Mabrothrax on Trollblood Warlocks 2013

Some sort of popularity contest?

This post is more a bit of fun than an in depth statistical analysis, because to be frank, I find those dull. After seeing the (ongoing) post about trolls needing to be fixed based on some tournament result stats I noticed the ‘Trollblood Tournaments 2014’ post, and went and looked back at the 2013 edition.

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?165564-Trollblood-Tournaments-2013

Over the course of a year people have posted their wins and losses with our faction’s Warlocks, some go into detail about their games, but not in any quantifiable way. What we end up with though, is an interesting snapshot of how the people who frequented the Trollblood forums in 2013 were doing, who they were playing with and winning with…

Here’s the final results with win/loss for each Warlock as reported:

Warlock	Games Won	Games Lost
pGrissel  -	30	12
eGrissel	12	6
pGrim	22	21
eGrim	30	32
pMadrak	39	18
eMadrak	53	25
pDoomshaper	100	35
eDoomshaper	44	24
Gunnbjorn	8	6
Borka	35	6
Calandra	21	9
Jarl	39	35

Representation: Which were the most played Trollblood Warlocks?

1.       pDoomshaper

2.       eMadrak

3.       Jarl

4.       eDoomshaper

5.       pMadrak

6.       eGrim

7.       pGrim

8.       pGrissel

9.       Borka

10.   Calandra

11.   eGrissel

12.   Gunnbjorn

No surprise that the most represented Warlock was pDoomshaper, and I’ll bet you a significant amount of those games were played with Runes of War. What is surprising, to me at least, is how high up Jarl is and how low on the list Borka is. Are people tiring of Family Reunion? Early last year you couldn’t move for all the Family Reunion lists!

I don’t see Jarl talked about that much that often, probably about the same as Calandra, however eGrissel, the marmite queen, comes up in conversation a lot. I guess it goes to show that what goes on on the boards isn’t a true reflection of what goes on on the tables (with one obvious exception).

At the bottom looking sad and lonely is the much maligned Gunnbjorn.

% Own Wins: Which Warlocks won most of their games played?

      Borka                  85%
pDoomshaper      74%
pGrissel  -            71%
Calandra              70%
eMadrak              68%
eGrissel                66.6%
eDoomshaper       65%
pMadrak              58%
Gunnbjorn            57%
Jarl                       53%
pGrim                   51%
eGrim                   48%

S    Strangely enough we see Jarl and Borka in opposite places, with Borka being the most successful warlock and Jarl just breaking even. eGrim’s less than stellar performance can be put down to him being new and the experimentation going on with him during 2013. Everyone else has a decent show of success, even Gunnbjorn!

The bottom three look like people struggling with ‘finesse’ or ‘control’ Warlocks, although that doesn’t account for Calandra’s strong position. I guess dice manipulation is a thing, who knew?

None of these stats really translate to anything other than some sort of popularity contest, and to a lesser extent giving us some glimpse into which casters (for whatever reason) are harder to win with. Personal experience will always contradict the general consensus. I’ve no doubt some of you play Gunnbjornn frequently, and sometimes win with him, or maybe eGrissel is your go-to girl who stomps your opponents, or maybe, just maybe, you’ve got it together to purchase a Runes of War list but just can’t get the success you read about.

The big switcheroo

If you are doing badly with a Warlock, what do you change? Is it the battlegroup or list as a whole that’s actually the problem and not your Warlock choice? Thinking back to the Hunters Grim challenge, it was clear that there was a lot of building to the feat and going for all the ranged pieces we have, but slowly a more combined arms approach was seen to be being adopted… with greater success.

Regarding the lists I’ve been playing and am continuing to play for the foreseeable future I’ve tried it both ways. With the Calandra theme force I found that I needed more angles, range and versatility and that the Warders were actually hampering me because I was convinced that they hold their own all the time (which to be fair they do, but that’s not always what you need).

Kind of the opposite happened with the pMadrak ARM 21 pseudo brick, where the list worked like a charm but was soooo sloooow. Not that pMadrak was a ‘problem’ but swapping for eGrissel has answered a problem I had whilst maintaining the lists functionality and offering a better ranged threat.

Try something new.

Most players will have their favourite Warlocks, and probably have their tournament lists more or less locked in for the next 6 months, but there’s always casual games – which are R&D for competitive play really, so how about you take one of those less popular/less successful (either by the stats above or better yet your local meta) Trollblood warlocks and give them a shot?

I got to be honest and say I’m comfortable with my current warlock selection, but if I get 10+ comments I’ll try someone different and document my experiences with whoever semi-regularly.

You decide out of these who I should go for:

·         Jarl

·         Hunters Grim

·         Gunnbjorn

·         pDoomshaper (NOT in RoW)

I’m done, enough rambling.

Keep rolling Tough, #PlayitPainted2014, and for the good of the interwebz #SpreadtheHatred

Mabrothrax

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 ~ Borka by Goris

To kick off our newest Series, Awesome Armies, Goris has given us a write up on Borka and the successes, strategies, strengths and weaknesses with the army he has chosen to go with it.  


