The Corusil Cascade

Storied Past

Not every story starts with a fledgling commander or emerging hero. The rules in this section allow you to add more flavourful rules to your units to reflect their unique past and origins. These rules are optional, meaning if you don't want to use them for you army, you don't have to, but in your campaigns, you may come across units that use these rules. If you would prefer to avoid even that, you may ask your opponent to leave Storied Past units out of their army for that battle.

These rules are only included to allow you to support the narrative of the storied pasts of your units and if you wish to use them only to make the strongest units you can you are encouraged to forego using them.

If three or more Cascade Veterans agree that you've used these rules to create a unit that is a detriment to the fun of everyone, or other power gaming, they may present their case to the Campaign Master. That combination of unit rules, wargear and backstory trait is then banned and cannot be used in Corusil Cascade battles anymore. If the player removes the unit from their Crusade force they may regain any RP they spent to grant that unit upgrades. The Campaign Master may revoke the ban at the start of future campaign.

Alternatively instead of banning, if the Campaign Master and three Cascade Veterans can agree on a suitable drawback, the combination of rules may still be permitted, though the drawback will be applied to all such combinations of rules. A suitable drawback may for instance be that a model equipped with an unwieldy amount of heavy weaponry has a reduced Movement characteristic, gains [Hazardous] on the weapons, and has reduced Ballistic Skill and Weapon Skill, or an ability that limits the strength of the unit.

Crucible of Champions

You may use the Crucible of Champions rules, as found in The Maelstrom: Lair of the Tyrant, to add units to your Crusade force. Models for such units must recognisably have the same wargear as listed on their datasheet, or wargear distinct as not to be confused with other wargear.

Backstory Traits

You may use the following requisition to add special rules to any unit when you add it your Crusade force. If you have an existing Crusade force that has not yet participated in a Corusil Cascade battle (excluding the Great Khan Hunt), you may before the start of your first battle, treat existing units as having just been added to your Crusade force for the purposes of these rules.

Backstory Trait	<1RP>

In the wide galaxy at war, everyone has a past, and some have unique experiences that change their approach to fighting.

Purchase this Requisition when you add a new unit to your Crusade force that is not an Epic Hero.

You may give that unit a Backstory Trait of your choice from the Storied Past section of the Corusil Cascade rules. A unit can only have one Backstory Trait. Make a note of any changes to the units Crusade Points resulting from the Backstory Trait you choose.

Beloved Leader

This is a leader loved by all who follow. Should anything happen to them, there's no limit to the wrath of the retaliation.

Character units only. Choose one Character model in that unit to gain this trait. Only one model in your Crusade force may have this Backstory Trait at a time. When that model is destroyed, in the Battle-shock step of your next Command phase, all friendly units must make Battle-shock tests.

Additionally, if this model was destroyed by an enemy unit, choose one non-faction keyword that unit has, excluding Aeldari, Chaos, Imperium, Great Devourer, Battleline, Character, Fly, Infantry, Monster, Mounted, Vehicle, or Warlord. Until the end of the battle, or until this model is subsequently returned to the battlefield (whichever happens first), all friendly units may reroll hit rolls and wound rolls of 1 when making an attack against a unit with the chosen keyword.

If at the end of the battle this unit is removed from your order of battle as a result of having failed an Out of Action test, you may grant any units that fought in this battle the Avenge Our Leader battle honour, replacing <keyword> with the keyword you chose when this model was destroyed in this battle. Make a note of the name of this unit. Once units in your Crusade force have this battle honour, no unit in your Crusade force can gain it until no units in your Crusade force has this battle honour. Adjust their Crusade Point tallies accordingly.

However, if this model was destroyed and then subsequently returned to the battlefield before being destroyed again, this Backstory Trait has no effect until the end of the battle, and may not be used to grant the Avenge Our Leader battle honour at the end of this battle. Their followers have seen them return once before, and remain faithful they will return again in the hour of their greatest need.

Avenge Our Leader: Reroll wound rolls of 1 made by this unit when making attacks against a unit with the <keyword> keyword.

Lessons Unlearned

A digitized consciousness with backups or warriors cursed to forget their failings, they cannot remember the defeats they've suffered.

This unit cannot have a battle scar. Instead, if it were to gain a battle scar it instead loses all XP it gained from that battle, as well as D6 XP. If this causes it to lose a rank, remove a battle honour of your choice. Preferably the last one gained.

Nemesis

The closest thing to peace in the 41st millenium. The strange mix of admiration and respect for someone you're trying to kill.

Pick a Crusade card in another player's Crusade force. This unit is now the nemesis of that unit. At the end of your command phase, if they're within 24” of each other and have line of sight, you gain 1 CP. If your unit survived a battle where the other did not, it gains 3XP.

Only a Machine

Only algorithms, stubborn machine spirits, or a single-minded drive that refuses to learn or improve drive this machine of war.

This unit cannot gain XP or battle honours. Instead of rolling for a battle scar, roll a D6. On a 3+ it does not gain a battle scar, on a 2 or less it gains the battle scar Repairs Needed: This unit starts each battle below half strength. If it gains this battle scar again it cannot be added to your crusade army.

