Heinrich Kemmler

"-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

"Where is Krell?"
-Heinrich Kemmler

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

Back in the days of yore, when Warhammer Fantasy was a combination of tabletop game and role-playing game, the campaign "Terror Of The Lichemaster" (for the tabletop) introduced Heinrich Kemmler as the first playable 'special character' (along with the skavens as a race). "Terror Of The Lichemaster" dealt with Kemmler's rise to power and eventual downfall (at least in canon, it was possible for Kemmler to actually 'win' the campaign in play).

Kemmler however wasn't destroyed, he returns in "Vengeance Of The Lichemaster". (Written as a RPG-supplement, where he is the Big Bad Evil Guy.) It turned out that after his first defeat, he managed to flee retribution and attempted to find a moment of respite at the Abbey A la Maisontaal in the Grey Mountains, pretending to be a pilgrim. The residing abbot (a powerful cleric of Taal) saw through his magical disguise and hammered Kemmler with a spell that severed him from his magical power source permanently. (What would today be known as Shyish, but back then was left nebulous).

Still, Kemmler managed to escape once again and spent many years as an insane hermit in the mountains; his old foes believing him dead and the abbot never realising who he'd driven off and secure in the knowledge the black mage would not regain his powers. But he was wrong: in his errance, Kemmler chanced upon a daemon which offered to restore his powers if he would kill in Chaos' name; each soul he claimed for the daemon's patron(s) granting him a measure of power. (It is left unclear who exactly Kemmler bargains with, the demon he encounters is said to be 'serving Nurgle' but 'showing an unusual interest in the necromantic arts'). Kemmler, eager for revenge, and at that point utterly batshit insane after years of barely surviving, agreed to the bargain.

"Vengeance Of The Lichemaster" then deals with Kemmler's slow restoring of his power with terror attacks meant simply to kill and secure magical power (striking at prospectors, lone altitude hovels and farms, an isolated human village and a small dwarven mine outpost; with the PC's getting the chance to limit the damage in most places), until he felt secure enough to raise 'a famous chieftain having terrorised the region in ages past' as his champion. (Back then called Hans Zwemmer, but who would later become Krell) With enough raw magical power from his wanton killing and undead under his command, he then launches an all-out attack against the Abbey A la Maisontaal, where he is eventually defeated for good. (The player characters having to either bargain with Skaven or chance risking using an artefact made of pure warpstone to counter his magicks.)

Modern Canon

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

Despite his honored place in the history of the game, Kemmler is hit by 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, Warhammer Fantasy's first Special Character was the first Special Character killed off in the End Times. In hindsight, this seemed to be foreshadowing for what GW would end up doing to the Warhammer Fantasy setting.

On The Tabletop

Naturally being the oldest Fantasy character, Kemmler 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).

4th Edtion

	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 by 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 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

	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

	Pts	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Heinrich Kemmler:	450	4	3	3	4	4	3	3	1	9	-

6th Edition once again kicked Kemmler right in the stats, dropping him down another 1 WS/BS, 1 Wound, 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:

• Chaos Tomb Blade: Changed so that it only allowed Kemmler to re-roll failed To Wound rolls in close combat. The Tomb Blade sucked in this edition (normally it would be quite good, but Kemmler's statline hardly allows him to take advantage of it) unless you were using the Hand of Dust spell, in which case it was a welcome buff.
• 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.
• 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).
• 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 under his coat. 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

	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 and losing interest in his Power Stone) 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: Same edition so no change, it still lets him re-roll failed to Wound rolls and wasn't very good on him unless you combined it with Dessicating Grasp.
• 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 Dessicating 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).
• 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.

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 case 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.

Lore of the Lichemaster

Army of the Lichemaster

8th Edition

	Pts	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Heinrich Kemmler:	550	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 roll of being a mediocre combat character (for some reason) thanks to the +1 Initiative he got and +2 attacks from his weapon, as well as a good spellcaster (still level 4), but 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 costed 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

Trivia

It is possible, especially considering GW's love of basing things in both 40k and Fantasy on actual history, that Heinrich Kemmler takes the basis of his name from the German priest Heinrich Kramer, the who wrote the Malleus Malificarum, the book that started the European witch craze and was basically "Witch Hunting for Dummies", complete with claims that witches went around stealing dicks and hiding them in birds-nests for the lulz.

Total War: Warhammer

Heinrich was one of the starting legendary lords for the vampire counts in Total War: Warhammer. Unfortunately his rather lackluster stats, the absence of Krell and lack of differentiation from a generic master necromancer have led to him becoming something of a joke to the playerbase. Indeed this has gotten to the point where Helman Ghorst, an extremely minor character that a significant portion of the fanbase were unaware even existed, is generally considered more useful than Heinrich. Granted, Heinrich is more or less the same as his tabletop version, a cheap necromancer lord with Krell on his side.

As of 20/07/2017, Krell has been added in the free DLC An Old Friend. Sadly, he is not a unique lord like The Red Duke, but a special summon usable only by the Lichemaster himself. He also comes with the downside of constantly deteriorating due to his summon status, but he can be kept around longer with Invocation of Nehek and has his own skill tree to make him even more powerful in Kemmler's skills list. Still, Krell is a solid lord slayer who is capable of challenging and killing powerful heroes with nary a problem.

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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  Kemmler in Total War:Warhammer