Mercenaries of Trench Crusade- A Discussion

 Next up instead of a sub-faction overview I'm going in a little bit more depth on the Mercenaries of Trench Crusade. These are more tilted towards the Faithful as they have more, but there are quite a few very interesting options in general. 

Combat Biologist- A personal favourite of mine from both a model and rules point of view, the Biologist is just cool overall. With 6" movement, -1 Armour, and only +1 in melee it is a fairly standard profile albeit cheap for 3 Glory. Coming stock with Gas Grenades and a Gas Mask is quite good too as it helps with getting Blood out on your opponents (and defends you against Gas from an opponent) while NEGATE FEAR is something I will always find useful as the matchups where it really matters it is absolutely invaluable. The Biologist brings a unique Glorious Deed for your Warband which is quite interesting and can help make its cost back quicker, although killing 3 enemies within 1" of a single model on a 32mm base is a bit of a hefty task unless your Biologist has a super lucky game. It also gets a Blessing Marker if it personally kills DEMONIC or BLACK GRAIL models in melee, which the profile is really made to do anyway so it is quite nice to have a way to make the model snowball in terms of successes. The other thing to note with the Combat Biologist is its unique weapon, the Vivisector. This behaves mostly like a Polearm with 2 special rules, namely Pain Amplifier giving you a really boosted chance of critting provided the target has Blood on them (so if you Gas Grenade you can potentially already go to critting on 10s instead of 12s) and if you do crit against a non-ARTIFICIAL model on a 40mm or smaller base (which is almost everything on a 40mm or smaller base) you can move them d3" directly away from the Biologist, forcing more attacks on the target from anyone that it leaves engagement with. Biologists really promote a dogpile style of play, and charging the Biologist into things that are already engaged is a really valid play because the enemy is likely already damaged and thus more likely to force out of combat and get hit even more times. 

Communicant Anti-Tank Hunter- A fairly simple yet really good Mercenary, the Anti-Tank Hunter is a big guy with a big gun. The AMR is always incredible, when you put REGENERATE and TOUGH on top you have a merc that will always do good work on the table. Plus they just look really cool, so what's not to love

Goetic Warlock- As the name suggests, the Goetic Warlock is a Fallen Mercenary and has 2 unique Goetic Spells it can use. For its battlekit it has a fairly standard combo of Reinforced Armour and the Flaying Iron Claws, which are effectively 2 Swords that don't suffer from an off-hand penalty so you can make the most of its +1 dice in melee on both attacks. Enemies within 1" of a Goetic Warlock also get exponentially worse as they stay nearby, as they can't take a Retreat Action and gain a Blood when they activate, but also can't remove the Blood themselves while near the Warlock. Add FEAR on top of that and you have quite an annoying model to face already for 4 Glory, but that's without even looking at the Goetic Powers it has which ramp up the uses of the Warlock quite a lot. It does have the downside that it can only use Blood on enemies or friendly Wretched, so no taking it in Heretic Legions to get Blood from anyone in the Warband and super reliably heal while casting spells, but in Court you were using Wretched to fuel it anyway so this isn't a huge downside and enemies should be taking Blood fairly easily in Heretics with things like the Artillery Witch bombing and easy grenade access. The Necrotic Gaze is a 0 cost power that simply doubles the amount of Blood on the target from 24" away, with it being a Ranged Attack so at +1 dice although suffering from Cover and Long Range. If the target has no Blood then they gain one, so you will always net at least 1 Blood out of the action and there's no risk to doing it, meaning you will always use this action every activation on the Warlock provided there is a valid target. The other action, which is a little more complicated and has a cost of 2 Blood attached is Goetic Portal which is effectively a 6" teleport that can carry 1 enemy model with it. I personally love using this to kidnap enemy support pieces and drag them into your Warband where you can make the most of the Goetic Warlock's penalties, but it's also just great threat extension and a way to keep it safer on the advance, especially when combined with its regular move and dashes. 

Mamluk Faris- A fairly standard profile for a not quite ELITE model with +1s for both melee and ranged, but it does have some unique rules that are pretty neat and change up how its used. It adds a FIRETEAM option to the Warband you might not normally get (or just an extra one for activation economy) but only for an ELITE, and both ignores HEAVY if it takes a Greatsword and gains ASSAULT and Shield Combo on its Jezzail. The Jezzail is also worth noting as it is on the base profile with Alchemical Ammunition, so it is really shooting at +2 dice base with ASSAULT, with a choice of either a Greatsword, a Polearm and Shield or a Sword/Axe and Pistol. The Sword and Pistol is definitely the weakest option of the 3 as you have a good heavy hitter in the Greatsword or a defensive powerhouse with the Polearm and Shield while the Pistol and Sword is just kind of ok. You do get a 2nd attack ignoring the off-hand rule but with no other bonuses like the other profiles it isn't going to be anywhere near as good for the 4 Glory. You can swap between them after any game, but you usually would swap between the Greatsword or Polearm/Shield IMO with my personal favourite going towards Polearm/Shield as I really just love that combo in general. The last thing to note is the Automaton Destrier rule which functions similarly to Infiltrators as it lets the Mamluk forward deploy, and is turned off in a scenario which denies Infiltrators, but lets you deploy from any board edge as opposed to anywhere on the board. Great for a little bit of extra board presence

Mendelist Ammo Monk- An old favourite of mine that got knocked down a few pegs in the latest changes to Mercenaries, the Ammo Monk is still quite good as a 2 Glory support piece for New Antioch or Trench Pilgrim warbands that have good shooting threats. Gone are the days of the BLAST AMR Communicant or BLAST on AUTOMATIC weapons, but being able to give bonus Injury Dice is still really good and having an Ammo Monk sitting behind a Sniper Priest at the back of the table is very useful to have in the toolbox. 

