The Principality of New Antioch
For three hundred years the Principality of New Antioch has stood defiantly as the focal point of the Church and the Faithful at the very edge of the shadow cast by the Gate of Hell. It is the Home of All Our Hopes, the bulwark against Heretic forces and the first line of defence against the devil’s might. Should New Antioch fall, the Levant will be lost and the path to heartlands of the Church will be wide open.
War has never left this corner of the world. The ancient city of Antioch was destroyed by a mysterious demonic weapon in the year 1545, but the Faithful never gave up their positions in the ruins. Despite the lethal demonic essence emanating from the crater that was left behind, the garrison held on, even as mighty Constantinople fell to the legions of Kimaris, Marquis of Hell.
Before it was destroyed, the ancient city of Antioch was always the first line of defence to be put to test. Thus it is no wonder that in the year 1559 the Sword Congress of Vienna agreed to rebuild and fortify the city, and that a yearly tithe is to be sent to New Antioch by all the Faithful nations, though this levy is rarely in form of coin. Instead, endless supply trains of foodstuffs, tools, ammunition, weaponry, machinery and skilled workers and engineers come from across Europa and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the African dominions.
Since those days New Antioch has grown to be the most important fortress-city in the world, the Sword and the Shield of Europa and Africa. All the princes of the Church and heads of the various states and domains who oppose Hell understand that it is better to fight their battles against the Heretics as far away from their heartlands as possible. To this day New Antioch has withstood eight great sieges and its famed walls, with their seventy-seven mighty towers, have never been breached. This is partly due to hundreds of anchorites, metallic battle shrines with devotees entombed within them, that are embedded into the walls, keeping a vigilant watch over the walls day and night.
More than anything else, it is the volunteers who come to serve under the Banner of Christ that ensure the continuous existence of the Principality. Thus in the streets of the city one can hear hundreds of languages and dialects. One might observe hussars of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth brushing shoulders with the last remnants of the Varangian Guard, or hear the sermons of a street preacher from Eire extolling the soldiery of Ethiopia to lay down their lives for the holy cause. Perhaps they might even witness the Church Engineers procession taking their latest invention to be tested in the front lines.
As the nominal supreme commander of all the Faithful armed forces, the Duke of New Antioch is a title of unrivalled prestige and honour. But despite swearing fealty to the Duke, in reality most of the troops from across all of Christendom who come to do battle against Hell operate in units of their own, taking commands from their leaders and making their own strategic decisions.
Still, some soldiers do indeed renounce their citizenship and take up the cross, and come to serve under Duke Constantine alone. Thus the standing army of the Principality is the greatest single fighting force the Faithful can muster, and those who serve on the walls of the Home of Hopes are rightfully proud of their livery.
In recent years the Duke has despatched small forces into No Man’s Land to gather intelligence, look for artefacts of power, conduct raids on Heretic forces, secure strategic strongpoints and loot the battlefields for the wealth of coin and weaponry scattered across the tortured landscape that stretches between New Antioch and the Heretic domains over the centuries. These warbands are simply given commission by the Duke, and have to raise their own coin and muster their own forces. However, holy relics, great wealth and fame across all the Christendom ensures that there is a steady supply of ambitious leaders who are willing to risk all in the crucible of war. Competition for loot, supplies, artefacts and information is fierce, and these warbands often come to blows, not just with Heretical forces, but with competing rivals and crazed Trench Pilgrims.
Faction Rules
Your warband may have up to two Fireteams. These Fireteams may consist of any two models from your warband. Models in Fireteams gain the Keyword
FIRETEAM: This model is part of a
Concentrated Attack: If a model in the
Captains
Lieutenants are leaders of small squads or platoons of New Antioch’s soldiers, playing a fundamental role on the distant frontlines of the Trench Crusade, displaying unwavering resolve in preserving the unity and morale of their troops. Lieutenants might be the favoured son or daughter of a noble family or gained their rank by impressing their superiors with their exceptional strategic acumen and audacious bravery.
In addition to their command role, they are also responsible for acquiring new weapons, arms, equipment and food for their troops. All too often this requires looting the battlefields of No Man’s Land or even raiding settlements, since resupply can be sporadic at best.
Having rightfully earned their position, Lieutenants enjoy the privilege of selecting their preferred arms and armour, often with the pick of the rarest battlefield finds. It is not uncommon for a Lieutenant to wield a distinctive weapon, perhaps a family heirloom, an idiosyncratic affectation or an ostentatious piece providing some much-needed swagger
Elite
These devotees of the Church blind themselves ritually as a devotion to God and use only their faith to strike the enemies of the Church. During the Siege of St. Lux stories were told of a sniper priest killing a target three miles away.
A holy warrior who looks after the souls of the soldiers in the company, the cleric chants inspiring battle prayers and can perform various miracles such as healing or even smiting the enemy. A cleric often carries a portable shrine on his back to denote his faith in the company’s Patron, be that one of the Saints of their homeland, a mighty Arch-Angel or the Lord himself.
