Warmachine: Primer - Trollbloods - High Seas High Jinks

The Trollkin pirates. Check. Tough, regenerating Trolls. Check. Hard to kill Trollkin warriors. Check. Trollbloods are a riot of an army, featuring some of the toughest units in the game, and model design that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Warcasters

Commodore Foulblood

Foulblood comes as part of the Shadows and Scum set, and the Foulblood command cadre. A reasonable fighter in close combat, and boasting a decent ARM, and gainst living models a decent DEF too thanks to his monkey, Foulblood is less about getting into a fight, and much more about buffing units of troops.

Foulblood has a number of buffs, and of them at the core to his feat and tactics is Open Bar, which makes all friendly models in range subject to Stumbling Drunk - they can't be knocked down, and if hit they move d3 inches directly away from enemy models. It's a decent way to negate charges by warjacks/warbeasts or swarms.

Foulblood has access to some useful spells beyond the faction Rack, with Fortify boosting a warbeast ARM by 2 (making Chum quite the brick), and Blur providing a +3 DEF against ranged and arcane attacks. Because he is likely leading several units, it makes sense to use spells like Fury's Strength or Fortune.

Where things get interesting is Foulblood's feat. All friendly warrior models (sorry Chum) with Stumbling Drunk (hello Battle Plan) get +3 ARM. And then all Stumbling Drunk models on the table when pushed as a result of a hit, can move in a direction you prefer. This combines well with Tapper unit attachment for the Marauder Crew, which grants Stumbling Drunk to the unit, and provides a more directed means to take and hold objectives while also resisting damage, as those models affected by the feat can, in effect, dance about their enemies and out of melee range.

Captain Firequill

Firequill is a slower-moving fighter than Foulblood, but is focused on ranged attacks. Firequill's tactics favour locking down enemies in combat to control objectives and movement, because Firequill and his warbeasts armed with ranged weapons, can happily still shoot into combat. This plays into Firequill being an assassin warlock, thanks to Fortune Hunter and Head Shot (Vilkul's worst enemy). In many ways, this is a slower, tougher Caine.

That comparison to Caine continues to their attacks - on an assassination turn, Firequill can pop an easy enemy grunt to unleash a free spell, such as Broadside (cohort all get a free ranged attack), thus saving him 3 Fury for even more shots/boosts. That is a potential 10 shots in a turn! This all gets further enhanced on his Feat turn, as all cohort models gain +2 to ranged attack and ranged damage rolls, plus the shots get a choice of Flare or Incendiary - making the sequencing of shots important to remove stealth, reduce defence, and set them on fire. Firequill could then happily prepare enemies for the rest of the army to unleash hell against as he tags targets with Flare.

Captain Shadowtongue

Shadowtongue is an arcane leader - with an ARC of 8, he is all about spells and his large control range. Shadowtongue also provides his cohort the huge boon of ignoring cloud effects, forests and models for LOS - being able to just charge through clouds and trees increases the threat range of his warbeasts. Again, this is Vilkul's worst nightmare as it negates most of her Feat turn benefits. And much like Baranova, Shadowtongue can channel spells - but through friendly warrior models in control range (thanks to his large control range of 16 the board can be easily covered). Sure, doing so deals 3 damage to the model, but since most, if not all, have Tough, this isn't too bad (especially when combined with Stumbling Drunk).

No surprise Shadowtongue has a whole load of spells. Gallows is good for objective play, pushing models off objectives. Hex Blast is an AoE, that can also clear out spells and animi. Revive lets him bring back Grunts, while Ghost Walk couples well with his cohort benefit - charging through terrain, ignoring LoS, and terrain penalties! Basically, Shadowtongue is a Trollkin Necromancer who favours lots of warriors.

To wrap up, his Feat favours having a good number of warbeasts as they can use their animi for free (leaving Fury free for boosts), and Shadowtongue able to cast all his spells for 1 less Fury - that is potentially 4 ranged spell attack with Gallows/Hex Blast/Powder Keg or numerous Perdition castings - Perdition in particular being a good choice to move all those warbeasts that are using their animi for free! Perdition and Gallows combine really well to pull and move enemies and warbeasts into charge lanes.