Observer- Going up to 5 Glory is steep, but still more than worth it for what you get from the Observer. 2 attacks in melee with the Polearm at +2 dice means it's fairly reliable (albeit with the downside of not ignoring FEAR), plus with 8" movement it can immediately do a lot of work despite lacking a ranged weapon. It does have a Medi-kit which is nice, but less likely you use that over its other actions which are all going to be very good. Temporal Fugue for a -1 dice to attack it always, and that can't be ignored, is simply amazing, and going to -2 when it gets charged makes actually charging the Observer a really annoying prospect when you can't land hits on it. The big things that make the Observer unique though, and the reason it costs as much as it does, are Eye of God and Voice of God. Eye lets you reroll any failed rolls with the downside of going Down if you roll any 1s on the 2nd roll (something which isn't super likely to happen, and the odds of rerolling into a pass is worth the downside) while Voice of God lets you force your opponent into activating a model of your choice next, basically giving you an opportunity to get a double tap on a specific model or deny synergies in a really unique way. The power this gives over action economy can't be underestimated, and the Observer is really just a great package for what it does

Scripture Guardian- At 7 Glory this thing is super steep, although it does put in work. With Golem it is really hard to put down, and although it only attacks once it does get bonuses simply if the target has Blood (and even more so if you spend it for extra dice) plus on crits it has an absolutely ridiculous damage potential. You're investing a lot into a Scripture Guardian, and likely buying other Mercenaries before this one, but it is a nice flavour pick and can do great work on the table even just taking fire from other things in your warband.

Sin Eater- A big, TOUGH bruiser of a model for 6 Glory, the Sin Eater has quite a lot of rules text based around their unique action. They do also have quite a decent melee profile, although no ranged capabilities, and -2 Armour with FEAR. Their unique weapon, the Tenderiser Maul, has the option to either attack every enemy within 1" of it so you can do some nasty plays against players that bunch up (particularly if you're playing Heretic Legion and get an Artillery Witch bombing the clump as well) or alternatively use the Crushing Blow to get an extra Injury Modifier for if you really need to kill a single target that's bogging you down. The main reason you bring this though is for Devour the Guilty, something which is a very unique way to get either your own models up the table or take an opponent's piece off- eat it. On a friendly model it's easier, with the action not being Risky and with an extra Dice, but for opponents it's a Risky roll without any bonuses so is somewhat difficult to get off successfully, especially if you already have Blood (and I would always recommend spending Blood to make this action fail if you're against it). Once devoured a model gains a Blood every turn and is effectively off the table (they can attack, but at -3 Dice and no weapon almost nothing will reliably hit), the Sin Eater gains REGENERATE 1 so becomes even tankier, and the Sin Eater can drop them at any time they can do an Action. You can use it to get your own models up the table more reliably, have a model sit inside the Sin Eater to fuel Goetic Magic, or just lock out an important piece for the opponent and all of those options are worth doing. Sin Eater is expensive for 6 Glory but it is quite good for the cost.

Sister of Saint Cosmas- Basically the Antioch Combat Medic but for Trench Pilgrims, everything I have to say about that model in New Antioch is equally as valid here. For 2 Glory the Sister is a steal, as she can very reliably use her Medi-kit with +2 DICE, and getting extra injury dice on top of ignoring armour against Down enemies is fantastic as a finisher, particularly with her NEGATE FEAR. She's always going to be more of a utility piece and a somewhat squishy one at that, but for the low cost always something to consider as she brings a lot to the table. 

Witchburner- This one is in a bit of an odd spot I feel, as the Witchburner has one of if not the coolest sculpts out of all the Mercenaries, but for 6 Glory it is a bit steep for what it does. While being able to potentially put 6 Blood on a single Fallen model in a turn between the Gavel of Justice and Divine Judgement (or 4 on Faithful, still excellent), it does only have 1 attack in melee with +2 Dice,  and not being able to Dash makes for something that will be quite slow to get into the fray despite ignoring difficult terrain. It is ELITE though which means you can level it up straight off the bat, and it's harder to outright kill than most Mercenaries immediately after hiring on top of TOUGH and -2 Armour. I'd say it's not strictly the best Mercenary to take in a Warband, but really cool as a centrepiece in something like a Papal States Warband and that alone makes it worth using. 

Trench Dog- While not quite a Mercenary, it functions somewhat similarly. Costs Glory to add to your warband, although as a piece of Battlekit and not simply a hire, you can also upgrade them into various different forms. They're fast and fragile, and although not super great at anything in particular they can be useful to just run to objectives and claim things early as between 8" movement and +1 to Dashes they're reliably quick. You can buy them FIRETEAM for an extra Glory, which can be useful, but fully upgrading a Dog is 3 glory so a bit of a steep investment. I really love them as a flavour option though

    Mercy Dog (New Antioch only)- I've spoken about these a bit for Red Brigade, and being able to move Down models around plus having a Medi-Kit is really great all around. 2 Glory is on the pricy end, but you're getting a fair bit of utility out of it 

    Guard Dog (every warband other than Grail or Court)- This one I think is the least useful of the Dog variants, as forcing INFILTRATOR models to deploy slightly further away from it isn't especially useful and half the time doesn't work at all. It's a really neat idea, I just think one that's implemented in such a way that it isn't especially worth taking particularly when you have to earn Glory and it's at the expense of other Dogs.

