Hello All,
This is just my humble opinion on the spoilers that have been released about Jarl Skuld. By way of disclaimer, this review is based on not seeing the actual book yet (obviously), it’s based on not playing him and basing the information on unconfirmed sources on the net. In short, I’m deep in the theory dojo making stuff up!
So the info at hand:
RAT7 2x hand-cannons that are magical
ABILITIES:
Evasive: A model with Evasive cannot be targeted by free strikes. It can advance up to 2˝ immediately after an enemy ranged attack that missed it is resolved unless it was missed while advancing.
Swift Hunter: When this model destroys an enemy model with a normal ranged attack, immediately after the attack is resolved it can advance up to 2˝.
Black Penny: He can shoot into Melee with no penalty
SPELLS:
Quicken: Unit/Model gets +2 SPD and +2 DEF vs Ranged attacks
Tactical supremacy: Unit gets to move 3” at end of activation
Weald secrets: Target friendly model/unit gains Camouflage and Pathfinder Icon
Magic Bullet: If target friendly Faction model’s next normal ranged attack directly hits, after resolving the attack choose a model within 4˝ of the model hit. The chosen model suffers an un-boostable POW 12 magic damage roll. The point of origin for this damage is the model hit. After resolving this damage roll, Magic Bullet expires. Magic Bullet lasts for one turn.
FEAT: Rolling Fog allows you to place d3+3 4" cloud effects that only block enemy models' line of sight. Friendly faction models in the aoe get pathfinder and can move through friendly models and obstructions. Living enemy models in the clouds suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls.
My thoughts:
SHOOTING: The weapons are nice but can’t be fire more than twice a turn due to ROF2. However, with Snipe available from the Impaler, they are useful but nothing to write home about. Combined with Black Penny, this does help, but again, hardly game breaking.
Initially I thought that the Evasive ability was going to be pretty useless, especially considering the low DEF of Troll warlocks. However; when taking into account the Swamp Trolls Animus (Cloud of Flies – grants concealment & -2MAT to enemy models within 2”) combined with Weald Secrets, it suddenly adds +4 DEF in the open, or +6 DEF behind Janissa’s stone wall. Now if he is your average Troll Warlock (as I have been led to believe) he is likely to be DEF15 base, which suddenly makes him DEF21 vs ranged/magic with all the stars and combo’s aligned. At the end of all this, someone could miss their shot allowing him to make a 2” evasive move. This might be circumstantially useful to avoid being smashed by a heavy rampaging through your lines but it hardly makes me leap for joy. Of course none of this works if you are playing against Legion of Everblight. Stupid Legion.
As I have noted above, Jarl has Swift Hunter, which I believe the intent is to shimmy out, blow away some models and then shimmy back into safety. I don’t think that it’s going to work like that. With a medium base trying to move around other medium bases a maximum move of 4” is simply not enough, he just won’t be able to get back into hiding. This is assuming he is hitting two separate infantry models with RAT7. To ensure he hits and kills stuff, he is then spending at least two fury to boost each attack roll and probably having to cast snipe as well to get the range. I personally believe that this is a trap ability where in order to kill two Mechanithralls (for example) he uses all of his fury and leaves himself exposed. There could be times when it gains him an additional 4” to move deeper into enemy lines, but as a largely squishy mid-line support caster that seems insanely risky to me.
SPELLS: Ok, so Jarl has the latest flavour of the month, 'Quicken.' This is pretty damn sweet. The obvious combo here is to put it on Fennblades. The ol’ Fennblades are already Speed 6. On the charge they have a 11 threat due to reach. The mini-feat gives them another 2” movement which is nice. Throw in Quicken and on the minifeat turn they have a threat range of 15”. Their Def jumps to 14 or when combined with the Chronicler, 16 against Ranged or Magic. This is nothing to sneeze at. When you throw the Fell Caller at them they jump to MAT8, P+S12 with reach and vengeance. This is just lovely. (Its almost like having Satyxis Raiders!) Alternatively, put Quicken on the Long Riders Heavy Cavalry, and those delightful Buffalo charge 13” with reach, so also have a 15” threat. Of course these giant burger patties also can have some pretty gruesome impact attacks when combined with the Fell Caller (again) and Horthol, the Cavalry Character solo. This makes them MAT9 +3d6 (to hit) on impact attacks and MAT11 POW14+3d6 (to damage) vs the charge target. Groovy. There is of course the option of putting Quicken on the Nyss Hunters. Yes they work for Trolls. Enough said. These three options which are what immediately come to mind are just pure money. While there is the opportunity to put it on Jarl himself, it doesn’t really do anything for him different to Weald Secrets, so it’s better on the Fennblades, Nyss or Cows.
