Trolls v Khador, similar or different play styles?

[kormas]

As the title says, how different is the play style for trolls compared to that of khador? i am a fairly long term khador player, and am getting a bit board with the whole "run up and smash you in the face with a few variants" style of play, don't get me wrong, i love my khador and have a lot of fun with them, but the play style can get a bit repetitive after a while.

I like the look of trolls but have never played against them/ seen them played (only really just moved into a bigger pool of players, and no one is playing their trolls atm) so how different is their play style from khador?

Any and all opinions welcome
Cheers

[PG_machine007]

Trolls have similarities of that of Khador's Axe to mouth mentality and Menoth buffing and staying power. If you were to compare which faction is most similar, it would have to be half menoth/half khador. Of course like any army, your warlock will greatly depict how your army plays. We actually have a lot of different types of playstyles within our warlock choices. We actually have 3-4 that are good at ranged, and help our army in a variety of range. We can brick with several other casters and move like a mini fortress down the field. We also Jam (Lots of models) in our opponents faces for some lists, which is highly effective because we are medium based models and some of the tactics to clear swarms of infantry (Like trampling) are ineffective.

I have found that Trolls just seem more fun too. I have played Khador and Menoth, and I have always had more fun with Trolls. I don't want to say its a more fun version of Khador...but for me it is. Some similar playstyles with some unique twists. I'd take a look at the sticky to see how some of it compares on paper, or the next time you stop in your LGS take a browse through the troll book.

[Col_Festus]

I've been playing Khador for almost 2 years. I just finally branched out into trolls a few weeks ago. I will say they play how I WISH Khador played.

[jdripley]

I play Trolls primarily, and my most frequent opponent plays Khador. So here's my two cents as I have alot of familiarity with both:

Khador shoots better than Trolls do. In fact this is the big difference I see when I play against Khador. Trolls have ranged options, sure, but we cannot possibly bring as many long ranged attacks as Khador does while still maintaining a quality melee line. Khador has their mortars, some of their jacks have those Bombards, there's always Behemoth, and on the other end of the ranged spectrum their Widowmakers are excellent snipers. Trolls simply do not have the options to bring that kind of ranged superiority.

Trolls are more hearty than Khador. Usually. Their jacks are all tougher than Trolls (excepting heavies under the Stone), and their Man-o-war units are rock solid - but we can match their toughness on both counts via buffs, plus we have the natural Troll abilities - Tough, Snacking, and Regeneration - that pushes Trolls over Khador as far as resilience goes. Add in that Warmachine is less able than Hordes to heal in general, and that tips the balance further.

Khador has some insane models/units. But any Troll can be the hero under the right circumstances. Do Trolls have anything as awesome as the Great Bears? Or Behemoth? No, Trolls do not. Well, they almost do, but that's not my point. But consider this: The lowly Kriel Warrior, when using Combined Melee Attack with a single friend, with only the Pyre Troll to buff it, hits at MAT 9 P+S 16. That's just two models from our light infantry unit, with only one buff. Shizam. Add in the Fell Caller, swap the Pyre for a Mauler, give them the Elder's Warp for Strength, and it's MAT 11 P+S 18. Grissel for Calamity and it's MAT 13 P+S 20. I've intentionally used the Kriel Warrior here. All of that buffage could just as easily go onto a Champion, or a Longrider, and most of that buffage could go on something that's already super dangerous like a Mauler or Earthborn. What does this mean? Trolls are far more flexible due to their ability to adapt and apply a wide range of buffs depending on the situation. By contrast, Khador armies tend to be more straight forward and are almost always Warcaster-centric in their buffing. pButcher has Iron Flesh and that's awesome - but other Khador casters just don't have that. All troll armies potentially have access to the Krielstone, etc.

[PG_LunarSol]

I play both, I like them both for different reasons.

To me, Khador isn't really that face smashy. When I play them well, its more a game of steady advancement and heavy firepower to drive the opponent back. I march up the field, using bombards and sprays to clear the way, while relying on a few speed burst tricks to get a counter charge whenever something breaks my lines.

Trolls on the other hand, are very in your face smashy. My opening game almost always involves some variation of sending models flying across the board to jam things in their face and make them deal with my models while the second wave prepares to clean up the survivors.

They're not the most radically different factions in the game, but I find them different enough. Like Festus said, there are a lot of things that people want to do with Khador that just doesn't work that Trolls do quite well. eDoomie is about everything Khador players want out of Karchev. You send a bunch of giant beasts soaring across the table where they just sunder anything they can get their hands on. For me, its generally my ultimate Khador palette cleanser.

[kormas]

Cheers guys

I think based on your comments trolls sound like the right army for me . Thinking i might start of with pGrissle and go from there

[jdripley]

pGrissel is a fantastic start. Trolls are all about the "toolbox" and pGrissel is a great toolbox. Each of her fellcalls are great in different situations, and since during one turn you're feating for all 3 anyways you get huge mileage out of them. As far as spells, Calamity is a great buffing spell (in disguise as a debuff). She does great with everything - start off with either Fennblades or Kriel Warriors plus Cabers. You'll want at least one of these 3 beasts - Mauler, Pyre, or Slag troll. They all have a damage buffing animus, so be sure to have one of them if not more than one. If you want awesome in a can that's simple to use, grab an Earthborn Dire Troll. He's a one man wrecking crew. From there, season to taste... Krielstone gives you extra armor, Chronicler does a bunch of stuff, notably increasing defense against ranged attacks. Fellcaller is great but doesn't play well with pGrissel. Whelps are good if you plan on going beast heavy, which pGrissel tends not to do much.