Preparing for War 2014 Part 2

Welcome to another Kith, Kriel, and Kin article. As always, I am Kyle (IAmSweeps on the various interwebs). 

In this article I want to continue with my 2014 tournament series. In this series, I will explain the format of each tournament, go over my list building/prep process, then finish with an extremely brief report of the tournament itself. The ultimate goal for this is to create a series over the 2014 tournament season, documenting my progress.

The Tournament

The format for this tournament is 50 points, 2 Lists with Character Restrictions, Divide and Conquer, Death clock, using the SR2014 package, with 4 rounds depending on attendance.

List Building/Tournament Prep

After the last event I attended I took a hard look at my local meta and the factions and types of lists I would face in future events. Going into my next event I expect to see a lot of Warmachine and a lot of infantry heavy armies. I do not expect to see very many Hordes factions. To begin my pair for this event I want to start off with the inclusion of the pGrissel list I used in the last event:  

Grissel Bloodsong, Fell Caller(+5)
-Storm Troll(5)
-Pyre Troll(5)
Fennblade Kithkar(2)
Stone Scribe Chronicler(2)
Fel Caller(3)
Horthol, Long Rider Hero(5)
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes(Min) + Stone Scribe Elder (4)
Warders(Max)(8)
Fennblades(Max) + UA(10)
Longriders(Max)(11)

My ability to press towards the scenario, along with my new found knowledge of the assassination potential of the list, gives me confidence in my lists ability to cover most of the matchups I expect to see. My initial thought for my second list for this event is another comfort caster of mine, eMadrak:

   
Madrak Ironhide, World Ender (+5) 
-Trollkin Runebearer (2) 
-Pyre Troll (5) 
-Troll Impaler (5) 
-Storm Troll (5) 
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2) 
Fell Caller Hero (3) 
Fennblade Kithkar (2) 
Fennblade Kithkar (2) 
Pyg Burrowers (max) (6) 
Fennblades (max) (8) + UA (2) 
Warders (max) (8) 
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes (max) (4) + Elder (1) 

Last year I played these two casters pretty exclusively, but not as a pair. My thought, then, was that they both do similar enough things that playing them together, as a pair, seemed redundant. Now when I look at them I see that pGrissel has a super strong scenario game and kills ALL the infantry and eMadrak can kill infantry but can also kill ALL of the armor. I'm not 100% sold on the battlegroup for eMadrak but as it is I feel like his feat can potentially end the world with lightning arcs in addition to all of the other attacks. Another big consideration that played into my caster pairing had to do with the scenarios that were used at my last event. Every scenario had Killbox. I'm not sure that all of the 2014 scenarios have Killbox but I imagine that I will probably play scenarios with Killbox more often than not (The official package has not been published as of writing this part of the article). With this in mind I want to make sure that both of my casters can play their game from a "more forward" position without just dying from something random. Everyone knows "You don't try to kill Madrak" so I feel pretty good about that choice. 

In my journey into the Trollblood faction I have played a variety of the casters available. In fact, there is only one caster I don't own yet (sorry Gunny) and I can see that Trolls really do have a lot of different playstyles to the table. My preference always seems to bring a caster that can play mid to forward and beat faces themselves if need be. I have found that while I understand the potential of our "shooty" casters such as Jarl, pGrim, and eGrim I would rather run up on you and apply a heavy dose of Axe (or Hammer) to face. This may change as I explore deeper into the faction. 

The big question in looking at this pair of lists is "What do I pair against what?" I kind of look at them as Anti-Infantry Swarm vs. Anti-Armor but they both have game against the same things the other can play against. So, the simple questions of "Which one goes against Cryx?" or "Which one goes against eHaley?" and so on aren't as cut and dry as before. One thing I found at the last event is that when looking at my opponent's lists the cut and dry approach of assigning one of my lists to play against every list of a faction caused some matchups I probably should not have put down. For this tournament I am going to go into the event with an Anti-infantry / Anti-Armor approach and see what happens. 

What about Runes? In the beginning of my last article I was all set to commit to Runes of War and in one event I was ready to go back on what I said. I realize that there will always be the potential to draw dead on a list in any event. That is a gamble all tournament players will encounter. Additionally, I want to make sure that every list I bring to a tournament is a list I know well. I want to be able to drive the list without even thinking. Death clock is an amazing timed format because it allows you time to think on the long turns and save time during short/"easy" turns. Even so, all of my games with Runes so far have ended with Doomy dropping dead to something absolutely preventable or I death clock myself. So, I need many more games with him before I feel like he will join my tournament pair. I only get 1-2 games a week so, on the weeks I get 2 games in, I play one with Runes of War and one with my tournament pair. That way I am still getting in the time with Runes but keeping loose and practiced with my tournament pair.

The Event

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this event. Even as I am writing this I am in the process of passing a kidney stone. For those of you who do not immediately understand the significance of that I will just say that the amount of pain and discomfort is too much to try and reasonably travel with. Those of you who do immediately under stand what I'm talking about know that it is much much worse than that. 

In an attempt to salvage something useful with this article I want to talk about an idea/suggestion that came from a recent episode of the new HCO podcast, Forgot to Feat. In the cast they talked about using 3 casters in their faction that complement each other in different ways. By sticking with those same casters and trying a ton of different ways to play them they found that they learned more about their faction than if they tried a new caster each week in an attempt to gain a broader level of experience. This idea has appealed to me from the start but I have never been able to choose a set of casters to focus on for a lengthy period of time...until now. 

As I have said in previous articles and probably earlier in this article, pGrissel is my lady and my muse. I think there is a design space for her that players have not even begun to crack open yet. Many people see her as a dude swarm or bust caster but that may not necessarily be the only thing she can do. She is in my number one spot. 

As soon as WMW2013 was over the internet exploded with "I am gonna play Runes of War!!!" I jumped on that boat too. I constructed Flanzer's list as a base and fielded it a few times to see if it was a thing I wanted to pursue. Honestly, I'm not sure it is. I think that pDoomshaper is an amazing caster, with a ball busting feat and solid spell list, who dies to random stuff. I am certain that if I kept grinding away at the same list I might unlock truths about its potential, but I want to steer in a different direction. I am locking pDoomy in for spot number two but I want to explore him out of Runes of War (expect specific articles about this in the future). 

For my third caster I wanted to choose something a bit different. I wanted to force myself out of my comfort zone. I narrowed down the remaining casters to eGrim, pGrim, or Jarl. I chose those three because they add a lot more opportunity for ranged assassination and control type options that could swing a game. I immediately kind of wrote off eGrim. I know he can play a good combined arms army but I wanted something that was a little more reliable than Mortality, since every time I have ever cast it and boosted to hit I have missed. Dice are dice but it looks like Mortality ought to be a huge part of his game and if I can't land it I'm left in quite a pickle. I love that a pGrim list can just walk up, pop feat, snipe a war wagon knock down shot at an enemy caster, pop two bomber shots into said knocked down caster from downtown, and kill an enemy caster if they aren't ready for it. If an assassination is not so readily handed to you he has an amazing attrition/control set of tools as well. On Jarl: "The only thing worse than facing trolls is facing lightning fast demon speed trolls." -Bryan Hopkins. At first glance, Jarl wants to bring Mercenaries, which is a design space I would like to work with since neither of my other casters play well outside of faction (I'm not saying they can't, I'm saying they can't). I also like that Jarl takes a very active roll in the battle. He doesn't sit back and watch and hope to clean up at the end. He helps swing the attrition battle from pretty much turn 2 on. He is not really an anchor so I would have to design around that but of the three in consideration right now there really aren't any that I would feel comfortable charging into an enemy caster and hoping for a win, so that isn't as big of a deal. 

