Lord of games 05 - Vampires queen (Patreon)

This campaign took place in Warhammer fantasy world
The game was Total war warhammer 2

The faction was the vampire count.
Before all a quick resume of the game, and an introduction to the faction.

The game:

The game is a tactical and strategy game. It split in two major gameplay. on the campaign map you manage your faction cities, deal with diplomacy, built armies, move them etc etc. the whole being played in turn, each faction playin in specific orders, the player being the first of each turn to play
In Battle you take control directly of your unit and play in real time. You gotta organize your battle line and take specific care and account of each unit specificity.

The faction:

(official Warhammer battle image - property of GW)

The Vampire count are  a faction of undead, lead by necromancer, and mostly, by Vampires. There's several "type" of vampire, some more suited for combat, other master in sorcery, other in seduction of mortals. But the faction is linked to one specific "family" more than any other, the Von Carstein.
The Von Carstein took hold of one of the Empire of man province, millenia ago. Replacing slowly all the human nobilities by vampire, loyal to the chief of the family, Vlad von Carstein. First of the clan. Becoming by use of scheme official elector count, he attempted a coup, as the Empire was in the middle of a civil war. leading legion of zombies and skelettons, marching side by side with soldiers alive, and monsters from the deep woods.
Vlad was defeated, but over history, 2 more times the Empire saw legions of undead rise and almost took over the reign of mortals.
Now the region of Sylvania still hold a dire reputation, and is a siege of black magic. And recently, report mention that ancient Vampire may have rise once again. Ready to take over the world.

The Faction character:

There's 2 legendary characters in the faction i played. Vlad and Isabella von Carstein. Their story is as myth as it is history, but what we know for sure is that she was the daughter of the mad elector count, Otto von Drak. Quite paranoid, the old count refused to marry his daughter to any party, in and out Sylvania. On his death bed, it is said that he sware that he would prefer marry her to a demon of chaos rather than seeing his younger brother inherit his title. That is at this point that Vlad von Carstein appeared. What he said to the dying man is unknow, but soon after a quick ceremony took hold in the very chamber of the dying count. He died before the last word could be spoken, but it was done, Vlad was the new elector count.
At first it was only a marriage of conveniance, but soon developped. She seemed immmune to his vampiric power of suggestion, and the resistance seduces him, and she was deeply  curiours about the cloack of mystery around him. Over the years they fall in love, and once she was dying of an illness, he realised he couldn't carry on a eternal life without her and gave her the blood kiss.
Together they ruled over sylvania for decades before he waged war against the divided empire. He died in the siege of Altdorf due to the sacrifice of the Grand Theogonist that was, and it is said that when she saw part of the army crumble, as she was fighting in a tower nearby, she understood her love had died. She quit the combat, forgetting about anyone on the battlefield, and she impaled herself on the stakes below the tower.

Now that you know more, the Campaign report:

It 's unsure of when does Isabella von Carstein emerged from her ashes, and was rebirth as a undead, once again, or what form her first days in a world that different to the one she once knew took form. All that is knew is that at one point, she had taken hold over the town of  Swartzenhafen and subdued many of the region Vargheist. Dire creatures, once vampire, tortured by their kind till they mutated in a horrible parody of giant bats, loyal to their masters.
How did she get back to life? Did the story was even true? maybe did she survived the siege of Altdorf and keep hiding for centuries, or maybe the wake of chaos and magic made her rise again. We ll certainly never know.
With her brand new army of death, she marched to the west, invading the  eastern city of Averland, defeating all armies sent to her, and took the whole province in a matter of days. Easily defeating  the armies behind their wall with her giant flying monster. In her path she turned many young beautifull women as vampire. And they say she was always followed by one or two of them, that she treated like her pets, as the deadly creature would  do anything for a caress or a word of love from their mistress.
Many lives were taken, and it made her able to rise her husband, Vlad, to life. Reunited they claimed what was their, and wage war against Manfredd von Carstein, the traitor that had helped Vlad being defeated, centuries ago. Quickly destroying his armies and  seizing his territory, then killing all the rogue vampire nation around, they stood there, once again strong.

