Cult of the Black Grail
Typhus, malaria, typhoid, smallpox, yellow fever, pneumonia, trench fever, Markisian disease, and countless others ravage the trenches and battlefields of the Great War. Yet they all pale in comparison to the most dreaded of them all, the Black Grail.
Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies, stands apart from the other lords of Hell who work through their mortal followers. When he rises to supremacy in the endless power struggles of the archfiends, the Prince of Decay does not scheme – he unleashes his deadliest curse.
Infused with demonic essence from the bowels of the seventh layer of Hell, Beelzebub’s putrid fortress spews forth a torrent of hell-flies, scorpions, locusts, and other Infernal insects. The Hellgate opens, unleashing a tidal wave of foulness that flows across the land at startling speed, consuming everything in its path and leaving indescribable horror in its wake. For nine days, the swarm rampages unchecked, until it turns upon itself in its own insatiable hunger.
The Black Grail is indiscriminate in its hatred of all living things. Its infections seep into any living flesh, twisting it with tumours, boils, and weeping pustules. In its wake, puddles and ponds of melted flesh remain, while endless mouths scream in agony. The Black Grail destroys the body but leaves the mind intact, trapped to endure its torment. The scientist-priests of the Church and the Alchemists of the Sultanate tirelessly search for a way to inoculate their people against this most loathsome of plagues, but to no avail. The only answer lies in the flames. Infected settlements are purged with speciallyconstructed flamethrower tanks, their weapons fuelled with holy anointing oil.
If this is not done swiftly, or the countermeasures fail, a fate worse than death awaits. The bodies of men, horses, dogs, insects, and every creature infected by the Black Grail rise once more, driven by a demonic will. Not alive, not dead, they become vessels of corruption, spreading their master’s plague ever further. They form warbands, seeking to infect any life they encounter. They gather loot and grisly trophies, offering them to the idols of Beelzebub they erect. Thus, the Cult of the Black Grail mocks the devotions of the Faithful and their prayers.
At the head of these warbands stand the knights of the Order of the Fly, depraved men and women who embrace the Black Grail and whose devotion Beelzebub finds sufficient. They are granted weapons, armour, and equipment corrupted by the archfiend’s touch in exchange for sacrifices brought to the altars of Beelzebub. The warbands build these wherever they go: grotesque structures of horror, crafted from the remains of their victims, shaped into monstrous flies.
To lead his tainted legions of Grail Thralls, Beelzebub needs capable commanders and a devoted clergy to spread the ecstatic blasphemy of his kingdom on Earth. To achieve this, Beelzebub has organised his followers into a strict hierarchy, ensuring his will is done. The Order is divided into military and ecclesiastic wings, with the enthroned Lord of the Flies reigning over all. He is both god and king to his followers, an object of worship and dread, for he holds absolute power over all infected with the Black Grail, and is known to elevate or punish his servants according to his diabolical whims.
There are many titles and ranks an ambitious Plague Knight may strive for. Grand masters and mistresses of the Black Grail serve as marshals, each commanding seneschals of Decay, who lead entire field armies in their name. Specialised forces can be led by knight companions of Gluttony or commanders of the Rotten Cross, and are granted special powers to carry out their tasks and duties.
Within the ecclesiastic wing of the Order, countless roles exist for those who perform the Cult’s unholy ceremonies and oversee the vast endeavour of dismantling and transporting cathedrals, mosques, synagogues, temples, and other places of worship. These holy structures are taken to Ekron, where they are defiled and remade into blasphemous shrines devoted to the worship of decay. Each member bears a rank and title suited to their task. Plague almoners administer special strains of the Black Grail to those deemed worthy of initiation. Procyonis sacristas guard the Order’s foul relics. Bubonic visitors carry news and communications to Beelzebub himself. Pustulators seek out saints who could be corrupted and swayed to join the Order. Beyond these, endless others toil in rot and ritual.
Faction Rules
Some Cult of the Black Grail Weapons have the INFECTION MARKERS Keyword. These Weapons cause INFECTION MARKERS (instead of BLOOD MARKERS) to be placed next to the target.
An INFECTION MARKER works in a similar way to a BLOOD MARKER, except that they grow and multiply over time if left untreated.
INFECTION MARKERS are placed next to a model in the same way as a BLOOD MARKER. A model may have up to six INFECTION MARKERS and up to six BLOOD MARKERS at the same time. We recommend you use different coloured dice (the more disgusting the better!) to represent INFECTION MARKERS.
An INFECTION MARKER can be used in the same way as a BLOOD MARKER; for example, it can be spent to modify Success Rolls and Injury Rolls, and/ or to convert an Injury Roll to a Bloodbath Roll. Additionally, you can combine BLOOD MARKERS and INFECTION MARKERS to affect the same roll or to cause a Bloodbath.
