Heinrich Kemmler
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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
Old Canon
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.
Life
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 floor 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.
On The Tabletop
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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