Trench Crusade Faction Focus: Trench Pilgrims

Welcome to the first article in our Faction Focus series for Trench Crusade! In this series, we are going to crawl through the mud and blood of the Trench to bring you all there is to know about the various factions within the game. From the faithful to the fallen, we're going to examine the lore, playstyle and dig deep into each unit, variant and their chosen weapons of war. First up in this article are the crazed common folk, who charge into the fray with no care other than hoping they can take down some heretics before they fall. This can only mean that today, we're looking into the Trench Pilgrims.

Lore Primer

The Trench Pilgrims, in stark contrast to the organised might of New Antioch, are the disorderly warbands of the average men and women affected by the Great War. They belong to no nation, nor carry any banners of state. Instead, they are a wandering host of the devout. Drawn from across Christendom, they are the peasants, beggars, monks, nuns and penitents who have abandoned everything to march into No Man's Land at the behest of visions granted to them by God Himself or one of His emissaries. Not officially ordained by the Church, these “people’s crusades” are blessed nonetheless. Forming processions around Prophets or Prophetesses, these groups arm themselves with whatever they can find and hurl themselves across No Man's Land in assaults upon the Heretics, with little regard for their own lives. To the Trench Pilgrims, death is but the final step of a holy journey.

Credit: H.P. Hatecraft

On the Table

In-game terms, the Pilgrims perfectly reflect this mix of faith and madness - preferring to take the fight to their opponents up close and personal, with their proficiency in melee being unmatched in many regards. War Prophets, Communicants and Stigmatic nuns make fantastic use of the vast array of melee weapons available to them. Their mid-range capabilities are nothing to ignore, though, with access to Molotov cocktails at just five ducats, as well as the comically large and comically powerful Punt Gun. At +1 Dice for both attacks and injuries, these things make elephant guns look like pistols. With the ability to overcharge it and create a 3” blast, you’re definitely going to want to take a couple of these and put them on your strong units whenever possible.

Playing the Trench Pilgrims is about embracing the tension between zeal and sacrifice. It's about feeling the awe at their devotion and the unease at what, and how quickly, they are willing to sacrifice. If you’re looking for a faction that is built around being the righteous hand of God and you like your armies part unsettling and inspiring, then these are the folks for you!

Five Defining Traits of the Trench Pilgrims

Durable

The Trench Pilgrims' resilience is central to their design. While not heavily armoured, they are nonetheless hard to break, with a plethora of stacking defensive capabilities. It can be challenging to shift these units, which makes it incredibly hard for opponents to take objectives away from you or halt your momentum.

Close-range Powerhouse

The other half of the coin of Trench Pilgrim’s identity. The faction’s greatest strength is in melee. Most of their units roll extra dice in combat, and their weapon list is complete with tools that break armour, dice, or simply hit harder than opponents expect. Imagine the Trench Pilgrim armoury as a Swiss army knife, but with all the tools equipped with bombs. With the right mix of frontline fighters and support, they can easily dismantle opposing armies.

It’s not just the up close and personal melee that the Pilgrims excel at, but also ranged combat up to medium range, with cheap grenade-like weapons, the Molotov cocktail and the warcross. Operating at shorter ranges and having the Assault keyword, they typically act as a means to weaken enemies before charging in.

Movement Tricks

Complementary to their durability, Trench Pilgrims possess excellent movement capabilities. Stigmatic Nuns are speedy hammers that have bonuses to dash and other athletic-focused actions. Your War Prophet can provide some great movement shenanigans in support with the Loudspeakers' ability, creating opportunities to not only squeeze out some extra distance for your units, but bypass some restrictions on shooting and then charging. Playing to your movement advantage will be key in making the most out of this force.

Lack of Long-Range Shooting

Since your specialty is in the short-range and melee, your long-range shooting is not only severely lacking, but you’re very susceptible to being taken apart at this range too. You do have a means to compensate and shore up that weakness in the form of the Anti-tank Communicant Hunter Mercenary, or by purchasing things like a Sniper Rifle or Machine Gun. Still, it effectively means your first few Glory purchases need to be one or more of those things. Suppose you’re going for the Anti-Tank Communicant route. In that case, you’ve got to be extra careful that it doesn’t get focused, as losing this unit in a campaign means you’ve got to fork out another five Glory to get another one, which can really burn your Glory momentum. On the other hand, purchasing a Sniper or Machine Gun, whilst potentially more effective in preserving your Glory, means you have to place it on a unit that may otherwise benefit from being in melee. In the end, there are options to mitigate the lack of long-range power, but you’ll never quite be able to fully plug that gap.

Pricey Units

Whilst your units pack a lot of power in their profiles and with some fantastic items in their armoury, Trench Pilgrims will be pinching the pennies to get everything they need in there. You’ll potentially be out-activated early, as you’re focusing on beefing up your Elite units.

Units

War Prophet

Credit: H.P. Hatecraft

The War Prophet may be your mandatory leader pick, but this profile will be the backbone of your warband, and rightfully so. With the typical +2D/+2D in melee and ranged seen for human leaders, the abilities are what really make the War Prophet stand out. First up, we have Memento Mori, which is your ability that keeps you on the battlefield longer. Whilst almost all leaders have the Tough keyword, the War Prophet’s Memento Mori is even more effective, completely ignoring the first Out of Action result, instead dropping it down to a Downed result. It seems being a Prophet of the Lord really pays off.

Lay on Hands is your healing ability. Although it lacks built-in bonus dice, it is, fortunately, a regular action. If successful, remove 1 Blood Marker from a friendly unit within 6”, including the War Prophet themself. Should you roll a Critical Success roll, you can remove 3 Blood Markers. Being able to remove chip damage or a large chunk of blood markers from your key units is invaluable. Stack this with a med kit to increase your healing potential even further.

