Fantasy Thursdays: Preparing for Vanguard - Part Seven

Please note that this article was written for 7th edition WFB.

My favorite model of all time is the Dark Emissary. I have owned him since he was released with the Albion campaign and always try to fit him in my armies either as the real deal or a “generic” wizard.

While not a slam against the Vanguard tournament, I must admit that the general bias against the model is pretty dumb considering the current tournament environment. When the model and his rules were released, the model was abused as a source for additional power dice. Since 7th edition does not allow for that sharing anymore, the threat of him on the board has been reduced.

Since not everyone reading this blog may be familiar with the Dark Emissary, let’s take a moment and travel down memory lane. The Dark Emissary represents a group of evil casters from the mystical isle of Albion that serves the Dark Master (aka Be’Lakor). In terms of game mechanics, it is a level four caster that counts as both a hero and rare choice. At 265 points, the model comes with a 5+ ward save and a +1 to casting. The model may only cast spells from a list specific to him. Among these spells is the standard magic missile, a panic causing spell, and a spell that causes a toughness check to avoid instant death. None of these spells are extremely powerful, but all of them can be useful. (If you do a Google search, you can find the complete rules.)

When I painted this fellow, one of the things that were important to me was to highlight the model without making any alterations to him. The beauty of the model is in its original design, so converting him would have been a sin to me. I did think though that he should be mounted on a slightly more dynamic base than what I would typically do.

Since Vanguard is not allowing me to use him in his truest form, I am just making him a level two hireling wizard. Since there are not a lot of magic item options for him, I am just going with a set of power stones and a dispel scroll.

When it comes to which lore I will use with him, I am leaning towards shadow, but may decide upon death in the end. I like to play my wizards offensively, so either choice may be decent, though neither is ideal when compared against the rest of my army.