Trollblood Gargantuan

Drool
http://privateerpress.com/community/privateer-insider/insider-4-19-2012

Part of the diorama at Adepticon

Cavalry Rules

Impact attacks: Impact attacks are part of movement, so if you have a unit of cavalry you do the impact attacks of each model when you are moving them before you declare the charge target of the next model. Impact attacks do not have to target your charge target and it's often better if they don't, as impact attacks occur during movement if you kill your charge target you will have failed your charge. You keep moving until you run out of movement or run into another model you can't move through (as per the charge rules) and then your activation ends immediately. It can actually be pretty bad if you don't take that into account as you can take a bunch of free strikes or be out of formation. Doesn't matter if you hit a jack or something that's going to survive a charge though. Remember that an impact attack is a thresher with 0.5" range and you only make it if you contact the model. You can also use it to run over something in the way of your charge.

Ride by attacks - you can move shoot or fight and then move again. Really good for things like the Khador and Troll battle engines. It's an order so you can't ride by attack and charge.

Tall in the Saddle - You can ignore intervening bases smaller than your own. Allows you to attack a small based model that is being screened if you have reach.

Cavalry Charge - You get +2 on attack (to hit) rolls with Heavy Cav but not on your impact attack rolls.

Light Cavalry - No impact attacks, no ride by attacks but you can use your mount attack without charging.

Light Cavalry Move - this was errated and the language was confusing (I think the language might have been changed again in subsequent erratas). You get a light Cav move as long as your activation has not ended. So if you ran or failed a charge or did something that caused your activation to end then you cannot make a light cavalry move.

Edit - Ride by attacks and cav charge bonus added

More new models

Those are clearly two different heads on the cavalry model and the little inset in the bottom left. As for the models themselves I've never been a fan of Vlad's shoulder pads, I think that your shoulder pads should be smaller than your head is a good rule.

As for the succubus I was going to say that the wings are too small but it doesn't actually have flight so they are supposed to be useless, products of everblight tinkering too much with Nyss physiology. I'll probably try to straighten it a bit though, I think it would look better if it's body was going straight up rather than leaning forward (have to see what that does to the balance of the model).

There's also a 360 degree view of the conquest up on PP if you're interested. It's pretty.

Kraken!

What do people think? I think the conquest is still the prettiest but I do like the Kraken model too. Doesn't look as unicorny as the concept art suggested it might.

Also PP had to ask people to stop trashing GW on their facebook page. Apparently people dislike the new paints. I'm shocked. I know John Webb (of boosted damage, he's won a few painting comps in the UK) didn't like them but I really wasn't going to be buying them regardless.

Thinking Out Loud - Highlander

Only one list for highlander (after all there can only be one) and I have a tendency to sit and think about lists when I'm not doing anything so here is what I've been thinking.

First off what should I be afraid of, what nast combos can you still pull with only one of everything:

Winterguard Death Star - Full unit of winterguard, UA, probably one rocketeer too because that's allowed and Kovnic Joe with a caster with iron flesh (half the khador casters). This unit will have DEF 18 in the open and either tough or all boosted attack rolls on their 8" sprays. They can also get +3 strength in melee to bring them to a respectable POW 11 (but then no boosts or tough).

Cataphract Cetrati with defenders ward in front of a Krea - high DEF and high ARM. 8 wounds and solos like Eirys can only take off either the krea's animus or defenders ward as they are on two separate models.

Bane Thralls and Tartarus. Really with anyone although with Skarre1 they'll be ARM20 on feat turn POW 16 weapons masters and they'll always cause an additional -2 ARM to everything they are fighting and she'll give them an additional dice to hit. Stealth and tough, so shooting will need to ignore stealth.

Terminus or Venethrax. Terminus will be ARM 25 (ARM 23 plus some help from Darragh Wrathe) until after he has resolved all his attacks from charging my caster. His ARM will be higher the turn after he feats. Venethrax will be ARM 26 but lacking the feat, flight and the extra damage output of Terminus. Venethrax has a little bit better DEF too.

