Trench Crusade: Terrain by Redwetskeleton

A Life Entombed.

Recently, we commissioned Redwetskeleton to create a Trench Crusade Communicant. It is a stunningly grotesque model that fits perfectly in the horrific setting. In addition to having him create the Communicant, we asked if he could also create a few pieces of terrain to accompany the miniature. He ended up building a small board’s worth of terrain pieces, which I wanted to showcase here.

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!

Trench Crusade: Communicant by Redwetskeleton

Fault and Fracture.

Over the last few years, we have been interested in the miniature 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. Despite this, we have yet to create a warband for the game, and we realized our pace at creating models is so slow that it might behoove us to commission someone to create one. Immediately, we thought of our good friend Eli (Redwetskeleton). He has the ability to make some of the most stunningly grotesque miniatures imaginable, ones that truly make your skin crawl (in the best way), as evidenced by his recent contribution to the Godling art show. His style is very befitting of the Trench Crusade setting, so we asked if he would be interested in creating a Trench Pilgrim warband, following his own internal muses. We are thrilled that he said yes and are excited to share photos of the first model from the group, a gruesome Communicant!

Dragged into Turbolasers 128: Talking about the Trench Crusade plastic miniatures

Working on creating better Trench Crusade-scaled weapons.

We talk about the recently released plastic Trench Crusade miniatures and how they compare to other plastic miniatures on the market.

Vastarian: Using the Trench Crusade ruleset

Inheritance.

It is hard to fathom, but it has been almost a year since we hosted, with the help of Bill Ford, our first Inq28 narrative event: Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious! We have written about the first two days of the event so far (one, two), sharing the participants and the rules we used. While we used a modified version of Necromuda for the event, we have encouraged people to use any ruleset they enjoy to play games in the setting. Ultimately, it is more important to use a ruleset you are familiar with, as the games will flow more smoothly and allow you to focus on narrative elements. It is our hope that people will not be chained to rules-as-written and will be willing to modify things to better suit the narrative as cool moments unfold. With this in mind, I had been meaning to use the Trench Crusade rules for some Vastarian games, primarily because they streamline many mechanics and because the religious setting of the game parallels Vastarian's. To my good fortune, work brought Bill to Baltimore recently, and when he suggested we play a game with some of our Vastarian warbands, I suggested we give the Trench Crusade rules a try.

Dragged into Turbolasers 124: Chatting with the creators of Trench Crusade - designer Tuomas Pirinen

This is the third episode of a three-part series in which we interview the creators of Trench Crusade. In this episode, we chat with Tuomas Pirinen, the designer of the rules for Trench Crusade!

Dragged into Turbolasers 123: Chatting with the creators of Trench Crusade - James Sherriff

This is the second episode of a three-part series in which we interview the creators of Trench Crusade. In this episode, we chat with James Sherriff, the original miniature sculptor for Trench Crusade!

Dragged into Turbolasers 122: Chatting with the creators of Trench Crusade - Mike Franchina

This is the start of a three-part series in which we interview the creators of Trench Crusade. In this first episode, we chat with Mike Franchina, the artist and creator of the world of Trench Crusade!

NOVA Open 2025: Recap

Two Heretic Legionaries created by DOOMGIVER, as seen at NOVA Open 2025.

NOVA Open is a tabletop gaming convention held annually in Washington, D.C. Despite living within an hour of D.C., this year was the first time we attended the convention. We decided to go after realizing how many of our friends were attending, chief among them some friends who helped start 28 magazine (and now Trench Crusade). Ultimately, we did not sign up for any events or classes; instead, we wanted to talk with people and photograph anything that caught our eyes.

Trench Crusade: First Impressions

Cartography of Suffering.

Trench Crusade is a miniature wargame set in a horrifying alternative timeline set around World War I, in which the forces of Hell have been unleashed on Earth. Created by a fantastic team of talented individuals, including artist Mike Franchina (who created the setting), sculptor James Sherriff (who created some of the initial miniatures), and game designer Tuomas Pirinen (the designer of Mordheim), the game has attracted a lot of interest and held two successful Kickstarter campaigns. I have been following the game’s development for the past few years, but just recently played my first game of Trench Crusade! Dave Taylor provided all of the terrain and miniatures for my first game, which was fortunate, as I have yet to paint any models for the setting. I controlled a small New Antioch warband engaging in a skirmish against an Iron Sultanate warband for the game. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Trench Crusade plays very similarly to other popular skirmish games like Necromunda and Mordheim. The game distinguishes itself by using a +/- DICE system that influences how easy or difficult it is to be successful with an action (like successfully hitting a target with a machine gun). Usually, you need to roll a 7+ on 2D6 for an action to be successful. If a + DICE is added to a roll, you roll 3D6 and choose the two highest to determine if the roll is successful. Conversely, if a - DICE is added to a roll, you roll three dice and pick the two lowest to assess the success of the action.

28 Collected Kickstarter: Trench Crusade Combat Biologist

Variants Of Concern.

28, in conjunction with Dave Taylor Miniatures, is running a Kickstater campaign to publish a physical version of 28 magazine, collecting many excellent articles from the past 6 issues of the digital magazine! The Kickstarter is only running for a few more days, but has exceeded its funding goal and unlocked a host of fun stretch goals. One of the unlocked stretch goals is providing every backer with an STL file to 3D print a miniature for Trench Crusade! The miniature, a Combat Biologist, was sculpted by 28’s very own James Sherriff! We were fortunate to get a copy of the model and did some minor conversion work on it. We hope to paint it soon. We encourage everyone to look at the Kickstarter and consider getting a copy before the campaign ends next week!