However, don't leave Shadowtongue out in the open. With a DEF of 14, he is vulnerable to an assassination.

Warbeasts

Chum

A character warbeast, Chum is quite the heavy hitter, boasting an ARM of 19, 4 Fury, but he can easily frenzy with his abysmal Threshold of 5 - not a warbeast to leave Fury on! With a high ARM, and 32 damage boxes, Chum can regenerate d3 hit points a turn - he typically won't die quickly (especially with Fortify applied), and his filled-in aspects can quickly be freed up again. This is further enhanced by his Snacking and his animus Excessive Healing (which is also a great spell for a Warlock to cast on their self). Curiously, his Foul Stench makes Chum best up in the grill of enemy beasts, reducing their Threshold and Fury by 1, potentially blocking a controlled turn for a warbeast. To cap it all off he has Stumbling Drunk, which makes hitting him on Foulblood's Feat turn an annoyance as he can move away from melee combat and further into the enemy lines or on to an objective.

Chum is a challenge enough with his healing and damage boxes, but he also has 3 weapons. First up is his Great Maw, which is a decent melee attack, and provides yet another means to heal with Critical Consume. Meanwhile, the Deep Viper is also boasting MAT 8 and POW 16, but can reduce an enemy warrior's defense (a perfect set up for further attacks as it spares the need for boosts to hit). Finally he has Mine Flail, which boasts a POW of 18, chain weapon quality, and the means to plow through smaller units thanks to its blast damage trait.

Deepborn

The Deepborn Heavy Warbeast is not as tough, nor as competent in combat compared to Chum, but it is still a formidable monster. Like Chum, it can regenerate, and has Snacking, though it is less likely to Frenzy. Of course the Deepborn has a lot of options!

Each head option offers a different animus, and of them, the Cantankerous (Bite/Rage) head is good value for the extra attack and damage buff it provides warbeasts, while the Deep Dweller head (Bite/Floodwaters) provides useful defense over a large area by slowing the enemies down by making the zone Shallow Water—something that Chum and the Great Old One ignore.

There are then three fin options - with the Minnow option a great value option that increases the Deepborn's Threshold to 9, and allows it the run and charge for free, making it a much more efficient beast. Though more costly, the Spearback option provides Retalitory Strike and increases the beast's ARM to 20.

Of the right arm options, while the Narwal Gauntlet is not the most powerful (see the Cantankerous head to make up for it) at POW 16, it does provide +1 ARM and again, for efficiency sake, Sustained Attack. A possible ARM 21 beast, with POW 18 hits and Sustained Attack is nasty. Or, for a real beat stick, the Anchor options provides POW 19 (21 with the animus in play), Beat Back and Critical Smite. But it does cost a bit more.

For the left arm, following up on the Narwhal option, a Shark Skull Gauntlet provides a weak attack (but again, think of the animus in play), at POW 15, and a further +1 ARM, taking the beast up to ARM 22 with the Narwahl and Minnow options. A real tank.

Alternatively, the Squid arm option provides a ranged attack that works well against grunts, and the potential of Critical Blind, but also provides a close combat attack with Drag - so it may only be a short distance but could make the difference to a shield wall or objective scoring.

Reef Troll

This light warbeast comes in with less Fury, lower ARM, lower MAT, but a better Threshold. It's easier to control, and a likely candidate for running multiples as they can run hotter with less chance of Frenzy. As standard, it's got Regenerate, but compared to Chum or the Deepborn, its scope for other sources of healing is lacking. The tl;dr is that these warbeasts are utility and support, protecting Warlocks, providing ranged attacks, and clearing out heavy troopers. So with that in mind, the heads really are obvious picks depending on the battlefield role. One gives +1 MAT, another +1 RAT, and the other Shield Guard (which costs zero points if you need to squeeze in a beast). So really, those choices are driven by the other options.

Like the head options, the Booze options are also led by the weapon loadouts for the warbeast, with each option granting an animus. Farstrike makes sense for a ranged combat beast, Indomitable works well with Shield Guard, while Lightning Strike is good for a beat stick warbeast. You may well decide that Indomitable is a good selection no matter the warbeast, so that the Warlock has a situational ARM buff.

