Rule 1 - Proxy/playtest until I find a 35pt list to build up to
Rule 2 - Buy 1 box (model/unit) from the list at a time
Rule 3 - Paint every model before acquiring another.
Rule 4 - Once at 35pts, make a 50pt list to build up to
On that note, I've been toying around with a few 35pt lists to start the process with. Here's the first:
35pts:
Hoarluk Doomshaper ("pDoomy") (*7pts)
* Slag Troll (6pts)* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
I played a game against pGrexy's Mordikaar list, and let me tell you - it went badly. It was difficult adjusting to the scarcity of pathfinder compared with my usual Circle (or even Khador!) lists, and a not-so-narrow terrain corridor turned into a hopeless bottleneck as my medium based models vied for position and charge lanes against his swordsman and Cetrati line. Things I've learned from his experience:
1. The list above has too much support - between the KSB and stone scribes blocking my Warlocks movement, the Fell Caller not being able to maneuver well to help the Fennblades, and the Slag/Impaler clogging my back lanes, I was fighting my own placement as much as the enemy.
2. That said, the Fennblades took quite a bit to take down, and performed well in a seriously disadvantageous position (Mordikaar's DEF boosting abilities on Cetrati and Praetorians are downright annoying). They're definitely a keeper.
3. I need to be more aggressive with my light beasts; with Circle, my lights were by and large weak shooty/primarily support models, whereas the Troll light beasts I like have great support abilities but back that up with very good melee (Axer, Slag) or ranged (Impaler) abilities.
4. pDoomshaper seems like an alright Warlock, but it's going to take a bit more time to get used to his playstyle. The biggest issues are his non cohesive spell list (2 upkeeps... and a spell that removes both of them? Yea, that's not annoying) and the feat is good but can be a bit hit-or-miss -- great at seriously blunting the charge or retaliations of beasts/jacks, but overall completely useless against infantry. At best, I can expect it to excel at hindering jacks/beasts for a turn, seriously annoy certain opponents, and be downright useless against infantry or anything with an half decent arc node.
Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood (*5pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
The core of my 35pt lists is starting to take shape -- Fennblades, Fell Caller, and the Mauler/Impaler/Axer combo are likely going to be in all my lists for a while. Janissa seems like one of the strongest solos I've ever seen (wall of stone, rockhammer, AND movement shenanigans?! yay), and the Runebearer effectively lets Calandra cast Soothing Song for free every turn (which she'll likely be doing). The whelps are there to be whelps; less as fury management and more as an annoyance (litterally; Annoyance is a rule that gives all models in 1" of whelps a -1 to attack rolls) and charge blocker.
The other reason for this warbeast selection is that it's very easy to add to for 50pts - for Calandra or Grim, it will probably be a Dire Troll Bomber (to mesh well with the Impaler); for eDoomshaper I would add Mulg or an Earthborn, Madrak or Borka might see a Pyre/Slag troll, and Gunnbjorn would get a Slag/Pyre and a 2nd Impaler. Regardless, the combo of Axer/Mauler/Impaler will see a lot of use for me, and it makes sense (in my brain) to include it in my starter armies.
Overall, I'm very excited to try this list. The other Warlocks I'm looking at starting out with are Gunnbjorn, Grim, and Epic Doomshaper, and we'll see a few lists for them appearing in the next few days.
I'm also nearly finished painting the Dire Troll Mauler, and I'm excited to buy my 2nd model -- just for the heck of it, I'm putting up a voting box to help me decide on the next model I buy.
Finally, expect to see a post soon devoted to the Trollblood display board I'm building: the Circle board turned out bland and unappealing, but this one, this one will be epic!!
Rock Wall is an incredible spell to have on a Solo. I've heard a lot of grumping about Gorman's clouds online, but wall templates used against me are much more annoying (though maybe this is just because I take an Extoller so much).
ReplyDeleteThe list looks good. I didn't think you needed all three lights, although geez, Trollblood Lights are good. I did a double take when you told me the Axer was Arm 20 under the KSB.