In Defense Of: Bert the Troll

Good morning gamers,

We've covered a lot of different models in this series - from heroes who make bad army leaders to warriors that no one thinks are valuable. Today, we look at a monster hero (one of the first we've done) who most people forget about - and who, if you face him on the tabletop, you'll probably never forget: Bert the Troll. No, this isn't the guy who chops your big hero to bits (that's Bill). No, this isn't the guy who sneezes on you to half your Fight Value (that's Tom). Nope, this is "the other guy" - and if you don't remember what he does, then you've stumbled across the reason we're covering him today. :-) 

In fact, he's SO unmemorable, that while both Tom (the sneezy guy) and Bill (the choppy-choppy guy) get close-ups photos on the GW website, Bert gets absolutely ZERO close-ups, ZERO screen-time, and is quite literally third-wheeling their gang . . . it's absurd. But let's not let that get us down - let's understand where the critiques are coming from and then view how great Bert actually is!

Why NOT To Take Bert The Troll

Photo Credit: Games Workshop - seriously, there's no solo shot of Bert . . . see for yourself!

Trolls in MESBG have really great combat stats - depending on the profile, you're looking at F5-7, S6-7, and 3 Attacks standard. On Defense, they're pretty hard to crack as well - D6-8, 3-5 Wounds, and 0-2 Fate points (depending on whether the Troll is a hero or not). As you can see from the comparison below, there's "nothing wrong" with the stats that Bert the Troll has compared to his other hulking brethren:

Bert is F7/S7/A3/C4, which is on-par or better than every other Troll in his league. He's also D7 with 3 Wounds, which is on-par or better than anyone who isn't a Gundabad Troll (D8 with 4 Wounds), a Catapult Troll (D7 with 5 Wounds and is a siege target), an Isengard Troll (D8 with 3 Wounds), or a Mordor Troll Chieftain (D8 with 3 Wounds). He's got 2 Might, which is worse than Buhrdur, Bill the Troll, and the Uber-Mordor-Troll-Chieftain from the Black Gate Opens Legendary Legion, but on-par or better than everyone else. Like all Trolls, he causes Terror and like most Trolls he can Throw Stones (S8 hit with 12" range and a 5+ shoot value - Buhrdur hits more reliably, but Gundabad Trolls can't throw stones at all). In almost every aspect, there's nothing wrong with his profile compared to everyone else.

But Trolls aren't often seen on the competitive scene of MESBG for a few reasons. First and foremost, they have MASSIVE bases. Having a big base isn't necessarily a critique (Gulavhar and the Witch-King on a Fell Beast are staples of the competitive scene and have similarly-sized bases), but big bases have can problems getting into the models they want to engage (unless your goal is "just to smash into the enemy lines"). As a blunt hammer, Trolls can be great - but when you face an experience player, they can manipulate those annoyingly small 25mm bases so that the big heroes you want to bludgeon evade your charge and end up flying into your supporting troops and dicing them to pieces (while your Troll isn't getting his money's worth fighting one or two little guys each round). If you're a hero Troll, you might be able to Heroic Combat once or twice, but moving that big base once the battle lines have joined can be a PAIN, further limiting your ability to hit the models you want.

Trolls are also slow - as you can see on the chart above, all Trolls have a 6" move and unlike Gulavhar and Fell Beasts, these guys can't fly over ranks (or even move through models like the Goblin King can). A few of the Trolls on this list (Buhrdur and the Cave Troll) have 40mm bases instead of the larger 60mm base, which makes them a bit more maneuverable, but with 6" speed, where you can get to with these guys is still quite limited. Centaur is our resident spam-Cave-Trolls-with-Buhrdur player (and recently took them to a 550pt event we held) and he'll tell you that you can make do with their 6" movement and large bases if you can force your opponent to charge into you - and then use Hurl to make the combats they're in safe.

