Forces of Hordes: Trollbloods

I finished reading the forces book for the Trollbloods over the weekend and I must say, I was very impressed with the content.

As you would expect from this type of supplement it gives you plenty of background info on all the main characters the Trollbloods have at their disposal, while also tying in to various stories that also appear in the book.

The opening pages tell us a story of Captain Gunnbjorn and Calandra Truthsayer as they take on a Skorne force. The story here shows us how resilient the Trollbloods are whilst also giving you an idea of what they can do.

This entertaining story is quickly followed by plenty of background depicting how the Trollbloods have arrived at the situation they are in in the Hordes timeline, how they are organised (really it is more of a disorganisation but hey ho) and the various types of themed armies you can field for each of the seven available warlocks. I really like the idea of the themed armies, which is something you are largely left to figure out for yourself in 40k if you want to go that route. Each themed army has four different tiers which, once unlocked by having certain units in your force, allow for certain bonuses to become available to you.

By the time you get to seeing all the units available to the Trollbloods you may have an idea of which warlock you want to be leading your force and which units you want accompanying them. Then you get to see what rules and stats apply to each character and unit the Trollbloods have, along with even more background on each individual, points costs and some fantastic illustrations. In fact, the full colour illustrations throughout the book are incredible and will assist with painting up the force through the coming months.

As we approach the end of the 112 page supplement it is fair to say my interest in Hordes/Trollbloods has been well and truly sparked. The remaining pages show each and every model available and fully painted, which is something I find lacking in the 40k codices in that you only get to see models that are released around the time the codex is released with all second/third wave models getting zero air time.

Also found in the remaining pages are painting guides for Trollkin faces, leather, Whelp skin tones (Pyre, Winter and Earthborn Whelps), weathered stone, metal, wet blending bison fur and finally tartans. While the colours used are the P3 paints it should be relatively easy to cross match these colours with your existing supplies to get similar if not identical results. It is then a simple case of adding what you are missing to complete. If you are completely new to this then you have the full range of model paints to choose from.

So there we have it, a brief run through what you can expect to find in Forces of Hordes: Trollbloods. Personally I very much enjoyed the read and finding out about the history and current situation of the Trollbloods. The painting guides are a handy touch in the book which I feel helps to enhance the usefulness of the book in the hobby, not just be a tool for playing and taking part in the game.

As I have already mentioned previously I was most impressed with the full colours photos and drawings throughout this volume and will definitely be consulting when I get around to painting up my own Trollbloods. I must say though, there is a fair amount of tartan on display in this army so I will have to practice my steady hand painting!

So, the next step has been taken to pick up a few units (Warpack and Fell Caller hero), build them and get some paint on them. Hopefully we will see an update on this situation toward the end of this week when I will also be taking part in my début in the wargaming world of Hordes. So if you are interested in these baby steps please check back in a week or so's time to see how I got along.