Trench Crusade Faction Focus: Sultanate of the Iron Wall

When the abyssal gates were opened by the Heretics, the Iron Wall was manifested as a last line of defense for the faithful forces in what we (as players) know as the Middle East. The Sultanate of the Iron wall, also referred to as the Iron Sultanate, represents the Trench Crusade adaptation of the Muslim faith, with an interesting cultural blend of many different historical nations that resided in the region. They are the frontline against the heretic forces - protecting a literal massive wall known as the Iron Wall of Dhu al-Qarnayn from the jaw-clenchingly immediate threat of the fallen forces right next door.

Faction Overview

The Iron Sultanate are a combined arms force that spans from the humble conscripted Azeb footmen to the hulking artificial behemoths known as Brazen Bulls. Your elite options can be built to handle multiple roles (barring the Assassin - who's role is pretty ubiquitous), while your core infantry (Janissaries, Sappers, Azebs) can fill pretty solid all-comers positions for your roster. The artificial creations (Lions of Jabir, Brazen Bulls) can be more niche roleplayers, as fast moving beaters or walking artillery pieces respectively. You lack a lot of dedicated frontlining non-elites, but you make up for that by having fantastic chaff and a really good counter-punch.

The Vanilla Sultanate gameplay tends to lean towards the generalist roster, taking a variety of tools to handle the different situations you can run into in a given campaign. The different variant warbands allow you to lean into the different specifics "subfactions" within the army: The Fida’i of Alamut allow for multiple assassins and a fast, elite roster; The House of Wisdom focuses on the Alchemists and artificial creations; and the Defenders of the Iron Wall focus on Janissaries and artillery, leaning hard into the defensive shooting playstyle of the roster. You have plenty of options here, it's just about what you want to bring to the table.

The Iron Sultanate are unique in that they have a bit of everything: they can do a lot of things reasonably well and have a lot of tools in their kit to deal with most threats you'll come across in normal games. Due to this, it's worth mentioning that their strengths and weaknesses are significantly less "extreme" than with other factions, as most of the weaknesses can be compensated for in some way. That being said, they also don't necessarily excel as well in skewing towards specific strategies as other factions can, so you need to leverage your versatility into your strategies and decision making.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Yuzbasi Captain Credit: @Secretly_Paul on Instagram

Strengths

Fantastic mid to long range shooting options - even your chaff units can get pretty decent options for efficient prices.
Great armory options, pretty much all of them have a solid use-case and can find a home in many lists
Speed - between assassins, wind-amulets, skirmisher Azebs, and Jabirean Lions, you have quite a bit of decent mobility.
Versatility - as mentioned above, the strength of the vanilla IS roster is that you have the ability to take a well-rounded list to handle most threats and not make major sacrifices to do so.

Weaknesses

Specialist units tend to be less...specialized. The power you gain from flexibility and combined arms fighting means you lose a bit of the raw power that other factions can have in role-playing units.
Close Range shooting is rather limited as a whole, with "grenade range" being a bracket you're often going to be outmatched in due to the lack of gas grenades and powerful shotguns (outside of the Sapper).
Anti-armor weapons can be a bit more limited, and while you do have access to flamethrowers to help with this, it means you won't have a ton else that wants to be in that range.
The Brazen Bull is a great model to shore up some of these things but can leave you strapped for cash when making a starting roster.

Battlekit/Armory Highlights

IS has a great list of items, here we'll go over some of the options available to pick from with different units. There are a few items that are locked to specific units, so we'll cover those in their respective sections below.

*Alchemical Ammunition - It's worth calling this out first, as it's very important in terms of what decisions you'll make when selecting a weapon. For 3 ducats, you can give this to anyone with a Jezzail, Siege Jezzail, Halberd-Gun, or Alezboyan. It provides AMMUNITION (+1 Dice) to ranged attacks with the weapon. Humbly, I see no reason to avoid this unless you're really trying to keep some Azebs cheap as chips. +1 to attacks for such a cheap price is what makes so many weapons of this armory stand out and why many IS lists skew towards shooting.

Ranged Weapons

Jezzail - This is the bread and butter weapon of your armory. 7 Ducats base, up to 10 with Alchemical Ammo means this is a great way to stack up blood counters in midrange firefights. It's great on anything that you want to have a gun but don't want to get too spendy with. 18" range means it's not going to be sniping things, but it will give you some space from shotgun/charge range territory.

Siege Jezzail - 30" of range and +1 Injury Dice already set this up from the start to be a beast of a weapon, but once you factor in the +1 Dice to the attack roll from Alchemical Ammo, this gets real juicy. While HEAVY prevents this from being used effectively on much outside of Janissaries and Yüzbaşi, on those models this will often be your go to weapon as it's good against basically any target. It can threaten lighter targets easily while still having enough ranged punch to reasonably go for kills from a safe distance. 33 Ducats with Alchemical Ammo is the only thing that really holds this back, but it's always going to put in work when you grab one.

Shotgun - For the same price, you can get a Jezzail + Ammo, which often will be more effective for the role you'll want these cheaper weapons on. If you're trying to budget out a frontlining Janissary or something you want holding a shield, this is a good choice for that purpose, but I find them generally outclassed by the Jezzail for use outside of a shield-combo.