    Martyrdom Dog (Trench Pilgrims only)- This one is purely a flavour pick unfortunately, as it has a couple of downsides. It pays a Glory for a Martyrdom Device, which while nice it is basically just another Ecclesiastic Prisoner in almost every way apart from costing you 2 Glory, and it still dies outright on less then a 4+ in post-game. The investment is a bit steep I feel like for something that is very likely to die after the first time you use it. 

    Hellhound (Fallen Warbands only)- Extra dice on attacks, and either GAS or FIRE depending on the warband (FIRE as default, GAS for Grail and Knights of Avarice) while also being NEGATE FIRE gives you quite a decent fast threat for any warband. Knights of Avarice I think care the least about it, as you want to load up on your more elite models (and Wretched spam for bodies) but any Fallen warband can do far worse than taking a Hellhound. 

Konflikt 47- Automated Platoon

 Now that the new plastic Automatons are out for Konflikt 47, I've expanded my British into a playable Automated Platoon. I've always loved the robots, but the metals are awful to assemble so I wanted to wait for the plastics before I added more. The new kits are quite good and easy to put together (simply by nature of being plastic over metal). The new platoon is quite interesting mechanically and you can easily do an all-robot list just with the new platoon on its own, but I want to also discuss a couple of other options that I would consider adding to the Automated Platoon

Automated Platoon Rules

Increased range on the Data Transmission rule means you have way more board presence, as you don't have to keep things as close, and 12" range is quite big so you can have your whole army moving and shooting on 4s with tons of shots. 

Being able to use Snap to Action! on all your MkII units as well as the Director is massive, and the activation control this gives you is really great. You have to take 1 MkII unit, but I would definitely take 2 as the 2 give you such a better bonus. 

I should also note the British Commonwealth rules that are relevant for the Automated Platoon. Superior Codebreaking when you really need to go first can be game-changing, and although you can't Snap to Action! on it activating a unit first is still very big. Computational Systems is a rule all Automated units have, and no -1 to hit for moving and shooting is excellent despite First off the Line giving you a -1 penalty base. You can play around both of these things and have a force that can't be pinned, can always move and shoot and keep positioning wherever you need to go. Automated Recovery stops you from being Stunned on your Rift vehicles, which is all Automated vehicles and the other units I'll mention later on, and just taking less pins is great as a rule. The rules all combine to make an army that is hard to lock down, and outside of outright killing Automated units you can't really stop their advance. 

Automated Units

MkIIC Automated Director- The command option for the Automatons, the Director is effectively a better MkII with a couple of special rules. They carry the M21 Light Tesla that you can upgrade a MkII with, and can take up to 2 more MkII in the unit that can also upgrade to another M21 for 2 or 3 Tesla Cannons in a unit which can do a lot of work in the right situation. Their Snap to Action! is slightly restricted to only being on units with Computational Systems, although that is every Automated unit and a good chunk of the armour options for Commonwealth so not really a downside when you're theming towards that, and at the cost of exhausting a Rift Dice they can Snap to Action! any 2 units on the table which is huge for activation control and doing what you want early in a turn. While Surging they can also Snap to Action! on 3 units, and they can't Snap at all when Exhausted so managing the Rift Dice on a Director is going to be quite important when playing an Automated Platoon. They do come with 2 Rift Dice though, so somewhat easier to mitigate in that regard. 

MkI Automated Infantry Squads- Your basic Automated option, the MkI troops come with 6+ as their damage value so while not necessarily easy to kill they will take hits from higher pen weapons. They come base with MMGs which are not that great in Konflikt (outside of Fireflies and Totenkorps they won't hurt things that reliably, although they have a ton of shots) and should really always be upgraded in some way. They can take Combat Blades on the MMGs for relatively cheap which gives them +1 pen in combat and Tough Fighters, which is best used in combination with their Rift Enhancement to exhaust the Rift Dice for doubling their movement and attacks in combat, making them fairly scary threats for the turn once you've used the dice. Close combat isn't necessarily a place they really want to be, but it does make for a very interesting potential attack if you find yourself up against lighter infantry or can finish off a unit with a lucky charge. The HMGs on the other hand are a really great weapon to get through 6 and 7+ armour units as they can put out a ton of dice with +1 pen, and things that you can hit quite a lot will be taking damage fairly reliably. Squads without a high armour value will just get shredded by either variant of MkI, but generally speaking the HMGs are far better in a game where simply having a pen value matters a lot. 

MkII Heavy Automated Infantry Squad- Bigger than MkIs in every way with 40mm bases, 7+ armour and Light Autocannons base, the MkIIs are real beefcake units and a key piece of the Automated Platoon. Hard to Kill makes them even tougher than 7+ would be normally, and is fairly standard for 7+ Rift units, although they are slower than most being Automated and 4" movement without a Surging dice. Their weapons are all decent, with the Light Autocannon being able to take Combat Blades for +1 pen and Tough Fighter, the Heavy Autocannon being just a better version of the Light and the M21 Tesla Cannon for some more Rift shenanigans. I don't think the Tesla is great on the base unit though, as it doesn't give an extra Rift Dice and you really want to have their dice active for Data Transmission, which negates First off the Line on the other bots so they don't have penalties to hit on their shots. The ability to exhaust their Rift Dice is interesting, although I personally don't think it's really great as it will turn off Data Transmission so the timing of it is very important unless you overlap bubbles of MkIIs. 

