In this final blog post on the WTC I wanna have a closer look at some of the Trollbloods lists I saw at the WTC. Here they come in no particular order.
Quentin Recour (Team France Blanche)
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the GnarlsFor his pDoomshaper list we almost have the Runes of War tier list, but then he adds Fennblades instead of Rune Shapers to the mix. Why he does that I am not sure except for the obvious benefits that Fennblades bring.
Mulg the Ancient
Earthborn Dire Troll
Pyre Troll
Trollkin Runebearer
Trollkin Fennblades Max
Fennblade Officer and Drummer
Trollkin Runeshapers
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes Min
Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Janissa Stonetide
Fell Caller Hero
Stone Scribe Chronicler
Troll Whelps
Hunters Grim
Dire Troll Bomber
Earthborn Dire Troll
Troll Impaler
Trollkin Runebearer
Trollkin Scattergunners Max
Trollkin Scattergunner Officer and Drummer
Pyg Burrowers Max
Sons of Bragg
Fell Caller Hero
Stone Scribe Chronicler
What I find intriguing in his eGrim list that it hardly has any CC capacities - it only has the Fell Caller and the Sons of Bragg for that purpose. I assume he is using the Scattergunners to hold zones.
Game 1 (vs. Epic Sweden): Borka vs. eVlad - loss
So two times out of five he played eGrim, won once and lost once - this calls for more playtesting. :-) In a follow up conversation via e-mail Aat was also so nice to take his time to explain the mechanism behind this list to me. Basically, he told me that you should not be too afraid of seeing eGrim die. Of course you don't want him to die, but eGrim needs LOS and a certain proximity to enemy models to be effective. If you hold him back too much, he won't to any good. Double Bombers and Burrowers on feat turn are simply scary, especially if they also stand and shoot. Fennblades are basically just used to harass the enemy in a not so important flank, together with the Fell caller they form an autonomous module that can handle anything you don't want to waste your main force on.
Aat Niehot (Team Netherlands)
Borka Kegslayer: Family Reunion Tier 4Aat told me after his game against Botond that he thinks about giving up the Family Reunion list again because he thinks it's too slow. Well, obviously it has its advantages and deficits. I like his list except I'd like to bring Rök for fluff (and heavy hitting) reasons, but I find it really hard to clock that in right at 50pts.
Dire Troll Mauler
Slag Troll
Greygore Boomhowler and Co. Max
Trollkin Champions Min
Skaldi Bonehammer
Trollkin Champions Min
Trollkin Champions Min
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes Max
Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Trollkin Champion Hero
Trollkin Champion Hero
Stone Scribe Chronicler
Hunter Grim
Dire Troll Bomber
Dire Troll Bomber
Troll Impaler
Trollkin Fennblades Max
Fennblade Officer and Drummer
Pyg Burrowers Max
Sons of Bragg
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes Min
Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Fell Caller Hero
Very interesting, however, is Aat's eGrim list with the double Bomber, something I am thinking about ever since I started to play pGrim. Many told me double Bombers are a waste of points. You know you should always trust the forums, right? Here is Aat's scoring:
Game 1 (vs. Epic Sweden): Borka vs. eVlad - loss
Game 2 (vs. Switzerland): eGrim vs. eVayl - victory
(as I wrote here, eGrim even survived eVayl's assassination run)
Game 3 (vs. Scotland): Borka vs. pButcher - victory
Game 4 (vs. Team Austria White): eGrim vs. Thagrosh - loss
Game 5 (vs. Team Finnland Blue): Borka vs. Ossyan - victory
(as I wrote here, eGrim even survived eVayl's assassination run)
Game 3 (vs. Scotland): Borka vs. pButcher - victory
Game 4 (vs. Team Austria White): eGrim vs. Thagrosh - loss
Game 5 (vs. Team Finnland Blue): Borka vs. Ossyan - victory
So two times out of five he played eGrim, won once and lost once - this calls for more playtesting. :-) In a follow up conversation via e-mail Aat was also so nice to take his time to explain the mechanism behind this list to me. Basically, he told me that you should not be too afraid of seeing eGrim die. Of course you don't want him to die, but eGrim needs LOS and a certain proximity to enemy models to be effective. If you hold him back too much, he won't to any good. Double Bombers and Burrowers on feat turn are simply scary, especially if they also stand and shoot. Fennblades are basically just used to harass the enemy in a not so important flank, together with the Fell caller they form an autonomous module that can handle anything you don't want to waste your main force on.
