Heretic Legion Faction Overview
by Sammie Dae
The Murder-Priest of Beleth drones Hellish prophecies with a grimace, lifting one ragged hand before the Legionnaire-to-be. Enraptured, the sinew-faced adherent limps forward with outstretched arms. She embraces the priest, begging for acceptance, desperately grasping his barbed vestments. Her hands bleed as she strokes the thorned veil, her face digs deeper into a spined shoulder. The voice of their master multiplies through the air with the crack of each Legionnaire rifle fired into No Man’s Land. Sinew-Face drapes her bleeding body over the chalice, diligent to let the blood collect. A single word escapes the lips of the priest and needle-sharp tendrils of boiling red ichor burst into the air, dancing to the cadence of battle. Sinew-Face lunges desperately for the chalice, gulping, screaming, relishing in the visions of each life she’s taken in vain. Broken down and born in blood, a Legionnaire joins the ranks.
The Heretic Legions
The unending horde of mortal servants of Hell’s designs, the Heretic Legion is the mightiest force against His Creation. Fallen priests lead hellish troops on terrible campaigns through No Man’s Land, plotting, raiding, and executing in the name of their pledged lords of the Court. Hell’s satanic military saps the world of the warriors who defy the Tyrant Lord and witness the fire-spewing Gates of Hell. On the table, the Heretic Legion is a versatile force that can send an uncomfortable amount of bullets, bombs, and blades upon their enemies. The faction prefers to engage from a short distance to establish ranged dominance, but it has enough wicked brawlers, assassins, and magicks to make foes rethink closing the gap.
The Devil’s Own
The ranks of Hell often enforce a very strict hierarchy, so each Heretic Legion Warband is led by The Devil’s Own, the faction’s ELITES. They demand respect, and by the Court they will receive it. At the helm of conquest is the Heretic Priests, the men and women who have taken themselves to the very edge of humanity, pledged themselves to their favourite flavour of archdevil, and throw up the horns every time they weave Goetic trickery through the ranks of their enemies. Their undying service to Hell has given them an impressive +2 DICE to Ranged and Melee, making them a terrifying foe whether they’re sending lead down the battlefield or gutting a Yeoman belly to brain. Even more terrifying is their ability to creep into the minds of others and live in their walls, using their unique Puppetmaster ability to command their allies into favourable positions, terrify their enemies into betraying their post, or convince the weak-minded that the War Wolf Assault Beast is a lot more huggable than it appears at first glance. The Heretic Priest is your heretic LEADER and, as such, you will live and die by their word.
At the Heretic Priest’s left hand is the Chorister, an adherent of the black cloth who has taken their service to the end and back. Facing the ultimate sin of suicide and promptly spending time in the toasty Lakes of Fire deep in the domain of Hell, Choristers have come back to the No Man’s Land with a not-so-jaunty new tune and a fun new trinket – their own head! Choristers are competent fighters in their own right, but their service to the Warband lies primarily in their ability to never stop singing Unholy Hymns. These hymns likely sound something between a death march, a hardcore singer at the end of their set, or a hyperpop track, but nonetheless, this earworm offers a -1 DICE penalty to all enemies who hear their fresh new music (within 8”). Choristers will stand in the center of enemy ranks, and only another death can get them to stop.
Also at the Heretic Priest’s left hand, hiding in the shadows, is the Death Commando, a nightmarish assassin who bears a stealth generator that keeps them hidden even from the eyes of God. This death cult is made up of the most terrible young children, raised by blade and shadows, who grow up to be the last thing you don’t see before you’re carved from head to toe. On the battlefield, Death Commandos stick to the shadows, using their Hide ability to become completely invisible and untargetable to enemy attacks, poking and prodding at enemies with gas grenades and silenced pistols before slinking back into cover. Once you’ve suffered enough unparalleled teasing in the worst game of hide-and-seek, the Commando will bring it to a close by using their unique Tartarus Claws to strike down an entire trench line in one go. Really takes me back to childhood.
Legionnaires of Hell
There are leaders and there are followers. The Legionnaires of Hell are the Ones-Who-Serve, the Weak-Who-Aspire, the instruments of Satan’s song. In a blasphemous parody of the Hajj, these adherents travel from all across Europa, searing skin and psyche to witness the Gates of Hell and pledging themselves to a life of glorious sin. The simple Heretic Trooper is the backbone of the Heretic Legion, the rowdy hordes in gas masks who pull back the bolt at the beck and call of their masters. With sword or rifle, they do what’s asked and, with their partners in crime, tend to get the job done. On occasion, a Trooper who shows exemplary skill at bloodletting can earn the title of Heretic Legionnaire, flexing +1 DICE in Melee or Ranged combat.
Towering over their siblings in sin are the Anointed Heavy Infantry. These well-done, over-seared meat slabs of raw power and violence have dipped their toes (and the rest) into the Lakes of Fire and walked out with a gnarled new set of Gehenna armour and huge burning muscles to match. Anointed are competent in all facets of warfare with a +1 DICE Ranged and Melee characteristic and the STRONG Keyword, making them walking war machines that can dish out as much as they can take. It’s not uncommon to see them carrying Machine Guns or Heavy Flamethrowers with ease, or even wielding massive Hellblades with a single hand.
