Trench Crusade Faction Focus: Mercenaries

In our Faction Focus series, we delve deep into No Man's Lands to bring you back the forbidden knowledge of how the various Factions play within Trench Crusade. This time, we take a look at the various Mercenary forces Heaven and Hell may recruit along their journey. So, it's time to drain your Paychest and get recruiting!

What Are Mercenaries?

Within the world of Trench Crusade, the forces of Heaven and Hell wage a constant war, requiring constant reinforcements to ensure the war machine grinds ever on, or total ruin befalls those who cannot bring their numbers back up. The many warbands that roam No Man’s Land or other sites of battle sometimes recruit mercenaries who can help ensure victory in the coming fights. These mercenaries are not cheap, however, and Ducats hold little value to them. Only through the Glory of the warband may they tempt these mercenaries to join their force. So, within the game, Mercenaries can only be purchased with Glory points, a currency gained mainly through accomplishing Glorious Deeds within each scenario of a campaign. There are a few other methods, but this will be the main way.

How Do Mercenaries work?

Each Mercenary, whilst a unit, obeys a specific set of rules that you need to be aware of when both putting them into your list and putting them on the table. As mentioned Mercs can only be bought with Glory, but apart from that, here is a quick rundown on how Mercenaries work:

Only one of each Mercenary: Typically, you can only recruit one of each mercenary eligible to be in your warband.
Mercenaries do not benefit from your Faction Special Rule. They do, however, benefit from the ability of another model in your warband if the effect “friendly” units.
You cannot remove or lose the Battlekit your Mercenary owns, nor can they have any other Battlekit. So, no equipping them with something else, even if it would be cool.
Apart from the Battlekit, in Campaign, they are treated the same as any other model. This is important because it means mercenaries can become Elite and gain the benefits of Skills. This is a new change in the latest ruleset, and one which opens up a lot of avenues for exploration when it comes to Mercenaries. A rather previously underwhelming Mercenary may become much better if you can beeline its promotion.

Mercenaries of the Faithful

Combat Biologist

Credit: Sammie Dae

Whether belonging to the Pontifical Office of Biological Warfare or the Al-Bisţāmī School of Ninety-Nine Names, the Combat Biologist specialises in incapacitating and capturing the enemies of the faithful. The purpose of such insanity is to help develop weaponry and means to destroy His enemies.

Costing 3 Glory and recruitable by New Antioch and Iron Sultanate warbands, the Combat Biologist specialises in taking down the pesky demons that stalk the land, whilst giving you a potential little boost in campaign play. With a standard 6” Move, a +1 to their melee stat and -1 armour from their inbuilt standard armour, they have a reasonable stat line to get their job done, with Negate Fear on top. Battlekit-wise, they also come equipped with Gas Grenades, a Gas Mask and a Vivisector, which has a couple of nice abilities, as well as the Block and Cumbersome keywords. Firstly, Pain Amplifier reduces the number needed for a Critical Success for each Blood Marker the target has. Whilst it’s already nice enough to get an increased crit chance to finish off foes, this ability pairs nicely with Inflict Pain, where if a critical success is scored and the enemy is not taken Out of Action, then the target is pushed away D3”. That means that if they are pushed out of melee combat, then you and any other allies in melee with the target get to make an attack. Not bad at all! If you score another crit, then you get to move them another D3” away, but no extra attack this time around. This ability only works on enemies without the Artificial Keyword and are on a base 40mm or less. Its applicability isn’t universal, but still nice against the medium-sized threats out there.

When it comes to abilities, we start with Prize Specimens, which gives the Combat Biologist a Blessing Marker anytime they take out a model with the Demonic or Black Grail Keyword in melee. Short, sweet and straightforward. Battlefield Vivisection is a little more complex and revolves around the Glorious Deed missions. When the Biologist is part of your warband, you can add this Glorious Deed in addition to the normal ones. If you take three enemy models Out of Action whilst in melee with the biologist, you get to add +1 Glory Point to your total earned at the end of the game. Whilst a little tricky to set up, the extra Glory is undoubtedly nice, and again supports the idea of going after the weaker, easier-to-handle Demonic or Grail units.

Comminicant Anti-Tank Hunter

Had to pan out on this one, he looks like he's enjoying a fine autumn day Models: Lenoon Backdrop: John Hodgson

Communicants are formed through communion with the blood and flesh of a Meta-Christ; those who survive possess unparalleled strength, size, and resilience. The dreaded Anti-Tank Hunter is the bane of the heretical forces, able to wield the mighty Anti-Material Rifle with ease.

