How should I start my troll brick mini force?

[Zemmi]

Hey Guys,

I've been looking at playing Trolls since I started WarMachine a year ago, and at this point I finally got some cash to spare (it's hard being a student!) so I thought it would be fun to start a small force, of about 25 points full of awesome Troll beast, and no infantry at all.

Basically, I was wondering if this would be doable and fun to play, and how should I start it?

So far I already bought a box of Whelps, just because they look nice and I'm sure they'll come in handy.

Anyways, my main question is: What models should I get, to start playing an 25pt Troll brick army? Does the battle box come in handy or should I skip it?

Thanks in advance!

[PG_thegreatblah]

Well BOrka and pMadrak are our best brickers, so decide on one of them.

Then you have to decide if you are going beast heavy or infantry heavy. The Happy Anarchist has a nice pMadrak Beast Brick that is fun.

Once you decide on your focus then you need to start looking at what is going to fill your brick. Typically, high armor multiwound infantry is preferable.

[Largi]

As he said no Infantry We'll have to reconsider that blah

I actually pop a vote for Calandra here. Calandra is great with All beasts due to Soothing Song and Starcrossed. Whelps are a must as you said.
If you can make an exception to take the Krielstone (Infantry Unit) I would as the +2arm for 4 pts is worth it. The same with Janissa at higher points levels. You can then throw her wall and the Earthborn animus around to have another +2 Arm.

Doomshaper2 is our obvious Beast Caster but doesn't particularly "Brick".

Grissel2 gets some surprising mileage out of Beast Armies.

So decide on aa Caster, decide what support you want for it, then grab some toolbox beasts too.

Axer - Make me faster
Pyre/Slag/Mauler - Make me Hit Harder
Earthborn - Make me love terrain

[PG_thegreatblah]

Well i wanted to throw that out there. but pMadrak and Happy's beast brick is really one of the best beast bricks I have seen to date.

[nosrek]

That it is and at 25 points it looks something like this, my rendition at least.

pMadrak
EBDT
Mulg
Runebearer
Janissa
Min ksb + UA

As far as the mechanics of it you march upfield with Janissa's wall in front of you starting turn 2. Madrak upkeeps surefoot the whole game and the stone keeps their aura up and cover your beasts flanks.

I prefer at 25 pts to run pMadrak front and center with Mulg on one side and the EBDT on the other. Your opponents will learn quickly to not hit Madrak unless they want Mulg to hit them back. Plus your defensive stats are pretty high with all the buffs.

[ConejitoD]

Both Janissa and KrielstoneBearar are basic tools for a brick. With them (plus an Earthborn) you can make that work with any warlock. But if you really don't want any infantry model IMO there are 2 warlocks who can do it better.

-Gunbjorn, Because he has rock wall as spell so, no need for Janissa. I would try something like that:

Gunbjorn
Rök
Earthborn
Blitzer

-Borka. Because he has wind wall who is a better way to protect your brick from shooting thant wall+elemental communion. I would try something like this

Borka
Axer
Mulg
Mauler
Whelps
Farelgeist

[The Happy Anarchist]

To be fair, it is not my beast brick. Someone else suggested it, I scoffed and then tried it and fell in love with it. I hate that I can't remember who to give credit for it!

I would go with pMadrak myself, because Borka works about a million times better with a screen of Fenns or Nyss with Iron Flesh, whereas pMadrak can live without them due to being able to clear infantry on feat turn.

25 points is really rough for me though - eDoomy might work better with the limited points but I don't have a lot of experience at that level.

[PurpleMonkey]

This was a very helpful thread. My forces are very beast heavy at the moment also, and I only have pMadrak (Not Borka) so quite helpful, though I just cant afford the Mulg model atm.

Btw,

Earthborn - Make me love terrain

I misread this and saw : Earthborn - Make me the love train.....

So wrong... yet so right!

PM

[hatchet]

don't care what caster you're running, you want beast heavy? EBDT is a must have, he's a very good beast and his animus is extremely useful in most, if not all, situations. I've never been disappointed when I run it.

[The Happy Anarchist]

I've run both Grim and Gunnbjorn beast heavy without the EBDT, though I do generally agree with your statement. Grim & Gunny get away with it by a protective feat and being a primarily ranged list respectively.

[PG_Celedor]

This was a very helpful thread. My forces are very beast heavy at the moment also, and I only have pMadrak (Not Borka) so quite helpful, though I just cant afford the Mulg model atm.
...

Collect and return empties. Host a garage sale. Have you tried selling any extra body parts you might have?

Okay, really, you can do without. But Mulg is a pretty central figure in my beast bricks, being the only reach heavy in addition to his other assets. Reach and his high base MAT and 5 fury make him an absolute nightmare under Crusher. Consider making him your next buy.

[PG_thegreatblah]

I'm in the Earthborn crowd, there is a reason why I have two of them. I love Mulg, but my Earthborn's get much wider and consistent use compared to Mulg.

