ARTICLE: Cry Havoc Strategy Guide – The Trogs

This is part 1 in a series of strategy articles brought to you by the game’s original designer, Grant Rodiek

Welcome to the strategy guide for the Trog faction of Cry Havoc. The Trogs are a primitive species that have not discovered advanced civilization concepts, let alone space travel. What they lack in intellect they more than compensate with brute strength, ferocity, and an intimate knowledge of their home world.

The Trogs are one of the most unique factions in Cry Havoc and it’s a good time to familiarize yourself with them.

The Original Inspiration

In the beginning, the Trogs were a guerrilla force inspired by historic combatants like the Vietcong, the Spanish Guerrillas of the Napoleonic Peninsular Wars, and some Native American tribes. The idea was that they hit hard, fast, and then disappeared just as quickly as they appeared. It was always  a key element of Cry Havoc that no flank was perfectly secure and players cannot turtle, so having a brutal guerrilla faction was absolutely necessary.

The Arrival of the Trogs

When we decided to make Cry Havoc a science fiction game, we took a step back to think about how the Trogs best fit. Originally, all four factions arrived on the planet to contest its resources. But, the Portal team had a brilliant idea to create an indigenous species. We knew the Machines were the perfect choice for a faction focused on construction and effectively turning the planet into a battle station. We took inspiration from the classic green men and other excellent advanced aliens for the Pilgrims. We knew we couldn’t ship the game without Space Marines. So, we looked to something a little less advanced, a little more brutal, and a little less forgiving of the intrusion. You cannot negotiate with Trogs. They just don’t understand!

We gave them their name as a shortened version of “Troglodyte,” which we saw as human slang for them when we were conducting world-building exercises. The Trogs were born.

The Strengths of the Trogs

The Trogs can almost entirely ignore the Recruit Action, at least for the first half of the game, as the world begins with Trog War Parties covering the planet. The Trogs “summon” these units simply by moving into the Regions, or when opponents enter with their Units, and before long every Trog Unit will be out of the Reserve and onto the planet.

Furthermore, because the Trogs know for a fact they will be heavily engaged in Battles in the first round, and that they do not need to move much or Recruit, they can devote early actions to drawing new cards. A good Trog player shouldn’t just endure the Battles they fight in the first round, but should profit from them.

The Trog Tunnel structure, either built fresh or provided at the start of the game, is an essential tool in the Trog arsenal. No faction can recruit and shift Units to the frontlines as effectively as the Trogs thanks to the Tunnels. If you’re going to make one Build Action, you might want to consider one in which you drop 3 Tunnels in a single action. Be sure to wink at your opponents to make sure they know you’ll be anywhere, at any time.

The Trogs have more Units than any other faction, which means they can spend a few recklessly. It is not a bad idea to send in a single Trog to an enemy Region to create a Battle Region and disable their Structure use. Moving into a heavily fortified Machine base with 1 Trog turns those Shred Drones right off. You can also block an opponent’s ability to reach the front lines by turning a midway spot into a Battle Region.

The four Ancient Cave cards in the default Trog deck are excellent for rapid movement and the two Breeding Towers give the Trogs a devastating late game Recruitment option. 6 for two cards? Yes please!

The Disappear Skill helps you fortify a Region your opponents clearly wish to enter. But, remember to leave Units in Reserve, else it’s wasted and you’ll just hand out free crystals. Use Disappear to add more Trog War Party tokens to the crystal rich central Regions, then resolve them by moving into them. The ½ point penalty won’t sting so much when you stuff the Region with Crystals. The final subtle benefit? By Killing one of your Units, you return them to your Reserve…to be spawned later!

The Native Forces Skill is nasty early in the game when the Trogs can overrun greedy Units who trigger a Trog War Party token with only 1 or 2 Units and hit a 2 or 3 Trog spawn. Native Forces can guarantee many early Territory victories, delaying other factions’ ability to build structures and begin exploiting their key abilities. Native Forces should be held until your last Action (go last!) as your opponents won’t know where you’ll use it. In an ideal world, you’ll nullify an opponent who spends an action to draw a Tactic card they can no longer use.

Battle Cry pairs wonderfully with Disappear like a fine wine. If you time it right with an empty reserve, you can cash in several Trog War Party tokens in a single interior region to profit from its delightful crystals and not add too many Trogs to it. Battle Cry is also an incredibly strong counter to the Humans, whose Scouting and Airfield make them a nuisance in the interior. If they take control of a Region, resolve Battle Cry to yank it out of their hands.

