| RARE TROOPS |
| Trolls Big, beautiful, and utterly dim, I have something of a love-hate relationship with trolls. The main reason for this is that you simply can't leave them on their own. Putting a character in with them is generally a waste of manpower in my opinion, especially when you consider that they are perfectly capable of going stupid anyway. This means that they have to be used as support for whatever unit your general happens to be in, and they certainly aren't the most reliable blokes for that job, either! In their favor, they aren't at all overcosted for what they do, and they do cause fear! Just be aware that they have a low unit strength, and that they must NEVER be allowed to test on their own leadership for ANYTHING. Best used for combined assaults with a large unit of boys. Their higher movement rate can allow them to get in on a flank at the same time if you set it up right. I field my trolls in a unit of 3. Any more than that and you're just asking for trouble. Goblin Doom Diver Catapult Leave it to gobbos to solve the problem of inaccurate artillery by using "live" ammunition. I wouldn't go so far as to call this "smart bomb" technology, however. I've found this contrabulous fraptraption to be surprisingly good at hitting lightly armored missile units units that deploy in long lines, where the fact that there's no template to worry about makes them more effective. Although it doesn't have the massive punch of a Rock Lobba, 8 out of 10 times it will do just as much damage. Most amusing misfire chart in the game, too! Snotling Pump Wagon This goes into that "Annoying Troop Type" category which makes it a perfect adjunct to your average Night Gobbo army. I find this mini-juggernaut to be an acquired taste: the 2d6 impact hits are VERY nice, but the random speed factor makes it hard to get it where you want it. The 40 point cost is extremely reasonable, though, and if you have the points and you like the model, I say go for it! Stick it in among your infantry units and hope that it can keep up. If you get it into a combined charge at the same time as one of your ranked units then that's at least one combat you're almost sure to win. Giants I'll admit that I have a bias against giants. Personal anecdote time again: When I first started playing Warhammer in 5th edition, I was invited to join a campaign tournament that involved 1500 pts games. I was playing Bretonnians at the time, and considering starting a greenskin army, when I got the opportunity to play against an Orc player in the tournament. Although I had skimmed through the O&G army book, this was the first time I was to see them in action. I was looking forward to the challenging prospect of taking on the massed hordes and seeing a large, impressive army. Boy, was I ever disappointed! The "Greenskin Horde" consisted of a single gigantic unit of Night Goblins (with black orc warboss, crown of command, bad moon banner and great weapons, of course!) and THREE giants, plus a couple of fiddly units to deliver fanatics, and not much else. Of course, I was massacred ignominiously. Now, this fellow represented the absolute worst of the beardmeisters, but the experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I vowed to steer clear of giants in my own horde. I have fielded a giant on precisely two occaisions, both in 4000 pts games. The first was a siege, and the poor fellow succumbed to war machine fire before he could do something useful like bash down a wall. The second time, I sent him in to clear out a unit of 16 Chaos Warriors. He managed to kill a single one with his club, realized he was outnumbered, then decided that this battle wasn't his scene and high-tailed it right off the board. Now, both of these examples represent a certain amount of bad luck, but the curse remains (for me, at any rate). From the description in the book, Giants sound like a lot of fun, and probably quite effective to boot. I've heard that putting one on a flank will at least keep the enemy's forces tied up there reasonably well, and certainly this is just the thing to throw agaist dragons and the like. The thing to beware of is that, like most large nasties, a giant can fall foul of units with rank and outnumbering bonuses. If you do decide to field one, I hope your luck with them is better than mine! Wyverns Technically a monster mount and not a troop choice, but worth outlining here. This is a poor-man's dragon, and to my mind overly expensive for what it does. Quite a shame, as the new model is aces in my book - much more menacing than the previous versions. Despite being quite tough, the beast only has three attacks (and that's including the special poisoned-tail attack). It also makes your warboss a large target, and will probably carry him off away from your battle line, so his leadership will be far from where it is needed. Although I'd like to paint up the model one day, I am unlilkey to ever field it in play. |