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Swarms of bats had been pestering the garrison for days, but last night had been different. Two of the "bats" had been Vampyre assault troops. The first appeared in a cloud of mist, killing three elf sentries before becoming a mist once more. With their multi-coloured cloaks - which seemed to merge into the surroundings - the pair of Vampyres struck at will across the now terrified fort. Meanwhile, Lord Bagharov's zombie hordes assaulted the walls, and airborne wraiths filled the air.. The terrible siege of Starlichgrad was the first recorded use of the feared "Spooksnaz" Vampyre troops in action. They stem from an experiment by the terrifying Baron Vlad Rhipsisedov, who trained a pair of his young Vampyre vassals in infiltration techniques. After a demonstration to Czar Alexander, when the pair entered the royal chambers undetected, Rhipsisedov was comissioned to found a special training school for Vampyre assault troops, known as the Vamphyri-Desantnyye-Voyska The VDV recruits suitable candidates from the young Vampyre candidates of the "Fangs Academy" (who would normally go on to command line units of the Witchland army). These candidates then undergo an exacting selection course, which typically removes half of the intake (who either return to the regular army, or are actually killed!). The training proper then begins, with instruction in armed and unarmed combat, infiltration and espionage techniques, torture, gratuitous violence, etc. At the end of this, the VDV troops are assigned to individual missions. Most work alone, but some act in pairs. Typically their activities are masked by assaults involving zombie or skeleton hordes, or airborne wraiths. The VDV are commonly known as "Spooknaz" and delight in terrifying their opponents by use of their monstrous abilities. One of their "classic" gestures is to kill one of the enemy troops with a shovel, which is left stuck in the corpse. This is to show their disdain for the mortals who would dare bury their undead betters! VDV troops always count as part of an Elite unit, though they are generally acting alone. Sometimes the Vampyre may bring a group of loyal "retainers" (typically Szgany "Gypsy" zombies/skeletons) to cover their retreat. There are several suitable figures in the CCI range, and also some "fantasy" or "gothic" game system vampires can be converted. GW do some nice 25mm bats, which are very effective for irking players! For the Szgany (which could be used with any Vampyre character), I use the Foot Cossack figures from CCI. Webmaster's Note The above was originally published on Danny's excellent website and is included here with permission from the author. |
