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Hello all, I am a long time 40k player (started 25+ years ago) and have run 3 armies throughout those times: Eldar, Tyranids, and Chaos. I am not a "power gamer" and instead build armies around models that I like and make somewhat fluffy lists. With the ridiculousness that 40k has become, I'm looking to get into another game that allows for the creation of fluffy lists that can still compete. I have read lots and lots about the various factions here, on Battlecollege, and on the PP forums. Personally, I really like the fluff from the Trollbloods faction. To me, it sounds like fun to play them and I really like the models.

Ok, so. I know the list building is centered around a caster. For me, I absolutely want to run Borka, Kegslayer. The idea of Party Fouls and stumbling drunk out of combat is too good to pass up and already my head is swimming with conversion ideas. With that in mind, I would really appreciate everyone's opinion on a good well rounded and fluffy list (lets say 35 pts to start) built around him. I'm not tied to any ideas (i.e. lots of beasts or mainly infantry). I will probably buy the 35 pt army battle box from PP's website simply because it has a lot for such a good price, but if there is a "better" way to invest the money I'm all ears!

Also, I'm still digesting the rules and as such don't have a great grip on some of the faction nuances. So, a brief description of how a particular unit(s) synergize would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

You can't go wrong with the All-in-one box.

You get Champions, Warders, Krielstone bearers, and 2 heavy kits.

Only thing to add to it really is Borka himself and you've got a solid start. He also likes Longriders or Fennblades.

You'll also want to pick up an Impaler and an Axer. They're in the normal Battle Box so you should be able to find them on e-bay for real cheap.


Once you have the box, magnetize the heavy kits so you can run them as all the options given.

Some synergies with these beasts,

1) The Impaler has Snipe as his animus, which gives the Dire Troll Bomber a decent range on his powder keg bombs. It takes him from a pretty terrible 8" to a good 12".

2) The Axer is a decent melee beast, he can clear infantry using his Thresher ability, but he also has Rush as his animus. Which is one of the better animi as it gives you +2spd and Pathfinder. Which helps your slow dire trolls get into melee.

Borka himself likes putting Ironflesh either on himself or an infantry unit like Fennblades which puts their defense at a very respectable 15.

And always always remember to Top Off, you'll lose games because you forgot to give Borka his booze Stumbling Drunk keeps him alive. And make sure to yell "You killed KENNY!" if your opponent kills the Keg bearer.

The army box are all good buys generally, the troll is as well. Trolls are lot about buffs. They have some rather good solos that buff your units, the ones not found in the army box are mainly the fell caller hero and stone scribe chronicler. The runebearer isn't a bad option either for your caster attachment..

Trolls as a faction are more about the counter punch and taking their units and buffing them with solos, kriel stone, and spells to get a lot of work out of them.

Borka is nuts with both champions and long riders. Can't go wrong with warders either.

Then there's fennblades and Kriel warriors... Lots of options all round.

Beast wise, get a mauler, Earthborne dire troll or rok, along with an axer.

Awesome! Thanks everyone thus far for the advice!

Just a few more questions based on the advice:

1. With Borka as the caster, does he do better with a more beast heavy, infantry heavy, or balanced list? I only ask because there are two Heavy warbeasts in the box, and it was suggested to also grab an Axer and Impaler which are Light.

2. With the Solos (such as the Fell Caller Hero and Stone Scribe Chronicler), is it like 40k where they can join a unit? I don't have the main rulebook in hand atm and the quick start rules don't mention it specifically.

3. With the suggestion of Longriders, do they work better with the Polar Bear riding Borka variant? Again, this comes with a 40k background where leaving your faster units without support usually equals disaster

Thanks again everyone! I plan on meeting with a PG this weekend to get an in depth couple of tutorial games in so I'm really excited.

 djm55 wrote:
Awesome! Thanks everyone thus far for the advice!

Just a few more questions based on the advice:

1. With Borka as the caster, does he do better with a more beast heavy, infantry heavy, or balanced list? I only ask because there are two Heavy warbeasts in the box, and it was suggested to also grab an Axer and Impaler which are Light.

2. With the Solos (such as the Fell Caller Hero and Stone Scribe Chronicler), is it like 40k where they can join a unit? I don't have the main rulebook in hand atm and the quick start rules don't mention it specifically.

