Mannfred von Carstein

"Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance."
-David Mame

"The dark is my realm! The grave, my throne!"
-Mannfred Von Carstein The only surviving major von Carstein in the fluff (barring Vlad's resurrection in the End Times) and thus the leader of the Bloodline. He is also a whiny traitorous asshole responsible for the death of the Warhammer world.

Common sense has never been more frightening.

The Legend

We all know the von Carsteins. Parodies of nobility, the Dracula Bloodline of the Vampire Counts, origins that aren't exactly clear as it goes back to the origins of all the Warhammer Fantasy vampires (making them the nouveau riche Bloodline). During the time that Vlad was consolidating his power by turning the nobles of Sylvania into vampires and bringing them under his thumb, he and Isabella took a few in as an adopted "family". Konrad and Mannfred were their two "sons" and mostly stayed at home during the first vampire campaign against the Empire. While Konrad was the rambunctious son, always dissecting maids in the backyard and pulling the arms off elves in his room, Mannfred spent his time pouring over books and compensating for his physical frailties (for a vampire). Basically evil Tyrion and Teclis.

After poppa vamp was killed by the Empire pope of the time and momma couldn't have unlife without him so she killed herself, Konrad took control of the armies of the von Carsteins and raged about causing a shitload of civil wars within the Bloodline that usually ended with Konrad pulling a Strigoi and drinking the blood of another vamp's lifeless body. Mannfred on the other hand saw this as a good time to get the fuck out of Dodge and become a wizard. He explored the world, mainly seeking haunted places and necromantic circles. He visited Nehekhara and studied the Tomb Kings as they slumbered, and was able to do this mainly because he was smart enough to not steal their stuff and fled when they did notice him. He managed to find the Books of the Dead that Queen Neferata had studied long ago, and became her equal as a necromancer. He entered Nagash's Black Pyramid and communed with Nagash's spirit. After Konrad died like a jackass, Mannfred returned and took command of all the roaming undead in Sylvania, returning stability to the region once again and allowing the Empire to think they'd won peace. He manipulated the new nobles into being under his power, as well as vampires from all Bloodlines everywhere in the Old World he could find them.

Once Mannfred had gained a large enough army by nabbing all the undead beasties he could, he shed his handsome teenager disguise and revealed his true face: that of a corpse mummified partially from exposure to the elements with a huge jaw and fangs to match, and bathed at all times in magical currents. He surprised the Empire at a time when it was unprepared for invasion, and set out to succeed where Vlad had failed by becoming the Emperor. He got his ass kicked by priests, and from that point on he kept sending his army against every city in the Empire only to lose, badly, and retreat. Since his army was fairly self-replenishing this didn't mean much to him however, except to frustrate him. Mannfred was finally pushed back into swamps of Sylvania, where he decimated the Empire and Dwarf army sent after him but was defeated none the less.

The war managed to spread vampirism to most of the Old World, from man to Dwarf, and the various Bloodlines saw a huge surge in young vampire recruits. Mannfred, who had survived his defeat, began to reconsolidate his power and make new plans. The Empire was ravaged by Kurgan and the High Elves and Dwarfs saved them. Mannfred took his time hiding and studying the battles, learning about the three armies, and decided his next invasion would require the three to be at war with each other.

Once again Mannfred traveled the world and learned more magic, this time outright swearing himself to Nagash to bring him back into the world. This became the main goal of the von Carstein Bloodline, and those not interested defected to other Bloodlines or were killed. Mannfred enlisted Heinrich Kemmler and his servant Krell to aid him. When Aliathra, the princess of the High Elves, went on a diplomatic trip to increase relations between Dwarfs and High Elves Kemmler manipulated Orcs & Goblins into attacking the fortress. When the Elves and Dwarfs defeated the greenskins, Kemmler raised the corpses of the fallen and sent his own army after them. The two armies were decimated, with the Dwarf King slain and the bodies of the defenders shambling after Kemmler as his new servants. The lover of Aliathra was badly injured by Mannfred himself during the battle, and Aliathra was knocked out and taken in the claws of a Terrorgheist. Mannfred took her far from the lands of the Dwarfs into the heart of Sylvania where she was locked away while Mannfred prepared a resurrection ritual.

