Skoll Bonestorm

Race: Ettin (Two headed orc)
Class: Defender
Survivability: High
Damage Output: Med
Threat Range: Med

Profile: Skoll has closer to minotaur stats than orc stats even though he is technically an orc (MOV 4, AGI 3, 21 boxes). His RES 1 is low for a defender and his MEL 5 is also below average. He does 2|3|4 damage which is good especially as he has Dual Wield which allows him to make a second attack every attack action with a one die penalty. He is immune to stun and parting blows do not gain an extra die.

What does he do?: Skoll is the best damage dealer of the defenders though his survivability is low for a defender and he needs dice fixing. If you can get Skoll some extra dice he is able to do aggressor level damage but a lot of the time you will be struggling to provide that dice assistance.

His Bulwark ability giving a model 5 extra health is an excellent ability, it can make a massive difference keeping a model alive. He fate ability (1A and 1F) does a d6 damage for every soul bound to models within 3" - it can be very effective as Skoll is a defender and wants to get forwards but you won't often find opportunities to use it. When Skoll levels up you can choose one of two paths:

Mystic - He has a 1A cost ability that makes your opponents active abilities (within 4") cost an extra action. This is great against models that want to use active abilities. Rakkir for example wants to charge, apply poison, use Toxin then escape. This makes Toxin take an action and a fate, if Rakkir had to move and then charge he can't use the ability at all. At level 3 he can spend a fate to make models lose their innate abilities while within 4", this takes away abilities like Back Swing (Brok), Dual Wield, Regeneration, Transference (Kruul), Heroic Ballad (Bastian), Back Stab (Piper) etc. It is better on abilities that you will be able to trigger like Transference but you can also use it to make life harder on your opponent, stopping Dual Wield or Back Swing can be huge.

Warrior - At level 2 you gain Combo Strike - you sacrifice your Dual Attack so while it costs 2A it stops you from making normal attack and 2 back swing attacks. That said the damage goes up and you gain a 2S knock down and Stun. It can be situationally useful to use it on a charge (for example against a defender with decent RES or when you need Stun and Knockdown). At level 3 he gains Mystic Shield - the ability to make a non-defender immune to ranged or magic attacks (pick one) this can be extremely strong.

Fate Appetite: Low. Until he gets to level 3 you will not generally use fate. Soul Burn can be very useful but you won't get a lot of opportunities to get good value from it (a fate and an action is not worth 1d6 damage, just make your attack then your dual attack most of the time).

Level Appetite: Low. I say this despite the fact that his level 3 abilities are excellent. He is able to carry out his job without levelling.

Magic Items: Vorpal Blade (high). Skoll needs dice fixing to work. Mel 5 is bad and deliberately so because he is very survivable and with good dice fixing able to fight as well as an aggressor. The Vorpal Blade is not enough if you want him to really sing, ganging up bonuses, knock down, Heroic Ballad, and poison are suggested to get him to really work. The minotaur essence isn't a bad option for him.

Combinations: Bastian and Marcus are both great enablers to get his melee damage working and Bastian can heal him which is very useful. I like the Skoll + Thorgar combination for Thorgar's ability to add knockdowns for him. Skoll is a very strong defender for a melee centric list - you'll be able to provide crowd outs and the Bulwark defender ability is very strong and can help keep your melee aggressors alive.

Ban Targets: He doesn't like Istariel - she loves attacking agility 3 models and though healing is not as important for Skoll as Doenrakkar for example he still needs healing if he wants to stay alive. He relies on his 1 RES and high boxes as he is AGI 3 - you generally won't kill him in one activation but you'll need to apply healing to keep him alive especially as the other defender abilities won't work on him. Skye is a problem with his ability to teleport and take off a die.

Judy's Judgement: