A thoroughly enjoyable weekend, and one which I felt I learned a lot from. Seeing so many different lists and playing against strategies and casters I have never seen before have definitely helped me for when I return to the masters next year. My Borka list once again enjoyed 100% success while Grissel only managed one win out of three.
Grissel was originally brought to give me a denial option to help counter enemy chargers, but only really got to do that in the 5th game. It still left me lacking in hitting power, and I think that is the route I will go next time for the alternative to my Borka list. Anything with an ARM of 20 or higher is just a no go for my Borka list unless Borka himself or the Mauler steps in to deal with it, and then I am running the risk of potentially losing Borka or his source of fury.
I am currently leaning towards an eMadrak list, with Mulg, Axer, Impaler, Long Riders, Horthol and Fennblades for a reach list bonanza. LOTS of hitting power, accuracy and thanks to eMadrak the entire list has pathfinder when charging. He is also a nightmare to assassinate the way that Grissel was in the 4th round game, helping him to survive against similar alpha strike lists himself.
In any case I have a bit of a break between tournament events until roughly September, as I cannot afford to go to the European Team Championships in July or Cardiff Carnage in August (clashes with my best friend's birthday do). By that time the Trollbloods book will also be not far away at all, so with it will come new options and the very very cool looking Captain Gunnbjorn, who may provide a different playstyle for the Trollbloods. Am looking forward to the release of Forces of Hordes: Trollbloods very much.
Thursday 10 June 2010
UK Masters Overview
OK so the UK masters was amazing, everything I had hoped it would be and then some.
64 players in a tournament, all of which were bringing their biggest and dirtiest lists to try to claim the title of the UK's finest. I brought my Welsh Open conquering Borka list and a Grissel list which unfortunately had to be modified the day before leaving for Birmingham due to the delay in the release of the Dire Troll Bomber.
Match 1: Borka vs Lich Lord Venethrax
This was an unusual list, Venethrax had 2 War Witch Sirens, a Skarlock, 3 Bonejacks, Nightmare, 2 Seethers and 2 Slayers. Against my Borka list with all his infantry this proved to be a fascinating encounter. I won the first turn and ran my army to the 22" point of the board in preparation for my feat turn. His jacks ran up to get get position to attack me next turn. My second turn I popped the feat and gave Pathfinder to the Long Riders plus Rage on 3 of them. One bonejack was wrecked from the impact and charge damage, and every single one of his jacks was either engaged or knocked down and many had suffered pretty serious damage while the Fennblades and Kriel Warriors ran up behind to offer second turn support. He cleared out 3 of the Long Riders and tried to get some blood rain going on my infantry behind, but the KSB protected them from the corrosion continuous effect. My next turn the Kriels charged and heavily damaged one of the Seethers with two CMAs and Horthol and the Fennblades together took down the two Sirens. Nightmare tried to go ghostly and trample to Borka to kill him but with a transfer and only 2 focus to buy attacks it wasn't going to happen. The Mauler killed Nightmare and Horthol and the three Champs killed the knocked down Venethrax thanks to Mosh Pit.
Match 2: Grissel vs Darius
A tier 4 Darius list could have been dangerous for my Borka spam, so I rolled with Grissel for the ability to engage his force quickly. One unit of sword knights on the flank were bombed to death by a unit of Runeshapers over three turns while on the other flank the Runeshapers were directly responsible for the assassination run on Darius. Tremor knocked down the Ironclad and Thunderhead while Mulg killed the Hammersmith sat between Darius and the Champion unit. Grissel gave them heroic ballad and cast flaming fists on two of the three who would be able to reach Darius and the three of them took him out for a 3rd turn caster kill.
