Trolloth Subfaction

Standing 10 feet tall and sporting massive muscles, the Trolloth are intimidating creatures, especially their warriors, who

are covered in coats of iron scale-mail. In days of old they dominated the world, holding the other elemental races in check.

Disciplined and dour, most Trolloth live in feudal kingdoms with towering, dark fortresses built of basalt and granite decorated with obsidian. Subtlety is not a Trolloth trait; a fact reflected in both their architecture and their weapons. Flails, maces, mauls and morning-stars – these tools of war line the armory walls of a Trolloth keep.

Feral Trolls are the cursed kin of the Trolloth, living in small packs among the wilds, where they epitomize brute force and

savagery, competing with the greatest of predators. Barely sentient, these creatures are often bred and trained by the Trolloth for use in war, for which their mighty fists and foul tempers are ideally suited.

Duskborn Chieftain

Background

Duskborn Chieftain is the official title of a general in the feudal armies of the Trolloth. The Duskborn Chieftain is the blood-smeared right-hand of his feudal lord; he organizes the defenses, trains the soldiery and leads all forces in the field. Chieftains are respected masters of the warrior-code called the Path of the Crushing Shade, and as such they have access to the Troglodytes sacred Chronicles of War at the temples of their war-god Abraon Wraith-Shade.

Like every true Troglodyte, Duskborn Chieftains prefer weapons and armor of heavy iron. Their combination of thick armor and massive burly stature makes them mountains of metal and a daunting challenge to face. They are easily capable of executing entire enemy units with brutal efficiency as they stride ominously across fields of gore.

Game Role:

As with all Starterbox warlords, the Duskborn Chieftain is an all-rounder who is both good in melee and capable of boosting his troops capabilities. In melee, the Chieftain is more of a “tanky” fighter with a basic ARM of 9 which can be improved with items. Besides that, he has a whopping 21 life-points, and on top of that he has regeneration which heals D3 life points every round automatically. This towering muscle-bound incarnation of shadow causes Fear, so against anyone failing their LEAD test, he effectively has DEF15. On top of that, he also has the tactic Slam Back which pushes enemies out of melee range so they cannot attack him.

Offensively, he has ambidextrous attacks with his pairs of morning-stars at POW5 (and one which attacks ALL models within range). With MEL 8 he is definitely skilled as a melee fighter. But the advantage of an all-rounder warlord is that he is useful in more than just melee.

For example his tactic Rage gives units +1 on melee attack rolls (including counter-attacks). Even better is his tactic Carnage which gives units Slay-Movement! Additionally Slam Back allows units to push models out of melee range (useful when they are overwhelmed by greater numbers.

Overall, the Chieftain is a versatile and tough warlord ideal for leading Tolloth and combined-subfaction warbands.

Ironhide Brutes

Background

Beneath the knightly class in the Trolloth’s feudal caste system is the stratum of free Trolloth who work as professional soldiers in service to the local lord. These warriors are known as Ironhide Brutes. Although Ironhide Brutes receive regular warrior training, Troglodytes are not renowned for their finesse, as they tend to win their fights with their raw muscle

Their preferred tool for pounding foes is the traditional weapon of the culture – the morning-star. So heavy is the concussion that enemies are often knocked to the ground by the stone-shattering blows.

Ironhide Brutes are by no means slow and are capable of taking a great deal of punishment before finally keeling over. That combined with the ability to regenerate makes them formidable opponents even though they lack finesse in combat.

Game Role:

The Trolloth are a great solid troop for the Trolloth. MEL5 means they are not particularly skills, but their attacks ignore shields (nullifying shield bonuses), and their ability Savage Pride gives them +1 to his and damage against models with medium and large bases. Since those two rules covers about ¾ of the models in Wave-1, they are more effective than their stat-line indicates. Their attacks have POW (average in Godslayer), and they are Fearless, so reliable against Fear and Horror causing enemies.

So offensively they are a bit pretty much average, but toughness is where they shine. With ARM7 and 10 life points they are twice as durable as the average human. Add to that regeneration of D3 life points per round and you are looking at a very hard core unit. Most ogre-sized models tend to have DEF12, but here they are also above average (due to their shields) with a DEF of 13.