Flamethrower - One of these on an Azeb is a great way to make a unit that can punch up really well into armor, and these can even go on Janissaries if you want a more sturdy/versatile body for it. Alchemists can make good use of these as well. Flamethrowers are one of the best ways to deal with armor from close range, especially without access to gas grenades.

Sniper Rifle - Limited to 2 and only can go on elites and Janissaries, but will always be a staple due to just how much of a board you can cover with a 48 inch range. Notably, this is great for your ELITES that want to hang back and shoot a bit and can't access STRONG for a Siege Jezzail. Being RISKY does mean you often don't want it for a midrange build, but for dedicated shooters it'll be great for handing out blood counters.

Halberd-Gun - This is pretty much what it sounds like. It's a 24" range ASSAULT weapon stapled to a BLOCK weapon, all in a 2-Handed and Cumbersome package. It's restricted to elites, but this is a great all-rounder weapon that can provide a bit of effectiveness in every scenario and make your character a bit more sturdy without sacrificing range.

Melee Weapons

There aren't any melee weapons unique to the roster that aren't locked to a specific unit, so the usual rules apply here. Knives are really cheap, and Bayonets are less common here because Jezzails don't have Bayonet Lug. Trench Clubs are the best choice if you want to have a decent chance to actually smack something, and for STRONG units you can opt for one of the Great Weapon varieties. Swords are fine if you have extra ducats for the occasional lucky critical. When it comes to melee weapons, it often boils down to how much you want to invest. There's a pretty clear investment to effectiveness pipeline for the available choices here.

Grenades

We have Fragmentation and Incendiary Grenades here. I often prefer Fragmentation grenades early in a roster as they're more efficient cost-wise, but the Incendiary Grenades can pull their weight as FIRE is a keyword slightly less common to be countered and they have a bit more punch through armor. I find myself taking grenades a bit less often in IS compared to other factions, but on your models with Melee kits and with things like Assassins, they can always be a valuable asset.

Other Equipment

Sultanate Sapper Credit: @Secretly_Paul on Instagram

Alchemist Armor - Reinforced Armor with NEGATE FIRE, NEGATE GAS, and gives -1 Injury Dice to attacks from weapons with those keywords, even if they ignore armor. You're limited to one per roster and it's ELITE only, but it's phenomenal for keeping a model alive. This plus a combat helmet makes you pretty much as durable as you can get as a regular infantryman.

Cloak of Alamut - Also restricted to ELITES and a limit of 1, but allows you to get -2 Dice to incoming attacks when you benefit from cover instead of the usual -1. Great for a character you have hanging back with a sniper. If you think you want to stay hunkered down, this will just help you do it better.

Takwin Anqā Bird - Elite only as well. This has a lot of text, but all it really does is make it Melee attacks against this model that are successes become Risky Successes, and if a model tries to retreat away from this model it has to take a risky success roll to do so, and on a failure it's activation ends. It's a good way to keep things stuck in melee with you, but I personally don't really think it's super useful unless you're trying to pick off squishier targets with an Assassin.

Wind Amulet - Limited to 2, but not ELITE locked. This lets you get +3" movement for a turn, once per game. This is absolutely stellar on your faster units that want to be in melee, as getting to make sure you get a needed charge off is invaluable. For 10 ducats each these are absolutely worth grabbing if you take things like Lions of Jabir and Assassins.

Medi-Kit - It's worth mentioning you have unlimited access to these, which can be great pickups on Azebs to have cheap bodies to keep your tougher things in the fight.

Holy Relics - ELITE only, a Glory exclusive item that lets you begin the game with a BLESSING marker. I don't consider these to be something you'd rush to get, but it can help make sure you deliver a key unit where it needs to effectively without either fumbling an attack or getting nuked with a stray shot. Can absolutely be worth a pickup after the start of a campaign.

Musical Instrument - Invaluable for keeping your big boys moving where they need to, a cheap Azeb with one of these can always be good to have on hand.

Aside from these things Gas Masks and Combat Helmets are great upgrades to help reduce damage from keyworded weapons, Mountaineering Kits for mobility, and Shovels to taste for any long ranged units you might have can be great upgrades.

Unit Overview

Elites

Yüzbaşi

Yüzbaşi Captains are your mandatory leader choice, and they're pretty no-frills as far as leaders go. For starters, they have Tough, Negate Fear, and +2 to Melee/Ranged, not too shabby for stats on a 70 ducat body. In addition, they get +1 Injury Dice with their attacks against TOUGH targets to represent their combat prowess, which we'll touch more on below.

While in previous versions of the game this feature was tied to a variant warband, now all Yüzbaşi can pay 10 ducats to get STRONG and Janissary Counter-Charge. For a melee focused build or anything you want to carry heavy weapons, this is absolutely worth the extra tax for STRONG alone. Aside from this upgrade, you've got the rest of the armory that you can legally take at your disposal.

