I took my Trollbloods on the road for a Steamroller event about an hour away. I was reasonably pleased with my progress with Trolls, and the event taught me a fair bit about my thoughts going forward in 2017 in terms of factions and painting progress.

Trollkin Runebearer. Yeah, I’m really proud of this guy. He turned out great. I think I worked out a really slick scheme for my Trolls, and this model brings all the bits together well. He also filled a need in the Steamroller pairings, as I definitely needed his support to make Jarl work more effectively. 

The Steamroller was a standard 3 rounds tournament, and a good 14 people were there for it. My pairing was a Jarl list that I’ve been working on using the Power of Dhunia theme list, and a Borka list that I wasn’t, and still am not, particularly happy with. I’ve included the Jarl list below:

War Room Army – Trollblood – Jarl has too many Upkeeps

Theme: The Power of Dhunia – 75 / 75 Army

Armory – Steamroller Objective

Jarl Skuld, Devil of the Thornwood – WB: +30
–    Trollkin Runebearer – PC: 0
–    Dire Troll Bomber – PC: 19 (Battlegroup Points Used: 19)
–    Dire Troll Blitzer – PC: 16 (Battlegroup Points Used: 11)
–    Dire Troll Blitzer – PC: 16
–    Dire Troll Mauler – PC: 15
–    Storm Troll – PC: 9
–    Troll Axer – PC: 10
–    Troll Bouncer – PC: 9
–    Troll Impaler – PC: 11
Janissa Stonetide – PC: 0
Troll Whelps – 5 Whelps: 0
Troll Whelps – 5 Whelps: 0

Jarl’s upkeeps are his main problem, and this helps minimize that problem by letting you start with upkeeps on models–normally it takes him two turns to cast all three if you want them. I like Quicken on Jarl himself, Weald Secrets on a Blitzer to go hunting through forests, and Tactical Supremacy on a Bomber for the ranged attack then retreat trick. So far I’ve been really pleased with the list.

I took the Borka1 list because I’ve been rather unhappy with non-ranged Trollbloods lists recently. I’ve enjoyed Hunters Grim, but them AND Jarl was not a good plan as a pairing. I got in a practice game shortly before the Steamroller with my buddy Ryan to test out a Grissel1 list that I liked.

The list was pretty heavy on the infantry, and while I did well and won the test game, I could tell that playing to a clock was not going to happen with this list without a lot more practice. Way too much toggling of buffs to make it work. 

That left me with a Jarl list that I really enjoy, but no melee pairing that I particularly liked. My Doomshaper2 army with five heavies is a fine list, but would have the same weaknesses as the Jarl list (all warbeasts). The Grissel1 list was too slow, Hunters Grim too much of the same offensively, and I haven’t gotten enough practice with Ragnor or Madrak2 to really feel comfortable setting them on the table. Thus, it was the old standby Borka1. He’s easy to play, so I took him for this tourney.

My first match was against Savage’s Feora3 list. It was fun playing a new warcaster, and Savage is a fun opponent. Tho I believe the last game he and I played was also with Borka1! Unable to project threat and deal with his Daughters in reasonable fashion (thanks to a whole lot of missing by the Trollkin Champions), it started to go downhill fast. He won by scenario, as Borka proved unassailable as always but just not supportive enough of his army in my opinion. Defense 16 Champions is great, to be sure, but it’s just too little and I couldn’t clear the jam effectively. I’ve heard people on podcasts thinking that Feora3’s feat turn isn’t that great, but man… Daughters with acrobatics can really get anything they want lit on fire during the feat turn. 

Second match was against Larry Jr’s Minions, led by Barnabas. Frustrated by Borka, I resolved to just play Jarl in the next two matches. This one was a pretty simple win for me, as Larry is a developing player–I got ahead on clock and scenario, and there’s not much you can do against that but feed units into the fast and accurate ranged list. A good game nonetheless. 

My third match is the one I’m most happy about, facing Sean’s Trollbloods and Gunnbjorn. It was a “my feat nullifies your shooting” battle of subsequent feats against two equally shooty armies. I got slightly ahead in points, so he went for the long range assassination on Jarl–and got so very, very close. Man, the War Wagon can hit shots from way downtown with Gunnbjorn! Jarl managed to live with two boxes left, then engineer his own ranged assassination of Gunnbjorn. It was a hard-fought game against a cagey opponent, so I’m pretty pleased with that result. 

All-in-all for the Steamroller I went 2-1. As always, I had a good time. I got to play a brand new opponent, give my Jarl list some real stress-testing, and just get into a somewhat different meta and check out what lists people are fielding.

That said, I have the distinct feeling that my Trollbloods will retreat to their Kriels for a much-deserved rest. I’ve played a whole lot of them this past 2016, and while I like them I’m feeling a bit constrained with some of the limitations of Trolls. It’s not that I mislike the faction, or I’m worried about power level, just that the variation in Troops choices is a bit underwhelming for the faction. I’ve still got my love for Jarl, but I’m inclined to test some other waters for my Hordes faction of 2017.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

32/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 8 (Win/Loss 5/3/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

 

Retribution of Scyrah:

1 Win (Tanith) / 2 Losses (Zaadesh2, Thyra)

Trollbloods:

4 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn) / 1 Loss (Feora3)

• Warmachine/Hordes