Match 3: Borka vs pKreoss
This game was a bit of a steam roller, he had a max unit of Idrians with UA which were mowed down by a Long Rider charge on their way into the zealots who had used greater destiny to prevent them from being killed by the oncoming Fennblades, who instead ran around the back to threaten the choir and book along with the Fell Caller to help mitigate Kreoss's feat. Borka spent the entire game sat behind Windwall while benefitting from Stumbling Drunk, so the Redeemer drop and pop combo was never going to work. Long Riders killed the Fire of Salvation, Kell Bailoch, Visgoth and his Crew and Gorman in a single charge leaving the Kriel Warriors to run the other flank to leave Kreoss boxed in with nowhere to run. He tried a desperate 8 focus Immolate spam run on Borka but only managed 2 damage, so the Mauler walked up and ate him in my turn to make it 3 for 3 at the end of day 1 and a place in the top 8.
Match 4: Grissel vs eMakeda
This game was over in the second turn, as I got caught out by the sheer speed that eMakeda could give her beasts on an assassination run on her feat turn. The Bronzeback was a 1/4" within range to charge Mulg, and even though he survived he had lost both his mind and spirit branches so was next to useless to prevent the Gladiator (who was also only just within 1/2" to Grissel and hit requiring 9's every single time as I left her 2 fury for transfers just in case) but phenomenal damage rolls meant I had to ditch every attack and even passing one tough roll wasn't enough to save Grissel.
Match 5: Grissel vs eAsphyxious
I was drawn in the 5th round to play my best friend who had travelled with me to the UK Masters and this game turned into a real grinder. It was Destruction, and between us the only models left going into the final turn was Grissel, 2 Champions (closing in on the last pillar) and a Stone Scribe Chronicler on my side, plus eAsphyxious on his side. Grissel had no choice but to go for the crit slam to try to keep eAsphyxious away from my last remaining pillar for one more turn but even with three boosted attack rolls I couldn't even manage a hit requiring 9's, let alone a crit. In his turn he finished off Grissel.
Match 6: Borka vs pSeverius
This match turned into a grinder of a melee brawl (Borka's specialty) with several fascinating contests all over the battlefield. A repenter and minimum flameguard cleansers unit vs max Kriel Warriors, max zealots and UA vs max Fennblades, Vanquisher and Templar and Guardian vs Horthol and 5 Long Riders and the Mauler. The Mauler at one point had been reduced to 8 wounds, but ended the watch with only 2 damage boxes filled in as he regenerated and snacked his way back towards full health. The Templar with Defender's Ward was a nightmare, as my Borka list isn't made to take on high ARM so all I could do was continually throw men in the way and rely on tough rolls to keep it busy. Severius eventually died to Fennblades via vengeance after Ashes to Ashes killed only one of the five engaging him.
64 players in a tournament, all of which were bringing their biggest and dirtiest lists to try to claim the title of the UK's finest. I brought my Welsh Open conquering Borka list and a Grissel list which unfortunately had to be modified the day before leaving for Birmingham due to the delay in the release of the Dire Troll Bomber.
Match 1: Borka vs Lich Lord Venethrax
This was an unusual list, Venethrax had 2 War Witch Sirens, a Skarlock, 3 Bonejacks, Nightmare, 2 Seethers and 2 Slayers. Against my Borka list with all his infantry this proved to be a fascinating encounter. I won the first turn and ran my army to the 22" point of the board in preparation for my feat turn. His jacks ran up to get get position to attack me next turn. My second turn I popped the feat and gave Pathfinder to the Long Riders plus Rage on 3 of them. One bonejack was wrecked from the impact and charge damage, and every single one of his jacks was either engaged or knocked down and many had suffered pretty serious damage while the Fennblades and Kriel Warriors ran up behind to offer second turn support. He cleared out 3 of the Long Riders and tried to get some blood rain going on my infantry behind, but the KSB protected them from the corrosion continuous effect. My next turn the Kriels charged and heavily damaged one of the Seethers with two CMAs and Horthol and the Fennblades together took down the two Sirens. Nightmare tried to go ghostly and trample to Borka to kill him but with a transfer and only 2 focus to buy attacks it wasn't going to happen. The Mauler killed Nightmare and Horthol and the three Champs killed the knocked down Venethrax thanks to Mosh Pit.
