Jarl Skuld, Devil of the Thornwood

Template:Trollbox This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

Jarl Skuld is an infamous bandit and highwayman who has become an unlikely guerilla leader among the desperate trollkin remaining in the Thornwood. A skilled gunfighter, Skuld uses a pair of customized, rune-scribed pistols to deadly effect. With lightning raids and devastating ambushes against Cryx, Khador, and other enemies of his people, Jarl Skuld has truly earned the moniker “Devil of the Thornwood.”

Basic Info

This model is a Warlock.

Warlock Rules A warlock is an Independent Model. a Leader model. a Battlegroup Controller controls warbeasts. Warlocks use Fury Manipulation Uses ARC to determine how many fury points it gains each turn. Begins the game with a number of fury points equal to its ARC. Cannot exceed its ARC stat in fury points as a result of leeching. Can spend fury points only during its activation (unless a special rule states otherwise) for the following: Buy additional attacks Boost attack rolls Boost damage rolls Shake some effects Can leach fury points from warbeasts in its battlegroup in its control range. Spirit Bond allows the warlock to gain a fury for each of its dead battlegroup warbeasts. Reaving allows the warlock to pull fury points from a warbeast in its battlegroup when it dies.

Feat: Rolling Fog

Place d3+3 4" AOE cloud effects anywhere completely within Skuld's Template:CTRL range.

• Rolling Fog AOEs do not block friendly Faction models' LOS.
• Friendly Faction models can advance through other friendly Faction models that are in a Rolling Fog AOE, if they have enough movement to move completely past them.
• While in one or more Rolling Fog AOEs, living enemy models suffer -2 to attack rolls.

Rolling Fog lasts for one round.

Abilities

• Template:Gunfighter
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Tough
• Template:Dodge
• Field Marshal [ [[:Category:{{{ability}}}|{{{ability}}}]] ]

[[Category:{{{ability}}}]]

• Template:Swift Hunter
• Template:Synergistic Magic

Weapons

• Rune Pistol (x2) - 12" range, POW 12 ranged weapons
  • Template:Magical Weapon
  • Template:Black Penny
• Axe - 0.5" reach, P+S 10 melee weapon

Spells

{{Category: Template:Magic BulletTemplate:Quicken

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Theme Forces

• Trollbloods
  • Template:Band of Heroes. In this theme he gains "Optional Take Down".
  • Template:Kriel Company
  • Template:Power of Dhunia. In this theme he can start the game with friendly upkeeps in play.
  • Template:Storm of the North. In this theme he can upkeep spells on (almost) any friendly model for free.
  • Template:Vengeance of Dhunia. In this theme he gains Attuned Spirit [Trollblood/Minion Warbeast].

• Other Factions
  • Minion players can also use this warlock in the Vengeance of Dhunia and he gains Attuned Spirit as mentioned above.

Thoughts on Jarl Skuld

Jarl Skuld in a nutshell

Jarl Skuld is a warlock who looks as if he's wandered over from the Circle Orboros to lead Trollblood armies. Tricksy and full of movement shenanigans, the Jarl is an excellent change of pace for a troll player and would be utterly broken in Circle where he could stack his tricks with theirs - but in Trolls he mostly adds a splash of tricks to add flavour to an army.

He can sometimes struggle to cast and upkeep the spells he wants to have in play while loading the Krielstone, but the Storm of the North theme and/or the Runebearer help with that. As does Synergistic magic, a fantastic rule that makes swapping spell targets useful in the late game, or allows for another magic bullet. But it's not going to trigger until Jarl can shoot though, so it doesn't help turn one. Additionally he is unlikely to get more than 2 tokens a turn.

His main selling point is his handing out a very good speed buff and his personal contribution; with magic Bullet he can carve out important solos or CA's, clear infantry, ect. and he can even do it irrespective of Stealth, Shield Guard and other anti-shooting tech as Magic Bullet is not a ranged attack.

Feat thoughts

His feat is a cloud wall that also debuffs living targets fast enough to go through it. Block LoS for the alpha strike. The variable number of AOEs will let you down when you need it most, but even 4 can cover enough of the board to make some impact.

Beware models that can remove or ignore cloud tech.

Reducing attack rolls of living models is opponent specific but it does give a bit of attrition to his force, especially in a ranged dual with Quicken on a unit.

