Epic fail in Claw and Fang trial run

[Bobby4th]

I played a test Claw and Fang against my friend yesterday. It was my first time playing Hordes and I learned a few things. First, my list:

eHoarluk Doomshaper (-6 pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9 pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12 pts)

And his list (IIRC):

Baldur the Stonecleaver (*6 pts)
* Megalith (11 pts)
* Woldguardian (9 pts)

Mike did a great job of advancing his battle group while keeping the Baldur's Rapid Growth between my units and his, until I left the Mauler exposed and it was destroyed by the Woldguardian. At that point I was trying to figure out a good way to get to him with Mulg, but didn't and I left Doomie exposed and he was crushed.

I don't know if my list works in the format for a couple of reasons. First, terrain is killer. There is no way to get past well-placed terrain like there would be with the Axer's animus or the Earthborn Dire Troll. It is also an all-out offense list and when forced to play defense it fails.

I know what I would do differently against Mike's tactics next time. I would move Mulg up and use Runebreaker to prevent the forest from being placed, likely sacrificing him to the constructs. I would them hope to charge in with the Mauler, hit one of the constructs with both fists and then throw it on top of Baldur, hoping for the squishy kill.

The other option would be to split the beasts up and come at him from two sides, but they are kind of slow so it might not work that well, either.

Right now I am leaning towards trying to play in the tournament with the Searforge list I came up with, though I am also considering trying another list with eDoomie. How would this work:

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (-6 pts)
* Troll Axer (6 pts)
* Troll Impaler (5 pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10 pts)

This packs a much lighter punch than DTM/Mulg list but offers more flexibility. Thoughts? Comments? Scorn?

[Lost Effect]

You might want to try:

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (-6 pts)
* Troll Axer (6 pts)
* Pyre Troll (5 pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10 pts)

The pyre Trolls animus for +2 damage on melee/immune to fire is very helpful for the Axer and EBDT. The animus is good to keep on eDoomy vs. some of the other factions Menoth and legion.

[Bobby4th]

Thanks! I looked at the various trolls available and really wanted the Slag Troll, but he is 1 point too expensive. I chose the Impaler for the ranged attack and reach, but I like your reasoning for using the Pyre Troll and will try it out if I play this list.