I polled the interwebs and talked to friends of other factions why I should choose one over the others and I ultimately decided to go with Jarl for caster number 3.
 

Conclusions/The Take Away

I have 2 events in February to prepare for. The first is a 35 point SR2014 event and the second is a 50 point SR2014 event. In my next article, I want to review the SR2014 document and discuss how I have altered my list construction process to account for the changes in scenario play that we will see this year as well as any changes in general game play strategies. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. As with all Kith, Kriel, and Kin articles this is not meant to be the end of the discussion but, rather, the beginning.

~IAmSweeps

Protecting Your Linchpin

Welcome to another Kith, Kriel, and Kin article. As always, I am Kyle (IAmSweeps on the various interwebs). 

In this article, I want to remind players about a part of making lists and playing your game that can be extremely easy to forget, identifying and protecting the linchpin of your list. 

Introduction

This topic came up, suddenly, in a friendly game that I felt extremely confident playing against, Legion. 

My opponent was playing:

pVayl 
-Scythean 
-Angelius 
-Saryph 
-Ravagore 
-Typhon 
-Shredder 
Raptors(max) 
Forsaken 
Forsaken 
Spell Martyr 

I brought:

eMadrak 
-Pyre Troll 
-Troll Impaler 
-Storm Troll 
-Runebearer 
Max Fennblades + UA 
Max Burrowers 
Sons of Bragg 
Min Krielstone + Elder 
Fell Caller Hero 
Kithkar 
Kithkar 
Stone Scribe Chronicler 
Janissa 

My thought was: MAT 8 Fennblades with Blood Fury would put a good enough hurt on the heavies that I could muscle my way through until my MAT 9 Sons of Bragg could clean up and if even half of the Burrowers could hit the High DEF heavies I would not have trouble chewing through my opponents list. 

Here are the things I had forgotten since I haven't had to play against Legion for maybe a year (geez): 
1. If my Fell Caller Hero dies, I almost "literally" cannot hit ANYTHING. 
2. If I charge a heavy, hoping for the best with my dice rolls, with a Forsaken touching the back of its base, CMD check... 
3. If I pass the first CMD check, I have to mind the heavy that is 2" away from the heavy I charged, also with a Forsaken riding its coat tails, for another CMD check... 
4. When I fail my second CMD check with my first unit and run all of the other models in the unit out of the way for another non-fearless unit to charge the same stuff...CMD check. 
5. When your second worker unit fails their CMD check and runs away, leaving pretty much nothing else in your army to fight anything you are going to have a bad game. 

The above situation absolutely happened and it brings me to the root of the issues I had in this game. During my first turn, I ran my models and tried to set up what was going to fight what and when and draw the line of engagement. During the process, I put my Fell Caller Hero in a spot where my opponent's Ravagore was able to stand still, boost to hit (because why not), boost damage to kill the Fell Caller Hero and essentially neuter all hope of doing anything during this game. We weren't playing scenario so that wasn't even a plan I could fall back on. Regardless, the main point of this article is identifying and protecting the linchpin of your list. 

When people think of eMadrak all anyone (not intimately experienced with him) really thinks about is Bloodfury and killing the world with HUGE damage. That works out smashingly...if you can hit your opponent. I know a lot of players bring 2 Fell Caller Heroes but I have never felt like I needed it. I usually only send in one Blood Fury unit, per turn, to kill what they can and roll the dice with the others. Since Fennblades are MAT 6 base and Sons of Bragg Fell Call themselves Burrowers are usually the War Cry target unless they are already dug in or burrowed (obviously). Until this game, I never even thought about how much of a linchpin my Fell Caller was for the list. I knew that he was important but I never realized just how damning it was if I lost him early. Usually, he doesn't even see combat or dies so long into the game that damage is done and things are finishing up anyway. Losing him, literally top of turn two, opened my eyes (and heavily tilted me for the game) to this phenomenon.

The Takeaway

List building can be an insanely deep process when thinking about answers to different faction issues or asking your own questions. It is equally important to identify what you list does AND how your list does it. If, like the above scenario, the success of your list relies on a single model or a couple of models you are treading very dangerous ground. Depending on your opponent, regardless of the faction they are playing, your key models can get scalped off the table and your list will be shut down. Your opponent might have to use more resources than they would normally dedicate to killing a model but once the linchpin is gone they can just sit back and enjoy you squirming. 

One way around this is to add a redundant copy of said model. Like I said earlier, a lot of eMadrak players (probably every eMadrak player but me) would bring 2 Fell Caller Heroes. That way, under normal steaming, they can War Cry both Burrowers and Fennblades each turn and if you lose one Fell Caller Hero, no big deal or, at least, not the end of the world. 

Another way around this, and the immediate solution I saw after the Fell Call was gone from the game, I could have put him behind Janissa's wall. The wall was already there, I already paid the points for her. 

Either way, had I identified before the game had begun that my list was so reliant on that model when going against high DEF everything, I would have deployed him better, possible taken a second one, or identified that my pGrissel list was a much better drop against Legion and played that list instead. No reason to go into that list, now. That would take this article to a place I'm not trying to take it. 

When building your list, think about these things:

• Does your caster NEED Janissa to stay safe? Is Janissa behind her own wall? If not, is she far enough back she can't be shot? Blocked LOS?
• Do you bring a Fell Caller to make things Easier or to make it POSSIBLE to hit? Is the Fell Caller 11" away from the models he wants to Fell Call (SPD 6 + 5" RNG of Fell Call)?
• Are Burrowers getting a back strike? Why not? If they can't get a back strike, can they even hit anything without a Fell Caller? If not, is there a better use of the points?

There are, most likely, a whole bunch of more specific models that need these types of questions asked but I will leave it to you to identify your own linchpins (or models not pulling their weight).

   
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. As with all Kith, Kriel, and Kin articles this is not meant to be the end of the discussion but, rather, the beginning.

~IAmSweeps

Preparing For War 2014 Part 1

Welcome to another Kith, Kriel, and Kin article. As always, I am Kyle (IAmSweeps on the various interwebs). 

In this article I want to try my hand at a tournament prep/battle report article. I will explain the format of the tournament, go over my list building/prep process, then finish with an extremely brief report of the tournament itself. The ultimate goal for this is to create a series over 2014 documenting my progress. This article is being written in two parts: Before and After. So, the language in this article will change from the present (what I am doing now to prepare for this event) to the past (what the results of my efforts were). 

The Tournament 

The format for this tournament is 50 points, 2 Lists (2nd list optional) with Character Restrictions, Divide and Conquer (if you bring two lists), Death clock, using the SR2014 beta package, with 4-5 rounds depending on attendance. 

List Building/Tournament Prep 

As soon as Warmachine Weekend was over and probably a bit before that I decided that 2014 was going to be my first "Big year of Warmachine." I have competed in local events and weekly league play but haven't ventured out of my tiny pond. My goal for 2014 is to hit at least 2-3 Cons and as many tournaments as I can make it to. I may find this is a little ambitious but I want to have a goal to strive for. Speaking of goals, another one I have set for myself is to consistently finish at a win-loss record of X-1. It would be extremely naive of me to think I am going to come out swinging, for the first time, and win every game I play. So, I think an X-1 average is attainable and over the course of the year, very possible.

