Theme - Power of Dhunia
Template:Trollblood Theme Force
This mk3 Theme Force has no equivalent in mk4. You can build a similar army in Unlimited Trollbloods (if/when the models in this theme get ported to mk4 rules) |
The trollkin are never closer to their goddess Dhunia than when walking beside the shamans and runeshapers who work their magic through the will of the Great Mother. Drawing upon their deep connection to earth and stone, trollkin mystics shape the battlefield to their will and manipulate the arcane might flowing through their very veins to mobilize a great number of true trolls lured by the power of the goddess. This close connection passes to the mighty trolls who accompany the trollkin. The touch of Dhunia soothes the trolls’ minds and keeps their hunger for flesh in check as it suffuses their bodies with her bountiful powers of regeneration.
Theme Rules
- For the core rules on how Theme Forces work, see this article.
Theme Restrictions
An army made using the Power of Dhunia theme force can include only the following Trollblood models:
- Trollblood warlocks
- Non-character warbeasts
- Mulg
- Trollkin models/units with the Magic Ability special rule
- Template:Stone Scribe models/units
- Dhunian Archon solos
- Troll Whelp solos
- Solos with the Lesser Warlock special rule
- This army can also include one Minion solo and one Minion unit that will work for Trollbloods.
- These models/units can be included even if they have the Partisan [Trollblood] rule.
- Minion units can have non-Ranking Officer attachments
Full model list
Requisition Points
You can spend each Requisition Point on either:
- One Dhunian Knot unit
- Five Troll Whelp solos
- One other Small- or medium-based Trollblood solo with a point cost of 5 or less
Theme Bonuses
- Trollkin Runeshaper units become FA:U
- When a living warbeast in is forced to use its animus while in its controller’s control range, reduce the COST of the animus by 1.
- Friendly models/units can begin the game affected by the upkeep spells of models in this army.
- These spells and their targets must be declared before either player deploys their models.
- Warlocks in this army do not have to pay to upkeep their spells during your first turn of the game.
- Due to the wording lesser warlocks can start with their upkeeps in play, but still need to pay to upkeep them (this is possibly a typo in the spoiler)
Thoughts on Power of Dhunia
Power of Dhunia in a Nutshell
This is the Trollblood warbeast theme. Just warbeasts their standard support options & Runeshapers thrown in for good measure.
If you are playing Power of Dhunia you are pretty much accepting that your enemy will outnumber you. The theme also contains a lot of non combatants like whelps, Stone scribes and the Dhunian Knot so its easy to cause support bloat.
On the flip side with all animi costing 1 less your beasts can do that much more to cover your low model count and lack of combat units. The Pyre Troll, Slag Troll & Dire Troll Mauler are the main damage multipliers and taking at least 2 of the 3 is often recommended to abuse their 1 cost support animi.
Boomhowler3 is regularly taken in the minion slot as his fell calls are a great speed modifier for you beasts.
There's also a variant list that's Runeshaper heavy (mostly played by mk2 players who already own the models, a holdover from them buying into a powerful mk2 theme list that allowed unlimited Runeshapers).
Theme Weaknesses
Lacklustre unit options
- Power of Dhunia does not have much in the way of units; with the Dhunian Knot and the Krielstone you will seldom use them to score far away circular zones. As they can’t fulfil their support function. So the only real option are Runeshapers, but they are decidedly average units unless spammed and backed up by a swat of support, so they don't fill the throwaway chaff roles in the same way, say, Wolves of Orboros or Press Gangers are, and they certainly aren't elite units like Kayazy Eliminators are. The best remedy for this is using minion units like Boomhowler1, Farrow Valkyries or Swamp Gobber Bellows Crews, but you'll only ever get one.
In Faction Competition
- The main draw of this theme is that you get cheaper animi and all your support is in 1 place, but for players willing to forgo the Runebearer & Troll Whelps, you have Vengeance of Dhunia, a theme with a wider range of beasts and unit options, with 1 free animus cast per turn as a theme benefit.
List-Building Tips
Warbeast Heavy
For your Requisition slots you are most likely starting with your 2 most expensive options a Dhunian Knot unit and a Dhunian Archon, then depending on your warlock and play style you are probably reaching for a Runebearer or a group of 5 Troll Whelps.
For warlocks who lack an innate damage buff Horgle1 allows another cast of a Pyre or Slag Troll animus - which can remove some of the burden on your caster (as they still need to pay full price for casting an animus)
- Doomshaper2 still really likes this theme, he doesn’t have enough upkeeps for the Storm of the North benefit to be that interesting and his Attuned spirit doesn’t stack with the Vengeance of Dhunia benefit.
Runeshaper Heavy
If you want to try the infamous Runeshaper spam list, consider bringing 5 of them, to have enough bodies for the strategy to work. Back them up with Janissa, the Hermit, two Dhunian Archons and most importantly: Swamp Shamblers as cheap throwaway bodies, which trigger the healing ability of the Archons and make more of themselves when Shapers die.
- Grissel1 traditionally ran this list the best, as Calamity makes the Shapers hit hard, and Boundless Charge and Guardian Protector make Mulg a real threat, plus she can do all kinds of shinanagence with her Fell Calls.
Starting a 25 point Brawl list
In 2021.03 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, put together this list for the Brawlmachine format. He even wrote about it's playstyle and expanding it beyond 25 points, which you can read here.
- Ragnor Skysplitter, the Runemaster: [+30 WBP]
- Dire Troll Brawler: [16 pts]
- Troll Axer: [9 pts]
- Pyre Troll: [8 pts]
- Dhunian Archon: [Free] Template:Grey
- Janissa Stonetide: [4 pts]
- Troll Whelp: [1 pt]
- Swamp Gobber Chef: [1 pt]
- Trollkin Runeshapers: [8 pts]
- Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes (Min unit): [5 pts]
- Stone Scribe Elder: [3 pts]
Total RRP: USD $273 (based on PP's online store prices 2021.06)
Warlock Thoughts
Power of Dhunia suits any caster who wants a large battlegroup, but doesn’t have spare fury to throw around animi, all of the forms of Doomshaper are good example of this type of caster. Free upkeeps turn 1 can also be useful for casters like Jarl Skuld and Horgle2 - even if both of them prefer Storm of the North.
The infantry options are mostly self sufficient and are too small to dedicate spells to. Calandra1 generally improves every list with dice skew but she has the volume of fury to make this theme work while passively offering unit protection from star crossed.
Other
Trivia
One of the earliest themes officially released (2016.12)