Deep in the southern reaches of Mirkwood can be found the evil fortress of Dol Guldur, once hiding place for Sauron himself and a stronghold of evil far from the borders of Mordor. It is from here that Sauron massed the forces to launch his assaults on the Elves of Mirkwood and Lothlorien and strike north against the Dwarves of Erebor and the Men that lived in its shadow.
Among the varied foul creatures that comprise the forces of Dol Guldur are a detachment of War Trolls. Smaller in number than the Trolls that accompanied the host of Mordor in its siege on Minas Tirith, they are still a strong part of the force of this dark tower.
As I built my Dol Guldur army for SBG and WotR, I wanted to include Trolls for several reasons. Though "overpriced" in game terms for most smaller armies, Trolls provide nice value in medium and large forces...even more so after the Monster buffs introduced in the Hobbit version of the rules. They are also very impressive models to see in play and let's be honest...monsters are just plain fun.
Games Workshop makes some very nice Mordor Troll models that represent the beasts as PJ presented them in the Return of the King. But for my Dol Guldur army I wanted them to be more unique. My thought being that these beasts regularly do battle with the Elves of Mirkwood - far more dangerous of a foe than Men of Gondor which the Trolls of Mordor have been trained and equipped to face. And where better to start the them with a Troll Chief.
You can see my WIP of the process here
To help them stand out a little I started by removing the two metal "horns" from the helmet and filling in the gaps. I then crafted some additional armor in the form of a chain mail mantel coming from the helm and helping protect the neck and head and a similar chain mail guard around the waist and upper legs. This was my first significant GreenStuff sculpting effort and I'm relatively happy with it. I started by creating two waist pieces out of GreenStuff, cut in the shape I wanted and shaped while flat on a piece of wax paper. I then wrapped them around the model as if it were being put on as parts of the belt, one on each side. This allowed the pieces to drape naturally on the model's contours and blend in with the pose (if I would have been working directly on the model the pieces may have had artificially straight lines that I may not have picked up on during the sculpt itself). I let these dry fairly well and then used the tip of a modeling tool to impress a chain mail pattern into it, being careful to leave the edge. This same basic process was used for the mail hanging from the helmet. I also fashioned a heavy belt from GreenStuff so that the new waist armor would have something to hang from and scared and weathered it slightly before it finished drying.
The normal weapon for the metal Mordor Troll is a mighty hammer. Though this is perfectly acceptable even against the Elves of Mirkwood, it just didn't stand out enough. So I also gave the model a unique weapon - a double mounted morning star. Back in the Good Old Days, Games Workshop used to sell many bitz (individual small pieces normal packaged as parts of their models) for their Lord of the Rings range. You could get specific heads, or arms or half of a horse, etc. In time though they stopped doing that, but while it was still available I took advantage of it a few times. One such time I picked up two of the maces used on the Witch King model. I trimmed the handles off of these, and cut the end off of the original hammer. I then fashioned a tip to the hammer's handle in which I placed the chains from the maces. I gave the arm a little additional positioning by pinning the arm to the body at the angle I wanted (as opposed to the original position designed for holding the hammer) and filling the gap with GreenStuff. The hardest part of this modification was making the chains hang at in a realistic manner but I think I got it right.
Finally, I wanted him to really look "in the action" with his foe. To do this I took one of the plastic Wood Elf models from my collection and cut the base off of him. I picked one that was running with his sword held high above his head and a shout modeled on his face...this gave the perfect pose. I had to trim his cloths a little and do some repair work on his boots, but for the most part he looked the part needed. The Troll was a harder effort. This arm is normally held pretty far out to the side and is no where near the position needed to be holding a victim. To get the Elf to be held properly I needed to do some major work. I started by cutting the arm at three points (just below the shoulder, at the elbow and at the wrist). I then cut and reshaped the fingers a little to go around the Elf (remember that I did some trim work on the victim's cloak and cloths so that the hand held it more realistically). I then used some pinning work to get the rest of the arm segments in a good position so that the Elf looked like it was being scooped up and brought face to face with the mighty beast that was about to end its immortality.
I have this model standing on a custom base I made by gluing a Back 2 Base IX 25mm base onto the 60mm base that came with the Troll, with some rocks and GreenStuff shaping. I wanted to make this look like the beast was heavily engaged in combat deep under Mirkwood's eves.
War Trolls in the Strategy Battle Game
** The following notes are specific to my experience with War Trolls. I will update this to better reflect the additional benefits (and challenges) of the Troll Chief. **
In the Strategy Battle Game system, Mordor Trolls are actually pretty effective. If you allow them to get surrounded they will go down pretty quick but if you play them intelligently they can cut through a lot of basic troops or help you take out enemy Heroes. They are very effective at holding important positions in scenarios or helping to break an enemy line so that your rank and file warriors can exploit the weak points. One of my favorite actions is to have a Hero in combat with the Troll call an Heroic Fight. Between the Hero and the Troll you are almost assured victory and can then hop them forward into other fights either together or spread out. And since the Troll can take on multiple foes in a single turn (remember that warning about being surrounded though!) these follow-up battles can be equally effective.
The biggest risk to Trolls in SBG are magic (being Immobilized or Transfixed is almost certain doom) or being surrounded while in combat with a high-Fight model such as a Hero.
War Trolls in War of the Ring
Sadly, in the War of the Ring game system Mordor Trolls are a bit of a let down. The main reason is that they use the Hard to Kill table (see my discussion on Hard To Kill or Not ). Though they are a Defense 7 with Resilience 2, when working alone they just don't have the staying power.
However, if you have a couple of these to help spread out enemy attention and you use them as support forces for your normal troops (such as charging a flank when your main warrior blocks clash) then they can be effective.
I am lucky enough to have a total of three of these models from various collections, sets and trades over the years, so getting several into an army is not beyond my goals (I don't have to buy them!). For my future ones I will be doing the same armor modifications to be sure they look like they are a consistent part of the same Dol Guldur army. I won't be doing the same work on the left arm that I did for the Elf-grip, and will probably leave the hammer in place (with perhaps some minor changes there as well). As such it will be easier to get the others completed and in play.
I have played this model as a Troll Chief and have found it to be far and above better, as expected of the Olag-Hai. I am looking forward to getting an actual Troll Chief so that I can use it and combine it with my more standard War Trolls.