I've decided that to have the best chance of attaining any of my goals I am going to have to commit to a set of lists for most, if not all, of the competitive play I would participate in. One list I have committed to for the entirety of 2014 is pDoomshaper Runes of War. It is widely believed to be "The strongest list in Trollbloods" so I thought that would be a great start to a list pair. Before I ever started playing Trolls I looked at pDoomshaper and knew he was a caster I wanted to play, so it is great that I have a strong option with him. The list may change as I get more experience with it but to start off my journey with it my Runes of War is the ever famous:
   

pDoomshaper (+7) 
-Mulg the Ancient(12) 
-Earthborn Dire Troll(10) 
-Dire Troll Mauler(9) 
-Troll Axer(6) 
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes(Max) + Stone Scribe Elder (5) 
Janissa Stonetide(3) 
Runeshapers(3) 
Runeshapers(3) 
Runeshapers(3) 
Runeshapers(3) 

I really like this set up because I feel like the list is very streamlined in your activations and in game options and starting the game with 2 wall placements and 5 fury already in the Krielstone is pretty sweet. I will get into matchups after I go over the journey and evolution of my second list. 

When thinking about a second list to pair with Runes of War I had to answer the question "What do I drop Runes of War against?" I talked with the Trollblood Facebook group, scoured the interwebs for anything on Runes of War, watched videos, and talked directly with Jason Flanzer (the inspiration for the build I am running). The end result of all of that research revealed that, according to the masses, Runes has game against everything except Cryx, Khador, and Menoth. 

After the finals of Warmachine weekend I felt a lot of pressure to pick up pGrim for his strength against Cryx. I picked him up and began my usual dojo process. I spent some time crunching list ideas and speaking with friends that actually play pGrim on a regular basis to try and learn what his deal is and I finally came up with this list to put on the table and test: 

Grim Angus 
-Dire Troll Bomber 
-Troll Impaler 
-Storm Troll 
War Wagon 
Gatorman Witch Doctor 
Stone Scribe Chronicler 
Fennblade Kithkar 
Max Fennblades + UA Max 
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters

I really wanted to abuse the DEF lowering capabilities of Grim's feat and the knockdown gun on the War Wagon to set up caster assassinations with the Bomber and Nyss Hunters while the rest of the army tied up and took out infantry. I admittedly only played one game with it and I hit all of the things I was hoping to do. I used the War Wagon to knock down the caster but the rest of my guns didn't have enough punch to really damage the caster. I wont go into great detail about the game but it was eIrusk camping 5 and I was only able to do something like 3 damage and I wasn't going to get another opportunity to assassinate again. The long story short of it was that particular game went so poorly it shook my confidence in the lists ability to perform the task I was setting for it. If it could kill old man Irusk at 15/15 how was it going to do any better against a caster with better defensive stats? I know one game should not dictate anything about changing a list or scrapping it but I knew I didn't have too many practice games before the actual event so I needed to decide what I was going to do.

I listen to ALL the podcasts (probably) and one thing that I know comes up over and over is playing what you are comfortable with. This is an obvious piece of advice that is easy to forget when preparing for an event that you don't know what you will play against but ultimately have to fall back on. 

I decided my second list needed to answer the general question of infantry. I am happy to say that whenever an infantry swarm approaches my lady pGrissel will answer the call to battle. It helps that she happens to be my favorite caster in Trolls (not my favorite model, but PP is going to do right and fix that for us...please) so as far as comfort level is concerned, it doesn't get better for me.

I have so many versions of lists for her so this was actually a tough build for me. I decided that my list is going to be, barring any wild considerations that present themselves in the next day:
   

Grissel Bloodsong, Fell Caller(+5) 
-Storm Troll(5) 
-Pyre Troll(5) 
Fennblade Kithkar(2) 
Stone Scribe Chronicler(2) 
Fel Caller(3) 
Horthol, Long Rider Hero(5) 
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes(Min) + Stone Scribe Elder (4) 
Warders(Max)(8) 
Fennblades(Max) + UA(10) 
Longriders(Max)(11) 

Once I set my list pair I began to think about what I "know" the lists can do rather than what I have researched and dojoed that they should be able to do. From list I have broken down my list drops in this manner: 

pDoomshaper (Runes of War): 
-Legion 
-Cygnar (w/ Stormwall) 
-Minions 
-Skorne 
-Trolls (Beast Heavy/Brick) 
-Convergence

pGrissel: 
-Circle 
-Cryx 
-Khador 
-Cygnar(w/o Stormwall) 
-Trolls (Infantry)
-Menoth 
-Retribution 

I doubt anything here is terribly surprising except for maybe my choice to drop pGrissel against Circle. Even that might not be too far fetched when you consider how much anti-magic Circle has at their disposal and I have a lot of practice against Circle and feel most comfortable with Grissel in that matchup. Runes of war is my heavy target removal. So, matchups I expect to see a lot of beasts and armor and Grissel is my infantry drop, as I said before. This may seem really simple but I don't have enough experience against enough things to complicate my thought process worrying about specific skews that I may not even see. 

The Event

The event was 5 rounds with 21 players. We ended up only needing to play 4 rounds due to pairings and results up to that point. Prior to starting the tournament I walked around checking out what factions were being represented. All of the Warmachine factions were there (even Retribution) and not many Hordes factions. The first round always seems to be the most important as it sets the tone for the day. If you lose the first round then the day typically becomes just for fun but if you win the first round your day becomes a lot more stressful as you try and fight your way to the top. My initial thoughts were that if I could play against an infantry swarm first round I would have a great day... 

Round 1: vs. Khador (Bob Tippett) 

Scenario: Destruction (2014) 

List Selection: I can't remember what my opponent's two casters were. I knew I was playing pGrissel as soon as I saw Khador. This is a matchup I am very comfortable with and I knew I was going to eventually swing the game towards a scenario win. My opponent dropped Vlad3. This is what I remember of his list: Vlad3
-Drago 
-War dog 
Uhlans(max) 
Greylord Cav(max) 
Fenris 
Markhov 
2x doomreavers 
Great Bears

  
Game highlights: I went second ALL day. We sent our forces flying at each other turn one. Turn two he reminded me to respect what Dash does, despite my "good" spacing. I feated turn 2 and cleared most of the zone and jammed darn near my whole army in. He tried to get his Greylord Cav into my support with Dash turn 3 but they either didn't hit with their sprays or couldn't crack armor. My turn 3 I killed the far objective scoring the first point of the game and tried and failed to remove Drago from the zone, the only enemy contesting. Turn 4 I cleared the zone but still had my Longriders to activate and managed to assassinate Vlad camping maybe 1, but I think he was empty (which is the only reason my I went for it), with a Longrider impact/charge. 

This was a great game and my opponent was awesome. This was my first tournament game in months and a great way to knock the dust off. One thing I am not sure about, because of the way that Steamrollers work, is whether it would have been better to dominate the zone that turn and position so there was no way for his army to get into the zone and eventually win on scenario or take the caster kill. In the end I thought winning the game for sure was better than giving my opponent a need to go for a 10% assassination and pulling it off (I have a history of losing games by 10%-ers). My list surprised me. When building it, and really any time I build a list for pGrissel, I built it to fight the scenario, not my opponents army. I go into the game knowing I am playing for scenario from the start and play my turns with that in mind. I never even look for assassination, but that is how I won. Spoiler alert: That is how I got all of my wins at this event. 

