The Book of Tor-Kul-Na

[Fabien Esenwein]

Torkulna makes a perfect counter for annoying sentinels and minions. He crunches the knights of Weston, and eats up rats. Through the grubs he can heal huge damage in one turn. And he has 6 attack. You just gotta love him

[awesomeunleashed]

Originally Posted by Fabien Esenwein

Torkulna makes a perfect counter for annoying sentinels and minions. He crunches the knights of Weston, and eats up rats. Through the grubs he can heal huge damage in one turn. And he has 6 attack. You just gotta love him

Huge damage? TKN can only eat one grub per turn (though he's still awesome).

Welcome to the site!

[Arrow Grut]

Originally Posted by Fabien Esenwein

Torkulna makes a perfect counter for annoying sentinels and minions. He crunches the knights of Weston, and eats up rats. Through the grubs he can heal huge damage in one turn. And he has 6 attack. You just gotta love him

I agree with everything except for the kenights of weston. While trample stomping them in a line or attack them normally or them attack back he's gonna smash their faces in, if a smart player engages him like he should(two on either side, forcing him to take a double-disengage if he want to stomp even one figure) the quadruple disengagement dice can really take a toll on him. Combined with 4 attacks of 3 a turn, plus a bonding-buddy, knights can be very bad news for the hivelord.

[dok]

Originally Posted by Arrow Grut

I agree with everything except for the kenights of weston. While trample stomping them in a line or attack them normally or them attack back he's gonna smash their faces in, if a smart player engages him like he should(two on either side, forcing him to take a double-disengage if he want to stomp even one figure) the quadruple disengagement dice can really take a toll on him. Combined with 4 attacks of 3 a turn, plus a bonding-buddy, knights can be very bad news for the hivelord.

How easy this sort of bracketing is to pull off is fairly dependent on the map and matchup.

• Is the map is fairly TKN-friendly (i.e. not a lot of lumpiness that prevents stomps)?
• Which army is able (because of map features, or superior ranged attacks, or some other reason) to force the battle to take place in a spot where they are set up?
• Are there any movement blockers or choke points that the TKN army can exploit?
• Are the nagrubs being used effectively? Is Raelin around to give them staying power?

Depending on the answers to these questions, it can be extremely hard for the knight player to set up where TKN will have to take multiple disengages to stomp, or fairly easy.

[Arrow Grut]

Originally Posted by dok

How easy this sort of bracketing is to pull off is fairly dependent on the map and matchup.

• Is the map is fairly TKN-friendly (i.e. not a lot of lumpiness that prevents stomps)?
• Which army is able (because of map features, or superior ranged attacks, or some other reason) to force the battle to take place in a spot where they are set up?
• Are there any movement blockers or choke points that the TKN army can exploit?
• Are the nagrubs being used effectively? Is Raelin around to give them staying power?

Depending on the answers to these questions, it can be extremely hard for the knight player to set up where TKN will have to take multiple disengages to stomp, or fairly easy.

Very true. as a player with lots of experience with TKN, would you say that maps are more in favor of him avoiding or being sucked in to such bracketing? (I still feel as though knights are still an overall bad matchup just because disengagements are twice are harmful, which at least in my experience TKN's ability usually demands at least a few a round to maximize, at least in the heat of battle.)

[dok]

Originally Posted by Arrow Grut

Very true. as a player with lots of experience with TKN, would you say that maps are more in favor of him avoiding or being sucked in to such bracketing? (I still feel as though knights are still an overall bad matchup just because disengagements are twice are harmful, which at least in my experience TKN's ability usually demands at least a few a round to maximize, at least in the heat of battle.)

Like I said, it's pretty map/matchup dependent. I've never allowed TKN to get double-bracketed as you describe, but I have gotten triple engaged a few times. Other games, I get plenty of stomps and only take one or two disengages all game long.

As far as knights go, a near optimal situation would be facing an all-melee knight build on a map that has natural pathing corridors, and I've got Raelin and some ranged figure. In that case, I can generally fill in one flank of TKN with Raelin-protected grubs, which makes it almost impossible to engage him on both sides and force disengages. (It's critical to remember that the nagrubs are much more useful as space-eaters and mobile life points than they are as attackers.)

On the flip side, if I'm playing TKN without Raelin or range (say, with Phantom Knights), and my opponent has a way to pull me to him, and the map is somewhat irregular and wide-open, it can be very hard to deal with a well-played knight force.

[greygnarl]

A good TKN player should never get stuck by a squad of 4 move Knights as you suggest. The fact that Knights are a medium squad who usually have an important hero with them means that they are a good matchup for TKN.

On the subject of ranged support, at the Chicagoland Tourney I used TKN and led with the KMA in all but one game. Usually this let TKN hit first.

[dok]

Originally Posted by greygnarl

A good TKN player should never get stuck by a squad of 4 move Knights as you suggest. The fact that Knights are a medium squad who usually have an important hero with them means that they are a good matchup for TKN.

I wouldn't say never, but it should be rare. It should only happen on a wide-open map, and only if your opponent has dominant ranged figures.

Originally Posted by greygnarl

On the subject of ranged support, at the Chicagoland Tourney I used TKN and led with the KMA in all but one game. Usually this let TKN hit first.

Yes, that army (Raelin + Krav + TKN + grubs) has a special place in my heart.

[greygnarl]

I actually had no Raelin, it was a 380 point tourney.

[Astroking112]

If Tor-Kul-Na destroys a figure with Trample Stomp on a space he could normally move onto but cannot after the defender is destroyed, does he have to stop his movement there?

I have a custom that can replace previously destroyed Samurai when they are destroyed, and this came up in a game where we thought that Tor-Kul-Na could roll for his stomp, but when a figure appeared in the way, he would have to end his movement. I think he should be able to roll in the first place, given that it fulfills all of the requirements for Trample Stomp unless a figure replaces the defending figure immediately before he can move, but this leads to a problematic interaction.

[Tornado]

If your custom power says immediately, then it happens first and I believe Trample ends because Tor cannot move onto that space as stated in the power.
If your power does not say immediately, then it is a roll off. If the samurai returns it is as above, if Tor wins, the Samurai does not return and Tor continues.
That is my best guess.

[Astroking112]

That was what we ended up going with. Thanks for the clarification!