Lastly, Loudspeakers is your bread and butter ability. After succeeding on a Risky Success Roll (with +2 Dice), all units within 8” may move towards any visible enemy unit 3” and end the movement as close as possible. If there is no visible enemy, the model may move normally. Let’s break this down and see some possible use cases. First off, an 8” range is very generous, and you’ll still have room to spread your units out without having to bundle your units and be susceptible to Blast weapons. Despite being a risky roll, the chance of succeeding in this without any interference from your opponents is highly likely and will be a staple in your War Prophet’s activation. If you succeed, not only are you getting that 3” of movement, with clever positioning, you’re able to put allies back into cover or back into melee. The immediate use case of this ability is to get an extra tick of movement and possibly ensure an easier charge. A failed charge means you still need to move, which means this ability can even be done after the charge is attempted. Importantly, it says any visible enemy unit. It doesn’t have to be the closest, meaning you can move your units out of line of sight of a strong ranged unit. The added utility of this ability, however, lies in its synergy with shooting and charging. Because you can only shoot and charge with assault weapons, this ability actually bypasses those restrictions. A standard ranged loadout is an Automatic Pistol with Incendiary Ammunition. Being able to fire two shots, each with the fire keyword, means you can potentially deal out four Blood Markers to a unit before you’ve even stepped into melee. The shenanigans that can be made with this ability cannot be understated. Melee, retreat, shoot, dash, and then use Loudspeakers to melee with another unit to keep yourself safe is a perfectly viable move. It makes the War Prophet particularly squirrelly as well as a tough nut to crack.

Castigator

Trench Pilgrims Castigator - Credit Bair

The Castigator is the shepherd that ensures the faithful stay, well, faithful and ensures that their sheep are ever moving forwards…even if it’s into enemy machine gun fire (sad baa noises). Their place on the table is that of God’s whip, ensuring His followers never stray, should they be foolish enough to try. With a +1 to Ranged and Melee, they are a proficient combatant as well as support piece.

First up, we have Zealot Strength, a simple upgrade that grants the Castigator the Strong keyword in exchange for a +5 ducat cost. Getting this upgrade is highly recommended, as with this, the Castigator becomes your only unit with Strong and a positive ranged attack modifier, and with it, your ideal Punt Gun wielder. This turns them into a great mid-range threat and shores up your lack of ranged shooting (if only a little).

Enforced Orthodoxy ensures your forward momentum is never halted. After passing a risky action with +1 Dice, all friendly downed models within 8” can stand up without penalty. This is great even on just a couple of units. It is just a +1, so there is a chance it will fail, but it is worth it if you find yourself needing to use it.

A much more niche ability is Whip of God, which allows you to hit friendly units in melee. If you take them out of action, you gain +1 Dice to any Morale tests that you may take. Right off the bat, taking out your own units sounds silly, and for the most part, it is, but there are some specific use cases. For example, if you’re about to take Morale away at the subsequent model loss, getting an extra +1 can make a difference, or you want to deny a big stack of juicy Blood Markers your Court of the Seven-Headed Serpent opponent intends to use.

Communicant

Trench Pilgrims Communicant - Credit Bair

Communicants, having consumed the flesh of a Meta-Christ and drank its blood, become jacked-out beatsticks that act as bodyguards for your essential units. Their ranged capabilities are nonexistent, given their ranged stat. They are, however, a melee powerhouse, with +2 Dice in melee and having access to the Strong keyword. It seems the Communicant has a face that only YWHW could love, as the Communicants cover their face and nail giant crosses into their eyeballs, which acts as both an Iron Capirote and a Gas Mask (how that works, I don’t know), ensuring their melee output isn’t hindered against the big scary stuff (can’t be scared when you can’t see things, right?).

The Communicant also comes with Tough, and it will get a second lease of life after being taken out of action the first time. Couple this with the Miracle or Regeneration ability, which lets you remove one Blood Marker when this model activates, and you’ve got a very tanky front-line bruiser that wants to get into combat. Get a medkit on this unit as well to double up the self-healing potential.

The final ability of the Communicant, Bodyguard, allows you to divert successful hits on other friendly units onto the Communicant instead. Being able to take injuries on your Communicant, to protect your other units, is going to be vital. It means that Martyrdom Pills are going to be mandatory for this unit, providing just that extra bit of defence. Whilst you can bodyguard for any unit within 1”, keeping close to your War Prophet makes a very potent power pair. Your Communicant takes the hits, and your Miracle of Regeneration and War Prophet healing is going to provide a very frustrating party bus of pain that your opponent will somehow have to deal with.

Trench Pilgrim

Credit: Gobkikass

The main troop of the Trench Pilgrim warband, which initially may seem unimpressive, can become potent with a few cheeky steps. They sport no bonuses to melee or ranged; one Pilgrim, however, may be upgraded to have the Strong keyword, allowing another Punt Gun or Machine Gun user. Definitely worth it!

The real strength of the Trench Pilgrim lies in their demise (yes, you read that right). With the Resurrection ability, a Pilgrim that dies may be revived as a Martyr Penitent, giving them +1 Dice in melee, as well as a permanent -1 Dice to injury rolls for enemy attacks. Getting such a buff, while retaining the pilgrim's existing equipment, is a great way to conserve resources.

Ecclesiastic Prisoner

Trench Pilgrims Ecclesiastic Prisoners - Credit Bair

These are chaff of the warband, a job they take very seriously, being unable to wield any weapons, armour, or equipment at all, except for the Iron Capirote that is built into their cost or the Martyrdom Device (which is a fancy way of saying “bomb wrapped around them with rope). This makes them the cheapest chaff in the game, even compared to Wretched from the Court of the Seven-Headed Serpent. Prisoners are an efficient unit to break on the Catherine Wheel if you're short on ducats or playing a one-off game. Being unable to take any weapons and thus being unable to make any melee attacks hampers what you can do with them. Despite that, they can also serve as inexpensive objective holders or to pad out your roster and prevent being out-activated.

