Mabrothrax goes to Smogcon

Bring it on.

This will be a quick post as I'm about to go get a train to Heathrow airport to meet a good friend of mine, then we're off to...

Smogcon is currently the UK's only dedicated Warmachine & Hordes convention (it does other stuff too) and this year the organisers have really stepped up to the challenge of presenting an American style con over three days in a hotel, well, two hotels actually because demand was so high they needed a second venue.

As well as Press Ganger duties (an 18 hour straight shift in the Smog Pit (think Iron Arena)), I'm entering the Iron Gauntlet and Hardcore tournaments, and plan to get in as much casual gaming as my body will allow.

I'm trolling all the way and playing both my eGrissel list and Calandra theme force in the IG, and still undecided on eDoomshaper or eGrissel for the Hardcore.

I'm not looking to win big, but I am going to have a great time, and hopefully really learn a lot about my armies and my own playing by exposing it to a multi-national meta of (wannabe?) top players.

Once the sleep deprivation has worn off and I've returned to normality I'll have convention report up. In the meantime, please do follow me and goad/insult/encourage on twitter @unicronsbeard

Keep rolling tough!

Mabrothrax, #trollingtrollswithtrolls & playing like he's got a pair sleep deprivation.

Mabrothrax vs. The Internet!

Say good night, troll

So I was writing a bit about my Calandra theme force and was actually going to praise the Winter Troll. And the Mountain King.

Then I looked at the most recent troll purchase on my desk... the Night Troll. A plan came to mind, to take on the internet and win!

Well, something like that. What I'm proposing is a report on the use of the various trollblood options considered 'less than good'.

I'm trolling trolls with trolls. Time to ignore the forums and put shit on the table (not literally of course)

I'll start by throwing in the Night Troll and Winter Troll to whatever I play at my local club.  Moving on I might add the MK, Bushwhackers, Skinner, Gunnbjorn, Thumper crews etc. You get the idea.

In all seriousness, I'm actually quite excited to put the Night Troll on the table - he's cheap, has free charges (okay, only against living stuff) and a bunch of stuff that we just don't see on trolls. I like things that are different and break from the norm. How I'd love to get a  warlock with Admonition to use with this guy!

I'm thinking about his animus on a hard-ass warlock (eGrissel or pMadrak?) and Mulg's protective fit, or inhospitable ground? What about a  throwing a trap down courtesy of the Hunters Grim? Sounds fun, even if not OMG it's broken! tech.

Expect fun times ahead. The Night Troll is in town and looking for a good, er, night out? I'll be back soon with the aforementioned Calandra Theme force update and the continuation of my Play it Painted pledge.

I'm Mabrothrax, and I Troll like I've got a pair.

#spreadthehatred
#trolltrollswithtrolls

Mabrothrax Muses - State of the faction in competitive play

Are Trolls failing at SR?

An interesting post appeared on the PP forums recently, titled “Faction Balance in 2013 – AKA PP fix Trolls for competitive play already”

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?187173-Faction-Balance-in-2013-AKA-PP-Fix-Trolls-for-Competitive-Play-Already

Based on some data gathered by an published on endgame gaming and subsequently Muse on Minis the post begins…

Here it is, y'all, statistical proof that Trolls are lagging behind: http://museonminis.com/numbers-2013-wmh-balance/

To quote the article: "The performance of Trolls as a faction in SR is shockingly bad, though it is heartening to see their performance in Hardcore." 

Sure, Trolls do well in hardcore, but the majority of tournaments were SR 2013. More tournies, more numbers, better data... and Trolls performing well below the curve. I don't expect PP to own that Trolls are behind -- big whup, they're better than the awfulness that they were in MK I -- but it's time to start rolling out the power releases for the blue brutes. Recent releases like warders have helped, but there's a long way to go to fixing things there overall. 

Now, I find it hard to really get on with posts that complain about power levels but this one obviously piqued my interest. Are Trolls honestly in bad shape compared to other factions?

Since (and before) Gargantuans I think it’s fair to say that there’s been some stagnation in the faction – at least as far as the forums represent it – with the same combinations, lists, ideas and so on thrown up over and over again. The releases from the past year haven’t really done much to change things.