Shadows is a great way to consolidate Trog War Party tokens to exploit using Battle Cry (if you’re seeking profit), or to create frontal border walls. Many times, Trog War Party tokens aren’t useful too far into the planet, so moving them to the front maximizes the pain they cause to your enemies and mean you can resolve them without leaving crucial Trog units behind in the interior. Use Shadows to effectively create border walls and dare your opponents to trudge forth into the interior. Be careful to focus with Shadows. “He who defends everything defends nothing.” Focus, hit them hard.

Adaptation is one of the weaker skills and is best wielded by an experienced Trog player that can rely on their strength with the fundamentals to win the game. Adaptation encourages the Trog player even more to sit back in the early rounds to draw powerful cards, especially as Adaptation can be used to improve their hand as the game progresses. Adaptation makes the Trog a razor sharp katana that always has the right tool for the job. But, the Trog player must then use Disappear and Tunnels effectively to have the right forces in the right place.

One option for the Trogs is that in the first round, you can spend most of the cards in your hand to spread all over the board like locusts, trigger most of the Trog War Party tokens to gain sufficient numbers, and gain the Discovery tokens before other players can use them. This is a really nice boost for the Trogs (bonus cards, Crystals, and more), and cuts both ways as it removes many early bonuses from opponents. However, be aware of the cost. You’ll spend most, if not all, of your cards. You’ll also reveal the exact number of Units in every Region as the War Party tokens will no longer resolve AND you may have zero Units in the Reserves. You exchange the element of surprise for the element of denying your opponents early treats.

The Weaknesses of the Trogs

The Trogs do not have very good Structures compared to their opponents, which means it is more difficult for them to protect what they hold. While Trap is a good threat, it is an expensive and inefficient one if your opponent calls your bluff and moves into the Region with it.

If you’re fighting in many Mountains early, the Brooding Pool may be a wise Structure, as you can use the Mountain cards to quickly spawn new Units on the front line, but this is a contextual strategy that should only be considered in the right case.

The Trogs have to fight constantly and if their opponents are wise, they will continue to harass the Trogs. Even the reclusive Pilgrims should constantly poke at the Trogs to take prisoners and prevent them from moving too far outside their HQ. If you want to defeat the Trogs? Fight them. Do not let the Trogs focus on a single opponent, and do not let them enter a Battle Phase with fewer than 3 Battles. A focused Trog army is a nasty one. Remember that they have effectively no supply lines due to the Trog War Party tokens and Tunnels. If you don’t hinder them, you’ll lose.

The Trogs start incredibly strong, but end very weakly. They only score half the points for Crystals, which means when others are scoring 5-10 per Region at the end, the Trogs are scoring, well, half that. The Trogs also don’t have a way to generate additional points via Structures or Skills, so they need to use Disappear to create more Crystals and capture Prisoners.

Trog Strategy Tips

• Do not Recruit early in the game. Let the Trog War Party tokens trigger naturally.
• Be very careful to keep your Reserve populated! If you don’t have Reserves, your War Party tokens don’t stop your opponents!
• Try to optimize your hand in the first few rounds with good Tactics to profit from early battles.
• In the early battles especially, do not fear Attrition. You need the Units to return to your Reserves for future Trog War Party tokens.
• Prioritize Prisoners if possible. Your opponent will be willing to pay dearly to keep them. You can then take advantage of your Tactics and Defender bonus to cheaply take Territories.
• Enable Scoring, especially in the early Rounds when you don’t need to Recruit or Build like the other Factions. The points you earn with the Territory bonus will compensate for the ½ point penalty, and you’ll rob the Humans of their ability to Enable Scoring.
• The Trogs should use Tunnels and the Outer Regions to immediately arrive at the doorstep of any faction and threaten their structure operations. Do this to upset the Pilgrims and their extracting.
• The Trogs should take advantage of the initiative track. By going last, Trogs can see easily where they are fighting and what cards they need in their hand to win those battles!
• Let your Trogs die! You desperately need to have a full Reserve to fully maximize your Trog War Party tokens!
• The Trogs have zero supply lines. They can be anywhere. Scare your opponents and make them pay for not protecting their flank.
• Spend excess Trogs to prevent your opponents from using their Structures. You can afford the losses.
• Leverage your Skills to hoard Crystals in the center of the planet. Compensate for the ½ crystal penalty.
• Try to focus where possible if any opponents make the mistake of leaving you alone.
• Maintain a buffer in front of your inner, precious region. It is better to lose Units and sacrifice the outer regions in exchange for keeping the center Region valuable!