Now, I am a huge fan of the eDoomy beast trifecta. However, that being such a popular list of late, I decided during nightfall to branch out and try our lower fury Melee centric casters. So I tailored a Borka list that has been working very well for me and provides a good number of troops, a few beasts and some great speed.

Points: 50
Borka Kegslayer (*5pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
* 1 Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (1pts)
* Kriel Warrior Standard Bearer & Piper (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Trollkin Long Riders (Leader and 2 Grunts) (7pts)
Alten Ashley, Monster Hunter (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Horthol, Long Rider Champion (5pts)

Ten Tons of Assassination

Ten Tons of Assassination

Thursday March 18,

@ Phoenix Games and Comics.

72 West Center Street

Logan, Utah 84321 6pm to 9pm MST

We will be playing 25 point games in the Mangled Metal/Tooth & Claw format.

(Warcaster & Warjacks or

Warlock & Warbeasts only)

Sign up at Phoenix Games. 

$3.00 entry fee.

 

Grim Angus vs Mohsar

Grim had grown fond of the Earthborn he had named Cannonball.  Though most of the Dires that Hoarluk had brought were somewhat unpredictable and hard to control, Cannonball seemed to be more intelligent and intuitive than normal.  He hoped Cannonball would return soon, at least his Impaler and Alten were still with him.  As Grim scanned the landscape through his scope and warlock enhanced senses,  he noticed two things.  First off was the familiar twinge of another warlock nearby, the second was a small tribe of yellow skinned pygmies rushing around excitedly preparing for a fight, and it looked like one of them had learned how to ride a Dire Troll.  His Impaler put his hand on Grim's shoulder, and through the link they both shared the same thought... these little guys might be in trouble.  As the three of them walked past the Swamp Gobbers he had hired, Grim tossed a small bag of coin their way, "Extra payment for your trouble," was all Grim said.  Without complaint, the Gobbers followed and started prepping their tank with fog juice.

Sevwall's Fieldtest Thoughts - Warlocks

My thoughts on each model as it is now in MKII, with a list of 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 out.

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


Madrak - 3
Seems quite acceptable. Surefoot is a spectacular defensive spell, and as an upkeep it allows him to send people off under its effects without having to recast it every turn. Stonefall is a poor offensive spell, but really his axe is all he needs to affect things at range.

I am undecided if he needs any changes. I feel like he needs reach, but that may just be wishful thinking. I’m going to say he is probably fine as is.

pHoarluk - 2
Wow, he has really turned into a true denial caster. Purification is a nice ability, especially since it can remove animi now, and there are some nice defensive animi out there. Past that, he seems nice if a little underwhelming. He works well with beasts via Goad, but his offensive potential is very limited, and Death Sentence and Stranglehold are very short ranged for him. One major problem is that he needs to recast his upkeeps when he Purifys, and that he is often out of easy range to recast his spells. So range is a problem, and he is a tad underpowered…..

Possible feedback: Something as simple as a bond that turns a beast into a channeller seems reasonable. It lets him effect the battle without putting himself at too much personal risk. Since his repetoire of offensive spells is limited, this should not swing him over into the ‘too good’ range.

Borka – 2
Borka is a weird one. Obviously Mosh Pit is hugely powerful. He gets an extra fury each turn through the keg carrie. Yet he seems… lacking. Boring maybe. Bum Rush is very hard to pull off, since it is much, much more limited that Counter Charge in that you have to move in a straight line. Cooler may as well be blank for all you will cast it. Yet he isn’t really bad in any way. Just slightly lacking. He seems to be geared towards beasts, yet has such little capability to run them.

Possible Feedback. Forget the pseudo Fury 6 from Keggy, just make him a 6. It helps him run the beasts than his feat and his spell list want. Keggy would lose Top up, and gain nothing in return. This keeps it as a small buff. Keggy would then have a sigular, but important purpose.

eMadrak - 3
Played with him a few times. He seems alright, just fine really. He is one of the two casters who seem to make Mulg a bit over the top. But Warpath is otherwise cool, he threatens nicely in melee with his big axe and even a possible Vortex of Destruction. The feat still rocks.

Possible Feedback: He wouldn’t be broken with reach. If pMadrak gets it, eMadrak would too.

eHoarluk - 3
What can I say? He is fun now, he has a cool but not crazy spell list. Wild aggression is a huge buff, but Warmachine shows how balanced it is. Refuge is simply cool. The only real issue is the feat. If you do not have a turn where you can charge (as happens in games vs fast opponents or opponents with shutdown feats) you do not have a feat…..

Possible feedback: The feat should grant +3” of movement regardless of whether you charge or not. Aside from that it seems fine.

Calandra – 4
We run into a problem here. Calandra is fine. She really is. Not overpowered. But Befuddle is. It is the answer to every problem you can face on the field. Unit? Turn them around to give you backstrikes and prevent them from charging. Or just clump them and send an axer or a scattergunner to wipe them out in a single attack. A possible 20” threat on the spell (Rush + Bonegrinders.. its even further if you charge) is just a little too much for this crazy spell.

The rest of it is fine. Her new feat was a stroke of genius,

Posssible Feedback: Befuddle at RNG 10 is too much. Make it RNG 8 again.



That was the easy part. Tommorrow….. Warbeasts!