State of the (Skorne) Lists April 2014

This year, I'm trying to do something a little different.

Specifically, I'm going to focus on practicing just a few Skorne warlocks, for a couple of reasons.  For one thing, I don't play very often.  I'm lucky to get in a game a week.  I do want to be more competitive in local events (and maybe even attend Gencon or WMW this year, who knows), and that means practicing the same handful of warlocks more than, say, 2 times in 3 months.

To that end, I'm working with Makeda 3, Makeda 1, Zaal, and Mordikaar.  4 Warlocks is a good number to ensure I stay pretty focused, keep my options open in terms of playstyle, and don't get bored and abandon the project.

Here are the lists I'm starting with:

Makeda and the Exalted Court (*2pts)
*Molik Karn (11pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Cyclops Brute (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

Makeda 3 is currently my favorite 'lock in Skorne, and I'm really liking the Brute spam build with her.  It has a lot of sticking power in the Brutes, and a lot of hitting power in Makeda and the heavies.  It's primarily an attrition and scenario list, but Molik and Makeda can both assassinate without much warning if the opponent leaves an opening.  On top of that, the list plays very quickly, and is absolutely a blast.  Even when I screw up and lose, it's a lot of fun.

Archdomina Makeda (*5pts)
*Mammoth (20pts)
*Cyclops Raider (5pts)
*Basilisk Krea (4pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Extoller Soulward (2pts)
Mortitheurge Willbreaker (2pts)
Feralgeist (1pt)

This is Lord Tyrant Watts' pMakeda list from Templecon, and I played it a couple of times at my last local tournament.  I like it a lot, and I like pMakeda a lot, so the next phase is just to get used to the list, and see if there's anything I want to change about it.  Potentially, I might want to take Marketh (since he's very good with both Defender's Ward and Savagery) or a Tyrant Commander (for more options with the Infantry), but the list is very tight on points, and manages to cover the most matchups in its current form.

Supreme Aptimus Zaal (*5pts)
*Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
*Titan Gladiator (8pts)
*Aptimus Marketh (3pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Immortals (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)

Zaal is a very solid Warlock, and I've played this list enough to like it.  I'll probably be changing the beasts up to include a Raider/Shaman or 2 Raiders as I test it.  I'd also really like to fit a normal Extoller in the list, but I want to keep all the AG's, Marketh and the Tyrant Commander.  If I do drop a 3 point option and switch the BB for a Raider and Krea, I could fit in an Extoller and an Agonizer.  That would give me the beast and support loadout that I really want, I'm just not sure which 3pt option has to go.

Void Seer Mordikaar (*5pts)
*Despoiler (10pts)
*Archidon (7pts)
*Krea (4pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
*Tyrant Vorkesh (3pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Paingiver Bloodrunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Tyrant Commander and Standard Bearer (3pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)

I'm pretty excited for Despoiler dropping, and I've had a lot of fun with Mordikaar in the past, so I'm going to give him a try as option 4.  It also gives me a Warlock who really likes having Tyrant Vorkesh if he's running Cetrati.  I've heard good things about Bloodrunners with him, and Cetrati have never let me down.  The fact that Mordikaar doesn't have a great upkeep spell for Cetrati also means I can try out Vorkesh.

That's it for Skorne for now.  I'll try to post updates and reports pretty regularly as the year goes on.  I am noticing that I'm running Nihilators instead of Swordsmen in all my lists that run infantry.  It's a little odd for me, but for now, I think they fit in better.  For Makeda 1, a lot of the offense Swordsmen would normally be crucial for is being done by the Mammoth, and Nihilators are a better screen for the Mammoth with Tough and Reach.  Zaal gives Nihilators a much bigger boost in damage output than he does Swordsmen, and I don't need the Nihilators to spread out, since I'm also running Immortals.  Mordikaar is using Bloodrunners the way he'd normally want to use Swordsmen, and I think they give him more in the role (at 50pts anyway).  Interesting.  I might end up switching the Swordsmen back into the Makeda 1 list, since she gets good use out of them, and the Mammoth doesn't counter 1-wound high Arm models.

Stay tuned for my State of the Retribution lists post, although I might not be finished with it for a few days.

Caleb's State of the Lists (Trollblood) April 2014: I'm Lazy and Need to Post More

Yea, I haven't posted anything in... *checks*... well, crap. That trend needs a swift kick in the initiative.

Plans to start a mercs army are still in the works, but I'm taking my good sweet time on that one. In the meantime, I've been seriously contemplating breaking my Circle Orboros out of their semi-retirement, thanks in part to the models that have been released since last they saw the light of day. I'm particularly looking forward to the Rip Horn Satyr and Razorwing Griffon, while the Skinwalkers and their "new" UA are at the top of my list'o stuff to buy. I'm working on being less picky, so I'll likely pick up one or both of the Kayas, and probably Goatvahna down the road. Tharn in general still fail to interest me, which is fine considering that (besides Kromak, Ghetorix, and the Lord of the Feast) most of the Tharn in Circle aren't that great to begin with or have fallen behind the 'curve of awesome'.

On the Trollblood front, I've recently picked up a Sorcerer, and while he's proving... challenging... to put together (why does he have individual scroll cases? Where is that axe even supposed to go? 'the hell is going on with that head?! Flash?! Flash everywhere!?!), he should be some fun in my Calandra lists. Horgle Ironstrike is looking more and more awesome the more I read his rules, and he may be the impetus to finally get my Slag Troll on the field outside of Gunnbjorn lists.