Reccomended Battlekit: Yüzbaşi are an interesting character, as they realistically have two roles you can have them fill: punching up, or punching down. In a punching up role, you can kit them with an efficient ranged weapon like a Jezzail to a stack blood tokens before moving in with a Great weapon or pair of Swords for the kill. While there are some great glory items like the Kilij that you can upgrade to throughout a campaign, the core roster doesn't have a lot of powerful melee choices, so this can often be seen a tricky role for this character to play. You can also play as a dedicated shooting character, as +3 Dice to ranged shots with a Sniper or Alchemical Siege Jezzail can pack a decent ranged punch, but you do waste some of the combat power of the character in doing so.

A punching down role is actually more common, with the bonus to TOUGH targets more acting as a deterrent or nice little bonus in a pinch. Taking Alchemist Armor, a Combat Helmet, and a Halberd Gun + Alchemical Ammo can be a pretty durable frontliner that nobody really wants to charge, but can easily hand out shooting power to anything nearby. A Siege Jezzail and dual swords combo isn't bad here either, and if you really want to amp up the durability you could even opt for a Shotgun, Shield, and one handing a Great Weapon with Strong as a frontline beater.

Jabirean Alchemist

Jabirean Alchemist Credit: @Secretly_Paul on Instagram

The alchemist has a +2 to Ranged attacks and +1 to melee, with no other immediate bonuses. What they do have is the Master of Elements ability, allowing them to select one of the following during deployment - FIRE, GAS, or SHRAPNEL. All of your weapons gain that keyword, however they don't get it twice if they already had it. You can take a +1 DICE Risky Action at any point in the game to swap it to a different keyword than you initially selected.

Highlighting the flexibility of the roster, the Alchemist usually plays a role as a ranged threat to hand out blood tokens like mad. Adding the extra keywords means you can get some really crazy output even if you don't have a lot of weapon options with high killing power. The caveat is that they aren't any more durable than any of your other non-elite infantry, and they realistically hit as a hard as a Janissary (if not lower due to lacking Counter-Charge), so they often are pretty cemented as a dedicated shooting unit.

Reccomended Battlekit: There are two schools of thought with alchemists. First - they're quite cheap for an elite, so you can keep them cheap and go for Cloak of Alamut + Sniper Rifle and hang back rattling off shots, waiting to upgrade armor and melee weapons until later, or even cheaper with standard armor and a Jezzail just to reliably stack blood tokens.

The other is to push them into a role to really take advantage of their extra keywords, pushing for Reinforced Armor and things like Flamethrowers or Halberd Guns to support your frontline and dish out some real damage. It's worth noting that aside from the usual forgoing of Pistols for Grenades on many things, Pistols + Melee are quite good here since Grenades won't be affected by Master of Elements since they aren't technically weapons.

Sultanate Assassin

An Infiltrator with a +1 Ranged/+1 Melee profile, the assassin has two quite wordy rules that are worth reading verbatim, but I'll summarize here to the best of my ability. The first, Temporal Assassin, can be used if you haven't done a FIGHT this activation. It's activated after you determine charge distance, but before you actually resolve the action. You can pick two different models that you can reach with that charge, then move to within 1" of one of the models and resolve a Melee Attack against it. You then redeploy to within 1" of the second model, and resolve a Melee Attack with the same weapon you used against the first model against it. You can't take a fight action after you do this in an activation. What this actually means in practice is that you can multi-charge units that are spread apart or even separated by terrain, rather than how you normally only would be able to do so if the models were right next to each other. This also means you can do some creative plays, such as charging a scary unit with your first attack and then popping over to a less threatening target for the follow-up.

The second ability is Time Slip, which can trigger whenever an attack action targeting the Assassin is failed (Melee and Ranged). If you choose to trigger this, you can redeploy the model up to 6" away from it's current location and outside of 1" from enemies, meaning it has to leave engagement. This is not treated as a retreat - they just literally teleport away.

What both of these combined with Infiltrate makes this a piece that takes a bit of finesse to use, but really works for the power of what you want from an assassination unit - stupidly mobile, annoying to deal with, and threatening enough to make your opponent think twice about where they position their army. You don't have to use Temporal Assassin on every charge, but it's a very useful tool to have in your pocket when you charge into a cluster of enemies. Really this model shines where you would expect an assassin to, picking off stray models and popping back into a safe spot to avoid the crackback. Since the IS roster lacks a lot of powerhouse melee units, having a scalpel to help provide a melee threat can be a very useful tool in a lot of lineups, even if the rest of your list leans towards a defensive shooting strategy.

Recommended Battlekit: Armor of some kind, Reinforced is usually best because you're not going to be able to dodge every shot. The Assassin's Dagger is a 15 ducat weapon exclusive to this model that you'll pretty much take every time. +1 Injury, Critical, and allows you to take a dash action to retreat in the same activation you dealt any Blood Markers with attacks from this weapon. Additionally, if you retreat (either normally or via the free dash) in the same activation, you don't take the free melee hit from the target you retreat from. Did I mention this is one handed as well? It's outstanding and absolutely worth the cost, incredible stuff.