As mentioned, Prisoners can be equipped with a Martyrdom device, which can be activated at any point. After passing a Success Roll, all models within 3” make an injury roll and models within 1” roll with a +1 Dice to the injury roll. However, given the fact that the bomb is strapped to your poor prisoner, they roll too must on the injury table, but rolling 4d6 and adding them all together. Should they survive by the grace of God, they resume as usual and can be given another bomb before the next battle. Remember, what was once exceptional becomes the new normal in the Lord's workplace.

Stigmatic Nun

Credit: Gobkikass

Gifted with the stigmata once suffered by the third Meta-Christ, Stigmatic Nuns carry their gift into battle, becoming more powerful the more damage they suffer. Bearing a +1 Dice in Melee and ranged as well as an increased movement characteristic of 8”, the Stigmatic Nuns are fast on their feet and are great models to reach out and take out the enemy. Despite having bonuses to range attacks, Stigmatic Nuns may only take pistols, automatic pistols and warcrosses (a kind of throwing star). So yes, Nunjas are real, and you should be afraid. Very afraid.

Agile allows Stigmatic Nuns to move across the battlefield quickly, enabling them to jump, climb, and, most importantly, dash with greater success. They also gain a bonus to diving charge actions, allowing them to charge from up on high and gain even more bonuses to the following melee attack.

Blessed Stigmata is the key ability of the Nuns, providing both great offensive and defensive consistency. At the start of each activation, the Nun may turn one Blood Marker they have on them into a Blessing Marker instead. It can’t be overstated how great it is to turn a potential negative modifier into a positive one.

Stigmatic Nuns will be the bread and butter in many lists. The trio of ranged, melee, and movement really helps you adapt to your opponent, scenario, and board situation. They’re able to make use of multiple weapon options, with the Flail & off-hand Trench Club being a good foundation.

Anchorite Shrine

Credit: Gobkikass

The hulking behemoth that is the Anchorite Shrine is the last unit in the Trench Pilgrim retinue, but it is certainly not the smallest. The Weird War I mecha-dreadnaught houses a monk within it, in constant torment due to the innumerable hooks and blades encased within it.

Kitted out with a Combat Helmet, as well as both a Catherine Wheel and a Bonebreaker Mace built into its profile, this model has one job, and one job only. Get in melee and cause utter mayhem. Forgoing any ranged capabilities, it does have a +2 Dice in Melee, making it incredibly lethal. This does mean that it will draw all the ranged fire your enemy can muster, but luckily, the Shrine rocks a built-in -3 armour, as well as having Tough, as well as another cheeky little mini-tough ability called Broken on the Wheel. Let’s take a look:

Before the battle, you can choose one of your Trench Pilgrims or Prisoners, remove all equipment and put them onto the wheel. This grants you a mini-tough, where all attacks are directed to the model on the wheel. That means that there won’t be the benefit of armour, or Negate Shrapnel, as the broken model does not benefit from that, but the bonus is that, as long as the model is still on the wheel, all downed results become minor hits instead. Spicy.

The Catherine Wheel is also the primary weapon of the Shrine, allowing not only a +1 Dice to the attack roll (so rolling a +3 overall), but also granting a 3d6 injury roll, but adding all the dice together to get your result. This is huge and is a major reason why the Shrine is so rightfully feared on the table. Should anything be silly enough to survive, then you can also attack with the Bonebreaker Mace, which does count as an off-hand attack (so -1 Dice), but grants +1 Dice to injury rolls. Rounding it out, the Shrine also causes Fear, making it a little more durable.

One thing of note, however, is that this model, given its size, sits on a 60mm base. This means it will be harder to manoeuvre in more tightly packed battlefields.

Equipment

So we’ve taken a look at all the units, but a warband is only as strong as its Battlekit, so let's take a look at some of the standout weapons, armour and equipment, as well as some complementary mercenaries. We’ll only be covering items that can be found in the regular armoury, and not campaign-based glory items, given the random nature of acquiring them.

As this is the first Faction Focus to be released, I’ll just say that for every faction, you should always be buying a Musical Instrument. It doesn’t matter if it doots, clangs, smashes or crashes. Buy. An. Instrument. The value a musical instrument provides in ensuring your units get to where they need to be is invaluable.

Anti-tank Hammer

The might of the Lord made manifest, in its rawest form. There is something incredibly sanctimonious about smashing some heretics with what boils down to a bomb welded to a big pole and making a big boom, injuring yourself, and just carrying on. This beast of a hammer provides a +1 Dice to injury rolls, as well as completely ignoring the opponent's armour modifiers. The weapon comes with the Critical keyword, so should you hit the double six on your attack roll, you gain +2 Dice to your injury roll, instead of the usual +1. It also comes with the Risky keyword, so should you miss your attack roll, your activation is over.

The downside is that a successful hit will also cause a Blood Marker on you as the attacker, once the attack is over. Swinging this with a Communicant or a Stigmatic Nun can make this downside basically moot. The latter especially likes wielding this weapon, as it forces your opponent to make use of the Blood Marker on the Nun before they can turn it into a Blessing Marker.

Punt Gun

Did you know that historically, a Punt Gun is a 10-foot-long shotgun that was used to kill…ducks? Okay, it was used to kill A LOT of them. In the world of Trench Crusade, the Trench Pilgrims must have taken inspiration from this "fowl” weapon and brought it to the front lines, but instead of ducks, it’s demons. However, we can’t rule out the possibility that demonic ducks are in the setting.

