IN SHORT: Hordes Exigence is here, so let’s take a look. As with previous releases, every Hordes army receives a host of new toys, this time throwing out powerful character warbeasts, lesser warlocks, and two of the new warbeast packs. Like all Privateer Press releases, the book is printed in full color with page after page of impressive new artwork.
So, let’s take a look at the new Trollblood models.
BORKA, VENGEANCE OF THE RIMSHAWS: Borka is back and he’s riding a bear! With solid offensive and defensive stats, Borka is all about getting in your opponent’s face and then pounding said face. His large base does bring the usual vulnerabilities, and his Fury stat is low, so he certainly isn’t without weaknesses. But what he really brings is ways to penalize an opponent’s aggression.
First, his spell Battle Charged grants his whole battlegroup Counter Charge, allowing them a free charge when enemies stop within 6” of them (with a few restrictions). Second, he also grants his battlegroup Immunity: Cold, which isn’t a big deal until you see his feat.
With Ice Storm, Borka gives his whole army Stealth (again a tool to deliver his army to the opponent’s face). That’s nice, but this feat’s kicker is when an enemy lands a melee attack against his Immunity: Cold model. They suffer Stationary! Warmachine and Hordes often comes down to whoever hits first and hardest. With Borka’s feat, he’s going to penalize the heck out of any army trying to strike before him.
Have fun!
DOZER & SMIGG: Start with a Dire Troll Blitzer and replace the gun with a powerful but inaccurate AOE attack. This character warbeast brings a lot of support to ranged troll armies. First, it grants friendly Blitzers +2 to all of their attack rolls while they can see Dozer & Smigg. Very nice! Second, its animus gives +2 to ranged attack rolls and also allows the deviation and / or distance of deviation to be rerolled. Third, if you take Dozer & Smigg with Gunnbjorn, then this warbeast gets boosted blast damage rolls, making its ranged attack even more interesting.
Taking Dozer & Smigg is kind of like taking Blitzer Premium Plus for ranged armies. By itself, it’s not super special. But put it in the right army, and that Premium Plus can be a game changer.
NORTHKIN FIRE EATERS: Sometimes I come across models that make me love this game even more.
So, the Northkin Fire Eaters come with what you’d expect from fire eating trolls. Namely, spray attacks that set people on fire. They also get +5 ARM when receiving fire damage, and actually power up when they’re burning (boosted attack and damage rolls, among other buffs).
So what can you do with this unit? Well, have one of the models set the other two on fire, of course! Then go to town with two fully boosted spray attacks.
I love this game.
TROLLKIN HIGHWAYMEN: A solid no-nonsense unit built around using combined ranged attacks or putting out an impressive number of shots (2 per model). They also come with Gunfighter so they can keep fighting with their pistols in melee, Camouflage to help keep them safe from enemy shooting, and Swift Hunter for a little extra mobility when they kill something.
A nice addition to the Trollblood arsenal.
HORGLE IRONSTRIKE: Horgle is a lesser warlock who focuses solely on Pyre Trolls and Slag Trolls. But that’s okay, because he makes both of them cheaper by 1 point and can enhance their ranged attacks with Hot Shot, granting boosted ranged damage rolls to one battlegroup warbeast.
Horgle can also team up with either warbeast and pump out multiple +2 melee damage buffs to nearby models. He’s no slouch in melee either, with easy access to those same buffs and a sword that inflicts Continuous Fire.
So, yeah. This is one solid lesser warlock.
BRAYLEN WANDERHEART, TROLLKIN OUTLAW: Braylen is a solo that comes with everything the Trollkin Highwaymen have, only better. Better guns, better stats, better defensive abilities, and so on. With Luck, she can reroll misses for her twin POW 12 heavy pistols, and with Gun & Run, she can kill something and then back away to safety.
She’s also an Opportunist, granting additional attack and damage dies when in something’s back arc, and she grants this ability to Trollkin Highwaymen that can see her. Definitely worth consider alone or with a posse of Highwaymen.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press introduces another set of new models that bring fresh possibilities to each faction. Less warlocks and warbeast packs may not be as exciting as gargantuans, but there are still plenty of fun releases in this book.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Trollbloods
Hordes Gargantuans Review: Trollbloods
IN SHORT: The Horde Gargantuans rulebook is here, and once again Privateer Press shows their top shelf support for an excellent gaming system.
As with previous releases, every Hordes army gets a host of new additions that mix up the game in exciting ways. In the past, Privateer Press has shown their skill in maintaining game balance while still adding tons of exciting new options. Fortunately, this rulebook does not disappoint. Every main faction gets a new warlock, one of the new gargantuans, and a mix of beasts, units, and solos. The rulebook itself is full color, and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous!
Today, let’s take a look at the new additions to the Trollbloods arsenal!
