Curse of the Vampire Coast – Roster Reveal

Night falls on Lustria. As you stand on the dock and peer seawards through the gathering mists, strain your ears. The jungle sounds behind you fade, and in their place comes a wet thudding, as of rotten rigging against a mouldy mast. The sound multiplies, and with it, the groan of a thousand breathless voices, joined in something part-shanty, part-dirge. Dread prows pierce the gloom ahead, and the ghastly truth is laid bare: upon the ghoul-winds come the swollen hulks and decaying vessels of the Vampire Coast! Run now – run hard and fast. For it is all you can do.

It was the undying lord Luthor Harkon that laid claim to a stretch of Lustria’s east coast. Ever since, it has been a domain where the dead stir, leading expeditions into the jungle interior or setting sail across the Great Ocean to commit wanton acts of piracy. But the insane Arch-Commodore Harkon is not the only unliving admiral who takes to the seas with pistol-armed crews of zombies, vampiric Depth Guard, Syreens and Mournguls… there are other pirate lords who command dreadfleets of their own, packed to the gunwales with crews press-ganged into eternal service.

These tyrants ply the seas seeking plunder of blood and gold. However, now that the vortex of Ulthuan weakens, the captains search for more than mere treasure… for the Star-Metal Harpoon lies in the deeps, a weapon powerful enough to bring the greatest Merwyrm of them all to heel!

Please note: This DLC is still in development and is subject to change.

Luthor Harkon

For centuries, Luthor Harkon has ruled a stretch of Lustrian shore known as the Vampire Coast.

He raided the temples of Lustria until the Old Ones could tolerate it no more and placed a hex upon him, shattering his mind. Harkon’s multiple identities now battle for dominance, but they have one common goal – to plunder the sacred places of the Lizardmen and use the power of their Slann artefacts to break the curse and heal his damaged mind…

• Completely lacks spellcasting
• To compensate for this he will be highly resistant to magic damage and will also confer this to nearby friendly units
• Comes equipped with a pistol, which he can fire on the move
• His rapier suggests that his splash attack profile should be similar to Sigvald/Wulfrik
• Above average speed for the faction with medium durability
• Armoured just enough to be considered ‘Armoured’

Count Noctilus

Count Noctilus was drawn to the maelstrom at the heart of the ocean to feast upon its dark magic. He performed a mighty ritual to transport himself, his castle, and all his undead minions to the Galleon’s Graveyard, a mystical place where the wrecks and hulks of the seas are drawn.

Reborn as Count Noctilus, he raised the shattered remains of sunken warships to form the hull of the Bloody Reaver and ride the waves of the mortal seas once more…

• Caster that comes with a hybrid Lore of Vampires/Shadow
• Relatively slow moving in comparison to other Vampire units
• High mass
• Heavily armoured
• Able to regenerate lost HP
• Comes equipped with a polearm, making him brutal versus armoured/large units (i.e. Ushabti/Reiksguard)

Aranessa Saltspite

Queen of the Tides, Aranessa Saltspite is one of the most respected and feared pirate captains of Sartosa. Some say she is the daughter of the sea god Manann himself and he whispers to her to take control of all the world’s oceans.

Now, many a sea-bloated corpse washes up against the Swordfysh’s hull, and so the Vampire first mates breathe unlife into them, creating a vast rabble of loyal crew, ready to serve at Captain Saltspite’s command.

As part of the living realm rather than the undead, she commands a human pirate crew known as the Sartosa Free Company, otherwise reluctantly sharing control of the denizens of the Vampire Coast.

• Equipped with a halberd, making her ideal for countering armoured/large threats
• Above average speed
• Low armour/HP but above average melee defence
• Sweeping attacks with halberd make her ideal for engaging blocks of infantry
• Able to pin units with ‘Net’ ability
• Base physical resistance to represent agility

Cylostra Direfin

Legend has it that the sea witch Cylostra Direfin was once the favourite court singer of the Bretonnian king.

Sent on a voyage across the ocean to sing for the Phoenix King, they were hit by a fierce storm. The madame’s notes turned to screams of fury as the ship sank, and all onboard drowned.

Decades later, a Bretonnian galleon of rotten wood and tattered sails can be seen navigating the seas even in the most savage of storms. It is The Lamprey, the ship of the vengeful spirit Madame Cylostra and her crew, the Drowned.

• Ghostly form provides resilience to physical attacks
• Otherwise fairly fragile, with little to no armour and mediocre melee defence
• Powerful caster with access to the Lore of the Deep
• Can use songs to reduces enemy movement speed and melee attack
• Will be able to summon undead Bretonnian knights to guard her

Vampire Fleet Admiral (Male)

• Hybrid melee/caster lord
• Access to Vampires/Death/Deeps
• Specialises in combating armoured/large threats

Vampire Fleet Admiral (Female)

• Hybrid melee/missile/caster lord
• Access to Vampires/Death/Deeps
• Very adaptable due to loadout
• Able to pick out characters with pistol while moving in

Vampire Fleet Captain (Female)

• Hybrid melee/caster hero
• Access to Vampires/Death/Deeps

Gunnery Wight

• Support unit
• Strong AP missile attacks
• Accurate (for a zombie)
• Provides buffs to nearby missile units
• Replenishes ammo of nearby missile units

Mourngul Haunter

• Vanguard deployment
• Stalk
• High AP anti-infantry damage
• Regenerates HP in melee
• Powerful charge
• Large mass allows it to hunt enemy characters in a melee more easily