Match 2: Grissel vs Darius
A tier 4 Darius list could have been dangerous for my Borka spam, so I rolled with Grissel for the ability to engage his force quickly. One unit of sword knights on the flank were bombed to death by a unit of Runeshapers over three turns while on the other flank the Runeshapers were directly responsible for the assassination run on Darius. Tremor knocked down the Ironclad and Thunderhead while Mulg killed the Hammersmith sat between Darius and the Champion unit. Grissel gave them heroic ballad and cast flaming fists on two of the three who would be able to reach Darius and the three of them took him out for a 3rd turn caster kill.
Match 3: Borka vs pKreoss
This game was a bit of a steam roller, he had a max unit of Idrians with UA which were mowed down by a Long Rider charge on their way into the zealots who had used greater destiny to prevent them from being killed by the oncoming Fennblades, who instead ran around the back to threaten the choir and book along with the Fell Caller to help mitigate Kreoss's feat. Borka spent the entire game sat behind Windwall while benefitting from Stumbling Drunk, so the Redeemer drop and pop combo was never going to work. Long Riders killed the Fire of Salvation, Kell Bailoch, Visgoth and his Crew and Gorman in a single charge leaving the Kriel Warriors to run the other flank to leave Kreoss boxed in with nowhere to run. He tried a desperate 8 focus Immolate spam run on Borka but only managed 2 damage, so the Mauler walked up and ate him in my turn to make it 3 for 3 at the end of day 1 and a place in the top 8.
Match 4: Grissel vs eMakeda
This game was over in the second turn, as I got caught out by the sheer speed that eMakeda could give her beasts on an assassination run on her feat turn. The Bronzeback was a 1/4" within range to charge Mulg, and even though he survived he had lost both his mind and spirit branches so was next to useless to prevent the Gladiator (who was also only just within 1/2" to Grissel and hit requiring 9's every single time as I left her 2 fury for transfers just in case) but phenomenal damage rolls meant I had to ditch every attack and even passing one tough roll wasn't enough to save Grissel.
Match 5: Grissel vs eAsphyxious
I was drawn in the 5th round to play my best friend who had travelled with me to the UK Masters and this game turned into a real grinder. It was Destruction, and between us the only models left going into the final turn was Grissel, 2 Champions (closing in on the last pillar) and a Stone Scribe Chronicler on my side, plus eAsphyxious on his side. Grissel had no choice but to go for the crit slam to try to keep eAsphyxious away from my last remaining pillar for one more turn but even with three boosted attack rolls I couldn't even manage a hit requiring 9's, let alone a crit. In his turn he finished off Grissel.
Match 6: Borka vs pSeverius
This match turned into a grinder of a melee brawl (Borka's specialty) with several fascinating contests all over the battlefield. A repenter and minimum flameguard cleansers unit vs max Kriel Warriors, max zealots and UA vs max Fennblades, Vanquisher and Templar and Guardian vs Horthol and 5 Long Riders and the Mauler. The Mauler at one point had been reduced to 8 wounds, but ended the watch with only 2 damage boxes filled in as he regenerated and snacked his way back towards full health. The Templar with Defender's Ward was a nightmare, as my Borka list isn't made to take on high ARM so all I could do was continually throw men in the way and rely on tough rolls to keep it busy. Severius eventually died to Fennblades via vengeance after Ashes to Ashes killed only one of the five engaging him.
Friday 21 May 2010
Runeshapers
I have always been a fan of these guys but have always been leaving them by the wayside because they have never fit into what I have seen as the "must have" from the Trollblood toolbox and before you know it you have run out of the points for any of the cool extras you were thinking of taking. In an attempt to find my secondary tournament list I have decided to expand my line of thinking in regards to the Runeshapers.
Currently they are looked at as a 4pt unit for 3 guys with AOE templates, instead I have forced myself to look at them as a 4/8 unit which can have either 3 or 6. If you look at them as an 8pt unit you can suddenly match them up on par with Scattergunners, Fennblades and Bushwhackers giving you a more accurate comparison.
Scattergunners gives you 10 POW12 Spray templates at RAT5, but besides that are woefully weak defensively and even worse if they are tied into melee.