Infantry
Combat Engineers are equipped with a Shovel and Engineer Body Armour. This equipment and armour can never be removed. A Combat Engineer can be equipped with any weapon or equipment from the
Engineer Body Armour
Grants a -2 modifier to injury rolls made against the Combat Engineer (this is included in the Combat Engineer’s profile). All weapons with keyword
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.
The combat engineers specialise in destroying bunkers, discovering minefields and building battlefield emplacements. Casualties are extremely high in the combat engineer units, but they consider it an honour to fight and die for New Antioch and the Church.
Due to their knowledge of anatomy and physiology, medics are experts at inflicting debilitating injuries and excruciating pain. Unless the target has the Keyword
The Medic adds
The medic is immune to
Gas Mask
NEGATE GAS
Ignores additional
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.
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.
Medi-Kit
Models with a Medi-kit can take a
Battlefield first aid has brought many soldiers back from the brink of death. Blessed ointments can seal fatal wounds completely, while the black blood of demons used by twisted heretic medics allows mangled troops to return to the fray.
Misericordia
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 1 Hands (Melee) |
| Modifiers | Ignore Armour when down |
Ignores the armour of opponents that are Down.
The misericordia dagger is designed to put enemies out of their misery by finding chinks in the armour: eye slits, neck joints and so forth.
The Sisters of St. Cosmas are a highly trained elite medical corps, specialising in battlefield first aid and surgeries on the front lines of the Great War.
The Sisters take a modified Hippocratic Oath that compels them to help any wounded soldiers of the Faith, no matter how dire the circumstance, as well as dispatching heretics and other enemies they find on the battlefield without pity or mercy.
Armed with a combat surgical knife that doubles as a Misericordia, they are as equally adept at saving lives as taking them from those they find lying wounded in No Man’s Land. They carry medical kits with a plethora of battlefield drugs that are especially useful for nullifying the pain of even the most ghastly wounds, and getting soldiers back on their feet and back into the fray, even if just for a few moments so they can accomplish their mission or die trying.
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.
Well-armoured, large soldiers who wield the heavy weaponry of the company. They are selected from amongst the best and given heavy chemical enhancements.
A Shocktrooper can be equipped with any weapon, armour and equipment from the
Assault Troops that specialise in attacking enemy defensive positions. They are masters of rapid assault and melee combat. Experts at combined arms and Fireteam tactics.
Each yeoman is equipped with a bolt action rifle at a reduced cost of 5 ducats. You can swap this rifle for another ranged weapon of lower, equal or greater cost. If the cost is greater, you must pay the difference in ducats.
Yeomen can be equipped with any weapon, armour and equipment from the
Bolt-Action Rifle
| Range | 24" |
| Hands | 2 Hands (Ranged) |
BAYONET LUG
The workhorse of the Great War. Sturdy, highly reliable and reasonably accurate, it is no surprise that most of the infantry of the Great War carry this battlefield classic.
A basic trooper of New Antioch. Brave men and women who have received standard training and sworn an oath to the Duke of New Antioch. What they lack in combat skills compared to more elite troops they more than make up with their numbers and wide selection of weapons available to them.
Mercenaries
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
NEGATE GAS
Ignores additional
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
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.
At the start of each of their Activations, the Communicant can remove one
Trench Club
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 1 Hands (Melee) |
Trench Clubs are one of the most common weapons of the Great War, as melee combat is frequent and brutal. Usually made of wood with a metal tip from iron, lead or steel, trench clubs often feature spikes and hobnails. Most designs have some form of cord or leather strap at the end to wrap around the user’s wrist.
Combat Helmet
NEGATE SHRAPNEL
Ignores additional
The simple combat helmet has proven its value on the battlefield time and again.
Anti-Materiel Rifle
| Range | 36" |
| Hands | 2 Hands (Ranged) |
| Modifiers | Ignore Armour, +1D to Injuries |
HEAVY, CRITICAL
Ignores armour. Add
Enormous long rifles designed to take out heavily armoured targets, vehicles and strongpoints. With the powerful armour available to the armies of the Great war, these terrifying weapons are much in demand. A downside is their enormous weight and terrifying recoil, and thus they are most often used by Communicants or Anointed who possess the supernatural strength to wield such weapons.
Communicants are partakers of the experimental Chemical Communion – the blood and flesh harvested from a Meta-Christ by the Mendelist monks and applied to the genome of volunteers. The most holy and pious of the Church are chosen to partake of the experimental communion, going through many biological changes to become larger and more durable, greatly enhancing their effectiveness on the battlefield. Their divinely-enhanced strength allows them to carry and shoot massive anti-materiel guns as easily as a normal soldier would wield a simple rifle. The process is uncertain, however, with the possibility for unpredictable side effects. Some lose their ability to speak or their higher brain functions become distracted by the heavenly choir only they can hear, requiring exact commands from their handlers.
