A bit behind on updates due to the Independence Day holiday, but that didn’t stop me from getting ample games in! Here’s the rundown of my games played with my Trollbloods… a whole heap of Gunnbjorn and Grissel2, with a few doses of Doomshaper2 and Madrak2 sprinkled in.

Painting these past two weeks put me at 374 total points so far for 2017–already exceeding my 365 point goal. Pretty good progress, given that we’re only in July. Trying to decide if 500 points for the year is the new goal, or the impressive double-rate of 728 points. Given that I’m both doing this Trollbloods campaign at Drawbridge and prepping my Convergence army to be two fully-painted and ready lists, I’ve got high hopes for the latter!

Anyhow, onward to painting! And the Sea King!

I love this model. His rules, well… less so. Still not sure what Warlock (if any) can make him functional. But I’m really pleased with how he turned out in the painting. 

Gunnbjorn is my current choice for helping the Sea King get work done. Snipe and a turn of ranged immunity helps a lot, as well as the wall to limit people reaching the big guy. 

I also completed a Swamp Gobber Chef, because I needed that clutch one-point option for forces. I’m not fielding enough infantry to ever make him all that useful. Guess he can simply cook up the whelps for eating by giving them double Comfort Food.

Got in a whole heap of games with my Trolls too, so ample photos to follow.

 Finally a game where my Burrowers contribute to a win! The first (and only time, as you’ll see below). Knocked down Paul’s Karchev and then the Burrowers finished him off. 

I next faced Joe, a new player to our area, fielding Baldur1. It was a slug-fest, but Doomshaper2’s speed let me get in better position for scenario and I won via that method. Fun game and glad to see new folks!

Did I mention how much I hate Haley1 ever? I’m certain I did. I faced Brandon’s Haley1 in the first-ever outing of the Sea King. Got assassinated by her, despite having pretty good leverage. I’ll put this down to Grim2 being just a little too aggressive. 

Gunnbjorn’s first outing with the Sea King also ended in a loss. The Sea King lived, everything else died in my game against Ryan’s trollbloods led by Calandra. 

More Troll-on-Troll violence when I played Mike G.’s Trollbloods. They are amazingly painted, so I had to include this great shot of his cavalry charging up toward my line. 

He fielded Horgle2, who is no joke with Mulg. My Sea King was undamaged, then got a bit too close to Mulg and a Bouncer. Horgle2’s feat plus them ended him with Fury to spare. It bought time for Gunnbjorn to win the game on scenario for me, but Horgle2 remains legit for damage output to be sure. 

Seeing Mulg in action makes me always want to field my own. My next game against Paul’s Khador, led by Kozlov, saw Mulg in full destruction mode with Doomshaper2. A bit of clobbering got me up there. Kozlov tried to retaliate, and Mulg finished him the next round. 

Next game was against Michael D’s gorgeous Circle Orboros force. I took Grissel2 against his Baldur2. It seems like I always end up with her into this matchup, even though she’s hardly ideal. And yet again, I managed to pull a win by assassination. Go go Grissel2!

Another game against Paul’s Khador (yay for summer and getting to play more often). This one was against Kozlov again, with me fielding Madrak2. Came up short even though my Champions did a number of one half of the table. Once the infantry is stripped of Madrak2 he gets way more fragile. 

Next up was a great game against Taylor’s Exulon Thexus-led Mercenaries. This one was a win by sheer dumb luck and then some kindness from my opponent. I left a dumb opening that was a pretty likely assassination. Thexus came up just shy of killing Gunnbjorn. I was able to recover and get him safer, and then took my own shot at assassination. Taylor is an experienced Trollbloods player, and gave me an order of activation suggestion that really helped me get it done (rather than coming up short). Really fun game with lots of twists and turns, and a great opponent.

Next game was against Dave B’s Legion, again his Absylonia2 list. Given that he wasn’t going to be fooled again by Doomshaper2, I took Gunnbjorn. It was probably not the best choice, but I had a couple fair moments of success before Abby2 was able to just get close enough to get a Scythean in on him and assassinate me. 

