Editing Heinrich Kemmler (section)

==On The Tabletop==
Being the oldest Fantasy character, Kemmler naturally has had a number of rules variations on the tabletop and has appeared in most of the editions of the game (thanks to White Dwarf more than the individual army books). This is so long as we include his original appearance(s), which means he's had a total of 7 variations of his own rules (6th edition gave him rules twice as well for some odd reason), with the only thing remaining the same across all editions being that he had the Undead rule.
His appearance record is quite impressive, if for no other reason than GW remembered he existed and felt like giving him rules in a game where named characters were abruptly dropped from books for no reason (until AoS anyway, where he was first given very poor rules before being removed entirely).
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===4th Edtion===
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || M || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Heinrich Kemmler:''' || 350-512 || 4 || 7 || 7 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 6 || 5 || 10 || -
|}
As anyone familiar with HeroHammer would be able to tell you, Kemmler's stats and weapons back in these editions were fucking bullshit. Having a statline that would allow him to annihilate most combat lords of 6th, 7th and 8th edition Kemmler also could get his own magic items and a skeleton steed (for +2 points) that made him harder to lock down and kill (optional, since this was back when named characters could buy their own magic items and with his cloak there was little reason to get the horse). Speaking of which, he was also a level 4 wizard who could equip the following:
*'''Chaos Tomb Blade''': Kemmler's trusty sword that he's almost never without. In this edition it cost a whopping 75 points, but it was worth it as the Chaos Tomb Blade granted Kemmler a free spell every time he killed something (and if you take a look at his statline, you'd realize there's never a time he isn't going to be killing something).
*'''Skull Staff''': Kemmler's gibbering staff, which oddly enough received very few changes throughout the editions. In this edition it cost 35 points, it made enemies reveal all magic items when they came within 12" of Kemmler and it gave him +1 to dispel enemy spells (which given his level and how spells used to work, meant he dispelled nearly everything on a 2+ or very rarely, a 3+). In future editions the Skull Staff would usually keep one of these abilities (or both) and otherwise get something new in place of the one it lost.
*'''Cloak of Mists and Shadows''': Like the Skull Staff, the Cloak of Mists and Shadows rarely gets changed around and is tied for having the fewest variations. In this edition it cost 50 points and gave him a free cast of Dark Mist, which made Kemmler Ethereal and allowed him to instantly move 24" so long as it wasn't dispelled or Kemmler hadn't decided to end it. Yes, this meant a combat monster was free to roam around the field at 24" a turn until the game was over, it's hardly a wonder he was changed around later.

===5th Edition===
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || M || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Heinrich Kemmler:''' || 450 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 6 || 3 || 10 || -
|}
5th Edition started to reign back the crazy profiles that appeared all over 4th, but that didn't mean it didn't have its own fair share of bullshit with its heroes. As such Kemmler's stats were dropped down a bit and his points increased... sort of (going up by 100 points base, but automatically given all his toys, so he's 60 points cheaper than a maxed-out 4th edition Lichemaster). He also lost 3 Weapon/Ballistic Skill, 1 Strength and 2 Attacks, but everything else with his profile remained the same. He also lost the ability to get a horse, something that would stay with him for the rest of Warhammer Fantasy since there was never a need for anyone to use him on one. Kemmler was still a level 4 wizard and armed with the following:
*'''Chaos Tomb Blade''': Surprisingly this edition saw no changes to the Tomb Blade (unlike the latter editions). It was listed as the same price and still gave Kemmler free magic spells per kill, although thankfully he'd be doing a whole lot less killing in this edition.
*'''Skull Staff''': The Skull Staff is entirely unchanged in this edition. It still cost 35 points, made enemies reveal all magic items when they came within 12" of Kemmler and it gave him +1 to dispel enemy spells (which given his level and how spells used to work, meant he dispelled nearly everything on a 2+ or very rarely, a 3+).
*'''Cloak of Mists and Shadows''': Dropped 20 points in cost (down to 30), but otherwise remained the same. In this edition it cost 50 points and gave him a free cast of Dark Mist, which made Kemmler Ethereal and allowed him to instantly move 24" so long as it wasn't dispelled or Kemmler hadn't decided to end it.