Round 2: vs. Cryx (Dan Sammons) 
Scenario: Fire Support (2014)

List Selection: I know my opponent had a pSkarre and eSkarre list. I chose pGrissel again and he chose pSkarre with 1 million dudes. I don't have a lot of experience against Cryx and it is mostly pDenny so I wasn't totally sure what to expect except for 1 million dudes who keep coming back.
   

Game highlights: This was kind of a lame game (sorry, Dan). Since I have no experience against Skarre I played really timid and Dan was able to tie me up too easily. I made a move on my feat turn and put Grissel farther forward than she needed to be, trying to catch as many different units with Cacophony as I could. 2 Helldivers took all of my 3-4 transfers with some pretty hot dice and Skarre's feat and he managed to assassinate Grissel top of 3.

   
Cryx is one of those matchups I know Trolls have problems with. In my local area we don't have some dabblers but no hard core Cryx players. I learned a lot from the game that I will take with me into future events, like models that can clear off enemy models from my front line troops so when they activate they can actually advance up the board. Scattergunners seem like the obvious choice but even trying to squeeze a min unit plus UA at 7 points into the list is rough. I will share my other ideas at the very end of the article. 

Round 3: vs. Cryx (Alex Johnson) 

Scenario: Supply and Demand (2014) 

List Selection: My opponent only brought one list pDenny with a Kraken. When I saw the list I immediately saw the Kraken and knew this was my time to drop Runes of War. With Banishing Ward, Purification, Magic attacks during her feat, and the potential to outright kill her on my feat turn if she decides to cast anything seemed too good to pass up. Not to mention I hadn't played my second list yet so I wanted to make sure I put it down so I wouldn't get locked in later in a really bad match up. I know at this point since I have lost one I'm probably not competing for any top spot but I still wanted to finish the day with only one loss so I was going to play the day like I won every round.
   

Game highlights: I can't make any excuses about this game. We both played the best games we could and, in the end, Hoarluk died top of 2. I managed to take out War witch sirens and pistol wraithes with Runeshapers. He singled out and completely took Mulg out of the game. I had Banishing Ward on Doomy and feated at the perfect time. He had to move Denny way into the kill box to cast scourge, without dying to the feat, on a model that was too close to Doomy and knocked him down and Kraken came and ate him. I don't really know how else I could have played the game, except to choose the other side of the board. As I said earlier in the article I went second EVERY game. This is the one game I did not look at the terrain state ahead of time and just deployed on the side I was standing. There was a piece of obstructing terrain that made me split in a funny way, which made one of my units of Runeshapers completely useless during the game trying to maneuver around it. Other than that, we played out best and the biggest liability to me list shined through, Doomy himself. More on this later. 

Round 4: vs. Retribution (Chris Smith)

Scenario: I don't remember the name of it but it had a vertical rectangle zone in the middle with a friendly flag and enemy flag with some cool new mechanics coming in 2014.

List Selection: My opponent had a Ravyn (I assume snipe, feat, go) list and an eVyros Griffon spam list. After my top of two loss with Doomy I didn't want to risk him just getting shot off the table so I went with pGrissel for the last round. She is a bit sturdier and I felt ok with having to deal with shooting troops. We both surprised each other because he thought I was going to drop Runes of War and chose eVyros and I thought he would choose Ravyn and chose pGrissel. 

Game highlights: Everything was going just fine (jam, model trading, no one scoring scenario points) until his synergy chain was getting to a point where Battledriven Warders were getting hit with dice plus 4 against their armor. This was the point where I was actually worried that my army couldn't take the punishment. I can't remember if it was turn 3 or 4 but I had an opportunity to go for assassination and went for it without calculating the odds of success. Vyros was bare and there was a Phoenix that came poking out to kill longriders. I Bull Rush slammed Phoenix into Vyros, knocking him down. Then I buffed a Battledriven Warder with the Pyre Troll animus and Heroic Ballad (to get an extra attack if needed) and charged the knocked down caster and killed him with the first attack. 

There was a little controversial moment during the assassination run where my Longrider came into melee range of one of my opponent's reach jacks. My opponent thought he would get a free strike on my Longrider prior to the slam but because his jack had 360 degree vision and I never left his melee range the free strike wouldn't happen.

I feel like I definitely got lucky in this game. I played for scenario as much as I could, but as soon as he started to one shot Warders off the table I knew I needed to finish the game with a caster kill or eventually he was going to kill my caster.

Conclusions/The Take Away One thing that struck me is just how many rounds I looked at my opponents list(s) and thought "Why did I even bring Runes of War to this event?" Every time I just felt pGrissel had a better shot at winning. The one round I dropped Runes was so I wouldn't be locked into it in the last round, not that I was in contention for anything, but I wanted to play through the tournament like I had won every round to try and get better at list selection. 

Another thing that surprised me was that both games I won were by caster kill. When I build pGrissel, I plan to fight the scenario, not my opponents army and certainly not their warcaster. That is the question that I ask my opponent, "Can you prevent me from scoring points and winning on scenario before you?" Since Strength of Schedule is a thing and CPs carry a lot of weight in that I build with that plan in mind. What I found playing the list, is that it does have a very strong assassination option. I won't forget to look for that option when I play her moving forward.

Looking ahead, within my local meta, there exists a very different army composition than I expected to see. In light of this, I will probably not play Runes of War in local tournaments unless a big shift occurs. Looking around at who plays what on a regular basis I just don't see enough strong match ups to drop the list. I will, however, continue to familiarize myself with it and keep it ready for any cons I make it to in 2014. I expect that with a much broader field represented there will be more opportunities to make use of Runes. I know how it must sound, since at the beginning of this article I am confident in announcing Runes of War as my locked in primary list, and now placing it in a "maybe" as my second list. After seeing the field I will play against, locally, I'm just not as confident as I was before. Like I said, I still want to gear it up for larger events. So, I'm not dropping it all together. 

My next tournament is January 25th. It will be the same format as this event. One thing I would like to try, preparing for this event, is drop my long riders to a min unit and add a unit of Runeshapers to the list. At magic ability 7 I hope to use their rock hammer ability to clear off models from my front line so they are free to charge forward. As I said earlier, a min unit of Scattergunners plus UA would probably be ideal but I feel like my list would suffer from all of the changes that would have to happen for that. It is also possible that after testing the Runeshapers I will not change anything, just work on positioning my Kithkar to clear off pesky jammers. I would rather use the activation of a single model to clear off my front line than a unit. Even as I write this, I think that is the better option. Since the long riders were crucial in my assassinations I would hate to reduce their effectiveness by making their unit smaller.

As far as my second list for my next event, tune in next time. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. As with all Kith, Kriel, and Kin articles this is not meant to be the end of the discussion but, rather, the beginning.

~IAmSweeps

A "Tough" Mental Game

Welcome to another Kith, Kriel, and Kin article. As always, I am Kyle (IAmSweeps on the various interwebs).

In this article I want to talk about the Tough rule and the general idea of confidence in your list as a result of Tough on every model in your list. 

