Musing about a Fennblade army

I really like the new Fennblade models, and so I've been toying around with what options there are for them. One of the weaknesses I find when I play Trolls is the lack of speed. With limited range options and heavy hitters like Champions being SPD 5 it just feels slow. Especially coming from Cygnar with lots of ranged options and lots of spd 6 choices and various ways to increase it(Piper, eHaley, Kraye, etc.).
However then Fennblades are pretty fast. SPD 6 with reach is a good time. So I've been trying to build some lists based on 20 Fennblades and some Long Riders. (And cursing the fact that Grissel, 20 Fennblades and 3 Long Riders are 351 points)
At 97 for the full unit you can easily afford to bring two, but then question then is, what goes in the rest of the army with them?

In terms of Warlocks it seems to me that Doomshaper is right out, it's not going to be a beast heavy list and then why bring him. Grim probably too, it's not going to shoot a whole lot (Besides I play Cygnar, if I really want a ranged army I'll play them).
I got no experience of Borka what so ever. I've not even seen someone else play him. Grissel seems like an obvious choice, since her abilities benefits infantry, she emphasis speed and she doesn't need a lot of beasts to work. Calandra seems like she could work too. She can go beast heavy but doesn't have to and have pretty good infantry support options. I think Madrak could work, he generally does good with infantry. I don't know if his epic version will be the best, I'd feel bad about not using his elite cadre.

I think Grissel, Madrak and Calandra are the best options, probably in that order too.


But then what beasts do you use?
I could see the Winter Troll being really good in this army, you will have a lot of models advancing quickly and getting in the mix of things and his Animus could cause real problems. An Impaler is always a good beast to bring, and both Grissel and Madrak could have good use out of it's animus too.
An Axer goes well with the speed thing, and could fit in pretty well too I'd imagine. If he had reach he would have been perfect for it.
I'd probably not pick a heavy, too many points I think. But a Slag Troll maybe? I've been very impressed by his performance so far.
I'm thinking one or two lights. Grissel can probably get away with one, Calandra might want three, but I think you could get away with two for her and then just cut yourself when needed.


Solo's.
I think this might be an army where two Fellcallers could fit in well. You got three combat units that can all benefit from the attention of a Fellcaller and if you really want to emphasis the speed getting bogged down in terrain is bad.
Despite no champions I think the Hero is still a good choice. He got two attacks and reach. You miss out on some synergy but he doesn't need the champions to be awesome I think. Never tried the Chronicler, but I don't think he is a good fit, even if chapter 1 and 3 could be pretty cool.
Horthol is a tough choice I think. It really depends on how many Long Riders want and how important they should be. I think ultimately he would be a very good choice for this style of list, but you can do it without him just fine.

Units.
If you are bringing 20 Fennblades and some Long Riders you don't really have too many points left to spend on units.
I think the big question is if you should have a KSB or not. I think it could work as long as you run it in turn one (probably) and you take a big unit and load it up with fury. I'd also bring the UA if I were to bring the KSB. Everything he brings is very useful for this army. On the other hand you don't have so many big high armoured multi-wound models to really benefit from the +2 ARM.
Being a Cygnar player I'm always tempted by the shooty infantry, but you would probably end up getting in your own way a lot of the time.
One unknown to me is the Runeshapers. I don't know if they would be a great utility unit for this army or just end up getting left behind with no real role to fill.

Size of the Long Riders? I think anything will work actually. Obviously at 3 they will have a slightly different role than if you have 5 with Horthol. I think with 3 they will be perfect down a flank, while at 5 they run straight down the table and stomp all over your opponent, flanked by the Fennblades.

Minions?
That's another big question. Swamp Gobbers? I'm a bit worried if they will be able to keep up and still be useful.
Minion Warlocks? I could see Grissel or Madrak running with one of them. My preference is the Dahlia Hallyr, not that I've played with it, but it's the model I like the best (it's in the process of being painted), but I'd guess that Rosh or Wrong Eye could work too.
I think the Feralgeist could be an interesting option. You don't really have the beasts to run it yourself, but if you play against hordes there is probably something tasty to posses, else it's an incorporal model to hold board sections etc.
I probably wouldn't go for any of the units, although Bog Trogs could fit the theme well, I just dont' think you have the points for minion units. And the problem as always is that they miss out on much of the buffing we can do. And yes, I know I just talked about the minion warlocks that are even more points, but they all come with a medium/heavy beast that you might not want to run on your warlock.

