How to Troll From a Distance (aka Troll Shootin'), Part the Third

So, the first two parts of this were simply intended as a run-down to mention the more common elements of the Troll ranged game.  This will likely be changing soon - Trollblood Bandits (Highwaymen?) have already been spoiled in pictures, but stats are unknown.  Additionally, there are models like the Battle Engine and the Fell Caller Hero I didn't discuss intensively, but definitely deserve mention.

For this part, though, I'm going to talk about building a ranged game into a Troll list.  In general, most lists I've seen (and probably most many players have seen) from Trolls bring in a ranged element, but play for a combined arms approach.  For example, an eMadrak list I have run in the past featured the core units of Burrowers, Warders, and Fennblades, but with ranged beast support in the Bomber and Impaler, and an interesting twist in the form of Viktor Pendrake, who particularly supported the Burrowers well.  This stemmed from a difficulty in facing Saeryn particularly, and by putting Pendrake in, the Burrowers could still shoot somewhat reliably at Legion beasts, and on a feat turn could potentially remove 2 Angelii from the board with support.

Other combined arms lists have been built using Scattergunners in combination with units like the Fennblades.  A jamming/screening unit backed up by Scattergunners can quickly turn a fight, as Scattergunners (with UA) can clear enemies that are jamming the front lines, freeing them to dig deeper.  The Nyss are also common in combined arms lists, particularly given their utility in both ranged and melee combat.  At range, they can easily remove enemy infantry quickly, but if necessary their pow 9 weaponmaster swords still remove most single wound infantry, particularly on the charge, or remove a chunk from a beast.

Recently, I've seen more ranged lists from Trolls that have been highly successful.  Jason Flanzer was highly successful with a Grim Angus list with a large amount of ranged damage, using shooting warbeasts with high value shots and sprays in combination with Grim's ability to slow down the opposing army on the way in.  I would highly recommend watching this game to see his list, and how he was able to use a combination of powerful denial abilities to augment his ranged shooting.

Clifton Cline ran an interesting list (here) at Adepticon that performed very well, going 2-2 in Masters and surprising a number of opponents.  He describes in a later post that he was using a hard skew to attempt to destroy "one big thing and lots of little things" per turn.  His list is really a fairly technical list - he's using it very precisely with a lot of tools that answer specific problems that Trolls may face, and the list does it very effectively.

There are a number of Troll players who have experimented with a Calandra list with Double Bombers and Impaler that has gotten some attention as well.  It runs a Runebearer and Bone Grinders with Calandra, and while it can attrition, its primary goal is to get a Calandra angle on a caster and put a Force Blow on him, knock him on the ground, and then chuck 4 Bomber shots with Calandra's feat to reroll 1's and 2's at the knocked down caster.  Frequently, 2 shots are enough to end the game.

One of the biggest questions I tried to think about when writing this blog is why do these lists work?  Primarily, they work because there is some core mechanic of each caster that augments our ranged game.  Grim1 offers protection to ranged units that can prevent them from being jammed, allowing them to get enough shots to be effective, as well as more accurate shooting.  Grim2 enhances ranged productivity through increased range on shots and better accuracy, as well as potentially harder hitting power (Mortality), but at the cost of the denial aspect.  Calandra particularly can enhance accuracy, while Star Crossed offers some protection, although not in the same way as Grim1's denial.

Grim1 is one of my favorite casters for this, and it's because of 2 separate pieces: his feat, and his ability to deal with Stealth/Incorporeal himself.  Marked for Death can allow our shooting units to hit targets they typically couldn't, which negates two of Trolls biggest problems.  Trolls at range frequently struggle against these two traits, as we have few magic guns and only the Grim's get around Stealth without a Krielstone at range.  Scattergunners can help solve the Stealth problem, but Incorporeal can be more difficult.

In building a ranged game with Trolls, some of these difficulties are very important to note and remember.  We don't have magic guns ala the Arcane Tempest, nor a light cav unit such as the Greylord spray guys (although this is magic).  We're not working from an inherently horribly handicapped spots, since we do have the Stone and Runeshapers, but these are weaknesses to remember.

In general, Trolls are going to approach their ranged game in a combined arms faction; they're still going to put some axe into some face, in general.  Using Fennblades or Warders to screen and then Scattergunners or Bushwhackers to clear is a fairly effective tactic since the Scattergunners are really a very good unit for letting our front line guys dig deeper into enemy lines.  Additionally, pure gunlines often suffer difficulties in dealing with melee combat once they're stuck in.  Holding a scenario point can get increasingly difficult with more engagement.

However, if a player is interested in building a true Troll gunline, those are some pieces to keep in mind.  It could probably work - maybe using Scattergunners as a front line unit/screen, since they can clear their own guys off with sprays, with something like Bushwhackers in behind and ranged beasts supporting.  The Scattergunners would take the brunt of the "melee" role in this case, but it has potential to work, particularly with CMA and Quick Work.  Jarl might also be able to make something along these lines work with his clouds; a well timed feat could protect his army enough that, while some lines will be jammed, he might be able to work an extra round of firing in.