On the table, the Anti-Tank Hunter is a popular Mercenary choice. Despite costing a hefty 5 Glory, it can quickly gain back its cost through its devastating ranged shooting. Being able to be fielded by New Antioch and Trench Pilgrim forces, the Anti-Tank Hunter often fills in the role of the long-range shooter, which these factions usually lack. With a standard 6” move, and a +1 in ranged and melee, the Anti-Tank Hunter also comes with a native -1 armour and a Combat helmet. Adding on Strong and Tough, you have a solid combatant. Where the Hunter shines, though, is its weapon. The Anti-Material Rifle, standard in Heretic Legion forces, is wielded by the Hunter. With a 36” range, a native +1 Injury Dice, as well as Critical and Ignore Armour, this weapon can take out foes reliably and is rightfully a common pick in campaign or one-off games.

Rounding out the Hunter with their abilities, first off, there is Iron Fists, which gives it two melee attacks, despite having no melee weapons. Secondly, Miracle of Regeneration allows the Hunter to remove a single Blood Marker each turn before they take any action.

Mendelist Ammo Monk

Mendelist Ammo Monk. Credit: SRM

The Mendelist Order are responsible for the creation of the Communicants, who we have just learned are the towering behemoths that have joined in chemical communion with the Meta-Christ. The Brotherhood of the Blessed Munitions specifically are responsible for providing the faithful with their supply of deadly ammunition.

It is fitting that the Mendelist Ammo Monks have such an interwoven relationship with the Communicants, as this is precisely how they play on the tabletop (mostly). You’ll often see these little helpers close to the Anti-Tank Hunter (or the Anchorite Shrine), providing some nice buffs to ensure the Hunter hits its mark, or takes it out more reliably. Before we get into how the Monk buffs your Hunter, let’s look at the stats.

Look, I’m not going to lie to you, the stats are awful. At the regular 6” move, they have -1 Dice in melee and ranged, zero armour and have just a Gas Mask as their Battlekit. That basically means they can’t attack at all. However, that is not their job at all. In fact, their abilities make up for their lack of, well, anything physical on the table. Starting off with Faithful Followers, this allows you to do a “Mini Fireteam” kind of action, essentially. If you activate another model within 1” of this one, you may activate the Monk as well (as long as they have not activated yet). Afterwards, you can do their actions in any order you wish, switching between the two as you want. If any of the models end their activation, the other model can still carry on with its own actions. It’s a helpful ability that lets you avoid overthinking your activations, and you’ll be thankful for it because of their next ability, Ammunition Sacrament. This ability is an action, and after passing a Risky Success Roll, the monk may pick a friendly model within 1” of the monk and choose one of three abilities:

Bullet of the Guided Path Sacrament: Adds +1 Dice to rolls for Ranged Attacks
Cartridge of his Wrath Sacrament: Add the Blast 2” and Shrapnel keywords to the Ranged Weapons the target model has. The target weapon cannot have the Blast or Flamethrower Keyword.
Echo of his Word Sacrament: Add +1 Injury Dice to rolls for Ranged attacks.

These are some incredible buffs, and really add some nice options for not only the Anti-Tank Hunter, but also any ranged weapon user. A Machine Gun getting Blast and Shrapnel on three attacks? Yes please!

All in all, whilst the monk may not contribute much directly, the potential it gives for your heavy shooters cannot be understated. Coming in at just 2 Glory, it’s also a cheap pick!

Mamluk Faris

The Mamluks were once great warrior leaders of North Africa, brought to their knees after an intense war with the forces of Mammon. Rather than live in the comfort and shame within the Iron Wall, the Mamluks decided to spread far and wide, harassing and raiding heretical positions with the ultimate goal of reclaiming their homelands.

