Martyrdom! New Crusader-era Historical Wargame Previews
August 28, 2026 by brennon
Spearhead Studios dropped their first big trailer (above) and lots more information on their upcoming Historical wargaming project, Martyrdom, this week. You might know of this new Crusader-era project if you've been following one Chapter Master Valrak for a while, as he's one of the folks involved with the project and getting it off the ground!
Bohemond of Taranto // Martyrdom
Martyrdom takes place, at least to begin with, during the Crusades. It will cover the call made in 1096 to head to the Holy Land, where hundreds of knights pledged themselves to the cause, as well as the People's Crusade of peasants led by Peter the Hermit.
The initial launch of the game will feature miniatures for the Italo/Norman Crusaders that found themselves pitted against the Seljuk Turks. The People's Crusade, Byzantine Empire and the Fatimids will follow on close behind as additional factions for Martyrdom.
Crusader Levy Spearmen // Martyrdom
There are some great folks involved in this project from the aforementioned Chapter Master Valrak alongside the likes of Graham McNeill, renowned Black Library writer and a host of amazing sculptors who have worked at Games Workshop, plus many more. I also liked that Spearhead mentioned that every single creative that takes part in the process is going to be credited for their work. Awesome.
For example, in the trailer alone, Spearhead credited the sculpting of Facundo Fonseca and Santi Lafosse, the painting of Krugg66, the writer, Graham McNeill, voice actor Chris Tester, music from Mexikus and the Historical consultants on the game, Dr Toby Capwell and Joseph Wragg.
Crusader Sergeants // Martyrdom
This attention to detail carries through into everything that the team are doing for Martyrdom. Capwell has been on hand to help with the correct weapons, armour and source methodology for the period.
When it comes to the rules, they draw inspiration from the likes of Bolt Action, The Barons' War, A Song of Ice & Fire and The Old World. The rules have been made to be easy to learn but with lots of depth, all backed up by a lot of playtesting. You should be able to use the rules for proper Historical scenarios, random match-ups with friends and competitive tournament-style games. The rules will also be entirely FREE from beginning to end.
Crusader Forces // Martyrdom
A few examples from their website launch included rules for a Fatigue system alongside Random Activation to represent the fog of war on the battlefield. The rules have also been made straightforward so there's not a lot of referencing the rulebook to check you're doing the right thing. They have also mentioned no unique dice, no card decks, no bespoke tokens. The core rules and a set of universal markers should be all that you need.
Crusader Army // Martyrdom
If all of that sounds great and you like the look of the Crusaders that the folks have painted up for the game, there are some even cooler things coming down the pipeline for the likes of the Seljuk Empire, who will form the basis of one of the Crusader forces for the period and the launch of the game via Kickstarter and then at retail.
Turkman Steppe Archers // Martyrdom
Baghatur Ghulam Cavalry // Martyrdom
As if that wasn't enough, Spearhead Studios have mentioned expanding out into the Crusades in more detail, with a look at the likes of the forces of Saladin, the Crusader States and even the Mongols. There are also plans to go back in time with Martyrdom: 1066, which will bring the Saxons and Vikings to the battlefield during the period of the Norman Conquest.
The system should also then support the team moving into other periods of the Ancient and Medieval world. They want to cover the armies of antiquity through to the era of pike and shot! Pretty cool stuff.
If you want to keep an eye on what's coming up for Martyrdom, you can check out their website HERE (sign up for the newsletter) and their Instagram page as well.
What do you think so far?
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Perry Miniatures have awesome ranges that would fit this game.
This is interesting because of who and where it’s coming from as many are known better as GW and 40k types from what I understand, so if they can drag a few 40kers over to see the light of Historical gaming then I’m all for it.
@zoidpinhead I genuinely miss Warhammer Historical – maybe this is the bridge …
I was a big fan of Warhammer Historical at the time. I played it a few years ago and it feels a bit clunky now in comparison to more recent rules. Nothing stopping you from having another go with it though if you liked it.
I doubt there is anything that can drag 40kers away from their favourite game.
There’s nothing wrong with people liking the games they play.
Never mind that everyone will play something historical eventually as sanity prevails 😉
@limburger why the dichotomy? Why can’t someone like and play both 40K and historicals? I do.
I didn’t mean to imply that playing historicals meant that you stop liking other genres/systems.
A shout out to to WoodImp and Dakka for having to put up with Valrak’s his shenanigans. He doesn’t always makes it easy for them.
I like so much that they extol as virtues of their rules system, particularly the no clutter aspect. However, I get the distinct impression, given the above pictures, that the game involves figure removal. Sorry, guys, I can’t be bothered with that aspect of wargaming anymore, well at least not in big battles.
I’d argue that all those ‘virtues’ are aspects that modern systems already have or at least strive for.
Not exactly earth shattering aspects, but they are presented as if they are …
@limburger Sadly, they most modern systems don’t do very well with regard to clutter. All too many games nowadays look like a ghastly boardgame/wargame hybrid – fantastically painted mins on some ‘mouse-mat’ with lots of tokens. Aaargh!!! And no one seems to care.
The Blood&Plunder series of rules is doing fine..
Clash of Spears also has not too many tokens on the map.
At the very least the ‘no clutter’ thing is something that should not be a bullet point in marketing material, which is why I’m not sure what this set of rules is trying to achieve.
@athelstane – I agree; games with minimal clutter, like fistfuls of tokens and playing card sideboards seem to be the new abnormal. They look awful, are over-thought out, and contribute little to “miniature wargaming”. At that point, inexpensive wood blocks might as well be used instead of fabulously sculpted, built and painted miniatures. As far as figure removal, there’s a good and bad to it. Can be tedious, but also dwindling unit size “looks right”. Opinions vary…
Reserving judgement on the rules until we actually see them, some awesome painting on the miniatures, but got to say miniatures wise, not very impressed.
Compared to victrix they dont look great, the sculpting and equipment is almost all identically equipped (e.g. helmets), clearly hasnt had the level of research and historical detail put into them we see from victrix or wargames atlantics barons war range. Peter the Hermit would be in his 40’s clearly he’s had a hard life according to the sculpting here!
That said, i hope it does well, this is clearly aimed at the warhammer crowd, and I hope this brings in load of new players into historical wargaming.
Hard pass. Involving a guy that’s basically nothing but an Internet warhammer celebrity with no real claim to anything and that is no games designer on top of that, to come and do what other games do already (Pillage, SAGA, Lion Rampant, Baron’s War, Never mind the billhooks…). Also, whilst sci-fi and fantasy may have “factions” (a ridiculous designation in itself), in historical context that means something completely different and also wrong for the setting (a small, organized group inside a larger group that has different ideas or goals).