Calandra Tier 4 vs Lord Tyrant Hexeris

It was always simple for her to understand and hard to explain.  Calandra could always feel the ebb and flow of the forces around her and manipulate them to some small degree.  Short glimpses into the future allowed her to alter them in her favor, which she seemed to be doing quite a lot of lately.  Of all the warlocks Calandra seemed to always be 'at home' no matter where she was, comfortable in nearly every circumstance.  Even with the big Dire Trolls that seemed to so unnerve some of the other Warlocks, she seemed at natural ease with them.  As she had seen, Grim had sent to her a pair of Earthborns that he had spent considerable amounts of time with training.  Meeting Cannonball and Grapeshot for the first time she was immediately impressed with the intelligence their eyes showed and that impression was only strengthened as their minds connected.   As their minds connected she got another brief glimpse into the future and saw something horrible.  These two astonishing Trolls were going to torn apart by Skorne Titans...

Hexeris truly was fascinated by the physiology of the Trollkin and their cousins.  He took nearly every opportunity to study them through mortithurgy.  An opportunity he would soon be exploiting if his facts were correct.  He looked over at Molik Karn who just smiled wickedly, Karn knew his opportunity to test his mettle against the giant Dire Trolls was soon at hand.  Karn had of course forseen the opportunity earlier that day which had prompted Hexeris to send out scouts, one of which was on his table this very moment to ensure his words were truth.  His sacrifice would bring great knowledge to Hexeris and Skorne should they be able to capture the large female Troll Warlock supposedly leading this band.

Grapeshot

Like most Trollkin warlocks, Grim was a bit leery around Dire Trolls.  When he first heard that wiley old Shaman Hoarluk Doomshaper had brought them forth he could only chuckle with apprehension.  That all changed for him the day he found Cannonball.  Grim was helping Doomshaper track a pair of Maulers that had run off into the woods after rampaging through a camp of Farrow Brigands they had hired on the day before.  It wasn't hard, the two Maulers were young and not particularly bright even by Dire Troll standards.  After a few hours Hoarluk motioned to Grim that he could feel Dire Trolls up ahead.  Grim belly crawled up a ridge to get a good view, as he focused in with his goggles he saw the two Maulers fighting over what looked to be one of the missing Farrow from the camp.  Hoarluk, almost arrogantly, walked up towards the Maulers with no fear whatsoever.  Grim had to give it to the crotchety old Troll, he had stones.   As Grim scanned some rocky outcroppings through his scope the unsettling feeling came across him that he was being watched.   Looking hard at the outcropping he understood what he was feeling at the same time his eyes adjusted on the Earthborn hidden cleverly between two boulders.  The Earthborn appeared to be staring right at him.  As unnerving as it is to be inspected by a Dire Troll it was uncommon to stare a Dire Troll in the eyes and see intelligence staring back at you... at least intelligence by Dire Troll standards.   Grim rubbed his eyes and replaced the goggles to make sure he was seeing what he though he was seeing but the Earthborn had moved out of sight. 

Earthborn Gets 10!

It's been a short while from posting due to a huge paper for my last semester of school, so until my latest battle report is done it seemed prudent to at least make this announcement.

The Earthborn Dire Troll Kills Casters!!!

• To date my opponents have fallen 62 times. 
• 46 of my opponents losses have come from their Caster dieing horribly.
• 10 of those Caster kills are at the hands of my Earthborn Dire Trolls, a.k.a. Cannonball & Grapeshot.
• 22% of the time when I win by caster kill, it is at the hands of my Earthborn.

Here is my current kill list.
Warcaster/Warlock Killing Blows

• Earthborn Dire Troll - 10
• Dire Troll Bomber - 5
• Grim Angus - 5  
• Mulg, The Ancient - 5  
• Pyg Burrowers - 4  
• Troll Axer - 3  
• Troll Impaler - 2 
• Trollkin Skinner - 2  
• Nyss Hunters - 2  
• Trollkin Champions - 2  
• Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftan - 1  
• Fel Caller Hero - 1  
• Leto, Brother of the Kriels - 1  
• Madrak Ironhide, World Ender - 1  
• Dire Troll Mauler - 1
• Troll Bouncer - 1

You can see why guys at my league groan whenever I field the Earthborn, or as is usual in my case a pair of Earthborns.  Don't know how it is for other Troll players, but in my house they rule the roost.  The next closest amount of caster kills in my army is only half of what the Earthborn accomplishes.  Simply put, he has the speed and capability of destroying a caster from the safety of my backlines thanks to adaption his added speed and a buff or two.

So for the sake of repetition, I'll say it again.

The Earthborn Dire Troll Kills Casters!!!

Awesome Armies ~ Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia

I have to post it for one simple reason, at the 25point level, this army is undefeated for me with seven wins.  When I reduced the point level to 15 points it lost and when I upgraded to 35 points it lost.  25 seems to be just right.  So here it is, the list I have aptly named 'The Dire Three Way'.