Really the choice comes down to if you want a shield or not. There aren't any ranged weapon restrictions on the model, so you're free to take anything you want, however you most often want this guy charging into melee range. If you are taking a shield, either a pistol for a bit of range or grenades for an ASSAULT weapon will be your go to. If you choose not to take a shield you can take a Jezzail or even a Sniper for a flexible and really annoying to deal with character, although more often than not you'll just want this guy in melee anyway. Anything that can help with mobility like a Wind Amulet or Mountaineering Kit can be a good inclusion here as well.

Non-Elites

Azeb: 25 Ducats

Azebs Credit: @Secretly_Paul on Instagram

The simple Azeb is a soldier recruited from the many provinces of the sultanate. They are mainly used as skirmishers whilst the main forces clash with the enemy.

For the table, the Azeb has the standard 6” movement, a 0 in Ranged and a measly -1 in Melee. They may take any battlekit from the Iron Sultanate Armoury.

When it comes to abilities, Azebs have Light Skirmisher, which allows them to gain the Skirmisher keyword for a small Ducat price.

The Azeb may seem like an unopposing threat, but let’s not forget that for a simple 10 Ducats, you can grab a Jezzail and Alchemical Ammunition, allowing you to gain a cheap unit with a +1 Ranged stat.

Sultanate Sapper: 50 Ducats

The sappers of the sultanate wield the mighty cannons that sit atop the great wall, leaving them burned and scarred as a result of their incessant firing.

On the table, the Sapper has the regular 6” movement and a Ranged stat of a +1. They come with a Shovel as part of their profile, but may take any Battlekit from the Armoury. They get the newly added Negate Mined keyword, meaning they do not trigger mined or charged terrain.

For abilities, the Sapper has several related to the setting and to detonating mines. First off, Set Mines, as the name suggests, lets you set a mine on a piece of terrain up to 8”x8” after rolling a success roll with a +2 Dice. If successful, the terrain piece becomes Mined. It’s possible to defuse a friendly or enemy mine with the Defuse Mine ability, which defuses a primed mine after passing a Risky Success Roll. Should you fail, though, the bomb detonates right in your face.

The Sapper has a couple of other interesting abilities: Fortify and Forward Positions. The former lets them make a Risky Success Roll, and on a pass, they gain the Cover keyword until they next move. The latter allows the Sapper to be deployed 6” outside the deployment zone and to touch a terrain piece higher than ½”.

Lion of Jabir: 60 Ducats

Models: Lenoon Backdrop: John Hodgson

The Lions of Jabir are artificial beasts created by the House of Wisdom in service to the sultanate. Despite being created in servitude, they are among the most intelligent and thoughtful creatures in the realm, able to speak and recite philosophy with ease.

For the table, Lions of Jabir are your fast flankers, able to pin down targets to ensure they can’t execute their plans. They have a base 8” movement, no Ranged Stat (as in, they can’t make Ranged attacks at all) and a +1 in Melee. They may only take Armour and a Wind Amulet from the Armoury, which isn’t great, but they can be given the Fear keyword for a few extra Ducats. They also come with the "Artificial" keyword on top, since they’re, well, artificial.

For abilities, first we have Agile, which grants a +1 Dice to the Risky Success Roll for Climbing, Jumping, Diving Charges or Dash Actions. This is always great, and coupled with the 8” movement, means that your Lion is going to cover a lot of distance, fast. Artificial Life gives them some survivability by giving them a -1 Injury Dice for all incoming Injury Rolls, and Teeth and Claws allow them to make attacks despite not having a Melee Weapon. Lastly, we have Pin, which is a debuff for enemy models that are Down and on a base of 40mm or less. When a Lion of Jabir is in Melee Range, the enemy model cannot stand up. This also works even if the Lion itself is Down. This ability really cements the idea of the Lion being a fast assassin-like model, pinning smaller and fragile units down so they can’t engage in the game as much as they would want to.

Janissary: 55 Ducats

Janissaries Credit: @Secretly_Paul on Instagram

The elite warriors of the sultanate were raised from childhood to serve but one purpose: War. Drilled in the ways of war from an early age, Jannissaries are experts at breaking through enemy lines with devastating countercharges.

When it comes to putting them on the table, the Jannissaries pack quite the punch, with a 6” movement and +1 in Ranged and Melee. They may take any piece of Battlekit from the Iron Sultanate Armoury, and a nice little perk is that they come with the Strong keyword.

Their only ability is Counter Charge, where if their first Action is a Charge Action, they may add +1 Dice to a following Attack Roll that Activation. This may come up less than you think, as you may want to Dash to get into range for a Charge first. Still, it will come in handy and pairs well with the native +1 they have.

Brazen Bull: 100 Ducats

Iron Sultanate Brazen Bull. Credit: Urr

Like the Lions of Jabir, the Brazen Bull is an artificial creature, but of monstrous proportions. Their purpose is only of destruction, being kitted out with Armour and Weaponry that only they can wield, and wield it well they do, able to take down even the most fearsome of Demons.