Trollbloods
PCs: 20

[00] Madrak Ironhide, World Ender (0 / 5 WB)
[09]  >> Dire Troll Mauler
[06]  >> Troll Axer
[08] Trollkin Fennblades (9 grunts)
[02]  >> Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer

• Madrak gives the Fennblades blood fury which makes them weaponmasters. His feat gives them a free thresher attack that only targets enemy models. They have a mini feat which gives them +2 movement on the charge so 13" threat. Really needs a fell caller to give them +2 MAT even for average troops. For anything with DEF 14+ this list won't do anything so no good against winterguard or Cetrati. You can blood fury the Mauler and have Madrak give it +3 strength (for a POW 19 weaponmaster) and it still won't kill Terminus or Venethrax unless it can knock them down which means no charging they have to be within 6".

Cygnar
PCs: 20

[00] Lord Commander Stryker (0 / 6 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Squire
[10]  >> Stormclad
[06]  >> Hunter
[05] Stormblade Infantry
[03]  >> Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard

• Stryker is a stone cold assassin, he can kill any one thing that needs to die. He can protect the Stormblades from shooting but does nothing about their crappy threat range. This list will tear apart armour and if the stormblades are near the jack they're MAT 9 so they'll hit anything but that means if I'm up against a high DEF unit that I need to throw both the heavy jack and my infantry at them. Low threat range means that any melee unit will destroy them before they get a shot in. Stryker will kill either Venethrax or Terminus with ease. The Stormclad can probably do it too but you wouldn't try it.

Cygnar
PCs: 20

[00] Lord Commander Stryker (0 / 6 WJ remaining)
[10]  >> Stormclad
[04]  >> Charger
[08] Precursor Knights (9 grunts)
[02]  >> Precursor Knight Officer & Standard
[02] Gorman Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist

• I've done better in this list. The precursors have blessed so they ignore iron flesh, paralytic aura (only if cast by the warlock not if used by the Krea weirdly) and defenders ward, they have a minifeat that makes them weaponmasters for a turn and they can't be targetted by enemy spells but still benefit from Deflection and positive charge because neither will target the knights themselves. Gorman is more useful than the squire both in adding clouds to give stryker higher DEF and in black oiling whatever stryker was about to charge. I wanted to add in Runewood but if I took him I would not be allowed to take the Stormclad. Would have been alright if character jacks were allowed and I could take Ol Rowdy but instead I would have been stuck with the Centurion. It's a defensive jack and this is a very offensive list. Would not have worked.

Trollbloods
PCs: 20 

[00] Madrak Ironhide, World Ender (0 / 5 WB)
[09]  >> Dire Troll Mauler
[05] Horthol, Long Rider Hero
[11] Long Riders (4 grunts)

•  The Mauler isn't here to actually fight, it's very much a last line of defence. It is there to give Madrak +3 strength (or possibly Horthol) and generate some fury. This list loses Madrak's greatest strength which is his ability to have worthless gumbies die instead of taking damage himself. He'll have to save up fury for transfers but that's all right because all he really needs to do is upkeep blood fury. Long riders are trollbloods answer to high DEF but only because they slam their own models. Here they lack slam targets and may have to slam each other. Other than that this list has no answer for high DEF. Blood Fury on the Long Riders makes them POW 14 + 4 dice on charge + another POW 14 with 3 dice and I can use the Maulers animus on top of that. High ARM is not a problem.

Cygnar
PCs: 18

[00] Captain Allister Caine (0 / 5 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Squire
[10]  >> Stormclad
[06]  >> Hunter
[05] Rangers

• The hunter and the Stormclad are here as they are the most expensive jacks available. They might do something, no one really cares. This list is designed to wait for Caine to be able to move to have LOS to the opponents caster, have the rangers run to within 5", pull an extra focus off the squire and blast 9 RAT 11 shots of increasing POW into the opposing caster. He can kill Venethrax as he probably isn't going to be affected by Wrathe, Terminus however will pass off ranged attacks that damage him to nearby grunts.

Cygnar
PCs: 20

[00] Major Victoria Haley (0 / 5 WJ remaining)
[02]  >> Squire
[09]  >> Centurion
[06]  >> Lancer
[06] Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
[02]  >> Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer

• Gun mages can deal OK with high DEF, with their own inbuilt snipe feat and deceleration they can normally get a turn of aiming and deadeye (RAT 9 boosted to hit, average roll 19.5 - they'll reliably kill 5 winterguard a turn if they can all aim and 3 if they can't, the winterguard will generally both outlast, outshoot and out melee the gun mages though, and they're cheaper on a per model basis). The centurion is pretty fast with the bond and temporal acceleration. Capable of wrecking whatever doesn't have reach feat turn. I'd still prefer the Stormclad over the Centurion but she desperately needs a lancer and a squire to stay far enough back to keep alive. Centurion can take out Termithrax with temporal acceleration, and the gun mages dropping wrathe and 4 focus. Even then you'd have to either knock him down with the dead eyes gun mages or telekinesis the caster so you're in their back arc. It's a bit of a stretch but it can be done.

