The Bare Necessities, Part XLIV: The Trolls

Good morning gamers,

I have fought the Three Trolls a LOT over the past few years. If you've never faced two or three of them, you will not understand at all. Sure, maybe you've faced a lot of monsters in the past, but these guys are different. VERY different. While you might be able to call a Heroic Defense against most monsters to keep their high-Strength benefits from coming into play, these guys have tricks up their sleeves that will leave your best heroes crying. Today, we're looking at how to use these amazing and iconic heroes in evil armies - let's dig in!

The Trolls: Who Needs Some Muscle?

I've written about the Three Trolls before and I've talked about them in the Monster podcast we did a long time ago. I happen to think that Bill the Troll and Tom the Troll are some of the best monsters in the game and they are incredibly dangerous to forces that need to rely on big heroes smashing things (instead of shooting or magic). Tom has a great mix of options for dealing with warrior spams (with his Stomp 'Em Into Jelly Brutal Power Attack) and heroes (with his Lingering Cold ability and the rest of his hero arsenal) - and if a spell-caster happens to show up to the fight, he can forego turns of using his Lingering Cold rule in order to resist magic (3 Will for the win). Tom is pretty great.

Bill is a REALLY good hero when it comes to dealing with big heroes, as he can Strike from F7 and can use his Mince 'Em Fine Brutal Power Attack to deal wounds (not hits - WOUNDS) to his opponent based on the Strength of the target (Bill's S7 + D6 vs. the target's Strength + a D6 from them). Most of the time, you'll be up by 3 Strength (S7 vs. S4), which means if you can just match the enemy D6 roll, you can outright kill most heroes in the game (and woe betides bigger heroes if they get a bad D6 roll). Bill is pretty great.

Bert is the "other one" - slightly more expensive than Tom and gifted with a highly situational Brutal Power Attack (Roast 'Em Slowly - sets someone ablaze if you can chuck them into a fire nearby). With the profile of a Mordor Troll and 2M/1W/1F and access to Heroic Defense, Bert has less tactical options but has a solid profile and is very difficult to take down. While his Brutal Power Attack options aren't as neat as his comrades, all three have access to the Save 'Em For Later Brutal Power Attack, which allows you to Paralyze one model you're fighting - great for dealing with that pesky hero who called Heroic Defense and is going to be hard to clear (though not as good as Mince 'Em Fine, which is probably the best Heroic Defense bypass in the game). In his own way, Bert is pretty good too.

All three Trolls come in at 400 points (plus 15 points for the Campfire if you don't run a pure Trolls list) - which is a lot to spend on three models that can't lead troops, but is on-par with what other factions pay for 3 monsters (and most of those factions are buying warrior monsters who don't have Might/Will/Fate). If you pair these guys with some moderately-costed heroes (50-75pts - though one will have to be a Hero of Valor), you can get 2-3 heroes and a slew of warriors to join them in most games that are 600+ points. Not bad, really. Some armies can do this easily, but we'll be looking at a list that is inspired by something Rythbyrt ran against Centaur recently (not that he needs any more ideas).

The List

• Bill the Troll
  
• Tom the Troll
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Nazgul of Dol Goldur (The Witch-King) [ARMY LEADER]
  
• 6 Gundabad Orc Warriors with shields
• 5 Gundabad Orc Warriors with shields and spears
• 1 Gundabad Orc Warrior with shield, spear, and banner
• 1 Hunter Orc
  
• 1 Hunter Orc with Orc bow
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Castellan of Dol Goldur
• 4 Hunter Orcs with Orc bows
• 2 Fell Wargs
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Castellan of Dol Goldur
• 4 Hunter Orcs with Orc bows
• 2 Fell Wargs
  

31 models, 9 Orc bows hitting on a 5+ AND 2 thrown stones hitting on a 5+, 17 D6+ models, 4 fast infantry, 7 Might points

The purchases required to get these units are as follows:

• Obviously, you need the Trolls;
• You'll also need the Witch-King Nazgul of Dol Goldur (which involves getting ALL the Nazgul of Dol Goldur unless you can find an old blister on eBay);
• You'll also need one box (exactly one box) of Gundabad Orc Warriors;
• You'll need one box of Hunter Orcs (but you'll only be using 10 of them);
• You'll need one box of Fell Wargs; and
  
• You'll need 2 Castellans of Dol Goldur.
  