This huge slab of beef sits on a 60mm, but despite that, it still has a 6” movement. It has a 0 Ranged Stat, but a +2 in Melee. Battlekit-wise, it may take anything from the Armoury table, but weapons must have the Heavy keyword. The only kind of Shovel the Brazen Bull can take is the Marid Shovel, and to round out the main profile, the Bull comes with Strong, Fear and Artificial as Keywords.

Ability-wise, the Bull comes with Artificial Life, like the Lion of Jabir and also grants a -1 Injury Dice for incoming Injury Rolls made against them. Trample reflects the sheer size of the Bull by allowing them to make another melee attack against a Downed enemy as it had melee weapon with the Ignore Armour keyword.

The heavy weapons that the Bull can equip are truly fearsome, with the Great Cannon and Flame Cannon being particularly devastating at Ranged.

Warband Variants

Fidai of Alamut - The Cabal of Assassins

Iron Sultanate Assassin. Credit: Urr

The Sultan has many assets at their disposal, and none are more deadly than the Cabal of Assassins. In an alliance with the Old Man of the Mountain, the Sultan has, at his behest, the Fida’i of Alamut, who defend the Iron Wall and venture out into No Man’s Land on important missions, usually involving the assassination of key figures in Hell’s ranks.

For those with the keen senses of a Fida’i, this variant focuses on your Assassin models, allowing you to bring up to 3 (thanks to Flock of Assassins), and making one a Master Assassin. The Master Assassin uses the main assassin profile but gains the Tough keyword and a cost of 95 Ducats. You do, however, lose out on recruiting Yüzbaşı, a Jabirean Alchemist, any Janissaries, Lions of Jabir or Brazen Bulls (the latter of which I imagine would not make a great assassin). Whilst you are losing out on a good chunk of potential units here, your Assassin named models get extra buffs in the form of the Art of Assassination ability, allowing you to gain an additional ability for a Ducat cost. You can’t double up on the same ability, however. Hallucinogen Disguise gives an Assassin the Infiltrator keyword, with the added bonus that it can be deployed within Line of Sight (but still more than 8” away). Mirage of Time gives a flat -1 Dice for incoming attacks, which can help boost the survivability of your Master Assassin if you choose to put it on them. Secret Paths allows an Assassin to essentially come in from “reserves” in the 40k sense at the start of turn 2, as long as it is from a board edge. Lastly, Thunderbolt of Alamut gives a flat 2” movement boost and a +1 Dice to the Risky Success Roll for a Dash action, which can do wonders in making up for missing out on Lions of Jabir.

The next ability of the variant, Assassin Acolytes, grants up to three Azebs in your warband the Infiltrator for a cost of 10 Ducats each (you’re probably starting to see a pattern with all the infiltration abilities). The loss of Jannissaries, whilst a shame, is made up for by the inclusion of Dervishes, who have the same profile, but replace the Strong Keyword with Ignore Off-Hand Weapon, and gain the Whirling Dervish ability, which gives them a flat -1 to incoming Ranged Attacks. Lastly, Killing Squad allows you to form a Fireteam for free between any two models.

For unique Battlekit items, we start with Bow of Alamut, which comes in at a whopping 50 Ducats, Limit 1 and can only be taken by your Assassin or Master Assassin. There’s a reason it comes with a hefty price, as it comes with a 40” range, the Critical, Assault and Ignore Armour keywords, as well as a unique ability, Temporal Slipstream. Should an attack with this weapon cause a Blood Marker, you can immediately redeploy the model to be within Melee Attack range of the target model. So yeah, teleporting assassins it is! This is a great way to close the distance on an important and squishy target. Your Artillery Witches and Sorcerers are going to play extra safe when facing a model with this weapon. But what do you use when you’ve landed the shot and are face-to-face with your target? Luckily, we have the Golden Khanjar. It’s not as pricey, costing 20 Ducats (and again, can only be taken by your Assassin named units) and does come with a Limit 2 this time. It’s a one-handed weapon with a flat +1 Injury Modifier (so +1 to the roll result) and Cleave 2 as a keyword, meaning it can make two attacks. Remember, you can still have another one-handed weapon in your other hand, allowing another attack. Heck, you can even take two of these and attack four times! If you’re missing your two-handed weapons, fear not, as the Hashashin Leaf is a consumable that gives a model the Strong keyword.

One of the satisfying variants to play, the Cabal of Assassins really forces you to play carefully and strike at the right time. There’s a lot riding on your Master Assassin as your only Tough model; however, with a lot of models with infiltrator, you can set a quick tempo that your opponent may find hard to keep up with.

House of Wisdom

Lions of Jabir Credit: @Secretly_Paul on Instagram

The House of Wisdom is the epicentre of learning and alchemy within the Iron Sultanate. It is here that the revered Jabirean Alchemists are trained, and from here the many Artificial Life forms are produced. Like the Cabal of Assassins, the House of Wisdom retains some level of independence from the Sultan’s, as long as they perform service for the Sultan’s armies, through creation of Alchemical Armour, Alchemical Ammunition, as well as maintenance of the Sultanate’s airships. This independence allows the House of Wisdom to dispatch its own expeditions outside of the Iron Wall, where knowledge is sought after more than mere gold and treasure.

