Vampiric Boardgame goings on...?

After our gaming evening the other night, that I mentioned in my previous post, my son was asking me if I knew of any Vampire/Dracula boardgames...

There are two that I am aware of...

Vampyre:

Vampyre was a fun little paper and card counters game from TSR back in the early 1980's... What I recall I liked about it, was the clever two phases of the game, the first part being a map based search for the Vampire round eastern Europe, and then when you had the vampire cornered in his lair, you turned over the map to reveal a castle floor plan, and you had to search the castle, beat the bad guys and kill the vampire. 

Great fun as I recall...

Of course my copy from 30+ years ago has long since disappeared... If anyone still has a copy of this in reasonable condition, that they would part with, I am interested (PM me or comment below).

Which leads me to ...

Fury of Dracula:

Fury of Dracula was a game originally released by GW I believe(?), back in the days when they were a games shop, and not just a 40k & WFB shop...

I never bought it then, but its always remained in my mind as a possibilty to get. More recently the game has been taken over by FantasyFlightGames.

However, I note this game seems to be just the chase across the European Map part of things, with, from what I have read, a disappointing final combat sequence. Some reviews also consider the map play 'dull'.


And I know my son will want some feel of confronting the Vampire / Dracula on the tabletop!

So, what do people think? Whats a good Vampire game these days that will convey a sense of the chase / hunt, plus a good scrap at the end?

I had actually pondered the idea of using Fury of Dracula, as a back drop to a Empire of the Dead Campaign...? Play out the chase across the map, then once the beast is cornered, break out the miniatures for a table top game???

Thoughts?

All comments and suggestions welcome!

Vampire faction - Empire of the Dead

Over the weekend I finally got my first faction finished for Empire of the Dead; the Nosferatu, or Vampire Faction. I present some pictures of how they turned out here:

The whole Faction arrayed, led by the Graf, with Consort and Guardian following, backed up by three Thralls and two Bat swarms.

I must admit I painted this faction first , thinking it would be quicker than the Gentleman's club, as two of the elements to paint, the bats, were pretty much just a quick grey dry brush and black wash and done!

The Gentleman's club is next on the painting table...

The Graf...

The Consort...

The Guardian...

The three Thralls...

The two Bat swarms

And a comparison shot, (for 'the Baron' as requested on Lead Adventure Forum, sorry for delay): just showing how the Brigadegames Paroom Station Prussians, match with the WestWind sculpts:

The Prussian is mounted and a simple steel 20mm washer. I will probably get some of the WestWind 30mm round bases to use as a sabot base while using the Prussians as Zendarians for EotD.

I have so far played a couple of simple games of EotD pitching the Vampires against the Gentleman's club, and they have been great fun. Looking forward to more, and I'll post some pictorial battle reports once the Gentleman's club figures are done.

Just to get enthused for more games I watched a couple of great movies over the weekend;

Van Helsing

Set in 1887, a classic Gothic horror monster bash, embellished with modern day CGI to bring the genre kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
Jackman plays a great and solid part and Beckinsale is always a pleasure to watch her strut her stuff across the screen. I liked the pseudo 'JamesBond' link to set the ball rolling with the 'Cardinal' playing 'M' and David Wenham as the friar 'Q'.
I was really impressed with the versatility Wenham has shown in his acting, from the brooding warrior Faramir in LOTR, to this small scurrying terrified friar. Great stuff.
Vampires, werewolves and Frankensteins monster in one movie - whats not to like. I could even watch this with my young son, who wasn't scared by the monsters who has 'seen it all before'...

From Hell

Set in 1888 London, Depp plays inspector Abberline, trying to solve the Ripper murder case as it progresses through London's Whitechapel area... A much darker and sinister movie than Van Helsing, and not one for the younger viewer. I enjoyed this for it scene setting stuff and inspiration for Victorian London terrain making. I have always enjoyed Depp in the various roles he has played and Robbie Coltrane is another favourite, he plays a great sidekick role.

Two great movies, though differing in style, to enthuse you for a bit of Empire of the Dead gaming!