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

Feast of Blades: Faction sure, Lists not so much

So I settled down on a faction but after some practice I wasn't really happy with my list choices. I have bumped Grissel to the 3rd list and Grim is back in the bag. And I have decided to bring Madrak 2 into the fold as my second list. I have also made a slight change to my runes of war list that I may or may not go with depending on my gut feeling day of.

The reason for Madrak 2 is I really felt I needed a more combined arms package for my off list and I needed a better answer to circle in particular. I attempted to change up Grissel to get some good shooting elements in the list, however it took too much away from her kill stroke which would be forcing me into too many death clock or dice down games. So let's look at Madrak 2's army.

Madrak 2
*Mauler

Fell Caller Hero
Gatorman Witch Doctor
Full KW's with UA & 3 Cabers
Full Nyss Hunters
Full Burrowers
War wagon
Min KSB w/ Elder

Mangled Metal/Tooth & Claw 15 pts with pDoomy

For the first time since Lock and Load the opportunity has presented itself for me to play in a Mangled Metal/Tooth & Claw tourney at our leagues.  Being able to compete instead of being the TO will be interesting and immediately the planning stage set in.

With the high cost of Trollblood beasts it is likely the games will start with my army being outnumbered, to me this is a huge disadvantage in this game format for Trolls with no cheap option for a heavy.  So the decision has to be made with which beasts to bring.  Depending on the caster Trolls can usually fit in one heavy and two lights so long as it is not Mulg, or two heavies one can be Mulg.  With so very little amounts of bodies on the table some casters will be able to assassinate without much trouble so bringing a more durable caster is paramount.  To list some of the threats and weaknessess of my own army here is what I think will need to be overcome in an all comers Mangled Tooth & Metal Claw event.

1. High ARM lots of wounds heavies (Khador comes to mind)
2. Swarms of Light or Lesser Beasts (Legion)
3. More models on the table
4. Faster Armies
5. Denial Casters

Dire Brackets pDoomy vs Grissel

Grissel and Doomshaper had a long history of being at adds with each other.  Though he didn't like to admit it Hoarluk almost respected her and her unique abilities, it was too bad really that she lacked the ruthlessness needed to help him and his Dire Trolls Survive.  Leaping at the opportunity to show her a thing or two Hoarluk jumped at the opportunity to help her with some Wargames between their forces.  He would teach this so called female fel caller a thing or two once and for all.

She had to admit that Hoarluk was fearsome indeed.  His newfound kinship to the Dire Trolls was both amazing and terrifying.  Needing to understand his ways better and wanting to get some needed experience to her troops she offered up some games with the old Troll.  As they arrayed against each other her heart fell a little seeing her Champion Hero 'Eric The Red' fighting on Horthol's side... she told herself it didn't matter since she would never go down that round again anyway and made special note to walk by Gort the LongRider closest to her to let him know what his first order of business would be.  Eric would learn the hard way it appeared.

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls (-7)
*Dire Troll Bomber (10)
*Dire Troll Bomber (10)
*Troll Impaler (5)
Fell Caller Hero (3)
Janissa StoneTide (3)
10xKriel Warriors (6)
*3xKriel Warrior Caber Tosser (3)
*Kriel Warrior Standard & Piper (2)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3)
10xTrollkin Scattergunners (8)
*Scattergunner Officer & Standard (2)


Grissel Bloodsong (*5pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
* Kriel Warrior Standard Bearer & Piper (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Trollkin Long Riders (Leader and 2 Grunts) (7pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Horthol, Long Rider Hero (5pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)

Our board had a 6" forest on each side of the table on each players left hand with two walls right in the middle perpendicular to our deployment and about 12" apart.  Grissel rolled highest and chose to go first.

Deployment
Grissel ~ He put his Longriders on his right accross from the forest on my side of the table.  His Kreils right in the middle right and Fenns middle left, Pyre Troll on their right side Axer on their left framing in the Stone and Grissel Directly behind the Kriels His Burrowers he would later AD by his forest accross from my Scattergunners.
pDoomy ~ My scattergunners I put opposite from his LR away from my forest to allow them to try and gain a flank, to my dismay he later AD his Burrowers accross from them..  My Kriels I put in the middle but stretched them to the forest.  pDoomy I also put on my left away from his LR Bombers accross from either wall with the Impaler and support solos spread out in back.

Turn 1
Grissel ~ He would run his Kriels right up the middle.  His Burrowers alos ran but not quite thier full distance.  Grissel would dump it all on the stone and hoof the Kriels.  Long Riders advance and Horthol runs up his right side of the table using the forest on my side to keep him well hidden from my ranged.  Stone activates and moves up behind the Kriels with Grissel and Janissa right in the middle of the table with the axer on their left.

Horthol Chuckled at her aggressiveness, she was good he had to admit.  Though she had misjudged slightly.  One of his Bomber's instantly reacted to his prompting as the Impaler increased its range.  The laughter from the Bomber was eery as his exploding kegs landed amist the Pygs.

pDoomy ~ Wondering what I'm going to do with Fenns and burrowers going up that side I decide to allow him the flank on the Horthol side and commit to trying to take out the Burrowers and Fenns.  Far Striked Bomber does his job by killing a Fenn and Three Burrowers.  My Kriels go for the counter jam and I run four of the way up leaving them rest back as far as I can to counter.  My Fel Caller and Hero move to countercharge the LR and Horthol. My scattergunners Advance. pDoomy puts Banishing Ward on the Kriels and Fortune on the Scattergunners.