'Tactical Supremacy' is really nice. It means your Champs can randomly charge out and kills stuff then shuffle back into their Defensive Line for the additional +2 ARM. It means the Fennblades/Long Riders get to kill stuff then move deeper into enemy lines to gum up the works even further. The same applies to the Kriel Warriors whom you are just putting out there to block charge lanes, engage ranged models and basically be a pain in the butt. Ideally, this belongs on the Fennblades but you can’t have both Quicken and this spell on them. This would also be quite nice on Mulg or other slow beasts which will give them that additional 3’ movement each turn. As a random aside, it might be good on the new yet-to-be-seen-in-person Troll Battle Engine for the same reason. Yes you can put this on Jarl, but I think it’s a waste. You don’t need him popping up and out to shoot two guys, it’s just not worth the upkeep on him.
I have already discussed how useful 'Weald Secrets' is on Jarl. It is also insanely good on a bunch of other models. A free pathfinder on a unit of Long Riders, Kriel Warriors or Champions (Fennblades don’t need it) is really nice and allows you to be using the Fell Caller to be handing out the +2 MAT instead. The Camouflage from this on one unit combined with the Camouflage handed out by the Chronicler on another unit pretty much guarantees that all your infantry is DEF 14 vs Ranged/Magic, which for Trolls is really nice. (Unless you play against Legion)
As for 'Magic Bullet', I don’t know what to make of this. The longest ranged weapon we have outside of casters on an individual model is Range 8 on our beasts. They can be bumped up to 12 with Snipe but suddenly you are spending 2 fury on the animus + 2 fury on the spell without boosting yet. I don’t think we have the tools yet to make use of this. Maybe this will change with Domination and maybe the Battle Engine will make this awesome. At the moment I think it is another trap spell sucking up fury for little reward.
The almighty FEAT: Rolling Fog. Ok, so this is a nice, practical feat. Will it win you games? Unlikely. Will you use it every game? Absolutely.
This feat means at minimum you are throwing down a smoke cloud 16” wide and 4” deep. If popped at the end of turn one it means that your entire army is going to survive intact to engage the enemy on Jarl’s terms in turn 2. This reminds me a lot of Kaylissa’s or The Coven’s feat. It protects you as you engage. The offensive way to play this is to allow you to move unhindered through each other and terrain. A trampling heavy warbeast can suddenly appear on the other side of building and tear into your soft and tasty centre, this could be very, very nasty. However in practice, I would rather get into the combat unmolested without losing valuable assets to incoming Defender/Vanquisher/Leviathan/Gun Mage fire.
Of course the feat doesn’t work if you are playing against Legion of Everblight. Did I mention my feelings about Legion?
In Summary:
Fury is a problem form Jarl, like it is for 99% of troll Warlocks. He only has 6 fury (as far as I am aware) and has a ton of stuff he wants to go that all cost. He wants to be casting Swarm of flies on himself. (It’s a ‘self’ animus – sigh) He is up-keeping Weald Secrets, Tactical Supremacy and Quicken every turn. That leaves him one fury each turn. He hasn’t even fired a gun, boosted an attack roll or passed around any animi. If he has the Rune-bearer (Moses - Warlock Attachment) that buys him one more fury back but then he will be tempted to be casting something else and leaving him completely exposed. Due to this poor fury I can see him spending all his time hiding behind some models and a wall and take pot-shots of opportunity. With so little fury to camp for security, if someone gets to him he is toast. As a result I think he is a very fragile Warlock who will fall down if you make a single mistake. He will absolutely not be assassinating anyone in person.
Despite his apparent frailty he has a very simple, practical toolbox spell list. Weald Secrets + Quicken + fell caller + Chronicler (total 5points) ensures that the army Jarl is playing in has higher DEF than other Troll armies, has better movement than other Troll armies and ignores rough terrain better than other Troll armies. We have these options with other casters where Borka can raise the DEF on one unit, eMadrak can make the army have pathfinder, eDoomshaper can make the beasts fast, Grissel can make a unit quick, but not all at the same time, and not so comprehensively. Jarl wealds a light, flexible and fluid army for trolls, like the Robin Hood character that he is. Other factions may do this better than us, but it’s new for Trolls, and looks fun.
At the end of the day though, despite the manoeuvrability Jarl gives, he is a caster without any punch of his own. He needs to move up for the feat then will likely retreat behind whatever cover he can and hide there for the rest of the game. He seems straight forward and doesn’t have any real ‘tricks’ that immediately jump to mind. He isn’t going to revolutionise the game or the Meta, and will likely sit in the Trolls middle tier of casters. He will be fun to play, and play against but isn’t inspiring this Troll player to rush into making him a super competitive Warlock.
My two cents
Sean