If you guessed that a Variant revolving around Alchemists would allow you to take more Alchemists, then you, too, must be a scholar of the House of Wisdom, as you would be right! You can take up to two Alchemists, but lose out on recruiting Yüzbaşı, Janissaries, or Sultanate Assassins. However, instead of Janissaries, you can recruit up to two Fāris, which use the Janissary profile but gained the Elite Keyword at no additional cost. If Lions are your thing, then luckily, the House has you covered, as your pair of Lions now grows up to a pride, thanks to Pride of Jabir, taking your cap up to 3 Lions. Lastly, your Azebs can now become Kavasses, with the result being a +0 Dice in Melee (up from 1), but at the cost of losing the Skirmisher keyword. This isn’t the greatest upgrade, as the House of Wisdom, like vanilla Sultanate, prefers to utilise the cheap but effective shooting they have available. Still, it’s nice to have if you get a Kavass with some nice upgrades or skills.

For the mad scientists amongst you, the fun doesn’t stop with some simple warband roster changes. House of Wisdom, more than any other variant, focuses on customising your warband to the extreme, through allowing extra abilities for your Alchemists, access to New Antioch and Trench Pilgrim Battlekits and the creation of your own Homonculus ally. Starting off with Alchemist abilities, the Secrets of the House of Wisdom gives each Jabrian Alchemist you take to choose one of the following abilities for an extra Ducat cost:

Medicine (15 Ducats): Make a Success Roll with +1 Dice and on a success you can remove two Blood Markers, or one Infection Marker on a friendly model with 1”, or stand up a friendly model within 1” that is Down.
Cartography & Geometry (20 Ducats): At the start of the game, give two models on a base of 32mm or less and give them the Infiltrator Keyword

Secrets of Takwin (20 Ducats): The Takwin Homonculus (which we’ll get to below) can absorb incoming hits on your Alchemist in the same way as any other Bodyguard ability.

Chemistry & Alchemy (25 ducats): At the start of the game, before the first model activates, you may place an Elemental Obstacle terrain piece that is 2” wide and 6” in length. You can play it 6” away from other models and 1” away from other terrain, but the bonus here is that you can give that terrain piece the Fire, Gas or Shrapnel keyword. The terrain piece is both Difficult and Dangerous.
Philosophy, Poetry and Theology (20 Ducats): Add +1 Dice to Morale checks whilst this model is not Out of Action or Down. In addition, you ignore the Shaken rule if you fail a Morale check (so Success Rolls do not become Risky). Lastly, your Alchemist has the Negate Fear Keyword.

All of these abilities are great in their own right, and given the customisation potential of this variant, each can work very well depending on what it is you want to achieve. Chemistry & Alchemy and Cartography & Geometry are some great general picks, however, which can be useful regardless of how you want to build your warband.

Whilst the Iron Sultanate offers a wide array of weaponry and Armoury, they do lack the means to punch through armour. Luckily, the House of Wisdom has some tricks up its sleeve to help alleviate this weakness. Weapon Collections allows you to purchase one piece of Battlekit from the New Antioch Armoury and one piece from the Trench Pilgrim Armoury (with restrictions still applying as normal). These pieces can be repurchased should you lose them, luckily. Now, there’s a lot to choose from, but here are some potential picks, focusing on Armour Piercing.

Heavy Shotgun / Satchel Charge: Your Janissaries have Strong, making this a great pick for one of them to take.
Anti-Tank Hammer: Ignore Armour, with an added big boom
SMG / Automatic Rifle / Automatic Pistol: Whilst not armour piercing per se, putting this on your Alchemist pairs really well with their Mastery of the Elements ability and their +2 Ranged stat, meaning you can comfortably place four Blood Markers on an opponent.

Lastly, we have the Takwin Homonculus, which is probably the defining element of this variant. For each Alchemist you take in your Warband, you may recruit one Takwin Homonculus that is associated with that Alchemist. If that Alchemist is removed from your roster, the associated Homonculus cannot be fielded until a new Alchemist is recruited. Your Takwin Homonculus can’t have any Battlekit (at first), but may be upgraded with multiple Alchemical Formulas. The base Homonculus costs 40 Ducats, with a standard 6” move and 0 in Ranged in Melee. It comes with the Artificial Life ability that we already know, as well as Pummeling Blows, allowing it to attack without any Melee Weapons. It also gains the Cleave 2 keyword when using Pummeling Blows. Lastly, it has Re-Creation meaning, that if it is killed in a post-battle sequence, you can spend 40 Ducats to leave it in the Roster. This may sound uninteresting at first, but that is a 40 rebuy price, regardless of what it is equipped with or the Alchemical Formulas it has, which makes this ability more useful the more you invest in the Homonculus. If the previous abilities weren’t enough customisation levers, then this list of possibilities will leave you satisfied. You may purchase any of the following abilities for your Homonculus:

