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Another friend of mine decided to take the plunge into Fantasy. He is looking at two main factions, Dark Elves and Warriors of Chaos. To cut down to the chase, he loves the Hydra model but the Trolls in Chaos really appeal to him. I told him the Hydra was good, but I'm not really sure about the Trolls to be totally honest. He likes the models more in Chaos, but likes the rules more for Fantasy. I'm not really sure what to tell him, I just want our little group to have a good start. I told him he should play TK. Anyway, what does Dakka say on the matter?

Woc trolls all the way.

Woc have a special troll character that makes them core and they are amazing.

Hydra is nice pretty strong under priced for what it does.
Thunderstomps

Trolls have magic str 5 instant hitting ignore your armor puke attack.
As well as stomps.

A troll horde is really strong once they get to combat they will devastate units seriously.

Backed by marauders and or warriors a sorcerer and a bsb and you are set.

Moral of the story is.

1 Tell him to check out the link below woc army book over view.

2 Trolls are awesome.

AFAIK you play Trolls just for fun, not to win, as they are extremely erratic, esp. as a themed army. In the end the whole look of the army should be decisive not just one model. BTW in the Storm of Magic expansion, Dark Elves can call one unit trolls and WoC one Hydra.

It's two units of each type in SoM, isn't it?

As Kroothawk stated, Trolls in Warriors of Chaos are not competitive (like the War Hydra for Dark Elves is). However, they aren't a terrible unit either, so if the players in your area don't build the strongest lists possible, Trolls can be decent.

I agree with Kroothawk that your friend should just pick the army he likes the look of most (note: army, not single model within an army).

True they are not bad I have seen them destroy tho.
But over all go with the models you like or well he likes.

Trolls work really well when they are supported by Throgg and other WoC units. an all troll list has some serious weaknesses, but a troll focused army that includes some Magic support and some Warrior/Marauder blocks to give them some back up can be really good.

Yes it can.

Those trolls are quite powerful but yes with magic support and some warriors marauders and even knigghts running around then you should be solid.

The hydra really dosnt need that much you just add it to an army list you already have.

I play both armies; Warriors of Chaos are less subtle, more in-your-face brutal; Dark Elves can be fragile but they hit like a ton of bricks and have all sorts of nasty tricks to f*** up whatever your opponent has.

The factor that really tips it towards Warriors of Chaos for me is the Call to Glory spell from the Lore of Tzeentch, which turns a normal Chaos Warrior into an Exalted Hero.

That spell is nice and all but tz spells that rock are flickering fire no one ever stops that and pandemonium.

But ya warriors will tell you to get of their lawn where as DE will be sneaky and kill you before you get on their lawn.

Hydra just for the fact that the model is the shiz niz. But keep them pesty flammable attacks away from it

Chaos trolls are pretty good as they improve during the battle if they pass regenerate tests but they are only expensive metal models.
If you can wait for the eventual plastic chaos trolls or want to convert plastic river trolls go for the chaos army (ideally with the troll king so you can use trolls as troop choices).
If you cant wait and don't want to convert go for dark elves and remember to stick a assassin in every unit.