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Oh dear matty...
Let me run down a few things about the trolls for you:
The Trollbloods are a toolbox faction with the ability to adapt to many different situations on the battlefield. The thing is their ARMs are pretty high and with moderate POWs you can take a punch from an enemy and hit them back even harder. Their speed isnt bad, though the Trollbloods really shine in their ability to buff themselves to unexpected levels in order to overcome a weakness or emphasis a strength. Trollblood armies rarely get to pick which type of fight they are in, they simply adjust to it and buff until the fight is in their favor.
Where to start?
Well you do have the starter box so here's a few tips with them:
- The Troll Impalers slams down a target and then casting the Rush animus on the Axer to finish it off.
- Through the use of Madrak's Surefoot spell you can get a grasp on the concept of boosting average defense stats to a better spot on the bell curve.
I am not sure if you have the Fell Caller. But this solo is a useful toolbox of abilities and skills. While most of his abilities only work on warrior models, Reveille will also stand up knocked down warbeasts. The Fellcaller can buff a warlock's MAT and RAT, giving Madrak a fearsome MAT 9 and RAT 7.
Below are a list of models with what they could do:
- The Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes are a useful first unit as they buff the ARM of any Trollblood models nearby. They are Fearless warriors with average MAT, and are fairly cheap in points.
- Trollkin Champions are one of the strongest multi-wound warrior units in the game, with really high DEF in melee, escalating P+S with a great MAT, and very high armor.
- The Mauler works with Madrak, as its Rage animus boosts both the his ranged and melee damage.
- The Pyre Troll's Flaming Fists animus is useful for any melee model, providing a damage boost and the chance for Critical Fire. This is one of the few Trollblood buff effects that works on non-faction models, such as the Totem Hunter and Gudrun the Wanderer minion solos.
I think you told me you picked up a second lock, though I'd suggest keep playing with Madrak as he's not bad, but if you do get another go for Grissel Bloodsong as he is versatile and well-suited to infantry-based armies, and than Grim Angus can help with the faction's less-than-stellar mobility and ranged combat.
Below is a something I grabbed from another site about Madrak:
Madrak is a brute, and if he casts his spell Guided Hand and Sure Foot on himself he's even more of a brute. On top of that is the mighty animus of the Dire Troll Mauler. His abilities tip over to melee being his strong point. With a boosted attack roll or two he's frightening enough at range, but if you have to choose between him throwing his axe or charging he's going to have a better chance of hitting if he charges.
Madrak is also the toughest of the boxed set warlocks. Though Lylyth can be as tough with the animus of her warbeasts, Madrak's spell Sure Foot and his special abilities push him over the top in the contest for toughest warlock. Madrak is on a medium base, and even with a large mass of other medium base models around he's going to have more difficulty than most warlocks protecting himself from enemy ranged attacks.
Feat - Crusher
This feat is open ended, so long as the affected Trollblood model destroys an enemy model it can keep stepping forward one inch and attacking again and again. You can imagine the carnage possible when several Trollblood models charge into a densely packed mass of enemy models. Within the context of the boxed set it's a nearly useless Feat though.
This Feat won't be too useful with Pyg Bushwhackers. It doesn't contradict the Slaughterfest power of the Scatter Gunners, but it's only going to work with the initial charge, and not with additional attacks. With all of the other units it's potentially an unholy terror of a Feat. You can just imagine a Dire Troll snacking his way through a densely packed mass of enemy warriors, a unit of Trollkin Champions hacking through the enemy in concert, or the numerous Kriel Warriors plowing through the enemy in a large strength boosted mass.
Weapon - Rathrok
In melee Madrak is going to hit more often, but Rathrok is a serious threat at range. It's a Wraith Bane, so it can take out incorporeal creatures. but best of all is it's Critical Fatality. If you're throwing this axe at a warlock you should always boost the attack roll. A critical hit against a warlock with Rathrok can finish it.
