The Curse of Dead Man’s hand Gang 5 – the Count
The count is one of the additional gangs available for Dead Man’s Hand and is available as a set of 6 Metal Figures from Great Escape Games it is the second truely spooky gang. (I dont really count the Malevolent 7 as they are just The Dead Seven)
Unsuprisingly its Vampire – or Vampyr based gang.
The cards and rules come with the miniature set from Great Escape Games or can be bought seperately from Great Escape Games
So what are we told about the Count?
The Count is a shadowy character that came to Dead Man’s Hand from the far, dark mountains of the Old World. His devoted concubine is always by his side as are his Cossack bodyguards, loyal to the Count for generations.
The count boxed set – Great escape games
Others gather to him, the dregs and low lifes, eager to do his bidding.
So there are 6 model types available to the Baron.
The Count – Is one of the most expensive characters in DMH at 10 rep points and is a Vampyr.
The Concubine – for when 1 Vampyr is not enough – heres another one and as with most gangs this lieutenant is optional.
Cossacks – these are the Counts faithful defenders they can be armed with pistols or repeaters, at least 2 accompany the count at all times. One may be armed with a shotgun.
Manservants – upto 2 of the counts household retainers may travel along with him they can be armed with a pistol or shotgun. In fact the way this is written both may be armed with shotguns, but remember at least hald of the gang must be armed with a pistol as their sole ranged weapon and neither the Count nor Concubine are armed with any ranged weapon
Ungodly creatures – the Count can bring 0-2 of these as part of his gang – each is has their own rules and weapons which we will discuss.
- The Cannibal Dwarves – 3 “Hecesiiteihii” who move as a group and get deadlier the less there are of them, they are armed with knives, clubs and axes. For all game rules they count at 1 model except where their unique rules expressly state otherwise (P16 Curse of Dead Man’s Hand)
- Storm Crow – an undead Thunderbird which the Count can summon, it posesses a frightening LEAP ability which allows it to move 3 move abilities clearing any intervening terrain and as such it does not need LOS to initiate H2H.
- Haunted Bear – a hulking undead crazed animal that if not close to the Count will attack the nearest model whether friend or foe and crashed through the flimsy walls of Dead Man’s Hand buildings making its own doors, it has a powerful charge skill which gives it a +2 bonus for initiating H2H instead of the normal +1
- Dread Wolves – a pack of 3, who operate similarly to the dwarves in that they are treated as single entity. They are uneffected by underfire markers and can never recover, every turn they unleash their horrendous howl which forces a single enemy model to take a nerve test, the more of them they are the harder it is to pass this test, however the target cannot go out of action due to the howl and its performance does not count as an action.
- Wendigo – 2 wendigos may appear with the Count – these unlike the previous multi appearance creatures are 2 seperate creatures and are treated as such. Wendigos have Poor eyesight and move to sound see P18 of the CURSE OF DEAD MANs HAND for rules on this, they also have a swipe attack and are extremely fast which means there is always a -1 to hit and if they move even for only 1 action there is a -3 to hit modifier.
- Corpse Carrion – undead vultures – who’d have thought it – well the Count has and upto 3 of the as a single entity can fight on his side. They arrive on the table at the highest point of terrain on the table which becomes their perch, if one of the models is removed the remainder return immediately to their perch and any remain shots on them are wasted. They also target wounded characters and will not leave their perch until there is an enemy model that as taken 2 underfire markers, after which they will hunt that character until it dies when they will either move to another wounded with in 20 cm or return to their perch and start again.
Unsurprisingly there are many special rules assocaited with The Count and the first one truely sums up this gang
- THE COUNT IS EVERYTHING – as soon as the count goes out of action all those who accompanied him withdraw and the opponent wins.
The following rules apply ony to The Count and his Concubine
- THE COUNT IS EVERYTHING PART 2 – neither the count nor his concubine can be targeted at all by a firer over 30cm away, if there is one of the lesser beings (Cossack, Manservant or Ungodly Creature) within 10cm of them, that is the Vampyr not the shooter.
- TERRIFYING – whenever an opponent wishes to enter H2H combat with either the Count or his Concubine, or is charged by either of them, they must pass a nerve test. This test includes all relevant modifiers, and if it is failed they of take an Underfire marker and may go out of action before any H2H is rolled. This test must be taken each and every time H2H combat occurs – they never get used to fighting undead phlebotomists.
- BLOODLUST – in H2H combat the Vampyrs suffer no penalties for Under Fire Markers. If they kill an opponent the Vampyr must take a recover action as their first action in the following turn, but as a benefit they remove all under fire markers they have. Yes Yes – basically they pause to eat or drink.
- INHUMAN SPEED – The count and his concubine only need to use a single move action to get into H2H combat, unlike the normal 2 under the rules. They also get to reroll and score of 1 they roll in H2H combat.
- NO MERE MORTAL – The Vampyrs can only be put out of action on a natural unmodified roll of 20. Any other final result of 19+ is treated as an Under Fire and Nerve Test result
Not only do the 2 Vampyrs have the above rules but each may also chose to perform one of the three Vampyric Powers outlined below, there are 3 actions and 2 reactions
- VAMPYRIC POWERS – actions or reactions
- BEGUILE – the VAMPYR nominates an unactivated enemy model within 30cm. The nominated model takes a modified nerve test based on their distance from the VAMPYR and the number of UNDER FIRE markers they have. If the Nerve test is failed then the enemy model is controlled by the COUNT for the turn.
- HYPNOTIC GAZE – again this allows the VAMPYR to target an unactivated enemy model within 30cm. The Target has to pass 3 modified nerve tests based on distance from the VAMPYR, number of UNDER FIRE markers and whether it is the Count or Concubine using the skill. For each test failed the target loses an action for the turn.
- VAMPYRIC POWERS – action only
- TURN TO MIST – this can only be used by the Count and uses all 3 of his actions. It allows him to turn to mist and reappear anywhere on the gaming area, it also removes 1 underfire marker from the count.
But what are their Ace, King, Queen, Jack cards?
- ACE – “We Learn from Failure” – This can be played after an opposing model has completed its shooting, and allows the resulting under fire markers to be transfered to any friendly model with in 20cm.
- KING – “Lives for the Master” – as soon as an opposing model goes out of action you can chose to use this card by placing it on a friendly model (that is not the Count) as a new initiative card – you then activate this model as normal with the new card. This can be done even if the friendly model has already activated this turn.
- QUEEN – “I Give you Eternal Life” – when played all markers are removed from a model. There is no limit as to when this can be played, and how it is written it appears that this applies to all and any markers on the model not just Under fire markers, it explicitly states that it can be used to remove markers that would remove the model from play.
- JACK – “The Children of the Night” – when played all opposing models have to take an immediate Nerve Test any that fail the test take an under fire marker. There is no limit to when this can be played.
Now currently on Kickstarter 3DBreed are running a campaign with some great weird west figure that would wrok wonderfully with this gang.
Discover more from Hysnaps Politics, Gaming, Music and Mental Health
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
2 thoughts on “Dead Man’s Hand: The Count”