Trench Crusade - Musings

I'm allowed myself one new system this year, and I've gone for the obvious choice - Trench Crusade.

It seems primed for success.  It's got the fluff - it seems like to was designed art and background first, game second. It's got nostalgia - the art has a very grimdark early-Warhammer 'John Blanche' feel. It's got a familiar aesthetic - WW1 with demons has plenty of steampunk/dieselpunk-y monsters, armour plate and giant guns and swords. It's got pedigree (the game designer Pirinen is the Mordheim guy). 

Just like how Frostgrave bottled some of the Mordheim lightening; I think Trench Crusade will go one better. It's model agnostic so will appeal to the creative 'convert your own' crowd. Your Warhammer bitz box, some zombies and a set of WW1 minis will go a long way.

The only handicaps I see to success is  lack of plastic models (it's 3D print/STL only; and those are quite steeply priced) and the possibility of 'woke/antiwoke' debates damaging the community (which was not an issue in the oldschool era it mimics).

There's a pretty energetic following already, and free playtest rules on the discord: I make no claims of expertise; it's just observations from pushing some minis around by myself, while I await my 3D prints. I'd rate the game as being under very active development and I'm confident it will have been pretty thoroughly playtested when it is finally released.

At the moment the playtest rules are considerately split into 'rules' and 'cool fluff' which can be printed separately. I suspect given the art-dominated design, the proper rulebook will be worth it as a coffee-table book if you like the very grim very dark eerie aesthetic. 

There's more disembowelment and demons than you can shake a severed limb at. It's not a game for the squeamish.

Rules are my thing, so let's look through some. (I'm going off a current playtest set, v1.5 I think) 

 

 Overhead

It's meant for 6-22 models, but I reckon under a dozen or so is the sweet spot and ~20 will slow things too much. It's played on a 3x3 or 4x4 table, and making a trench system will be easy with a small sheet of plywood and rubber camping floor matting (well that's my plan) + plenty of PVA, grit and popsicle sticks. I'm also using red micro d6 to be Blood Markers (more on those later).

The stats are pretty easy - move, shoot, melee, and armour. There are ~30 'keywords' aka universal special rules but also faction specific weapons and rules. Not Infinity level 120+ rules, but not totally insignificant either; e.g. it seems fine to me now, but if more factions/models get added it could bloat a lot. There are very few modifiers to dice rolls; you won't need to consult the rules much for basic gameplay.

Overall, pretty easy to get into - bar the 3D printing aspect. As a bonus, the current playtest rules are free.

Doing Stuff

Activation is alternate - i.e. chess-style - players take turns acting with one model at a time - which is the norm nowdays, though a nifty Fire Team rule allows you to activate two in a row.

Models get to move and shoot, but may take Risky Actions - if the model fails a roll they fail the action AND end their turn early. I liked the element of risk vs reward; I.e. you could attempt to dash to a better spot to shoot, but fail the roll then not be able to dash or shoot.

The models see/act in 360; I prefer a 180 arc myself as it adds more tactics/flanking for little extra rules.

The movement rules are normal, and climbing, leaping and falling etc are as comprehensive as you'd expect from a Mordheimesque game. I liked the 'diving attack' where you jump down on someone Assassin's Creed style. 

Dice Mechanics

These are weird.  I like the novelty and unfamiliarity but they are a little clunky and may lack granularity. You roll 2d6 for actions. A 7+ is success and 11+ is a crit. 

Basically instead of stats and modifiers you have (+) dice and (-) dice. These cancel each other out. But if you have extra (+) dice you add that many dice to the 2d6, roll them all then combine the best 2. If you have extra (-) dice you do the same, but pick the worst 2.

I like the novelty but (admittedly without having done the math) it seems to lack granularity. In my experimenting, even a +1 dice modifier seemed to make a model twice as good.  I'd call them "interesting" rather than "good."

Damage

This used a similar 2D6 mechanic, only 7+ Downs a model, and a 9+ Kills a model. Any hit (even a 6 or less) applies a Blood Marker - which represents wounds, shock, bleeding etc. Unless a model has a special rule, it can be knocked out in one hit. A downed model has -1 dice penalty, halves movement, is more vulnerable etc; so you might down a major enemy monster; then be able to kill it easier. Overall, a similar feel to Necromunda/Mordheim.

Morale is pretty simple. Roll once you lose 50% of your force; fail and the game is over. Fear is just a -1 dice to melee.

 

Blood Markers

Marking wounds/"damage" with a d6 next to a model - hang on, isn't this hitpoints you hate so much?

Well kinda yes, but it's not needless recording. They're more interactive and cinematic. Also, one shot kills are still possible anytime. 

Your opponent gets to spend the Blood Markers on your model, to inflict their choice of debuff - maybe a -1 to your attack roll, or +1 damage to their damage against you. The Blood Marker/s is then removed.  Blood Markers aren't permanent, and they can be fun (for your opponent). 

It's more a temporary status effect/debuff than a hitpoint. This is borne out by their opposite effect, Blessings, which are a buff dice which work in similar fashion, but in a 'nice' way.

Warbands & Weapons

The remaining 110+ pages is taken up by warbands, weapons, scenarios and gear. It's done well - a page of faction fluff/overview, a sentence or two describing units, and clear stats and abilities. 

Campaigns

This is a separate document currently. It's pretty crunchy and should tick all your Necromunda/Mordhiem boxes. You choose a warband patron (saint or infernal noble) which helps choose upgrades. There are rules for:

- (Detailed) injuries for heroes 

- Experience/advancement - skill charts to roll on (melee, speed, ranged etc)

- Loot and explore (hello, Mordheim), find caches of heavy weapons, shrines, lost survivors...

- Request reinforcements/hire new recruits, trade, and use 'glory points*' to get special/legendary gear or mercenaries.

These campaign rules are obviously pretty beta at the moment, but will be very comprehensive when fleshed out - not the 'campaign lite' of many current rules (where the campaign is stuck on as an afterthought) - but a proper old school narrative campaign with lots to do. 

This deep campaign, along with the grimdark art style and background fluff, is what will carry Trench Crusade.

*Glory Points?  Yeah, I forgot to mention - doing cinematic stuff in the game like throwing enemies off cliffs, multiple kills, etc gives you 'glory' to spend later. These glorious deeds can be determined by the scenario or sometimes random roll - kinda like a secondary objective.

Verdict

The rules themselves take up ~12 pages. Interesting dice mechanics are a tad clunky and seem to lack granularity. Blood Markers add table clutter, but are a fun debuff choice for your opponent. Special rules aren't excessive (yet). Some risk vs reward in choosing actions. Movement rules detailed but generic and morale rules are minimal.  The rules are interesting but not revolutionary. While the rules allow cinematic moments, you probably won't be choosing Trench Crusade because of the rules themselves anyway.

You'd play it for the art, grimdark 'vibe', kitbashing potential and the promise of a proper oldschool skirmish crunchy campaign game with more modern underpinnings.