Trolls! I love my trolls, great brutish things that can squash and batter their way through enemy troops with ease, to help out their lesser comrades, but...
one nicely placed immobilization and they are just about history.

So whats the trick to protecting them from the attentions of those pesky wizards?

I'm thinking go all out to kill the wizard first, but that's easier said than done...

thoughts anyone?

Scott

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www.scottswargaming.blogspot.com

Well it´s kinda hard to protect them cause of their height ´n´ mass, but you could always take a Nazgyl or in particulkal Witch-King as he is anti-wizard toxin

if you keep the Troll and the Nazgyl close enough, then I doubt that a Wizard would want to get into Nazgyl spell casting range...a few "sap wills" and / or "your staff is broken" (when you take WK) then the Old Timer is out of the Game for good

other than that and keeping troll out of the Wizards range, i can think of none other.

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I am the Mouth of Sauron, here him speak'

You can't really protect them unless you take the witch king, or another ring wraith. A good alternative is to have two and by keeping them apart, and your heroes in combat if possible with the troll(s), you force your opponent to pick one or the other and so leave one to smash through his force. Also, by keeping your trolls away from heroes and from being outnumbered by more than two to one you can reduce the effectiveness of the immobilize.

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“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” -Romans 5:8

Thanks for the replies so far.
I had considered the "nazgul defence", but wondered what to do in a army where you decide not to feature wraiths.

I had been playing with the idea of Angmar, and using a "tag team" of spectres and barrow wights;
Use spectres to drag forward wizards into range of barrow wights' paralyse. Of course this relies on wizard failing courage rolls against spectres to start. So i need to drop their courage by drain courage and harbinger of evil effects from wraiths.
Sap will makes them less able to resist paralyse...
Oh damn, that's back to wraiths again...
OK maybe I could include a cheap unnamed wraith...

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www.scottswargaming.blogspot.com

u could mayb protect them with a couple bat swarms there on same size base as troll and roughly the same hight so should block line of site also if u put them in combat with the trolls they halve the opponents fight value macking combat much more one sided other thn tht hunt down the wizard using either something with flight or somethings like morgul stalkers to sneak in quickly

In SBG I only ever used WK and Khamul as named Nazgul. All others were just "standard" Wraith. Now in WotR you have no choice as the named-versions are the only available, so I have no issues with leveraging them there. But in SBG...

Anyway, Transfix is a level-set option available to both sides. Nearly any time I face Goblin or basic Orc forces in SBG they have a couple Shaman running around trying to Transfix key models. And considering the danger a Troll (or three!) poses to an army it's a very reasonable and common tactic to try to Transfix the beast in advance, then charge it and take it down. As you said, you are trying to find counters.

Having multiple Trolls is a very good option, but I am not sure about spreading them out. Instead, leave them closer to support each other. Alternatively have each Troll teamed up with enough other nasties that if one is Transfixed you have some forces around to rush in and support the Troll in the Fights by drawing some of them off. You can also get some good devastation by having an Orc Captain near each Troll and do some Heroic Combat double-teams with them. Do this to push quickly thru your enemy line and threaten the Wizard (which I'm guessing is tucked safely behind at least a couple rows of other models.

Another thing to consider is perhaps get some Bats. They are not very dangerous on their own but are great for jumping quickly around a battlefield and tying up key models. Tag the Wizard with a Bat when you have Priority he can't cast a spell and probably needs to have other models come help him (even Bats can be a threat to a Wizard in SBG). They are a cheap enough unit that you can keep a couple in reserve. They are a delaying tactic only though so you should look for the right time to use them.

Archers are also good. It sounds like your force is mostly large, point-heavy models so you probably don't have the numbers to have too many archers, but if you can squeeze in 10 Orc with bows they can give your opponent something else to think about. Volley fire may score a lucky wound on the Wizard even if he's hidden, and if you do get a position to try some direct fire multiple shots on him could scare him enough that your opponent will pull him back (hopefully out of spell range for transfix).

I guess it boils down to this: it's hard to be defensive against Transfix. The better option is probably to be offensive. Give the Wizard other things to worry about or other targets that are more immediate and your Trolls may not be as easy of a target.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

i apologise for the very bad spelling and grammar in that last post. i left it unedited for comic value lol.

I don't think the sceptres trick would work as wizards tend to have very high courage. Perhaps a staller like a few wargs to waste time.

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"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."
- Bertrand Russel

Don't listen to the ppl who say its hard to protect them its not.

Yes magic is very under estimated in this game. But luck for the evil side that wizard is toast

Good side: 170 pt Wizard
Evil side: 55 pt Ring wraith


Problem solved, Sap will is so much more powerful than any good side spell. a wraith will create a whole new set of problems for your opponent. and why not stop at one when you can have 2.

Sap Will, although effective, is not the best line of defense against a wizard. I agree w/ Beowulf. The strength of the evil side is numbers. It will do your opponent no good to Immobilize your troll if you have a swarm of orcs around him.

@ Thecoolestguy: Any good side spell? Better than Nature's Wrath? Better than Sorcerous blast? Better than Immobilize? Sap will can only be used against heros and is only effective against spell casters. Bring your Sap will against my Haldir/Rumil army list any day of the week.

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Woodland Realms: 2382 pts: 18/08/2010