Alten Ashley could be interesting to add some ranged punch to the list. As a solo he is more flexible than a unit with getting LoS and might force your opponent to come towards you (if they play Hordes at least).
Saxon Orrik could actually be an interesting option. Trail Blazer could be good, but we do have other options for rough terrain. I feel Pendrake is the worse choice out of him and Saxon for this army, although Dismember could be rude on a unit of Fennblades.
I think Lanyssa Ryssel would be a fairly good choice. Hunter's Mark could be very good, and removing Wings could be crucial. She also gives you a ranged magic attack so you don't have to use your warlock or the KSB to hurt them.
Totem Hunter. Nothing wrong with him in this army. Fast, Killy.


And if you made it this far I've actually made up a list too.

Grissel
Axer
Impaler
2 Fell Callers
Hero

2#10 Fellblades
3 Long Riders
Full unit of KSB+UA

Lanyssa Ryssel
Totem Hunter
Swamp Gobbers

It does have some of the choices I'm unsure about, like the Swamp Gobbers and the KSB, but I think if you work on it they can get into position for an important turn, and they do give you more options. Alternativly it could be quite tempting to take them out and stick another Troll in there, probably a Winter Troll. Or just replace the KSB with Horthol.

Now I just need to wait for them to be released.

Snakes!

I got my Dahlia Hallyr and Skarath today :) Really nice models, except for the weird box(?) that Hallyr comes with. Just trying to decide how to paint Skarath.

I might paint it in a pale green colour, more like he is shown in the PP pictures just a bit greener, not sure how the bluish green will mesh with the 'proper' blue of the trolls.

However it's quite tempting to paint him like an Adder since that's the only (poisonous) snake we get around here. Like this:
I think it could look pretty good, and it would also tie it in with my trolls with the more leathery colours.

Fennblades!

Yay, we finally get to see the much awaited Fennblades. And some very lovely models it is indeed. I'm really liking them and can't wait to get my hands on them to paint them. Even more since you get 10 for $50. That's cheap enough that you can actually afford to get the unit, or even two if you fancy. I'd be tempted to get two I have to say, at least if they stay anything like they are in MK II. Cheap, fast, quite hitty all things considered. I could see 20 of them being a good base for an army. I'm really excited about these models, and if we are really lucky they will be the jump off point to plastic Kriel Warriors too. Now all we need is a release date.

Lots of painted Trolls

As I said I've been painting away on the Trolls for the past couple of weeks. That's actually a really big change for me, usually I only really get motivated to paint if I got a tournament coming up or if I'm just starting on a project. But at the moment I'm just pleased to see the trolls get some colour even if I don't have a 'goal' for when they are to be done.

First up is Calandra. She was one of the things that got me excited about Trolls in Meta and I've been waiting for her to be released. Quite a fun model to paint, very different to the other trolls. She could maybe have done with slightly smaller hands... (Her left hand was a real nightmare to get to stick).I've tried her in a few games too and she is quite fun; letting you play however you like.





















Next up is my Axer (he still needs a name). Really pleased with the model actually, although I never seem to be able to get all that much out of him on the tabletop. Lack of practice I guess.
The additional charge distance should be good, I just needs to be a lot better at using it. And hopefully he will have reach in MK II. Looking at the size of his axe, and the size of the Hero's axe he certainly should get it. And if he then keeps Thresher that is going to be awesome. Might make him quite an expensive light though.























And his brother, the Slag Troll. I didn't much liked the way he was painted by PP, he just didn't looked like he belonged in the army then, so he got to be blue like the rest of the trolls. He still sticks out a bit because he is mostly naked but he actually looks like he fit now.
I also did some slight conversion work to bulk out his arms a bit as he suffered really badly from giant hands syndrome. His right arm could probably have used a bit more, but at least I think it's better than the stock model.He also shows my new idea for bases. I'm going to paint the rim two different green colours to show the front arc, I just need to settle on the greens to use. Used Dark Angels/Emerald Green here, where as I tried Reflective Green on Calandra's base.
Been very impressed with him in gameplay too. He does lots and lots of damage to warjacks.























I've posted my Kriel Stone Bearer before, but I redid his skin to match the new way I'm painting it. And I painted a few more from his unit too. The Stone Scribe Elder and a 'grunt'. And I've done a little bit on the rest too. Figured that since these guys will be in every army they would be a good place to start.