• For those who’ve adopted them, Warders have become the must have epitome of Trolls resilient play style.
• Hunters Grim don’t seem to have had any major tournament success, despite the initial enthusiasm.
• The Mountain King… (it’s all been said before)
• And so on.

Personally, I like the Gargantuans releases I’ve used to date and found them effective. Continuing through the post I found this on the second page…

The problem is Runes of War. In my opinion it is being overplayed.

If you look at the Trollbloods forum, every time someone posts a problem or wants some advice on how to deal against a certain list, one of the answers seems to always be Runes of War... It's a great list, but if you have someone in your meta who plays this list, they will know how to deal with it. 
There are options in the faction that I think are really being overlooked and because players focus on Runes of War as their main list they become blind to the faction as a whole. 

I have to admit, that the obsession with the Runes of War bugs me. Clearly the combination of a skilled player using a previously overlooked list with the hysteria inducing viral nature of the internet has taken its toll on the Trollblood online community.

I have seen Runes of War (paired with Family Reunion, all models unpainted incidentally) do badly at a 32 person tournament I ran last year – funnily enough placed only slightly above someone playing Gunnbjorn. Come to think of it, I’ve not seen Trolls do well at all in any event I’ve attended. Myself, I’ve yet to break the ‘bottom of the top 50%’ bracket.

But before we blame the ‘theme force of win’, here’s a rather succinct reply to the above…

I disagree, I think Runes of War isn't actually played enough. It gets mentioned a lot on the Forums but that doesn't mean people are actually playing it all that often. It's a very expensive list to buy the models for and lots of people aren't willing to make that step (which is fair, money is money after all). Runes of War is not the sort of list that you can just 'learn' to beat by playing against it a bunch. It's probably the best list available to Trolls and if it's played well it's absolutely ball busting. Skill is still the number one factor that determines success in this game and a well played Runes of War list is an amazing thing. Just look at Flanzer from WMW. 

How does one player misrepresent the faction though? Flanzer is using the same models available to every Trollblood player. He doesn't have some kind of supernatural advantage that allows him to win where other Trollblood players fail. He's just a better player. If you want to win with Trollbloods why not aspire to be a better player like Flanzer? It sounds like a jerkish thing to say but it applies to literally every faction: play better and you'll win more.

This is a game primarily based on skill and the best way to win is to practice and get better at the game. The fact that Flanzer can compete successfully at the highest level of play with Trolls shows that it is possible to do so. 
It's also worth bearing in mind that Trollbloods worst match up (Cryx) is the most popular faction in the game. That is a rough position to start from and I don't think many players have explored Trolls' anti-Cryx tech as much as they should have. Not to say it hasn't been explored at all, just not as much as it should have. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this game is deep and if you think you've tried every option then you're wrong. 

Trolls are actually a surprisingly difficult faction to play and write lists for. They're a much higher skill cap faction than they tend to get credit for and coming up with a good Troll list is surprisingly hard. Trolls have gotten some awesome releases lately. Warders are the obvious one but people are now coming around to older releases like the Storm Troll and Sons of Bragg that had previously been mostly ignored. It's a good time to be a Troll player and I think if the community puts its mind to it we can build some good lists, get some good practice and make 2014 a much more successful year. 

This is the best advice there is. Play more and be open minded. Whilst we can argue round and round about the inherent power level of any given faction and it’s options, there is no substitute for experience. 

No amount of posting on forums or reading other peoples lists will make you a better player (and by extension, Trollbloods perceived as a more successful faction).

I have a lot to learn. I consider myself a competent player, but I have yet to face every faction in competitive play, in each scenario, with each possible list. 

I have yet to use every combination of Trollblood units/beast/warlocks etc. I still don’t get eGrim, I do like the Mountain King and Calandra’s NQ theme list, I don’t own eMadrak or Runes of War.

In a few weeks I’ll be attending Smogcon where I’m entering the Iron Gauntlet and Hardcore tournaments, I don’t expect to do exceptionally well, but I’m going to learn a lot by throwing myself into the ring with players who can and want to compete at the higher level.

The question still remains whether or not Trolls are a weak faction in need of fixing. 

