The Shattered Kriel of Madrot Marsh

With a resounding crack of a gunshot, the last human of the supply convoy fell to the ground, dead. Grim Angus scoured the roadway ahead through Headhunter’s scope for any movement, and then raised his rifle, satisfied. Out of the swampy terrain on either side of the roadway ran a handful of trollkin clad in brown and yellow, awkwardly carrying their poorly cared-for weaponry. The charging trollkin soldiers came up sharply when they saw that the battle was over before it had even begun, and began rifling through the wreckage of the human caravan. Grim stopped himself from reprimanding the untrained trollkin for their behavior, painfully aware that they were all freshly drafted into the fight.

Two weeks earlier Grim had made a stopover at Madrot Marsh, a fairly peaceful and insular kriel in the western Thornwood region not far from Grim’s home of Wythmoor. When he arrived he found that the entire kriel had been razed to the ground – they had had the poor fortune of being directly in the path of two warring human armies, and as the village center itself was some of the only solid terrain in the marsh, it had become the center of the fight.

Grim and his longtime companion, the Impaler Jurt, immediately began searching for survivors. Over the next few days they had located the remnants of the kriel, living as nomads throughout the marsh to avoid the forces still warring in the area. Offended by both the treatment from the humans and the Madrot Marsh kriel’s despondency, Grim took charge of the trollkin and began organizing them into a resistance force, a weapon with which to inflict some damage to the outsiders.

Taking the most skilled of the surviving trollkin, primarily hunters and trackers, Grim began leading lightning raids against the interlopers, striking equally against all outsiders, human or otherwise. Inadequately supplied and poorly trained, the warriors of the shattered kriel of Madrot Marsh have began to fight back, determined to exact some small amount of retribution for the callous atrocity that had been committed.

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Grim Angus
* Dire Troll Mauler
* Troll Impaler
* Pyre Troll
Troll Whelps

The Shattered Kriel of Madrot Marsh consists of mostly light and fast troops, with little heavy armor and no access to gunpowder or other advanced weaponry aside from what Grim himself brought. They excel at lightning-fast guerilla actions, striking out from their ruined kriel at any outsiders that come within the marsh. So, no heavy armor (Champions, Bouncer), gunpowder (Thumper, Blitzer, Scattergunners, Pygs), or anything that would be at odds in a marsh (Long Riders, I’m looking at you!). Kriel Warriors might make more sense for a “poorly trained, poorly equipped” infantry unit, but I already own Fennblades and love the models so that’s final. Likewise with an Earthborn over the Mauler, but with Grim being able to Pathfinder the Mauler, and the fact that I already own one and no Earthborn…

I intend to expand with more Fennblades, a Krielstone unit, and probably a Pyre Troll. Flavor as needed with solos and probably a unit of Whelps when I get to three beasts. Aside from that I will see how my play experience goes.

Theme-wise, I’m going with the swamp idea I’d mentioned before (Madrot MARSH, right?). My Trollbloods will have light grey skin, and will wear a few different shades of brown for both leather and cloth. Their armor will be rusted iron (anyone have a good tutorial for that?). The quatari on the infantry will be bright yellow, with probably dark green and white plaid stripes. My beasts will have yellow eyes and “shoulder rocks” to match. I also want to model vines and such growing over the Mauler, not quite a full-on Swamp Thing but more like a harness or veins. I want to convert the Impaler too, but have no ideas yet.

Left to right: grey skin, browns for leather and cloth, quatari pattern, steel for weapons.

Ideas? Feedback?