Of the right arm options, the Ship's Gun is the weapon of choice for a ranged combat warbeast. It has blast and arching fire, which is excellent for wiping out units tying up objectives. The Harpoon option is cheaper, provides a close combat attack, and drags the enemy into close combat, which, of course, is perfect for an assassination, breaking up shield walls, or moving the enemy off an objective.

Left-arm options include a mediocre melee attack, another ranged attack, and a shield, with the right-arm cutlass and left-arm Boarding Axe providing a cheap beat-stick war beast.

Units

Lochabash Brothers

These three present a tough-as-nails unit, able to soak up damage, as well as deal it out. Each of the unit has 10 hit points. Gang let's them hit like sledgehammer. While Set Defense, Side Step and Relentless Charge are all useful, their Sanguine Bond makes this unit that bit harder to shift. In effect, if they have full health, and one of them is hit with 10 damage, that would normally mean one of the squad is dead. But instead, you can spread that damage around. Throw in Fortify for extra ARM, this unit becomes quite a challenge, more so if you hit them with Stumbling Drunk and Foulbloods Feat turn for an ARM of 19.

Marauder Crew

As basic unit in the army, each fighter has 5 hit points, plus Tough as standard. Gang makes them hit a bit heavier too. Overall nothing too special, essentially the Lochabash Brothers but cheaper and more numerous and lacking anything too special. But a decent battleline unit to grab objectives with mainly due to their hit points and Tough.

However, the Marauder Crew has a few options to make them just that bit better. The Tapper is a decent option, when mixed with Foulblood, as the unit is granted Stumbling Drunk (so Tough can't be negated, and a decent +3 ARM on the Feat turn), and a further +1 on attack rolls (stacking nicely with Gang). Alternatively, the Bosun command attachment gives the unit Vengeance and No Quarter, making them a fast unit for claiming objectives.

Pyg Galley Crew

Not particuarly good fighters, the Galley Crew help you run warbeasts a bit hotter, as their Condition action lets them add or remove Fury. Coupled with a cheap source of bodies, such as the Pyg Boarding Crew, warbeasts Fury can be even more easily controlled with Stew's On (clear a beast of Fury but remove the affected model). Combined with Revive from Shadowtongue, and you have a renewable source of food for your warbeasts, letting them run hot.

The Pygs are also useful, thanks to their Drag and Knockown ranged attack, while their Cleaver attacks allow for healing of units near them (combining well with the Lochabash Brothers to extend their staying power).

Solos

Mr Bogs

Certainly not going to win in a fist fight, Mr Bog is a monster hunter. He has a spray weapon, which thanks to Clear! means he can shoot through friendly models without hitting them, while Monster Hunter means that Mr Bogs can deal damage even if his weapon fails too - making Mr Bogs a potent tool in knocking out warbeast aspects.

Mr Bog's gun is a decent POW of 13, which not only pushes models hit away, but also sends Bogs flying backwards too. This lets Mr. Bogs happily perform a form of hit-and-run attack.

Mawga'Bawza

Filling a similar role as Chatterbane in the Cryx, Mawga's main benefits as a solo are the Ancillary Attack action to make a warbeast strike again, while Enliven lets a warbeast move again if damaged by an attack. He does also come with a decent POW 14 AOE 2 fire attack.

Surgeon

Continuing the theme of "Why won't these Trollkin just die?!", the Surgeon can make units tougher to shift thanks to Grim Returns (which makes those units like regenerating lunch boxes if you use it with the Galley Crew). The Surgeon also comes with Heal, and Shark Bait - the latter makes Tough (which all Trollkin have) a double-edged sword. Those that do fail their Tough rolls get to move 3 inches and make an attack. So on a Foulblood Feat turn, if the unit is Stumbling Drunk, that is a D3 inch move, followed by a 3 inch move, and then an attack.

Summary

The Brinebloods have some of the toughest troops in the game, and plenty of ways to heal them, or their warbeasts. As an army, they don't have anything that stands out for shooting, and while they have heavy hitters for close combat, nothing overshadows the likes of Khador. Ultimately, the resilience of the beasts and units makes the army capable of holding objectives and weathering damage.