These were actually two games, both against Kyle’s Cryx using Skarre2. It was two games, because in our first Skarre2 stood too close to the objective during her Feat turn. All the defense in the world won’t save you from an AOE knockdown on a DEF model adjacent to you. She didn’t take damage from the blast, but it made subsequent shots into her an easy assassination. We re-racked and played the same lists again. This was a much closer battle, and I managed to win by scenario–Janissa’s heroics pushing models away from contesting are always welcome. Two great games!

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

374/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 85 (Win/Loss 60/25/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Trollbloods:

27 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn, Kaya2, Helynna, Stryker2, Craye, Venethrax, Kaya3, Absylonia2, Skarre1, Kallus2, Gaspy3, Karchev x2, Una2, Saeryn & Rhyas, Grayle, Baldur2, Baldur1, Horgle2, Kozlov, Exulon Thexus, Skarre2 x2) / 7 Losses (Feora3, Exulon Thexus, Caine3, Haley1, Calandra, Kozlov, Absylonia2)

Convergence of Cyriss:

9 Wins (Maddox, Haley2, Rask, Helynna, Makeda1, Gorten, Kaelyssa, Vayl2, Gaspy1) / 2 Losses (Venethrax, Helynna)

Protectorate of Menoth:

3 Wins (Kaelyssa, Magnus2, Skarre1) / 7 Losses (Makeda1, Deneghra1, Thyron, Kozlov, Kryssa, Fiona, Gaspy3)

Skorne:

8 Wins (Kaelyssa, Nemo3, Zaadesh2, Makeda1 x2, Kaya3, Grayle, MacBain) / 4 Losses (Makeda2, Venethrax, Grayle, Horgle2)

Retribution of Scyrah:

13 Wins (Tanith x2, Venethrax x2, Malekus, Gaspy1, Ragnor, Zaadesh2 x2, Grayle, Borka1, Makeda1, Strakov) / 5 Losses (Zaadesh2, Thyra, Xekaar, Tanith, Gaspy1)

So I recently won a Steamroller with my Trollbloods, and now just a couple of weeks later I managed to finish in Third Place in a 16-player Masters Trinity event.

For the event I worked hard to get everything painted up and completed. That meant finishing up a unit of Pyg Burrowers, as I think they could be good with Grissel2 (spoiler alert: they’re not). I also got a Swamp Gobber chef mostly painted, but he still needs touch-ups and so I’ll include him in a subsequent update. Despite him being a little rough, tho, I was completely painted with all three lists. I’ll attribute any success I had to the fact that I managed to field so many painted models.

They’re so cool looking, and they could be absurdly nasty for assassinations with her. But their Burrow is just ghastly slow. Both games I used them they never even had an opportunity to surface–and both were long games. 

For the Masters, it was a Trinity event so that meant three lists. And it was Divide and Conquer 1, which meant that I had to play each at least once (a harrowing proposition). I decided to go with my Doomshaper2 list that has been working very well, my Madrak2 anti-Ghost Fleet list (as I was anticipating up to three Ghost Fleets at the event… was wrong), and my Grissel2 list that I’m tinkering with.

The three lists and my results, along with my third place Bronze medal.

Round one was against Dave C’s Legion of Everblight led by the Twins. This was a brutal slug-fest of a game. A Champion on Feat turn missed both MAT 9 attacks on an infantry model, which meant I didn’t finish off one of his heavies with 2nd/berserk swings, which led to me having to play really defensively. Mercifully, the timed rounds imposed a deadline. Dave played the game in great fashion, and literally left me with just Madrak2 and a single knocked down Fennblade Officer far away–but he ended that turn with only 18 or so seconds on his clock. We agreed to work out his declarations of his turn on my clock, so he could get the most from his time. He charged the unprotected Madrak2 with a boosted attack roll by Rhyas. Hit and scored 13 damage, but not enough to kill him–and no Crit meant that Madrak2 survived as time ran out. One of the closest games I’ve ever played, against a great opponent. I’ll remember this game for a long while. I bet 3/4 of the times he would win the match, but I happened to get lucky. 