Personally, I'm building more and more combined arms into my list, rather than gunline, so I admit to favoring that position.  I feel it's well-rounded and a little stronger.  However, with all Troll ranged shooting, be aware that there are specific traits that you should be looking to gain from our units/beasts.  Our ranged pieces tend to be a little more focused and specific, and if you're adding the ranged pieces in, be aware of what function you would like them to serve.  That goes both in list building, and in the changing table as the game progresses. 

How to Troll From a Distance (aka Troll Shootin'), Part the Second

In Part 1 I talked some about the warlocks that can aid a Troll shooting game.  I'm shooting for brevity here because honestly, most of the stats speak for themselves; you can look and see what our beasts do, and this is primarily a review.  The next post will be more actual thinking over review of our options.  I'm passing on the Solos and Battle Engine, because

Warbeasts
Troll Impaler: I was going to cover the heavies first, but I can't without mentioning this guy.  People know him, both love and hate him - but he really makes our ranged game work.  Far Strike is crucial to our best shots, and he has a great crit on his shot.  Seriously - you can't look at ranged Troll game without this guy.


Dire Troll Bomber: Yes please.  Arguably our best ranged heavy (to this point - Dozer and Smiggs may change that), with a great AE size, great pow, average RAT.  This big boy can lay a good hurting from range to soften up before pillowfisting in melee.  Beware the RAT, though; that's the constant downfall of all these ranged beasts.

Dire Troll Blitzer: So neat, so...  Inconsistent.  Great animus in Repulse, really interesting mechanic in the gun on the back, but d3 shots is really kind of a pain, especially at RAT 5.  Some Warlocks can really turn him on, and I honestly don't think he's bad, just hard to use truly efficiently.  The casters that CAN use him, however, are money with him.

Pyre/Slag Troll: These two fill a similar roll in their damage animi, but different in output.  The Pyre is nice for getting that little AE tucked in, especially on clumped guys, but his output is mediocre.  The Slag troll, against Warmachine, can be monstrous very quickly, and with a little help, on POW 13 fists, he honestly gets to a solid hitting stat for a light quickly.

Storm Troll: Once reviled, now beloved.  This guy came in and people complained that he filled a roll Trolls already had (killing low ARM guys without bounces), but then the realization of how much more killing models could get done without exposing other models to harm, and how nice it is to bounce electric shots into models you can't hit otherwise.  This guy is always on standby for me.  Solid animus, and great for getting electroleaps into pesky support models.

Winter Troll: Oh, the potential.  RAT 4 kinda makes him rough, but he's got a place; the animus is a little lacking, though.  However, boostable RAT 4 can work with the right support - see Grim Angus or Hunters Grim - for clearing some swarms, and his animus can be great for clearing the jam by rendering models stationary.  Also, you can paint him to look like the Macho Man Randy Savage.

Swamp Troll: Now this is an interesting little piece.  I like him, although I only use him infrequently, because he has a really nifty crit effect, Drag can be really sweet, and his animus can actually be really kinda stupid good for pushing DEF values around.  He's a situational piece - but one that I really think has some neat uses that shouldn't be overlooked.

 Units
Burrowers: Surprisingly useful with the right support shooting.  Not a dedicated shooting unit, but POW 14's hit hard if you can land them.  Look at support from Grim or Viktor Pendrake particularly.  Calandra does a lot for these guys, too.

Bushwhackers: These guys get crapped on HARD, but I'm coming to love them.  They're too annoying to ignore, but not worth dedicating too much points too without going overboard.  RNG 14 CRA is a thing, and these guys can take out key front line pieces or support models shockingly well.  When you start getting Fennblades or Kriel Warriors into the enemy, they really start shining because the opponent is now kinda stuck trying to figure out what to do about them, but not able to react very well.

Scattergunners: With the UA, freaking sweet.  Only RAT 5, but high volume of attacks, and great for clearing jams if you can bump RAT with aiming or abilities like a Grim feat.  These guys have a lot of good places in armies.

Thumper: Never played it, unfortunately.  Decent range shot, OK RAT, Momentum is cool... But no mobility is really tough to get around.

Sluggers: Never played them, mostly because they suffer from the Thumper problem to me of lacking mobility.  Standing in place to get D3 really kinda stings.  They're solid enough shots, but kinda lacking in staying power, and very jammable.

Minions:
Alten Ashley:  Big ass honking gun, great for damage to warbeasts, or for solo removal.  Not much to say about him - he's fairly self explanatory.  Can benefit from Far Strike, though, which is kinda hot.