===6th Edition v1.0===
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || M || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Heinrich Kemmler:''' || 450 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 1 || 9 || -
|}
6th Edition once again kicked Kemmler right in the stats, dropping him down another 1 WS/BS, 1 Strength, 3 Initiative, 2 Attacks and 1 Leadership. It did help him out a little as far as his rules went though, even if he still cost a metric fuckton. He was still a Level 4 Necromancer, but this time with a whole host of new gear under his cloak and a shiny new rule:
*'''Sword''': Kemmler dropped the Chaos Tomb Blade off somewhere, or was scared the Skaven might find it shiny and decide to steal it (since he was working alongside them at the time of getting these rules) so he only uses a normal sword in this version.
*'''Cloak of Mists and Shadows''': In this edition it still makes Kemmler Ethereal, though for some reason loses its massive movement. It also makes it so that he can only attack other Ethereal creatures in close combat, although you were hardly going to have him in close combat to begin with unless it was to troll a combat lord who hadn't bought a magic weapon (they're more common than you think).
*'''Skull Staff''': The Skull Staff had a minor change. While it still makes enemies reveal all magic items when they came within 12", it no longer gives +1 to dispel, instead it allows Kemmler to re-roll the result on the Miscast table. Very handy for making sure he doesn't instantly die. Technically too the next four items are a part of his staff somehow:
**'''Power Stone''': Once per game Kemmler could immediately give himself 2 free Power dice. Handy, if a little odd to see such a common item with him.
**'''Black Periapt''': Kemmler apparently became fond of jewelry in this edition, as this is his second (and more useful) piece. It allows him to store one unused power/dispel dice, and then use it in the next magic phase (turning a power dice into a dispel dice and vice versa).
**'''Spell Familiar''': Aside from picking up jewelry Kemmler also started keeping pets (aside from Krell). This one allows him to know an extra spell atop the usual 4 he already knows.
**'''Power Familiar''': The second pet Kemmler keeps tied to his staff. This one gives him a free power dice and dispel dice every single magic phase.
Most of Kemmler's magic items work really well with the special rule he gained in this edition, you could potentially use the Power Stone, the Power Familiar and the Black Periapt to gain +4 power dice in one phase, just in case you felt like lubing up to use the rule to its full potential:
*'''Master of Necromancy''': Kemmler can cast any spell he wants as many times as he wants so long as he still has power dice. It's essentially Khaine magic before Khaine came out and it's equally as broken. Presumably this is the reason Kemmler costs so much as he could heal up his entire army before scooting everyone across the battlefield, or just spamming Gaze of Nagash to annihilate annoying skirmisher units.

===6th Edition v2.0===
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || M || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Heinrich Kemmler:''' || 550 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 1 || 9 || 5++
|}
Yes he got rules twice for this edition, and you know what? His first showing was just a warmup to what he can really do. While he lost a few toys here and there (deciding two pets were too hard to care for, losing interest in his Power Stone and trading 1 Wound for 1 Strength) Kemmler's second version, despite being 100 points more expensive is easily one of the most powerful spellcasting Lords Warhammer Fantasy has seen, primarily due to still being Level 4, keeping the Master of Necromancy rule and gaining '''his own unique magic lore''', as well as his own entire '''ARMY LIST'''. Before getting to that though, here's what he's armed with:
*'''Chaos Tomb Blade''': In this edition it allows Kemmler to re-roll failed to Wound rolls and would be a great weapon if it was on anyone else. Fortunately it did have a use, if you combined it with Desiccating Grasp it gave a very welcome buff to the spell.
*'''Skull Staff''': No change here either. It still makes enemies reveal all magic items when they came within 12" and it allows Kemmler to re-roll the result on the Miscast table. Very handy for making sure he doesn't instantly die.
*'''Cloak of Mists and Shadows''': A slight change here, Kemmler's still Ethereal but he's no longer forced to only be able to attack other Ethereal creatures. Now he's free to walk up to anyone he wants and attempt to murder them with Desiccating Grasp while fearing no retaliation unless they have a magic weapon.
*'''Black Periapt''': Luckily Kemmler decided to keep this over his Power Stone. It allows him to store one unused power/dispel dice, and then use it in the next magic phase (turning a power dice into a dispel dice and vice versa). No longer tied to his staff so you're not fucked if that gets destroyed.
*'''Power Familiar''': The one pet Kemmler decided to keep under his coat. This one gives him a free power dice and dispel dice every single magic phase and like the Periapt it's no longer tied to his staff.
Aside from his gear Kemmler keeps the following rule, and gains a new one:
*'''Master of Necromancy''': Kemmler can cast any spell he wants as many times as he wants so long as he still has power dice. Like before it's really powerful, and now even more so since his own spell lore is even better than regular Necromancy.
*'''Spells of Protection''': Because only pussies gain their Ward saves from magic items. Kemmler finally decided he needed at least some save of some kind, so he cast a few spells on himself that give him a permanent 5+ Ward save that cannot be removed by any normal means (such as destroying a magic item, since this is a rule unique to him). Kemmler and his unit (should he be in one) also ignore one point of crumble, which can certainly help out if you lost because of something minor like musicians or outnumbering.

