Calandra and the 7 dwarfs, 35pt fun list

[Ravir]

Calandra decided to have a little fun, and took all her little friends to play at once.

Calandra
Axer
Swamp Troll
Pyre Troll
Slag Troll
Impaler
Impaler
Winter Troll

Runebearer
Whelps

I wanted to use a Bouncer, so I could say that I used ALL of our light beasts in one list, but the 2nd Impaler added so much offense to the Swamp/Pyre/Slag combo I just couldn't not use it. And I really wanted to use the Winter Troll, so that would be the other alternate slot for a Bouncer.

At first I thought it'd be a really handicapped list. After all, 21 Fury worth of beasts on a 7-fury caster? Madness! Turns out, it's not. The key is a careful count of actions, and the order of activation. In this list, Calandra's only role is Star Crossed and Fury management, and it actually worked much better than I thought. I only ended up having to take 1 threshold check, and that was on an Impaler that was engaged with an enemy arcnode, so I was fine with him failing.

I started with 3 whelps on the table as comfort food, and 2 off-table for spawning. I never even used any of the whelps, so 2 deploying on-table would probably be enough. All of the beasts activate first, with the Impalers trading off their own attacks for assisting the others with Far Strike. Allow the beasts to spend up to 4 of Calandra's fury for re-rolls if she's safe from attack, less if she may need transfers or absolutely needs to help in an offensive manner. Next, the Runebearer uses Harmonious Exaltation, of course. Calandra calls Star Crossed at a cost of 2, then casts Soothing Song. Watch as a bit of fury washes off of your beasts, giving them a warm, fuzzy feeling on the inside. At this point, you should be able to run your whelps into position, with only 1 beast needing additional fury management unless you've gone absolutely full-out engaged in melee and ran all beast full of Fury, in which case pick the least-needed beast for next turn to allow him to make his threshold check, and put whelps in position to control the rest.

I'm not saying this is my next tournament list, or even that it's particularly strong. But it is fun. You get to use almost all of our annoying tricks at once, and the list inherently neuters many of your opponent's most annoying tricks. Influence? Good luck, the only non-warcaster warrior models on my side of the board have no weapons. Take control of grunt warrior models? Ain't got none. Abomination? Terror? Meh.

Played vs a Deneghra list. It ended (on Calandra's Feat turn, only turn she activates first) with an Impaler, Slag Troll, and Pyre troll blasting Mechanithralls and Stitch thralls out of the way, the Winter Troll spraying her from the side and getting Critical Stationary, and the Swamp Troll getting inside of Stealth range to drag her in and beat her to death. Three cheers for combined annoyance!

[Trollblood101]

Sounds like a fun list but I thought that whelps were only used for Dire troll snacking??? I didn't think that lights could snack on whelps but, then again I could be wrong =/

[Ravir]

Sounds like a fun list but I thought that whelps were only used for Dire troll snacking??? I didn't think that lights could snack on whelps but, then again I could be wrong =/

Nope, the whelps can eaten by any beast for comfort food or healing, and can spawn when any beast is damaged. "Snacking" is a rule on the Dire beasts specifically that allows them to heal d3 when they box a living model. The whelps have their own rule that allows any friendly warbeast within 1" to eat them at will during activation for d3 healing. No forcing or attacks necessary.

[Trollblood101]

Wow... Thats cool. Still waiting on my book so haven't read their rules. Good to know anyhow... Cheers =D