Chronicles from the Trenches: The Troll at PLAY 2025

Disclaimer: I’m fully aware I have a tendency to ramble. For some of you the introduction to this post could be too long, I know. If that’s so, feel free to skip it. I won’t judge. Just don’t expect covering fire from me afterwards.

Prologue

I haven’t been playing a wargame in several years. In time, my gaming interests shifted, but one can never forget their first true love – in my case Warhammer Fantasy Battle 4th edition. Even when not playing, I carried on painting as a hobby, and have been following the market for new releases, especially independent games. It can’t be helped. I so much love reading rulebooks, even those of games I know I’ll never play. Two days ago, a very close friend convinces me to participate in the Mordheim event at PLAY. It’s a big opportunity to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the game and the author, Tuomas Pirinen, would be at the con as a guest of honor. I told you, haven’t been playing in a lifetime, but for the sake of friendship I say to myself “why not?”, get to find my Marienburg Mercenaries, class of 1999 and I’m on the road, direction: Modena. During the event (which was a blast, by the way), Tuomas holds a couple of panels. One on the history and creation process of Mordheim, the second on his philosophy around game design: it’s in this latter one that I get to know Trench Crusade for the first time. Not really sure what an Anti-Tank Hunter Communicant was at the time, but it looked cool. I still did’t know what that chance encounter would lead to; for the time being, the information about an upcoming game by Tuomas Pirinen sits there, in a corner of my brain, for about one year…

Then, during spring 2024, Trench Crusade starts to generate some buzz online and the social algorithms do their job. I got intrigued. I find out the Playtest rulebook and start studying it. I like it: the rules are simple but deep, something I’m fond of. The setting and artwork are no less. I’m hooked. Deeply. I come to know that there’s more material in the Discord server. Something about Knights of Avarice. I subscribe and start spending time there, chatting with people, getting to learn about the rules and starting answering questions. I don’t play, there’s nobody I know who I can play with, at the time, but I don’t really care. I spend the whole summer converting polystyrene panels into modular elements for a game board, digging trenches and craters, building fortifications and all that. Never did something like that in my life.

In the meantime the Italian community is beginning to take shape. I subscribe to the various social platforms, get into contact with some people. I find some who I haven’t heard about in a long time, upload pictures of my table and od my New Antioch band I’ve been painting in the meantime, for comments Weirdly I get positive feedback (yeah, I know, I should work more on self-confidence). Then something unexpected happens: Max, an old acquaintance of mine I got back into contact with in Trench Crusade Italia, writes me to ask if I were interested in bringing my board to PLAY and hold demo games with the people of Legio Felsinea. Ok, I think, it’s clear that all the defects don’t appear in picture: the unevenly cut edges, the flat coloration, the hot glue residues…. “why not?” is my anwer.

I get in contact with Nicola a.k.a Spak, to organize the trip. PLAY is still a few months down the line, I have time to end painting miniatures and work on improving my board. Around the end of January I reach out to Nicola for updates. Change of plans. In the meantime there’s been an announcement concerning the presence of an official Trench Crusade stand, at the con, so it has been decided not to disperse energies and to detour all demos at the official stand. “I can see if there is room for you as a volunteer” proposes Nicola. “Why not”, I answer.

And it is so that I find myself into the organization of the event, in the team of volunteers tasked to run demo games. My program foresees two turns of demos, on hour each, on Friday, three on Saturday and three on Sunday. The rest of the time at disposal, if needed, otherwise I’m free. Nothing impossible to bear, hey there’s also the time to visit the rest of the con.

In the end, the board stays home. There’s no longer need for ti. In the last two months I’ve been focusing on miniatures. With the new magic powers I got by buying a 3D printer I prepare the miniatures for the Malleus Haereticorum scenario, the introductory mission written by the friends of UniNerd, which has been chosen for the demos. Dice, range measuring tool, warband roster sheets, last final touches to the two bands of New Antioch and the Court of the Seven-Headed Serpent I’m going to bring with me for showcase, and we are ready to roll. Oh, and cyanoacrilic glue. Never leave for an event in which you bring miniatures without glue!

