Hey guys,

It's been waaay too long since I last visited. Work has been crazy and I've been distracted by my seasonal winter RC plane building......

I miss the call of Middle Earth so it's high time to break out my paint brushes and army books (which will all be out of date by now grr.)

Anyways, a while ago I bought some Warg riders and a plastic troll on impulse. I also picked up some of the old metal wargs on fleabay, they are so pretty. I bought the troll more for its looks than anything else, but I wondered how they perform in Isengard armies. What opponents do they work well against? What size forces should I include them in? Of course these are general quiestions, but I'd like to hear people's experiences with using them. I may buy one or two more if they work well in my army. Thanks guys .

Eorling.

_________________
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - Thorin Oakenshield.

They are like any other troll for the most part. They have a fantastic defense, so most good troops will need a 6/4 to wound. They have a great fight and strength so they can potentially do a lot of damage to almost anything.

If you run them behind a line of your rank and file troops you shouldn't have any trouble with shooting (they won't be hit often and wounded even less so). Their main vulnerabilities are bad luck and magic. Without might they stand a decent chance of getting in over their heads and fluffing the rolls to win a fight. A banner can go a long way to mitigate that.

Magic is more of a problem. Good wizards are expensive, but if one is on the table your troll is basically a dead man walking. If a wizard is able to move within any decent distance of him there is nothing to stop Command or Immobilize. I'd suggest pulling back with the Troll and keeping him in reserve and out of harm's way as much as possible until you can neutralize the wizard. It's a tough row to hoe, wizards tend to make chumps of trolls pretty fast.

For fun everything is good. Competitively they are not viable in Isengard armies at all because your troops are too expensive points-wise to afford a Troll and still sustain numbers and a relatively strong overall force. They are much more viable in Mordor and Moria forces, although still they are overpriced for their abilities, compared to much better Fell Beasts and Spider Queen.

Nobody who finishes high at big tournaments (like GT) uses Trolls because Sarumans run around everywhere

_________________
Coordinator of the Great British Hobbit League

Hey guys thanks for the tips. I found out long ago that heavy hitting units are rarely points cost effective in almost all GW rules systems as they are usually attack magnets and don't last long enough to get your buck's worth. It's better to spread points evenly sometimes. However I'm no too competitive a gamer at the moment so I'm in it for fun. Those are really good points, I certainly won't be taking any trolls to tourneys if I ever enter. I was at (but not playing in) the 40k Doubles GT at WHW yesterday, was a blast and had a really good time so I might enter the LOTR doubles next year or something.

Thanks again guys that's really helpful.

_________________
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - Thorin Oakenshield.