Trench Crusade Adepticon 2026: The Carcass Front Starter Set
Adepticon 2026 brought a massive wave of news for the Iron Kingdoms.
Steamforged Games took the stage to show off exactly where Warmachine is heading this year, and they delivered hard. We are looking at brand new factions, the return of classic fan favorites, and some of the biggest centerpieces the game has ever seen.
Keeping track of all the new rules, changing box sets, and massive model drops is a lot of work, so we gathered all the major reveals from the keynote right here.
The Carcass Front Expansion
Trench Crusade dropped a massive bombshell right in the middle of the Adepticon 2026 reveals. The creators of this biblical horror wargame decided to crash the Warhammer 11th Edition party by unveiling their very first full starter set: The Carcass Front. The lore for this new warzone is incredibly dark, drawing heavy inspiration from the surreal madness of Apocalypse Now. The fighting takes place around New Antioch in a massive “corpse depot” full of refrigerated trains and desperate priests working to bless the dead. It is a fantastic, brutal setting for the new plastic kits, and the timing of the announcement was an aggressive, brilliant move for the game’s growth. Let’s break down exactly what is coming to the trenches.
The Carcass Front 2-Player Starter Set
This is the flagship box the community has been waiting for. Dropping in late July for $129.99, it is packed with 16 hard plastic miniatures making up two highly anticipated warbands. You get the Procession of the Sacred Affliction—resilient, zealous leper-pilgrims who carry heavy millstones to drown their enemies in the mud—facing off against the fast and ruthless Heretic Naval Raiders.
The box also includes two complete campaign systems. The Path to Leviathan is a two-player narrative race to stop an ancient horror from rising on the Carrion Coast. The second option is a massive 2-to-8 player map-based campaign featuring resource management mechanics, where your gaming group can fight for control over the Corpse Depot. It is a complete package with dice, rulers, and tokens to get you rolling immediately.
New Miniatures, Art & The 2026 Roadmap
Alongside the starter box, the panel showed off some wild concept art for the future of the game. The aesthetic is pure death-metal, featuring heavily armored shotgun infantry, mutated musicians, and bizarre ecclesiastic prisoners dragging grenade-wielding crabs. The studio is growing fast—expanding from 4 to 16 people recently—so they are keeping their exact release dates slightly flexible. However, they confirmed that after The Carcass Front drops, we will see a full standalone plastic release for the Heretic Naval Raiders, followed by two more complete faction releases before the end of the year.
The Army Painter Partnership
To help get all this new plastic tabletop-ready, Trench Crusade announced an official partnership with The Army Painter. They are launching a custom “Crusade 7” paint set specifically designed to help you nail that grim, cohesive look across your warbands, starting with a focus on Prussian colors. There is also a massive painting challenge coming soon featuring top content creators to show off exactly what these new paints can do on the Carcass Front models.
Time to Ready Your Warband
Getting 16 incredibly detailed, grimdark miniatures ready for a map-based campaign takes a lot of hours at the desk. Nailing that gritty, mud-soaked, biblical horror aesthetic is tough if you are already short on hobby time.
If you want your Procession of the Sacred Affliction or Naval Raiders looking terrifying on turn one without sacrificing your weekends to the painting handle, send us a message. We paint, you play.