These two critiques (big bases and slow speed) are common critiques of Trolls generally, but Bert gets a few other critiques that the others don't. First and foremost, he's S7 (pretty standard for a Troll), but he doesn't get wounding bonuses. Cave Trolls may only be S6, but with hand-and-a-half hammers and Burly, these guys are wounding enemy models as well or better than Bert will. Mordor Trolls don't have Burly, but if they're in the same fight as a few other models, they can two-hand from S7 to get some incredible wounding boosts. Gundabad Trolls with Scythe Gauntlets are S7 with a free +1 To Wound, making them an even BETTER slaying model than Bert (and they're roughly the same cost). If you don't like the Scythe Gauntlets, the Crushing Club option doesn't get +1 To Wound, but it does deal D3 wounds before Fate is spent, which can outright kill heroes if you can turn 1-2 wounds into 4-6 wounds. Bill the Troll costs +20pts and doesn't get wounding bonuses like Cave Trolls, Mordor Trolls, or Gundabad Trolls, but he does have Mince 'Em Fine, which can be absolutely devastating against man-sized heroes (oh the number of times my Thorin has been killed by this guy). Other Trolls might not be able to get wounding boosts, but some do (and are more commonly viewed as competitive because of their wounding potential).

As a Troll hero, Bert also gets critiqued for not having Heroic Strike - of the 6 Troll heroes in the game (Buhrdur, the three Trolls, Mordor Troll Chieftains, and the Uber-Troll-Chieftain from the Black Gate Opens LL), four of those (not Bert and Tom the Trolls) have Heroic Strike - and if you're Striking from F6 or F7, you've got a good chance of getting to F10. And that's really good if you want to take advantage of those massive Strength stats (whether you're striking normally, Rending, or Mincing 'Em Fine). Tom the Troll might not have Heroic Strike, but he has the Lingering Cold special rule that can half an opponent's Fight Value if you spend a Will point (which means a single Strike hero can't beat you in FV if you've still got Will lying around). It's pretty nasty (colds usually are though). With all of these other Troll heroes being able to compete with enemy heroes who can Strike, it looks like Bert is just left out to dry.

Finally, Bert gets critiqued for having the worst of the specialized Brutal Power Attacks of the three Trolls. Mince 'Em Fine is a NASTY piece of work if there's one big hero in a fight with Bill. Tom's Squash 'Em To Jelly is NASTY if your opponent has charged Tom with lots of warriors (or multiple mounted models) since he can deal 1 S6 hit against everyone engaged in the fight with him and knock them all prone. Bert can set someone on fire if there's a fire object nearby (like their Campfire - but also any fire-based piece of terrain). That's . . . incredibly conditional and frankly not that helpful. That Campfire is an extra 15pts if you ally with anyone (it's free if you run them pure - but that means you're capped at 400pts), and frankly you can probably get more benefits from 15pts spent elsewhere (something we'll look at later in this post).

So is Bert just not worth taking? Should he languish in a display case or as part of a custom terrain piece? I don't think so - the guy is frankly the most underrated of the set. Let's look at how to use him well, shall we?

Why TO Take Bert The Troll

When you have a 60mm base, having 6" movement is definitely a limitation - but it isn't all bad and doesn't have to be prohibitive on your options. 60mm bases cover a lot of space and you can lock up a corridor pretty well with Bert the Troll and maybe a few allied warriors near him - and one of the few things an enemy army wants to charge into is a F7/S7/3A monster in a confined space. In the open, having the same warriors stand behind Bert to his right and left (close enough that they can pull models out of his combat if you move second and to sail in on the following turn if you move first) can ensure that Bert isn't overwhelmed but retains his freedom of movement:

This simple formation (which we'll cover in more detail later this week) gives almost complete freedom of movement to your monster model, allowing them to choose who in front of them they want to engage without any risk of being hedged out/tripped up by warriors. If you want to hit warriors, you can - but enemy heroes who want to run into your warriors will have to do so while still being within reach of your Troll (and if you call a Combat, they know you're coming).

