Crusade Mechanics Overview
XP, ranks, Battle Honours and Battle Scars are the parts of Crusade that a spreadsheet gets wrong. This page covers how each one works and what Echelon does with it for you.
It assumes you already know the basics of Warhammer 40,000.
Experience Points (XP) & Ranks
Units earn XP through battle participation, killing enemy units, achieving Agendas, and receiving Marked for Greatness.
How XP is Earned in Echelon
- Participation (+1 XP): Every unit selected on your mustered roster that participates in a battle gains 1 XP.
- Kill Tallies (+1 XP per 3 kills): A unit's kills add up on its Crusade Card across battles, and every third enemy unit on that tally awards +1 XP. Kills short of a third carry into its next battle.
- Agendas (+1 to +3 XP): Successfully completing selected Agendas awards XP to specified units.
- Marked for Greatness (+3 XP): After each match, you can select one unit from your army to receive +3 bonus XP. It is optional, and a unit carrying the Disgraced or Mark of Shame Battle Scar cannot be selected.
Units that never gain XP
Epic Heroes, Fortifications and Swarms never gain XP, Battle Honours, Crusade Relics or Battle Scars, and they pass every Out of Action test. A unit counts as one when it carries the EPIC HERO, FORTIFICATION or SWARM keyword. Its Crusade Card shows XP as N/A, the post-battle report gives it none of the XP above, and its card offers no new honour or scar. Its battle tallies still count.
If your group lets these units progress as a house rule, take the keyword off the unit's Crusade Card. A card that picked up XP, an honour or a scar before this was enforced keeps it until you remove it: Clear XP on the Unit Info tab takes the XP off in one go.
Battle Honours & Modifications
When a unit achieves a new Rank, it earns 1 Battle Honour:
- Battle Traits: stat boosts or passive rules applied to squad units. Your faction's own are offered from its codex, grouped by the table they are rolled on, and any you write yourself in the Battle Traits panel on the Force tab are offered beside them.
- Weapon Modifications: a permanent upgrade to one weapon on the Crusade Card. It gives that weapon two different modifications, rolled on two D6 (again on a match) or chosen, from six: Finely Balanced (+1 BS or WS), Brutal (+1 Strength), Armour Piercing (improve AP by 1), Master-Worked (+1 Damage), Heirloom (+1 Attacks) and Precise (its Critical Wounds gain Precision). It is still one Battle Honour: one Crusade Point (two if the unit is TITANIC) and one of the unit's honour slots. In the Add Honour form, pick both modifications or press Roll, then pick the weapon. A weapon that already carries a Weapon Modification isn't offered again.
- Crusade Relics: narrative artefacts equipped to Character units (Artificer Relics, Antiquity Relics, Legendary Relics). A relic is a Battle Honour, so it costs no RP and a Character takes it when it ranks up. See Requisitions & Upgrades.
Battle Traits on your force
The Battle Traits panel on your Force tab lists the traits your units can choose from. Your faction's own come first, from its codex in the campaign's edition, marked Official and grouped under the table they are rolled on, with the roll beside each. Any you wrote yourself follow under Your own. If your faction's codex has no Battle Traits, the panel lists only yours.
To write one, click the plus on the panel, give it a Name and describe what it does, then click Add Battle Trait. Writing your own is a Supporter feature where your faction has official Battle Traits, and until your force has a faction: the plus carries the bolt, and on Free it opens the plans. For a faction whose codex has none, it stays free. Traits you wrote before stay on your force, and your units can still take them on the free plan.
A unit takes a trait when it ranks up: open it with Edit Details, go to Honours & Scars and click Add Honour. See Order of Battle.
To remove a trait you wrote, click the bin beside it (Remove battle trait), then click Remove. On the free plan you cannot write it again where your faction has official Battle Traits. A unit that already took it keeps it, because its Crusade Card holds the honour by name. Official traits have no bin, because they come from your faction's codex. If yours has the name of an official trait, the official one takes its place once yours is gone.
Battle Scars & Casualties
When a unit is destroyed during a battle, it is marked as Out of Action:
- Roll its Out of Action test in the post-battle report. It passes on a 2+.
- On a 1, choose a Battle Scar, or a Devastating Blow that costs the unit one of its Battle Honours instead.
- A Battle Scar stays until you remove it with the Repair and Recuperate Requisition after a later battle: 1 RP, plus 1 per Battle Honour the unit has, up to 5.