My second game was against Savage’s Circle Orboros force. I wanted to get my lists played to not be locked in a later round, which meant either Grissel2 or Doomy2. Given that he had Grayle, which would give Grissel2’s shooting list a really poor look, I had to choose Doomy2. I ended up facing Grayle, and taking him out with Rök’s usual pacman trickery. Grayle didn’t have Fury on him, so once Rök got there with Wild Aggression and Primal on him, it was over. 

Third round I played Larry IV and his Baldur2 Circle Orboros list. I forgot to take a photo of this game, so apologies for the substitute image above. The list was a Woldwrath, Megalith, another stone heavy, two of the stone shrimp, some stones, and a few support models. I knew that Grissel2 was a bad look into it, but I also knew that terrain could be my advantage–there was a big house blocking the path from the center zone to the flag on a Recon. I took a chance and played Grissel2, and it paid off. With the house and my strong shooting, I was able to misdirect and pull him to one side, then run her to to the flag on the other side and clear a few models. I had just enough stuff to clog the way each turn, which led to a scenario win for me. It wasn’t pretty, and I didn’t do more than 1-2 damage to Megalith or the Woldwrath thru the game. But it worked and got me to the final game undefeated. 

Game Four was against Larry III and his Caine3 Cygnar list. I wasn’t list-locked, so I knew I could play any of them. I might have been better to have chosen Madrak2, as he had even more shielded protection, but I went with Grissel2 as there wasn’t much to screen Caine3–and if I could get him knocked down at any moment it would be game over. It ended up being a pretty fun slugfest. He got the advantage on his Feat turn, but I still had ample to threaten him. I was able to take out all of his lights except for Ace, and cripple the right side of the Hurricane. Still not quite enough to push me thru, and there were two turns of some really bad looks for me. I played well enough for him to keep Caine3 away at least, so I’ll take that as a developing player. “First step: don’t lose to assassination on the Feat turn”. Done. Caster eventually dying in an attrition match, well… so be it. I’d prefer the win, but I’ll take this against one of the top players in our meta to be sure. Was a great game, as always with Larry III. He’s an exceptional player, and every game I face him I get better. 

All in all a great tournament. The folks at SCG Hobbies put on a good show, and there was great turnout. I was really proud of myself for doing so well, but I also recognize that I got very lucky in my games. A few seconds more in game one, a gap of more than an inch in game two, and just enough models to clog in game three were the difference between 3-1 and 0-4 for the day.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

321/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 73 (Win/Loss 52/21/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Trollbloods:

19 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn, Kaya2, Helynna, Stryker2, Craye, Venethrax, Kaya3, Absylonia2, Skarre1, Kallus2, Gaspy3, Karchev, Una2, Saeryn & Rhyas, Grayle, Baldur2) / 3 Losses (Feora3, Exulon Thexus, Caine3)

Protectorate of Menoth:

3 Wins (Kaelyssa, Magnus2, Skarre1) / 7 Losses (Makeda1, Deneghra1, Thyron, Kozlov, Kryssa, Fiona, Gaspy3)

Convergence of Cyriss:

9 Wins (Maddox, Haley2, Rask, Helynna, Makeda1, Gorten, Kaelyssa, Vayl2, Gaspy1) / 2 Losses (Venethrax, Helynna)

Skorne:

8 Wins (Kaelyssa, Nemo3, Zaadesh2, Makeda1 x2, Kaya3, Grayle, MacBain) / 4 Losses (Makeda2, Venethrax, Grayle, Horgle2)

Retribution of Scyrah:

13 Wins (Tanith x2, Venethrax x2, Malekus, Gaspy1, Ragnor, Zaadesh2 x2, Grayle, Borka1, Makeda1, Strakov) / 5 Losses (Zaadesh2, Thyra, Xekaar, Tanith, Gaspy1)

Another week of (lots of) games, and more progress and practice with my Trollbloods. It’s good, as our summer event at my main game store is a story game that is Trollblood-related, so having more completed is always good.

