Calandra Truthsayer, Oracle of the Glimmerwood

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

In the chaos of war Calandra is a beacon of hope and optimism who can always find an encouraging word to bolster her follow trollkin. At the same time, her maternal drive compels her to strike with merciless resolve against any who would harm those she has vowed to protect. As Oracle of the Glimmerwood, she is more than a simple shaman. She possesses the rare gift of true sight and is able to discern glints of possible futures through divination and augury.

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: Good Omens

When a friendly Faction model rolls a 1 or 2 on a die in an attack or damage roll while in Truthsayer's Template:Control range, it can reroll the die. Each die can be rerolled only once as a result of Good Omens. Good Omens lasts for one turn.

Abilities

• Template:Tough
• Template:Fate-Blessed
• Template:Soothing Song

Weapons

Salt
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				4				10
Template:Magical Damage

Spells

{{Category: Template:BefuddleTemplate:Bullet DodgerTemplate:DiscombobulateTemplate:MisfortuneTemplate:Star-Crossed }}[[Category: Template:BefuddleTemplate:Bullet DodgerTemplate:DiscombobulateTemplate:MisfortuneTemplate:Star-Crossed ]]

Theme Forces

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

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

Thoughts on Calandra

Calandra in a Nutshell

Calandra is a spell slinger with a strong theme of dice manipulation. She can be excellent for beginners as she is much simpler and more forgiving than the faction's other spell slinger, Kolgrima Stonetruth, Winter Witch.

Her large control range helps her notorious spell Star-Crossed cover basically the whole center of the table. This is a big advantage, especially because she is quite squishy and needs to stay away from the front lines.

She can play with basically anything but she likes higher DEF models to abuse Star Crossed the most. This means that she can play an effective gunline with Pygs or a more melee focused list with Trollkin Champions if she should so choose. Although she has the fury to run a battlegroup heavy list she doesn’t really offer them much beyond Soothing Song.

Feat thoughts

Her feat makes your alpha strike bigger and better or an assassination run more reliable. If it has a downside it’s that it slows you down slightly if you are playing on a clock. It’s quite a universal buff and no one will dislike it,but it comes into its own with sprays, AOEs and crit effects, as it makes them marginally easier to land.

The key word in the feat is CAN if you roll double 2 and still hit you can keep it then get the crit and if you destroy a model with a 1 and a 5 there is no point wasting your clock to reroll.

Spell thoughts

Star-Crossed You'll cast Star-Crossed almost every turn it's the key to her attrition game.

NOTE: Star-Crossed is much better once your DEF goes higher than 12. This is because 6 and 7 are by far the most common values for MAT, as are 5 and 6 for RAT. MAT 7 needs a 5 to hit DEF 12, which will still succeed almost two-thirds of the time even under Star-Crossed. However, when your opponent needs a 6 or 7 to hit, the spell will have a much bigger impact. Rolling 7 or higher on two dice is better than even odds at 58%, but with Star-Crossed, that same attack plummets to a 32% chance to hit. The jump from DEF 12 to DEF 13 is already one of the most important in the game, but under Star-Crossed that takes a 64% chance down to 48% and that is quite significant too.

Misfortune Is expensive for a POW 12 with no AOE, but it does knock down the target if you deal damage. Calandra doesn't need a Runebearer as much as other warlocks but having him cast this for her is helpful.

Bullet Dodger If you need to put Bullet Dodger on Calandra herself, you're losing anyway. The best use of the spell is to take a key model from the average Trollblood DEF 12 to DEF 14 so that Star-Crossed can protect it much better. So put Bullet Dodger on the warbeast or solo who is most in danger and/or most key to your plan at the time and already has at least average defence (sorry Mulg), an Earthborn Dire Troll near water goes up to DEF 16. Key solos like your Runebearer or Fell Caller can be worth casting it on. Valka, Braylen, and Horthol are quite capable combatants on their own, but any of them can be a terror with Bullet Dodger. Skaldi is a unit attachment, but any friendly faction model is a valid target.

Befuddle Is great fun and can often swing the whole game. While it can't target casters directly, it can still open lanes to them or line up slams by putting models in just the right spot, for example. Since you're often using it on low-DEF targets, look for opportunities for the Runebearer to cast it via Spell Slave.

