Blood Dragon Vampire Lord

 is a lord for the Vampire Counts added in the Aye-Aye! Patch for Total War: Warhammer II.

In campaign mode, they are recruited via the Bloodlines mechanic. A Wizard Lord, its focus is "Military Commander".

There is a Legendary Red Dragon Bloodline Vampire Lord in the game, The Red Duke. He is a faction leader of Mousillon.

Description
The Blood Dragons, were a fearsome order of Blood Knights known for their peerless martial prowess in battle. They were consummate warriors, whose skill at arms was unmatched in the Old World, living only for martial combat and brutal battle. Usually fighting from horseback, the Blood Dragons sometimes fought on foot, and were masters of all forms of combat and all weapons, though they eschewed cowardly ranged weapons and magic in favour of pure physical strength and martial skills, believing only in that which was physical; however, they were not above using magic, and would sometimes use their innate (though poorly developed) abilities in Necromancy to raise undead servants.

Attributes

 * ↑ Armoured: Armoured units can block damage from any source apart from Armour-Piercing damage.
 * ↑ Anti-Infantry: Anti-infantry units have an advantage against targets that are smaller than a horse. This advantage can be a damage bonus against small targets, superior weight used to smash through lighter enemies, or an explosive attack from range that effects a large area.
 * ↑ Melee Expert: Melee Experts might have a very strong melee attack or melee defence, or high values in both. Some also have melee-focused skills like Charge Defence. Use them to counter other strong melee units. When facing them, it is best to take them out before they can enter melee.
 * ↑ Frenzy: Units with frenzy cause more damage while their leadership is high.

Abilities

 * Heart Piercing
 * Honour or Death
 * The Hunger
 * Frenzy

Spells

 * Lore of Vampires

Mounts

 * Barded Nightmare
 * Zombie Dragon
 * Hellsteed

Multiplayer items

 * Helm of Discord
 * Sword of Anti-Heroes

Strategy
When compared to the vanilla Vampire Lord, the Red Dragon is slightly more (100g) expensive to recruit, carries no shield (just like all other Bloodline Lords except for the Von Carstein) and has slightly weaker defense (-5), he has a bigger Charge Bonus (+10), a Bonus vs. Infantry (20) and has Frenzy.

At level 10, the Red Dragon lord can get his The Ordo Draconis unique skill. It grants him -40% both recruitment and upkeep cost for Blood Knights in his army, as well as +10% post-battle loot.

Likewise, at the same level his two unique skill trees open up: 1. Doomrider (-50% construction cost an -1 construction turn for the Binding Circle building chain, -50% Upkeep and -1 recruitment turn for Black Knight units) 2. The Strength of Steel (+20 Armour, +25 AP damage, +22 Bonus vs. Large) 3. Heart Piercing 1. Grave Sentinels (-40% Upkeep, -50% recruitment cost and -1 turn recruitment duration for Grave Guard units) 2. Disciple of Abhorash (20% Missile Resistance, 10% Physical Resistance for him) 3. Honour or Death

The Red Dragon Bloodline Vampire Lord has a slightly simplified magic tree; without a split into basic and advanced spells, meaning he can take Curse of Years or Wind of Death immediately after the first Invocation of Nehek upgrade, however he is overall a weaker spellcaster, lacking besides Evasion the typical Earthing for miscast reduction, Magical Reserves for more Winds of Magic and of course the ultimate Arcane Conduit, all available to ordinary Vampire Lords.