onrad von Carstein, also known as Konrad the Bloody, the Blood Count and the Beast, is a crazed butcher and perhaps the most dangerous hero-level character in Warhammer. After the death of his sire, the dread Vlad von Carstein, it was Konrad who held dominion over the realm of Sylvania. Where Vlad had offered his opponents a choice between life and death, Konrad offered them a choice between dying immediately and dying painfully. His skill in combat was exceeded only by his thirst for blood and his lust for violence. If it were not for his total lack of sanity, Konrad von Carstein might never have been stopped and could well have burnt the entire Empire to the ground.

You seek to anger Konrad? You seek to drive him to violence, yes? Konrad understands your pain, understands that you are less than a man, so you lash out at his greatness to appease your own pain. Konrad understands, but Konrad does not forgive. Oh, no, Konrad does not forgive such slights. Excerpt from "Dominion" by Steven Savile, courtesy of the Black Library. Dominion is part of the von Carstein trilogy, also available in the omnibus "Vampire Wars" on sale in 2008.

HERO AT A GLANCE
think it's worth emphasizing this again: Konrad is a crazed butcher. The combination of Frenzy and Red Fury means he can potentially slaughter 10 foes in a single round of combat! Konrad is able to carve his way through whole regiments. Because of the Infinite Hatred ability, he can re-roll any Close Combat hits that fail to hit, and the Sword of Waldendorf means that any of these wounds become 2 wounds instead. This makes Konrad a serious threat to enemy characters and even units of monsters such as Ogres. With a Weapon Skill of 7 and a Strength of 5, Konrad is perfect for slaughtering your opponents' characters. The Blood Count is even capable of going head-to-head with many Lord level characters. As an Undead character, he is Immune to Psychology and causes Fear -- even the mightiest of heroes will need a 6 to hit should they fail their Fear test. Woe betide any fool who stands in Konrad's way.

ARMY OF CHOICE
onrad von Carstein is mad, literally One Bat Short of a Belfry -- half the time, he is subject to Stupidity. With a Leadership of 6, this means your expensive death dealing machine could spend a large portion of the battle muttering to himself instead of doing what he does best -- hacking his way through whole regiments. For this reason, try and keep Konrad close to the army general. Keeping Konrad in a large unit is a must; not only will it help to make sure you outnumber your opponent -- always handy when you cause Fear -- but it gives him valuable protection from missile fire. If you can spare the points, make this bodyguard a unit of Grave Guard. Whilst the Blood Count may strike with many Attacks, they will only result in a -2 to your opponent's save modifiers. The Grave Guards' Wight Blades gives them the Killing Blow ability, making them and Konrad a deadly combination.

Whilst Konrad is a Vampire and can keep nearby Undead units marching forward, he has no aptitude for the Dark Arts. He is not a wizard, so you might find your army a little under strength in the Magic Phase. Consider purchasing a Necromancer to augment this deficit and keep those Undead units at full strength.

UNSTOPPABLE?
s I've mentioned before, without guidance from the army general, there is a good chance that Konrad will get distracted and forget about hacking the opposition to pieces. To take full advantage of this fact, simply kill the Vampire Counts' general...I didn't say it was an easy tactic, did I? For all of Konrad's ability to dish out a world of hurt, he can't necessarily take the same sort of punishment. With only 2 Wounds and Heavy Armour protecting his tainted soul, Konrad's ability to survive depends on him annihilating the enemy and leaving none left to retaliate. There are a number of ways of striking Konrad down before he tears the unit apart, but all of them are risky. If your unit has a high armour save and can weather the storm, then Konrad may find himself on the receiving end of some saving throws for a change. The best option (as with so many in Warhammer) is to make sure you get the charge. When in combat, you will almost certainly need to issue a challenge to avoid hits being distributed amongst Konrad's unit, and then just pray that your lance tip can pierce the Beast's black heart before your champion is slain.

- By Robin Cruddace