his new chance to the fullest and gathered as much necromantic knowledge as he could while having to work with those pesky Nagash worshippers in return for more power.
Zuggsy:After intentionally and unintentionally barricading Sylvania from the rest of the Old World, his new pal Heinrich Kemmler getting killed in a magic duel, and getting betrayed by the original necromancer before ultimately screwing the entire world over in an attempt to control part of it, he met his final end.
Army Composition
-Mannfred Von Carstein with Zombie Dragon
-Heinrich Kemmler with Krell
-Zombies
-Skeleton Warriors
-Crypt Ghouls
-Grave Guard
-Black Knights
-Fell Bats
-Vargheists
-Terrorgheists
Pygmy:Mannfred von Carstein wields Timor Noctis, better known as the Sword of Unholy Power, to improve his sorceress abilities as he cuts down foes and a nasty bladed staff that could serve as a secondary weapon.
Rose:The Armor of Templehof was magical armor that protected everything but his head and shoulders while boosting his stamina and the Nyklaus Charm which can summon a Steed of Shadow to get him away from conflict or someone else...
Zuggsy:We haven't even gotten into his magical abilities or vampiric ones but let's start with the Lore of Vampires which provides him with the Curse of Undeath that heals his troops whenever he uses a spell and before bringing them back if temporarily slain.
Pygmy:The Curse of Years can age a normal person into older years that doesn't do anything good for combat capabilities and the Gaze of Nagash is at least five dark magic bolts that can eat through flesh with ease.
Rose:Invocation of Nehek can be used for even more undead healing, Raise Dead is an easy way to bring some recent bodies over to his side, and Vanhel's Danse Macarbe is essentially bloodlust inducement but even more so than usual for those assholes who still have skin.
Zuggsy:The Wind of Death tears enemy's souls out and the Lore of Death benefits him when dealing damage or just using spells by making it quicker for him to use his powers again.
Pygmy:Doom and Darkness and Soulblight both are great for reducing morale, the former calling spirits to terrify his enemies and the latter just making them not want to live anymore.
Rose:Aspect of the Dreadknight is even more morale depletion as that aura is specifically stated to only enable the bravest to keep fighting him and his troops while Spirit Leech does exactly what it says.
Zuggsy:The Purple Sun of Xereus is a giant blob of pure death that is really not good for anything to be next to and the Fate of Bjuna is basically magical Joker Venom that gets a foe to laugh to death.
Pygmy:The Hunger makes it so that feasting on the blood from each attack can heal a Vampire in battle and keep them at full power along with being a Master of the Black Arts enabling him to easily keep on spellcasting.
Rose:Blood Lust can make him tear through armor even more effectively which is even worse when considering he's an expert melee fighter and Undeath Resurgent can help his troops to keep going in difficult combat.
Zuggsy:Arcane Conduit is even more easy spellcasting with abilities and while there is the chance that he can miscast and hurt himself, he's been around for so long and practicing his trade that it's a rare occurrence.
Pygmy:The more out there stuff is Aura of Dark Majesty which makes even other great beings at the very least impressed, if not terrified, and Walking Death that can send any mortals into a retreat from his presence.
Rose:He can summon reinforcements ranging from skeletons and bats to wolves and ghouls if he starts running low on bodies to send at foes and he can turn into a bat or wolf because Warhammer obviously loves Dracula.
Zuggsy:Defy the Dawn means that even sunlight isn't a weakness to him anymore, Honor or Death can make the living regret challenging him by accepting it and them looking at his eyes, and Mist Form is useful as a magical form of movement.
Pygmy:Transfix can hypnotize mortals, Unbending Willpower makes finding new pawns easy, Call Winds can summon a storm whenever he's angry, and Persistent Image enables him to avoid revealing his true nature through mirrors and shadows.
Rose:Pure Blood enables him to use good old daddy Vlad's ring of personal ressurection...if he had it and he can summon even more bats and wolves but wait, there's even more necromancy!
Zuggsy:Undead knight and wight reinforcemwnts, quite a few methods to counter fellow undead beings, draining the life from the very land to fuel his spellcasting, speedboosting his undead troops, and being able to control ethereal creatures in that category are all capable of being used.
Pygmy:He can make his flesh tough enough to resist normally fatal wounds, just destroy lesser undead such as zombies and skeletons or ethereal undead, cause supernatural fear with Face of Death, and even make his foes bleed more than they normally would so he can get an easy meal.