In the meantime, I'm looking more and more towards Jarl and pDoomshaper as the Warlocks of choice for casual games lately, while eDoomshaper has really solidified his position next to Calandra as my tournament Warlocks. Without further ado, here are the lists I've been playing/will be playing for the next month or so:

Casual Lists

Jarl Skuld 35pts
Jarl Skuld, Devil Of Thornwood (*6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (4pts)

Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)

Whelps (2pts)

Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)

Jarl Skuld 50pts

Jarl Skuld, Devil Of Thornwood (*6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (4pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)
Trollkin Sorcerer (1pts)

Aaah, Jarl - the speed buff of the Troll faction. Quicken makes Champions even more ridiculous, and between the def buff, Sorcerer, cloud effects, and Chronicler handing out concealment, it should be pretty difficult for anyone to prevent them from getting where they need to go.


pDoomshaper 35pt
Hoarluk Doomshaper (*7pts)
* Night Troll (4pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* 3 Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (3pts)
* Kriel Warrior Standard Bearer & Piper (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)

pDoomshaper 50pt

Hoarluk Doomshaper (*7pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* 3 Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (3pts)
* Kriel Warrior Standard Bearer & Piper (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (4pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

Attrition is the name of the game with pDoomshaper, and his spell list really lets the Kriel Warriors kick their jamming abilities up a notch. I've been trying to find a good place for the Night Troll, and that might just be in pDoomy lists - the Night Troll has a great animus that offers a nice board control ability, however he's pretty easy to kill if you've got a light or heavy jack/beast that gets caught in that. pDoomy's feat helps mitigate this nicely, as if they try and kill him, they'll be taking some damage themselves. Assuming I avoid weapon master infantry, he can really screw with enemy movement on the feat turn and make a nuisance of himself while taking out some infantry.

The 50pt list takes a slightly different approach - jam with the infantry, throw out AOE's and Knockdown with Janissa and the Runeshapers, and toss in some stupidly-hard-to-kill Heavies to back up the line. I'm thinking of fitting in Warders somehow, but that would require dropping Runeshapers and trimming things (I don't want to drop Janissa, as her combo with the EBDT's animus is just too good in an attrition list). We'll see how it goes....

Tournament Lists

Calandra 50pts
Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood (*5pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Bomber (10pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Pyg Burrowers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Fennblade Kithkar (2pts)
Lanyssa Ryssyll (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

Holy infantry, Batman! Well, not as much as it could be, but still quite a bit. I've toyed around with this list so much, it's hard to remember what's in it sometimes. Fennblades were the first infantry unit I had for Trollbloods, and they've proved to be one of the best - the release of the Kithkar just made them even better, and with Tactician in addition to Star Crossed, KSB, and Vengeance, they make an absolute nuisance of themselves once they hit the enemy line. They mesh well with the Burrowers, as the little guys have a perfect way (see: Tunneling) of getting out of the way of a massed Fennblade charge.

For beasts, I have rarely regretted having a mauler as a 2nd line Heavy to keep around until the late game - not only does his animus make the Kithkar, Impaler, and Fell Caller ridiculously MORE dangerous, but if push comes to shove, sending him (and the Bomber with his animus on it... and the Burrowers) at a Colossal will generally get the job done while the Fennblades jam themselves some infantry until the threat is dealt with.

eDoomshaper 50pt

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (*6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
* Rok (11pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Pyg Bushwackers (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

This list is disgustingly effective, mainly because it is very, very difficult to block without a good feat, and it has an answer to just about everything -- massed infantry? Throw Wild Aggression on Rok and Goad him through 5-10 of the unfortunate little buggers a turn. Shooting-focused enemy list? 13"+ threat range on feat turn and 3 Heavies with Goad. Colossals or Gargantuans? Hehe, you poor bastards....

Most of the list is pretty much automatic - Mulg, EBDT, Axer, Runebearer, KSB and Elder, Janissa, and Whelps are as close to auto-include as you can get in an eDoomshaper list (and in fact makes for a pretty kick-ass 35pt list while we're at it). The 3rd beast is always a bit of a toss up, but I love Rok with him thanks to Berserk and Goad, which leaves me with 5 points. I've tried out quite a few things to fill these 5 points - Runeshapers and Sorcerer, min Bushwackers, Scouts (proxied), Pyre Troll, Storm Troll, Night Troll and a Sorcerer, Burrowers (drop the KSB to min), etc. The problem is, a light warbeast will add to eDoomy's already massively overburdened fury pool, not to mention animus priority, and knockdown is a bit useless when you have Wild Aggression, Primal, and MAT 7 warbeasts.

The Bushwackers have proved the most useful so far, since they can do something the rest of the list can't -- namely, a 14" ranged attack, because sometimes you just need to reach out and shoot something before sending in your monstrous rampaging trolls. eDoomy doesn't give them much of anything (besides a spot at the bottom of the target priority list), but CRA makes them pretty self sufficient anyway.

So there we have it - two tournament lists, and 4 casual lists. Hopefully this will prompt me to post more, and I'll try to get at least 1 battle report in with each list in the next month or so.