First up, painting progress: I spent a Friday night, all day Saturday, and about two hours on a Sunday morning just painting two Dire Trolls. Finished up Rök and a Dire Troll Bomber. It was a grueling painting session, but I wanted to be certain that I get everything finished for a big Masters Trinity event coming up in my area.

I’m really pleased with how they both turned out, Rök especially. He’s such a great model, with so much character to him. And the Bomber was fun, as I did a pose more like he is hurling one of the lit barrels of explosives. 

On the gaming side, this week was just five different games against a variety of opponents–some folks I face often, others who it was fun to face because we don’t get to play as frequently. For the first three, I was still working on getting some table time with my Doomshaper2 list that I’ve been working on. I’m hoping to see where his limitations and difficulties lay. The latter two, I took my Grissel2 list because I wanted to be more practiced with her list.

First up, a game with Doomshaper2 against Enrico’s beautifully-painted Kallus2. He played the match up very well. I got an edge by taking out his Beast Mistress with a long-distance trample by the Earthborn thru a woods. He bought a few attacks and killed her, which left Kallus2 down on points. He did ample damage (killing Rök and Mulg both), but finally was knocked down by a thrown Carnivean and killed. Was a great game, as both Enrico and Kallus2 were tough opponents. 

Second game with Doomshaper2 was against Ryan’s Gaspy3. Ryan is always a great opponent, and this was a match of the fast. Gaspy3’s Mobility and fast base SPD on jacks meant that we threatened each other at long range. I managed to get Mulg in first on his Kraken (it was go for it, or lose him because of the speed I was facing), but didn’t quite finish it off. However, Rök did a great job mulching the screening Satyxis Raiders and collapsing one side of the assault. Gaspy3 had to use his Kraken to try and kill Doomy2, but he came up just short. When he did, we called the game as Rök and the Earthborn were in place to roll in and kill Gaspy3. Fun game to be sure, but I definitely would play it different next time–making sure to save Mulg for cleanup and let the Earthborn or Mauler lead the way. 

Third game with Doomshaper2 was against Colton’s Khador, a heavy list led by Karchev. It turned into a huge slugfest. You can see in the picture above, it was just a jumble of heavies clobbering each other across a couple of rounds. I managed to get the lead when he counter-charged the Mauler with Behemoth. Able to take out Behemoth after he had just one attack in on my beasts rather than a full round made the difference. Colton had to use Karchev to try and regain ground. Unfortunately, I had just too much heft left and was able to finish him off. Great opponent in Colton as our games always seem to become crazy slugfests when we’re able to play. 

Swapped it up by switching to my Grissel2 list for additional games. I faced off against Larry’s Cephalyx list, helmed by Exulon Thexus. It was a rough battle, but I managed to keep the score close through scenario play. By reaching a spot where I could win unless he went for it, he went–and was able to use Thexus’ feat to line up a slam that took the Runebearer over Grissel2, leaving her prone and prey for one last Monstrosity (her defense 17 with Swarm would have been a tough one to get thru otherwise). I definitely knew to respect the feat, but it got hard to avoid it as the game drew on. Great game as I always have fun and learn a ton playing against Larry, and I definitely need to swap some elements of my Grissel2 list. 

Final game was against Rob’s Circle Orboros army, led by Una2. Full of Griffons, I knew that I needed to strike fast at Una2 if I could. Rob is one of the very best technical players in our greater meta, so if there was a way to engineer a kill on Grissel2 he’d find it. I had a huge dose of luck on my side in this match. Grissel was able to position to get a knockdown shot onto Una2 and heaped on the damage with her shooting. Then I got super lucky drifting templates onto her from the Bombers to kill her–amusingly even more lucky because a few Pygs that I could actually charge in died because I stupidly chose the Crescendo shot for my third shot. I managed to just get the kill on Una2, and it was totally dice luck rather than much skill to be sure. Rob was a great opponent, and I’m looking forward to facing his Circle again in a match where it’s much more skill vs skill than me getting absurdly lucky. 