Rose:He has two different touch attacks that can wound targets but Hand of Dust which bypasses armor and durability only works on living foes and leaves him with Hand of Death which forces him to use his bare hands exclusively while using it. I guess that weakness is made up for with another bloodlust spell in Hellish Vigour.
Zuggsy:He can drink a body's blood that was killed recently to heal, bring back the enemy dead for his own forces, summon the most powerful undead to aid him, rip people's souls out before gaining some new soldiers, and if he's in serious danger, he can just possess another person's body within an hour.
Pygmy:Unfortunately he doesn't get any memories, only dominates the victim's mind instead of destroying it, and he can't stay in it if it gets killed or magic is used to throw him back out but at least he can weaken foes in power and stamina through the power of undeath with another spell.
Rose:He has another undead healing spell in Breath of Darkness, use predator bones for more undead minions, turn the dead into zombies or skeletons, and enable his mount and a handful of friends to get an ethereal ride that literally doesn't care about getting busted legs. Usually that results in a trip to the glue factory but the von Carsteins are surprisingly progressive.
Zuggsy:Screaming Skull is useful for attacking the living but the undead and obstacles are unaffected, Shadowblood can spray people with blood that's hot enough to boil, Stop Instability is especially nice for stopping a unit from crumbling, and The Hand of Dust can turn an armored warrior into dust in a moment.
Pygmy:He can make Wights if the bodies are good enough, tear souls out with ghostly winds, cause a whole variety of pain with Withering Wave that completely ruins targets' bodies, and Zone of Life that not only keeps undead away but stops them from shooting an arrow or using magic against those in it with quite the long range.
Rose:Even with enough spells to be the next Harry Potter villain, Mannfred needs even more and he definitely has it with the Zombie Dragon, the most monstrous mount a Vampire could ask for and that can belch corrosive gas at the rider's foes who really aren't going to look what happens to their skin and armor.
Zuggsy:It can tear a knight in half with claws, devour a warhorse with massive teeth, still maintains a durable hide for taking blows, and has a rot fog for concealing it along with flies looking for blood that serve as another defense against attacks. Oh, and they can fly or still function as skeletons which makes fighting them fun.
Pygmy:Heinrich Kemmler is the current von Carstein Count's Necromancer buddy who wields the Chaos Tomb Blade that restores his stamina with each kill while taking souls and making victims into the undead and the Skull Staff which warns of magic or magical beings, what they can do, and makes it easier to cast spells with predictions all through whispering to him.
Rose:You might think he doesn't have any armor and technically he doesn't, the Cloak of Mist and Shadows only activates Dark Mist at will which enables to move through anything that isn't another being, only be weak to magic, use magic, and keep it up as long as he wants at the cost of not being able to physically fight people and it being able to be ended by another wizard.
Zuggsy:His Master of the Dead ability can heal his forces and he has access to any necromantic spell that isn't from the Lore of Death which includes everything from Doom and Darkness to The Fate of Bjuna but that's alright as he made his own spells, the Lore of the Lichemaster.
Pygmy:Curse of Eternities amplifies the aging of the Years original by straight-up killing foes, Dessicating Grasp puts victims through centuries of aging in a single second and reanimate them afterwards, and Eternal Vigour is almost unmatched in speed and bloodlust.
Rose:Invocation of the Lichemaster always gives him either skeletons or ressurects a slain unit, Kemmler's Danse Macarbe can make the undead faster than most living things, and Withering Gaze reduces targets to bones much like its basis Gaze of Nagash. But that's still not enough for him...
Zuggsy:Oh no, that's where his favorite undead minion, Krell comes in. A Wight King wearing Armor of the Barrows that on top of being extremely tough Chaos plate armor, literally removes the magic from weapons for any foe that dares strike him, and the Black Axe of Krell leaves behind heart-seeking shards in wounds alongside being a massive two-handed axe.
Pygmy:Not only is he a skilled warrior who could fight the Empire's founder who would later become a god, Sigmar, he's a good leader as well which makes him particularly dangerous for the enemies of the undead.
Rose:Not everything that's part of the living dead is so awesome though, sometimes you have to make do with boring old Zombies that are only worth fielding for numbers and their ability to shrug off most wounds that don't affect the head along with being able to be modified with additional weapons if they suffer injuries.