To start things off I want to start out, like with many topics, with the actual rules for Tough: 

Tough: When this model is disabled, roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, this model heals 1 damage point, is no longer disabled, and is knocked down. 

This rules seems really simple. Statisticians (fancy word) would tell you the odds of rolling a successful tough roll is 2 out of 6 or 1 out of 3 or 33.34%. We can easily follow this math and even say that a 33.34%, being less than 50%, is not something that we should count on. However, any player who stands against a Trollblood army (barring any way to eliminate a tough roll all together) might think to themselves or say out loud "Gosh darn tough" or some other, more colorful, phrase. 

 Why? Why do people look at this and immediately think "FML?" Lets look at it from an army points perspective. I have a list that I recently played in a local tournament. It looks like this:
   

Grissel Bloodsong, Fell Caller (+5)
-Storm Troll (+5) 
-Pyre Troll (+5) 
Fell Caller Hero (3) 
Horthol, Long Rider Hero (5)
Fennblade Kithkar (2) 
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2) 
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes (min) (3) + Elder (1) 
Trollkin Fennblades (max) (8) + UA (2) 
Long Riders (max) (11) 
Trollkin Warders (max) (8) 

At first glance you see a very light beast package with 45 army points of infantry. However, when we look at the average success rate of Tough (33.34%) and apply it to the number of army points that have the Tough rule (45) we could say that with Tough we are looking at a 65 point army instead of a 50 point army. For those scratching their heads wondering what I am talking about: 

pGrissel (+5) 
-Storm Troll (5) 
-Pyre Troll(5) 
45 Points of Infantry with Tough. 

33.34% of those models will succeed in their tough roll and have to be killed again = 15 points of models will succeed in their tough roll. 

45 points of starting infantry + 15 points of infantry that will succeed in tough = 60 points of infantry 

Therefore, when you re-add the battlegroup you are looking at, theoretically, a 65 point army. Nevermind the fact that every Troll caster has tough, as well. I am not smart enough to factor in what that means. It is just a bonus. 

So what? In this game, we all look for ways to gain an edge on our opponent. Some players look to theme forces to gain cheaper models or free models to add to their list to try and tip the scale in their favor. 

Looking at this vein lets look at our two most famour theme forces in Trollbloods: Runes of War and Family Reunion.
   

Runes of War: 
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnalrs (+7) 
-Mulg the Ancient (12) 
-Diretroll Mauler (9) 
-Earthborn Dire Troll (10) 
-Troll Axer (6) 
Krielstonebearer and Stone Scribes (max) (4) + Elder (1) 
Janissa Stonetide (3) 
Runeshapers (3) 
Runeshapers (3) 
Runeshapers (3) 
Runeshapers (3) 

Many people have seen this list and either cringed at the Mulg assassination or all the darn magic attacks getting through their tricky incorporeal models. If we look at the list based off the point reduction of the Runeshapers and tough were are looking at 4 free points from the Tier Bonus and another over 6 points from tough on the infantry models giving you a 60 point list against your opponents 50 point list.

   
Family Reunion: 
Borka Kegslayer (+5) 
-Pyg Keg Carrier 
-Pyre Troll (5) 
-Swamp Troll (4) 
Trollkin Champion Hero (3) 
Trollkin Champion Hero (3) 
Trollkin Champion Hero (3) 
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2) 
Trollkin Champions (max) (9) + Skaldi Bonehammer (3) 
Trollkin Champions (min) (5) 
Trollkin Champions (min) (5) 
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes (min) (3) + Elder (1) 
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. (max) (9) 

The tier bonus gives you 3 extra points and an extra 15 points in tough (specifically 5 or 6) giving you a 68 point army. When we factor in that 9 points have a 50% success rate in their tough roll this makes this list even larger. Once again, I am not smart enough to figure this out for you so just imagine that Boomhowler makes your army even bigger than 68 points. 

Why? Why is this significant? In simple terms, once you realize that you are beginning your game with many more points than your opponent brought to fight you, you play a lot more aggressively with your army and shove them forward without fear of losing some models. You now that you will lose some. This game would be garbage if you never killed anything or lost anything. However, when you know that the first 10-15 points to die might be the last to die it puts you in a state of "I got this." I have never played against Trolls, only on the delivering end, but I imagine we look like bloodthirsty crazy hordes of murdering maniacs. Doomreaver spam players might understand what I mean, too. In most cases even if I push all of my models forward and only gain 1" of table space I feel like I am gaining ground and everything I am doing is worthwhile, because I am gaining ground.

I, personally, feel like playing Trollbloods is like playing with a meat grinder. I am going to push my meat grinder toward your army and eat away at it until their is nothing left. Playing Trollbloods is not for the timid. Your infantry models are gong to die, tough or not. They have a job to do and so you need to get them in the fight to do their job. I am a very scenario minded player, so I factor that into my lists as well, but I hope to kill every single model you thought was going to kill me in the process just to solidify the message that Trolls are Tough. 

I will be totally honest here, if I were ever to play a faction besides Trollbloods again, I would look for factions that can bring Rhupert and any other way to bring Tough models to the game. For me, if you break my armor and the model just dies, I don't understand what just happened. I feel cheated and it kind of puts me on tilt. Long live Rhupert Corvolo and the Gatorman Witch Doctor...AND TROLLBLOODS!  

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope I have given Trollblood, and every other faction, players a different way of looking at the Tough rule and the mindset that can develop as a result of Tough. As with all Kith, Kriel, and Kin articles this is not meant to be the end of the discussion but, rather, the beginning.

~IAmSweeps

Smashing the Competition with Power Attacks

Welcome back to another Kith, Kriel, and Kin article. As always, I am Kyle (IAmSweeps on the various interwebs). 

In this article I want to tackle a near and dear topic to every Trollblood's heart, Power Attacks. Out of all of the factions, I personally believe that Trolls were made to use as many Power Attacks in a game as you have activations. Eh, maybe that is a little excessive, but maybe not.

I posted a poll a few weeks ago asking players what Power Attacks they use on a regular basis. 103 voters participated, which was the best Kith, Kriel, and Kin poll yet (THANKS EVERYONE!). You will find under each section below the rules associated with each power attack. The results of the poll look like this:

Power Attacks

Headbutt 38 (36%) 

Rules: The attacking model make a melee attack roll against its target. If the attack hits, the target is knocked down and suffers a damage roll with a POW equal to the attacker's current STR.

A model cannot head-butt while held in a headlock. A model cannot head-butt a model with a larger base.