He expected the Dwarfs and High Elves to go to war, thinking they'd blame each other. Indeed, nobles in Ulthuan and Dwarf whitebeards called for war to redeem their honor. However, Phoenix King Finubar and High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer were decidedly less fucking retarded than those around them. Finubar was a diplomat at heart and knew that the Dwarfs were badasses who'd fight for a lady to their last breath, and as the keeper of the Book of Grudges Thorgrim knew when a grudge was warranted and when it wasn't. Alarielle the Radiant of the High Elves sensed that Aliathra was still alive (not a vampire, vampires magically detect as "dead") and thus she called upon her past and present lovers, Finubar and Tyrion respectively, to get her baby back!

Finubar immediately went to the Dwarfs to secure an alliance against the vampires (see the eventual Dwarf army book update for a continuation on that plot), and Tyrion gathered a fucking glorious all-cavalry army to ride against Mannfred. Mannfred himself was preparing a Frank Frazetta style place to sacrifice Aliathra to complete a resurrection ritual (to bring back Nagash. Sure, the sacrifice is one elf, but that one elf IS the future Everqueen. And the fluff clearly says it's to bring back Nagash). Tyrion broke into his castle, found the unresponsive Aliathra, and rode out with her. As his men were leaving they witnessed a fucking enormous Undead army popping up out of the ground from all directions as far as the eye could see around them. Tyrion leads the elves as they try and fight their way out before some unexpected help comes.

According to the new Dwarves codex, High King Thorgrim didn't really care about elves (which is weird since he gave Aliathra a whole Dwarf honor guard in the Vampire Counts version of the story), but since it was a matter of honor he gathered an army and followed Mannfred all the way to Nagashizzar (though the story neglects to mention how they were able to track him since he was flying away on a zombie dragon after the battle). The Dwarves hit the rear of Mannfred's army just as the elves hit the front. They killed the necromancers that keep bringing back the undead but Mannfred recaptured Aliathra when Tyrion was distracted and used his magic to flee with her. Tyrion met Thorgrim and insulted him like crazy, blaming the Dwarves for the loss of Aliathra. In a surprising show of tolerance and peackeeping, Thorgrim doesn't get grudge-happy and tells the other Dwarves who are itching to restart the War of Vengance to chill the fuck out, knowing that the Dwarves have the moral high ground and that fighting the elves would create more grudges. He then tells Tyrion that next time he tries to rescue Aliathra, the Dwarves won't be there to bail his ungrateful ass out and marches off with his army to retake Karak Eight-Peaks like a boss.

Mannfred gets new fluff in the new Sigmar's Blood book where a third reincarnation of Sigmar will fight Mannfred's armies. Spoiler alert, that ends on a cliffhanger too; The current Empire Pope Volkmar thwarts Mannfred's plan, and the book ends with Mannfred lunging, fangs bared, at Volkmar's throat. Then...he goes home. See, he saw a guy named Boris Todbringer and remembered that a similar nobody killed papa Vlad. But that's okay! Because new papa Nagash sent him a message saying it's time to make step-daddy proud!

The End Times

Mannfred returns once again in a second campaign revolving around Nagash. He makes in-roads to resurrect Nagash, travelling across the world to get the necessary artefacts and sacrifices. This continues until Balthazar turns Sylvania in a roach motel, but for undead, with the Wall of Faith (unknowingly due to the manipulation of Tzeentch, through the Changeling). This is a setback for Mannfred's plans, but help arrives from an unexpected quarter. Mannfred's quest means his agenda overlaps with that of Nagash's right hand lich, Arkhan the Black. Arkhan comes to Sylvania to help Mannfred or take over. Mannfred takes exception and the two duel before settling on a truce. After Arkhan finds a way through the Wall of Faith, they divide the work to retrieve the remaining artefacts willingly. After interference from the Bretonnians, Elves, Beastmen and several bouts of treachery, they succeed and Nagash walks the world again, stronger than ever before.