With the Shrapnel keyword, the gun provides a +1 Dice to both attack and Injury rolls. The Punt Gun also comes with the Shotgun keyword, meaning it is mostly a reliable damage-dealing ranged weapon when shooting within 9” (the max range being 18”). The gun can be overcharged to provide a Blast 3” as well, with the downside that the attack ends the model’s activation and gives them a blood marker. However, only models that are base-to-base with another model or have the Strong keyword may overcharge the weapon. That immediately restricts who can take this, typically to a Castigator or a regular Pilgrim with the Zealot strength upgrade.

Martyrdom Pills

If the name doesn’t give it away, these pills are not your ordinary run-of-the-mill pills. These spicy tic tacs will make it all the more difficult for your enemies to take down your models, by providing a -1 Dice to all incoming injury rolls. Get your Communicant to pop these if they are going to be bodyguarding a lot of incoming attacks. On the other hand, your Martyr Penitent already has a built-in -1 Injury Dice ability, and these do not stack with that.

Flail/Scourge

Cheap and cheerful 1-handed weapon that grants a +1 Dice to attack rolls when used as a primary hand weapon. All for the mere cost of 5 ducats. Great on Nuns and your War Prophet, with the latter getting some decent odds of landing a crit with this weapon.

Flamethrower

Whilst not specific to the Pilgrims, the Flamethrower is a great ranged weapon to give to your regular cheap troops, given they auto-hit and have armour-ignoring capabilities. However, such bonuses come at a price, as they cost a whopping 30 Ducats and are Limit: 2 in the Pilgrim Battlekit.

Misericordia

A weapon usually found only on New Antioch’s Combat Medic, this one-handed blade is especially useful in finishing off enemies, as it ignores armour when attacking enemies that are downed. Can be used to great effect on a Communicant or other high Melee Dice model that has Strong. Hit the enemy with an Anti-tank Hammer with the main hand, and if the enemy is Downed, finish them off with a mercy stab with the Misericordia.

Holy Icon Shield

Unless you’re playing the Sacred Affliction variant, this shield offers the same -1 armour modifier as the Trench Shield, but with the Impervious keyword, meaning it cannot be ignored. Expensive, as it is a two Glory item.

Warcross

A simple ranged option that costs just five Ducats and ignores the penalty for long range. At an 8” range, it’s not going to be tapping people from far away, but as it has the Assault keyword, you can throw it and then still charge. Interestingly, just like a grenade weapon, it does not stop you from taking another ranged weapon (although you can’t take this and a grenade). You can take a ranged weapon that shoots further if you so desire.

Molotov Cocktails

Fire is the most holy of purifiers, and what is more purifying than throwing a bottle of old whiskey with a flaming rag jammed in! With a 6” range and the Grenade and Assault keyword, this too acts just like the Warcross in the same regard. The Molotov also has the Fire keyword, granting a guaranteed Blood Marker on hit, but suffers a -1 Dice penalty to Injury rolls.

Automatic Pistol

The Automatic Pistol allows the wielder to shoot twice when used at range, as well as having the Assault keyword. If you have just a single one-handed melee weapon, you may also make a single shot in melee with this weapon as an off-hand attack, using your ranged attack modifier.

This gun is a staple for the War Prophet, allowing her to shoot twice and still end up in melee thanks to her Loudspeakers ability. It’s also excellent because of the way it pairs with Incendiary Ammo.

Incendiary Ammo

This piece of consumable equipment grants rifle and pistol weapons the Fire keyword for the remainder of the battle. Pair this up with the War Prophet and Auto Pistol combo above, and you can cause 4 Blood Markers before you’ve even started swinging in melee.

Iron Capirote

The Iron Capirote is the iconic headgear of the Trench Pilgrims. Giving the bearer the effects of a combat helmet (Negate Shrapnel) and immunity to Fear, all for seven Ducats, this is one of the more cost-effective items in the game and definitely something you want to get on your heavy hitters. Also, it looks cool as hell.

Mercenaries

Communicant Anti-Tank Hunter

The Communicant Anti-Tank Hunter is going to be an essential merc that Pilgrim players will want to acquire as soon as possible, whether that is in campaign or one-off games. At five Glory, they're certainly pricey, but what they bring to the table will more than make up for the value. Like the regular Communicant, the Anti-Tank Hunter version has Tough, Strong and Miracle of Regeneration. They come with a +1 bonus to both melee and ranged attacks, with their melee attacks being unarmed but counting as if armed with two Trench Clubs. It’s their ranged capabilities, though, that make this an outstanding unit, coming from their weapon of choice, the Anti-Material Rifle. The AMR comes with a whopping 36” reach, with a +1 Dice to Injury and completely ignoring Armour. Having a unit with this much reach in your list will really help with taking out your opponent's threats at range, and more importantly, force them to play more cagey that they otherwise would be able to. Whilst a +1 at range isn’t the greatest, it is still good enough to warrant their inclusion. You know what would help though? A monk.

Mendelist Ammo Monk

Having no weapons and no armour (save a gas mask), this monk has one job, and that is to stick close to your Anti-Tank Hunter and ensure they are buffed up. If you activate a model within 1” of this guy, you can activate him first instead, and then resume with your chosen activation. Their Ammunication Sacrement ability lets them select one of three buffs after passing a Risky Action and give it to the nearby model until their activation is done:

Grant +1 Dice to ranged attack.
Give their ranged weapon Shrapnel and Blast 2”.
Add +1 Dice to Injury Rolls.

This provides some nice versatility for your Anti-Tank Hunter, allowing for a higher chance of hitting targets from long range and/or when shooting at someone in cover, or increasing lethality when within short range. Should an enemy be too clumped up, Shrapnel and Blast are great additions.