Zombie Pirate Deckhands Mob

• Coming equipped with dual swords, these zombie pirates will be the backbone of most early-mid tier Coast armies
• They will sit somewhere between Skeleton Warriors and Empire Swordsmen in the power curve

Zombie Pirate Deckhands (Polearm)

• Meat shields
• Strong versus armoured/large targets
• Susceptible to being taken out by ranged fire

Zombie Pirate Gunnery Mob

• The first missile unit available to Vampire Coast
• Coming equipped with pistols and swords, these basic units will offer mediocre melee capabilities but massed pistol fire on the move

Zombie Pirate Gunnery Mob (Rifles)

• Not necessarily an upgrade to the initial gunnery mob, this unit is more of a sidegrade
• Able to lay down more punishing firepower than the basic gunnery mob, they sacrifice the ability to move and fire for longer range, accuracy, and stopping power

Zombie Pirate Gunnery Mob (Hand Cannons)

• Another sidegrade, this time to the rifle-equipped gunnery mob
• Instead of firing a solid shot, their weapons function more like blunderbusses
• With these weapons, they excel at firing in to massed infantry ranks
• Their weapons will also have significant knockback, giving the player a tool for disrupting enemy charges

Zombie Pirate Gunnery Mob (Bombers)

• A smaller unit than other gunnery mobs, this unit will excel when throwing bombs into a melee
• Most Vampire Coast units are fodder, thus when the inevitable friendly fire occurs the enemy is likely to have lost more than the player

Depth Guard

• The first ‘sturdy’ infantry unit available to the Vampire Coast, this unit of heavy infantry will come equipped with two hand axes, making them great at carving through lightly armoured infantry
• Heavily armoured, they will have slightly less durability than the Grave Guard but they will bring more damage to the table
• They will be vulnerable to missile fire due to their lack of a shield

Depth Guard (Polearm)

• A sidegrade to the regular Depth Guard, this unit provides a significant anti-large threat to the Vampire Coast player
• This will be the unit a player uses to defend their war machines and ranged units from cavalry and harassers

Scurvy Dogs

• Performing the same role as Dire Wolves within the Vampire Counts roster but with its own distinctly nautical flavour

Syreens

• Ethereal (near immune to physical damage, deals magic attacks, vulnerable to magic damage)
• Relatively fast moving
• Deals AP damage

Fell Bats

• Performing the same role as the equivalent unit within the Vampire Counts roster but with its own distinctly nautical flavour

Deck Droppers

• Use a pistol and sword
• Good at harassing unarmoured targets and hunting enemy artillery

Deck Droppers (Handguns)

• Flying missile cavalry
• Come equipped with a rifle, making them a significant threat to even armoured enemies
• Not designed for melee combat

Deck Droppers (Bombers)

• Operating similarly to Terradon Riders with Fireleech Bolas, this unit will be able to drop salvos of bombs on top of enemy units

Deck Gunners

• Coming in small numbers, these weapons teams are slow and vulnerable in melee
• Long range
• Armour-piercing
• ‘Shield-breaker’ contact effect
• Pierce multiple entities

Carronade

• This artillery unit functions much like the Empire and Dwarf cannons, providing long range anti-large firepower

Mortars

• This artillery unit functions much like Empire mortars, providing indirect plunging fire that excels when employed against lightly armoured opponents

Bloated Corpse

• Unique amongst all rosters, this’ a self-destructing unit.
• Above average speed for roster.
• Will explode upon contact with enemy or when HP falls below certain threshold.
• Explosion will cause massive damaged to bunched up infantry.

Mournguls

• Has vanguard deployment and stalk attributes, allowing them to close the distance between them and their enemies unseen
• Above average movement speed and exceptionally fast charge speed
• Resistant to missile damage but otherwise fairly fragile for their unit category
• Deal substantial AP damage in melee, making them excel against infantry
• Regenerate HP in combat due to their ‘Hunger’ ability

Animated Hulks

• These will serve as the first ‘heavy’ unit available to the Vampire Coast
• They are primarily there to screen for missile units, absorbing damage and dealing high raw damage to enemy units in melee

Rotting Prometheans

• Significant upgrade to the Animated Hulks
• High mass
• Very high armour
• Relatively slow
• Charge defence versus large

Rotting Prometheans Gunnery Mob

• Riders armed with disruptive hand cannons
• High mass
• Very high armour
• Relatively slow
• Charge defence versus large

Rotting Leviathan

• Extremely high armour
• High HP
• High mass
• High missile resistance
• Charge defence versus all
• Armour-piercing melee attacks
• This unit also comes equipped with several riders armed with rifles, providing some passive AP missile power

Necrofex Colossus

• Equipped with a large claw and four cannons strapped together, this unit provides heavy firepower from a durable monster frame
• Able to move and fire
• Rarely has line of sight blocked
• Hybrid ranged/melee unit
• Five riders equipped with rifles
• Able to summon unit of Zombie Deckhands

Death Shriek Terrorgheist

• Performing the same role as the equivalent unit within the Vampire Counts roster but with its own distinctly nautical flavour

Queen Bess (Cannon)

• An enormous range
• Fires in a parabolic arc
• ‘Monstrous Impact’ contact effect causes movement penalties to target
• Slow reload speed
• Enormous blast damage from impacts

Edits made 16/10/2018.