House of Wisdom
The House of Wisdom is the pre-eminent centre of learning within the Iron Sultanate. Its libraries, workshops, forges, gardens of exotic and wondrous plants, hospitals and observatories are unmatched. Within its halls are mechanical marvels and weapons from far-off lands, as well as trophies captured by the Sultan’s forces and brought to be examined by the learned scholars of the House of Wisdom. Philosophers and theologists debate in its chambers; ghanzal and qasīda poets compose verses describing the beauty and pain of life. Thus it is no wonder that the House attracts the greatest minds of the age to study in its hallowed halls, from within the Sultanate and far beyond the Iron Wall.
In its laboratories guarded by the faithful Kavass, the Jabirean Alchemists dissect and study the War Beasts of Shaitan so their weaknesses can be laid bare and exploited by the Believers. At such times, their roars of rage and pain echo through the porphyry corridors of the House.
To maintain a degree of independence, regardless of the royal funding, the House of Wisdom performs many services for the Sultan’s armies. Their best alchemists work with the Sultanate foundries where the Great Cannons of the Iron Wall are cast. Takwin creations are provided to bolster the army of Those Who Believe, as are suits of armour and alchemical ammunition. The House of Wisdom also maintains the Sultanate fleet of airships, which both guard the realms of Those Who Believe against enemy air forces and maintain vigil over lands under darkness. They make regular excursions deep into enemy territory to witness whether the Great Sandstorm still covers the Two Holy Places, reporting any news back to the Sultan.
In exchange, the masters of the House of Wisdom have freedom to despatch their own excursions and expeditions into the lands beyond the wall, to seek tomes of knowledge lost in the dark and terrible days when the forces of Jahannam overran much of the Levant and great cities fell like blossoms of a Jasmine flower in fiery heat. Sometimes they are journeys to capture an especially ferocious beast of the enemy. At other times they seek to capture or kill Heretic Alchemists which they see as both an offence to their craft and a threat to the entire world.
These journeys are exceedingly dangerous and they are not undertaken lightly. Each Alchemist dispatched on such a journey is an irreplaceable loss, and since they operate under their own authority, they cannot expect direct support from the Sultan’s forces. Many noble Fāris warriors have taken oaths to protect these scholars in their journeys, as well as their own Kavass bodyguards sworn to fight and die in defence of their Masters.
Faction Rules
Captains
At the beginning of a battle, all ranged and melee weapons that an Alchemist has been equipped with may be assigned one of the following Keywords: SHRAPNEL, FIRE or GAS added to them. All the weapons the Alchemist has will share the same Keyword. With a RISKY ACTION with +1 DICE, the Alchemist can change this Keyword into one of the others.
Elite
At the beginning of a battle, all ranged and melee weapons that an Alchemist has been equipped with may be assigned one of the following Keywords: SHRAPNEL, FIRE or GAS added to them. All the weapons the Alchemist has will share the same Keyword. With a RISKY ACTION with +1 DICE, the Alchemist can change this Keyword into one of the others.
If the first ACTION a Janissary makes during their Activation is a Charge, they can add +1 DICE to their subsequent Melee Attack ACTIONS during this Activation.
Infantry
Created through the Jabirean alchemy, the model has no vital organs and they must be dismembered in order to kill them. All injury rolls against the model are made with -1 DICE.
Once during its Activation, the Brazen Bull may make an extra Melee Attack ACTION against a Downed enemy model on a 32mm or smaller base. Resolve the attack as if the Brazen Bull was armed with a Trench Club. This attack ignores armour as the Brazen Bull stomps their enemies into a pulp.
Created through the Jabirean alchemy, the model has no vital organs and they must be dismembered in order to kill them. All injury rolls against the model are made with -1 DICE.
A Downed opponent cannot stand up if it is in melee combat with a Lion of Jabir (even if the Lion is Down itself ), unless it is on a 40mm or larger base.
