Borka Kegslayer & Keg Carrier

Template:Trollbox2 This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

A one man bar brawl, the towering Borka always comes to battle accompanied by a pyg carrying a keg of booze. His army is held together by his raw charisma - it otherwise resembles a rolling drunken party, with Borka being the biggest and rowdiest drunk of all. Those who follow him have a great time in one continuous party combining his three activities - boozing, fighting, and rutting - at least until their luck runs out with any of those and they die. Also, he has a pimp fur collar and a giant codpiece, pretty daring mode of dress for a priest of Dhunia. How could you not love a guy like that?

Basic Info

Borka

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: Barroom Blitz

• Friendly Faction models beginning a charge, slam power attack, or trample power attack in Borka's Template:CTRL range gain +2" movement.
• Warbeasts in Borka's battlegroup beginning their activation in his Template:CTRL range can make power attacks without being forced and gain an additional die on collateral damage and power attack damage rolls.

Barroom Blitz lasts for one turn.

Abilities

• Template:Cold Immunity
• Template:Tough
• Template:Relentless Charge
• Template:Unyielding

Weapons

• Bomb - 8" range, 3" AOE, POW 12 ranged weapon
• Trauma - 2" reach, P+S 15 melee weapon
  • Template:Magical Weapon
  • Template:Critical Pitch

Spells

{{Category: Template:Arcane WardTemplate:Mosh PitTemplate:Wind Wall }}[[Category: Template:Arcane WardTemplate:Mosh PitTemplate:Wind Wall ]]

Keg Carrier

Abilities

• Template:Cold Immunity
• Template:Tough
• Template:Attached 2
• Template:Companion
• Template:Party Foul
• Template:Top Off

Weapons

• Keg Bash - 0.5" reach, P+S 8 melee weapon

Theme Forces

• Trollbloods
  • Template:Band of Heroes. In this theme he & his pyg gains "Optional Take Down".
  • Template:Kriel Company. In this theme the Keg Carrier gains Mark Target.
  • 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 Borka1

Borka1 in a nutshell

Borka Kegslayer plays very well as a beer and pretzels warlock. His thematic abilities encourage straightforward play. Charge in on his feat turn, and knock everything down with Mosh Pit, then hope Stumbling Drunk keeps him from being assassinated.

Maximising his feat & spells

Barroom Blitz

The main advantage of the feat is to give friendly trollbloods the extra two inches of movement. Bring him in Storm of the North along with a Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes with the Northkin Elder for another extra inch. An increased threat range of three inches can be game changing.

Arcane Ward

Look for models that already have a high defense for Arcane Ward, or models that are often targeted by spells. Knowing which models might be spell targets relies on experience, but look for these common themes in enemy spellcasters:

• Enemy spells that stop a unit from charging, or otherwise receive orders
  • Arcane Ward should go on a unit that might be in charge range next turn
• Enemy spells that decrease armor/defense
  • Arcane Ward your unit that will be in melee or threatened by guns
  • Look at your models that are scoring zones/flags, because these will come under attack next turn
• Enemy spells that take control of warbeasts
  • Rok does not want to be taken control of...
• Spell assassination casters with arc nodes, or who are close enough to pose a threat
  • Arcane Ward Borka

Mosh Pit

• It can be a trap.
• It isn't needed every turn.
• It is a good answer to Tough.
• It affects all your friendly Trollblood melee weapons, as long as they're in Borka's control range (which should be 14" if he is topped off).
• Cast it, then have something with a boosted attack hit a high value or high defense target. When the target drops, other models can attack it and almost guarantee hits.
• Cast it, and use the knockdown to clear line of sight to targets hiding behind things.
• In a pinch, you can knock down your own models to clear line of sight.
• Cast it, and knock down something with shield guard. Remember, a knocked down model can't use its Shield Guard ability.
• Top Off Borka! It will be easy for his army to rush out of his control range, especially during the feat turn. Having a 14" control range helps ensure Mosh Pit will reach the furthest warbeast, long rider, or whatever is out there.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Borka would really love to have a Runebearer with him, as every Trollblood warlock would, but the Keg Carrier prevents additional attachments.

• Borka relies on the Keg Carrier to have enough fury to cast his spells and still have a personal combat threat.
  • Order of activation almost requires the Keg Carrier to activate, then Borka, then the army.
  • Borka can get too far ahead of the Keg Carrier to be topped off.

• There are currently over 50 Anti-Knockdown abilities, ranging from knockdown prevention to standing up at the beginning of the next turn, that offer counter-play into Mosh Pit.

• Borka's feat only gives the additional damage die to his battlegroup warbeasts. He doesn't benefit from that part of his feat, nor do the Trollkin Long Riders, or Bumbles.

