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frightnight and I played Hordes for the first time yesterday.  Boxed set games - his Circle vs. my Trollbloods.

The first two games I won pretty easily, entirely owing to a) frightnight not really being familiar at all with how the Circle worked and b) critting on 4/5 Impaler shots (this will be a recurring theme, frightnight can't make a die roll to save his life). 

The first game saw frightnight being too conservative and not closing distance with me fast enough.  This allowed me to use the Impalers to simply rip his warbeasts down - I had dropped both Argus before he managed to close with me at all, which meant he simply didn't have the Fury he needed to beat me.  Losing a few warbeasts early in the game is pretty badly crippling. 

The second game frightnight did the exact opposite - he pushed both his Argus forward far too aggressively.  A few Impaler shots and an Axer charge later and his Argus werre both destroyed, leaving him in the same situation - my guys haven't taken any damage, he's down to one Warbeast and he's got a 'lock who really really likes her Fury.

On the third game frightnight got the pattern down much better - he used terrain to screen the Argus advance and pretty much forced me into either a) taking shots at his Argus and totally exposing myself to the Warpwolf or b) attacking the Warpwolf and exposing myself to the Argus.  I opted for b, figuring the Argus were much less of a threat.  He charged Kaya in at one of my Impalers, but wasn't able to get the Warpwolf in at Madrak - instead Warpwolf went for an Impaler.  Madrak charged Kaya and two critical fatalities later she was done.  By all rights Kaya should have survived that and probably beaten me.  That being said - Madrak is a beast; seemingly on par with my beloved Jackhammered Centurian in terms of raw killing power. 

Our fourth game played out much the same way as the third; with Kaya getting the Warpwolf in on Madrak this time.  Madrak was reduced to six health in the initial flurry of attacks.  I then had the Axer attack the Warpwolf with absolutely zero effect; figuring I'd need to soften it up for Madrak to finish off.  Well, I was wrong - with five Fury on him Madrak is more than capable of destroying a Warpwolf.  Drastically so.  frightnight reaped the Warpwolf's fury, which ended up being his big mistake and costing him the game as he couldn't leech fury off of both his Argus.

It kind of sucked because he had me beat otherwise - Madrak was so busy annihilating the Warpwolf that he couldn't put up Surefoot.  frightnight could have pretty easily slammed one of his Argus into my Axer, which would have gone careening straight into Madrak - knocking him down.  Then Kaya walks over with her six fury and pokeypokepokes Madrak to death.  As it was the Argus he needed to slam me with frenzied and that was that.

My impressions?  The trollblood are a pretty simple faction to play, especially against the circle.  Basically only one of Madrak's spells is worth anything against them (Surefoot).  Of his other two spells - the falling rock might be nice, but the other one basically is worthless in the battle box; as is his feat.  So my gameplan is basically keep everyone surefooted, slam things with Impalers until its charge time - then use the Axer and/or Madrak to charge (both are combat BEASTS, the Axer is almost as good as a heavy and Madrak is basically a heavy on his own). 

The Circle, on the other hand, are a lot tougher.  The Warpwolf is a killing machine but it's not resilient enough to go toe to toe with trolls - it HAS to kill its target or it is going to get destroyed.  frightnight's job was further complicated by having much more fury management to handle - he has a lot of useful spells to worry about.  I think that if we played a few more games he'd start beating me - IMO the Circle is a stronger battle box than the trolls. 

We'll probably up to 500 soon; maybe around mid-June when we've got a few units of troops (I've got scattergunners on the way and I've got Champions preordered).  I also want to throw down a few Dire Trolls with Hoarluk, just for LOLs

Some advice for Frightnight...

Pack Hunter and Stealth are your friends.

Stealth the warpwolf and advance. Hold KAYA in behind in terrain to buff her def to 20 (she has pathfinder so this slows her down not at all).

Upkeep the stealth. Your argi are disposable. Use them to slam or simply combo bite something as they're fast. The turn they charge your warpwolf should too... then spirit door it back to Kaya so it's over 5" away. I mostly warp speed with the wolf so it can keep up with argi and make long distance charges.

Scrape the fury off the wolf (you'll get 4 if you max him out every turn) and continually charge out then spirit door back to Kaya.

Nickel and dime your opponent like this and it's really hard to make Kaya commit (In boxed games). Remember, use your dogs to pin down fighters! They're disposable... Stealthing your warpwofl and spiritdooring back is the main offensive tactic in BB games.

Thanks for the advice.  I'm used to Khadoran casters, so the idea of not being able to smack the hell out of things with your leader is a foreign one to me, but I'm getting used to it.

I'm finding out just how much my figs can take, how hard they hit, and when they need to boost by doing.  Fortunately, I've found that the Trolls are one of the best boxes to do this against, as they have no stand-out all star model, but are instead each decently strong.

Keeping the Wolf safe until you can cause serious havoc with him is the key. Remember that if the opportunity presents itself, you can charge a warbeast with Kaya and then spirit door the warp wolf past that beast into combat with the enemy warlock. I've done that a couple times and its very effective.

Also remember that the Wolf can two-handed throw a beast into its caster, knocking down and damaging both, and then be spirit doored to safety.

A crucial ability that many forget/don't know about is that you can leach fury from your caster's lifeforce if you run out of beast fury!


Counter charging is an important tactic with Kaya's pack. If you can goad your opponent into charging a lone Argus, you should be able to gang up and cause seroius damage next turn, especially with pack hunters.

Also, remember to Doppler bark beasts that your Wolf has knocked down. This past saturday I played my 3 Argus + Warpwolf + Kaya list against a 2 Dire Troll + Axer + Hoarluk list. I completely shut him down by Dopplering three models per turn and throwing around his Dire Trolls. I only suffered damage from his fury-damage feat.

Every Dire Troll that my Ragered Warpwolf has gone up against has fallen, and I can usually get him there without the Dire Troll charging me at all. I think part of this is overconfidence on the Troll's part and will continue to be harder to do, but for now my Wolf enjoys a hearty meal every game!


As far as ranged attacks go.....
Cloak is a must! Cast it on the Wolf and then keep Kaya in a forest or behind terrain. Most of what she needs to do she can do through terrain. Remember that Spirit Door does not require LOS!

The only trouble I've had so far in this department is the Legion. No wins against them yet.
The all Seraph list rips you apart before you get into range, and the all Shredder list has too many beasts to deal with (although, trampling Woldwardens and the Wolf animus help a little). I've only had one battle against any other configuration, and in that one I faired better, but failed to do enough damage.