Observer

If you want your monks to be a bit more fighty, look no further than the Observer. With standard armour, a gas mask and combat helmet, there is already a decent defensive foundation here. That is only bolstered by having a polearm and their Temporal Fugue ability, which gives an attacker -1 Dice for all attacks. Along with that, they also have Lightning Speed, which allows them to attack twice in melee. More attacks equals more Blood Markers, and that is never a bad thing. What really sets this unit apart from other mercs, though, is their Voice of God ability. After passing a Risky Action, they may force any model not activated (friend or foe) to be activated next. This is such a great ability for Trench Pilgrims to utilise, as it can force long-range units to waste an activation when your pilgrims are well hidden and untargetable. It can also ensure that you get a fireteam-like double activation going, where two of your beefier units get to do their thing before any retaliation. Should this Risky Action fail, however, you have a backup in the form of Eye of God, which allows the Observer to reroll a failed action (including Risky Actions). But if you do roll a one on any dice on the reroll, you do become downed and gain a Blood Marker. Most of the time, when you want to do rerolling, it is usually worth it.

Variants

Each Variant of the Trench Pilgrims revolves around one of the famous processions that make their way into No Man’s Land and fight in the Lord’s name.

Procession of the Sacred Affliction

All members in this procession willingly contract leprosy, in reverence of their founder, and also as a means of flagellation. Whilst my limited medical knowledge tells me that leprosy = bad, in Trench Crusade, it does come with some benefits -- namely, being anaesthetised to pain. Not only can they shrug off attacks with ease, members of this procession take the notion of weightlifting to a whole new level, as they strap stone mills to themselves and fight in brutal melee, only to unwrap them and drown their enemies in the filth of No Man’s. Topping it all off, they decorate their armour and shields with iconography of the Saints, with their devotion allowing them to withstand even machine gun fire.

On the table, Sacred Affliction are the close-quarters combat specialist archetype squared, incurring restrictions on your Machine Gun and Punt gun allowance in exchange for melee-focused abilities that turn them into the best melee faction in the game.

Starting off, Punishing Millstones grants each member in the procession an extra +1 Dice to Injury Rolls when fighting a Downed enemy in melee. Right off the bat, this is great and significantly increases your lethality. To complement this, up to three Trench Pilgrims can get the Zealot Strength upgrade, and thanks to Hammer and the Anvil, your Anti-tank Hammers are no longer restricted to Elite models. OK, so let’s break this down, because this is what we have been waiting for: Nuns with Anti-tank Hammers. Activate your Nun, do your Anti-tank Hammer thing, and take the Blood Marker that results and turn it into a Blessing Marker when they next activate, thanks to their Blessed Stigmata ability.

Additionally, having two more Pilgrim models that can wield Heavy weapons, including those that can be used with one hand, further enhances their capabilities. You’ll want to do that because you remember those Holy Icon Shields? Well, they’re no longer Elite and don’t cost Glory. Instead, for 20 Ducats, you can grab one of these for every member who can carry a shield. To double down on the impervious nature of the Sacred Affliction’s zeal, you gain Holy Icon Armour for 30 Ducats, granting an Impervious -1 Armour modifier. Stacked with the Holy Icon Shield, and you’ve got -2 Impervious Armour, just for 10 more Ducats than Reinforced Armour. Not bad at all.

Lastly, as a special upgrade, either your Castigator or a Trench Pilgrim can become God’s wrath made manifest with the Wrath of God ability. If taken, the model cannot receive any Blood Markers and is immune to Fear, but cannot take any ranged weapons or wear armour (except shields). At 15 Ducats, you’re getting some quality upgrades, although capping out at -1 armour is pretty rough. The best case is to upgrade a Pilgrim and hope they die as soon as possible so that you can revive them as a Martyr Penitent. Before you ask, no, you can’t put a Pilgrim with this ability on the Wheel to ignore Blood Markers whilst they are alive.

Cavalcade of the Tenth Plague

Believing in the more traditional teachings of the Lord, and reviling the current teachings, especially those of the Meta-Christs, the Cavalcade of the Tenth Plague brings sacrificial lambs into battle and adorn their bodies and armour in their blood, believing that it will protect them from harm.

In general terms, this variant relies on a more Elite playstyle, as it restricts the number of Prisoners you can take, as well as denying any possibility to bring Martyr Penitents. This does hurt your ability to go wide in your list, as well as limiting defensive models. On the upside, you can buy Sacrificial Lambs for each unit (but not prisoners) for just five ducats, which ignores the first Blood Marker suffered each battle. On top of that, at the start of each turn, you can give 1 Blessing Marker to a unit via the Favour of the Lord rule. This will primarily be applied to important models, such as your Shrine or War Prophet, as the latter will no longer be bodyguarded as early by the Communicant, due to them now costing three Glory instead of their usual Ducat cost. Whilst your Prophet isn’t going to be as safe as before, you do get a lot more offensive capability from them, as their Lay on Hands ability changes to Day of His Wrath, allowing them to make a Risky Action against an enemy within 3” and if passed, they roll on the injury table, with the bonus that it ignores armour. The double bonus is that if you roll a 12 on the Success Roll, then you add +1 Injury Dice. It’s a great ability that, when combined with their usual ranged loadout and an Anti-tank Hammer, can really take down most enemies in the game. Despite your War Prophet not being able to buddy buddy with the Communicant, you do get another Tough model, in the form of the Castigator, who gets this keyword thanks to the Blood of the Lamb ability.