Because the Church consistently needs funds to sustain its military operations, Communicants are frequently allocated to the highest bidders among the armies affiliated with New Antioch. Their services are in constant demand as they are able to take out enemy fighting vehicles, heavily armoured troops and strongpoints with a single shot.
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
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
NEGATE SHRAPNEL
Ignores additional
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 |
As a
Bullet of the Guided Path: Whenever this model makes an Attack with a Ranged Weapon, add
+1 Diceto hit.Cartridge of His Wrath: Add the Keywords
ShrapnelandBlast2” to every Ranged Weapon this model is equipped with.Echo of His Word: Whenever this model makes an Attack with a Ranged Weapon, add +1 to injury rolls caused by that Attack.
Gas Mask
NEGATE GAS
Ignores additional
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.
The Order of Mendelist Monks is entrusted with the design of divinely enhanced items and the creation of the Communicants, devotees who have undergone Chemical Communion with an infusion of the synthesised blood of a Meta-Christ.
The Brotherhood of Blessed Munitions is one of the sub-sects of the Mendelist Order, whose duty is to provide the faithful with various types of ammunition treated with the chemically altered blood of a Meta-Christ. Such solutions are highly unstable and difficult to handle, and the secrets of their various formulae are jealously guarded.
On the battlefield, the monks brave enemy fire and infernal terrors, committed to their holy task of bringing the Wrath of the Lord upon the heretics. Their patron, St. Barbara, is said to lift those who die on the battlefield to Everlasting Glory.
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
NEGATE GAS
Ignores additional
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.
Combat Helmet
NEGATE SHRAPNEL
Ignores additional
The simple combat helmet has proven its value on the battlefield time and again.
Trench Polearm
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 2 Hands (Melee) |
| Modifiers | -1D to hit for Chargers |
CUMBERSOME, SHIELD COMBO
Polearms take two hands to use. Melee attacks made against this model are made with
Trench pikes, billhooks, spears and other long polearms are excellent defensive weapons, but are cumbersome and heavy. They are often used to deal with barbed wire.
Medi-Kit
Models with a Medi-kit can take a
Battlefield first aid has brought many soldiers back from the brink of death. Blessed ointments can seal fatal wounds completely, while the black blood of demons used by twisted heretic medics allows mangled troops to return to the fray.
When the need is great, the Synod of Strategic Prophecy sends Observers to support the war effort. This order of warrior monks lives a life of absolute solitude, sharpening their minds and bodies, making of themselves living weapons in the Hands of God.
Once a soldier joins the order, they never leave the Temple of The Word. The slightest disturbance to their prayers and training interrupts their ability to commune with the Lord of all Creation. Thus the days of the Observers are spent in secluded, cloistered cells, when not practising their martial or mental disciplines.
The rare exception is when they are summoned to the battlefield. Here, amidst the chaos and carnage, their unique abilities can decisively shift the balance in favour of the faithful. Observers wear a specially crafted helmet enabling them to attune to the Voice of God. This remarkable connection grants them the capacity to simultaneously perceive the immediate past, present and future, to a degree. This allows them to perform unrivalled martial feats.
But a living human is not meant to hear the Holy Words, so it comes at a cost. Since the Voice of God never decays, they must concentrate with superhuman focus to extricate the righteous guidance amidst the narrative spanning from creation’s inception to the present moment. The ceaseless resonance of the Divine Echo ringing in their ears renders sleep impossible. Therefore they must resort to potent sedatives and mind-altering drugs for them to endure the heavy burden of their battlefield role for any length of time.
The Observers diligently practice the recitation of the Words of God, granting them the power to issue commands to anyone they address, friend or foe. The special metal of their helmet allows them to replicate the Holy Word as closely as it is possible, compelling any creature in creation to obey them momentarily.
Combat Helmet
NEGATE SHRAPNEL
Ignores additional
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.
The Witchburner can select any model in the opposing warband within 24” (even if hidden or out of sight) and bring the Judgement of Heaven upon them with a Litany of Condemnation. This is a
Combat Helmet
NEGATE SHRAPNEL
Ignores additional
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.
Gavel of Justice
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 1 Hands (Melee) |
If the Witchburner hits an enemy with the Gavel of Justice, the target of the attack automatically sustains Divine Judgement as explained in the Witchburner’s Abilities, even if the attack did no damage otherwise. This does not count as the Witchburner having used the Divine Judgement
The staff of the Witchburners is both a mark of their office and a weapon imbued with the wrath of God against those who have broken Divine Law. It dooms the souls of those found guilty to burn in flames for all eternity.
The Witchburners are the field officers of the Inquisition. They are tasked with hunting down and punishing witches, warlocks and heretics that cannot be brought to face justice by conventional means.
On the battlefield they have the power to channel divine retribution on those deemed to have transgressed against God, causing sinners to burst into flames with mere words of condemnation. Since none are sinless, none are safe from their words of condemnation.
Armoury
Variants
Promotions