PLAY – Day 1

And it was so, that in the morning of Friday, 4th of April 2025, the Troll enters Hall 18 of the Bologna Convention Center. To meet him, the wonderful tables set up by the guys of Bivacco Vicenza – among them the giga-cross by master craftsman Zombi Vegetariano – and by a team of special guests from Austria, @Daxpaints, @Mrjarrrr, @valentin_wanker and @orfi_omnomnom. Round of introductions. There’s always a bit of embarrassment, I admit, in approaching a new group, but we share a common passion, and there isn’t much time to lose: the lions’ cages are open and visitors storm the hall. Everyone, man their posts! The show is about to begin.

Intrigued people approaches the tables and demonstrations begin. “Did you already know Trench Crusade? Do you have any experience with miniature wargame?” Answers are the most diverse. People who is here expressly to try Trench Crusade, other people who just heard about it and want to know more, simple curious passers-by. Veterans of a thousand battles and people who never held a miniature in their hands during their whole life. It doesn’t matter, after a few minutes of explanation: how to act, how dice rolls work, they know what to do. I just step aside and leave them play, giving clarification when asked and advice when they don’t know what’s the better course of action to follow. It is not important if they don’t know every rule in advance: at the first dice roll I explain how modifiers works, the effect of injuries and BLOOD MARKERS the first time a model gets hit. To veteran players, I hand out the warband sheets, give some extra info and let them go by themselves, they are autonomous. To the least experienced, I hint at the fact that some models have additional special abilities (e.g. Puppet Master, Loudspeakers), which we will introduce from round two onwards, so that they don’t have to process too much information. It works: at the end of any game I only receive positive feedback. People like Trench Crusade, I can only be happy about that.

From time to time I take a look at the tables nearby. Elia and Filippo are busy with running demo games as well. I am at the larger table. One half is dedicated to demos, on the other side, the forces of New Antioch are defending a fortress from the assault of minions of the Court of the Seven-Headed Serpent. It’s a weird feeling to see people passing by and taking pictures at my miniatures. Across the table, from the terrace of the huge tower-cross, a Witchburner imbues courage in a sisterhood of Pilgrims against the advance of a band of Trench Ghost. Further away, three tables dedicated to painting and modeling: the Austrian friends are modifying a takn model Trench Crusade-style: holy icons, crosses, barb wire, Catherine Wheels. Matteo of @chemo.paints shows how to paint with an aerograph, while Paolo, aka Zombi Vegetariano is printing terrain elements and decorations using plaster. Behind me, beyond the demo table built by Fabian, a screen has been set up, where visitors can see Marco of Korhyl Miniatures and Mr Jarrrr working on 3D sculpting. In front, Tuomas Pirinen, surrounded by the beautiful Trench Crusade-themed props by Space Armor chats and takes pictures with fans. To his side, another giant, Paolo Parente, who recently joined the Crusade providing artwork for the War Cardinal. Opposite them, at the Cosmic Group booth, people can find the playtest manual translated in Italian by UniNerd and various Trench Crusade gadgets, among them patches with logos of the six factions, an Artillery Witch bust, a printing of the illustration by Paul Bonner for the manual’s cover and the official map designed by Jared Blando.

The day proceeds like this until evening. Just the time of a quick break to eat something and off we go again. Nicola joins us in the afternoon. My two planned demonstration turns have already become seven, eight. I lost count already. The last demo ends right in time to see the convention staff passing by asking visitors to leve the hall soon.

PLAY – Day 2

Saturday, 5th of April. I slept at most four hours. In part it’s due to the adrenaline of the day before. My voice still holds. My legs as well. Saturday it’s usually the most crowded day, so we expect a higher effort, but luckily we have reinforcements. Giulio and Matteo from UniNerd, Ella and Stefano join the team, subbing in for Filippo who had to leave us to find glory in the City of the Damned. The explanation routine is now consolidated, I am able to cut the presentation depending on the experience level of the people who stop by: like the day before, players’ backgrounds vary a lot. Thanks to the expansion of the team, I can find some time to get my hand onto some Trench Crusade gadgets. Several players ask me where can they find the printed manual, already in the morning I regretfully have to inform them that it is already out of stock, before giving them information on how to get the pdf version online.