Bert may not have any bonuses to Wound, but he doesn't need it - most monsters don't! Yes, having +1 To Wound on a Cave Troll can be great for cracking through troops, but being S7 is going to be virtually the same (you'll see differences if your opponent is D4 or less - which does happen). If you're able to wound up to 3 troops on a 3+ if they're D5 or less or on a 4+ if they're D6-7, I don't think you're going to complain too much (most heroes don't wound that easily). If you're up against a hero who hasn't called Heroic Defense, you can Rend them or wound them normally (Rending is usually easier, but occasionally you'll find that these are the same). And if your opponent is a hero who has called Heroic Defense, you can use your specialized Brutal Power Attack. No, I'm not referring to Roast 'Em Slowly (I don't find that to be very dangerous or useful), I'm referring to Keep 'Em For Later.

If you've ever fought Barrow-Wights in an Angmar army or Mirkwood Spiders in a Dark Powers of Dol Guldur army, you know that Paralyze is a NASTY ability. I mean, who wants to lose fights automatically and count as trapped? Nobody. Well, each of the three Trolls has a BPA that allows them to Paralyze one man-sized model that they're fighting. No roll made, no avoiding it, nothing - you're just Paralyzed. The end. You need to be man-sized, so this isn't an option if the enemy hero is mounted, but if that isn't in play, Paralyze is a nice option to take a big hero out of commission for (hopefully) a few turns - especially if that hero has relied on Heroic Defense to avoid taking damage. While Paralyzed, he can't call Heroic Actions, so some of your warriors can walk up behind Bert on the next turn and "finish him" at their leisure while Bert walks off to deal with someone else.

I mentioned in passing that both Tom and Bill the Trolls have this BPA as well, but because Mince 'Em Fine is a great way to kill a hero (instead of paralyzing him) and because Squash 'Em To Jelly is a great way to deal damage to groups of people, it's unlikely that these guys run into a situation where they need Keep 'Em For Later (Tom might if he's facing someone big, Bill will be hard-pressed to use it). Bert may not appear to be as good as the other two, but Keep 'Em For Later is FAR more likely to be used by him (and man is it a pain when it's used).

Finally, Bert may not have Heroic Strike, but he does have Heroic Defense - and there's very few things that are excited to try to wound a D7, 3-Wound monster on natural 6s. Most heroes are going to have to call Heroic Strike when fighting Bert because he's F7 - and if you call Heroic Defense when they call a Strike, you might lose the fight, but if you're not trapped (which having guys backing up your flanks but not directly behind you should prevent pretty well), you probably aren't going to be wounded very much (unless your opponent gets really lucky with his dice). With 2 Might and Heroic Defense, it's actually quite hard for a big hero to crack through Bert if he's not trapped - and by the time Bert runs out of Might, the big hero is probably close to out of Might as well . . . and that means he's goin' in a bag . . .

Making It Work

The Three Trolls can be run pure at low points levels (they cap-out at 400pts, but you can probably get good mileage out of them at 500pts as well - there's not a lot that scares them at that points level), but as you increase the points level, you need to surround these guys with good allies. Bert in particular wants helpers - people who can charge models that have been "bagged" as well as to keep his fights manageable. For this, I'd recommend one of the following two armies (both of which can do without their army bonuses): Goblin-town and Moria.

Both of these armies are Convenient Allies with the Three Trolls and you can include all three of the Trolls (400pts) with a healthy number of bodies at 700+ points. For Goblin-town, you have to bring the Goblin King along (he's your only Valor/Legend hero), and that gives you not one, not two, not three, but FOUR monster models for 530pts, leaving you 170+ points for warriors. My son ran this four-monster-combo for a LONG time and if you have the Goblin Scribe (for MORE bodies and 50pts), you have room for Gollum and 23 Goblin Warriors, which gives you just under 30 models, but you'll have more than that once the supporters come through. If you're concerned about your numbers, you could drop one of the Trolls (Bert or Tom are the likely candidates - because this article is about Bert, I'll say Tom, ;-) ) to get 2 Goblin Captains (70pts) and 15-17 additional Goblins (depending on which Troll you drop). This will boost your numbers to the low-to-mid 40s (pretty good for 700pts) but will mean you only have 3 monsters (which is fine). That list would look like this (45 models):