The humanoid form can sometimes get a little boring for the Fallen factions, so to spice it up a bit, infernal alchemists, fleshcrafters, and engineers have developed Angry Dog 2.0: the War Wolf Assault Beast. This genetically altered freak of nature runs directly into enemy lines at frightening speeds, bounding over barricades like a showdog or turning barbed wire into a chew toy. Once the War Wolf has broken the frontlines, it tends to play a bit rough, tearing through armour with their Chainsaw Mouth or using their Shredding Claws to show the Faithful what their innards look like. They’re a rugged breed, bearing the TOUGH Keyword and fitted with a nigh impenetrable -3 INJURY MODIFIER on their built-in armour. It’ll take a bit more than a simple “down, boy!” to stop them.
The Heretic Legions are backed by one of the most recognisable figures of Trench Crusade: the Artillery Witches. Nobody has heard them speak. No one has seen their faces. Their feet have never touched the ground. Their intensely mysterious aura suggests that these gals are quite possibly just as manufactured as the bombs they hurl at their enemies. Much like a murder of crows conjures superstition, a battery of Witches strikes fear into the enemies of the Legions (and the players who face them on the table). While they lack strength in close quarters, they shine in raw firepower. Artillery Witches wield an infinite supply of Infernal Bombs summoned straight from the factories of Hell and directly into the middle of the three models you deployed right next to each other. If the bomb doesn’t obliterate its target entirely, expect survivors to find themselves thrown somewhere in a D3 mile radius (or inches, if we reference the rulebook).
Oh, and there are the Wretches. They are, in contrast, the unwilling servants of the Heretic Legion. They are weak and pathetic and are best served dead, conferring a BLESSING MARKER to the nearest friendly HERETIC ELITE when they’re taken Out of Action. They don’t even deserve a word count over 50.
Variant Warbands
No Warband is exactly the same. There are so many of God’s Commandments or Creator’s Guidelines to stray from, so it’s important to find friends to sin with. The Trench Crusade Warband Rules feature three cliques of sin to enjoy: the Trench Ghosts, Knights of Avarice, and Naval Raider Parties. They all use the baseline of Heretic Legion rules, but they modify the rules of engagement for alternate forms of heresy.
The Trench Ghosts represent the damned souls who refuse to let go of the fight. It’s not a moniker; they are quite literally ghosts: a bit slow, bullets pass through them, don’t have legs to get bogged down in the mud, and certainly don’t need to breathe (NEGATE GAS). Ghost Priests can spend a few ducats to enjoy the luxury of a Tank Palanquin, a sick ride that turns them into a ghostly war machine. Barbed Wire Banshees can forgo the usual Chorister Unholy Hymns for a cutting shriek that makes strikes against enemies more powerful. Meanwhile, opponents of the Trench Ghosts will be forced into a test of agility as they dodge Sarcophagus Mines, the ghosts of past Troopers wearing bomb armour.
Representing the Mammonite home team are the Knights of Avarice, firm believers in chemical warfare, and opponents to the poor and destitute. Avarice Heretic Priests keep a strict audit on their cohort, requiring a floor price to the value of their soldier’s assets. They refuse to let good equipment go to waste, so the Knights forgo the destructive nature of FIRE and SHRAPNEL weapons in favour of GAS, a clean killer that won’t tarnish the beautiful gilding dead Christians tend to wear.
Hosts of the worst beach day you can imagine, the Naval Raider Parties are all gas, no brakes. Anointed have a hard time fitting in the cramped quarters of Heretic Navy ships, so the Raiders forgo raw strength for INFILTRATORS, stalking the waters and finding the right position. When they smell blood, Naval Raiders crank overwhelming firepower to eleven, storming the shores with +1 DICE to Dash and popping off rapid-fire rounds with a uniquely abundant supply of Submachine Guns.
Blasphemous warpath
In campaign play, there are two Patrons funding Heretic Legion Warbands: Infernal Nobles and Mammon (also a noble, but he has fancy Money Powers). Infernal Nobles are any of the lords and ladies of the Hell’s Court who can offer a morsel of power to the Heretic pawns of No Man’s Land. The nobles have a fun (see: murderous) bag of tricks to offer their strongest adherents, like a burning wall of Hellfire to incinerate friend and foe, or even a collection of BLESSING MARKERS that come with the particular joy of Blessed Murder. The Prince of Greed has a different approach, wielding the invisible hand to tip the scales of the Great War. Heretic ELITES of Mammon love to cheat the system, using boons like Crooked Dice to ensure the dice are cooked in their favour, or establishing a strict plutocracy that gives Mammonite elites a harmonious combat relationship between ELITES and non-ELITES. As the Heretic Legions find Glory in their campaigns, they can find reward in all sorts of pointy and ominous tools of war. Lately, it’s been fashionable amongst Heretic circles to wear armour made of coalesced betrayal, but there’s a scene of sinners who prefer flashy accessories like Executioner Axes procured from murder-demons or a Tormenter Chain to drag enemies all the way to the gates of Hell.
This is the first of a series of faction overviews to cover the very basics of each faction! While this is a brief summary of what the Heretic Legion has to offer, you can find the full, in-depth rules for free on our Rules page. Check back next time to walk the mud with the fanatical Trench Pilgrims!
Sammie Dae
Sammie Dae is a game designer for Trench Crusade. Her experience is grassroots: setting up weekly game nights, running campaigns and events for local clubs, writing silly scenarios and fun homebrew rules for her friends, and suffering the “forever GM” curse. She’s been a volunteer Observer since 2024 and has organised major Trench Crusade narrative events at AdeptiCon and NOVA Open. She’s dedicated to her community, supporting human creativity, and ensuring everyone has a place in the hobby.