In this series of Insiders, we’ll take a Faction and then present two Company of Iron lists and an overview of how they operate. Twice each week, we’ll take a look at a different Faction and feature a 20-point and 25-point list. This edition: Trollbloods.

Trollbloods – Dhewar’s Warband

Commander
Fell Caller Hero – Frontline Commander

Composition
Kriel Warriors [10] 11
Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower [x2] 4
Fell Caller Hero 5

Hand Size: 4

The fell caller Dhewar Lautcrier is a hero to the trollkin of the Watcher Peaks. He travels from kriel to kriel with a group of hardened warriors drawn from his expansive pool of siblings, bringing news of the outside world and offering his aid to whomever needs it. All he wants in exchange is little more than a few warm meals and enough drink to make his roving band merry. He and his brothers and sisters then march off to the next adventure, belting out raucous songs about their many glorious deeds.

This force is a frontline bruiser of a list. Ten Kriel Warriors really test if your opponent brought enough attacks to chew through that many Tough bodies.  While Kriel Warriors are not the best combat unit in the game, Dhewar’s fell calls really help them land their attacks by giving +2 to attack rolls. Reveille is a very powerful ability in Company of Iron, because between re-roll cards and the re-roll granted by Tough, it is very likely you’ll have a slew of knocked-down trollkin to return to the fight! Because of the objective-based nature of the game, Pathfinder is an invaluable ability to get to objectives or contest enemy flags or models. Just in case your opponent brought a heavier model like a warjack or a warbeast, the Caber Throwers are there to make short work of such enemies, pushing them away and knocking them down so the rest of your Kriel Warriors can finish the job.

Trollbloods – Rimeshaw Wanderers

Commander
Northkin Fire Eater Unit Leader – Frontline Commander

Composition
Northkin Fire Eaters 7
Trollkin Skinner 4
Pyre Troll 9
Northkin Shaman 4

Hand Size: 4

Tales of the Rimeshaw Wanderers and their leader, the boisterous fire eater Gorki Fellhand, have been etched into the krielstones of several Northkin kriels—though not always in favorable terms. The group’s love of combat is exceeded only by its love of drink. More than once has this band of trollkin been run out of a kriel for drunken destruction and social improprieties involving married kin, often just hours after being celebrated as heroes. Still, when threats to their people arise, the Rimeshaw Wanderers are the first to answer the call of their endangered kin.

This list encapsulates the fury of the Northkin. With Fire Eaters and the Shaman, the list brings some accurate spray attacks that are excellent for killing large numbers of troops. Couple it with the Weapon Master trait on the Hero and Fire’s Fury on the Fire Eaters and the force can also take down armor quite well, giving it solid effectiveness against warjacks or hardier targets like Man-O-War.

The Pyre Troll is a solid ’beast because of its AOE attack that ignites any model it touches into a blazing inferno! (For the less dramatic, please read as: it has Continuous Effect: Fire.) The special rule It Burns! is also quite powerful because many of the models that attack it in close combat throughout the game will also be set on fire, which is usually a death sentence. The Skinner brings a high MAT weapon master attack to the army. With Ambush he can appear in inconvenient places for your opponent.

Fire Eaters will always hold a special place in my heart. I plan to paint a fresh unit of them with war paint and epic snow bases when I put together my Northkin-themed Company of Iron!