3. With the suggestion of Longriders, do they work better with the Polar Bear riding Borka variant? Again, this comes with a 40k background where leaving your faster units without support usually equals disaster

Thanks again everyone! I plan on meeting with a PG this weekend to get an in depth couple of tutorial games in so I'm really excited.

1. Generally, I'd go with one or two heavies and a light. Trolls in general are more on the infantry heavy/balanced swing of the pendulum than beast heavy. The afraid, with two heavies and an axer, you're talking about half of a 35point army.

2. No. Solos do their own thing. Thryre a unit of one, essentially. There are no models with 'IC' ststud that can join or leave units at will. What you have are unit attachments like unit officers thst can be bought with the unit, and function as part of thrm. But thry can't go off and do their own thing. Solos like the champion or fell caller hero can buff nearby units with their abilities, but thry don't join them. Thry activate separately.

3. I'd go with original borka. His spell Iron flesh is just brutal with long riders. And to be fair, thry won't be far and away ahead of his army. Like anything, positioning is key. Worst case scenario, depending on how far up the board you run them, thryll be the alphastrike (and an utterly devestating one!) that will kill lots, soak up the retaliation and act as an anvil thst your second save can swing into and finish the job, don't forget with things like rush and borkas feat, his battlegroup is extremely mobile on his feat turn. Your getting 11' charges, easily. Well able to cover ground.

2) Nope, Solos are their own thing.

There are some models which do attach to others. Unit Attachments and Weapon Attachments are upgrade models which attach to existing units. However, unlike 40k all attacks target individual models. You don't spread attacks among the models in the unit and models are able to attack any other target, not just the same ones other members of their unit did.

3 other models that combo nicely with Borka.

1) Earthborn Dire Troll +
2) Janissa. Janissa places a wall down where Borka can hide behind. This also places him close enough to benefit from the EBDT's animus to give him +2ARM. If Borka is in melee he can get up to ARM23 (17 + 2 unyielding +2 EBDT animus +2 Krielstone aura). With transfers this can make him very very hard to kill. Just be aware that you can still lose as opponent's army can take other scenario points and win that way, but having little worry about assassination is nice.

3) Swamp Troll. Animus gives living models within 2" -2 to attack rolls and concealment. Replaces the +2ARM buff, but might be better vs. really heavy hitting beasts. With Iron Flesh on him this puts him at effective DEF19 vs. living models in melee. If using Janissa you can place a wall in front of Borka to make him effective DEF21 vs. living enemies in melee. Stumbling drunk stops him being knocked down, whilst he is immune to most staionary via his cold immunity (I think Reliant jack has stationary via an electrical attack). At DEF21 ARM21 he's pretty hard to take down.

To be fair though, these are more fun tricks than anything. You're likely better buying more meat in your list, although Janissa and EBDT are both great in their own rights.

Gaz

Epic Borka (the one on the Bear) is more at home with warbeasts
than swathes of infantry.

If you get the all in one box, get the Stone Scribe Elder. He attaches
to the Krielstone Unit and gives them new options.

For light warbeast options you can't go wrong with Storm Troll or
Pyre Troll. The Storm Troll helps your infantry clear lightly
armored infantry with its animus while the Pyre Troll does the same with its AOE.

Once you start playing start figuring out if you need more threat
projection or body shields. If you need the former, get
Fennblades with the UA. If the latter, get the (now plastic!)
Kriel Warriors with the UA.

Thanks all again for the advice and ideas! Seems like most of the units for Trollbloods are usable in some way shape or form, which is a welcome change for sure! I have the Trollbloods book, so I've been starting to look through the units and get some idea of how different units synergize. One thing that seems to be missing is Epic Borka (at least from this thread discussion).

@malfred - you mention that Epic Borka is better with beasts. Kegslayer has a relatively low Fury (seemingly to me) although I understand that with a Krielstone this can be mitigated. Does Epic Borka have higher Fury or a better/different way to transfer it? I ask because I love big monsters (I play Nids and Nurgle Demons/CSM in 40k) and running a Warbeast heavy alternate list would allow me to paint and use more big nasties

Thanks!