Having helped resurrect Nagash, Mannfred get rewarded with more power, the title of Mortarch and a new ride in the Dread Abyssal steed called Ashigorath. But for the thoughtcrime of traitorous ideas against Nagash, he is punished with the resurrection of Vlad von Carstein. Vlad's return causes' nearly all of Mannfred's supporters jump ship when they find out Vlad's back. Vlad is also made a Mortarch and dispatched by Nagash to keep Archaon occupied while Nagash enacts his own plan to conquer the world, enter the Warp and become the only god in existence. When Nagash launches his invasion of Nehekhara, Mannfred joins forces with Luthor Harkon, attacking Zandri's land army while Luthor attacks its navy. Mannfred duels the Tomb King Behedesh and is nearly killed but his lieutenant saves him twice over, stabbing the Tomb King in the back which leads to him rather than Mannfred getting struck down by the Tomb King's curse. Mannfred takes a backseat for the rest of the war, but is horrified when Nagash practically reaches godhood and conquers the Tomb Kings at Khemri; he muses that if he'd allied with Settra, he could've stopped Nagash AND the Chaos Gods (as if Settra would ally with Mannfred).

Things keep going downhill for Mannfred as he chafes under Nagash's rule. When Vlad disobeys Nagash to help Averheim and the forces of Nurgle invade Sylvania, he tries to steal Vlad's power behind his back. When Arkhan names Mannfred (acting) commander, he tries to fight the Nurglites but they prove too strong for him. Even when Vlad returns and they're forced to work together it's not enough and Mannfred flees, booting Luthor off when he tries to hitch a ride with Mannfred. As the forces of Nurgle approach the Black Pyramid, Mannfred is ordered/blackmailed by Arkhan to be his errand boy. He sends a message to Neferata from Arkhan and she accepts Arkhan's terms; help defend the Black Pyramid and you will get Khalida. He fights when the Black Pyramid itself is under attack, but deviates from Arkhan's battle plan and moves to the edge of the battle to ensure his own survival. After the Black Pyramid is destroyed and Nagash magic-nukes the forces of Nurgle, Mannfred gets epic lulz and heads to ground zero. For he hoped that Nagash was gone and that he'd get a chance to take full command of the Undead Legions, not factoring in Neferata had the same plan. Unfortunately for both of them, Nagash is still standing and calling the shots (to add insult to injury for Mannfred, Nagash resurrects Arkhan, who had been slain along with Krell).

At Nagash's command the undead marshal their forces and head to Athel Loren to ally with the surviving elves, humans and dwarves. Mannfred was demoted further as Sylvania was given to Neferata with Vlad's death because the Tomb Kings were less willing to serve Nagash than the vampires and practically everyone knew Mannfred would arse up trying to lead them. When they reach Athel Loren, Mannfred delivers Nagash's terms in lolspeak Malekith glares him into submission. At the meeting to determine what to do about Nagash, Mannfred sits at the meeting laughing behind his sleeve at everyone. His mood only get better when he sees an outburst and deduces that the elven goddess Lileath has been turning the Bretonnians into an hero with her sockpuppet goddess, the Lady of the Lake. When Nagash offers the one responsible for Aliathra's death as a token of goodwill Mannfred pulls out a martini to toast Arkhan getting thrown under the bus. However, Mannfred loses it upon learning he, not Arkhan, is going under the bus; few know of Arkhan's involvement in the Everchild's death but everyone knows his. He gets locked away by the elves and slowly vampirized (oh the irony) to feed Athel Loren. Vlad, once again back from the dead, visits him to to troll him and/or give some parting words before leaving him to die.

Unfortunately that's not the end. Bea'lakor, fresh of his first defeat at the Incarnate's, sneaks around in Athel Loren to cause mischief. He encounters Mannfred, who says "fuck it" and takes a level in jerkass by making a deal with the devil, exchanging his freedom for selling out Lileath to Bea'lakor. After getting a bite to eat/killing his guards, he imagines himself as a lost little puppy with nowhere to go, so he decides to serves Archaon. But not before trolling the forces of order as revenge for imprisoning him by telling the Bretonnians the truth about the Lady/Lileath. Somehow retaking his skeleton dragon-bat-horse he flies to Middenheim and becomes one of Archaon's motley band of auxiliary turncoats.

However, even Archaon won't take Mannfred's sass and Mannfred betrays Archaon too, sitting on the fence when the Incarnates arrive and trying to figure out the winning side. In the end, Mannfred continues a string of betrayal and arrogance that would disgust a Skaven and fucks the world by stabbing Balthazar in the back. The magical backlash depowers the other Incarnates, drives Mannfred insane and, most importantly for Mannfred, kills Teclis. Tyrion sees Mannfred, the (supposed) killer of his daughter and now (actually) of his brother, so he let's Mannfred know how he feels about it with Sunfang - tip first- then lighting Mannfred on fire, killing him. Despite Warhammer-Starscream's death, the damage is done and the Incarnates can no longer control the rift, which spirals out of control, consuming the world and everyone in it.

tl;dr: This whiny, selfish vampire is the one responsible for the destruction of the Warhammer world in-universe. Damnit Mannfred!