All in all some good games. I need to tinker some with my Grissel2 list, and think up another list to pair with them for three list formats. But I’m feeling fairly pleased with how my Trollbloods are doing for me.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

313/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 69 (Win/Loss 49/20/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Trollbloods:

16 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn, Kaya2, Helynna, Stryker2, Craye, Venethrax, Kaya3, Absylonia2, Skarre1, Kallus2, Gaspy3, Karchev, Una2) / 2 Losses (Feora3, Exulon Thexus)

Protectorate of Menoth:

3 Wins (Kaelyssa, Magnus2, Skarre1) / 7 Losses (Makeda1, Deneghra1, Thyron, Kozlov, Kryssa, Fiona, Gaspy3)

Convergence of Cyriss:

9 Wins (Maddox, Haley2, Rask, Helynna, Makeda1, Gorten, Kaelyssa, Vayl2, Gaspy1) / 2 Losses (Venethrax, Helynna)

Skorne:

8 Wins (Kaelyssa, Nemo3, Zaadesh2, Makeda1 x2, Kaya3, Grayle, MacBain) / 4 Losses (Makeda2, Venethrax, Grayle, Horgle2)

Retribution of Scyrah:

13 Wins (Tanith x2, Venethrax x2, Malekus, Gaspy1, Ragnor, Zaadesh2 x2, Grayle, Borka1, Makeda1, Strakov) / 5 Losses (Zaadesh2, Thyra, Xekaar, Tanith, Gaspy1)

I recently took my Trollbloods force to a local Steamroller, and managed to win the event. I was really pleased with the success, as I have a fairly competitive meta here in the Western PA, Eastern OH, Northern WV area. I was lucky and faced one newer player, but still had to push through two tougher ones on my way to the win. It was a three round event, with strength of schedule as first tiebreak and control points second.

Here are the two lists that I brought. Certainly nothing absurdly special with them.

I’ve seen lots of variations in the Doomshaper2 list that are close–I like the Trollkin Warders personally, but others can vary on the sort of defensive package they give to the old man Troll. As for the Grissel2 list, I’m hardly sold on it as an approach. I tested it exactly once after painting her up, so it was much more theory than practice.

However, because the event had no Divide and Conquer restrictions, I simply ended up playing Doomshaper3 in all three matches. Only in the third match, against Skarre1, did I find myself thinking that maybe Grissel2 would have been better. But Doomy2 proved able to exploit my opponent’s moves well enough that I managed the win.

I took the Armory as my objective in both, as this list has some severe problems with incorporeal troops–and we have a player who frequents the locale of this store who had been prepping games with a many-incorporeals Ghost Fleet list recently. Being able to hand out magic weapon didn’t come up in any of my games, but it would have been handy if I needed it.

Game One was against Larry IV’s Circle Orboros list, helmed by Kaya3. His other list was Kromac2, and I recognized that both had enough meat and enough transfers to likely survive Grissel2 assassination attempts. So Doomy2 it was. Kaya3 took an aggressive stance with her beasts and stones, which would be a good plan against many forces–but Doomshaper2 can get his Warbeasts WAY further than people expect. Mulg was able to crash up into his Warbeasts and take one out and a stone. Rok came up on the other side and mulched a full unit of Skinwalkers, leaving his force in a vice between them–with two other heavies trailing. He was unable to clear either Mulg or Rok, and that meant that they slowly caved in the sides and ended up taking out Kaya3. 