Automated Mobile Platform 'Hunter'- The 1st of the Automated Mobile Platforms, the Hunter is quicker than the regular Automated Infantry and does have Hard to Kill, but is still only a single model. The Hunter is the anti-tank variant with a Light Anti-tank Gun (albeit with First Off the Line, so you need MkIIs around to avoid a -1 to hit and get to 3s on a Fire order) and you can spend your Rift Dice to bump it up to a Medium Anti-tank gun on a Fire order specifically. The Rift Enhancement means you can't move and get the benefit of a bigger gun, but it is great to have the versatility of being able to punch up into slightly bigger vehicles. 

Automated Mobile Platform 'Bombardier'- The mortar equivalent of the Platforms, the Bombardier carries a Light Howitzer with Corrosive D3. This is quite good as although it won't be super great against really heavy vehicles it does mean it can do a ton of damage to all kinds of infantry and light vehicles, and can punch up on a gamble into bigger things. Like the Bombardier though it is only on a Fire order, so no movement when you do it. 

Automated Mobile Platform 'Lancer'- 3 HMGs on a single, easy to hide and impossible to pin model. While it is easy to kill with only a single wound it does have Hard to Kill for an extra save, and for 99 points for what it does it is more than worth the cost. You can take up to 3 in an Automated Platoon, and depending on what you're facing these things will be fantastic. They're incredible into Totenkorps or Fireflies, less useful but still good into Ursus, other robots and Stahltruppen and all but useless into the heavier mechs. 

Automated Carriers- A fairly light vehicle at 7+ armour, but can't be pinned and is quite quick with 2 Light Autocannons so is pretty decent. With Recce while Surging they're hard to lock down, and Fast gives you lots of movement options without a shooting penalty as an Automated unit, but you have to be careful not to overextend and move them away from MkII units. 

'B for Bertie' Automated Infantry Hero- All the new waves for K47 have given their respective unit types a named Hero, and the Automated Infantry are no exception. While 120 points for a model with only 4" move and 6+ to damage may seem quite steep, I think Bertie actually has the potential to be one of the best pieces in a British army when used well. He is effectively just a hero version of a MkI Automaton with a HMG, so with the +1 Pen that is so important in K47, but also brings 3 points of Luck and a different Rift Ability. 3 Luck is huge, and means he can either let you reroll dice on important rolls, or simply stay alive when he would be killed up to 3 times in a game. With Hard to Kill for extra saves as well this makes Bertie a real pain to take down, and with Infiltrator and the ability to automatically pass any Outflank rolls you will always have him exactly where he needs to be at any given time. His Rift Ability is also quite interesting, as it lets you make an Advance order after another unit shoots at one of your units in line of sight to Bertie, so effectively letting him shoot twice a turn which is quite a good upgrade in output. It also acts as a kind of deterrent to shooting other units as if they're getting shot, Bertie can put more pins onto you in retaliation (assuming they aren't veteran vehicles or Fearless) or just take more models off after your own activation. Fireflies are a good counter here, as you can Regroup in Hell! to get out of line of sight of Bertie so he can't shoot back but this is also risky. 

Additional Takes

Merlin Heavy Walker- A personal favourite of mine, the Merlin has Automated Systems so synergises with the Director and can be splashed in quite easily as an Armoured Walker Platoon. Thematically it works too as it has an AI core in it, so you aren't losing out on all-robot by taking a Merlin. The fists are decent melee weapons and I've had it punch into other mechs quite successfully, the HMG on the arm is great for firing into infantry of all kinds with the +1 pen and full shots being an arm weapon, and the Heavy Anti-Tank Gun with Improved HE is just a great gun all around, especially moving and shooting with 4s to hit. Being able to exhaust a Rift Dice to ignore a Vehicle Damage result is also really good, and it has to be remembered this is on top of the flat ignoring of Crew Stunned results as well. 

Veteran Vehicles- The Humber and Churchill Meteor are potentially worth taking with an Automated Platoon, as you can Snap to Action! from the Director and get a bit more value out of it. The Churchill is a very expensive investment though, and with the Automated units also being on the expensive end you probably won't have a lot of activations if you take a Churchill. 

Carnevale as a Beginner Part 2- Patricians

 I've picked up a 2nd faction for Carnevale with the Patricians. They're very different to my Rashaar with almost no water game, a big focus on land and ranged combat, and a very different aesthetic reflecting their place in society. 

The gang is built around the nobility and their masquerades, with supporting staff around them. I most liked the idea of murderous rich people and am choosing not to play either the Ottomans or Guard to keep a narrower theme, where my Rashaar are quite broad, and adding Gifted later on sticks to a more high-class theme while also giving options for my play group in general.

Heretic Naval Raiders- Trench Crusade Faction Overview

 Next up for my Trench Crusade overviews is my favourite Fallen faction, the Heretic Naval Raiders. I really love the idea of the piratical heretics scourging the Mediterranean, and I've created my own little warband based on a submarine crew of heretics raiding the coastlines of Italy and Greece.

Unique Rules

Close Assault Weapons- Submachine Guns costing Ducats instead of Glory is really great, as in such a close-quarters focused warband being able to take more Submachine Guns for more shots and ASSAULT is really good. It also means you can start campaigns off with SMGs immediately, which starts you off so much easier. 