War Pilgrimage of Saint Methodius

Forget what I said about Trench Pilgrims lacking in the long-range shooting department, because the Pilgrims of Saint Methodius pack the big guns and strap them onto your Anchorite Shrines. That plural wasn’t wrong, by the way, because the limit on how many you can take is upped to two. Even without the optional weaponry and equipment we can take on our Shrines, getting two of them is fantastic. If you do swap weaponry, you will need to pay a ducat price and swap it with the Catherine Wheel. Even if you keep the Catherine Wheel, you can’t have anyone broken on the wheel, and your Prisoners can’t take Martyrdom Devices. Carrying on, you can’t bring back any Pilgrims as Martyr Penitents, which again is pretty tough, and to go further, your Nuns must take standard armour and are capped at three.

However, leaning into the ranged aspect of this faction, you do get access to an extra Machine Gun, as well as being able to buy an Automatic Rifle and a Sub Machine Gun for 30 Ducats instead of the usual Glory cost. Still, most of your shooting capabilities will come from your two Shrines. Whilst there are a few weapon options you can equip the Shrine with, the two standouts are the Trench Mortar and Autocannon. The former provides a Blast 3” weapon with a 6”-36” range, that ignores cover and provides +1 Dice to Injury rolls, as well as Fire, and the latter allows three separate attack actions, again at +1 Dice to Injury rolls. The number of attack actions can be increased to five at the expense of each attack being Risky. Either way, your activation is over once you’re done.

There are also equipment options available to enhance your Shrines, which can be purchased for ducats. Here’s a quick overview:

Gas Filters: Acts as a Gas Mask.
Holy Diesel Engine: +2 to Dash actions (yay!), but you take a Blood Marker when you succeed a Dash (nay!).
Sacred Geometry: +1 Dice to your ranged stat. Limit: 1, however.
Grand Anchorite: Can retreat without getting hit, and can retreat from a dash, charge or normal move. This allows you to retreat and charge, and we all know how powerful that is. It’s Limit: 1 for that reason.
Piston Legs: You get to make another attack against smaller models that are downed.
Wrathful Cherub Face: If an enemy model suffers from Fear and starts its activation in combat with this model, it must retreat as its first action, allowing you to boink it on the head as it tries to do so.

The one I left off this list is Hallowed Anchorite, as this one is campaign-specific and allows the Shrine equipped with this to be promoted to an Elite. Not only can you get breath a little easier when your Shrine is taken out of action, but being able to gain skills will make your Shrine invaluable. Top up your diesel; the Shrines are going to war.

Parables from the Prophets

At the end of the day, I am just a random Trench Pilgrim. One whose feet are a bit ouchy, because they don't get to wear shoes, and clearly needs to see the imminent whipping of their Castigator. What do those mightier than me think of the Trench Pilgrims? Luckily for you and me, we get to find out, as I managed to speak with Maurits Joos, H.P. Hatecraft (Discord), and Gobkikass (Discord), who swept the podiums (1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively) at the first European Championship tournament last week. The fact that all three took the podium spots with Pilgrims already gives you a little insight into God’s chosen common folk. Still, I wanted to pry open the Iron Capirote and get inside the heads of these Pilgrim Prophets to find out what makes them strong, how 1.0 and the new one-off restrictions change their lists, as well as their hopes for the future. Lastly, we’ll take a look at some example lists they came up with now that 1.0 is out.

The Tournament and the Pilgrim Playstyle

After speaking with all three players, it’s clear to see that the fundamental playstyle revolves around two aspects: Hitting hard, and surviving the hits. Whilst this is the core philosophy of all three lists, the ways each player approached this varies. Mourits approached this idea by swarming his opponents with Stigmatic Nuns, backed up with a hard-hitting Prophet and Communicant power pair wielding AT hammers, as well as a Shrine. All the while, the Anti-tank Communicant Hunter is backing up the melee units, and the Observer is pulling off their activation shenanigans. “Nuns are so aggressive and so fast that it forces your opponent to reach and change their game plan. They have to focus them down, or they come back stronger, thanks to turning Blood Markers into Blessing Markers.” His fundamental victory condition in his games came down to overwhelming his enemy and killing them before they could score. “Trench Pilgrims aren’t desk sitters. You need to have a murder plan, set it up and pull it off. Like the Jedi IQ Bell Curve Meme, 'kill stuff' is the first way you play Pilgrims, and the best way you play Pilgrims.”

So Mourits planned to get in quickly with his nuns and hit as much as and as hard as possible, while his beatsticks provided a second wave. Gobkikass approached things differently: “Trench Pilgrims don’t win by brute force or long-range firepower. They win by playing the scenario, surviving longer than the opponent, and hitting hard in close combat. So my list was built around two priorities: reach objectives quickly and stay alive while doing it.” Indeed, while Mourits focused on the Nuns to run interference, Gobkikass concentrated on backing up his two objective scoring pillars with mid-to-short-range shooting in the form of a Castigator with a Punt Gun, and two pilgrims, one with a Shotgun and another with a Flamethrower. “Between these two pillars, I put some short-range shooters. Their role is to support them and clear any objectives controlled by the opponent. A Castigator with a Punt Gun is perfect for that, as it can easily hit a target and do some massive damage to enemy packs. Then comes a pilgrim with a flamethrower. It's an auto-hit, armour-ignoring weapon with the Fire keyword, perfect for a cheap unit. The last shooter is a pilgrim with a shotgun for reliability.

For H.P. Hatecraft, his strategy focused on the healing power found in the army. “...my reasons for choosing my competition list: For me, Pilgrims got two things hugely going for them, armour ignoring anti-tank-hammers and being hard to kill. So I tried to maximise that by getting a lot of heal and negating Blood Markers. The Martyrdom Pills are very good in a one-off, where consumables hurt you even less.” As we know, Martyrdom Pills provide a -1 Injury Dice for enemy attacks, but Mourits puts into perspective just how important a simple -1 Dice can provide. “The first +/- Dice change is the most important, with diminishing returns the more dice you add or take away.”