Dire Three Way
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (*6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)

Awesome Armies ~ Grim Angus by Theummhmmguy

So this list I have been tinkering with is different, but I have found it to be simply amazing at going in for the kill.  Grim Angus and his pair of Earthborn Dire Trolls that I have named Cannonball and Grapeshot.  The idea with this list is simple, send in your Earthborns to take em out.   Ideally I play this list at 25pts, and though I don't intend my 25pt list to be Tooth & Claw... it is, but when I extend to 35 I throw in a little ranged and call it good.  Before I get too far into it here is the list;

35/35
Grim Angus (*6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Stone Scibe Chronicler (2pts)

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia vs Kommandant Irusk

Mulg was certain he was smarter than most other Dire Trolls, he was also certain he could kill and eat pretty much whatever he wanted..  Krol sat in front of him though, flexing his new hand again, for some reason it made Mulg's stomach churn a little and his appetite wane... a little. 

My buddy texted me for a quick 25pt game and I accepted.  Usually he plays Khador with a bunch of heavy jacks and the Butcher or Karchev.  I figured we'd do a battle of the bigs so I brought some heavies of my own.

My List

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia -6

Dire Troll Mauler +9

Earthborn Dire Troll +10

Mulg the Ancient +12

He decided to throw me a curve though and he went infantry heavy.

His List

Kommandant Irusk -6

Kodiak +8

Great Bears of Gallowswood+5

Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) +8

Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard +2

Winter Guard Rifle Corps (Leader and 9 Grunts) +5

Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich +2

Borka MKII Game Experience

This post was copied from Sevall at the PP forums HERE, his reference to posting should be done on the PP forums.

Post your thoughts based from in game experiences here. Lets make a nice repository of informed comments. There is a place for theorymachine, but with all the emotions we should really have a place dedicated to actual gaming knowledge.

Played two games with the following 50 point list.

Borka
Keggy
EBDT
Slag
10 Fennblades
10 Bushwhackers
5 Champs
6 Kriels + UA
Fellcaller
Chronicler

Sevwall's Fieldtest Thoughts: Warbeasts

My thoughts on each model as it is now in MKII, with potential Feedback possibilities if the model fails to live up to my expectations. I will try to evaluate all models as if it were the only rules they ever had, unless I am suggesting feedback, in which case I reserve the right to draw on old rules. I will revisit this later on.

Models I have not played with are left blank

Models rated 1 to 5.
1 = Total Junk
2 = Underpowered
3 = Balanced
4 = Overpowered
5 = Broken

Mauler – 3
Perfect. Expensive, but with a killer animus and capable of trashing most heavies in a turn, especially if he gets his own animus thrown on him. Great stats. Good chain attack. Pretty close to perfect, ina balanced way

Possible Feedback: None

Blizter – 3
Another model that I feel is fine. I will say that I think its high time they standardized all of our heavies at 5 fury, but I would really hate it if his points increased, so I’m fine with 4. The ability to charge and boost is extremely good, especially since instead of riling he can just boost shots at people and hope for a hit. And if he hits, a boosted 13 can really put some hurting on, well, anything. Two handed throwing a model (maybe your own) followed up by a boosted 13’s and 0-2 additional unboosted 13’s is a pretty cool and efficient way to end a game. Again, he suffers for his cool ranged junk with reduced, but still effective, melee potential.

Potential Feedback: Make his animus push people 3”, to standardize it with ‘bump’ and affect people with reach. That, or make it cost 1.

Eathrborn – 3
We have some pretty balanced heavies. At the cost of 1 point, he trades the reliability of the Mauler’s animus for the ability to steal the POW of opponents weapons. This will easily get him to P+S 17 or higher against most heavies, so unbuffed he exceeds the Mauler, minus the chain attack. He is also a pathfinder, and has a great animus, which he gets inbuilt. He is incredibly versatile, and well worth the extra point over the mauler while being a completely different type of model. A wonderful way to create diversity in a faction

Possible Feedback: None.

Mulg – 3 (Flawed)
Mulg is an interesting model. He has the distinction of being one of the few models almost guaranteed to kill [I]anything[/I] in his melee range, almost more so than a buffed Mauler. Reach is incredible, as is his MAT and the P+S on his weapons. The main problem comes with his SPD, which is very slow at 4, and AYGTET (Are You Going To Eat That) makes up for it in a way that is quite possibly broken. You see, AYGTET is a nifty cornercase thing, and its hard to trigger it yourself because tough will screw you up a decent amount of the time. In come the whelps. With poor DEF and no tough, they easily trigger AYGTET. So, Mulg moves 4”, and starts charging around corners 16”, which is a problem.