Pricey, but it's Hobbit-era MESBG with ForgeWorld Nazgul in the mix - did you expect it to be cheap? Let's see what this army does, shall we?

Warband #1: The Muscle

Dol Goldur is at no loss for heavy-hitting muscle, but it's hard to get more dangerous hitters than Bill and Tom. You can get similar power from Azog's Legion without losing your army bonus, but you'd be paying more money for a Gundabad Orc Captain and 2 Gundabad Trolls or for Bolg and 1 Gundabad Troll. This is pretty affordable and you've got two really powerful heroes to supplement your already dangerous army - neither of which is your army leader (though either one could be). Losing the Dol Goldur army bonus doesn't matter, since we don't have the Necromancer in our army. When Rythbyrt ran something like this, he replaced the Trolls with more Castellans . . . you can get almost 7 Castellans by replacing them if you want.

Warband #2: The Unkillable Leader

While Bill and Tom are Heroes of Valor, we've chosen to go with the Witch-King as our army leader, since he can come back to life after being killed (so long as someone like Floi isn't on the board). You don't want to be reckless with him, but you'll probably be surprised how annoying Tom and Bill can be when they're not worth any victory points. The Witch-King gives us 3 Might to be used for Heroic Moves and boosting his Resurrection rolls (so he doesn't die), though it might be tempting to Strike from time to time. He's a decent fighter (F5/S4 with 2 Attacks) and capable of killing enough stuff to be useful (while not being the most dangerous thing on the block). Avoid Banishment heroes like the plague though!

Supporting him is a 12-man shieldwall (with banner embedded) that is best used between the two anchoring Trolls. I've also included two Hunter Orcs for flavor - one of which has a bow (sit on an objective or something).

Warbands #3-4: The Other Threats

Speaking of shooting, each of these smaller warbands has objective-based troops: fast Fell Wargs for claiming objectives and shooting-capable Hunter Orcs for holding objectives. While all of these warriors are D4, they are capable units in combat and provide valuable flexibility to your army.

Leading these warbands are two Castellans of Dol Goldur - who are the cheapest F5/S5 models in the game (narrowly edging out those Isengard/Mordor Uruk-Hai heroes who cost 55+ points each). With 12 Will points that can be spent as Fate points and D6, they happen to be more resilient than the competition and are notoriously difficult to kill (as I have had MUCH recent experience learning). While I haven't given them Morgul Blades (thought about it a few times), they are plenty dangerous without them. Get a trap in with these guys and watch enemies fall to pieces - especially those pretty F4/D6 shieldwalls that most factions are fond of!

Scenario Overview

Let's see how we would approach each of the 12 scenarios from the main rulebook with this kind of army:

• Domination: You want your shieldwall right on the center line to give you an anchor on the central objective. Each of the Castellan warbands can be placed near objectives on the periphery and leave some Hunter Orcs with Orc bows sitting on sheltered objectives, while their Fell Wargs can skulk around to objectives your opponent controls. You want to deploy your Trolls last so you have as much knowledge about your opponent's position as possible and use Bill and Tom to guard the flanks of the Witch-King's formation. Use Tom and Bill to drive your opponent away from the center, then use them to push towards the other objectives as a distraction for the rest of your Orcs to do their job of picking people off.
  
• Capture and Control: Similar strategy - deploy on the center line with the Witch-King first, deploy the Trolls on the flanks to protect them. Your Castellans can start on the flanks this time, able to strike the side objectives with the support of the Trolls, while the Hunter Orcs from the Witch-King's warband can fall back towards your rear objective.
  
• Hold Ground: You have four warbands that will arrive and without March, you're walking the whole way. Thankfully, you don't need to move together (though deploying together can help). Use your Trolls to shepherd the enemy towards your other units, protecting the Witch-King on his approach and willing to use both Castellans to carve through models on the way if you can. If you can distract the enemy with your non-Witch-King warbands, you have a good chance of being able to get a good chunk of your army near the center eventually - and if the enemy can be broken with a few stragglers making it to the center, you can win.
  