When thrown Rathrok is usually going to be P+S:15; normally you don't add your model's strength to ranged weaponry but thrown weapons get to do this. Note that you cannot use the Ricochet ability to hit a warlock that is behind an obstruction or that's put a heavy warbeast between Madrak and it. The ricochet still has to obey all the normal targeting rules. As opponents become more aware of this ability it'll be good for taking out extra warriors or utility solos, but opponents will be careful to keep their important models out of sight or range.
Though the range of Rathrok is only 8" you can use the Far Shot animus of the Impalers to boost it up to 12", and theoretically tag something up to 16" away from Madrak with the ricochet. Again, once opponents are aware of this power they aren't often going to oblige you by packing all their important models together in a tight little cluster. Note also the brutal conjunction with the Dire Troll Mauler's animus. It can boost the weapon up to P+S:18 on both ranged and melee attacks. Even the Pyre Troll animus is a nasty combo, though it only functions with melee attacks.
Special Rules
* Scroll of Grindar's Perseverance: Be careful of just throwing this away if you're confronted by a warlock like Lylyth or Morghoul who can cause damage that cannot be transferred away. You may want to hold the scroll in reserve for later in the game and transfer damage to warbeasts early when it can be healed and regenerated.
* Talisman of Subdual: This is very cool, but don't get too overconfident of it. A pack of Rabid Shredders can still eat Madrak for breakfast. The best attribute of the Talisman is that your opponent can't set up Madrak for destruction with slams. To knock Madrak down an opponent will have to slam another medium or large based model into Madrak, and even that won't work if he's got Sure Foot going.
* Tough: It's nice to have this ability, but don't rely on it to win you any games. When you most need to make that roll will be when you fail it, and unless you have his spell Sure Foot going Madrak will be knocked down after making a tough roll. It won't be too difficult for an enemy to finish Madrak off if he has even one more unit left to activate.
Spells
* Guided Hand: Despite the Impaler's awesome ranged hitting power this spell and several other abilities clearly illustrate the Trollbloods as a melee force with some powerful ranged attacks backing them up. The combo with Trollkin Champions and Kriel Warriors is brutal, even though each unit can have two melee attacks and only benefit from this spell for the first attack. As it's an additional hit die Madrak can cast this on himself and boost to hit models with DEF:20 with average dice rolling.
* Stone Fall: An anti-warcaster spell! This uses up three of Madrak's five fury, and to be effective you want to hit and get the critical. This is not an AOE to fire at point blank range for certain blast hits on short scatters. If you roll a critical on the target you'll hit and critical Madrak! When you use Stone Fall and boost the attack roll, as I suggest, Madrak will be left with only one point of FURY. Note that it says the Concussed model cannot spend FOCUS, but it says nothing about FURY.
* Sure Foot: An interesting aspect of this is that Madrak can shelter an inch behind one of your warbeasts. Cast this spell on the warbeast and even if it's slammed into Madrak he won't be knocked down. The defense bonus is a significant boost to a faction where most of the models are DEF:12. Once you get some Champions and Kriel Warriors you can put them in front of Madrak and cast this spell on one of them. I can't imagine many situations where you wouldn't be casting this spell every turn until you go for the endgame and use up all his fury on attacks.
General Notes about Madrak Ironhide
As I've said many times already, Madrak's a brute in a faction that's nothing but brutes. His spells are excellent, but cost a lot of FURY. He can boost the melee power of your other models like no one's business, and if you think the Kreil Warriors aren't impressive you haven't thought about them in the context of Madrak's feat, Guided Hand, the War Shaman's Potency, and the Fell Caller's War Cry.
Madrak himself is a powerhouse, especially when you stack the animi of just about any one of his warbeasts onto him. In fact, if you're going to use Madrak, the Impalers and/or the Dire Troll Mauler are almost required models with him. Though honestly I don't see a single poor choice for a warbeast to use with him in the lot.
On the other hand he doesn't have those same excellent synergies with the ranged units like Pyg Bushwhackers and Scattergunners. Those units have to stand on their own merits.
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i've lost every game but one need help 