[PG_Celedor]

I'm in the Earthborn crowd, there is a reason why I have two of them. I love Mulg, but my Earthborn's get much wider and consistent use compared to Mulg.

Well, the EB is my auto include for the brick and, in general, my go to heavy (go go Warmachine meta). And for any pMadrak beast brick, Mulg is my second heavy. So I wasn't so much saying Mulg in place of EB, but Mulg in addition to EB.

[Zemmi]

Wow, thanks for all the responses! I was gone for the weekend and I really did not expect this much helpfull information, so thanks!

I know I didn't state it clearly enough in my OP, but I want a beast brick. I come from the Protectorate so I already got enough infantry to play with and I heard Trolls are absolute beasts!

I know I said no infantry but that doesn't mean I wont include any solos, and if there are some great support units I can always take a look at 'em.

I'm not really sure about what caster to pick though. pMadrak looks like a really solid caster, especially for someone who is new to Hordes, but BattleCollege clearly states he's an infantry guy. I've heard eDoomy is the main beast caster so I might take a look at him.

[PG_Celedor]

but BattleCollege clearly states he's an infantry guy. I've heard eDoomy is the main beast caster so I might take a look at him.

Lies! Don't believe everything you read on Battle College. I started Trollbloods running pMadrak as an infantry caster, and while he can do it well (Champ brick) I have had waaay more success running him Beast heavy with a lot of solo support (Runebearer, Whelps, Janissa, Champ Hero, Fell Caller Hero) and one unit (KSB). With this list, between his feat and spell list and innate abilities he's just so hard to take down and can chew through infantry and lots of boxes alike.

But eDoomy is a monster with a bucket load of heavies, so he's worth checking out too.

[Zemmi]

Lies! Don't believe everything you read on Battle College. I started Trollbloods running pMadrak as an infantry caster, and while he can do it well (Champ brick) I have had waaay more success running him Beast heavy with a lot of solo support (Runebearer, Whelps, Janissa, Champ Hero, Fell Caller Hero) and one unit (KSB). With this list, between his feat and spell list and innate abilities he's just so hard to take down and can chew through infantry and lots of boxes alike.

But eDoomy is a monster with a bucket load of heavies, so he's worth checking out too.

I'm actually very glad to hear this because I like pMadraks model a lot more than eDoomy..

So, it has come up a few times alreay, let's say I take pMadrak as my main caster, should I get the Trollbloods battlebox, and then expand with Whelps, Mulg and an Earthborn?

[Gdead909]

It really depends on how you want to run your beasts, Edoomy sends them flying across the board for massive alpha strikes. Pmaddy makes his way across with super high armor

[jdripley]

Here's an idea for you:

pMadrak
--Earthborn
--Mauler
--Axer
Krielstone Bearer Min unit
Whelps

or:

Borka Kegslayer
--Mulg
--Earthborn
--Slag Troll
Whelps


The pMadrak list is very much more defensively oriented, as that's how pMadrak rolls. You'll have Surefoot up and you'll have your whole army under the Stone's aura for a +2/+2 defensively, plus immunity to knockdown. You'll be able to absorb most charge attacks, then you can heal up with whelps and smoke the enemy army. Crusher will make you unstoppable against an infantry-heavy army, and Carnage means you won't have to boost attack rolls with your beasts.

The Borka list has far less defense. Basically you'll have Iron Flesh for Borka, and Wind Wall for the whole army. That will keep you relatively safe on turns 1 and 2, from shooting only of course. But then you feat, and you charge/slam/trample/throw your way to the win. Borka's feat helps you get initiative in the fight and really screw with the enemy's plans via all of the power attacks you want to be doing.


Technically, out of those two lists, the pMadrak list is the only true "brick" list, as it incorporates multiple defensive buffs that layer onto the army to create a very tough to take down group. The Borka list only has one defensive option, so that's not really a true "brick." But.. the effect is the same in the end, so who really cares?

[PG_thegreatblah]

The Trollbloods battlebox is a good deal pricewise. Essentially you pay full price for an Axer and Impaler, $6 for madrak, and the second impaler is free.

Whether or not you will play two impalers really depends on you and your style.

I'd go with whatever tickles your fancy, though you can't go wrong with Mulg, Mauler, Earthborn or Bomber. Any combo of those heavies is good to great. Add in the Impaler and/or axer from the Battlebox and your golden. Pretty much the only light beast that you'd be wanting right away is a Pyre (or Slag)

[Zemmi]

Allright guys, I saw the new sculpt (the plastic one) of pMadrak and I'm completely in love, so I'm pretty sure I'll be getting the battlebox.

My local store has an sale, and Rök will be €13, is he worth it or should I leave him and buy an earthborn instead?

[PG_thegreatblah]

Rok is pretty good, but remember you have to add him to a plastic heavy warbeast kit.

[Zemmi]

I did not know that, so thanks. It's a shame aTrollbloods are so expensive to start..