The afternoon looks to be quieter, at least in theory. At 15.30 a conference by Tuomas is planned, about the choices which brought to the birth of Trench Crusde. The booth cannot remain unguarded however, so I hold the fort. Luckily for me, and anyone who missed the panel, you can find the video on Miniatures of Death‘s Youtube Channel.

Of course I invite you to watch it, feel free to get back here after the video. Warning: the presentation itself by Tuomas is in English, but some of the Q&A after the panel are in Italian (i’ll gladly offe a translation if its’ needed). Here are the most important takes from the panel:

• The tale of the development and publication of Trench Crusade is a sequence of “wrong” yet intentional choices, which could have easily mean a huge fiasco for the project, as they are exactly the opposite of what companies do to earn profit: limited funds (initial budget of 70’000$), no external investor (to maintain full creative control), no investment in advertising and marketing and most important the choice to adopt a graphical vest not fit for all audiences and to deal with delicate or controversial themes like religion or the choice to showcase cultures who are normally under-represented in this field, like those of African or Middle-East populations. Despite these premises, the gambit paid off both in passion by the players community and economically, as seen by the huge success of the Kickstarter campaign.
• In particular, concerning themes, despite knowing that this would have put a limit to their potential audience, the authors intentionally chose to deal with “mature” themes: the most diffused religions in the world and the use of explicitly violent and horrific imagery. All this allowed the team to give more priority on creative freedom with respect to marketability, allowing them to deal with the darkest aspects of human nature and reflect on the role of faith in a conflict: the boundary between faith and fanaticism, and on how “the end justifies the means” makes a faction indistinguishable from their enemies, despite the latter are, without a doubt, evil. In examining the various cultures, Tuomas emphasized the importance of thorough research and respectful representation, avoiding stereotypes, idealizations or slander. The cathartic and liberating role of exploring dark themes through games has also been discussed. The feedback Trench Crusade received demonstrates that it is indeed possible to approach these themes, as long as it is done in a mature way, respecting the sensibilities of all.
• Speaking of feedback, public reactions were somehow unexpected: when rumors about the game and hints at its strong religious themes started spreading around, some people with roots in certain extremists political and cultural areas thought Trench Crusade supported their world view. They were flatly proven wrong and, due to their not really tolerant approach, banned from the Discord server. Some of them reacted on social media with the usual victim mentality one would expect from such subjects, accusing the game of extremism in the opposite direction. Due to the wide reach of some of these contents, one could have easily thought “it’s done Trench Crusade is over”. Then something happened: several creators, intrigued by the game, started to flood the web with content showcasing its positive qualities and further spreading the word around. In addition, the approach used to showcase African and Asian population got a very warm response from players from those communities. In general, the strong enthusiasm and support from players have been a key factor in the initial success of Trench Crusade and, as seen in the past with other games like Mordheim or Blood Bowl, they can represent a fundamental element for the longevity of the project.
• Choices made during creation and production of the game are all oriented to promote:
  • Accessibility: rules that are and will always be free, no exclusive or limited edition models, modular trench system that allows anyone to create their own battlefield with ease.
  • Creativity: no enforcement on the use of official models, wide artistic and customization freedom, both concerning kitbashing, modifying and painting models, and writing lore and background for your warband.
  • Immersion: the reliance on thorough historical research, not only makes the setting more credible, but can also promote curiosity in player, who are invited to look up for new information by themselves, which in turn favours the understanding on our own world and helps countering preconceptions and stereotypes.
• All the elements of the game (rules, miniatures, artwork, lore) are important for the overall experience and should act in synergy in order to stregthen each other reciprocally, while sometimes compromises need to be made for the good of the game The example of Finnish soldiers during WW2 has been provided. When forced to face soviet tanks with very few anti-armour weaponry, they had to recur to improvisation and started sticking wooden logs in the tanks’ threads to disable then. Now, a unit carrying logs, while accurate from a historical point of view, would raise more than a few eyebrow, as it is not fully aligned with the Trench Crusade context, while the idea of Prussian Tank-splitter swords covers a similar role while remaining more in line with the fantastic imagery the setting provides.
• Some interesting previews on the future of the game have also been provided:
  • Official cooperation with Creature Caster to produce a Black Grail variant called “The Great Hunger” in a way similar to what has been done in the past with the Red Brigade by Westfalia. This new subfaction is set to have a very peculiar gameplay: instead of the usual slow undead horde, it would be centered around powerful models called Matagot hags, that could exploit INFECTION MARKERS spread around by the faster creatures to spawn new models on the battlefield.
  • The Carcass Front supplement, already announced as a stretch goal for the Kickstarte Campaign, foreseen for the end of 2025. It will feature a map based campaign, were players could attempt to move the engagement front towards the enemy territory. The more the enemies push towards your territory, however, the more powerful options we would have at our disposal to fend them back. The original campaign will feature two bespoke factions (no clue on which two) and a narrative approach, but additional rules will be present to replay the campaign with any other warband.
  • Thre new factions, due “next year” confirmed: The Path of the Beast, described as “the equivalent of werewolves and other werecreatures in the Trench Crusade world, the Temple of Metamorphosis, able to use a “mutation” mechanic to evolve and strengthen their models during the battle, and the Hebrew Knights, who complete the triade of Abrahamic religions and fight the hellish forces directly in territories under control of the latter, with guerrilla action launched – as speculated – by a secret fortress on Mount Sinai ,and who will extensively make use of Golems.

