Trench Pilgrims
As the war rages against the minions of Hell, strange visions torment the Faithful across the globe. Men and women touched by Heaven receive glimpses of divine mysteries, and revelations are bestowed upon them by the messengers of God. Sisters of the Holy Orders are marked by stigmata and take up the sword and the cross, as instructed by the angels. Those who have transgressed seek to atone for their sins by taking as many followers of the Devil as possible with them into the afterlife.
So they come, the mad and the maimed, the God-touched and the guilt-ridden, all gathering around Prophets and Prophetesses, forming Trench Pilgrim Processions. These disorganised groups follow the prophets of the Lord unto the front lines and fight with unrivalled zeal, throwing themselves against the Heretics. They arm themselves with anything they can get their hands on, from antique muskets to scourges and Molotov cocktails.
The Holy See does not officially sanction Pilgrims, but the Church still blesses the crusades of the Faithful. Pilgrim Processions are a common sight on the battlefields, charging across No Man’s Land in suicidal assaults against the Heretics. They are guided by the visions of the Prophets and Prophetesses who lead them, and urged on by the whips of Castigators – tasked with instilling the fear of God in their troops.
Most Pilgrims are men and women with little military training, but when they don the iron capirote of a Trench Pilgrim, their minds are fortified and their resolve is unyielding. With fear stripped away, they charge into battle, undeterred even by demons from the deepest Bolgias of Hell. Those who fall in battle may discover that their mission is not yet at an end. Sometimes the Seventh Meta-Christ will deem a fallen Pilgrim worthy and bring them back as a Martyr-Penitent. These warriors are halfway between Heaven and Earth, able to fight once more and feel no pain from bullet or bayonet thrust.
Rarer and more dangerous are the Stigmatic Nuns, holy sisters who manifest wounds to match those of the Third Meta-Christ, whom the Nuns venerate. They excel in close-quarters combat, for each bleeding wound they suffer makes them stronger, not weaker. Their devotion to suffering, as their Lord once did, grants them strength and endurance beyond that of mere mortals. Armed with swords and pistols, they charge across No Man’s Land, heedless of danger, praying to receive wounds for the Redeemer, which will transform them into the very Vengeance of the Lord.
Ecclesiastic Prisoners are driven in front of the Trench Pilgrims, captured enemies of the True Faith or volunteer sinners. Each is strapped with a high explosive, which is detonated once they reach enemy lines. They dash across the killing grounds, hoping to survive the blast somehow and escape, or take as many followers of Lucifer with them as they can, depending on their convictions.
A War Prophet is often ably supported by a second-in-command called a Castigator, a veteran of war pilgrimages who is entrusted with maintaining discipline and spiritual purity of the Procession.
Each Trench Pilgrim of the warband takes a solemn vow to submit themselves to a Castigator’s authority and discipline, be it applied by either word or a lash. As a sign of this duty,Castigators often carry multithonged war scourges as both the symbol of their office and as a tool of chastisement. Consequently, many Pilgrims carry scars and whipmarks as proof of their Castigator’s zeal.
Communicants of the Trench Pilgrim processions are not the creations of the carefully- controlled official Mendelist operated Communicants Programme. Instead, they are made in unsanctioned laboratories built by the Pilgrims themselves, where they use shady black market sources of the blood and flesh of the Meta-Christ in order to feed their own volunteers. While most of the willing perish, unable to contain the divine corpuscles within their frail bodies, the successful Communicants are a sight to behold. Huge warriors with superhuman strength, and utter devotion to their cause, with such a clarity of holy vision that they need no eyes to perceive the world.
Captains
Elite
Communicant Cross
NEGATE SHRAPNEL, NEGATE GAS, NEGATE FEAR
A sacred cross is nailed on the face of the Communicant.
Communicants are devotees who consumed the flesh of a Meta-Christ and drank its blood. Strengthened by the divine essence, they grow to enormous size, and the wounds they suffer close miraculously. They see more clearly blind, so blessed crosses are nailed through their eyes.
Infantry
- It has an Armour Characteristic of 0 and does not have the NegateShrapnelandToughKeywords.
- It treats Down results as Minor Hit results.
- The first time the Anchorite Shrine suffers an Out of Action result on the Injury Table, it is treated as a No Effect result. When this happens, any Blood Markers on the Anchorite Shire are removed, and from then on, these special rules no longer apply to the model.
Catherine Wheel
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 1 Hands (Melee) |
HEAVY, RISKY, +1 DICE
Bonebreaker Mace
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 1 Hands (Melee) |
RISKY, +1 INJURY DICE
Iron Capirote
NEGATE SHRAPNEL, NEGATE FEAR
A conical helmet blessed by the Church and often containing a fragment of a relic. Iron capirotes shield their wearers from the psychological horror of war and allow them to face creatures from the pits of Hell unflinchingly.