Lions of Jabir may take any Dash/Jump/Climb/Diving Charge ACTION with a +1 DICE bonus.
As an ACTION with +2 DICE, the Sapper can mine a piece of terrain they alone are touching, no bigger than 8” x 8” (an 8” section of trench, a wall, a tree, a building etc). If successful, the terrain piece is now mined.
As a RISKY ACTION the Sapper can disable any mine (see Scenarios) they move in contact with. If they fail, the mine blows causing damage as per the rules.
When the Sapper is set up during standard deployment, it can be placed up to 6” away from its player’s Deployment Zone. If deployed in this way, it must be in contact with a piece of scenery. This ability cannot be used if playing a scenario that does not allow the use of INFILTRATORS.
During their Activation, a Sapper can take a RISKY ACTION with +1 DICE. If successful, the Sapper is considered to be in Cover until the model moves. This ACTION cannot be used if the model is in melee combat.
Shovel
| Range | Melee |
| Modifiers | Wielding is Optional |
A model equipped with a shovel always starts the game in cover if deployed on ground level, even if placed in open terrain. As soon as the model moves, it is no longer in cover. A model that is covered in this way retains the benefit of Cover even if the attacking model has an unobstructed view of it. If a model equipped with a shovel has two hands free, it can use it in Melee Combat as if it were a Trench Club.
Battlefield shovel allows troops to dig in and fight from cover in virtually any battlefield.
Created through the Jabirean alchemy, the model has no vital organs and they must be dismembered in order to kill them. All injury rolls against the model are made with -1 DICE.
If the Homunculus is taken Out of Action during battle, and is deemed to have been killed in the post-battle sequence, you do not have to remove it from your roster. Instead, you can spend 40 ducats at any time between battles to bring it back to life with all of its weapons and abilities.
Mercenaries
When a Combat Biologist takes any enemy model with the Keyword DEMONIC or BLACK GRAIL Out of Action with a Melee attack, place 1 BLESSING MARKER beside the Combat Biologist.
Whenever a Combat Biologist is part of your Warband, you can add the following Glorious Deed in addition to those normally available in each Scenario you play
Battlefield Vivisection
Standard Armour
-1 to all Injury Chart rolls against the model. Can be combined with any shield.
With the advancements in metallurgy and technology, both Faithful and Heretic armies are well-equipped with suits of alloy armour that can withstand an impact from a bullet or turn aside the sharpest of blades. Standard armour is usually mass-produced, but highly effective even against high-calibre weapons.
Gas Mask
Ignores additional BLOOD MARKERS caused by the Keyword GAS. Any such attacks suffer -1 DICE penalty to all injury rolls.
Mustard Gas, phosgene, chlorine as well as noxious fumes from the bolgias of Hell plague the battlefield. The Gas Mask allows soldiers to withstand such attacks.
Vivisector
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 2 Hands (Melee) |
CUMBERSOME, BLOCK
Pain Amplifier: Lower the roll needed to achieve a Critical Success for a Melee Attack made by this weapon by 1 for each BLOOD MARKER next to the target by 1 (so an enemy with 1 BLOOD MARKER will suffer a Critical Success on a roll of 11+). Inflict Pain: If an attack made by this weapon against a target, without the ARTIFICIAL Keyword and mounted on a 40mm base or smaller is, a Critical Success, but the target is not taken Out of Action, then the target will move D3" in a straight line directly away from the attacking model. It will stop if it moves into a friendly model, Impassable Terrain, a terrain piece it cannot cross without having to Climb, or immediately before it would move within 1" of an enemy model other than the attacker. If the target model would finish the move more than 1" from the attacking model, then the attacking model and any other models within 1" of the target model can make an additional Melee Attack on it before it is moved, as if the target were carrying out a retreat move. If this causes the model to move a second time, add D3" to the distance it is moved but do not attack it again.