Second game was against Dave’s Oracles theme list led by Absylonia2. I had never played Dave before, so it was great to meet a new player–and he’s an amazingly interesting guy. Looking at his options, again there was no way that Grissel2 could get the assassination done. Plus, Doomshaper2 has good ways to make warbeast-heavy lists have to play conservatively. So it was Doomy2 again. Thanks to Doomy’s Agitation, I was able to get the game to the point where Absylonia2 felt she needed to go for objective. That meant I could take a shot at killing her. I took two free strikes (from a Neraph and a Nyss Sorceress on Hellion) on Mulg, but had pre-placed a whelp just in case adjacent to his landing zone. I got lucky with the damage done to him, and he was able to reach Abby2 on Feat turn–and Mulg was able to finish her off. Dave was a great opponent, and I felt like I managed to eke out a lucky win against him. Next time I definitely will not be that lucky. (note that I forgot to take a picture with Mulg standing there before I packed up, so the above shot is just Dave’s great-painted Abby2 and company). 

My third game was against Ian’s Cryx force. I last played Ian in a tournament at the end of Mark II, also facing Skarre1 then (that time I was fielding my Cryx). It was fun to revisit our old clash. As I said above, I thought about Grissel2 as I would have on-paper liked her into this list more. But the threat of Gaspy3 as his other list led me to think that I’d need the caster who could power thru a Gaspy3 Feat turn on damage if I needed to. He ended up dropping Skarre1, so the battle was on. I got lucky in the way that he spaced his jam unit, allowing Rok to just start chain-killing them right down the line. He then counter-charged his two Seethers into Rok. A spawned whelp from the damage let me repair the branch that I lost from their attack, and go right into killing the pair of Seethers and even getting up to damage Deathjack. More importantly, though, the counter charge left a straight path for Mulg to reach Skarre1. Again, the distance the “slow” Trolls can get on Feat turn can really surprise opponents. Mulg finished it off with ease, and that left me in the top spot for the tourney. 

Overall I had a really fun time with the tourney, but I’m going to take it for what it is. Doomy2 definitely is a “fool me once” kind of Warlock. Once people know how he runs and what he can do, they can better space and obstruct and really limit his game. I’m definitely inclined to keep fielding him, but I recognize I’ve got to get to the point where my other lists are able to do heavy lifting too. That said, it was good to get a tournament win and I’m looking forward to testing my Trollbloods mettle in the future.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

273/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 64 (Win/Loss 45/19/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Trollbloods:

12 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn, Kaya2, Helynna, Stryker2, Craye, Venethrax, Kaya3, Absylonia2, Skarre1) / 1 Loss (Feora3)

Protectorate of Menoth:

3 Wins (Kaelyssa, Magnus2, Skarre1) / 7 Losses (Makeda1, Deneghra1, Thyron, Kozlov, Kryssa, Fiona, Gaspy3)

Convergence of Cyriss:

9 Wins (Maddox, Haley2, Rask, Helynna, Makeda1, Gorten, Kaelyssa, Vayl2, Gaspy1) / 2 Losses (Venethrax, Helynna)

Skorne:

8 Wins (Kaelyssa, Nemo3, Zaadesh2, Makeda1 x2, Kaya3, Grayle, MacBain) / 4 Losses (Makeda2, Venethrax, Grayle, Horgle2)

Retribution of Scyrah:

13 Wins (Tanith x2, Venethrax x2, Malekus, Gaspy1, Ragnor, Zaadesh2 x2, Grayle, Borka1, Makeda1, Strakov) / 5 Losses (Zaadesh2, Thyra, Xekaar, Tanith, Gaspy1)

Campaign Rules

The March of the Kriels is an open event that will run at Drawbridge Games during Summer 2017 until it is completed (estimated 12 weeks). The campaign fits with the current Privateer Press fluff, focusing on a mass exodus of the more major Trollbloods Kriels moving southward to Tolok Fortress in the Jungles of Alchiere. The campaign is designed for people to play different points levels but still participate, whether one game or many.