Addition Arm (15 Ducats): The Homonculus can make two Melee Attacks.
Elemental Resistance (40 Ducats): Negate Fire and Gas, and add -1 Injury Dice to incoming Attacks with those keywords
Enslaved Mind (10 Ducats): The Homonculus can form a Fireteam with a friendly model
Human Hands (10 Ducats): The Homonculus may take Ranged and Melee Weapons from the Iron Sultanate Armoury, as well as a Trench Shield or Fire Shield. Cannot be combined with the Wings Formula.
Inhuman Strength (15 Ducats): Give the Homculus the Strong Keyword and +1 to its Melee Characteristic. Increase the base size to 32mm.
Massive Size (30 Ducats): Give the Homunculus the Tough keyword and increase the base to 50mm. Cannot be paired with the Wings formula.
Gargantuan Size: Go from big to bigger, giving the Homonculus access to one weapon that may usually be used only by the Brazen Bull. This also means the Homonculus must be put on a 60mm base.
Hawk Eyes (10 Ducats): Change the Ranged Characteristic of the Homonculus to +1. It can’t be combined with the Hypnotic Eyes Formula unless you have the Two Heads Formula.
Hypnotic Eyes (15 Ducats): Add -1 Dice to Success Rolls for incoming Melee Attacks, unless they come from a Sniper Priest or a model with the Black Grail Keyword.
Two Heads (5 Ducats): Allows you to take the two previous Formulas together
Regenerative Tissue (25 Ducats): The Homonculus gains the Regenerate 1 Keyword (Remove one Blood Marker when you activate the Homonculus).
Seal of Solomon (10 Ducats): May take Equipment from the Iron Sultanate Armoury. Added Bonus of the feels bad lore *Sad Homonculus Noises*
Startling Speed (10 Ducats): Add +1 Dice for your Dash Risky Success Rolls
Terrifying Appearance (10 Ducats): Give the Homonculus the Fear Keyword
Wings (30 Ducats): Change the movement characteristic of the Homonculus to 8”/Flying and the Flying Keyword.

As you can see, this list of potential upgrades makes Frankenstein look boring. The possibilities are endless, and in a future deep dive into this variant, we’ll look at some standout combos you can make, but generally, you’d want to build a Homonculus in a way that either fills a weakness or doubles down on a particular playstyle. Add a quasi-third Janissary to your front line, add a flying Homonculus to complement your Pride of Lions, or double down on the Brazen Bull shooting by including a gargantuan horror to your warband. All of these are possible, and more. The beauty of this variant is combining all the levers and knobs into a warband that complements your playstyle.

Now we’ve had our fill of Formulas, let’s take a look at the unique Battlekit pieces we have. First off is the Elixir of Al-Khidr. This consumable is Limited to 1 but grants that model the Tough Keyword (but not for Artificial units), which is vital, as no model outside the Bull and potentially the Homonculus has the Tough keyword. Fire Shield is a shield that grants a -1 Injury Modifier for attacks with the Fire Keyword, as well as the Negate Fire Keyword. This works even for attacks that Ignore Armour.

If customisation is your thing, or if you think Viktor Frankenstein was an amateur, then this variant is for you. The House of Wisdom is almost its own faction in its own right, with so many possibilities that you’ll be experimenting for weeks and months, and we will certainly dive even deeper into this variant in a future article.

Defenders of the Iron Wall

Iron Sultanate Sapper. Credit: Urr

Since the gates of the Iron Wall closed, the Sultanate has focused on defending its new borders from relentless attacks by Hell’s forces. For centuries, the Grand Cannons have ringed their mighty tune atop the Iron Wall, and the soldiers stationed there have perfected the art of shooting from an advantageous position. Since Sultan Malik began his reign, the objective of the Sultanate has become something more than mere resistance. Now the objective is to retake old ground, for in the eyes of the Sultanate, it is land that has been lost, but not forgotten. The Sultan now sends warbands to recapture lost land or recover lost treasures and artefacts, utilising the expertise of Sappers and marksmen who once stood atop the Iron Wall.

When it comes to restrictions and warband changes, you cannot take any Lions of Jabir, Yüzbaşı or Assassins, and models in the Warband cannot have a Cloak of Alamut or Wind Amulet. Luckily, your Jannissaries gain the Elite keyword, but you are limited to only two of them. As the Defenders of the Iron Wall recruit from those who serve atop the great wall’s precipice, the cap on the number of Sappers you can take goes up to four. Whilst you can’t take a Yüzbaşı per se, you may take a Silahdar, which uses the Yüzbaşı profile, but swaps the Musbarizum ability to instead give it the Strong keyword, as well as the chance to have an Alaybozan, an Anqā Guard and Explosive Charges from the Defenders of the Iron Wall Armoury, paying the appropriate price for each piece taken. Lastly, you may recruit a Sipahi, which uses the Mamluk Faris rules, but instead costs 110 Ducats. You can still recruit a Mamluk Faris Mercenary as well if you wish to.

On to the general rules: Marksmanship of the Iron Wall gives +2 Dice to the Success Roll when firing from an Elevated Position (instead of +1), and the Siege Jezzail Teams ability gives a +1 Dice to the success roll of a Ranged Attack when using a Siege Jezzail if there is a friendly model within 1” of the attacking model.