Tricks & Tips

• The Keg Bearer should be topping him up every turn.
  • The Keg Carrier, as a solo, cannot activate at the same time as Borka.
  • You cannot give Borka fury during his activation.
  • You should top off before Borka activates.
  • Borka could potentially have 9 focus points during his activation. If you Top him Off turn one, he goes up to FURY 7, so he can leech up to a full 7 fury during the next control phase and retains those two extra points even when the Top Off benefit ends at the end of your control phase. If you apply Top Off again during your activation, he goes back to FURY 7 and has 9 fury points and you can do it again next turn.
• Use Mosh Pit to clear line of sight for a deadly ranged attack.
• Use Wind Wall to protect the Keg Carrier from ranged attacks.

List Building Advice

Strategy

His main win condition is pure attrition. Charge in and smash the enemy until they stop moving. Borka is pretty clearly primarily a melee-oriented warlock.

Both warrior and warbeast models will enjoy the +2 threat from the feat. Only warbeasts benefit from the additional die on damage from power attacks. Lists could be constructed that are either beast heavy, warrior heavy, or a mix. Borka doesn't offer a marked improvement on ranged list builds.

Theme Thoughts

The normal drawback of VoD, the lack of a Runebearer, doesn't apply to Borka. In turn he gets access to Farrow Warbeasts and Attuned Spirit.

• Road Hog - The animus gives him sprint so he can do some work in melee then run away. Borka's control range while drunk makes far-reaching melee beasts manageable.
• Trollkin Champions - Arcane Ward pushes these guys up to DEF 16 in melee, and being weapon masters, they are hard-hitting.
• Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes - ARM buffs and damage buffs, the Trollblood staple is as good as ever. If the Trollkin Champions are joining the army, bring Skaldi Bonehammer, and attach the Northkin Elder to the Krielstone to benefit from the +2 bonus to strength, or the +1 speed bonus.

• Mosh Pit feels redundant in this theme as BOH has its own answer to Tough. Mosh Pit can still play a role in BOH as a solution to high DEF, provided you have a way of leading in with something that can boost (such as Trollkin Long Riders on the charge).
• Fennblade / Tuffalo Build:
  • Fennblades have an additional 2 inches when they charge due to No Quarter. They'd threat 15 inches.
  • Long Riders follow, and the Fennblades don't worry about impact the attacks.
• Trollkin Champions Build:
  • A unit of Champions with Skaldi almost demands a Northkin Elder on the Krielstone.
  • Madrak0 with an Axer and Impaler can be an independent package.
  • If shield guards are in demand, the Warders can hold off some attacks. Place near Madrak to keep him from getting sniped out.
  • Horgle1 can also join, but not that Borka's power attack bit of the feat doesn't work on Horgle's or Madrak's warbeasts.

Storm of the North offers Snow Drift, upkeep bonuses. and combined arms.

• Long Rider Build:
  • The Northkin Raiders become the designated crumple zone, and they really like +2 DEF and anti-magic.
  • Careful positioning for a Long Rider charge is needed, to prevent killing any Raiders who survived the crumple.
• Champion Build:
  • Double Champions is possible here, but consider Northkin Bear Handler & Battle Bears, and Bumbles.

Borka doesn't normally use this theme. It's mostly ranged units and he doesn't offer any bonuses to range, POW, or attack rolls for a ranged army, other than by having melee units knock things down. Secondly there are certainly enough knockdown weapons available in Kriel Company that Mosh Pit again feels redundant. Thirdly his feat doesn't give anything to an army that wants to walk and shoot.

Power of Dhunia was originally the warbeast-heavy theme. It is possible that in the POD, Borka could run Rok plus other warbeasts to capitalize on his feat. Troll Impalers and Mulg the Ancient have critical hits that could be effective during the feat turn, and the Mauler loves a good chain attack under the feat. Mosh Pit works for all friendly faction models, and if you really want a unit to be like the Kriel Warriors, you could sub in [[Greygore Boomhowler & Co]. A list in POD could presumably carry the two junior warlocks (Horgle 1 and Madrak 0), and two archons to keep them safe. Most of the warbeast action should be in Borka's battlegroup if you're building for the feat (is it a trap?), but you could have some potentially strong beasts hitting things all over the table. This is a theme that should be watched.

Battlegroup

File:Rok.jpg

Rök is his pet warbeast that he can take in any theme.

• Rök - His personal warbeast is extremely hard-hitting, comes with a damage buff, and with the bond is extremely hard to kill. Rok+one other beast of choice is a common loadout for him.
• Slag Troll - Especially combined with Primal from Rök, the Slag can hit hard enough to wreck warjacks.
• Troll Axer - With Rush and and being naturally hard-hitting, the Axer builds on Borka's strengths.
• Troll Bouncer - Extremely tough and capable of doing pretty good damage, the Bouncer is an effective warbeast.
• Pyre Troll It's quite cheap, and Borka appreciates the personal damage buff as he's tough enough to get into melee himself.
• Troll Basher Very cheap and self-sufficient warbeast with a useful accuracy buff for the rest of your army.
• Dire Troll Mauler - A staple in most Trollblood armies, it often scores extra collateral damage during the feat turn due to its chain attack.

Other

Trivia

Released in Hordes: Evolution (2007)

Video Battle Reports

• 2018.11 MBMeanMachine, vs Lylyth1
• Template:VBR