The goal is simple: to see which Trollbloods Kriel arrives at the Fortress first. We’ll be tracking the progress of each Kriel–as represented by their leader Warlock–as they make the journey through the various environs in the massive exodus. Trollbloods players will be able to progress their forces as they choose by playing and winning games. Opposition players will be able to prevent progress by continuing to foil the Trollbloods advance.

The campaign map will be a 12-foot long banner that gets hung at Drawbridge, which will feature each of the 12 steps along the way. As Trollbloods win games, they will move one space. If they lose on scenario, they stay put, and a loss by assassination moves them back a space. Think the Mountain Climber game from the Price is Right for the feel of how this will go. Each Thursday at 10pm the results will be tallied, and the markers moved.

The first part of the Journey features some treacherous mountains and hills punctuated by enemy strongholds. 

The second part of the Journey starts pleasant enough, but soon sees the Trollbloods winding their way through the Bloodstone Desert. 

The third part of the Journey sees the Trollbloods cross into Alchiere, and finally reach Tolok Fortress. 

This is a great opportunity to start up a Trollbloods army if you haven’t, or play against one of our Trollbloods players. A few forces can also ally with a Troll Kriel if they choose: Khador and Mercenaries can choose to have their games contribute to the Trollbloods’ cause. However, given that these are allies not the Kriels themselves, it takes two declared “ally wins” to move a given Warlock’s Kriel one step forward on the map. And all the other forces, plus these if they’re feeling belligerent, get to strive to slow the Trolls by defeating their forces along the way of the journey.

While most of the Trollbloods Kriels are making the journey in the fluff, a couple of Warlocks are notably absent from the progress (Borka and Horgle). Thus, we’ll be tracking the advances of only those Warlocks who are on the path.

Participating Kriels: Calandra, Grim, Grissel, Doomshaper, Gunnbjorn, Madrak, Jarl, and Ragnor. (Note: it was unclear if Ragnor or Jarl were actually on the path in the fluff, but to allow more options, particularly to new Trollbloods players, we figured we’d let players field them)

We’re hoping that the fun of telling the story will be a big part of why people participate in this mad race for the end. Trollbloods players (or people starting Trollbloods) can jockey for their preferred Warlock’s success. Meanwhile, everyone can play spoiler and obstacle. The campaign will kick off on June 8th with a quick IKRPG scenario that sets up the events, followed by the inaugural games.

However, we also know that campaign rewards are a great way to get games moving–so check the section below for the great prizes that Drawbridge is making available to players.

Campaign Rewards

There will be an entry fee for the Campaign of $10 to cover the production costs for the map and combine with the prize support generously offered by Drawbridge games to enable the following rewards. As always, players do need to be Gatecrasher members.

Adversary incentives: We wanted to make sure that there were ample opponents for the Trollbloods players to face. Thus, participating players can rack up “Adversary” points. They accumulate with a point per game played against a Trollbloods player (25 points or more), or 1/2 a point for a Battle Box game (0 points). At 10 points, the player wins a new Warcaster or Warlock. Upon entering the league, the player will list what Warcasters or Warlocks they have for their adversary force–when they hit 10 points, they’ll receive a free surprise Warcaster or Warlock that they don’t yet have for that force. At 16 points, the player will receive an additional surprise Privateer Press official item that matches their preferred Adversary force. We’re estimating the campaign pace as more than 10 weeks, so even players who only get in a single game per week can still make the initial mark. Finally, adversary struggles and success will be featured in the campaign reporting as the story of the journey gets told.

Trollbloods players incentives: Just like adversary points, players can rack up “Kriel” points. They accumulate at the same rate, and yield the same rewards. Thus, a really ambitious player can get themselves a Troll Warlock and one other Warcaster/Warlock for the adversary force that they fielded! Trollbloods players also will receive the free surprise official Privateer Press item we’re arranging to mark their participation in the event. And finally, the progress of the Trollbloods players will be tracked and reported, with a feature on each Trollbloods player and their progress.

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)