Dahlia and Skarath: Really, this is Skarath.  Dahlia brings her own benefits, but Skarath is the shooting here.  Boostable SP 10 with Corrosion is really pretty nice; it's great for supporting armies that have trouble dealing with low-mid DEF, high armor, or against Stealth models like Bane Thralls.  However, Scattergunners may be better, unless you're specifically wanting what Dahlia and Skarath bring to the fight, in particular Dahlia's denial.

Nyss Hunters: Yummy.  CRA, RNG 12, and they switch to melee well.  Very nice.  There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said.

Farrow Brigands: I was just theorycrafting these guys to figure out what I wanna say... And I think Trolls can use them, actually.  I think someone like Grim Angus (see a trend here?  RAT fixer extraordinaire!) or Calandra could work with them.  The prayers give them versatility, and they're at least moderately cheap, plus POW 12 ranged shots more reliably kill ARM 15-16 models (Bane Knights) better than POW 10 shots.  The catch is they're a little pricey when we have in-faction options, and the shooting range is only OK.  Not inherently huge, but interesting all the same.

How to Troll From a Distance (aka Troll Shootin'), Part the First

This post is written by request of a fellow Gunbunnies Troll player, who was interested in seeing what we can bring in the ranged department.  Honestly, Trolls are not generally perceived as having an "intimidating" ranged game; as it's commonly put, we apply axe to face.  And honestly, our most popular units are entirely based that way; they're intended to find a variety of ways to put a sword or axe in someones skull.  Adding a new nasal passage from range is not generally thought of as a Troll strength.

This is somewhat at odds with our last caster release in the Hunters Grim, whose feat seems to call for a better ranged game in the form of Mark the Target + Snipe.  This seems to cater to a higher number of guns, and has resulted in a bit of rethinking on my part of the way I treat Trolls shooting.  This has coincided with excellent success with a mixed arms Hunters Grim list for myself, so this feels even more of a good time to do this.

This is going to be divided up by necessity; I want to approach this with a breakdown of a few different options.  I'm going to focus on our warlocks and a brief synopsis of what they bring to the table firsts.  In the second part, I'll get into unit and beast use, and in the third I'll either do some theorycrafting of blending the casters, beasts, and units, or I'll do some listbuilding theory.  Maybe a bit of both.  This may be altered along the way; I've plotted out how I want to write this, but it may change along the way.

Warlocks
Grim Angus: One of our most obvious options for a ranged game, Grim brings an excellent pair of options to the table: he brings DEF lowering and SPD reduction, particularly on his feat turn.  In consideration of the frequently lackluster nature of Troll RAT values, this is invaluable.  Additionally, if you run a heavy ranged game, slowing the opponent down on the way in is an excellent way to ensure a second volley, which can be enough to get you an early attrition advantage.

Hunters Grim: One of our other most obvious options for the ranged game.  His feat is interesting, although it can be somewhat difficult to pull off optimally, but Mortality is a game changer for our heavy hitters.  Mirage can disengage your shooters to allow another round if you need it, additionally.

Captain Gunnbjorn: Gunny clearly brings a ranged game, but not without controversy; there is debate as to the merit of Guided Fire, and whether it's a trap.  However, he brings a non-animus Snipe, a portable Rock Wall, and a really nice crit on his Bazooka.  Guided Fire, ideally, can really turn on our ranged beasts by aiding in their sub-par RAT values without the need to force, which is excellent with multi-shot beasts.

Calandra Truthsayer: Calandra is, perhaps, a little surprising to be on this list, but actually can run a very interesting ranged game.  Her ability to reroll attack or damage rolls is very helpful for countering poor dice, and her spell Force Blow can bring someone to their knees when you want near-guaranteed hits.  Star Crossed doesn't help offensively, but can keep pieces on the board, while her feat is just ice on the dicing cake.

Honorable Mentions:
Madrak Ironhide, World Ender: Madrak doesn't do much for our ranged game, but I wanted to mention a really nice piece he does bring: his feat.  Madrak particularly can work well with shots that hit multiple models such as sprays; what he lacks in improving RAT, he can make up for in sheer volume sometimes.

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls: Doomy's original incarnation doesn't bring much, but Fortune can be a great piece.  This works similarly to Madrak in some ways, but instead of extra attacks you can reroll the ones you missed.  This doesn't help fix RAT, but on volume of rolls, you usually get some spikes.

Deceptive Warlock:
Jarl Skuld: This is not to say Jarl cannot play a ranged game - I actually favor one with him.  However, Jarl is not inherently what I would call a "ranged list" caster.  He doesn't fix RAT values, and doesn't provide extra boosts.  However, he does provide speed, movement, and repositioning, which can be vital for keeping your ranged pieces far enough back to continue their shooting.  I'm not discouraging shooting with Jarl, but I want to mention that the assumption that just because he has a pair of nice guns and magic bullet, it doesn't mean you should assume he's instantly a ranged caster.

So, next post will feature beast breakdown, probably unit and solos as well (those are fairly quick).  This might expand to a fourth post, actually, to fit in Minions, since a few options should be mentioned.