Trollbloods
PCs: 20

[00] Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls (0 / 7 WB)
[09]  >> Dire Troll Mauler
[05]  >> Pyre Troll
[03] Fell Caller Hero
[08] Trollkin Fennblades (9 grunts)
[02]  >> Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer

• When it comes to highlander you are limited in the tools you can take so you really want stuff that does a lot of stuff. (eloquence is my strong spot). The first thing I looked at was purification unfortunately both purification casters I have access to are high FURY hordes casters which can be a problem. I can at least make up Doomshaper's FURY. Other than that this list can deal with high DEF and high ARM, it can deal with upkeeps and it has some denial. The biggest problem is that Doomshaper has old man stats and lacks any defensive tricks, he's very easy to kill and there is no real way to screen him in highlander.

Highlander

There is a Highlander tournament up at Hall of Heroes (where I play on Thursdays) and I'm trying to put together a list. The general rules for Highlander (the one at Matt's is a bit different):
1 unit (ua allowed)
1 solo
Beasts/Jacks all become FA C, faction models only, no character beasts/jacks and sometimes no character units as well.

The purpose of highlander tournaments are to make people think a bit more about their lists and get different things played. I like it as a way to mix things up. Usually the points are low, 15-25 points is pretty common.

The one up at Matt's is:

up to 1 unit
up to 1 solo
up to 1 light jack/beast
up to 1 heavy jack/beast

20 points. It's much, much more restrictive. Gators for example can't actually get to 20 points and will have to play at least a point short (18 points if they want to be competitive, 17 points or less will not be tournament legal). Nor can pirates and in Seaforge you must take 10 highshields with UA and Gorten is still maxing out at 19 (still tournament legal, can't take the driller with him though, has to be Avalancher or Rockram to be legal).

Ashlynn struggles a bit too, if you want gun mages you have to take an 8 point heavy and the Vanguard and you can't marshal the heavy (no mule or mariner marshalled to the mages). The Nyss are out as are Aiyana and Holt (character unit and not enough points).

I'll add as this is going to be a more easy going tournament than others and Matt's tables are gorgeous. This is probably a good one to come up for, the super series next month is going to be a little more hardcore. The highlander format also stops you from pulling some of the more difficult combinations to deal with. (still expect iron-fleshed winterguard and Kovnic Joe, actually now that I think about it I have nothing to deal with that, back to the drawing board).

Final Standings

I understand Graham and Uli have had their game and that Khador emerged victorious. I love epic Zoktavir, I know a lot of people get spooked by his random focus but he always gets at least 2 which is enough to cast Ravager on himself which means your MAT 9, POW 16, reach, weaponmaster who's every attack is a thresher attack is able to make another attack every time he kills something and can walk an inch before making that attack if there are no enemy models within range. I've seen Butcher himself take down 11 models in a turn including a heavy warjack. He also has a nice assasination run where Beast09 can get to a caster 20" away with the equivalent of 2 focus and +2 MAT without actually using any of Zoktavir's focus, MoW Drakhun can go 23" with 2 "focus" and an initial attack, Fenris can do 26".

So it's

Me - Everblight

Theo - Cygnar

Uli - Khador

Nothing suspicious about the person organising the event winning it. Nothing at all.

Also the stalker I was talking about has been painted:

So pretty. I will name him George and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him (assuming I win of course).

And on the PP front the Mountain King is confirmed to be revealed at Adepticon (April 19). I'm hanging out for it because I wasn't 100% sold on the concept art (I couldn't quite tell whether some bits were arms or what). No news on what else will be revealed. A really important point is going to be if Colossals count as warjacks. They don't have warjack written anywhere on their card but the language from PP seems to indicate that they will count as warjacks so spells/feats that effect warjacks will effect colossals not just spells/feats that effect battlegroups.