[Trench Crusade] escarmourche uchronie "WW1-Croisades-Grimdark"

[BlooDrunk]

Un peu de fluff sur la Principauté de la Nouvelle Antioche (artwork déjà connu) :
... intéressant car on y apprends pourquoi et comment de petites bandes infiltrent les no mans land de ce front principal, c'est tout le cadre du jeu d'escarmouche à la Mordheim qui est ici introduit, avec les questions de rivalités sur le terrain, l'autonomie de ces bandes, hâte d'en savoir plus...



+++THE PRINCIPALITY OF NEW ANTIOCH+++

- From the Official and True annals of the Church history as told by Melchior Gessel, 1910 AD -

For three hundred years the Principality of New Antioch has stood defiantly as the focal point of the Church and the Faithful at the very edge of the shadow cast by the Gate of Hell. It is the Home of All Our Hopes, the bulwark against Heretic forces and the first line of defence against the devil’s might. Should New Antioch fall, all of the Levant will be lost.

War has never left this corner of the world. The ancient city of Antioch was destroyed by a mysterious demonic weapon in the year 1545, but the Faithful never gave up their positions in the ruins. Despite the lethal demonic essence emanating from the crater that was left behind, the garrison held on, even as mighty Constantinople fell to the legions of Kimaris, Marquis of Hell.

Before it was destroyed, the ancient city of Antioch was always the first line of defence to be put to test. Thus it is no wonder that in the year 1559 the Sword Congress of Vienna agreed to rebuild and fortify the city, and that a yearly tithe is to be sent to New Antioch by all the Faithful nations, though this levy is rarely in form of coin. Instead, endless supply trains of foodstuffs, tools, ammunition, weaponry, machinery and skilled workers and engineers come from across Europa and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the African dominions.

Keeping the supply routes open is a constant game of cat and mouse, as Heretic infiltrators and raiders harry the caravans and ships that allow the Principality to exist to this day.
Since those days New Antioch has grown to be the most important fortress-city in the world, the Sword and the Shield of Europa and Africa. All the princes of the Church and heads of the various states and domains who oppose Hell understand that it is better to fight their battles against the Heretics away from their heartlands. To this day New Antioch has withstood eight great sieges and its famed walls, with their seventy-seven mighty towers, have never been breached. This is partly due to hundreds of anchorites, metallic battle shrines with devoted entombed within them, that are embedded into the walls, keeping a vigilant watch over the walls day and night.

More than anything else, it is the volunteers who come to serve under the Banner of Christ that ensure the continuous existence of the Principality. Thus in the streets of the city one can hear hundreds of languages and dialects. One might observe hussars of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth brushing shoulders with the last remnants of the Varangian Guard, or hear the sermons of a street preacher from Eire extolling the soldiery of Ethiopia to lay down their lives for the cause. Perhaps they might even witness the Church Engineers procession taking their latest invention to be tested in the front lines.

This all happens under the watchful eyes of the Office of Propagation of Virtue that tirelessly patrol the streets. While they are quite happy to turn blind eye to the revelries of soldiers, they ferociously persecute even the slightest deviation from Church doctrine. The execution of heretics is a weekly spectacle that draws immense crowds.

Factories spew black smoke as newly constructed tanks roll out of the workshops. Foundries burn white-hot day and night in order to keep the artillery battalions, the pride and joy of New Antioch, at full strength. In the techno-laboratories of the city the Church toils away in creating the superhuman Communicants empowered by the cloned flesh and blood of the Redeemer. Thousands of workers give their lives in horrific accidents and overwork each year, and great statues celebrating their sacrifices stand around the city.

Despite all these preparations, it is the grim reality that New Antioch could never withstand the full onslaught of the combined Heretic forces. It is only thanks to the ferocious and bloody internal conflict amongst the devils that has allowed the Principality to stand to this day. The Archdevils and Princes of Hell bicker and plot against each other, and only rarely does one of them gain supremacy for long enough to mount a full-scale invasion. Even though the war has stretched for centuries with decades of nervous lull between great battles, the Rulers of Hell are immortal, and to them the war has barely even started. They are beings that have existed before there was time and wish to savour the agony of the mortals who die in their millions. And thus the Great War rages on, sometimes with long years of silence followed by sudden, ferocious assaults.

