Recruit Your Warband
Once you have selected a Faction, you can start recruiting models. The cost to recruit a model will usually be shown in ducats (). The Faction List will show how many you have to spend; usually, it will be 700 . Each model you recruit has a specific cost in , as does any Battlekit you choose to equip them with. The Faction List includes the cost in for all the models in the Faction, along with Armoury Tables that list the cost in of Battlekit options. (▶ see the Trench Crusade Digital Rulebook).
As you make your choices, subtract the cost of each choice from your starting amount of . You can continue spending until you have bought everything you can, or decide to stop. Any unspent are put into your Warband’s Strongbox (to represent your in-game treasury) and the can be used later or hoarded to buy something more expensive.
Glory Points
Some models and pieces of Battlekit cost Glory Points () instead of (), are earned by performing valorous deeds in battle, as described in the Campaign section. Generally, Warbands don’t have access to when they are first created, so you will probably have to wait until later on in a campaign to recruit any models that require them.
Maximum Elites
A Warband can never include more than 6 models with the ELITE Keyword. This limit applies at all times, not just when the Warband is first recruited, and includes new models or Mercenaries that are recruited during a Campaign, and any models that are promoted to ELITE status during a Campaign.
Mercenaries
During the campaign you can use to purchase powerful troops and famous warriors known as Mercenaries. These will add both numbers and specialist abilities to your Warband. They cannot be purchased with – the only way to attract their services is to perform glorious deeds on the battlefield!
The following special rules apply to Mercenaries:
Unlike standard troops, Mercenaries must be paid for with , reflecting the difficulty of securing their services. Their Cost is included in their Warband Entry list, along with information about which Factions can recruit them. Mercenaries can be recruited by any of the Warband Variants for the Factions they will work for, unless stated otherwise.
- Mercenaries do not benefit from the Faction Special Rules of your Warband, such as the New Antioch Concentrated Attack rule. They do benefit from abilities belonging to other members of the Warband that can affect friendly models unless stated otherwise.
- Mercenaries’ Battlekit cannot be removed or lost over the course of the campaign for any reason, and they cannot have any other Battlekit. The rules for any Battlekit that they have can be found in the standard Battlekit section (▶ see Battlekit in the Trench Crusade Digital Rulebook) or is included in their Warband Entry. Note that the Injury Modifier for any Armour they have has been included in the model’s Profile.
- With the exception of their Battlekit, in a Campaign, Mercenaries are treated in the same way as any other model in the Warband. They count towards Threshold Limits and Field Strength, they can complete Glorious Deeds, you must roll on the Trauma Table for them if they are taken Out of Action, they can be Promoted and gain Experience Points, and so on.
