It’s a new month, and that means it’s time to take a look at the next two 2017 Army Boxes hitting shelves this month!

So far, we’ve looked at the army boxes for Cryx, Circle Orboros, Protectorate of Menoth, Skorne, Cygnar, and Retribution of Scyrah. This month sees the release of the stalwart Trollbloods and the clockwork-powered Convergence of Cyriss Army Boxes.

Each of these Army Boxes contains a ready-to-play 50-point army, designed by the Privateer Press Development Team to provide a solid foundation for brand-new players or for veterans who are interested in diving into a new Faction.

The Trollbloods army is well known for its prowess at putting fist to face, relying on enhanced ARM values provided by the ubiquitous Krielstone Bearer and their own innate toughness to get into melee range of their foes. For this box, however, we wanted to present a different side of the Trollbloods, one that highlights the trollkins’ growing ranged game.

-Captain Gunnbjorn
-Dozer & Smigg
-Dire Troll Bomber
-Dire Troll Mauler
-Trollkin Highwaymen
-Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes
-Braylen Wanderheart

As a trollkin who appreciates modern military strategy and tactics, Captain Gunnbjorn is the lynchpin that makes this unique Trollbloods army sing. His Field Marshal [Kill Shot] lets him get double duty out of his battlegroup, especially when combined with his spell Guided Fire, making even the inaccurate Dozer & Smigg land shots against most targets. In addition, his feat, Fortification, gives his army the protection it needs to win the ranged attrition war, providing a turn of complete safety from the opponent’s ranged attacks. While there are several good targets for Gunnbjorn’s Snipe spell, the Trollkin Highwaymen provide the best return. With SPD 6, Pathfinder, two initial shots each at POW 12, and Combined Ranged Attack, the Highwaymen become a powerful threat that is hard to avoid when Snipe bumps their range to 12˝. While their RAT of 5 may seem a bit underwhelming at first glance, a two-man CRA quickly bumps it to a respectable 7, and with two initials each, it’s easy to pull off 10 RAT 7 (and let’s not forget POW 14 under two-man CRA) shots a turn. Toss in Braylen’s Leadership ability to grant the Highwaymen Backstab, and woe be unto anyone they manage to sneak up behind.

When looking to expand this force to 75 points, there are a couple directions you can go. You can add in some additional heavy artillery with a Pummeler or Thumper Crew. A unit of Scattergunners with their Officer & Standard command attachment is also a solid choice—especially given their multiple sprays and the protection they can gain from Gunnbjorn’s Rock Wall spell and his feat. My personal favorite, though, is the War Wagon. Durable and packing a punch, a pair of them work really well alongside the other elements of the army as mobile fire support and offensive punch, and the War Wagon can benefit significantly from Snipe or Gunnbjorn’s feat.

With Convergence surging into the competitive scene as of late, this box offers many options for our clockwork compatriots. Iron Mother Directrix brings a very strong ranged game, and when backed up by the durability of Reciprocators, she can really hold down scenario zones. Her Tactical Supremacy spell allows Reciprocators to move quickly up the field, even when using their Shield Wall order. As the game grows longer, this can be moved back to herself to help her position safely against a large number of threats. Between the Modulator, Monitor, and Assimilator, the list packs a wide variety of ranged options to utilize Directrix’s spells and abilities. Between Fire Group and Imperil, her ranged vectors are among the strongest in the Faction. Between the Mitigator and her spell Shrapnel Swarm, infantry must be positioned carefully or risk being removed rather quickly by the auto-damaging attacks available to the Iron Mother! With her trusty Corollary and the Induction Node special rule of vectors, she can keep her vectors, not to mention the Optifex Directive, fully fueled with focus, making sure they stay in tip-top shape with Repair [d3+1].

-Iron Mother Directrix & Exponent Servitors
-Corollary
-Mitigator
-Monitor
-Assimilator
-Modulator
-Reciprocators
-Optifex Directive

The contents of this box are complemented well with Enigma Foundries to increase the durability of Reciprocators by returning the fallen to the battlefield. Iron Mother Directrix uses the Assimilator well, so doubling up with this efficient heavy vector is always a good idea with her. Adding in some servitors brings a lot of variety and utility to the list. Attunement Servitors will increase the likelihood of attacks hitting and, on Directrix’s feat turn, will all but guarantee hits, as the MAT and RAT scores of your vectors effectively increase to 10! Another option to consider is the Transfinite Emergence Projector, which efficiently utilizes Imperil and is excellent at clearing large swaths of infantry or even carving out large portions of one (or more) warjacks or warbeasts.