For unique pieces of Battlekit, you'd better hang on, as we have some fantastic items to cover here. First up is the Anqā Guard, which is only available for Sappers (unless your Silahdar has one). This piece of equipment is actually a separate model that is put on a 40mm base and is about 1” high. Whoever has this piece of Equipment may deploy it after deployment, and then play the Shield anywhere in their deployment zone. You may deploy this in combat as well, after making a Risky Success Roll with a +2 Dice and on a success may play the shield within 1” of the carrying model (be careful, though, as it has the Heavy keyword). Essentially, this Shield acts as both Cover and a Defended Obstacle. For 10 Ducats, it could have some nice uses if you can place it in the position you want to fortify (like an objective). Next up is Banner of the Desert Wind, which is a banner (so must be held in one hand) that costs 30 Ducats and is limited to 1; only a Leader may carry it. Enemy models within 24” of this banner have their movement characteristic reduced by 1”, as long as the banner carrier is not down. Explosive Charges work in a similar vein as mines, but with the Charges, you secretly write down a piece of terrain that is 8”x8” that you want to hide the explosives in (with some extra restrictions you need to keep in mind). When you activate a friendly model, you can say that the charges explode. If you do so, you show your opponent the piece of paper, and then make an Injury Roll with Shrapnel for all models that are on or in contact with the terrain. Afterwards, models that were on top fall down, make another injury roll if need be (i.e. falling more than 3”), and the terrain is removed from play. The charges, whilst hilarious, cost 35 Ducats and are consumable (with a limit of 1), so you’re not going to be able to spam this. But if it pops off, it’s definitely going to create some amazing moments.

The Beefy Bovine gets a couple of nice toys to play with in this variant, utilising this variant's vast array of items. Starting out, we have the Iron Wall Kalkan, which is a Shield that only the Brazen Bull can take. It grants Cover and allows the Bull to push a model on a 40mm or smaller when it moves, when it starts that move in Melee Range. You need to move in a straight line, but the Bull can push enemy models off ledges or into terrain, which can cause an Injury Roll. Last up is the Sultanate Grand Cannon. This isn’t exclusive to the Brazen Bull, as you can deploy this as an Artillery Battery, which requires a model nearby to fire it, but it can also be wielded by the Bull. It comes with an amazing 48” range, a +2 Injury Dice modifier, Heavy and the Ignore Armour Keywords. If you choose to include it as a Gun Battery, you need to put it on a 50mm base and deploy it like any other unit, and it needs a unit within 1” to use it, using the model's Ranged Characteristics and bonuses related to Ranged Attacks. Regardless of how it is used, if an enemy is not taken Out of Action after being hit by the Grand Cannon, then the model is pushed back d6” in a straight line.

The Defenders of the Iron Wall can make a great gun-line armoury, leveraging its Ranged Attack bonuses to fish for crits, staying protected from the many deployable shields, and utilising some good front-liners with your Jannissaries and Silahdar.

Example Lists

Welcome to the House

## Welcome to the House ##

Faction: House of Wisdom Rating: 700 Ducats | 0 Glory Patron: Sublime Gate

## Elites ##

Jabirean Alchemist - 166D Upgrades & Choices: Cartography and Geography Battlekit: Automatic Pistol, Pistol / Revolver, Combat Helmet, Elixer of Al-Khidr, Alchemist Armour

Fāris - 97D Battlekit: Double-Handed Blunt Weapon, Frag Grenades, Standard Armour, Trench Shield

Fāris - 110D Battlekit: Heavy Shotgun, Double-Handed Blunt Weapon, Standard Armour, Trench Shield

## Troops ##

Azeb - 35D Battlekit: Jezzail, Alchemical Ammunition

Azeb - 35D Battlekit: Jezzail, Alchemical Ammunition

Azeb - 35D Battlekit: Jezzail, Alchemical Ammunition

Azeb - 47D Battlekit: Musical Instrument, Frag Grenades

Brazen Bull - 175D Battlekit: MURAD Bombard, Standard Armour, Trench Shield

There are many, many ways you want to go about making a HoW list, but I opted for the double Faris list, as I can adapt my warband around these front liners. They'll be infiltrating thanks to the Alchemist's Cartography and Geography, one with a Heavy Shotgun to ensure that I make no friends at all. The other focuses on Melee and Grenades. Both will be supported by an Alchemist who aims to deal as many Blood Markers as possible with the Automatic Pistol from the Trench Pilgrim Armoury. Backing up these front liners will be the Brazen Bull with a MURAD Bombard, hoping to take down a unit and slow down any surrounding foes. This will force the opponent to spread out a little more, allowing Faris to take out targets that stray too far. Lastly, I've got action Azebs that aim only to ping some shots with a bit more reliability, thanks to the Alchemical Ammunition and do so whilst standing on objectives. I would prefer to swap the Bull for a Homonculus built in a similar vein, but the cost is higher at this level. I would aim to promote the Bull asap, hoping to gain some Ranged-related skills to boost the Bull's effectiveness. Alternatively, you can swap the MURAD for the Flame Cannon, removing the need to worry about the Bull's Ranged Characteristic.

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Tags: faction focus | trench crusade | iron sultanate