Sometimes buying miniatures individually makes perfect sense. Sometimes you look at the price of a monster pack, compare it with buying all the creatures separately, and discover that economics has already made the decision for you. That was the case with the Dracula’s America monster pack. It was cheaper to buy the whole pack, even though doing so left me with one small problem: a second Pale Rider.

I had already found a rather different use for my first Pale Rider miniature. He became Colonel Augustus Beauregard Saint Clair, the risen commander of my 27th Virginian Cavalry Regiment and an increasingly important character in the story surrounding my Dark Confederacy posse. The miniature worked perfectly for Augustus, particularly once I had developed the story of his final charge, death and decidedly unnatural return to command.

So what was I going to do with another one?

After considering various possibilities, the obvious answer eventually occurred to me. Perhaps I could do something radical and use the Pale Rider miniature as the Pale Rider.

This time, however, I wanted him to look quite different from Augustus and also rather different from the way the Pale Rider is usually depicted. I have therefore painted him in much more ghostly shades, with both horse and rider intended to look like spectral apparitions rather than a resurrected cavalryman. Augustus may be dead, but there is still something recognisably human about him. The Pale Rider is something else entirely, a supernatural manifestation summoned through forbidden ritual for the specific purpose of vengeance.

That difference also means that, despite using the same basic miniature, the two models should be immediately distinguishable on the tabletop. Augustus is a character with a name, a regiment, a family history and unfinished business. The Pale Rider does not need any of that. Somebody performs the ritual, somebody is marked for death, and the Rider comes looking for them.

The Pale Rider in Dracula’s America

The Pale Rider is a ghostly horseman wreathed in spectral fire, summoned through forbidden ritual to exact vengeance upon a chosen victim. He uses a 40mm base, has a Move of 6 inches and Grit D8.

His special rules make him considerably more interesting than those basic numbers might suggest. He has the Entity, Ethereal and Fearsome traits, emphasising that this is not simply a particularly unpleasant cavalryman but a supernatural creature.

Most importantly, when the Pale Rider appears, one non NPC model is randomly selected as the Rider’s Prey. From that point onwards the Rider has only one concern. He always moves 8 inches towards his chosen victim, wherever that model happens to be on the table.

Note: there is a 6″/8″ contradiction is in the rules not in Guru’s mind! I think this is a typo as on page 39 of the rules all mounted move 6″.

I intend to use 8″ for the Pale Rider’s compulsory movement towards its chosen victim. The reason is that the specific Pale Rider rule should override the generic profile value. That also fits the creature concept where he is identified as a supernatural horseman summoned specifically to pursue a chosen victim.

There is also a wonderfully nasty consequence to becoming the Rider’s Prey. If the unfortunate victim becomes a casualty, the Pale Rider immediately disappears and is removed from play. On the other hand, simply knocking the victim down will not save them. If the Rider finishes a move in contact with the Prey while that model is Down, the victim is killed outright, regardless of the normal protections that might otherwise have saved them. Having completed his purpose, the Rider then immediately vanishes.

This makes the Pale Rider rather more than another monster to throw into a gunfight. Once he appears, the game suddenly acquires a little supernatural subplot of its own. One particular model has been marked, the Pale Rider is coming for them, and everyone at the table knows exactly where he is going.

There is something particularly satisfying about that mechanic because it fits the miniature so well. He does not wander around looking for convenient targets or become distracted because somebody else happens to be standing closer. He has been summoned for vengeance. He has a victim. He rides.

In the end, therefore, getting a duplicate Pale Rider in the monster pack turned out to be no problem at all. In fact, I am rather pleased that it happened. The same miniature has now given me two completely different figures for my Dracula’s America collection. One is Colonel Augustus Beauregard Saint Clair, risen commander of the 27th Virginian Cavalry Regiment. The other is a spectral instrument of vengeance whose entire existence revolves around finding one unfortunate soul.

When Augustus rides onto the table, at least you know who he is.

When the Pale Rider appears, the more pressing question is who he has come for.