This weapon offers both excellent protection by keeping the targets at bay, and its haft incorporates a trigger that injects a horrifying cocktail of holy ointments, chemical toxins, nerve agents and micro-shards of holy relics into any open wound, causing pain that is unbearable to even supernatural enemies. It can also be used to quickly dissect fallen enemies so their organs can be preserved by the Combat Biologist.
Combat Biologists are members of the Pontifical Office of Biological warfare, or in the case of the Sultanate, the Al-Bisţāmī School of Ninety-Nine Names, which trains some failed Alchemist apprentices in a similar fashion. These scholars specialise in battlefield vivisections and collecting samples of the most powerful servants of Hell so they can be studied, in the hopes of finding ways to develop weapons capable of driving the servants of the Pit back to the darkness.
Due to their training, hypnotic conditioning and constant exposure to captured specimens, the Combat Biologist enters a battle trance when faced with creatures that normally induce fear in ordinary troopers. They wield vivisectors, polearm blade weapons that combine sophisticated biological warfare agents and the functional brutality of trench warfare.
Mamluks can form a FIRETEAM with any one ELITE model in the Warband they are part of. This FIRETEAM is always in addition to any other FIRETEAM(s) the Warband is allowed to form. If a Mamluk joins a New Antioch FIRETEAM, the model benefits from the Co-ordinated Fireteam special rules.
Mamluks are disciples of Furūsiyya, the Knightly Discipline passed on through generations, they practice ceaselessly and have few equals. This gives their Jezzails the Keyword ASSAULT as well as the Shield Combo ability. Additionally, they suffer no penalties for fighting with off-hand weapons in melee.
Unless the scenario prohibits use of the special deployment of INFILTRATORS, you may deploy the Mamluk on any table edge as long as they are at least 8” away from any enemy model after INFILTRATORS are deployed. Mamluks can also be deployed in your own deployment zone as standard.
Jezzail
| Range | 18" |
| Hands | 2 Hands (Ranged) |
These long arms are by far the most common weapons carried by the soldiers of the Sultanate of the Great Iron Wall. Their barrels are smoothbore which limits their accuracy at range, but this is more than made up for by the fact that this allows them to be loaded with different types of alchemical ammunition made by the Jabirean Alchemists.
Alchemical Ammunition
Adds +1 DICE to Ranged Attack rolls on the Action Success Chart. Can only be used with Jezzails, Alaybozan, Halberd-Guns and Siege Jezzails.
Jabirean Alchemists craft these Jezzail bullets from the slivers of the Iron Wall. Each such shot is carved the Seal of Solomon, guiding them during their path through the air.
Reinforced Armour
Grants a -2 modifier to all injury rolls against the model wearing this armour.
Reinforced armour is a master-crafted suit made individually for the most important and elite troops. Each one is richly decorated and often carries the personal device of the warrior who wears it.
Combat Helmet
Ignores additional BLOOD MARKERS caused by the Keyword SHRAPNEL.
The simple combat helmet has proven its value on the battlefield time and again.
| Choose One of the Following |
|---|
| Trench Polearm and Trench Shield |
| Sword / Axe and Pistol / Revolver |
| Mamluk Greatsword |
Scripture Guardian has a halved Dash distance (i.e. 3”).
The Scripture Guardian reads words from the holy (or unholy!) text it carries. This is an attack ACTION with 18” range, and it can be used in either Melee or as a Ranged attack (though not both during the same Activation). Use Ranged and Melee Characteristics as appropriate. This attack ignores armour and cover. For each BLOOD MARKER the target has, add +1 to the Injury roll. Note that if armed with a melee weapon, both the Melee attack and the use of the Vengeageful Scripture can be used simultaneously.
Combat Helmet
Ignores additional BLOOD MARKERS caused by the Keyword SHRAPNEL.
The simple combat helmet has proven its value on the battlefield time and again.
Reinforced Armour
Grants a -2 modifier to all injury rolls against the model wearing this armour.
Reinforced armour is a master-crafted suit made individually for the most important and elite troops. Each one is richly decorated and often carries the personal device of the warrior who wears it.