Pilgrims After 1.0

All agreed that Trench Pilgrims stayed relatively the same since the 1.0 release. Yes, there were changes to things like Martyr Penitents now being unable to get -2 Injury Dice, but we knew that was coming. H.P. Hatecraft had this to say about the 1.0 changes so far: “1.0 changed the Martyr Penitent in that way, as that you can't give them the pills to give them -2d for getting injuries (which was very broken), but still they are the best things Pilgrims can get in a campaign. So you wanna get as fast as possible as many as you can in the grave so you can resurrect them. The Change, that you can't let them die on the wheel of the shrine and revive them (I think it was a good change to 1.0), makes it a bit harder”.

For Gobkikass, he sees not the direct changes to Pilgrims themselves being the biggest impact, but the surrounding changes to the core rules. “The 1.0 changes very little for the Pilgrims. The nerf of Laying on Hands is not significant enough to weaken their resilience, and the new version of Loudspeaker is an improvement over the old version.”

Changes to One-off Games

Previously, One-off game had a cap of 900 Ducats and 8 Glory, which was in the early-to-mid stages of a campaign, where your warband had grown a little in size, without being unwieldy, and most importantly, before the randomness of a campaign really kicked in. Now, the rules for building a list for one-off games are now 800 Ducats and 6 Glory. This is a big change, especially when it comes to how you spend Glory. As Mourits points out: “You could previously get everything you wanted with a 900/8 list. Now it’s more about what mercenaries are worth it.” Indeed, as we spoke, the choices behind what main mercenary you now bring became apparent. Previously, the staple was an Anti-tank Communicant Hunter and an Observer. Now, it’s no longer an easy choice, and that’s even without what secondary mercenary you bring, or a Glory item instead.

For H.P. Hatecraft, as we will see in the example lists, his choice is simpler: Observer over Anti-tank Hunter, every time. The power of the Observer shenanigans vastly outweighs what the AT Hunter can bring. Gobkikass is already tinkering with lists to find the right combination: “For an 800/6 list, I will probably test my warband with less equipment and replace the Observer with a Trench Dog if the event authorises it. But for a start, I'll go with the same approach as previously and see if it still works with the new format. Fewer minis means it will be more difficult to go for the objectives, so I will try to keep at least 8/9 minis on the table.”

Wishlist and the Future

So these three Prophets have dominated the battlefield, but what do those at the top want to see from their favourite faction? For Gobkikass, it’s a relook into the Eccelesiastic Prisoner and Martyrdom Device: “The only thing I regret with the 1.0 is that they made the Ecclesiastic Prisoner with the Martyrdom Device even more useless. It's a fun unit that I often played when I started the game, but I stopped using it when I realised that it had rarely had a significant effect on the battlefield, and it's even worse now. I wish he'll get some love as it's a fun unit and the minis are awesome.”

Mourits, who won the tournament with his swarm of Stigmatic Nuns, unsurprisingly wants a Stigmatic Nun specific variant. He’s even dabbled in a Homebrew ruleset, focusing on agility and lack of armour as a general approach.

Example Lists

First, let’s take a look at how Mourits would approach his “oops, all Nuns” winning list under the new one-off conditions.

Mourits: True Daughters

Faction: Trench Pilgrims Rating: 800 Ducats | 6 Glory Patron: Learned Saint

## Elites ##

War Prophet * Cost: 170 Ducats | 0 Glory * Equipment: Automatic Pistol, Anti-Tank Hammer, Incendiary Ammunition, Martyrdom Pills

Communicant * Cost: 180 Ducats | 0 Glory * Equipment: Anti-Tank Hammer, Communicant Cross, Martyrdom Pills, Standard Armour, Trench Shield

## Troops ##

Anchorite Shrine * Cost: 140 Ducats | 0 Glory * Equipment: Bonebreaker Mace, Catherine Wheel, Combat Helmet

Stigmatic Nun * Cost: 63 Ducats | 0 Glory * Equipment: War-Cross, Scourge / Battle-Whip / Flail, Trench Club

Stigmatic Nun * Cost: 63 Ducats | 0 Glory * Equipment: War-Cross, Scourge / Battle-Whip / Flail, Trench Club

Stigmatic Nun * Cost: 63 Ducats | 0 Glory * Equipment: War-Cross, Scourge / Battle-Whip / Flail, Trench Club

Ecclesiastic Prisoner * Cost: 20 Ducats | 0 Glory * Equipment: Iron Capirote

Trench Pilgrim * Cost: 51 Ducats | 0 Glory * Equipment: Knife / Dagger, Musical Instrument

Trench Pilgrim * Cost: 50 Ducats | 0 Glory * Upgrades & Choices: Zealot Strength * Equipment: Punt Gun

## Mercenaries ##

Communicant Anti-Tank Hunter * Cost: 0 Ducats | 5 Glory * Equipment: Anti-Materiel Rifle, Trench Club, Trench Club, Combat Helmet

Trench Dog * Cost: 0 Ducats | 1 Glory

Here, he’s still focusing on the nuns, although the Ducat value reduction has meant he’s had to cut down to only three Nuns. The Castigator has also had to be benched, in favour of a Trench Pilgrim wielding the Put Gun. Given the fact that the Punt Gun has the Shotgun keyword now, so there is no -1 Dice when rolling the Success Roll at long-range, it means that there is still some decent chance of a successful hit, and thus rolling on the Injury Chart for the opponent.

For H.P. Hatecraft, his ideal list for now has shifted over to Cavalcade of the Tenth Plague, an often underrepresented variant. But after the changes to its rules, it could see more play.