Zuggsy:They're at least smart enough to use basic weapons like polearms and blades but most of the time, they just want to tear people apart and eat them, but they're pretty slow in combat and are by far some of the worst soldiers you could get for actual fighting capabilities but when necromancy can just easily form a horde, why not use what you have?
Pygmy:Skeleton Warriors are the better undead swarmers, equipped with ancient swords, spears, shields, and fighting methods, but still far more effective in even combat although they are a bit easier to kill as one doesn't have to destroy the head to end them, just severing enough of the body is enough and they have no body armor.
Rose:Unfortunately necromancy is a good regeneration for them and they certainly don't have any problems with working in groups to kill the living and they don't have to worry about most mortal weaknesses anymore which leaves more time for stabbing or hacking filthy imperial to death, rigor mortise hasn't done them any favors in speed either.
Zuggsy:Crypt Ghouls are probably their nastiest unit, a bunch of still-alive people who have become horrific monsters that eat corpses and have claws that can give humans extremely lethal infections from a single scratch along with the always pleasant arsenal of stuff they took from their meals such as a femur war club. Oh, and they're not slow either.
Pygmy:It's hard to find something that can sicken them and they're powerful enough to take down a soldier in an even fight although they don't have any fighting prowess besides ambushing enemies and they're certainly not keen on attacking when they're not at an obvious advantage whether through fleeing enemies, outnumbered ones, or just devouring the most frail first along with not having armor.
Rose:The Grave Guard are the elites of the force, usually carrying swords and shields for a balanced duo or greatswords for superior chopping power and wearing plate armor which makes them one of the most-armored units in their roster, along with being able to serve as effective bodyguards or great warriors thanks to being the best of the ancient Old World.
Zuggsy:The only two options for beating them are being extremely buff or having magic because they have even better dark magic fuelling them than regular Skeletons and they're even infamous to the elder races of the Warhammer world which proves how formidable they truly are, infantry with incredible power and combat skills.
Pygmy:Black Knights are basically mounted Grave Guard who have the swords and shields of their foot soldier brethren but with a lance and their own decrepit and ancient body armor, the best part about them is that their weapons are magically enhanced to cause injuries that cannot heal and flames for extra intimidation if undead barbarians weren't enough.
Rose:Their horses can pass through or over objects that aren't enemy combatants which gives them unmatched mobility except against flying units and they certainly can shake up an enemy formation with no notable disadvantages outside of the fairly weak armor, I guess they could just not care about getting limbs cut off but they probably don't anyways.
Zuggsy:Fell Bats are usually the first pets an enemy of the Counts has to go up against and they're a bit cliche but when your enemy's bringing in bats as big as you and capable of dragging you off to be eaten alive, I'm pretty sure every other faction doesn't care about the irony so much as dealing with the things which might be alive or undead.
Pygmy:The worst part is that they're perfectly camouflaged for night assaults and only ever produce a sound when they're already eating along with enough precision to dismount a knight with a swoop and knowing only bloodlust in combat which means that they're a flying menace that doubles as fantasy snipers and general nuisance to deal with.
Rose:Vargheists have radical red mohawks which grants them more style points than any other unit although they use the same teeth, claws, and wings that other troops do but they're truly much more powerful than most of the army as they can break apart a sarcophagus and easily tear through entire armies if they get the chance.
Zuggsy:They do only seek out blood to drink to fill the hunger that they have as mutated vampires, yeah, von Carsteins are assholes to their own, but they still recognize weakness in an enemy which makes up for the fact that they're mostly just there to fly towards the enemy before landing and ripping through them with monstrous strength.
Pygmy:The Terrorgheist is the greatest undead beast next to the Zombie Dragon as it can match it in size and has a shriek that's powerful enough to scare people to death and paralyze a horse along with a potent healing factor that makes only constant damage or fire have a good chance of putting the behemoth of a bat back down, yes, that's a bat.
Rose:This oversized flying rat has claws and teeth that can suck blood with both being covered in diseases, that's not topical at all to current events, it can just drag a knight away and tear humans apart at the very least in physical strength, isn't too slow when flying, and if the healing factor is overwhelmed, it has a high chance of exploding in a poor Swordsman's face.
Zuggsy:We've seen the notable Vampire Count at the heart of the army, his chief Necromancer, and their variety of humanoid undead and monstrous ones but it's time to get into what they've accomplished...