Rules-wise, the Mamluk Faris can be taken by New Antioch and Iron Sultante warbands for 4 Glory, and is a versatile warrior, able to fill in a particular gap you may need. With the standard 6” movement, and +1 in Ranged and melee, they always have reinforced armour, a combat helmet, a Jezzail with Alchemical Ammunition and one of the following selections:

Greatsword
Trench polearm and Trench Shield
Pistol and Sword / Axe

This initial weapon selection allows you to choose what you want your Mamluk to be doing. For instance, you may take another solid defensive piece, so taking the Polearm and Trench Shield gives you another source of the much-coveted -3 armour. In New Antioch, you may benefit more from the Pistol and Sword combo, setting up more Blood Markers for the other Fireteam member. Yes, you read that right, the Mamluk Faris has the Sworn Brethren rule, where you may pair the Mamluk with another Elite and form a Fireteam. If that Fireteam is in a New Antioch Warband, then that model can benefit from the Concentrated Fire special rule. For the other abilities, the Automaton Destrier allows you to deploy the Mamluk with 1” of any battlefield edge and more than 8” from enemy models. This is pretty nice, but only works if the scenario allows for infiltrators. However, you get to deploy after infiltrators, allowing an extra layer of deployment shenanigans. Lastly, Martial Prowess removes the Heavy Keyword from the Greatsword, and your Jezzail has the Assault and Shield Combo keywords. This turns your Mamluk into a constantly moving, always shooting, and, if need be, fighting figure.

Observer

Observer. Credit: SRM

Observers are warrior monks who have the unique and terrifying gift of being connected to the Lord of All Creation. They spend all their days secluded and alone, refining their mental discipline to stay connected to Him, and rarely leave the Temple of the Word. Should they be summoned to the battlefield, the Observers use their rigorous martial training to bring His enemies to heel.

This connection to God grants them some excellent abilities on the table, and offers something rather unique compared to the other mercenaries: Activation shenanigans. Before we get into that, let’s look at the stats. The Observer rocks an 8” movement, with +1 to their ranged state and +2 to melee, with Standard Armour, Combat Helmet, Medi-Kit and a Trench Polearm for their battlekit. This is a pretty nice set of stats and Battlekit. 8” movement is very welcomed. The +2 in Melee, along with their Lightning Speed ability, means they can punch reliably when they need to. Having just Standard Armour is a little rough for what initially seems like a melee-focused unit, but the Trench Polearm and Temporal Fugue ability do compensate for that, though.

Speaking of abilities, let’s start with Lightning Speed, which allows the Observer to make two melee attacks with their Trench Polearm when it uses a fight Action. Nice and straightforward, and certainly welcomed. Temporal Fugue adds -1 Dice for rolls for Ranged or Melee attacks that target the Observer. Again, nice and concise and stacks nicely with the Polearm Block bonus for a melee unit wanting to get on you and hit you in melee. Voice of God allows you to take a Risk Success Roll; if successful, you pick any model on the battlefield that has not yet been activated, and they immediately begin their activation (and end yours). This is such a great ability, and is one of the core abilities of the Observer, creating some great Activation shenanigans and causing problems for your opponent. You can force your opponents, long-range hitters, to activate whilst everything of yours is safely hidden, wasting that activation. You can force an opponent to activate something useless, allowing an essential unit of yours to get into cover and be safe from attack. Heck, you can even just straight up double activate by choosing one of your own units. The play potential is vast. Lastly, the Eye of God ability allows the Observer to reroll a Success or Risky Success roll if the roll was a failure. Should the second roll be a failure, you place 1 Blood Marker on the Observer, and then it is immediately taken down (2 Blood Markers if the Observer was already down). This is a great ability that can ensure the Observer is more reliable in achieving its actions, especially in Voice of God.

All in all, the Observer is a great Mercenary for your New Antioch and Trench Pilgrim warbands. Coming in at 3 Glory, it’s not a pricey piece, either.

Sister of Saint Cosmas

New Antioch Combat Medic. Credit: SRM

Across the front lines of any battlefield are the heroes who focus on healing the wounded and ensuring their survival, if only for a bit longer. The Sisters of Saint Cosmas are the medical specialists of the faithful, who stabilise and heal soldiers, sending them back out once fixed up, so they can continue the fight against damnation. However, not all receive the grace of a sister’s gift. Any heretical force instead faces the Sister's blade, which serves as both a misericordia and a surgical knife.

The Sister is a relatively simple unit that focuses on healing your allies and bringing down fallen enemies. Being recruitable by Trench Pilgrim warbands only, for just 2 Glory, the Sister has a standard 6” movement, no bonuses to Ranged or Melee and Standard Armour, Gas Mask, Medi-Kit and Misericordia as their Battlekit. The Sister also has the Negate Fear keyword, which is pretty useful.