H.P. Hatecraft: Cavalcade 800/6

## 1.0 Turnier TP CTP ##

Faction: Cavalcade of the Tenth Plague Rating: 800 Ducats | 6 Glory Patron: None

## Elites ##

War Prophet (Cavalcade of the Tenth Plague) • Cost: 220 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Automatic Pistol, Anti-Tank Hammer, Incendiary Ammunition, Martyrdom Pills, Medi-Kit, Sacrificial Lamb, Reinforced Armour

Castigator • Cost: 185 Ducats | 0 Glory Upgrades & Choices: Zealot Strength • Equipment: Automatic Pistol, Anti-Tank Hammer, Martyrdom Pills, Sacrificial Lamb, Reinforced Armour, Trench Shield

Communicant • Cost: 105 Ducats | 3 Glory • Equipment: Anti-Tank Hammer, Communicant Cross, Martyrdom Pills, Reinforced Armour, Trench Shield

## Troops ##

Anchorite Shrine • Cost: 140 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Bonebreaker Mace, Catherine Wheel, Combat Helmet

Trench Pilgrim • Cost: 55 Ducats | 0 Glory • Upgrades & Choices: Zealot Strength • Equipment: Punt Gun

Trench Pilgrim • Cost: 55 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Scourge / Battle-Whip / Flail, Medi-Kit, Musical Instrument

Ecclesiastic Prisoner • Cost: 20 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Iron Capirote

Ecclesiastic Prisoner • Cost: 20 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Iron Capirote

## Mercenaries ##

Observer • Cost: 0 Ducats | 3 Glory • Equipment: Trench Polearm, Combat Helmet, Gas Mask, Medi-Kit, Standard Armour

This list focuses on the Elite style that Cavalcade is known for, with four models possessing some form of Tough or similar ability. The Castigator now gains the keyword in this variant in 1.0. All three Elites are wielding Anti-Tank Hammers and ready to receive that all-important Blessing Marker! Let’s not forget the med-kits and Sacrificial Lambs that are vital for keeping your key units topped off and healthy.

Next up, H.P. Hatecraft provided a 700 Ducat starting list for those wanting to start a campaign:

H.P. Hatecraft: 700 Ducat Sacred Affliction

## 700 starting Pilgrims SA ##

Faction: Procession of the Sacred Affliction Rating: 695 Ducats | 0 Glory Patron: None

## Elites ##

War Prophet • Cost: 150 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Automatic Pistol, Anti-Tank Hammer, Standard Armour

Communicant • Cost: 195 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Anti-Tank Hammer, Communicant Cross, Holy Icon Shield, Reinforced Armour

## Troops ##

Anchorite Shrine • Cost: 140 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Bonebreaker Mace, Catherine Wheel, Combat Helmet

Trench Pilgrim • Cost: 85 Ducats | 0 Glory • Upgrades & Choices: Zealot Strength, Wrath of God • Equipment: Anti-Tank Hammer

Trench Pilgrim • Cost: 55 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Scourge / Battle-Whip / Flail, Medi-Kit, Musical Instrument

Trench Pilgrim • Cost: 35 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Scourge / Battle-Whip / Flail

Trench Pilgrim • Cost: 35 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Scourge / Battle-Whip / Flail

Focusing on acquiring your expensive units now, rather than later, it makes up for the hefty early purchases by going wider with Pilgrims to boost that model count and prevent being outactivated.

For our last list, we have a good old vanilla Pilgrims, and a speciality of Gobkikass.

Gobkikass: Vanilla Pilgrims 800/6

## Trench Pilgrim - 1.0 - One Off ##

Faction: Trench Pilgrims Rating: 800 Ducats | 6 Glory Patron: None

## Elites ##

War Prophet • Cost: 192 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Molotov Cocktail, Anti-Tank Hammer, Gas Mask, Iron Capirote, Martyrdom Pills, Reinforced Armour

Communicant • Cost: 195 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Anti-Tank Hammer, Communicant Cross, Martyrdom Pills, Reinforced Armour

Castigator • Cost: 93 Ducats | 0 Glory Upgrades & Choices: Zealot Strength • Equipment: Punt Gun, Trench Club, Standard Armour

## Troops ##

Trench Pilgrim • Cost: 60 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Flamethrower

Trench Pilgrim • Cost: 40 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Shotgun

Stigmatic Nun • Cost: 60 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: War-Cross, Scourge / Battle-Whip / Flail

Anchorite Shrine • Cost: 140 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Bonebreaker Mace, Catherine Wheel, Combat Helmet

Ecclesiastic Prisoner • Cost: 20 Ducats | 0 Glory • Equipment: Iron Capirote

## Mercenaries ##

Communicant Anti-Tank Hunter • Cost: 0 Ducats | 5 Glory • Equipment: Anti-Materiel Rifle, Trench Club, Trench Club, Combat Helmet

Trench Dog • Cost: 0 Ducats | 1 Glory

A redesign of his tournament list, he’s opted for the AT Hunter and a trench dog as his glory picks. It’s sticking with his “support the melee pillars” playstyle, choosing to keep the Flamethrower and Shotgun, and looking to reduce costs by slimming down what the Elites are taking.

I want to thank Mourits, H.P. Hatecraft, and Gobkikass for providing such insightful information, as well as the lists for us all to enjoy.

Final Thoughts

So, that is it for this Faction Focus! I hope you have enjoyed reading this article about everyone’s favourite zealot peasants! Trench Pilgrims are, by all account,s a fantastic starting army, with a clear goal when it comes to their playstyle, but leaving enough room for creative expression to shine on the tabletop, via their variants and list-building possibilities! Stay tuned for our next Faction Focus! Who will it be? Well, you'd better ask The Synod of Strategic Prophecy to find out if God has told them (that’s a fancy way of saying, who knows!).

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Tags: faction focus | trench crusade | trench crusade 1.0

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