• Bill the Troll
• Bert 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
• 8 Goblin Warriors
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Goblin Captain
• 7 Goblin Warriors
  

If Goblin-town isn't up your alley, Moria is a nice alternative option: their troops are blissfully cheap and Durburz is a much cheaper Hero of Valor, allowing you to get higher numbers than you would with Goblin-town. Of course, there aren't any new models coming into the board, so there are limitations to Moria, but models like Bert and Bill are much more dangerous if there's a Bat Swarm lurking about. Here's a list that runs all three Trolls with Durburz, a Moria Goblin Captain for March, and a bunch of troops (32 models in total - feel free to swap a few shields/spears for Orc bows if you like that sort of thing) - not bad for 700pts:

• Bill the Troll [ARMY LEADER?]
  
• Bert the Troll
• Tom the Troll [ARMY LEADER?]
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Durburz, Goblin King of Moria [ARMY LEADER?]
• 7 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 7 Moria Goblin Warriors with spears
• 1 Bat Swarm
  
• CONVENIENT ALLY: Moria Goblin Captain with shield
  
• 5 Moria Goblin Warriors with shields
• 6 Moria Goblin Warriors with spears
• 1 Warg Marauder
  

No matter which of these armies you use (we'll be using the Moria one - I think it's a tad more competitive at 700pts), Bert wants to be out in front of your battle line - set ahead of the Goblins near him to draw enemy attention away from your soft targets. If they ignore him . . . that's fine - he'll come in at full strength and wreck them (as Trolls with Might often do). If they do target him, D7 is good enough to absorb most damage harmlessly, so long as there's a Goblin within 3" of him to scatter siege weapon fire onto. As mentioned in the previous section, making sure there are Goblins able to get into his fight to free him up is critical to using him well!

As has already been mentioned, Bert has a unique way of dealing with big heroes who might try to rush him. Compared to the other Trolls, he looks like the most welcome target for a Gil-Galad or an Elendil - "only F7" and no Strike is a bit squishy. Heroic Defense and an extra Might point to boost your dueling roll changes everything - and should you win, you can Hurl the hero to get him dismounted/away from you for the next round OR if they've already been dismounted (or didn't come with one?), you can Keep 'Em For Later. If you think this guy is going down easily to a big, nasty hero, think again.

Elsewhere on the board, we have 2 big monsters (Bill and Tom in the Moria list, Bill and the Goblin King in the Goblin-town list) who are hopefully tearing through the enemy not too far from Bert - anyone who devotes heavy attention to dealing with Bert is probably ignoring one of these guys, and if an enemy caster has locked down Bill, chances are good he doesn't have much to deal with Tom or Bert (Tom is particularly hard for casters to deal with, since he can forego sneezing on someone to resist spells). With a Bat Swarm (or Gollum) lurking around these heroes, it's a difficult group to handle for most armies - and within it, Bert is likely to avoid most of the attention your opponent throws.

Conclusion

If you have used the Three Trolls before and have other tips/tricks for using Bert, drop them in the comments below! Most of my experience comes from fighting AGAINST this guy (see the article I did ages ago on it when they were ALL my son played) and I can tell you that the comments made in this article come from constant play-testing against them. 

In our next post, we head north to Gundabad and view the big man himself: Azog. Azog is a nasty piece of work but an expensive one - and so expensive that most players jump for his son, Bolg. Well, we here at TMAT have had a LOT of experience using Azog and so I will be running the side-show on the next post while my son Gorgoroth and my good mate Centaur gush for a LONG time about their beloved hero. It'll be great - see you next time and happy hobbying!