I’ve recently started experimenting with Borka 2. He looks like a terror. His mount is a polar bear, because he’s that awesome. With his countercharge spell, and freezing feat, Borka begs for a large Battlegroup. Unfortunately, he needs to drag along fury management to keep his battlegroup under control. For all of his aggressiveness, Borka 2 isn’t a top tier warlock.
So far, my only two complaints with Borka 2 is that the bear he rides is underpowered, and Borka himself lacks some Fury. Borka’s bear is not actually a Warbeast. It only has a 0.5” reach. Lug, the polar bear companion of Brunswick Cragback has a 1” reach with his claws and hits with a POW 16. I think the bear mounted by Borka needs two claw attacks. They could be POW14, 1” claws and I would be happy. The lack of Fury on Borka makes his offensive spell mediocre. With a 5, Borka needs to boost to hit most anything with any reliability. The extra 2” on his control range if his Fury bumped up to 6 would really help the large Battlegroup Borka wants. Fury 5 is okay for Borka 1, but not his mounted self.
In terms of his list, Borka and the Power of Dhunia Theme Force mesh well. He is able to take up to 104 points of battlegroup trollspulling along 4 free solos or whelp groups. I’ve been trying to decide if his army would really do well with that many beasts, or if some support is wanted. I was thinking that a Dhunian Knot could help during frenzy checks, but so would whelps. Unfortunately, I don’t own any knots, although I have proxied. The knot helps with healing and Threshold checks, but I think the whelps are more reliable.
Another option is to carry a Krielstone. Borka’s low Fury and beast spam list makes me question the logic behind the stone. Yes, the armor bump makes the trolls harder to kill, and the stone is a ranged attack magnet, but do the trolls really need the stone? I think I would rather run them at 100+ points, and take more whelps for healing purposes.
After the stone, I looked at Runeshapers. They have some neat tricks. Knocking down a Warbeast to allow melee auto-hits from a Mauler’s initial attacks and ensuing chain attack is just funny. The downside to them is their short threat range and short lives. If I did take them, then I would also bring Janis said, on the off chance that battle wizard does anything. Also, it is nice to have magic attacks.
I’m going to try to test a list with Runeshapers, as well as a maximum troll list. Which trolls I take is based on what I own, as well as what I think will help Borka the most.
Gargantuan trolls are out. They can’t countercharge. I’d rather have more heavies.
Rok kicks butt. High mat, damage, and a mat/DAM buff to boot. I just need to remember that he is drunk. That, and I keep forgetting about his assault shot. I only wish his axe had a 2” range instead of 1”. The Mauler has a 1”, Rok’s empty hand has a 1”, but that huge axe in his hand doesn’t warrant a 2” range? The Axer has a 2” range.
Mauler is another obvious choice. The +3 STR animus has no downside. I even give it over to Rok when I need him to do work without having to frenzy. The Mauler can even do an auto throw after hitting, which feeds a wounded beast to Borka’s bear or another troll.
Dire Troll Blitzer is not such an obvious choice. Irresistible Force can be good for Borka, allowing him to push through, make an impact attack, and push through some more. The shots from the Blitzer’s gun are worth the extra point spent.
The Earthborn is also another troll who has potential in Borka’s Army. It could pick up some extra speed pushing it ahead of the rest of the pack for an early countercharge, and its animus keeps Borka from falling down.
I don’t own too many lights. I would like to run a couple Slag trolls. I just want to run them into a Karchev list. Countercharging into a jack just feels right, even if they’re only POW13. Of the light beasts I do own, I plan on taking pyre trolls, winter trolls or maybe an Axer.