Rules that allow a BLOOD MARKER to be removed from a model cannot be used to remove an INFECTION MARKER unless specifically noted otherwise.
If there are one or more INFECTION MARKERS next to a model when the model is Activated, place 1 more INFECTION MARKER next to the model before it carries out any Actions.
When your warband is created, you must choose whether it will be led by a Lord of Tumours or a Plague Knight.
Captains
Add -1 INJURY DICE to Injury Rolls for the model unless the attack has the FIRE Keyword.
Whenever a Melee Attack made by a Lord of Tumours causes any INFECTION MARKERS to be placed on the target, place 1 extra INFECTION MARKER next to the target model.
The model can make a Melee Attack even though it does not have a Melee Weapon. In addition, when it does so, it can attack twice.
A Lord of Tumours can have any Battlekit from the Cult of the Black Grail Armoury Tables.
A high-ranking noble officiant in the Cult of the Black Grail, the Lord of Tumours spreads filth and corruption amongst friend and foe alike. They commune with the Lord of the Flies through a trance-like ecstasy and can channel the very power of the Seventh Circle of Hell which Beelzebub rules.
Add -1 INJURY DICE to Injury Rolls for the model unless the attack has the FIRE Keyword.
A Plague Knight can have any Battlekit from the Cult of the Black Grail Armoury Tables. It must have a suit of Armour. No restrictions apply to any other Types of Battlekit.
Ranking lowest in the nobility of the Black Grail, these great armoured warriors were once truly depraved worshippers of Beelzebub. When the Cult of the Black Grail came for them, they willingly submitted to the authority of the Lord of Flies. As a result they retain a semblance of sentience and the ability to wield weapons as they did in life. They aspire to win favour in the eyes of Beelzebub and one day be promoted in the hierarchy of the Order of the Fly.
Elite
Add -1 INJURY DICE to Injury Rolls for the model unless the attack has the FIRE Keyword.
Whenever a Melee Attack made by a Corpse Guard causes any INFECTION MARKERS to be placed on the target, you can remove up to 1 BLOOD MARKER from the attacking Corpse Guard model.
If a friendly Cult of the Black Grail model within 1" of a Corpse Guard is hit by a Ranged Attack or Melee Attack, you can say that the Corpse Guard will take the hit. If you do so, make an Injury Roll for the Corpse Guard instead of the original target. This ability cannot be used against attacks that have the BLAST Keyword.
A Corpse Guard can have any Battlekit from the Cult of the Black Grail Armoury Tables.
Only the strongest human devotees can survive the compounding blessings of the Cult of the Black Grail. The ones that do are inducted into the ranks of the Corpse Guards, bodyguards to the nobility of the Cult of the Black Grail. If they serve with distinction, they may one day join the ranks of the Infernal nobility.
Add -1 INJURY DICE to Injury Rolls for the model unless the attack has the FIRE Keyword.
A Plague Knight can have any Battlekit from the Cult of the Black Grail Armoury Tables. It must have a suit of Armour. No restrictions apply to any other Types of Battlekit.
Ranking lowest in the nobility of the Black Grail, these great armoured warriors were once truly depraved worshippers of Beelzebub. When the Cult of the Black Grail came for them, they willingly submitted to the authority of the Lord of Flies. As a result they retain a semblance of sentience and the ability to wield weapons as they did in life. They aspire to win favour in the eyes of Beelzebub and one day be promoted in the hierarchy of the Order of the Fly.
Infantry
The rules for making more than one Ranged or Melee Attack do not apply to an Amalgam. Instead an Amalgam can take 1 Shoot ACTION per Activation with each Ranged Weapon it is equipped with, and can take 1 Fight ACTION per Activation with each Melee Weapon it is equipped with. The Off-Hand Weapon modifier does not apply to any of its Melee Attacks.
Add -2 DICE to Injury Rolls for any attacks that target an Amalgam model.
An Amalgam can take a Trample ACTION. If it does so, it can make a Melee Attack that must target an enemy model that is Down. A Trample Melee Attack does not use a Melee Weapon and has the IGNORE ARMOUR Keyword.
Enemy models that are mounted on a base of 32mm or less are not allowed to make a Melee Attack when an Amalgam that is within 1" of them retreats. In addition, an Amalgam can use a normal move or a charge move if all enemy models within 1" of it are mounted on bases of 32mm or less.