Fennblades give you a SPD6 unit with Reach and Vengeance and a respectable MAT of 6, but again are weak defensively and have no ranged threat.
Bushwhackers are RNG14 POW10 RAT4, but have advance deploy, bushwhack and CRA which help to offset their defensive frailty.
Runeshapers provide 6 POW14 AOE3 crit KD spells, steady, pathfinder, magic weapons, Kriel Warrior ARM, Fennblade MAT and 5 wounds apiece.
When Runeshapers are looked at from this perspective as an 8pt unit of 6 you suddenly realise what a great deal you get with them when compared to all our similar 8pt unit choices. Unlike most AOEs they are capable of blasting away in melee combat, and with steady they don't have to worry about knocking themselves down. They are also capable of charging using tremor to KD all within 2 inches. You do have to be careful not to catch your own dudes in it (unless its Kriel Warriors with UA who also have steady) but it can be an excellent tool for clearing LOS to the support behind the front line.
Of course they are not a true 6man unit, so have the benefits of actually being two units, meaning they can be split up to cover multiple areas. It also means three can charge and tremor and the other three can bomb their AOEs elsewhere. The only thing to hold someone back from this unit is its monetary cost, they are like just under £50 for two blisters to get the full 6man allowance.
Currently they are looked at as a 4pt unit for 3 guys with AOE templates, instead I have forced myself to look at them as a 4/8 unit which can have either 3 or 6. If you look at them as an 8pt unit you can suddenly match them up on par with Scattergunners, Fennblades and Bushwhackers giving you a more accurate comparison.
Scattergunners gives you 10 POW12 Spray templates at RAT5, but besides that are woefully weak defensively and even worse if they are tied into melee.
Fennblades give you a SPD6 unit with Reach and Vengeance and a respectable MAT of 6, but again are weak defensively and have no ranged threat.
Bushwhackers are RNG14 POW10 RAT4, but have advance deploy, bushwhack and CRA which help to offset their defensive frailty.
Runeshapers provide 6 POW14 AOE3 crit KD spells, steady, pathfinder, magic weapons, Kriel Warrior ARM, Fennblade MAT and 5 wounds apiece.
When Runeshapers are looked at from this perspective as an 8pt unit of 6 you suddenly realise what a great deal you get with them when compared to all our similar 8pt unit choices. Unlike most AOEs they are capable of blasting away in melee combat, and with steady they don't have to worry about knocking themselves down. They are also capable of charging using tremor to KD all within 2 inches. You do have to be careful not to catch your own dudes in it (unless its Kriel Warriors with UA who also have steady) but it can be an excellent tool for clearing LOS to the support behind the front line.
Of course they are not a true 6man unit, so have the benefits of actually being two units, meaning they can be split up to cover multiple areas. It also means three can charge and tremor and the other three can bomb their AOEs elsewhere. The only thing to hold someone back from this unit is its monetary cost, they are like just under £50 for two blisters to get the full 6man allowance.
Tuesday 11 May 2010
Welsh Open Victory
Happy days! The Lost Kriel took first place in the Welsh Open as well as earning the prize for most VPs destroyed throughout the whole tournament.
Grissel let me down (though mostly with bad dice rolling) in the first match, but I switched to and stuck with my Borka list for the remaining five games and clawed my way back into 1st place after the 5th game with the final round of games to go.
Much celebrations to be had, but I do not have time to sit on my laurels as the UK Masters is just one month away and I have to try to paint as much of my Borka list for it as I can. Even though the Masters does not require fully painted armies, the European Team Challenge at the beginning of July does (and my Borka list does have a looooot of Trollbloods in it).
Grissel let me down, so perhaps it is time to reconsider my backup list for the tournament...eMadrak is sitting on my table right now screaming "use meeeeeeee"...
Grissel let me down (though mostly with bad dice rolling) in the first match, but I switched to and stuck with my Borka list for the remaining five games and clawed my way back into 1st place after the 5th game with the final round of games to go.