My thoughts: I think that headbutts are an amazing option to take down big targets that can be knocked down. Lets look at an example. Hoarluk Doomshaper (prime) sends in Mulg with the Fortune upkeep spell and the Rush animus waltzing up to a DEF 14 Feral Warpwolf that warped ARM. We will assume Mulg was damaged the turn before. Let's face it, he probably isn't going to advance 4" and get close enough to headbutt a Feral Warpwolf, even with Rush. Once he gets there you would think that with Fortune the odds of hitting the Feral without boosting (82.6%) are good enough, but we want to make our chances even better because we need this guy knocked down to make sure he dies. Boosting to hit with the headbutt raises the probability with Fortune to 99.1%. I like those odds much better. Once he is knocked down you have 4 attacks above ARM to buy and 1 more if it happens to still be alive with Doomshaper's affinity, which should be more than enough to remove the pesky Feral. Many people would feel like the initial probability of 82.6% to hit with each attack, a charge bonus die of damage, then a non-charge initial, 4 bought clubs, and a free club if it is still alive is good enough for them and that may be why only 36% of participant in the poll voted for this power attack. However, lets say that Feral is the only thing left alive that has a chance at killing Mulg, by knocking it down and ensuring that every punishing club hits, you might find yourself in a much more favorable situation. Since dice happen in this game, I prefer to take the chance of failure out of as many things as I can control. I like to use probabilities when explaining things but I am by no means an expert in statistical analysis. I know a higher number percentage means it is more likely to succeed. I am sure as I gain more experience I may feel more comfortable with the 82.6% with 2 dice and Fortune to hit, or even the 90.7% with 3 dice and no Fortune. Until then, I'm headbutting anything that I need to put a lot of damage into. 

A note on models that can not be knocked down: There are many models in the game that can not be knocked down for one reason or another. It is important to know that a model that is hit with a Headbutt Power Attack still takes a damage roll equal to the attacking model's current STR. So, if a Dire Troll Mauler succeeds in a Chain Attack: Grab and Smash cannot headbutt a colossal (because it has a larger base) and would not be able to cause it damage equal to the Mauler's STR. However, if a Heavy with Steady (from whatever source) is in the same situation, the Mauler can headbutt that model and cause damage equal to it's current STR. 

Push 9 (8%) 

Rules: A push power attack automatically hits and deals no damage. Both models roll a d6 and add their STR. If the defender's total is greater, it resists being pushed. If the attacker's total equals or exceeds the defender's, the defending model is pushed 1" directly away from the attacker. After a model is pushed by a push power attack, the attacker can immediately advance directly toward the pushed model up to the distance the pushed model was moved.

Being Pushed: A pushed model moves at half rate through rough terrain, suffers the effects of any hazzards it moves through, and stops if it contacts an obstacle, obstruction, or another model. 

Remember that a pushed model is not advancing and therefore cannot be targeted by free strikes during the movement. 

A pushed model falls off elevated terrain if it ends its push movement with less than 1" of ground under its base. See "Falling" (p. 63) for detailed rules on determining damage from a fall.  

My thoughts: I am actually surprised that only 8% of players use Push on a regular basis. There have been countless times where I measure my control area to a flag and it is just outside my regular advance range, I don't have anything I can really charge to get there, and I definitely don't want to just run. Hazzah! I can use this light beast that was just going to bank me Fury this turn anyway to push me that inch I needed to get there. I know. If I have positioned my warlock better in the first place I wouldn't need to push. Plans change and I don't want an inch to be the reason why I cant apply scenario pressure to my opponent. A push can also be used to move a model that is sitting, "toe in the zone", out. A push can be used to get an extra inch on a wicked assassination run. The only thing that would make a push better is if you could spend extra Fury/Focus to push farther. We can dream, right? 

Slam 55 (53%) 

Rules: Any effects that prevent a model from charging, such as a penalty to its SPD or movement for any reason other than for being in rough terrain, also prevent the model from making a slam power attack. A slamming model can advance through rough terrain. A model must have both its normal movement and action available in order to use its normal movement to make a slam power attack. 

During its activation, a model can attempt to slam any model that is in its line of sight at the beginning of its normal movement. A knocked down model can not be moved by a slam. 

Declare the slam attempt and its target before moving the model. 

Declare the slam attempt and its target, then turn the slamming model to face the slam target directly. The slamming model then advances its full SPD plus 3" directly toward its target. The slamming model cannot voluntarily stop its movement unless its target is in its melee range, but it can end this movement at any point with its slam target in its 0.5" melee range. It must stop if it contacts a model, an obstacle, or an obstruction. The slamming model cannot change its facing during or after this movement. 

A slamming model that ends its slam movement with its slam target in its 0.5" melee range has made a successful slam. If it advanced at least 3" it makes a melee attack roll against its target. A model that power attack slams a model with a larger base suffers -2 on its attack roll. If the attack hits, the target is slammed directly away from the attacker (see "Being Slammed," next). 

If a slamming model makes a successful slam but moved less than 3", it has not moved fast enough to get its full weight and power into the blow. The model makes an attack roll against its target. If the target is hit, it suffers a damage roll with a POW equal to the attacker's current STR but is not slammed. These are still slam attack rolls and slam damage rolls. 

A model that does not end its slam movement within 0.5" of the target has failed its slam power attack. If a model fails its slam power attack during its activation, its activation ends. 

Being Slammed: A slammed model is moved d6" directly away from its attacker and is then knocked down. If the slamming model has a smaller base that the slam target, the model is slammed half the distance rolled. It then suffers slam damage as described below.

A slammed model moves at half rate through rough terrain, suffers and damaging effects through which it passes, and stops if it contacts an obstacle, an obstruction, or a model with an equal or larger sized base. If a slammed model cannot be knocked down, it must still forfeit its action or movement if it activates later in a turn in which it was slammed. 

A slammed model moves through models with smaller bases than its own. If it would end up on top of a model, follow the rule of least disturbance (p.64) to move the models into legal positions. A slammed model falls off elevated terrain if it ends its slam movement with less than 1" of ground under its base. See "Falling" (p. 63) for detailed rules on determining damage from a fall. Resolve any falling damage simultaneously with slam damage. 

Slam Damage: Apply slam damage after movement and knockdown effects, regardless of whether the model actually moves or is knocked down. The model hit suffers a damage roll with a POW equal to the attackers current STR. Add an additional die to the damage roll if the slammed model contacts an obstacle, an obstruction, or a model with an equal or larger sized base. Slam damage can be boosted. 

Collateral Damage: If a slammed model contacts a model with an equal-sized base or moves through a model with a smaller base, that model is knocked down and suffers collateral damage. A model suffering collateral damage suffers a damage roll with a POW equal to the attacker's current STR. Collateral damage cannot be boosted. A contacted model with a larger base than the slammed model does not suffer collateral damage and is not knocked down. Resolve any collateral damage simultaneously with slam damage. Collateral damage is not considered to be damage from an attack or model. For example, an effect triggered by being "damaged by an enemy attack" would not trigger due to collateral damage. 

My thoughts: Slams can be an boon or a trap. One thing that Trollbloods have at their disposal that no other faction has is Longriders, and Longriders can slam as a part of the Bull Rush order. One of my favorite ways to use this power attack is under the command of pGrissel I send in Longriders to slam a flank towards the middle of my opponents army, then use Grissel's "Hoof It" fell call on them so at the end of the turn they can either advance further forward on the flank to threaten my opponent's support line or pull them back to potentially do it again next turn. This can be a trap, like I said before, where you slam but then your Longriders are just sitting their to eat a charge because they actually kill the model they slammed. It works out pretty slick if you can slam a model back, knocking them down, in front of a line of your opponents models who cannot charge you because they have this knocked down model in their way. At POW 14 on their mount the model is probably dead. Outside of trolls I have seen and heard of players using their arc nodes as slam bots, getting into places they otherwise couldn't to arc devastating spells at our low DEF troops. So, keep that in mind when playing against Cryx and maybe even Menoth (less common). An interesting note is that if you slam a model of say, small or medium base size (most caster's base sizes) into a larger bases size, obstruction or obstacle you gain an additional die AND slam damage can be boosted. This is a long shot, but if you can get a beast, who can hit a caster, and you slam them into a wall (or larger base or obstruction) and boost damage you are looking at 4 damage dice for damage. I hope. I hope. I hope. I hope, that you gave them the Mauler's animus AND are under the Krielstone aura because that can end a came quick, fast, in a hurry, and leave time for tea. 