As the nominal supreme commander of all the Faithful armed forces, the Duke of New Antioch is a title of unrivalled prestige and honour. But despite swearing fealty to the Duke, in reality troops from across all of Christendom who come to do battle against Hell operate in units of their own, taking commands from their own leaders. It is worth noting that some soldiers renounce their citizenship and take up the cross, and come to serve under Duke Constantine alone. Thus the standing army of the Principality is the greatest single fighting force the Faithful can muster, and those who serve on the walls of the Home of Hopes are rightfully proud of their livery.

In recent years the Duke has despatched small forces into No Man’s Land to gather intelligence, look for artifacts of power, conduct raids on Heretic forces, secure strategic strongpoints and loot the battlefields for the wealth of coin and weaponry scattered across the tortured landscape that stretches between New Antioch and the Heretic domains over the centuries. These warbands have to raise their own coin and are simply given commission by the Duke and have to muster their own forces. However, holy relics, great wealth and fame across all the world ensures that there is a steady supply of ambitious leaders who are willing to risk all in the crucible of war. Competition for loot, supplies, artefacts and information is fierce, and these warbands often come to blows, not just with Heretical forces, but with competing rivals and crazed Trench Pilgrims.

Thus the Necropolis of Antioch overflows with the graves of fallen soldiers. But the proud flag of the Principality, blue as the sea and red as blood still flows over its ramparts. But for how long is anyone’s guess. All the portents and reports of the scouting parties confirm only one thing: the Heretics are marshalling for the largest offensive operation in history. The board is set and the pieces are moving.

The Great War is beginning anew.

Modifié le 7 novembre 2023 par BlooDrunk

[BlooDrunk]

Les deux dernières news :

1/ Les Pèlerins des Tranchés :
Un bon gros morceau de fluff, avec différents type de troupes, d'équipements et de doctrines car il y à différentes Processions qui vénèrent différents Saints.
Hâte de voir les nones par exemple ! Et que dire de cette description dantesque de cet énorme chariot de guerre qu'est le Shrine Anchorite !


 

+++TRENCH PILGRIMS+++

As the war rages against the minions of Hell, strange visions torment the faithful across the globe. Men and women touched by Heaven are granted visions, and Revelations are made by the messengers of God. Sisters of the Holy Orders are marked by Stigmata and take up the sword and the cross as instructed by the angels. Those who have transgressed seek to atone for their sins by taking as many followers of the Devil with them to the afterlife.

So they come, the mad and the maimed, the God-touched and the guilt-ridden, all gathering around Prophets and Prophetesses, forming Trench Pilgrim Processions, disorganized groups which arm themselves and follow the prophets of the Lord unto the front lines. They fight with unrivalled zeal, throwing themselves against the Heretics and arming themselves with anything they can get their hands on, from the oldest muskets to scourges and Molotov Cocktails.

Pilgrims are not officially sanctioned by the Holy See, but the Church still blesses the crusades of the faithful. Thus the Pilgrim Processions are a common sight on the battlefields, often charging across No Man’s Land in suicidal assaults against the Heretics, directed by the visions of the Prophets and Prophetesses who lead them, and urged on by the whips of Castigators who are charged with instilling the Fear of God in their troops.

The bulk of the Pilgrims are men and women with little military training, but when they don the Iron Capirote of a Trench Pilgrim, they can face even a demon from the deepest Bolgias of Hell unflinchingly. Nor is death necessarily an end to their mission: sometimes the Seventh Meta-Christ will deem a fallen Pilgrim worthy and bring them back as Martyr-Penitents, warriors half-way between Heaven and Earth, able to fight once more and feel no pain from bullet or bayonet thrust.

Rarer and more dangerous are the Stigmatic Nuns: Holy Sisters who manifest wounds to match those of the Third Meta-Christ whom the nuns venerate. They excel in close quarters combat, for each bleeding wound that they suffer makes them stronger, not weaker, as their devotion to suffering as their Lord once did gives them strength and endurance not found on mere common mortals. Armed with swords and pistols, they cross No Man’s Land heedless of any danger, praying to sustain wounds for the Redeemer which in turn will transform them into the very Vengeance of the Lord.

In front of the Trench Pilgrims are driven the Ecclesiastic Prisoners: either captured enemies of the True Faith forced to make a final act of contrition or volunteer sinners seeking redemption. Each is strapped with high explosives which are detonated once they reach the enemy lines. They dash across the killing grounds, hoping to either miraculously survive the blast and escape, or take as many followers of Lucifer with them as they can, depending on their convictions.