For their abilities, Expert Medic adds +2 Dice to the Risky Success roll when they use their Medi-Kit. A nice, simple change that can help ensure stable healing if needed. Finish the Fallen adds +1 Injury Dice for melee attacks done by the Sister if the target is Down, and does not have the Black Grail or Demonic Keyword.

Sisters of Saint Cosmas are a relatively cheap and straightforward mercenary to slot into your warband, whose abilities do precisely as they say.

Witchburner

Witchburner General. Credit: SRM

When the enemies of Creation refuse to fall from conventional means of violence, the Office of the Inquisition will send in their Witchburners to smite the foe with God’s purest form of violence: Judgement.

On the table, the Witchburner acts as a slow-moving Blood Marker generator, allowing them to place extra Blood Markers on enemy models reliably at range and melee. The Witchburner has the Negate Fear keyword and, interestingly, has the Elite keyword, meaning they can start getting experience and skills right away. Starting, the Witchburner has a 6” move, with just a +1 to Melee Dice. They come with Reinforced armour, a Combat Helmet and a Gavel of Justice. The Gavel is a one-handed weapon with the critical keyword, and the built-in Wrath of God ability gives the enemy model an extra Blood Marker after the Injury roll, or two Blood Markers if the enemy model has the Black Grail, Demonic or Heretic keyword. Being able to stack 3 Blood Markers on a model has some great value and is perfect for setting up your other units to take down a larder foe.

When it comes to abilities, Dignified Conduct means the Witchburner cannot take a down action, leading the Witchburner to be a slow-moving unit that needs a bit longer to get up the board. Luckily, Divine Judgement is a nice Blood Marker generator that can target a unit 24” out without needing Line of Sight. After passing a Risky Success Roll, the target gains +1 Blood Marker, or +2 if they have the Black Grail, Demonic or Heretic keyword.

The Witchburner has a high cost at 5 glory, but is a nice addition for your New Antioch or Trench Pilgrim warbands that want a model that can reach out and hurt enemies and keep them playing honestly, yet on the backfoot.

Mercenaries of the Fallen

Goetic Warlock

Goetic Warlocks are special agents of Mammon, created by torturing and killing priests, vicars, and other holy folks. They specialize in isolating and slowly killing high profile targets on the battlefield. Between their necrotizing gaze and their sharp gauntlets they’re living weapons to be wielded against the faithful.

Goetic Warlocks cost 4 Glory and can be recruited into Heretic Legion and Court warbands (sorry Black Grail). It comes with +1 Dice to both ranged and melee attacks and reinforced armor built in. For basic abilities, enemy units cannot use the Retreat Action while in combat with them and they can make two attacks per turn with CRITICAL.

They have some more complex abilities though, their Goetic Gaze ability has them roll a Success Roll targeting an enemy model within line of sight and within 24”. On a success they inflict a Blood Marker on the target and on a Critical success they do two. While you don’t get to roll on the injury table with this ability, it does benefit from not being a ranged attack in that it ignores cover and long range and can be used in combat.

Meanwhile their Goetic Portal ability lets them do a Risky Success Roll with +1 Dice the Warlock can teleport anywhere within 6”. It also teleports units that are within an inch of them with them, allowing you to force units off an objective or closer to your hammer units. This teleport is very liberal with how it allows you to use it. You can use it even if you’re down or in combat and there’s nothing stopping you from going where you want so long as you can fit.

The Warlock’s utility comes largely from its ability to force your opponent’s movement and get where it needs to be fast. If they Dash they can move 18” in a turn or 12” before charging. More importantly you can take enemy problem units and take them over to a disadvantageous position and because they can’t run away they’ll be stuck there until the warlock is dealt with.

Sin Eater

The Sin Eater is one of the most iconic Trench Crusade models. This big bulky guy or gal is the result of folks with overwhelming greed and gluttony residing too close to a hell portal for too long.

Sin Eaters can be taken for 6 Glory. They have a pretty impressive profile, coming equipped with Reinforced Armor, a Combat Helmet, +2 Dice in Melee, Fear and Tough. With all those defensive bonuses he shouldn’t be going out of action too quickly. They also come equipped with the Tenderiser Maul, which is essentially a Great Hammer that can attack every model within an inch of them instead of just one.

The most distinctive thing about Sin Eaters though is their ability to devour models. They can take a Risky Action to devour anything within 1” on a 40mm base or less. On a success, it gobbles up its target and the target is considered Down until they are released from the Sin Eater’s gullet or dies. Every turn the Sin Eater activates, the model inside is given a Blood Marker and if that ever reaches 6 they immediately are taken out of action. An eaten model can try and fight their way out, but it's done with -3 Dice and they don’t get any special rules on their weapons. The Sin Eater can choose to Purge their meal early if they want with an action at +4 dice, placing it Down within an inch.

