08 August 2012

Lemons and Aid: Trollkin Scouts



Let's face it: when it comes to infantry, Trollblood units tend to fall into two categories.   There's infantry that's taken extremely frequently (Fennblades, Pygmy Burrowers, Champions), there's infantry that's taken extremely infrequently (Pygmy Bushwackers, Trollkin Sluggers), and there's very little in the middle (Kriel Warriors, Scattergunners, situational pieces like Runeshapers or Longriders).

Today I'd like to talk about one of not-oft used pieces: Trollkin Scouts.




Trollkin Scouts fill an odd role for our army: they're a 5 point skirmishing unit with requires terrain (or a SSC) to get Stealth, hit relatively hard, but aren't terribly survivable.  They're fast for Trolls, but they're not Nyss Hunters.  They've got high DEF for Trolls, but not as high as Nyss Hunters or high enough to not be difficult to hit for a dedicated assault.  They've got Hunter, but a limited range and somewhat low RAT.

In brief: they're a decent generalist unit in an army of fantastic specialists.  They're just a little too expensive to add to many armies as a one-off and, frankly, often get outshined by support solos for their point cost.

So where do Trollkin Scouts have a place?

From my experience, Scouts excel as objective grabbers and solo/medium infantry killers.  They're fantastic at contesting zones from relative safety and make a great unit to toss Tale of Mists from an SSC on after the Fennblades hit the line (assuming you don't want Hero's Tragedy on the Fennblades).  Having Prowl allows them to hug a linear obstacle and threaten a fair bit.  Not needing Pathfinder or a MAT buff means they can operate as an effective, low cost flanking unit.  Bar an SSC (who usually has adequate range on his abilities), Scouts are a decent standalone unit.

As for offensive output, the Scouts' biggest advantage is their high MAT acheived via Gang.  At functional MAT 8,

I'll get the obligatory "Fortune from Hoarluk1 and Calandra make them better" comment out of the way.

No comments:

Post a Comment