Warhammer 40k Terrain – Wall of Martyrs

Wall of Martyrs

The Wall of Martyrs was a series of plastic terrain introduced by Games Workshop in 2012 to represent typical defense emplacements and trench lines that the Imperium would build on various worlds.  As a whole, the Wall of Martyrs line is out of print except for occasional rereleases of selected kits.  Some kits in this line command relatively high prices on the secondary market.

The collection can be roughly divided into two distinct sets of kits.  The Imperial Defense Network line of kits, comprising the Imperial Bunker, Imperial Defense Lines, and Imperial Defense Emplacement tend to be more commonly available due to their 2018 rerelease in Kill Team.  The Tempestus Firebase line, comprising the Firestorm Redoubt, Aquilla Strongpoint, and Vengeance Weapons Batteries are much rarer at this point in time.

Update September 2023: The Imperial Defense Network line was once again made available as a limited-time “Made to Order” release, making it even more easily accessible.

Imperial Defense Network

The Imperial Defense Network (or defence in British English), was a large kit that combined numerous parts of the Wall of Martyrs into one box.  This box contained the following Wall of Martyrs products:  3x Defense Lines, 2x Defense Emplacements, and 1x Bunker.  These were the core of the Wall of Martyrs trench network.  See below for more on the individual pieces of the network.

Imperial Bunker

The Imperial Bunker kit combines stone walls and steel deck plates to build an imposing center point to a defense network.  The sides of the bunker connect seamlessly with Defense Lines or Defense Emplacement kits.  The Imperial Bunker kit was also available in a Kill Team product.

Imperial Defense Lines

The Imperial Defense Line was the core of the trench network and consisted of two long trenches, plus 4 additional small fortifications which can be used to cap off the ends of the trench network or as standalone pieces.  The Defense Line kit has been sold on and off over the years and was included in a Kill Team kit in 2018.

Imperial Defense Emplacement

The Imperial Defense Emplacement kit provided the pieces necessary to build larger and more intricate trench lines.  Each of the 3 larger pieces contained fire ports where troops could fire out from the trench line.  The emplacements provided 2- and 3-way junctions to combine with the defense lines to build larger fortifications.  The kit also included two standalone fortifications which could be used to cap off the ends of trench lines.

Tempestus Firebase

Similar to the Imperial Defense Network box set above, the Tempestus Firebase box combines several other Wall of Martyrs kits into one large set.  The Tempestus Firebase contains 1 set of Imperial Defense Emplacements from above, as well as 2x Firestorm Redoubts, 1 Aquilla Strongpoint, and 1 set of Vengeance Weapon Batteries, each of which will be detailed below.

Firestorm Redoubt

The Firestorm Redoubt is designed to handle anti-aircraft defenses for a Wall of Martyrs emplacement.  The redoubt consists of two Icarus pattern quad-linked lascannons atop a sturdy bunker.  The gun batteries are interchangeable with those from the Vengeance Weapon Battery kit.

Aquilla Strongpoint

The Aquilla Strongpoint brings titan class weaponry to the Wall of Martyrs.  A gargantuan macro cannon sits atop a colossal bunker.  Underneath the macro cannon is the strongpoint’s other weapon option–a vortex missile array with seven vortex missiles.

Vengeance Weapon Battery

The Vengeance Weapons Battery contains two standalone emplacements whose turrets can be equipped with either battle cannons or punisher cannons. There are two of each weapon included in this kit allowing you to make two battle cannons, two punisher cannons, or one of each. This boxed set is designed to be compatible with the rest of the Wall of Martyrs scenery range, and you can even use the guns from this kit on the Firestorm Redoubt (and vice versa).

Kill Team Rerelease

A few of the Wall of Martyrs kits were rereleased in 2018 as part of a Kill Team Killzone box.  Killzones were designed to provide a complete environment for Kill Team, including a game board, scenery, missions, and special rules.  The box included:

• A double-sided Kill Team gameboard measuring 22” x 30”, printed on heavy, durable card stock. 1 side depicts an urban environment with a street bisecting sets of ruins, and the other an open plain pock-marked by craters
• An 8-page booklet containing descriptions of the trenches and fortifications used across the Imperium to hold back aggressors, the manner in which kill teams use these networks of defenses to their advantage, and an example of a Wall of martyrs environment built from the scenery included in the box
• 12 Wall of Martyrs Tactics cards – these can be used by any Kill Team faction, with 7 cards providing interactions with the Wall of Martyrs scenery and 5 being used specifically by Scout, Comms, Veteran or Leader Specialists
• A Wall of Martyrs Environment card, which provides 6 different rules allowing interaction – positive and negative – with the scenery
• 4 Wall of Martyrs Mission cards – designed to be used in conjunction with the gameboard and scenery, this is a set of 2 Matched Play missions and 2 Narrative Play missions, which are split between attacker and defender
• An Imperial Bunker, a set of 2 Imperial Defense Lines and an Imperial Defense Emplacement – these miniatures are supplied on dark grey plastic