• Seize the Prize: We don't have any March in our list, so we're probably showing up second to the fight in the center. Sure, we have 4 Fell Wargs, but with D4 and a single wound each, they're likely to be shot to bits (or charged on the second turn) if we just send them ahead of us. Instead, it's probably a good idea to have them run behind our Trolls (or behind the Castellans), leaving paths for them to reach the center on the second turn if we call a Heroic Move (assuming our opponent doesn't have the objective in his hands already). Our Hunter Orcs could shoot at the enemy (four bows on each flank would give us some options), but we could also just choose to charge at the enemy. Whatever option you choose, be sure to hem in your opponent if he gets the objective first - if your opponent stays in one place, your Trolls can do some serious damage to them.
  
• To The Death: Your numbers aren't particularly high, you don't have shooting or magic that will force your opponent to come to you (unless you count the Trolls' thrown stones), and about half your models have low Defense . . . I'd engage as quickly as you can and hope you can break the enemy before the game ends. With Hunter Orcs, Castellans, the Witch-King, and the Trolls, you can certainly break the enemy - but you'll need to be careful about throwing your troops into situations they can't win. So be careful - this will be a hard scenario.
  
• Lords of Battle: Again, with low Defense on half your models, you don't want to take very long getting locked in with the enemy. As such, start on the center line, charge in as quickly as you can, and get those Trolls working for you. Your Hunter Orcs have bows, but don't rely on them unless your opponent didn't bring shooting to the table. Your wound tally is not high (since the Castellans and the Witch-King only have 1 Wound each) and wounding the Trolls will be hard, so get as many kills in as you can.
  
• Contest of Champions: The Witch-King is a perfectly functional hero for tackling enemy warriors (which is what he needs to do here). Tom the Troll should prioritize getting into the enemy army leader (as his Lingering Cold and Heroic Defense can be neat tricks for keeping him alive) OR use him and Bill to hurl enemy models into him so that he can't kill anything. With your units deployed on the center line, get tangled up quickly, get a few kills in from the Witch-King early, and then hope the game ends with you ahead in the kill count.
  
• Reconnoitre: We have four fast troops who we'll be trying to get across the board edge - use your Trolls and Gundabads for screening them so they can get through. Your Hunter Orcs will have Orc bows to try to shoot models that are escaping, but they're not very good - so where possible, charge with them instead. A Thin Red Line could be used if you wanted to keep the enemy from being able to run off the board, but with low Defense on those Hunter Orcs, I'm not sure how well that would work.
  
• Storm the Camp: Once again, we have some fast troops (who can threaten the enemy camp), but I think it would be better to focus on breaking the enemy, killing the leader, and keeping your camp safe - if you can do that, you can win without making it across the board. Your Hunter Orcs make great guardians for your base (not only because they can shoot, but because they're 2A models. The Witch-King will want to be safe for the mission, but if he can "blink" towards the objective, you could make it hard to catch you as you race for the end objective.
  
• Heirlooms of Ages Past: You have four warbands that can arrive - and the two little ones have very fast models to race to objectives. While you could try to arrive together, you could also try to have one warband arrive on each board. Bill and Tom will dissuade most warbands from arriving near them (and you want these guys to NOT pick up the Heirloom if they can - the potential for one of them to be Transfixed is huge). Maneuver your army as best you can to get the Heirloom (or hem your opponent in) and once you get it, hold on tight to it.
  
• Fog of War: You have five heroes in your army - and all five are hard to kill in their own way. Personally, I think you should try to keep one of your Castellans alive and tuck him in the back (you have two Trolls and another Castellan for killing stuff). Your opponent might pick one of your Castellans (perhaps the one you tucked in the back), but he might decide to take on one of your Trolls because "you need to deal with them anyway". Unlikely, in my opinion, though. When looking for a hero to kill, you want someone who won't be able to flee from Bill or Tom - and if you're facing someone mounted, you can try to line up Hurls to your target so you can dismount him before you fight him. While you have Wargs who can race to far objectives, I think your army will be most deadly if you've chosen a piece of terrain that's near the center of the board so you can park your entire army on it (except your Castellan that you're hiding - who can be supported by your Wargs). Do your best not to break - just make sure you break your opponent.
  