Much celebrations to be had, but I do not have time to sit on my laurels as the UK Masters is just one month away and I have to try to paint as much of my Borka list for it as I can. Even though the Masters does not require fully painted armies, the European Team Challenge at the beginning of July does (and my Borka list does have a looooot of Trollbloods in it).
Grissel let me down, so perhaps it is time to reconsider my backup list for the tournament...eMadrak is sitting on my table right now screaming "use meeeeeeee"...
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Welsh Open Update
OK so my painting drive came to an unexpected halt due to some real life concerns, but the theorycrafting and playtesting for the Welsh Open has continued and finally I have found my two lists of choice.
Borka leads List A, designed primarily for caster kill and grinding down the enemy through brute force and weight of numbers, making him a great choice against other infantry machine forces and gun line lists. List B is commanded by Grissel and is a force better suited to breaking heavy armour and multiwound forces with a lot of high POW attacks from multiple sources while using the mobility of her feat to force the enemy to come to me or lose via scenario denial.
Without further ado, here are my tournament lists for the 2 day event:
Borka Kegslayer (-5)
> Pyg Keg Carrier (0)
> Dire Troll Mauler (9)
10 Kriel Warriors (6)
10 Fennblades (8)
5 Long Riders (11)
3 Champions (6)
KSB and 5 Scribes (4)
> Stone Scribe Elder (1)
Horthol (5)
Fell Caller Hero (3)
Chronicler (2)
Grissel Bloodsong (-5)
> Pyre Troll (5)
> Earthborn Dire Troll (10)
> Mulg the Ancient (12)
6 Kriel Warriors (4)
> Piper and Standard (2)
> 3 Caber Throwers (3)
5 Long Riders (11)
KSB and 5 Scribes (4)
> Stone Scribe Elder
Chronicler (2)
Swamp Gobbers (1)
List A
Designed around the brute force of Long Riders and Horthol combined with the defensive buffs offered by Borka and the Chronicler to make a very tough front line for the enemy to crack while they are flanked to either side by the rush of Fennblades and Kriel Warriors. On the feat turn the Long Riders become the spear to drive into the heart of the enemy army crushing the front line before hitting the line behind them, or going straight for the assassination run where its possible. While the enemy is driven to distraction dealing with the Long Riders the Kriel Warriors and Fennblades charge or run down the flanks while Borka remains protected by his 3 man Champion bodyguard unit and Wind Wall.
List B
Mulg's mobility is helped with Hoof It and/or the EBDT animus to help him keep up with the army rushing forwards to take control of the objectives before the enemy can get to them to contest. When the grinding match begins, multiple high POW attacks come from different sources, with the EBDT, Mulg, Long Riders and Caber throwers all capable of devastating assaults along with the ability to either follow up with the feat or pull back and protect the objectives once more.
Borka leads List A, designed primarily for caster kill and grinding down the enemy through brute force and weight of numbers, making him a great choice against other infantry machine forces and gun line lists. List B is commanded by Grissel and is a force better suited to breaking heavy armour and multiwound forces with a lot of high POW attacks from multiple sources while using the mobility of her feat to force the enemy to come to me or lose via scenario denial.
Without further ado, here are my tournament lists for the 2 day event:
Borka Kegslayer (-5)
> Pyg Keg Carrier (0)
> Dire Troll Mauler (9)
10 Kriel Warriors (6)
10 Fennblades (8)
5 Long Riders (11)
3 Champions (6)
KSB and 5 Scribes (4)
> Stone Scribe Elder (1)
Horthol (5)
Fell Caller Hero (3)
Chronicler (2)
Grissel Bloodsong (-5)
> Pyre Troll (5)
> Earthborn Dire Troll (10)
> Mulg the Ancient (12)
6 Kriel Warriors (4)
> Piper and Standard (2)
> 3 Caber Throwers (3)
5 Long Riders (11)
KSB and 5 Scribes (4)
> Stone Scribe Elder
Chronicler (2)
Swamp Gobbers (1)
List A
Designed around the brute force of Long Riders and Horthol combined with the defensive buffs offered by Borka and the Chronicler to make a very tough front line for the enemy to crack while they are flanked to either side by the rush of Fennblades and Kriel Warriors. On the feat turn the Long Riders become the spear to drive into the heart of the enemy army crushing the front line before hitting the line behind them, or going straight for the assassination run where its possible. While the enemy is driven to distraction dealing with the Long Riders the Kriel Warriors and Fennblades charge or run down the flanks while Borka remains protected by his 3 man Champion bodyguard unit and Wind Wall.
