For me, that meant I was able to put my gunslinging Trollbloods on the table! Wahoo! This list is built around the totally awesome looking Trollkin Highwaymen and Braylen Wanderheart. It runs Jarl Skuld as its Warlock, but that is for two reasons: #1 - he came with the models in a group I purchased and #2 - he's an outlaw! :)
My list consists of:
Jarl Skuld, Devil of the Thornwood [+30]
- Dire Troll Mauler [15]
- Dire Troll Mauler [15]
- Troll Impaler [11]
- Troll Bouncer [9]
Braylen Wanderheart, Trollkin Outlaw [5]
Trollkin Highwaymen [15]
Trollkin Highwaymen [15]
Pyg Bushwhackers [15]
- Pyg Bushwhacker Officer/Mortar[5]
I've received a lot of advice not to run Jarl, which I can understand. But I want to give him a fair trial before (or if) I decide to remove him, because I do believe he has some upside.
- He gets two RNG 16 (with Far Strike) POW 12 shots - combined with his movement he threats 22". He also has multiple ways of then retreating. This makes him a very capable hit-and-run style assassination threat. Move up, pop the caster with two boosted POW 12's, move away. Rinse and repeat.
- His feat actually has interesting applications. Worried about that gunline? Put up a cloud wall and move in behind it. Worried about charges and threat ranges? Put up a cloud wall. The best part is that YOU can still draw line-of-sight through it, so your shooting is not hampered in the least. Nor charges, if you need to get those Maulers into combat.
The list is definitely a ranged attack army (obviously). However, it is short-ranged, so I have a lot of the issues with delivering melee infantry. The one thing this list could really use is Snipe (not Far Strike). Being able to make those RNG8 pistols RNG12 would be awesome!
My opponent was playing his Retribution, and his list was led by Vyros2.
Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard [+27]
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker [4]
- Aspis [6]
- Phoenix [18]
- Imperatus [22]
- Sphinx [13]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Arcanist Mechanik [2]
Dawnguard Sentinel Scyir [4]
Dawnguard Sentinels [18]
- Dawnguard Sentinel Officer/Standard [4]
Stormfall Archers [9]
The scenario we were playing was Recon, with a very forest setting. Basically, Jarl decided to attack a Retribution supply train, and may have bitten off more than he could chew. :D
Trolls won the rolloff, and decided to go second. Mainly because I wanted to deploy in response to the Retribution (I mean, c'mon - I was ambushing them!) and partly because I didn't want the water on my side.
Retribution Deployment
He deployed his battlegroup mostly center, with the Phoenix all the way on the right flank. Stormfall Archers went next to the myrmidons and the Sentinels filled the large gap between the Phoenix and the rest of the battle group.
Trollbloods Deployment
It's pretty bad when you don't even follow your own plan at the beginning of the game.
Trollbloods deploy one unit of Highwaymen behind a forest, and one unit on the left flank in a forest, with Braylen. These were my flanking unit, and were meant to be self-sufficient. Their main job was to get behind the main battle force and get Back Strike bonuses.
The Maulers deployed next to the Highwaymen behind the forest (mistake #1) with the two light warbeasts and Jarl on the other side of the Highwaymen (mistake #2). Don't ask why, because I honestly couldn't tell you what I was thinking. It was just bad deployment.
The Pygs Advance Deployed in front of the main army.
In retrospect, looking at it, I think that the reason I was so skewed was because I was sitting skewed. These tables are normally 40k tables, and I was sitting centrally for a 96" table (there's space on the edge to place armies/bags). No excuse really, but possible.
Retribution - Turn One:
Vyros casts Easy Rider (giving his whole army Pathfinder) and Synergy, then advances. Everything else runs, with the Archers moving in behind the hedge, the myrmidons forming up around Vyros, and the Phoenix pushing up the right flank. The Sentinels also advanced, moving into the forest and trying to keep (at least some) out of sight. The Arcanists follow the myrmidons and the Scyir follows his battle brothers.
Trollbloods - Turn One:
Well, that was expected, lets see what I can get out of this. First, the Highwaymen on the left advance up, spreading out. But for some reason, I was scared of the Stormfalls. This caused me to be timid and only a few were going to be in range to do anything next turn (mistake #3). Braylen moved up behind the hedge, getting Stealth (since it gave her concealment).
Jarl advances, casts Weald Secrets on the Pygs and Tactical Supremacy on the Highwaymen close by.
Pygs advance and begin shooting CRA's into the Sentinels. Well, first the Mortar fires. A little side story - a friend of mine plays Trolls a lot (I actually wanted to play the Highwaymen because of seeing his) and has horrible results from the Mortar. It's basically a complete throw-away model for him. So I wasn't expecting anything from the little bugger when it fired at the Phoenix. Range was short by an inch, so automatic scatter - which resulted in 5" towards the Phoenix! Behind the myrmidon was a small cluster of four Sentinels. The lowly mortar blew three of them up! The CRA's then joined in, removing Sentinels left and right - it was so awesome! When the shooting finished, six Sentinels were dead!
