In Defense Of: Catapult Trolls

Good morning gamers,

Today we're continuing our discussion of models that get maligned by the community and our travels take us to the most expensive warrior monster in the game (since war beasts are hero selections): Catapult Trolls from Azog's Legion. While no official model has been released for this guy yet (I expect he'll get released with whatever Hobbit-equivalent-of-Quest-of-the-Ringbearer sourcebook is made), there are some alternate sculpts from other companies (one of which is shown on this blog) OR you could just strap a catapult-looking-thing to a Gundabad Troll.

However you choose to do it, there are lots of things these guys get critiqued for - probably because they're found in Azog's Legion with a lot of other monsters (and a few big heroes). To examine this unit, I've asked my son Gorgoroth to share his insights on the model, since he's been using Azog's Legion (and specifically this model) a LOT recently. Take it away mate!

No, my son doesn't own this one, but it does look cool - Photo Credit: Reddit.com

Why NOT To Take Catapult Trolls

Gorgoroth: First of all, their Courage is very low, so if you're facing Terror, you want them to shoot instead. If they fight someone (especially another Troll), they'll probably have a lower or the same Fight Value as their opponent. Like most siege weapons, they need to stand still if they want to hit you on a 4+ - otherwise, they can move and shoot, but will only hit on a 6. When compared to Gundabad Trolls (with scythe gauntlets or crushing club), the Catapult Troll has a lower Fight Value (F6 vs. F7) and otherwise has a similar profile. 

Azog's Legion has a LOT of monster warrior choices . . .

Tiberius: You can see above that there are several key stats where the Catapult Troll is weaker than Gundabad Trolls (who cost 60pts less than their Catapult-carrying cousins - oooh, alliteration!) - F6 isn't often as good as F7, D7 isn't often as good as D8, and C3 isn't often as good as C4. When you consider the +1 To Wound or D3 wounds BEFORE Fate that the weapons of the Gundabad Trolls give them (not to mention rerolling 1s against Elves and Dwarves - both are races that include points-efficient models and are staples of the competitive scene) and you've got some really good monsters. Is that fifth Wound and the ability to shoot at enemy models from far away actually worth +60pts? I could see you saying no.

If you compare these guys to Ogres, the Catapult Troll beats him in nearly every stat (lower Movement, tied in Attacks and Courage, better in everything else). But when you consider that you can get THREE Ogres for the same cost as one Catapult Troll, these fast models can be a nightmare to handle! Are these guys better? Maybe so.

The Troll Brute is similarly weaker in profile (same Movement, Strength, Attacks, and Courage, but the Catapult Troll has higher Fight, Defense, and of course Wounds), but with Fearless to supplement that low Courage stat, Impact Hits to get additional damage, and 80pts less in cost (you can almost get TWO Troll Brutes for the same cost as one Catapult Troll), there's probably an argument that these guys are better than Catapult Trolls too (though I don't think it's as strong of an argument as the benefits of Ogres or Gundabad Trolls over Catapult Trolls).

So is this a profile that we don't need a model for? I don't think so - there's far more to this model than initially meets the eye. Let's take a look (with Gorgoroth leading the discussion).

Why TO Take Catapult Trolls

Gorgoroth: First of all, the range of their shooting attack is large enough that you can't run away from it (96") and if they can hit you, they will also deal damage to enemy models nearby (2" radius from the target model, S6 hits). Since this weapon has Volley Fire, you just need a spotter to pick your target - you can't hide from it! 

If a warrior tries to fight the Troll, the Troll can smash them to pieces (F6/S7/3 Attacks) without much risk of taking damage (D7/5 Wounds). If someone charges you, you can Hurl them (resolved at S10) or you can also make D6 S3 hits with your Goblin crew, which is good. Also, Azog's Legion can't shoot except for these guys - if you need shooting, you should have one of these guys.

Tiberius: I'm a big fan of shooting - and I don't think these guys are particularly good, but Gorgoroth's insights are right: Catapult Trolls are your only shooting option (besides Bolg with his bow - which is WORSE at shooting). Azog's Legion has some of the toughest models in the game to crack with their monster array, but since none of those Trolls can Throw Stones, Catapult Trolls are the only models you have access to that can force your opponent to come to you. Yes, they have a 6" scatter, and yes, they "only" have a 4+ shoot value, but this isn't a reason to avoid taking other siege weapons (like Battlecry Trebuchets, who may show up later in this series). Yes, there are no rerolls on this guy (the Mordor War Catapult and Iron Hills Ballista both get rerolls of a kind and the Isengard Ballista can get rerolls if taken from the Assault Upon Helm's Deep LL), but he's still got a half-chance of getting a hit in. If you're on the march, you CAN shoot on a 6+ with this guy (which if you have to get somewhere means he's not wasting his true purpose) - and you only have to hit once to really scare your opponent.

The S6 collateral hits are really good - better than any other siege weapon. It also means that if you can get a direct hit on a battle line, even a D6 shieldwall is feeling bad about their chances of staying alive. A 50/50 proposition of killing each warrior in a 2" radius around the target (which could get a lot of guys, depending on how they're formed up) is a real threat - and if someone doesn't remember to put a lone model or two within 6" of all of his other troops, you could hurt at least a few people even if you scatter onto a different target! I make this sound like a rookie mistake, but I've forgotten to put my spotters out in games too (and it cost me 3 VPs in a Fog of War game at the TMAT GT of 2021).

The +D6 S3 hits in melee from the crew (or the S10 Hurl) are also very good - albeit situational. Dealing extra hits is good if you've been swarmed, but I feel like this is a) unreliable, and b) just another reason to send a Striking hero into you instead of swarming you with warriors. A D7/5 Wound monster can usually take a punch from the worst of foes, but you're still not feeling good about it. Will 3-4 S3 hits deal enough damage to be threatening to a D7 mega-hero who charges you? Probably not. But will warriors want to hit this guy? Definitely not.