Spell thoughts

• Quicken is probably the best of his three upkeeps - +2 DEF is good (and would be better if the trolls weren't known for low DEF). Of course there are always Storm of the North Champions.
• Magic Bullet - have your Runebearer cast this every turn after the first. Use it to scalpel out support models.
  • Jarl's only spell he can't spend synergistic magic tokens on.
• Weald Secrets - in Storm of the North the pathfinder component to this spell is fairly null (unless it’s on a warbeast), Hunter is also quite match specific, but it’s good to have it when you need it.
• Tactical Supremacy is great on ranged units to draw them further from the enemy charge. But it is also well placed on the Krielstone - especially in storm of the north with the Northkin elder.
  • The reason for this is Jarl struggles to load it so it needs to make use of its *action more - thus it needs a way to keep up with the main battle line

Drawbacks & Downsides

• His big weakness is that he has serious problems loading the Krielstone as he also has three upkeeps he wants to cast on turn one. It is sometimes better to activate the Krielstone first and hope for a good awaken the stones roll - otherwise you need to plan accordingly.
  • alternatively cast Tactical Supremacy on the Krielstone and accept that you will need to rely on awaken the stones
• He lacks a damage buff (and doesn't really have an accuracy buff).
• He solves the weaknesses associated with the faction, but he doesn’t leverage anything trolls are naturally good at - creating an OK all round package.

Tricks & Tips

• You can shoot your own models in the back to trigger Magic Bullet, which circumvents most anti-ranged techs. Use Troll Whelps or Pyg Lookouts for this.
• With a Trollkin Runebearer and Harmonious Exaltation you can cast all three of his upkeeps on turn 1. This leaves him camping 0 - so make sure he's hiding behind something solid. (In later turns the Runebearer is going to be casting Magic Bullet - a nice effective use of the Runebearer as it keeps him a lot safer than most 3 cost spells would)
• The enemy are there to be messed with. And to dance out of range of - measure their threat ranges when you play.
• Try and make sure you play the Jarl with a cluttered battlefield.
• You almost never are going to succeed with a ranged assassination from the Jarl (two boosted POW 12s are nowhere near enough) but most opponents will get very worried if you are able to take a few pot-shots at their caster.

List Building Advice

Strategy

His main win condition is to frustrate the enemy and win by hitting when they can't hit back. He has no innate way of winning the game on his own so delivering enough of his army and having models with armour cracking capabilities (which he doesn’t do) are necessary.

Like many Troll warlocks you are playing the attrition game with Jarl Skuld, but unlike his competitors he is focused on control and denial rather that stat buffing or protection.

Theme Thoughts

When looking at the Jarl one might think that he should play a shooty army and pester the opponent at range. This is not true actually, since he doesn't support ranged units that well, apart from granting occasional concealment and reposition. His main personal contribution to his forces is speed, and he does nothing for damage. Weald Secrets and Magic Bullet are often used on himself, or his Bomber. Trollkin Fennblades, at Speed 6 aren't a bad option in Band of Heroes.

The rest should be self-sufficient units that don't need much input from their caster, because the Jarl has none to give. These units include the Battle Bears and Fire Eaters.

• Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes are a surprisingly good target for tactical supremacy, letting them move 8-9" while using awaken the stone.
• Trollkin Runebearer mandatory since it can echo Magic Bullet and expand Skuld's cloud wall.
• Fell Caller Hero he buffs melee infantry and there's never enough buffs you can have on your melee infantry.
• Stone Scribe Chronicler an easy to forget support model as it lives in themes Skuld doesn’t really want to play in often. But dirge of mists granting concealment stacks nicely with quicken.

The combination of theme benefits and Northkin Elder on the Krielstone are a godsend to a warlock like the Jarl. Storm of the North is his strongest theme. He simply doesn't have the focus to consistently do his thing an without free upkeeps. He want to camp, shoot, buy and boost, cast magic bullet, fuel the Krielstone, and the free upkeeps on Northkin models enables his fury-fed dreams. Storm of the north gives the Jarl multiple builds centering around a few main models.

Champion Build

• Trollkin Champions form the base, and two units may be taken. Quicken gets them up the field surprisingly fast, and the P+S 12 weapon masters jam like nothing else when properly supported.
• Skaldi Bonehammer, a Trollkin Champion Hero, Dhunian Archon and Krielstone keep this unit on the table.

Long Rider Build

• Trollkin Long Riders in either two minimum units or one full unit usually form the nexus of this build. Quicken pushes this unit as far as possible, but often lands them out of range of the Krielstone. Quicken can be hot-swapped, however.
• Horthol, Long Rider Hero is optional, and often gets squeezed out by newer models, such as the archon.

Ranged build

• Pyg Lookouts provide Mark Target and the Jarl really doesn't like needing to boost to hit, so it adds fury efficiency. Also Prowl is great with snow drifts and his feat.
• Northkin Fire Eaters your premier self-sufficient unit for clearing infantry.
• Northkin Raiders can find themselves far upfield, jamming on the far side of zones.

Any Build

• Northkin Bear Handler & Battle Bears have Prowl and so love the Jarl's feat while providing armour cracking potential. Most importantly they don't need any input from the Jarl to do this.
• Northkin Shaman more clouds? More clouds!
• Rök: A warbeast with Primal that hits really hard - that's great on a warlock like Skuld who lacks a damage buff. Also Swift Hunter with Assault Sprays are really nifty. You can actually charge an enemy model, assault it to death and swift hunter into melee with a model that is not your original charge target. Your charge will not fail, as long as you ended your initial charge movement within range of the charge target.

Offers superb fury management. A Dire Troll Bomber can effectively use it's animus, boost twice, and reload for only 1 fury if a Dhunian Knot is nearby.

• Northkin Shaman, mentioned above, can also be in this theme.

Provides access to Remove from Play, and fast moving Trollkin Fennblades, who enjoy an extra 2" SPD. Although the units available have no ranged options that benefit from Hunter, being able to pass around Pathfinder can allow a Fell Caller Hero to use its other abilities.

• Trollkin Champions, and Trollkin Long Riders can charge through Skuld's clouds and through a jammed Fennblade line.

The Jarl doesn't actually like KC all that much, because many of his mainstays (like Battle Bears, Rök or Champions) are not in this theme. You might want to run War Wagons, but both Grim and Horgle run those lists much better than he does. Focus on your strengths!

• Pyg Lookouts & Northkin Fire Eaters, mentioned above, can also be in this theme.
• Trollkin Scouts also have Prowl so enjoy the cloud wall, they already have Hunter and Pathfinder already so don’t need Weld Secrets. But Tactical Supremacy is great on a ranged unit that wants to get stuck in. Separately with no way to handle heavy armour preventing healing let’s you play a bit more of an attrition game.

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• Don't think his feat cloud wall is enough? Swamp Gobber Bellows Crews are there to help!
• Speaking of clouds: Lynus Wesselbaum & Edrea Lloryrr help if your enemy tries to annoy you with them. Applied Knowledge and First Aid are awesome, too.
• Bog Trog Mist Speaker Eyeless Sight is a gift from Dhunia for any ranged warlock that sees himself confronted with cloudwalls.
• Lanyssa Ryssyl has got Prowl too and has a cold damage spell that benefits from the Northkin Elder. But most importantly she lets his warbeasts charge for free.

Battlegroup

The Jarl is severly fury strapped, he should run a minmalist battlegroup. Unless he is in PoD or SotN where he has a little more flexibility.

• Dire Troll Bomber: The old reliable Bomber provides Far Strike and kills stuff dead with its bombs. An absolute staple with any ranged warlock
• Dire Troll Blitzer: Because of shooting gallery, swift Hunter and dual attack you can Tokyo drift through a lot of infantry with a good roll on the variable gun.
• Pyre Troll: is also a ranged warbeast that can swift hunt twice if you are lucky, but most importantly it can set Fire Eaters on fire. It has a built in damage buff that Skuld sorely needs in the form of its animus.
• Troll Impalers: are budget Bombers since they also provide Far Strike. The have less killing power and board presence than their big brothers though. With the changes they are more Fury efficient than a Bomber and can use assault to then use swift hunter and get into a better position.
  • speaking of position magic bullet will trigger based on a slammed models final location it can help improve your target options or deny them entirely it’s just something to bear in mind if aiming for that collateral effect.
• Slag Troll Assault still triggers swift hunter and it brings its own damage buff allowing it to trade with heavies at a discount cost.
• Swamp Troll it will never break armour but swift hunter and dual attack lets it charge in, kill some enemies then drift in to jam others, while generally a bit too expensive for Skuld to cast; Swarm is great with dodge.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Hordes: Domination (2011)
• "Jarl" is his title, not his name. It's pronounced "Yarl" and translates as "Danish or Norse chief".
• At one point in his life his weapon was titled “Sword” despite clearly being an axe.

Video Battle Reports

• 2018.04 Advanced Maneuvers, vs Butcher3
• 2018.03 Arcane Assist, vs Thyra1
• Template:VBR