Whilst the internet is raging over the answer I’ll be asking my own questions: how can I fix my own game to be a stronger player (with Trolls)?

Keep rolling Tough!

Mabrothrax

Mabrothrax Plays it Painted 2014

Happy new year!

Survive the hangovers and excessive spending? Good. Now stop what you're doing and go paint some models.

Last year I very much got into the spirit of 'play it painted' and quite honestly say, that with one exception, every game I played last year I played with painted models. I am therefore made of win (even if my win/loss ratio isn't).

So, this year I shall continue to play it painted and keep a mini blog here of what I'm working on - for Trollbloods anyway, I dabble in other factions, but not to any great extent.

I will not play a game with unpainted Trolls this year.

This month I have on my desk...

Calandra (painted but being re-based)

Epic Grissel

Unit of Runeshapers #2

Unit of Warders #2

Kithkar

I have no firm plans to purchase any troll stuff in the next few weeks, but I might pick up Raluk Moorclaw when my local store gets him. I'm waiting eagerly for the eventual release of the Sorcerer.

Lists for 2014

Continuing from my previous posts and ramblings, I intend to spend a chunk of time playing the Calandra theme force Evolutionary Elementalism, as well as developing the eGrissel Warders brick/ARM 21 spam list.

I might on occasion go back to pMadrak or eDoomshaper for the odd friendly game, maybe even eGrim (who I still don't get).

It's hard to speculate on any new releases for Trollbloods or Hordes in general, and I think we'll have lots to talk/rant/cry about once Vengeance hits. Maybe spoilers and teasers will start to filter through in the next few months. Will we get a '3' Warlock? Will there be a Hordes book in 2014? What are Troll Highwaymen? 

My gut says we'll have to wait a while for any of this, possibly even until 2015. Only time will tell.

Well, I'm getting back to painting. So should you.

Keep rolling Tough, 

Mabrothrax

Yours Is No Disgrace (LTC Fail post)

Mabrothrax's LTC Fail.

Excuses

Well, first let’s get the shameful news out of the way… the team I played for came last of 12. Both my team mates lost all 4 of their games and I only won one. Overall I placed 28^th of 36, which isn’t amazing either. Actually, one of our team members got the day of the tournament wrong and missed the first round, it was all downhill from there.

There is no substitute for a good night’s sleep. Going into a long day of full on playing whilst exhausted and cranky is not the best way to do things. Be prepared!

I did thoroughly enjoy the day and had some great games and came away with some new ideas and more experience, so it wasn’t all that bad…

Round 1 pMadrak vs Cygnar (Siege Trial by Fired theme list tier 4)

Major Markus ‘Seige’ Brisbane

Triumph

Ironclad

Squire

Journeyman Warcaster

Hunter

Journeyman Warcaster

Charger

Captain Arlan Strangeways

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages

Arcane Tempest Officer

10 Long Gunners

4 Field Mechaniks

The scenario was Close Quarters.

I didn’t know this new theme force, and the three trenches setup in close proximity (touching) my opponent’s flag was a blatant move to entice me to his corner.

Being the first game, being tired and rushed to get to the venue and slightly disorientated had me making seriously stupid mistakes. I set up one unit of warders to go for his flag and challenge siege, but with a handy piece of rough terrain in the way… and on the second turn I didn’t actually move pMadrak into contact with my own flag and failed to score. Yeah, that bad.

To be frank, once I’d given away the missed CP it was over. I somehow let a journeyman warcaster survive to contest as well. I lost the game 5-2.

On the plus side the ARM 21 brick was virtually unkillable and it took my opponent forever to take down one unit of Warders, and even with Siege’s feat he still had a hard time inflicting any damage.

Round 2 pMadrak vs Cryx (pSkarre)

Pirate Queen Skarre

Deathjack

Skarlock

10 Bane Thralls

Bane Thrall Officer & Standard

10 Mechanathralls

10 Mechanathralls

Necrosurgeon + Stitch Thralls

Necrosurgeon + Stitch Thralls

10 Blood Witches

Blood Hag

Warwitch Siren

Warwitch Siren

Satyxis Raider Captain

3 Scrap Thralls

Saxon Orrik

Scenario: Into the Breach

Cryx are a pain, but they don’t scare me all that much. To be honest I expected to be able to attrition this one like a charm, all it would take is using a combination of Madrak’s feat and the careful use of the bump animus to grab a juicy 2CP in the zone. At least, that was the plan.