Preferred Enemy

Some warriors do not only have past experience of how to defeat certain foes. They have a deep-seated drive to see that foe eradicated.

Choose a keyword that is not a faction keyword, and is not the keywords Aeldari, Chaos, Imperium, Great Devourer, Battleline, Character, Fly, Infantry, Mounted, Vehicle, or Warlord. This unit's weapons now have the [Anti-keyword 4+] where the keyword is the chosen keyword. If a unit with that keyword is on the battlefield, this unit cannot end their movement phase farther away from units with that keyword than they were at the start of the phase. If they are within 10” of a unit with the keyword at the start of the charge phase, they must succeed on a leadership or declare a charge against the closest unit with the keyword.

Signature Stratagem

This warrior is famed of their special strategy, equipment, or technique, which they use to win every battle. Canny enemy commanders know to use this predictability to their advantage.

Choose one stratagem this unit is eligible to use (this may be a stratagem you would be able to use on a unit if they were using the detachment this stratagem is from). Once per battle you can use that stratagem on that unit for 1 less CP (to a minimum of 0), and may use the stratagem even if it's from a different detachment from the one you're using for this battle. You opponent then gains 1 CP

Increase the Crusade Point tally of units with this Backstory Trait by 1.

Special Skillset

Many warriors in the 42nd millennium have expertise beyond what one might first expect.

This unit gains one of the following keywords:

Battleline Epic Hero Grenades Psyker Smoke Ministorum Priest Penitent Anathema Psykana Skitarii Tech-Priest Regiment Squadron

Fallen Adeptus Arbites Officio Assassinorum Ordo Hereticus Ordo Malleus Ordo Xenos Retinue Voidfarers Chaos Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeench, or Slanesh (Only on units with none of these four)

Daemon Damned Guardians Wraith Construct Blades for Hire Haemonculus Covens Kabal Wych Cult Burrower Harvester Synapse Vanguard Invader

Ironkin Steeljacks Hernkyn Destroyer Cult Beast Snagga Grots Speed Freek Kroot Markerlight Vespid

Increase the Crusade Point tally of units with this Backstory trait by 1.

Tank Operator

A former tank crew, or someone with an uncanny knack for making enemy machine spirits cooperate.

Infantry or Swarm units only. If a Vehicle is destroyed while this unit is within 1” and it does not explode from the Deadly Demise ability, after resolving all rules for the Vehicle being destroyed, do not remove that model from the battlefield. That Vehicle now has 1 wound remaining and is a part of your army, instead of your opponent's, until the end of the battle, or it's destroyed (whichever happens first), if it wasn't already. This unit embarks on the Vehicle as if it was a Transport. If this unit disembarks, the Vehicle is then destroyed, but does not trigger any rules for being destroyed.

Increase the Crusade Point tally of units with this Backstory Trait by 1.

Trophy Hunter

Some commanders take pride in downing the greatest of foes and keeping trophies of them.

Character units only. Choose one Character model in that unit to gain this trait. Their weapons gain [Anti-Beast 5+] and [Anti-Monster 5+]. Note down each time this Character model destroys a Beast or Monster unit with a bigger base than them, that has a datasheet this Character has not destroyed before. This is a Trophy. For each Trophy this Character has, improve its [Anti-Beast X+] and [Anti-Monster X+] by 1 to a limit of 2+.

If this unit is destroyed by a Beast or Monster with a bigger base that they don't have a trophy for they become Obsessed. They can only gain the Trophy for that datasheet by destroying that specific crusade card. In subsequent battles they must target that unit with all attacks that unit is eligible for, and cannot end a move farther away from it than they started their turn. The trophy from that unit gains them 3XP.

At the end of the battle, this Character can only keep one of the Trophies it gained this battle, and this must either be from the target of its Obsession or the unit with the smallest base it gained a Trophy for (Randomly determined if multiple have the same base-size or it's unclear which is bigger).

Editor's note: If in doubt about whether a base is bigger, put the undersides of the models against each other (using the model itself for units without bases). If no part of this model's base overhangs the edge of the base of the other model, the other model is considered to have a larger base.

Unusual Allies

This commander has made some unusual friends, and call upon their aid on the battlefield. How long can such uneasy bonds last?

Character units only. Choose one unit in your Crusade force to be your unit's unusual ally (note that there's no faction restriction to adding units to your Crusade force). When you muster a crusade army, if this unit is your Warlord, the unusual ally may take this unit's faction keywords in place of its own and loses any faction ability it has until the end of the battle. If the unusual ally fails an out of action test, it is removed from your Crusade force. If the unit was destroyed, but didn't fail the out of action test, unless both units have the Aeldari, Chaos, Great Devourer, or Imperium keyword, this unit must attempt to maintain their alliance or be betrayed. This unit makes a leadership test and if it fails, it gains a battle scar and the unusual ally is removed from your Crusade force.

If the unusual ally is removed from your Crusade force, this unit loses this Background Trait.

Increase the Crusade Point tally of units with this Backstory Trait by 1.