HUNTERS GRIM: Trollbloods get a warlock unit! Plus, anything with a bowler hat gains extra cool points in my book. I love these Trollblood models!
Grim’s feat is excellent for ranged-heavy Trollblood armies. Any Cygnar player with Rangers knows the power of Mark Target. Toss in Snipe for extra range, mix and serve. With a few models forward marking targets and the rest of the battle-line holding back with Snipe, Grim’s feat turn can be absolutely devastating!
The guns of the Hunters Grim are pretty nice too. Grim’s Headhunter lets warbeasts charge enemy models for free. Muggs can knock enemies down, and Krump can lay down large POW 10 traps to keep the team safe. Nice!
Once the range drops, Grim’s spell list has some neat tricks. Mirage gives a model or unit Apparition, which can help the target close faster or disengage from melee. Mage Sight can let his battlegroup ignore Stealth, cloud effects, and forests. Good stuff. But I think Mortality is the best. This debuff will drop DEF and ARM by 2 for a whole unit. Just picture that with the Mountain King’s spray attack on feat turn. A 10” spray attack at effective RAT 9 POW 18? Yes, please!
Overall, the Hunters Grim look like a flexible addition to the Trollbloods team. They have support for both warbeasts and infantry as well as a potent feat with ranged armies.
NIGHT TROLL: Wow, this guy is one freaky-looking troll! Can’t wait to see the model!
For 4 points, this light warbeast brings some interesting stuff to the table. Its claws can paralyze living models, reducing their DEF to 7 among other maladies. It comes with Stealth and Eyeless Sight, stock. And it has an interesting animus, Beguile. Basically, living enemy models within 5” of him have to advance towards him.
Note that this is not “directly” towards, just towards, so it’s not as powerful as it first sounds, but it is still very potent. Still, I can see this ability really messing with enemy charges. It creates a 5” bubble around the Night Troll, and that can mean a lot of failed charge vectors. Not bad for a 4 point light warbeast.
TROLLKIN WARDERS: These guys are slow, heavy infantry that are going to take a concerted effort to get rid of. If you want to bog down an enemy, these guys look like they’re up to the challenge. As soon as you damage one, their ARM shoots up to 19, among other benefits. They don’t have the same offensive power as, say, Trollkin Champions. But they’re cheaper and are going to stick around much longer. Not bad at all.
TROLLKIN SORCERER: Here’s a 1 point solo that brings some very interesting tools into the mix. He has an attack spell, Ice Bolt. Nothing too exciting there. However, he also has Arcane Antidote and Winter Storm, and these are worth a look!
While the Sorcerer is a solo, it is assigned a client Trollkin unit thanks to its Adjunct rule. Arcane Antidote allows the Sorcerer to clear enemy upkeep spells off his client unit. Very nice, especially against foes like Cryx or anyone who likes to toss around debuff spells.
If the Sorcerer uses Winter Storm, enemy models activating in his command range lose Eyeless Sight, Flight, and Pathfinder. Yikes! That’s going to be nasty against Legion!
All in all, this guy brings some nice abilities to the table for only 1 point. And you can have 2 of him.
FENNBLADE KITHKAR: So here’s a 2 point Fennblade solo. Nothing too flashy. Good offensive abilities. Good defensive abilities. The main synergy with this model is Tactician [Fennblades], which allows nearby Fennblades to ignore other Fennblades for line of sight. Again, nothing too flashy. I could see some potential use out of it, since the Fennblades are medium based models and sometimes a big mob of them can get in the way of each other.
That said, the Fennblade Kithkar is not a part of the unit, so if the Fennblades have a buff spell on them, he won’t benefit from it. Same goes for Fell Calls. So, yeah. Nothing too exciting here. Just a solid solo with good rules and stats.
MOUNTAIN KING: At first I was like, MAT 5? Really? On a 20 point model? What the flip? But then I saw its animus, Amuck. Ahh, now it makes sense.
With Amuck and Kill Shot, this guy can charge forward, Sweep a whole mess of infantry with boosted attack rolls, eat them for health, and then cut loose with a free ranged attack. He may not start with high health, but his regenerative abilities are top notch. Between that and the ARM buffs Trollbloods have at their disposal, the Mountain King is one tough customer to put down.
Just think about this for a moment. +2 ARM from the Krielstone. Maybe another +2 ARM from an Earthborn Dire Troll’s Elemental Communion. Add in double doses of Whelps for munching on, and the aforementioned boosted Sweep attacks. Let’s face it. If the enemy doesn’t kill this guy in one turn, all they did was piss him off!
SUMMARY: Privateer Press continues to release exciting new models for every faction at roughly the same time. They have shown a strong commitment to game balance and to supporting owners of all factions. The releases in this rulebook are a fine example of their dedication to the game and to the fans.
All in all, Gargantuans is another top-notch release for a top-notch game.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.