You know how in some games you feel totally disconnected from your opponent? He played his force, I played mine and the interaction was minimal. Skarre ran for the flag and grabbed an early CP, I sat in the zone and went about slowly trying to clear it. Things were going well until Skarre’s feat turn where I lost a decent chunk of my force and went from being outnumbered to overwhelmed. Ther was no way I was getting any CPs from the zone now. However, Skarre had moved from the flag to the centre of the table and was in clear range for Madrak to step up and have a go. Being 1-0 down and with very little chance to win on control I went for the assassination.

Madrak charged Skarre with 5 fury and failed to hit with all his attacks. He was then brutally murdered in return.

Balls.

Round 3 Calandra vs Skorne (pMorghul)

Master Tormentor Morghoul

Basilisk Krea

Cyclops Brute

Bronzeback Titan

Molik Karn

Tiberion

Titan Gladiator

6 Paingiver Beast Handlers

6 Paingiver Beast Handlers

Extoler Soulward

Scenario: Supply and Demand

 Now this was a fun game. I’ve played Lewis before where he used a 35 point version of the same list and was comfortable in knowing my opponent and his army. Admittedly the Calandra list might not have been the best choice here, but I didn’t want to be locked in for the fourth round.

Early on the Runeshapers took out my opponent’s objective scoring me an early 1 CP. The rest of the game saw the ‘piece trade’ happen smoothly with each of us throwing beasts at each other, but in the long run his heavies out lasted my lights, and the bronzeback (just) managed to one round the Mountain King., also, early on the Runeshapers and the Storm Troll put some serious hurt on Morghul himself dropping him to two health.

Despite Star Crossed being up my opponent slowly wore me down and I couldn’t quite capitalize on the 1 CP lead or Morghul being practically dead. Then he managed to destroy my objective making it 1-1. Soon after Dice Down was called and I lost on the third Tie breaker as he had more points in the zone.

Round 4 pMadrak vs Legion of Everblight (pVayl)

Vayl, Disciple of Everblight

Succubus

Seraph

Scythean

Naga Nightlurker

Typhon

Gatorman Witch Doctor

6 Blight Nyss Hex Hunters

10 Blighted Nyss Legionnaires

Captian Farilor & Standard

Spawning Vessel and 6 Acolytes

Scenario Chemical Reaction

I know full well what Vayl and her list is all about and knew basically it would be a grind, which it was. Despite all his beasts and spells and broken abilities I slowly weathered the losses of Mulg and Rok whilst Warders and Bouncers surrounded Vayl (and Typhon) and eventually splatted her.

Not much else to say here really. I won a game, at last.

Overall thoughts.

I played badly. There’s no getting around it, I needed more sleep and time to relax beforehand. I had one of those epic dice fails in the Cryx match, and mishandled a turn in the Skorne match that probably cost me the game.

The pMadrak list is amazingly hard to deal with, it just soaks up so much damage. Despite this, I found it hard to capitalise on my opponent’s frustration and the Speed 4 Warders desperately wanted a buff. pMadrak works perfectly well in the list and with his feat on a crucial turn can work wonders, however, I am seriously considering keeping the list as is but swapping pMadrak for eGrissel…

This is an early stage ‘test it in my head’ thing.

The pros of eGrissel:

·         One more point of Fury

·         Dash (SPD +1) for the Warders

·         Fell Blast adds some ranged threat, but not much

·         Feat takes the ARM 21 spam idea and turns it up to 11 (well, 23) for one turn

The Cons:

·         Slightly less tough than pMadrak considering lack of Sure foot etc

·         Without Crusher or Carnage there’s no melee support going on

·         Feat is a bit ‘meh’

·         Erm… I don’t have her model yet?