The allied the Orcs in the Nothern frontier, as Azhag, their leader, was visibly under the power of a crown of powerfull necrotic power, and quite pleased to help the undeads.
In the month following, theyr attacked one by one all the human settlement and faction at their west, destroying their cities, and taking thair lands with help of many of the monstruosity they had raised from the verry pile of corpse the battle had created.
They soon saw different lineage of vampire join force with them, all bringing gift of knowledge and powers to help them in the war that wwas coming. The war against the Empire itself, against Karl Franz armies.
The orcs of Azhag was at war with the Empire forces joined by Bretonia, and many armies of both faction were riding in the corrupted land of the von Carstein. And at one point, Isabella and Vlad saw an opportunity. Joining force with their greenskin "friends" the vampire attacked the force of Karl Franz at their weakest moment, after a battle that had took a strong toll in the human rank. defating no less than 4 armies, using quick strike to isolate them from each others.
In the days that followed Isabella attacked the southern border of the empire, as Vlad and others armies attacked the nother and center one. Several times the empire raised new armies and attacked the vampire. But if many pirhic victories happened, not once in the whole campaign did a vampire lord bend the knee to the mere mortals.

Isaballe going to battle

In The south, Grimgor, the strongest of the black orc had destroyed any resistance, and his country went from the depht of the desert, to the border with the von Carstein Sylvania. He encountered the couple as his armies marched through their land, but for once he wasn't wagging war, he just wanted to attack the last of the dwarves settlement. Isabella herself joined him, taking the occasion to purge the frontier of the many Skaven that inhabit it. It is said she had to use many of her charms and vampire persuasion to get a promess he wouldn't attack their borders. But in the end it's mostly the many war he had on his arms in the south that protected the undead from his wrath, because his empire was the strongest in the world, and his armies legion.
In the meantime, the Empire last resistance pierced the weak point of Vampire defense, and they took back several cities in the south. But soon two vampire armies joined forces to destroy this last spark of rebellion, and in the weeks that followed, Altdorf fall, quickly folowed by the northern country. The last battle of the empire took place in a hold in the mountain, and their last army was destroyed by Azhag himself, as the Chaos minions attacked the last remaining forces of Kislev.
The chaos armies weakened Azhag, and he merged his force with Grimgor, pledging allegiance to the black orc, for a chance to survive.
Isabella once again went to the orc, and what she did to make him join her is unknow. Maybe was it made by seducing the beast, maybe by mindcontrol, or was it just promess of battle against the many enemy of Vlad and Isabella.
But he accepted in the end. As the chaos was defeated by an army of the Vampire, lead by a powerfull vonCarstein spawn, and that a Lahmian beauty took Kislev from the ratmen hand, envoy of Grimgor arrived at the night court, proposing an alliance. Once signed the treaty made the two giant empire control most of the old world and Africa. As the undead as attacked Bretonia in the south, and had seized almost all the land in a matter of weeks.

No more menace could shater this mighty alliance, and world knee front of the two major power in the world, ending thiss campaign for good.

Finishing word: 

Voila, it is done, i wanted to give the whole campaign a more "story" look. Once again tell me if you prefer this form to the past one. It take more time, but i find it more satisfying to make too.
The vote ll be hosted this afternoon. And i'll start the last voted pic soon after.

For the campaign itself, i'm not a fan of the faction in the game. You have no distance, your infantery is shity, and you must resume in tactic of send mass of shitty trops to scatter the enemy and attack one by one the now  dispersed forces with magic and strong unit to win. It Make the whole brutal, but also ask a lot of micro management. And more than once i opened my own salt factory when a unit i asked for the third time to break combat and retreat to charge on another flank, refused order to stay in the middle of the ennemy and slowly being grinded.
Also the vampire need their land to be corrupted by undeath, and it give the whole campaign a bit of pacing, as you take a land, you have to wait a bit to be sure it's ok, or leave one or two agent/armies behind to help the corruption to spread. The whole is strange equilibrium. As the faction tactic is clearly built around the idea of rush and be aggressive, as they're very weak in defense tactics, but on the same time it forces you often to sit on your ass and wait.
Anyway was interesting, but by far not my faction/campaign.

That's about it
Thanks again for your support, and i hope you'll like this resume!

C ya soon!