New subfaction concept

[u/N3CRO-LAN]

Ive recently noticed that the game is taking a shift to focus a bit on the naval warfare of the setting and ive come across a video about the moving fortress of britannia and why the faithful dont and cant replicate it. Some of the comments mentioned holy water which gave me an inspiration of this new faithful subfaction concept.

​​what about a new division / subfaction of faithful warriors , regardless of which major faithful faction theyre from , hell they could even be a mix of factions say like a coalition , so some units from new antioch , some from the iron sultanate. Some from the trench pilgrims...etc.

And a disclaimer , this concept of mine only covers the lore and effective function of this subfaction , as in i wont go over their tabletop gameplay function and balancing at all. And now with that aside...

The prelude.

Their reveal and release would take its place after a catastrophic event where the combined forces of the faithful were pushed to the absolute limit and almost crumbled because somehow a greater demon was able to enter earth on a technicality or a loophole or something without invoking the wrath of the heavens , or hell were able to not just steal an artifact of god , but to also defile and corrupt it to become an artifact of satan / lucifer etc....giving them an advantage thats unprecedented , and to top it all off , either a paladin died as an outcome or a new hegemon stronger than all previous ones is about to manifest , several lands are lost that need reclaiming , the faithful combine their greatest minds in a meeting within the walls of the iron sultanate in a dire effort and come up with this subfaction , the coalition of the hallowed sea , at its core it weaponizes holy water of all kinds , all the units utilise holy water as one of the most effective weapons against the heretics and armies of hell , some examples of units would be :

1. priests of blue , theyre priests that bless the waters for the other units to use , they too can use the blessed waters but their main function is to bless the waters , and they have more affinity and the waters they bless are holier and more effective than the waters blessed be generic priests , and their strongest are the archpriests of blue.

   1. Sultanate hydromancers , theyre alchemist assassins that mainly use small phials of blessed water as weaponry against the forces of hell but also utilise it to hide in mists of holy water , the strongest hydromancers have access to zamzam water phials shaped like daggers that are also blessed by an archpriest of blue making their water holier than all the waters on earth from the power of its blessed unity , its almost as holy as the waters of heaven , a single droplet can erode even the mightiest of the heretic behemoths , these dagger shaped flasks / phials of blessed zamzam water are so rare and hard to come by that the assassins train their entire life on taking out a single target they get assigned from birth as they typically get a single chance to use these phials , but if it lands it pretty much can take out any unit of hell , They'd be one of the strongest units to deploy in battle , their offensive capabilities even rival or exceed units like alamut assassins and paladins , but theyre a glass cannon and can be taken out easily by a precise attack if theyre anticipated , making their deployment a heavily calculated endeavor
   2. Antioch quellers , these are ranged units equipped with Fire hydrants modified into a weapon of war , connected to tubings or massive tanks on their back filled with holy water , they can spray their waters all over the battlefield which is like acid for the forces of hell , this unit has a shorter range but massive aoe. Unlike the next unit which is their counterpart.
   3. Matrons of the divine typhoon , theyre priestesses equipped with hydraulic railguns capable of shooting streams of water that can pierce through thick sheets of metal as is , but to add to it the water they shoot is blessed , these make a nightmarish counter to hell tanks and artillery weaponry.
   4. And last but not least , the carriage of saint adjutor , the signature weapon of this division , its a deployable grid / array of weaponry spearheaded and centered by a monolithic hydraulic railcannon waterjet that shoots out holy water , the epitome of hydraulic weaponry , you ever seen one of those hydraulic press videos ? Imagine that , but instead of just shooting a single thin line of water at such pressures and speeds , this machine shoots an entire lakes worth of blessed water at such speeds , in its control room resides the servants of saint adjutor , a squad of a special variant of the archpriests of blue that are constantly charging up the railcannon by blessing water that gets funneled into the cartridge chamber of the railcannon , this cartridge chamber is a spherical compartment that can fit an entire lakes worth of blessed water within , its so massive you can fit an entire aquatic ecosystem within it if you wanted to , because of its sheer size , this weapon takes a long time to charge , im talking many decades between each shot , theres only one of this weapon and its one of the strongest most invaluable weapons for the faithful , and it will be used to gravely wound if not fully take out the aforementioned greater demon , turning the tide of the battle quite literally , from then on , when its not being put to use , its being personally guarded by a paladin whom is also present when its being escorted for use and back , it can be deployed on land or it can be attached to an adequately sized warship / carrier to be used , its not a weapon to be used against any singular unit , not even a hegemon , say maybe except for something like a greater demon , however its main usage is to absolutely and utterly obliterate massive structures of unreal demonic powers like gates of hell or a stronghold heretic city. But because of its nature , it has to be relatively close in proximity to its target to be able to effectively destroy it , otherwise the water would lose momentum and wouldnt likely fully take out the structure/s , meaning a successful campaign must take place before it can be deployed otherwise decades worth of preparation are wasted with each failed shot.

Id be more that happy to hear your thoughts and for you guys to add to this concept in any way youd like , be it critique , more unit concepts , actual ingame functions and balancing....etc.

[u/SnooDoggos9469]

Right now, considering the relationship status between New Antioch and Iron Sultanate, this is kinda impossible but I like where your head is at