• Clash By Moonlight: Your bows aren't great, but they will be perfectly functional in this scenario. You don't have great Defense, but if you can race into your opponent, I think you can thrash his heroes pretty well. The trick is not letting those Trolls get shot to death by S3+ archery (wounded on 5s). No real strategy here, to be honest.
  

Modifications

The Trolls have a few different applications - here are some others:

• Ally with Goblin-town – Most of the times I've faced Bill, Tom, and Bert have been against some kind of Goblin-town allied force. Goblin-town has the advantage of cheap troops AND they bring another big monster to the party (the Goblin King is your only Hero of Valor/Legend, so you need him in the list). While you can bring all three Trolls, the list below brings only two (Bert gets held up again) so you can get decent numbers (something you suffer from tremendously if you bring all three Trolls). We talked not too long ago about Goblin-town - I've included the Goblin King (required), Gollum (for de-buffing enemy heroes), the Goblin Scribe (for bringing on more troops), a small band of Goblin Mercenaries for grabbing objectives, and a Goblin Captain with a full warband of warriors. All told, you reach 47 models with 3 heroes and lots of tactical board control options.
  
• Bill the Troll
• Tom the Troll
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: The Goblin King [ARMY LEADER]
• INDEPENDENT: Gollum
• 17 Goblin Warriors
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: The Goblin Scribe
• 6 Goblin Warriors
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Goblin Captain
• 12 Goblin Warriors
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Goblin Mercenary Captain
• 5 Goblin Mercenaries
  
• Ally with Moria – Moria is the closest to an Elven faction (who are Historical or Convenient allies with everyone) that you'll find in the Forces of Evil. With cheap models, this is an army that gives you an opportunity to not only get impressive numbers, but you can also get fast troops in the form of Warg Marauders or Bat Swarms. To land on the 30+ models AND get all three Trolls in the army, we've chosen to go with Durburz and a Moria Goblin Captain for our Moria contingent and lots of Goblins to back them up. With 32 models, we've maxed out our model count and will be relying heavily on our Trolls to do the work. From experience, though, the Trolls will do a LOT of work (and again, none of them are your army leaders - though two of them could be).
  
• Bill the Troll
• Bert the Troll
• Tom the Troll
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Durburz, The Goblin King of Moria [ARMY LEADER]
  
• 7 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 7 Moria Goblin Warriors with spears
• 1 Warg Marauder
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Moria Goblin Captain with shield
  
• 5 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 6 Moria Goblin Warriors with spears
• 1 Bat Swarm
  
• Troll Party - Sure, you can get lots of models into an army with the Trolls (especially if you leave one of them at home). But as we recently found out at THRO 2021, having a small number of models in your army - and most of your models being Trolls - means that your opponent has to deal with the monsters in order to break you (and that can be really hard). This list runs all three Trolls AND an impossible alliance with 3 Trolls from Angmar (since we can't get a cheap monster hero from Moria). Paired with 2 Spectres for objective control, your opponent has to kill either two of the Trolls or three Angmar models to break you (either way, a Troll has to go down). With 6 potential Hurls a turn, have fun dealing with this nasty piece of work.
  
• Bill the Troll with Campfire [ARMY LEADER]
• Bert the Troll
• Tom the Troll
  
• IMPOSSIBLE ALLY: Buhrdur, Troll Chieftain
• 2 Cave Trolls with hand-and-a-half hammers
• 2 Dead Marsh Spectres
  

I love the Trolls - but not facing them, obviously. :) In our next post, we go to a really weird army that most players would never dream of running pure (because of the cost investment required and the limitations of the profiles): the Wildmen of Druadan. I have no experience using these guys (though I like the Paths of the Druadan LL), so I reached out to Druadan afficionado Tim Hixon (who, to be fair, is proficient with . . . like . . . everything in SBG) and after some great thoughts from him, I am happy to say that we have some weird fun coming out. Join us next time for an entertaining ride through one of the oddest factions in the game (and the one with the least profiles besides the Desolator of the North) - until then, happy hobbying!