Happy, Happy Friday!

We’ve had a couple novella updates so this week is going to be short and sweet. Well, actually its going to be tough and a little stinky. Yes, that’s right it’s—TROLL TIME!

Models

First lets look at the models. These are final production plastics!

Arcade Mode

It has been a little while since we did an arcade gang preview so lets start with a quick refresher.

Gangs are not static groups. Instead at the beginning of each command an elite model checks to see if there are any models from its gang within 2 squares of it.

If there is not it uses its solo attributes (first yellow flag), and it may only use its own abilities and unique actions.

If a member of its gang is within 2 squares of it, the gang attributes (second red flag), and it may use its bonded monster’s abilities and unique actions in addition to its own.

When performing a command only elites perform actions. Minions do not perform actions. Instead minions lend their abilities to the elite.

When an elite suffers damage it checks to see if it is in a gang. If it is, the wound is placed on a bonded minion in the gang instead of taking the wound itself.

The Ghostfire Tribe gang is made up of the elite Mistmourn Chieftain and bonded Ghostfire Warrior minions.

Straight out of the gate the Ghostfire Tribe hits hard with a solo STR of 3 stars. For reference a Hero with 3 blue dice for defense averages just under 2 stars with a max of 6 stars. That means these trolls are bruisers on Heroes that have not yet gotten a stock of defensive equipment. When ganged up their STR moves to 4 stars and they gain an additional action point, allowing them to make 2 Basic Attacks.

A range (RNG) of 3 squares ensures they have a good chance of being able to attack a Hero even if a Move command takes them slightly out of position.

Looking at the trolls’ individual stats you can see that trolls are Tough, literally. Tough causes trolls to remove one wound token every upkeep, which for Arcade means every turn if they are disturbed. With ARM of 2 stars and 1 star, plus multiple hearts, Heroes need to make a concerted effort to take down these bruisers.

For unique actions the Chieftain has Ancestral Fury which is a Wave 3 offensive action that causes the status effect Bane if it inflicts a wound. Nggggggh.

When forming a gang the Chieftain also unleashes Ghostfire which is a Lance 6 area effect offensive action. Since the Chieftain is on a large base Ghostfire hits 12 squares!

Where the Ghostfire Tribe are brutal beatsticks the Spirit Born are a bit more subtle in their approach.

The first thing to note is that the Spirit Born are an Elite Gang. This means all the monsters in the gang are elites. Therefore they all perform any commands that are issued.

For solo attributes they possess a solid STR of 2 stars and a RNG of 2 squares. For gang attributes they bump up to 3 stars and 3 squares respectively. While their action points don’t change they will still perform multiple actions since they are all elites, and each elite in the gang will perform every command.

Spirit Walkers are comparable to Ghostfire Warriors in resilience, however they bringStealth to the equation reducing Heroes’ ranges by 3 squares (minimum 1). Spirit Walkers also possess Surefoot which allow them to move through difficult terrain tile effects as though they were open squares.

When a Unique command is issued Spirit Walkers perform the Spirit Walk support action triggering the Surge effect which provides them with an additional 5 square move to get into range of the Hero with the most Wrath. If the Spirit Walkers have formed a gang they will also perform the Herbology support action, which is a Wave 5 augment that causes Remedy. Remedy removes all status effects from the models affected. Nice, especially for a spawning point full of multiple heart monsters!

Classic Mode

Classic time! Classic monsters always get a few more toys because a human controller is…well… human smart. Smart!

The Mistmourn Chieftain is a beatstick through and through. Three action points backed up by a melee range of 3 squares and a STR of 2 blue and 1 red dice for a basic monster is just—wow! The Chieftain backs up that high STR with two potent unique offensive actions.

Ancestral Wrath grants him +1 red STR and inflicts the status effect Bane. WhileSpirit Wind is a Wave 2 area effect that hits every model within 2 squares of his large base.

Because that isn’t quite hitty enough we recommend first using his Mistborn support action. This 1 action point augment grants every Troll within 3 squares of the Chieftain +1 star to their STR, including the Chieftain. For extra fun, use Rock Gut from Caverns of Roxor as one of your mini-bosses!

Rounding out the model is 3 Hearts, a decent, if not exemplary ARM of 1 star, and the ability Tough, which works just like in Arcade Mode.

Ghostfire Warriors, not surprisingly, are very much like weaker versions of their Chieftain.

Clocking in at 2 action points and the same 2 blue, 2 red STR the Ghostfire Warrior also hits quite hard. Albeit at a reduced melee range of 1 square.

An ARM of 1 star, 2 hearts, and the Tough ability keep these hardy warriors in the fight.

Should Heroes be silly enough to group together, the Ghostfire unique offensive action is a Lance 4 area effect. Thanks to the Warrior’s large base Ghostfire provides 8 squares of hurty troll breath.

Spirit Walkers are quite the monster in Classic Mode.

Two action points, backed by a solid 3 blue STR give them reasonable hit. They retain their Arcade abilities of Stealth, Surefoot, and Tough, backed by 2 hearts. Unfortunately, their ARM takes a bump downward.

Herbalist is a great unique support action for a spawning point of multiple wound monsters, with its Remedy effect removing all status effects from one model within 6 squares.

Ambush is where Spirit Walkers shine. While in Arcade Spirit Walkers journey through the spirit paths alone, in Classic they guide other monsters through the spirit paths. This potent ability allows you to target a single Hero within 4 squares of the Spirit Walker and then place 3 skull points worth of monsters, from anywhere in the dungeon, adjacent to it.

Ambush is incredible for getting out-of-position monsters back in the thick of the fight, pinning Heroes in, or just good old scare factor. Ambush is an ability that will have your Heroes constantly on edge. We pretty much love it.

Speaking of love, we have to call out the art for these trolls. Isn’t it gorgeous? We can’t wait to see one, or a dozen, of you awesome painters to accomplish that beautiful troll skin on your models.

That’s it for this week, next week we’ll do another production update and some more previews.

Have a great weekend, may you always rolls stars, and—

Sparkleburst!