Feats
-Can literally keep sending undead at foes until they've won and it's the typical strategy
-Fought the Empire, Dwarfs, High Elves, and Nurglites
-Mannfred is adept at choosing the right time to strike and political manipulation
-Their forces are fearless and regularly terrify foes
-Not above just exhausting foes in combat through tactical retreats
-Mannfred killed an entire Skaven clan with just an undead dragon as support
-Heinrich has defeated a couple undead armies and fought Bretonnian and Wood Elf forces
Pygmy:It's not unknown for attrition to be an effective strategy as the Eastern Front of WW2 showed but the Vampire Counts have a particularly notable advantage in that form of warfare, they can not only repair the damage that their troops endure with Necromancy but start converting any foes they kill into new troops which makes a longer conflict go in their favor.
Rose:As a decaying brain doesn't think too good, most of the troops are unable to think of strategies on their own but in return have no need to rest in between battles or ever get intimidated by anything even if it's uglier than them which is a hard task with the Terrorgheist but that grants them the ability to frighten most mortals as well.
Zuggsy:They fought the three main good armies of the Warhammer world in the Renaissance-themed Empire, engineering master Dwarfs, and the disciplined High Elves who have their own war beasts along with the Chaos hordes of the Nurglites who all follow the god of plagues in either human or daemon for but both are hard to kill at their best.
Pygmy:Mannfred von Carstein knows a good opportunity when he sees it and will use them to advance his plans or strike at the right spot, is the top dog in a nobility full of immortal schemers, and could annihilate an entire Skaven clan with his Zombie Dragon when the rat men have everything from flamethrowers and gating guns to abominations that can rival his own.
Rose:Heinrich Kemmler's been the demise of several other Necromancers and only got bested by an alliance and Nagash's follower in his preferred magic along with being infamous to the Brettonians and Wood Elves along with Krell as the latter almost got completely screwed if it weren't for those damn Treemen and the former's Grail Knight couldn't keep him in the grave.
Zuggsy:While the Vampires have no problems with retreating if it will give them the advantage and wear down enemy armies even more, they have some weaknesses which start with the most major, if Mannfred and Heinrich die, the entire army is going to literally fall apart and there's nothing that can really take their place in the lineup we're giving them.
Pygmy:They don't have a lot of ways to attack at long range either, Terrorgheist screeches are fairly short-range and magic is the only other thing that can achieve that although that means precious time taken away from healing the undead horde and the risk of a miscast, and as previously mentioned, very few units are actually good fighters, more just tough to kill or powerful.
Rose:Their flying units need to stay somewhat nearby if they want some regenerative Necromancy from the Counts and it's not like either Carstein or Kemmler haven't come up with a plan that backfired on them, hell, it's what killed them both in the End Times, along with not being the best personal fighters as an Elector Count slew the former once.
Zuggsy:The Vampire Counts might be the most traditional image of an undead fantasy army but they're still one of the most feared forces in the Old World for their endless infantry and horrible creatures.
"Awake O Dead, for there can be no rest for ye beneath the earth."
Legion of Everblight[]
Background
-Homeland:Shard Spires
-Ruler:Everblight
-Age:At Least Over Three Years
-Mortal Enemy:Cryx
-Magic Type:Ice and Blight
-Athanc Shards and Prior Status Make Leaders
-Who Doesn't Want Their Own Dedicated Army of Fans?
Pygmy:There is one interesting thing to note about Immoren as a setting before getting into the Legion of Everblight's history-
Rose:That their namesake's dad is the proud ruler of the other undead faction in the steampunk army game of Warmachine? That is far more popular, by the way?
Pygmy:Popularity doesn't always mean better, even the lowest point for a cult classic horror icon is better than working for the Illuminati, being brought back in the worst cinematic universe, or being ressurected as a virtual form after the perfect ending to a series.
Zuggsy:I actually detected bitterness on that last one.
Rose:Of course he's bitter, I only had to hear about the utter shit that is Five Nights at Freddy's novels and it's literally going for Friday the 13th's title of most ridiculous plot continuations.
Pygmy:Anyways, the Legion's past is more the story of Everblight than anything else as the dragon has been preparing this current model of force for hundreds of years and he's only now gotten a chance to act on his plan.
