Age of Sigmar Showcase: Da Trogg Herd!
Ben is back with an amazing look at his Trogg Herd for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. These aren’t your typical cave trolls!
I’ve followed up my squig herd with a bigger, louder, and somehow smellier herd. These big burly brutes are a much more forgiving force than the last herd. In fact a lot of times it’s felt like hitting the easy button in comparison.
Heroes
This is the big nasty that found me playing a trogg army right after finishing up a different gitz force. While the squigs were fun I wanted to turn my attention to a completely different army. But I just couldn’t resist this colossal, ugly, antlered monster. On the table he’s been an MVP and a complete mess. He only has a few attacks so without a good buff or two it’s easy to whiff and come up short with this costly behemoth. But when he hits they feel it! He’s also a little fragile, even with 16 wounds. He has no innate ward save and I’ve had him almost die to mortals in a single magic phase. In a standard Gloomspite Gitz list I’ve found it hard to justify his points cost. But if you take him as part of his very own Troggherd the buffs he’ll lend to your force definitely make him a buy.
You’ll probably want a couple of these Dankhold Troggbosses if you’re going to go for a Trogg heavy list. Trogg units have no leaders so you’ll need characters if you want to give anyone commands. Fortunately they hit hard and have some good artifacts and traits to choose from. Unfortunately these lanky goons have too many wounds to let you field a one drop army. But that looks like something none of us will have to worry about next edition. If you’re wondering about the one on the left, please give this article a gander.
Apparently people don’t like Mollog here but he’s done just fine for me for the points. I suspect he’ll fulfill a similar role next edition: a trogg character for when you need one but can’t afford a Trogboss.
Troggs
I had to have three dankholds, just so I can run a full unit of them in a Trugg’s list. They’re every bit as nasty as you’d imagine and can wipe out just about anything. Hopefully I’ll get to keep running this massive unit next edition.
18 Rockguts is probably more than I’ll ever need. But here they are all the same.
They’re brutal killers for sure, but like Trugg they have few attacks so it’s easy to whiff. They really count on an extra attack from a Troggboss or Trugg’s Malfunctioning Waystone. The worst thing about them is that they only have four wounds. Imagine the worst unit in AoS… Gnoblars? Moonclan Stabbas? Clanrats? Whichever you choose it only takes four of them to keep the models in this picture from scoring an objective. Fortunately they hit hard enough that I’ve managed to eke out a good number of wins despite this disadvantage. And their ward save has kept them alive more times than I can count.
Fellwaters are a great support unit that can also really dish out the damage. I probably will never use the full 12 I painted here, but I’ve used 9 many times.
Their Terrible Stench rule combined with the Trogg’s +1 to saves when under the light of the Bad Moon can make for a force that’s really tough to take down. Additionally their ranged attack is quite good and the rend bonus it gives you against units wounded by it is super strong.
The Trogg Herd – Final Thoughts
Finally I can’t close without at least a few thoughts comparing running a trogg-heavy Gitz list to running Trugg’s Troggherd. We’ll know soon enough if any of this will apply in the new edition. As a visual aid I give you the picture above: a selection of the models you’ll miss out on if your unbridled love of troggs compels you to leave all other gitz behind. Those are some good buffs to pass on… Skragrott has his Light of the Bad Moon aura… The Loonsmashas can grant an extra attack… Then you have the Madcap Shaman who has access to some great enhancements. Maybe you take him for the Moonface Mommet… or maybe the Clammy Hand… or both. (He’ll be gone next edition but the same applies to the Cave Shaman) It’s hard to leave buffs like that behind just for Trugg’s Malfunctioning Waystone aura. You’ll also have to pass on the other Gloomspite subfaction allegiance abilities, of which King’s Gitz is no doubt the most popular. You’ll even have to pass on the Troggherd Heavies Battalion. Can Trugg’s possibly worth sacrificing all of that?
Despite being reluctant at first, I’ve really come around to playing Trugg’s. Full disclosure: this is mostly because I’m not really a competitive player. Trugg’s is a lot more forgiving since you don’t have to worry about coordinating all the support pieces, and you have more points to spend on the meat of the list. Additionally there are no ways for your opponent to deny you the benefits of Trugg’s Waystone – which also conveniently has no range. The most important buffs you can have playing Troggs (and this is probably true of a lot of AoS lists) are those that grant extra attacks. Standard Gitz have a few of these but having tried them on the battlefield I’ve quickly learned how easy they are to take away.
There are currently lots of ways to deny units’ commands, meaning I often find myself unable to take advantage of a Trogboss’s Shepherd of Destruction ability. Then there are the Loonsmashas, which despite giving a great buff for a low cost, are about as sturdy as a wet paper bag, and typically crumble if an enemy so much as looks at them. But as long as Trugg is alive I can (barring some truly horriffic luck) count on some kind of buff for the army. I might not always get the one that gives more attacks but they’re all pretty useful. Dankholds and Fellwaters with a ward save are truly something to behold.
The biggest downside of playing Trugg’s is something I hinted at earlier: it’s nearly impossible to get a one-drop. Trogbosses just have too many wounds, and the alternative of a Trugg-and-Mollog-only list just doesn’t cut it. Fortunately it looks like one-drops aren’t going to be as important in 4th so that’s not so much of a concern. Additionally the subfaction has it’s own tactics that can be difficult to achieve. “Wot’s Dat Glowy Fing” isn’t too tricky to pull off but Troggs already aren’t the best at scoring objectives so it can be hard coordinating getting two units scoring while also under The Light of the Bad Moon. “Don’t Like Dat One” can be next to impossible if you don’t plan for it from the start. If your opponent knows what your up to, Trugg is just too big and too slow to chase down an enemy hero if your opponent doesn’t want him to catch them.
~ So I hope you enjoyed the pics, and maybe there’s someone out there who can take advantage of my experiences in this twilight of 3rd edition. I had a lot more to write but everything is about to change. And for now I’m really looking forward to those changes.