Fast as Lightning- +1 Dice to Dash actions is just action efficiency, and will make your mobility quite a lot more reliable. It doesn't guarantee Dash successes though, and I couldn't even guess the amount of times I've still failed Dashes even with +1

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie and Light Troops- No War Wolf, only 1 Artillery Witch and 2 Anointed. Restricting all of the big troop options means you have less to work with, but in a campaign you're likely starting with all 3 ELITE models and a range of regular troops. It also means that later in a campaign you won't have much access to models that aren't simply Heretic Troopers or Wretched, so Naval warbands will end up going pretty wide later down the line in a campaign.

Unseen Advance- The ability to buy 3 non-ELITE models INFILTRATOR is fantastic, as you can put your close assault units with melee weapons, SMGs or Flamethrowers close to your opponent right from the start of the game (assuming the scenario allows it, which isn't always) and makes for a great 2-stage team added with your Death Commando. Either for early game pressure or objective taking you'll get value out of more infiltrating units, but be careful not to overextend.

Heretic Legions Units

Heretic Priest- As your LEADER model you have to take one, and there are few slightly different ways you can build a Priest. No matter what loadout you give it though, it's a great generalist profile with +2 dice to both melee and ranged making it fairly reliable at everything (and meaning you want to give it both kinds of weapon to make the most of it) while TOUGH keeps it in the fight a bit longer. The other thing to note is Puppet Master as you can use this to manipulate positioning and being able to move any model within 12" D6" is quite good. Early game you want to use it to move your own models up the board and get things into better positions, while later game you can use it to move things into combat with your own models or out of cover where you can really punish them. My personal favourite loadout, at least at the start of a campaign, is giving them a Silenced Pistol or grenades so they have an ASSAULT weapon and 2 Sword/Axes with Standard Armour. This is a fairly budget build so you can fit in more of the other elites (Priest, Chorister and Commando to start is something I'm a big fan of) and it's quite easy to kit them out later on with better gear as you should be making decent amounts of money for a campaign. 

Chorister- When you have a close-range warband having a close-range debuff piece is really great, and -1 to all success rolls from enemies makes it so much harder for them to actually achieve things in game. Also having a +2 melee piece means you can have a really consistent Sacrificial Blade with a 2nd action for another weapon. Polearm is another great option as you can use it to set up near an objective and just make it really obnoxious for an opponent to get near you or to even attempt objective actions, as in order to attack you from a charge they'll be -2 dice base. Choristers are really great models all around and I think they're something every Naval Raider warband, especially with the new plastic model looking so nice

Death Commando- As an ELITE with INFILTRATOR the Death Commando is a piece that you can use to put some really early pressure on an opponent, and they can do a lot of damage if they succeed with their rolls. You can pair them with other models with INFILTRATOR in Naval Raiders and make use of the +1 Dash to play really aggressively early on and try and take away activations from your opponent. Tartarus Claws make this way easier as it gives multiple attacks and another movement with even more attacks if you kill something, so with a good grenade throw you can get a heap of damage out in a single activation. They're harder to shoot with a native -1 dice to shoot them (which you can stack with the Chorister) so as long as you're keeping them moving between cover they'll be really annoying to take out. I always start with a Tartarus Claws Commando to get experience on it early, but also to have things that are going to give value early on and flesh out the numbers later. 

Anointed- The heavy-hitters of your non-ELITE, and often the things you want to promote, but they are quite expensive and tend to want even more expensive gear. I haven't tried out a starting roster with any Anointed yet but they are one of my first purchases, as they can put in a ton of work and tend to be one of the tankier units in the roster with their built-in Reinforced Armour. As the only models in the warband with STRONG they are also a natural place to put HEAVY weapons onto, and things like Greatsword/axe or Hellblades are great on them. None of the HEAVY weapons in the warband are especially fantastic, as you usually want ASSAULT on at least a grenade option so you have the option of charging in mid-game. A turn of shooting with a non-ASSAULT weapon is a turn you're losing out on combat so is something to consider, although Heavy Flamethrower is a really good option early game to put the hurt out as an alternative to grenades.

Heretic Trooper- Your basic troop, and something that will be decent enough any time you take it. Regular Troopers I tend to just keep with rifle and bayonet just to have something that can sit back on an objective and plink shots off, or move up and take positions aggressively while the rest of the warband do the killing work. Legionaries on the other hand are great with the INFILTRATOR upgrade, as with an SMG and 2 melee weapons you can infiltrate them in, dash out to shoot twice and then charge with 2 attacks. I personally put the +1 into melee so your 2nd attack is still at flat dice normally, and although they add up in terms of cost they also get work done in terms of creating a threatening presence that your opponent has to deal with while the rest of your warband makes it up the table. 

Wretched- The lightest infantry option in the faction, but also quite garbage. I do want to take the time to try out a few Wretched with double melee at some point as light, disposable shock troops but they aren't really that much cheaper than Heretic Troopers for a significant drop in quality. You probably don't want to take them outside of meme lists, but it is a tempting meme that I want to test out. 

Artillery Witch- While you can only take 1, a Witch is a great take as it gives you some long ranged blasting in a faction that tends to want to play closer up. There's not much else to say about the Witch that isn't standard for all Artillery Witches, as you need to keep it fairly safe and Witches can be pretty squishy. As a non-ELITE it is also far more likely to just die if it gets taken out as well, which you don't want to happen. Try and keep it in cover where possible, and out of melee. 