While the obvious application of this is to put enemy models in jail and take them out of the game for at least a short period, this can also be used on friendly units, allowing your tanky big guy to act as a bus for an important but vulnerable model. Its a very versatile rule and absolutely should not be slept on.

Other Mercenaries

Scripture Guardian

Whilst there is no definitive answer on where or how the Scripture Guardians came to be, stories say that they were first seen at the start of the Great War. The Guardians belong to no faction, whether faithful or fallen, but those that give it a holy text may then command it to do their bidding.

The Scripture Guardian is a pricey piece, coming in at a whopping 7 Glory, but it’s a versatile unit that can fit a role you need. Sporting the standard 6” movement and a +1 Dice to melee and Reinforced Armour, the Scripture Guardian doesn’t come with a default weapon. Instead, you may purchase two one-handed melee weapons or a single two-handed melee weapon from your Faction Armoury (with the same restrictions applying). On top of that, the Guardian comes with a Combat Helmet and has the Golem keyword, making it particularly difficult for enemies to take out.

Ability wise, the Scripture Guardian has the Slow ability, meaning when it dashes, it only moves 3”. Secondly, and most importantly, is the Vengeful Scripture ability allows the Scripture Guardian to pick an enemy model within 18” and make a Success Roll with +1 Dice (+2 if within 9”). If successful, you make an Injury Roll with a +1 Injury Modifier for each Blood Marker the target has. Should you get a Critical Success, the injury roll is done with +1 Injury Dice for each Blood Marker as well. This is a really nice ability that does not suffer the usual penalties for Ranged Attacks like Cover or Long-Ranged, so getting at least a +1 Dice on this roll is very tasty.

The scripture Guardian does a little bit of everything well, making it a nice pick for all factions. The hefty price tag is, however, steep. So, unless you’ve been steamrolling in your campaign, you will have to forgo other choices if you want to get this early.

Trench Dogs

Bruno. Image: Beezer

In the war that threatens to destroy all of mankind, mankind’s best friend is not exempt from service. Trench Dogs aren’t necessarily Mercenaries but everyone treats them like they are so we might as well include them in here. The key difference is that Trench Dogs are actually equipment, equipped to a model in your army for their relevant Glory Cost and acting as a Fireteam with that unit for the cost of an extra Glory. On their face, they’re a cheap, fragile unit with +0 Dice to hit, no equipment, and +1 Dice Dash. They also gain the Faction Keyword of the faction they’re included in, allowing you to buff them with your rules.

Where Trench Dogs get interesting are the Special Training they can receive which further flavors the dog towards whatever faction they’re joining.

Guard Dogs (Not Court and Not Black Grail): these are the most straightforward specialist dogs, allowing you screen out infiltrators within 12”. Its a niche pick to be sure but can be invaluable. I do wish though it worked on pseudo infiltrators like Cradle Thralls and Malmuk Faris.

Hellhounds (Fallen Only): These dogs gain the Negate Fire rule and +1 Dice on their melee attacks. Grail and Knights of Avarice dogs gain the GAS rule on their attacks while everyone else gets a little FIRE dog. These are incredibly strong and very welcome in Heretics and Court where things that are cheap and fast are hard to come by.

Martyrdom Dog (Trench Pilgrims only): Its a dog with a Martyrdom Device. They act almost exactly like Ecclesiastic Prisoners but are a bit faster. While the extra speed is nice, I think auto taking out a model that costs Glory probably isn’t the best move for long term plans.

Mercy Dog (New Antioch Only): This puppy comes equipped with a Medi Kit and can drag downed model out of harms way. This is a pretty useful piece of kit and can absolutely get you out of some sticky situations.

Overall dogs do a ton to help fill out some rosters that are looking for fast bozo utility units. Definitely consider one the next time you can purchase Glory items for your warband.

Final Thoughts

So, that is it for our Mercenary article! There are quite a lot of options to play around with, and the right Merc choice can really take your warband up a notch in terms of its performance, whether that be from plugging in gaps in your army or doubling down on your strengths. Stay tuned for our next Faction Focus, where we continue with the factions and variants within Trench Crusade.

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Tags: faction focus | trench crusade