Orcs TR 110 tourny roster, to Troll or not to Troll

Jeremiah Kool · Post by **Jeremiah Kool** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:55 pm

When youÂ´re playing Orcs in a TR 110 tournament, would you include a Troll or rather get more orc players, a RR and/or an Apo?

IÂ´m fond of my Troll mini and would include one even if heÂ´s a bit unreliable. If you know how to play him (like other "similar" Big Guys like Ogres) I think heÂ´s worth it.

Then again an additional normal player and a RR or Apo (IÂ´ve seen AV 9 break often enough and result in casualities) is also nice without any concern about turnovers that canÂ´t be rerolled every time or Really Stupid.

Snew · Post by **Snew** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:24 am

If it's an LRB5 tourney you don't need to worry about buying the APO.

I'm anti-Big guy. I love the minis, hate what they do to my gameplay. 4 BOs, 4 Blitzers, a mess of rerolls... That's what dreams are made of my friend.

Cramy · Post by **Cramy** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:49 am

I second Snew. No Troll, please (at least not for me).

4 BoBs, 4 Blitzers, Linemen and Goblins to your liking, and 3-4 RRs. If it's an LRB4 tournament where your roster is reset every game, forget the APO. If it's an LRB5 tournament, forget the APO. I would even forget the APO for an LRB4 league-style tournament, just buy him later if you want one.

I'm not a fan of the Orc thrower on a starting lineup either. I got the idea of not using a thrower on this forum a while back and tried it. It's working great for me. If you get skills, you can give sure-hands to a blitzer. So you have a pretty tough and faster ball carrier in a blitzer with sure hands compared to the thrower.

Pipey · Post by **Pipey** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:46 am

Was comfortable with the following TR110 team I took to Spiky:

4 BOBs
4 Blitzers
4 Lineorcs
Thrower
3 RR
FF 1

Wondered whether the troll was a good option before the tournie but it occurred to me that:

1. Orcs don't need the added muscle of a big guy - 4 x STR 4 BOBs is quite enough to bully everyone but khemri

2. The troll is the original "accident waiting to happen" - the fact that he can't reroll and is likely to go stoopid when you need a player to do something straightforward mean he's just not worth the risk.

Frankly, I'd rather have a linorc!

Jeremiah Kool · Post by **Jeremiah Kool** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:46 pm

What about if you use the Troll only as a roadblock? DonÂ´t activate him in crucial times, only if you really need to or itÂ´s safe to do. ThatÂ´s the way IÂ´d play him, bind some people and be a nuisance.

But as you said in an Orc team you really donÂ´t need him with all those Black Orcs or AV 9 Linemen. Bummer.

Are there some succesful Orc coaches who can say something good for those poor Trolls? Apart from the score-in-one-turn play with Goblins?

@Snew: "4 BOs, 4 Blitzers, a mess of rerolls... That's what dreams are made of my friend." IÂ´ll put that on my roster as the team motto.

@Cramy: A Blitzer as the ballcarrier is superb with MA 6 and he can blitz himself out of a bad position. I like Throwers and Goblins on the team but an all AV 9 Orc team looks quite tough.

Cramy · Post by **Cramy** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:31 pm

You are right. If you are not throwing Goblins, the main use of the Troll is roadblock IMO. This has worked OK for me against low speed low AG teams. But with high AG / high speed teams, if your opponent is smart, on his offence he will simply avoid the Troll. Then you need to move the Troll to where the play is. If the Troll fails his RS roll, then 1) your opponent is now outnumbering you; 2) the lack of TZ around the Troll means you may have left a big gap. What you will typically do though is leave a player next to the Troll so that you pass the RS roll on a 2+, but then you risk having two players out of position.

How I used my Troll on my Orc team (when I had one)

1) Throwing Goblins if I needed a one turn TD to tie or win the game in the last turn.

2) I did not field him againt agility teams.