Blessed with stigmata and unshakeable faith, these swordmaster nuns are the vanguard of any assault by the holy armies.
Mercenaries
Gas Mask
NEGATE GAS
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 INJURY MODIFIER
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 massproduced, but highly effective even against high-calibre weapons.
Medi-Kit
- Remove 1 Blood Markerfrom the model or a friendly model within 1" of the model.
- Stand up a friendly model that is Down and within 1" of the model.
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) |
The misericordia dagger is designed to put enemies out of their misery by finding chinks in the armour: eye slits, neck joints and every other vulnerable seam.
The Sisters of Saint 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 aid any wounded soldiers of the faith, no matter how dire the circumstance, whilst showing no mercy or pity when dispatching Heretics and other enemies on the battlefield. Armed with a surgical knife that doubles as a misericordia, they are as adept at saving lives as taking them from those they find lying wounded in No Man’s Land.
They carry medical kits stocked with a variety of battlefield drugs, capable of numbing the pain of even the most ghastly wounds. In the heat of battle, these drugs are vital, giving soldiers the strength to rise once more and charge back into the fray, even if just for a few moments, so they can accomplish their mission or die trying.
Trench Club
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 1 Hands (Melee) |
Trench Clubs are one of the most common weapons of the Great War, as meleecombat 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
The simple combat helmet has proven its value on the battlefield time and again.
Anti-Materiel Rifle
| Range | 36" |
| Hands | 2 Hands (Ranged) |
HEAVY, CRITICAL, IGNORE ARMOUR, +1 INJURY DICE
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 forged through the experimental rite of chemical communion, in which Mendelist monks bond blood and flesh harvested from a Meta-Christ to the recipient’s genome. Only the most devout and pious of the Church are granted the honour of communion. Those who endure the ritual transcend their mortal biology and are granted immense size and resilience, making them formidable assets on the battlefield. Their divinely-enhanced strength allows them to wield massive anti-materiel guns as if they were no heavier than a standard-issue firearm. The process is far from perfected, however, with a high possibility of unpredictable side effects. Some unlucky subjects lose the ability to speak, others lose their higher brain functions, as they are distracted by the Heavenly choir only they can hear, and cannot function without exact commands from their handlers.
The Church, ever needing funds to sustain its military operations, frequently allocates Communicants to the highest bidders. Their services are in constant demand as they possess the ability to incapacitate enemy fighting vehicles, heavily armoured troops, and strongpoints with a single shot.
- Bullet of the Guided Path: Add +1 Diceto rolls for Ranged Attacks made by the model.
- Cartridge of His Wrath: Add the Blast2" andShrapnelKeywords to Ranged Weapons used by the model that do not have theBlastor FLAMETHROWER Keywords.
- Echo of His Word: Add +1 Injury Diceto rolls for Ranged Attacks made by the model.
Gas Mask
NEGATE GAS
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.
The Brotherhood of Blessed Munitions is a subsect of the Order whose duty is to supply the Faithful with ammunition infused with the chemically altered blood of a Meta-Christ. These concoctions are highly unstable, dangerous to handle, and the secrets behind their formulas are fiercely guarded.
On the battlefield, the monks brave enemy fire and infernal terrors, unwavering in their holy duty to deliver ammunition and unleash the wrath of the Lord upon the Heretics. Their patron, Saint Barbara, is believed to raise those who fall in battle to everlasting glory.
Standard Armour
-1 INJURY MODIFIER
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 massproduced, but highly effective even against high-calibre weapons.
Gas Mask
NEGATE GAS
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
The simple combat helmet has proven its value on the battlefield time and again.
Trench Polearm
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 2 Hands (Melee) |
CUMBERSOME, SHIELD COMBO, BLOCK
Trench pikes, billhooks, spears and other long polearms are excellent defensive weapons, but are cumbersome and heavy.
Medi-Kit
- Remove 1 Blood Markerfrom the model or a friendly model within 1" of the model.
- Stand up a friendly model that is Down and within 1" of the model.
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.
This order of warrior monks lives in absolute solitude, honing their minds and bodies to become living weapons of the Hand of God. Once a soldier joins the order, they rarely leave the Temple of the Word, the sole exception being when they are summoned to the battlefield, where their unique abilities can decisively shift the balance in favour of the Faithful. The slightest disturbance in their prayers or training could sever their connection to the Lord of all Creation. Thus, the days and nights of the Observers are spent in secluded, cloistered cells, when not practicing their rigorous martial and mental disciplines.
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.
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.
Gavel of Justice
| Range | Melee |
| Hands | 1 Hands (Melee) |
CRITICAL
The staff of a Witchburner 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