===8th Edition===
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || M || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Heinrich Kemmler:''' || 350 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 1(3) || 8 || -
|}
Kemmler had a very sad showing in 8th edition. After becoming an absolute magical beast in 6th which led his own unique army with its own unique units, 8th neutered him pretty hard and took away nearly all of the previous reasons you'd bring him. In here he's stuck in a bizarre dual role of being a mediocre combat character thanks to trading -1 Ld for +1 Initiative (for some reason) and getting +2 attacks from his weapon, as well as being a good spellcaster (still level 4). However aside from the smaller games or a themed list where you wanted to avoid using vampires he'd see little use. He had the following equipment:
*'''Chaos Tomb Blade''': Kemmler's sword underwent a weird change in 8th, here it gave him +2 Attacks, and when he kills enemies they turn into extra models for the unit he's leading (so long as he was with Skeletons or Grave Guard). This could be very handy if he was in a souped-up unit of Grave Guard since it was essentially letting you get extra points, or helping you replenish your casualties from crumble, but most of the time you didn't want him in combat since any decent combat lord would kick his shit in and Kemmler has always cost a fuckload of points.
*'''Skull Staff''': Oddly enough the Skull Staff went back to the rules it had in 4th/5th edition, making enemies reveal magic items when they get within 12" and giving Kemmler +1 to dispel. Handy, but you could recreate this for less than his cost.
*'''Cloak of Mists and Shadows''': In this edition it gives Kemmler ''either'' the Fly or Ethereal rule. Most of the time this meant he was Ethereal as he was way too easy to kill otherwise.
That's all the stuff he gets, 8th dropped him down to his bare-basic gear and also removed his unique rules, which included removing his Ward save and anti-crumble. They did give him the following generic rules though:
*'''Loremaster (Lore of Vampires)''': Kemmler knows all of the Lore of Vampires spells. This is to be expected since he already had a similar rule in the previous edition.
*'''Master of the Dead''': Kemmler can increase Skeleton units to be larger than their starting size. Whoopee.

===Age of Sigmar===

In the "warhammer legends, hero of the old world" compendium, Kemmler returns with rules, but without points cost (those rules are for nostalgic and narrative play, after all). Here, Kemmler doesn't have a command ability, neither such a good unique spell (CV 5, every "vampire counts" model within 12" heals one wound. Only good with multi wounds models like varghaists or bats). For the rest, he can put some really nice tricks, like teleporting around the table at the start of the HERO PHASE (yes, he can move after), adding one to casting and unbinding rolls, and can pass wounds and mortals wounds to another "vampire count" unit at 2+ (no limitations about which unit can get the wounds, so this can have hilarious outcome: "hey Mannfred, can you step in front of me and take those incoming arrows in my place?" "why the hell i shou... Wait, what am I doing?! PLEASE NO! AAAAAH, RIGHT IN THE EYE!" "thanks Mannfred, you are the best bro ever" "FUCK YOU!")
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