Rose:Well, he had to have some high point after chilling with some asshole monarchists and producing uglier Xenomorphs for them to kill people with before becoming elf Pennywise and making them even more depressed than usual with a good case of blight. I'm glad someone's finally given those narcissistic assholes what they deserve.
Zuggsy:Our co-host, Arthur Fleck, dear readers, but not everything would go well for the dragon as while he previously left Morrdh's kingdom to a whole horde of angry neighbors and let one of his brothers get eaten by Toruk, big daddy dragon, in his place, he found out that elves aren't people to mess with.
Pygmy:To be fair, he admitted that rage fuelled him once the Iosans forced him out of hiding, still doesn't change the fact that he got his wings destroyed before his entire body and then his athanc which is basically his core that can only be destroyed by other dragons buried on a snowy mountain in a box.
Rose:Eh, it happens, luckily he had a couple of things going for him, there were other elves nearby that he could blight up, the false imperialist Russians of Khador were terrible, and that led some poor unsuspecting ogre up his mountain.
Zuggsy:Should have stuck to the swamps, at least then you don't get mentally tormented by an ancient evil before cutting your body open to shove a glowing orb inside your chest but maybe it did actually work out for him.
Pygmy:If you consider incredible magical power, fire breath, a cool polearm, the ability to make dragonspawn, and corrupt people with blight enough to make up for being the main host to an evil dragon who will one day tear you apart as he transforms back to his true form and takes control of your body regularly, maybe it was just sleep deprivation.
Rose:Thagrosh, who went by Prophet of Everblight at the time, went back down the mountain and looked for people to give the blight to, primarily those nearby Nyss who had a sorceress named Vayl who decided that screwing everyone else to a eternal servitude was alright if she got power in return, the best part is she isn't the only future Warlock who thought that way.
Zuggsy:After literally poisoning the watering hole, there was a brand new blighted army ready for Everblight and a couple Ogrun tribes around the area so of course he added them to his repertoire as well before unleashing a whole lot of body horror on everyone in his path to eating every one of his siblings' athancs.
Army Composition
-Thagrosh, The Messiah, with Typhon
-Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight, with Ulk Chariot
-Nyss Archers
-Ogrun Warmongers
-Spawning Pools
-Strider Scouts
-Nyss Raptors
-Shredders
-Carniveans
-Archangels
Pygmy:People don't take kindly to pale monstrous things that barge in their lands and drag a couple people off to be warbeast fuel so that's why Thagrosh needed to be as powerful as he is with Rapture, a double-sided gave that can cut an athanc into smaller parts and cause foes to explode into ash that hurts people anyone who approaches the area for a while as his main weapon.
Rose:If that wasn't enough, he's got a big meaty Charger arm topped with claws that probably don't feel too good, Blight Fire that can burn and freeze people at the same time, and some armor for the Charger arm and his legs, hey, at least he's got wings for flight so he's not relying purely on his buffness to survive.
Zuggsy:He has a chance to avoid death simply through unnatural durability, get a full batch of Fury that he can use to cast spells or control his dragonspawn thanks to his original athanc, and just pop out a lesser warbeast baby when somebody dares to hit him, nothing quite punctuates a mistake like the unholy love child of the Alien and a Squig eating your face.
Pygmy:His feat, Dragon Storm, enables his dragonspawn to rush at his opponents and pummel them to a pulp with enhanced power and speed after a howl that isn't good for anyone else's hearing although it can only be used once per game which implies it's not spammable but it's still a serious danger at the right moment.
Rose:We haven't even gotten into the abilities of his older version which gave him Death Shroud that weakens any foe that gets too close and Attuned Spirit which enables him to use any of his dragonspawn's animus for free, oh, we forgot to mention that opponents find him terrifying although that should be obvious just by looking at him.
Zuggsy:He even had another Feat, Dark Revival, that enables him to ressurect any large warbeast or a smaller one through his athanc once per game but it's implied in the lore that he can actually do this with multiple which makes that another nasty tide turning move.
Pygmy:The Blighted Ogrun's got a good amount of magic as well, starting with his older spells in Bad Blood that damages an opposing Warlock for the amount of fury they took from a warbeast and makes it so that they can't make it take damage for them, heal it, and it can't regenerate for that turn, Draconic Blessing that boosts strength, makes them terrifying to foes, and makes a unit unable to be harmed by fire, and Fog of War that makes every troop close enough to him concealed which makes them harder to hit.