Trample 68 (66%) 

Rules: Any effects that prevent a model from charging, such as a penalty to its SPD or movement for any reason other than for being in rough terrain, also prevent the model from making a trample power attack. A trampling model can advance through rough terrain. A model must have both its normal movement and action available in order to use its normal movement to make a trample power attack. Light warjacks/warbeasts cannot make trample power attacks. 

Declare a trample power attack at the beginning of the model's normal movement. Choose a direction in which you wish to trample, and turn the model to face that direction. The model then advances up to its current SPD plus 3" in a straight line in that direction. It moves through any small-based model in its path, but there must be room for the trampling model's base at the end of the movement. It stops if it contacts a model with a medium or large base, an obstacle, or an obstruction. The trampling model cannot change facing during or after this movement. Do not resolve free strikes against the trampling model during this movement. 

After the model has finished its trample movement, it makes a melee attack roll against each small-based model through which it moved during this movement. Models hit by a trample attack roll suffer a damage roll with a POW equal to the current STR of the trampling model. Trample damage can be boosted. If a trampling mode first contacts the front arc of a model in Shield Wall, that model gains its Shield Wall ARM bonus when resolving damage for a trample. 

Resolve free strikes against the trampling model after resolving all trample attacks. Models contacted cannot make free strikes against the trampling model. Ignore the distance between models when resolving free strikes against the trampling model; if a model was eligible to make a free strike against the trampling model during the trampling movement it can do so whether or not the trampling model ended its movement in the eligible model's melee range.  

My thoughts: I have 2 words to say followed by two words when it comes to trample power attacks: "Dire Trolls" and "War Wagon." Are you kidding me? One possible exception to Dire Trolls is Mulg because normally he is SPD 4 but if he got damaged and you have access to Rush from the Axer and he is Trampling 11" with reach at base MAT 7... Sure his POW on trample attacks is only his STR but I personally think the hard part is hitting on a trample power attack. Once you hit things they typically just die. Beyond Mulg the SPD of the other Dire Trolls and the War Wagon make them really awesome Trampling models. When I play a list with a heavy, any heavy, I constantly look at my opponent's caster and think "How can I get there to eat that little...warcaster/warlock?" In that line of thinking the idea of Trampling always pops into my head. Since our beasts are typically Fury 5, using 1 Fury to trample to make sure I get there is well worth it more often than not.

Head Lock/Weapon Lock 2 (1%) 

Rules: A model making a headlock/weapon lock can lock a warjack or warbeast's weapon or head and prevent its use if the target has an equal- or smaller-sized base. A warjack/warbeast must have at least one non-crippled Open Fist to make a headlock/weapon lock power attack. Declare what the attacking model is attempting to lock before making the attack roll. 

When a warjack/warbeast makes a headlock/weapon lock, also declare which weapon with Open Fist it is using to make the attack before making a melee attack roll. A knocked down model can not be locked. If the attack hits then the specified head/weapon is locked. Headlock/weapon lock attacks do not cause damage. 

Maintaining Locks and Being Locked When a weapon is locked the target model cannot make attacks with the locked weapon along with all other weapons in the same location. Locking a weapon with a location of "-" has no effect on other weapons. A model held in a headlock cannot make attacks with any weapons located in its head (H). A model held in a headlock/weapon lock cannot make special attacks. 

While involved in a lock, the attacker cannot make special attacks or attack with the weapon with which it made the lock attempt, nor can it use any other weapon in the same location. The attacker and the defender are free to attack with any of their other melee weapons. 

A locked model can choose only to make a combat action as its action and cannot make a special attack. At the beginning of its combat action, a model suffering a headlock/ weapon lock must attempt to break the lock. When a break attempt is made, both models involved in the lock roll a d6 and add their STR. If the locked model's total exceeds that of the model holding the lock, the lock is broken. The locked model can make its initial attacks with any melee weapons not located in a locked system as normal. After resolving these attacks and attempts to break free, a model can spend focus points to make more attempts to break a lock or to make additional attacks with usable weapons, at 1 focus point per break attempt or additional attack. Once a lock is broken, the model can use the weapon that was locked. A model can voluntarily release a lock it is maintaining at any time during its activation. At any time during its activation, a model can voluntarily release a lock it is maintaining. 

Neither model can advance or be pushed while involved in a lock. A lock is broken automatically if:

• An effect causes either model to move or be placed;
• An effect knocks down either model;
• An effect causes either model to become incorporeal;
• An effect causes the attacker to become stationary;
• The weapon system maintaining the lock is crippled; or
• Either model is destroyed or removed from play.

My thoughts: I don't mean to insult Privateer Press or say that a Weapon lock/Head lock is not valuable at times (Jay Larsen Iron Gauntlet WIN!!!) but more often than not Trollbloods would rather beat your model to death than try to weapon lock/head lock your model. I believe this is a no brainer when looking at the result of the poll. Not to mention, Trollblood models hit SO HARD if they get there they may not kill whatever it is but they will cripple it and follow up with something that can wreck/kill it. I know there are good uses for this power attack but they take such a high level of play to think about the Pro's of locking an Avatar sword arm versus just trying to wreck him that most players will go with the latter. Happy smashing, brothers (and sisters). 

One Handed Throw 6 (5%) 

Rules: A model cannot throw a model with a larger base. A warjack/warbeast must have at least one non-crippled Open Fist to make a throw power attack. 

The attacking model makes a melee attack roll against its target. If the attack hits, both models roll a d6 and add their current STR. If the target's total is greater, it breaks free without taking any damage and avoids being thrown. If the attacker's total equals or exceeds the target's, the target model is thrown. 

Being Thrown: When your model throws another, choose a direction for the thrown model to be moved. This direction must be away from the attacker. Measure a distance from the target equal to half the attacker's current STR in inches along the chosen direction to a point on the table. This point is the thrown model's intended point of impact. A large- or huge-based model throwing a small-based model adds 1" to this distance. 

From this point, determine the thrown model's actual point of impact by rolling for deviation. Roll a d6 for the direction and a d3 for the distance in inches. The deviation distance cannot exceed half the distance between the thrown model and the intended point of impact. 

The thrown model is moved directly from its current location in a straight line to the determined point of impact. A thrown model moves through models with smaller bases during this movement without contacting them. Unlike when a model is slammed, rough terrain and obstacles do not affect this movement, but the thrown model still stops if it contacts an obstruction or a model with equal or larger sized base. The thrown model is then knocked down and suffers throw damage. If a thrown model cannot be knocked down it must still forfeit its action or movement if it activates later in a turn in which it was thrown. 

If a thrown model would end on top of another model, that model is contacted. Follow the rule of least disturbance (p.64) to move models into legal positions. 

A thrown model falls off elevated terrain if it ends its throw movement with less than 1" of ground under its base. See "Falling" (p. 63) for detailed rules on determining damage from a fall. Resolve any falling damage simultaneously with throw damage. 