A note on the books: The Forces of Hordes books were the
update from Mk1 to Mk2. Every year they release models you'll
find the rules in the latest expansion book.

Borka 2 has the Field Marshal ability that makes all his
warbeasts immune to cold. That synergizes with his feat that
makes cold immune models in his control area cause stationary
the next time they are hit. In addition, he has an upkeep spell
that allows his battlegroup to countercharge.

It's been fun trying to figure him out. Not sure what the ideal
loadout is, but I think two heavies, an Axer, and however many throwaway/utility lights is fun. I take Rok, Earthborn or Mauler,
Axer, and then whatever else I think I need. I use th elights to
counter charge into enemy lines and Rok to pass out Primal.

Is the all in army box already out yet? I've only been able to get preorders with no release date as of yet.

@malfred - interesting. The book I have I ordered on eBay, but perhaps I got an order version because Warders are absent, as are a few of the Tier lists for different casters. I did, however, install the War Room app and downloaded the Trollbloods set so I have all the current info that way. I wanted the Trollbloods specific book more so for the fluff than the rules per se. Very interesting with Borka2. I looked at his card last night after installing the app and can see how he can be quite powerful. Have you any experience running Calandra? Her Elemental list is quite intriguing from a model point of view as it appears to run more beasts than most lists due to the requirements.

@Crulo - they are still on preorder, I have one ordered but don't have it yet. From the rumors and such it sounds like the all-in-one boxes are slated for late Q1 - early Q2 of this year (meaning soon). Just as an aside if you are in the market for it, Miniature Market was running a sale on the pre-order for a really good price. Not sure if they still are but it might be worth looking into.

Cheers everyone! I'll have a list to present in the army lists section soon for advice also.

@djm55

Ok, that's what I thought. I have actually been getting some of the all in one boxes from mini market. It's just the way it was being discussed in this thread made it sound like they were just readily available. (Heck the ones on mini market sell out the day they get released.)

I'm hoping Trollblood is the next one to get released. Seems like they are doing one warmachine and one horde release per month.

Edit: I just checked PP site and it looks like Trollblood will be released next month. Along with Cygnar. Followed by Cryx and Orboros in May.

Sweet, I'm excited for it for sure!

Warders came out in an expansion book, sot hey won't be in the Forces book.

If you had to piece together a quick army list (25-35 pts) for Trolls that would give a great representation of how they play, what would it look like?

Not looking for competitive and I love most of their models, just looking for a type of list that would exercise their playstyle/special rules well so I can get a feel for the faction.

It depends on which caster you chose. Different casters like different things out if their army.

Maybe something like pDoomshaper, Mulg, an EBDT, a Mauler, an Axer, a Stonescribe Chronicler, max Krielstone with UA, and Kriel Warriors with UA and Caber tossers.

Alternately, just get the all in one box.

Can't believe no one mentioned the Family Reunion theme list. If you don't know about theme lists, it's basically lists that give bonuses for taking fluffy lists. Family Reunion is a tier list part of a story from No Quarter 38 (PP's Magazine). Was curious about the story so I found this on the PP forums. Boomhowlers are a unit of mercenary trolls that can be taken across many factions and considered one of the best units in mercenaries.

"The fluff behind this theme force, is that it is litterally ALL of Borka's family. You see, Borka is a Priest of Dhunia, and adhere's to her 'fertility' aspects. In fact, one of his primary reasons for venturing into the south (aside from a right good fight) is to repopulate the dwindling Souther Kriels.

As such, his kin make up some of the largest and fiercest fighters (aka Champions), and they bring with them some Stone Scribes to take record of all of the greatness that they do. Gudrun was blood-brothered into Borka's family through a ceremony called the Kulgat(sp?) because, despite his dour outlook, Borka had found no other that could match him in battle or in drinks.

Boomhowler is another matter entirely. You see, Boomhowler is a partier extraordinair, and when he heard Borka was throwing down, he HAD to be there. When he got there, he found out it was a family exclusive, and was pretty bummed. BUT Borka's stonescribes found a DISTANT relation many generations back in a hard-to understand stone-rubbing, and Borka called it 'good enough!'" "

Fun fact: Borking is troll slang for mating.

So Borka's name is exceptionally dirty.