An Amalgam has six arms and has the STRONG Keyword, which allows it to carry a vast combination of different Ranged and Melee Weapons. It can have up to six Ranged or Melee Weapons from the Black Grail Armoury, and an Amalgam can treat two 2-Handed Weapons as 1-Handed Weapons instead of the one normally granted by the STRONG Keyword. Remaining 2-Handed Weapons count as two weapons towards this total. An Amalgam cannot have the same Weapon more than twice and it cannot have Grenades. An Amalgam may have up to 1 Trench Shield in place of one of its 1-Handed Weapons, but it does not benefit from the Shield Combo rule. It cannot have any other Battlekit.
An Amalgam is a huge, shambling mass of dozens of bodies of infected enemy warriors, insects, mammals and any other living creatures that had the misfortune of succumbing to the agonising blessings of the Cult of the Black Grail together. These aberrations shamble across the battlefield like walking mountains of corpulent, diseased flesh, their flailing arms still wielding weapons its victims used in life. Anyone or anything unfortunate enough to be in its path is crushed into a disgusting pulp beneath its elephantine feet.
Add -1 INJURY DICE to Injury Rolls for the model unless the attack has the FIRE Keyword.
A Grail Thrall or Fly Thrall can make a Melee Attack even though it does not have a Melee Weapon. In addition, add +1 DICE to the Success Roll for a Melee Attack made by a Grail Thrall or Fly Thrall for each other friendly model within 3" of the attacking model (not including the attacking model itself ).
Thralls cannot be equipped with any weapons, armour or equipment. They do not suffer penalties for fighting unarmed.
The boons of the Cult of the Black Grail lead slowly but surely down the path of utter corruption. Only very few of the chosen can withstand the blessings of the Lord of the Flies. Most are turned into Grail Thralls, destined to join the endless legions of empty, hollowed-out and diseased husks who must obey the whims of the Cult of the Black Grail nobles for all eternity, while suffering the torment of their countless supernatural infections.
Thralls come in two varieties: Grail Thralls, which have become almost impervious to pain, and Fly Thralls, controlled by the gargantuan hell-flies that have buried their proboscis deep into the central nervous system of their victims, allowing far greater mobility in exchange for less resistance to pain.
A Grail Thrall or Fly Thrall can make a Melee Attack even though it does not have a Melee Weapon. In addition, add +1 DICE to the Success Roll for a Melee Attack made by a Grail Thrall or Fly Thrall for each other friendly model within 3" of the attacking model (not including the attacking model itself ).
Thralls cannot be equipped with any weapons, armour or equipment. They do not suffer penalties for fighting unarmed.
The boons of the Cult of the Black Grail lead slowly but surely down the path of utter corruption. Only very few of the chosen can withstand the blessings of the Lord of the Flies. Most are turned into Grail Thralls, destined to join the endless legions of empty, hollowed-out and diseased husks who must obey the whims of the Cult of the Black Grail nobles for all eternity, while suffering the torment of their countless supernatural infections.
Thralls come in two varieties: Grail Thralls, which have become almost impervious to pain, and Fly Thralls, controlled by the gargantuan hell-flies that have buried their proboscis deep into the central nervous system of their victims, allowing far greater mobility in exchange for less resistance to pain.
A Herald of Beelzebub can make a Melee Attack with the INFECTION MARKERS Keyword even though it does not have a Melee Weapon. If a Melee Attack made by a Herald of Beelzebub causes any INFECTION MARKERS to be placed on the target model, you can remove up to 1 BLOOD MARKER from the attacking Herald of Beelzebub.
Up to 1 Herald of Beelzebub model can have the Maddening Buzzing ability at a cost of +10 . Success Rolls taken for enemy models within 8" of a model with this ability become Risky Success Rolls (there is no additional effect if they are Risky Success Rolls already).
A Herald of Beelzebub can have any Ranged Weapon from the Cult of the Black Grail Armoury Tables. They cannot have any other Battlekit apart from a Compound Eyes Helmet or a single Grail Devotee.
Some victims of the Cult of the Black Grail suffer a far worse fate than becoming a Thrall. They are bestowed with the black honour of being melded with hell-flies, growing into a grotesque winged insect made of bloated flesh. After this torturous metamorphosis they take to the air as Heralds of Beelzebub, the winged squires and scouts of the Order of the Fly. Their vestigial human bodies are still conscious as they are slowly eaten from within to be used as fuel by the Herald, all the while their warped bodies fight for the glory of Hell against their will.
The Heralds are the vanguard in any assault of the Cult of the Black Grail, and the ear-numbing otherworldly drone of their wings strikes terror in any defender, breaking their focus and sapping their willpower. Heralds wield discarded weapons contaminated with horrible worms that churn through them, which in turn infect their victims. Each diseased bullet has a sentience of its own, finding even the smallest chink in any armour, burrowing into the nervous system and liquefying the internal organs from within.