3) On offence, I would sometimes field him on the LoS face-to-face with my opponent's big guy. Or put him face-to-face with nasty players on the LoS, like those block/claw Chaos Warriors for example. But really, that's what lineorcs are for. And many big guys don't belong on the LoS on defence (like the Mino and RO), so you can't even do that with the Troll.

4) On defence, I would typically not field him.

Some players can't resist trying to bring down the opponent's big guy. This almost always works to their disadvantage (just won 4-0 with my Halflings against CDs, mainly because my opponent spent all his time trying to bring down my trees). For a tourney you don't know if you will face such coaches, so I wouldn't bank on them trying to do that.

I'm starting a new Orc team in an open league. I will buy the Troll as my last player, and I plan to only use him to Goblins (see 1 above).

And yes, a Troll is an accident waiting to happen. Although Trolls eating your Goblins if funny, it is not very useful in a Tourney.

dwarfrunner · Post by **dwarfrunner** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:40 pm

I would agree with Cramy, orc throwers are not necessary. Other than sure hands, there have no purpose in general orc tactics. I actually dont mind using goblins as runners either, but you do have to protect the cage better with them in the middle.

I would agree with everyone in that you cant have your troll as a main centerpiece of your team. They are to unreliable. BOB and blitzers in large numbers are better I believe.

Snew · Post by **Snew** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:54 pm

If you get a Doubles-roll skill after any of the rounds, a Blodging Orc Blitzer can really cause your opponent's fits.

I prefer Mighty Blow on mine though.

Jeremiah Kool · Post by **Jeremiah Kool** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:14 pm

No doubles, a skill is chosen before every game. I wanted to give Block to three BOBs, and Guard, Frenzy and Tackle to three Blitzers (not necessarily in that order). Mighty BlowÂ´s good, too.

frikipe · Post by **frikipe** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:14 pm

I think troll is not necessary in a tournament but the thrower with all that wardancers with strip ball around is totally needed.

Tante Kaethe · Post by **Tante Kaethe** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:39 pm

Hi Mr Kool,

I agree with most of the others that a Troll isn't needed on an Orc-Team. However, with TV110 what do you want to use all this money for

?

You can have 4 BOBs, 4 Blitzers, 3 Lineorcs and 1 Troll (that's 12 AV9 players!) and still have 3 Rerolls and 2FF. Or substitute one Lineorc for a Goblin for TTM option (and having 12 players you don't have to field him on defense).
So, I wouldn't take a Troll if I had to sacrifice one of my Blitzers or BOBs but with TV110 I'd still take one. And in LRB you can at least try to avoid your Troll messing-up a crucial roll as Loner still has a 50% chance rerolling.

Cheers

Tante KÃ¤the

Cramy · Post by **Cramy** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:17 pm

I think troll is not necessary in a tournament but the thrower with all that wardancers with strip ball around is totally needed.

Hence the importance of giving Sure Hands to a blitzer if you don't have a thrower. You can also reserve you rerolls for other stuff than missed pick-ups. If no thrower, this is the first skill I would give.

frikipe · Post by **frikipe** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 11:25 am

Cramy wrote:
I think troll is not necessary in a tournament but the thrower with all that wardancers with strip ball around is totally needed.
Hence the importance of giving Sure Hands to a blitzer if you don't have a thrower. You can also reserve you rerolls for other stuff than missed pick-ups. If no thrower, this is the first skill I would give.

I prefer to pick more bashing skills like block & guard to BOB's or frenzy to blitzer and buy the "sure hands" on the roster

kithor2002 · Post by **kithor2002** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 1:22 pm

I tested a troll in a TR110 tournament and he was too unreliable- especially in important situations he cause a turnover (and all I wanted was to pushback a player).
So in future tournaments I won't consider a troll for my team.

Digger Goreman · Post by **Digger Goreman** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 6:02 pm

TK has it 99% right imo. Take the troll with Break Tackle....