The most intense of the three days ends, as appropriate, at a restaurant, where I have the opportunity to get to know the rest of the group better, and at least for a couple of hours, talk about something different from Trench Crusade rules. Don’t get me wrong. I love talking about Trench Crusade, I won’t be here otherwise, but from time to time it’s good to talk about other as well.

PLAY – Day 3

Here we are. Sunday, 6th of April, third and last con day. I had slightly more rest than the day before, but a couple of last minute defections force the whole team to make some extra shift. No big deal, explanation are in autopilot now. There will be time to be tired tomorrow.

The rest of the day goes on smoothly, no more planned events, no unexpected surprises. More people stopping by to ask information, many more demo games. In the late afternoon, finally. the rhythm begins to slow down a bit, many weekend visitors start to leave the con, leaving only the daily ones. I take the opportunity of a moment of tranquillty to approach Tuomas and ask him a few minutes for some rules clarifications. It is something I hold dear, I would like the rules to be as understandable as possible to allow the highest number of people possible to play in an healthy environment, without any concern for discussions or exploits. Tuomas doesn’t have much time, he is awaited at the awards for the Mordheim tournament, but agrees to have a talk with me.

Now, of course now you have to trust what I’m writing, and I open up by stating that, after three intense days I could have got some answers incorrectly. Also bear in mind we didn’t have a rulebook at hand so Tuomas went by heart and in some cases, rightfully in my opinion, he told me he would have needed to take the time to think about the exact ruling with the manual in front of him, but still attempted to point out what the intention behind the rules is. I will try to report everything in the most faithful way possible, but you are been warned: take everything written below with a grain of salt, until the official rulebook is released nothing is “official”.