So remove it, and give him snacking, right? Well, no, because then he is lackluster. Sure, he kills things, but he costs a ton, isn’t too much more survivable than a Mauler, and has an animus that is possibly the worst in the game.

So he is a 3, because overall he is both underpowered and overpowered, like two huge weights on a balance beam, and as such sort of balances out. But he could be tweaked to be a balanced model

Possible Feedback: Remove AYGTET for snacking. Increase SPD by 1. Change Runebreaker animus to be a 3” ‘disenchant’ that causes Enemy Animi and Enemy Upkeeps within 3” of the caster of the animus to immediately expire. He gets a bit better overall, gets a real animus that is worth paying heavy points for, and loses the insane threat range while still retaining a threat advantage over normal trolls.

Axer – 4
Okay, reach thresher on a MAT 6 beast with POW 15 is a touch over the top. Just a tiny, tiny touch. The real problem is Befuddle, because in combination with an Axer, you can arrange units in semicircles and get an axer a backstrike thresher at MAT 8 ignoring shieldwall. Pop the feat and you cannot miss DEF 14 or less with this tactic. Add a Mauler animus and there is hardly a unit you will not completely remove from the table.

But enough about that. The axer by himself is almost fine. Its not the beast so much as the animus that really puts him into ‘always take’ territory. But that’s just because it’s an animus that fits us so well, its not really a broken animus. So he is fine. Mostly. Boy this one rambled.

Possible Feedback: Reduce POW of the axe by 1. He is less effective at killing heavies, but not much else.

Bouncer – 3
Its funny. He hasn’t done much in my games, but his reassuring presence makes me fear range much less. Personally, I’ve stopped taking him so much, because I’ve been facing more melee lists that ranged lists. But in a tournament I might take one to help guard my caster. Bump is a slightly underpowered animus because most opponents can position around it, but its acceptable. He hits well enough for a light. Another all around good beast.

Possible Feedback: Increase POW of shield by 1. Tiny tweak to make him a bit more palatable.

Pyre – 3
Well, I’m less happy giving this guy a 3, but his animus is okay, he automatically sets people on fire in melee and at range, and he hits well enough in melee, especially if you buff him. Solid. Just Solid.

Possible Feedback: +1 RAT. I see no reason why it would overpower him, and since these beasts are supposed to be at the least all arounders, an incredibly low RAT is very painful. You will get used to this feedback.

Slag- 2
Possible Feedback: +1 RAT. I see no reason why it would overpower him, and since these beasts are supposed to be at the least all arounders, an incredibly low RAT is very painful. He is also not quite as nice as an Axer. The extra STR does not do much for him over his cheaper bretheren. That said, his animus is the same as the Pyre, so if you are expecting heavier targets, take him, and if not, take the Pyre.

Possible Feedback: +1 RAT, +1 ARM. If he is going to be a 6, lets make sure he earns it.

Winter – 2
Again, lackluster. Not bad, just meh. Really, for a ranged beast, this guy really has trouble hitting broads and barns and whatnot. The inbuilt stationary effect is quite good at preventing jacks, beasts and casters from targeting the Winter troll. Luckily for them, his bad DEF and ARM make it easy to whittle him down at range enough that a single charge attack will waste him. He just needs a little tweek to be okay.

Possible Feedback: +1 RAT, -1 point. I see no reason why it would overpower him, and since these beasts are supposed to be at the least all arounders, an incredibly low RAT is very painful. Why is this guy 6 when the winter is 5? Is auto-stationary really all that much better than auto-fire? One kills infantry, one stops models. Seems almost a wash for me, especially after playing him a few times. He drops just as fast as a Pyre. He should cost the same amount.

The Animus Conundrum – 2
So, the Slag and the Pyre have the same damn animus. The difference between crit fire and crit corrosion is so unnoticeable and meaningless that is only bears mentioning so that I can summarily dismiss it.

I get two beasts with the same animus. Both the Brute and the Protector have Safeguard. But they are in different factions. In a game where animus are important and influence what beasts you take (See: Axer) having two similar beasts (all arounders) with the same animus is so very strange. Why exactly would you take the Pyre and the Slag in the same list? If you do, why should you be punished for it by being deprived of another animus? If the animus is so critical that you double up, you damn well double up, or take Bone Grinders so that you have a backup.

One of them needs to lose the animus. Ironically enough, I think Acidic Touch works better on the Slag than Flaming fists work on the Pyre. So I’m thinking the Pyre should lose his animus for something else,

What should it be? Well, I’m not lucky enough to be a designer (yet… hire me!) so its not really in my prevue to create an entire new animus. But if the Slag is anti-heavy, and so is his animus, then it makes sense to give the Pyre an anti-troop animus. I like the idea of giving “It Burns” out as an animus. But again, I am not a designer.

Tommorrow…. Maybe nothing! But maybe Units.