Regarding the Calandra Theme list, I wish I’d had the balls to put it on the table at least one more time. Funnily enough I found the Warders in the list (in this game and others before) to be somewhat out of place. They are amazingly good, but here… well I found myself wishing I had more Runeshapers and another Storm Troll for some electro leap stuff. That’s a straight swap that I’m going to try out. It has some obvious benefits: another point of fury in the Kriel Stone to start with, more ranged threat, more coverage for Janissa’s Force Lock ability, more electro leaps…

I know I’m losing hard as nails weapon masters, but sometimes you have to go with your gut.

So there you have it. I’ll be trying the alternate Calandra list at my local club soon, and perhaps the eGrissel/pMadrak swap soon. Time to really get these lists to work in preparation for Smogcon in Feb 2014!

Keep rolling tough!

LTC preparations...

It almost didn’t happen, but after various bribes, rummaging through trash cans and threats of exposing ones genitals the Philosoraptors are go! Sorry, I should explain… after the feverish excitement* caused by the WTC, Cross Gaming Club in London are holding the London Team Championship (LTC) on Nov 30^th.

50pt SR, two lists, divide and conquer (1) – at present there are twelve teams of three players, and my partners in crime are bringing Menoth and Retribution whilst I bring the Trolls. Both my lists are ones of mentioned previously, being pMadrak – going with as much armour 21 as possible, and Calandra’s Theme ‘Evolutionary Elementalism’, which will feature a Mountain King for all your paper weight needs.

The Calandra list is as follows…

Evolutionary Elementalism (NQ 49, Tier 4, 55/55)

Calandra (+5 WB)

Runebearer (2)

Mountain King (19)

Winter Troll (4)

Pyre Troll (4)

Storm Troll (4)

Warders (max) (8)

Kriel Stone bearer and Scribes (max) (4)

Stone Scribe Elder (1)

Janissa Stone Tide (3)

Rune Shapers (4)

Troll Whelps (2)

The pMadrak list is a little unstable at present. Given that Janissa is in the Calandra list, I wonder about bringing the Earthborn, Rok might be a better choice to primal the Bouncers. Plus surely Rok’s Berserk + Crusher is just wrongness on toast?

Blackjack Madrak (56/56)

Madrak, Thornwood Chieftain (+6)

Runebearer (2)

Mulg the Ancient (12)

Rok (11)

Troll Bouncer (5)

Troll Bouncer (5)

Trollkin Warders (max) (8)

Trollkin Warders (max) (8)

Kriel Stone bearer and Scribes (max) (4)

Stone Scribe Elder (1)

I’ll muse more on these lists over the next ten days, and appreciate any feedback. Look out for a tournament report as well, and if you’re a twitter junkie, follow me on @UnicronsBeard

Keep rolling Tough!

Mabrothrax.

To Theme or not to Theme... Calandra (NQ)

Evolutionary Elementalism – Calandra (NQ 49)

This theme force is Calandra’s second and was presented in No Quarter Magazine issue #49.

Before NQ49 was released it was spoiled that there would be a new Trollblood theme force, and instantly the speculation began about this being a Mountain King centred theme (based on other factions getting themes featuring colossals/gargantuans). Madrak and Doomshaper were the casters considered most likely to have the ‘fix the MK’ theme.

What was presented was actually quite different. Calandra is an odd warlock in that she’s hard to define, she doesn’t offer obvious buffs/debuff but instead plays with dice and probability – improving yours and messing with your opponent’s.

 You are limited to ‘elemental’ warbeasts (Pyre, Slag, Storm & Winter), the Mountain King, the Krielstone, Runeshapers, Warders, runeshaper solos (Janissa) the runebearer and whelps.

The first and most obviously beneficial tier gives you a reduced cost to warbeasts. This has led to the thinking that this list is all about spamming elemental warbeasts, and why not? Second tier benefit loads up your Krielstone (the requirement for this level) with fury, the third gives light warbeasts Advanced Deployment provided you have three different lights.

The fourth tier is where the Mountain King raises his big meaty fist and says ‘pick me!’, and in return you get to put one animus on everything in your force for turn 1. Hmm.

Doesn't really look like a Mountain King centric theme, does it?

Other than the beasts your limited selection leads you to a combination of Runeshapers and Warders, and note that the theme doesn't increase the FA on either, so in larger games your decision is made for you. Warders, being the new hotness, are everywhere, and for good reason. Battle driven reach weapon masters… and cheap ones too. In this theme their woeful lack of speed really shows, but there’s no doubt that they are you go to unit for zone control.