Turn 2
Grissel ~ His Fenns Vengeance then the Burrowers Burrow.  The stone pops the aura and his Kriels go after mine but in most cases there are no lanes so its a move to attack killing a few Kriels.  Fenns go next charging a couple of Scattergunners the rest are out of range. Horthol runs around the forest going for the flank.  His LR charge one going for a Kriel the other going for my hero that was just a hair too close.  Kriel warrior lives, Hero and LR reduce each other to one wound.  Grissel puts hoof it on the Fenns and moves up a little Janissa walls and Axer frames her in then feats.  Fenns Hoof it up and engage most the Scattergunners. His Pyre lobs at my bomber and lights it on fire and my Krieltough rolls.

Matching her aggressiveness with his own shouldn't have been so unexpected.  Old Doomshaper was crafty though and seemed to beging to exploit every weakness she presented him.  Stepping up a little closer Grissel begain calling her Cacophony to remedy the situation.  Seeing the old Troll try to shake the buzzing from his ears she knew she had at least taken care of his ability to take over her own beasts.

pDoomy ~ I start with my own Kriels who kill a few Kriels.  Bombers toss some bombs taking out one LR and his Kriels all tough their faces off.  Scattergunners start with the two in back that arent engaged and start spraying freeing up their buddies who then return the favor by spraying some more leveling most of the Fenns. pDoomy can't do much so he shifts to the corner of the killbox behind some Scattergunners and Janissa walls. My Fel Caller charges horthol failing the charge by a hair but getting in Horthols way.

Turn 3
Grissel ~ Grissel decides to be a jerk and calls cacapohony again His Kriels and mine change blows again.  His now popped up burrowers go to town on a Bomber and Impaler nearly killing them both. Then his axer finishes them both off along with a couple burrowers.  Horthol fails to kill my Fel Caller but hurts him and his LR finishes off a Kriel and my Hero. 
pDoomy ~ My Scattergunners move around and clear out nearly all the burrowers.  My remaining Kriels take out some of his and get in his LR way.  My Fel Caller dismounts Horthol. My remaining bomber drops one on Janissa reducing her to 1 wound, then she tough rolls. pDoomy shifts around a little and feats.

More annoyed than anything else about disrupting sonic abilities Hoarluk pulled at the strands of magic connecting to Grissel and her beasts.  He would make her pay horribly for attempting to cast any spells near him.  Looking up at her, he saw that she understood what had just happened.  She just set her jaw and called her disrupting Cacophony yet again in defiance.

Turn 4
Grissel ~ Grissel moves up to try and Calamity pDoomy but misjudges the distance so He decides to go after my bomber with his Axer and hurts it a little.  His Pyre lights a few things on fire and the Kriels continue killing each other.  His stone scribes join the fun and put another small dent in my Bomber but are unable to free up the Kriels blocking his LR.  Horthol finishes off the Fel Caller who tough rolls. 
pDoomy ~ This is it so I give it a go.  Scattergunners lay into Grissel hurting her much less than I had hoped.  Doomy charges Grissel and reduces her to four wounds but she still has two fury left on her.  Bomber takes a free strike from the Axer then punches Grissel twice but through transfers neither of her beasts is dead and she remains standing.

Hoarluk could not believe that so many shots from his scatterguns and even swings from his own Staff had not put her into the ground.  He knew he had hurt her, but she still clung to her chance at victory stubbornly.  Hearing his Bomber howl in rage he knew that luck had been on her side as he looked up at her Axer's upraised axe and her own Maul ready to swing in.

With Grissel and her Axer in pDoomy's face and no fury for transfers I conceded him the match.

Grissel just shook her head amazed at his Audacity.  Even in Defeat that old Troll would not yeild her the victory.   She just hoped that something had been learned by all else involved in the mock battle.  Even Eric The Red Fought off a charging Long Rider to seemingly defy her.  Angrily she stomped up to her tent only to come upon Eric.  Eric said nothing to her just nodded Grimly as he handed her a mug of the best ale available.  No dobt brewed by his Pygmy friends the whelp ale was just what she needed.  As she began to refuse him, Eric walked away not even allowing her to chance to refuse the ale.  Not willing to give him the victory she drank the contents of mug in one large group and aimed it at the back of his head... 

Bloody Baranabas vs Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls.

The old Gator versus the old Troll.

Having been around as much as he had Hoarluk didn't mind the muck and mud in the swamp they were traversing.  He had felt the lines of power and knew that an old Krielstone was nearby, every stone he found made him stronger for his revenge on the humans that had seemed to want nothing more than use his kin as labor animals in their farms and fodder in their wars.  He had with him the young Earthborn that Grim had been working with.  Hoarluk liked Grapeshot, well he liked all Dire Trolls, but Grapeshot was becoming dear to him.  It seemed that his Dire Trolls filled a need in his heart that no other Trollkin could imagine.  They were like his children, and this child was becoming special.

Barnabas didn't much like other species, in fact he could barely tolerate his own.  But when word came to him that a famous old Troll was sticking his nose around in one of his Swamps he just grinned.  While he didn't like others species much, he did quite enjoy removing their presence from his swamp.  Gathering a handful of a Gatormen and a few beasts he set off to have some sport with this foolish old Troll.

We have been doing a slow grow league that started with all unpainted models.  My choices were pretty limited since only a few of my casters and beasts were unpainted at the start of the league.  This week is the last week of 15 points before we move up to 25 and I got a few good games in.  Notably was the one against Barnabas last night.  I played against a good friend of mine and a very awesome player who has been regularly thumping me with his Cygnar over the last few years and has just started working me over with his Minions.