What do you consider "support"?

[PG_Steampunk Jim]

I'm new to trolls, but I'm a long time Protectorate player. Like trolls, the protectorate has a lot of buffs and support models. With the protectorate, deciding on support was easy. I kept myself to a policy of no more than 20% of my lists being support, and it's worked out great.

With trolls, this is a lot less clear. Unlike protectorate models, most troll support pieces can make a mess of stuff too. For example, the pyre, slag, impaler and axer all have very strong support animi, but they also bring a relatively substantial combat threat to the table. So does stuff like the fellcaller. Stuff like the chronicler and the krielstone fit nicely into my preconceived notion of support.

So how do you do it? How much of a concern do you put into how much support you have in a list? If so, what does your percentage look like? What sort of models do you include in that support category?

[PG_Celedor]

thegreatblah has a great write up called Trollblood Toolbox, it's in the sticky. With Trolls it's a matter of buffing different aspects of your performance with different models. For example, the Fell Caller provides additional accuracy, the KSB gives a defensive armour buff, the Mauler provides a damage buff, etc, etc. A great deal of our support does a lot more than just provide utility though and they can dish it out themselves too.

[Goris]

My list building centers around a a few critical elements focused on balance. But putting a troll list together is like a assembling a puzzle. Having the right mix of layered buffs and support is what makes this army so powerful. Granted we have self sufficient options in the army and those are of extreme value, but it never hurts to have some redundancy.


Fell Caller by TheScrum_Goris, on Flickr

[The Happy Anarchist]

I don't look at it so much as % or anything. I just look to see if I have the tools to do what I need to do. As for the beasts that are somewhat multi-role, it is mainly that I have room for X beasts in the list, need to get that damage/range buff or what have you and try and make sure the combat value fits. Such as picking the Slag when I can boost hits, or the Pyre when I can't.

[PG_thegreatblah]

My list building centers around a a few critical elements focused on balance. But putting a troll list together is like a assembling a puzzle. Having the right mix of layered buffs and support is what makes this army so powerful. Granted we have self sufficient options in the army and those are of extreme value, but it never hurts to have some redundancy.


Fell Caller by TheScrum_Goris, on Flickr

What he said.

[PG_LunarSol]

As a general rule, I base it on module cost. Anything costing 6 points or less is probably support; anything costing 9 points or more is probably not support (and yes, it'd be nice to have more 7-8 point options ). It's true very little troll support is pure support, but Trolls have so much synergy its hard to pay for something like a pure combat solo. Everything counts and even the Fell Caller is the difference between a Slag and a Mauler, or a Mauler and Mulg. More often than not I realize that cutting a little support can get me a whole module that will do as much if not more for my army than the support.

So.... yeah. < 6 Support, > 9 not support. The trick is not pigeonholing your support models into protected, back line roles however, and making sure you're willing to shift your support to them when they can make a difference with their own combat abilities.

[PG_Steampunk Jim]

Thanks for the replies, fellas. I can definitely see where the differences are. I've been playing small games with trolls just to get comfortable with them, and I've been running Grim, an Earthborn, an axer and an impaler at 15 points, and it's been pretty awesome. The axer supports the EBDT, and the impaler supports Grim. But yeah, they've certainly switched gears to get things done. I've played 4 games with that list, and the axer or the impaler alongside grim has gotten the caster kill, not the earthborn. He does plenty of damage before he gets taken off the field, but the lights are the ones that've been closing the deal. So I feel like I've got that principle down, at least a little

[PG_thegreatblah]

Thanks for the replies, fellas. I can definitely see where the differences are. I've been playing small games with trolls just to get comfortable with them, and I've been running Grim, an Earthborn, an axer and an impaler at 15 points, and it's been pretty awesome. The axer supports the EBDT, and the impaler supports Grim. But yeah, they've certainly switched gears to get things done. I've played 4 games with that list, and the axer or the impaler alongside grim has gotten the caster kill, not the earthborn. He does plenty of damage before he gets taken off the field, but the lights are the ones that've been closing the deal. So I feel like I've got that principle down, at least a little

Sounds like exactly the way i play Grim. Now add a second earthborn + something else and your at 35 points easy.