The Runeshapers are a great unit, and sadly still often overlooked (outside of Runes of War). In this list they fuel the stone pre game thanks to the tier 2 benefit and, er… well. What they bring is a unit of decent AOEs with crit knockdown. With tremor and with Janissa’s Force Lock they offer some zone control/clearance shenanigans. You might like to note also that although you can bring AOEs with the Pyre, the Runeshapers bring three for the same cost. Knockdown is a thing. Beasts with sub par Mat like knockdown.

With the Solos, you’ll want Janissa for all the usual reasons, plus the tier 2 benefit. The Runebearer is goo if you can fit him in. Whelps are a must if you bring the Mountain King. You really need the double spawning whelps.

Your warbeast selection is more a case of which to go with in multiple. Pyres bring flaming AOEs, the Storm bring Electroleaping anti light infantry tech, the Slag munches jacks, the Winter… er… gets more work in the Holiday Season?

But what about the Mountain King? Well, looking at the list in general there is a clear lack of high P+S. Even with a damage buff animus and Stone Strength you’re topping out at around P+S 15. Yes, Warders have Weapon Master, but they are painfully slow in this theme and really your only zone holding models, so the high armour stuff can avoid them easily.

The Mountain King brings your only guaranteed anti-armour.

Calandra here will be trying to survive (Bullet dodger & Janissa’s wall) whilst getting as much into her control area to mess with dice. Soothing Song becomes a very handy spell in the list, and the Krielstone starting with some fury saves here a little bit to use on re-rolls. Obviously the Runebearer helps some if you have a few spare points.

I’m going to wrap up this fast’n’dirty guide as I’m playing this theme a lot at present and will be writing more about it in the future.

The bottom line with this list… it’s different. It’s a challenge (going the MK route) and possibly a bonkers do-or-die (going light spam route). It’s not on a level with Runes of War or Family Reunion, but appears better than most. With more testing I think this theme will become very popular.

Theme force rating:

Originality: 4/5

Evolutionary Elementalism is at first glance a jokey elemental spam list, but I’m convinced there’s more to it than that. Calandra doesn't benefit the list or from it in any obvious way, but that’s the way she is because of her dice manipulation. Fact is that she works with anything. This theme is very different in composition to any of the others currently available, so I’m giving it a good score. For now.

Ease of Playability: 3/5

Spamming advanced deploy elemental warbeasts could be amazing. But the rest of the force does what? Then there’s the issue of high armour, especially without the MK. Of course taking a King is putting a massive investment and bullseye in one place…

Ownership level: 4/5

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that most troll players will have one of each elemental warbeast (except maybe Winter) a Krielstone, and a unit of Warders. If you’ve not gone for Runes of War you might not have any Runeshapers… so go get some! I don’t think the theme is going to inspire anyone on the fence to go buy a Mountain King. If you have one though, this theme is well worth checking out.

Total theme scores:

Evolutionary Elementalism – 11/15

Unbridled Fury – 9/15

To Theme or not to Theme... Epic Doomshaper

To Theme or not to Theme; that is the question

Theme forces are an often maligned part of the game. Whilst some are considered good, and very few considered amazing, the majority are forgotten about. Whilst “Runes of War” (pDoomshaper) and “Family Reunion” (Borka) get a fair amount of exposure, the rest are dismissed for not being top tier tournament lists. Well, guess what? We don’t all play tournaments all the time! It’s good to experiment and have fun, take a break from everything the internet tells you to do!

This sporadic series will look at the Trollblood Theme forces and give a brief break down and a series of ratings…

Trollblood Theme Forces - Alpha guide and "To Buy" shopping lists

by PG_joedj 


Currently there are 12 Trollblood Theme Forces
If you are considering purchasing Trollbloods, Theme forces may be a fun (and financial) consideration!

Notes:
Exact Tier requirements and benefits are not listed (protect the IP). Individual strategy guides when written (by our community) will be linked to the Theme title.
"Recommended buys" are IMHO only. As a PP and Trollblood fan, I expect Trollblood players to have every model!