Add -1 INJURY DICE to Injury Rolls for the model unless the attack has the FIRE Keyword.
Add +1 DICE to the Risky Success Roll for a Hound of the Cult of the Black Grail that is taking a Dash ACTION. In addition, do not halve the Movement Characteristic of a Hound of the Cult of the Black Grail when it stands up at the start of an Activation.
If an enemy model is Activated while it is within 1" of a Hound of the Cult of the Black Grail, place 1 INFECTION MARKER next to the enemy model before it carries out any Actions.
The model can make a Melee Attack even though it doesn’t have a Melee Weapon.
A Hound of the Cult of the Black Grail cannot have any Battlekit.
These are parasitic carcasses of canines infested with maggots and flies spawned from the body of Beelzebub himself. Their unholy mission is to prowl No Man’s Land and spread disease and pestilence in the name of their dark master.
Mercenaries
Treat a Scripture Guardian as having a Movement Characteristic of 3"/Infantry when it takes a Dash ACTION.
The Scripture Guardian reads words from the holy (or unholy) text it carries. A Scripture Guardian can take a Vengeful Scripture ACTION. If they do so, pick 1 enemy model within 18" of the Scripture Guardian and in its Line of Sight. Then take a Success Roll for the Scripture Guardian, with +2 DICE if the enemy model is within 9" of the Scripture Guardian and +1 DICE otherwise. If the roll is a Failure, nothing happens. If the roll is a Success, make an Injury Roll for the enemy model, with a +1 INJURY MODIFIER for each BLOOD MARKER the enemy model has (in addition to any benefits you receive if you then spend them to affect the Injury Roll). If the roll is a Critical Success, make an Injury Roll for the enemy model with +1 INJURY DICE and a +1 INJURY MODIFIER for each BLOOD MARKER the enemy model has.
Combat Helmet
NEGATE SHRAPNEL
The simple combat helmet has proven its value on the battlefield time and again.
Reinforced Armour
-2 INJURY MODIFIER
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.
Sin Eater can take a Devour the Guilty ACTION. If they do so, pick 1 model (friend or foe) that is within 1" of the Sin Eater and is mounted on a base that is 40mm or smaller. If the model is an enemy, take a Risky Success Roll for the Sin Eater. If the model is friendly, take a Success Roll for the Sin Eater with +1 DICE. If the roll is a Failure, the Sin Eater’s Activation ends, if it was a Risky Success Roll, and nothing happens if it was a normal Success Roll. If the roll is a Success or a Critical Success, the model you picked is devoured, and the following rules apply to it:
- Place the model to one side, along with any MARKERS it may have. It is inside the Sin Eater and cannot be affected in any way or carry out any ACTIONS except as described below. While it is in the Sin Eater it is considered to be Down for the purposes of Morale Checks. A Sin Eater can only have 1 devoured model at a time.
- When it is Activated, it can take a Fight ACTION and must target the Sin Eater. Add -3 DICE to the roll for the Melee Attack, and do not use any of the model’s abilities or any of the special rules for its weapons.
- If the Sin Eater is taken Out of Action, before removing them from the battlefield, deploy the devoured model within 1" of the Sin Eater and place it Down. If this is impossible, the model is taken Out of Action. In either case, the Sin Eater is then removed from the battlefield.
- If a devoured model is still inside a Sin Eater when the game ends, it is considered to have been taken Out of Action.
- Each time the Sin Eater is Activated, place 1 BLOOD MARKER next to the devoured model. As soon as a devoured model has 6 BLOOD MARKERS, it is immediately taken Out of Action and is no longer considered to be inside the Sin Eater.
- A Sin Eater that has a devoured model inside it can take a Purge ACTION.If it does so, take a Success Roll for the Sin Eater with +4 DICE. If the roll is a Failure, nothing happens. If the roll is a Success or Critical Success, deploy the devoured model within 1" of the Sin Eater and place it Down. If this is impossible, the devoured model remains inside the Sin Eater. Once released the model can be Activated normally.
Tenderizer Maul
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 2 Hands (Melee) |
HEAVY, +1 INJURY MODIFIER
When a model armed with a Tenderiser Maul takes a Fight ACTION, instead of making only 1 Melee Attack, you can make 1 Melee Attack against each enemy model with 1" of the attacking model. Resolve each Melee Attack one at a time in the order of your choice.
Reinforced Armour
-2 INJURY MODIFIER
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.
Sin Eaters were once mortal men and women, but their overwhelming greed, combined with the corrupting influence of the Hellgate, turned them into an abominable form that matches their inner foulness. Sin Eaters are among the few creatures outside Beelzebub’s followers that he deems worthy as their boundless gluttony mirrors his essence.
Armoury
Variants
Promotions