I also finally finished the Fell Caller. He have been sitting on my desk being almost done for quite a long while now, so it was about time. He also made me wish Trolls had more soloes. I do like soloes but you don't get that many of them in Hordes (or at least not with Trolls).
Got a couple of minions on there way though. A Feral Geist, Alten Ashley and Dahlia Hallyr and Skarath. I'm especially looking forward to painting Skarath, that's just a great model. Reports on them have been a bit mixed, but I really like there models and I just don't feel the need to get a minion warlock with a beatstick beast. That's what Trolls do!























And finally I just finished one of my Long Riders. It took a bit longer to paint than I anticipated, but I'm hoping I can finish the other two today and have my first completed unit. Thought it would be easier to finish thme since they are only three models, rather than the seven in the KSB unit. They also add some much needed speed to the Troll lineup. I'd actually really like to get Horthol and another two Long Riders, but Horthol is expensive, so I'm thinking I'll wait and see how they look in Mk II before I buy any more. Another idea would be to get another box of Long Riders and then just convert one of them into a Horthol model. Although then I'd still be a dismounted Horthol short.























And a group picture of all the models I've painted recently. Grissel really should have been in it as she is almost done, but she was hiding in the cupboard and I forgot to take a picture of her...

It is alive!

Finally got around to update this blog. It's been a combination of not playing Warmachine at all and using my Cygnar for a couple of tournaments (took 3rd at our local one) but I've finally gotten back to Wyrmwall Kriel and been doing some painting the past week or so. So I've now completed an Axer and new comer Calandra and a Slag Troll (pictures to follow tomorrow hopefully).

They will all see action tomorrow, going up against the Legions of the Nightmare Empire. Hopefully the Slag Troll especially should be very handy against all the undeads, and having proxied Calandra once before I'm very much looking forward to using her. Is there anything she can't do?

Calandra will be bringing a Mauler, an Axer, an Impaler and a Slag Troll with her. And to accompany the big beasts will be Champions, Scattergunners, a Kriel Stone and Elder, a Hero, Fell Caller and some Whelps. And some Swamp Gobbers. Very execiting to have a proper game with the Trolls again, although I have actually managed to use them a little bit recently. I've been running demo games at my gaming club the past three weeks or so.

I had Madrak go into overdrive mode in one of them. There was a battleline of 6 Swordknights, Ironclad, Lancer and Stryker fighting champions. Thinking I'd just show what a Warlock can do and that feats can be mean I moved Madrak up to the Swordknights and feated. He then proceeded to kill all the Swordknights, the Lancer and finally ended up right next to Stryker. With just a point of fury left I hit him, boosting damage thinking I could at least give him a scare before he killed Madrak I rolled 18 for damage, killing Stryker in one hit with a point of damage to spare!

That was surprising to say the least. I might have to give Madrak a bit more serious attention. I've not really tried to play a proper beatstick caster yet, although Grissel can beat up people if she needs to.

Comulus!

Meet Comulus, one of the resident Dire Troll Maulers in Wyrmwall Kriel.
Quite pleased actually, I think he came out pretty well. The skin was tricky to get right just because most of the model is only skin! His base also need more work I think but I wanted to get a picture of a painted model up.

Read the scenario...

Fourth game was also against Trolls.

This time it was a Grim list.

Grim
Earthborn
Axer
Impaler
Champions
5 Long Riders
Swamp Gobbers
Pyg Borrowers
Fell Caller
KSB+UA

The scenario was Invasion and I really should have read it more carefully...

He had the Long Riders on my left flank, Champions, KSB and Gobbers in the middle and Grim and all the Beasts on the right flank.

I had the Long Gunners and a Lancer on the left flank, almost all the rest in the middle and the Swordknights and a Stormsmith on the right.

The Long Gunners put some real hurt on the Long Riders, killing one and seriously damaging another. A Time Bomb damage them further and slows them down and Eiryss is just out of charge range. The rest of my stuff moves up field ready to confront the champions and the Sworknights shuffle around to hopefully bait the Earthborn forward, but being able to take it.

And that was the mistake. The Swordknights ended up in a position where the only model completely in my right hand zone was the Stormsmith. Turn 3 Grim moves up, and pops the Stormsmith with Farstrike on him and wins the game. At this point we have killed three models. A Long Rider, eEiryss and the Stormsmith.

Of course I was set up to blow his Long Riders off the table and do the same to him so I'm not complaining. I had the Long Gunners, Black 13th, eHaleys spells, Lancer and Ol' Rowdy (he might have been in range) all set up to do it. Just never got the chance. We were both a bit gutted it ended so quickly but it was my own fault for not playing to the scenario proper.

Lesson learn: Always read the scenario. Twice. And then read it one more time just to be sure.