Mercenaries

Sin Eater- Physically imposing and fairly hard-hitting, the Sin Eater works with Naval Raiders but it will get stuck behind a bit as it isn't necessarily as fast as the rest of the warband. Being able to hit multiple models is really helpful and plays into the Naval Raiders theme of SMGs and multiple melee weapons to keep attacking. I don't think it's worth taking over a Goetic Warlock or the glory items for the warband though, and its definitely something I would take far later in a campaign and only really consider for one-offs rather than actually take. 

Goetic Warlock- For a close-assault, fast-moving warband I really like the Goetic Warlock as it has its own ways to teleport around and jump to better positions or steal specific enemy pieces for assassination. I've played it a fair bit in one-offs and it works quite well, and as the cheapest Mercenary for Fallen factions it is also something easier to get to as opposed to the other options. 

Scripture Guardian- Still quite expensive, and Naval Raiders have great ways to spend Glory otherwise. If you somehow manage to buy everything else and run out of Glory later in a campaign then sure buy it, but I wouldn't go out of the way to get it before other things.

Glory Items

Blasphemous Staff- This is going to go on your Heretic Priest if you take it, nothing else will get enough value out of it. Death Commando can't spare the hand as you want Tartarus Claws on it, and the Chorister doesn't have actions to get enough out of the Staff. +1 to Puppet Masters is good, but potentially at the expense of a 2nd melee weapon so it's something to consider and not always take

Anti-Materiel Rifle- The single best hard-hitting gun you can get. This rifle will tear through armour and reliably kill non-TOUGH models or trigger TOUGH on those that have it, you want it on something that can hit more reliably like the Heretic Priest. In the case you take the AMR on a Priest I'd pair it with Grenades of some kind just so you still have an ASSAULT weapon, but you will get great value out of this every time. Heavy is a downside here though, and in a list where you likely want to be charging you do have less charge range which hurts. 

Hellblade- A very good melee weapon, but also likely going on Anointed as the ability to one-hand it on an Anointed while pairing it with another hand is fantastic. The LIMIT:2 doesn't even really matter here either as Anointed are also restricted to 2 so you can give them both Hellblades and not have to worry.

Automatic Rifle- An option for slightly longer range compared to an SMG, but generally speaking I think not as good given the Glory cost vs simply paying for an SMG. 

Red Brigade- Trench Crusade Faction Overview

As the first in what will become a series of my thoughts about specific sub-factions for Trench Crusade, I'm starting with my favourite faction in Red Brigade. This faction really does hold a spot in my heart as it is quite unique for New Antioch and is also something I really love thematically. 

Unique Rules

Displeasure of the Church- Clerics and Sniper Priests both occupy the same slot, with you being able to take 1 of each or 2 Sniper Priests. 1 of each is all you really want I think, as the Cleric gives you a decent bit of support and a 2nd Priest will just take up cost and Fireteam slots more that you will want just as much on your other models. 

Fury of Saint Ernest- Molotovs for 5 Ducats still aren't great, and no Troop Flag doesn't matter when you have the Red Banner anyway. This rule does give you the best thing in Red Brigade though- the Gunslinger Lieutenant. Lieutenant with double Automatic Pistols can put out a ton of shots, and use the guns in melee as well to make a really terrifying leader. I love gunslingers in any game, and this build of Lieutenant is my favourite thing to play in Trench Crusade from a fun point of view. 

Glory Hounds- This is basically what lets you buy Dogs for Ducats as a normal part of the warband, although they must be half your total models or less. It also gives you double Glory points for Glorious Deeds that you score with Dogs once per game, which will let you earn Glory for things like gear and Mercenaries far quicker assuming you can claim them with the Dog. 

No Retreat- No Red Brigade model can voluntarily leave combat. You have a few ways to get around this, but this is a really big factor in how you should play Red Brigade. You'll get in combat eventually and should give everyone a melee weapon so they can brawl, knowing you can't leave unless your opponent is dead. 

Remember the Fallen- Skipping Reinforcement and Exploration to instead reclaim all the gear of models that die in the previous game is quite good, assuming you suffer mass casualties and lose a ton of gear that you can't regain as easily. This will usually be used to get Glory Items back, as without it you can just Reinforce and get not only the value of the Battlekit that's lost, but buy the wielders back too. 

Wear and Tear- Starting with Blood Markers is a big downside, and you will need to play into this knowing that you can have some really rough matchups. Hiding the important pieces is one thing, but taking Medi-kits is equally as important to mitigate the downside a little. This rule also means you have an especially rough time into Court as you basically give them a free Goetic spell if they go first, and if that spell is a Burning Inferno from a Sorcerer? It's going to really hurt

Unique Equipment

Red Banner- The first thing I spend Glory on when I have access to it. This is a Troop Flag and a Polearm in one, but with a better bonus than the Troop Flag as it gives +2 Dice rather than just +1. This is all to say, it's excellent and the official sculpt on a Shock Trooper looks really great. 

Blood Cloak- 5 Ducats for Skirmisher, this acts as a great way to avoid being engaged when you don't want to be. It won't always work, but it will help at least some of the time.