1. Vertical Movement: When a model climbs, the horizontal move to position the base on the ledge must be measured and it is not free. In a similar way, when a model drops or jumps down, the horizontal movement to get across the ledge is measured, and the only “free” part of the move is the vertical downwards movement. In general, the approach towards movement is “ifa model can end its movement in a space or on a surface, it can get there, otherwise it can’t move to that position” and “extra free movement can be exploited in unfair ways so better to leave them out of the rules as much as possibile”.
2. Charging multiple targets: I admit I didn’t get all the details on the answer here, but in summary the idea is that a charging model always moves towards an enemy model and not towards a point on the battlefield, so if a model chooses multiple enemies as targets of a charge, it must move towards one of them, but it can also engage other models, depending on the direction it comes from.
3. Two-weapon fighting in Melee:
   • Confirmation that the two melee attack ACTIONS are distinct, and other action can be performed between the attacks (e.g. melee attack with a weapon that takes the enemy out of action, charge and then the second melee attack).
   • The choice of main and off-hand weapon is done when the model attacks in melee for the first time of the game and is kept in all the following turns.
   • A model can choose the order in which to use melee weapons, so attacking with the off-hand weapon before the main is allowed (with the exception stated in the rulebook that a two-handed weapon wielded as a one-handed weapon by a STRONG model must be used before any off-hand weapon).
4. Fear: The keyword FEAR inflicts a -1 DICE penalty only to melee attacks against the FEAR-causing model, not to any other action the model does when in melee combat with an enemy that causes FEAR.
5. Cover: The intent behind the cover rules is that a model flattens itself against the cover-providing terrain in order to reduce its visibility, so the model must be adjacent to a terrain element that is interposed between it and the attacker to gain the Cover modifier.
6. Ranged Attacks targeting a point on the battlefield: If a model uses such an “indirect” attack, like, for example, an Artillery Witch, can see a model, then it can target a point under the base of that model, even if it’s not able to see the ground (for example when the base of the model is behind an obstacle).
7. Elevation: The +1 DICE modifier to ranged attack ACTIONs due to elevation is applied from a height difference of 2″ or more (and not more than 2″ as in the 1.6.3 rulebook).
8. Rapid-fire weapons: This, I admit, is an answer that generated more doubts. As I wrote above, we didn’t have the rulebook at hand, but, basically, a model with a ranged weapon that allows to execute multiple attacks is not always forced to perform them consecutively: it all depends on the weapon’s description (at the time, however, it is not clear which weapons attack consecutively and which one don’t, so my suggestio is to stay on the current interpretation, that is all ranged weapons that call form multiple attacks do it consecutively, without the chance to execute other ACTIONS between attacks).
9. Shield/Flag/Musical Instrument and two one-handed weapons: An item that takes a hand, like a shield, flag or musical instrument, doesn’t affect or limit the number of objects that can normally be carried by the model, only the number of objects that can simultaneously be used, so am model can have two one-handed melee weapons and a shield, but during its activation it can only attack with one. I explicitly asked if the Blasphemous Staff still allows the model to get the +1 DICE to actions even if it is not held and the answer was on the lines of “Yes. I think the cost of the Staff is adequate for it to work like that”.
10. Shield/Flag/Musical Instrument and grenades: A models with two items that take a hand (shield, flag, musical instrument) is allowed to carry and use grenades.
11. Interaction with Infested Rifle and unignorable armour: He has to check, but usually when something is effective versus unignorable armour, it uses the phrase “+X to injury rolls” like the Great Hammer/Maul or the Assassin’s Dagger do, so theoretically the Infested Rifle doesn’t affect the armour modifier of an Infernal Iron Armour or an Holy Icon Armour or Shield.
12. Purchasable Upgrades: Optional upgrades to a model, such as the SKIRMISHER ability of an Azeb, can only be purchased when the model is recruited and can’t be added later between a battle and the next.

And the free time to see the convention? As you could expect from the premises, there wasn’t any… in the end I preferred to remain at the booth. 20+ demo games in 3 days, a lot of people stopping by. Tired, yes. Voiceless, but satisfied and glad to have been of help. Would i do it again if i get asked? Why not? Absolutely.

With that, I can consider my recount of my experience at PLAY, hopefully hte fist of many, over, but not before giving the due thanks to all people that shared this journey with me, first and foremost Tuomas Pirinen but none the less Marco C. Matteo Ma., Giulio, Nicola, Stefano, Elia, Marco L., Paolo, Filippo, Ella, Matteo Mi., Fabian, Florian B, Florian S. and Valentin (i hope I didn’t forget anyone!). Thanks to them all and to all people who were there during the weekend. And a big thanks to you for reading. See you soon!