+Sövényházi Loránd (Team Hungary)
Hoarluk Doomshaper: Runes of War Tier 4
Mulg the Ancient
Earthborn Dire Troll
Dire Troll Mauler
Troll Axer
Pyre TrollTrollkin Runeshapers
Trollkin Runeshapers
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes Min
Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Janissa Stonetide
Troll Whelps
Hunters GrimHere we have another pDoomshaper T4 with eGrim combo - we start to see a pattern, don't we? Obviously, pDoomshaper is for heavy hitting and anti-magic, eGrim is for all anti-infantry matchups. Loránd has set up his eGrim list mostly with units that toally benefit from eGrim's feat, Scattergunners being the only exception where they benefits of the +2 to hit roll, but not of the +4" RNG.
Dire Troll Bomber
Dire Troll Blitzer
Troll Impaler
Pyre Troll
Trollkin Runebearer
Trollkin Scattergunners Min
Trollkin Scattergunner Officer and Drummer
Trollkin Scouts
Pyg Burrowers Max
Fell Caller Hero
Troll Whelps
Stuart Gorman (Team Ireland)
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls: Runes of War Tier 4
Mulg the Ancient
Earthborn Dire Troll
Dire Troll Mauler
Troll AxerTrollkin Runeshapers
Trollkin Runeshapers
Trollkin Runeshapers
Trollkin Runeshapers
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes Max
Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Janissa Stonetide
Madrak Ironhide, World EnderStuart is doing something really interesting here. He starts out with pDoomshaper T4 like it's fashionable these days, but then instead of switching over to eGrim he has his ranged weapons run together with eMadrak. His key to success is here to boost the Burrowers in CC with the Fell Caller and eMadrak's Blood Fury spell - after that, warbeasts and warjacks melt like snow in the sun.
Storm Troll
Swamp Troll
Trollkin Runebearer
Trollkin Fennblades Max
Trollkin Fennblade Officer and Drummer
Trollkin Fennblades Max
Trollkin Scattergunners Min
Trollkin Scattergunner Officer and Drummer
Pyg Burrowers Max
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes Max
Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Fell Caller Hero
Fell Caller Hero
Victor Pendrake
Chad Shonkwiler (Team USA Red)
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia
Mulg the Ancient
Earthborn Dire Troll
Dire Troll Bomber
Troll Axer
Pyre Troll
Trollkin Runebearer
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes Max
Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Janissa Stonetide
Troll Whelps
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew
Madrak Ironhide, World Ender
Dire Troll Bomber
Troll Impaler
Trollkin RunebearerTrollkin Fennblades Max
Trollkin Fennblade Officer and Drummer
Trollkin Scattergunners Max
Trollkin Scattergunner Officer and Drummer
Pyg Burrowers Max
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes Min
Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Fell Caller Hero
Gatorman Witch Doctor
Victor Pendrake
What we observe here is Chad playing a very balanced eDoosmhaper list that is tooled against a variety of threats by including the Bomber and the Pyre Troll, yet it has still a strong focus on heavy hitting.
As in the Irish example, however, Chad also brings his focused ranged and anti-infantry support to bear with eMadrak instead of eGrim. His focus is a little bit different, but the mechanics are essentially the same.
As in the Irish example, however, Chad also brings his focused ranged and anti-infantry support to bear with eMadrak instead of eGrim. His focus is a little bit different, but the mechanics are essentially the same.
Daniel Pawelka (Team Austria White)
Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood
Dire Troll Bomber
Dire Troll Bomber
Troll Impaler
Slag Troll
Trollkin Runebearer
Cylena Raefyll and Nyss Hunters Max
Pyg Burrowers Min
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes Min
Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Witch Doc
Feralgeist
From Daniel I am showing only one of his two lists which got famous because Calandra, one of the warlocks one rarely sees (at least around here), went 6-0 at the WTC. Could Calandra be an excellent Dark Horse? Could her performance at the WTC even start a new trend? Time will tell, but one thing is for sure: she's less complex to play than eGrim, so I currently consider making her my second list to pDoomshaper rather than eGrim. With Fury 7 she has a comfortable Control Range and her spells and feat simply improve your dice rolls no matter what models you run with her - and she only needs LOS to her own models, it all takes out a lot of complexity. Obviously, mastering her list takes time to learn, too, but I feel it's quicker to master.
Calandra's battle group & Burrowers obviously are a strong firebase, especially on feat turn, whereas starcrossed Nyss Hunters will be hard to break through. The Witch Doctor helps against Cryx matchups and keeps the Burrowers from running, the Feralgeist is there for grabbing scenario points. This list has high firepower and serves as an excellent to pDoomshaper's Runes of War list while being less complex to play than eGrim. Sure, eGrim offers some nifty stuff in addition, but remembering Mirage and Reform plus always having him at that sweet spot where he can do a lot of stuff without being exposed too much is much harder to pull off.
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