Heinrich Kemmler

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"-and I'd have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling lich!"

"A man does not die of love or his liver or even of old age; he dies of being a man."
-Miguel de Unamuno

Heinrich Kemmler is a Necromancer character from Warhammer Fantasy, first introduced in the Terror Of The Lichemaster campaign for second edition, all the way back in 1986, of which he was the star.

A little known fact is that this guy is THE OG of Warhammer Fantasy. Heinrich Kemmler is Warhammer Fantasy's first Special Character.

The Legend

Modern Canon

• In the original

Origin

Heinrich Kemmler burnt with the need for power. Having recognised the limits that mortality placed upon him in his early years, Kemmler made it his life's work to escape them. He plunged into the world of necromancy as a young man, and by the time he had reached his fortieth year he was able to raise entire graveyards of corpses to do his bidding.

Kemmler became a great and much-feared Necromancer, plundering every Wizard's tower and ancient temple he could find in his search for dark truths. In the hills beyond Quenelles in Bretonnia his army had smashed the zombie legions of the Council of Nine, an alliance of nine powerful necromancers. In the dark woods beyond the town of Bögenhafen in the western Empire, he had overcome the three Vampire Wizards of Blutwald and all their armies of walking dead. In the crypts beneath castle Vermisace he had overcome the ancient Liche wizard and all his acolytes and was since known as The Lichemaster. His star was in the ascendant for many decades until ambitious rivals began to usurp his power. United, those who Kemmler had defeated proved stronger than even the self-styled Lichemaster. At the Battle of Ten Thousand Skulls, Kemmler's foes succeeded in driving him to his knees. Although he finally managed to scatter his attackers with a great spell of confusion, his body was broken and his mind blasted in the battle.

Tomb of Krell

For many years Heinrich wandered the Grey Mountains and the Border Princes as little better than a half-sane beggar. It was in the Vaults where by some quirk of fate, he uncovered the tomb of Krell; a long dead Chaos Champion whose burial mound was so magnificent it towered high above him. Here Kemmler struck a terrible pact with the gods. They restored him to his former power and in return, Heinrich swore to slay and destroy in their name. The name of the Lichemaster once again struck terror into the hearts of ordinary folk.

Later activities

The tales of these two monsters were many. In 2491 IC they attacked Brettonian abbey at la Maisontaal which contained a powerful artifact stolen from the Skaven. It was only thanks to the skill and heroism of Duke Tancred of Quenelles that the abbey wasn't destroyed utterly in a three-way battle. Kemmler escaped and fled back in the Grey Mountains while the Skaven returned to Skavenblight with their prize. Tancred returned with much honour and spent the rest of his life chasing the Lichemaster. The Duke was eventually killed at the Battle of Montfort Bridge, smashing Kemmler's forces. The Wood Elves remember Kemmler for the Battle of the Cairns, when he raised a huge army from the many cairns in the forest, ancient human burial mounds long forgotten that were site of great mystical energy closely linked with the health of the Elves woodland home. By attacking in winter the Elves were at their weakest and it was only thanks to the great and venerable treeman Durthu who roused the native wood spirits that the necromancer was defeated, and not before he caused great swathes of devestaion to the forest. Though he perhaps never knew it, Kemmler's wanderings in the mountains were subtly guided by the spirit of Nagash - part of an evil plan that would free Krell and unite him with the forces of the Undead. Nagash's plans suffered a minor setback following the heavy casualties that the Lichemaster's armies suffered at the Battle of Maisontaal Abbey, but in time they bore rich and terrible fruit. End Times

End Times

Despite his honored place in the history of the game, Kemmler is hit a third set of retcons that are hard on him. GW mixed up the business relationship, with Krell becoming so independent that it appears that Krell is the master and Kemmler is the servant. He gets enlisted by Arkhan the Black to help him retrieve Nagash's staff, Alakanash. But Kemmler is so independent, he chafes at the idea of servitude to the point of mania. The two of them summon an army and attack the abbey where it is being held, getting caught in a protracted battle against a Bretonnian army. At this point Kemmler gets called a servant of Nagash one too many times by Arkhan, so he goes goes "fuck it!" and turns his back on Nagash to serve the Chaos Gods. He abandons the battle to sneak into the abbey's vaults to try and take the staff for himself.

Just as Kemmler grabs the staff, Arkhan confronts him and Kemmler triumphantly proclaims his new allegiance. He tries to get Arkhan to join him, but the liche is actually loyal to Nagash and genre savvy. Arkhan rebuffs Kemmler, telling him that the Chaos Gods will fuck him over on a whim and calling Kemmler a loser. This enrages the necromancer and the two engage in a destructive magical duel, Lichemaster vs Liche (which Arkhan, being the smartass that he is, comments on). Despite being evenly matched in magic power, following Kemmler's power boost from the Chaos Gods, Arkhan's thousands of years more experience with magic prove decisive. A beam-of-war between the two results in Kemmler being ripped to pieces. The magical backlash causes the abbey to explode and the blast floors most of both armies. To add insult to injury for Kemmler, Arkhan survives and laughs it off with nothing more than charred robes.

Thus is Warhammer Fantasy's first Special Character the first of them do be killed off in the End Times. In hindsight, this seems to be foreshadowing of what GW ends up doing to the Warhammer Fantasy setting.

Total War:Warhammer

Heinrich was one of the starting legendary lords for the vampire counts in Total War: Warhammer. Unfortunately his rather lackluster stats and lack of differentiation from a generic master necromancer have led to him becoming something of a joke to the playerbase.

Gallery

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  Kemmler's original model.

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  His "new" model.

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  A better paintjob of his newer model.

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