Rose:There's Mutagenesis which can literally annihilate an opponent and enable him to replace them, Obliteration which is powerful enough to tear up the ground, and Twisted Form which reduces the fury an opposing creature can have and disables the ability for a Warlock to heal it or make it take a hit for them.
Zuggsy:Then his newer form got Black Chasm or Scourge which topples whatever it hits within a decently sized area, Dragon's Blood which boosts his warbeast's defense and can damage foes when they are slayed or they definitely start getting eaten away by corrosion, and Flesh Eater which can kill the living to heal him or allied dragonspawn.
Pygmy:There's Glory of Everblight or Manifest Destiny which makes it easier for him and his dragonspawn to hit and hurt their enemies and Unnatural Aggression enables any individual troop in his army that isn't part of a squad to move towards an attacker or towards the enemy.
Rose:His main weakness is his Hubris which keeps him in melee distance of an opponent whenever he gets close enough which isn't the best thing but he has even more abilities which are the basic skills of Warlocks, he can make his dragonspawn take damage for him, he always stays on the battlefield until he wins or dies, and he can heal himself or one of his creations.
Zuggsy:He can get his warbeasts to run or charge an enemy, do a special attack or move against them, make them have an easier time hitting and hurting foes, and attack repeatedly with forcing along with being able to command his troops in combat and leech fury from his creations when they're alive or when they're dying.
Pygmy:He can even upkeep some spells to keep them in effect including Draconic Blessing, Dragon's Blood, Unnatural Aggression, Bad Blood, and Fog of War but even he needs aid which he has in the form of his favored hunter, Lylyth the Reckoning of Everblight who has used many different bows.
Rose:Her first was Hellsinger which could fire over closer opponents to hit a preferred target, enable her dragonspawn to charge a foe, automatically strike them with magic in the same turn along with a nice bow blade for melee combat, and take a enemy warbeast's fury or make them gain a point, plus it's a magical weapon.
Zuggsy:Whisper keeps the magic and melee capabilities of the previous weapon but lost the other abilities, in return, it has a couple of its own like Blood Boon that enables her to use one spell for free after killing a living foe, hit three different targets in one turn, and use fury to shoot repeatedly with it for another arrow each point.
Pygmy:She can even fire again after killing a foe with an arrow and she's actually got a fairly protective set of armor that covers most of her chest, arms, legs, and head although it's not fully covering, presumably to keep her still mobile in combat.
Rose:The Reaping Feat makes elven archery even more despicable as they can immobilize an enemy with literally every ranged attack by her forces when they're close enough although it can only be used once but Lylyth is even worse than Pale Shrek because she has three of them!
Zuggsy:Yeah, the Herald of Everblight had Killing Field that basically enables her to possess her troops and make them extremely likely to land a lethal hit and the Shadow of Everblight had Decimation that makes ranged attacks able to fire farther, used at least twice, and capable of being done in melee combat.
Pygmy:All have the same weakness of once per game but if they could all be used together, well, elven archery would be very, very painful for almost any foe but she also has three different sets of spells from her trio of versions which makes her versatile in magical abilities as well.
Rose:She has Bad Blood which is the same as her leader's version, Eruption of Spines that hits one poor soldier and then up to six others close enough to them with it occurring all at once, and Taint which makes a poor bastard hideous enough that their allies could very well retreat if they're too close to them and if one of their warbeasts frenzies, guess who it's coming to beat to a pulp?
Zuggsy:Parasite takes quite a bit of armor from a foe and gives a bit to her, Pursuit enables one of her units to move quite a bit if the enemy that she targeted moves, and Pin Cushion enables ranged weapons to be even more dangerous against her chosen enemy.
Pygmy:Then there's Shadow Pack which enables every model close enough to her to be to be impossible to attack outside of a fairly short range, Snare hurts a foe and makes them immobile, and Soothing Song can only be used once a turn but decreases each dragonspawn's fury by a point that's close enough to her.
Rose:Escort or Battle Host boosts her monster's speed and gives her more defense when they're close enough to her, Frost Hammer is an ice attack that can freeze an enemy solid at its strongest, and Wind Wall enables her to be incapable of being harmed by ranged weapons and anyone close enough to her at the cost of not being able to use their ranged weapons.