Age of Sigmar

Despite the above, Mannfred is the winner of the Von Carsteins, since he made it to Age of Sigmar but Vlad and most (if not all) of the other Von Carsteins did not (yet?).

However it wasn't an easy road to victory.

Nagash, rightfully pissed over Mannferd backstabbing him (figuratively, by literally backstabbing Balthazar) and enabling the Chaos Gods to destroy the Warhammer world (revealed to have been called Mallus), exiled him to a land where everything decays including himself. Note: while Nagash may have gained godhood and a planet/realm of his own after the loss of Mallus, there are seven other realms. This means at least seven other Incarnates are there who can challenge him; with at least two, Tyrion and Alarielle, wanting to kick his skeletal ass.

So Mannfred languished in this magical version of super-Detroit until Chaos invaded. He led his forces of undead and some allied living against an army of Khornates. However they proved too much and Mannfred fled with his tail between his legs. His lore continues in a series of audio books. Mannfred is at some point captured by Khornates. He is freed by Stormcast Eternals on the condition that they ally with him and that he leads them to Nagash.

The meeting with Nagash goes as well as one would expect.

On The Tabletop

Mannfred comes in three variations: young Mannfred=Mannfred the Accolyte, who is a Hero level option and represents the version of him when he wasn't the last fucking von Carstein who gets a name in the fluff. Current Mannfred=Count Mannfred, in all his horrifying glory. Nagash campaign Mannfred has the Count Mannfred model mounted on an Abyssal Terror, sharing a kit with Queen Neferata and Arkhan the Black. Of the two, Mannfred the Acolyte is better to field crunch-wise. He provides Loremaster, which is what you mainly take him for. You want him fighting chaff and nothing but chaff since he needs to actually kill things in CC in order to be used to his full potential, the weaker the enemy the better. You don't really want to bring him to fight Warriors of Chaos. The older version is a MUCH more badass spellcaster, but he sucks up a Lord slot and consumed a lot of points. That being said, in an edition dominated by horde armies this is the guy to bring to cleave his way through half a unit, then in the magic phase use the power he gets from that carnage to blow apart enemy spellcasters and similar easy targets in the distance.

As far as armies go, Mannfred has the distinct honor of being the most von Carstein of the von Carsteins. It's literally in the fluff that he takes every option in the entire Vampire Counts army. He has defectors from all different Bloodlines serving under him, he employs all manner of undead, and he pulls his armies from the ENTIRE WORLD. A Tomb King skeleton draped in animal hide alongside a Bretonnian Man At Arms zombie alongside a Dwarf zombie alongside a WoC zombie works fucking gloriously. Any character in any army other than the named leaders of the other Bloodlines can be found with him, from Vlad to Krell. It's no wonder he's the new Vampire Count ~~posterboy~~ scrollboy.

Total War: WARHAMMER

As the faction leader of the Vampire Counts, Mannfred got something of a buff. Like all Vampire Lords, he has access to Lore of Vampires, but also Lore of Death, thus making him a magic powerhouse if you give him the Loremaster traits for both schools.

Yet those are not the things you choose him for, the spells are extra. You choose him for the ability to cut on the upkeep on Grave Guards and for the fact that at level 25 he unlocks a ZOMBIE DRAGON. Combine it with armor and health traits and Mannfred becomes a DISTRACTION CARNIFEX. Though given that he's the leader of your army, and the harshness of the crumbling mechanic, the wisdom of using him as a bullet sponge is.... questionable.

Mannfred's old model, best represents him as Vlad's little boy back home.
Mannfred the Acolyte model. Somewhere between Mannfred leaving to explore the world, and his first defeat.
Count Mannfred. Somewhere between his first defeat and the current point in the fluff.
Mannfred, after Nagash hooked him up with a new model.
Mannfred strutting in Nehekhara
Mannfred in the Warhammer Trading Card Game.
Mannfred's defining moment; the vampire who fucked the world.
Mannfred goes digital.