Thursday 19 October 2017

Dracula's America Red Hand Coven Faction

In the wake of the American Civil War, with the country struggling to regain its balance, Dracula seized power. The Count's thralls assassinated President Lincoln and his entire administration in a single night and, in the ensuing chaos, their master made his move. Dominating the Senate, he declared himself President for Life, and now rules the Union with fear and an iron fist. His vampire progeny, the Coven of the Red Hand, infest every strata of society and enforce Dracula's will with ruthless efficiency.
In this post I'm going to review my figures for the Red Hand Coven, my favourite faction for the Dracula's America: Shadows of the West game. This is currently my largest faction because I have combined the official North Star figures with a set of vampires from Pontoonier Miniatures. The two ranges complement each other rather well, in my opinion.
At the far left of this group of male vampires is a Brood Sire, the Boss of a Red Hand Coven faction. He, and the two figures to the right of him, are official Dracula's America figures produced by North Star. This ugly-looking creature looks just like one of the vampires of Clan Nosferatu from Vampire: the Masquerade.
The next two figures in line are both Broodkin. A Red Hand Coven faction may have two Broodkin in its posse. Like the Brood Sire, they are Supernatural, have a Move rate of 6", are Hard to Kill and they have the Transfix Arcane Power (even though they are not Arcanists). Note that they are both wearing red-tinted glasses. I have painted all of the other figures here with red eyes just to reinforce their supernatural aspect.
The two vampires at the far right were produced by Pontoonier Miniatures. The chap with the sabre is a lot taller than the other one. He is clearly 28mm scale and the other appears to be 25mm scale, unless he is meant to be so short. Curious! I had to stick the smaller one on a slottabase just to raise his height a bit to make him not look too under-scaled. The vampire with the sabre could be a Brood Sire or a Broodkin, whilst the smaller one is most likely a Broodkin.
Moving on, we have the female vampires. The one at the far left is my second favourite figure out of the official North Star Dracula's America range to date. My favourite is the Seraphim, whom I showed here. Sadly for me, she is classed as a Vampire Fledgling, a creature who appears as an Unwelcome Guest on the Supernatural Events table. These feral creatures, still clad in ragged clothing, were once ordinary folks but are now in the first throes of vampiric infection. They are little more than ravenous animals, driven only by the urge to feed. Vampire Fledglings are Supernatural and Mean. Given my love of female vampires, I will most likely use her as a Brood Sire, despite what the rulebook says.
The remaining three female vampires are all from the Pontoonier Miniatures Old West Vampire Cabal set of five figures. Again, these all appear to be 25mm scale, but I still find them usable. These would also be classed as Vampire Fledglings. I have given them all blood-smeared mouths to emphasise their feral natures. Note that all of my figures, apart from the Nosferatu, are wearing items of red clothing, as a nod to them being members of the Red Hand Coven.
The five Pontoonier Miniatures are set OWS010 Old West Vampire Cabal and they cost £12.50 from the Newline Designs webstore - http://newlinedesigns.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=490_508&zenid=64duvcck1kl1si82heufcl9203
The Nosferatu Brood Sire and two Broodkins are set DRAC104 Red Hand Coven and they cost £7.50 on the North Star webstore - http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=10754
You can get the female Vampire Fledgling as one of three figures from DRAC118 Dracula's America Characters (the other two are a Preacher and a Dark Confederate Revenant) also costing £7.50 from the North Star webstore - http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=10769
I am looking forward to pitting this faction against the Twilight Order in my first Dracula's America batrep. 

25 comments:

  1. Some very cool looking Vampires Bryan, like the way you've incorporated the same pallet throughout

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    1. Thanks, Dave. The colour palette was a deliberate choice to tie them together.

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  2. You've turned those out really well Bryan, and I can see why you're going to 'upgrade' that female vampire!
    Nicely expanded coven, with a range I'd not heard of before - and definitely will be checking out since most of my Old West mini's are 25mm :-)

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    1. Thank you, Greg. The North Star female vampire is far too good a figure to waste as cannon fodder. She deserves to be upgraded, in my opinion.

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  3. Lovely job Bryan. I do love the red glasses look on these.

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    1. Thank you, Simon. The red glasses are rather cool I think.

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  4. Aha! More tip-top "Dracula's America" stuff, and clearly a coven you're much enthused by, Bryan. Wonderful palette choice and love the red eyes on those vamps - scary stuff, who look awesome on the tabletop. Do we have a battle against the Crusaders coming soon, or are you feverishly painting up more of the range?

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    1. Cheers, Simon. I am indeed painting up more figures from this range and indeed I have just finished another faction which I'll show on my next post. I just need a few more buildings then I'll play my first batrep for this most intriguing game. Hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later.

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  5. I just gave my saloon girls away to a club member. They wee not (I hope) likely to bite!

    Nicely done an all of them

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    1. Thank you, Clint. These saloon girls definitely bite!

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  6. Excellent miniatures Bryan. They are simply excellent

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  7. The cohesive scheme is very appealing. A nice job all round.

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    1. Thank you, Phil. I did feel it was important to have a cohesive look to them.

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  8. I can see that you would like these figures, Bryan :-) . However, the whole "Dracula's America" concept leaves me cold - not sure why...

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    1. Thanks, Hugh. We can't all like the same things and I know some people find this game a big turn off. But for me it's gaming heaven.

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  9. I've been watching your stuff and everyone else's on Dracula's America on LA. This looks like a really cool project. I've always liked the North Star figures and they go so well with the Artizan figures that I also have a soft spot for (Same with Brigade; I love their models). These look awesome and right up your alley (Especially the turned soiled dove :D ) . I've have been meaning to do more with an Old West project and this supernatural twist may be just the impetus I need to get at it. I have a weakness for the Hammer films so I made an order for Vampire Hunters from Bad Squidoo as well. I like the idea of Classic Hammer hunters coming to the new world to set things right. Are you going to be doing some gaming reports for DA? I'm curious what the system is like and fluff withstanding how it works for you mechanically.

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    1. Thank you, HP. "Dracula's America" is very much right up my street. I ordered all of Bad Squiddo Games "My Last Sunrise" figures. They fit in so well with this project. Your idea for your campaign makes perfect sense and should be easily doable.
      Yes, I fully intend to do some batreps for this game. Hopefully, they will give you a flavour of how the game works. I have to say that I like the rules.

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    2. Awesome! I'll keep tabs on your work here and n the forums. I can't wait to paint those Last Sunrise figs. I have to pick my purchases there carefully. If I got all the Dark Age and Soviet figures I wanted Annie would clean me out.

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    3. Ha, ha! I know what you mean about Annie's figures. I've already spent a large amount on her figures but there are still loads more I want. :-)

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