e maddy, please give me your thoughts!

[vash1318]

E maddy +5 beast points

dire troll mauler (9) 4 after e maddy points

axer 6

fennblades full unit 6

kriels min 4
ua 3
wa 1

long riders 7

fell caller 3

total 34

so heres the deal, its a brick style delivery package for the wrecking machine that should be e madrak.

deployment, has cav in front and fens and kriels behinde in a rectangle style box, kriels to one side, fenns on the other. The point is that maddy can use them to take damage hits from silly things like kreoss kd and shoot and it make it hard for the opponent to know where i am commiting things so he needs to be a little cautious till he sees where im going.

cav is used to stop the shooters from putting holes into the brick, or to wipe out a front line infantry, i have taken out iron fangs, flame guard, forgeguard and the like, using the tactic.

when my brick gets further up i designate threats, i keeps both beasts on one side, and determine what big things they should go at.

i finally send my brick into attack sometimes splitting a little to attack priority targets, fenns to light and some less armored heavy jacks since reach can bring more p+s 12s to bear, or if there is a numerous infantry unit, that is just out i run into combat knowing my feat will swiss cheese them.

Kriels either tarpit something and mini feat or go after a unit there barely have the charge on, kill 1 or 2 models and mini feat hoping for more damage the next turn, surviving on boosted tough rolls.

Fell caller supports sides as needed, and beasts go into action, axer aiming for mass infantry with thresher or a light jack. Worst case scenario a heavy jack that i can put a hole into and stall till my mauler is done with there major threat jack or hanging back to counter what they use to counter my attack with my mauler. e maddys feat helps alot this turn and establishes an attack that had seemed very far fetched.

next few turns are used getting some blood tokens going or into combats i know i have already won or getting some nifty ax throws at solos who wander to close. this whole time maddy stays rather close, the charges were attainable due to killing ground and warpath gives my beasts alot of maneuverability to deal with threats... vortex is near useless, i am yet to cast it and see it used well. e maddys closeness to the front lines is needed since it make him safer awkward enough since the amount of fenns he can send damage to is normally pretty high.

i usually aim for kill turn 3 or 4 depending when i hit combat, it is attained either by using warpath to give my mauler a charge lane, or if i can open a hole in there lines, a 14 inch charge or normally around 11 with blood tokens or axer animus. reach would help alot to this list if we get it, increasing maddys threat range a significant 2 inches, if rathrok still ricocheted it would also be easier to gather up blood tokens... sigh...

now my problem seems to be lists that field more heavies since i have less answers to them, high focus or fury caster that sit back also give me trouble since i simple dont have the charge threat ranges to get to them.



well there you have it, now tear into it and let me have it so i get back into the winning streak i left mk1 with.

[Mael]

I read that you were having trouble with Jack heavy forces and I came in to give my two cents. :)

Although I like the look of having tons of infantry in this list I'm not so sure about the execution. Your heavy hitters are limited (Axer, Mauler, Madrak, maybe CRA Kriel Warriors) so when the big guys come to play you have to be very cagey with how you use your Mauler.

Here's what I would suggest trying out:
eMadrak
- Mauler
- Axer
- Impaler
Fenn Blades x10
Long Riders x3
Horthol
Stone Scribe Chronicler

Your beasts are pretty self explanatory, Mauler, Axer, and Impaler. The three of them provide the most basic animii to make your army really shine. If you can use the Mauler to double smack a jack and then toss into the enemy caster.

I think the Impaler is a good add-in here too because he can disrupt enemies at range via slam. Setting up possible assassination potential with Madrak with good angles from Warpath and double tap axes from feat turn is dirty! The reach also helps pop a bunch of infantry if he gets stuck in during feat turn.

Fenn Blades are the bodies with reach to help on feat turn. You could swap these out for Kriel Warriors and probably not feel much different, but the reach makes them a keeper IMO.

Long Riders for slamming and more reach, good threat range. Run to engage and feat to kill everything is nasty. As always look for slam targets that will KD the enemy caster so you can double tap with madrak and the impaler.

Horthol because follow up + madrak's feat is dirty! Moving into the heart of the army and then smashing everything within 2" is always awesome. Now all your long riders can do it too! He also doubles as a heavy hitter with a P+S18 Mace when under rage. If you don't have him don't worry, just put in two extra long riders and some gobbers.

Stone Scribe Chronicler goes in to force your opponents jacks down when they kill fenn blades in melee.

What do you think?

[Mael]

Also don't be afraid to use Madrak aggressively with the Fenn Blades. If you have a few Fenns nearby and a fury or two chances are that any enemy assassination run will just fall flat. I find that MK2 trolls work really well (and have always worked well) by tempting your opponent into your army and then laughing as you smack everything around.

[vash1318]

well i like some parts and not others,

the chronicler is out simply because i finally bought mulg so i could keep calling myself a troll player and i dont own the chronicler and am not buying anything anytime soon.

the rest was a good write up.

my question, with out horthol, chronicler, and impaler, i can have mulg... good trade? if not i just run the list you gave minus chronicler, plus whelps for fury management (since i own them).

i feel like despite the impalers added board control i still run into trouble with heavies when it comes to asking too much of my mauler, to be able to throw down mulg i think would help, plus it gives more use to warpath to set up game ending lanes, i had thought to cut the long riders and other things for him but your thoughts have made me want to try this.

e maddy
mauler 9
mulg 11
axer 6
fenns 6
long riders 7

39- e maddys 5= 34

or i was thinking about befuddle tricks with calandra and thinking maybe the same list with her instead might run better, plus added control range means i never charge out of it, soothing song helps me manage all the beasts and i can still deal with terrain thanks to axer animus, she might be a better fit, though i will play test tonight.

Thoughts?

[Mael]

Yeah, I can see it working but your fury might be too much. What kinds of lists do you see this having trouble with? Personally you could probably drop that mauler to a pyre giving you 4 extra points. Min KW maybe? Or Max Longriders?

[vash1318]

unlike most list, i have a defense against pop and drop kreoss because of grim salvation, e skarr is still gonna give me trouble but i dont know a troll list that she wont give trouble to, this list is better then my old for handling e haley since activation of my entire brick has been reduced to just fenns and e maddy, the rest can activate in pretty much whatever order, obviously wont be the best but before, my whole line could be activated out of order and movement would be a pain.

i think this e maddy is solid but fury management will be difficult, im gonna test calandra too, she doesnt have the pop and drop defense but she can handle the fury better and i have befuddle which is great for pulling things into charge range. though she seems to have more bad match ups then e maddy.

[vash1318]

and what about bouncer instead of pyre, free up 4 points and i was one point under.

good reason is the animus makes it very hard to handle mulg, and i will then have 5 free points so i could toss horthol back in.

[vash1318]

play test of calandra went splendidly.

list i ran

calandra
mauler
mulg
axer
fenns
long riders

to my huge disappointment i cant see e maddy winning with this list, i won solely off befuddle which is a amazing spell, the more i play e maddy, the more i think he needs a little something extra, calandra is just too good at making charge lanes to not go with her in this list, its a shame though, i like e maddy better. (and he is painted)

[Mael]

Pyre is important as he provides your damage buff. Since you were having trouble with heavy things i figured he was your go-to. :) The slag could fit in here as well if you wanted some more anti-jack punch.