Discombobulate Another great offensive control spell with a deeper toolbox than you may expect. It denies lots of abilities that require line of sight such as counter charge and defensive strike while also setting up Backstab which highwaymen love with Braylen.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Everyone hates playing against Calandra - dice manipulation slows the game down and people find it really obnoxious to play into.
• She is mainly a support warlock who can't really deal damage on her own. Her army does all of the heavy lifting.
• DEF 14, ARM 14 means she needs to be protected, or she needs to keep Bullet Dodger on herself.
• Because she works well with everything she's seldom as effective as a warlock focused on running what you want to do in specific. Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain is basically just plain better for leading troops like Trollkin Champions, and for warbeasts, she's no Doomshaper.
• Star-Crossed can make things difficult for units and unboostable attacks, but charging cavalry, boosting warbeasts and warjacks, as well as spell-casters and any RAT/MAT buff or DEF debuff can usually defeat the spell's defensive benefit.

Tricks & Tips

• She's pretty straightforward, and one of the good beginner warlocks in Trollbloods.

List Building Advice

Strategy

Her main win condition is using Star-Crossed and Befuddle to gain the upper hand on attrition, but she can sometimes open up surprising assassination vectors and sudden scenario victories. She wants models/units with high DEF to better leverage Star-Crossed.

The more dice a model throws around, the more mileage it gets from Calandra's feat and Fate Blessed ability. So look for Weapon Masters, sprays, multiple attacks, and so on. The Champs and Fire Eaters are prime choices.

Calandra can easily run a lot of light warbeasts, because of high FURY and Soothing Song.

Theme thoughts

• There are several high-DEF models (high for Trolls, at least) in this theme: Northkin Raiders, Northkin Fire Eaters, Trollkin Champions, Pyg Lookouts.
• A Northkin Shaman can hold a flag, place clouds to help protect himself or Calandra, and turn into a murder machine on her feat turn.

• Another theme with lots of high-DEF models: Most of the ones already mentioned in Storm of the North, plus Trollkin Highwaymen and several Pyg units.
• Braylen Wanderheart - She grants Highwaymen Backstab, which works excellently with Discombobulate.
• General 'Thunderstone' Brug - Pygs are naturally high def but if you really want to win in an attrition shooting match dug in DEF 17 Pyg Bushwhackers is the way to do it.
• Dozer & Smigg can give rerolls to War Wagons which stacked with Calandra's feat to make them deceptively accurate.
• Trollkin Scouts & Trollkin Skinner - Treewalker and Star Crossed make these guys practically impossible to shoot.

• Dhunian Knot have DEF 13 and when in the prayer circle it's easier to land spells.
• The Northkin Shaman mentioned above can also be taken in this theme.
• Trollkin Runeshapers can reach DEF 16 with Dig In.
• Mulg the Ancient allows her to channel Befuddle - and it's an excellent spell to channel.

Template:Header Star Crossed is already useful on minions but this theme the farrow are friendly faction so get the Krielstone bonuses too, that coupled with a good mix of high Def minions like gobbers and a wider range of warbeasts is very handy.

• Champions live in this theme as well.
• Farrow Brigands - while dug in they have a great defence that star crossed improves.
• Farrow Valkyries - have Def13 and without the Runebearer you will need to be slightly further forward so shield guard helps.
• General Brug and Pyg models also live in this theme
• Razor Boars - Def13 and soothing song helps keep them in check with low fury investment.
• Gudrun2 his defence aura is friendly faction only but in this theme everyone benefits and the combo with star crossed is useful.

• The Krielstone - She is an excellent user of the Krielstone. She can easily load it up turn one and then it can keep itself topped off.
• Trollkin Runebearer extends her control range by 2", allowing Star-Crossed to reach more enemy models, and can also cast Befuddle in a pinch, or more often hang behind her and using Harmonious Exaltation to reduce the cost of one of her spells.
• Dhunian Archon - add to the frustration of trying to kill her infantry.

• Star Crossed is Minion-friendly, so any and all Minion models/units with high DEF synergise with her.

Battlegroup

• The Earthborn Dire Troll and Swamp Troll can get their own DEF higher than 12, if only situationally.
  • The Swamp Troll can penalize the attack rolls of other living models by handing out Concealment
  • The Earthborn also functions as a great workhorse heavy with some damage buffs.
    • Add in Bullet Dodger and the Sea King's animus for a readily available pool of shallow water, and all of a sudden you get a DEF16 warbeast, who can dodge most of the incoming attacks - especially under Star-Crossed.
• The Dire Troll Bomber generates lots of fury and uses lots of dice.

Other

Trivia

Released in Hordes: Metamorphosis (2009)