Zuggsy:She can upkeep Taint, Bad Blood, Parasite, Pursuit, Pin Cushion, Shadow Pack, and Mirage which enables a friendly unit to move a bit with each use, along with other skills such as using spells like arrows, choosing exactly where her arrows land on a warbeast, and being able to cross almost any terrain with ease.
Pygmy:She doesn't need her eyes to see and can attack foes that normally would be hidden, can conceal herself well enough to be untargetable by attacks outside of a certain range although this got enhanced to the point that she can benefit from attack immunity anywhere, and can fire spells from her bow.
Rose:Her Striders are the best in the Legion and they have increased morale and boosted chances of hitting a target at range or in melee along with forests and other dark covers outside of outright stealth being no defense against their arrows which she benefits from the latter as well and she can't easily be hit which enables her to move a bit after a missed shot at her.
Zuggsy:She can stop a living creature from using an animus or being healed, shoot three times a turn with her bow, move a bit if she kills something with it, naturally makes her spells able to reach farther away, and accurately fire from her Ulk Chariot.
Pygmy:The two Ulks are pretty much just blighted fantasy elk with jagged antlers, hooves, and armor over almost their entire bodies while the Chariot has two sharp points in the middle of the beasts and two threshing blades on the side for particularly gruesome ride-by attacks.
Rose:It's even heavily armored with metal covering the entire frame and easily travel over most terrain although it has an open top and relies on the Ulks to move but the despicable elf archer doesn't have the best Warlock support, no, Pals Shrek has Typhon which is his very own dragonspawn that he made himself after surviving an athanc fusion.
Zuggsy:This heavy warbeast has it's own fiery blight breath capable of turning metal into a liquid that can be fired from three jaws that serve as useful melee weapons that can throw anything smaller than it or of similar size a good distance, and four claws although two are underdeveloped and they all appear to be used for movement exclusively.
Pygmy:It's defenses are even more impressive with scales and spikes covering most of the body along with incredible regenerate that can act the moment it's hurt with the Animus, Excessive Healing, that can potentially fully recover it and as it's core is an athanc, unless it's destroyed, Typhon will always come back eventually.
Rose:Regeneration can be done at any point at the cost of no running for the same ridiculous healing and Thagrosh even benefits from it as well to a decent amount if they're close enough along with never turning against it's creator or his Warlocks in a frenzy.
Zuggsy:Nothing can hide from it as it doesn't use eyes to see, the heads give it three attack opportunities and it can breath on foes in melee, and it doesn't truly have a soul if any opponents were hoping to kill it that way along with it's own intellect that enables it to fight with less supervision than similar creations while still being completely loyal.
Pygmy:Nyss Archers are one of the two main types of blighted Nyss and their longbows provide a number of advantages, good power for taking down targets, the ability to fire over less important foes, and the capacity to be fired rapidly enough to cover a small area in arrows.
Rose:These elves carry a backup sword that's a decent melee weapon, their armor is light with limited head and torso cover at best, and absolutely sadistic personalities that enable them to be the scummiest archers imaginable, just shooting away at anyone before they even get a chance to retaliate.
Zuggsy:Ogrun Warmongers are the blighted equivalent of berserkers who's long war cleaver can cut an enemy or foe in two and they are especially useful in charges along with even their limited limb armor having spikes that enable them to be used as potential additional weapons.
Pygmy:They appear to utilize some chainmail as well and only go into a frenzy after a kill which does make their madness beneficial as it's quite unsettling for most foes and they refuse to retreat against anything along with being able to endure anything that doesn't outright kill them.
Rose:If the rampant arrows weren't horrible enough, Spawning Vessels seek to make the swarms of lesser dragonspawn never end by Acolythes dragging corpses into them with hooked gaffs and as they're made of iron, they can take somewhat of a beating along with their unique purpose.
Zuggsy:While the Acolythes might be fearless and capable of moving it a small amount, the Vessel is truly horrible when it can release a new warbeast or do it even as it's being destroyed along with being able to give Warlocks Fury and there's three different eligible types with one being in the Legion forces already.
Pygmy:Shredders have a toothy maw for ripping apart food and tiny but sharp-looking claws, work well with each other and other dragonspawn in coordinated attacks, ignore any attempts at non-magical hiding by an enemy, and can increase their speed and power briefly along with never attacking Warlocks and lacking souls.