Unique Units

Crimson Communicant- A few things together make Big Red something I will always take without fail in Red Brigade lists as the 2nd model after the Lieutenant. The melee stats on this thing are already great, without factoring in that they get an extra dice for every Blood marker they have and can't have Blood spent on their melee attacks. That alone makes the Communicant a great brawler and it can hit really hard in melee, although it can become easier to kill as your opponent absolutely will spend the Blood on damage rolls. The other big plus for it though is the Atonement Bell, which can knock enemies out of combat and even trigger extra attacks on your own models. It means you have ways to get out of combat, but also that you can get 2 attacks with a Greatsword on this guy for relatively little effort. I like to Fireteam him with the Lieutenant to guarantee things get out of combat with the Lieutenant, and I can keep shooting dual auto pistols as much as possible. 

Trench Dogs of the Red Brigade- Another mainstay of Red Brigade lists, the Trench Dogs come in a few varieties and are pretty valuable in all their forms. The ability to give Grenades to the dogs for 5 Ducats and use it on any model within 1" is fantastic, as it gives you Ducat economy and makes the dogs great support pieces for Fireteams (which they can also pay to form extra Fireteams giving you a total 4). 2 dogs can also be upgraded into Mercy Dogs which carry a Medi-kit that gives +1 dice to anyone using it within 1", so again fantastic economy although these 2 together make dogs into a pretty easy target as they can't take armour at all. The ability to move around prone friendly models is also quite nice, although with the restriction that it can't be done if any of them are engaged so will often not be useful. Attack Dogs having +1 dice to attacks is nice, although not as great utility as Mercy Dogs, and the 1 Guard Dog you can take is good for potentially screening Infiltrators, although again not as great as the other options. As dogs they get +1 dice to Dash natively, making them much faster with their 8" movement as compared to the usual 6", and can attack in melee despite not having melee weapons. 

New Antioch Units

Lieutenant- You're playing Red Brigade, you have to take a Lieutenant and are you really playing this sub-faction without playing a gunslinger? Double Automatic Pistols is my go-to build every time, with the armour being the only thing I change out depending on how much I have to spend. Sure you could build them differently, but at that point you're deliberately not using some of the warband rules. 

Sniper Priests- Your long range option. This is what you take if you want to be able to pick things off early game, which you really do want, and gives you board control in a faction where you likely will have a majority of close-range combat models. Starting a campaign with a Sniper Priest is good because it gives you early access to advancements too, and they're pretty reliably levelling up early if they can get a Glorious Deed or 2. 

Trench Cleric- The Cleric I think is highly dependent on whether you want anti-FEAR tech in a campaign, because that's the most use you'll get out of it. As an ELITE it's the least important of the 4 you have access to, and as such will probably not make it into a starting campaign roster but will likely be added in later down the line. Anti-FEAR is quite great though especially for a melee-focused warband, so it should always at the very least be considered every time you can add to a roster. 

Yeomen- Your basic troop variant. Couple of Yeomen with Bolt Actions and Bayonets are fine enough, and I like using a Yeoman as the body for a Musical Instrument to help everyone else get up the table. The Westfalia Yeomen sculpts are all great too, so later in a campaign I try and fit them in. Usually they're later takes as I want to fit Shocks, Dogs, a Medic and an Engineer first if possible and build out later

Shock Troopers- My favourite troop in the New Antioch roster, the Shock Troopers are great close assault troops which play really well into the Red Brigade playstyle. +1 dice in melee and more reliably charging makes for a perfect Fireteam partner for Trench Dogs, as you can move quicker to keep up with the extra movement on dogs and access their grenades before charging in. I like sword and board builds to give them a bit more staying power, but double melee is quite tempting as well as you can get a lot of damage out between a grenade throw and then 2 melee attacks. All around Shocks are a really solid unit to take in any Antioch list let alone in Red Brigade, and I will always take 2-3 at least.

Combat Engineers- Satchel Charge access mostly, but they're also pretty good budget skirmishers with built-in Engineer Armour helping a lot against other grenades and Artillery Witches. My preferred build is Satchel Charge, SMG for a mid-field threat that takes some heat away from the Shock Troopers or Lieutenant/Communicant Fireteam, or goes untouched and has the potential to wreak havoc

Mechanised Heavy Infantry- A great way to get some heavy armour into your warband, but they are primarily ranged units and don't get any bonuses in combat. I still think building them for skirmishing with Heavy Shotguns is the best use for them, as the only STRONG models in the warband they can move and shoot reliably with a gun that hits really hard. 

Combat Medic- As a 0-1 choice I think the Medic is something you always take for Red Brigade, because it gives you access to a reliable Medi-Kit on a solid platform. The armour goes a long way, and although it won't always matter Misericordia can do work on taking out downed opponents. 

Mercenaries

Communicant Anti-Tank Hunter- Red Brigade tend to lack a bit of long-range punch, and that's what the Anti-Tank Communicant is for. AMR access is fantastic, and on a fairly tanky platform it does a lot of work every time it hits the table. Definitely worth the Glory investment, and although I don't think personally it makes it into one-off lists over the other Mercenary options it is something I consider. 

Mendelist Ammo Monk- Although the gunslinger blast combo is gone, the Ammo Monk can still be quite reliable with traditional Red Brigade builds in a campaign. Having access to +1 to injure on a gunslinger Lieutenant is fantastic, and BLAST and SHRAPNEL is still great on a Sniper Priest early game while you move the Lieutenant into position. It's not the always take it used to be, but it does still have very good applications. 