Trolloth make an excellent wall to receive charges while your missile and magical troops pummel the enemy from behind. With tactics from the Warlords they become excellent competent troops too. However, they are not elite troops, and this is shown by their low points-cost of 15.

Feral Grayhorns

Background

Four-hundred pounds of raw muscle combined with a brain the size of an apple does not begin to describe the Feral Grayhorn’s savagery. These savages epitomize senseless violence in their every act but their extreme ferocity makes them a useful though unsubtle tool to be wielded by Trolloth in battle.

Myths relate that Feral Trolls were once ordinary Trolloth who regressed into barbarism when the power of the Elemental Plane of Fire cooked half the cosmos. Troglodytes who stayed too long in the sizzling rays of the Red Sun suffered an enchanted sun-stroke which addled their minds. These feral creatures thrive in most climates, making their lairs in caves, hollow trees, ice caverns or holes in the ground – anywhere they can escape the midday sun.

Grayhorns would not know how to hold a weapon, let alone how to make one; instead they use their meaty fists to pummel enemies to death, each impact crushing bones and tenderizing organs. Neither do they use armor, but their thick, gray hides ward off lighter blows.

Game Role:

Grayhorns are fast, offensive models. Being light-infantry, they can move up to 15 inches per round and charge 11 inches.

Their attacks are not heavy (POW2), but they can attack up to 6 times per round! Here is a unit which can really benefit from the Rage tactic of the Duskborn Chieftain.

One great advantage they have is their Scent ability which allows them to charge without line of sight, so they can charge through forest terrain.

Although they have poor armor, they poor Defence and armor, they do have 12 life points each. Nevertheless, they should be hidden behind other models or forest terrain until they are ready to charge.

Hammerfist

Background

Hammerfists are the larger, meaner cousins of Feral Grayhorns and they share the same ancestors – the deranged Trolloth driven mad during the zenith of the Red Sun’s power. These crazed brutes often live among communities of Feral Trolls where their superior size and bullying makes them the alpha-Troll.

Hammerfists do not wield weapons because their very fists are themselves weapons! In fact feudal Trolloth forge metal cestus which they nail onto the hands of captured Hammerfists to make their bone-crunching punch even harder.

Game Role:

The stat-line of the Hammerfist is nothing special, but he has some cool skills.

Firstly rumble enables him to knock enemies down, which makes them easy prey for your other units to charge.

Secondly, friendly models/units within 4 inches become immune to Fear and Horror (which is fantastic for Gnoll warbands.

Thirdly, models in melee range of the Hammerfist cannot attack other models, so he makes a perfect body-guard for warlords and characters.

In melee he has a POW of 3 and can make up to 6 attacks per round. MEL7 and DEF 13 are pretty average, but good when combined with his 16 life points and Regeneration ability!

The Hammerfist makes an excellent support model for knocking down enemies and boosting morale. He is indispensable in Gnoll warbands and useful in all others even if just as a melee fighter.

Fleshpounder

Background

Fleshpounder giants are the descendants of the offspring of shadow goddess Sethira and Surtus, the last king of the Jotuns of Calydorn. They stand 20-25ft (6-8m) tall and sport massive muscles, which means they have few natural enemies. With sufficient offerings of food and shiny objects they can be enticed into the service of a Trolloth feudal lord.

In battle, commanders plough them into large enemy units. Just the sight of this charging behemoth can cause a route, but if not then the Fleshpounders lay about them with fists flailing. Even heavily-armored foes are at risk due to this monster’s penchant for squeezing enemies to a pulp. Their name they acquired from their method of food preparation; Fleshpounders will often take an ogre or buffalo etc, and beat it to a pulp, then suck out its insides.

Game Role:

In one word – Muscle. This model is not subtle or strategic, he’s simply a melee killer ideal against soft and medium units. His attacks have only an average POW of 4, but he can make 4 or even 5 attacks per round when assigned an action token. Best of all, he can chose to cause 2D3 direct damage instead of POW4, which makes him awesome against heavy infantry models.

In addition, models suffering damage are knocked down, and therefore easier to hit in the next attack!

This guy has a whopping 32 life points plus D3 points regeneration every round, plus an ARM of 7, so he we only needs to fear units of elite troops.