Rose:These lesser warbeasts have nose horns, a ridge of spikes and scales for defense,can heal from eating enemies, have two Animuses in Tenacity that can make any nearby ally or themselves tougher and Scurry which enables them to traverse almost any terrain in a charge but they have a serious problem with trying to eat each other when frenzied. Sorry you little Xenomorph Squig abominations, don't think you're becoming a Carnivean through that.
Zuggsy:Harriers are another potential spawned creature that's basically a smarter and flying version of the previous one that still has the teeth but primarily relies on talons that can take off a limb, even more enhanced senses than their land counterparts, never attacking Warlocks, and lacking souls.
Pygmy:They're known for being able to hit anything they fly past, have some spikes and scales for defense, can rush forwards after a successful kill, distract enemies, and have two Animuses in True Strike that enables them to always hit their target once every turn and Elusive which enables them to move a bit if they avoid an attack.
Rose:Stingers are the most advanced of the lesser warbeasts with the ability to spit flames that can melt armor, claws that can tear through soft earth, a nasty set of teeth including tusks, spikes and scales that provide the most protection, and the barbed stinger that poisons people who get stabbed by it and it really hurts.
Zuggsy:Guess what two attributes they have in common with the others? It's the absolute loyalty and soulless parts along with the ability to ignore any attempts at stealth, spit fire in a charge, and two Animuses in Lurker that enables them to attack before moving forwards and Counterblast that enables them to attack one enemy that gets too close.
Pygmy:The main weaknesses of these dragonspawn is that lesser warbeasts can't do stuff like throwing or stopping foes from using a weapon, they need food to get to their full potential after being spawned which is what the Pit does, and the Acolythes aren't anything that special physically.
Rose:It wouldn't be an elven force, even a corrupt one, without several archers and Strider Scouts carry the longbows and swords of the regular Archers and armor that mostly protects the limbs and head but these Nyss are not only supernaturally fast and can leap but they love killing entire villages and playing with their victims.
Zuggsy:They are usually ahead of the main force, can focus on the same target at once with their arrows, can't be targeted by normal attacks except from fairly close distances, are even harder to hit when using cover or other things that block them from sight, can move across almost anything with ease, and wear raven feather cloaks that show how many people they've killed, most reach almost the entire body except the head.
Pygmy:Nyss Raptors are cavalry archers that use the longbow with poisoned arrows and that can be fired twice at once if they don't move, a claymore that is a fairly long sword and can easily kill a foe, they have a mastery of both weapons and their Ulk mounts can be dangerous as well with sharp horns and pounding hooves.
Rose:Their armor is fairly limited like the other elf bastards but the shoulder pieces have spikes, some good armor for their mounts that mostly leaves the neck unprotected, almost any terrain can be rode over by them, and even move quite a bit after they've regularly moved and attacked.
Zuggsy:Carniveans were the original greatest weapons of Everblight with fiery dragon breath that terrifies foes as it easily removes flesh and causes agony in hit targets, a toothy maw that is implied to lock onto foes, two main talons that can rip a man in half, and four lower legs for surprisingly swift speed.
Pygmy:This heavy warbeast can travel across almost anything, it's completely loyal to their Warlocks, can easily sense targets without magic aiding their hiding efforts, can breath fire before rushing a foe, doesn't have a soul, and it's Animus, Spiny Growth, boosts the defenses of an allied unit or itself close enough to receive it while also hurting anything that gets too close to then when attacking.
Rose:Apparently most warbeasts didn't figure out something that most real world predators know, giant ball of spikes hurts to claw or bite. That's not his worst creation however as the Archangels were explicitly made for a dragon war and they can actually harm the mighty creatures while taking some effort to be slain by them which doesn't sound impressive until the fact that they're actually far smaller is pointed out.
Zuggsy:Still these gargantuan warbeasts are massive with a bite that can swallow a man whole, two claws that can grasp prey, dragon breath for roasting enemies alive or for strafing attacks, and the Animus, Draconic Aura, that lights any foe that's too close on fire.
Pygmy:Their wings enable them to cover ground fast and avoid most obstructions, they can sense most hidden targets, won't attack Warlocks, lack a soul, can attack while moving, and can even move again once per turn if it didn't rush in movement at any point.
Rose:Finally, we're done with the dragon-Xenomorph children and terrible elf parade...
Intermission[]
Pygmy:
Rose: