Troll Scouts?

[Khador_Extremist]

I want to know if the TrollBlood scouts are viable or not. I run a eDoomie list and I just want some flanking/harassment to go along with my Chronicler. I've tired to look in our sticky but it just links me BattleCollege.com

[PG_Viper114]

I've had decent luck with them. They've done well against enemy infantry, and their Assault to throw axes at charge targets, and Gang for attack bonuses is nice. I'd say one unit at least is good.

[Mountain King]

Scouts are a great unit, just know that Tales of Mist does not trigger Prowl for the scouts.
I havent regretted ever fielding my Scouts and they are one of the few units I consider running two of.

[Khador_Extremist]

Awesome for the feed back guys thank you!

[jdripley]

Yeah I view Scouts as a self buffing unit. I don't bother trying to get any synergies with them. To me their job is to range far and wide around and threaten flank or rear attacks on the enemy force. For 5 points you get 6 of them, which in my mind makes them a low cost unit. Assault and Gang combine to mean that they can deal with plenty of types of enemies. An opponent could lose a caster to a few charging Scouts if they weren't careful.

So basically for 5 points, I can distract my opponent and force them to have to be careful and pull a few models or a unit off of the front line. That makes my own front line that much better.

I'd say pick up a unit and experiment with positioning and timing. Too far away and they don't threaten... too close and they get killed easily. Just right and they throw the enemy into a panic and force them to fight on two fronts! Perfect!

As a note, a minimum unit of Bushwhackers can do basically the same thing for the same cost, but from a long distance away, which both increases their threat range and also serves to keep them fairly safe. Most people look down on the Bushwhackers in favor of the Nyss Hunters, but when viewed as purely a flanking/distracting force, I find the Pygs to be pretty good. So if you're on the fence about Scouts but really want a flanking force, also consider Bushwhackers. No opponent can simply ignore a 6-model CRA coming from their backfield late in the game.

[wulfmojo]

They work well with eDoomy due to their independent nature, make handy objective grabbers and can cause some serious damage as long as they get the charge, which you will as long as you can use the terrain effectively. That said, they will bounce off elite infantry and won't last long if caught out in the open. For this reason I've found them more effective as reinforcements in my eDoomy list, as they work well coming in off a table edge and clearing out an objective.

[Khador_Extremist]

Do we have any other self efficient units? and I was wondering if I wanted to throw a skinner in with the scout more or less for the lulz

[tallted]

I still like to mess with my friend every once in awhile using a tactic with them and Jarl, mostly for fun. If I go first I throw quicken on them (runebearer once per game), run them across the board, and plant them a few inches from my enemy line, put the clouds behind them, and line the fennblades behind the clouds ready for a countercharge.
Additionally I think Iron flesh on them is a load of fun.
Neither of these are serious tourney moves though, but can be fun in casual play. I still like to pretend they are my front line unit =D
For serious play they make a great harassment/flank unit.

[Mountain King]

Do we have any other self efficient units? and I was wondering if I wanted to throw a skinner in with the scout more or less for the lulz

Unfortunately no we don't unless you get Nyss Hunters.

The skinner is a complete waste of 2 points.

[PG_thegreatblah]

The skinner is a complete waste of 2 points.

If by a complete waste of 2 points you mean, "a less competitive model that some people play well with and enjoy playing regardless of the general consensus." Then you would be correct.

[PG_somnicide]

I like scouts a lot. I've been running them in every list lately and they never disappoint. Memorable events for them include killing an angelius on the charge, wiping out a unit of doomreavers with UA (assault shot the UA whenever possible), and knocking the cortex and axe off a juggernaut. All of those were in single activations. Beyond that they do a great job of claiming/contesting objectives late game.

[PG_Goldstep]

One of the nicest things about them for Doomie2 is that it gives him something that can plug a flank. Doomie (1 or 2) is great with his beasts and is one of my favorites (Doomie1 is my go-to guy) but he does sometimes suffer from being the lowest DEF on any warlock and the paperbag he is wearing which he uses are armor gets wet when someone actually charges him. Of course if you fail the run you get stomped so often, having a few bodies that can make someone hesitate is usually enough to stop the hail mary.
Since scouts tend to like hanging out in the flanks and making a mess anyway, it's a good fit.

I'll go on a limb with Blah today and say Skinner is a great idea... as long as it is for the reason you stated. He's not often something that strikes fear in the hearts of anything short of an already crippled warbeast, but as long as you and your opponent really are looking for fun, he's striking me more and more as a fun choice as I use him. He never DOES anything, but sometimes it's about making your opponent do stuff. If your goal for him comes from a desire to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women, have a back-up plan.
Psychologically, I have found that people see a skinner and scouts and connect the two and somehow assume that since the skinner's butterknife swears by the idea of "roll high" that they can jovially walk up to the scouts. Then they realize that with Gang they do about 2 more damage (P+S is 5 higher but not weapon maters).They tend to notice this about the time that the scouts tear a light jack or a small unit apart.

[kneemus]

They are definitely good. They are fast with Jarl. Grim makes them hit better; but I'll use the FC on them regularly as well, because I hate missed attacks. You can Rage a few and get some surprising results every now and again with their thrown attacks. The SSE also helps them hit harder. I really like them. As aforementioned they are one unit I have really considered getting getting two of, along with the Runeshapers...

Oh, and forest... They are so much better with woods around. I like to roll for terrain and I will usually try and place a forrest somewhere near the center when I use them.

[Digestive]

You can Rage a few and get some surprising results every now and again with their thrown attacks.

I plan on making them work as a cheap heavy hitter second line unit. Ingredients: KSB+E, Mauler, pGrissel and perhaps a SSC. On a good day you could have up to three of dem lil buggers doin an assault with rat 7 pow 17, charge attack with mat 12 pow21, and one extra attack, also mat 12 pow 21 (but only 2d6).
At least thats what I dream of ;-)

[Khador_Extremist]

Thanks for the feed back everyone, but someones gotta come up with a Guide on them for new players :P

[jdripley]

Self Sufficient Units for Trollbloods:

Well, that's kindof a hard question to answer. Any of our units *could* be self sufficient, but then that begs the question: Self sufficient at what, exactly?

Champions don't need any help to be an awesome weapon master unit with two attacks. But if you want them to be juggernauts of doom, well yeah, they need some help.
Kriel Warriors don't need any help to be a tarpit unit that can bite back against infantry and even light 'jacks. But if you want them to be excellent tarpits, or to demolish heavies, then yeah, they need some help.

And on and on I could go.


Objectively though, I tend to look at all of our ranged options (minus Burrowers) as being fairly self sufficient, simply because we don't have much to offer them anyways, so they do what they do.

If you're looking for a great and entirely self sufficient unit, check out Boomhowler & Co. As they aren't in-faction, none of our awesome buffs do anything for them (with a few exceptions). So they do what they do and that's it.

[Mountain King]

Self Sufficient Units for Trollbloods:
Objectively though, I tend to look at all of our ranged options (minus Burrowers) as being fairly self sufficient, simply because we don't have much to offer them anyways, so they do what they do.

Except all of our ranged options need to have snipe/far strike put on them, thus making them not self-sufficient by any means of the word.
Also most of the ranged beasts need some kind of dmg buff to deal any real dmg in melee if they end up in that position.

[DogFog]

Except all of our ranged options need to have snipe/far strike put on them, thus making them not self-sufficient by any means of the word.
Also most of the ranged beasts need some kind of dmg buff to deal any real dmg in melee if they end up in that position.

What about Bushwackers? They already have pretty good range without Snipe, and they're easier to keep out of melee with Bushwack. Plus, Combined Range Attack can be brutal.

[The Happy Anarchist]

I would say self sufficient would be Runeshapers, Scouts and Sons of Bragg.

[wulfmojo]

I would say self sufficient would be Runeshapers, Scouts and Sons of Bragg.

Quoted for truth.

In a sense, units like Fennblades and Warriors *can* run alone, but are so much better with support.

[Mountain King]

I would say self sufficient would be Runeshapers, Scouts and Sons of Bragg.

I think the one thing that keeps SoB off this list is that they are still in effect a melee unit and they have no pathfinder. Thus it causes them to need outside help to over come this pretty big obstacle.

[The Happy Anarchist]

That would be much more trouble if they were a frontline charging unit. They are terrible at that. Counter-charging the things that get into your front line? Solid gold, they can do it against hard and soft targets and pathfinder is far less of an issue.

The reason pathfinder is so important on larger units and beasts is because the front line unit needs to get up the table or in position and the beasts often need to charge past the front lines once you open a hole to a caster or one of their jacks/beasts.