Throw Damage: Apply throw damage after movement and knockdown effects, regardless of whether the model actually moves or is knocked down. The thrown model suffers a damage roll with a POW equal to the attacker's current STR. Add an additional die to the damage roll if the thrown model contacts an obstruction or a model with an equal or larger-sized base. Throw damage can be boosted. 

Collateral Damage: If a thrown model contacts a model with an equal or smaller-sized base, that model is knocked down and suffers collateral damage. A model suffering collateral damage suffers a damage roll with a POW equal to the attacker's current STR. Collateral damage cannot be boosted. A contacted model with a larger base than the slammed model does not suffer collateral damage and is not knocked down. Resolve any collateral damage simultaneously with slam damage. Collateral damage is not considered to be damage from an attack or model. For example, an effect triggered by being "damaged by an enemy attack" would not trigger due to collateral damage.  

My Thoughts: Why one handed throw when Trolls have 4 heavies and at least as many lights and a colossal that all have 2 open fists to double handed throw with. Because of deviation, this makes this power attack good if you just want to throw a model outside of an opponent's control area, but if you hope to throw a model at a certain place, I believe, deviation is going to screw you more often than not. Of course you can always throw a model at an obstruction or huge based model and hope for contact so you get the extra damage die in addition to being able to boost the throw damage. 

Double-Hand Throw 74 (71%) 

Rules: A model cannot throw a model with a larger base. A warjack/warbeast must have two non-crippled Open Fists to make a double-handed throw power attack. The attacking model make a melee attack roll against its target. If the attack hits, the target model rolls a d6 and adds its current STR. The attacker rolls 2d6 and adds its current STR. If the target's total is greater, it breaks free without taking any damage and avoids being thrown. If the attacker's total equals or exceeds the target's, the target model is thrown. 

To determine the direction of the double-hand throw, the attacker can either follow the steps for determining the direction of a regular throw (see "Being Thrown," previous) or simply throw the model at another model within the attacker's line of sight. Ignore the model being thrown when determining line of sight to the other model. The throw distance is equal to half the attacker's current STR in inches. A large-based model throwing a small-based model adds 1" to this distance. If the other model is within range, the attacker makes a melee attack roll against it. If it is outside this range, resolve the throw using the rules in "Being Thrown" as if the thrown model were thrown directly toward the other model. On a hit, move the thrown model from its current location directly toward the other model's base until it contacts the target. This throw does not deviate. A double-hand throw at another model is not an attack against that model. In either case, the direction must be away from the attacker as with other throw power attacks. 

If the attack rolls misses, determine the thrown model's point of impact by rolling deviation from the center of the other model's base. Referencing the deviation rules, roll a d6 for direction and a d3 for distance in inches. The deviation distance cannot exceed half the distance between the thrown model and the intedned point of impact. 

If the other model is beyond the throw distance, determine deviation from a point on the line to it equal to the throw distance. The thrown model moves directly from its current location in a straight line to the determined point of impact. 

A thrown model moves through models with smaller bases during this movement without contacting them. Unlike when a model is slammed, rough terrain and obstacles do not affect this movement, but the thrown model still stops if it contacts an obstruction or a model with equal or larger sized base. The thrown model is then knocked down and suffers throw damage. If a thrown model cannot be knocked down it must still forfeit its action or movement if it activates later in a turn in which it was thrown. 

If a thrown model would end on top of another model, that model is contacted. Follow the rule of least disturbance (p.64) to move models into legal positions. 

A thrown model falls off elevated terrain if it ends its throw movement with less than 1" of ground under its base. See "Falling" (p. 63) for detailed rules on determining damage from a fall.

Resolve any falling damage simultaneously with throw damage. Resolve damage resulting from a double-hand throw using the "Throw Power Attack," "Throw Damage," and "Collateral Damage" rules above.  

My thoughts: Imagine if you will a key model is 10" away from a Mauler. You use his Animus and he is under the Protective Aura with +1 STR. There is a Fennblade standing in front of you. You can spend one to Double Handed Throw your Fennblade at that model. With STR 15 +3 from Rage and +1 from Protective Aura you throw 10" away at the model you want to go away. The beautiful thing about a double handed throw is that the attack that happens to the target model uses the throwing model's MAT, not RAT. A throw is not a ranged attack. So, at MAT 6 you can still boost the attack and damage and the Mauler can completely smash a model into another model. Another important thing to consider here is that when you throw a model at Saeryn during her feat you use your MAT to hit her but it is not considered an attack on her at all so it bypasses her feat and she will be knocked down and take the damage if you can hit her. 

After posting this poll I realized that if I was going to write an article about Power Attacks I needed to include those Power Attacks specific to Gargantuans/Colossals. So, I posted a shorter poll about those Power Attacks. Only eight voters participated in that poll, but as we explore Power Attacks more we may find out why that is. The results of the poll look like: 

Power Strike 1 (12%) 

Rules: A colossal making a power strike power attack uses the force of its tremendous melee power to send a smaller-based model flying. A colossal must have at least one non-crippled Open Fist to make a Power Strike power attack. Its target must be in the Open Fist's field of fire and have a smaller base than the colossal. 

The colossal makes a melee attack against the target. If the attack hits, the target is slammed d6 + 2" directly away from the colossal. The POW of the slam damage roll and the POW of collateral damage rolls results from the slam are equal to the STR of the colossal.  

My thoughts: Like all power attacks this one is situational. If you have an opportunity to walk up to a large-based model and power Strike it into a group of models that would charge it next turn it might be something to do but at the risk of your opponent shaking the knockdown, charging and killing your Colossal/Gargantuan on their turn. It seems reasonable to believe that if a single model is close enough to your Colossal/Gargantuan you would just kill it where it stands rather than using the power attack. The exception is the next one, Power Sweep. However, there is one tactic I read that sounded kind of funny to me and may work in a few instances. If you line up a whelp in front of the Mountain King and have your Mountain King Power Strike the whelp in the back and basically use the whelp like a bullet. I've never tried it and have no idea how effective it would be but since the Mountain king sheds whelps you could potentially have an endless supply of bullets. 

Sweep 7 (87%) 

Rules: A colossal can use its arms to scythe through models within its reach. A colossal must have at least one non-crippled melee weapon to make a sweep power attack. This model makes one melee attack with the weapon against each model in the weapon's field of fire that is within the model's 2" melee range. Models hit suffer a damage roll with a POW equal to the colossal's STR.  

My thoughts: The mighty Quarter Thresher! My only real problem with this power attack is that it only works in one field of fire and you can't do a Power Sweep on each side every turn. I understand that would be making TWO power attacks in one turn, but come on, it's a Colossal/Gargantuan. They already have special rules written for them. I think if your Mountain King is surrounded on one side a Power Sweep could be a good way to clear them off just remember you only get one Kill Shot spray at the end of the sweep, provided you kill a model during the sweep. 

I would like to apologize for the time it took for me to publish this article. I wanted to make sure I added the actual rules and procedures for these attacks because I think a lot of the misunderstanding people have about power attacks is they don't know what the ACTUAL rules are. They were taught how to play by playing with someone and the options either never came up or they were taught incorrectly or just misunderstood what they were being taught. Power attacks are a huge part of the Trollblood faction. There isn't a game I play where I don't think about Trampling to the enemy caster and beating their face. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. As with all Kith, Kriel, and Kin articles this is not meant to be the end of the discussion but, rather, the beginning.

~IAmSweeps