Remember mistakes #1 and #2 from above? Now they bite me - one of the Maulers was not in Jarl's control range, and the second (front) one was just barely. So, the front one runs up along the forest edge, while the second Mauler advances behind, riling for one (mistake #4 - I should have just moved them to Jarl). The Impaler moves up, casts Far Strike, and takes a potshot at the Phoenix, knocking some boxes off his shield. The Highwaymen advance, spreading out a little, and the Bouncer runs up as well.
Retribution - Turn Two:
The Sentinels use their Vengeance move to move to the edge of the forest (they weren't able to get out of the forest because Easy Rider had expired) and Sylys upkeeps Synergy for free.
The Stormfall Archers shoot at the Highwaymen, using Snipe (three times) and Brutal (once) to kill five of them! Left them clumped too close together, I guess (part of mistake #3 above).
The Phoenix advanced out of the forest and put a Halo Cannon shot into the middle of the Pygs, hitting seven (including the leader and the mortar). The mortar Toughs, as well as three of the Pygs (including a newly promoted leader). The Sentinels advance and use their mini-feat to (hopefully) weather any shooting the Trollbloods are going to send at them.
Everything else advances into the zone, getting ready for a scrum.
Trollbloods - Turn Two:
Jarl lets Weald Secrets drop and upkeeps Tactical Supremacy.
The Highwaymen on the left, now realizing their extremely poor positioning, review their options. They can move, and allow one of them to shoot, and the rest surround the flag. Or, they can run and engage the Stormfall Archers. I chose to take the potshot and grab the points for the flag.
Pygs move up around the flag, with three of them standing up and forfeiting their Combat action (mistake #5 - I need to remember that command is not the same as unit coherency in 40k). The ones that can shoot do so into the Sentinels, killing two. The Highwaymen move up as well, CRAing into the Sentinels and killing three more. They then Reposition 3" to spread out and provide a speed bump to any incoming attacks.
Maulers move, putting themselves into position to countercharge anything that stomps the Highwaymen.
Bouncer moves up to take any more Phoenix shots targeting the Pygs (because they've been doing good work this game) and the Impaler moves around and tries to drop the last Sentinel, but is unable.
Jarl moves closer to the forest (and his Maulers) - finally realizing that his heavies are not going to be much good if they can't stay in his control range. He then measures it out - 12" to that Phoenix, I can hit him with a Magic Bullet and drop the last Sentinel (I don't know why I was so fixated on killing him). Just in case, though, I cast Quicken (mistake #6 - I missed that it was +2 DEF only against ranged/magic attacks). Then Magic Bullet, then spent one for Far Strike (mistake #7 - confused the Highwaymen's guns with Jarl's - he's already RNG 12, didn't need Far Strike) and shot at the Phoenix. And missed :( BUGGER! Oh well, not worried. Jarl Feats, putting 5 clouds on the table (three between him and the Phoenix) (mistake #8 - see below).
Score 0-1
Advantage Trolls
Retribution - Turn 3:
Sylys upkeeps Synergy for free and the remaining Sentinel walks in with Vengeance and whacks a Highwayman.
I think Vyros Feated here, but not sure. It didn't matter. Remember mistake #8 above? Yeah, I forgot (actually, I didn't even know) that Vyros has Bird's Eye. This nifty ability lets models in his battle group ignore clouds, forests, and intervening models when determining LOS. So basically, it completely negates Jarl's Feat - a simple ability! :( GRRR! Who the heck thought that up?!?
Anyway, Vyros charges into the Highwaymen, killing multiple thanks to his melee attacks and Quick Work. The final Sentinel also moves up and kills one (the last one between the Phoenix and Jarl). My opponent measures, decides he has range, and charges the Phoenix through the clouds and barely into Jarl (mistake #9). First swing (boosted) hits (this is when I realize mistake #6) and does good damage. He buys an attack, hits, and finishes off Jarl. :(
RESULT: Retribution victory
So after the game, Jarl is given to many moments of reflection and is able to see his mistakes, and how they cost him the game:
1) Understand your battle plan, and deploy accordingly. Two mistakes in deployment left me hampered through much of the game.
2) Understand YOUR ARMY! Yes, it was a new army with a new 'caster, but I made multiple mistakes, including one that cost me the game, because I did not read/understand/remember my cards.
3) Understand your opponent. This is harder for me, I can't remember everything, but I should have at least looked at his cards, to understand what was coming. It would have saved me from some nasty surprised.
4) It's OK to ask him to verify his measurements. I was pretty sure Jarl was 12" away, and I should have asked him to double check. Better still, I should have been more clear with my measurements as I was making them, so he could double check me to verify Jarl was 12" away.
Thanks for reading!
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