The most puissant of Pilgrim Processions will be accompanied by a Shrine Anchorite: a metal behemoth some twelve feet tall, a living altar of War almost completely immune to any damage. The interior of the Anchorite is covered in spikes and barbed hooks so that the Monk who controls this colossus is in a constant state of torment, rejoicing in the pain so they can suffer as their Lord once did. In combat they wield Adamantine Catherine Wheels of massive proportions which they use to crush the sinners and heretics into a pulp, and then string them upon the wheel as a warning to others.

There is a bewildering number and variety of Trench Pilgrim Processions: The Penitents of Pious Revenge swear in the name of St. Olga and uses flamethrowers, burning grenades and incendiary ammunition to assail the Heretics. The Pilgrims of the Iron Path follow St. Rita of Cascia and go to battle with hammers, mauls, maces and cudgels, and hammer nails into their heads in the memory of the saint they venerate. The Theban Legion of Rome carries the heads of the heretics upon their standards in the memory of their patron, St. Maurice. They fight with swords and other blades, competing with each other for the number of Heretic heads they amass.

Trench Pilgrims of the Procession of the Sacred Affliction are known for their zeal for close quarters combat, their armour decorated with icons and shields adorned with the depictions of the Saints, which despite appearances can withstand machine gun bullets, and the millstones they carry in order to tie them around the necks of sinners before they suffocate them in the mud and blood of No Man’s Land.

-Art by Mike Franchina

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2/ Les Alchémistes Jaribéen :
(les artisans qui "fabriquent" les fameux Lions de Jabir présentés précédement ICI )
Mais ils ne font pas que ça, c'est vraiment des sortes de "mages de bataille" ou  d'artificiers bien énervés, un bon gros morceau de fluff là aussi.
 

+++JABIREAN ALCHEMIST+++

The Alchemists are the battlefield mystics and artificers of the Great Sultanate of the Iron Wall, schooled in the hidden knowledge of the legendary Smaragdine Tablet within the House of Wisdom. Admission is open to any with will and intellect deemed sufficient, be they man or woman.

To become an Alchemist is no easy task: they undergo many trials on their path to mastery. First are the countless lessons of the newly initiated; studying the Jabirean Corpus, translating the Keys of Solomon and learning all the Fundamental Disciplines of their primaeval science. Only after seven years of study, under the watchful and exacting eyes of the High Alchemagi, is an aspirant allowed to attempt the Three Trials required for full membership in the Order.

The first trial is to create a suit of Alchemist's armour which protects against harm. This is an essential tool of their craft, festooned with the Seals of Solomon which enables them to bend the elements of Creation to their will and shields them even from the devices of Hell.

Next, they must create a takwin servant, a Homunculus creature of artificial life and intellect. If the candidate manages to follow the complex formula, as well as the intricate timing and temperature requirements, the creature will emerge after forty days of toil. It will act as the Alchemist's living tool of creation, for their hands have fine motor skills well beyond even the most nimble craftsman. Vaguely shaped like a small human, it can change the consistency of its body to an almost liquid-like slime to squeeze into alchemical chambers to do their master’s bidding in extreme temperatures and in the fog of poisonous chemical fumes.

Many aspirants fail here and their creation emerges from its golden celestial sphere a deformed monstrosity filled with hatred towards its creator, and burrows itself into the Alchemist's body to consume it from within, wearing its would-be master as a skin.

The third and final test is opening their Third Eye, the key to cosmic illumination which allows them to see the building blocks of Creation and thus be able to ensure that the elements they use are in perfect balance.

Those that fail their final test are horribly changed. Their Third Eye swells to nightmare proportions and melds with their original pair, driving the aspirant mad during the process of their deformation. They spend the rest of their pitiful lives screaming of the unseen horrors all around now revealed to them. Out of mercy, alchemists that fail in this way are often put down, but there are rumours of cabals of these living failures kept alive for reasons unknown.

An Alchemist that has passed all three trials is formidable indeed: a master of esoteric powers, able to control fire and ice, metal and liquid; capable of creating intricate mechanical devices and artificial life as well as weapons of calamitous potency. In exchange for the freedom to practise their arts, the Alchemists supply the Sultanate with the peerless Jabirean battle lions, and serve on the front lines where their devastating alchemical compounds melt the flesh from the bones of enemies of the Believers, or dissolve through even the toughest armour.
 

