Anatomy of the Anatomists: Building a Court Warband for Trench Crusade

We’re back in the trenches again, because clearly things were not horrifying enough last time. As always, we are diving into the wonderfully unhinged creations from Bestiarum and asking the important question: how do we make these nightmares playable in Trench Crusade?

This time, we are taking a closer look at The Anatomists and use them to fortify our ranks of the Tormentor Cults.

If the Tormentor Cults made you uncomfortable, these lot are here to make sure you never sleep again. The easiest way to picture them is Hellraiser, except instead of just suffering, the victims have been upgraded into fully functioning war machines. Impaled, stitched, flayed and aggressively repurposed, they are less “army” and more “ongoing medical crime scene.”

They are still vaguely humanoid, which somehow makes it worse. Close enough to recognise, far enough away to wish you had not. Naturally this raises the question of where they fit.

New Antioch? Absolutely not. Let’s not ruin their day.

Instead we are doing the sensible thing and building them as a Court of the Seven Headed Serpent warband, because if anything is going to support your creative nonsense, it is the Court. 

As always, this is not about clean one-to-one unit matching. This is about vibes, horror and making your opponent ask “what on earth is that?” at least once per turn.

If you’re looking for better matches in terms of base size, feel free to mix and match any of the models mentioned here, tweak their scale a bit or fit them on a different-sized base. The options for bloodcurdling creativity are endless.

With that out of the way, let’s get into it.

Praetor

Every warband needs a leader, and in this case you want something that immediately tells your opponent they have made a terrible life choice by showing up.

Enter The Jailer.

This thing is perfect. It is huge, it is angry, and it looks like it has not had a positive thought since before it had skin. Whether you give it the bone whip or the impaling sword, it carries the exact energy you want from a Praetor. There is something about it that feels like a fallen angel that got lost somewhere between divine purpose and “let’s staple more limbs on and see what happens.”

Put it at the front of your warband and your theme is basically explained instantly.

Sorcerer

Now for the Sorcerer, which in Court terms means someone who throws magic around and probably smells awful while doing it.

For the Anatomists, you do not want a full demon. You want something that clearly used to be a person who has since had a series of very unfortunate upgrades.

Pierrot the Flesh Artisan is an easy win here. Multiple arms, unsettling posture, and the general feeling that it should not be allowed near sharp instruments. So naturally, it is perfect. It looks exactly like someone who discovered magic halfway through being taken apart and decided to lean into it.

If you want something slightly less chaotic looking, the Herald of Agony keeps things a bit more grounded while still firmly in the “something has gone very wrong here” category.

Then there is the Charnel Sorceress, which steps slightly outside the strict aesthetic, but let’s be honest, it is too cool not to include. Sometimes the rule is simple. If the model looks great, you make it work and deal with the lore later.

The Howling Head could make a truly terrifying choice for a Desecrated Saint

Hunter of the Left Hand Path

The Hunter is all about tracking and killing things efficiently. Traditionally that might mean bows and precision, but the Anatomists are not exactly known for doing things traditionally.

The Patriarch of Wounds fits this role beautifully. It looks like it does not need ranged weapons because it simply appears next to you when you least expect it. The pose alone screams “you are next,” which is exactly what you want.

Then you have the Grafted Nemesis Knight, which takes a different approach and goes for sheer menace. It looks like it has been chasing something for a very long time and has not caught it yet, which is probably bad news for whoever it eventually finds. With a bit of lore, you can easily say it survives by harvesting whatever it hunts, which explains both the look and the attitude problem.

Hell Knight

Hell Knights are your heavy hitters, which means big armour, big weapons, and absolutely no interest in subtlety.

The Torment Knights are about as perfect as it gets. Big armour, bigger axes, and the kind of presence that says “yes, I will be charging directly at you.”

If you want to add a bit of hierarchy, the Tribune Carcerus makes a fantastic leader among them. It has that commanding look, like it is not just here to fight but also to judge your life choices.

For a slightly different flavour, the Brute Wardens bring in a prison guard aesthetic, which fits surprisingly well. They look like they were in charge of something once and then things escalated dramatically.

And then there is The Meat. Less armour, more problem. This is for when you decide that subtle horror is overrated and you would rather go full “that thing should not be moving.” It is messy, aggressive and very on theme.

Yoke Fiend

These are your core infantry, so they need to tie everything together visually.

The Harrowborn do this brilliantly. They look like the mid point between normal humans and whatever the rest of your warband has become. Twisted, uncomfortable, and clearly having a worse day than everyone else, they help tell the story of what happens before things get really out of hand.

Also, one of them has a pig mask, which is reason enough on its own.

Pit Locust

This is where we accept that strict accuracy is overrated and creativity is king.

The Collector is a great starting point. No, it is not a locust, but it looks like it collects things it probably should not, and that is good enough. With a bit of imagination, it becomes some kind of venomous, multi armed horror that fits right in.

Then there is The Grasp, which is exactly what it sounds like. A giant hand. Is it a locust? No. Is it horrifying? Absolutely. With a bit of lore, you can say it is part of something much worse, which is honestly more interesting anyway.

At this point, if it scares people and moves fast enough, it qualifies.

Wretched

The Wretched are your goetic batteries, which means they are here to suffer productively.

The Fingers take this concept and run with it in the worst possible way. They look like they exist purely to make everyone uncomfortable, including you, and that is perfect. They are less “unit” and more “mistake someone committed.”

For a slightly calmer option, The Faded still look miserable, just in a quieter, more existential way. They feel like they have accepted their fate, which somehow makes it worse.

Now we get to the fun part, which is making the board just as disturbing as the models.

Picture a forest, but instead of trees it is made of giant hands. That is the Grasping Grove, and it is exactly as ridiculous and brilliant as it sounds. You get weird line of sight, unforgettable visuals, and at least one person asking why they agreed to this game night.

From there, it is easy to build scenarios. Blood Altars and Hecatombs make excellent centrepieces for ritual based missions where one side is trying to do something awful and the other side is trying to stop them before it gets worse.

If you really want to escalate things, bring in something like the Walking Leviathan and turn the whole game into a cinematic event. Fighting on top of a giant moving horror is always a good idea until it definitely is not.

And if you want to go completely off the rails, introduce your own Tank God, inspired by the recent lore drop for the Steel Necropolis. 

Now Behold, Ol’ Shacklegut is perfect for this, because it looks like someone built a war machine out of bad decisions of a demon god and flesh from whatever they could find. Throw it into a custom scenario, loosely based on the Dragon scenario and suddenly your game night becomes something people will be talking about for weeks.

The Court warband gives you an absurd amount of freedom, and the Anatomists take that freedom and push it as far as it will go.

Between the models, the lore, and the sheer amount of creativity involved, you are not just building an army. You are building an experience. One that is deeply unsettling, occasionally hilarious, and guaranteed to stand out on any table.

At the end of the day, that is what this hobby is about. Making something memorable, telling a story, and possibly traumatising your regular opponents just a little bit.

Stay safe, stay horrific, and leave nothing behind.

Necreator

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This post was written by one of the lovely members of our community. If there's an article, guide or other feature you'd like to share, reach out to us at contact@bestiarumgames.com!

Editing by Sam Franquet