List B
Mulg's mobility is helped with Hoof It and/or the EBDT animus to help him keep up with the army rushing forwards to take control of the objectives before the enemy can get to them to contest. When the grinding match begins, multiple high POW attacks come from different sources, with the EBDT, Mulg, Long Riders and Caber throwers all capable of devastating assaults along with the ability to either follow up with the feat or pull back and protect the objectives once more.
Wednesday 31 March 2010
Painting Update 31/03/10
Day 1 of the painting marathon began today, and it has been moderately successful with touchups to my Mauler complete, as well as the Fennblade leader completed and 3 more stage painted to about 60% or so complete. Pics included here:
Mauler Front: http://yfrog.com/69maulerfrontj
Mauler Left: http://yfrog.com/htmaulerrearj
Mauler Right: http://yfrog.com/eqmaulerrightj
Fennblade Front: http://yfrog.com/jpfennleaderfrontj
Fennblade Left: http://yfrog.com/befennleaderleftj
Fennblade Right: http://yfrog.com/3ufennleaderrightj
Current Progress (work in progress/complete)
Borka Kegslayer
Pyg Keg Carrier
Dire Troll Mauler
3 Champions
10 Fennblades (Leader complete, 3 more 60% complete)
10 Kriel Warriors
5 Long Riders
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (Krielstone Bearer complete)
Stone Scribe Elder
Fell Caller
Stone Scribe Chronicler
Horthol, Long Rider Champion
Mauler Front: http://yfrog.com/69maulerfrontj
Mauler Left: http://yfrog.com/htmaulerrearj
Mauler Right: http://yfrog.com/eqmaulerrightj
Fennblade Front: http://yfrog.com/jpfennleaderfrontj
Fennblade Left: http://yfrog.com/befennleaderleftj
Fennblade Right: http://yfrog.com/3ufennleaderrightj
Current Progress (work in progress/complete)
Borka Kegslayer
Pyg Keg Carrier
Dire Troll Mauler
3 Champions
10 Fennblades (Leader complete, 3 more 60% complete)
10 Kriel Warriors
5 Long Riders
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (Krielstone Bearer complete)
Stone Scribe Elder
Fell Caller
Stone Scribe Chronicler
Horthol, Long Rider Champion
Sunday 28 March 2010
Painted Stuff (28/03/10)
OK so here we go with a few pictures (apologies for poor quality still getting used to this digital camera thingy) of what I have done so far.
EDIT: The blog formatting doesn't like putting the pictures up here directly, so here is just web links.
Champs
Front: http://img98.imageshack.us/i/champsw.jpg/
Fell Caller
Close Up:http://img202.imageshack.us/i/fccloseup.jpg/
Front: http://img231.imageshack.us/i/fcfront.jpg/
Rear: http://img88.imageshack.us/i/fcrear.jpg/
KSB
Front: http://img651.imageshack.us/i/ksbfrontgc.jpg/
Rear: http://img710.imageshack.us/i/ksbrear.jpg/
EDIT: The blog formatting doesn't like putting the pictures up here directly, so here is just web links.
Champs
Front: http://img98.imageshack.us/i/champsw.jpg/
Fell Caller
Close Up:http://img202.imageshack.us/i/fccloseup.jpg/
Front: http://img231.imageshack.us/i/fcfront.jpg/
Rear: http://img88.imageshack.us/i/fcrear.jpg/
KSB
Front: http://img651.imageshack.us/i/ksbfrontgc.jpg/
Rear: http://img710.imageshack.us/i/ksbrear.jpg/
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