Trugg the Troggoth King Reigns in Age of Sigmar
As a Gloomspite Gitz player, I’ve held an affinity to the Troggoths since their big re-release a few years ago. The lumbering Dankhold Troggoths, the encrusted Rockgut Troggoths, a cohort of towering and dim-witted monsters plodding up the board slowly, throwing rocks and incoherent grunts at their enemies - what’s not to like?! Yet, amongst this rabble of thick-skulled brutes, I never realised what was missing all of this time - a leader to boss these louts about! Ladies and gentlemen, bow before the rightful king - Trugg.
Trugg is an imposing character in the lore as well as on the tabletop. Being a particularly large Troggoth lends to his clout, but what really lends to this is the large magical construct embedded in his back that has situated itself there during Trugg’s long slumber. This arcane engine has whirred into life since Trugg was crudely awoken from his long slumber by a particularly irritating grot as seen in the previous Dawnbringer release. With this, the engine is blessing Trugg with an exceptionally unpleasant migraine, and we all know that an ill-tempered Troggoth is trouble.
Seeming to be intertwined with the magical atunements of each Mortal Realm within Age of Sigmar, the construct is impacting Trugg in bizarre ways. Unfortunately, the main impact that Trugg is aware of is the earth-shattering headache that it is inducing upon him, likely exacerbated by Troggoth’s innate repulsion of magic.
Kitted-out King
The model itself is absolute cram-packed with details, many of which are quite the departure from the other Troggoth models for the Gloomspite Gitz range. Resembling a Dankhold Troggoth moreso than any other, Trugg leans forward on one of his mighty fists, with his colossal Ironshell Snail Club raised, ready to descend into a mighty smash. The similarities end here as the two biggest takeaways from the model include the magical construct on his back along with his enormous antlers.
The antlers stretch outward somewhat before rocketing skyward, resembling some incredible headdress befitting royalty of the Destruction alliance. These set Trugg out from other Troggoths in a way I find distinctive yet fitting. Could they be completely unnatural growths incurred by the magical mechanism mounted upon his back? Could they be brought on by Alarielle’s Rite of Life and imbuing him with the magics of Ghyran? These any many more options could work, but the primary point is that they look superb!
Finally, the spotlight rests squarely upon Trugg’s back…or shoulders? The leystone has small runes tying it to the other magical realms, meaning that this mound of stone isn’t merely for decoration. With the right painting effects, you could really push the magical instability of it, spewing forth bolts of light and energy as Trugg smashes into enemy lines, pleading for his migraine to abate. It is livered with rubble and debris, skulls and skeletons and small creatures - all of which accentuate the weird and wonderful of this design.
There are smaller details that also help to excel Trugg’s model above the rest. He seems to have carvings onto his flesh that resemble cave paintings, hinting that he’s been (deeply) asleep for a (very) long time. The moss and draped foliage and filth hanging off of him embed the Troggoth tropes of spending long periods in the deepest dank, sleeping until feeling the need to eat. Utlimately, Trugg’s model is to be a fine centrepiece for any Troggoth aficionado and will surely lord his regal presence to any and all who lay eyes upon him.
Rules Befitting a Ruler
Trugg’s size is a fair indicator of his performance on the tabletop. He may not be the size of Kragnos or Nagash, but he has terrific staying power, thanks to his Imbued with Life rule, allowing him to heal an addition 3 wounds each hero phase (clocking to D3 + 3 total). Starting at 16 Wounds on a 4+ save, he can take punches and shrug them off if given the chance. He lacks a static Ward save, but this wouldn’t be a Gloomspite Gitz unit if it didn’t have some risk and reward to it !
Malfunctioning Leystone means that at the start of the controlling player’s hero phase Trugg can clobber the leystone on his back in an attempt to quell the headache that it gives him. This may or may not be the effect, but what definitely does happen is that the controlling player rolls a number of dice (tied to a figure based on his current wounds) chooses one of the results that corresponds to a specified effect. This can range to a 5+ Ward, to increasing the number of his attacks and, of course, even to him suffering D3 Mortal Wounds! What works well with this is that you can choose to do this on each of your hero phases, so if you get a result that works for you then you don’t necessarily have to risk losing it in the next round.
His standard rules/attacks are as swingy and unpredictable as his lesser Troggoth hordes. With his Ironshell Club potentially landing D6 damage per attack, and the Crushing Grip ability squirming its way into his rules. Combine this with his Mighty Antlers that lend a pretty reliable D3+3 damage on a 2+ to hit and 2+ to wound (at top bracket), Trugg is NOT to be underestimated by your enemies.
A Model Ruler
As far as Trugg's actual kit goes, it’s relatively fine to assemble. Some parts of the body are fiddly to assemble together with one or two components needing to squeeze/snap into place with some rather nuanced and an unsettling degree of pressure. Sadly, once built, the model itself is rather laden with gaps. Unlike other models such as the Great Unclean One with gaps cleverly hidden between folds and details, Trugg has very visible joins and gaps, especially upon the lengths of his arms and legs.
However, I'd argue that the most pivotal part about the build is that the Leystone upon his back can be built separately to Trugg himself, which makes painting the two immeasurably easier. With this approach I focused on giving Trugg a darker skin tone (to help mask the gaps) whilst giving certain bits of his skin a lighter tone to emphasis the carvings etched into his flesh.
Once Trugg was done, I could then move onto the back-mounted apparatus and painted this in much lighter colours than his skin in order to give a nice sense of contrast and to draw attention. Generally, I'm very pleased with how this turned out. Thanks to the use of an airbrush and the aforementioned sub-assemblies I was able to get Trugg from primed to painted after around 4 to 5 hours of painting. Nothing motivates you to paint quite like a deadline!
Thus, Age of Sigmar continues to deliver striking models positively gushing with character, not only being memorable but also joyous to paint with Trugg being the latest and possibly finest example of this. I swore I'd never paint another Troggoth HQ alter painting 2 Dankhold Troggoths coated in more barnacles than brushes have bristles, but nevertheless I have sworn undying fealty to my new king. Long live the Troggoth king! Long live Trugg!
Thanks very much to Games Workshop for providing us with this product for content creation and preview purposes.
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