Where this guy really shines, though, is his Siege Engine keyword (and more importantly, that he's a Large Siege Engine)! Why? Because being a Large Siege Engine makes him a Siege Target, instead of a Battlefield Target. Why does this matter? Well, it means that enemy siege weapons that shoot at him will hit him without scattering (sounds worse), but will only deal one wound to him instead of automatically killing him (which is really good). Any siege weapons (like Battlecry Trebuchets, Mordor War Catapults, or Iron Hills Ballista) that shoot at him will also not get the benefits of their Area Effect rule, since that only comes into play when it hits a Battlefield target. Similarly, Piercing Shot rules for ballistas won't affect this guy either. If a Mordor War Catapult with Severed Heads is on the other side of the board and you scatter its shot onto this guy, your opponent can't use the Severed Heads attack (since it only affects a Battlefield Target). Yeah, can you tell that this is basically-guaranteed-immunity against siege weapons - take THAT Assault-Upon-Helm's-Deep-Legendary-Legions-Fans!

But most importantly, this is the only model in the Azog's Legion list who can't be killed automatically by a siege weapon. If you're up against an Assault Upon Helm's Deep LL with 2 Ballistas and they start shooting at you, they would be more than happy to target a Gundabad Troll (instantly killed on a 4+) or an Ogre (instantly killed on a 3+) or even a Troll Brute (also instantly killed on a 3+). But shooting at a Catapult Troll means that you need to hit AND wound (on a 3+) FIVE times. FIVE TIMES! In response, a Catapult Troll only needs to hit one of the crewmen to have a good chance of knocking ALL of them to the ground with the 2" area of effect hit (and killing the collaterally-hit models on a 4+) . . . that could disable both ballistas before they can take the Catapult Troll down. That's got value - and while you might be able to stop the Ballistas with Goblin Mercenaries, you'd probably need to spend close to 180pts to do it (two squads of a Captain and 8 Mercenaries).

Making It Work

Gorgoroth: I think you need another big thing in your army to protect a Catapult Troll - it's a good fighter, but not a great one. This could be a Gundabad Troll, Azog/Bolg, or even another Catapult Troll! You can also surround it with warriors of your own to keep your Catapult Troll from being engaged. You should also run Berserkers with them - Berserkers with Azog/Bolg can engage the enemy far away from your Catapult Trolls (to avoid the minimum range of their catapult shots). War Bats can be good too and Goblin Mercenaries can appear to protect them if your Catapult Troll needs protecting. Here's an example 700-point list:

• Bolg on Warg
• 13 Gundabad Berserkers
• 1 War Bat
• Gundabad Orc Captain with shield
• 2 Gundabad Berserkers
• 1 War Bat
• Catapult Troll

Tiberius: Azog's Legion has lots of great Troll units - both weapon options on the Gundabad Trolls are great for killing heroes (and the scythe gauntlets are great at killing troops too) and the Catapult Troll will change how the enemy chooses to approach your army. So what would happen if we had 3 Trolls waiting for them in a 700-point game (one of each Gundabad Troll type and a Catapult Troll)? We can flesh out our numbers easily with a nice large body of Goblin Mercenaries (not the best for arriving in terrain, but great at swarming over a board edge) so that we can surprise enemy objectives after they head over to deal with our ball of death. Our army leader is either a lowly Gundabad Orc Captain OR our sneaky Goblin Mercenary Captain - and if the Merc is your Leader and your opponent wants to deal with your most powerful pieces first (the Trolls), there aren't any victory points on the table for doing so. He also can't ignore them, though - he's kind of in a pickle:

• Gundabad Orc Captain with shield [ARMY LEADER?]
• 5 Gundabad Orcs with shields
• 4 Gundabad Orcs with shields and spears
• 1 Gundabad Orc with shield, spear, and banner
• 1 Gundabad Troll with scythe gauntlets
• 1 Gundabad Troll with crushing club
• Goblin Mercenary Captain [ARMY LEADER?]
• 11 Goblin Mercenaries
• Catapult Troll

But this list got me thinking . . . if we know that there might be an Assault Upon Helm's Deep LL on the other side of the board, it might be nice to have an army that's almost impossible to kill from a distance. So could we get two of those Catapult Trolls in the list at 700pts? Why yes - yes you can. :) This list basically trades out those two Gundabad Trolls for another Catapult Troll and another squad of Goblin Mercenaries - the numbers are pretty impressive considering we have half our points wrapped up in two models (27 models total) and we only present 14 of those models (just barely half) at the beginning of the game: 

• Gundabad Orc Captain with shield [ARMY LEADER?]
• 5 Gundabad Orcs with shields
• 5 Gundabad Orcs with shields and spears
• 1 Gundabad Orc with shield, spear, and banner
• Goblin Mercenary Captain [ARMY LEADER?]
• 6 Goblin Mercenaries
• Goblin Mercenary Captain [ARMY LEADER?]
• 5 Goblin Mercenaries
• Catapult Troll
• Catapult Troll

Let's face it, we all want to show up with this - Photo Credit: Pinterest

Conclusion

Well, that was something - and if you're an Azog's Legion player (or not) and you found this article helpful (or confusing or completely wrong), let us know in the comments below! In our next article, we travel to the plains of Rohan and view the lowly Rohan Captain. With a bunch of named Rohan heroes, these guys may never make it into your calculations - but be assured, these guys are great in any Rohan list. Don't believe me? Tune in next time to see how to make these guys amazing no matter what style of Rohan you play! Until then, happy hobbying!