Trench Crusade: Printed Rulebook

The Trench Crusade Core Rulebook!

Over the last year or two, we have been dabbling with the miniature-based skirmish game Trench Crusade. We wrote about our first impressions with the ruleset and how we used the system to play games in our Vastarian setting. We also commissioned our friend Eli (Redwetskeleton) to start creating a Trench Pilgrim warband for us. To our collective surprise, sometime after the two successful Kickstarter campaigns, we were contacted and asked if we wanted to help proofread the Core Rulebook, before it went to printing. We agreed and spent a few weeks working with their editor and the rest of the Trench Crusade team to finalize the book. It was a fun and humbling experience to be involved in the project, even if only in a small way. The book has finally been printed and is being sent out to Kickstarter backers. As part of our involvement, Trench Crusade kindly sent each of us a copy of the book, and we want to share some photos!

The book is quite large, as seen next to this Nikon Zf with the cyclopean NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.2 S lens. The cover is vibrant and eye-catching. My only qualm with it is that it has a glossy finish, which immediately picks up fingerprints.

Upon opening the book, you are greeted with a beautiful illustrated world map, filled with all manner of small details. Baba Yaga’s house on chicken legs is roaming the northern realms of Russia! The book is well-bound and opens nicely, inspiring confidence in its construction.

The book’s credit page, where you can see our names under the Proofreading section.

The book has an incredible amount of stunning artwork, displayed in full color and always crediting the artists. The graphic design and layout of the book are really eye-catching, encouraging you to keep flipping through its pages.

John Blanche has multiple pieces of artwork in the book, including a full-page piece that harkens back to his classic Games Workshop pieces.

The Core Rules are clearly and succinctly presented in only a few pages. One of my favorite pieces of artwork in the entire book is featured here, an evocative piece showing some Trench Pilgrims, by Martin McCoy (martin.mccoy.art).

In addition to artwork, the book also features a few pages showcasing photos of Trench Crusade miniatures. The photos are very well done and really highlight the game’s current range of miniatures.

After years of looking at the Trench Crusade rules and lore on a computer screen, it is really satisfying to see the physical Core Rulebook for Trench Crusade. It is very well printed (aside from the glossy cover) and a joy to hold and turn the pages. I am confident Kickstarter backers will be excited and happy to see the book. Sadly, it is not available for purchase yet, as they are still sending it to Kickstarter backers. Once that is finished, I believe it will be available to others. If you are at all interested in Trench Crusade, I think it is a worthwhile addition to anyone's collection!

- Eric Wier