[BlooDrunk]

Haschischins ... heu j'veux dire ASSASSINS !



+++SULTANATE ASSASSIN+++
They go by many names: Ghost Wolves, the Secret Knives, Subtle Vipers, the Sultan’s Wrath. Whatever they are called, assassins of the sultanate instil terror in the hearts of even the most dauntless.

Assassins are a legendary order of mystic warriors, notorious the world over for their esoteric arts and ruthlessness. Atop a forbidding mountain broods the onyx fortress, Alamut the Unconquerable. Behind its shadowed walls great secrets are hoarded by the ancient magi. Some say that the founder of the Order of Assassins, Rashid ad-Din Sinan, best known as the Old man of the Mountain, still holds his court here. A preposterous rumour, naturally, since that would make him close to eight centuries old.

Though the Isma’ilii Sect of Assassins is seen as heretical by many within the lands of the Iron Wall, a pact forged between Sultan and the Mountain ensures that the warbands of the believers often include one of these supreme killers in their service.

Assassins are able to bend space and time using sacred rituals and powerful hallucinogens discovered by magi of the order. With this esoteric power they prowl behind enemy lines, hunting their targets with merciless efficiency. They can seemingly appear in two places at once, strike an enemy with startling speed and then travel back in time to a moment a few heartbeats before, safe from any retaliation.

They do this in service of their Sultan, whose enemies they are charged to destroy in a form of ritual holy murder. To carry out this task, the assassins are painfully altered by many powerful unguents, chemicals and potions. They stand much taller than a normal man and are many times as fast and strong.

Though adept with all manner of weapons, assassins favour the poisoned blades forged in the unknown depths of Alamut. These weapons are imbued with the Supreme Poison: The Milk of Manat, also known as The Cup of Death. A simple touch of these blades upon unprotected flesh is certain death, as the body of the victim turns black and rots from within over the course of several excruciating seconds.

In Cthonic chambers deep below the surface, generations of young assassins are raised; fed an awful, bitter diet rich with strange toxins. Generation by generation, their tolerance grows, until the blood of these willing vessels is drawn and then smelted into a poisonous iron. The iron is forged into wicked, curving blades and deadly spells of slaying are layered into each fold of the toxic metal. Finally the red-hot blades are quenched in the venom of the pale, unnatural offspring of a basilisk and manticore. Thus the blood of the first generation of Assassins still lives to this day, growing more potent with each generation.

[BlooDrunk]

Les troupes sacrifiables du Sultanat :



+++AZEBS +++

The lands of the Sultanate are vast, and many armies can be raised from the multitude of the provinces, where one household in twenty is required to arm and equip a soldier to serve the ruler of those who believe. Most such soldiers are known as Azebs (meaning ‘unmarried’, as those with families cannot become Azebs), who serve as the light infantry on both land and the sea, as well as guarding the Great Iron Wall against the Heretic assaults. When an elite force is sent beyond the Wall to strike at the enemy or look for holy artifacts, the recruiters of the Sultan call for volunteers to join the leaders of such expeditions. Though the missions into No Man’s Land are dangerous, there are always plenty of Azeb who step forward: there is fame to be won, and chance a-plenty to acquire valuable loot.

Weaponry of the Azebs varies a great deal, as they do not have access to the superb arms, armour and alchemical marvels the elite household troops of the Sultan such as janissaries and Cataphracts do. Most carry Jezzails with a distinctive curved stock. These are handmade weapons, and consequently they vary widely in their construction. Jezzails are very personal weapons, well crafted and their distinct curved stocks are intricately decorated.

These long arms can be loaded with all manner of ammunition: fired roughened bullets, long iron nails or even alchemically treated slivers of the Great Iron Wall. This makes jezzails highly adaptable, and less dependent on easily depleted ammo.

Other weapons and equipment include curved daggers and scimitars, pistols and sappers equipment. Armour is rare: Azebs are often used by their superiors as light skirmishers tie harass and tie down the enemies while the heavier troops close in for the kill. Their superiors see little reason to waste expensive armour on troops that fall in great numbers and are easily replaceable -Paradise awaits those who die for their faith, after all.

Many Azebs meet a terrible end in the cruel wars in the Trenches, and other return broken in mind and body, but there are always new, hot-blooded recruits willing to risk it all for the Sultan, a chance to kill the hated followers of Shaitan, and return to home as heroes with fabulous stories and glittering gold.

Art by Mike Franchina

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