Combat Biologist- A favourite Mercenary of mine for Red Brigade, because it has such a nice package for supporting the warband that it works really well for relatively little Glory. The Vivisector being able to push enemies out of engagement gives you a 2nd source outside of the Communicant, and free Gas Grenades is just nice to have to put some more Blood out there early. Plus the model is just awesome and I love getting it onto the table

Scripture Guardian- Although it is quite decent it is very expensive, and Red Brigade have a lot of other good options for their Glory for cheaper. I'd go for any of the 3 above before I'd go for a Scripture Guardian, and honestly probably also an Observer and Mamluk

Witchburner- Even after the changes, it isn't really that great for the cost. Really cool model, but unfortunately doesn't really help Red Brigade at all in ways you can't get elsewhere

Observer- Another fantastic take, because the Observer is generically quite good and comes with a Medi-Kit to help take Blood off. Not much to say, for 3 Glory it is more than good enough

Mamluk Faris- An extra Fireteam option if you really need 5 Fireteams, it can also be a really tough lynchpin with Polearm and Shield 

BLKout- Boone Recon Force

 I've been convinced by some friends recently to get into BLKout, and painted up the Boone Recon Force for some games. Just waiting on some Handlers now to be fully ready, but I'm pretty keen to play more BLKout.

My first demo game went pretty well and I really enjoyed it, with the rules being really straightforward and easy to pick up. The big comparison, Infinity, really stands quite differently as Infinity is very rules dense and quite complicated where BLKout is easy to play and very simple in its rules. 

Warhammer: The Horus Heresy 3rd Edition- Game Thoughts

 When it comes to mass battle games, Warhammer really is the only thing that does it for me in terms of accessibility and gameplay. I've been playing a bit of 40k lately with Eldar and a new Krieg army I've been working on for some Siege of Vraks action, and some very sporadic Old World games, but my main foray into the worlds of Warhammer is in the realm of the Horus Heresy with the multiple armies I've put together over the last 4 years. 

For a game that boils down mostly to Space Marines fighting other Space Marines with a couple of armies on the side, I must say Heresy really makes the most of what it is. With an edition change that's been controversial to say the least, I do genuinely think that 3rd has taken all of the best bits of the previous 2 editions and made it into something unique as opposed to just a carbon copy of old 40k with a few small tweaks. The addition of initiative modifiers to melee weapons is really great to have a more granular system in melee (which I'll share my gripes with later in this piece) and the detachment system makes for more thematic army building, if a little convoluted in terms of learning how to work it out. Once you've figured it out though it's easier than ever to tailor your list to a specific theme without even needing Rites of War that you would've needed before.

This isn't to say the game isn't without its flaws, as any game has. The Weapon Skill chart is the biggest thing, as the jump from WS4 to 5 is huge, and swings melee massively as opposed to the older chart that pushes penalties for hitting higher Weapon Skills to needing a higher difference. I honestly think simply replacing the current 2nd/3rd ed chart with the older 1st ed chart (which is also the same chart in Old World and older 40k editions) would go a long way to making combat feel a lot closer and not the massive disparities that it currently has. Another thing I find a little annoying is the focus for needing units with Line or Vanguard, although you'll almost always have some of these units it is still basically mandatory to have some in order to keep up in scoring from your opponent. This has been something especially apparent for my own Knight army, where I've needed to add Solar Auxilia units as house-guard to be able to claim objectives at all. I do really enjoy the variety in list building though, and I am a person who played entire armies without scoring units in 2nd ed so it isn't a huge issue, but something I've had to factor in with my list building to take a couple of Tactical Squads, Lesser Daemons or Solar Auxilia to get some objective play.

The move from GW across the board in terms of Specialist Games moving from bigger book releases into small journals I think is fantastic, as you can pick up specific books that are relevant to you at a lower price point (and carry around smaller books) if you don't want all the rules. The journals for Heresy do all have some really cool alternate missions in them though, with Zone Mortalis and the armoured missions being something I'm particularly keen to try out as I have tons of vehicles between my Dark Angels and Knights. I'm sure this is something we'll get back to when I get the chance to play the missions, I'll make sure to get some Battle Reports out!

My own personal armies are Dark Angels (my earliest gaming love, and something that's always stuck with me), Emperor's Children and Imperial Knights in what have both become hybrid 30k/40k armies. I love them all for different reasons, but they're all things that I've enjoyed modelling and painting, and although my game time with them has been decidedly less in 3rd ed compared to the dozens of games of 2nd I played, I still love all the games I have. 

My Dark Angels are the stoic defenders of the Imperium, not caring about their own casualties or that of anyone in between them and the objective, focusing mainly on the horrific weaponry of the Dreadwing or the mass vehicular assaults of the Ironwing as those are the aspects of the legion I love the most- Angels of Caliban's opening scene with the Dreadwing armoured assault is what sold me on this build specifically. 

My Knights are House Vyronii, as the feudal background really resonated with me (something I leant into when adding Solar Auxilia for house-guard in 3rd edition), they were a natural addition lore-wise to my Dark Angels and I really like the metallic green colour scheme. Win or lose with them it makes sense as well, as Vyronii take part in some of the most brutal betrayals and horrific battles of the Heresy, so losses and pyrrhic victories are what I love to see on the tabletop as it really reflects their lore. 

My in progress Emperor's Children on the other hand are a late-Heresy, fully traitor army with a ton of Kakophoni/Noise Marines and various marines in stages of corruption as they turn from the purple into a chaotic pink. Fulgrim and a bunch of Slaanesh daemons cap off this army, marking them as very different to my loyalists in both look and feel. All of these armies I had a vision for, and set out to achieve that more than any specific gameplay purposes, and I can say that I am proud of what I have achieved in terms of the story the armies convey.