Walach Harkon first appeared on the cover of Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (5th Edition)
Tricking his way into Blood Keep and slaughtering the Knights of the Blood Dragon Order, he bequeathed the Dark Gift on the worthy among them and became the Grand Master of their now undead Order.
In his first (and only official appearance), he fulfilled multiple roles on the battlefield: General, Army Standard, Level 3 Necromancer, and devastating combat capabilities superior even to other Vampire Lords.
Despite the memorable artwork and profile, Walach was never rewarded with a model – it was left up to players to devise their own. Now that Walach is back in Warhammer Armies Project – Vampire Counts 9th Edition, it felt like time to add him to my collection.
Walach himself was cobbled together from the Blood Dragon who rides the plastic Zombie Dragon kit. I had recieved some sprues from this in a job lot, and although some important parts were absent (such as upper arms), there was enough potential for a cohesive looking character. The bald head from this kit had Green Stuff hair added to give it a bit of character. Upper arms were also sculpted in as sleeves.
In the artwork, Walach is holding a magic item called the Blood Chalice, which he can sip from each turn to restore his Wounds, or he can coat his blade with to increase its lethality. The plastic rider however, already has a goblet on his belt, and the unit entry does not include a shield – this left me freedom to add something exciting to this hand.
An unfortunate witch hunter was the chosen victim, who I based on Helhunten’s Redeemers from the Empire Uniforms and Heraldry book. Clad in black and tan, this Regiment of Renown from Stirland specialises in hunting vampires – in this case he’s gone in for a staking and missed his mark.
The body is from a spare plastic artilleryman and the stake whittled from his botefeux; the hammer taken from a Mordheim accessory sprue. The ribcage was cut from an ancient white-plastic Skeleton Horde warrior, and is attached via paperclip pins running all the way through.
Walach’s steed needs to stand out a bit from the standard offering, most WHFB vampires coming on a mass-produced plastic horse with a metal custom head. The Grand Master of a Knightly Order would have only the best. This piece was released for the Specialist Game GORKAMORKA and was a mutant alien horse ridden by the human mutant faction. Here I think it looks like a demonic blood beast powered by dark energy. The missing tail was replaced with a skull bit from a Juggernaut and some extra gubbins were stuck on around the place. I chose a paint job to give the impression its skin had been flayed off to reveal bare muscle fibre.
The book on Walach’s belt bears a rune of Shyish – the Wind of Death. His sword is called the Crimson Blade in his profile, and rolls on a custom table for which extremity it chops off. Making something stand out as ‘crimson’ when the rest of the model is already red is a bit of a puzzle. I used the heavily pigmented contrast paint Doomfire Magenta to draw it towards the purple/pink end of red, standing out against fiery red armour, blood red gems and fleshy red horse.
My Vampire Counts collection is based in an autumnul Halloween style so some fall leaves are sprinkled about the battlefield among the fallen combatants.
Walach bears the banner of the Blood Dragons. The banner piece is taken from the Marauder Horsemen box. For this I created custom heraldry based on an old piece of artwork I found of a red dragon. When searching for a freehand reference piece, it is always a challenge to find something simple enough for the average hobbyist to transpose onto a tiny, uneven surface. I often add tags such as “tattoo”, “graphic”, “heraldic” and “cartoon” to my image searches. Anything with too much fine line work is going to be tough going.
The knightly helmet is a standard heraldic design but normally is surrounded by ornate mantlets, the floaty spiky ribbons that are all over coats de arms. This is the dumbest, hardest shape to try and paint well and I recommended avoiding it whenever possible. I went for red dragon wings here, which are only slightly less difficult a shape but don’t take as long. The banderole reads ORDO DRACONIS. The background of a complex banner like this should, in my opinion, be a fairly neutral and flat colour, so as not to distract from the design. This one is mostly black with a hint of plum, like a new leather sofa.
At the time of writing, I am partaking in a narrative campaign with my Vampire Counts army. When the points value reaches the threshold where I can field Walach (~4k pts), I intend to report back with a road test…if you’ve read the rules in Warhammer Armies Project: Vampire Counts, you’ll be as excited as I am.
Until next time.